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Web Site Content and How to Succeed with Article Marketing
By Nickolay Bokhonok

It is evident that whatever changes Google and other search engines make in future, still the game will be about quality web site content. Logically today we observe the increase of attention to web site content and everything that helps to score better with content over Internet has gained amazing demand.

No one was talking about article marketing a year ago, and now this keyword is searched by thousands. Articles give you publicity, better scoring with search engines, higher ranking. Articles are the peak of content game at the moment and here are the most crucial tips to win with article marketing on your web sites:

(i) Use search engine (SE) - friendly technologies.

Sitemap (Google + Yahoo).

Always use sitemaps on your sites. Create Google sitemap file, Yahoo sitemap file, submit them to relevant search engines - and you a
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are sitting safe with all new content on your site getting indexed in days (5 days maximum). When others wait for Google sandbox for 2 months, you get your new content indexed within a week.

RSS feeds.

When you run article directory on your site, copy the content to RSS feeds. Then submit RSS feeds to MyYahoo and MyMSN. This increases indexing a lot. Plus this is extra way to make search engines see your real work on site.

RSS newsblocks.

As this technology is a nice content optimizer for search engines, they keep indexing good info inside the database of RSS news and give high relevancy content on your pages, helping you out with duplicate content crossroads.

(ii) Use anchoring to score on your keywords.

Anchored text is another content optimizing technology for search engines. It means that search engines can easily learn a lot from the keywords inside the anchored text to the link.

In practise it means if you wrote a promo article and submit it to article directories, make sure they allow to use anchored links in resource box to that article. After good submission you will have hundreds of sites pointing/voting for your site. Imagine if all these sites have a text link that says ‘My Keyword’ and the linking goes your www.Your-Keyword-Site-Name.com Search engines will index all these pages with anchored text and you will get up the list for this keyword. You will save hundreds on advertising budgets to one way linking.

(iii) Keywords in names.

Whatever type of content you have on the site, stick to your keywords in naming file names, text links, pages using your keywords.

Search engines will never stop in their fight for bigger scope for indexing. Who knows, maybe one of top search engines will announce shortly the deeper level of indexing. If you make sure to name the files on keyword-wise base, you will score, because filenaming has big potential in terms of content optimization technique for search engines.

(iv) Never stop growing relevant content.

When you got the bots of search engines dwelling on your site pages, make sure to update content on regular basis, quality content. Search engines loves gradual and quality growth - even 2 new articles per day are fine, if these articles fit and up to the point.

Combine the tips above with smart SEO and your competitors will stand in line to join you.

Inventor & owner of Internet marketing tools and projects, Nickolay Bokhonok. Article Directory tool - Nick’s on board tool.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nickolay_Bokhonok

http://www.pcworld.com/resource/article/0,aid,125161,pg,1,RSS,RSS,00.asp

Bad things happen to good computers: Motherboards fry, hard disks die, and spyware and viruses muck up Windows. You’d call tech support, but most of those folks are just reading from a script. You figure you can do better on your own–and you’re probably right. To help get you started, we’ve assembled an expert guide to diagnosing some of the most common, tricky problems that befall a PC owner. And just in case you decide to throw in the towel, we’ve also interviewed some support technicians to find out what you can do (and, just as important, what you should avoid doing) to help them solve your problem with a minimum of hassle.

Linux Is Just Right For Teens
By Aaron Davis

Recently my daughter’s old Pentium III Compaq laptop completely died. This happened near Christmas so her gift list was an easy one. The problem was that I did not want to spend a lot of money. The other problem was that I hated her having a computer.

I hated it because I constantly had to work on it. She used the computer for homework, instant messaging, and browsing. Every couple of months, I found myself removing spyware and other junk from the computer. Occasionally it was easier just to re-build the computer by re-installing ALL the software, including the operating system. I track her internet usage through my router so I know that she has not been to “questionable” sites but these things continue to work their way into her computer.

I decided to consider something that I had never before considered. LINUX! I picked up another Pentium III (this one was a bit more powerful than her old laptop) desktop for under $100.00. I added some old memory that I had sitting on a shelf. I downloaded SUSE Linux and went to work.

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the installation was! There was very little interaction and my choices were very simple. In about 30 minutes, I had a working computer connected to the internet.

There are a few things with which I was very pleased. It was running very well with the old hardware. If I had used Windows XP I would have been forced to get a newer computer and spend hundreds of dollars. The operating system came with a browser (Firefox) and complete office software (OpenOffice – which is compatible with Microsoft Office products). There was also a very nice instant messaging tool that allows her to use many different IM clients in one piece of software. It had CD ripping and burning software as well as several audio programs. On top of that, the operating system and all the software were FREE!

Now I know most of the people reading this are thinking, “Ok, we have another anti Microsoft guy here”. That is absolutely not true. I am a Windows and web developer by trade and use Microsoft products exclusively (except for using Firefox as a browser when testing). I am a huge believer in the products that Microsoft produces simply because they work and in most cases work VERY well together.

The best thing about this change of operating system is that my daughter’s computer is now free of spyware and is not targeted by most viruses. The fact is that most viruses and spyware target Microsoft Windows only. Now I can rest easy knowing that I won’t be rebuilding a computer every few months.

Aaron Davis is a partner with Compucar, LLC (http://www.compucarllc.com) Compucar, LLC is the first company in the world to mass produce desktop computers that look like cars.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Aaron_Davis

Off-Site References:

* Lessons in Electric Circuits by Tony R. Kuphaldt et al.
* A Guilde to Filing a Utility Patent
* How to drill a Square Hole
* An Introduction to Ball Bearings by NTN products
* Notes on Design and Analysis of Machine Elements by Douglas Wright. This site is simply awesome.
* Bolt Science, more than you ever wanted to know about bolts.
* Bearing Technical Information, from QBC Bearings.
* Copper Tube and Fitting Manual includes dimensions, pressures, etc
* How to Make Springs
* Foundry 101 Aluminum and Brass Casting Guide.
* Anodizing Aluminum by Ron Newman
* United States Patent Database
* Martindale’s Reference Desk: Calculators On-Line
* Metric Conversions courtesy of Wiha Tools.
* Animated Engines
* Animated Virtual Mechanisms by Brock Institute for Advanced Studies (Java required)
* Animated Clock Escapements by Mark Headrick - check out his eBook, too.
* All About Pumps by Russell D. Hoffman, includes animations
* The Gingery Metalworking Series: Build a Metal Shop from Scrap from Lindsay’s Technical Books
* Hobbicast at Yahoo Groups.

Heroes

* ToolGirl Mag Ruffman, actress, contractor, and wicked wit.
* Science Hobbyist site by Uber Gizmologist Bill Beaty.
* Richard Feynman, a sheer, unmitigated genius.
* Bruce Simpson - would you believe a homemade cruise missile? Yes! Lots of pulse jet engines, too.
* Trevor Blackwell built a Segway-style balancing scooter. Too cool.
* David Hahn, the nuclear boy scout and ultimate do-it-yourselfer.
* Red Green, “any tool can be the right tool!”
* Rube Goldberg, the American Heath Robinson
* W. Heath Robinson, the British Rube Goldberg.

Sources for Parts:

* McMaster-Carr Supply sells everything.
* Grainger.com sells almost everything.
* Phoenix Manufacturing Company, a source for pulleys and belts.
* American Science & Surplus, a good source for wheels, bearings, etc.
* Harbor Freight, lots of (cheap) tools, VERY slow shipping.
* Enco machine tools, fast shipping
* Alumilite casting resin and moldmaking materials.

The Gizmologist’s Lair

SCIENCE HOBBYIST: Top Page

s : How do generators make Electricity?
2. Physics : descaling water magnetically
3. Physics : Thermodynamic scale movil
4. Physics : How can I build a generator at home?
5. Chemistry : Electric current passing thru chocolate syrup
6. Physics : The best miniature tornado
7. Physics : Car Rearview Mirror
8. Physics : How does sound travel down phone lines
9. Engineering : Magnetic field of parallel wires stack
10. Computer Science : html- how to flash GIFs?
11. Physics : AC is symmetrical, so why are 3 special prongs needed?
12. Physics : What is Electricity?
13. Physics : What makes electricity work?

1997

14. Earth Sciences : What is the official name of the ’skin effect’?
15. Chemistry : why does static electricity build up
16. Chemistry : How does one form silica spherules of specific dimensions
Adrian Popa, Staff Optical/Microwave Physics, Thu Feb 6 13:17:13 1997
17. Chemistry : What gases are in a black light bulb and how does it work?
18. Medicine : Are NMR machines noisy?
19. Cell Biology : Does rusting of iron commonly involve bacteria?
Josef Berger, Faculty General Biology, School of Biology South Bohemian U.
20. Physics : How does light work in a photostating machine?
21. Earth Sciences : Effects of Lightning on Electronic Equipment
Dwayne Rosenburgh, Physics/Electrical Engineering, Tue Nov 11 20:23:10 1997
22. Engineering : How large a value (Farads) can a capacitor POSSIBLY get?
23. Engineering : How can an ariplane fly upside down?
24. Physics : Why does the paint in the join between two walls fade less?
25. Physics : how the volt tracer or detector works thanks
26. Chemistry : Why does storing an automotive battery on a cement floor damage it?
27. Physics : electrocution in a bathtub
28. Physics : Newton’s third law

Podcasting - The Easy Way To Get Started
By Philip Nicosia

Imagine this: you’re in your room facing your computer. Over the microphone you say, “Good day, listeners. Today’s podcast is on… “ And as you continue to say your piece, the recording continues. This record is what people in your neighborhood, in your city, across the country, and even in other parts of the globe can hear as they tune in from their computers or digital audio players.

What are you doing? You are podcasting! As science turns imaginations into realities, you can become a DJ or to be specific, a podcaster, and have your own radio show, and be heard. Anywhere. Anytime. Anyhow you want it. You think this is cool? This is sub-zero cool!

Just as we’re getting accustomed to terminologies like e-mail, voice-chat, blogs, and so on, we now have PODCASTING. New Oxford Dictionary defines podcasting as “the digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the internet for downloading to a personal audio player”. But really, what is it?

Podcasting is a conjuncture of the words “iPod”, the most popular audio digital player created by Apple Computers, and “broadcast”, which means to put on air; hence, the association of podcasting to iPod or Apple computers. However, any brand of digital audio player is okay and any computer with a built-in or add-on microphone and soundcard will do.

The recording is uploaded into a website and becomes a web feed, aptly termed a podcast. Podcasts can be any music, advertisement, or information in audio or video format that is downloadable. They range from talk radio, comedy shows, news, political views, evangelization messages, language tutorials, business reports, and so on. Any subscriber can podcatch – meaning, download - and listen to podcasts.

But you say you’re not even trained or experienced to be a podcaster? There is no need at all. The charm of podcasting is that you can be your natural YOU!

So gear up! Catch the finest podcasting software offer in the market. Get the Podcast Blaster Package and unlock a whole new
world of podcasting made easy and more!

In its exclusive offer, the Podcast Blaster Package is bundled with Podcast Manual, Podcast Software, Podcast Safe Music and
Podcast Sound Files. The Podcast Manual will teach you how to record your podcast step-by-step, guide you on what equipment
you need or add if you want to expand, and direct you on how to get the audience you want. The Podcast Software is the recording application — intuitive, easy to navigate, and Macintosh or Windows-compatible. It comes with built-in special effects, user-friendly editing features, and proper export modules that will transform recording into podcast, no sweat! Finally, the Podcast Safe Music has over 100 sound files, or over 40MB, such as professionally produced voice-overs, loops, background effects, stingers and Podcast-safe music. The package also includes a guide to the best websites with free music downloads. If you get stuck with a technical problem, turn to the Podcast Blaster Team who will also assist your sales, refund, and other requests or inquiries. Podcast
Blaster is confident you will be satisfied with the package that it offers 100% money-back guarantee! Plus, you get a special bonus software!

Try podcasting and be among those who will dramatically transform the ever-changing landscape of this digital world.

Philip Nicosia is the webmaster of Podcastblaster.com, suppliers of the exclusive
Podcast Blaster Package.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Philip_Nicosia

3 Ways to Make Money with your Podcast
By Patrick Curran

How would you like to make money with your podcast? If you are podcasting, the potential to generate revenue from your podcast is an extra-added benefit to you as a podcaster.

As a podcaster, you don’t have to worry about large overhead and the revenue generated through your podcast will be mostly profit.

There are three main ways in which you can make money with your podcast.

1. Generate Revenue through Commerical Sponsors

One of the greatest ways to generate revenue for your podcast is through commercial sponsorship of your show. If you are able to obtain a major sponsor, you can bring in large revenue for your podcast. As time goes on, major companies are beginning to recognize the true importance of podcasting.

Two Moms, Paige and Gretchen, from Virginia understand the significance of commercial sponsors. They host a weekly show called MommyCast that focuses on mothers. Paige is a mother of 5 and Gretchen is a mother of 2.

They have obtained two major sponsors for their show, Earthlink and Dixie. As a result, they are making substantial revenue just from commercial sponsorship to their show. When they started podcasting, they probably had no idea how popular their show would become. However, Earthlink and Dixie recognized the impact of their show and decided to become sponsors. http://www.mommycast.com/

If two Moms from Virginia can do this, anyone can accomplish this same goal. It doesn’t matter where you live or what you are podcasting about. If you are able to generate a substantial listening audience, the chances of obtaining major sponsors for your podcast will increase.

Commercial sponsorship for your podcast is an excellent way to generate a great source of income. If you are able to obtain a big sponsor, this could bring in large revenue for you as a podcaster.

When two major corporations like Earthlink and Dixie recognize podcasting as a way to reach potential customers, this is great news for all podcasters. When a major sponsor advertises on traditional radio, the radio station’s signal is limited by wattage to a specific geographic region. However, with podcasting, there is no geographic limitation. Anyone in the world with a computer or mp3 player can potentially hear the show. Thus, this is an excellent selling point to potential sponsors.

2. Make Money with Donations

Another way to generate revenue with your podcast is with donations. For example, Adam Kempenaar and Sam Hallgren host a twice-weekly film podcast from Chicago called Cinecast. They review different movies and give their opinions. Their podcast is becoming very popular and continues to grow on a daily basis. http://www.cinecast.com/

If you visit iTunes, you will see that they are listed as a featured podcast in their podcast directory. This is a major plus for Cinecast. http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/

Adam and Sam have decided to make money by requesting donations for their podcast. When you go to their website, you will see a button for PayPay in which listeners can make a donation to their podcast. PayPal has a positive reputation and offers an excellent way for accepting donations.

If you provide valuable information to your listener, they will appreciate your efforts and be more likely to make a donation. However, in time, Cinecast will probably be able to acquire national sponsors.

When you first start podcasting, donations are an excellent way to generate revenue as your audience grows.

3. Get Money from your Website or Blog

The third way that you can make money with your podcast is with advertisements on your website or blog. Google Adsense is one way that you can accomplish this goal. Adsense places ads on your website and when someone clicks on the ads, you get paid. https://www.google.com/adsense/

Another way to make money with your website or blog is by promoting different products through Clickbank. ClickBank offers over 10,000 products that you can promote as an affiliate. It is free to sign up as an affiliate at ClickBank and you make money every time someone purchases a product through the links that are displayed on your site. http://clickbank.com/

The key element to generating revenue is getting your podcast noticed. The best way to accomplish this goal is by getting your podcast listed in iTunes and also listing your podcast with other podcast directories. You need to let people know that you are out there so that you can obtain a large audience. Over time, as your audience grows, the potential for commercial sponsors will also grow.

Author Bio:

Patrick Curran is a professional radio Disc Jockey who takes you through the process of creating your own podcast. He reveals insider secrets to skyrocket your podcast – nothing held back. He provides easy steps to learn podcasting so that
you can start your podcast today. To learn How
to Podcast, please visit: http://www.radiosecretsforpodcasting.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Patrick_Curran

Podcasting Alchemy: Customer Service Transformed Into Gold
By Mark Orion

The magic’s in the medium and podcasting is hot – molten hot. It wasn’t long ago a simple search for podcasting in Google turned up about 600,000 results. Now, in less than a year’s time, the search boils over with 36,400,000!

And… the numbers are rapidly growing!

Wake up call. Podcasting is exploding. This is the Internet powerhouse to watch in 2006.

Exactly how is podcasting turning customer service into gold? Let’s take a look inside Merlin’s cave and see what going on with this phenomenon…

First of all, relatively speaking, podcasting provides a powerful bang for the buck. It’s your show, your way, to your audience… who is looking to you as their subject matter expert. They want to hear you and through the miracle of RSS, they simply subscribe once and automatically, each week you have their attention.

Unlike the splatter of radio ads, podcasting audiences want to hear what you have to say. And because the focus is on niche content tailored specifically to your audience, compared to radio advertising costs, podcasting stomps the competition in overall cost-effectiveness.

Studies have proven that we retain more of what we hear than what we see or read. You talk to your customers and they grow to know you. Tom K., a loyal listener of a popular podcast about digital camcorders had this to say, “With podcasting it’s personal. It’s one-on-one. I feel like I get to know the host and I grow to trust what they’re saying. You can tell if someone’s on the level when you spend time with them each week.”

Little wonder customers are feeling loyal to their podcast programs. This is beyond branding… this is alchemy turning the relationship into familiarity and trust.

What else is it but pure gold when you earn the loyalty of your customers? Earn… well yes, indeed… the old fashioned way… as the once popular commercial stated, “we earn it”.

The more you shine the light on the benefits to your customer, the more you gain position and value in your customer’s mind.

Here’s a few ideas:

Technical Support: Make your support folks into customer superstars. Providing detailed technical support for your product ensures a positive customer experience and loyalty. Bring your support staff into your show and teach your customers how to use your product or service and most importantly, how to correct any problems that may arise. Plus, this saves you money in human capital and costs of customer support.

Preview of New Features or Services: What better way to get market research than to ask your customers what they want and what they think about proposed new products. Podcasting opens the door to two-way communications as your customers post comments and send emails providing you valuable insights.

Share Best Practices: How are your customers using your product or service? Have you heard of an innovative way to get additional value from your product? Many times you’ll hear from a customer how they have developed a new or more efficient way to use your product and podcasting gives you the forum to share these tips.

That’s just a few of the creative ways podcasting is opening new possibilities each day. The sky’s the limit so now is the time to bring your company into the podcasting revolution.

Get a MP3 player or simply listen from your computer and explore the myriad of podcasting shows out there. You’re going to be amazed, enthused, and eager to get involved.

Go for it! Turn your customer service into gold!

Mark Orion is Director of Marketing with http://www.epodogy.com, an Austin, TX company dedicated to serving clients with podcasting consulting, design & creation services.

Visit http://www.epodogy.com and get your company started podcasting to your customers.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Orion

Podcasting Your Own Podcast
By Louise Anderson

The hippest new way to broadcast information on the internet, podcasting, crept into internet vocabulary in 2004. And the editors of the New Oxford American Dictionary have selected “podcast” as the word of the year for 2005.

Why is podcasting cool and so compelling? Unlike traditional broadcasting, podcasting allows you to select what you want to download to your iPod or other portable audio device and listen to later.

A podcast is the wide and growing world of a blog. And of course that means it’s just as cheap: free and easy for all. The major difference is that a podcast involves audio content feeds of “live happenings” while a blog records what happened in the past. So podcast yourself and you’ll catch up with the growth of technology.

Especially, no one controls over what you have podcast. No rules, no regulations. Adam Curry, known as an MTV VJ to some but to most as one of the fathers of podcasting, said, “You can hear all these shows that are completely free and open with no FCC restrictions and they don’t have to sound the way radio traditionally has.” He added, “Anyone who wants to sell anything or communicate through audio can use this technology.” And since anyone can be a podcaster, the cost of publishing free speech plunges.

Podcasting is a cross between a radio show and a blog. The great thing is anyone can produce a podcast with little budget and basic knowledge of IT. Once you have produced your own podcast, and as long as you keep on podcasting, you can invite people to subscribe to receive updates regularly instead of having to revisit your site. This is done in a very similar way to using an RSS reader to syndicate blog.

Now, if you want to be a celebrity overnight, all you need is a little piece of software, sort of Music Morpher Gold, a microphone and a great concept and you’re an instant podcaster. Not only will your voice be podcast, the many formats of podcasting will also let you publish your video or pictures. That’s the reason why you can use DVD Player-Morpher Gold to produce those stuffs.

Have a future in the entertainment industry. Host your own talk show, music radio, personal radio show, etc. Or just distribute your audio and video via the internet. It’s all about convenience! Let everyone see your music as “a proper podcast” in place of “a common crap”.

Louise shares some tips to make a podcast. Check out http://www.audio4fun.com for more information.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Louise_Anderson

The Future of Podcasting - The Life of a Wannabe Pirate
By Brent Paine

For anyone who isn’t aware what Podcasting is, be advised that you are missing out on one of the biggest technology trends since this little thing we like to call “The Internet” first got started!

Yes, despite all the nay-sayers the popularity of Podcasting is increasing at an astronomical rate. The question is no longer whether Podcasting is a fad, but on how large an audience this new media can sustain!

If you peek back in time, it was around 1994/1995 when the National Science Foundation opened its main backbone to the Internet, giving way to the flood of popularity that followed.

Similar to Podcasting now, people in the mid 90’s claimed the Internet was just a fad and would never amount to more than a fancy means of research. Of course, with advances in software and technology, we began seeing pictures, graphics and yes, even streaming video crop up and it was only a matter of time before it was adopted by tens of millions, and eventually hundreds of millions of people.

Podcasting Is Not The Internet!

No, you’re right. Podcasting is NOT the Internet… technology-wise. They’re like apples and oranges. However, they’re cut from the same mold and if you were to draw comparisons between their lifecycles, you will see that Podcasting has already surpassed the Internet in its meteoric rise in popularity.

The technology that makes Podcast deliverability possible was first developed back around 2000, but the first real Podcasters didn’t surface until the fall of 2004. Yes, 2004! The format was developed and pushed by two notable Podcasters, Adam Curry and David Wiener before it was quickly picked up by hundreds of others and the rest, as they say, is history.

Now, barely a year after Podcasting exploded onto the scene and was embraced by Podcasters, Bloggers, and Marketers alike, you can find over 10,000 Podcasts and over 100,000 episodes at popular online Podcast Directories like PodcastEmpire.com.

In Fact, the adoption of Podcasting has been overwhelming. The allure of the People’s Radio becomes quickly obvious when you listen to Podcasts such as ‘Dawn and Drew’ or ‘5 Minutes with Witchita’ - a real entertainer!

Listeners around the world are speaking out and clearly DO prefer the frank conversations, great information and raw emotions that are delivered via Podcast MP3’s!

There Be Pirates In Them There Waters!

Maybe it has something to do with a generation who is still longing to have their own pirate radio station, like Christian Slater in “Pump Up The Volume”… Perhaps it’s just that more people have something to say, desperate to climb above the masses and make their voices heard…

Either way the ‘Waters of the Podverse’ are filling up with self-proclaimed pirates, and why not? There is no policing of the Podcast airwaves, it costs very little to get started and anyone with something to say can find an audience!

The reason so many of these Podcasting rebels succeed is the same reason why so many traditional radio stations are beginning to fail. With no FCC regulators knocking at their doors, Podcasters don’t need to hold anything back. You can say anything you want, whenever you want, as loudly as you want. And listeners are flocking to the raw, honest format.

X Marks The Spot! Arg!

After a solid year (Podcasting was even named Word Of The Year in 2005!) and a drastic increase in popularity, advertisers are slowly beginning to come out of the woodworks, enabling some Podcasters to see a return on their efforts.

Unfortunately though, Podcasting is not yet a medium where you should expect to become rich overnight and this may be one area where terrestrial radio stations have an advantage over the Podcast Upstarts. With gold in the coffers already and more advertisers lining up each day, it doesn’t really matter what they do in the medium, traditional radio stations have all the money they need to keep their Podcasts in the game indefinitely!

Also, the entire concept of commercializing Podcasting has become a heated debate, splitting the Podverse in two ever since advertisers began trickling in last year. The same issues that we saw in the ’90’s around commercialization Online are starting to crop up. Podcasters and Podcast listeners alike are refusing to conform, and many are refusing advertisers outright.

We are slowly starting to see changes in this mentality though as more and more Podcast Creators are adding commercials and name drops to their shows to help keep costs down and keep their content online. And the pervasive fear, that listeners will go so far as to stop listening if they hear any advertisements, have so far, proved unfounded.

Walk The Plank, Ya Filthy Skallywag!

Where does Podcasting go from here? Can it survive? Well it was back in May of 2005 when Bill Gates commented in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung:

“As good as Apple may be, I don’t believe the success of the iPod is sustainable in the long run. You can make parallels with computers: Apple was very strong in this field, with its Macintosh and graphic interface — like the iPod today — and then lost its position,”

The comment was realistic, but does it also offer some insight into Microsoft’s own plans?

Microsoft has a proven track history of moving into an existing and established arena and quickly slaying the dominant forces! So was Gates simply foreshadowing his own companies venture into this industry? With the success of Windows Captaining their ship, Microsoft could be the ultimate pirate, sailing the seas looking, not for simple treasures, but for entire colonies to conquer.

So far Microsoft has not made any moves although Yahoo!, one of Microsoft’s leading competitors in the Online Search world has jumped into the fray with their own solution for Podcasting and in typical fashion has released their own directory.

Meanwhile, Apple remains unphased and continues to roll out new incarnations of their wildly popular iPod players.

You Have The Power!!!

At the end of the day the emerging Podcast Industry will evolve as it does, without ever consulting any of us, but the continuing appeal of Podcasts and Podcasting is that, for possibly the first time ever, you and I have a very real opportunity to influence mainstream media, or at least, bypass traditional media and influence the masses; which really amounts to the same thing anyway.

Overall, you should expect to see sustained growth in Podcasting in 2006. So, if you have something to say, anything at all, pull out your eye-patch, slap a parrot on your shoulder and dive into the world of Online Pirate Radio while the Booty is still good!

Brent Paine is a writer and partner at PodcastEmpire.com, Canada’s leading Podcast Directory who also offers services designed to help Podcast Creators increase their listenership and capitalize on their efforts.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brent_Paine