"Podcasting" was declared the 2005 "Word of the Year" by the New Oxford American Dictionary, but you may still be unsure of what exactly podcasting is and why you should add podcasting to your Internet marketing repertoire.

The definition is straightforward. A podcast is a multimedia file that may combine sound, visual, and textual information, distributed over the Web via syndication feeds. The user can play the files back either at a computer or on a mobile device such as an iPod.

What's so special about podcasting? It's not the sound file, for sound files have been part of the Web since the beginning -- just ask anyone who has ever received an online card that plays a jingle. The same is true for pictures and video. Distribution makes podcasting special. The ability to syndicate multimedia in a feed using RSS has changed the distribution and ratcheted up the use of audio and other multimedia content.

For the podcaster, an RSS feed makes it very easy to notify subscribers that there is a new episode of the podshow ready for them to download to their mobile players or to listen to at their computers. For the user, subscription is easy, and free software such as iPodder (www.ipodder.org/directory/4/ipodderSoftware) and iTunes (www.apple.com/itunes/download/) automates the process of downloading new shows. Once downloaded, these shows can be listened to whenever the user wants. With the rapid proliferation of podshows developed by a growing number of podcasters, the user can readily choose to listen only to media that is of interest, whether it is a playlist of tunes or episodes of favorite podshows.

Because podcasting allows the user to time-shift his or her listening to the content, some have called it "Tivo for the ear." It's not quite the same. Portability changes the equation. Podcasts not only allow time-shifting but also space-shifting.

How can you join the podcast revolution and empower your marketing messages with the human voice? Podcasting is actually relatively simple. In another issue, I will be including information on how to create a podcast using the telephone. This type of mobile podcasting has been called "moblogging." We'll show you how easy it is to join the growing population of podcasters.

For more information on Podcasting, see the Web Marketing Today Research Room (www.wilsonweb.com/cat/cat.cfm?page=1&subcat=mm_Podcasting).