The internet is a fantastic resource that can be used for all sorts of things – including creating and publishing podcast videos. In this guide we shall look at how to create videos for podcasts from a Christian perspective.
What can Video Podcasts be Used for?
Video podcasts can be as individual as you are! In fact there are millions of different video podcasts available around the world to subscribe to – ranging from the weird to the wonderful!
In the Christian world, podcasts are used for a variety of reasons. An increasingly popular purpose for video podcasts is to record church sermons and services available for people to download and watch – both in the local community and around the world.
Other people may use video podcasts to create educational videos or opinion videos related to Christianity that people enjoy watching. The opportunities are literally endless – so if you have an idea for a video podcast then chances are here will be someone out there that wants to watch it!
Video podcasts are both functional and fun. Even if you don’t really know what you want your videos to be about in the long run it can be fun to try starting one up and let your creative juices flow.
How to Create a Christian Podcast Video
The first step to creating a Christian podcast video is to have a good quality video recorder. Many people simply use webcams on their computers while others have more advanced video recording equipment. Obviously the better the quality of the video the better your podcast will be.
Often the hardest part of creating a podcast video is making sure that it is saved as the correct file type for it to work correctly in your podcast. Mac OS users have it easy as they have a simple program within QuickTime Pro that can guide you through the process of converting your video into a podcast-friendly format.
If you are using Windows then you can either pay to download QuickTime Pro or search the internet for any of the many video converters available. You should convert your video into a .wmv format.
Your podcast video has then been created!
How to Publish a Church Podcast Video
Publishing a church podcast video can be very simple if you use the right method. There are websites that will host and publish your podcast video for you meaning you can avoid all of the hard parts!
Depending on how serious you are about podcasting you may want to pay for your hosting website – as you will get much better service and a wider range of facilities. However, there are dozens of free video podcasting hosts and publishers that are great if you are just starting out.
One of the easiest ways to publish your church podcast video is through iTunes. First you will need to upload your videos to an online host or server – this can either be your own website server or a free/paid host. Using the URL you can then start publishing your church podcast videos by following simple steps on the iTunes program.
People can then subscribe to your video podcast via iTunes or from your website if you have posted a link.
How to Get People to Watch your Video Podcasts
Once you have created and published your video podcasts the next thing you want to do is get people to subscribe to it.
Sometimes you only want your video podcast to be available to your local community – for example if you are creating video podcasts of sermons at your local church you may not be very interested in getting a global audience – just making it available to the local community. In this case putting a link to your podcast on your local church website and telling the congregation about it is enough advertising for you.
However, if you want to maximize the audience of your video podcast then you should go about posting your podcast on online podcast directories. These are website that have thousands of listings of audio and video podcasts that people can browse through to find one that they want to subscribe to. There are church-specific directories that may be most suitable.
