Startup BizCast

A production note for those of you who might be interested:

The latest episode of Startup BizCast, show 47, was recorded with a new microphone. I’ve been meaning for a while to swap out the mic I had, an AKG, because it seemed to have a bit too much high end. I’ve never been able to properly lower that high end without making the sound too “muddy”. My new microphone, an MXL 990, seems to be a big improvement the first time out. It sounds great and, much less importantly, it looks pretty cool! I can definitely tell the difference in the sound of the show, but I’m hyper-critical about these things.  I’ll probably continue to tweak the low end slightly, but I’m pretty happy with the purchase.

Let me know what you think!

I don’t have a guest booked for episode 47, which is coming up next week. I kind of wanted to do a solo episode, so I didn’t work too hard to find a guest, to be honest. The only problem is that it’s occurred to me that I don’t have a topic. So, I’m opening it up to you … the listener. Hit me up on my contact form or, preferably, in comments on this post. Let me know what you’d like to hear about. Obviously the topic needs to be something I know a bit about, otherwise I’ll just have to make it up … so try to keep it related to marketing, public relations, social media, or Web 2.0.

Fire away!

I love having my podcasts reviewed. Obviously there’s some ego involved, but it also gives me feedback from an uninvolved listener. The latest review comes today from Edgy Reviews (formerly That Podcast Show). The trio of hosts break down three shows per week and then they each rate them on a scale of one to five. The final show rating is an average of the three ratings. They’ve never given out a full five out of five. Startup BizCast’s average rating was a 4 out of 5, with one reviewer giving the show a 4.5 out of five!

You can listen to the show here.

I just checked my feedback hotline number, and found that it was no longer working! The service I use for the number deletes your account if it’s not used for a month. Unfortunately, I haven’t been getting any feedback (hop to it, people!), and thus it was deleted.

So, I created a new number. The Startup BizCast Feedback Hotline Number is now (206) 339-4366. This is also the number that will be used for the Startup BizCast Small Business Week Contest, so I’m glad I checked it!

Here’s this week’s Small Business Recommended Reading! Details on some of these items are also available during the BizCast Brief segment in this week’s Startup BizCast episode.

Microsoft officially 425 years behind the times
Channel Register (UK)

Small Business Owners Select Barack Obama as Top Candidate, But GOP as Best Party
Yahoo Finance (via Business Wire)

Small Business Week Information
SBA.gov

Democrat calls for Blackwater probe, alleges tax fraud
Boston Globe

The Top Ten Regs Small Businesses Love to Hate
AllBusiness

I’ve made fun of the trend in the past, but I’m going to give it a shot.

Yes. I’m now Twittering.

I set up my account today and plan to use Twitter to send out brief updates on what’s going on with the show. I’ll Twitter about things like interviews scheduled, minor changes to the production schedule or the show format, and things like that. I may also slip in an occasional announcement about EndGame Public Relations. You can access my Twitters by subscribing to my Twitter feed, visiting my Twitter page, or going to the Twitter page I created here on the Startup BizCast blog.

Feel free to add me as a Twitter friend. I haven’t yet figured out how to invite you to do that, so if someone can help me out … I’d appreciate it!

Pardon me while I shamelessly beg for your vote. I figure if the presidential candidates are doing it, why can’t I?

If you’re a listener and/or fan of Startup BizCast, why not show it? There are a number of different places online where your input would help Startup BizCast’s visibility, thus helping more people find the show. Here are just a few ways you can help:

1) Leave a review on iTunes! Click here to access Startup BizCast’s iTunes Store.

2) Digg me!  Click here to Digg Startup BizCast and individual episodes of the show.

3) Click here to vote for the show on Podcast Alley.

4) Subscribe! If you haven’t subscribed via RSS, iTunes, or any of the podcast directories in which Startup BizCast is listed, please do so. This is a benefit for you, since you’ll receive the latest episode delivered to you as SOON as it’s available!

I made some changes to the RSS feed for this podcast that you should know about.

I noticed that only the most recent 10 episodes were showing up in the feed, and thus on iTunes and in podcast directories. I fixed that so that henceforth all episodes will show up on the RSS feed. Podcast directories like Podcast Alley, Blubrry, and Podcast Pickle should update eventually have updated to reflect the change.  However, if you’re subscribed through iTunes and would like easy access to some of the early episodes of Startup BizCast, you’ll need to delete your subscription and then re-subscribe. If you’re happy just getting all of the newest shows every week, you don’t need to do a thing!

Oh, and if you enjoy this program and have a moment while you’re logged into iTunes, please leave a comment!

Thanks for listening!

Ho ho ho everyone! Just a quick post to let everyone know what the Startup BizCast holiday schedule will look like. Here’s the podcast schedule for the next few weeks:

Week of December 16:
Episode 28 will publish on Wednesday, December 19

Week of December 23:
NO new episode due to Christmas holiday

Week of December 30:
Episode 29 will publish on Wednesday, January 2, but it will be an abbreviated episode

Happy Holidays from Startup BizCast, and may 2008 be a successful one for your business!

This is going to seem like an odd topic for a blog post, but please bear with me.

Startup BizCast is a free podcast, of course. And, while I did briefly have a sponsor, I’m largely unpaid. I’m not complaining about that fact … believe me. I enjoy producing this podcast and it’s good for my business. But, if you’re a listener of the show and you enjoy it, you might be wondering how you can help me. Even if you’re not wondering that, I have some suggestions, and all but the last one are free!

1) Digg the podcast and the individual episodes. The more times this show is voted for on Digg, the higher it will rank in search results!

2) Link to the Startup BizCast blog. The more links point to this site, the higher it will rank in the search engines, and the more people will be able to find it!

3) Submit feedback, either via voicemail, email, or blog post. Keep me busy!

4) Suggest new topics that you think I should cover. I certainly don’t have the market cornered on good ideas, and I’d love to hear yours.

4) Hire EndGame PR Podcast Production to create a custom podcast for your business! This one might only appeal to a few of you, but if you’ve been thinking that podcasting might help your business, please contact me!

Apologies for the self-indulgent post. Here’s a preview of the next episode, by the way: I plan to provide tips on advice on whether you should form an LLC for your business and, if so, how to do it! Barring any interview scheduling difficulties, the episode should publish on Wednesday, December 12.

Thanks!

-Steve