Steinar Knutsen» technology

How to Podcast with Garageband and Publish on iTunes

Steinar — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:02:39 +0000

In this course, I show you exactly how to record your podcast in Garageband, export your episodes as MP3′s and publish your podcast to WordPress and iTunes. This is great because listeners may now listen to your podcast on your WordPress blog and subscribe to your podcast on iTunes.

The lectures are recorded with professional video screen capture software, so it feels like you’re sitting right next to me. Customers have responded very well to this over the years.

First, you’ll learn how to use Garageband to make your recordings. I’ll show you how to edit your file, apply various equilizer settings, and trim your recording. Then we’ll add a musical introduction to the recording and save it as an MP3. Next you’ll learn how to install WordPress, setup WordPress for podcasting, upload your podcast and submit it to iTunes so others may enjoy!

How to Podcast with Garageband and Publish on iTunes

First Impressions of Apple iBooks Author

Steinar — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 01:16:29 +0000

Apple launched iBooks Author this week and it’s pretty amazing. Basically, it’s free software that allows you to create media-rich, interactive ebooks. It’s available for download on the Mac App Store.

Typically, this has been a pretty difficult task, but iBooks Author is so simple because it plays nice with Pages, Keynote and several other forms of media available on your Mac.

I spent a couple hours working in iBook Author and after importing some existing content from Pages, I had an ebook ready to publish rather easily and quickly.

What do you think about iBooks Author? Let me know when your book is online!

GoToWebinar: #12 Essential Online Marketing Tool for 2012

Steinar — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:50:48 +0000

What is GoToWebinar?

Reach your target audience quickly and affordably. Use the GoToWebinar self-service interface to plan, present, record and analyze unlimited Webinars with up to 1,000 attendees each – all for one flat fee. Create and host your own professional Webinars from day one – no experience required

Reach hundreds of people – right from your PC or Mac®
Save with built-in VoIP and phone conferencing at no extra charge
Includes GoToMeeting® for smaller meetings

Key Features

Download an audience list ranked by interest level to focus follow-up efforts on your hottest prospects, lowering your overall cost per lead.
Present online to anyone, anywhere, reducing your costs by decreasing travel and customer acquisition expenses.
GoToWebinar flat fee pricing structure lets you conduct unlimited Webinars without raising your costs – achieving faster and higher ROI.

Try it FREE for 30 Days!

Why do I need GoToWebinar?

GoToWebinar® features make it simple for you to set up, conduct and analyze Webinars yourself – no need to pay for additional event-management services. Increase your audience size while reducing your overall presentation costs with easy-to-use GoToWebinar. Make presentations in real time to hundreds of customers, prospects and employees — wherever they are. Plus, GoToWebinar comes with GoToMeeting, for smaller, more collaborative online meetings.

Download the complete list of 12 Essential Online Marketing Tools for 2012!

Grasshopper: #11 Essential Online Marketing Tool for 2012

Steinar — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 19:34:55 +0000

What is Grasshopper?

The Grasshopper virtual phone system helps entrepreneurs sound more professional and stay connected from anywhere. Features include toll free and local numbers, custom greetings, multiple extensions for employees, call forwarding to any phone anywhere in the world, voicemail to email and more!

Get a Toll Free or Local Number With Multiple Extensions – Add department & employee extensions easily.
Get Voicemails and Faxes via Email – No more calling in to check messages. Just open the attachment.
Know Who’s Calling Before Accepting the Call – Hear the caller’s phone number or name, the choice is yours.
Read Voicemails – A transcription of voicemail is included with emails.

Key Features

Toll free or local number – local or national presence
Unlimited extensions – for departments & employees
Call forwarding - work from anywhere
Voicemails via email – play online or on cell phone
Manage online or by phone – no hardware to purchase
No Long Term Contracts

Get Started Today!

Why do I need Grasshopper?Unlike a traditional phone system, Grasshopper is managed all online and in the cloud – there’s no hardware to purchase and no software to install. It’s really so easy to setup a new phone number or extension and expand your company’s footprint. Plus, since it’s month-to-month with no long term contracts, it’s also a popular solution for short-term marketing campaigns or temporary contact requirements.

Download the complete list of 12 Essential Online Marketing Tools for 2012!

My New Video Introduction for New Site Media

Steinar — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 19:38:02 +0000

I do a lot of video – some for this blog and some for my company at New Site Media. I’ve tried a variety of video introductions using some of the preconfigured transitions in iMovie but thought it was time to get a little creative and make my own from scratch. I considered using Fiverr for a minute, but knew I could create my own in about 30 minutes.

To create my intro I used a combination of Photoshop, Keynote and iMovie.

First, I separated the elements of my logo in Photoshop. Specifically, I created a standalone image of the red box portion of my logo.

Next, I recreated the text portion of my logo in Keynote and imported the red box as an image. I also created the black line as a separate image in Keynote. When I was finished, I had four distinct elements.

Using the Build Inspector in Keynote I created a series of Build-in effects for the four components.

“New Site” is set to Move In
The line is set to Pop
“Media” is set to Typewriter
Red Box is set to Anvil

Each Build element is set at 1 second intervals to automatically transition through the series to complete the entire build.

Next, I recorded the presentation in Keynote using the builds, and exported the presentation as a Quicktime Movie including the recorded transitions.

Then started a new project in iMovie and dragged the .mov file into the new project. I added a couple sounds and that’s it!

Now I have a unique video intro I can use on all my future videos.

What do you think? Let me know if you need help doing something similar.

iPhone 4S and Siri Impact on Productivity

Steinar — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 12:17:10 +0000

Last week Apple launched their latest phone, the iPhone 4S. Included with this phone came some amazing software called Siri. I’m using Siri right now to write this blog.

The technology behind Siri is nothing new. The system is powered by a popular dictation software company called new Nuance.

Nuance produces great software for the desktop and mobile applications. Some popular titles include Dragon Dictate, MacSpeech, and Dragon Dictation for the iPhone. These programs have gained popularity over the years because of their accuracy and ease of use.

What is unique about Siri is that it is further integrated into the core functionality of the iPhone. So, for example, I can pull up my contacts using voice commands and even move calendar items around just by telling my phone what to do. Siri also has an intelligent connection to Google and the Wolfram Alpha search engine so that I can ask reference questions and do Google searches just by asking a question.

Siri is being positioned in the market as your personal assistant. I think the impact on business owners will be noticeable for those that use Siri on a regular basis. The beauty is that you can do quick Google searches and administrative tasks while on the run.

There should also be an impact on Google search results and the nature in which people find information online. If you are a website owner or manager you might want to review your web traffic analytics over the course of the next few months to understand Siri visitors.

What do you think? Will Siri make a difference?

Sent from my iPhone 4S

A few cool finger swipe features in OSX Lion

Steinar — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 06:01:34 +0000

Apple released OSX Lion for the Mac this week. Here are a few of the cool new finger swipe features that should help improve user experience and efficiency.

OSX Lion iCal Navigation with 2-Finger Swipe

OSX Lion introduced a new version of iCal which allows you to navigate through days, weeks, months and years by simply using a 2-finger swipe to the left and right. This was particularly interesting to me since I was hoping we could get this feature on the iPad. It may be a sign of good things to come!

Browser swipe navigation with OSX Lion for the Mac

With OSX Lion you can navigate through your browser history simply by swiping two fingers left and right. No longer necessary to click the forward and back buttons. Very cool!

Switching desktops and apps with OSX Lion Mission Control

OSX Lion for Apple allows you to easily swipe between desktops and apps with a 3- finger swipe.

Podcasting 101: Realities of Creating and Editing your First Podcast Episode

Steinar — Tue, 03 May 2011 12:55:27 +0000

This is the second in a series of podcast episodes I’m doing with Mike Bisceglia from Cvillepodcast.com to help educate businesses on the realities and benefits of podcasting. In our first episode we talked about the basics of podcasting, including recording, editing, publishing and promotion.

In this episode Mike and I discuss a few applications to record and edit your podcast.

Listen or Download

Producing and editing your podcast can seem daunting at first. You may not feel comfortable putting your voice out there, but with practice and the right tools this may be overcome with time. Editing can be a rather technical process as well, so be prepared to either learn how to do it your self or hire someone to help.

Here are two great podcasting tools to get you on the right path:

1) GarageBand for the Mac. This audio software comes with every Mac and provides professional level editing tools to capture, enhance and out put your recording as an MP3.

2) Audacity for both Mac and Windows. Audacity has been around for years and is an excellent, free application to record and edit your podcast.

Feel free to contact me or email Mike Bisceglia at cvillepodcast@gmail.com for more information!

How to Attract Customers to Your Storefront with Foursquare

Steinar — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 20:12:53 +0000

Foursquare is one of the leading geo-location check-in mobile applications available to the millions of smart phone users around the world. It basically allows people to indicate they are at or nearby a given location based on GPS enabled services bundled with their phone. If you think this sounds silly, consider the fact that Foursquare is adding 35,000 new users each day as of April 2011.

For example, let’s say I stop in at a local coffee shop. When I open Foursquare on my iPhone, it recognizes that I’m nearby and with the click of a button I can “Check-In.” If I have “friends” or connections I’ve established on Foursquare then they all see see my check-in as well. I may also choose to broadcast my check-in on Twitter and Facebook and include a comment or picture as well.

At this point, I’ve shared my location, the name of the retailer and potentially some other color commentary to my friends. Simple enough.

Retailer Venue Setup on Foursquare

The retailer, on the other hand, has just benefited from free publicity. If I have 1200 friends between Twitter and Facebook, that’s 1200 people that have just seen their brand name. Maybe I mentioned how good the coffee was or how delightful the service was. Again, more free publicity.

Most retailers have a listing on Foursquare whether they know it or not. By simply creating an account, they can login, claim their location and update their profile with additional information to help spread the word and best represent their brand on Foursquare. It only takes a few minutes and can make a world of difference. For example, you can add detailed address information, product categories, and add tips and links to content you choose.

Setting up Foursquare Specials

Retailers and other businesses that use Foursquare have the ability to leverage Foursquare by offering Specials – incentives to Foursquare users that perform certain check-in behavior in order to earn rewards. There are four types of Specials a business can offer on Foursquare:

Friends Special -
You can set a minimum number of foursquare friends a user needs to check-in with to unlock a Special. That special is only redeemed when that pre-set number of friends check-in together. The goal is to get groups of friends coming to your venue.

Swarm Special -
You can set a minmum number of foursquare users that need to check-in within a 3-hour window in order to unlock this Special. It can only be unlocked once per day per venue, and is great to incentivize large groups to visit your business!

Flash Special -
This Special gets its name from “Flash Sale”. You set the number of Specials that you want to unlock per day, then after that its first-come, first-serve. When it reaches the unlock limit, there are no more Specials for the day. This is great for special limitied quanity sales.

Newbie Special -
This type of Special unlocks on a user’s first time visitng your venue. This is the most direct way to drive new traffic to your venue.

Check-in Special -
These are our classic Specials. They unlock on every check-in, or on whatever conditions you apply. This is great for rewarding users on their routine check-ins.

Mayor Special -
This Special is swarded to the Mayor fo your venue. The foursquare Mayor is the most frequent visitor over the last 60 days. This is a great way to reward your best customer and encouraging competition for the prize.

Loyalty Special -
There are a few ways to use a loyalty Special. You can reward a user every X times they visit, you can reward them for coming in X times in total, or you can reward them for being loyal within a certain period: for X visits over Y days.

The Newbie, Check-in, and Mayor specials seem to be most popular, I guess becuase they require the least amount of effort on behalf of both the customer and retailer. The other types of specials require longer-term participation and/or multiple users, so they maybe the next logical step.

What’s most suprising is how few retailers actually setup Specials. In Charlottesville, for example, there are roughly 15 specials throughout the entire city at any given time. Also, for those that have Specials, they haven’t changed … ever! Some retailers have had the same specials for nearly a year. Personally, I think they would benefit from some variety, especially, given the new types of specials available.

Fast Start with Foursquare

If you’re a retailer, first visit Foursquare and find your venue by searching on the homepage. If it’s listed you can “Claim this Venue” and make the necesary adjustments. If your venue does not already exist on foursquare, you can create a new venue by scrolling to the bottom of the search results (bottom of page) and clicking “Add a new venue to foursquare.”

Next, think about potential Specials you can run. Maybe run two to begin – one that’s easy for folks to achieve with a single check-in and another that requires some more work. Make it something truly fantastic, something they’ll want to share with all their friends on Twitter and Facebook.

What do you think of Foursquare? Do you find it useful as a consumer? Has your business seen much success using Foursquare to drive business?

Podcasting Equipment and Tools

Steinar — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 21:05:57 +0000

In this video we’ll discuss podcasting equipment and tools, including microphones, headphones, devices and software to record, edit, publish and promote your podcast. What’s most exciting is the variety of tools that are available – you can go simple with just a smart phone and publish without editing or high-end with professional sound equipment and edit as much as you want.

Podcasting Equipment and Tools:

Microphone
- Built-in
- USB External
- Phone
- Stand-alone recorder (Zoom)
Headphones
Recording Device
- Mac, PC, Phone, Tablet
Software

What podcasting equipment and tools are you using these days?

Thoughts on Podcasting

Steinar — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 21:47:01 +0000

Podcasting is a fantastic channel to engage your market and reach a new audience. This morning I led a discussion on this topic with the SheBlogs group in Charlottesville.

The main takeaway is that there are several different approaches to podcasting either from the web, your Mac or PC, your phone and even the web.

This audio was recorded using the VR+ recording app available on iTunes for $1.99 and I am writing this text using the WordPress iPhone app. No longer are we tied to the expensive tools that once served as a barrier to effective podcasting.

Listen or Download

What are your thoughts on podcasting? Have you considered it in your marketing mix?

Garageband for the iPad – Mobile Podcasting Getting Easier

Steinar — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 01:14:58 +0000

With the announcement last week of the iPad 2, Apple also introduced the release of Garageband for the iPad. For those of you not familiar with Garageband, it is a simple yet powerful music and audio production software tool that’s been available on the Mac for several years.

Garageband is loved by both musicians and podcasters because of its simplistic user interface, yet advanced capabilities. Want to burn a single track and email to your friend – no problem. Want to record 8-tracks with both live and MIDI instruments with complex effects and save to your iPod? No problem.

The beauty of Garageband on the iPad is that you’ll now be able to do all of this on the go, with great battery life and the ability for sync your GB file tracks back to your Mac for editing and final mixdown. That’s pretty appealing.

My fist QR Code – scan this into your phone

Steinar — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 21:25:10 +0000

If you’re not familiar with QR codes, they are an increasingly popular method of sharing information similar to a bar code. Users with a smartphone can focus their camera on this code and the QR code software will save the information behind the code on their phone.

In this case, it’s my URL, but it could be your contact info or any number of attributes.

Want to create your own QR code and track clicks?

Create a short link at Bitly.com.
Copy the the bitly link and paste into a new browser tab or window
Add “.qr” to the end and there’s your new QR code!
Now, right click to download or save your QR code image.

Looking for a QR scanning app for your phone? Here are some sources I found:

I’m already starting to see QR codes on packaging and websites. What do you think? Are QR codes here to stay?

… Sent from my iPhone

Record and publish online video with no additional hardware or software with screenr.com

Steinar — Wed, 19 May 2010 17:17:44 +0000

Sharing video content online is something we would all like to do and screenr.com makes it easy. It’s basically a free web app for simple screen casting. It’s great if you want to narrate a powerpoint presentation or share something you’ve found online via video.

Details: Up to 5 minutes, audio recording, download finished video, save or export to YouTube, embed link and custom URL’s for linking. Plus, it’s integrated with Twitter so it’s easy to share with your friends.

Check it out at screenr.com.

Share iPad links on Twitter and Facebook with Ping.fm bookmark in Safari browser

Steinar — Fri, 07 May 2010 23:19:21 +0000

Here’s an easy technique to share iPad Safari browser links on Twitter and Facebook with a Ping.fm bookmark.

One of the most popular tasks in twitter is sharing links with your followers. On a laptop or standard computer this is fairly simple since you can just cut and paste from the browser into your favorite Twitter client, such as Tweetdeck or Hootsuite.

You can do the same on the iPad but Ping.fm makes the process significantly easier by adding a Ping This bookmark in your iPad Safari bookmarks. I use MobileMe , so the Ping This bookmark is already there from my iMac and Macbook Pro.

What do you think? Easy right?

Audio and Video: How to podcast from your iPad or iPhone and publish on WordPress and iTunes

Steinar — Tue, 04 May 2010 14:53:20 +0000

It’s finally here … Mobile Podcaster. Since January 2011 I’ve been podcasting on from my iPad and publishing to WordPress and iTunes without ever touching my blog or a computer. It’s a really awesome system. I’m really proud of it and it’s now available for you too, so if you’re interested check out Mobile Podcaster.

The process I’ve outlined below with Audioboo is also perfectly good, but Audioboo is limited to 5 minutes, so keep that in mind.

The iPad serves many purposes, but for me it’s about marketing and finding new and different ways to leverage mobile technology to grow my business and engage my market online. New media has been especially interesting and I’ve confirmed the iPad is great for recording audio to create podcast episodes which can translate into new WordPress blog posts.

Audio and Video Description of Recording and Creating a Podcast on my iPad with Audioboo

Listen or Download

Posting audio directly to WordPress from my iPhone has been a project of mine for a few weeks and I have a very good solution now that you might try.

Audio is a great format to communicate with your readers for several reasons:

audio blog posts are much faster to produce
audio blog posts do not require extensive editing
you can easily set up a separate RSS feed for audio posts and let readers subscribe via iTunes (see my sidebar)
audio blog posts can be created while driving – much like talking on the phone
audio blog posts are great for interviewing people
audio blog posts are a great way to differentiate your blog and add variety

My solution satisfies the following criteria:

post audio to WordPress from my iPhone without logging into WordPress
blog posts must contain a flash audio player that is user friendly for desktop users
blog posts must contain a direct link to the raw mp3 file so that audio is mobile friendly
audio posts must publish automatically without any further editing or logging into WordPress
Any social networking notifications stem from my blog and direct users to my site, not some 3rd party site.

Installation and Setup

Here are the steps to post audio directly to WordPress from your iPhone:

Install the AudioBoo app on your iPhone (Audiobook is limited to 5 minutes. For longer recordings, check out Mobile Podcaster)
Install WP-o-Matic plugin on your WordPress blog
Install Podcasting plugin on your WordPress blog

AudioBoo

No custom settings are required. Just set up an account, go to My Boos, and copy the RSS feed address from the Address Bar.

WP-o-Matic

Set up a new Campaign
In the Basic tab, give your campaign a name, activate it, and provide a slug. I use “audio.”
In the Feed tab insert the RSS feed address from AudioBoo
In the Categories tab, indicate your preferred category. I use “podcast.”
Leave Rewrite tab blank
In the Option tab create a custom post template with the code below.

- Set Frequency at no less than 1 per hour to determine when new feeds should be checked.
- Select Published when you’re ready to go live. Choose Private or Draft while testing.
- For Max Items, I select one(1) since I do not want more than one audio post per day. You could do more if you like.
In the Tools tab, do nothing.

Podcasting Plugin

The only option I recommend you modify is the Player Width under Audio Player Options so that it fits horizontally within your post appropriately. I use 480px on my site for example.

How to Use

Open the AudioBoo app on your iPhone
Record your audio, give it a title, and publish
Your MP3 will now appear as a new post, based on the frequency you selected in WP-o-Matic Options.
After post has published you may add text to the post. If you want the ability to add text prior to publishing, change the WP-o-Matic Options back to “Draft,” but this defeats the purpose for me – the ability to publish audio to my blog without logging into WordPress at all.

What do you think? Does this work for you? There are other solutions – what are you using?

Improve Productivity with the iPad – More Focus, Less Multi-Tasking

Steinar — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:33:08 +0000

With the upcoming iPad release, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how exactly I could use the new device in my daily routine. I already have an iMac, MacBook Pro and iPhone, so the questions for me as a business owner is will the iPad help improve productivity?

Many have criticized the iPad for its lack of Adobe Flash and inability to run multiple application simultaneously, unlike Windows or Mac OSX which allow you to multi-task and easily share your desktop among several apps at once.

I actually see the single app iPad limitation as an advantageous feature to help me focus on a single task and ultimately help drive productivity in some situations. Of course, there are exceptions, but with the right iPad apps, I believe this will be a good thing.

“When people try to perform two or more related tasks either at the same time or alternating rapidly between them, errors go way up, and it takes far longer — often double the time or more — to get the jobs done than if they were done sequentially.” — David E. Meyer, director of the Brain, Cognition, and Action Laboratory at the University of Michigan

via 4 Steps for Managing Social Media Attention.

A good example is writing blog posts. Many times, we spend a disproportionate amount of time researching a new entry rather than actually writing. It’s not that the inspiration is difficult to find, it’s that we easily get distracted during our research by tangential subtopics, comments, and related posts from source material … I’m sure you can all relate.

On the iPad, however, I’ll be forced to stick to one app to write my post – at least the initial draft. Without the distraction of Twitter, email, and the web looming off to the side, I can spend some serious quality time focusing on my writing.

And yes, I have a few wireless Mac keyboards handy, so the physical typing part will be easy and familiar.

Of course, this sounds good in theory, but I won’t really know until I have the iPad in my hands.

What do you think? Will the iPad improve productivity? Is the lack of multi-tasking across apps a limitation or feature?

Create Video Content to Engage Your Readers Online

Steinar — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:23:18 +0000

Creating videos to engage your readers is a great tactic you should consider if you manage a blog or would like to take your online communications strategy to the next level.

Publishing online video has vastly improved over the years and for a minimal investment you can easily shoot, upload and share video on the fly. The two biggest barriers I most often see are 1) fear of criticism and 2) assumption that video takes a long time to produce.

I’ll admit, shooting video takes some nerve. My advice is to practice. If you need to, shoot a video everyday for 30 days and then start publishing. This will give you the chance to become familiar with the tools and find your voice or individual level of comfort.

In terms of time required – true video can take longer than simply typing out a new blog post. However, that doesn’t need to be the case if you’re willing to sacrifice perfection for efficiency. You can easily shoot and post video right within Youtube or use a tool such as Seesmic.

So, what’s your experience been shooting video and what’s the reaction you’re getting from others?

Part IV – How to Podcast from Your Mac (iWeb and iTunes)

Steinar — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:39:36 +0000

In our last episode of How to Podcast from Your Mac with Skype I discussed how to record Skype conversations for your podcast and today I’ll show you how to publish your podcast using iWeb so that it is available on iTunes. This episode assumes you have a MobileMe account, but you can still achieve the same results with your own domain.

Basic Steps to publish your podcast from Your Mac using iWeb include:

Create your audio in Garageband and either Share with iWeb or save to a file
Open a new Site in iWeb, choose a theme, and choose the Podcast template
Change the name of your Site, Page, and entry to include the title of your podcast and any keywords to reflect your subject
Update the podcast page title, description, and image. This is information captured in the iTunes store for your podcast name and cover art
Update the podcast episode entry title, description and image
Import the audio and image for the episode (this is automatically done is you started in Garageband Share with iWeb)
Open Inspector>RSS>Podcast and update the podcast series and episode author, email, parental advisory, and Publish to iTunes Store settings
Update your site publishing settings to MobileMe (or other destination depending on your preference)
Publish the entire site
Choose File>Submit Podcast to iTunes, check settings and select Publish and Submit.
To add an additional episode, create your audio in Garageband and Share with iWeb to automatically create a new entry on your site.

At this point you will get a confirmation email from Apple that your podcast submission request is being reviewed. Within 24-48 you will get notification that it has been accepted or denied. If accepted, Apple will provide a link to your podcast on the iTunes store, which you can begin to share immediately on your website, email, Facebook, etc. Your podcast will begin to show up in search results on iTunes within another 24 hours.

Congratulations! You now have a podcast on iTunes that people can subscribe to and enjoy for free!

Just getting started with podcast on your Mac? Check out previous episodes:

What do you think? Does this process make sense and is this an easy approach to podcast from your Mac with iWeb? Let me know how it goes!

Part III – How to Podcast from Your Mac (Recording Skype Conversations and Interviews)

Steinar — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 02:56:04 +0000

As I reviewed in Part II – How to Podcast from Your Mac, using Garageband to record a simple podcast is pretty straightforward. I hope you got a chance to try out the process I outlined in that video and found it rather easy to get started.

For most new podcasters, the challenge is finding a certain level of comfort in front of the microphone. It is a funny thing, considering we have no problem talking throughout the day, either in person or on the phone.

A great technique that many podcasters find appealing for their listeners is to record a conversation or an interview over the phone. Traditionally this would require a phone tap of sorts or a paid recording conference service.

Today it’s much easier with Skype. I f you’ve never tried Skype it’s basically an online phone service that let two people talk over the Internet anywhere in the world for free. You can also purchase blocks of minutes and call people on their land line from your computer.

WARNING: it is against the law to record a phone conversation without mutual consent. You must disclose the fact that you are recording the conversation and get verbal agreement from all parties that this is acceptable before you proceed with the recording.

The beauty for podcasters is that you can record Skype calls and the quality is generally very good.

Install Skype and Recording Plugin

Visit Skype.com and download the free application
Sign up for Skype Out if you plan to call people who do not have Skype. I highly recommend this even as a backup security measure should they have trouble connecting with Skype. Calls are only $.02-$.03 per minutes.
Download ECamm Call Recorder – this plugin let’s you record calls and split the tracks for editing in Garageband.
Get a good headset. Skype has a number of models they recommend. You can also use a mic like the Samson CO1U (aff) and a separate set of headphones. In either case I recommend the mic inputs are USB rather than using the mic input jack. Check out Part I – How to Podcast from Your Mac (Equipment and Software) for more tips on this.

When you first install Skype, you have the option to make a few free test calls. I also recommend you find a friend to also install Skype and familiarize yourself with how Skype works before you start doing any recording. Of course, I just dove right in and learned the hard way, though I must say Skype is simple to use.

Skype Recording Preferences - Click to Enlarge

Once you install Call Recorder, you have the option to modify its setting from within Skype, but you will be fine with the default settings. Personally, I set the recorder to record by default so as not to miss something by accident.

Once you’re ready to record, there are a few things to keep in mind:

Minimize any background noise. Turn off the ringer on your phone and any other machines that make white noise (fans, printers, etc). Close the door and put a sign outside if necessary – you don’t want someone barging in and ruining your great recording.
Click the red record button on Call Recorder when you are ready and let the conversation begin.
You might want to start off with an introduction of yourself and anyone else on the line.
Keep it conversational and do not read from a script. You may find a list of leading questions helpful, but try to talk as if you were have a regular discussion.
Speak clearly and ask open ended questions – those that require more than just a simple yes or no response. This will help keep the discussion going.
At the end of the call, ask your guest how people can find them (website, contact info, etc)
Thank your guest and finish the call.

At this point Call Recorder will stop and save the recording to the default folder. You can change this folder in Preferences.

After the recording is complete you have a few options:

Save the recording as is.
Open in QuickTime Pro and split the tracks. Save both tracks and import into Garageband, so you can tweak individual tracks
Open the recording in Garageband and edit or add some intro music and other elements.

In my upcoming posts, I will review how to send this new podcast episode to iWeb or WordPress, among other details for making your podcast public.

What do you think? Have you tried recording calls with Skype for your podcast? How is that going?

The Future of the URL Shortener and All Those Links We Are Creating

Steinar — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 13:02:04 +0000

Everyone is getting into the URL shortening game these days. Google, YouTube, and Facebook are just a few joining the likes of the established players such as Bit.ly. And now Microsoft is jumping in. But there’s something weird about their URL.

via Fa.il: Bing’s URL Shortener Is Longer Than Bing’s Own Domain.

Seems like every link you see these days has been shortened by one of the popular URL shorteners, such as bit.ly or tinyurl. These services are great, especially when using a social network like Twitter where messages are limited to 140 characters.

It was inevitable that Microsoft would get in on the game, but it raises an important question. What happens to all those links when one of these URL shortener services goes under?

I see a couple major implications:

all your links old become broken
any search engine optimization benefit you enjoyed would now vanish

If you are a casual user of the Internet and social media, this is probably no big deal. But companies or individuals investing in the business of driving traffic online should beware. The rapid proliferation of URL shorteners should be a clue that ultimately some will not survive.

And then what?

Do you use URL shorteners? Have you considered the potential risks of handing control of your links over to a 3rd party?

Mobile Phones Will Serve as the Online Content Consumption Platform of Choice by 2013

Steinar — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:11:37 +0000

More evidence today from Gartner that mobile phones will serve as the online content consumption platform of choice by 2013. Is your company preparing for the shift? It’s happening now, so get on-board.

By 2013, mobile phones could easily surpass PCs as the way most people hop onto the Web. Gartner’s statistics show that the total number of PCs will reach 1.78 billion in three years, while the number of smartphones and Web-enabled phones will shoot past 1.82 billion units and continue to climb after that. This trend will force more Web sites to revamp their pages to make them easier to surf on a mobile gadget.

via Smartphones to dominate PCs in Gartner forecast | Business Tech – CNET News.

Consider the following tactics to make your site mobile friendly:

Create a mobile version of your website or if you’re using WordPress, install a mobile theme such as WP-Touch.
Use mobile friendly video, not flash. YouTube is a great choice and now supports high-definition. Some services, such as Vimeo, don’t play nice on many devices, including the iPhone.
Understand the bandwidth and screen size limitations (and opportunities) of mobile devices. Large images, files and other on-page elements create a barrier for users.
Consider more new media – audio and video – instead of just text. Text is difficult to read in some cases if not properly formatted, whereas optimized audio and video can potentially get your message across faster and with greater impact.
Use a website statistics analysis tool, such as Google Analytics to track visitor devices and navigation. You can learn a great deal about their behavior and tweak your content appropriately.

What are your plans to meet the needs of mobile users? What’s working for you?

How to post audio directly to WordPress from iPhone

Steinar — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:09:55 +0000

Posting audio directly to WordPress from my iPhone has been a project of mine for a few weeks and I have a very good solution now that you might try.

Audio is a great format to communicate with your readers for several reasons:

audio blog posts are much faster to produce
audio blog posts do not require extensive editing
you can easily set up a separate RSS feed for audio posts and let readers subscribe via iTunes (see my sidebar)
audio blog posts can be created while driving – much like talking on the phone
audio blog posts are great for interviewing people
audio blog posts are a great way to differentiate your blog and add variety

My solution satisfies the following criteria:

post audio to WordPress from my iPhone without logging into WordPress
blog posts must contain a flash audio player that is user friendly for desktop users
blog posts must contain a direct link to the raw mp3 file so that audio is mobile friendly
audio posts must publish automatically without any further editing or logging into WordPress
Any social networking notifications stem from my blog and direct users to my site, not some 3rd party site.

Installation and Setup

Here are the steps to post audio directly to WordPress from your iPhone:

Install the AudioBoo app on your iPhone
Install WP-o-Matic plugin on your WordPress blog
Install Podcasting plugin on your WordPress blog

AudioBoo

No custom settings are required. Just set up an account, go to My Boos, and copy the RSS feed address from the Address Bar.

WP-o-Matic

Set up a new Campaign
In the Basic tab, give your campaign a name, activate it, and provide a slug. I use “audio.”
In the Feed tab insert the RSS feed address from AudioBoo
In the Categories tab, indicate your preferred category. I use “podcast.”
Leave Rewrite tab blank
In the Option tab create a custom post template with the code below.

- Set Frequency at no less than 1 per hour to determine when new feeds should be checked.
- Select Published when you’re ready to go live. Choose Private or Draft while testing.
- For Max Items, I select one(1) since I do not want more than one audio post per day. You could do more if you like.
In the Tools tab, do nothing.

Podcasting Plugin

The only option I recommend you modify is the Player Width under Audio Player Options so that it fits horizontally within your post appropriately. I use 480px on my site for example.

How to Use

Open the AudioBoo app on your iPhone
Record your audio, give it a title, and publish
Your MP3 will now appear as a new post, based on the frequency you selected in WP-o-Matic Options.
After post has published you may add text to the post. If you want the ability to add text prior to publishing, change the WP-o-Matic Options back to “Draft,” but this defeats the purpose for me – the ability to publish audio to my blog without logging into WordPress at all.

What do you think? Does this work for you? There are other solutions – what are you using?

Optimize your WordPress Blog for SEO and User Experience – Joost de Valk (Video)

Steinar — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 23:37:56 +0000

Another great video from Joost de Valk “Yoast”, including some useful advice on strategies to optimize your WordPress blog for SEO and user experience.

In particular, Yoast shares some very helpful hints for Analytics, Automation, RSS, Commenting and Plugins. Hope you enjoy.

What tips do you have to share to optimize your WordPress blog for SEO and user experience?

How to start a podcast quickly, easily and without spending a fortune

Steinar — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:49:12 +0000

Listen or Download

Starting a podcast is easier than ever these days. You can use some of the free tools that come with virtually every computer these days or make a few modest purchases to improve the quality of your podcast. I recommend you focus on content creation before buying a bunch of unnecessary equipment.

Here’s are some of the basic elements to consider when launching a podcast for the first time:

What is a podcast? There’s some argument over where the term came from and who produced the first podcast, but i use the definition: audio & video “portable on demand”. Essentially, this includes new media content that’s available for consumption in iTunes (or another leading podcast hub), directly on your website, or via a mobile device, such as the iPhone.

What microphone should I use for my podcast? Since a podcast obviously involves audio communication, I recommend you use the best quality microphone you can afford or one that at least offers a level of quality your listeners will find acceptable. I’ve done podcast episodes using my Mac internal mic and my iphone, but when I’m in the office I use the Samson CO1U USB Condenser Mic.(aff)

Where should I deliver my podcast? Any website or blog can have its own podcast. By definition, a podcast doesn’t need to be on iTunes so don’t let that misconception stop you from publishing audio content. For example, sign up with AudioBoo and record a show – then paste the html or script into a blog post or a web page. This is an example of a very simple approach. You could also set up a WordPress blog, install one of many podcast plugings, and upload audio files from your computer. I prefer to use the Podcasting plugin, but there are several other WordPress plugins available.

What should I say on my podcast? All of us have something to say; however, podcasting is not for everyone. My suggestion is that you find a subject you are passionate about and make a list of potential topics you could discuss. What are the top 5 questions people ask you about your topic? What are the top 5 questions they should be asking? There’s content for 10 episodes right there.

Should I do all the talking on my podcast? Some podcasts are run by a single person who does all the talking, while others are two or more people engaged in a conversation. Some are discussion style, while others are more of an interview. It really depends on your subject, what you have to share personally and who else you know that can help liven up the discussion. Ask your listeners what’s working for them and change as needed.

Is there a show format I should follow? I recommend you establish a consistent format or ageneda for your podcast episodes or shows. The reason is that a consistent format puts the listeners at ease and builds a certain level of expectation over time. For example: 1)intro music 2) introduction 3) topic one 4) topic two 5) pick of the week 6) closing remarks with call to action and 7)closing music. That’s just an example — the possibilities are unlimited.

What file format should I use for my podcast? MP3 is the most widely accepted audio file format, but most podcasting hosts will accept a variety of file formats.

How do I get my podcast on iTunes and how much does it cost? Podcast distribution on iTunes is free. Just be sure you’re using the correct RSS format. To learn more open iTunes and go to Store>Podcasts>Submit a Podcast. You may also have readers subscribe to you podcast through iTunes without actually publishing to iTunes. Of course, this does not make your podcast available to the general public but is a convenience.

Are you thinking of starting a podcast? What’s holding you back? Is there something I can help clarify to get you started?

Charlottesville – Great Example of How Local Businesses Use Social Media

Steinar — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:38:14 +0000

I read this recent blog post from John Jantsch at Duct Tape Marketing and immediately thought of the strong connections that local Charlottesville businesses have made through the use of social media.

Some evidence:

cross-promotions and partnerships between businesses that would not otherwise cross paths
instant referrals for business services online vs. the yellow pages
Twitter and Facebook images on the local news – nearly real-time
monthly tweetups where local folks connect offline
social media club meetings
and more … (what did I miss?)

Using social media to grow your local business is one of the most powerful marketing tactics going right now. Think about it, you’ve already established a level of trust in a community and now you can use technology to help build deeper engagement and deeper relationships with the folks that you already do business with.

via How Local Businesses Use Social Media | Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing.

What do you think? Is social media an effective marketing tactic for local business growth?

Now broadcasting live from Ustream (Audio)

Steinar — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:22:08 +0000

Listen or Download

In this audio post I discuss Ustream.tv and the new opportunities available to reach your market in a new and exciting way through video.

Ustream has been around for years but many businesses have yet to grasp the potential. Basically, Ustream offers the ability to broadcast live video over the Internet in a controlled, yet open platform. Viewers may interact through a closed chat feature or through the new built-in Twitter feed. Live broadcasts may be recorded and saved for future playback.

Obviously, the implications of this are huge in terms of market reach and differentiation for your business. Consumers are ready for this new media and comfortable consuming content in this manner – think of it as a real-time version of YouTube. Of course, if you’re not comfortable creating video in the first place, this may be quite a leap in terms of confidence and risk. The key is to get started today and practice. It will get easier – trust me.

I’ll leave with the final thought. Video creates a personal touch with your market. If any of you have ever “finally met someone in real-life” after chatting with them on Twitter, then you can appreciate this. People want to see, talk and interact with others beyond text based methods. If that makes sense to you, then I encourage you to push your comfort zone and leverage Ustream (or YouTube) to take things to the next level. You’ll be glad you did.

What are your thoughts? Is streaming video something that would help you communicate with your market? Are consumers ready for this?

Build a content distribution strategy, not a Twitter or social media strategy (Google Real-Time Search)

Steinar — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:50:35 +0000

The recent news of Google real-time search inspired me to share my thoughts on content and how we share information on the Internet. For those of you not up to speed, Google real-time search provides a subset of real-time search results within the standard results for popular keywords searches. Google real-time search includes Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, identi.ca and Jaiku.

The fact is Twitter will fade into the dust one day and social media will shift to new and different platforms over time. Instead of sinking all your eggs in one basket, I encourage you to think about a broader content distribution strategy rather than focus on one platform.

To be clear, by content distribution I mean two-way communication. Your message goes out and replies come back. The strategy boils down to what networks you connect with, why you connect with them and how you manage those relationships.

Use RSS to Distribute Content

RSS (most commonly expanded as “Really Simple Syndication”) is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format.

via RSS – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

RSS is nothing new, yet often misunderstood. I’m not claiming to be an expert on the subject, but I will say it’s worth understanding how to publish your RSS feed, either from a blog or from some other source in which you contribute. For starters, I recommend submitting your blog RSS feed to Technorati, MyBloglog, Friendfeed, Google Reader. You might consider these RSS aggregators that can help get more eyes on your content.

On the social media front, submit your blog RSS feed to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, identi.ca, BrightKite, Bebo and others. The point is that not everyone “hangs out” on Twitter and if you are truly trying to reach more people within your target market (aka, internet marketing), you need to have a voice on multiple social media platforms. I’m sure some of you will disagree with this and I welcome your feedback.

Use RSS to Manage the Discussion

On the flip side, RSS is also useful for collecting, monitoring and responding to content posted by others that is either directly or indirectly speaking to your interest, industry or niche. Virtually every website has an RSS feed you can subscribe to today. You can subscribe to RSS feeds for a particular search phrase. You can monitor social media platforms remotely with RSS feeds.

Honestly, there is very little need to physically visit these individual sites anymore, other than to tweak your profile or add new connections. Of, course even those functions are moving off-page as well as new tools pop-up to handle administrative tasks such as this. Beware: some deliver great benefit, while others may cause you to lose control.

For me, Google Reader is the ultimate platform to manage RSS subscriptions and engage with people from multiple websites at once. Sure, I use Tweetdeck for Twitter, but it’s much bigger than than that. From Google Reader I can check updates from people, store items of interest, share content, and reply to people all in one place. It’s really simplied my life.

Build Your Content Distribution Strategy

The beauty of the web is that often there are multiple solutions to the same problem. For me, the best way to map out my strategy was to put pen to paper and start drawing out how information is shared and how my network can be connected to increase reach, efficiency, and overall effectiveness. You could also use presentation software or a mind mapping application such as Bubbl.us.

I suggest you start by exploring Friendfeed, Ping.fm, and Posterous. These tools manage multiple RSS feeds in a centralized manner and can direct inbound and outbound activity from you and your connections. I also recommend you start with a single distribution point for all of your original content – for me, this is my blog.

What’s your content distributions strategy? What’s working for you? What would make it easier?

Leverage Online Video to Engage Readers, Drive Website Traffic and Differentiate Your Business (Video)

Steinar — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:11:54 +0000

YouTube has been around for years and is without question one of the best video sharing sites. Getting your video message online is a terrific method of engaging readers, driving traffic to your website, and differentiating your business. It takes practice but the payoff can be significant.

Topic Covered:

Test and gain confidence (It’s all about practice)
Use the right tools to shoot, edit, publish, promote
Using Multiple platforms to share videos online
Leveraging the network to reach a broader audience
Engaging with readers unlike text or audio content
Search engine optimization to drive traffic to your site
Mix it up with different approaches to use video.

How can you get started with video today? What holding you back? Have any success or horror stories to share?

Safari User Agent iPhone Simulator – See How Your Site Looks to Mobile Users (Video)

Steinar — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 03:06:02 +0000

Safari 4.0 has a great feature in Advanced Preference that let’s you activate the Developer’s menu and view websites as if you were using an iPhone or iPod Touch. This is great if you are just curious, but even better if you are working on a new theme for your site to make it more mobile user-friendly.

I am using the WPTouch plugin on my WordPress blog to create my mobile theme and its proven very simple to install and customize. I’ve also incorporate Push notification, so when anyone leaves a comment on my blog, my iPhone notifies me with a pop-up message – it’s a beautiful thing.

WPtouch: WordPress on iPhone, iPod, Android, Storm & Pre

More than just a plugin, WPtouch is an entire theme package for your WordPress website. Modeled after Apple's app store design specs, WPtouch makes your WordPress website load lightning fast on touch mobile devices, show your content beautifully, all while not interfering with your regular theme.

via WPtouch: Mobile Plugin + Theme for WordPress ↔ BraveNewCode Inc..

Have you updated your site to be mobile friendly? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Evidence that YouTube Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Works (Video)

Steinar — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 03:50:43 +0000

YouTube search engine optimization (SEO) is an often overlooked element that can drive significant views and traffic back to your website.

Setting up a search engine friendly video is very simple and only take a fraction of the time required to actually shoot, edit, and publish the video.

Keywords are critical in your title, description, and tags. In this video I provide an example of a video I uploaded 2 years ago, which continues to get a steady flow of viewers now topping 250,000.

The link in my description feeds these viewers back to my website of choice (another feature that 99% of videos fail to incorporate).

Why don’t people optimize their videos? What do think? Seems like good sense but it’s so often overlooked.

The video referenced in this article is the 1st video in this YouTube Search.

Does Audio or Video Really Engage Blog Readers? (Audio)

Steinar — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:20:11 +0000

In this audio post I discuss the benefits and drawbacks of using audio and video on your blog.

003-audio-versus-video.mp3

Advantages of Audio Blogging
•   Quicker to record and post
•   Fewer tools required
•   Faster download
•   Greater reach with MP3 players

Advantages of Video Blogging
•   Great to put a face with your name and voice
•   Good for presentations or tutorials
•   Good to leverage YouTube channel network
•   Most engaging web content according to studies

In either case, audio and video both add color to the standard text based blog, much like photos make your posts pop. Experiment with both and find which works best for you. You may find that video works in some cases, while audio is better for others.

What are your thoughts? Are you finding success with audio and/or video. Which seems to work best given the topic or situation?

Drive More Traffic to Your Blog and Engage Readers (Audio)

Steinar — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:10:25 +0000

In this audio post I’ll touch on a few techniques to drive more traffic to your blog and engage readers in a more meaningful way.

002-more-blog-followers.mp3

Topics Covered:
• Creating unique and compelling content
• Search Engine Optimization and long-tail keywords
• Commenting on third-party websites
• Leveraging Social Media

How are you attracting more readers? Which tactics are getting the best results?