RSS Podcasting And The Next Internet Marketing Revolution
Michalis 'BIG Mike' Kotzakolios

Podcasting is an amazing new medium that allows web publishers to deliver audio content in an entirely novel procedure. Since the popularity of portable media devices like iPods and other mp3 players have consistently risen in recent years, many web publishers have deemed that it is an amazing opportunity to provide for content other than downloadable songs. The result is staggering. Today, podcasts, or audio episodes where a speaker discusses a variety of subjects ranging from the informative to the entertaining, have been downloaded close to 70 million times in 2005 alone. If we consider that podcasting was just in its infancy during the said year, we'd be able to see the magnificent potentials of the medium as a very effective digital delivery alternative.

Podcasting's future does look promising, with its integration with RSS technology. RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication. It is a technology that informs a program, called an RSS aggregator, that the content of a particular server to which the user has subscribed has changed. The user can then opt to download the content. This technology was first used with online news feeds. Marketers have found a novel usage for it and today, experts agree that by 2010, most households in the world will prefer using RSS compared to other conventional content delivery services.

RSS podcasting merges the benefits of both words. A web publisher's podcasts need an audience, and RSS can provide them such on a consistent basis. RSS podcasting would empower the web publisher to capture its audience and continue delivering the installments of his audio episodes.

But this is just the outer layer of the cake. With the introduction of RSS 2.0 technology, wherein multimedia data can now be compressed for digital delivery, streaming podcasts are now possible. Whereas the normal method is to download the podcasts first before the user can listen to them, the new form of RDD podcasting allows the user to listen to the podcast even while he's downloading the same. This almost instantaneous delivery of content further elevates the promising nature of podcasting, particularly RSS podcasting.

There are many applications for your podcasts. You could use them to deliver a message, to share an opinion, to entertain countless people, and to educate your listeners about particular subjects. Marketing-wise, podcasting can be used to deliver a business message and to promote some products. Podcasts can even be used as products themselves, as subscription to a particular series can be sold for a price. Of course, it goes without saying that your content should be commensurate in value to the rates you will charge.

And with RSS technology, podcasting becomes an even more potent marketing tool worthy of the highest merits. If you wish to position your online business in a favorable position in the coming years, now is the time to start studying the basics of podcasting.

BIG Mike is a well known author, developer and Adsense expert as well as the owner of Niche Maniacs - a unique Adsense Marketing System designed to build long-term passive income streams from Adsense, YPN, Chitika and other PPC services.