Did you know that podcasting has become one of the hottest trends in media? Did you also know that it is an alternative marketing and communication tool for entrepreneurs and online marketers? This hottest trend in media is sky rocketing more and more each year and provides a great source of direct communication with your target audience, who wish to receive your audio broadcast automatically, without the need to access or visit your landing page.

If you look up the term, Podcasting, in Wikipedia, this is the detailed definition you’ll find.

A podcast is a series of digital media files, usually digital audio or video, that is made available for download via Web syndication. The syndication aspect of the delivery is what differentiates podcasts from other files accessible by direct download or streaming: it means that special software applications, generically known as podcatchers (such as Apple’s iTunes or Nullsoft’s Winamp), can automatically identify and retrieve new files associated with the podcast when they are made available, and that these files can be stored locally on the user’s computer or other device for offline use. This is done by the podcatcher accessing a centrally-maintained Web feed, which lists files associated with a certain podcast.

Like the term broadcast, podcast can refer either to the content itself or to the method by which the content is syndicated; the latter is also called podcasting. A podcaster is the person who creates the content.

Podcasting gives you many benefits and if you use it as one of your communication and marketing tools, this is what you can receive.

1 - Provides value-added offer opportunities - With podcasting, you can provide value-added offers in audio format which will retain their utmost interest and can create frequent visitations to your landing page for your weekly podcasts.

2 - Establishes highly effective communication - This is a very important benefit. It is a fact that podcasting prospect will become highly familiar with your landing page and you will earn the credibility as an expert author in your field of expertise.

3 - Builds the foundation of a life time relationship - With a podcast, you put a voice to your company and landing page. This done frequently will build a know, like and trust relationship between you and your listener.

4 - Wider distribution - Podcasting gives you the opportunity to distribute your targeted marketing message to many avenues. Listening to you via iPod, Automation from RSS feed subscription, MP3 player, mobile phone are just a short listing of the many ways to distribute your marketing message to your targeted audience.

I look forward to seeing your success online!

I invite you to visit http://www.52OnlineBusinessTips.com where you can receive 52 weeks (one per week) of personal mentoring via audio postcards. You can also subscribe to my free course with over an hour long of training by visiting http://www.ExtremeWealthStrategies.com.

From Philip J. Mutrie - CEO and Founder of Extreme Wealth Potentials.

[tags]Podcasting, internet marketing, online marketing, media, communication, ipod, podcasts[/tags]

I have been using teleseminars to reach my target audience for more than two years now. It is a fantastic way to connect with people and to reach out to them with the sound of your voice. I am able to answer their questions directly and to fully understand what they need my help with most. It is just not possible to use email and give as much information as you can on a teleseminar.

During the summer of 2008 I started using internet radio to reach an even wider audience. I did my first few shows without telling anyone, and when I saw the possibilities I began to share this information with as many people as possible.

One of the very best reasons to include internet radio as part of your online marketing plan is because of the search engine optimization opportunities. Your keywords will rank very high when you do a radio segment, enabling even more people to find you on the internet.

The format for internet radio is very different than it is for teleseminars. You are able to open up a window as a chat room, and listeners are able to ask you questions or give you their website information. It took me awhile to get to this.

These listeners are not from your own list usually. Instead they are people who are on the internet searching for information on your topic and are able to find you because of the information you provided when you set up and described your show. Internet radio is extremely popular, so it is very likely that more people will find you than you ever imagined.

I like to make an outline of what I will be speaking about, and I am also careful to speak slowly and clearly and spell each word when I give a domain name for them to visit. I also invite them to join my list so that they can be part of my list in the future.

Internet radio is yet another channel through which you can get your information out to those who will be interested. The shows you do can easily be turned into podcasts, allowing you to extend your reach even further.

Many people would prefer to listen rather than to read information, so this gives you the opportunity to repurpose your articles, blog posts, and other written material and content into an auditory format. Consider starting your own internet show right away.

Connie Ragen Green teaches you how to write articles and eBooks to build an online business, as well as how to use the technology needed. Visit Online Writing Success to find out more.

[tags]connie ragen green, internet radio, using teleseminars to reach your market[/tags]

Podcasts can be either audio or video digital files that are used to communicate messages, instructions or ideas. They are usually offered in a series, which can be either an ongoing series or a limited number of podcasts. Podcatcher software can be used to identify newly published podcasts and automatically download the files to a computer or MP3 player.

Podcasts are growing in popularity as a means to receive information. The user is able to select which podcasts he or she will receive and can then listen to them anywhere and anytime. Podcasts provide a convenience that other means of communication are not able to offer. People today appreciate being able to learn new and valuable information without spending much money or having to adjust their already busy schedules.

You can build a loyal community of listeners by using podcasts. Determine the specific niche of consumers you want to target for your podcasts and cater to this defined group. Your listeners will be proud to be part of such a specialized group of listeners and will be eager for your new podcasts to be published. If your listeners are satisfied with the information you provide to them through podcasts, they will want to share their discovery with friends and family.

Podcasts are easy to access, and your new listeners will be able to quickly decide for themselves if they are interested in subscribing to your podcast series. Podcasts are a way to reach a large group of people without spending huge amounts of time and money. Assuming you already own a computer, start up costs for podcasting are low, and you will not need an abundance of equipment. Practice your presentation several times so that you feel comfortable and are able to sound relaxed and personable on the recorded podcast. Listeners will notice if you are unsure of yourself. Aim to present yourself as a professional with valuable information and creative ideas.

Your business Web site can be used to promote your podcasts. Encourage your clients and blog readers to listen to your podcasts and give you honest feedback about the contents. Podcasting is a learned art, and the more information you can gather from your targeted audience, the better. Adjust your style and podcast material to accommodate the requests of your loyal listeners. You can expect an increased interest in your podcasts when you establish a reputation of putting your listeners’ needs first.

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After recording over 200 podcasts for the Recognized Expert Marketing Show, I’ve learned a thing or two about creating a successful show. And by successful, I mean a show that has a loyal following of dedicated listeners.

After years of trail and error, here’s what we learned about producing a show that people want to subscribe to.

Make Your Podcast Thematic
If you want to host a successful podcast or Internet radio show, your show must be thematic. In our case, the Recognized Expert Marketing Show focuses on marketing. Our listeners know that they can count on hearing a program that’s going to teach them how to market themselves better.

We are not trying to target people who are interested in fiction or cooking or travel. The show is about marketing and the people who listen to the show are there to learn about marketing. Don’t try to be all things to all people. It doesn’t work.

Invite A Quality Guest
There are pros and cons to having a guest on your show. For example, a well known guest will attract listeners. They will add credibility to your show and give you someone to banter with.

The best reason for having a quality guest on your show is the information and experiences they provide that you can’t offer. A popular and quality guest can be a godsend for any podcast.

The downside to having a guest on your show is the unknown. Unless you’ve heard them on another show, you really don’t know what to expect when the microphone goes live.

In order to ease my concerns I contact every guest on the telephone before I schedule them on my podcast. You can get a pretty good idea as to how a guest is going to act from a simple telephone call, but not always.

So, should you have guests on your podcast? The answer is, “It depends.” You’re the most qualified person to make that decision.

With the basics out of the way, let’s look at what the format of a thematic show with guest looks like.

Provide A Musical Introduction
Music is a great way to get your audience in the mood for your show. It’s also a way to create continuity for your show. The trick with music is to keep it short and make sure it represents the mood you want to create for your podcast.

Introduce Yourself and the Show
Don’t leave new listeners wondering. Tell them straight away who you are and what the show is about.

Drive Listeners To Your Website
I didn’t do this for the first 100 shows and it proved to be an expensive mistake. When we started the Recognized Expert Marketing Show, it was only available on our website. Today it is syndicated on over 80 websites including iTunes.

The good news is 90% of our listeners don’t listen to the Recognized Expert Marketing Show on our website. The bad news is 90% of our listeners don’t listen to the Recognized Expert Marketing Show on our website. Here’s why that’s bad news.

Since our listeners are not listening to my podcast on our website, we can’t encourage them to sign-up on our list, click on our ads or purchase our products. That’s a problem you want to avoid from the start.

Give your listeners a reason to come to your website and offer them a bonus for going. We offer ebooks, reports, articles and other great marketing tips that are only available on our website. This is the single most important thing you must do on your podcast.

Introduce Your Topic
Project your excitement about the show and tell your listeners what they can expect from your show. Make a big promise and keep it.

Introduce Your Guest
Once your listeners have been persuaded to listen to your show, introduce your guest. You want to make a big deal over your guest for the benefit of your audience and your guest. You really can’t go too far.

Get to the Content Quickly
The fastest way to build a loyal following is to provide great content right out of the gate. Follow through on the promise you made at the beginning of the show and have them reaching for a pencil and paper.

Take A Break
I schedule a break halfway through my show. This gives me an opportunity to reintroduce my guest and remind my listeners to go to my website.

Recap The Show
Give your listeners a synopsis of what they learned and remind them why they listen to your show. Encourage them to tell their friends about your show and visit your website for more information. Do these things and you will quickly have your own successful podcast.

Bob Sommers is an Internet marketing expert and host of the Recognized Expert Marketing show on Maui. Learn how to podcast from the host of this very successful show.

It’s easy to find and download a free podcast. The best way to find free ones is probably to check a podcast directory. The directory is a listing of many, sometimes thousands of different podcasts. The directory will usually organize the podcasts by topic and genre, making it easy to find the type of podcast that is sought.

In addition, podcast directories often allow the visitors to comment on the listed, and provide a list of the favourite podcasts on the site, making it easy for users to find the best available. These podcast directories can be used to browse through, introducing users to many different ones that otherwise would not have found.

Once a podcast has been found that interests the user, it is necessary to download it free. The vast majority of podcasts will be free, but there will be a few that may cost a small amount of money. The process to subscribe to and download them is the same in either case. First, a podcast client needs to be found and installed. There are many free podcast clients available, all providing a slightly different user interface and range of options. They come with many different names, such as Podscape, or Nimiq, and searching for ‘free podcast client’ or something like it will turn up many possibilities.

When the podcast client has been installed, inputting the feed address will allow the podcast to be downloaded. The client software will check the address given for a small, machine readable file called an RSS file. This file will contain information about the podcasts, perhaps some text about the individual episodes, as well as the location of the episode file. Once the client software has been located the file referred to in the RSS feed, it will be downloaded and stored on the users computer until the want to view it.

Sometimes, of course, access to a personal computer is not available, but it is still necessary to check a certain podcast. Fortunately, many of these directories offer built in podcast readers in the site. Not only do they often show each recent episode that is available, they may also offer a way to view or listen to those episodes from within the site.

By using the viewer contained within the site, it is no longer necessary to even download the podcast episodes. However, the ability to move and share the episodes after downloading is one of the wonderful things about podcasting. The files can be placed on almost and media player, ranging from iPods to the new Playstation Portable. This flexibility is one of the reasons they have succeeded, despite other technologies like streaming music and video. The desire of consumers to have control over technology cannot be over estimated.

Uchenna Ani-Okoye is an internet marketing advisor and co founder of Free Affiliate Programs

For more information and resource links on podcasts visit: Free Podcasts

[tags]Downloading a Free Podcast, Free Podcast[/tags]

There are many podcasts on PSP available. Some of them simply share information and distribute it to people interested in portable gaming. These podcasts serve as news organizations, sharing audio or visual files talking about and speculating about updates to the PSP, the vast majority, however, take advantage of the ability to download and play quality videos on the gaming screen. Developers of the program PSP Video 9 first created a program that could change videos from computer types like .avi and .mpeg to the format used by the portable gaming consoles.

Once that was done, it was quickly possible to create podcasts for the portable gaming arena. Podcasters began creating video files, changing them to a format readable by the portable gaming consoles, and distributing them by podcast feed. These podcast feeds are subscribed to by people interested in the feed, who download the episodes as they come out.

After the video files are transferred to the portable gaming consoles, they can be viewed whenever the end user wishes, just like the other movies and professionally done videos available for the consoles. The PlayStation Portable has thus been changed from simply being a portable gaming platform to a piece of full featured media hardware capable of playing games, storing information, and playing videos and movies, moving toward a more complex future.

Finding Free Podcast Videos

Anyone can easily find free podcast videos online. There are numerous podcast directories online that can help you find feeds to subscribe to, or you may find a feed that’s available from a site you enjoy. After looking through the directories and finding a feed you want to download, subscribe to it using one of the many free podcast clients available.

The podcast client will automatically download a small file called an RSS file, which stands for Really Simple Syndication. The RSS file tells your podcast client when there is a new file, in this case a video, to download. Depending on your client, the program will notify you or maybe even download it automatically. Once the file is on your computer, you’ll be free to listen to it any time it is convenient.

Soon you’ll be on your way to downloading some of the free podcast videos available online. Feeds are available that publish on almost every topic, from independent news shows to experimental videos, to scientific information. Some colleges and universities even podcast their most popular lectures so that students will have a chance to watch and review from the comfort of their computer chair.

The best part is that these free podcast videos, are of course, free. All of these feeds are easy to find, and the publishers, for the most part, do it simply because they enjoy it, and are glad to give it away.

Uchenna Ani-Okoye is an internet marketing advisor and co founder of Free Affiliate Programs

For more information and resource links on podcasts visit: Free Podcasts

[tags]Finding a Podcast on PSP, Podcast on PSP[/tags]

With the rise of podcasting, many individuals and organizations are finding that podcasting is a great way to distribute information, from music and comedy shows to talk shows, even podcast news. CNET is one of the groups that are distributing a news podcast.

CNET, being an online technology site, naturally found a niche distributing a tech news related podcast. CNET’s recent podcasts covered such topics as viruses that attack cell phones, problems with Google’s software, China’s web restrictions and the “Great Firewall of China”, and the FTC’s attack on spyware.

These news items were distributed in a sound file called an mp3 file that is downloadable to a listener’s computer for listening whenever they wish. While these files were available straight from CNET’s site, the majority of them are shared through the use of an RSS file.

An RSS file is a small piece of XML coding that is downloadable by programs designed to read it. These programs are called podcast clients, and the user can input the address of the RSS files that hold the information on the feed. The feed will contain links to the media files of the podcast, and will download the new updates automatically.

More sites than CNET are finding that podcast news is an exploitable technology. The British Broadcasting Corporation podcasts some of its programs, as well as the US radio network NPR. The NPR, because its work is created by a variety of different groups, treats podcasts differently from show to show. The NPR show “This American Life” distributes a podcast of the show through a site called audible.com, which allows feed listeners to subscribe to the feed for a small fee and download the show.

The NPR Hourly News show, on the other hand, shares a short 5 minute broadcast that summarizes the news for free. Since the NPR is taking a radio show and converting it into a file that is downloadable by the user, little is lost in the translation. The sound is designed to convey the entire story, and so podcast subscribers are able to treat the podcast as nothing more than TIVO for the radio. ABC’s podcast of the news show Nightline, on the other hand, is simply the sound track from the television show.
This has been one of the criticisms of the Nightline podcast, because by merely stripping the sound from what is designed as a television show, much information is not given to the users. Listeners have problems telling who is who because they miss the visual cues that were supposed to be there, there is no truly easy way to convert the shows.

For this reason, some news shows have been moving from audio podcasts to video ones. They can take the video information directly from the show that is broadcast, lower the visual resolution to shrink the file, and distribute it online as a podcast.

Uchenna Ani-Okoye is an internet marketing advisor and co founder of Free Affiliate Programs

For more information and resource links on podcasts visit: Free Podcasts

[tags]Downloading Podcast News, Podcast News[/tags]

For anyone who wants to begin creating a podcast, podcast hosting is the most important part. Before anyone can begin distributing a podcast, they need a place to store the files and keep the feed file that will tell their subscribers about the new episodes available. The first thing required is a domain name where the site will be located. Many domain registrars are available who will help one register a domain name for a small fee.

Once the domain is registered, hosting is required, and again there are many different companies willing to do the hosting for a small fee. One of those is bluehost.com, but many others are available. When looking for a host, the most important thing is to make sure that a lot bandwidth and storage space is available and cheap. Since podcasting deals with large media files, a lot of disk space will be taken up storing the files and bandwidth will be eaten quickly when they are downloaded by the subscribers.

After podcast hosting has been acquired, it needs to be used and the site needs to be set up. The DNS addresses of the site need to be set to the addresses that the host provides you so that the servers that underlie the internet will know where your site is. DNS addresses can be set by going to the domain registrar that was used to acquire the domain and inputting the addresses provided by the host. After that is done, it will take a few days before the master list the domain registrar updates will be shared throughout the internet and all name servers know where to find your specific domain. You can then go about setting up your own podcast.

Using the podcast hosting you now have, you will need to look at the disk space allocated to the site using something called and FTP browser. The host may provide one as part of their hosting plan, but if not there are many available free to choose from. Using the FTP browser, log on to the host and upload a file called dircaster after editing it to fit the specifics of the site. Dircaster is an easy to find piece of coding that generates a feed file by looking at the contents of its directory or folder. The individual episodes to be podcasted can then be uploaded to the same folder as dircaster for cataloguing. Make sure that all the Meta data or information about the mp3 file is correct before doing so.

The podcast hosting you now have will allow you to distribute a podcast. It would be best to upload more to the site, such as an index page that tells visitors about the podcast and provides the address of the file dircaster on your site. When they subscribe to that file, the podcast client thy use will access it and receive information about the latest podcasts available.

Uchenna Ani-Okoye is an internet marketing advisor and co founder of Free Affiliate Programs

For more information and resource links on podcasts visit: Free Podcasts

[tags]Finding Podcast Hosting, Podcast Hosting[/tags]

A podcast client is the software used to access and download podcasts. Podcast clients are also known as media aggregators, programs designed to automatically access an online file, or feed, and download the audio or video file associated with it. Hundreds of these programs exist, with names like IpodderX, Juice, Nimiq and PodSpider. These podcast clients are easy to find, and because there are so many available for free, it is easy to find one that suits an individual’s needs and style.

These programs run on the user’s computer, periodically downloading a small RSS file from sites that it has been told to monitor. The file tells the program about an audio or video file stored on the server, and the podcast client then downloads that file for the user to view or listen to.

The podcast client thus allows the user to view information on a wide range of topics from their computer, without even using a web browser. Just like blogs let people find writers they enjoyed for any niche topic they were interested in, podcasts let people do them same for audio and video. It’s as if thousands of radio and television channels were created to serve every possible interest, and more were made every day. Using the podcast client to access and download the files makes it as easy to keep up with the sites one likes as it is to publish the feed.

Comedy Podcasts

Many podcasts are available to subscribe to and watch in a variety of genres, and one of these is the comedy podcast. Every small scale wannabe writer has a chance to become a comedian through podcasting, since the low entry cost allows people to start podcasting with minimum effort and money. To find some of these comedy podcasters, check a podcast directory. A podcast directory is a listing of many, sometimes several thousands, of podcasts submitted and divided into categories. A podcast directory will probably have a large number of comedy podcasts available to subscribe to.

These comedy podcasts are usually created by a small team of people who do the work in their free time, as a hobby, not as a source of income. Because it is a hobby, they’re more willing to give the work away for free, for nothing more than recognition, probably in the hopes they can parlay that recognition into a more mainstream job. Some more corporate groups also put together comedy podcasts, however. The satirical comedy web site ‘TheOnion’ puts out a regular comedy podcast, featuring readings from their fake news site.

Placing a comedy podcast on the Internet has several advantages for the creators. They get to showcase their work, easily distributing their art to many people. This following is likely to be unusually passionate, following the artist with more enthusiasm than the artist’s average audience. The comedian has a chance to be more open with the audience, engaging in a sort of dialogue with them.

The comedian broadcasts the files, which enter the computer of the user, already a more personal level than simply hearing the jokester on the radio or on television. Comedy podcast subscribers will often then write back to the podcaster, or leave comments on the blog which often accompanies a podcast site. This can give them a degree of input and connection with the writers of the comedy podcast that is far removed from other styles of comedy distribution.

The writers and producers of a comedy podcast thus benefit from several advantages of the podcast form. It is cheap and easy to set up, and uses a distribution mechanism that is also easy to use. The way the podcast form is designed, as well, creates greater connection between the producer and the subscribers. The comedy writer has a greater ability to interact with the subscribers and to find out what they appreciate or do not.

Because podcasting is so simple to get involved in, requiring only a small investment to get started, many amateur comedy writers have begun starting their own shows and distributing the feed. It is likely, because of the unique connection podcasting offers between writer and listener, that we will see at least some of these amateur comedians make the leap to the professional stage.

Uchenna Ani-Okoye is an internet marketing advisor and co founder of Free Affiliate Programs

For more information and resource links on podcasts visit: Free Podcasts

[tags]Are You Looking For A Podcast Client, Looking For A Podcast Client[/tags]

Podcasting is a method of giving out media files over the Internet. But how exactly is a podcast created? Read on and this article will tell you all you need to know.

First of all you will need a domain name. This will give your subscribers the location of where they can obtain your media files. If you can, choose a name which is easy to remember and describes the type of podcast you are publishing. Use a domain register such as eNom or GoDaddy to register your domain name.

The next thing you will need is a web host. There are many companies you can use, for example, Host Gator or StartLogic. As you will be storing a large amount of media files it is best to think about getting a big disk space when you are looking for a web host. For instance, a 2-minute mp3 file may be 2 MB in size. Quite a few web hosting companies offer several GB in disk space at an extremely low monthly cost. Apart from the disk space, you should also consider the amount of bandwidth the company is providing. This is the quantity of data that can be moved to and from your host each month. As your data files will be large, even a few subscribers can easily use up all of your bandwidth in a short space of time. Somewhere between ten and one hundred GB of bandwidth may be sufficient, but keep an eye on this and make sure you increase your bandwidth as your subscribers swell in number.

Upon selection of your web hosting company you will be provided with name servers which you will apply to your domain name later on. To finish setting up your site, you will need to input the name servers into the site where your domain name is registered and then your site will be visible on the Internet.

When your site is set up you should search the Internet and download dircaster.php. Arrange this program to show the particulars of your domain and then upload to your site accordingly.

The next step is to record the media file, which is known as an episode, that you are going to podcast. Audacity, from audacity.sourceforge-dot-net is handy software to use and it is a free and open source to record and edit sounds. You can then record your episode from a CD, the computer’s sound card, a microphone or even a VOIP conversation and then edit the file by mixing tracks and cutting or adding segments. You also need to be adding tags and descriptions on your episode too.

Upload this media file in the same directory as the dircaster.php. The dircaster will then generate a RSS feed informing your subscribers all about the new file that is available for them to download.

Setting up a podcast is not difficult and the good news is that it does not cost much either. The required software is free and downloadable from the Internet. If you feel you have something to share with others of like minds, then podcasting is a super way to supply your information to the Internet.

Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of Be Successful News, a site that provides information and articles on how to succeed in your own home or small business.

[tags]create a podcast, podcasting, web site promotion with podcasts, internet marketing[/tags]