I got a call today from Neil Gorman asking me how to produce content for the del.icio.us audio feeds I’ve been talking about in the past couple of days. This is a serious problem; I want this system to be so obvious that you can’t help but think that it’s the easiest, most efficient system to produce comments that will get heard by both the podcaster as well as the largest possible audience (both inside and outside of said podcaster’s sphere of influence).
Anyway, here’s a real clear step-by-step to get you in on the conversation. (Update: Neil also wrote one.) You’ll need a del.icio.us account (with the post to delicious bookmark in your browser), and an Odeo account is recommended.
- Create an audio file and get it on a server:
- Record something using Odeo’s studio tool (or your own equipment).
- if you used Odeo, move to step 2.
- Take the file you recorded and put it on a server, and find the URL.
- Once the mp3 file you created is in your browser and playing (or loaded), post it to delicious.
- Tag the mp3 file appropriately (we’re talking on podcast_conversations + comment right now.
- Subscribe to the feed to hear your part in the conversation (XML, iTunes).
Take note that it’s also possible use tags to get your comment into two different feeds. I did this yesterday by tagging a recording with inoveryourhead, comment, and podcast_conversations (this is the feed Mark created, available here).
Once you see your own comment in the feed, I swear you’ll be really happy you went through this. Keep in mind that this is not being done in podcasting anywhere right now.
Of course, we have to keep in mind that the really important factor here is a division between production and distribution. Normally, you produce your content as well as distribute it, but it does not need to be this way. We happen to be doing it with del.icio.us because it was the easiest way to get it started, but the process will be simplified pretty soon. The way I figure it, though, why wait for these things to happen when we can experiment with this now?
What you, dear reader, need to do now is to follow the steps above and get involved. I’m not kidding this time. I want to hear from people. (Also, for those that don’t care to hear about what we’re doing, I’ll try not to bombard you with as many of these posts.)
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