A Sample Equipment Correspondence

So I hardly make use of the Press & Testimonials category of my site here. I’ve preferred to put my testimonials on the recommendations page for now.

However, if you’ve ever wondered was an equipment consult would be like with me. I can give you a glimpse by sharing an email response that I just had with a client who is ready to purchase some gear from me. I’m taking out there name, as I’ve not asked to share their information. However, the content itself is very general in nature and I believe it’s a good example of how I conduct my equipment consults.

Note, below is my response. The client’s original email is quoted throughout and is indicated in BOLD TEXT.

xxxxx,

I’m going to go ahead and respond to you via email here. However, if you would like, I could schedule a free 20 minute equipment consult with you on Monday to answer any additional questions you might have. I don’t mind email, if that works better for you. Either way works for me!

At first I found your comments on the Heil PR 40 to be over the top. I kept listening to your blogs, reviewing your comments, looking and listening to the information at the Heil website, and even emailing Bob Heil with a couple of questions. I will admit that in hind sight rather than strident in your praise of the Heil PR 40 I think your comments were restrained if anything.

Oh indeed! Please know this about me. I NEVER praise a product unless I am certain it can stand up to scrutiny. I have approximately 47,000 subscribers to my various shows. When I say something that people don’t agree with, they will blog about, post Twitter Messages about it, or call me out on Facebook about it. So when I say things, I very much take a great deal of care to say things that I mean and to mean what I say.

I operate a business build solely on New Media and in New Media, TRUST is my greatest asset. I’m glad that you’ve taken the time to research this and that, over time, you’ve come to understand that I’m not just trying to sell a lot of Heil Mics.

Well, I am trying to sell a lot of Heil Mics. But it’s not just because I want to sell them, it’s because I know they will be the best value for dollar to make an improvement on “almost” anyone’s production.

There are less expensive mics that I sell where my profit margin is a great deal higher. From a price standpoint, if I “pushed” these less expensive mics, I know for a fact that I’d “sell” a lot more of them and I’d “make more money” in the process. But I would dilute the number of referrals generated from each of those clients.

An awesome statistic that I’ve found. For each podcaster who purchases a Heil PR-40 from me, I typically get at least 1, and sometimes MANY MORE people who listen to their podcast that hear the difference, ask what they did to improve their sound to such a degree and then contact me to make a purchase of a Heil PR40 for themselves.

So now what do I do? Clearly I will add the Heil PR 40, and dump the studio condenser mic sold to me by a previous recording guru.

Now I do want to warn you ahead of time. When considering the move from a “condenser” microphone to a “dynamic” microphone, there is a completely different technique required for recording your voice.

The biggest change is the need to speak DIRECTLY into the microphone. In fact, when I’m recording a podcast, my lips are never more than 2 inches away from the microphone and often times as close as 1 inch.

This is not a limitation, this is certainly a feature. It reduced background noise, such as the echo of your voice in a room that is not soundproofed. But also, being up close on the mic will reproduce a much richer fullness of your voice.

But, what else do I keep and what do I off load? Here is my list…

Edirol R 09 HR – Keep

Absolutely! I love my Edirol R-09HR every single bit as much as my Heil PR-40. Two best pieces of equipment ever made for nearly every podcaster out there!

Sony Sound Forge Software – Keep or replace?

Depends… Is it working for you? If so, no need to replace. Honestly, I’ve never used it. But then again, I don’t do a “lot” of post production either. While there are a few who have other solutions, here is the breakdown of what most of my clients are using.

I’d say that 60% of folks are using Audacity. Which is a free audio editing software solution that works on both Windows and Mac based computers. It’s decent and will get the job done for a large number of people.

About 20% are using GarageBand which comes free on every Mac computer. It does a decent job and just improved greatly with a major change they made to give the option to remove the auto-normalization process when exporting audio. If you’re on a mac, I suppose I’d suggest GarageBand these days.

The other 20% are using what I use, which is Adobe Audition (Currently version 3.0 – I still have 2.0). This program is not free like the other solutions, and instead costs $349. It’s more than I would suggest the average podcaster pay. I paid this because of the time I save with a few of the processes that I can do only in this program. It took my editing of a 1 hour show from 45 minutes down to 4 minutes. And well.. I produce as many as 20 plus podcast episodes per week. Just add up the time saved per episode and you’ll see what that’s a big deal for me.

Heil Handi Mic Pro Plus – Buy for remote Edirol R 09 interviews?

Since you are asking for my opinion on this. Here’s my thoughts. The Heil Handi Pro Plus mic is not designed to be an interview mic. I know their site says “The Handi Mic is perfect for an interview microphone where its small size makes it a very low profile microphone with great sound.”

I’m not going to argue that the mic has great sound. However, there’s a great deal more to consider when thinking about was makes for the “perfect interview microphone.” For example, when I’m looking for the “Perfect” Interview mic, I’m usually looking for a mic that was MADE SPECIFICALLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF BEING AN INTERVIEW MIC. The Handi mic is MADE TO BE a tom drum mic. That’s what it’s “PERFECT” for.

Now I’m not just saying this because the cost is more. The Handi mic usually goes for about $99. However, if you want THE PERFECT INTERIVE MIC to go with your edirol for field interviews, I would suggest the Electrovoice RE-50b microphone. Their website is not making a false claim when they say that it is the INDUSTRY STANDARD. IT IS! Very low handling noise. AWESOME BUILT IN WIND SCREEN! It is the perfect interview mic!

I have these in stock and they run $199

Heil PR 40 – Buy from you.

Yes, indeed! I have it for $xxx. (Note, I had to remove this from this post as I have to abide by the Minimum Advertised Price rule when posting public information about the price of products – Contact me for me promotional pricing) The minimum advertised price is $325.00 However, I sell so many of these that I’m able to sell it at a lower cost to my clients because of the volume discounts that I get from selling so many.

Desk Top Mic Stand – Keep or replace?

I’d keep it as a guest mic stand for when you bring someone into the studio occasionally. But knowing that you’ll need to be speaking right into your mic, it’s important that your mic come to you!

I strongly suggest the Heil PL2T mic arm. It is AWESOME! I sell it for $125 and it comes with a c-clamp mount.

Scissor Boom for PR 40 ?

See above response…

Pop Filter or Wind Screen for Heil?

Here’s where I can prove that I’m not just out to sell stuff……

Personally, I love the “look” of having my Shock Mount and Professional Grade pop filter. The only thing is that these two items are ridiculously overpriced. And it’s not that my profit margin is too high. I mean that my cost on these is too much! The Shock Mount is $95 and the PopFilter is $65.

With that said, again, I love the look of mine and the shock mount does allow me to move the mic during recording without much noise, if any, making it into the recording. Also, if someone bumps the surface that the mic arm is mounted to, this helps mute those sounds as well.

The Pop Filter cuts out all popping of my P’s. and looks nice mounted on the shock mount. And well, I do a lot of LIVE SHOWS and I’m on camera a lot. So I like the professional look of it. So it was worth it for me.

Now Stephanie’s Heil does not have the Shock Mount or Pop Filter. Partly because back when I got Stephanie’s Mic, we were still doing this as a hobby and I simply didn’t have the money on hand at the time. So instead, I purchase a VERY LARGE WINDSCREEN to go over top of her mic. You can see it in the photo of our studio which I’ll link to below. The cost of the windscreen is $35 and works very well. The sound is “slightly” different from that mic because of the extra padding there. But its only noticeable to someone like me, who is the perfectionist when it comes to sound.

Here’s how the two look…. CLICK HERE TO SEE MY STUDIO PHOTO

Edirol M-10DX mixer – Keep or replace?

I just looked it up online. It’s not a mixer I would have purchased, but I can’t see any reason I would want to replace it if it has enough ports and aux outputs for all you want to accomplish. My philosophy is that as long as the mixer is bringing in all the audio inputs that you want to bring in and mixing the audio into a single stereo channel the way you want, then go with it.

Audio Technica ATH-Pro700 Headphones – Keep or replace?

Do they feel comfortable to you? Then keep them!

Telephone hybrid: – JK Audio Broadcast Host, JK Audio Innkeeper, or Telos One?

The original InnKeeper is discontinued… They came out with the Innkeeper LTD.

Click Here For Their Website Info

I brought one in for review and from what I read, I almost thought for sure that I’d be keeping it and selling my Broadcast Host as used equipment in my forum to my existing Plus Members.

However, when I got it. I was impressed with it. But really, it didn’t sound any different than my Broadcast Host at all. There were two things I noticed about it. 1) You don’t have to adjust a bunch of knobs to get the levels to where you want it. And 2) when you first connect a call, it lowers the crosstalk noise from 1 second down to a fraction of a second. It just wasn’t enough to make the extra cost worth it for me to recommend to my clients. I still suggest the Broadcast Host.

As for Broadcast Host and Telos One? Well, let’s see.. They both do EXACTLY THE SAME THING and the Telos One is a great deal more $$$. This is the reason I use and I recommend the Broadcast Host. But don’t get me wrong, I think the Telos One is a great piece of equipment. Just like the cost for the same functionality in the Broadcast Host.

What else do I need?

That would certainly depend on what you plan to do with podcasting. Again, I’d love to have a twenty minute conversation with you and that way I could make sure you’re getting all the right cables and adapters, etc. Also, I could also make sure you’re not buying any equipment you don’t need for the goals you’re trying to accomplish.

If you wanted to schedule a time with me this coming week, you can do so by CLICKING HERE.

I Thank-you for the information on your website. I am looking forward to getting your perspective on my next moves towards blogging participation.

Sincerely, xxxxxxxxx

xxxxx, thanks for contacting me. I can tell that you certainly did your research before reaching out to me which is why I do not hesitate in spending the amount of time thoroughly answering all your questions.

Look forward to the possibility of working with you either by phone or further email here.

Thanks and have a great weekend!

Cliff

That’s what it looks like when working with me regarding euqipment purchases. If you are interested in a free equipment consultation, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399

Following My Passion Has Changed My Life

I have to admit to you that there were times when I worried if leaving my career in insurance was a responsible decision for me and my family. I mean I had absolutely no idea how I was going to earn a living at the time (Sept – Dec 2007).

I simply knew that podcasting came along, over the course of a few months, any passion I had for my career as an insurance agent had dissipated. Dreams of podcasting full-time as a career became seeds that eventually took root and refused to stop growing in my heart.

I remember reading books that said things like “Pursue your passion and the money will follow.” I heard other folks talk about things like “meaningful work.” I remember just how hard it was to get over the idea that you had to “hate what your doing” for it to be considered “work.”

The truth was that spending 40 to 60 hours of my life, each week, devoted to nothing more than bringing home a paycheck was making me miserable. Listeners from the gspn.tv community had been urging me with thoughts that I could find some way of doing podcasting as a career, but honestly I had a hard time wrapping my mind around that. However, one day, my wife actually came to me and said, “You need to quit your job and do podcasting full-time.” This was the day my life changed forever!

There was little doubt that podcasting as a career would allow me to focus on my core talents and abilities. Not to mention fulfilling what I had come to understand as my core purposes in life.

I’ve learned that if I passionately believe in something, I can probably sell it to just about anyone. There’s no doubt that I have the heart of a teacher. I love to find creative ways to teach things that most people believe they’ll never be able to learn. In fact, my original major in college was going to lead me down the path as a teacher. In June of 1996, I felt a serious call to Christian ministry. Never a full-time pastor type of position, but instead, a life long ministry of encouraging and inspiring others. And then there’s the technology thing. I’ve always had this weird ability to do just about anything I’ve wanted to do with technology without the need to read a book, a help file, etc.

I want to share a little something with you. Yesterday, I had a consulting call that has been like so many other consulting calls.

It typically goes like this.

The client has either found me through a Google Search or they were referred to me by someone they know.

Usually the client has been desperately attempting to start a podcast for anywhere from a few weeks to as much as a few years with no luck in actually getting it off the ground.

They’ve usually already purchased AT LEAST ONE BOOK about how to podcast and have read countless numbers of online articles trying to explain concepts like RSS feeds, media file enclosures, audio mixers, mix-minus setups, audio editing software, bit rates, etc, etc, etc.

The outcome is usually the same… “Paralysis By Analysis” or “Information Overload.”

More confused after their research than before they started, they desperate seek someone who can help them finally get things off the ground as a last ditch effort to make it happen.

When they find me, I spend some time talking with them, learning a little about them, what it is that they want to accomplish, and finding out where the journey has taken them so far.

I then talk to them about designing a strategy for getting their podcast from concept to reality. When I share with them that they could be releasing their first podcast episode(s) within the next four to five days (sometimes the same day) they are often shocked and need to overcome a bit of unbelief.

I, of course, encourage them, letting them know that I have confidence that I can train them how to podcast and do it in a reasonably short amount of time. At times, I’ve said, if I can’t do it in “X” Number of hours, I’ll not charge you at all for the time spent.

It’s so rewarding when I am able to help them make the impossible, possible. To actually see them grasp the concepts that they thought would be impossible to grasp. There’s a great deal of accomplishment that I feel when I work with each client I deal with.

I honestly feel that most of my consulting calls become little confirmations, from God, about making the right decision to pursue my passion. A passion I undoubtedly believe today that was put but in me by Him.

I don’t know if this post will come off as seeming self absorbed or not. But I just received this testimonial from a client that I worked with yesterday and it literally made my week!

Click the Play Button To Listen:

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Now, my work as a podcaster goes way beyond simply audio equipment sales and podcast consulting. The work that I do leading the gspn.tv community and providing the content that we produce is a whole story of it’s own with rewards that far exceed anything I’ve mentioned here. I’ve written a little about this in the past and I’m sure I’ll write a lot more in the future.

I sincerely pray that more people would be able to find such rewarding work that people appreciate. Life is too short to do otherwise.

gspn.tv Podcasts Recieve Six Podcast Awards Nominations!

Many of you are aware that I do podcast consulting and sell podcast equipment. However, not everyone is aware that I personally produce, with my wife and a few friends, twenty of my own podcasts which I have formed into the Generally Speaking Production Network (gspn.tv).

This year, we received one of the greatest honors a podcast could hope to receive as it relates to the fourth annual People’s Choice Podcast Awards. This year, 81,000 individuals came together and nominated a total of 1,874 podcasts for 22 categories for the 2008 People’s Choice Podcast Awards!

Out of those nominated, only 10 podcasts for each category make it to the actual voting round. With 22 categories, this means that of the 1,874 podcasts nominated, only 220 are eligible for this year’s 15 day voting period.

I’m very honored to announce to that SIX of the 220 podcasts nominated were gspn.tv podcasts!

Below are the podcasts that were nominated and for which category:

About The Church – Education
Weekly Lost Podcast – Entertainment
Full Time Mom – General
Musically Challenged – Podsafe Music
Almost Daily Devotional – Religion & Inspiration
Podcast Answer Man – Technology & Science

I’m not practicing false humility when I authentically tell you that I believe this has a lot more to do with the power of an engaged community than our ability to produce content.

I want to thank everyone who nominated the gspn.tv podcast lineup above!

Happy Customer In The Midst Of Great Pain!

Let’s admit it. Every now and then, you get a piece of technical equipment that just doesn’t work the ways it’s supposed to. When a manufacturer is making thousands of the same item on a daily basis, there’s bound to be a bad apple in the bunch.

Since I’ve been selling audio equipment to podcasters from all over the United States, I’ve only had two items that ever needed to be replaced. Today was the second incident. The following comes from the Blog of one of my customers, Crystal Elerson from elerson.net. I really feel bad that she is experiencing any pain and inconvenience at all. However, at the same time, I’m so thankful for her kind words in the midst of it all.

Last Tuesday, I had a problem with my digital recorder right before my interview with Bernard Cooper. By Thursday, everything was working fine, and I had no problems interviewing Rick Moody. Today, I was set to interview Bernard Cooper again.

The mixer has this obnoxiously bright blue light on it that indicates it is receiving power. When the unit is plugged in, the light is always on providing a constant visual distraction. The unit, stupidly, has no On/Off switch. Today, as I was doing my prep work for the interview, I noticed that the obnoxiously bright light irritated me even more by not shining at all.

One loud female roar later…

I did what any former technical support person would do. I checked the surge protector. I switched power outlets. I unplugged and replugged in everything. I tried plugging the unit directly into the wall sans surge protector – two different wall sockets that both give power to other things. The only thing I didn’t do was try a new power cable because, of course, the thing doesn’t use a standard cable so I didn’t have a spare. I then dragged Dear Husband into the room to see if I was missing some obvious piece of information that Males always seem to think everyone should know but Females don’t have access to that Universal Guy Knowledge. Nope. He did everything I did and came to the same conclusion.

I then made the Call of Shame to Cooper to explain what happened. He laughed and generously told me he thought electronic equipment conspired against him anyway. Next time, I’m not telling my audio equipment who I’m calling… I’ll file that away with such wisdom as Never Mention Surplus Money Near a Working Vehicle (fastest way to car problems I have ever seen) and Do Not Announce Intent to Mow Grass (instant rain if we’re serious). Anyway, Bernard was lovely again, and I feel completely unprofessional for having to reschedule twice. I joked with him that I was enjoying our weekly chats. And I am – he has a voice I’d call to listen to at any time. Read me the phone book, and I’d just smile. I want my voice to sound that good but in a feminine way.

Next, I called the Behringer Technical Support Line to confirm my diagnosis: bad power supply or cable. They had me call the retailer I bought it from, who promptly called the company back to talk to his liaison there, and we’re working this out through a 3-way email because this is the first time a power supply/cable has gone out and needed replacing for this retailer (a lovely man named Cliff Ravenscraft who runs several podcasts – www.gspn.tv). I realized his webcam was on while I was talking to him, so I watched him immediately drop what he was doing to handle my issue – very cool.

I’m frustrated with the technical problems. However, I’m extremely satisfied with the support and service from both Behringer and Cliff Ravenscraft. If I’m going to have these issues, I’m glad to work with these people.

I’m so thankful for the understanding and patience of this client. It’s client’s like this that make me thankful every day that I’m doing what I love for a living!

Note: The blue light on the Behringer Xenyx 1002 mixer is very bright. I know at least one client that painted the little light with black fingernail polish.

Wayne Henderson Talks About PodcastAnswerMan.com

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I wanted to take a minute to say thank you to Wayne L Henderson for the kind words that he shared about me and the services I provide on one of his recent podcasts. Wayne has been a long time listener of my gspn.tv podcasts and he and is one our gspn.tv Plus Members.

If you happen to need voice over work for your podcast, Wayne does a great job.

MP3 Version

Feedback From Fringe Podcaseter!

I recently received this feedback from a listener

Cliff,

I’d like to say thank you for your video tutorial for creating Zune and iTunes subscription buttons. The timing could not have been better because I had a listener specifically ask us to create an easy Zune subscription button just 2 days before you released your video. I took the information you gave us and created my own Zune, iTunes and RSS subscription buttons and imbedded the code just as you instructed. Thanks for you all you do for the podcasting community.

Darrell

The Fringe Podcast

www.TheFringePodcast.com

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