Welcome to Podtopia.net
Tools and Training for the Perfect Podcast
Podtopia.net provides low-cost/no-cost, easy-to-use, common-sense podcast training and publishing services to folks who just want to get their podcasts out there.
Get Started the Smart Way
Podtopia.net provides education, training, tutorials, and consulting for individuals, businesses and organizations who want to make the most of emerging online audio and video technologies to:
- Promote their Products
- Publicize their Progress
- Market their Services, and
- Get their Ideas Out to a Global Audience
While podcasting can be confusing at first, and all the different possibilities and options may be baffling, with the right approach, you can streamline and simplify your podcasting efforts to make the most of the medium without driving yourself nuts.
So, What Is Podcasting?
Podcasting is the "broadcast" of an audio file (usually an mp3) on a website. It uses a RSS feed file to "syndicate" the content to anyone with an RSS reader (most new browsers come with RSS integrated in them, and you can also find more online).
Site visitors can subscribe to receive notifications of new versions of the podcast, simply by clicking a link to an "RSS" (really simple syndication) feed file, or adding the link to their podcatcher/feed aggregator/reader (or in some cases their browser). Whenever a new version of the podcast is available, the feed reader retrieves the new information, so the new audio can be downloaded.
After it's downloaded to the listener's computer, the podcast can be played directly on the computer with commonly available software (like Windows Media Player or RealPlayer or WinAmp). Or it can be moved to an MP3 player like an iPod or an iRiver, for listening later.
If it sounds complicated, don't worry. Once you get started podcasting and podcatching, it all comes together. Before long, it can become second nature.
Podcasting as we know it is a relatively new phenomenon, but the adoption rate has been phenomenal by individuals, organizations and businesses on the cutting edge, who see the real potential of this medium. Podcasting is not only simple and straightforward to do (provided you follow common sense and commit to a consistent production schedule), it's also an extremely powerful way to reach a wide audience with the power of voice and sound. And with vidcasting (the video sibling of audio podcasting), the possibilities are exponentially greater.
We still have a long way to go, as an industry, before we can use the word "podcast" in a sentence and not have folks look at us like we're either "crazy bloggers" who got 'hold of a microphone, or we're upper-middle-class emerging media mavens with deep pockets to spend on the latest gadgets.
Podtopia.net's new focus is on helping you (as an individual, a business owner, a staffer, an executive, a consultant, a coach, or an overworked member of an organization) to master the details of this new technology, so that you can get up and running without spending a fortune and wasting a huge amount of time. I'll be adding more links and more content over time, to help you create and publish your own customized digital audio that communicates to your audience in ways that text and images alone can't do. And here you'll find ways to combine your different communications and campaigns to leverage the strengths of each and truly saturate the market you're targeting.
There are as many different ways to podcast, as there are people in the world, and Podtopia is here to help you create the podcast you desire at your own pace, and in your own way. With links to great resources, tutorials and more, you'll find plenty of ways to get up and running with your own podcasts right away!