Meet the Members

This week we meet Chaley Hays from www.crossdrivenradio.com and he features with musicians and plays great music. You can find it at www.crossdrivenradio.com Chalrye uses a mac computer with graragband and sound studio for editing, Sterling Audio ST55 microphone, DBA 266XL noise compressor, sound craft compact 4 mixer.

Great Plugin Saves Time - Helps Make Money

This is a pretty cool plugin for wordpress. It's called Affiliate Elite. You can set up keywaords to link to certain pages. Once you set this up, you just type the words and the links are created. This will save you time, and if you're trying, make you money.

Last 5 in 5 from Charley of www.crossdrivenradio.com

The Bitterest Pill (Charley is a Premium Member)

Fact or Fiction (iTunes)

KJ52 Podcast

 Stuff You Should Know (iTunes)

Wordcast (Dave Love's this one too now)

 Charley is using the Thesis theme on his site.

They changed my password which made it impossible to login to my wordpress.

They changed the index.php

Here is how I fixed it:

Login to your website control panel.
Go to Php Myadmin
Click on yrou wordpress database.
Click on wpUsers
Click on the browser button
Click on Edit
Enter your email address.
Go back to your website and request the password be sent.
Go to your email and click the link that is sent to confirm the request.
The new password is sent. Copy it and paste it into the login screen.
Now that you are in, click on Users and change your user password.

To get the front page back to normal, install wordpress on your website (from scratch). Go into the index.php page and copy that code. Then copy this code into your hacked index.php file removing all code from that file before pasting in the new code. When you save it and refresh the screen you should see your site come back. If not they may have deleted your data. Then you can go in and delete your second installation of Wordpress.

One great tool to back up your wordpress installation is a plugin call WP-DB-Backup. Which I originally heard on the Internet Business Mastery podcast with Jason Van Orden (who I met at the first Podcast Expo). This backs up your tables in the event that things go horribly wrong and ALL your data is taken and deleted. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Are you ready to avoid the pitfalls? Then its time to go to the School of Podcasting and start a successful learn how to podcast today.

Key Ingredients of a Podcast

1. It will help the audience, or teach them (like this podcast)
2. It will entertain the audience (laughter, music, etc).
3. A unique persepctive (like a stay at home Dad, a solder in Iragq).
4. The ability to move the audience (taps in to the eomotions of the audience).

How Many Downloads Can You Expect on Your First Show?

I've released the first episode of the Dates From Hell Show. We are not listed anywhere (iTunes, Podcast Alley, etc). We had a whole 19 downloads. This may seem poor, but you have to keep in mind that I've done very little publicity for this show (so don't get discouraged).

A New Kind of Business Card

As the Dates From Hell Show may have a wider appeal than many of my podcasts I wanted a different type of business card that was geared more toward driving traffic to my website instead of contacting me. It explains its an "Internet Radio Show." It explains that you can listen online. The great thing is if you order 500 cards, they are only 6 cents each.

Start Podcasting Today

Sign up and learn how to podcast at the School of Podcasting where we have step by step tutorials, podcasting resources, and live question and answer sessions with a podcast consultant.

Use Headings

When using wordpress, click on the icon to show two sets of formatting buttons and use the format such as heading 3. The big bonus for a site impaired person is they can jump from heading to heading in their software that reads the screen to them.

Use "Alt" Text on Images

This is the "pop up" text that shows up when you hover your mouse over and image. This helps explain what the picture is for those who can't see it. This will also help you with search engines.

Use Alt Text on Links

When you use alt text on links you can write something like "Buy this product at amazon.com" so a persion who is site impaired know what to expect if they click on that link

Last 5 in 5

What were the last 5 podcasts you listened to?

Internet Marketing
http://www.ai-digital.com/index.php?p=a

60 Minutes Podcast
HOrrible Audio

Ask a Ninja
http://www.askaninja.com/

Marketing Over Coffee
http://www.marketingovercoffee.com/

Artist Empowerment Radio
http://www.gcast.com/user/TheBuzzFactor/podcast/main?nr=1&&s=110247627

Submit you last 5 via the www.podcastvoicemail.com number at 888-563-3228

We also get a report from Fred Castenda of www.strugglingentrepreneur.com and www.gaincontrolofyourday.com who interviews Dave from Wizzard media about the new wizard media. Itâs very simple. Enter in your RSS feed, answer a confirmation email (stating that you are the owner of the feed). Wizzard will populate your player, and you are off to go.

The player is completely customizable via skins. It also checks to see if you have a high speed connection, and then either feeds you the mv4 file or the flash file. They also have a partnership with tubmogul where your video will get blasted into all sorts of different video portals. Sign up go to http://tools.wizzard.tv

Mentioned on the Show

Back to School Special

Easrn 20% of at the School of Podcasting using the coupon code " bts " now through the end of September 2008. Don't be Tardy!

Blubrry Tools (part I)

One of my Podcast Fast Pass clients is using tools from www.blubrry.com The first one I started uysing was their PowerPress Plugin. To me this is like "everything and I love about Podpress with all the things I hate about Podpress left out." It does your itunes, puts a streaming player on your site, it has the ability to work with Podtrac (or Blubrry stats), and provides the ability for listeners to download the file or play in a Pop Up window (all of which is customizable). The only down side is you can change the color of the player.

Blubrry Premium Stats

I've also started using their premium stats service on one of my client's sites. It provides QUICK stats, and show everything like referers, what they are using as a podcastcher (itunes, zune, juice), it show you their operating system. I do like Libsyn stats that show the total times a podcast has been downloaded. So far so good.

The stats are set up using what I call "the Podtrac method" where you put in a redirect before your media URL. The best thing is if you are using their powerpress plugin, you enter this redirect location once and forget about it (and the plugin puts it into the episode automatically). This is again one of my favorite features of Podpress (that broke a while back in version 7ish...) and now works great in PowerPress.

What's the difference between blurbrry stats and podtrac? It appears blubrry gives you more details (a few), except podtrac also provides a tools to measure demographics (age, income, of listeners). The blubrry network also works with Podtrac (when you are using blubrry to help find advertisers). PoPodtrac makes it a bit easy to see the stats per episode at a glance. However, blurbrry gets you great stats (as in you can dig deaper) per episode (so you can see operating system of this episode).

Why would I use these stats?

More and more people are talking about using Amazon S3 to host their media as its very cheap (.15 gig for storage and .17 per gig of bandwidth).  So you have the "back bone" of amazon.com and the ability to track your downloads (as S3 doesn't have any stats out of the box).

Meet the Members: Fred Castaneda

Fred has 9 Different Podcasts including:

Struggling Entrepreneur
www.strugglingentrepreneur.com

Gain Control of Your Day (free and Paid Version)
www.gaincontrolofyourday.com

Jungle Warrirors (Great Audio Book)
www.junglewarriors.org

CASABLANCA to VE Day (Another great audio Book)
www.premiumcast.com/a-paratroopers-memoirs

Austin Podcasters Meetup
www.austinpodcasters.podomatic.com

Combat Infantrymen's Association (Austin Tx)
http://www.cibaustin.org/ 

Whats New at IMB
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=267037423 (itunes)

Arriba folklorico music and dance of Mexico
http://folkloricomusicdance.blogspot.com/

His exposure via podcasting may be leading to a career as a consultant for movies.

People Choice Podcast Awards

These kick off on September 15th at http://www.podcastawards.com/ be careful with these. Too much begging for votes = bad content = loss of listeners.

Additional Sites Mentioned

PremiumCast.com

Zune H2 Portable Recorder

Getting Olymic Caliber Guets

 Today I share a technique I learned from Gary Lealand from www.fastpitchillustrated.com (and www.podcastpickle.com and www.todayinpodcasting.com ). If you are trying to get somone on your show, and they have endorsements from a company, contact that  company and explain how you'd like to have that person on your Internet Radio Show to talk about your nich, and their product. It's working great for Gary. Gary is using his podcast (which he is very passionate about) to help sell products (which are featured at his site). He is also being seen as an "Expert" in his field because of his podcast.

Check out how Gary is using a podcast to drive traffic to his sporting goods store at www.fastpitchillustrated.com

 Podcasting For Pennies a Day

Microphone - $99
Cord - $10
Mixer - $60
Pop Filter - $20
Headphones - $35
Cord to connect Cable to Computer $30 (or there is a $5 version at Radio shack)
Audacity Software - Free
Website Hosting - $60/yr

That comes $324 USD a year or 86 cents a day.

Can you point to any magazine, radio, tv, or other medium that reaches the world for less than a buck a day? The second year (with no equipment to buy) you would spend 16 cents a day.

Did you know you can sign up for the School of Podcasting for $2 a day (even less if you buy multiple months), and in less than a month have live, successful, podcast? Try it today, and if you don't like it in the first 30 days we will give you your money back.

Am I a Podcaster?

Tamara from www.modergeartv.com asks, "I have video on my site am I a podcaster?

A: No. The power of podcasting is that it is delivered via RSS. You can learn how to subscribe to a podcast at www.learntosubscribe.com Then every time you put out a new show, it will automatically be downloaded when your listener/viewer launches iTunes. Without an RSS feed, you have "audio/video" on your website. The good news is if you have a blog you have an RSS feed. If you use Feedburner you can check a setting to make any downloadable media automatically be included in your RSS. (Tamara is using Blogger).

Coming In Future Episodes
I will be reviewing the Thesis Theme which is a great looking customizable wordpress theme. We will also "meet the members" with Fred Castenda of www.strugglingentrepreneur.com and 8 other podcasts.

Let me help you start podcasting today. Pricing starts as low as $20 a month. For more information go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com

"Live a life worth podcasting about."
-Dave Jackson

http://drop.io/podcastcoach

In talking with Brian, he used an html editor (Dreamweaver) and copy and pasted the code from the Settings > Advanced area of Libsyn into Dreamweaver, tweaked it, and pasted it back.

HAVE A SAFETY NET

Be sure to save the original version of the Libsyn site so if you mess things up, you always have a version to go back to. Then repeat this every time you have a "working" template.

Last 5 in 5

What were the last 5 podcasts you listened to?

Geologic Podcast (Comedy and Science for Skeptics)
http://www.geologicpodcast.com/

This week in photogrpahy
http://twipphoto.com/

Blowin Smoke (Cigar Podcast)
http://www.burghherfers.com/podcast.html

Mac Break Weekly
http://twit.tv/mbw

(OK, its a last 4 in 5, but it s 8 in the morning for Brian).

Ready to start podcasting? Check out our website www.schoolofpodcasting.com

Other Sites Mentioned
www.voiceemotion.com
www.podcastvoicemail.com

This interviewed was done via Skype and Doug's class.

Topics include:

Will Podcasting replace any other media forms?
What Podcast do I listen to?
Do you get paid on each download?
How many listeners make a successful audience?
Are Bloggers the same as Media?

Doung's Podcast is at
http://cstw.osu.edu/podcasts/

Other Podcasts Mentioned:
www.thescenezine.com
www.strugllingentrepreneur.com
www.sleddogpodcast.com
www.llmlive.com

The Stuggling Entrepreneur

Gain Control of Your Day

Combat Infantrymen's Badge Podcast

Caseblanca to VE-Day A Paratroopers Memoirs 

Jungle Warriors Podcast (premium version)

Microphones Discussed and Used on Today's Show

Zoom H2 $199

AT 2020 XLR Condenser microphone $99

AT 2020 USB $150

MXL 007 USB Micorphone

iMic USB Interface

Last 5 in 5

(the last 5 podcasts you listened you - explained in less than 5 minutes) 

Tech 5

Technology and You

Marketing Onine Live

The Morning Announcements (this site)

Manager Tools

Fred will producing daily updates from the New Media Expo in his The Stuggling Entrepreneur feed. It's a great podcast. Also Fred is a decorated Veteran. Forget Rambo and all the other movies about Vietnam, you can hear it from the brave men that were there in the Combat Infantrymen's Badge Podcast, the audio book Caseblanca to VE-Day A Paratroopers Memoirs and the Jungle Warriors Podcast (premium version audio book).

Thanks Fred, and thank for keeping us informed while you're at the Expo.

This camera takes great video no matter what lighting you put it in (if you have extreme back lighting it may be a little dark, but let's be realistic..). I took video at dusk and it looked much brighter than it actually was in real life.

The great thing is you can take up to 60 minutes of video. It has a rewing and fast forward on the camera for reviewing the video. You can easily delete video that you don't want to keep. It also has a built in 2X zoom. It runs on a rechargable battery that gets charged when you plug the camera into your USB port. The USB interface pops out when you flip a switch. It also has the ability to be put on a tripod. The microphone pics up audio great from the front, and while it's not as clear from the back its still easily understood if you are commenting from behind the camera while shooting video.

If I had used my old camera I would record to super 8, then have to transfer the video to my computer. So if I shot 60 minutes of video it would take (roughly) 60 minutes of time to transfer to my computer.

With the Flip camera, I plug the camera into my computer, and I can drag and drop the files into my favorite editing program. This took about 3 minutes instead of 60 with my old camera.  If you don't have editing software, there are some basic video editing software that comes with the camera that allows you to pick where the video starts and stops as well as you can put background music to the video.

It also has some features that make uploading video to you tube uber easy.

So what would I change?
I like that you can plug it into a video source (like a TV) to watch the video. I do wish I could plug it in and use the TV as a monitor. You can't do this. When you record, the video is only display on the display on the back of the camera. The other thing I would change is to put a retractable lens cover. The camera comes with a "nifty" puch to carry the camera, but I would rather have a lense cover. My last thing (and this is kind of outside the scope of the product) would be to have the ability to use it as a web cam. That's not really a fair criticism. It's more of a "add to the dream list."

It retails for around $139. For me, if you're looking to get into video podcasting, and you want to be mobile, you're looking to do something fast and quick, it's a no brainer. I know I will be doing all sorts of "Dave around town" types of videos. If you're are going to want to mix in music, or plug a microphone directly into it, then you will need to look for another camera, and hit a bank machine, on the way to Best Buy.

Check it the Flip Mino Video Camera at Amazon.com

Today I talk about www.prweb.com and other ways to build that audience. It amounts to this:

1. Find out who your audience is (put a form on your website).

2. Find out where they go, read, eat, sleep, shop, etc

3. Go there and tell them about it.

HOW ARE YOU PROMOTING YOUR PODCAST?

Ready to jump in the Podcast Pool? Check out www.schoolofpodcasting.com and start podcasting today. We have step by step tutorials, live help, and great resources.

Podcast Listening is up 5 % both video and Audio
30% of regular Internet Users have downloaded a podcast
Video is catching audio podcasts with a 1 % lead going to Audio

What is the age of the podcast listener?
53% Male 47% female
25 to 34 (21%)
35-44 (21%),
45 to 54 (20%)
12 to 17 (15%)
18 to 24 (13%)
55+ (10%)

Last 5 in 5 from Dan at www.jimmpodcast.com

School of Podcasting's Morning Announcements (this podcast)
Marketing Over Coffee ( http://www.marketingovercoffee.com/ )
Eds Mixed Bag (www.edsmixedbag.com )
Media Bullseye (www.mediabullseye.com )
Six Pixels of Separatation (http://www.twistimage.com/blog/ )

PODCAST CRASHING
If you are using a live podcast system like talkshoe.com you need to be prepared to keep your show on track. I've listened to a few live podcasts, and someone will come in and "Crash" your podcast and start talking about their podcast which is completely unrelated. YOUR LISTENER  doesn't want to hear about their podcast. I've heard podcasts that get completely derailed. Don't forget to keep yoru listener in mind, and be assertive, and point out that the "Crasher" is off topic.

Testimonial from J.R. Stanley of www.llmlive.com

Meet the Members
Today we meet one of the members of the School of Podcasting. It's Mark Wade of the www.a1artistspotlight.com Mark is using the Alesis Multimix 8 USB mixer (but he doesn't use the USB feature). He is also using an Audio Techniica 2020 and the free Levelator software.

Using Google Analytics to Obtain Wordpress Stats

Today we are talking about Google Analytics which you can find at

http://www.google.com/analytics/ and a great plugin for Worpdress that makes it very easy to install Google Analytics code into your blog.

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-google-analytics/

When you sign up for Google Analytics, you end up with a piece of code that you would normally put on every page of yrou website. With the wordpress plugin, you place it into the plugin and the plugin puts it on every page of your site. I will be producing a video on how to set this up for members of the School of Podcasting www.schoolofpodcasitng.com

Today I look at my stats from the first episode of 2007 vs the first episode of 2008. To make things fair, the first show published in 2007 has had 517 days to download so I divded the 2007 by 517. The numbers for 2008 were divided by 152 (as this is June 1).

School of Podcasting 2007 1400 Downloads (2.7 a day)
School of Podcasting 2008 801 Downloads (5.3 a day)

Musicians Cooler 2007 1689 Downloads (3.3 a day)
Musicians Cooler 2008 1032 Downloads (6.8 a day)

Building a Better Dave 2007 1617 Downloads (3.1 a day)
Building a Better Dave 2008 915 Downloads (6.0 a day)

This averages to an increase of 98% from 2007 to 2008

I also looked at my stats from the now podfaded Podcast Promo Show.

It seemed that Libsyn numbers were higher by about 29% than Feedburner numbers. Here are some examples

Feedburner showed 29 downloads to Libsyn's 34
Feedburner showed 27 downloads to Libsyn's 37
Feedburner showed 30 downloads to Libsyn's 47

So the range of my 57 shows was from 13% - 57%

My conclusion? Pick one and go with it. I use Libsyn cause in theory "Everything comes back to the host." I like their stats, and I can get stats without involving another redirect to my mp3 file.

If you are looking for more informatoin about visitors to your blog check out the Google Analytics Plugin for Wordpress .

If you're interested in participating in our weekly roundtables check out www.schoolofpodcasitng.com

Emails from

://OneMinuteHowTo.com
http://EclecticMix.com
http://DRiPInvesting.org
http://GLSmyth.com - blog: http://GLSmyth.WordPress.com

and

Jeff Roney
http://www.roneyzone.com
Twitter: twitter.com/roneyzone

Check out our new Video and More Show,
Magical Definition TV Episode 2
http://mdtv2.roneyzone.com

New World Army, a futuristic audio thriller
http://nwarmy.roneyzone.com

Our Lost TV On-Location Videos
http://lost.roneyzone.com

I also talk about some widgets that are pretty cool for your blog. You can find them at www.addtoany.com Jeff is using https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1730 to post to multiple blogs at the same time.

You get:
6 month subscription $120
1 year blog hosting at www.coolerwebsites.com  $24
Wordpress Blog Set up and cusomitzation - $160
Intro/Outro Recording $80

All this for $299 Sign up at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/quickstart

Back Catalog - Is Anybody Listening To Old Shows?
My first Show "First Podcasts Always Stink" that were recorded back in October of 2005 have been downloaded 106 times in May of 08, 159 in April of 08, 154 in March of 08, 131 in February of 08. (That episode has been dowloaded 2947 total).

Meet the Members
Brian from www.dimacast.com suggested we get to know the members of the School of Podcasting, so today we meet J.R. Stanley of www.lordliftedme.com and the podcast www.lmllive.com

J.R. is using a Sure KSM27 Microphone and an Edirol UA4FX USB Interface which he likes for the tube emulation.

The Interview We Did Today with J.R. was actually "Time Shifted Interview" where I send a question, he records an answer. We repeat to fill in a quick "Meet The Members" section.

 A post will be at the top of your blog until you enter another post. A page is something you enter and it can only be viewed if you link to it. (There is a way to have it show up on the front age by going to settings > reading and choosing to have the page be âstaticâ on the front page.

 Why Wordpress? It creates an RSS feed for you, and ITâS FREE. If you need an inexpensive host for Wordpress check out www.coolerwebsites.com

 LISTENER FEEDBACK â NO AGE LIMIT TO PODCASTING
Fred from http://www.strugglingentrepreneur.com/ aggrees that there is no age limit to podcasting. He is 59, and he encourages all âbaby boomersâ to get involved with podcasting. Fred uses my www.podcastfastpass.com service to set up his blogs at www.strugglingentrepreneur.com and www.gaincontrolofyourday.com  (and more projects coming).

Audience Feedback
Vince from  www.bmoviecast.com agrees that you are never too old to podcast (as he is a baby boomer).

Audacity Feedback?
Steve from www.djideasharing.com does not use Audacity, but ubercaster (for the mac) had him losing an episode.

Blog Views and Blues www.blogsviewsandblues.com
This is a new podcast from Rich Palmer (www.richpalmer.com ) and he turned me on to www.springwidgets.com

Wordpress 2.5 Bugs
In working with the bugs, I can seem to get the image media manager to work. If i'm lucky enough to get an image to upload without error, I can't get to a screen to where I can insert it into the post. I did find I was able to to do this if I stopped using Internet Explorer and switched to Firefox and it worked. So if you are a big IE fan, then you may not want to update just yet. I've been using the Image Manager plugin.

More Fun Tools
www.twirl.org is a desktop Twitter tool. It works on both Mac and PC.

From www.celticmythpodcast.com an easy to customize wordpress theme at http://wpthemepark.com/themes/paalam/ It makes it very easy to turn on or off the text on yruo header (as well as upload a custom header. It's widget ready, and if know a little html, its easy to tweak the colors. If you need help with the "technical stuff" please see me at www.podcastfastpass.com

If you are a audio podcaster looking to get into video, it can help those looking to do it on a shoe string budget or the person looking to invest some big time equipment.

For more information about the Authors and the book go to www.vidpodcaster.com

The book is available at Amazon.com

In this interview Scott talks about how he got the word out about his novel/podcast, why it makes sense to give it your book away, and how you can use podcasting to start your own word of mouth campaign.

For more information about Scott go to www.scottsigler.com
You can buy his latest book inftected at amazon.com

You can see how he is utilizing social media like MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube below.

To join the school of Podcasting go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com

TOO OLD TO PODCAST?
There is no age limit on Podcasting. I know of an 8 year old who has a podcast, and I know someone who is in their 60s who is doing a podcast. So if you are saying to yourself, "I'm too old to podcast" you are robbing yourself of a great way to share your wisdom.

UNDERSTANDING BANDWIDTH
To understand bandwidth think of your kids or grandchildren. They may have a phone plan that covers X amount of text messages. When they go over the limit they are charged for each text message over the limit. When you have a website you are given a set amount of bandwidth measured in either megabytes or gigabytes. If you go over your limit your host will charge your, and in some cases they may shut your site down. This is why I recommend Libsyn.com www.uselibsyn.com or if you need free go to www.podshow.com

UNDERSTANDING STORAGE
Storage for your media files is also limited. Think of storage like a filing cabinet. You can stuff more and more files in your cabinet, but eventually it will get full.

PODCAMP OHIO
Podcamp Ohio is 6/28/08 for more information go to www.podcampohio.com

WHERE ARE YOUR LISTENERS?
I have been talking about podcasting at podcast conventions. This really doesn't make sense if I'm trying to find people who need to learn how to podcast as most of the audience is already podcasting. I need to find people who need publicity. While I can keep up with technology at the New Media Expo, and meet all of my friends, if I want to find people interested in learning how to start  a podcast, then the New Media Expo may not be the most efficient use of my publicity dollars.

I also talk about post dating Podcasts and the easy mistake you can make that will have things going out immediately (oops).

Dave Sholes got a free month at the School of Podcasting by sigining up for the Podcast Secrets preview call at www.secretswithdave.com

I also share some of the tips from out weekley roundtable at the School of Podcasting (www.schoolofpodcasting.com )

Not sure if this call is for you? Then go to www.secretswithdave.com and find out about the call happening April 2nd (after April 2nd you can find out about the class) that gives you a preview of the information that they will be covering. This way you can decide if this class is for you. You see, Paul doesn't want you if you're not serious. This is for people looking to make a six figure income from Podcasting. He is going to be telling you how people ARE DOING THIS now (not how this might work, or this should be tired, this is how people are doing this in 2008).

So if you're interested sign up for the call at www.secretswithdave.com and send me confirmation and I wil lgive you a free month at the School of Podcasting. If you sign up for the class, I will give you a free year at the School of Podcasting.

Today we get the answers from last week's poll about USB interfaces and using Audacity.

Thanks to:

Joe from www.onthepodcast.net
Anthony from www.diabeticincandyland.com 
Mike from www.mikeshotdish.com
Warren from http://pewpodcast.podomatic.com
Terry from http://quiettimepodcast.com/wp and http://oldcootcast.com
Larry from http://goinglinux.com
Sally from http://www.podcastasylum.com
Daryl from http://www.poddog.ca/suburbia 
Jay from www.jayjennings.com creator of Cloak and Tracker

75% use a USB interface
75% use Audacity.

Most feel Audacity is stable, and people using USB microphones seemed to lve them while people using USB interfaces seem to find them a bit of a hassle (especially if this is on your main unit).

Items mentioned:

Blue Snowball USB mic $99
Samson CO1 USB Mic $90
Alesis MultiMix 8 USB Mixer $149
Alesis Podcast Mic (comes with mic, heaphones, software) $99
Behringer UCA202 USB Interface (connect from your mixers tape out) $30
Zoom H2 Portable Recorder $199
Behringer USB Podcast Kit (includes mic, headphones, mixer, usb interface, software) $100
Rode Dynamic USB Podcaster Mic $230

NEXT WEEK
Rich Harrington and Mike Weiser authors of the book "Producing Video Podcasts." Buy it at amazon.com

Also, back in 2005 people that used Audacity often had an "Audacity crashed" story. That was a while ago, and Audacity has been upgraded and I'm looking to see if it is indeed more stable (as I haven't heard a story about Audacity in a while).

Please CLICK HERE to take the quick survey (using wufoo.com ) and let us know about your experience with USB devices and Audacity.

Also we are running low on Podcast Promos at www.podcastpromoshow.com

Thanks in advance and next week I'll tell you what I learn.

Sites Mentioned
www.podcastvoicemail.com

www.wufoo.com
www.sleddogpodcast.com
www.a1artistspotlight.com

If you want to have a sponsor for your show, you need to be a SALES PERSON. New to sales? Check out Zig Ziglar or Tom Hopkins but you need to have a system in place to PROVE to the advertiser that YOU brought them traffic, and that your listeners bought their products. So you should:

1. Have some sort of stats system. I use Libysn stats, or in the case of some podcasts I use stats from podtrac.com

2. Have them create a "landing page (this could look like their home page, but its' just a different address). So it could be www.theadvertiserssite.com/podcast" now they can go into their stats and see how many visitors came from your show.

3. Have them offer a deal. This could be a coupon, a discount, SOMETHING that ONLY YOUR LISTENERS get.

4. Track the number of links from your site to their site. This is easy with a tool like Jay Jenning's Cloak and Tracker software (and very, VERY, easy to setup).

So now no matter what happens, if a person goes to their site (After hearing it on your podcast), if they purchase something (using the coupon), or if they click on an image from your site (which should be a bargaining tool) to go to their site - you can track the traffic, and hopefully prove the results.

The advantage of sponsors that you find on your own is you get all the money. You don't have to split it with people. The potential bad news is you might feel yourself editing yourself so you do offend any potential sponsors. This is why some people are turning to the Premium Podcast Solution.

I call this the "Chic Fil-A" way to podcast. Chic Fil-A in the states often gives out a sample piece of chicken so that you go buy a whole sandwich. Podcast pioneer Dan Klass of the Bitterest Pill has just adopted this model. After podcasting for two years he will produce one free episode (the sample chicken) and four episodes a month of "premium" content (the whole chicken). He is using Premiumcast.com for this (A great system).

Watch Dave's Video on Carbonite that allows you to back up ALL of your files for $50 a month.

Are you looking for a Podcast Expert? Looking to get into Podcasting on a budget? I've got step by step tutorials that will show you how to podcast at www.schoolofpodcasting.com

The NEW School of Podcasting site (created with www.wordpresstool.com ) is now live.

Today we talk with Rob Walch from Wizzard Media. (www.wizzard.tv) as well as www.podcast411.com and co-author of Tricks of the Podcasting Masters he also is a co-host of Today in Podcasting www.todayinpodcasting.com

Wizzard has technology to let you GEOGRAPHICALLY target your audience. They also have tools to allow you to get demographic information so in the end an advertiser could ask Wizzard, "I want to put get my product or service in front of males 18-25 years old in the Dallas Texas area." Keep in mind the more detailed they get, the more you can charge. This involves being hosted at Libsyn (www.uselibsyn.com )

If you are looking to learn how to podcast, check out the School of Podcasting at www.schoolofpodcasting.com

Today's show is has a fair amount of news. It does make the show come off like a giant SOP commercial, but you should know how the School of Podcasting can benefit you. If this is not your cup of tea, come back next week when Rob Walch of www.podcast411.com and Wizzard Media will be talking about the technology has available.

Is Podcast Promo Swapping Dead? We asked and the following podcasters responded
Anthony from www.BetterGolfwithFitnessPodcast.com  and www.strengthcoachpodcast.com who said its not quantity but QUALITY of promo swapping. Mike from www.mikeshotdish.com is discouraged when other pdocasters won't play his promo.

NEW REWARDS AT SCHOOL OF PODCASTING MEMBERS
25% off from Mad Town Aces Audio Production www.madtownaces.com

REWARDS FOR THE MORNING ANNOUNCEMENTS LISTENERS
Gain Control of your Day Course only $129 using the coupon code SOPURDAY (normally $249)

LAST 5 in 5

Our last 5 in 5 comes from Ray the Produce Picker (www.producepicker.com )

He listened to
www.TotallyRadShow.com (fun show)
www.diggnation.com (lasted news from Digg.com )
http://www.vidpodcaster.com/ (Producing a Video Podcast)
www.geekbrief.tv (Happy Shiny Tech News)
www.StugglingEntrepreneur.com (Starting your own business?)

Don't forget that www.Podcastclicks.com is holding their grand reopening with some videos to help prove its effective. Only $10 a year (going up to $20 soon).

Dave Jackson

www.schoolofpodcasting.com

Today we talk about Promo Swapping. Is it dead? Is it useful? We also talk about making a great promo. We play some promos and ask, "Does this make you want to know more about this show?"

We also get some listener voicemail from Alex the Podcast junky UK www.podcastjunky.co.uk and I'm sorry Alex. You are a DUDE. Check out his blog (some great insights