There are certain parts of producing a podcast that many podcast producers absolutely hate. After mixing and editing an audio file then encoding it into an MP3 format, many podcast producers dislike the administrative parts that come with publishing and promoting their podcast.

This is called podcast administration and this is an area that many podcasters would love to farm out to someone else. A virtual assistant is in an ideal position to learn what these tasks are, and then offer podcast administration as an additional service.

You don't need to be technical or a programmer to know what to do. Instead, you just need to understand the steps involved so you can become a dream to a podcast producer, especially if this podcaster produces more than one podcast for themselves or for a bunch of clients.

Here are five ways virtual assistants can help podcasters:

1. Submit podcasts to podcatchers. Part of marketing a podcast is submitting them to podcast directories, otherwise known as podcatchers. As a virtual assistant, you can offer this service by collecting the information about a new podcast from the podcast producer. Then, you can submit the podcast information one-by-one to podcatchers.

2. Update the podcast producer's blog with the new episode info. Once the newest episode of the podcast is sitting on the server, you can write the title, description and episode notes. Then, you can post directly to the blog (if you were added as a contributor), or just simply email the details about the episode to the producer. This task is especially helpful if a podcaster produces podcasts for multiple clients.

3. Visit iTunes (and other podcatchers) to ensure it has picked up the newest episode. Since 80% of podcast listeners use iTunes to access podcasts, you can help a podcast producer by checking that the newest episode of their podcast is showing up in iTunes.

4. Offer transcription services. Whether you transcribe the podcasts yourself or find someone who does, as a virtual assistant you can offer this service. Be proactive and transcribe an episode of a podcaster you want to work with, email it to the host, and then offer a pricing sheet so they can make a decision to hire you.

5. Monitor listener feedback. Listeners can post comments to the blog, send an email or call a comment line (depending on what the podcaster set up). If a podcast producer is managing more than one podcast, monitoring this feedback on his or her own can become overwhelming. As a virtual assistant, you can provide much needed support by keeping an eye on this feedback and collecting it in a way that helps the podcaster.

Whether you offer all these services, or just one or two, adding podcast administration services to your virtual assistant business will help busy podcasters focus on podcast optimization, marketing and monetization strategies.

2006 Leesa Barnes. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

An Internet maverick with a solid technology background, Leesa Barnes helps businesses use podcasting to drive search engine traffic to their website and build profitable relationships with their customers. She is co-author of Jump Start Your Podcast and she comments on podcast optimization techniques in her blog called Podonomics. Visit http://www.leesabarnes.com and sign up to receive a free ecourse called 5 Ways a Podcast Can Boost Your Search Engine Ranking.