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Personal Plug of the Week
This week’s personal plug of the week is the Entrepreneur On Fire podcast from John Dumas. John has taken the bold challenge of creating a daily podcast that will feature interviews with inspiring entrepreneurs. I encourage you to check out the podcast. If you enjoy it, please let John know that you heard about it from Podcast Answer Man.
FEEDBURNER FEAR FIASCO
There was a widespread panic among bloggers and podcasters this past weekend. On Friday, many people woke up to find that Feedburner was reporting that all their feeds had zero subscribers. It’s hard to explain just how many emails, tweets, facebook messages, etc that I had received regarding this issue.
Rather than respond to anyone right away, I immediately tested feedburner and then wrote a blog post titled “Feedburner – Is The Sky Really Falling?” If you have not yet done so, I highly encourage you to read my Feedburner blog post and all the conversations within the comments.
I’m happy to say that my prediction was correct. Feedburner had updated their status blog, letting the world know that they were aware of the issue and that they were working to resolve it. Had people heeded my suggestion of simply enjoying their weekend, they would have come back to find that not only did Feedburner resolve the issue, they also restored all the stats, during the days of the outage, to all accounts.
I will argue that events of this weekend were the greatest thing to happen for those of us who use Feedburner. Why? Because it proves that Google does still have people who work on Feedburner, they do still have a status blog that they will update to let us know when they are working on a widespread issue. I share more of my thoughts in this podcast episode as well.
Should I Pay A Flat Fee For Bandwidth or Pay Per GB?
Recently, Deb had posted a question in the comments section of one of my recent blog posts. She wrote the following:
Just about to pull the trigger and get a LibSyn account for podcasting, but got this new offer from my web hosting company Dreamhost and wondered what you all thought of it.
They say, “Unlike traditional web hosting where monthly pricing is fixed and resources are unlimited, pricing for DreamObjects is usage-based. You only pay for data that you store on our servers and for the amount of data that is transferred from them.
Storage costs start at $0.07 per GB (Amazon S3 starts at $0.12!) and scales all the way down to $0.044 per GB, depending on just how much data you choose to store with us. Outbound transfer costs are fixed at $0.07 per GB.
All beta users will have access to a free trial period lasting TWO WHOLE months! During that time you’ll not incur any charges as long as you store less than 10GB of data and transfer out less than 20GB.
Anything more than 10 and 20 kind of tests the limits of the term “trial” and will incur $0.07/GB overage charges, both for storage and outbound data transfer.”
Thoughts about starting with this as opposed to LibSyn?
Thanks!
Deb
In response to this, my main concern would be the issue of COST.
Let’s say that you average about 60,000 downloads per month and that your average file size is about 50MB.
50MB x 60,000 is 3,000,000 MB or 2,929.69 GB
If I were paying $0.07 per GB, I’d be paying $205.08 per month.
With Libsyn, you could get their $40 per month account and the cost would be a GUARANTEED FLAT $40 per month. That means that you would save $1,980.96 per year with Libsyn over what you would pay with the Dream Host plan that is being considering.
I personally prefer FLAT FEES for bandwidth rather than paying Per GB
An Interview Tip That May Improve Your Podcast Interviews
I was recently listening to a podcast interview where the host of the podcast seemed to feel the need to validate each and every single sentence their guest spoke with a “mmmh hmmm,” a “Yeah, ” or a “Right.”
One of the best things you can do when you invite someone to come and share their thoughts on your show is to remain silent while they are talking. Sure, you can affirm something they said every now and then, maybe even laugh at something funny they might say. However, after you have recorded an interview with someone, I encourage you to go back and listen to your interview and see how many times you may have interrupted your guest to make a point, finished a sentence or a thought for your guest, or simply gave a verbal response to each of the things your guest said.
I have found that when I’m interviewing someone, or when I have a co-host, one of the most difficult things for me to do is to remain silent. However, I’ve often found that if I allow my guest to speak, without my interruptions, the results are that the thoughts and feelings of my guests are more clearly communicated.
Social Media Segment
In this weeks’ social media segment, Erik Fisher and I discuss whether or not Twitter displaying your follower count may be a thing of the past and we also discuss the upcoming rebirth of MySpace.
The Return of MySpace.
For those that don’t know this, Erik and I used produce a weekly show called Social Media Serenity. Back on May 5th 2011 we discussed the fact that MySpace was for sale. That was episode 88 and I made a bold statement that MySpace was absolutely worth 100 Million Dollars and I predicted that MySpace would one day return to be a relevant social network.
On July 7th 2011, in episode 97 of SMS, we discussed the fact that Justin Timberlake took ownership stake in MySpace and that I was certain that my prediction would ultimately come true.
On September 24th, Mashable gave us a Sneak Peak into the new MySpace. I’m actually very excited to see the brand new MySpace when it launches.
8th Annual Podcast Awards Nominations Open October 1st – 15th
Please mark your calendar for October 1st to nominate your favorite podcasts. If you consider nominating any of the shows that I produce, please see http://gspn.tv/awards for important information regarding which category to nominate each show for.
Podcasting A to Z – Register Today!
Ready To Start Your Podcast or Take Your Existing Show To The Next Level?
I’m happy to announce that I’ve scheduled my next Podcasting A to Z Online Training Course. The course will start on Monday, November 26th and will run through Friday, December 21st.
Please check out http://PodcastingAtoZ.com for all the details about what is offered in this course. If you sign up using the discount code “PAM” in the shopping cart, you’ll save $100 off the cost of the course and you’ll be provided with immediate access to all the tutorials.
Shop With B&H Photo & Support Podcast Answer Man
I am thrilled about the relationship that I have formed with the folks at B&H Photo, Video, & Pro Audio. They have amazing prices on podcast equipment and so much more. Best of all, their customer service is almost as good as my own.
When placing an order through my affiliate link, you end up paying the same low price and I earn a generous commission. If you have used my affiliate link to make a purchase with B&H, please leave me a comment with your name and a link to your website in the comments section below.
Blue Host Affiliate Signup
I want to send out a special word of thanks to the folks behind the following domains that were used to create a new hosting account with BlueHost with my Blue Host affiliate link recently. As you know, I earn a commission each time someone clicks through my link to sign up with Blue Host. So thank you!
Accounts that were created recently:
– http://BestFutureStartsNow.com
– http://LetsTalkJapan.com
– http://WaltFord.com
– http://MichaelWildmanPhotography.com
Note: The fact that I have linked to these accounts is only to acknowledge that these folks have used my affiliate link to create a hosting account with BlueHost. These links are not an endorsement of any content that may be posted to these sites. If you ever recognize content blatantly offensive at any of these links, please let me know and I will be sure to evaluate and consider if the link should be removed from this post. These accounts are all brand new and may not be active yet. Also, it is possible that some of these domains were previously owned and my not have been transfered to BlueHost just yet.
The Podcast Mastermind
One of the reasons that I love working with podcasters so much is due to the fact that they are influencing someone every single time they produce a podcast episode. The world needs great leaders! I believe that podcasters who take their leadership position seriously can make a positive difference in the lives of others. The world needs you and your message! They need you to be a leader!
Many people ask me how to grow the audience of their podcast. I believe that one of the best things you can do is to BELIEVE IN YOURSELF! To take yourself seriously! To consider yourself to be a professional!
Are you willing to invest in your future success?
Are you willing to be the greatest leader you can be?
Are you wiling to commit to your personal and professional growth?
If so, please consider joining The Podcast Mastermind!
Free Month of Media Hosting With Libsyn!
Because of all the years of sending clients to sign up for accounts with Libsyn, they have created an affilate programs only given to a hand selected group of podcasting experts. I’m delighted that I am now able to offer your ONE MONTH FREE when you sign up for a new account with Libsyn. Simply use promo code GSPN when you sign up! For my complete thoughts on podcast hosting, click here.
PODCAST VIDEO TUTORIALS:
I have a growing list of video tutorials that I have created based up on the the top things my clients have hired me to help them with. See the full list of tutorials by clicking here.
I Appreciate Your iTunes Reviews!
If you have ever read my blog post about how iTunes podcast ratings work, then you know just how valuable leaving a 5 star rating and/or a written review can be to a content producer.
I am so incredibly thankful to those who have recently gone into my listing in iTunes to provide a five start rating and a written review of Podcast Answer Man.
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