Category Archives: Site News & Updates

Update to Show Feature Request Process

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Thank you for all of the feedback on the new process for submitting your show to be featured on BlogTalkRadio.  We took it to heart and have made an update to make it easier for you to upload your images. Now, our system will help you to crop the image to the perfect size without you having to do it on our own computer.  With the new cropping window, you can move the selection box anywhere on your picture or expand it to include more area of the picture and it will automatically fit our upload limits.  Give it a whirl and submit your show today:

1.    Click on “My Account” in your dropdown menu.

2.    Click on “Feature my show” under “My BlogTalkRadio”

3.    In the “Feature my show” tab, fill out the necessary info at the bottom of the form.

4.    Click “Submit”

For tips on submitting an image and description, view this previous post.

Requesting to Feature Your Show Just Got Easier

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Did you know that you can have your show featured on the BlogTalkRadio site? Well, we’ve just updated the process to make it easier for hosts to submit a show to be featured.  Now, you’ll just have to submit a description and an image according to specifications.

To help you get started, we thought we’d give you a few pointers:

Description

When you submit your text description, make sure that your character count is no more than 260 with spaces.  Here are some example formats you can use:

Interview Sample – [Host Name] welcomes [Guest Name], [Author/Creator of XXXX} to discuss her new project entitled, [XXXX}.  [Guest Name] was recently named [Person of the Year by XXXX].

General Show Sample – [XXX Show] with [Host Name] provides listeners with information on [XXXX]. The program is supported by [Sponsor].

Image

Your image must 277 x 180 in png, gif or jpg format and have a  file size under 50K.   There are some great free photo editing programs you can download to crop and resize your images.  Gimp is the free program we’ve used and you can watch this tutorial on how to work with your image using it.

Here is an example of an image that is the right size to give you an idea:

You can find more info on the submission form.  In case you need a refresher on the process, to put in a feature request:

1.    Click on “My Account” in your dropdown menu.

2.    Click on “Feature my show” under “My BlogTalkRadio”

3.    In the “Feature my show” tab, fill out the necessary info at the bottom of the form.

4.    Click “Submit”

Enjoy the new process and we look forward to receiving your feature requests.

BlogTalkRadio’s New Design and Features Make Site Navigation and Show Creation Even Easier

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Beginning today, BlogTalkRadio is sporting a new look, complete with functionality that makes finding what you want—and doing what you need—easier than ever.

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Most notable is our new header (above), where hosts can simply create shows and listeners can quickly and easily find great content.

We have also launched a new registration process that makes signing up as a host or a listener a snap. And after registration, hosts and listeners alike will be welcomed with new landing pages that offer tips on how to get started and best utilize the tools and features available on BlogTalkRadio.btr-drop-down

Once you’re logged in, a new drop-down box (right) offers a quick route to scheduling shows, accessing your account and switchboard, checking messages, connecting with friends, changing settings and upgrading to premium services.

Our footer (below) has changed, too. We have better organized content here so you can quickly do the things you want to do on the site: learn more, create content,  get support,  or follow BlogTalkradio.

In the coming months, we’ll continue to enhance our current tools, and build new ones, making it it even easier to produce online radio shows and a pleasure to tune in to them.

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All of which—once again—helps make BlogTalkRadio the easiest way to create and share audio on the web.

If you have ideas for future features, be sure to let us know. We’d love to hear from you.

Kelly Cutrone: I Hired Stephanie Pratt Just so Lauren Conrad Could Fire Her

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Kelly: Complicit in questionable workplace practices.

Kelly: Complicit in questionable workplace practice.

Now that The Hills‘ finale is finally on the horizon, public-relations maven Kelly Cutrone is revealing the reality behind the MTV reality series.

Interviewed on Artists on Demand Radio, the People’s Revolution founder dishes about what really went down with Stephanie Pratt during Season 5 of the MTV reality show, which signs off forever on July 13 after six hit seasons.

“[Stephaine] Pratt should not have been [hired at Peoples Revolution], but I let her stay there because (a) Lauren wanted to Continue reading →

Slain Detroit 7-Year-Old Aiyana Jones: Will Justice Be Done?

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At about 12:30 a.m. on May 16, Mertilla Jones was sleeping on her sofa in her Detroit home when a stun grenade came crashing through the window.

The device caused her to tumble to the floor, she told The Detroit News, moments after which she collided in the dark with a member of the Detroit Police Department who’d rushed through the door during a raid in search of a murder suspect.

Aiyana: Tragic—and needless—death.

Aiyana: Tragic—and needless—death.

The cop fired a shot, striking Mertilla’s seven-year-old granddaughter, Aiyana Stanley-Jones —who’d been sleeping beside her—in the head.

“You f’ed up. Gone and killed my grandbaby!” Mertilla shouted at the cop.

Tragically, Mertilla was right. An hour later at a nearby hospital, Aiyana was pronounced Continue reading →

Free Skype Calls Make it Easy to Dial-In to Your Favorite Shows

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BlogTalkRadio has released a new free feature to make it even easier for listeners to call in and participate in live shows. “Click to Talk” with Skype enables listeners to join the show simply by using a Skype-to-Skype call, which also means the call is toll-free.

Here is a step-by-step guide for using the “Click-to-Talk” feature:

1. Make sure you are logged in to your Skype account. If you don’t have one you can register here.

2. Log in to your BlogTalkRadio account and go to the Episode page of the show you want to participate in.

3. Click on the “Click to Talk” Logo shown below. (If you do not see this logo, try hitting control+f5)

Click to Talk with Skype

Click to Talk with Skype

4. When you see Pop-Up window, Click “Click to Talk” Logo again to automatically launch Skype call.

5. Click “Call” in Skype application to complete call to show.

That’s it!

We recommend that listeners use a headset when dialing to avoid echo and to ensure audio quality when participating in the show. If you should have any questions about the above feature be sure to contact us at service(at)blogtalkradio.com.

‘Baywatch’ Babe Alexandra Paul: My Jailed Brother Teaches Spinning in the Big House

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Former Baywatch star Alexandra Paul‘s brother, Jonathan Paul, is making the most of his four-year prison stint—by whipping his fellow inmates into shape.

Interviewed on BlogTalkRadio, Alexandra, 46, delivers an upbeat update on her radical-environmentalist sibling.

CAPTION: "I'm so proud of him for maintaining his values throughout his sentence," Alexandra (above) tells us of Jonathan.

"I'm so proud of him for maintaining his values throughout his sentence," Alexandra (above) tells us of Jonathan.

“My mother just saw him last weekend. I saw him a couple of weeks ago. And he can call his wife a certain amount each month,” she tells Olivia Wilder Times host Olivia Wilder of Jonathan, now 43, who two years ago was sentenced to 51 months on conspiracy and arson charges after pleading guilty to setting a 1997 fire that destroyed the Cavel West horse slaughterhouse in Redmond, Ore.

“He reads a ton. And he teaches spinning and boot camp in prison. So I joke with him, I say, Continue reading →

BlogTalkRadio’s Facebook and Twitter Integration

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facebookby Alan Levy
CEO, BlogTalkRadio

We’re excited to roll out some cool new features that will help our tens of thousands of radio hosts syndicate their shows into leading social networks.

twitterIn our view, our job has many elements. First, we enable any individual, company
or organization to host a live online radio show. We host close to 1,000 broadcasts every day. There is no cost to host or listen to shows on BlogTalkRadio. However, we do offer premium services for a more robust hosting experience.  Second, shortly after the show is completed, we automatically create podcasts that are hosted and stored on our site, and can be easily downloaded into iTunes, RSS, etc.  Finally, we provide a series of syndication tools so that the content produced on the network can be easily syndicated online.

Our platform sits side by side with Facebook, Twitter, Ning, MySpace and many other popular social communities.

Effective today, our hosts can elect to have their shows automatically notify and update their Facebook and Twitter communities.  You can watch screencast tutorials here in our Learning Center to learn how to use these features.

For Facebook, our hosts will be able to easily create events, update their status to let their friends know they are broadcasting live and, finally, after the show is over, the archive will be embedded directly into their status update.

For Twitter, tweets will be automatically sent from your Twitter profile when the show is live, and then again when the archived show is available.

We’re excited about these enhancements and look forward to your comments, feedback and suggestions.  Please write us at service@blogtalkradio.com.

Best,

Alan