A major tool in their quest to generate a real connection with fans is the BSG Podcast, which stars Battlestar Executive Producer Ron Moore. Ron recently spoke at the Podcast and Portable Media Expo about the value of podcasting.

clipped from webpronews.com

“You can sum up the show, what it’s about, what went wrong, what went right. It’s all very fresh. DVD commentaries are made months or years after. With podcasts, it’s still in the moment. You have no reaction before the audience sees it. It’s real and natural.”

“I could never imagine having this kind of connection with my audience a couple of years ago.”

Ron Moore on Podcasting

I agree that podcasting is a wonderful way to build a true connection with customers and fans. An honest podcast gives the customer a chance to really get to know you and your organization on a personal level.

What’s that worth?

Check out the entire webpronews interview of Ron here.

1. Adsense Notifier - Display your Adsense earnings within the Firefox toolbar.
2. Copy Plain Text - Have you ever copied something to Thunderbird or Office and been annoyed that the text formatting (bold, font size, etc) came with it?
3. Feedview - Display an entire RSS feed as a web page. It also adds the ability to add a livemark and the ability to switch article lengths.
4. FireFTP - secure, cross-platform FTP client.
5. Free eBook Search - search for free eBooks to help you solve any business problem under the sun.
6. Sage - stylish RSS and ATOM feed reader.
7. RankQuest SEO Toolbar - several nifty tools to help you drive more traffic to your website.
8. TimeTracker - Track how much time you spend on the internet. (especially useful for bloggers)
9. StumbleUpon - Find great new websites to support your professional education.
10. SpellBound - nifty Firefox spell checker.

Ironically, it’s for this very reason that I am advising against new startup “Competitio.us.” The site’s sole mission is to help you keep an eye on your competition, and offers the following tools to get the job done:

1. Clippings - Organize news clippings of your competition.
2. Blog - Subscribe to your competition’s blog.
3. Traffic Graph - Compare your website traffic to that of your competitors’.
4. Feature Matrix - Keep track of and compare competitors’ features to your own.

As a general rule, I don’t like to keep track of what my competitors are doing. The way I see it, how can my organization possibly gain from becoming much more LIKE our competition?

I frankly don’t want to spend a moment of time working towards similarity. I have always seen pure creativity and innovation as much better long-term investments.

To the creators of competitio.us: Was the iPod born out of obsessively tracking the Rio player features? Was Dean Kamen forever looking over his shoulder to see if Schwinn was catching up while he developed the Segway HTS?

I hate to say it, but in my opinion your application not only stifles innovation, but through its “Feature Matrix,” actually increases the chances that I will become just like my competition.

Having put in my two cents worth, I’ll be the first to admit that this is just one person’s opinion. I really do wish the creators the best of luck and I officially invite you to publicly lambaste me if and when you prove me wrong.

Tony Valle
Promethius Consulting, LLC

But I sometimes worry about why this satirical website exists in the first place. To any average citizen that understands the facts surrounding the net neutrality issue, IT IS AN ABSOLUTE NO-BRAINER. So why, oh why do we need a brilliantly-clever satirical website wrapped in a stellar viral campaign dedicated to THIS ISSUE?

To me it is a sign of the following:

1. Many Americans generally are not capable of comprehending even the basic concept of “competition = good,” “monopoly = bad.” At the very least, it seems that a little bit of techno jargon like “net neutrality” is all the roadblock you need to make Americans throw up our hands in utter confusion.
2. The major corporate media outlets (all four of them) have done a masterful job of confusing the issues surrounding net neutrality. The only “progressive” messages that have a chance at getting through loud and clear to the masses must be extremely clever and must be delivered virally outside of the mainstream channels.
3. Most Americans have no idea that net neutrality laws affect each and every one of us. We all have a stake in this. We all stand to lose.

Suggested Reading

• Wikipedia on Network Neutrality
• “Whose Property is it?” From the Center for Economic Growth
• SaveTheInternet

One of the main advantages of the social bookmarking model has been that sites are reviewed and submitted by real human beings who value the content. Any link submitted to the community is available for any and all members to bookmark it. Multiple bookmarks equates to multiple “votes” in the world of social bookmarking.

For example, I recently submitted a blog post to del.icio.us, and that link in turn was bookmarked by 60 Del.icio.us users. The post eventually found its way onto Digg and drove quite a bit of traffic our way. That’s the way these things work in a perfect world (usually easier said than done).

StumbleUpon has an interesting twist that adds an extra element of addictiveness to its approach. The “Stumble!” button in their provided toolbar delivers targeted website recommendations from other StumbleUpon users with interests similar to yours. One click of the button whisks you away to a quality site that you likely haven’t ever seen before.

I’ve heard a story or two about people who had to remove the Stumble toolbar because they couldn’t stop “Stumbling.”

What’s interesting to note about the following web traffic stats for greatbigpodcast.com is the fact that I’ve only submitted two or three blog posts to StumbleUpon almost as an afterthought. Here at Promethius, both for our own blog and for our business blog clients, we try to make sure that nearly every post is submitted to del.icio.us, reddit and a few others.

But with only minimal focus, StumbleUpon is currently beating basically all other social bookmarking services outright. This of course is just one snapshot of a week in the life of one blog, but it’s interesting to note.

If you want to try it out for yourself, follow these easy steps:

1. Go to the StumbleUpon site and sign up for their free account.
2. Download and install their toolbar.
3. Visit your favorite web pages or blog posts and tag them!

Here’s how it works in a nutshell:

When you click the “I like it” button, you will be prompted to fill out some information about your link:

That’s all there is to it. Now the rest of the StumbleUpon community can find your recommended links and enjoy. Neil Patel has a good study of traffic comparisons between StumbleUpon, digg and del.icio.us. It’s definitely worth a look.

How many of the terms (or products) below do you understand without following the link to find the answer? 1-5 correct = still using AOL | 6 - 10 correct = have your own MySpace page | 11 - 15 correct = seasoned Wordpress blogger | 15 - 20 correct = know your website’s IP address by heart.

1. RSS
2. Technorati
3. Ajax
4. Blinksale
5. Local Search
6. Click Fraud
7. SEO
8. Long Tail
9. Wiki
10. Digg
11. Favicon
12. Drupal
13. Net Neutrality
14. Vertical Search
15. Squirl
16. Tagworld
17. Crazy Egg
18. LiveJournal
19. StumbleUpon
20. Who created Podcasting?

Making your own “press” area is a nice departure from the rat race of trying to get other media outlets to pick you up any way. Besides, many potential customers will go to our websites as a part of their research.

Why not make sure to have a copy of each press release right there on your website for potential customers to easily find and read?

Looking for help on the ins-and-outs of formatting your press releases? I would recommend the Duct Tape Marketing press release tool for starters.

1. Basecamp - This very intuitive project-management software by 37signals is a very affordable way to immediately gain control over multiple projects and staff members. It even has restricted login functionality for clients as well.
2. Zoho CRM - One of the great stable of products coming out of Zoho. It’s free for up to three users and is quite affordable as you add more users.
3. Netvibes - If you do one thing this quarter, get netvibes and learn how to use it! A savvy manager will make it his browser Home page and will fill it with relevant RSS feeds, bookmarks, gmail and so much more.
4. Omnidrive - This universal web storage platform lets you easily store, access and share files of any size over the web.
5. Google Analytics - Google is at it again with its great web stats tool. Just drop a little code behind each page of your website and you’re off to the races. This tool is especially good if you are running an Adwords campaign.

Why should you worry about bettering your managerial skills? Ron over at Buzzoodle had a great post yesterday about why this should be your number one concern!

Tony

Tony Valle
Promethius Consulting, LLC

Did I used to listen to this many commercials? How could anyone put up with this stuff today now that podcasts are so easy to get?! I really was shocked. If you gave up radio a long time ago in favor of your iPod, I would encourage you to go back to radio for just an hour or so. It’s utterly suffocating.

I was so moved by this experience that I decided I would do a little experiment. I wanted to see exactly how much the radio was “jipping” us out of the real content that we tuned in for in the first place.

Let me say up front that I’m no scientist and this hardly qualifies as a true experiment, but it’s interesting nonetheless. I basically listened to an hour of radio and an hour of a podcast and took detailed track of several segments:

1. How much time was I hearing the actual program I tuned in to hear or at least content that was interesting me? (not a commercial, etc.)
2. How much time was spent listening to commercials?
3. How much time did I spend searching around trying to find something better during lulls in my program?

Here are my records:

For these next two, I dissected the actual time that I was getting real “broadcast” as opposed to commercials. I considered something to be “on-topic” if they basically stuck to the spirit of the program. A particular sports radio show I listened to contained several tangents between the on-air talent having nothing to do with sports.

As you might guess, the podcast was much more on-topic.

These radio numbers might not look so bad, but remember; the radio only gave me 33 minutes of real broadcast time in the first place.  In the end, I look at this and say:

How can radio ever hope to compete with these numbers?!?!?!  It surely will only get worse.  Podcasts are simply a much more efficient use of my time.  I have no doubt that more folks around the globe are waking up to this fact daily.

To you loyal defenders of Dale and his personal hygiene habits, I say this: STAND DOWN, DIGG READERS!

I must admit that I was a bit surprised to get such a backlash from the Digg community. Is using the “computer nerd” stereotype to make a point really that offensive?

And another thing… I know you mean well, and I know you all are very bright in a certain way, but I think your comments on Digg really support my original point.

Let’s review the top corporate podcast mistake to avoid like the plague: “1. Don’t Let the Computer Nerd Do It.”

What I’m warning against here is a natural inclination for management to see podcasting as an IT function because it involves a certain amount of “whiz-bang” technology. I am trying to make the point that podcasting is a marketing function, and to encourage decision-makers not to go with their first instinct of letting Dale the computer guy take on the entire project.

And now to review comments from some of the well-meaning Dale defenders on Digg:

If you want to podcast from within a corporation effectively, don’t hire a podcasting consultant. Just get yourself set up, find the people with the passion within an organisation who are passionate about the product or service that the company provides and let them talk about what you are doing honestly to your customers.

This is the first comment left on Digg. I actually agree with much of what this young fellow is saying. Simple, straightforward talk to your customer base can be a very successful approach in many cases. But I’m afraid his “techie” mindset shines through loud and clear here. “Just get yourself set up.”

A common problem that Dale defenders have is that they are used to knowing more than non-technical folks about the way things work. They have probably tinkered around and read enough to know how to get a crappy mp3 file posted to Odeo and iTunes. What more would you need?!

This is why going to the “computer guy” first when seeking advice on setting up your corporate podcast is so dangerous. He will nearly always tell you how incredibly easy it is. Just know that he means well, but he is coming at it from his own perspective, not a Marketing or PR perspective. Skippy can create his own “podcast” with his laptop and a Radio Shack Skype headset, but that doesn’t do you much good.

So basically this atricle is an ad for ‘podcasting consultants’. God, companies will hire anyone these days, won’t they? Also, how can he call Dale a ‘nerd’s nerd’ is he doesn’t know anything about speaker cable?

I won’t lie. I do hope someone reads this “atricle” and considers hiring my company to produce their podcast.

Again I’m afraid that you make my point for me. You assume that any self-respecting nerd would know much about “speaker cable.” My article specifically said “audio cable,” which anyone with a decent audio engineering background would assume to be referencing balanced vs. unbalanced, etc. used in a recording studio. In fact, one very rarely uses speakers when producing a podcast.

I could go on but I won’t. I would like to appologize to any folks that I may have offended on Digg. I hope you understand that the writing style used in my article was meant to be fun and a bit toungue-in-cheek. I do stand by the advice given though.

Tony

John Moore from Brand Autopsy has a great post about simplicity. You really should read it.

What’s more striking to me, in terms of the idea of simplicity, is not John’s post but the entire Brand Autopsy blog itself. It’s so darn simple, yet very effective and attractive.

I would argue that within 30 seconds, the average blog reader could easily figure out how to do the following on their first visit to Brand Autopsy (note, in the world of blogs, 30 seconds may be all the time you have to sell a new visitor on the merits of your blog. Past 30 they are already off to something else if your blog doesn’t speak to them):

1. Purchase the book “Tribal Knowledge“
2. Download their free whitepaper PDF “Manifesto“
3. Subscribe to the RSS feed

These are probably three of the top goals of this particular blog, and the fact that one can so easily find how to do these things is absolutely key. Have a deeper look at this blog. In my opinion, they do a whole lot of very savvy things that one could and should model for their own blogging “bag of tricks.”

Now lets look at a blog on crack. It hurts to even look at it, doesn’t it? Here’s one on MySpace crack (MySpace blogs are a rare combination of utterly simplistic and stunningly ugly). Finally, I just had to throw this one in there for good measure. Very popular and very annoying.

As an afterthought, I do believe that Adwords tend to degrade the visual effectiveness of a blog. That’s to be expected and it’s up to you to decide whether or not it’s worth it to use them. In our case, we have decided not to in favor of selling books and audio courses down the road. Of course our main revenue stream from this blog is consulting business that finds its way to our company as a result of our content.

I suspect this is the same model that John Moore at Brand Autopsy uses, and that’s why we don’t see any Google Adwords cluttering up his great-looking blog.

Tony Valle
Promethius Consulting, LLC

1. Let the “Computer Nerd” do it. Sure, Dale the computer guy is the only one in your organization that knows what “RSS” is. Sure he understands the difference between an mp3 file and a .wav file. But Dale doesn’t bathe, he’s not particularly good at talking to people and he CERTAINLY doesn’t understand your marketing message. Corporate podcasting is a marketing and PR effort. Dale needs Brenda.

2. Let the “Marketing Nerd” do it. Brenda in Marketing is certainly on top of the message. She understands your customers and what makes them tick. She understands how to get your customers emotionally involved in your products. But Brenda just blew a fuse for the fifth time this month by plugging her desktop Mr. Coffee and her flat-iron into the same power strip, and she’ll accidentally do it again several times next month. She will never understand setting up an RSS feed or tweaking the audio file’s kilobytes-per-second sample rate. Brenda needs Dale.

3. Don’t bring in help. Even if Brenda and Dale work together, which they must, this still leaves a gaping hole in the collective knowledge of your team. Although Dale is a nerd’s nerd, he likely knows nothing about audio cables, microphones, sound production etc. Brenda won’t have any clue about on-air vocal technique and proper mic usage. A good Podcasting Consultant can help plug the holes in your collective knowledge of Corporate Podcasting and get you to the finish line with much less pain than you otherwise will experience.

4. The single-episode tryout. “Let’s just try one and see how it goes” says the big boss. Well, podcasting doesn’t work that way. It’s a low-level investment that builds up steam and return on that investment (ROI) over time. Trying one episode out to “see how it goes” will gain you nothing. Try it for six months. If you’re not willing to give podcasting a serious place in your marketing plan, then forget it. Save your money. Stick it in some bold-faced lettering on your Yellow Pages listing this year (and watch the world pass you by) instead of one podcast episode that will net you nothing.

5. Don’t Promote Your Show. A corporate podcast is not a perpetual motion machine. Listeners don’t “grow on trees.” You have to market your podcast consistently just like anything else. Promoting a podcast is vastly different than most other marketing approaches. At the very least, set up a blog and an RSS feed. Here again is where a Podcasting Consultant can save you scads of time and money.

Now I’m seeing everything through purple glasses, which brings me to the real topic of my post:

I made a minor post the other day suggesting Zoho Polls for companies wanting to get feedback from their customers. Almost immediately I received a comment from someone at Zoho thanking me for suggesting their company. That was nice… and kind of unusual.
Then I got to thinking. I had posted to my MySpace blog several months ago a brief comment about my very positive experience with Zoho CRM (which I still use to this day). A Zoho intern politely commented with thanks in that case as well.

What in the world?!?! It seems clear to me now that Zoho at least keeps a very close eye on the “blogosphere” to see what is being said about them, which is surely more that many companies can say. But they apparently go much further than that. They participate promptly in other people’s blogs.

Let’s face it - my blog isn’t anywhere near the top of the charts yet, but the Zoho staff noticed and took action right away. That’s impressive. That’s unique. That might even be purple. It means a lot to a blogger, and I’m sure they understand that.

When is the last time that Microsoft commented on YOUR blog? Don’t hold your breath. What’s sad is it doesn’t have to be that way. They surely have the resources to go the extra mile, probably to the tune of at least 100 support staffers to every 1 Zoho staffer. (Just a guess).

To further test my hypothesis, I looked up some recent blog posts relating to Zoho:

Zoho makes good… (Zoho commented back)

Lightweight project management (Zoho commented back)

Kathy on success and management (Zoho commented back)

To be fair, I did find some blog posts relating to Zoho that didn’t contain replies from the company, but many of them looked to me to be more “formal” reviews of the company. I could imagine that they might be afraid of appearing overanxious with a “serious” review site.

All-in-all these guys are to be commended. I know I wouldn’t be writing this if their software wasn’t fairly exceptional as well, but it just excites me to see that these guys haven’t stopped at just having great products. They appear to me to be attempting to be a great company.

So here is my question to you and to myself: What three things could we be doing today to absolutely set ourselves and our organizations apart from all others?

The trick here is to find a balance between being an asset to the show and sneaking in a subtle plug from your own podcast. A message that I leave for another show might go something like this:

Hi Dave, this is Tony from greatbigpodcast.com. Love your show. In the last episode, you briefly mentioned that you would advise against pay-per-click campaigns for not-for-profit groups. Would you mind explaining your thinking in a little more detail? Thanks for all the great work!

You can clearly see that I mentioned the domain for my podcast blog-site in my comments. You would be amazed at how many listeners will pick up on that reference and check your site out.

If you really focus on adding value to the other show, you might be asked to be a repeat guest or featured listener, with many more opportunities to mention your podcast. You could even be able to work out a cross-promotion deal with certain targeted shows. (We’ll try to cover cross-promotion at a later time).

The important thing is to reach out, get started and participate in other shows. Here’s a brief list of podcasts with listener lines to get you started:

• Manager-tools.com (703) 879-1812 (skype)
• Manager Tools is a weekly podcast focused on helping you become a more effective manager and leader.
• WebDevRadio.com 1-520-DONT-ASK
• Web development discussion
• Legaltalknetwork.com (781) 634-8959
• Podcast network for the legal community
• thoughtpress.blogspot.com (206) 338 4465
• sawedoffsoundtracks.com (206)-203-1319
• Indie music
• comedy4cast.com (206) 333-1339
• General comedy

Alan and I had a chance to interview Buzz Marketing guru Ron McDaniel about his latest book Buzzoodle Buzz Marketing - 57 Word of Mouth Marketing Challenges for the Entire Workforce.You’ll have to wait about seven more weeks before the book hits stores, but our podcast interview with Ron should hold you over until then. You can reserve your copy here (as I did weeks ago).

Also make sure to check out Ron’s blog. It’s full of great ideas about how to generate and sustain buzz.

Here are some of the more popular podcast directories:

• EveryPodcast.com - Podcasters can add their information to the directory simply by submitting their feed URL.
• Feed Shark - Automatically submits your podcast to multiple directories.
• LearnOutLoud.com - This is a directory of educational podcasts, which may or may not apply to your particular podcast.
• Podcast Alley - This is currently the king of the podcast directories. Make sure to list your show here!

For a complete list of podcaster resources, make sure to visit castwiki.

I always liked coach John Wooden’s definition of success, and it’s what I use for myself:

John Wooden on Success

Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best that you are capable of becoming.

Every business needs to know how its customers are feeling. It’s always easy to assume that if customers aren’t contacting you to complain, then they aren’t complaining or unhappy. Periodic surveys are an easy way to uncover customer service problems before they get out of hand and cost you dearly.

Clever company ZOHO has a free survey tool that will do the trick. Be up front and tell your clients that their participation helps you provide better service.

If you like their survey tool, check out several other great (and mostly free or very inexpensive) tools by ZOHO.

clipped from webinknow.com
My blog has gotten my ideas out to thousands of people who have never heard of me before. It has helped me get booked for at least a dozen important speaking gigs around the world. I’ve determined that about 25 percent of the new consulting business I’ve brought in during the past two years has been either through the blog directly or from purchasers who cited the blog as important to their decision to hire me.

I would agree with David’s enthusiasm for blogging. In fact, corporate blogs are going to be one of our main focuses during the next twelve months here at Promethius. They are simply so good that we must do what we can to convince all of our web clients to start taking blogging seriously.

I would take David’s comments one step further and say that for me, a podcast coupled with our blog has been a dynamite combination. Blogs are wonderful for search results. Blogs are great for building documented relationships (read backlinks) between bloggers. But podcasts, in my opinion, do two things that a straight blog can’t do:

1. A podcast gives you a third dimension. It makes you a real person with a real voice. That matters. I have never met Jon Jantsch, but because I listen to his Duct Tape Marketing Podcast I am familiar with his voice and his speaking patterns. This naturally - almost subconsciously - makes me feel comfortable with John over time.
2. A customer can take my podcast with her wherever she goes. She can listen during her commute, while working out, over lunch - whenever. That portability is hard to beat.

So for me, blogging plus a podcast is where you ultimately need to be.

Tony

Tony Valle
Promethius Consulting, LLC
5320 W. 96^th St., Suite 200
Indianapolis, IN 46268

www.promethius.com

I decided to post this today after seeing Mark Vanderbeeken’s post stating that over 52% of MySpace users are over 35. His post just confirmed what I’ve been seeing in our web stats for quite some time.

Namely, MySpace is about the biggest generator of traffic to our podcast blog than any other “community” on the web. I have always been really surprised by that because I too assumed that MySpace was just for “teenagers.”

Asside from the insane traffic at MySpace, I think one of the best advantages is the ability to embed true html code into the basic MySpace text editor. This allows you to sprinkle some extra goodies around if you know what you’re doing.

Here’s an example of a bit of code that I created for our newsletter signup. The reason this works is because most people on MySpace have no clue how to do this, but it’s really quite simple:

email:

Again, I would have to agree with Mark’s findings. I just don’t think a bunch of teenagers would give two hoots about our website and podcast. There must be quite a larger pool of “adults” than is generally believed to exist there.

Tony

Assigned Reading:

Marketing With MySpace - Bill Balderaz

Interesting Article on Advertising with MySpace - MIT Advertising Lab

Local business networking legend Lorraine Ball was an absolute joy to have in the studio. Our lengthy interview covers many of Lorraine’s ideas on how to best spend your time and resources connecting with top prospects and referral sources.

I got a chance to ask Lorraine about her concept called “The seven second sound bite.” It’s true that you only have a few precious moments to make an impression on a new prospect. For another perspective, Former CEO of LeTips, Patrick Carney, has a good blog post about how to deal with the time-crunch surrounding a first impression.

Make sure to check out Lorraine’s various online resources:

roundpeg IndyBiz Rainmakers NoWIB lorraineball.com Squidoo Lense

Other recommended reading on building up your referral network:

John Jantsch’s recent post - Who should I Target for Referrals?

Sitepoint’s - Some Quick Secrets to Asking Clients for Referrals.

This post is written from a recruiting perspective, but the ideas apply to referral building in general.

In past shows, we have discussed wikis, blogging and podcasting. This time we tackle the buzz-laden topic of “WEB 2.0.” It seems that just about everyone has at least heard the term, but it’s difficult to find anyone who can really tell you conclusively what WEB 2.0 really is. We hope to shed some light with today’s discussion.

Brigid Barnacle from Trenton New Jersey writes in:
I keep hearing the term “Web 2.0” thrown around, but I can’t seem to figure out what it is. Is it a language? Is it a piece of software? If it’s so popular, why can’t anyone explain exactly what it is?

Alan had a little too much fun calling local businesses in town to see if he could get any answers about WEB 2.0. We play some of the phone calls throughout this segment. Does this mean Promethius endorses “prank” calling? Look out Jerky Boys!

First of all, WEB 2.0 is partly a buzzword, just like “.NET” or “Ajax.”

But main elements surrounding the buzzword involve “open data,” (see flickr), “participation,” (see digg).

Other concepts mentioned: WEB 1.0, Collective Intelligence, e-Commerce rating systems

Sites Mentioned: flickr, digg, wikipedia, youtube, netvibes, yousendit, del.icio.us, newsvine

Applications Mentioned: Basecamp, Pretty CMS 2.0

{update - 9/21/2006} -  Ken Yarmosh has a recap of the “New New Internet Conference,” and it just makes me laugh, because the term “Web 2.0″ is strewn all about, but it still doesn’t really tell us anything specific.  Web 2.0 has to be one of the most majorly over-used buzzwords of the decade!

This episode is wrapped around an experiment, or maybe “demonstration” is a better way to put it. The term “timeshifting” is often used to describe the benefit to the podcast listener of being able to listen to content whenever and wherever suits them.

We demonstrate that timeshifting also benefits the podcast creator. Alan and I recorded our audio for segment one separately from one another, at a time and place of our own choosing. The pieces were then edited together to make the episode you hear today, called “Very Good Things.”

I start out by revealing my very favorite marketing blog of all time - Duct Tape Marketing by John Jantsch. He never seems at a loss for new ideas and insights. His blog is like a marketer’s toy store just brimming with wonders from all ends of cyberspace.

John’s new book is due out later this year. I can’t wait!!

Other great posts from the Duct Tape Marketing Blog:

• What does your email address say about your business?
• How to beat the Wal-Marts.
• Sending and receiving very large files.

Alan shared his love for his Lomo LCA camera. They really do take amazing photos. Check out the Lomographic Society website.
Some of Alan’s Lomo collection is online.
Tony also shared a cool little site he found: expresspdf.com. You can submit any Word, Excel or web file to the site, and it emails you a perfect pdf copy within seconds. Kind of nice if you’re working on a computer that’s not your own.

Finally we wrap up our discussion in the studio “live” on tape to discuss our timeshifting experiment. If you are considering implementing a podcast for your organization, you can generate a whole lot of good content by sharing the burden among several staff members. If you set them up to record when and where it is most convenient for them, staff will happily participate.

We’re excited to have Alan Houser with us in the studio today. Alan is our Creative Director who is not only a talented Web Designer, but he’s also a podcast pioneer.

Alan and Tony wax poetic on all things podcasting. Tony’s excited about flying to Cancun on his honeymoon the next day!

To kick things off, Alan defines podcasting: “Like radio for the internet… but more than that” … “It’s about syndication… subscribing to a podcast through iTunes or other news readers.”

clipped from wikipedia.com
Podcasting is the method of distributing multimedia files, such as audio programs or music videos, over the Internet using either the RSS or Atom syndication formats, for playback on mobile devices and personal computers. The term podcast, like ‘radio’, can mean both the content and the method of delivery. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster. Though podcasters’ web sites may also offer direct download or streaming of their files; a podcast however is distinguished by its ability to be downloaded automatically using software capable of reading RSS or Atom feeds.

Usually a podcast features one type of ’show’, with new episodes released either sporadically or at planned intervals such as daily or weekly. In addition, there are podcast networks that feature multiple shows on the same feed.

The guys agree that one of the strengths of podcasting is the portability. A listener decides when they want to listen, where they want to listen and on what device they use. This is the core principle of “Web 2.0″. Tony mentions the term Timeshifting. {again with the Wikipedia…}

clipped from wikipedia.com
Time shifting is the recording of television shows to some storage medium to be viewed at a time more convenient to the consumer.

The guys talk about shows they subscribe to: TWiT.TV, Cranky Geeks, KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic and Duct Tape Marketing, to name a few.

Tony makes the great point that podcasts in his playlist are all considered continuing education. You can find just about anything to broaden your horizons.
NOTE: Search on Yahoo’s Podcast site for what interests you, and you will find someone talking about it: podcasts.yahoo.com

Alan shares his podcast history: The Mobile Podcast A-Go-Go, where he talked about web design from the seat of his car. CreativeXpert, an interview show that Alan hosts to talk with other designers. The Bionic Genius Roundtable, an entertainment/comedy show where three self-proclaimed genii talk about what they’re having for lunch and interview fringe stars.

The guys then discussed how when home recording technology for musicians became more affordable, this is the same technology that podcasters and businesses have adopted.

Tony suggests that posting a podcast {or even a blog} is like fishing… the reach is far & wide.

Towards the end of the show, the discussion turns to non-conventional uses of podcasting, including recording a show on the commute, director’s commentary for a TV show, exercise, live broadcasting and even in-house audio training for new employees.

Join us next time on The Promethean for our discussion of Web 2.0 technologies!

We are pleased to have Executive Business Coach Jim Gleason join us today. Jim is currently with The Resource Development Group, where he coaches and mentors several business clients to successfully and effectively navigate change to achieve the results they desire.

We cover several topics of interest especially to small business owners, but they certainly apply to business professionals of all types. I started out by asking a broad question that seems to be on the mind of many of my professional peers these days.

“Why is business so difficult these days? It seems that every time I get together with fellow business owners, we talk about how long it’s been since we’ve seen our families. Yet we don’t seem to be getting the return on our time.”

As Jim often does, he had a perfectly reasonable response to this common situation. He’s the kind of guy that just seems to be able to break things down into simple, understandable concepts.

We also talked about the effects of inexperience when it comes to networking and pricing. For Jim and I both, our businesses are complex and highly consultative. An “uneducated” customer might want to get to the bottom line right away. “How much would it cost for Promethius to produce a podcast for my business?“

Such questions can’t be answered without a whole lot more information. What are you trying to achieve with your podcast? Who is your audience? What business are you in? An inexperienced consultant might be inclined to give some sort of answer to the pricing question right away, even though he can’t possibly set reasonable expectations without having more information.

Another common issue facing many small business owners was reflected in another one of my questions for Jim.

“How can I get my staff to think like I do when I’m not around?”

As a business grows, the ownership has to rely more and more on staff to be the face of the company. This can be frightening for leaders, but it must be done if you intend to grow.

News:

Nielsen Media Research Company is reporting that video-sharing website youtube.com is the fastest growing website on the internet. Web traffic to the site grew 75% just in the week ending July 16, from 7.3 million to 12.8 million unique visitors. Youtube.com traffic has grown nearly 300% since January. The website still operates without a set advertising model, but plans are reportedly in the works to offer several sponsorship packages.

Two presenters at a Hacker conference in New York City claim to have successfully copied or “cloned” an implanted RFID or “radio frequency ID” chip. The controversial chips, manufactured by the VeriChip Corp, have been marketed as counterfeit proof, and are generally considered to be a future favorite of the retail and banking industries. VeriChip has not yet responded to these claims.

BusinessWeek is reporting that Clearwire Corp. has announced major plans to create a nationwide wireless broadband network within the next three years. The company has amassed enough licensed radio spectrum to create a nationwide, wireless broadband network based on an emerging technology called mobile WiMAX — a powerful cousin of the familiar WiFi technology. Clearwire received major backing on July 5, when Intel Corp. and Motorola invested nearly $900 million into the company. The two hardware manufactures plan to sell products that integrate with the new WiMax platform.

Scammers have begun using the telephone to harvest data for use in identity theft and credit card fraud, and VoIP is making it easier for them to cover their tracks.
Websense Security Labs, San Diego, in June reported a scam that targeted customers of Santa Barbara Bank & Trust with an e-mail alerting them to a supposed problem with their account. Instead of directing them to click on a link, the e-mail listed a phone number for customers to call to verify their identity. When the victim called the number, a fake automated voice response system set up by the scammers asked them to enter their 16-digit account number using the phone keypad.
Voice phishing—or “vishing”—is dangerous because although most Internet users won’t click on a URL in an e-mail, they’re quite accustomed to entering their credit card or account number through a phone keypad. It’s best these days to talk to a live person any time there is a supposed account issue generated by your banking institution.

To protect yourself, read more here.

Headlines
A new study from consulting firm Diamond Cluster International seems to show that the peak in the outsourcing boom has come and gone. Results show that premature contract terminations, due to poor performance, have become increasingly prevalent.
The study found that 47 percent of buyers reported they had prematurely terminated at least one outsourcing relationship in the prior 12 months.

The IT community expressed concern last week over the FBI’s desire that Congress mandate that all future routing equipment must be manufactured to include back doors for law enforcement. Similar mandates have already been passed into law for telephone switching equipment, which require no warrant to activate, and hence can be secretly enabled at will.

It is widely believed among the IT community that adding these so-called “back doors” to the routing infrastructure would significantly diminish the security of most computer networks.

A Paralyzed man using a new brain sensor has been able to move a computer cursor, open e-mail and control a robotic device simply by thinking about doing it. The Brain Gate sensor, which involves implanting electrodes directly into the brain, was developed by Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems Inc of Massachusetts. Three more spinal chord injury patients are scheduled to test the device over the next several months.

Google released its latest version of Google Spreadsheet on Thursday. Several new features have been added, such as the right-click initiated cell commands cut, copy and paste, and the ability to add cell borders. General load times are reported to be much improved as well.

July Promethean Review: Content Management Systems (CMS)
It used to be that content management systems were clunky and frustrating for the average webmaster. These days with the great gains in online programming platforms, especially Microsoft .NET, content management systems are much more desirable.

Promethius has spent the last two years building our own content management system from scratch. The resulting application, which we call “Pretty CMS,” is built on the .NET platform and gives us all the flexibility we need to meet the various needs of our customers. In fact, we find that every single CMS installation we do requires some sort of customization to accommodate a special feature or business rule that the client may have.

Because we built the system entirely in-house, it’s much easier for us to provide special customizations for our clients. We never have to worry about getting a hold of any source code. We wrote it all!

July Promethean Review: How to Protect Your Domain
Believe it or not, your domain name could easily be taken right from under your nose - even if it’s not set to expire for the next several years. We know, because this happened to a client of ours. Make sure to listen to the podcast or read the July issue of The Promethean to find out how you can guard against domain theft.

July Promethean Review - Fun Websites to Check Out
internetfrog - find out the true speeds you are getting from your internet connection.
future me - send a message to your “future self.”
blue ball machine - just plain crazy
lifehacker - tips and tricks for just about everything

Andrea Johnson stopped by to give us some insight into what the Running Company does to maintain such incredible customer loyalty. They leave no stone unturned in their quest to make sure that every last one of their customers have happy feet for a lifetime.

One difference new customers notice right away is the special process for finding just the right shoe to fit their needs. Each Running Company location uses video gate analysis, which involves making an in-store video of the customer running on a treadmill. The video is played back in slow motion to reveal the customer’s own bio-mechanics, which then dictates proper shoe choices.

Now that’s customer service!

Headlines

According to a study by Outsell Inc., a leading marketing research firm, click fraud now costs online advertisers nearly $1 billion per year, with advertisers believing almost 15% of all paid click-throughs are fraudulent. Among the studie’s other findings, 75% of online advertisers claim they have been victims of click fraud. It is estimated that Google and Yahoo, the two major players in the pay-per-click market, have lost up to $500 million in revenue as a result of click fraud.

The New York Times is reporting the results of a major SPAM study. The study found that Spam messages promoting pornography are 280 times as effective in getting recipients to click on them as messages advertising pharmaceutical drugs, which are the next most effective type of spam. The third most successful variety is spam advertising Rolex watches, with a 0.0075 percent click-through rate. Major analysis for the study was provided by CipherTrust, a large manufacturer of devices that protect networks from spam and viruses.

Microsoft appears to be taking major aim at the iPod’s dominant lead in the mp3 player market with a new line of devices set to launch in November of this year. The portable audio and video player will have a screen that’s “bigger than that of the iPod video models” The units will also ship with built-in WiFi so you can download content directly to the player.

Most notably, to attract current iPod users, Microsoft reportedly plans to allow new customers to download for free any songs they have already purchased from the iTunes Music Store. Microsoft will still have to pay the rights-holders for the songs, but they apparently believe the extra cost will pay dividends in gaining a larger share of the lucrative mp3 player market.

For small American companies, selling goods abroad can be complex and costly. At least one piece of the puzzle - offering a local phone number, and thus giving the impression of a local presence, just got a little easier.

A new company called JetNumbers allows you to pay a set monthly fee to offer a local phone number in a foreign land, which then redirects to your American phone. Callers only pay for the local portion of the call just like they were calling a local number.
The company offers several plans that can be set up directly through their website within a matter of minutes. For more information, visit www.jetnumbers.com

Controversy swirled among the blogging community last week over the creation of a service called PayPerPost.com. The website is a new system that pays bloggers a bounty to write about products and services. Companies sign up for an account, and pay bloggers when they cover their products or services. There’s no requirement that the blog run a disclosure that the item is paid.

The general blogging community is so far exerting strong social pressure on those bloggers who are found to be working with the payperpost.com system.

Wonderful Wikis - what the heck is a wiki anyway?
To understand the true power of wikis, we talk about perhaps the most famous wiki-generated site of all time – wikipedia. We also give it a test by looking up the history of ice cream. What is a wiki? about the ebay wiki

Shelley Hendricks with Arni’s Restaurants visits to tell us all about the
2006 Arni’s Charity Classic
Thursday, September 28th, 2006
The Brickyard Crossing at the IMS
call: 317/875-7034
email: shendricks@meetyouatarnis.comclick here to register online!

Blogs and Blogging
In this episode, we cover lots of good information about blogs and blogging. If you want to follow along with the sites Tony is referencing, they are as follows:

• Think Progress
• MedicalInsuranceNow (main site)
• MedicalInsuranceNow Blog

Now get blogging yourself!!!

Net Neutrality - The internet freedom that big corporations are trying to take from us!!
If you’ve never made a call to your Senator before, this is your day. If you’ve never emailed him or her, the time is now. Muster the energy and do it.

The future of the incredible value-creation machine we know as the Internet is at stake. Put simply, the carriers wish to pick and choose the winners and losers among content providers: they, not you, will decide the next Google. They, not you, will decide which telephony service, which file-sharing software, which instant-messenger you will use.

I can find no simpler way to put it: the carriers seek to turn the Internet into cable television. In doing so, they put America’s technological leadership position at risk, they endanger the immense and fragile Internet ecosphere, and — by extension — they threaten the Internet itself.

Please visit this site to learn more!

Janus Developmental, Inc.
Denver and I visit with Julie Emsweiler, Development Director for Janus Developmental Services, Inc You can visit their website here.

The gang was a bit tired today, but we managed to cover a few interesting topics: Google Maps can let you do amazing things:

• Plug in a zip code to see your neighbors’ campaign contributions
• This map plots all murders in New York City for a two-year period
• This is a Google Map mashup for world cup soccer

A new kind of malware circulating on the Internet freezes a computer and then asks for a ransom paid through the Western Union Holdings money transfer service.

Recently there have been many blog entries centered around the success of “Ugly Design” on the web.

New Orleans uses Podcasting as a way to revitalize the economy and put real faces and voices to the rebuilding effort.

Senator John Edwards meets with bloggers to test the waters.

Podcast circulation is growing 20% per month

Join Tony Valle, Denver Abernathy and Becky Crane as we explore general goings-on at Promethius Consulting, LLC. Topics include:

• Our new podcasting studio is live
• Three new programmers join Promethius Consulting
• Review of the Promethean newsletter
• How cool is RSS?
• Tony uses Bloglines to manage his content feeds and keep current.
• Windows shortcuts can help you gain massive efficiency
• Tony is afraid of using macros, but shouldn’t be.
• Study shows using dual screen monitors adds 30% efficiency.
• Kris Arnold, Promethius Programmer, attends concert by former Gigi Alan band at Indianapolis’ Melody Inn.