The BlogTalkRadio Blog

Check out Radio Agonist on Blog Talk Radio tonight at 7 PM eastern time. The discussion is on “the politics of national security, international affairs, global news and their effect on domestic politics.” You can call in at (646) 915-8560.

I was away on holiday last week and I read a terrific book written by Malcolm Gladwell called The Tipping Point.

The author defines the Tipping Point as:

What is The Tipping Point about? It’s a book about change. In particular, it’s a book that presents a new way of understanding why change so often happens as quickly and as unexpectedly as it does. For example, why did crime drop so dramatically in New York City in the mid-1990’s? How does a novel written by an unknown author end up as national bestseller? Why do teens smoke in greater and greater numbers, when every single person in the country knows that cigarettes kill? Why is word-of-mouth so powerful? What makes TV shows like Sesame Street so good at teaching kids how to read? I think the answer to all those questions is the same. It’s that ideas and behavior and messages and products sometimes behave just like outbreaks of infectious disease. They are social epidemics. The Tipping Point is an examination of the social epidemics that surround us.

The book was written in 2000 long before the Blogosphere became such a powerful force. As I read the book, I constantly thought about the social dynamics surrounding our experiment called Blogtalkradio. In his book, Gladwell talks about three key contributors to the development of a social epidemic. They are called Mavens, Connectors and Salesman. Maven’s are people that try out new things and love to get into the details. They not only try new things, but they tend to tell everyone they know about their new experience. Connectors are people that know tons of people. They are highly respected, not only in their own circles of influence, but other’s as well. Salesmen of course can convince anyone to buy something, whether it be a product, service, etc. So how I can I relate these points to Blogtalkradio? Since the outset, we have had our share of Mavens. Bloggers who tried the service and blogged about it’s value to extend their reach with their audience.But it’s the “Connectors” that continue to use our network and blog about their experience. Here are some perfect examples:

• James Boyce - Focused on the progressive blogosphere and political campaigns – Put in Heading left show. Ed Morrissey – Maintains the popular conservative blog Captains Quarters and will be joining Blogtalkradio as political director.
• Stowe Boyd - Popular Web 2.0 blogger who writes /message is starting a show called /talkshow.
• Mike Sansone – Changing the way business’s get the word out with his blog and show, Converstations
• Wayne Hurlbert – Blog Business World has become such a success that Wayne has become a much sought after personality for other shows on BlogTalkRadio and he is booked well into July with some of the biggest names in the blogosphere.
• Pamela Atlas - Pamela Geller from the popular blog “Atlas Shrugs” has become an icon in the right wing blogosphere, she is revered as one of the best on the right and has made enormous headway for woman bloggers in the political arena her show has attracted hundreds of thousands of listeners.
• Charles Warner - The Media Curmudgeon, a long time media insider who has held positions with NBC Radio and AOL is changing the way we look at main stream media with his show and blog.
• Daniel Myers - A 16 year old young man involved in politics from the age of 4 who plans on running for office someday, Daniels blog has attracted the interest of some of the biggest names on the 2008 campaign trail and his guest list on his show reads like a laundry list of who’s who in the running for presidency. Daniel is bringing an interest of politics to a younger generation and by the time 2008 rolls around Daniel will be old enough to vote, and I will gauruntee you alot of his friends will be hitting the polls with him after the education they are receiving first hand on Daniels show and blog.

Creating viral word of mouth campaigns are challenging at best, but for BTR the key element is getting the best content on our network and building our audience one listener at a time.

Alan

Saturday at Podcamp NYC was an incredible success, John Havens and the team of people working to organize Podcamp should be very proud of themselves. It was my first podcast conference, or as they called it the unconference, and I had a great time.

I met some incredible people and learned alot about podcasting as a whole, I also saw some neat new features that we will be looking at in the coming months to implement into BlogTalkRadio.

Some of the people I met really made my day, Lynne Bailey from LynneMBailey.com a university professor who has a great blog put me at ease during my 1 hour session as I was a tad nervous, Lynne is a very interesting person and I’m anxious to read through her various websites as she writes some compelling stuff. Lynne coins herself a teacher, tekkie, and digital designer, and if you ever get a chance to meet her take the time to talk to her you wont be dissappointed.

I met Wayne Turmel from The Cranky Middle Manager while standing outside of a session, Wayne has a wonderful sense of humor and it was a real pleasure meeting him and I cant wait to see his blog, just from the name of it you can tell its going to be a good read. He was very familiar with another Wayne we have on BlogTalkRadio, Wayne Hurlbert from Blog Business Success. Wayne Turmel has very good taste as Wayne Hurlbert is one of my favorites :0)
Jennifer Beisser CEO of Chef’s Line in New York City had me thinking about the fact that with one dial of a telephone I would never have to worry about cooking again! If you are like me and never know how to get your souffle to souffle or your quiche to be like quiche look Jennifer’s company up and hopefully we hear her soon on BlogTalkRadio with some great cooking tips, im going to be calling her soon to see if she will come on for an interview! Move over Lagasse, Beisser is in town!

My buddy Adam was in my session from the Public Relations group Rubenstein Public Relations. He had some great suggestions on doing some PR for us, and as most of us know, blogging, doing podcasts, and of course a show on blogtalkradio are one thing, but getting the word out is another. Adam let the group know some very effective ways to get do some PR without spending alot of money if your not a big corporation with a big pocketbook.

Last but not least, John Haven’s the guru of this event from About.com, and Podcast Vision and Voice. Read his very informative About.com articles regarding podcasting as he is one of the most knowledgeable in the business and if you ever get a chance to meet him please be aware, you will walk away with a smile and one more person to call friend, I know I did.