A podcast is just an mp3 file. It can hold audio content, like music or talking.

A podcast with no content is sort of boring.

So you have to figure out what your podcast will be. Will you start your own radio talk show? Will you share your musical compositions with the world? What is your goal with this podcast? Before you do anything else, you need to figure this out.

Step 1: Recordificate

Once you've figured out what you want to be in your podcast, the next step is to record it. You don't need lots of fancy software and hardware for this. You simply need a microphone of some sort and some recording software (same goes for recording yourself playing music).

You can get a microphone for your computer very cheaply almost anywhere. I got one from a yard sale for 10 cents. Just plug it in and fire up your recording software.

I also have a sandisk sansa e250, which comes with a voice recording feature. It records to .wav files, which are easily convertible to .mp3. You could even record yourself using an old cassette recorder and then rip it to .mp3 if you like.

For the software, you can use the free audio software audacity. Windows also comes with the stupidest sound recorder ever which nonetheless will work for this if you insist on using it. If using the non-vista version of windows sound recorder, just record some audio and copy/paste it until you have an audio file of the length you want to record for. Then record over it.

So get a microphone, get some audio software and record your content! Then you can publish it.

Step 2: Create the .rss File

This isn't as hard as it may seem.

An RSS file is just a text file with the .rss extension.

You can use a site like this free one to create the necessary file:http://podcast.redevelopments.co.uk/

You can also use a text editor (not a word processor) to create the file.
You'll be writing the file in a language called XML. It uses tags, like our friends HTML and XHTML.

Here's an example of an RSS file. You can copy and paste it and modify it according you your needs. (Note, the example code is not mine.) It may not work with the online service you use though.

<rss version="2.0"><channel><title>My Program</title><link>http://www.mywebsite.com/myaudio.mp3</link><description>My first podcast</description><language>en-us</language><copyright>2005</copyright><lastBuildDate>Todays Date*</lastBuildDate><webMaster>youremail@whatever.com</webMaster><ttl>1</ttl><item><title>Todays Radio Show - Monday</title><description>Here is my Monday podcast. Hope you like it.</description><pubDate>Wed, 23 Aug 2006 00:56:00 GMT</pubDate>*<enclosure url="http://www.mywebsite.com/myaudio.mp3" length="4834743" type="audio/mpeg"/></item></channel></rss>}}}(* Make sure you express the date in the format of: Day:Date:Month:Year: hh:mm:ss . Also, you have to tell what timezone you are in, relative to GMT)

Step 3: Get Published Really Quickly

One way to get published is to simply email your mp3 file and your rss file to this site. They will then email you back with everything you need. This is probably the quickest, easiest way to do it.

If this isn't for you, read on.

Step 4: Another Way to Get Published.

Upload your mp3 file to your site. If you don't have a website, you can get a free one from bravenet.com or a similar site.

Then upload the rss file you created in the last step.

Validate it by entering the address where your podcast is located here: http://rss.scripting.com/

If it passed (or if it didn't but you tweaked it and now it does,) Congratulatons! The link to the rss file is now the link to your active podcast.

Why not use a service like www.podcastalley.com (also free) to advertise it? It's no fun having a podcast with no listeners.

Remember to update it, or you'll lose your listeners!

Please comment if this instructable has been helpful, you're having problems, or to correct things.