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Hi everyone.

I am about 30 days away from submitting my feed to iTunes. I don't want to do it without art work, and the spec is now 1200 by 1200. I need some budget art work. I know everyone is going to tell me to spend some bucks, but we live on a tight budget and I need to economize. I would rather wait than submit without art work, but I thought I would ask and see if anyone here in 48 days does simple stuff for those of us on a tight budget.

Second question is about spam. I am getting spammed like crazy. I mean 20 to 40 comments a day spam. Totally off subject and usually from other countries. Do any free plug-ins deal with this?

Thanks again,

Tom at Jesusfreaktrucker.com

Views: 49

Replies to This Discussion

Tom,

A couple of things.

1. You have no way to contact you on your website.

2. If it was me, I would put your blog on your podcast site (those "words of blog" will drive traffic from google).

3. Be sure to use the akismet plugin that comes with Wordpress. You have to sign up for a free account. Also you can go into Wordpress under discussion settings and have Wordpress hold all comments for moderation (or hold comments with lnks for moderation). You can also make your own "Black list" of words.That will stop the spam.

4. You're not going to get any graphics of value for under $50 bucks. The person I use is http://wpprowebdesign.com you might try something like odesk.com and see if you can get someone from overseas .www.podcastalbumart.com is over  $200 I believe (great guy). He is in Ohio.

5. Keep in mind this is the first thing people will see. They SEE you before they hear you. I would not skimp in my microphone, or my album art. Best of luck

Hi David,

Thanks for the info. I have had about 40 comments today that have nothing to do with my topic. I will take another look at akismet. I didn't know that they had a free option. As for putting the blog on the podcast site, I'm not really sure that I understand. The podcast is at libsyn with the link going through Powerpress and posted on my site. I am new at this so I may have messed something up.

As for art work, I have a budget of about 75 bucks. I would use Michael J Lewis if I could afford it. He has done quite a bit to help me out. I don't need anything fancy. Just enough to not get sent to the back of the pack.

As far as a microphone goes, a well meaning friend gave me the Avid Vocal Studio mice and software. After trying it and doing some on line research, I have decided the mic is okay, but the software is useless. I can use it with Audacity just fine, but it is a USB mic. I am still learning how to use Audacity.

Thanks for the reply, I would be lost without the help of you all.

God Bless,

Tom

Try http://fiverr.com/ for artwork.  Not as fancy (most of the time) but I got some good results out of some of the people there. 

And it's DANIEL J. Lewis :) 

Good luck and don't let anything get in the way of starting your podcast.  Just do it and adjust things (like artwork) later. 

-Mike

My apologies to daniel. He is one of my "must listen to" podcasts every week. I will check out that site,

Thanks

Ha ha! I usually am accidentally called "Joseph" (because my official company name is D.Joseph Design) or "David" (because, in some fonts, "Daniel" looks like "David"). Michael is a new one. :)

Not sure where that one came from. My little site and podcast ain't much, but I would still be lost in the world of GoDaddy's Quick Blogcast crappola without the stuff I've picked up from you and a few others around the 48 days groups.

Thanks again, Daniel

I now have Akismet and Contact Forms 7. You guys are great.

Thanks.

Tom, I have a guy who's done a lot of mine. He's in your budget. email me andytraub AT gmail.com

Don't let anyone tell you that it costs $200 to get great art. It doesn't.

Hi, Tom!

I can totally understand the tight budget. You'll find some people who can design podcast cover art for under $75, that's true. But some things to keep in mind:

  • Make sure your cover art looks good at 73x73 pixels (iTunes' search result size—how most people will see your cover art the first time)
  • Use fonts that are readable and scale well.
  • Use colors that contrast well.
  • Use a high-quality RGB JPEG for your iTunes image tag in the RSS, and your individual ID3 tags. This should only add about 100–150 KB to your file with a well-compressed JPEG.

Yes, as others have said and you know, I custom-design high-quality podcast cover art, that is well researched, branded, and looks great at 73x73. I think it's worth the $250, but that's just my opinion. ;)

With equipment, I usually advise that people spend as little as they can until they can afford what they really want. It's like upgrading TVs—you wouldn't upgrade from a 42" to a 45", but you would upgrade from a 21" to a 45". But with podcast cover art, you really would want the best you can afford when you launch, because this will be the first thing many people see about you.

On your spam issue, Akismet is free and easy to setup and can greatly reduce your spam comments. You could also use a commenting system plugin like IntenseDebate (made by the people who make WordPress), Disqus (my current preference), or LiveFyre.

Additionally, you could add a different kind of protection to your site with a free service like CloudFlare.

I have no doubt about the quality of your work. You've given me hundreds of dollars worth of advice for free with the podcast and videos on your site. I am truly a podcaster on a shoestring budget for now.

Thanks for all you do

Tom

Thanks!

Please share your cover art when you get it! I'm sure we'd all love to see and check out your podcast.

Is it A. possible, and B. less expensive to tahe a photograph and  convert it to cover art?

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