Zune Podcasting And Zoom H1 Digital Audio Recorder Review

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In this episode, I am delighted to share an interview that I had with Rob Greenlee from Microsoft’s Zune Podcasting department. In the conversation with Rob, we learn why so many podcasters had not be able to get their feeds listed in the Zune podcasting directory. I am very happy to announce that any podcaster who wants to get their show listed in the Zune Directory can do so by emailing Rob@Zune.net. Speaking with Rob has helped renew some passion for the fact that Microsoft is paying to employ someone who’s purpose in the company is to support podcasters. This is very good news!

Also in this episode, I am delighted to let you know that I have finally received my review unit of the Zoom H1 Handy Digital Audio Recorder. If you simply REFUSE to pay more than $99 for a digital audio recorder, then I would say that this is a “decent” option. However, you simply must order a windscreen to go with this unit and be sure to have plenty of batteries on hand. The H1 review portion of this episode was actually recorded on the Zoom H1 recorder.

Here are just a few of my concerns about the Zoom H1 Recorder:
* No AC adapter included
* AC power is not an option at all!
—UPDATE— Turns out that you can get a USB/AC Adapter to power the unit.
* No pause recording functionality
* No windscreen included (This is a MUST HAVE ITEM)
* No USB cable included
* No ability to keep the backlit display turned on.
* Memory card compartment door is LIKELY to be broken.
* Menu functionality is clunky to say the very least.

I do feel that this is a decent option for a recorder if you are only willing to spend $99 on such a device. Personally, the inability to use an ac adapter —UPDATE— Turns out that you can get a USB/AC Adapter to power the unit. and the lack of the pause recording feature are enough to make this a deal breaker for me. If those are not deal breakers for you and you have a very tight budget to work with, I’d say that it’s worth the $99.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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How To Get An All Expenses Paid Sponsorship To Attend A Conference! And Podcamp Boston 5 Information #PCB5

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Schedule Update: Podcast Answer Man is on my schedule to record at the end of the day on Thursdays, after I’ve shut down the live show stream. All of our shows from Thursday, including Podcast Answer Man, should be online by Noon on Friday each week, if not sooner.

Notes From This Episode:

Podcamp Boston 5 Trip Sponsorship
Last week, I inserted a short note about the fact that I was looking for a sponsor for our trip to Podcamp Boston 5. I was approached by two companies who had a strong desire to sponsor the trip for Stephanie and myself! I’m proud to announce that Dane Falkner from DivineOffice.org is paying ALL EXPENSES for Stephanie and I to attend Podcamp Boston 5. When I say all expenses, I’m talking about round trip airfaire, hotel accommodations, meals and transportation while in Boston, admission to the conference, AS WELL AS the costs for quality childcare for our three children for four days.

What did I offer to my sponsor?
First off, I will create a blog post that will be easily found at http://gspn.tv/divineoffice. This blog post will include a video explaining how I met Dane and how he had just recently sponsored the podcasting track at the CNMC event that I spoke at in Boston just recently. I will explain what a financial blessing this is to us personally and professionally.
I will explain what it means to me that Stephanie will be able to attend the event and, of course, I will explain what DivineOffice is.

The blog post will also include some written information to summarize the contents of the video and will have a brief description of the Divine Office ministry and how considering the purchase of their iPhone/iPad application is a great way to thank them for this generous sponsorship.

This blog post is a critical ingredient to the sponsorship. Rather than go on for 5 to 10 minutes about the sponsorship, like a certain podcaster that I love, I can simply say thanks to Dane at DivineOffice.org for his sponsorship and ask people to please go to http://gspn.tv/divineoffice to leave a comment thanking them for the sponsorship. In fact, I’d like to ask you, if you are excited about the fact that I’ll be able to bring coverage about and produce content from Podcamp Boston 5, please head over there and leave a comment thanking them.

I will be talking up the Podcamp Boston 5 trip in many of my podcasts, on a weekly basis, leading up to the trip. Of course, a quick thanks will be given to Divine Office and a mention of the post at http://gspn.tv/divineoffice.

They will gain some Brand Exposure On Twitter/Facebook/Linked In During The Event. I describe this in a little more detail in the episode.

YouTube video updates from the event will include a short note of thanks to Divine Office with a mention of the post at http://gspn.tv/divineoffice.

My Podcamp Boston Talk: I will be talking about how you can earn an income from podcasting about your passion. You can bet I’ll be talking about how Stephanie and I are attending this event on a 100%, all expenses paid basis thanks to DivineOffice.org and if they are interested in more information about how that came about, they should check out this episode of Podcast Answer man or the blog post found at http://gspn.tv/divineoffice.

I explained the value of all my face-to-face/one-on-one conversations that I will be having with people and how the word will spread about the the things that I share with these people. I give a little more detail in this episode, however, I shared with Dane the following two audio clips to demonstrate how people who have a chance to hear my story will talk about it to others.

Mac & Katherine from the Catholic In A Small Town podcast:

Greg & Jennifer from The Catholics Next Door show on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio

Of course thanks would be given and mention of the post at http://gspn.tv/divineoffice whenever we refer to our trip to Podcamp Boston 5 in our podcasts after we return.

I shared the story of how being the first to sponsor an event like this would certainly be included in at least one book that I plan to write and will likely be shared in many of my future speaking engagements.

There is the TARGET AUDIENCE to consider. I have amazing relationships with very influential Catholics in new media around the world. Just listen to the two audio clips mentioned above to get a feel for this fact.

Here’s the deal: it took me YEARS to get to the place where I have a lot to offer to my sponsor! Building meaningful relationships with people around shared passions and giving sacrificially to others, over the course of years, is what has made this a reality.

I turned down the 2nd sponsor, as I wanted to make sure to funnel all attention to a single sponsor that has paid for ALL EXPENSES. I believe that carries a lot more weight than mentioning a LIST of sponsors. I do not want to dilute the exposure to my sponsor and I don’t want to overwhelm my audience with requests to thank multiple sponsors.

So what’s the big deal about Podcamp Boston 5 anyway?
First off, if you haven’t heard of a podcamp before, simply check out http://podcamp.org for more details. Boston is a major social media hub on the East Coast. Boston is where Podcamp first started! Boston is a very beautiful city to visit. I attended Podcamp Boston 2 and the relationships I made there literally helped me launch my business.

Podcamp Boston is a 2 day event!
More people will travel farther distances to attend a two day event.
At single day events, hardly anyone shows up for pre-podcamp parties.
At single day events, hardly anyone sticks around long enough for the evening party.
At two day events both the pre-party and official podcamp party are HIGHLY ATTENDED!

Networking & Socializing!
It’s not all about the sessions! At least not for me. Some sessions will be really great. Some sessions will be absolutely horrible. I plan on spending more time in the hallways than in the sessions. I plan to meet as many new people as possible. The parties are great places to get to know people. And I am hoping to find just the right dinner party to attend!

It is simply an enriching experience. I’ve been to a lot of podcamps at this point. Podcamp NYC 2 was another great two day Podcamp. However, It’s hard to beat the original. You should attend Podcamp Boston 5!

That’s all I have for you this week. I’m simply going to ask you to head over to http://gspn.tv/divineoffice and leave a comment thanking Dane and the team for making it possible for Stephanie and I to attend this event. As the result of their sponsorship, you’ll be able to experience it from my perspective.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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BlackBerry Podcast Announcement, CNMC, And More

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Last weekend, I had the most amazing opportunity, as I was invited to speak at the CNCM in Boston. One of the greatest highlights of my trip to Boston was that I finally had the opportunity to meet my long time friend, Fr. Roderick, face to face.

Some of you will remember back in January of 2009 when I released an interview that I did with Father Roderick in episode 92 of Podcast Answer Man. If you want to hear all about my weekend trip to Boston, I would encourage you to start with Pursuing A Balanced Life episode 475 which is the first episode in a four part series titled “My Catholic Weekend.”

In this week’s episode, I cover the following topics:
* BlackBerry Launches Official Podcast Application (Link)
* Submitting Your Podcast To BlackBerry Podcast Directory (Link)
* Tech Specs PDF from Blackberry (LINK)
* Short interview with Avery Grant from the Live Out Loud Podcast. (iTunes Link) (Website Link)
* Blue Host Podcast Hosting (Blog Post With Affiliate Link)
* Wanna Sponsor Our Trip To Podcamp Boston 5? (Email Me)
* Ron Nutter Shares a testimonial for WordPress for Podcasters (More Info Here)

Here are the links to the CNMC talks that I did with Fr. Roderick:
Session 1 Recorded on Ustream
Session 2 Recorded on Ustream
Session 3 Recorded on Ustream

Here are some photo highlights from my trip: (CLICK HERE FOR A FULL SLIDESHOW)

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Choosing The Right Co-Host

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In this week’s episode, I cover the following topics:
* What video formats do I use when I distribute video on the web?
* How do I choose the right co-host for my podcast?
* How do I go about getting celebrities on my show for an interview?
* How can I get three dynamic mics to plug into a mixer with only two XLR ports?
* How do I get my artwork on my iTunes listing to update to my new artwork?
* Check out the my updated testimonials page.
* Becky Johnson submitted an audio testimonial for my video training tutorials.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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How To Add An Addon Domain in BlueHost

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I don’t often send video episodes into the Podcast Answer Man feed. However, I wanted to share a short little bonus video that I created for the folk who had purchased my WordPress for Podcasters video tutorial.

The reason I have decided to share this in the feed, this week, was to give you a sample of what my video training products look like. As you can see, I take both audio and video quality seriously when producing my training products. After capturing a screencast tutorial, I do a great deal of post production, panning and zooming at the important parts of the screen, so that you can see exactly what each step in the process looks like.

In this bonus video, I had decided to record the process that I needed to go through to launch a brand new website that I’m going to be working on over the next few weeks. The website that I’m launching is called WorthSavingFor.com. The details of what this site is all about will be released in the near future.

To help you understand what is happening in this video, I currently have a Godaddy Account where I manage all my domain names. I suppose I’ll eventually move all of these domains over to my BlueHost account. However, for now, it’s just so much easier for me to manage all my domain names in one place.

I do have a Godaddy hosting account which still hosts many of the sites that I run. However I’ve personally had several issues with reliability and uptime with this hosting account and I refuse to add any new sites under my Goaddy hosting account as a result.

Several months ago, I set up my own BlueHost Hosting account to launch http://VirtualAssistantPodcast.com. I had decided to use BlueHost because in all my hears of podcast and new media consulting, I had worked with countless hosting providers and I simply found BlueHost to have the best customer service and server speeds when it comes to making changes to your account. The speed will be clearly shown in this video demonstration. I literally launched this new site in under 12 minutes.

In the past, I move this site, http://PodcastAnswerMan.com, off of Godaddy.com and over to my BlueHost hosting account. I recall thinking to myself, I should have recorded a video tutorial of how I did that. So when I decided to create this new site, I figured I’d go ahead and show you just how easy it is to add a new domain and website on a BlueHost Hosting account.

Here’s the result:

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Why I Still Highly Recommend Blue Host

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I’m not kidding when I say that I packed in a TON of information into this episode. Here is a list of items covered.

* Boston Social Media Tweetup – http://gspn.tv/BostonMeetup
* YouTube increased to a 15 minute limit of videos uploaded to their servers!
* Thoughts on using Archive.org for media hosting for podcast episodes
* Passive Income For Podcasters Webinar coming August 28th (Join The Mailing List To Be Notified of More Details)
* Podcast Master Class Webinar w/ Father Roderick coming September 18th (Join The Mailing List To Be Notified of More Details)
* I used the Audio-Tecnica MT830R Lapel mic in the video found here. (Amazon Link For Mic)
* Sima SL-20LX Ultra Bright LED Light (Amazon Link Here) (My Blog Post Review)
* Thoughts on rechargeable batteries for digital audio recorders.
* Do I still recommend Blue Host after reading THIS and THIS?
* My thoughts on the potential reach of podcasting.
* Do I have any instructional materials for setting up the equipment packages that I sell on my site?

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Every now and then you come across something on the web, only to find yourself asking, where did that last hour and a half go? Tonight was one of those times for me and the thing that started it all was the new movie trailer for “The Social Network.”

Have a look and listen for yourself:

So what is it about this movie trailer that occupied so much of my time? First off, the movie itself intrigues me. As you know, I’m a huge fan of social media. I even have a series of instructional videos that I did a long time ago called Facebook 101. Currently, I produce a weekly podcast called Social Media Serenity, where we talk about Facebook and multiple other aspects of social networking. As you might imagine, I’m definitely going to go see this movie!

Though what really got me all caught up in a dash around the web was the music used in this video. I loved Radio Head back in the 90’s and Creep was my favorite of their songs. When I heard this version of Creep, I immediately wanted to have a copy of that song.

I put out a note on Twitter and Facbook asking if anyone knew where I could find out who did the cover of Radio Head’s Creep on this movie trailer. Several people told me that it was Scala & Kolacny Brothers. I had never heard of them before and so I found them on Wikipedia.

I went out in search of this version of the song. However, it’s not available on either Amazon or iTunes. The best I was able to do was find this non-clean version on YouTube. I also found this clean “live” version on YouTube.

Even though I couldn’t find that single, I did find that I really enjoy their sound and I started browsing their music found on this CD, http://amzn.to/9WwlxH, and this CD.

Anyway. I am now going to try and get back to the work I had originally set out to do. At least now I have some enjoyable new music to listen to.

Syndicating Your Podcast To Radio

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I am absolutely certain that if you enjoy the content in Podcast Answer Man, you will want to listen to Social Media Serenity Episode 50 titled Ning Vs BuddyPress.

In this episode, Chris called to ask what he should do about his iTunes subscribers since he is in a place where he needs to change the host for his .mp3 files.

Pete called in to ask about how to get to the top of the iTunes Rankings and how to maintain your place at the top. Pete also mentioned that he had some great success in getting his show syndicated on radio shows. I emailed Pete to see if I could get some more details on how he was able to pull this off. Of course I share his response here.

Andy called in to let us know that you can change your iTunes Store location to another country to see reviews that others around the world have left for you, and how to do it.

Finally, I share some of my thoughts on the WordPress Vs Thesis debate over the GPL license. If you want to listen to the interview between Chris Pearson and Matt Mullenweg, I encourage you to do so by clicking here.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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An Unpolished Approach to Podcasting

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In this episode, I started off by sharing some technical woes that I have had over the last two days. Learn what the three pieces of audio equipment are that I have had over the years that have needed to be replaced. I think it is worthy to mention that my original Edirol R-09 recorder had recorded well over 2,200 podcast episodes before the 1/8″ line input jack developed a short in it.

Dave called from Australia about an iTunes review that he posted. I explain how you can go in and edit a review that you’ve previously posted, should you ever want to do so.

Walter called in with some constructive feedback on what I call my “unpolished approach to podcasting.” Of course, I very much value Walter’s feedback, especially in the spirit in which it was given. However, I very much like the natural feel of letting my audience experience what I was doing, as I was doing it. I believe that Dave’s call, the first call in the show, is perfect to explain that my show is not just about the technical content. There’s much more to it than just sharing information in a professional, polished, totally prepared way. Some people like more tightly produced audio. I prefer a more laid back approach. My suggestion to all podcasters is to find that place where you are most comfortable and understand that your content is not going to appeal to everyone.

I share a little bit of what I found while attempting to do my Blog Talk Radio experiment. I explain why I decided to abandon the project before it really got started.

Other topics covered in this show:
* Can I do effective podcasting and new media work with HugesNet Internet Access?
* How can I go about screening calls using TalkShoe?

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Blog Talk Radio and the Audio Snob

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If there was ever an episode that I was a little self conscious about releasing, it would be this episode of Podcast Answer Man. I’m not sure how many times I confessed that I’m an audio snob, but it was a lot. Please know that when I share my thoughts in my podcasts, I share the real me and my own thoughts and opinions. I have a strong desire to see people take their podcasts to the next level when it comes to content, quality, and engagement with their audience.

At times, I think I forget that I didn’t just start running in this arena. I started small, with horrible sounding audio, and I slowly added new pieces of audio equipment along the way to get to the level of audio quality where I am today. Heck, one only needs to go back into the archives of this very podcast to hear me talk about how excited I was about my MXL 990 condenser microphone back in the day. Today, when I hear someone get excited about their condenser microphone, I cringe. I don’t mean to place judgment on those podcasters, it’s just I have learned, from experience, that there are better ways to spend one’s money on new equipment.

Anyway, I share this episode with the world, as everything I said, is exactly what I truly feel about the subject matter discussed. I never have and never will subscribe to an audio podcast where the host of the show is in telephone audio quality and I’m not a fan of condenser microphones as the echo in the host’s voice is less appealing than the other content choices that are out there for me.

Please forgive me for being the audio snob that I am.

In this episode, I cover the following topics:
* How do I change the category for my podcast in iTunes?
* How do I feel about accepting payments via PayPal?
* How do I feel about Blog Talk Radio and other services like it?
* Be sure to check out the Adobe Audition 101 on the Products Page.

Be sure to tune in next week when I share some constructive criticism that I have received about this podcast.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Snowball Microphone And So Much More

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* Would an Edirol Recorder be good for both voice & guitar recording?
* Resounder iPhone application used at Podcamp
* My Thoughts on the Blue Snowball Microphone
* Adobe Audition IS DEFINITELY COMING TO THE MAC (predicted #163)
* Thoughts on WordPress v/s iWeb or Rapid Weaver
* ID3 Tag Editor For The Mac
* Listener Feedback Hotline Scripts
* Please check out my Digital Video Training Products!

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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The following is screen capture of an email that I received from Scott Price from ProAudio.com. Scott is my equipment sales rep. In only two years of doing this full-time, I have sold well over $100,000 in podcasting audio equipment, making it into Scott’s top-50 all-time sales accounts. By the way, Scott’s sales accounts go back nearly FIFTEEN YEARS! Of course, working with such a great person at such a great company has made it easy for me to be able to pull this off! Thanks Scott!

He’s referring to the video at the top of my products page.

Billions of New Potential Podcast Subscribers

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In this episode, I talk about what to do when other podcasters in your niche start talking trash about your show and other shows in your niche. David asked how to change your artwork and description that is found on your iTunes listing page. I also shared an issue that I’ve been having on my Mac when deleting items off my SD card where it is not freeing up that memory. A few solutions are provided to solve this issue.

Juan emailed me with a few questions about podcasting and I chose to go ahead and include those here in the podcast as well. If you have questions about podcasting and don’t have money in the budget to hire me for one on one consulting, please submit your questions via audio feedback to 859-795-4067.

WordPress 3 has been released, though I’ve not yet had time to update any of my sites yet. I would suggest running it on a test site first with all your plugins to see how it reacts. Of course, I strongly suggest a complete backup of all your WordPress folders and subfolders, as well as your SQL Database, before upgrading to 3.0 just to be safe.

Libysn blogged about the fact that iTunes is going to do something that will potentially expose us to BILLIONS of new potential podcast subscribers.

Oh and one more thing; in this episode, I mentioned the talk that I gave at Podcamp Ohio titled “Making Money With Your Podcast.” I am making this available for free to anyone who is subscribed to the Podcast Answer Man Mailing List. If you are not on the list, click here to subscribe. Once you are on the list, please send an email to Assistant@PodcastAnswerMan.com with “Podcamp Ohio Talk” as the subject line and my assistant will confirm you are on the mailing list and will send you a link to the page where you can either stream or download the talk.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Well, I can’t believe it. My new iPhone 4 has arrived a day before the official release as the result of pre-ordering the phone and having it delivered to my home. I was expecting that I might have to wait until as late as 4:30pm on Thursday to get it it.

I’ve had the phone in my hands for the past few hours and I must say, it is a marked improvement over my iPhone 3G. Though, my wife has an iPhone 3GS and has had the new iOS4 software since Monday and I will say that she has nearly all the important improvements of the new OS without the need of upgrading to the new phone. First off, she already has the ability to multi-task (running Pandora while tweeting is her favorite new feature). She has the ability to organize her apps into folders. She has the ability to tap to focus in video, etc.

Unique to the new iPhone is the fact that it does have a front facing camera. It is nice to have a camera on front for making sure that I’m actually capturing myself in the video, though I don’t like that it is not in wide screen format.

The rear facing camera is pretty nice. It is technically 720p, though my Kodak Zi8 certainly takes better video. Still nice to know that I will have this video camera in my pocket at all times. I imagine there will be a lot more YouTube videos coming out from me as the result of this!

Of course I’ll be covering the new features in detail on our Help I Got A Mac podcast. Until then, I’ve actually created the following three YouTube videos to test the video features mentioned above.

Testing The Front Facing Video Camera

Testing The 720p Video Camera

Testing The Video Light

Become An Expert In Your Field

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In this episode of Podcast Answer Man, I share some feedback from Troy that is a perfect example of how you can become an expert in your field through the process of creating a podcast around your passion/niche.

I also took an impromptu call from @MarcusCarey. I promise that I did not ask Marc to call and didn’t know what he wanted to share when I decided to take the live call. With that said, Marc shared some very kind words about the value in the coaching that I’ve done with him. It was a very flattering testimonial. Thank You Marc!

I took another question from the community about creating an “all-inclusive” feed for multiple podcasts. I mentioned how I do this through the use of a single installation of WordPress. I also share how you can use Yahoo Pipes to combine multiple feeds into one.

Finally, I jokingly said that this week’s episode is sponsored by ME!!! I took just a moment to talk about a video training product that I created called Social Media 101 – How I Built My Brand.

Social Media 101: This is a two hour video training product broken up into five, 20 to 30 minutes video sessions. In this training, I share how I have used social media to build my brand and to build a community with those who listen to my podcasts. There are far too many items covered in this product for me to list here. However, the following will give you just a hint as to what is included:

* How did I build my audience?
* How did I promote my brand online?
* What is community and how do we build it?
* The importance of owning your own “Home On The Web.”
* Why I choose WordPress for my home one the web.
* Why I do audio podcasting v/s video podcasting.
* How I build relationships with the use of email and a voicemail hotline.
* How live shows with a chat room help foster community.
* When to add an online discussion forum, and when not to.
* The value of comments on your blog.
* How I “join the conversation.”
* How and why I use Twitter.
* How I stay connected with those on Facebook, even though I only log on once a week.
* How I promote my social media profiles online!
* I’m not kidding when I say AND SO MUCH MORE!!!

The cost of this training product is only $100 and is available for purchase by emailing me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org and letting me know of your interest in this training.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Stop Expecting Overnight Success

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In this episode, I cover the following items:
* What are my thoughts on Podcaster’s Liability Insurance?
* Would you like me to arrange for a teleseminar with an entertainment lawyer?
* Should it take two weeks to get listed in iTunes?
* Where are those video training products that I keep talking about?
* Jason Fried’s book Rework.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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In the video above, we are lead to believe that someone is doing a demonstration MAC VERSION of Adobe Audition’s audio editing software. If this is real, I can tell you that I will be every so glad to say goodbye to Windows FOREVER!!!! Right now, I keep Windows XP running in Parallels on my 27″ iMac for the sole purpose of processing each of my audio recordings with Adobe Audition 3.0.

What are your thoughts? Do you think this could be real with the current war going on between Adobe and Apple over Flash?

How to End An Interview And More

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In this episode, I cover the following items:
• Andy L. Called in to tell us about the Smart 404 WordPress Plugin.
• Thoughts on how to end an interview.
• SoundByte Cart Software for Audio Clips
• Erik called to ask if it is possible for me to track states on my Plus Member Podcasts
• Andy asked me for my initial thoughts on the Zoom H1 recorder which I will have a demo unit of soon.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Interviewed By Dan Miller

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This week’s episode may be the longest episode of Podcast Answer Man to date. It is another interview. However, this week, the tables are turned as I am the one being interviewed.

It was just December of 2009 that I released my interview with Dan Miller here on Podcast Answer Man. Since that time, Dan has become not only one of my clients, but also a really good friend.

This interview is from where Dan paid me one of the highest honors as he positioned me in front of his community on a member only teleseminar. He was kind enough to allow me to share this interview with you here in this week’s Podcast Answer Man. I hope that there are some areas of insight that you will find helpful.

You can find Dan Miller’s podcast at 48Days.com.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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I recently made two great discoveries that I believe will help me take my YouTube channel videos to the next level. The first discover is that my old Sony ECM-MS907(Affiliate Link) mic works great with my Kodak Zi8 Camera.

My second discovery is the most exciting. I found the Sima SL-20LX Ultra Bright Video Light (Affiliate Link) for approximately $30 on Amazon.com. This thing contains 36 Ultra Bright LED lights that do a terrific job of casting out shadows from my face when I’m shooting in low light situations.

My Video Review of the Sima Light & Sony Mic:

Best Buy For The Win Video:

Interview with Rob Walch from Libsyn and Wizzard Media

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In this episode, I have a conversation with Rob Walch about the recent transition of Libsyn users to the new Libsyn Three system. The conversation actually led to some very insightful information in the area of knowing how you can instantly overwrite a file that you may want to replace.

Also, I ended the show talking more about some additional comments that Leo Leporte has shared related to the medium of podcasting.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Back in March of this year, Stephanie and I were visited by Alex aka @AudiblyLost. He was putting together a video documentary on the Lost Podcasting Community. I’m not sure exactly when the full documentary will be released. However, here’s the trailer for the show that was just released today.

When the full movie is online, I’ll be sure to let everyone know!

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Is Libsyn Going To Insert Ads In Your Podcast?

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In this episode, I discussed the following items:
* http://Mardel.com/gspn
* Is Libsyn going to automatically insert ads into your podcast?
* My thoughts on recording interviews into separate tracks.
* Walter’s thoughts on Blogging And Podcasting.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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How Podcasting Can Be Great For Businesses

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In this episode, I talk with Dr. Joseph Valenzi from TalkToTheDentist.com. Joe came to me back in September of last year wanting to launch a podcast about dentistry. After some consultation with him, I had convinced him of the advantages of including his podcast on his main dentistry website rather than launching the podcast on a site of its own. More than six months later, he has now produced 23 podcast episodes and is in a position to share how producing a podcast has benefited his local business.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Libsyn Three Media Hosting Transition

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In this episode, I share quite a bit about my experience with the transition that Libsyn just did on my accounts moving me to a new server and a new system that they have called “Libsyn Three.” Some folks are not happy with the changes. I’m reserving judgment about the aesthetics of the new system as I’ve not had enough adjustment time to get used to the new layout. I will say that there seem to be a LOT MORE CLICKS involved in simply uploading an episode from their web interface. I’ve simply chosen to go back to ftp to upload my new content.

I also shared that I received an email from MailChimp.com this week saying they were cutting my monthly bill in half! This makes me like them a ton more than I already did!

Mary called in because iTunes moved the “Convert To MP3″ link on her. For those looking for this option, highlight your file in iTunes and then click on the “Advanced Menu” and you’ll see it there!

Wayne Henderson called in and told us about the Vericorder Mini Mic for the iPhone/iPad.

Finally, I end the episode by sharing my favorite podcast moment of the week from ConnieAndSheilaTalk.com.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Social Media Icons

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In this episode, I cover the following items:

I had to keep this week’s episode a bit shorter than normal due to some special programing coming out of the gspn.tv studios. In this episode, I answer a call from Jim who wanted to know how I go about recording my walkcast episodes of Pursuing A Balanced Life podcast.

Here are some links mentioned in this episode:
http://iconspedia.com/
http://www.iconfinder.com/
Coach Radio Interview

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Outliner For The iPad

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In this episode, I cover the following items:

Outliner for the iPad
http://carbonfin.com

Degradable HTML5 audio and video plugin
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/degradable-html5-audio-and-video/

Thoughts on Feedburner’s subscribe via email option as Newsletter Replacement

Tony wants to know when he and his wife should launch their solo shows.

My Blog Post about e-book publishing
http://podcastanswerman.com/epub/

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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One of my favorite things about the world we live in today is that the concept of the gatekeeper seems to be a thing of the past.  When I was a little boy, I had a strange desire to share my thoughts with the world.  A desire to reach out and communicate to the world around me.  I know that might come as a shock to some of you.

I remember the first time I called into a local radio station and requested a song and they played my voice over the radio waves.  From that point on, I was hooked!  I remember getting excited about the Mr. Microphone as a kid as well.  The problem was that I really wanted to have my own radio show when I was a kid.  However, the chances of that happening were a near impossibility.  So what did I do?  I looked for other avenues that would allow for me to do what was in my heart.  I turned to the CB Radio.  Within a week of owning my first CB Radio, I had launched a daily show during the evening.  I was able to grow a sizable audience of other folks who shared my interest and passions within the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area that would tune into CB Channel 32 every night at the same time.

Today, any young boy or girl who has a dream of being on the radio one day is not dreaming big enough.  Any child with a laptop can create their own audio podcast and immediately be accessible to the entire world.  My daughter, Meagan, is only 10 years old and has a podcast with more than 32,000 subscribers.

This blog post however, is about BOOKS.  A few years back, it became possible for folks to self-publish their books with print- on- demand services like LuLu.com.  This, in my mind is like the CB Radio of the book publishing industry.  While it is possible to get self published books on services like Amazon.com, they are still not as accessible as when you get the go ahead from the “gatekeepers” in the book publishing industry.

I believe that with the launch of the iPad and the fact that the new iBooks app works “pretty easily” with EPUB format, that we are a few steps closer to the day when the gatekeepers of the book publishing industry have no more power to keep us from sharing our message with the world as the program director of any radio station.  On top of this, the iBooks application is going to be made available on all iPhones 3G and newer.  This means that if you have an eBook in EPUB format, you could sell it from your website and anyone with an iPhone 3G or newer or an iPad, could simply download your eBook, drag it into their iTunes, and then sync it to their device and begin reading it immediately on their iPad.  That’s MILLIONS and MILLIONS of people that can now consume your book content within seconds of purchase.

I am sure that at some point, if it’s not here already, you’ll be able to submit your EPUB eBook to the iBook Store just like we can submit our podcasts to the iTunes Store today.  Do you see how big this is?  Sure, the EPUB format has been around for some time.  Sure, there have already been a lot of desktop and mobile devices that have been able to read these formats.  However, most people would agree that the iPhone is certainly a mainstream device and anyone who owns an iPad knows that this device will be just as big.

I am a podcaster at heart.  I love sharing my thoughts in audio form the most.  However, I know that I have several “books” within me.  I’ll eventually get around to publishing a few.  It’s nice to know that when I’m ready to do so, I’ll likely have access to millions of people around the world who could easily find my book with a quick search on my niche topic.

Are you ready to publish a book -  an EPUB eBook today?  There are some editing solutions available to you today!

Calibre (http://calibre-ebook.com):  is multi-platform (Windows, Mac, and Linux) conversion tool that is available for free.  It allows you to covert several different formats into the EPUB format.

Feedbooks (http://feedbooks.com): As a service, Feedbooks is a unique solution for e-books: it provides an easy way to find, publish and distribute e-books in a large number of formats, while focusing on creating the best experience for e-books.

Adobe InDesign (http://www.adobe.com/products/indesign/): Software that provides precise control over typography and built-in creative tools for designing, and publishing documents for print, online, or to mobile devices. Include interactivity, animation, video, and sound in page layouts to fully engage readers.

Other Options:

• Stanza Desktop (http://stanza.lexcycle.com)
• Easy EPUB (http://www.easypress.com/products/aqpep/)
• Simply Google “EPUB Creator Software“

iPad – Video Players – Plugins

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In this episode, I discuss the following:

* My new iPad – Help I Got A Mac Episode 113
* Vimeo v/s Blip.tv Video Players
* Visual v/s HTML editor for WordPress
* PowerPress Plugin
* ShareThis Plugin
* VirtualAssistantPodcast.com

Here’s the screen shot I took from my iPad during this podcast.
(Click Image Below To See Full Size)

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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I’m a Google Apps user. On my Google Apps account, I have multiple Google Calendars. Currently, I use two. One for my personal scheduling. The other is a gspn.tv live show schedule that I also publish and share publicly.

I’ve been able to sync my multiple calendars to my iPhone for quite some time. However, this was not easily accomplished right out of the box with the iPad. However, thanks to my good friend, Stephen Cross, I was able to get all my calendars onto the iPad.

Before you watch the video, it is assumed that, as a Google Apps administrator, you have turned on the syncing functionality in the admins settings area of Google Apps. It is also assumed that you have already followed all of THESE INSTRUCTIONS in such a way that your default calendar is already syncing to your iPad. If this is the case, this video will show you how you can use Safari to sync all your Google Calendars from Google Apps to the iPad.

Update: Here’s that URL mentioned in the video:
https://m.google.com:433/sync/settings/a/ENTER-YOUR-URL/iconfig/device

I know that this video isn’t really Podcast & New Media related. However, I knew enough people were looking for a solution to this problem that it made sense to create this and put it online.

I’ll be giving my full review of the iPad in episode 113 of Help I Got A Mac later this week.

By The Way… The above video plays right inside this website on the iPad! YouTube! You guys rock!

Deep Fried Roadkill

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In This Episode, I discuss the following topics:
* Embedding Videos On Your Website
* Why you can’t use |’s in your lyrics tag
* What to do when you say something stupid in a live show
* Why I moved my site to Blue Host
* Why I redid my site using the Thesis Theme
* Mobile Browser Plugin For WordPress

Links:
Vimeo.com
Blip.tv
MP3Tag.de
UberCaster
WPTouch Plugin
Thesis Theme
Blue Host Hosting

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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I have made mention, in a few recent episodes of Podcast Answer Man, that I have become a true fan of working with Blue Host as a hosting provider for my clients. I’ve been using Godaddy.com for several years now and have been happy with them for the most part. I’ve always considered switching to another hosting provider to be too much of a hassle because of the number of websites that I host.

I also shared, in a recent episode, that I am about to launch a brand new sponsored show called Virtual Assistant Podcast. Since I’ve been in the market for trying new things, I decided that I would go ahead and set up this podcast on a hosting account with Blue Host.

There are a number of reasons why I wanted to do this. One is that they have an affiliate program that is out of this world. For each person who uses my Blue Host Affiliate Link, I earn $67. Since I’ve signed up and started to promote Blue Host, I’ve had several people sign up with them and I’ve seen the money coming in as a result. I have felt confident in recommending Blue Host because of the great support I have received when helping clients that launch their podcast on their hosting platform.  Of course, I feel there is something about saying, not only do I promote their product/service, I’m also a client.

Another reason I love Blue Host is because I’ve noticed that they have lightning fast ftp servers. I do a LOT of file transfers via ftp. I’ve been doing a large number of Video Tutorial Online Training Products which I store on my own hosting account. I thought it would be of benefit to me, by way of time savings, to have a Blue Host hosting account where the files would upload to my server in half the time it takes with GoDaddy.com.

Of course the price of BlueHost is pretty comparable to what you would pay with a lot of other web hosts out there. However, with Blue Host, you get a lot with the low price of $6.95 per month. They now offer UNLIMITED Hosting Space, UNLIMITED File Transfer (Note: See Note At The Bottom Regarding Putting Podcast Episodes In Your Hosting Account), the ability to host an UNLIMITED number of Domains with a total of 100 My SQL databases included. What this means is that I can run up to 100 WordPress Installations!!! Also, Blue Host gives you 2,500 POP/Imap Email Accounts whereas Godaddy charges extra for email accounts. There is also the Free Domain Forever feature that is pretty impressive. If you register a new domain with your new hosting account, that domain is free for as long as your hosting account is active through them.

Of course none of this means anything without great customer support. This is another reason i had stayed with GoDaddy for so long. Sure, my sites went down about once every 18 months. Sure, my ftp transfers were slower than snot running down your face on a cold winter’s day. Sure, it could take 15 minutes to an hour to process any type of change to my hosting account such as adding a new ftp user. However, I stayed with GoDaddy for so long because they had a support staff that I could reach by phone any time of day.

When I read that Blue Host advertised “24/7 Superb/Responsive Sales/Support,” I was a bit skeptical. However, over the course of working with them on a large number of client projects, I am convinced that their customer support is equal to, if not better than what I have had with Godaddy. Every time I have needed to call Blue Host support, I’ve got the answer I needed within just a few minutes of the first phone . They also have a convenient support IM/Chat service that is very convenient for those real quick questions.

So sure, I set up my Virtual Assistant Podcast website with Blue Host. Though it got me thinking. I’m doing all these digital training products, I should really switch this Podcast Answer Man website over to my new Blue Host hosting account. So I simply went into my hosting account dashboard with Blue Host and first installed a new instance of WordPress in a folder called /podcastanswerman. I quickly used my newly purchased Thesis Theme to create the new website. I then added an “Addon Domain” for PodcastAnswerMan.com that I mapped to the /podcastanswerman folder. Then, I simply went into Godaddy and forwarded my nameservers to my Blue Host account. (Note, I could have ported my old site over, but really wanted to play with the new theme.

End result? Yesterday, at this time, I was serving this website from GoDaddy and today I’m serving it off of BlueHost. I feel like the load times are slightly faster and the ftp upload transfers are a LOT faster. I’m a super happy camper!

Anyway, I know that you guys really enjoy it when I share this behind the scene stuff.  Those of you who listen to my podcast(s), you know that it takes a lot for me to dull out endorsements of other company’s products and/or services. I would fully recommend Blue Host for your hosting account needs.

For full disclosure reasons, I want to let you know that all the off site hyperlinks in this posts are “Affiliate Links.” If you do make a purchase after clicking the link, I do financially gain as the result of your purchase. This is not “WHY” I wrote this post. However, It sure is a great way to help support the content that I produce, in the event that you were looking for a hosting account to build your site with.

Very Important Note:
Many podcasters see all these hosting providers that advertise UNLIMITED file storage and UNLIMITED bandwidth. However, I would strongly advise against putting all your MP3 files on your website’s hosting account. Have a look at the following chat transcript that I had with a sales rep from Blue Host.

Jordan: [8:27:33 AM] Welcome to our real-time sales chat. How can I help you today?
Cliff Ravenscra..: [8:27:33 AM] How many MySQL databases do I get with my hosting account? In other words, how many WordPress Installations can run? My domain is http://VirtualAssistantPodcast.com
Jordan: [8:27:57 AM] 100 databases
Cliff Ravenscra..: [8:28:10 AM] Ah.. So what is the big deal about the UNLIMITED DOMAINS? DId you have a limit before ?
Jordan: [8:28:44 AM] yes
Cliff Ravenscra..: [8:28:50 AM] What was the limit before?
Jordan: [8:28:56 AM] 5
Cliff Ravenscra..: [8:29:46 AM] Okay… One other question
[8:30:01 AM] Unlimited File Transfer…..
[8:30:05 AM] This isn’t for real right?
Jordan: [8:31:10 AM] Yes as you can read on the features page the file transfer is unlimited
Cliff Ravenscra..: [8:30:25 AM] I’m a podcast and new media consultant… I push for my clients to use services like Libsyn for the hosting of their mp3 files.
Cliff Ravenscra..: [8:31:16 AM] I always suggest that if their podcast becomes mega popular, they could run into issues with Bandwidth issues.
Cliff Ravenscra..: [8:31:32 AM] So they tell me about your UNLIMITED BANDWIDTH.
Cliff Ravenscra..: [8:31:47 AM] So here is my question….. This is why I’m asking you….
Cliff Ravenscra..: [8:32:12 AM] I have more than TWO THOUSAND podcast episodes and I have delivered well over 3 MILLION downloads.
Cliff Ravenscra..: [8:32:57 AM] So if I were to put my files onto your server, and I get about 60,000 downloads per week, of about 8-15 podcasts epsidoes, each about 50 megs…
Cliff Ravenscra..: [8:33:10 AM] Will this acct cover that?
Cliff Ravenscra..: [8:33:19 AM] Or is there an issue with CPU cycles?
Jordan: [8:34:13 AM] As you should know it takes more then bandwidth to run a podcast and we do not offer what is needed for that. So to answer your question no you can not even put one podcast on our hosting.
Cliff Ravenscra..: [8:34:38 AM] That’s exactly what I wanted to know.
Cliff Ravenscra..: [8:34:57 AM] I have no plans to do so… I’m just trying to confirm, for my clients, that they should not do so either.
Cliff Ravenscra..: [8:35:18 AM] Do you have any documentation that I can point my clients to, to help them understand this?
Jordan: [8:37:57 AM] no we do not provide documentation on that.
Cliff Ravenscra..: [8:39:37 AM] That’s a shame. I know of a great number of podcasters who are loading all their episodes on your servers. Sure, they have small audiences now. However, I fear the day that they get picked up on digg.com or, Heaven forbid, they get invited on to come on the Oprah show to talk about their business. I assume that if this were to happen, we’ll see many a Blue Host site go dark.
Cliff Ravenscra..: [8:40:49 AM] Just praying they won’t be on my shared hosting account server

So there you have it. Blue Host doesn’t even want a single episode of an MP3 file on their site. Of course this is true of EVERY “website” hosting provider that I’ve ever had a similar conversation with.

Bottom line for podcasters: There is “no documentation” that says that you can’t or that you should’t host your mp3 files on your hosting account. If your show only has about a 100 subscribers or so, it should never really be a big deal. Though, if you ever get to the point where you have 50 or more episodes and then you get some sort of major publicity and people go back and download all your episodes, then you could run into some potential “billing issues” for CPU cycles, among other things. I started my Podcast Answer Man podcast as a hobby just over four years ago. Today, it’s turned into a main outlet for my full-time career in podcasting. Approximately 20 to 30 new people find this site in Google and download EVERY SINGLE EPISODE of this podcast, which as of the time that I’m writing this, is 152 episodes. Just something to think about.

ONE MORE THING: I think I should note that I still have my Godaddy hosting account. I have a lot of other websites, like gspn.tv, that I operate off of it. I could see me making the full transfer one of these days. However, for now, I’m content with just migrating sites over one at a time, as my free time allows.

iTunes Listing – Digital Products – And More

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Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Documentary On Lost Podcasting – MP3 Tags – WordPress Themes

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This episode, contains information regarding the following items:
- Documentary On Lost Podcast
- Podcasting without headphones
- I’m teaching myself how to use Thesis WP Theme (Affiliate Link)
- Thoughts about MP3 Tags

Here’s a screen shot of where I tagged a recent episode of another podcast that I produce:

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Rebranding & Blogging Between Episodes

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This episode, contains information regarding the following items:
- My Podcamp Nashville Experience
- Thoughts On Rebranding Your Podcast
- Using video and written blog entries between podcast episodes.
- Format Factory Software
- Digital Products Update
- Equipment Sales Update

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Stats Vs Influence

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In this episode, I talk about the following items:
- iTunes Listing Rankings
- Stats v/s Attention & Influence
- Voice Memo Recordings from the iPhone
- My Future Equipment Sales

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Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Bringing Telephone Calls Into Your Podcast

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In this episode, cliff shares four different options for bringing in telephone calls into your podcast. If you are interested in the JK Audio Broadcast Host option mentioned, click here for more information on this piece of equipment.

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Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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147 Podcast Answer Man – A Perfect Phone Interview And More

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In this episode, cliff covers the following items:
# Story of A Perfect Phone Interview
# My Session at Podcamp Nashville 2010
# BlueHost is now my Preferred Web Host
# The danger of assuming that people listen the way we do
# More on using Compressor/Limiter/Gate with Skype
# Are there legal considerations to starting a Fan Podcast?

Links Mentioned In This Episode
http://gspn.tv/perfectinterview
http://podcastanswerman.com/pcn10 (My Podcamp Nashville Session)
http://PodcastAnswerMan.com/bluehostlink (My Blue Host Affiliate Link)

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Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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146 Podcast Answer Man – Commitment To Your Community, Stats, And More

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In this episode, cliff covers the following items:
# Commitments To Your Community
# How do you set up a Compressor/Limiter/Gate?
# Google Buzz
# Media Hosting for your mp3 files
# Podcast Stats
# Edirol R-09HR Firmware update
# Update on Webinar Products

Be sure to sign up for the Podcast Answer Man Boot Camp Webinar Series.

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Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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145 Podcast Answer Man – How To Get People To Leave Feedback

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In this episode, cliff covers the following items:
Podcamp At Sea
Podcamp Nashville
When To Launch Additional Podcasts
What Forum Software Do I Prefer?
Playing audio from the same computer you are recording to.
How do you get people to start leaving feedback for your show?

Be sure to sign up for the Podcast Answer Man Boot Camp Webinar Series.

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Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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144 Podcast Answer Man – Interviews – Recording Procedures v/s Post Production Workflows – Multiple Podcasts On One WordPress Site – And How To Come Up With Consistent Relevant Content.

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In this episode, I cover the following topics:

My Thoughts on Interviews
The concept of Recording Procedures v/s Post Production Workflows
Thoughts on doing multiple podcasts on a single WordPress site
And How To Come Up With Consistent Relevent Content

Be sure to sign up for the Podcast Answer Man Boot Camp Webinar Series.

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Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Podcast Answer Man Episode 143
Podcast Answer Man – Android Apps & Processing Gear

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In this episode,James called in to tell us that he has found that, using http://www.artisteer.com, you can actually create your own WordPress theme using a visual editor.

Brad West called to ask three questions. He wanted to know why I use hardware for EQ & Compressor/Limiter/Gate in the studio rather than doing processing in software. He asked for my thoughts on building an audience before launching a podcast. He also asked my thoughts on having multiple Twitter accounts.

Steve called in an shared some thoughts on available Android Podcasting Apps.

Dave called to ask for my thoughts on which podcast directories you should be sure to list your podcast in.

Be sure to sign up for the Podcast Answer Man Boot Camp Webinar Series.

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Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Podcast Answer Man Episode 142
Hosting, Engaging Your Audience, Audio Quality, And More

Right Click Here To Download

In this episode, I shared how Dr. Thomas Lamar, of Spinal Column Radio, has done an amazing job providing a teaching tool for his audience, explain what a podcast is and how you the benefits of subscribing to the podcast feed. I encourage everyone to take a look at his What Is A Podcast Page.

Next, Jonathan Nation send in an audio question about why I have such a long email signature and who effective has it been. Click Here To See My Email Signature.

I also shared a short interview with Howard Sheppard who just launched a brand new podcast called Life Beyond The Assembly Line. I felt that the difference in audio quality between episode 1 and episode 2 was so drastic, that it would be great to get him onto the show to talk about what he changed to get that better sound. The interview has the added value of getting an insights from a brand new podcaster whose podcasting with a passion and a purpose.

Be sure to sign up for the Podcast Answer Man Boot Camp Webinar Series.

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Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Podcast Answer Man Episode 141
Hosting, Engaging Your Audience, Audio Quality, And More

Right Click Here To Download

In this episode you will hear the following information:

I take a call from Dave Dufour where he asks a few questions about hosting your podcast on your own v/s hosting with a network.

Next, Eirk Fisher called in to ask me what I am using in Adobe Audition to generate some of the same results of what I used to get when I was using Levelator.

Next, Brent Green called in to ask what are my suggestions for engaging your audience.

Then I took one final call from Gordon Firemark who shared some thoughts about the problem of Paralysis by Analysts and suggested that people just need to get out there and do something. During his call, he said “Pretty Good is More Than Enough” and “Quantity beats quality every single time.” While I totally agree that people need to forget about PERFECTION when starting and that Pretty Good is “good enough” to get started. I would argue that “pretty good” is NOT “MORE THAN ENOUGH.” I don’t want to discourage anyone from getting started. But good enough is just “good enough” which is “enough” to get started. Listen to the podcast for more details.

At the end of the show, I announce that I’m launch a Podcast Answer Man BootCamp Webinar Series.
Here is the schedule. For more details, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org
Saturday, Jan 9th 12Noon Behind The Scenes of How I do Premium Membership
Tuesday, Jan 19th 8:30pm Adobe Audition, Why & How I Use It.
Saturday, Jan 23rd 12Noon WordPress For Podcasting – A Demo Of How I Set It Up
Tuesday, Jan 26th 8:30pm Audacity 101
Saturday, Jan 30th 12Noon How I Use Social Media To Build My Brand & Build Community
Satruday, Feb 6th Garageband for Podcasting 101
Saturday, Feb 13th 100 Point Inspection!

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Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Podcast Answer Man Episode 140
Dan Miller Interview – Author of 48 Days To The Work You Love

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I started podcasting as a hobby four years ago, on December 16th, 2005. Over the course of the first two years, it became a dream of mine to do podcasting full-time as my career. Two years ago, on January 1st, 2008, I took the bold step of leaving my 11 year career in insurance, making $87,000 per year, to make my dream a reality.

I’m going to post some important links below in just a moment. However, right now, I want to tell you how yet another dream has been made a reality. You see, when I started my business, I had NO IDEA what I was doing. I had never had any formal business training. I had no clue about how to deal with accounting, taxes, unemployment insurance, etc. It was all very overwhelming to me and I had a great deal of anxiety about how to make the work I love to do pay the bills.

I’m so thankful that I had purchased the books “48 Days To The Work You Love” and “No More Mondays” by Dan Miller. These two books, and Dan’s Podcast changed my outlook on everything!

I hope that you enjoy the interview with Dan nearly as much as I enjoyed the opportunity to have this conversation with him. Here are the links that I mentioned in the episode:

http://gspn.tv/passion – This link will take you to Pursuing A Balanced Life Episode 425 titled “Follow Your Passion And The Money Will Follow.” I hope that you’ll find this episode inspirational as I share just how far our business has come in under two years.

http://gspn.tv/passion2 – This link will take you to Family From The Heart episode 88 titled “Difficult Decisions.” This episode is like a sequel to the episode mentioned previously. In this episode, my wife joined me as we shared the reality of just how difficult things were in that first year of doing our own business.

http://gspn.tv/48-Days – This link will take you to a special page that I created where I have all the episodes that I recorded as my audio review of the book 48 Days To The Work You Love. In fact, when I listen back to these episodes, I’m amazed at just how much my mindset about what I do has changed.

Again, I hope that you find this episode enjoyable. Please leave your feedback in the comments section below or call my voice mail feedback hotline at 859-795-4067.

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Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Podcast Answer Man Episode 139
What To Do When Your Podcast Becomes An Infomercial

Right Click Here To Download

I recently received an email from a long time listener who suggested that he was contemplating unsubscribing from the Podcast Answer Man podcast and he provided his thoughts on why this was. In his email, he suggested that with the number of subscribers that I have to this podcast, that I might not even notice the loss of a single subscriber.

If you are interested in hearing what reasons he gave as to why he had considered dumping the show and moving on and/or my response to whether or not I am concerned about the loss of a single, long time subscriber of my podcast, then you need to listen to this episode.

This episode is an example of what I think should be done in the event your podcast ends up sounding like an ongoing infomercial for your brand, products, and/or services.

Of course, I also shared an “anonymous” comment left on a previous episode of Podcast Answer Man. It’s amazing how different my reaction is to “concerned listener” as it is to “Charley’s” email. I did an episode while back titled “Handling Critical Feedback” (Episode 106)

Finally, somewhere in this episode, I asked for your thoughts on what Leo Laporte announced on his blog recently. Basically, even though his network has generated 2.5 Million dollars in revenue, he’s suggesting that there is still a role for donations in his network and he plans to allow these donations to be what actually pays his personal income from the network. Click Here To Read His Blog Entry. Share your thoughts in the comment section below or by calling our voice mail feedback hotline at 859-795-4067

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Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Podcast Answer Man Episode 138
Crushing It

Right Click Here To Download

In this episode, I pretty much bounce all over the place. The main theme of this episode is how excited I am about the content found in Gary Vaynerchuk’s new book titled “Crush It.”

During the conversation, I mentioned these links:

http://gspn.tv/pablchallenge
http://gspn.tv/passion
http://podcastanswerman.com/criticalfeedback

I wrapped up the show with a few other topics such as competition among podcasters and why I decided to make a change to the release schedule for the shows that I record on Thursdays.

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Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

Subscribe To The Podcast Answer Man Podcast:

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I’ve been consulting for a few years now and I’ve helped several hundred podcasters improve the audio quality of their podcast by leaps and bounds. However, my podcast consulting has never been limited to audio equipment and production. I do a lot of consulting on personal branding and how to build community around what you do with all your new media efforts.

Here’s something that I share often with my clients. I think it’s extremely important to have a high level of audio quality. However, for 99% of your audience, the first impression of your show is not going to be the sound of your podcast, it’s going to be the LOOK of your podcast. Let me explain.

There are many places people may find your podcast. Looking at my client’s and my own Google Analytics, it is clear that the two main sources of traffic to a podcast are Google and iTunes. When people find your podcast in one of these two places, the first thing people are going to see is either your website or your iTunes listing page.

Just look at this sample from an iTunes search and notice how the image of the podcast, OR LACK THEREOF, jumps out at you when browsing the list of shows…

Out of the ten podcasts listed above, only four of them have, what I would consider to be, a decent podcast artwork graphic for their show (Podcast Answer Man, MBA Working Girl, NAPL Workflows, and Train For Top Dollar). Notice how CIO Talk Radio doesn’t even have a logo, they just have the default iTunes image. I hesitate to point it out, but the “Fire Your Tech Guy in 15 minutes” podcast should have let the tech guy work another 30 minutes longer to produce a decent graphic for his podcast.

The point is this. I believe that your content is King! Though I don’t think any King should go through live without a QUEEN for your podcast which is your AUDIO QUALITY! Extending your brand doesn’t stop with compelling content that sounds great. You really should consider the LOOK of your website as well as the look of your artwork that displays in iTunes.

I’m constantly trying to “IMPROVE” the look of my brands. This is why I’ve hired my great friend, and a former sponsor of Podcast Answer Man podcast, Evan Agee, of Agee Design, to create a more professional looking logo for my Podcast Answer Man brand.

I sent him some ideas of what I was looking for and here’s a few concepts that he sent my way.

I’ve already sent Evan some thoughts on how I’d like to combine elements of two of the above concepts to create a logo that I think will look great. I’m very excited about this because I have plenty of new things that I’m working on behind the scenes and I wanted to have this new logo for all these new products and branding initiatives that I’m working on.

Are you looking to extend your brand? Are you looking for ways to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your podcasting efforts? I’m available for one on one consulting. Simply email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or pick up the phone and call me at 859-757-1399.

Yet Another Video Episode

Podcast Answer Man Episode 137
Broadcast Host v/s Telos One

I break out my Kodak Zi8 once again to bring you this very brief episode with my thoughts of how the JK Audio Broadcast Host compares to the Telos One Digital Hybrid (Both of which are available for purchase through me).

Here’s the video:

Right Click Here To Download iPhone Version

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

Subscribe To The Podcast Answer Man Podcast:

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This morning, I came across a video on YouTube that carries a message that I feel strongly about as a podcast consultant. Let me explain…

Many of my clients today ask me, “Cliff, did you always want to be on the radio?” or “Cliff, did you go to some sort of school for broadcasting?” Better yet are the folks who say “Cliff, you have a natural talent for podcasting.”

See, when my clients listen to any of my recent podcast episodes, they here a confident show host who seems to know what he’s doing and who has learned to communicate well. And when they learn that I actually don’t do a SINGLE BIT OF EDITING on my shows, they are simply blown away.

Now this post isn’t here for me to share with you about how great people say I am. Not at all! In fact, the point that I want to make here is that while I will admit there is a foundation that was laid by some core talents, what makes my podcasts what they are today is not based so much on talent, but more so on experience.

Let me give you an example. Click the play button here and listen to just the first two minutes of this recent episode of Podcast Answer Man.

Now, click the play button here and listen to just the first two minutes of this very first podcast episode I ever recorded.

I hope you noticed just a little bit of a difference there. I’m not going to go into great detail here in this post, because I really believe this video has a lot to say and I think you’ll pick up on it.

Here’s the video:

After viewing the video, do me a favor and click here to see what it took to get my overall quality from what it was in that first episode to what it is today. (Hint: Look at the “number” of episodes that I have recorded since December 2005)

So the message today is this. Don’t wait until you sound perfect to get started! The key principle in this video is called “Deliberate Practice.” The idea is that you just keep PUSHING YOURSELF!

Now if you are podcasting for your business and your brand is on the line, then perhaps you do what Chris Rock did. You try different venues to practice in until you’re ready for your big cable network special.

For me, I actually do all my deliberate practicing in my actual shows themselves. But then again, my brand is all about “growing personally.” The key here is to simply put out content. The more you do it, the more natural it will become over time.

Podcast Answer Man Episode 136
Interview With Mignon Fogarty

Right Click Here To Download

Last night, my wife and I had the opportunity to discuss podcasting as a career with Mignon Fogarty, also known as Grammar Girl. Mignon is the creator of Grammar Girl and the founder and managing director of Quick and Dirty Tips.

This opportunity came about due to the fact that Mignon was going to be in Cincinnati for a book signing related to her new book “The Grammar Devotional.” Her first book, “Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing” achieved enough success that she made it on the New York Times Best Seller List.

We were very excited when the message came in from Mignon saying that she had remembered that we’re in the Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky area and that she’d love to meet us for dinner.

In this episode, we invite you to sit down at the restaurant with us as we discuss how podcasting was the catalyst for her published books, an appearance on the Oprah show (clip1 – clip2), and a life altering decision to go into podcasting as a full-time career.

Important highlights from the interview include:

Mignon started with an original podcast that took her as much as 20 hours a week to produce. She later made a decision to do something different, even though her original podcast had even won awards.

Mignon “fell into it (podcasting as a career).” It started out just as a hobby that she did in her free time.

There is a discussion that demonstrates the role of passion and enthusiasm about the topic(s) you podcast about. She mentions that she listens to a sports podcast because of their passion and enthusiasm, not because she loves sports.

It became a business when she got some publicity that led her to writing a book. However, the book would have never happened had it not been for the podcast.

Mignon says that she makes about as much money from podcasting as she did as a technical writer. She was a pretty successful technical writer. We both agree that we, as people who have found a way to turn podcasting into a career, are an anomaly and that there is no real formula for “being discovered” and making it work. Mignon shares about who invested in her podcast network and a little bit about how that is all managed.

We talked briefly about the ability to have a positive impact on the lives of others through your podcasting and the importance of picking the right format and being focused on consistency.

I hope that you enjoy the conversation with Mignon.

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Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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When consulting with my clients for audio podcasting, I often tell them about the importance of using other social networking tools and broadcast channels to get the word out about your brand. I think it’s great to focus a lot of attention on your audio podcast. I certainly prefer to consume audio content as I have more time that I devote to audio than I can any other form of media. However, it’s important that we audio podcasters not neglect written blog posts, like this one. There’s great value in using video, occasionally, to continue to draw an audience to your audio podcast.

Another valuable tool for promoting your audio podcast is creating a short promo that can be used by your audience to promote your podcast. It is with great enthusiasm that I share this YouTube video with you. It is a perfect example of what we podcasters should be doing to branch out and tell others about our audio content.

Here’s the video:

As if I weren’t impressed enough by their video promo, displayed prominently on the home page of their website, I was also impressed by the fact that they took time to create custom subscription graphics that fit the theme of their show.

I absolutely love the rss feed button in the wheel barrel and the tape measure wrapped around the iTunes Logo. Folks, if you are serious about your podcast and building a brand around what you are doing, don’t be afraid to invest in your website. It’s the first impression you’ll give to a majority of your audience!

Podcasters take notice Brian and Paul of The Handy Guys Podcast! They are doing several things right!

If you would like more tips and advice on how to improve what you are doing with your podcast, contact me for some one on one consulting. In fact, ask about my 100 point podcast evaluation product!

As a podcast consultant, one of my greatest rewards of my work is the fact that I get to interact with so many wonderful and uniquely different clients on a regular basis. I’ve worked with the former chief engineer of Corvette, many nationally syndicated television show hosts from pro fishermen to garden experts, traditional radio broadcasts hosts, book authors, dentists, chiropractors, and even priests and nuns.

Today, I want to highlight just one of my clients. Actually, it’s two people who worked together to find an effective use of podcasting for their message. In the photo below, you can see both Sister Julie and Sister Maxine from ANunsLife.org. (Note: Click On Image To Enlarge)

The reason why I want to highlight this client is because I’m very impressed at how quickly Sister Julie and Sister Maxine have moved forward in their journey in podcasting. Sister Julie contacted me several months ago to purchase audio equipment, as she had a desire to record some audio to release audio on her blog to compliment the written content she was already providing to a growing community. She and Sister Maxine took to podcasting like a fish to water. Not long after, she hired me to consult with her on the possibility of doing live broadcasts of her podcasts. Since then, she’s been producing live audio content, releasing the recordings, afterward, in their rss feed, on a consistent basis.

As you can see above, these nuns have even gone so far as to take their podcasting to a live audience. I’m excited to see my clients really get involved in building a community around their content. Sister Julie and Sister Maxine have an amazing relationship with their audience.

Just this morning, I received another email from Sister Julie, asking about expanding their equipment further to allow for an expansion in the number of guests that they can have participate in their recordings with them. Not only that, but she’s requesting some additional consulting time to help take the audio quality of her shows to the next level. Something I already have specific steps that she can take to make it sound more like a professional audio broadcast that would rival any FM radio talk show.

Click the play button above to hear the audio from the recording made when the photos above were taken. You’ll notice that the recording made available in their podcasts are currently the audio recordings from TalkShoe, the service I set them up with for their live shows. The simply dial into the live conference call set up by TalkShoe using their JK Audio Broadcast Host to send all the audio from their microphones and mixer board to those on the live call.

I’m very proud of the progress Sister Julie and Sister Maxine have made. It just goes to show that more and more people are out there launchign new podcasts, an industry that is GROWING! It makes me wonder, if two catholic nuns are producing a regular podcast, and you’re not, why? They picked it up pretty quickly! If you need help, don’t suffer from paralysis by analysis any longer. Hire me today and I’ll have you up and running with your own podcast in no time!

Podcast Answer Man Episode 135
Will Affiliate Advertising Increase Your Credibility?

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In this episode, I share my thoughts on the question of whether or not having affiliate marketing is a good way to build credibility during the initial growth phase of your podcast. I share my thoughts of “Calling In Favors” from your audience. I also took a few other calls as well.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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I’ve been a huge fan of the Kindle for iPhone application ever since it came out. I do not own a Kindle personally. In fact, I don’t even desire to own a Kindle. Why? Because I actually love reading books on my iPhone. I can change the text size in such a way that it makes it a perfect device for me to burn through pages of books whenever I have a few minutes of free time here and there.

A while back, the Kindle for iPhone app added the functionality to both add highlight and take notes on any section within a book. This was a major improvement above simply “bookmarking” a page.

This is important to me, because my major gripe about reading a book digitally was that I couldn’t highlight it and write notes in the margin like I could with a paper book. This functionality gave me the ability to do both.

So why am I so excited about the Kindle for the PC? It’s because I often want to share a quote from a book in a podcast. As much as I enjoy reading a book on the iPhone, trying to share quotes from books, on the iPhone, while talking into a microphone is not the easiest thing in the world to do. Kindle for the PC saves the day!

The Kindle for the pc does not, yet, allow you to add notes and highlight sections of books, though that functionality is coming soon. However, because the Kindle for the PC will sync with my Amazon Account just like my Kindle for iPhone will, I’m able to VIEW all the bookmarks, notes, and highlights that I made in the iPhone on my PC.

Here is an example of a highlighted page:

Here is an example of a note I entered:

You can bet I’ll be sharing a great deal more insights from the books I’m reading in my podcasts. I’m very excited.

You can download Kindle for PC right now by Clicking Here.

Special Video Episode

Podcast Answer Man Episode 134
gspn.tv Studio Tour

It’s not very often that I put a video episode into the Podcast Answer Man podcast feeds, let alone a 30 minute one. However, the community has been begging for a video tour of the gspn.tv studio for the longest time.

Until recently, I’ve never been happy with the video quality that I’ve got with my video projects. That has all changed now with my Kodak Zi8 pocket HD Camera.

In this video, I explain how I use each computer in my studio as well as show you the the equipment that I make use of in my podcast productions.

Right Click Here To Download iPhone Version

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Podcast Answer Man Episode 133
Leo Laporte Admits Nobody Cares About Video

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In episode 130, I shared some audio clips from a talk that Leo Laporte gave at the Online News Association Conference in San Francisco recently.

In that talk, Leo had shared that he made over 1.5 million dollars last year from advertising on his podcast network. Soon after sharing this revenues from the previous year, he stated that “Podcasting, essentially, is dead.”

Of course, in that episode, I argued that podcasting is what earned Leo his 1.5 million dollars, not live video. In fact, I played audio clips from his talk where Leo shared that with us.

In this episode, I share two very important things from two different podcasts that Leo produces. In episode 13 of This Week In Google, Leo shared that this year, Leo has already earned 2.5 million dollars from his podcasting. Doesn’t sound like a dead industry to me.

However, even more shocking than that, I was blown away by something that Leo shared in This Week In Tech episode 218. If you go and try to find the quote I’m talking about in the episode from the TWiT.tv website, you will not be able to find it. In fact, the episode had been pulled offline, edited, and re-released without the quote included in the episode.

Luckily, I had my original copy in the recycle bin on my laptop. In this episode, I share the audio where Leo says… “This is nuts… I spent all this money to broadcast video. Who’s watchin’? Nobody’s watchin’ video. They all just listen in their car. Nobody wants this.”

I admire and respect Leo Laporte a great deal. I credit him for my inspiration to get into podcasting. As shared in this episode, I’ve found great success in finding my passion in the field of podcasting and have found a way to support a family of five with a career in podcasting myself.

I know that Leo doesn’t really believe that podcasting is dead. However, those are the words he spoke. Those words were spoken to a great number of people who don’t understand podcasting at all. I got upset with Leo when he said that because he was setting up a powerful story about the power behind podcasting and then totally turned a possibly interested crowd away form the thought of pursuing podcasting.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Podcast Answer Man Episode 132
What Does Soda Pop Have To Do With Podcasting

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In this episode, I explain why I think this YouTube video about soda pop holds one of the major keys to successful podcasting.

I also mentioned a service called Tungle. Be sure to listen to the interview we did with the CEO.

A listener wrote in with a question about getting subscribed to a podcast in the Russian version of iTunes.

And to wrap things up, I reminded you that now is the perfect time to let me know what training products you would like me to produce.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Podcast Answer Man Episode 131
Branding A Mustache

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In this episode, I hit record without any show notes in front of me. However, I came prepared with a great deal of community feedback. I play several bits of feedback about the episode I did last week regarding Leo Laporte. I had an interesting question about branding my mustache.

While I didn’t take any notes while recording the show, I’m sure I tossed in a few other topics into the discussion about podcasting along the way.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Podcast Answer Man Episode 130
Leo Laporte Makes 1.5 Million From Podcasting

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In this episode, share my thoughts and reactions on a Mashable blog post that said, “Podcast pioneer Leo Laporte gave a talk at the Online News Association Conference in San Francisco recently, giving insights into the future of media coupled with anecdotes from his work in television and radio.

The keynote, entitled “Lunch with Leo”, runs 40 minutes, but it’s well worth the time if you’re involved in online media and broadcasting.

The most interesting tidbit: Laporte’s TWiT (This Week in Tech) network does $1.5 million in revenue per year, doubling yearly.

His costs, however, are more impressive: it only takes $350,000 per year to run the business with 7 employees.”

Here’s the video:

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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I’ve been on the lookout for the perfect pocket sized video recorder to meet my needs. I’m an audio guy mostly, but I occasionally have a desire to create video content from time to time. For example, there are times when I want to do product demos such as the video demo I did for the Tascam DR-07.

The main reason I haven’t done more of these videos than I have is due to the desire to have a much higher level of audio quality in the videos that I produce. There are a lot of point and shoot cameras that have pretty decent video quality, but I want to use my professional audio gear to produce the audio for the video and I don’t want to have to add the audio to the video project in post production. Therefore, the perfect camera for me would be one with an external audio input jack.

Today, I found just the camera I’ve been looking for in the Kodack Zi8. I learned about this terrific camera while watching Cali Lewis’ GeekBrief.tv episode 641. Would you believe that within 30 minutes of watching her video, I had this camera in my hands? I’m not kidding! I immediately did a search online for the camera, looked over the specs, and started to call stores to see if anyone had it in stock. Luckily, I found a local Best Buy store who had ONLY ONE in stock. I immediately left the house and picked it up.

While the audio input jack was the most important thing I’ve been looking for in these little mini cameras, I am excited to tell you that the Zi8 also includes several other features that I’m excited about. It shoots video in full 1080p HD, though I’m more impressed with the 720p at 60 frames per second. It has terrific image stabilization. It takes 5 megapixel still images. Both the video and the still images are captures in 16×9 format, which I LOVE by the way. It takes high capacity SD Cards up to 32Gb so I could actually record as much as 20 to 30 hours of HD video on one card. It comes with software for the PC that allows me to very easily upload directly to YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, and other sites. And the video is recorded in to a .MOV file that I can just as easily drag and drop onto my Mac Desktop and edit it with Screenflow or iMovie.

Of course that’s a enough of WORDS about this VIDEO camera. So here’s the video I created as soon as I took it out of the box. Note: I didn’t spend any time at all editing this video. Just wanted to test video quality as quickly as possible. Take a look at this video and tell me what you think!

Podcast Answer Man Episode 129
Finding Music For Your Podcast

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In this episode, I answer several listeners from the podcasting community. First off, I answer the question about where you can find music for your podcast. I mention MusicBakery.com, GarageBand’s free music provided on the mac, as well as the music over at MusicAlley.com. Oh yeah, and I think I even mentioned that Geoff Smith can create a custom jingle for you.

Also in this episode is talk of mono v/s stereo recording for podcasts and some thoughts on the idea of audio and or video automatically loading on your website.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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By now, I’m sure you have heard about Google Wave. I got excited about this project as soon as I first saw the developer conference demo back in June of this year.

The only issue with that original video was that it was more than an hour long. Personally, I felt that it was worth every moment I spent soaking in all that Google Wave could do. However, the length of the video was a barrier to entry for the mass audience to get a feel for what would be coming from this service.

Finally, there is a much shorter video. In fact, here’s a video that does pretty darn well at explaining the main points in under eight minutes. Have a look:

The first round of Google Wave invites just started to roll out this week. Those who are lucky enough to get an invite in the first round will have the opportunity to “nominate” a few friends for the next round of invites.

I suppose that they did this due to the fact that Google Wave without anyone to interact with would be the same as if you signed up for a Twitter Account and didn’t know anyone else that uses Twitter.

Due to the amount of hype surrounding Google Wave, I’m concerned about people feeling let down at first glance when they finally get to use the service for the first time. This is exactly what happened with Twitter.

However, I feel that in about a year or so, Google Wave’s popularity will rank up their with both Facebook and Twitter.

Looking at the video above, I’m most excited about the “Bloggy”. (Jump to 3min 12sec into the video embedded above). As a podcaster / blogger / online community builder, I’m most interested in the ability for me to embed waves in various sites that I manage.

At this time, I sometimes post the same content in many different venues. For example, I will post an episode of Podcast Answer Man podcast episodes here on this site, the gspn.tv main site and the premium, plus member only site that I manage for gspn.tv. Each post on each site has it’s own comments section, none of them connected to each other.

I can envision the ability to use something like this bloggy feature to embed into each of these posts and turning off the individual comments sections. So basically, the google wave for comments would be right inside my show notes page. This way, if you are a gspn.tv plus member and viewing the show notes on that page… let’s say you add a comment there. Your comment will also show up on the main gspn.tv site as well as on this Podcast Answer Man site. Actually, I could even try to add it to the gspn.tv Community Forum somehow.

This is just the beginning of what I think Google Wave will be able to do for me as a Podcaster. It may take a while for this one to catch on. But I do expect that we are “riding the wave” of the “next big thing.”

Podcast Answer Man Episode 128
Extending Your Brand With Twitter

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In this episode. I mentioned that I was recently interviewed by my friend Ray on his Podcaster’s Studio Podcast.

I share a personal story of the power of Twitter in extending your brand.

I also answered a question from Jerilyn who wrote…. “I know you don’t edit your shows anymore to save time, but my question is when working with a partner, co-host or guest speaker and you, as the producer, think their conversation is a bit dull, or kinda blah, or not very dynamic/funny -do you just go with it, try to re-direct the conversation somehow – or just wait until the recording is over and then maybe not release it? I know with Stephanie you don’t have that problem, but am wondering if it ever has come up – or what you do when you feel a podcast isn’t quite 100% what you want. I’d love to hear your thoughts – thanks!

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Podcast Answer Man Episode 127
Improving Your Sound Quality

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In this episode, I share an example how a client recently improved the quality of the sound of his show by simply using a professional digital audio recorder like the Edirol R-09. Several folks who were watching as I recorded this episode purchased and Edirol from me that day.

Next, I shared an answer to a question that I had received in the 48 Days Podcasting and New Media Group that I run. I provided my answer in audio form as to demonstrate the before and after effects of the advice I was giving.

Finally, I took a call from Gordon who wanted some advice on how I manage my show notes for all the various podcasts that I produce. Of course I told him that the answer is simply GOOGLE DOCS.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Podcast Answer Man Episode 126
Making Money With Your Podcast

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In this episode, I share some basic thoughts about how one can make money from producing a podcast. There are so many options out there. Join a network that will try to find advertisers for you. Try to get your own advertisers. Learn the difference between an advertiser and a sponsor. Premium Content Models. Selling products and services, etc, etc.

Also, I answer a question from someone who asked why I chose to run so many podcasts off of just one site at gspn.tv rather than having a different website for each show.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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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

Podcast Answer Man Episode 125
Digital Recorders And Bit Rates

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In this episode, Scott shares some thoughts after having me do a 100 point evaluation of his podcast, The SciFi Diner Podcast.

Another client, Ray, called in to share his appreciate of the new equipment that he recently purchased from me. As a result of this bit of feedback, I ended up spending a great deal of time explaining many of the benefits of having a portable digital audio recorder.

Finally I shared a pre-recorded conversation with my friend, Daniel Lewis, about audio bit rates.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Podcast Answer Man Episode 124
Thoughts On Enhanced Podcasts

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In this episode, I share some insights as to the process of how an mp3 goes from being uploaded to libsyn.com, posted into a Wordpress entry, which creates a link to the file in an rss feed published by Wordpress, which is then converted to an iTunes compatible rss feed by Feedburner for one of my clients.

I also share some thoughts on Embedding audio player in HTML Site.

Will Brown a Blog titled “Fear and Trembling – Or Not: Thoughts on the VoloMedia Podcasting Patent”

Steve Rinkenberger for a link to a blog post by the Law Office of Steve O’Donnell, Ph.D. titled “Scary podcast patent not that scary”

I mentioned that you should check out Social Media Serenity.

Nick and Lee both called in some thoughts about Soundboard.

I attempted to answer some questions about bit rates.

I wrapped up the show by sharing my thoughts on Enhanced Podcasts.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Podcast Answer Man Episode 123
A Patent For Podcasting?

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In this episode, I share some shocking news in the world of podcasting. There has been a story posted that states that a Californian company receives patent for Podcasting.

I share what this article says, the response from the company who has been awarded the patent in question, and my thoughts on the whole thing.

I think the main thing to take away from this episode is that this isn’t anything we should be losing sleep over just yet. We’ll keep our eye on this story.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Podcast Answer Man Episode 122
Audio Editing Software For Podcasters

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In this episode:

* Nick called to mention Mail Chimp as an option for mailing lists.

* Jonathan shared some additional insight on naming schemes.

* Jonathan also shared some thoughts on other businesses poaching from Twitter Followers List.

* My thoughts on Audio Editing Software For Podcasters. Audacity is Free. Adobe Audition is my favorite. For the Mac I suggest either GarageBand or Sound Studio.

* Wayne Henderson called in about an episode of another podcast that I produce where I talked about rechargeable batteries. I share my thoughts on how I’ve saved 100’s of dollars using NiMH rechargeable batteries.

* I wrap up the episode with an amazing testimonial that I was blessed to have received this past week. You can see it at the top of the Recommendations Page.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

Subscribe To The Podcast Answer Man Podcast:

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Podcast Answer Man Episode 121
100 Point Podcast Evaluation

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In this episode Nick Padley called in about an Update to Garage Band. As it turns out, they added an option to turn off the auto-normalize process when exporting your recordings to mp3.

Jerrica was in our live chat room and asked me to share my thoughts on on Audacity as an audio editing program program.

I share a story news item that says Skype might have to shut down because of a dispute over the core technology used to make the Internet telephone system work. Of course I share that I don’t think this will really ever happen.

Wayne called in to share some additional thoughts on mixing audio and video in the same rss feeds.

I end the show by announcing a brand new service that I’m offering here through my Podcast Answer Man consulting business. Please contact me if you are interested in a 100 Point Evaluation of Your Podcast. Full details are mentioned in this episode. Or if you like, feel free to contact me and I’ll explain how it all works.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.

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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:

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.

Podcast Answer Man Episode 120
Naming Schemes And Email Lists

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In this episode John called in to ask about Email Lists. I mention how I use Google Groups. While I’ve never used their service, I’ve heard a lot of good things about Constant Contact.

Jonathan sent and audio recording to ask about Naming Schemes. I give a little background on why I’ve chosen to name my audio files the way that I have over the years. Personally, I don’t feel that naming schemes are all that important. However, I would highly recommend being consistent with how you name your files. As this audio feedback proves, people do pay attention.

Finally, I threw out a discussion starter about Social Networking & Business Competitors. I don’t know if I’ll get any response to this or not. This is something I’ve never thought of before. Normally, I’d just say, be so good at what you do that people would never want to go to your competitor.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@gspn.tv or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@gspn.tv or call me at 859-757-1399.

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Podcast Answer Man Episode 119
Feedburner And Old Episodes

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In this episode, I share some thoughts on the use of Feedburner even if you are using a hosting service that provides iTunes optimized rss feeds.

Chris Oatley called to say thanks for Episode 80 which was a screen cast on Google Analytics.

I share some thoughts I’ve been having on how to best handle the old archives of Podcast Answer Man.

Finally, I close the show out with a call from Daniel Johnson Jr. regarding limited speaking times at Podcamps and my thoughts on his comments.

Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.

EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@gspn.tv or call me at 859-757-1399.

PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@gspn.tv or call me at 859-757-1399.

Subscribe To The Podcast Answer Man Podcast:

Plus Members Subscribe Using Plus Feed Generator.