An often overlooked and great way to get some extra mileage out of that $250 plus MP3 player you drag around is loading it up with Podcasts. A Podcast is really just a name used for prerecorded information. Itunes has about 100,000 free ones listed on just about any subject you can think of in both audio and video formats.

But there's a lot more places to look than just Itunes. More and more famous and not so famous people are creating Podcasts on just about any subject. The best way to find them is to do a search on Google for Podcast and then your subject area.

You can also make your own podcasts with any software that can create recordings in MP3 format. One that many people rave about and is absolutely free is called Audacity. It's a free cross platform audio recorder and editor. It's supported by SourceForge.Net and runs on Macs, Windows, and Linux. You can find it at audacity.sourceforge.net and try it out.

Once you have created your masterpiece you can upload it to one of the free Podcast websites. There are quite a few and many have specific subject areas that will help you promote your Podcast. You can do a weekly series like a radio show, or do sequential instructional material, or just do different topics that may all have some synergy.

When I'm tired of listening to music, I often go search the free Podcast websites for information on areas of interest. A lot of the information out there is instructional or entertaining. I've listened to famous speeches, cooking shows, old radio shows, and a host of very diverse subjects. It's amazing what you can find available in a Podcast.

There are a lot of ways to use Podcasts for website owners. If you have a subject that Is better suited to talking about rather than writing (everyone can talk, not all can write) you can make a recording rather than a technical manual or article. Talking one on one is always easier than using the written word. Hey, you can even get fancy and put in background music or special effects.

Another good use for Podcasts is to record meetings, teleconferences, lectures, or special presentations for people to listen to after the event has occurred. If you teach, coach, or do any kind of instructional material, a Podcast of the information could come in real handy. Never present the same information twice, just send them the Podcast of the event.

If you have an MP3 Player that has a microphone and records (most record in wav and mp3 format but yours only uses a wav format you can convert wav files with the above mentioned recording software Audacity) you can record a presentation (make sure you don't violate any copyrights or do it without permission from presenter) for later use.

Got a son or daughter that's a musical whiz? Record them live and send to relatives and family friends. Sometimes video is too bulky in both shooting and recording but a Podcast is easy and makes much smaller files for downloading. Plus you can do it in your pajamas and no one will know.

Got a friend or relative in the service? Make a family Podcast (you can add people as you go along, no need to even have them all at the same place at the same time) and email it or make it available for download. When I was in the service my family sent tapes to me and my whole platoon would listen just to here someone from home talking.

The only limitation on Podcast ideas is your imagination. Listen to them, make them, and use them for work, family stuff, or even your own personal soapbox. MP3 Players can let you take them with you and listen at your convenience.