Podcasting is one of the newest marketing tools available to businesses. Named after the popular iPod, podcasts allow businesses to broadcast audio and/or video files over an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed. Like a blog, a podcast allows you to share information with others. The information can be in the form of a talk show, a lecture, a seminar, interviews – it’s really only limited by your imagination and technical skills.

Podcast listeners subscribe to podcasts through sites such as www.podcast.net or Apple’s iTunes interface. They can either listen to them on their personal computer or download them to their iPod for listening on the road.

The subjects covered in podcasts are amazingly diverse. There are podcasts on how to turn a hauling business into gold, how to hire employees, how to start a small business, how to grow your home-based business – the list is really endless. On podcast.net alone, there are nearly 30,000 podcasts, covering business, the arts, computers, technology, shopping, hobbies, sports, politics and local and regional news and views.

Putting together a podcast is reasonably straightforward. There are two great tools available for creating a professional sounding podcast: GarageBand and Audacity.

GarageBand is available only on the Macintosh, but since the Mac is now a multi-platform system that can handle Windows XP and Mac software, it may be a smart buy for you if you don’t already have a computer.

GarageBand has a set of easy to use features that will let you create and produce a top quality podcast, including musical intros, sound effects and editing capabilities. It automatically exports the podcast as a ready to use file that can be dropped onto your website and connected via a link on your pages.

Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) is a free software program for PCs and Macs that does many of the same things as GarageBand.

We have plenty of podcasting tips for you.