Category Archives: Tips and Tricks

The Show Must Go On…Even When You’re On Vacation

Leave a reply

We get a lot of questions from hosts on how to properly load up rebroadcasts to play if they are unable to do a live show. Especially during summer months, when you may be on vacation or away for stretches of time, scheduling rebroadcasts are a good idea to keep the momentum going for your show.

We just did a segment on the topic for Planning Committee with special guest, John Sweet, Assistant Director of Operations at BlogTalkRadio. John breaks down the three ways to rebroadcast a show: Using your RSS feed, uploading audio when you are scheduling a show and uploading audio straight to your studio. You can listen to the show here and follow along with these visuals and tips from the show below:

What is RSS?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and is basically a standardized web feed that allows users to subscribe to updates with new content from many different types of sources online – blogs, audio, video, etc.  Your show actually has an RSS feed that anyone on the web can subscribe to and it will appear in their RSS feed automatically.  If you go to any show page on BTR, you’ll see the rss icon, which allows anyone to subscribe to your show and add it to their feed.

Rebroadcast Using Your RSS Feed or Uploading Audio

This method just requires you to schedule a show as usual, but you click the blue link at the top and you will be prompted to either upload an audio file or put in your RSS feed address.  Your show’s RSS feed follows this format: www.blogtalkradio.com/displayname.rss (i.e. Planning Committee’s RSS feed is http://www.blogtalkradio.com/planningcommittee.rss)

The only thing you have to remember about rebroadcasting in this way, is that your listeners will actually have to press play for the show to begin and it will not show up in your upcoming episodes so you have to send a reminder to your audience in email or by social media to drive listeners to the show at the time and remind them that they should click play to begin the broadcast.

Rebroadcast By Uploading Audio Straight Into Your Studio

You can also upload audio files straight into your studio if you’d like to rebroadcast.  You can download a previous episode of your show by clicking on “Download this episode.”  Once a window pops up select “File” in the top navigation and then  “Save As” in the dropdown.  The file will save as an mp3 and you can choose “All Files” for the type of file.

You can then upload the file straight into your studio:

When you schedule the rebroadcast, make sure to select the audio file that you just uploaded as your startup audio:

If you choose this option, you will have to actually call into your show using your host call in and pin number at the time you have scheduled it and wait for the audio to start up.  Once the audio starts up, you can hang up (and enjoy the rest of your vacation:)

Submitting Your Show To Be Featured Can Pay Off

Leave a reply

We get quite a few questions from hosts on how they can submit their show to be featured on BlogTalkRadio‘s homepage so we decided to dedicate a whole Planning Committee show on the topic.  Listen in to get some valuable tips and tricks. Tune in.

Why Submit Your Show?

If selected by our Editorial team, your show could appear on the top of the homepage in our Staff Picks section and be seen by millions of visitors to our site.  So remember, every time you schedule a new episode of your show that features a notable guest or trending topic, don’t forget to submit it!

BlogTalkRadio_HomePage_013113_blogcircle1

How To Submit Your Show

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 more tips on submitting your show, visit this post.

7 BlogTalkRadio Sharing Tools To Grow Your Audience

Leave a reply

BlogTalkRadio makes it easy for you to share your show with the world. And in 2011 we were happy to announce a number of *NEW* ways to help you spread the word. Take advantage of all of it to grow your listener base:

*NEW* Update your Settings with your Facebook page so you can easily communicate with your audience right from the Studio.

*NEW* Encourage your listeners to connect their accounts to Facebook so that they can share and discover new BlogTalkradio shows  from their network.  Here’s how.

*NEW* Update your Settings with your Twitter handle so you can easily send updates to your followers right from the Studio. Twitter tips.

 

It’s easy to to embed your show on your website or blog.  Here’s how.

 

Make your show available on ITunes to attract listeners on the go. Learn about it.

 

 

*NEW* Remember to blast your show out to all of your email contacts and followers. Read up on our email update to take advantage of the feature.

 

You can fill in keywords for your show and episode descriptions to drive traffic & listeners from search engines. SEO Tips.

 

*NEW* Encourage listeners to like, share and +1 your content on Google+. Read up on this update.

 

And last but not least, in 2011 we introduced Marketing Club, a biweekly show on tips to help you better market and monetize your show. Tune into the archives here and follow us to get updates of upcoming broadcasts!

BlogTalkRadio + Facebook = Awesome!

Leave a reply

We just released a brand new feature on BlogTalkRadio that integrates Facebook commenting on all of our show pages.  Now, when a listener leaves a comment on a BlogTalkRadio show page, they have the ability to post that comment right onto their Facebook wall in order to continue the conversation here at BlogTalkRadio or on Facebook.

Try it! Just go to your favorite show on BlogTalkRadio, click on an episode and leave a comment for the host.  Check the box that says “Post to Facebook” and just like that, you’re opening up the conversation to all of your friends on Facebook.

We’re really excited about this new update because it increases the interactivity between our hosts and their listeners and also gives our listeners the ability to promote their favorite hosts to their Facebook network.  We hope all of our hosts will encourage their listeners to use this new feature to help spread the word and give their content an extra boost to be heard across the Internet!

Now You Can 1+ Your Favorite BlogTalkRadio Shows!

Leave a reply

We are really loving Google+ over here at BlogTalkRadio.  So much so, that we’ve added a 1+ button to all of our profile and show pages. Now our listeners can share what they are loving on BlogTalkRadio on Google+ with the click of a button.  And to top it off, now our hosts will be reaching a whole new set of people through their 1+’ing listeners!

And if you haven’t added our Google+ page yet to your circles, get to it here!

Promoting Your BlogTalkRadio Show Just Got Easier

Leave a reply

We are happy to announce that you can now promote your show to all of your email contacts in Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, etc. right from your episode page.  You just have to click on “email” at the bottom where all of your other sharing icons live.  We are very excited about this new update because it’s going to make it so much easier for you to share your show with those in your personal network.  Give it a try and see the results for yourself!

How to Create a Facebook Page

Leave a reply

One of the best features about being a host on BlogTalkRadio is that you can instantly share your content on Facebook and Twitter with the click of a button.

A Facebook Page is a great way to reach more listeners and let your fans keep up to date with your newest broadcasts. It just takes a few minutes to create your own Facebook Page and here’s how you do it.

You need to have a Facebook account to start a Page so sign up if you don’t have one already. Then, go here to create a page and follow the prompts. You can select “Radio Station” in the Entertainment category or choose from the other categories if those fit your purpose better.

Step 1: Upload an image to represent your show. You can leverage your profile image from your BlogTalkRadio page.

Step 2: On the next page, uncheck the options to share and like this page. This will allow you to make any changes before launching your page to the world. Once your page is all set up, you can go back and change these options.

Step 3: Provide a link to your show page, and use what you’ve written for your profile page to give a description of your show.

Congrats! Your page is now set up.  Check out some of the ideas in Get Started, which is the next page that you are taken to. You can start adding content, promoting your page, and lots more!

If you have question, see Facebook’s Page help section, and ask for advice on our Get Satisfaction page.  And you can also read up on these Facebook tips from a post we did before.  Good luck with your new Facebook Page!

The Do’s & Don’ts of Optimizing Your Audio

Leave a reply

Ensuring that your show has optimal sound quality is very important not only for your show’s success but for the enjoyment of your listeners.  We’ve put together a list of Do’s and Don’ts for you to make sure you have the best sound possible when you’re broadcasting:

Do

  • - Call in to your show using one of the following options:
  1. For hosts with a free account, the best way to dial in to your show is using a landline.
  2. For premium hosts, there are two options for dialing into your show that will optimize sound quality: a landline or Skype.
  • - When connecting via landline, use a high-quality phone and to speak clearly and directly into the handset.
  • - When dialing in via Skype, use a high-quality headset plugged directly into your computer. Using a headset with Skype also frees up your hands to manage the chatroom and switchboard.
  • - Use a hardwired Internet (rather than a wireless) connection
  • - Close out of all applications except for Skype and the BlogTalkRadio switchboard. For additional tips on how to host your show with Skype, view our Skype screencast.
  • - Schedule and host a test episode to check equipment and audio files for optimal sound output.

Don’t

  • - Use a speaker phone – this can cause annoying echoes and feedback.
  • - Use a cell phone – this can effect quality and lead to dropped calls.
  • - Use Skype with a wireless connection – this can compromise audio quality and lead to dropped calls.
  • - Conference multiple people in with Skype (on the host line) – this can cause degradation in sound output.

Bonus tip: If you are looking to further optimize your audio quality when dialing in using a phone, consider investing in a JK Audio Box. This is what the BlogTalkRadio staff uses to conduct broadcasts.

We hope these tips help you achieve the best audio quality possible! For more tips and tricks, attend BlogTalkRadio University, our free educational class series for hosts.