The Cliff Ravenscraft Show - Mindset Answer Man

How My Production Quality Has Evolved Over 3000 Episodes I received a question from Matt on the voicemail feedback hotline. He said that he'd love to have a link to my first episode and possibly have me put together a montage of my production quality evolution over the years. In this episode I actually do share some of the audio from my very first episode EVER which you can find at http://gspn.tv/firstepisode. I also include several other first episodes from many other shows that I've produced. It was a lot of fun to actually go back and hear these things again myself, and I hope that it encourages all of you that you have to start somewhere. You'll never come out sounding just like the Podcast Answer Man does in episode #286. In fact, if you listen to this episode, you'll find out that even I didn't start out sounding like I do today. In case you don't know, I have a lot of other podcasts in addition to Podcast Answer Man, so be sure to check out my episode guide to see a list of more than 3,000 podcast episodes that I've produced.   Personal Plug of The Week This weekís personal plug of the week is for James Dering's Better Piano Podcast. I love the way that James took his gifts, talents and passions and created a podcast around that. He's done a wonderful job of bringing high-quality content both in terms of of audio quality as well as the type of content he's producing. I encourage you to listen to episode 003 of his show and if you like it, be sure to let him know that you heard about him from Podcast Answer Man.   Get Notifications From All Posts to Fan Pages You Like! This week's Social Media Segment was inspired by this blog post by Mark Cuban. In this episode I share this favorite quote from the article: But this over-complication via algorithm...creates a financial problem for brands. By trying to be an incredibly efficient information delivery source, they confine our ability to organically reach most of our followers to using Sponsored Posts. They also significantly increase our costs because if we create a post that doesnít engage our followers to the level the algorithm expects it to, it can impact our ability to be seen in the future. Talk about pressure. Put up a post , but be sure that Edgerank doesnít think it sucks. Erik and I also talk about an article that one of our listeners, Sarah, shared about how you can now be notified whenever posts are made to fan pages you like. All you have to do is hover over the "like" button on the page, and then select "get notifications." Special thanks to Sarah for sending us this story! I also share some of my obsessive-compulsive decisions that I've recently made regarding my Facebook personal profile and I also explain why at this time, I no longer like any brands on Facebook.   Shop With B&H Photo & Support Podcast Answer Man I am thrilled about the relationship that I have formed with the folks at B&H Photo, Video, & Pro Audio. They have amazing prices on podcast equipment and so much more. Best of all, their customer service is almost as good as my own. When placing an order through my affiliate link, you end up paying the same low price and I earn a generous commission. If you have used my affiliate link to make a purchase with B&H, please leave me a comment with your name and a link to your website in the comments section below.   Blue Host Affiliate Signup I want to send out a special word of thanks to the folks behind the following domains that were used to create a new hosting account with BlueHost with my Blue Host affiliate link recently. As you know, I earn a commission each time someone clicks through my link to sign up with Blue Host. So thank you! Accounts that were created recently: - http://NHTStudios.com - http://BecauseHeLivesRadio.org Note: The fact that I have linked to these accounts is only to acknowledge that these folks have used my affiliate link to create a hosting account with BlueHost.

What Was I Thinking That's the thought that came to mind as I was preparing the content to record this week's episode of Podcast Answer Man. The first half of this episode sounded more like an episode of Pursuing A Balanced Life as I shared a lot of thoughts off the top my head without giving any prior thought as to what I was going to say. A few hours after I had recorded, I was actually thinking about whether or not I should even release this as an episode of Podcast Answer Man. I happened to have a few people who were watching me as I live streamed the recording and so I reached out to one of these friends and asked them what they thought. In response, my dear friend, Lourdes Wellhaven from the Networker For Business Women Podcast, wrote the following. I think there were several great gems, that were, as usual very timely for me. 1. Why are you doing what you are doing? 2. Better time planning, margin planning 3. If you are telling yourself you NEED to do something but not "feeling it" perhaps you need to change your show. I think it was "real" and sometimes, I really like "real" I expected a pep talk to do more and produce more and instead I came away with "permission" to do what is best for me in accordance to my current goals. That made me think. All of this resonated with me and I found it interesting and compelling. Yes it felt much like a PABL show...but for those of us that struggle every day with the same struggles that you are going through, it was timely...very timely. As I write this I am contemplating whether or not I'll do a little work tomorrow morning (no I'm not cooking, we're going to my mom's and most everyone that knows me well, bans me from the kitchen). If I work, I'll feel guilty, if I don't I'll feel guilty. I have a to-do list that covers multiple pages and a ton of projects that I need/liked to get over the weekend. Sound familiar? For those of us that have a similar makeup and mindset to you and that are facing a long holiday weekend with all of the potential to enjoy family or "get things done."...and who over commit constantly...well, it's real and timely and we get it. I think you should air it. We need to know we are not alone in the struggle to be who we are....which I suspect is most of the people who produce or enjoy podcasts. Lourdes And because of this amazing response, I am very confident that publishing this episode is the right thing to do. Also in this episode As you will be able to tell from this episode, I don't have a ton of time to publish thorough show notes this week. Here is a list of other topics that are covered in this episode: - iTunes Artwork. Should we start with larger than 1400x1400? - I'm not getting email notifications from LiveFyre! - What options ar there for covering a tv show in a fan podcast? - Should I get my domain with "THE" in front of it? - Platform Conference: http://PlatformConference.tv   Shop With B&H Photo & Support Podcast Answer Man I am thrilled about the relationship that I have formed with the folks at B&H Photo, Video, & Pro Audio. They have amazing prices on podcast equipment and so much more. Best of all, their customer service is almost as good as my own. When placing an order through my affiliate link, you end up paying the same low price and I earn a generous commission. If you have used my affiliate link to make a purchase with B&H, please leave me a comment with your name and a link to your website in the comments section below.     Blue Host Affiliate Signup I want to send out a special word of thanks to the folks behind the following domains that were used to create a new hosting account with BlueHost with my Blue Host affiliate link recently. As you know, I earn a commission each time someone clicks through my link to sign up with Blue Host. So thank you! Accounts that were created recently: - http://radiojewels.com

One Event To Rule Them All I open this week's episode explaining why I am thrilled that NMX has made the decision to do a single event each year. Many of you know that I have been working hard to put together an amazing podcasting track for the NMX (New Media Expo) event that is coming to Las Vegas on January 6th, 7th and 8th. I'm most excited about the fact that I've been able to get my own podcasting hero, Leo Laporte, to not only give a Keynote, but also to emcee the ceremony for the 8th Annual Podcast Awards. If you are a podcaster, you simply must make it to NMX in January. Ford bloggers and podcasters, I simply recommend the purchase of the 3 Day Content Creator pass and the Virtual Ticket add-on. To get registered, today, using my affiliate code, please click here. Use promo code GSPN20 and get an additional 20% off.   What if I don't have a Line-In Port on my Mac? Jim called to say that he's looking forward to purchasing the new 27" iMac when it is made available for purchase. He's concerned about the ability to do a mix-minus with the system since it does not have a separate line-in jack. In the episode, I suggest the purchase of a Griffin iMic USB Sound card. (Affiliate Link)   Getting Phone Interference During Interviews Shane called to say that he's been using his mobile phone to do telephone interviews and has been getting a lot of interference during the calls lately. I share a few thoughts about what steps he can take to improve his chances of getting better audio quality during his telephone interviews.   Do I need A Pop Filter For The Heil? Josh wanted to know if he really needs a pop-filter if he purchases the Heil PR-40 microphone. Have a listen to the episode to hear my thoughts on this topic.   Thoughts On Multiple Twitter Acounts Marshall called to ask about my thoughts on having multiple Twitter Accounts if you have more than one podcast. I share many thoughts on this topic in the episode. I do suggest that you ask yourself.... "Self? What do I hope to accomplish with this new ID?"   Should I create a separate website for each podcast in my network? This question comes up often. Today, I do play Daniel's version of the question in the episode. However, I simply referred him to listen to episode 211 of Podcast Answer Man for my thoughts on this topic.   My Updated Apple Podcasts App Review I've attempted to switch over to the Apple Podcasts app on several occasions in the past. However, each time, I found glitches that I simply could not overlook. However, this time around, with all the latest updates that they have made, I have made switch and I believe that I'll stick with it this time. Have a listen to this episode to hear the many reasons why I made the switch and to hear the features I love most and to hear about what I hope they will improve soon.   Shop With B&H Photo & Support Podcast Answer Man I am thrilled about the relationship that I have formed with the folks at B&H Photo, Video, & Pro Audio. They have amazing prices on podcast equipment and so much more. Best of all, their customer service is almost as good as my own. When placing an order through my affiliate link, you end up paying the same low price and I earn a generous commission. If you have used my affiliate link to make a purchase with B&H, please leave me a comment with your name and a link to your website in the comments section below.     Blue Host Affiliate Signup I want to send out a special word of thanks to the folks behind the following domains that were used to create a new hosting account with BlueHost with my Blue Host affiliate link recently. As you know, I earn a commission each time someone clicks through my link to sign up with Blue Host. So thank you! Accounts that were created recently: - http://MbnelsConsulting.com - http://RomanCatholicView.com - http://HairShearsReviewed.com

My Thoughts on the iPad Mini Most people who know me, know that I am a huge fan of Apple products. When the original (1st generation) iPad came out, I purchased it hoping to use it to consume more ebooks. At the time, I had just read my first two ebooks on my iPhone via the Kindle app and found it to be a more enjoyable way to read than to carry physical books around with me. I figured I would enjoy reading even more if the screen for my ebook were larger than the iPhone screen. When I did receive the original iPad, I really enjoyed the device. However, my least favorite thing to do on the iPad was to read books. I was determined that I would still make use of the iPad, but I wanted to try out a Kindle ebook reader to see if I would like it better for reading. I recorded the following video to explain my reasons for buying a Kindle even though I already had an iPad. If you took the time to watch the embedded video above, you heard me say that I really didn't enjoy reading very much. However, I am very happy to share with you that the Kindle ebook reader was a LIFE CHANGING DEVICE FOR ME! I fell in love with reading ebooks on the Kindle. So much so, that I have purchased and have read nearly one hundred books since September 2010. When the Kindle Touch came out last year, I upgraded to that ereader device and was so happy to have the official Kindle Lighted Case. While I was not happy with the deeply recessed screen in the Kindle Touch, I still loved reading on the device. When they announced the Kindle Paperwhite, I knew, immediately, that I wanted one. In this episode, I explain why I chose not to "pre-order" one. Due to Amazon's inability to keep the Kindle Paperwhite in stock, I began to be tempted with the idea of getting an iPad Mini as my latest edition of my ebook reader. In my video, embedded above, I shared that I had three reasons why I preferred the Kindle over the iPad for ebook reading. 1) The iPad was too heavy hold in the position that I would typically like to hold a book when reading. 2) It simply was not possible to read outside in the daylight. 3) There were too many potential distractions to keep me from actually reading a book. In this episode, I share many things I love about the iPad Mini. I am happy to share that the iPad mini is my new, preferred, ebook reading device. Here are the reasons why things have changed since recording that video. 1) The iPad mini is only 3oz heavier than the Kindle Paperwhite. I've already spent a few hours reading with the iPad Mini and holding it is not much different than holding my Kindle Touch. 2) While I've not tried to read a book in direct sunlight, on my new iPad Mini, there have only been a few occasions where I have actually read a book outside. The best part is that I can still use my Kindle Touch if I'm heading out to the beach or sitting by the pool to read a good book. 3) Distractions are not as much of an issue for me these days. First of all, as I have already shared, I am now IN LOVE WITH READING. Also, the current version of iOS allows you to fine tune your notifications, per application, to reduce the amount of distractions on the device. In fact, I've turned almost every single notification off inside my iPad Mini. Check out this video that I published back in May about my desire to live a Distraction Free Lifestyle.   Personal Plug of The Week This week's personal plug of the week is for Marshall Ponzi's Helpful Marketing Podcast. I encourage you to listen to episode 002 of his show and if you like it, be sure to let him know that you heard about him from Podcast Answer Man. Note: Marshall was a member of my Fall 2012 Podcasting A to Z course.   Sending Audio To The Live Audience Stephanie called to ask how I route my audio clips through my mixer so that those who are listening on the live stream can hear them as well. In response,

Speak It Forward Bootcamp Review I spent a few days last week in Atlanta, Georgia so that I could attend Kent Julian's Speak It Forward Bootcamp. I went because I've been receiving an increasing number of invitations to speak publicly and I wanted to simply take my public speaking to the "next level." Below are just a few of the photos that I shot during the two and a half days I was there. (Taken with my Canon 60D) In this episode of Podcast Answer Man, I share my expectations of what I hoped to achieve by attending the Speak It Forward Bootcamp and provide a review of the value that I got out of my participation. If you decide to attend a future session, please consider using my affiliate link at http://gspn.tv/sif. TweetBot For The Desktop: Is It Worth $20? I've been a huge fan of Twitter since 2007. Without a doubt, the best iOS app for Twitter that has ever existed is the TweetBot app for iPhone. Tapbots, the developer of TweetBot now has a desktop version of TweetBot for the Mac OS. In this episode, I share some of the reasons why I love TweetBot so much and I give you my thoughts on whether or not the desktop version is worth the $20. Pat Flynn's Blog Post About Half-Finished Projects I opened this episode of Podcast Answer Man by sharing my thoughts on Pat Flynn's latest blog post titled "The Sad Truth About Your Half-Finished Projects." I highly encourage everyone to go and read that full post. I know that for many, creating a podcast has been their "Half-Finished Project." I've seen far too many people spend weeks, months, and sometimes years, working on getting the look and feel of their website just right and they simply failed to gain any momentum from creating great content while they had that initial passion and excitement about the message they wanted to share. If you are wanting to get that podcast project off the ground, I highly encourage you to attend my next Podcasting A to Z session. See the note below on how you can save $100 off the cost of the course and gain immediate access to all the training materials.   Podcasting A to Z – Register Today! Ready To Start Your Podcast or Take Your Existing Show To The Next Level? I’m happy to announce that I’ve scheduled my next Podcasting A to Z Online Training Course. The course will start on Monday, November 26th and will run through Friday, December 21st. Please check out http://PodcastingAtoZ.com for all the details about what is offered in this course. If you sign up using the discount code “PAM” in the shopping cart, you’ll save $100 off the cost of the course and you’ll be provided with immediate access to all the tutorials.   Podcast Awards I am happy to announce that two gspn.tv shows were nominated for the 8th Annual Podcast Awards. Our Authentic Life Radio podcast is nominated in the Entertainment category and my Encouraging Others Through Christ podcast is nominated in the Religion Inspiration category. If you would like, you could vote for each of these shows once a day, every day through November 15th. Simply go to PodcastAwards.com to cast your votes! I really appreciate those of you who will take the effort of voting for our shows each day. Thank you!   Where Can I Find Sound Effects For My Show? Felicia Gopaul called in to ask if I had any resources for finding sound effects that she could use in her show. While doing some research to answer this question, I was thrilled to have found FreeSound.org. From their site, they explain that "Freesound aims to create a huge collaborative database of audio snippets, samples, recordings, bleeps, ... released under Creative Commons licenses that allow their reuse." Freesound was started in 2005 in the Music Technology Group of Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. Currently it is being maintained and developed by the Freesound team, which is basically composed by current and former researchers and students of the research group.

Leo Laporte Is Coming To NMX I could not be more thrilled than I am to announce that I was able to get Leo Laporte to come to NMX (New Media Expo). Have a listen to the episode and you'll certainly hear my excitement and learn what he'll be doing at the event. If you don't know Leo Laporte, I highly encourage you to check ou the interview that I did with him back in episode 236 of Podcast Answer Man. Here's the video version of that interview:   No Show Next Week In this episode, I share why there will be no new episode of Podcast Answer Man next week. I share my full thoughts on why I have paid just over $1,000 to attend a conference to help me take my public speaking to a whole new level. I share the many ways that I see this as an investment. It is my hope that the thoughts shared will help you to be more open to the idea of investing in your own personal and professional growth rather than spending too much time focused on how much something costs.   What Books Have Influenced My Business Pursuits? I have had several people ask me about the top books that have influenced the decisions that I made in my business. In the episode, I give a short description of how each of the following books have influenced me. Below is the list of the books I mentioned in the episode. Clicking on any of them will take you to their page on Amazing using my Amazon affiliate link. - 48 Days To The Work You Love - Dan Miller - How To Win Friends And Influence People - Dale Carnegie - Think And Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill - Secrets of The Millionaire Mind - T. Harv Eker - ReWork - Jason Fried - EntreLeadership - Dave Ramsey - Crush It - Gary Vanerchuk - Tribes - Seth Godin   Social Media Segment I'm a little concerned about releasing this week's Social Media Segment without a massive edit. The segment started great with Erik Fisher sharing Five Twitter Tips for Getting More Retweets. However, after that, for some reason, I felt the need to share one of my greatest Twitter pet peeves that I've seen happening more and more lately, especially now that I've trimmed down the number of people I follow to less than 100 people. I have made the decision to not edit this segment as it really does contain my true feelings on the matter. However, I simply hope that I will not hurt the feelings of anyone who actually makes it a habit to post in the way that I describe. Part of me thinks, "Who am I to judge how and what other people put in their Twitter stream?" However, the other part of me says that we all make these sort of judgements and often times will unfollow people for a number of other reasons. Perhaps my sharing this will help keep many from making a decision to schedule tweets in this format in the future, thus keeping them from loosing valuable connections with those who would follow otherwise.   TV Show Fan Podcast Formats JR called to ask for my thoughts on a format that he was considering for a tv show fan podcast that he was considering. I briefly shared a few of the formats that I've used over the years.   Podcasting A to Z – Register Today! Ready To Start Your Podcast or Take Your Existing Show To The Next Level? I’m happy to announce that I’ve scheduled my next Podcasting A to Z Online Training Course. The course will start on Monday, November 26th and will run through Friday, December 21st. Please check out http://PodcastingAtoZ.com for all the details about what is offered in this course. If you sign up using the discount code “PAM” in the shopping cart, you’ll save $100 off the cost of the course and you’ll be provided with immediate access to all the tutorials.   New Media Expo Many of you know that I have been working hard to put together an amazing podcasting track for the NMX (New Media Expo) event that is coming to Las Vegas on January 6th, 7th and 8th. I'm most excited about the fact that I've been able to get my own podcasting hero,

8th Annual Podcast Awards Nominations Open Till October 15th The nomination process for the 8th Annual Podcast Awards is now open. If you consider nominating any of the shows that I produce, please see http://gspn.tv/awards for important information regarding which category to nominate each show for. Personal Plug of the Week This week's personal plug of the week is the Catholic Insider podcast from Fr. Roderick Vonhogen. This podcast was one of the very first podcasts I ever listened to and is still one of my favorite shows to this day. Fr. Roderick just returned from a 15 day trip to China and is now releasing daily episodes which feature his signature soundseeing tours. If you check out the podcast and enjoy it, please let Fr. Roderick know that you heard about him from Podcast Answer Man.   Three Quick Questions In this episode, I answered several questions that had come in from the listener feedback hotline. Three of those questions were quick questions that I will list below. To find my answers to each of these questions, please listen to this episode. Question 1: If you already have an existing blog, website and/or brand, should your podcast carry the same name? Question 2: Cliff, do you use the "Smartcast" functionality of Feedburner? Question 3: I'm using feedburner to optimize my Blogger Feed for podcasting. How can I correct my iTunes listing to display me as the author. It currently says "noreply@blogger.com."   Two Years of Podcasting With Zero Feedback In this episode, we had a call from someone who had spent over two years creating an audio podcast, had produced over 100 podcast episodes and who never received a single piece of feedback from their audience. How could this possibly be? I do just a bit of investigation and I uncover several issues that could explain this person's results.   LinkedIn Skills Endorsements In this week's social media segment, Erik Fisher and I discuss the new ability to endorse the skills of others within your LinkedIn profile. We also shared our thoughts on how this might affect our social proof and the decision that we made to make sure that our greatest skills are highlighted.   Taking It To The Next Level I open this episode by sharing that I have been taking my own health and fitness to the next level. I encourage you to check out my Pursuing A Balanced Life podcast. In fact, if you would like to follow me from the beginning on my most recent journey, I encourage you to start with episode 518. If you do, you'll learn how I've been motivated, in a very big way, by the use of my fitbit device. In fact, I'm not walking a minimum of 14,300 steps each day which is a total of 6.2 miles. Since August 24th, I've lost 12.5 pounds. Please know that this podcast is about much more than just my health and fitness. If you think I share a lot of personal, behind the scenes, information about my business decisions in Podcast Answer Man, you haven't heard anything yet! Check it out at http://PursuingABalancedLife.com.   Podcasting A to Z – Register Today! Ready To Start Your Podcast or Take Your Existing Show To The Next Level? I’m happy to announce that I’ve scheduled my next Podcasting A to Z Online Training Course. The course will start on Monday, November 26th and will run through Friday, December 21st. Please check out http://PodcastingAtoZ.com for all the details about what is offered in this course. If you sign up using the discount code “PAM” in the shopping cart, you’ll save $100 off the cost of the course and you’ll be provided with immediate access to all the tutorials.   Shop With B&H Photo & Support Podcast Answer Man I am thrilled about the relationship that I have formed with the folks at B&H Photo, Video, & Pro Audio. They have amazing prices on podcast equipment and so much more. Best of all, their customer service is almost as good as my own.

Tools To Manage Who You Follow on Twitter In episode 276, I shared how Robin Dunbar and Michael Hyatt influenced my decision to make a radical change in the way that I use twitter. If you have not yet heard that episode, I encourage you to check it out. In this week's extended social media segment, Erik Fisher and I discuss three main tools that you can use to evaluate the people that you follow on Twitter. I have personally found these tools to be extremely helpful in managing my Twitter experience. - ManageFlitter.com - TwitCleaner.com - DMCleaner.com   Is Facebook Extorting Your Mom? Back on June 16th, I released episode 264 where I shared that Facebook was using what seemed like Mafia Tactics with their "pay to promote your page posts" program. This week, Erik Fisher joins me for our Social Media segment to discuss our thoughts on the fact that Facebook has now rolled out "pay to promote" to personal profiles, going so far as to give you the option to pay to promote the pictures you upload to your Facebook account. Let us know what you think about this in the comments section below.   #PleaseDontKillFeedburner Website I've already shared in my blog post and in last week's episode that I don't believe, for even a moment, that Feedburner is going away. Despite this, there are still many folks who have worked up quite a bit of anxiety over the matter. Personally I got a kick out of the wonderful humor behind the site http://pleasedontkillfeedburner.com. If you are one of those who are still worried, you might want to consider joining their Twitter campaign. My favorite suggested tweet? "Google, keep Feedburner alive and I'll start using Google+ #pleasedontkillfeedburner."   Personal Plug of the Week This week's personal plug of the week is the Let's Reverse Obesity podcast from John Bukenas. I first shared John's story in episode 274. I received many requests from folks who wanted me to provide updates from John's inspirational journey. I'm excited to announce that his podcast is now online and he's off to a great start. I encourage you to check out the podcast. If you enjoy it, please let John know that you heard about it from Podcast Answer Man.   8th Annual Podcast Awards Nominations Open Till October 15th The nomination process for the 8th Annual Podcast Awards is now open. If you consider nominating any of the shows that I produce, please see http://gspn.tv/awards for important information regarding which category to nominate each show for.   Podcasting A to Z – Register Today! Ready To Start Your Podcast or Take Your Existing Show To The Next Level? I’m happy to announce that I’ve scheduled my next Podcasting A to Z Online Training Course. The course will start on Monday, November 26th and will run through Friday, December 21st. Please check out http://PodcastingAtoZ.com for all the details about what is offered in this course. If you sign up using the discount code “PAM” in the shopping cart, you’ll save $100 off the cost of the course and you’ll be provided with immediate access to all the tutorials.   Shop With B&H Photo & Support Podcast Answer Man I am thrilled about the relationship that I have formed with the folks at B&H Photo, Video, & Pro Audio. They have amazing prices on podcast equipment and so much more. Best of all, their customer service is almost as good as my own. When placing an order through my affiliate link, you end up paying the same low price and I earn a generous commission. If you have used my affiliate link to make a purchase with B&H, please leave me a comment with your name and a link to your website in the comments section below.     Blue Host Affiliate Signup I want to send out a special word of thanks to the folks behind the following domains that were used to create a new hosting account with BlueHost with my Blue Host affiliate link recently. As you know,

Personal Plug of the Week This week's personal plug of the week is the Entrepreneur On Fire podcast from John Dumas. John has taken the bold challenge of creating a daily podcast that will feature interviews with inspiring entrepreneurs. I encourage you to check out the podcast. If you enjoy it, please let John know that you heard about it from Podcast Answer Man.   FEEDBURNER FEAR FIASCO There was a widespread panic among bloggers and podcasters this past weekend. On Friday, many people woke up to find that Feedburner was reporting that all their feeds had zero subscribers. It's hard to explain just how many emails, tweets, facebook messages, etc that I had received regarding this issue. Rather than respond to anyone right away, I immediately tested feedburner and then wrote a blog post titled "Feedburner – Is The Sky Really Falling?" If you have not yet done so, I highly encourage you to read my Feedburner blog post and all the conversations within the comments. I'm happy to say that my prediction was correct. Feedburner had updated their status blog, letting the world know that they were aware of the issue and that they were working to resolve it. Had people heeded my suggestion of simply enjoying their weekend, they would have come back to find that not only did Feedburner resolve the issue, they also restored all the stats, during the days of the outage, to all accounts. I will argue that events of this weekend were the greatest thing to happen for those of us who use Feedburner. Why? Because it proves that Google does still have people who work on Feedburner, they do still have a status blog that they will update to let us know when they are working on a widespread issue. I share more of my thoughts in this podcast episode as well.   Should I Pay A Flat Fee For Bandwidth or Pay Per GB? Recently, Deb had posted a question in the comments section of one of my recent blog posts. She wrote the following: Just about to pull the trigger and get a LibSyn account for podcasting, but got this new offer from my web hosting company Dreamhost and wondered what you all thought of it. They say, “Unlike traditional web hosting where monthly pricing is fixed and resources are unlimited, pricing for DreamObjects is usage-based. You only pay for data that you store on our servers and for the amount of data that is transferred from them. Storage costs start at $0.07 per GB (Amazon S3 starts at $0.12!) and scales all the way down to $0.044 per GB, depending on just how much data you choose to store with us. Outbound transfer costs are fixed at $0.07 per GB. All beta users will have access to a free trial period lasting TWO WHOLE months! During that time you'll not incur any charges as long as you store less than 10GB of data and transfer out less than 20GB. Anything more than 10 and 20 kind of tests the limits of the term "trial" and will incur $0.07/GB overage charges, both for storage and outbound data transfer."   Thoughts about starting with this as opposed to LibSyn? Thanks! Deb In response to this, my main concern would be the issue of COST. Let’s say that you average about 60,000 downloads per month and that your average file size is about 50MB.   50MB x 60,000 is 3,000,000 MB  or 2,929.69 GB   If I were paying $0.07 per GB, I'd be paying $205.08 per month.     With Libsyn, you could get their $40 per month account and the cost would be a GUARANTEED FLAT $40 per month.  That means that you would save $1,980.96 per year with Libsyn over what you would pay with the Dream Host plan that is being considering.   I personally prefer FLAT FEES for bandwidth rather than paying Per GB   An Interview Tip That May Improve Your Podcast Interviews I was recently listening to a podcast interview where the host of the podcast seemed to feel the need to validate each and every single sentence their guest spoke with a "mmmh hmmm," a "Yeah, " or a "Right."

Personal Plug of the Week This week's personal plug of the week is the Dispatches From The Buckle podcast from Dr. Lee Camp. Before I discovered podcasting, I used to listen to this thing called the radio while I was on road trips. I often would come across the "A Prairie Home Companion" show and found myself enjoying the short radio dramas, skits, music, and discussions offered in that program. The very first time I visited my great friend, Dan Miller, in Nashville, he took me to a live production of the Tokens Show. This reminded me of everything I loved from A Prairie Home Companion, but added elements that made the experience a great deal better. I remember telling Dan just how amazing it would be if there were a podcast that would include some of the amazing content from that show. Well, Today, I'm happy to tell you that there is such a podcast and it has instantly become one of my all-time favorite podcasts that I have subscribed to. I encourage you to check out Dispatches From The Buckle. If you like it, please let Dr. Camp know that you heard about it from The Podcast Answer Man.   Michael Stelzner Interview I'm excited to feature an interview with Michael Stelzner from Social Media Examiner. Michael and discuss how he was able to grow the Social Media Examiner so quickly. He also provides details about the launch strategy that he used for his Social Media Marketing podcast.   Podcasting A to Z - Next Session Starts Monday Sept 24th. I have a huge opportunity for those of you who have been thinking about joining me for a session of Podcasting A to Z but haven't yet done so. My next session starts this coming Monday, September 24th and will run through Friday, October 19th. The opportunity is to be a part of the smallest, most intimate, class that I have had to date. I had allowed myself to get a bit overcommitted to several projects over the past two months. As a result, the only thing that I've done to market this session of Podcasting A to Z has been to send out a single email to my mailing list and provide a few brief mentions here on Podcast Answer Man. There are benefits to being in a session with 20 to 30 other students, learning from the answers to a greater number of questions that you would have never thought to ask. However, there are benefits to being a part of a much smaller class. For me, I'll be even more aware of your own personal journey, your mission, and your goals. For you, you'll develop a stronger relationship with the other students within the course. Please check out http://PodcastingAtoZ.com for all the details about what is offered in this course. If you sign up using the discount code “PAM” in the shopping cart, you’ll save $100 off the cost of the course and you’ll be provided with immediate access to all the tutorials. As I am posting this, I have six people registered for the session that starts Monday. I'd love to have a minimum of four more students and I'd love to spend the next four weeks helping you get your podcast launched or take your existing show to the next level.   8th Annual Podcast Awards Ceremony Coming To NMX I share some great news about the upcoming 8th annual Podcast Awards. Most important is that the awards ceremony will be held at New Media Expo his January. I'm also thrilled to announce that I've made the decision to become a corporate sponsor of this year's Podcast Awards. Did you know that you can get some great exposure by becoming with a Podcaster donation? More details about this in the episode. Please mark your calendar for October 1st to nominate your favorite podcasts. If you consider nominating any of the shows that I produce, please see http://gspn.tv/awards for important information regarding which category to nominate each show for.   Apple's iOS Podcasts App Get's Feature I'm happy to announce with the latest update to Apple's Podcasts app,

My Own Next Step? - Way Beyond My Comfort Zone! The main purpose of Podcast Answer Man is to help inspire the podcasting community to think about how they can take everything they are doing to the "next level." I have a strong belief that to inspire ...

Over the past few months, I have been talking about the fact that I would be speaking at the Catholic New Media Conference in Arlington, Texas. I'm excited to share the audio recording of the talk that I gave in this episode of Podcast Answer Man. This was the first time I'd ever given a Keynote Address that sets the tone for an entire conference. To make things just a little more interesting, this was a Catholic conference and I am not Catholic. While my talk is extremely faith based, I do believe that there is a great deal of value in the message of creating content around your greatest passions without ulterior motives or agendas. While I was in Texas, I met up with many friends from the gspn.tv & Podcast Answer Man community who live in Texas. I had an amazing time and I made sure to capture some of the best moments with my new camera. You can see these photos on my Facebook account under the CNMC-2012 photo album that I created.   Podcasting A to Z - Register Today! Ready To Start Your Podcast or Take Your Existing Show To The Next Level? I’m happy to announce that I’ve scheduled my next Podcasting A to Z Online Training Course. The course will start on Monday, September 24th and will run through Friday, October 19th. Please check out http://PodcastingAtoZ.com for all the details about what is offered in this course. If you sign up using the discount code “PAM” in the shopping cart, you’ll save $100 off the cost of the course and you’ll be provided with immediate access to all the tutorials.   Shop With B&H Photo & Support Podcast Answer Man I am thrilled about the relationship that I have formed with the folks at B&H Photo, Video, & Pro Audio. They have amazing prices on podcast equipment and so much more. Best of all, their customer service is almost as good as my own. When placing an order through my affiliate link, you end up paying the same low price and I earn a generous commission. If you have used my affiliate link to make a purchase with B&H, please leave me a comment with your name and a link to your website in the comments section below.     Blue Host Affiliate Signup I want to send out a special word of thanks to the folks behind the following domains that were used to create a new hosting account with BlueHost with my Blue Host affiliate link recently. As you know, I earn a commission each time someone clicks through my link to sign up with Blue Host. So thank you! Accounts that were created recently: - http://LetsReverseObesity.com - http://BrianHolmes.tv Note: The fact that I have linked to these accounts is only to acknowledge that these folks have used my affiliate link to create a hosting account with BlueHost. These links are not an endorsement of any content that may be posted to these sites. If you ever recognize content blatantly offensive at any of these links, please let me know and I will be sure to evaluate and consider if the link should be removed from this post. These accounts are all brand new and may not be active yet. Also, it is possible that some of these domains were previously owned and my not have been transfered to BlueHost just yet.   The Podcast Mastermind One of the reasons that I love working with podcasters so much is due to the fact that they are influencing someone every single time they produce a podcast episode. The world needs great leaders! I believe that podcasters who take their leadership position seriously can make a positive difference in the lives of others. The world needs you and your message! They need you to be a leader! Many people ask me how to grow the audience of their podcast. I believe that one of the best things you can do is to BELIEVE IN YOURSELF! To take yourself seriously! To consider yourself to be a professional! Are you willing to invest in your future success? Are you willing to be the greatest leader you can be?

Are You Creating Life Changing Content? This week, I was reminded, once again, why it is that I produce this show and create the content that I make available here on this site. That reminder came from an email that I had received from John Bukenas w...

Equipment Options For Under $200 My primary focus with Podcast Answer Man is to help people create amazing sounding and extremely well produced shows. However, I am often asked what is available to those who want to record their audio on a very limited budget. In this episode, Steve called in to ask what the minimum requirements were to record a podcast and what I would recommend if someone had $199 to put toward equipment purchases. In the episode, I explain that there are a large number of options out there. However, I chose to focus on six options. Have a listen to hear my full explanation of each of the following: - Option 1: Any Telephone using a service like TalkShoe.com. - Option 2: Built In Microphone - Option 3: Smart phone with recording app like Griffin's iTalk. - Option 4: A USB Headset. - Option 5: The Shure X2U SM58 Combo. - Option 6: The Roland R-05. See Podcast Answer Man Episode 228 What file format should I use for my podcast? Technically, an audio podcast can be made up of any digital audio file, regardless of which file format you use, that is made available through an rss feed. Trinity called in to say that she has been producing an audio podcast where some folks are complaining that they are unable to play the episodes on their media player of choice. In the episode, I explain why I feel that every audio podcaster should be producing their show as an .mp3 audio file. What do I need to bring multiple guests and audio clips into my show? Every day, I get emails that contain the phrase "quick question." One of the reasons that I produce this show each week is to answer the more frequently asked questions so that I can have a resource to point people to when the same question comes up again in the future. Kelsey originally wrote me such an email and I asked if he would be willing to call in the question so that I could answer it in the show. He wants to create a variety show with a cohost and wants to also be able to bring a 3rd party on, as a guest, and wants to be able to play audio clips so that all three of them can hear each other and the audio clips, and have all of the above recorded. He asked if it was possible to do all of this simply using hardware on a single computer. If not, he wanted to know a list of equipment that he might need to pull this off. During my answer, I referred to this PDF Diagram. This type of question typically takes a bit more of a one on one approach. It is best answered with the use of visual aide, via screen sharing, and getting feedback from the other person to make sure they are following along. I'd like to think that I would get an A for effort for attempting to answer this question via an audio podcast. However, by the end, I was almost certain that I'd got a bit too technical and that what I was explaining may simply be too much to answer via an audio response. Have a listen and let me know what you think about the answer I gave in the comments section below. Personal Plug of The Week This week’s personal plug of the week goes out to the Social Media Marketing Podcast by Michael Stelzner. If you check out his show and like it, please be sure to let him know you heard about the show from The Podcast Answer Man! Taking My Public Speaking To The Next Level! I signed up for Kent Julian’s Speak It Forward Bootcamp that will take place in Georgia on October 25-27, 2012. I’ve been doing a lot of public speaking over the past few years and I’m going to be delivering my first Keynote speech at the end of this month. I’ll do a decent job with my talk. However, I’m ready to take my public speaking to the NEXT LEVEL! Maybe you will consider joining me. I’m Coming To Dallas/Fort Worth I’m so excited to announce that I am going to be speaking at the Catholic New Media Conference. The conference is going to be held in the Dallas/Fort Worth Texas area on August 29th-31st.

The Strangest Secret I must have heard my great friend, Dan Miller, talk about The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale at least 30 to 40 times before actually searching out this resource for myself. I'm so glad that I did! When I first heard it, I do recall telling myself that I wanted to actually go through and listen to this at a minimum of once a year, if not more often than that. The Strangest Secret was originally released as an audio production (78 RPM Record) in 1956. Without any advertising or formal marketing, over a million albums were sold and it became the first (and only) spoken word message to win a Gold Record. What Is Success? Earl Nightingale shared a definition of success that I have chosen to adopt myself. He says that "Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal. If a man is working towards a predetermined goal and knows where he is going, that man is a success. If he’s not doing that, he’s a failure. Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal." When asked who is successful, Nightingale would have said that a anyone who is doing deliberately a predetermined job because that’s what he decided to do deliberately, would be considered a success. I love that this definition of success does not depend on financial status but instead that you are living a life toward a definite purpose. I especially love how, in his talk, he gave an example of a school teacher and a stay-at-home wife/mother as fitting the definition of success, if they are doing those things because that is what they WANTED TO DO. There is so much more wisdom and inspiration to be found within this resource. I highly recommend that you check out this inspirational message for yourself. You can purchase the physical book for less than $8, the Kindle version is less than $4, and an .mp3 audio version is less than a buck. My Best Podcast Episode Ever Out of all the podcast episodes that I have produced since December 2005, there is one, by far, that is my favorite episode recorded to date. In my EOTC Podcast Episode 131, I share an hour long conversation that I had with Steve Brown from Key Life Ministries. In this episode, I share a few reasons why this was my favorite episode. Social Media Update In this episode, Erik Fisher and I talk about a few of our recent thoughts about Twitter. In our conversation, we discuss the following topics. - Twitter cuts off some functionality to Instagram. - My favorite feature in Tweetbot. - Disabling Official Retweets. - When to Official Retweet and when not to Official Retweet. - Why Erik is looking for a Tweetbot only Twitter eco system. - Why I will continue to use the Twitter's website when on the computer. Voice Mail Options As you know, I am a huge fan of including the voice of my audience in my various podcasts. I am often asked what service I use to obtain the voicemails that I include from my audience. I'm happy to announce that I've recently updated my post on this topic at http://PodcastAnswerMan.com/voicemail. SpeakPipe is a new addition to the services that I recommend. In the episode, I explain some of the functionality of SpeakPipe and how I'm currently implementing it by using a custom feedback page at http://PodcastAnswerMan.com/feedback. Webinar Recording Question Ben called in to ask about how I go about recording 20 minute segments for during my webinars so that it makes for easier post production when creating the video versions that I make available as digital products. I share my answer to this in the episode. The Teenager Podcast Dilemma Ryan called in to say that he and the co-host for his podcast are both teenagers. He is concerned that adults may immediately turn off their podcast upon learning that they are only teenagers and wanted to know if there is anything that they could do to keep this from happening. I share my thoughts about this in the episode. Personal Plug of The Week