Amazon Details - National Podcast Day

Is Podcasting a Winter Sport?

As people can now download new episodes anywhere over their phone (no need to go home and syncronize your ipod like we did in 2009.

Buying iTunes Reviews [4:09]

Is it OK to "Buy" podcast reviews in iTunes?

It seems more of an accepted strategy (as long as they are form listeners and not some fake person from fiverr). The thing to keep in mind is that you can't contact the person in iTunes. If you pick momstaxi34 as the winner, how do you contact them? They need to put their website so you can go to their website and contact them. Without that anybody can say "I'm momtaxi34."

Amazon Affiliate Details - Deep Dive [8:00]

A question from the August 2nd Show - Some more clarification on Amazon from a couple shows back when we talked about creating your own Amazon links or shortners.

From: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/help/t64/a1

How can I create a link without using HTML coding?

You can link directly to the Amazon.com homepage or an item's detail page. Your visitors simply have to visit URLs with the correct Associate IDs inserted. You should use the following format examples to construct your links:

Amazon.com Homepage: http://www.amazon.com/?tag=your_Associates_ID(you must change "your_Associates_ID to match your unique Associates ID or tracking ID)

Detail Page: http://www.amazon.com/dp/ASIN/?tag=your_Associates_ID

For the detail page link, be sure to replace “ASIN” with the product ASIN or ISBN found on the item’s detail page.

Can I use a link shortening service for my links?

While you are welcome to use link shortening services, the link checker will not be able to verify that these links are functioning as intended. Please remember that you must clearly state that the link in question will take the user to the Amazon site when clicked and ensure that the site on which you are posting the links includes the required statement to identify yourself as an Associate. You must also be able to provide detailed information about the site(s) on which your links have been posted if we request it.

We do offer our own link shortening tool that can be used with Product Links. To shorten your links, search for a product from the Associates homepage under “Quickly Add Links” and choose the down arrow next to the item you want to advertise. A message box will appear and you can select “Shorten URL with amzn.to” and copy the short code for your site.

From: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/help/operating/amazonmarks

1. You must prominently include a statement on your site stating that Amazon and the Amazon logo, AmazonSupply and the AmazonSupply logo, and MYHABIT and the MYHABIT logo (as applicable) are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. For example, if your site displays the amazon.com and AmazonSupply logos, you would include the following statement:
   1. “Amazon, the Amazon logo, AmazonSupply, and the AmazonSupply logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.”
2. You are not allowed to use any trademark of Amazon or its affiliates, or a variant or misspelling of a trademark of Amazon or its affiliates:
   a.in any domain name or subdomain name – for example, a domain name or subdomain name such as , , , , , , , , , or is prohibited;

When You Include Your Listener's Name in Your Show - It Makes them Giddy[15:00]

Dave talks about the book Podcasting Good to Great: How to Grow Your Audience Through Collaboration and how including your listener's name in your show can lead them to have a deeper connection with you.

National Podcast Day 18:33

Steve Lee and a number of podcasters are celebrating podcasting's 10th anniversary by getting the word out about podcasting. Check out nationalpodcastday.com and help spread the word about podcasting. Dave is celebrating National Podcast Day by holding a Meetup for Cleveland Podcasters. You can find more information at www.clevelandpodcasters.com

http://youtu.be/wdiWehDP-lI

Dave talks about how fun it is to turn a brand new person on to podcasting. Spread the word!

Boosting Your Conference with Podcasting [35:00]

Jim talks about how conferences are an easy place to get bonus content for your conference that you can then use to promote your conference. Jim has 16 interviews now that he can use in the future. It also creates a buzz at your event when people see the interviews happening live.

Meetup Tips [37:00]

Do you have any tips on starting a meetup?

Check with your local library or if there is a computer training center (they may sponsor the event).

In some cases if your goal is more networking, then some groups meet at restaurants or coffee houses where its easy to talk.

Is Podbean Still Bad? [38:00]

Miss Ileane from basicblogtips.com asks is Podbean still bad?

They seem to meet most of my needs.

1. They don't rename my file

2. They don't mess with my ID3 tags.

3. They have stats

4. They have the ability to leave (a redirect option).

5. They have support.

The thing that makes me worry about podbean is that I can' find a location and person. There is an address on their website, but if you go to Google Earth, we can't verify if its a real address. The other thing that is weird is they list shows that are NOT on the network as if they are.

NOTE: Dave went over and looked and their stats have improved since the last time he looked at them, and he is going to do another review of their service.

Here are some weird things about podbean.com

They have a twitter account, but no tweets.

Moving Your Podcast [55:00]

Jeff Roney calls in and asks about moving your media files from your web host to a media host. No way around this, it is typically a pain in the butt. Some tips on this:

1. Make a naming convention that helps point the file to the blog posts. This might be sop426_090814.mp3 So I can see the date of the post that the file is associated with. You can then filter the posts in WordPress to show this month and go in and edit it.

The longer you wait to move, the harder it is. If you have determined that you are going to podcast, use the service like Libsyn.com or Blubrry.com (use the coupon code sopfree on both platforms to get a free month).

Getting your media on the new platform is easier. Libsyn and Blubrry can import your media on to their platform using your current RSS feed. The fun part is changing the location in your wordpress posts (you have to coy and paste - there may be a plugin to help with this).

You can upload your entire back catalog, and pay one fee for that. Then months after that will be set at the typical monthly rate.

Jeff loved the post about 27 steps to get into iTunes.

Find Jeff at onceisfrozen.com

Video of Show

http://youtu.be/S5NaW3s6pGI

Want to Support the Show? check out the store for opportunities to support Dave and Jim.