Podcasting: Why Bother? - Why Not?
(Page 3 of 4 )
If the industry is catching on so strongly, and the potential is so high, what makes people not get into podcasting? A lot of of the time it's just plain laziness. Don't get me wrong, the laziness is not the inability to create podcasts, but a lot of people have no idea exactly what a podcast is, let alone what is the best way to create and market one. A podcast is just like a TV or a radio program; the syndicated feed will be available at regular intervals. Just as a newsletter comes out at regular intervals, a podcast also comes out at regular intervals.
Another issue is that some podcasts can be complicated to create (videos for example) and the necessary creative skill may not be readily available. But not everybody needs a complicated monthly video directed by Ridley Scott. You can get dozens of videos over at Yahoo News. what you simply need is a webcast that is transferred to your user as a feed. An example of this is Kevin Rose's Diggnation Dish. Additionally, there are dozens of video podcasts on www.revision3.com. Most of them are weekly. Studying these podcasts will show you that video podcasts don't need to be Emmy award winners.
But even more popular than video podcasts are audio podcasts in MP3, RealPlayer and other audio formats. While you need some video recording equipment for a video podcast, you can create an audio podcast just by connecting a microphone to your computer and having a relatively good sound editing package (to convert you .wav to .mp3 or a lighter digital format than the original recording). Audio podcasts are easily recorded and ensure that your users get your rapidly changing content. They also ensure that you have more versatility in your content; by creating multimedia you can actually do more and be more creative in the types of content you use and where you get it.
Do Basic Linking And Generate Activity
How do you link back to your site and (even more important) generate activity back to your sites? Danny Wall has written a classic piece on how to quickly use videos to do this in his article on getting to the number one position on Google. I am going to look at certain points he raised, and relate them to why you should create your podcasts. You can create videos and podcasts and offer them through third party feed syndicators; this is easy since all the online channels are always looking for new and interesting content. Your feeds will all link back to your content -- and even better, you have a byline in which you can add links back to your site.
Next: Create Polls And Give Prizes Away >>
More Website Promotion Articles
More By Akinola Akintomide
