My Favorite Tools for podcasts and shows
Starting a podcast should be fun and easy. If I get stuck, its usually because I’m over complicating things. That’s why my bar is deliberately low to just get started.
Energy and motivation come from staying in motion!
When I learned that a podcast is like an audio blog post, or a conversation, and its easy to swap out old episodes, or trim them, my fear of podcasting evaporated. Anchor - now Spotify for Podcasters - proved to be a brilliant and FREE entry into just getting started.
But, since I’m also on a budget, I can’t pay for a ton of things. I need easy processes to get episodes done and dusted so that I don’t struggle with a backlog of recordings.
Since I use podcasting as a form of marketing and outreach, I’m never worried about gaps in publication, or obsess over meeting weekly commitments. If I need to take a break, I will. It makes no sense to burn out in the short term when you’re playing a long game.
So, on to the tools:
(no affiliate links. These are just my toolkit)
Graphic Design: Canva: Paid. I using the Pro version to create and clone templates, and it’s awesome for removing backgrounds from guest portraits.
Video Recording: Streamyard: Paid. I use this constantly for recording podcasts and YouTube shows. I’ve tried other options, like Riverside, but sometimes run into issues with my tech setup - and I can’t afford to buy a new webcam. Streamyard has just worked really well.
Free Tools
Video Editing: YouTube. Where possible, I try to get a clean recording with my guest, and do zero post-production. It’s the extra audio-levelling and editing that completely kills my time and my processing power. Youtube has a nifty little editor that just works.
Audio Editing: Spotify. Audio engineers will have my hide, I’m sure, but after trimming a video file on YouTube, I rip the audio as an m4a file using a free online website, and then upload that to Spotify. If I need any extra trimming, it has its own audio editor baked in that just works.
Shownotes: Deciphr.ai I love this tool. You take your mp3 files and upload them, or copy-paste the YouTube transcript into a text file, and upload it. Deciphr runs it through a ChatGPT model, and creates an amazing summary, quotes, complete transcript, and timestamps (for audio uploads). Perfect to copy-paste into the YouTube description area, the blog post, and also the podcast shownotes field. Usually needs some light editing.
Social media scripts: ChatGPT. If I need a shorter social media promotional script, I’ll copy-paste what I have, and tell it to summarize it for it, using the tone of my brand.
Social Media Scheduling: Planly, or SocialWeaver. Free for one account, I love this simple interface, and can schedule a ton of graphics through it. It just works.
Social Media Reposting: Zapier. Since you can create as many Zapier accounts as you like, I’ve set up a couple that repost what I share on Instagram to other accounts, like Twitter and Facebook. It’s not perfect, but it’s free, and I don’t have large followings on those accounts. Good enough to keep moving.
Repurposing?
I’ve been too busy to focus seriously on this part of social media content creation. I’ve struggled with the volume of steps that goes into it. As I find more tools that I like using, I’ll come back an update.
Some that I’ve tested, and have worked pretty well:
Vidyo.ai - Upload a video, or drop in your YouTube link, and it parses your video for you with AI. Then it makes a selection of 10-15 video snippets that you can tweak and download. $30 per month will allow branded templates, which would be really helpful.
Easy Links: Bio.link This tool is brilliant, and free, and stylish. You drop it into your Instagram description so that you can refer people to the link in bio. It’s got so many use cases for people with busy brands.
Alternate Tools
Shownotes: ChatGPT Glairity Chrome Addon - So far, I only use it for YouTube summaries, but it works nice and simply. It parses the transcript, and creates a nice summary. Usually needs some light editing.
Shownotes: Podsqueeze: Really sweet interface that extracts a ton of value from your podcast episodes, like tweets, transcript, titles, short posts, and a newsletter summary.
Video Editor: Clipchamp. Super easy to use, completely free, and available online or as a local video editor. Allows for multiple tracks and audio layers, and exports in 4K.
Video Editor & Recording: Veed.io I loved using this tool; completely cloud-based video editor. Plus is also has a recording studio. I think I ran into some issues with a recording friend, or my own tech caused delay issues, so I stopped using it. This was almost 8 months ago, so they’re due to be checked out again.
Video & Podcast Recording: Riverside.fm I loved this tool for recording interviews and podcasts. Gave me a single studio link, recorded in high quality, mixed it for me with a branded background image, and worked beautifully. I stopped using it a year ago because my specific camera kept causing audio and video drift. But they recently rolled out a bunch of updates, and I want an excuse to use them again.