Advanced Startup Marketing Tip- Using BlogTalkRadio

I have a confession to make: I’m a blogtalkradio fanboy. Yep. It’s true. Since I started using it, I haven’t shut up about it. When I did a presentation at podcamp Boston last year, blogtalkradio was one of my tips on building an audience for the content you create.

With that confession out of the way, let me tell you what blogtalk radio is, and why it rules.

What Is BlogTalkRadio?

Well, here’s what they say about themselves:

BlogTalkRadio is the social radio network that allows users to connect quickly and directly with their audience. Using an ordinary telephone and computer hosts can create free, live, call-in talk shows with unlimited participants that are automatically archived and made available as podcasts. No software download is required. Listeners can subscribe to shows via RSS into iTunes and other feed readers. Our network has produced tens of thousands of episodes since it launched in August of 2006.

Here’s how I describe it: You can have your own live podcast where listeners can call in and ask questions. And when you’re done with it, you automatically get an mp3 of the recording, as well as embed code that you can add to your web site. And it’s all free.

It works like this:

1. You sign up for an account (for free), and they give you a phone number to call. That’s your host number. Whenever you schedule a show, that’s the number you call to start the show.
2. When you’re ready to start a show, you call the number and log in at the site. You have a dashboard that shows any callers. Over at blogstring, Sarah and I used to do a show on BlogTalkRadio. I’d give her the number and she’d call in. Her number would appear on the dashboard and I’d just click on it to enable her “mic”. When the show started, it sounded like we were in the same room even though we were in different states.
3. You also get a listener call in number. Throughout the show and on our blog, we’d give out the number and would encourage people to call in. Again, as soon as someone called I could see it on the dashboard.
4. You get embed code- As soon as you schedule your show, blogtalkradio gives you an embed code to add to your blog/site. That way, your blog readers can listen to you live right on your blog while you broadcast, or they can replay a show after it is over.
5. You’re listed in the blogtalkradio directory- BlogTalkRadio is not only a production and distribution service, they’re also a podcast discovery destination. While most members are there to have their own show, there are also users just looking to find something to listen to. Blogtalkradio has a categorized directory of shows as well as a “What’s On Now” section where listeners can browse through shows that are happening that moment.

The Benefits

1. Content for your site- This is a no-brainer. Having more content for your site is always a good thing, and having embedded audio is always a good thing.
2. Two-way Live Communication- Of course I’m a huge fan of blogging, but it’s really a method of staggered one-way communication. You write a blog post. Someone reads it and leaves a comment. You think about it and comment back. Though it’s definitely a conversation, it’s pretty impersonal and measured. It’s completely different when you’re talking to someone live. There’s something real about that.
3. Networking- When you’re talking about a subject you’re excited about and get to talk with people that share the same passion, it’s a great networking opportunity. And I’m not talking about a “let’s exchange business cards and pretend we care about each other” kind of networking. I’m talking about a “wow, this person really knows what they’re talking about and I’d love to talk with them more” kind of networking.
4. Multi-Channel Promotion- Rather than just having a post on your blog, when you use blogtalkradio, you have content on their site, on your blog, on iTunes, etc. Instead of trying to lure people to your site to hear what you have to say, the content is in multiple places. It’s putting content where people are instead of trying to bring people to your content. That’s a hell of a lot easier, isn’t it?
5. Thought Leadership- I know, I know. “Thought Leadership” is the buzziest of buzz words. But I think it’s obvious to say that if you are consistently and knowledgeably speaking about a topic, there’s a much better chance of being perceived as an expert.

The Risk

Okay, so if you’ve read this far, there’s a pretty good chance that you now understand the upside of using blogtalkradio. So now let me tell you about the risk.

If you use blogtalkradio just to talk about your business, you’ll be ignored. Now, if you’re a company like Microsoft or Sun, you can get away with it. But if you’re a startup without a huge fan base, you’ll probably be seen as a shill. Think about a corollary in real life: think of the last commercial you heard on the radio and imagine that instead of the show you were listening to, the show was instead just an hour long commercial. Would you listen? I’m guessing you would not.

Here’s what I’ve done with some success (at least in my mind): when I worked at matchmine, I had the pleasure of hosting a semi-weekly show called “Talking On The Internet” with Trent Adams. Trent was the founder of matchmine, an officer in the Data Portability Work Group, and pretty much the smartest guy I’ve ever known. He also has a top-notch bullshit detector, so when I convinced him to do a show with me, it was an unspoken law that we wouldn’t just be matchmine cheerleaders. Instead, we talked about broader topics that touched on some of the work we were doing at matchmine, and at the end of the show we plugged the company site and blog. You can hear the shows we did here.

The Effort

The hardest part of having a show on blogtalkradio is the planning. The best way to do it is to have a prep sheet that chunks out the segments you want to cover in 5 minute intervals. It’s amazing how quickly 30 minutes can zoom by…especially if people call in. If anyone wants an example of a prep sheet, shoot me an email and I’ll dig one up for you.

Also, after all prep is done, and before you’re about to go live with the show, it’s time to promote. We’d always do a blog post giving the time, subject, notes, phone number, etc. beforehand, and right before the show was to go live we’d post the URL and phone number on twitter. That seemed to work really well.

Despite the lengthy post here, I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of blogtalkradio. Please let me know if you have any questions and I’ll be happy to help out.

Tagged as: blogtalkradio, podcasting