That lovely race to the end of the year is upon us!

We are sure you’ve got your share of last minute shopping, planning and of course podcast recording to do!

As do we!

We are looking forward to spending time with our families and delighting that we are so very lucky to hug and love them. This will be a much needed pause to reconnect with that which means the most to us.

Expectations of Libsyn Support in the last two weeks of December

We wanted to make sure that you are taken care of, as well as be informed of what you can expect from Libsyn Support in these last couple of weeks of the year!

Please take a moment to check out this Support Blog post about the Libsyn Holiday Hours for 2012.

Due to the Holidays both this weekend and next, our support staffing will be scaled back so that everyone may spend time with family and friends. So please be understanding if ticket response times are higher than normal. Members of our admin team will be on-call to handle any urgent system-wide issues.

We look forward to provide a stable and reliable platform for your work to abundantly grow in 2013!

Many blessings to you and yours, stay safe!

What is Podcamp?

Podcamp is a low-cost (usually free) conference type event, where folks who love podcasting and social media gather to talk shop, share ideas and learn from each other. Podcamps are held in cities around the world, usually on an annual basis. Visit this website to see if there is a podcamp coming to your city.

Podcamp Pittbsurgh is This Weekend!

Podcamp Pittsburgh will be held at Point Park University on October 27 & 28, 2012. There is a Keynote speaker at 9 am each day followed by presentations and panels from 10am to 4pm. Registration is free, VIP registration is $25 which gets you a snazzy Podcamp Pittsburgh t-shirt and a swag bag.  Click here to register.

If you are planning to attend - be sure to say hello to the members of the Libsyn team who will be there - make sure to follow @Libsyn on Twitter and use the official hashtag #pcpgh7 - we'll be doing some giveaways and sharing tips all weekend long.

You can follow Podcamp Pittsburgh on Twitter @pcpgh and Facebook facebook.com/podcamppittsburgh

Let Us Know If You Are Going To Attend!

If you are planning to attend - please eave a comment below with a link to your podcast - so we can make sure to say hello to you this weekend.

Is it happening?

Well, it can.

It’s up to you.

Speak up and let them now ASAP that you want to have built in podcast support on Windows 8.

Do it for podcasting. Go here and leave a comment…NOW.

C’mon podcasters, this is when it counts! 

Share the link on Twitter, post on Facebook, use the image and Pin it, mention it on your podcast. Use all your resources.

Let Microsoft know we want podcasting on Windows 8!

Comment HERE and let them know you want it.

PodCamp Topeka is a low cost unconference dedicated to emerging web media - social networks, podcasting & videoblogging, blogging, Twitter, Facebook, photography, and web design, for starters. Our goal? To learn about social media from social media experts, to network with fellow bloggers, podcasters & social media creators ... and to have a blast!

What is an unconference?

An "unconference" is a gathering where you call the shots. You won't find a traditional speaker and an audience at Podcamp Topeka! Instead, you'll find a facilitator that starts off the discussion ... and everyone else can chime in! It's a great way to learn from each other.

Our very own Rob Walch - who is our head of all things podcaster relations here at Libsyn - is the keynote speaker for Podcamp Topeka.  Read more about Rob and his pre  When Rob isn't talking about all things Libsyn, he is the host of the podcast Today in iOs (iPhone).  Read more about Rob and his podcast here.

If you are in the Kansasa City/Topeka area - sign up to attend Podcamp Topeka on October 13.

Podcamp Topeka
October 13, 2012 8:30am-4:30pm
Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library

http://podcamptopeka.org @podcamptopeka

Wordpress OnPublish Is Out!

We know a ton of you use Wordpress for your podcast website. We wanted to make your publishing process a little bit easier by allowing you to cross-post directly to your self hosted Wordpress site from within your libsyn dashboard!

This is the first step in providing better support for you guys that use Wordpress.

The process works exactly like the cross-posting to Twitter and Facebook provided by OnPublish.

Everything is done directly from within your libsyn Dashboard. When you choose to publish your latest episode to Wordpress an audio or video player will appear as your latest post within your Wordpress site!

Here is the full TUTORIAL.

From within the libsyn dashboard you can also mark the post to be in draft mode, so that you can add all of your show notes information when you log into your Wordpress site.

*NOTE: To be absolutely clear, this feature works only for those of you that are using a self hosted Wordpress website. 

One stop for publishing

From within your libsyn account you can now publish directly to:

• Twitter
• Facebook (Page or Profile)
• Wordpress
• Smartphone app (if you happen to have one)

What’s great about this as well is that you can schedule each individual location to post at a different time if you so choose!

This can help you keep the momentum going in terms of promoting your work across the different social media sites.

Feedback Please!

The devs are working so very hard to offer up better functionality for you guys, and we need you to let us know what you think.

Does this Wordpress functionality work for you? Does it make your workflow easier? Does this not help you out at all?

Let us know in the comments! Help us help you keep podcasting!

Holy bjeezus Apple just released it’s own new standalone app for Podcasts.

Key Features:

• It’s FREE
• Subscribe, stream or download
• Browse and discover
• tweet, message and email podcasts with direct link
• The usual: Catalogue, Categories, Featured and Search
• Manages your subscriptions
• Streaming Radio

What do you think?

Tell Me Your Story plus the Sideshow Network of Comedy Podcasts are now with libsynPRO!

We are honored that George Lopez and the Sideshow Network chose libsynPRO to host their podcasts!

George has been doing such great work in mainstream media with one of the top 5 syndicated shows The George Lopez Show as well as his brand spanking new game show called Take Me Out and now he’s taking the world of podcasting by storm!

George has a new audio podcast (yippee for audio podcasting!) called Tell Me Your Story, where he “features intimate conversations between him and real (or extraordinary) people with extraordinary life stories”.

Check out his podcast on the libsyn directory! :)

It’s so inspiring to see such a well known name choose podcasting as another medium to express himself and engage with his community.

George has taken social media by storm corrently having over a million followers (holy cow!) and a very active Facebook Page with over 7 million likes! Wowza!

Guess how he’s sharing his new podcast?

He’s using our awesome Facebook Customized Tab and using the Libsyn Player! Pretty cool!

What? You want your own customized tab to play your podcast on Facebook using the libsyn Player? Go for it. Go HERE to learn how :)

Let’s welcome George to the Wizzard Media / libsyn family by giving him some Like love and sharing listening to his podcast via the libsyn app on Facebook!

The Libsyn Facebook App Is Here!

We are crazy excited to share with you our new Libsyn Facebook App!

Check out the short video above to see the Libsyn Facebook App in action :D

At it’s essence the app is a podcast directory where we people can browse through the libsyn podcasts and play them straight from Facebook.

How cool is that?

Libsyn Facebook App = Greater Podcast Discovery

Whenever you or anyone plays one of your episodes from the app, what they play will show up on your/their timeline. You can comment or like the post as well.

This is an excellent opportunity for your episode and podcast to have greater exposure, and be discovered by folks that may not know about it.

As a bonus of all of you sharing and listening is that as a community we get to guide people to discover new podcasts and new content that they may not have been exposed to before, without having to leave Facebook to do it!

So…

1. LIKE the Libsyn App Page on Facebook
2. Add the Libsyn App
3. Leave us comments and feedback on the Page!

We look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Who’s been hanging at SXSW?

Well, it seems we have a crew of powerfully awesome libysn podcasters rockin’ the house! Live podcasting at SXSW ftw!

• Doug Benson - Doug Loves Movies
• Kelly Carlin- Waking from the American Dream
• Greg Proops- The Smartest Guy In The World
• Scott Aukerman- Comedy Bang Bang
• James Adomian- Comedy Bang Bang
• Marc Maron- WTF
• Emily Gordon- The Indoor Kids (and program director of The Nerdist Industries)
• Kumail Nanjiani- The Indoor Kids
• Kevin Allison- RISK!
• Pete Holmes- You Made it Weird
• Jason and Randy Sklar- Sklarbro Country
• Brendon Walsh- The Bone Zone
• Robert Kelly- You Know What Dude?
• Kevin Smith- Smodcast

“The ultimate freedom that allowed me to walk away from the ‘heroin’ [money] of the movie business – what gave me the strength to walk away – was [expletive] podcasting.” - Kevin Smith, from his recent CNN interview.

Looks like podcasting is sparking more fires and continues to be a force to be reckoned with. That article is really worth a read.

SXSW has always been a place of inspiration and innovation. That feeling for podcasting is encapsulated by the following video featuring Marc Maron talking all about podcasting "as a viable business" and what it takes to make it work for you:

Fun and Funny Remaining SXSW Schedule Sprinkled with Podcasters

If you are hanging at SXSW for the rest of the week, you MUST check them out!

Wednesday, March 14

10:00 pm - Esther’s Follies SHOWCASE - Don’t Miss This Pete Holmes, Joe Wengert, Kurt Braunohler, Chris Gethard

11:30 pm - Esther’s Follies SHOWCASE - Gotham Comedy presents The Laugh Button Live! Dan Soder, Amy Schumer, Robert Kelly, Doug Benson, Gary Gulman

Thursday, March 15

3:00 pm - Austin Convention Center NEXT STAGE - Stand Up! Records (Showcase for the politically-minded record label.) Brooke Van Poppelen, Rick Shapiro, Ryan Stout, Brendon Walsh

10:00 pm - Esther’s Follies SHOWCASE - Made in Austin Brendon Walsh, Mike MacRae, Nick Mullen, Cody Hustak, Martha Kelly, Chris Cubas

11:30 pm - Esther’s Follies SHOWCASE - Set List: Standup Without A Net Pete Holmes, Kristine Levine, Brendon Walsh, Andres du Buchet

Friday, March 16

6:30 pm - Esther’s Follies PODCAST - Earwolf presents: Sklarbro Country with Jason and Randy Sklar

8:30 pm - Esther’s Follies SHOWCASE - The Benson Interruption (Doug Benson provides live commentary to comedians’ sets.)

Saturday, March 17

6:30 pm - Esther’s Follies PODCAST - Earwolf presents: Who Charted? with Howard Kremer and Kulap Vilaysack

8:30 pm - Esther’s Follies SHOWCASE - The Benson Interruption (Doug Benson provides live commentary to comedians’ sets.)

Are you at SXSW? Have you gotten a chance to see these guys? If so tell us all about it!

Wanna join the libsyn team? Go ahead and START HERE! 


Are you ready?

We certainly are :)

If you are going to BlogWorld LA come on by and visit Booth 421. We would love to see you!

And guess what? Come on by for a chance to win a free month!

The EA Sports Madden NFL 12 Podcast, a weekly hour-long audio podcast, covers the latest in Madden NFL 12 news, rosters and team updates. Created for NFL football fans, the show provides a unique behind the scene look at the all-time favorite football related video game and commentary on the NFL and Fantasy Football. Included is a recap of NFL weekly games, injury reports, insight on the upcoming schedule and weekly picks.

But the serious fan know you need more than just one podcasts.  We told you Libsyn was ready for the football season!  MAdden NFL is just the beginning.  Check out these NFL podcasts:

We've got even more football podcasts for the serious fan, created by the fans themselves - check out these fancasts:

• Jets - The Jet Pack
• Eagles - Eagles FanCast
• Bears - Bear Down
• Chiefs - Warpaint Illustrated out of Bounds
• Steelers - Steel Curtain Radio

This week she tweeted that she was on her way to Mountain View, CA to speak at Authors@Google. 

She also has a new book that debuted this summer "Grammar Girl's 101 Misused Words You'll Never Confuse Again" - check it out here.

You can check out the Grammar Girl podcast here. 

3 reasons why you should have a Facebook page for your show:

1. People are already there.  Everyone is on Facebook - okay maybe not everyone - but lots of people check facebook many times a day, they might not come look at your website everyday - but if they are already on Facebook - then you should meet them there.
2. The personal endorsement.  Advertising is okay, but anyone who has ever spent a dollar on advertising will tell you that a personal reccomendation from a friend is always more valuable than an advertisement.  When some one "likes" your show on Facebook - that "like" then shows up in their friends stream.  When you "like" Libsyn (if you are on Facebook - we hope you will like out page) - that shows up in stream.  "Your_name liked Libsyn"
3. Sharing is easy.  When you add something to your show's Facebook page - your fans are just a click away from sharing that information with their friends.  No links to copy and paste.  1 click sharing makes it easy for your fans to tell your friends about the latest episode or news about your show.  

How to set up a Facebook Page:

Don't have a Facebook Page yet?  No problem - Facebook pages are free an easy to set up.  Mashable has put together a great tutorial on setting up a Facebook page here.

Also check out this post from Mashable - 5 Easy Ways to Liven Up Your Facebook Stream for some more ideas on what you can share with your fans on Facebook

Already have a Facebook Page? Check out our Facebook for Podcaster Series here.

Our very own Rob Walch will be speaking at Blogworld Expo NY May 25th!

Check out Rob here:

Yes, Virginia, They Do Pay For Advertising- The Big Advertising Panel

Yes, "they" do pay "real" money to advertise in digital media - and they're paying more every year. Join this panel of experienced content producers with real world practice of selling their content as they share their thoughts and answer your questions about advertising in digital media.

Rob and David Prager will take on this topic at 2:30pm on May 25

3 App Building Stories- The BYO, The Platform Partnership and The Outdoor Shuffle

There are many ways to make an app: build your own, partner with someone, or outsource entirely. In this panel of people from each path, you can finally understand the ins and out of each approach and pick you path to the app economy. There is no better way to learn than from someone who has been there before and this panel brings it all.

Rob, Jeff Hamilton and Jason Hoch will delve into the nitty gritty at 3:45pm on May 25

Podcasters Represent at BlogWorld NY!

After you've taken in all of Rob Walch's sessions, here are a few more from some awesome podcasters addressing some pretty cool subjects :)

• Chris Penn: TODAY 2:30 Facebook Analytics- How to Know if You Reach Your Goals and Wed May 25 10:15am The Marketing Over Coffee Story
• Jason Van Orden: May 25 11:30am From Podcast To Sales Funnel- The (Other) IBM Story
• Cliff Ravenscraft: Thurs May 26 9am The Streaming Garage Story- Not The Usual Suspects In Talk Show- AND- The GSPN Story- Building A Community That Pays The Bills
• Paul Colligan: Wed May 25 11:30am An App In Every Store- Platforms Are For Wussies and May 26 5pm Closing Keynote- "New Media LIVE!" Talk Show
• David Prager: May 25 9am The Business of Digital Broadcasting, 2:30 [Yes Virginia, They Do Pay For Advertising- The Big Advertising Panel][] and Thurs May 26 Building (And Keeping) An Online Audience Panel

There are TONS more that were not mentioned and so worth your time! Check out the full BlogWorld NY 2011 Schedule HERE!

Community, Communication and Support

Even though there are times that as a Mother I want stuff ie. clothes, jewelry, gadgets, etc. what I long for and desire the most as a mother you can't really buy anywhere.

Mothers desire connection

Primarily connection with other Mamas. There are times when I feel like I'm the only mother in the world that is going through whatever I'm going through at the time, toddler tantrums, explosive messes that refuse to get cleaned up, child ailments, sleepless nights...I could go on and on ;)

Mothers long for communication

I often times simply want to share with someone, someone that gets how hard being a Mama truly is, or how incredible the world is as seen through your child's eyes, or simply talking about something that is not at all child related with another woman!

Mothers need support

At first I thought I could do it all- by myself. I had up to this point set my mind to anything I desired and simply done it, often times to the chagrin of those that were closest to me. Why would motherhood be different? Well, it seems like this whole mothering thing works sooooo much better with support, help, advice, and encouragement.

What if you don't have a built in community of Mothers that can be available at any time?

Mommy Podcasts to the rescue!

You need to feel supported and heard? How about feeling that you belong?

Check out these Mommy podcasts that will provide you with at least a little bit of recognition and entertainment, but most of all moments of knowing that you are not alone!

Manic Mommies

The trials and tribulations, joys and triumphs of Erin and Kristin - two working mothers trying to do it all (and do it all well, of course)! Shows feature honest, funny chats about motherhood, pop culture, and the crazy act of balancing work and family. Regular features include guest interviews, advice from parenting coach Kathy, and pediatrician Dr. Rob. Not just for "working" moms - for all moms and dads! Driven by our Chevrolet and our fabulous Gal Pals.

New Moms, New Babies: Tips, Tricks, Sanity Savers

Real Moms. Real Stories. A weekly podcast by new moms, for new moms with tips, tricks and sanity savers on sleeping, feeding, crying and more! Guests include, doctors, pediatricians, authors, experts on child seat safety, strollers, baby carriers, activities and more! Friendly advice, various perspectives and relevant information to get you through those first years.

PregTASTIC Pregnancy Podcast

PregTASTIC is the weekly podcast by pregnant women, for pregnant women about the fantastic journey to motherhood. Full of expert information and friendly advice, opinions and different perspectives for soon-to-be moms. Weekly guests include doctors, doulas, authors etc. Hosted by "real" pregnant women with the same joys, concerns and swollen feet as our listeners.

Full Time Mom

The Full Time Mom Podcast is the weekly audio journal podcast of Stephanie Ravenscraft. In each episode, Stephanie gives you a very authentic and transparent look into her pursuit of being the best wife and mother that she can be. This is not your typical “mommy podcast.” It is a known fact that Cliff likes to talk a lot. While Stephanie regularly co-hosts, with Cliff, on a large number of gspn.tv podcasts found at http://gspn.tv/shows, this is a podcast where Stephanie has a chance to share everything that is on her mind. Be prepared to be entertained, encouraged, and inspired by this show. [update Full Time Mom's last episode was published on January 6, 2012]

This is by no means a full list of Mommy podcasts out there. As a Mama and as a podcast addict I have waaaaaay too much on my plate to give each and every podcast due diligence, so, this is when I say:

Do you have a favorite Mommy podcast that is not on this list and absolutely MUST be heard or seen?

Please leave it in the comments below! Remember it's all about community, support, and communication!

Happy Mother's Day!!!!!

-Elsie Escobar

When rain comes in the form of the Wall Street Journal it pours publicity ;) This is what happened to Wade Harris as his App Wade-O Radio was featured on the Wall Street Journal.

In an article by the Journal titled "App Watch: Getting Religion on the Go" Wizzard Smartphone App Producer DJ Wade-O shares how technology is enhancing the way God's Word reaches people beyond the church. According to the Wall Street Journal:

Mr. Harris says his Facebook and Twitter updates are a testimony of his faith and a part of his ministry.

“I have a ton of friends on Facebook and Twitter, who maybe they don’t go to church,” he says. “I’ll send stuff out to people just maybe as an encouragement.”

The Growing Publicity Snowball

After his feature on the Journal a ton of other niche specific publications picked up the story and continued to fuel the fire of recognition for The Wade-O Radio App.

The Houston Chronicle: Christian rap radio app featured in Wall Street Journal report

DaSouth.com: Wade-O Radio app featured in Wall Street Journal report

Rapzilla.com: DJ Wade-O Featured in the Wall Street Journal

Congratulations Wade! So great to see stuff like this!!!!

Wanna get the Wade-O Radio App? You can get it through iTunes HERE or subscribe to his podcast HERE.

If you'd like to be part of the growing community of Wizzard Media App Producers you can sign-up HERE!

iTunes now has hundreds of thousands podcasts available for easy consumption, and upon looking at some of the top rated and most popular podcasts, other than eye-catching artwork there is something they all share: a clear, concise and informative description.

This description is not just about iTunes but is carried over to the podcast website, where it deepens and becomes a little more elaborate without loosing it's simplicity.

Let's take a look at 4 descriptions from iTunes and pull out key factors toward creating the optimal about description for your podcast.

1. The Call To Action

The Winning Investor: Take control of your financial destiny and develop a successful investing strategy with The Winning Investor. Join Andrew Horowitz as he cuts through the sometimes confusing jargon of financial products and services to help you analyze investment opportunities and decide what's best for you.

The QDNow Podcasts have fantastic descriptions which incorporate action. As you read the first sentence of the description above it immediately tells you what action you'll take from consuming this content with strong active statements. The second sentence gives you the how this action will happen: with Andrew Horowitz guiding you to action.

2. The Leading Question

How stuff Works: in a world of limitless possibilities, who can listeners count on for up to date info on everything from oil spills to flamethrowers? Just check in with Chuck and Josh, your favority Neo-Renaissance men for more Stuff You Know from HowStuffWorks.com

Starting off with a question that incorporates your optimal audience, including a reason to subscribe, while providing a precise answer is another way to quickly communicate what your podcast is about.

In the description above you see the question stated offers 2 things: audience description (people interested info from oil spills to flamethrowers) and a reason to subscribe (up to date info). The response shares with the potential listeners that the podcast is a conversation (Chuck and Josh) and who they are (Neo-Renaissance men) plus adds where to get more (HowStuffWorks.com).

In those two sentences, you get a fantastic overview of what you can expect when you listen to this show as well as the type of people who may be drawn to listening.

3. The Power List

Back To Work: Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin on productivity, communication, work, barriers constraints, tools and more. Hosted by Dan Benjamin and Merlin Man.

This is perhaps the simplest way to get everything your podcast is about in one sentence. Have the who (the doer/subject) + on (the verb/action) + a list of your key words (object/the topic). Done.

4. The Simple Statement

Sticks & Strings Podcast: A podcast by an Australian bloke who knits. www.sticksandstrings.com.au

Did you get that? Short, simple, and done! I know what that podcast is about :)

In your iTunes podcast page you get about 50 words above the fold (anything that you immediately see without having to click ...more and scroll down) If you can make those first 2 sentences powerful you've totally got them to offer the more of your greatness!

Now, don't think that you can only describe your podcast in these 4 ways or that you have to do it with only two sentences. Those examples above are simply the tip of the iceberg. After distilling what your podcast is about so succinctly at the top of your description, you now can elaborate about what makes your podcasts unique, adding all the flash and singularity that makes it you.

If you want to deepen your description a great guideline to keep your description readable and effective is to keep it between 100-200 words. Use the same description both in iTunes as well as in your About Page on your website.

Uniformity And Consistency Yield Great Power

When you take the time to distill your description up to two sentences as well as grow your description to a couple of paragraphs, it not only clearly informs your potential audience but gives you the power to communicate what you are about in effective ways. You can now share what your podcast is about via one twitter message as well as pitching potential partnerships, marketing your podcast and strengthening your brand across many platforms through the distinct uniformity.

Have you thought about what your description or about page says about you? Do you have any tips to share? We would love to hear from you in the comments!

-Elsie Escobar

Image: From Wikipedia by Satyakamk

Given the fact that you are now self-hosted you have more choices of what audio player to use to embed your audio onto your site. The first step would be to choose what audio player you would like to use on your site. Since you are hosted at libsyn you have 2 choices:

1. A Wordpress audio player plug-in.
2. The Wizzard player Although initially built as a video player, it can absolutely be used for audio files

Choosing a wordpress audio player plugin

Although audio players abound, generally speaking here are the most popular WP audio player plugins:

1. audio player
2. Bluburry Powerpress Podcasting plugin
3. Degradable HTML5 audio and video Plugin

Each of these players offer varying degrees of configuration and personalization. Take your time checking them out, as well as seeing what kind of support they offer, so if you get in any trouble, you'll have help.

After you've chosen, installed, activated and configured your Wordpress audio plug-in, the next steps are pretty simple:

1. Write your blog post
2. Head on over to your libsyn account, and assuming that you have already uploaded your file to libsyn, copy the url for that file.
3. Input the MP3 url where it's called for within your audio player plugin of choice.
4. Save your post and/or publish.

Using The Wizzard Player

Assuming that you have already uploaded your file to your libsyn account, here's what you have to do to get the Wizzard Player from within the Previous Post section of your libsyn account:

2. Go to Destinations

3. Click on the checkbox next to Wizzard Player.

4. Publish

5. After you publish and get to the confirmation page, simply scroll down the page and find your embed code and copy it.

Please let us know if this tutorial was helpful in the comments as well as other tutorials you would like to see between Wordpress and libsyn.

The libsyn platform isn't solely for podcasting. Yes, that's what we do, but media as we all know can be served in so many different ways, and perhaps you don't want to do just a podcast. Check out this blog post to find out how libsyn can help support you with a ton a different ways to publish your content.

How to do it

1. Write out your blog post or page
2. Wherever you want to embed the audio player simply put this code: [audio ] (Make sure you switch to the html editor when you add the code)
3. Head on over to your libsyn account, and assuming that you have already uploaded your file to libsyn, copy the url for your audio file.
4. Go back to your blog post and add the MP3 url to the audio player code. It would look something like this [audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/scy/87Ep87_25minLevel2-3YogaClass-ImmunityasReceptiveGratitude.mp3.] note: There should be a space between audio and http
5. Save your changes
6. Preview your blog post and publish when ready.

Done!

You should be able to see an audio flash player where were you added the corresponding code.

Pretty easy don't you think?

Do you have any other questions regarding integration of libsyn and your wordpress.com blog? Please leave us a comment. We'd love to help out!

The libsyn platform isn't solely for podcasting. Yes, that's what we do, but media as we all know can be served in so many different ways, and perhaps you don't want to do just a podcast.

Check out this blog post to find out how libsyn can help support you with a ton a different ways to publish your content and reach an even larger audience :)

Cliff is having a conversation specifically addressing issues that podcasters will come up against if uploading their files to their own host, but what if you don't want a podcast. What if you simply want to upload your audio or video to your host?

In all honesty, if you are doing this to simply to put it up on your site for your own sake and have no aspirations of growing your site in any way, then go for it.

If you do have dream of more people being exposed to what you produce, whether it be through the written word, audio or video, I would suggest choosing somewhere else to host your media, especially if you are passionate about what you do. If you are committed to your site be it as a hobby or as your business, if you are consistent, and are putting out great material at some point you will start to get more traction. People will share your work and your audience will grow.

If you have been offering occasional audio or video files that you happen to host on your own hosting company this extra traction may prove to be problematic.

At libsyn this is what we do. We are prepared for you to get famous ;) You upload your files to our system and you get unlimited bandwidth, which is to say that no matter whether one day you get 1 person downloading your media or 100,000 what you pay stays the same.

We are set up in such a way that we grow with you. You can start simply hosting your individual audio or video files, but if you decide to offer your audience more as time goes on, you have the option to publish a podcast, get your own mobile app, have your own Wizzard Player and have amazing stats. We even have plans that are designed for businesses and professional producers.

Our Plans

Here are some key things you need to know about how we work:

1. Our plans are based on Monthly Storage: Monthly Storage is the amount you can upload in any 30 day window. For example A 250 MB account means you get a quota of 250 MB per 30 day period. So in any 30 day period you can upload up to 250 MB of files. Once a file is over 30 days old - it automatically moves into "Archive" - which just means it no longer counts against your upload quota.

The "Archived" file continues to download as before and the URL remains the same - nothing changes other than you have back that amount of space to upload new files into. There is NO change in download speed for the "Archived" files.

With libsyn there is never a need to pull down old files because of storage issues.

1. There are no contracts
2. You can easily change plans at any time

With so many internet businesses popping up everywhere, and so many people choosing to become solopreneurs, libsyn is a must to have as part of your professional tool-belt in order to grow, scale and reach the largest audience possible.

If you haven't had a chance yet, check out our cost effective plans and pricing!

Do People Know How To Subscribe From Your Site?

I go to my podcast website all the time. I can navigate within it and it all looks pretty clear to me! But then, I put the thing together ;) I'm always surprised at what other people think of my site, or some of the questions that I get regarding content consumption on my site.

At times I get questions that in my mind are SOOOO clear…but alas, in reality, not so much.

During my work at libsyn, a lot of times I search for podcasts, visit podcast websites, listen to podcasts, find out what podcasts are about and I've found that I've encountered road blocks when it comes to actually consuming and even subscribing to some podcasts.

I find myself having to do a lot of searching to find out what podcasts are about, where the real podcast website is, and even where to click to consume the content, and I'm well versed in the podcast culture, so I know a lot more than the average person! I have to be absolutely honest. There are times when the podcast looks so cool but the fact that I cannot listen to it with one click or even find out more about the content to see if its what I believe it is, makes me wanna give up.

Here are 2 inquiries for podcast creators to help you from loosing potential subscribers.

Search for a podcast whose subject you've always been interested in but are not too familiar with.

One way to check yourself to see if you are providing the very best support for potential listeners is for you to do some podcast browsing yourself, specifically on something that you are totally unfamiliar with.

There has to be some subject that you've been intrigued about, that you've always wanted to know more about. I'm sure there’s a podcast about it!

Follow these steps and take notes :)

1. Search for whatever topic you are interested in, in the iTunes Music Store. Once you get your results pick a couple of podcasts and go to their respective pages.

2. Go to the podcast website straight from iTunes. Where does iTunes take you? What are your initial thoughts about what you find? If you find a link that doesn’t work or you land on a libsyn blog that is obviously NOT their main site, what does it take for you to get to their main site? Are you willing/interested to do it?

3. Once on the podcast website find out what the podcast is specifically about. Is there an about page, a succinct quick explanation of what to expect when you consume the podcast? How easy is it to find this information?

4. Listen or view the podcast from the podcast page. Can you do this easily? Are there different and clear ways offered to consume the content (ie: direct download link, player, subscribe button)?

5. Subscribe. How easy is it for you to subscribe in the easiest way for you? Is there a way to do it via iTunes? RSS reader? Newsletter? Go through the process in the name of research and investigation. You can unsubscribe right after (or not.)

6. Evaluate your own podcast website. Use your notes and the insight that you gained from your investigative work to optimize your own page. Can you easily find what your podcast is about? Easily play the content? Easily subscribe?

Find yourself a podcast newbie and have them subscribe from your site.

This little podcaster inquiry will work best if you get someone who is NOT holistically techsavvy but your average Social Media Facebook/Twitter everyday consumer.

1. Have your subscriber guinea pig go to iTunes and follow steps 1-4 above.

2. If they cannot get to your website from iTunes have them google your site (maybe they don’t even have or want to use iTunes…you never know!) Give them the name of your podcast, not the url of your site.

3. Have them give you their observations of the process.

4. Thank them profusely for their insight :)

Why start these inquiries off in iTunes?

Well, you see, iTunes is a given at this moment in the podcasting world and as such it’s very important.

Of course if someone wanted to subscribe or even preview your content they can do it straight from iTunes. They do not have to go through the whole process. The process is for you to learn about the efficiency and effectiveness of the information you provide. Don’t assume everyone knows how to subscribe to your podcast or what it even is. Let them know.

So what did you find out? Is what you are doing effective in getting new subscribers/fans?

Are there any insights that you learned from going through the process above? Are there any other tips you can share with fellow podcasters that you use to make the process of subscription, or even simply content consumption easy for your audience?

It would be so great to hear some of your insight! Leave a comment below :)

-Elsie Escobar

So for you producers with Android Apps, be sure and update your links and descriptions around the web with your new Android Market Web URL.  Getting it is easy, just visit the Android Market.  Search for your App.  Click on it, copy the resulting page URL and put it everywhere.  You can even tweet the location of your App right from your Android Market page.  QR Codes Too!  And of course don't be shy to ask your fans to review your app.  

We have gotten a lot of great feedback about our blog posts, largely positive, but now that we're getting into a groove we want to reach out again to see what's working for you guys.  We know we've sprung a lot of changes on our users.  Change can be tough, but we aim to make this all worth your while.  We've collected a lot of strange, diverse and wonderful info over the years, at Podcamps, Expos and of course virtually.  it is not always clear to us what info is most helpful to you guys.

Lets start with something simple.

What nagging questions do you still have as a Podcaster?

Please respond in the comments below, and we'll all chime in where appropriate... Open session style.  Don't be shy, help each other out too.  

And....Go!

When was the last time that you checked out your own podcast landing page in iTunes?

It may seem a bit basic and even perhaps a waste of time, but in all honesty it's a very important space that podcasters often overlook. I may venture to say that for the majority of your potential raving fans this is the first and only impression that they will get. There will be no second chances.

Why not take a moment right now to make sure you are making the best first impression?

Here are key points to make sure folks click that subscribe button:

• Have a podcast description: Did I really need to get this basic? YES. Because of my duties here at libsyn I visit a large amount of iTunes podcast pages and there are a surprising amount of podcasters that have no description at all!

• Make your description clear, succinct and informative: What exactly is your podcast about? Describe it in two sentences and have these be the first paragraph in the description. Most people don't scroll below the fold, meaning that they usually won't click ...more on the page. If you make those first two sentences clear, precise and appealing anything you write below the fold will just be icing on the cake. Write those two sentences for those that are already familiar with you content as well as those that are not. Keep the jargon and inside jokes to the latter half of your podcast description.

• Link back to your main website!: In your iTunes page, on the left hand side column there is a link to your website. 50% of the time when I've clicked on the link to the podcasters website, I either go to a broken link or to the libsyn.com blog page that is part of your libsyn account. Now, there's nothing wrong with your libsyn blog. In fact a lot of podcasters do use that as their website. What I'm talking about here is for those of you that have spent time creating an awesome website for your podcast, but no one from iTunes goes there because you are not linking to it! Tip for libsyn users- you can edit this information within your edit show settings pane in your account

• Add easy feedback accessibility to your description: Somewhere within your iTunes description, usually towards the end, add the easiest way to get in contact with you: email address, voice feedback line, and your url. Although this information will not be clickable it will provide your existing audience as well as potential listeners a seamless way to get in touch with you. There are a ton of podcast listeners that never go to your website and perhaps never will. When they want quick access to you, the first place they will go will be to your page in iTunes. I know this has been true for me and have always been so glad when I find the podcaster email address right in the description to send along that feedback :)

Although simple podcasting tips, you'd be surprised how much they really do help both existing and potential subscribers.

There are other ways to subscribe to podcasts, but the reality of the situation is that iTunes is the easiest and most accessible way to subscribe to podcasts, especially for those that are not particularly tech savvy.

Why not provide them with the best experience of you and your work?

Do you have any other hints and tips that you can offer to other podcasters regarding the iTunes landing page? Is there other information that you feel is helpful to promote your podcast? Leave it in the comments!

-Elsie Escobar

As the new year rolls in, we often take inventory of our lives, perhaps even decide to expand our horizons. Podcasting provides an opportunity to learn and deepen the understanding of the world around us in a really simple and cost effective way. You can immerse yourself in a topic so completely, it feels like you've gone back to the university :) Here are a few podcasts to get you going with your Podcast Art and Science degree ;)

• Podictionary- the podcast for word lovers- Short and sweet and totally easy to consume. I always love learning the history behind words and adding more to my vocabulary. If you don't want to subscribe you can get the iphone app and have a ton of words at your disposal. Great reference.

• Brain Science- "Recent discoveries in neuroscience are unraveling the mysteries of how our brain makes us who we are." I already subscribe to so many podcasts, to the outsider it would seem a bit obsessive. I've been trying to stop my subscribe tendencies, but I just couldn't help it when it came to Brain Science. The quality of information offered, the depth on insight and simply the subject matter is the perfect podcast for revving up your brain for optimal functioning ;) You also get the opportunity to see the world and yourself in a whole new way. Give your brain a workout. Dr. Campbell offers very detailed shownotes, so if you don't want to listen or subscribe at first, hop on over to the site, or even subscribe to the blog RSS feed and get your learning that way. If that's not enough Brain Science also has an iPhone AND and Android app with access to the full shownotes as PDFs!

• Books and Ideas- This is another one by my new favorite person Dr. Ginger Campbell. It's sort of the spill over from her Brain Science podcast, "exploring history, philosophy, other areas of science, science fiction, monthly interview with an interesting person." If a podcast all about the science of the brain is not your cup of tea but you wanna delve into the world of science in an accessible way, check this one out. You won't regret it. The iPhone app offers detailed shownotes via PDF! Love it.

• Microbeworld Radio- "An educational outreach initiative that revolved around a daily, 90-second radio and podcast series designed to increase public understanding and appreciation of the vital role microbes play on our planet and to promote the science of microbiology." Yes, this is a podcast all about the teeniest of the tiny. Who knew how magical it could be to delve into the micro? The more you get into the micro the more you see it in the macro. You must first start at the Microbeworld website. It's jammed packed with info. You'll see there that Microbeworld Radio is not just one podcast, but a lot of them: BacterioFiles, Meet the Scientist, Mundo de los microbios, This week in Parasitism, This Week in Virology and more. You can subscribe individually to each one of these shows, or you can simply get the iPhone app and have them all at once. Nice.

• Photography 101- Having an iPhone 4 has made me be a picture taking maniac. This podcast is a great way to learn a little bit more about all aspects of photography. There are tons of episodes available that address the simple to the complex. One of the latest podcasts has nothing to do with digital photography but with a really cool technique for polaroid pictures called polaroid SX-70 manipulation. It's very cool. Now if I could just get my hand on a polaroid camera...Photography101 is also available for the iPhone and Android.

• Philosophy Bites and Philosophy The Classics- I put these together, not because they have to be listened to together, nor because they are alike, but because they complement one another. Get into the conversation with Philosophy Bites. Listen to discourse and in depth interviews with awesome philosophers. You get an opportunity to become informed about an array of books that perhaps you have never heard of, plus be exposed to aspects of philosophy you may not get a chance to anywhere else! Philosophy The Classics is just that, The Classics. It is Nigel Warburton reading off his book of the same name. A really great resource to have. iPhone apps are available for both Philosophy Bites and Philosophy The Classics

• iWoodwork- When was the last time that you did anything with your hands? I suppose getting started woodworking may be a bit far fetched, especially if you've never done anything like it, (plus you do need all the tools and everything), but I simply could not pass up the opportunity to share this podcast. Mark Sterner is such a great guy, down to earth, humble, knowledgeable and passionate about what he does. He cares deeply about his work and loves his community. His video podcast is very well done and thought out. He's supported by the Mark Adams School of Woodworking, having them as a sponsor and also helping them with their online woodworking presence. Check out iWoodwork even if you don't woodwork, it'll get your creativity going. If you do woodwork, this is a must for you! iWoodwork is also available as an iPhone app.

• The Barefoot Beekeeper- I'm sure at some point you have heard all about the slow disappearance of bees and the huge impact that they have to our ecosystem. This podcast offers so much information about beekeeping, the bee ecosystem, as well as the world ecosystem. You get an opportunity to listen to interviews with an swarm of experts within and without the beekeeping culture, plus learn tips and tricks about building and keeping your own beehives! The passion for beekeeping also stumbles over onto an iPhone app called Biobees :)

I hope learning a bit about some of these podcasts inspires you to learn something new and subscribe, or at minimum pop on over to iTunes and search for a subject you've been interested about for a long time and haven't ever followed through :) Podcasting is the ultimate choice of taking your education and growth into your own hands, offered to you by those that are truly passionate about what they know.

Learn, grow and expand for 2011!

How about sharing some of your favorite podcasts that helped you learn something new? Share them below!

- Elsie

There's a new WP mobile plugin called WPmob Lite that has come into my radar. I decided to check it out. Here are some of it's features intermingled with some of my initial thoughts:

Good stuff- Customization and Readability

The strength of the plugin comes from it's ability to be customized and the clean and fast loading mobile site that it provides.

• You can customize it by putting your logo and a banner on the mobile site.

• It seems that potentially there may be more mobile themes to choose from. At the moment there is one called Poseidon, which you can also customize.

• You can customize social media icons which are displayed at the bottom of your main blog page.

• You can override your WP landing page to a specific one on the mobile site.

• Custom HTML for Welcome message shown on 1st visit, Custom 404 message, Custom footer content.

• You can choose your first time visitors to land in your full site.

• You have Switch Link and Custom CSS (not elaborating on this 'cause I have no idea what this does.)

• You can customize Prowl push notifications.

• My favorite aspect is that you can choose specific pages where the mobile theme is not used.

• I adore the way you can easily play my episodes with my WP audio player of choice the degradable HTML5 audio and video player. It renders really well.

• Reading the site is clear and easy. The text formatting of the posts looks great, at least from my iPhone.

• The site loads relatively fast. I happen to have tons of pictures in every one of my podcast shownotes, and even then it did a pretty good job.

Not so good stuff- Advertising and Lack of Theme Support

• I'm using Thesis, and it's not compatible with this plugin. All you have to do is uncheck a setting where it says "Include functions.php from the active desktop theme." If you have that checked the mobile site will not work.

• The navigation dropdown shows pages I do not want shown. This is due to the fact that I'm using Thesis. I've customized my navigation bar on my site, but because it can't use Thesis, then the pages that are shown in the mobile version are not ones that I have even displayed on my site anymore.

  I suppose this will require me to go into my WP settings and take care of that manually there.

• Random AdMob adds on site. Big FAIL. As far as I could see within the plugin setting, there was no way to turn off these ads. I don't know how they are even getting on there as I have no advertising on my site.

• Some links on the navigation do not go to where they should go. It's like they get stuck on a prior page/link. This may be a bug.

• It's insane to get the proper sizes for the banner and logo. I'm not a web designer, nor graphic designer. I have very limited knowledge of creating graphics. It took me FOREVER to create a banner and logo that would fit and look relatively ok on the mobile site. I had to do a lot of random tweaking. I found no support for this on the developer's website.

FYI, these are the sizes I ended up using: logo 300 x 50, banner 320 x 200.

• Large pictures and videos look gigantic. They are not scaled for the mobile viewing at all. The only pictures that looked great were all my thumbnail images. Perhaps that is something I have control over either within the plugin or on WP, but I had no idea how to do it.

Bottom Line

The potential for WPmob Lite is great. I do love the customization, but the ease of set-up of this customization for one that is not well versed on web design/graphics is not the easiest.

Reading and listening to my episodes on the mobile site was great, but I don't like the gigantic pictures and videos it renders which makes browsing less than stellar.

Two points helped me make the decision to not to use this plugin: the random Admob advertising and the lack of Thesis support. I don't want the ads and I want the folks visiting my mobile site to have access to the navigation that I have chosen on my main site.

If you are using WPmob Lite I would love your thoughts about the plugin. Are any of you using a different WP mobile plugin that you want to share! I'm still shopping for the perfect one ;)

Leave your thoughts!

-Elsie

WTF is Marc Maron on a streak.  The show is currently the number two ranked podcast in iTunes, nipping at the heels of This American Life.  Ira Glass was a recently a guest on WTF so that seems fitting.  Ten minutes into the show and Ira is swearing.  if you haven't yet heard the show its a rare window into the life behind comedians.  Maron interviews the best talent in the industry, and draws amazing moments out of his guests.  It's the first show that comes to mind now for friends seeking podcasts.  But ignore our clunky bloggin's and head right over to his big New York Times story for the the full scoop.  

Or check out the Rolling Stone roundup of The Ten Funniest People, Video and Things of the Coming Year.

And if you are lucky, you can do what we did, take a road trip to catch his stand up in person.   We are currently enjoying Mama's Falafel in Philadelphia while we wait to catch his show.

You should check out his App for iOS too!

. 

A couple of years ago, I was interviewed for podcast. Of course I linked to it in one of my blog posts as well as my own podcast show notes. About a year or so later I received an email from one of my podcast listeners informing me that a link on my site was going to a porn site!

*Gulp*

I quickly went back to the post she mentioned and realized that the podcast had podfaded. He had let go of the url, and the url was now a porn site! I had linked to that url at least 5 times on my site.

That was when I began to make checking my links of great importance.

Websites, blogs, podcasts, media links come and go. As I initially browsed through my blogroll I realized that almost half of what I was linking to was no longer in existence. This made me have to get really clear about cleaning up my all my links.

Here’s a little check list to help you keep your links all nice and clean :)

• Your Sidebar/Blogroll– Literally go down your sidebar and click onto everything that you have on the entire column. Make sure that you are sending people where you want them to go. Remove or update any dead links.

• Six Months of Links– Go back to your last six months worth of posts and browse through to make sure that links that you used or referred to are actually working and in existence. Update as necessary to keep at minimum your latest post linking efficiently.

• Videos– Videos are removed all the time. Having their code on your site slows down the loading of the post, plus irritates those that want to watch the now defunct video. Save them the hassle by removing the code or take the time to check to see if the video is available from a different video sharing service.

• Image Links– When I first started blogging and podcasting I often linked back to images and graphics on other people’s websites. I had no idea about proper protocol. I'm still finding missing graphics and pictures on my older posts. Take the time to browse through your posts to make sure your images are all properly displaying.

• Links to time sensitive material– Think about all the times that you promoted or shared links to events or event sites/pages that were time sensitive ie. podcamp boston 2008 sessions, macworld podcast meet-up 2007, PNME 2007 schedule, etc. Go back and un-link your references if they lead to a dead page. You can always do a quick-update and either link to a larger website with consistent relevant information, such as the main Podcamp site or write a one sentence update about the event mentioned.

On your site, the areas that have the largest amount of dead links are on your oldest posts. Going back through all your posts, especially if you've been podcasting for a long time is a tedious job. Consider setting aside some time monthly to take care of it yourself, or perhaps invest on a little help from those places like fiverr :)

I hope you have found these tips helpful!

Do you have any good tips, workflow or even plug-ins/software that could make checking dead links on your site easier? Share them! I'm always up for making my life easier :D I'm sure other folks would love to hear about them!

- Elsie Escobar

New to Twitter? Check out this video from Common Craft here.  A really nice simple overview of Twitter.

The Craft blog had a great post before Christmas - "Crafting Your Online Presence: Twitter Tools" - while this post is written with a crafty audience in mind, I think the info here is still very useful to podcasters too.  Diane Gilleland, who produces CraftyPod - a blog and podcast about making things, has put together a great list of tools to help you do more with Twitter.

My favorite from her list is HootSuite and I am excited to check out Twitalyzer.  

What are your favorite Twitter tools? And just a reminder - you can follow Libsyn on Twitter too - http://twitter.com/libsyn

- Lindsay

You've been hearing about it for a while and you're finally up for jumping in. Where do you begin if you want to podcast? Especially if you are not too familiar with what exactly podcasting really is.

In order to offer the best advice I decided to put on my newbie hat and start where I would have, had I no knowledge of the subject: googling “how to podcast.” I believe that I did this exact same thing when I decided I wanted to podcast, although at that time, there weren’t so many results!

I got a headache just skimming through all the information that came up. Holy cow!

I gotta say that if I would have found what I found today, I would have given up. It would take so long to sift through all the sites out there that are simply focusing on keywords, making money on adwords and those that actually have helpful easy to digest information that will in fact help you start podcasting.

So, I decided to make it as simple as possible and give you a place to start and avoid the pain of sifting through all the clutter.

If you are serious about podcasting and want to do it either for your own personal self expression or as a business move, your first step is to listen.

Part of learning anything is aligning yourself with those that are doing it, and doing it well. Podcasting is about giving voice, personal expression and freedom. All of these are nothing if not fueled by passion- passion for your work, your relationship, your hobby, or whatever has meaning to you. What better way to attune yourself to those that can lead the way than to listen to their voices?

The following are specific episodes from podcasts about podcasting whose subject matter will both provide information and inspiration about podcasting. I'll provide download links for each episode as well as the specific podcast website and iTunes podcast page.

After listening to these podcasts I hope that you gather optimal information and support to embark on your journey as a podcaster. Consider downloading the files and making yourself a little podcast starter kit playlist to get you all fired up!

The Art of Podcasting Through Podcaster Voices:

These 3 interviews come directly from the Podcast411 Podcast (direct link to iTunes). SOOO worth your time.

• Leo LaPorte: Leo talks about podcasting, gear, and geeks out remembering the old while creating his current massive domination. He’s very candid and courteous about a lot of information. direct link to episode MP3

• Tiki Bar: It’s so fascinating to see how artists are able to transform mediums. Jeff Macpherson is one of those folks. I dare you to listen to his creative process and work flow and not wanna grab a video camera and go at it :) He shares all about how Apple contacted him regarding featuring Tiki Bar in one of the keynotes, awesome. direct link to episode MP3

• Grammar Girl: So inspiring to see what podcasting can become. Mignon is down to earth and accessible, incredibly talented and organized. It’s such a treat to hear her explain the creation of the Quick and Dirty Tips Network. Hearing her tell the story of how she ended up on Oprah is awesome! direct link to episode MP3

There are so many more interviews to listen to. Subscribe in iTunes or go to podcast411.com

Can You Make A Living Podcasting

• Cliff Ravenscraft: This interview is from the Smart Passive Income Podcast (direct link to iTunes). It has an incredible amount of important and powerful information about podcasting and making money, plus it’s a great introduction to the Podcast Answer Man. After listening to this one, you will be chomping at the bit to get started. Cliff and Pat are both amazing sources of information. direct link to episode MP3

Subscribe to the Podcast Answer Man(direct iTunes link). Cliff has HOURS UPON HOURS of insight and commentary on and about podcasting.

The Smart Passive Income Podcast is not about podcasting but offers a wealth of information about exactly what the title states ;).

Ready To Get Started Podcasting?

There are other podcasting tutorials out there. There are tons of books out there. I found that Alison Sheridan’s series Podcasting on Podcasting (direct iTunes link) gets right to it and does it in the most accessible way that I have come across.

Here are links to the MP3s of the first two episodes of the series (click and the file will automatically download:

• Pick Your Passion
• Hardware Tools- Microphones

There are only 11 succinct and easy to digest episodes. By no means is this the be all and end all of how-to podcast, and some things are a bit outdated, but Allison is such an amazing teacher that you will absolutely have a clear understanding of how to begin and most importantly what questions to ask to get better at it!

Find Podcasting on Podcasting in iTunes.

If you can’t get enough of Allison, you can get much more of her on the Nosillacast Podcast hosted at podfeet.com

Listening to all these episodes will take you about 3 hours, that’s almost no time at all! Especially if you listen in your car, or when you're working out or even playing Cut The Rope ;)

I hope you are inspired and choose to take the plunge into the world of podcasting.

When you are done, why not come on back and share your thoughts? If you are a seasoned podcaster, what podcasts or specific podcast episodes have inspired you?

Share the love!

- Elsie Escobar

The hardest aspect about living a healthier life beyond the first step is sustainability.

Without a doubt at the beginning of the year, there is a vast amount of support from many different places: local news, newspaper articles, special reports, magazine features, digital products, blog posts…I could go on and on. This helps whatever choice you have made stay front of mind, but as the year goes along, holding steady to your resolutions will become pretty darn hard.

Since diet and fitness is not our expertise ;) we offer you a few podcasts that will help you maintain your commitment toward living a healthier lifestyle.

Why podcasts? Because they are intimate, personal, community oriented, accessible and generally produced by folks that are absolutely passionate about what they do. Who wouldn’t want that person in their corner while attempting to take control of their health?

Podcasts offer you an array of points of view that are not only about your own individual fitness and diet choices but show you a well rounded approach toward living a whole healthy life.

1. Sustainable World Radio– As you get healthier you'll want the world around you to be just as healthy. This podcast offers you ways to take your health beyond your own body to the next level.

2. The Living Barefoot Show– Hadn’t heard about running barefoot and it’s plethora of health benefits? This podcast will get you up to speed with insight, philosophy, gear and news regarding the newest fitness/health craze of running and living barefoot!

3. Phedippidations– Running is a passion for so many people. If you are remotely thinking of starting to run in your fitness routine, this show is a must! If you listen consistently and you are not running or have never run, you will. Guaranteed. Bonus: this is one of the longest running and most consistent podcasts ever!

4. Yogamazing– So running is not your thing, how about some yoga. Chaz offers you some easy to digest short video classes to get you started. He has tons of videos with different themes and focuses.

5. Meditation Oasis and Meditation Station– Optimal fitness isn’t just about your physical body, our minds and the key towards true transformation. These podcast offers an array of short meditations and visualizations for different kinds of emotional and physical situations: anger, stress, creativity, rest, etc.

6. Vegetarian Food for Thought Podcast– Obviously food plays a huge part in health and wellness. Even if your choice in diet is not a vegan lifestyle, this podcast gives you ways for to make more informed food choices.

7. Build A Sexy Body– Love the description of this podcast “Honest and powerful information so you can get into the best shape ever.” The information ranges from specific information regarding building a specific body part, tips for gym workouts, cooking and tons fitness related information.

8. The Reasonable Diet’s 6 Minute of Sanity– Information, motivation, tips and more toward firmly embarking and sticking with a more directed weight loss plan. Sandra gives great every day advice and is an awesome diet coach to have in your corner.

9. Elsie’s Yoga Class– Full Disclosure, this is my podcast :) Taking yoga classes in yoga studios is expensive and perhaps for newbies, a bit intimidating. This audio podcast is designed to bring the class experience to you. Classes range from absolute beginners to more advance practitioners with occasional mini video tutorials.

These podcasts are awesome ways to keep you motivated throughout the year! Just download of few episodes of each and when you are feeling less than motivated tap that play button and listen!

BONUS: All the podcasts above have corresponding mobile apps that offer really helpful and in depth extra content for their show as well as greater accessibility!

We hope you have a sustainable healthy and happy entire new year :)

If you have a favorite health, fitness or cooking podcast that is your favorite, why not share it in the comments?

- Elsie

Encountering the voices of incredible people sharing passionately about themselves and what they love, gave me the strength to do it myself :) Thus, I've made it a priority every year to give a little something back to my favorite podcasters.

Last year a had a teeny bit more time on my hands and I was able to send my favorite podcasters a special recording of an immune system meditation that I felt would be helpful, if anything to help folks fall asleep ;) This year since I'm kinda pressed for time, I've chosen my 10 favorite podcasts and am in the process of gifting them with what they love the most!

The Best Way To Support Your Favorite Podcasters

I've decided to do two a day: one in the morning, and one in the evening. My total investment of time, 10 min! If you would like to gift your favorite podcast/podcaster try offering these absolutely free gifts!

• Leave an iTunes review for their podcast or their podcast app– There is some sort of magical algorithm in iTunes that gives podcasts better accessibility when there is action on their podcast page. If you don’t have time to review, simply rate it.
• Say Thank-You– It’s amazing how far a little gratitude goes. Tweet it, FB it, comment on their blog or send an private email. The power of thank you does wonders for the soul :D
• Share the love– Even though those of you reading this may already be in the know of how AWESOME podcasts are, there are still an incredible amount of people that don’t. Let them know about it. I send people to specific podcasts almost daily if you can believe that! You can do it any way that floats your boat: tell someone individually, write a blog post about it, or simply do a little share on a social network. Here’s post I wrote for one of my most favorite podcasters in the world :)

So that’s it.

It’s the season of giving. As a listener give back!

Do you have any other sweet ways you've shown the love for your favorite podcaster? Share it!

BONUS Gift: If they do happen to have a podcast app. Buy it! I bought my first podcast app when I didn’t even have an iPhone ;)

Happy Holidays from libsyn and Wizzard Media!

Thank you all so much for your support and for making 2010 a great year for our team.  We look forward to the new year, and all the exciting possibilities it will bring our industry.  Around this time we see a major surge in traffic due to people looking for content on their new devices.  We think this year will be as strong a year as any for growth and adoption of podcasting.  

Support for our services will continue to be available throughout the Holidays, however from December 23 to January 2 our support team will be working on a reduced schedule.   All priority issues will be addressed first but please allow for longer response times on requests.  This allows our team to spend some much needed quality time with our respective fams.  Rest assured none of us ever stray too far away from the job, someone is always watching the gauges.  As usual any system issues will be posted on the Support Blog.

We hope you all have a safe and happy holiday.  Ring in the new year right.  Onward and upward in 2011!

- Dave C, Dave M and Everyone from the libsyn and Wizzard Team

1.  Promote Your App as an iTunes present - in the iTunes store you have the ability to "gift" apps.  Tell your fans to give the gift that keeps on giving: your app!  It's an inexpensive but thoughtful gift for your iOS loving friends. 

2.  New On Android?  Let the world know!  - If you have recently released an app in the Android marketplace and haven't talked about it on your podcast, you are missing out.  The Android platform is growing like crazy, make sure your audience knows that your app isn't limited to Apple's world any more.  If you'd like to sign up for an Android App for your show, click here.

3.  Put Shares and Stars on your Wish List - You've been a good podcaster, remind your audience that if they like your app, the least they can do is leave a good star rating for you, and tell their friends about your app.  That's two little things that go a long way to help your sales.  And you deserve it!

4.  Clickable Makes it Easy - Make sure you have put a banner, or at the very least a link in an obvious place on your web pages, blog entries, tweets, etc., so it is very easy for your audience to find your app.  

5.  Add Value - Change your app background to a holiday theme, add a blooper real, or a special holiday podcast message from you in your episode extras.  It's a way to reward your app supporters, and entice new customers.  Here's a detailed tutorial on changing your app background.  For episode extra ideas for your iOS or Android app, click here.  

We hope that you find these hints a simple way to take advantage of the rush of opportunities coming your way.  Best wishes to you all, have a fantastic New Year!   

I decided to put this little post together not entirely from a selfless point of view. Full disclosure: I am a podcaster and I would LOVE to get any of these for Christmas :)

Which is why I'm sharing them with you, not only for my own selfish little reasons (perhaps some of my family members might stumble upon this post), but I assume that these little gifts might make another podcaster out there kinda jolly :D

• Audio-Technica ATR 288W Remote Mic: I've been wanting a wireless mic for quite a long time. I heard about this one from a review on The Nosillacast. It seems like a pretty good wireless mic, plus it’s not exorbitantly expensive.
• Content Rules by CC Chapman and Ann Handley: Authentic. Compelling. Remarkable. Interesting. (Gripping, even.) Valuable. That’s the kind of content this book inspires you to create. Now, who wouldn’t want that?
• Dropbox Pro 50 Account: I'd be so stoked to get this! With Dropbox’s functionality and the incredible amount of services currently supporting Dropbox integration, this service would make any content producer jingle their bells! If you don’t know about Dropbox already, you should check it out. They have a pretty awesome free plan.
• Gorillamobile: This little tripod can come in handy when you are suddenly inspired to create a video podcast! Your mobile phone will be well supported and you can attach this puppy to almost anything :)
• Fitness Ball: Leo Laporte uses one of these, so why wouldn’t you ;) All kidding aside, this is one of the best ways to keep your back and abs relatively strong throughout your day seated in front of your computer. This ball is not the cure for a flabby belly, but it can provide basic support and engagement for your core muscles so that you can continue to produce to your heart’s desire

I hope that you enjoyed browsing through these!

Here’s to hoping Santa brings you all that you desire and much more! May your families and loved ones be healthy and happy, and may you continue to enjoy producing work that keeps you happy and inspires those around you!

Happy Holidays!

Elsie

Haven't been to Best Buy's stores in a good while.  I was there the other day to pick up the Michael Jackson Experience and wow have they changed the floor plan.  It's obvious, like Apple, they hire the best of the best to analyze and improve upon the layout and people flow of their monster stores.  Here are my take aways.    

- Gone are the cattle herding checkout lanes, once lined with shiny impulse buy items like batteries, candy, water, red bull and discounted video games.  Well they are not completely gone, but toned down to a civilized level.  I feel less like a cud chewer.

-  The new floor plan has that free-flowing rapture of the deep thing popularized in department stores, where you keep losing track of which way is up.  This intentional disorientation leads to those As the world falls Down feelings... You know what I mean Labyrinth fans.  

- Motion Control systems like the Xbox Kinect and Playstation Move both have big faux living room demo setups, but they are relegated to one of the far back walls.  This seems less than ideal for customer impact.  Perhaps Best Buy believes these will sell themselves based on consumer anticipation,  but it still seems odd when the Kinect is topping so many of the analyst's Christmas top seller lists.  Video Games aren't quite getting the VIP treatment this year it seems.  Although Wii pack-in systems were placed in a strange island near the entrance of the store almost acting as a visual barrier to make the reveal of the new store layout more grandiose.  

- Three new islands dramatically angled against the store walls yet parallel to each other are prominently featured in the center of the store.  These are the main attractions.  

- The first island is iPhone 4 dominated along with other Android devices 

- The second island is mostly Samsung Galaxy Tabs (all running Angry Birds) and a couple Google TV powered Sony Flatscreens 

- The Third island is not quite as focused, with some other Android tablets, and e readers.   

No iPads were found on these islands, however in very close proximity to the Tablet/Google TV island was an iPad kiosk. 

So what's this have to do with you guys, the Podcasters, the New Media Movers and Shakers?  Best Buy is betting that a big ol' consumer shift thing is reaching its tipping point this season and they are all in to make the most of it.  Best Buy is in the business of entertainment goods and services.  To them the new era of entertainment is all about the phones that barely get used as a phones, the tablet as the next big computer form factor,  and TVs that stream content from the internet.  Best Buy's CEO is conservative in his statements publicly, but I think the actions are speaking loudly here.  This is a mean product threesome that all get their power of attraction thanks to the wealth of content on the internet.  This puts podcasters dead center in the eye of the storm.  

...Also, they seem to be leaning on Angry Birds to move units and QR Codes on the walls for geek cred...

But it seems like we've got ourselves a sea change a happenin', at least at Best Buy in Pittsburgh.  So Surf's Up Podcasters!.

Telling your story can be a powerful way to engage your audience - wether it be a campaign, business or podcast.  In fact, this blog is way for us to share the Libsyn story - our story, podcasting news and news about our customers too.  Last month, Dave Chekan wrote a great post about how Libsyn was founded which you can read here.  

What is the story behind your podcast?  Do you have an about page for your show?  Share your story below or a link to your about page.

Looking for some help in writing your story - check out some of these blogs post:

• How to Craft a Marketing Story that People Embrace and Share (Copyblogger)
• Storytelling for Business (Chris Brogan)
• The Most Important Element of Your Marketing Story (Copyblogger)

Here is a super easy way to spread the word about your app - Using the same technology that Wizzard uses for major brand advertisers like Coca-Cola, you can run a campaign for your app in your entire catalog of shows!

With our ad stitching system we can attach a very short producer read promo in the pre-roll position of your content for a time frame decided by you. 

TWO Steps to Start Your Advertising Campaign:

1.  RECORD Your Ad for Your App

• Keep it short and sweet - 10 seconds max.  See the sample ads below. 
• Record your ad in the same format that you use to record your show.
• If you produce video you can use your show artwork as a plate (visual still).

***FYI if you happen to record your ad in GarageBand, please make sure to remove the 5 sec of dead air! 

2. SEND US Your Ad

• Email your ad to Paul.Bruns@wizzard.tv and we will take it from there!

Sample Ads

Spot 1 Individual iPhone App - "For exclusive content, extras and more get the App today in the iTunes App Store."

Spot 2  Individual iPhone App & Google Android App- "For exclusive content, extras and more get the App in the iTunes App Store or Android Google Market."

Spot 3 Individual iPhone, Google Android App and Amazon Android App- "For exclusive content, extras and more get the App today in the iTunes App Store, the Google Android Market and the Amazon Android Market"

Spot 4 Podcast Box and Android- "For exclusive content, extras and more get the App today in the Adroid Marketplace or the Podcast Box available in the iTunes App Store."

A ten second spot is an awesome way to remind your audience about your app. Having this ad in your voice maintains and cultivates engagement with your audience. Who best to sell your app than you? 

Check out these fantastic ads produced by podcasters promoting their own app for inspiration! Click and listen :) 

Brain Burps About Books Ad

GamerTag Radio Ad

Craftlit Ad

Looking for an Android App or iOS App of your own? 

The Android version of the Podcast Companion App is now available as well as the iOS Podcast Box app! Check out the tour of both apps HERE 

To get your Android or iOS Podcast Box app submitted you just need a $20+/mo libsyn account.

You can easily upgrade to this level or if you are a new producer simply sign up for a new account HERE.

Once that is done click on the APPS button when you log-in to your account and provide and submit the information needed to build your app. If you have questions you can email appops@wizzard.tv. We'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for checking out the blog - please let us know what you would like to see more of here on the blog. Just leave a comment below.

-Lindsay

Just for the record Cop Out was one of my favorite Smith movies this decade.  

Also Joe Mansueto, we have to be related.  I was pleased to learn that our last name means "Tame" rather than "Lame".  

Dave M

We also integrated AdMob into the platform which opens up all sorts of possibilities for our producers.   Check out the full release here.  Now go eat turkey!

Looking for some ideas to offer some freakin’ awesome bonus content to your audience through your new iPhone App? We decided to compile a list to help inspire you. A lot of the following list is absolutely inspired by your fellow podcast app producers.

We’ve grouped them to help you locate ideas for your particular show! Check it out :)

GENERAL

1. Downloadable Wallpaper

•  The Best of The Left recently offered great Voting is Sexy downloadable wallpaper for their Big Elections Show.

2. PDF of your show notes or transcripts of episodes.

•  The Brain Science Podcast provides an awesome transcription of their show.

3. Coupon codes for products/services/software.

4. Contests/giveaways for app owners.

5. Audio extras (extended episodes/classes/messages)

•  Extended uncut episodes

•  Specific messages directed at your app audience, essentially mini episodes.
  •  The Paranormal Podcast offers these type of mini episodes.
• Legally shareable MP3s (please refer to our copyright post for guidelines)

6. Listener submitted extra content

•  A review of a product for your show

•  Artwork created specifically for your show.
  •  The Today in iOS podcast features listener created podcast artwork in every episode.
• Voice feedback from your listeners.
  •  Filmspotting plays some of their listeners feedback, plus an array of other bonus content ranging from five to ten minutes.
•  Pictures that listeners have taken promoting your podcast, wearing your swag, or listening to your content.

EDUCATION

7. Supplementary mini tutorials

•  The uLearn Chinese Podcast offers up mini supporting videos or key element documentation for some of their classes.

8. Extra Classes

9. Essential Reading lists

10. Short Quizzes

11. Answers to Quizzes

ENTERTAINMENT

12. Bloopers/outtakes/extra stuff

•  The Sarcastic Gamer Podcast adds diverse audio extras sprinkled throughout their episodes

13. Extra movie/tv/book reviews (video, audio or PDF)

GAMING

14. In depth reviews or additional footage.

15. Game specific tips and hints.

16. Game or consul unboxing (video or pictures)

HEALTH AND FITNESS

17. App Specific On the Go Classes/Workouts

18. Mini Video Fitness Tips

19. Healthful Recipe Card

20. List of Healthiest choices for eating out

21. 5 Minute audio stress relief

22. Inspirational quote(s)

23. Mini guided audio or PDF meditation

BUSINESS

24. App specific eBooks

25. App specific coupons for your products

26. Extended interviews

27. Productivity tools reviews

RELIGIOUS

28. Scripture readings

29. Prayers

30. Inspirational wallpaper

31. Spiritual images (there are so many public domain images, a simple google search will give you a handful)

TECHNOLOGY

32. In depth product reviews or magazines (PDF)

•  The Microbeworld Radio Podcast gives away their 50 page Microbeworld Magazine as their show bonus content.

33. Mini video software/hardware reviews

34. Sponsor coupon codes

35. Your Analysis

HOLIDAY AND SEASONAL EXTRAS

You can develop a wealth of bonus content simply by focusing on upcoming holidays or seasons. Obviously with the end of the year coming up you can offer so much to entertain, inspire, and inform your audience depending on the type of podcast that you have. You can create content aimed solely to entertain such as creating funny holiday videos or silly top ten lists, or you can prepare your audience for upcoming seasonal transitions, such as a checklist for preparing your 2011 tax appointment.

USE YOUR GUESTS TO INSPIRE EXTRA CONTENT

37. Say you have a guest on your show, why not publish their bio? Or even ask them one or two extra questions after you’re done with the interview and publish that as your bonus MP3 content.

COLLABORATE WITH OTHER PRODUCERS

38. Develop relationships with other content producers in your field and ask them to donate a little something as your app bonus content. It could be as easy as publishing one of their blog posts or videos on the app. It’s a win/win for everybody.

NICHE TOP 10 LISTS!

39. Share with your audience the things you have spent time learning in lists that are quick and easy to reference.

•  Top ten yoga must haves for the stay at home Mom.

•  Top ten best movies for the family this holiday season.

•  Top ten ways to educate yourself for the upcoming elections.

•  Top ten iphone app for the iphone newbie.

•  Top ten must have gadgets from CES 2011.

•  Top ten religious books to help connect you back to God.

•  Top ten albums to get your girlfriend for Valentine’s Day.

•  Top ten must listen episodes of the (insertyourshownamehere) podcast.

Don’t Forget! Let your audience know about your bonus content

Don't let your audience miss out on the great work that you do! Make sure that you tell your audience about it in your podcast, show notes or blog posts. A simple "App users check out the coupon in the extras for this week's episode," will do the trick. If you don't there's a chance your work will go unnoticed. That would not be cool.

We hope this was helpful to you! If you are struggling with the time involved in creating this extra content read our case study by a fellow producer who not only found the time but also value in producing some extra content.

For more information on how to add any of the extras above read this blog post that goes through it in more detail.

If you have any totally creative ideas, send leave them in the comments! We’d love to hear what you come up with to enhance the value of your app ☺  - Elsie

The Android version of Wizzard’s podcast Apps are compatible with all devices running Android OS 1.6 or higher, including popular phones from Sony, Samsung, Motorola, T-Mobile, LG, HTC and Dell. See a brief video demonstration of the new podcast App here. According to stats from Google, Gartner and Canalys - there are now over 50 million activated Android phones up from just 8.5 million at the end of 2009 - growing at a pace of over 200,000 new activations each day.

Here is a snappy little video where you can see the Libsyn Android App in action.

Liberated Syndication turned 6 today.  It's sometimes immature for it's age- throwing tantrums from time to time, getting in fights, and driving its parents crazy.  We've given up a lot of our lives to nurture our baby and watch it grow. Today we tip our glasses and celebrate the company that we have built and thank all those who let us wake up every day and make a living at keeping it going.

We haven't taken a minute to reflect on the events leading up to libsyn in a while.  2005 was the last post about it http://soundoff.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=31160.  The story of how it all started has been told time and time again (at least in my head to the faux reporters that have asked me) but since it has been years and many of you who are reading this may not have heard them, I'll spin the yarn one more time.

It was a warm Columbus Day (Thanksgiving to our friends up north) in 2004 when i was driving back to Baltimore, MD that I got a call from an old friend near and dear to me.  Dave Mansueto and I met in college at the University of Pittsburgh.  We helped each other out on our mutual vision quests over the years we spent together in Pittsburgh, but I had moved to MD in 2001 and we hadn't spoken for a while.  In typical fashion Dave was anxious and excited to tell me about a new thing going on involving radio and the internet and a whole movement we were missing out on.  He wanted to do it and needed help figuring out all the technical pieces to get it done.

We had started Emayhem together around 1998 or so.  It was an art collective / publishing platform created for Pittsburgh artists and musicians to share their work online.  It was myspace w/o the friends -about 5 years before myspace.  Emayhem was the thing that got me bad grades and introduced me to some of my lifelong friends and future business partners.  At the time it seemed like the thing you just did in college- which now sounds like a cliche. Anyways, experimenting with emayhem.com in 1998 eventually led myself along with my roomate and co-computer engineers Matt Hoopes and Paul Vitiello, to team up with a guy a met through emayhem Marty Mulligan to start a web design firm in 2000.  We called it webmayhem.  

Over summer break that year we leased our first web server, incorporated the company, and purchased a laptop with the proceeds from my collection of Transformers which I sold on Ebay.  We were on our way.  We failed to notice the bumble or the burst as we were chugging along doing small websites for small businesses while we finished up college.   By 2003 the burden of operating as a C-Corporation in the state of PA while Matt, Paul, and I lived in Maryland and Marty in NY became too much.  We had all kind of went our own ways with full-time jobs and doing the occasional web design job here and there to keep paying for the web server we were leasing wasn't making enough to keep the webmayhem dream alive.  In the late summer of 2004 the 4 friends and founder of webmayhem met in my apartment one last time to dissolve the corporation.  I would remain the sole share holder through the rest of the fiscal year and then in 2005 make the decision of what to do next with our remaining customers (who I failed to bill regularly) and our leased web server.  I remember using a little bit of the petty cash we had to go the grocery store and buy wine and some steaks.  Marty cooked up a dinner which to this day I still recall as one of the top 5 meals I've ever eaten.   We all shook hands after dinner and everyone went home.

Emayhem.com was still up and running through all of this and going strong. My old friend Dave was living in Pittsburgh doing all forms of theatre and performance.  He had a talk show which we filmed every week live from a bar and aired on public access.  He is the kind of guy you can't walk down the street with if you are in a hurry because everyone stops him to say what's up, or ask him to guest MC their event, or hook something up.  He is also a self-taught engineer who read everything he could get his hands on regarding computers, audio recording, video editing and encoding.  Dave became obsessed with getting his talk show online- in some form or another- and was constantly building onto his collection of antiquated Apple computers to get the job done.  I didn't know it at the time, but he was at the time /the/ archetypical podcaster.

Right around the time we were closing the books on webmayhem inc, we started to notice that our server bill was including this line item called bandwidth.  For the 4 years leading up to this we had never seen any charges for this and upon further inspection of our contract and digging around the account portal we discovered there was a cap on the amount of information that could be transferred between our web server and the people accessing it on the internet.  It was an outrageously high level (we thought at the time) and the fact that we were starting to go over it, now, as we were winding things down seemed outrageous.  With some help from our ISP we discovered these things called web logs and started to look at what files were being accessed.  Low and behold, the media files which users of emayhem.com had uploaded where kinda large and when they got downloaded it started to cost us money.  This sucks. Just as our site and our friends are starting to get popular, we're going to go broke and will have to shut emahyem.com down.

So back to the columbus day drive.  Dave was poised to start the Emayhem Radio Podcast and was asking me to help get him up and running. When I got home, I installed the blog engine bloxum and helped create my first ever RSS feed. I told him we could use the webmayhem webserver for a little while, but it was going to be shut down soon and was costing me too much money.  Come 2 weeks later we would be on the phone every night talking about what else we could add to the feed, a new website just for the podcast, and that we should renegotiate the server lease for another year and get a better rate on bandwidth.  I didn't see it at the time, but I was finally becoming business partners with Dave.  Emayhem was never incorporated and we never wrote for those grants we had talked about or became a non-profit.  The business model there was never clear, but as the month of October, 2004 came to a close we were rapidly seeing a need for a hosting service catering specifically to this podcasting thing.

I started to think up names for this venture.  To me, nothing can start if it doesn't have a name- and a name needs to have a meaning.  "Desktop publishing" had been around for a decade and I had been using the Internet since around 1992.  Blogging was pretty mainstream by now and Winer had penned Really Simple Syndication years ago.  The new twist, though, was this concept that the feed was now "carrying" media and anyone could syndicate a show- not just a written story.  A major hurdle, though, was that unless you were part of a university or had access to large servers that you could host relatively large files for free- it was still cost prohibitive to really do it.  This is when we first learned about these things call Content Delivery Networks.  CDNs, as they were, were networks of servers which distributed the demand for files by keeping multiple copies of the same file across all the servers.  This was like putting a bunch of batteries together to make a big spark.  Even if you had cheap no name batteries, wire enough together and you can jump start a career.   It was Dave's idea (the theatre student who rewired guitar amps for fun and would school my EE and CS friends on how micro-processors worked) to try and lease some cheaper servers and lace them together- instead of 1 larger, more expensive one.  Pulling this off would allow us to make the service be really cheap and liberate everyone from the cost prohibitive nature of self publishing.  Liberated Syndication was a really cool sounding name to me, and late one night I found libsyn.org and .com hadn't been taken yet, so I registered them.

The spark was there, but the fire didn't' start for a few more weeks.  I had been doing the leg work of keeping the Emayhem Radio Podcast's RSS feed up to date while working with Dave on ideas for libsyn here and there, but I had a demanding full-time job and a few other projects spinning around my head.  I had just celebrated my 1 year wedding anniversary and was finishing up a guerilla filmmaking feature.  Starting a hosting company just didn't seem that important at the time.

I definitely wouldn't say I was really following politics at the time.  Living so close to DC it's hard to avoid, but I hadn't seen the 2004 DNC speech Senator Obama had given (a video which later would end up being hosted by libsyn).  I vaguely remember John Kerry's campaign and everything leading up to November 2004.  But I do remember a lot of my friends being very worked up about everything.  Like many of my generation, come election day I didn't vote.  That evening, after all the smoke had cleared a sinking feeling set in, and a shameful embarrassment which felt like I had let everyone down over took me.  I remember an email thread between Dave and some mutual friends who were involved with the podcast.  Everyone was depressed.

The next day didn't feel the same.  It felt like a sobering moment of clarity (which was a strange feeling for a straightedge kid) and a sense of regret and resentment started to grow.  Over lunch I checked my email and Dave sent me a link to a post on the Guerilla News Network.  The Day After … Tomorrow so eloquently summed up everything I was feeling.  And most of all it ended with a call to action:

Never before has the security of our world been so reliant on the freedom of independent, investigative voices to unite the people against those who have nakedly seized the mechanism of American democracy. As the world’s dominant superpower, we have the enhanced responsibility of ®evolutionizing our media system because it is not only framing the debate at home, it is also doing it globally, and for good reason. The economic and political elites in America know that their survival depends on the rapid absorption of the propagandist media by the nations they seek to dominate and exploit. Fortunately, we have a new generation of independent journalists and citizen muckrakers who will use the unharnessed power of communications technology to fight and win this information war.

What are you waiting for?  

There isn't really anything more that I need to say after that.  That night it was clear that liberated syndication needed to be born and for the last 6 years we have put the majority of our efforts and focus into answering the call and doing what we can to level the playing field for a democratized media.

How we got from there to here is another long story, and maybe I'll document all the ups and downs for the future web startups someday.  For now, I'm going to drink a beer and smile about the good times (retaining a straightedge lifestyle through a web startup, reverse-triangulated merger, and becoming a public company is futile).

Here's to you, libsyn.

Love, 

Dave c. 

Anything Ghost Show - bringing you ghost stories from around the world

Undead Air - this is the official podcast of the Omaha Chapter of the Zombie Research Society

Happy Halloween!

Podcasting 101 with Michael Sorg and Hutch Bailie

Michael Sorg produces the Wrestling Mayhem Show and Hutch Bailie is the guy behind Burghseyeview.  Both shows are hosted a Libsyn and have apps too.

Podcasting 201 with Michael Sorg and Douglas Derda

For the 201 session Michael is joined by Douglas Derda from Should I Drink That - Doug has been podcasting about beer since we met at the first Podcamp Pittsburgh back in 2006. 

Check out this post from the Hubspot blog - The State of Podcasting - which offers a nice round up of some of the talk about podcasting at the 2010 BlogWorld Expo.  Here at Libsyn we see tons of great podcasts every day and we love that we get to work with so many producers who are putting their hobbies, businesses and passions into a podcast.  So we are always happy to see more people talking about podcasting.

The Hubspot post also highlights one of the challenges of podcasting -

Webster asserted that one of the main problems contributing to podcasting's lack of growth is that of convenience. Because people have the option of listening to or viewing podcast content any time they want, they will often push off consuming that content until never. This means that great podcasts need to be topical and timely to help create urgency.  

In the most recent Edison survey on podcasting, the report found that age groups listening to podcasts have been redistributed to an older demographic compared to the previous year's findings. Sixty-four percent of 12 to 24 year olds don’t subscribe to podcasts. Instead, they consume content on demand, meaning they access computer-based players and listen to podcasts individually without subscribing.

This may seem like a problem, but its really an opportunity.  

At libsyn we have been working hard to build the technological bridges to audience.  libsyn3 at its core is about the new destinations for your content.  Podcasting News, a site all podcasters should bookmark, recently covered the Say media study which examines the one out of three people in the US that have dumped live TV for the internet.   These people are put into two groups: On Demanders and Opt Outs.  

On Demanders are the trailblazers that have been moving away  or severing ties from conventional media.

Opt Outs are the ones to watch.  They are the generation that do not watch live TV.  They are across the threshold, and we think they will be the ones setting the trends and driving the media culture forward from here on in.  

We are close to finishing the transition to the libsyn3 platform.  We are just as excited about the upcoming platform as we were when we launched the first all-in-one podcasting platform in 2004 (you can read about how we got started here).  We appreciate all of you that have stuck it out with us.  We are lucky to have your business, and we intend make it worth your while.  The wheels are in motion and the audience is growing faster than ever.  

If you are new to podcasting - welcome to Libsyn - you have come to the right place! We are the original podcast service and we have everything you need to start, promote and manage your podcast.

This is why your podcast artwork is incredibly important.

You may already have decided what you want your artwork to look like. You may have no idea what your artwork should look like. Following will be a few guidelines and important information to both facilitate your decision making process as well as refine your choices.

You don’t have to have cover art, but you are certainly loosing tons of benefits by not having it or not caring about it. Here’s what Apple has to say on their site: 

"Attractive and interesting cover art attracts new subscribers to your podcast. Podcasts must have good cover art to be featured on the Podcast main page or the Store main page. Most good podcast images include an image as well as a title, brand, or source name. A 300x300-pixel JPG is the recommended size and format. Using this relatively large format, the iTunes Store automatically generates the various smaller images you see in the podcast directory. Before you settle on the art for your podcast, you may want to review the Top Podcasts page and note the various elements that contribute to compelling art."

If you decide that you want to avoid iTunes all together, you may still want to spend time developing your artwork as a way to inform your listeners of what your podcast is about. The top question potential listeners are looking to answer when they  bump into your content is what is this about and is this for them? The easier you make it for your potential superfans to decide to subscribe to your content based upon your artwork, about page and Web site in general, the less work you will have to do all around to get your show out there.

Get them to hit the play button and engage!

While in your development process, no matter how tempted you are to include well-known brands or actors and actresses in your artwork it is a good idea to steer clear of this.

Monetizing a podcast with copyrighted artwork or selling products with someone else's work on them is illegal. It is so important to adhere to this as it could save you a lot of trouble down the road.

If you have further questions about ethics and design AIGA has published a very informative document which goes into great detail about this matter:  AIGA Design Business and Ethics 

Not only is the look of your artwork significant, but also the size and resolution. Podcasters in general recognize the importance of their artwork, but often times forget to optimize the size and resolution.

• iTunes Podcast- 1400x1400 at 300 dpi
• iPhone Display - 160 dpi
• iPhone App Image requirement - 512x512 pixels at 160 dpi 
• iPad Display - 132 dpi

You can see from these numbers, how much they change from device to device. Make sure that the initial artwork that you create is capable of being sized down, which means, making all your images large (1400x1400 at 300 dpi). It can always be scaled down.

You won’t waste your time having an image that large, in fact it may save you a lot of time in the future, specifically if you decide you would like to offer some shwag for your show: t-shirts, mugs, caps, etc. When it comes to images for print, bigger is definitely better. At minimum to get something printed you would need an image at 200 dpi, optimally 300 dpi (currently the safe bet print standard). Web standard is 72 dpi, although on most devices, especially those with massively powerful screens, that dpi looks fuzzy. 

The original editable file. (You may not have the programs to open this file if you don’t have Photoshop or illustrator but if you have a graphic designer make changes down the road you will have this to send to them.)

Podcast Artwork Design Help

Here’s a list of some web resources to both hire a designer and create your own artwork. As with anything: do your research, ask questions and make informed decisions. We are not particularly endorsing any of these services, we are offering you choices so that you can begin or refine your journey. 

• http://logoloft.com/pricing.html?gclid=CPWJjZiSl6QCFeI55wodLloCJw
• http://www.elance.com
• http://www.logoworks.com
• http://www.logomaker.com
• http://www.logocare.com/?google-logocaregeneric
• http://www.logoyes.com/logocreator.php
• http://99designs.com/
• http://www.aviary.com/

Here’s hoping this was helpful!

Please let us know if you have any other questions regarding this topic. If we don’t know, we’ll certainly go out of our way to get you an answer!

- Sarah, Elsie & Chuck from App Ops

Podcasts are a great way to educate and engage your existing customers in your brand.  And podcasts can be a great tool for getting more info about your products and services to potential customers.  Sharing knowledge about your products and industry can be a great way to establish your brand as an industry leader.

Check out the entire Practical Ecommerce review here.

We would love to hear more feedback on how we can make the Libsyn platform more useful for other ecommerce users too.

Also check out our App hosting plans - if you have a podcast for your brand you can easily create an iPhone/iPod app for your brand with a Libsyn App hosting plan.

Dynamic Show Level Attributes - things you can change in the Libsyn dashboard

The following Show Level attributes can changed simply by going into the "Destinations" Section of libsyn3 and clicking on the "Podcast Companion App" in the sidebar.

• Applicaton Background (the image seen in the app user interface)
• Show Wallpaper  (promotional image users can save to their device)
• Show PDF (A PDF to accompany potentially acting as a virtual "booklet")
• Show Bonus Content (audio or video file representing the show i.e. Trailer, Overview, Promo, Etc)
• Contact Info
  • Email Address
  • Website
  • Phone Number
  • Twitter Account
  • Facebook Fan Page Account

Dynamic Episode Level Attributes - these can also be changed in the Libsyn dashboard

These attributes can be changed dynamically whether publishing a new episode or editing older episodes.  These are modified within the "Publish" Section of libsyn3.

• Episode Background (the image on the detail page of a specific episode) 
  
  • Check out Adding Episode Backgrounds and for examples of design see Background Design Tips.
• Episode Wallpaper (images specific to an episode i.e. holiday themed promotional images)
• Episode PDF (A PDF virtual "booklet" specific to an episode)
• Episode Bonus Content (extra audio of video specific to an episode i.e. bloopers, extended interviews, etc)
• Episode Links -  For further instructions on using Links see How To Add Episode Links to your Podcast App.

App Attributes that Require Support

There are also some things that require intervention by libsyn support to alter.  This is because these items are "baked" into the app and require that the app team submit the changes to Apple.  

• App Icon (the image for the App that appears on the users iOS device
• Splash Screen (This is the first image that the user sees when the app is launching)
• iTunes Description (The description of your App that is used in the iTunes Store)

Note: To change any of these three items the user must put in a request with libsyn support.  

We hope this clarifies how to best keep your App in sync with your show.  We think its an important part of keeping your App users engaged and loyal.  

Lindsay Patross

On Sunday at 1pm we will be hosting a session about monetization and podcasts - but lots of the info will be of interest to bloggers and content producers too.

Surefire Ways To Kill Your Ability To Monetize Your Podcast

Sunday, September 19, 2010 1-2pm 
@ The Art Institute of Pittsburgh

We will discuss various podcast pitfalls to watch for that can ruin your chances for making money with your podcast. This session will be geared to all levels of podcasting - from beginners to experts. While we will focus on podcast - this information is valuable to bloggers and other content producer too.

Facebook Event Here - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118963198159188

For more info on PodCamp Pittsburgh check out - http://podcamppittsburgh.com/ 

Okay, now how bout you guys?  Do you have luddite friends, parents, or social circles that tip you off to the latest zeitgeists, memes, trends, happenings etc?  If you are reading this I assume you have to :)

- Dave M

For Podcasters, we think the one to watch for audience growth may be the Apple TV.  Long referred to as Apple's "Hobby" by Steve Jobs, that label was continued today as Steve's final reveal of the Apple TV was jokingly renamed "One More Thing Hobby".  The new Apple TV is a fourth of the size of the original and is aggressively priced at $99 dollars.  That is impulse territory.  Integration between iOS devices and the Apple TV has grown even tighter via what is now called "Airplay" allowing for content to be beamed from the iPad and iPhone to the Apple TV over wifi.  That may just be the sleeper hit for the device, bridging the divide between the personal and communal screens in a seamless manner.  $.99 TV episode rentals and Netflix integration are aimed at attracting a bigger user base for the device and we are happy to see podcasts get top billing along with Youtube and Flickr as seen in the Internet section of the interface below.  

Like the Google TV, the new Apple TV and its iOS siblings will only help to propel Podcasting further and further into mainstream usage.  

Good Day :)

-Dave M

How can I make money doing this?

This post is not about monetizing your podcast. There are a gazillion ways and tons of folks that are willing to walk you through a myriad of models. The aim of this post is to provide you with a little simple checklist in order to save you some heartache IF you decide you do want to monetize your content from the beginning, even if that's not your initial intention.

4 Ways To Impede Monetization Of Your Podcast

• 1. Use trademark images for your podcast artwork

• 2. Use trademarked words in the title or subtitle of your podcast

• 3. Use copyrighted music as your theme music, intro or outro music within your podcast.

• 4. Read, sing or perform full or parts of copyrighted works.

(NOTE) Generally speaking if you have been given specific permission by owners of copyrighted material for your podcast you will be unable make money off of those podcast episodes. You would have to strip that material from all the media that contains this content if you want to monetize your work.

Podcast Content That Hinders Monetization:

• Images or graphics of realistic violence

• Sexual content or nudity, particularly in podcast artwork

• High levels of profanity

• Alcohol, tobacco, or drug use, particularly in podcast artwork

The beauty and power of podcasting is that you can say, do and create any kind of content that you desire. If you want to create an awesome podcast replete with sexual content, with lots of profanity and tons of illegal substance use, then go for it! Just know that your ability to find ways to monetize your podcast will be more limited, although not impossible. You just have to work a little harder to find the best match in terms of sponsors and joint ventures.

The whole copyright/trademark world, particularly for new media content is a bit complicated. The information seems to continually deepen and shift. It's up to content creators to choose to educate themselves and stay up to date on all this information.

Tools and resources that are necessary to have in your podcaster tool belt:

Websites and Documents

• Podcasting the Legal Guide-Rules for a Revolution

• Podcasting The Legal Guide 

• Creative Commons

• Research Copyright

• How To Research Copyright Material 

• Electronic Frontier Foundation- the leading civil liberties group defending your rights in the digital world.

• What's the difference between copyright and trademark? (WikiAnswers)

Copyright/Trademark Podcasts

• Rules for a Revolution

• Plagiarism Today

• Trademark and Copyright Law Forum

Some of those podcast have podfaded but the information is still very good.

Bottom line:

If you have content in your podcast that causes you to wonder if you might infringe copyright or trademark laws, don't put it in! You'll save yourself a lot of hassle :)

Have you had issues with copyright material and have knowledge to share or have other resources that you'd like to let us know about? Leave a comment!

I'm sure as podcasters, we could all benefit from as much knowledge as we can.

PS.

If you are ready and optimized to monetize your podcast and take it to the next level we have podcast apps to extend your reach and monetization capabilities of your content and advertising programs available!

-Elsie Escobar

It looks like podcasts are going to be a big part of the new Google TV platform.  According to NewTeeVee:

"Google TV will include a podcast directory, giving users the ability to subscribe to shows and have future episodes show up in the same list as their DVR recordings."

Anytime podcasts are getting top billing on a new platform we're happy.  Like you producers, we are always looking out for new opportunities that expand the reach of the podcasting platform.  

In a fun post last week by Erich Schwartzel the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette highlighted libsyn's parent company, Wizzard, for using intentional misspelling as a method for brand distinction.

"In Pittsburgh alone, the evidence is there in Wizzard Software's extra "Z," reCAPTCHA's runaway Caps Lock, Fooala's love of vowels."

The article mentions Wizzard along with other Pittsburgh local and national heavy hitter internet spelling/grammar offenders like eBay and Yahoo!.  The challenge of course is for these companies to elevate brand awareness above and beyond the bumps that come with stepping outside of the norm.

Can't help but think, libsyn dodged a bullet there. 

"LibSyn" sometimes, "libsyn" other times, the shorty name and url for "liberated syndication" has brought us interesting luck over the years.  The name penned by Dave Chekan was meant to convey the grandiose power behind the new media revolution while also catching the wind of web 2.0 catchy company names.  From this point in the company's history we feel like it was a fitting choice.

But while sometimes bullheaded, we aren't totally obtuse; we know its tough to spell.  Even in our internal company emails and you'll see many wild variations of the name.  That is also why we also registered libsin.com.... whoops, who let that one lapse?  Oh Well.

One of my favorite stories touched on in the article involves when in direct reaction to the overuse of "e" in things like "eMail, eMarketing, eCommerce, etc. brands names appeared sans "e".  Flickr, Tumblr. and even Twittr, which obviously added the "e" back later, are perfect examples of this.  I know this is probably old news for most of you, but I think its this kind of playfulness that illustrates a deeper collective thoughtfulness rather than somethin akin to the "devolution" of modern language. 

Early on when we were looking to raise some money to grow the business the general consensus was that we had to move out of Pittsburgh, and we had to change the name.  Having a lucky lunch at Sammy's Corned Beef with an industry mogul that was stumped as to why we'd chosen the name:  "liberated syndication", I said, "It's a grand ol' pitch of both new and old coming together", thusly the libsyn/liberated syndication dichotomy. 

We are not the only ones in the podcasting space with creative names, i'm thinking of podrac and blubrry of course.  Plus, I think its a pretty well established trend in experimenting with language and image that is definitely not exlcusive to the internet world: Just ask Prince.

As always we love the shout outs from our friends at The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the article by Erich got us thinking and reminiscing.  We are happy to still be in Pittsburgh and living under the same banner since 2004.  libsyn is a name that many of you have chosen to be associated with and for that we are eternally grateful. 

-DaveM

• The design should be simple so that the white text of the app can be clearly read.
• When designing your background be conscious that the play button will obscure the center of your image.

Some Background Image Examples

Unlike the default background of your app which is set in the Destinations section, the Episode background is set right when you publish a new episode.  This image will appear only when your audience is looking at the detail page for that specific episode.  

So what's nice is your when you go from the episode list to that specific episode, you get a nice background fade in transition.  In this case it's beachy.

You can use the background to alert your audience that extras are available or just have fun setting the mood for your episode.

We are so excited to be working with Cali and GeekBeat.TV!  Get the Cali Lewis App at http://calilewis.me/caliapp

For each episode you have the ability to offer links to related websites in the episode extras section. This is a great ways to share a link that you have reference in the episode or other links that might be helpful for your audience.
 

 Add Episode Links in the Episode Description

Including links with each episode is as simple as adding a link in the episode description. These links will automatically be included as an "episode link" in the "Extras" section of your app.

 

Edit the Episode Description

Add a Link - select the text that you would like to be the name for the link, and click the link button.  Then,type the entire url for the link in the pop-up box 

Publish Your Episode - click publish to save your changes and make them live.  If you click save draft - your episode will be saved under drafts and changes will not be made to your app until you click publish.

Any links in your episode description will be added as an episode link in your app.  You can add as many links as you would like to each episode.

That's all. Once you have published your app - your episode links will be live.  

If you have an iOS device and would like to check out our Podcast App download the free demo Danger Dog.  You can see the links in action on the episode entitle "Zen Time".

If you are a die hard, soul fan of baseball, you have to give Baseball PhD a go. The host Edward, the co-hosts Mark and Farley plus their correspondent Bob and enthusiastic "Wise Guys" engage in some lively conversation full of baseball facts, baseball love and a handful of passionate opinions. I guarantee that if you listen to their shows even if you aren't a fan of the sport you certainly will want to go watch a ball game. If you are a fan of the sport, you'll probably end up planning a tour of the 30 major league parks!  Baseball PhD offers energetic and passionate conversations amongst friends as well as with baseball personalities who offer an array of fun facts and historical stories, plus tons of tips for the baseball tourist. 

If you are traveling around any part of the US for the summer, having the Baseball PhD App on your iPhone is a must. There is such a wealth of information regarding each major league park, plus it's surroundings. Even if you think you know everything about your local or favorite ballpark, you will learn something you didn't know before. 

Click here if you are interested in getting an app for your show.  Hosting plans start at $20 a month which include the media hosting and the podcast app.  

Get Baseball PhD in the App Store.  

Now almost 5 years since the launch of iTunes v4.9, Apple has just added iTunes Podcast pages for 67 more countries.  Including all 4 of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). These 67 countries represent over 4.3 Billion people - that is 64.2% of the worlds population - and when added to the pervious 23 countries a total of 78.9% (5.4 Billion) of the worlds population now is covered by iTunes Podcast Pages. (Population %'s according to stats from CIA Factbook).  

At Libsyn / Wizzard Media we think podcasters should be very excited about this increase in coverage.  As the worlds largest host of podcasts we are in a unique position to look at stats.  When we looked at May's download numbers we saw that 90.6% of all of our networks downloads came from the 23 countries that had an iTunes Podcast page, while only 8.3% of downloads came from the 67 new countries that had not yet had the iTunes pages just turned on.  And the Rest of the World (ROW) had just 1.1% of the downloads.  

Even though the new 67 countries have over 4 times the population as the original 23 countries, the new 67 had less then 1/10th of the downloads prior to getting an iTunes Podcasting page.  This shows the importance of having an iTunes podcasting page in a country for getting downloads from that country.  With 67 new Podcast Pages in iTunes stores around the world this is a great opportunity for you - as a podcaster - to increase your audience.  Getting featured in iTunes is a key way to do this.  As a podcaster it is important to know you will never get featured in iTunes if you have ugly artwork or worse yet no artwork at all.  It is highly recommend by Apple to have at least a 600 x 600 Pixel image referenced in your RSS feed.  This image can be larger but should remain a square.  If you are not someone that can create good looking artwork - then put out a call to your audience and see if one of them is willing to create artwork for your show. This is also a good time to look at your show in iTunes and make sure you have an accurate description for your show and it is in the right category. 

We at  Libsyn/Wizzard Media  are very excited about the new opportunities that have just been opened up with the addition of over 4 Billion new people being covered by iTunes Podcast pages.  We will post again shortly showing an update on how the new countries are doing for downloads pre and post the launch of iTunes pages in those countries.