By starting a podcast version of a blog, the blogger is adding independent radio to their already existing personal publishing.
So what's a podcast anyway?
A podcast is simply a fancy way to place your blogs on an MP3 for playing at a later time. Podcasters record voice blog posts, and subscribers to the feed download them, as they would any other internet audio file.
My friend Terri Wells, in a feature article at technology site DevHardware, describes podcasting this way:
Subscribing to a podcast radio show is not difficult. All you need is a computer, podcast receiving software (also known as an aggregator) such as iPodder, and an MP3 music player. Subscribing to a podcast means that the show will be automatically downloaded to your computer, ready and waiting for you to listen to and/or move to your player. The steps to subscribe to a show do vary, so you will want to be careful when following the directions. If you just want to listen to a particular show rather than subscribe, most sites will also have directions for directly downloading only one show.
The technology takes advantage of Really Simple Syndication, a version of the so-called “push” technology that automatically delivers content to users. At one time, this technology was not taken seriously; it was thought that users would grow annoyed with it, particularly if businesses saw it as another chance to advertise. It hasn’t quite turned out that way.
In many ways, by means of podcasting a blog, an independent radio broadcast is born.
Blogging created citizen publishing, operating entirely outside of mainstream media control. In effect, blogging enabled everyone with computer and internet access to become their own newspaper and publishing company.
Podcasting provides much of the same form of freedom. A podcast is like operating an independent radio station, with a very select listening audience, built through subscribers to the feed.
Bloggers are already taking full advantage of posting audio blogs via podcasts.
A few bloggers have taken the concept one step farther.
Chuck and Cindy Zimmerman of Zimm-Comm Marketing and Communications Services, through their rapidly growing Talking News Releases blog are presenting a regular podcasting post series on their agri-business blog.
They are also offering audio press releases, using the podcast technology, on behalf of their agri-business clients.
Chuck and Cindy are quite far ahead of the curve, by offering audio press releases, into the fairly conservative area of press releases.
Most businesses use the traditional written press release, with the use of e-mail press releases being a fairly recent development. The traditionalist members of the mainstream media stubbornly seems to prefer the old style press releases as well.
Times they are a-changing, however.
Talking News Releases is working to change that mainstream media bias, and move the editors into audio press release subscriptions. The strategy appears to be working.
Chuck Zimmerman has noticed the recent success the audio press releases have enjoyed:
This release was sent out nationally from the newsroom. We're mobile! I can't say how much I liked the internet connection they set up here. It was secure wireless and faster than anything I've used yet! In fact, the emails to the reporters went faster than my Dell Inspiron could send them! My Outbox was constantly empty as my contact database program slowly pumped out the release to Outlook. Wish I had that much speed at the office.
For more on this podcasting story, Robert at InfOpinions has even more to say about the rapid growth of ZimmComm, and their audio approach to communications.
Podcasting helps create new audio blogs, and personal radio stations.
The same technology can be integrated into contact with the mainstream news media outlets, to multiply the benefits.
We are only just now scratching the surface of the potential of blogging.
The potential of podcasting is barely even touched; let alone scratched at all.
