Podcasts are easy to create, especially for radio stations. They provide an additional means to offer something unique to your listeners. Because they are so easy to create, many listeners may create their own podcasts. Don't let the opportunity slip by. Find a topic and have your air staff get busy.

There are many online tutorials on how to create and submit a podcast, but there are a few key points that will help promote and distribute your podcast. The best part is that there is no charge to submit the feed to any of the podcast directories.

Station podcasts will naturally be posted to the station's website. Unfortunately, that's where many stations stop. Practically speaking, station listeners may not be the same as podcast listeners, so don't limit the distribution tools to just one place.

Making a podcast available through an aggregator will not only help listeners find your podcast, but will also make it easier for them to download it. First, create an XML document for the feed aggregator to use to determine the title, artist, and many other variables for the audio files. This XML file should be stored in the same directory as the audio files on the server.

Then promote the feed using an aggregator, such as Feedburner or Feedzilla. Enter the URL of the XML file as requested by the aggregator. The URL should look something like http://beradio.com/podcast/feeds/podcast.xml. There are usually several options within the aggregation site, such as e-mailing the podcast to someone else and promoting the feed.

Now that the podcast has been produced, it can be submitted to Itunes and other podcast directories. Don't forget to add a link on the station website to the feeds on the aggregator and on the podcast directory.

These simple steps will help listeners — existing and new — find your podcasts and easily access them.