by Mark Standland

Created on: June 28, 2010   Last Updated: July 11, 2010

What is a podcast?

To fully understand how you as a blogger can use podcasting you first need to know what exactly a podcast is, how other people use it and what you can expect to gain from doing your own podcasting.

The word podcast was made from the two words iPod and broadcasting. A podcast is basically a non-streamed webcast (meaning it is not listened to live but rather a recording). Podcasts can be audio, video or both and are often released as regular episodes but this is not a demand. Despite the name podcasts are not exclusively for iPod but can be downloaded by and listened to by anyone which is why the word podcast later has been said to also mean Personal On Demand broadCAST to give it a more neutral name and to maybe clear some of the initial confusion.

How can bloggers use podcasts?

By running a podcast you open your blogging up to a whole new group of people. Not only will your current followers be introduced to your podcasts but also new ones will find it completely separate from the original blog. Podcasts have a naturally big potential audience because of the size of the app store but also other markets on the Internet. Tapping into this market is a good way to increase the number of followers on your blog.

In addition to your written blog a podcast gives you a chance to do something completely different. Debating your own posts, responding to comments from users or simply adding new thoughts to your original post are all possible with a podcast. These podcasts gives you a lot more room when it comes to dealing with skeptic users questioning your professionalism or simply to give further explanations to questions you have not answered fully in a previous blogpost.

A podcast also gives you the option to go in a completely different direction with your content. You can make it more personal and make podcasts about your hobbies or you can choose to make a podcast that displays a completely different opinion to an issue or if you keep a very neutral blog you can give your opinion on a certain topic.

Doing podcasts also gives you a whole new way of adding video to your content. Videos can be added where the blogger want it to be displayed and that way makes it an integrated part of the content. It can also help give the blogger more a more personal edge by putting a face to the words.

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