James Schramko's Podcasting Takeover

Is James Schramko Taking Over the World of Podcasting?

I first heard about James Schramko a few years back from seeing his Facebook ads for Traffic Grab. This was a video course that I thought was quite professional and I remember learning a ton from it. It helps when you make a good first impression like that on someone and I hope I leave people with that same kind of impression when they run across my blogs and tutorials online.

I'd almost forgotten about "Jimmy", as his friend and Freedom Ocean co-host Tim Reid often refers to him, (more about Tim Reid later) until I heard him being interviewed on one of my favorite podcasts. At this time it's difficult to say which podcast I heard the interview on because he has appeared on just about everyone of my favorites. 

In fact if you do a search for "James Schramko" on iTunes here's what you might see:

Search for James Schramko on iTunes

Schramko is currently doing his own solo podcast Super Fast Business but he is also a cohost on two other popular podcast!

Think Act Get with Ezra Firestone

Freedom Ocean with Tim Reid

Here's a playlist for quick access to these podcasts

Freedom Ocean with Tim Reid is my favorite out of all these podcasts but I must admit that I enjoy them all. The premise of Freedom Ocean is that "James makes millions from Internet Marketing. Tim's got millions of questions". This format appeals to me mainly because Tim is easy to relate to since he deals with a lot of bricks and mortar businesses and he is learning from James while at the same time sharing insights to James from what it's like on the other side of business.

You really need to listen in on this podcast to see exactly the type of chemistry that these two chaps have between them and I think that Tim is someone we can all relate to. Once you subscribe to this show you'll find yourself listening to certain episodes over and over again without getting bored. In fact you might either end up in stitches or sitting with a pen and notepad wishing it were an ebook or something.  That's why I stuck his solo podcast Small Business Big Marketing down at the bottom of that playlist widget above.

By the way, you can put away the notepad and pen because if you sign up for the Freedom Ocean mailing list you can get the pdf's of the full transcripts of each episode.

Think Act Get with Ezra Firestone has a different flavor to it. Ezra comes from the world of ecommerce however it is a subject that he and James rarely discuss on the show. Most of the content relates to mindset and how to develop a good (or even better) attitude for business. I see this more as a personal development podcast so if that is your thing, be sure to tune in. The show is quickly becoming a top rated podcast and I suspect it will hit the new and notable section many times this year in the U.S. market (if it hasn't already).

Super Fast Business is James's solo effort.

Listen to Super Fast Business

This show is a mix of interviews, news updates and listener feedback episodes. I think most of the episodes (if not all) are also available on YouTube, so if you like to consume content via video this is the show for you. I listen to it as a podcast and I love it that way because the episodes are often under 5 minutes. This makes them very handy to use as filler content when I burn CD's for playback in the car or on an old Bose CD player that I keep in my bedroom. The interview episodes are my favorites especially when he brings on my favorite guest, Clay Collins the co-founder of LeadPlayer.

Clay Collins even has his own podcast now too called The Marketing Show and I'm sure that James has inspired him to start podcasting just as he has inspired so many others including my buddy Jake Hower of the Multimedia Marketing Show, just to name a few.

This is as good a time as any to share a video with you that I recorded where I mention James, Clay and Jake and I also talk about the results I'm getting with Clay's product LeadPlayer

LeadPlayer Review and Tracking Conversions in Google Analytics

By now I think you can agree that James Schramko is taking over podcasting by dominating on iTunes with all of his weekly podcasts, interviews and guest appearances all over the place. If you have a business and you haven't tuned in yet, be sure you do.

If you are an avid listener like me, please let me know which one of these shows is your favorite?

Libsyn Podcast Player, New Logo and Site Redesign

Libsyn Gets a New Logo and a New Look

Libsyn, short for Liberated Syndication, is one of the most popular podcast hosting services around. Recently they redesigned the front end of the Libsyn website and updated their logo. I think the new logo looks great, don't you?

I switched my podcast feed for iTunes from Audioboo.fm to Libsyn back in October of 2012. I decided to use Libsyn as my podcast host after listening to an episode of Ray's podcast when he interviewed Rob Walch from Libsyn and they talked about the stats dashboard.

The other featured that appealed to me about Libsyn hosting is the OnPublish feature with Blogger. In case you don't know, I am using Google's Blogger platform for The Ms. Ileane Speaks Podcast so I was really pleased to hear that Libsyn is integrated with Blogger.

Most bloggers who use self-hosted WordPress (wrongly) assume that they can host the media files for their podcast with their blog host. However that is not a great idea, you need to get additional webhosting, because when you end up getting more traffic as your audience begins to grow your blog host might shut your blog down. 

I found out years ago from listening professional podcasters like Dave Jackson from School of Podcasting and Ray Ortega from The Podcasters Studio that it's best to obtain separate web hosting for your media files. That applies to both audio and video podcasts.

Switching the Libsyn Podcast Player

There is one thing I didn't like about using Blogger for the podcast. The default podcast player that Libsyn uses with their OnPublish integration isn't very attractive. I ended up finding a way to make the player more attractive and engaging and I recorded this tutorial for it.

How To Convert The Libsyn Podcast Player

If you use Libsyn this tutorial will be helpful for you even if you don't use Blogger, because it shows how to switch to any of the available Libsyn podcast players. (click to enlarge image)

I switched from the Legacy to Standard Online Podcast Player

Here is what you can discover from watching the video:

• How to Login to Libsyn and set the dimensions of your player
• Generate the code you will use for Libsyn's Standard podcast player 475 x 45
• Go to "Destinations" and select the episode to get the embed code for the player you want to replace
• Edit the blog post in HTML mode and take out the old  "iframe" code from the legacy player
• Replace it with the new "iFrame" code for the nicer looking podcast player

Let me know what you think of using Libsyn for your podcast webhosting and if you changed the podcast player on your blog.

How To Insert AdSense Units Inside A Blog Post

Using Google AdSense To Monetize Your Blog

Many bloggers are using Google AdSense to monetize their blogs. Certainly this can provide an income for you if you have a good amount of targeted traffic coming to your blog or website. You can apply for the AdSense program with your Google Account and typically your blog should be more than six months old. 

In a previous post I mentioned that one of my favorite podcasts is AdSense Flippers and these guys are making a decent living by creating AdSense sites and selling them for a profit. Although they have acheived success through selling AdSense sites I think most bloggers would be happy if they can just earn a few dollars to pay for web hosting or other online expenses.  

Adding AdSense on a Blogger Blog 

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Last year I recorded a video demonstrating how to monetize a Blogger blog with AdSense using a Blogger "Gadget". At the time I was using Blogger's Dynamic Views template. You can see that video here:

How To Add AdSense To a Blogger Blog Tutorial

I no longer use the Dynamic Views template on Blogger because the down-side is that you cannot edit the template manually and I wanted something more flexible. 

I got this request in the comments on that YouTube video. Arlene wants to know:

How To Insert AdSense Units Inside A Blog Post

I think this is an excellent idea for a follow-up video and blog post. I get a lot of questions about AdSense from new bloggers over in my Facebook Group so I'm sure this video will be helpful to those of you who are new to AdSense. This is also a good tutorial for some veteran AdSense users who haven't turned on targeting for their ads yet. 

If you've been using AdSense on your blog for months but your ads aren't performing well there are three possible reasons:

1. You're not getting enough traffic
2. You're not using targeting
3. You're not testing different placement, types and ad sizes

In this video I'll show you how to create and insert the ads and address the issues of targeting and ad types and sizes. Here are the steps you need to take:

• Go to My Ads
• Create a new Custom Channel for your blog and pick an ad size
• Create a new Ad Unit for your custom channel using the same size
• Name the Ad Unit and set-up ad targeting
• Describe the content of the blog or the post you will insert the ad on
• Save and copy the AdSense code
• Go to your blog's post editor
• Switch to the HTML or Text view
• Pick the spot you want the AdSense unit to appear and insert the code
• Update the post

Your Ad should appear immediately on your blog. I recommend testing it for a few weeks before you decide to make any changes to the size or ad type. 

One more thing I want to mention. Many bloggers are using too many AdSense units on their blogs and this is not a good idea. Be conservative and limit yourself to no more than 2 AdSense units on a page in the beginning. If you find that these are working well for you gradually you can add more but Google recommends that you don't have too many ads at the top of your page.

Further reading: How to get a new AdSense account even after being Banned

What about you, do you earn money from AdSense on your blog? What's your best strategy for AdSense placement?

How To Install The Audacity Extension for Chrome

Audacity is Available as an Extension for Chrome

For years podcasters, musicians and audio technicians have relied on Audacity to edit their audio files.

Typically you can download the open source software from SoundForge.net and it is available for PC and Mac.

The other day I was browsing the Google Chrome Web Store and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Audacity is available as an extension for Chrome.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/audacity-2-on-roozz/ddclebdnhjochbflkmbekijcopnmlemm

In this video, How To Install the Audacity Extension for Chrome, you learn:

How to install the Audacity application
Agree to the terms from Roozz and Audacity
Open Audacity in Google Chrome
Open the standalone version of Audacity
Play and Edit an audio file inside the application
*this interactive video is courtesy of Viewbix if you visit their site I earn a small commission but you can get free access to the software

This extension is brought to us by Roozz and they have some other applications you might was to download. Visit their site for the complete list.

Will you install the Audacity extension? Let me know if you want to learn more about how to use Audacity. You can find more podcasting news on my Scoop.it magazine for Podcasting.

Lynette Young Presents Google Plus for You

Google Plus For You 

Presented by Lynette Young from Purple Stripe Productions

Lynette Young presents on how entrepreneurs and small businesses can get started with Google+.  This presentation was given at the Greater Philly Small Business Marketers Meetup on November 14, 2012.

Philly Small Business Marketers Meetups

I had the pleasure of meeting Lynette and my daughter took this picture of us.

Lynette Young and Ileane Smith

Here is a picture I took of my daughter Nikki Purvy. Ironically she asked me earlier that day to explain Google Plus to her. That was some timing wasn't it. 

Nikki Purvy

Liz Cies helped organize the event along with the other wonderful AWeber staff members.

Liz Cies from AWeber

Key points from the presentation:

Lynette has over 1.5 million followers on Google Plus and she is the founder of the Women of Google Plus so it is safe to say she knows the platform extremely well. She shared several reasons that small business owners and marketers should hangout on Google+.

She discussed the benefits of setting up your profile correctly including your profile picture and Google Authorship. There is a new feature rolling out that will show Authorship stats on your profile. 

Share your content publicly so that it can be found in the search engines and in Google + searches and add the Google + sharing buttons. 

Google + Hangouts and Hangouts on Air are powerful tools for promoting your business.  

Look forward to Lynnette's book which will be available in 2 weeks but you can pre-order Google + for Small Businesses now. 

JOIN THE GREATER PHILLY SMALL BUSINESS MARKETERS MEETUP GROUP

More about Google Plus and YOU!

Have you started using Google + yet? How many followers do you have so far?

Add me to your Google+ circles today!

More about Google Authorship

If you need help with getting your Google Authorship, let me know and I can give you a hand. Having your Google Authorship is your key to getting more traffic from Google search. Be sure to check out the workshop I did with Chris Lang and friends to find out how you claim your Authorship and build your Author Rank. You can also get more intense training for Google + by joining Chris Lang's membership training program.

Post Planner Rolls Out New Content Curation Features for Facebook

Post Planner is known at The Ultimate Facebook Management Tool and for good reason.
I started using Post Planner a few month ago and it has helped me juggle the task of managing 5 Facebook Pages and 2 profiles. I know that's a lot but even if you only have one page and one profile, Post Planner can be the answer to your Facebook posting nightmares. 

One of the reasons I like Post Planner so much is because it lets you post to Facebook pages, profiles AND groups.
Posting to Facebook groups is a huge plus because this is something that you can't do with Buffer or HootSuite. Now that I have Post Planner, I rarely use any other tools for posting to Facebook. 

You can schedule posts so they don't overlap. This is really important if you belong to multiple Facebook groups and it helps stagger the posts to all your groups so it doesn't look like you're spamming your friend's streams. 

There's one more advantage of using Post Planner over HootSuite or Buffer for scheduling posts to Facebook. Post Planner let's you brand your posts by including a link back to your blog on everything you share. Here is what it looks like:

If you post with those other services, it will have their branding. Wouldn't you rather have your own? This post happens to be from a podcast and anyone who sees it in their stream can listen to it right on Facebook, which is another feature that I really enjoy. You can drive traffic to your blog or your podcast from Facebook and Post Planner just makes the job so much easier.

Curate Content with Post Planner

Ever run out of ideas for what to post on your page? Post Planner will help you curate content that is targeted to your audience and can help increase your EdgeRank. Recently they added even more features to Post Planner and John Haydon recorded a screencast to shoe you how to use them. 

John did such a wonderful job with the video I was inspired to write this post to share with you (again) what an awesome social media management tool you can get with Post Planner.

If you use my affiliate link I will earn a small commission but it doesn't cost you anything extra. Give Post Planner a try and keep me posted with your progress. 

Visit my Facebook Page and you can leave a link to your page in the comments below.  

Bloggers.com a Network all Bloggers Should Join

I joined Bloggers.com back in 2010. I found out about it from my friend Brian Belfitt the owner of Blog Engage (which is another popular network I recommend). 

In this message from Park, owner of Bloggers.com, he describes the site in simple terms:

"This re-designed community site is even better for letting talented bloggers know each other and share resourceful contents. Here, I hope you will introduce yourself here, enjoy great contents and invite friends with similar mindset."

I agree that this is exactly what you will find at Bloggers.com and here's why I think you will benefit from joining the site:

Be Featured on the homepage of Bloggers.com

Each day new blogs are featured on the home page of the site as Editors Picks of the Day. This gives everyone a chance to be noticed in the community.

Share your content on Bloggers.com

Add the RSS feed for all of your blogs to Bloggers.com and get more exposure and traffic.

Get Backlinks from Bloggers.com

Here's a screenshot from Google Webmaster Tools showing the number of incoming links from the site. Bloggers.com currently has a page rank of 6 [October 2012]

Meet New Friends on Bloggers.com

Chat and mingle with other bloggers on the site. You will find some talks with hundreds of comments from other like-minded bloggers you can connect with.

Discover Blog post ideas on Bloggers.com

You can search Bloggers.com by topic, country, popular bloggers, top blogs and new blogs. Get enough votes from your blogging peers and you can be listed as one of the Best Bloggers in the World!

My experience with Bloggers.com

If you're thinking to yourself I don't have time for another social network, don't worry you don't need to spend time on the site to benefit from signing up. Most of the time I don't visit the site yet I get friend requests all the time. Have you ever heard the saying "set it and forget it" - well that is what you can do with your account on Bloggers.com. The backlinks from the site will add up each time to publish a blog post. Others can vote on your content if they wish but it's not mandatory.  Sign up with Twitter and this will also might the process quick and carefree on your part. This is one of the few sites that you can get noticed quickly without  a huge investment of time. 

When you create your account and add the RSS feeds from your blogs, you will need to place a small badge in your sidebar or footer.  

Bloggers.com A Network All Bloggers Should Join from Ileane Smith

TIP: link the Bloggers.com badge to your profile page so that people can easily find your account and add you as a friend. 

Have you joined Bloggers.com? What's your experience with it so far?

My Top 5 Favorite Make Money Online Podcasts

Finding a podcast that holds your interest is no small feat. Searching through the podcast listings on iTunes or in Apple's new Podcast app can be frustrating to say the least.  Apple can learn a lot from Bing and Google when it comes to search engines, and not to mention maps :)

My Favorite Make Money Online Podcasts

With that being said I decided to put together a list of my favorite podcasts that talk about making money online which will make them much easier for people to find. The reason I picked this specific genre of earning income online is because I get so many questions and I know that a lot of bloggers are struggling with this. 

Many bloggers want to monetize their blogs but they don't know where to begin or how to  develop strategies that are effective and profitable.

→ Click To Tweet This Post

I also want to encourage my blogging friends to get into the habit of listening to podcasts and eventually start their own show. 

# 5 ClickBank Insider Radio 

"ClickBank Insider Radio is the ultimate source for Internet marketing tips, techniques and strategies that work today. Join your hosts Beau Blackwell and Molly Lane as they introduce you to the people who are making waves - and making millions - in Internet marketing. Whether you're just starting or you're already an expert, listen here for the latest ClickBank features, secrets from fellow entrepreneurs and quick tips that will have you earning more, NOW"

MY FAVORITE EPISODE: Episode 13 Jared Elvidge on Creating Information Products Making my own information products is something I need to know more about and I bet you need this info too! Read more about using Clickbank here.


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# 4 Make Money On the Internet Podcast by Chris Guthrie

"Chris Guthrie from MakeMoneyontheInternet.com teaches you how to build an online income that can replace your day job while only working a few hours per week. Learn how he and others are making a full time income online and how you too can be your own boss living the lifestyle you've always dreamed of. Covering online income, websites, money, blogging, seo, adsense, outsourcing, marketing, self employment, advertising, social media, facebook, twitter, youtube, amazon, ebay, podcasting and anything else that helps you build your online business."

MY FAVORITE EPISODE: What I Learned from 2011 and What I'm Changing in 2012 I love when people share the downsides to Internet Marketing. It's called keeping it real 


#3 AdSense Flippers - Niche Websites and Passive Income with Justin Cooke and Joe Magnotti

"The AdSense Flippers Podcast cuts through the noise to deliver actionable information regarding the creation, optimization, monetization, and flipping of niche AdSense websites for profits. Discussions include keyword research, various monetization methods, and how to get the largest multiples when selling your websites on marketplaces like Flippa."

MY FAVORITE EPISODE: Episode 8 AdSense Unit Layouts and Strategies I actually listening to this episode 3 times within a 24 hour period to make sure I didn't miss anything! 

#2 Income Press Podcast: Blogging | Internet Marketing | Lifestyle | Online Business | Making Money Online by Joey Kissimee

"This is just another damn podcast show created by Joey Kissimmee, and it's about anything and everything on automation, outsourcing, search engine optimization, niche sites, social media, blogging, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Podcasting, eBooks, online courses, affiliate marketing, email marketing, list building, and anything else that has to do with making money online. Joey from IncomePress.com has been making a full time income online for the past few years. Joey's an Email Marketing Expert, Product Launch Consultant, Info Product Creator, Expert Blogger, iPhone App Developer, and a Private Coach. He is not a gazillionaire, let alone a millionaire nor desires to be one. He says it's to much damn work! Joey is here to share his experiences on things that worked and didn't work. Learn from his gains, loses, and mistakes."

MY FAVORITE EPISODE: IP #13 Q&A Session Joey takes questions from his listeners and the first one comes from your's truly.

#1 The Smart Passive Income Podcast: Online Business | Blogging | Passive Income | Lifestyle

"Pat Flynn from The Smart Passive Income Blog reveals all of his online business and blogging strategies, income sources and killer marketing tips and tricks so you can be ahead of the curve with your online business or blog. Discover how you can create multiple passive income streams that work for you so that you can have the time and freedom to do what you love, whether it's traveling the world, or just living comfortably at home. Although Pat confesses he is not a millionaire, he's been supporting his family 100% with passive income generated online, easily earning a six-figure salary while working only a few hours a week. Automation, outsourcing, crowdsourcing, search engine optimization, building authority and trust, niche sites, social media, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Podcasting, eBooks, online courses, affiliate marketing, getting things done and everything that works (and doesn't work) to help you better understand how to crush it with your online business."

MY FAVORITE EPISODE: SPI028: Be Everywhere - Building a Profitable BRAND by Thinking Outside The Box Pat is working on a book called Be Everywhere so I guess this is his favorite episode too. 

What's your favorite Make Money Online Podcast

Here is a playlist for you to have easy access to all of these shows

Now that you have seen my list of podcasts, I'd like to know what's on your list of favorite podcasts. Let me hear from you because I'd love to find more podcasts to listen to. 

Subscribe to the Ms. Ileane Speaks Podcast

Related articles:

• How to Get Your Small Business Podcast Listed in iTunes
• How to Fix iTunes Download Problems
• Monetize Your Blogger Blog With AdSense