I just published some excellent articles on Podcasting on my Blog Brandz blog.

Podcasting is a way of publishing sound files to the Internet, allowing users to subscribe to a feed and receive new audio files automatically. Podcasting is distinct from other types of audio content delivery because it uses the RSS 2.0 protocol.

Jim Edwards explains in his article “Podcasting: Internet Radio On Demand… and MORE!” how podcasting allows the author to share his or her thoughts in audio form (MP3). Subscribers then download and listen to the audio either on their computers, burn the files to CD, or transfer the files to one of the increasingly popular portable MP3 players.

Another article by Sharon Housely notes that podcasting is extremely useful to the subscriber because the user can easily receive information he/she would like, and listen to it when they want. She says:

Many people believe that podcasting is solely for the distribution of music files, but really, nothing could be further from the truth. This emerging method of audio file distribution has opened an array of marketing and communication opportunities to businesses.

The article goes on to suggest possibilities for the many ways that podcasting can be used including

• Topic-specific radio talk shows with commentaries, interviews and debates that can now be heard at a time and place of the listener’s choosing
• Educational tutorials and foreign language instruction lessons that could be listened to during a work commute
• Supplementary class lectures, step by step tutorials or walking guides are all possible using podcasting
• An unlimited collection of books read aloud for elderly or visually-impaired listeners

The ways you use it are only restricted by your imagination. But, as a post on Audiographics notes, Anyone Can Podcast - Few Do It Well.

Podcasts are not simply opening a microphone and talking, as so many articles lead you to believe (although that is the way the vast majority of podcasts are done today). To do a podcast and develop an audience, the content needs to be presented in an organized, entertaining or informative way. It’s in that “organized” part that literally all podcasters fall down.

If you want to jump on the podcasting bandwagon, Earl J Lear is offering a step-by-step, video course on creating your own podcast, and promises to get you started in as little as 4 hours. Worth a look.