When podcast episodes turn bad

Last week, I made what I consider to be a really, really rubbish episode of the G2B@podcast. I’d set out to try to create a show PLUS a separate feature about blogging. The minute I finished editing the feature, I realised that it wasn’t great.

Here are a few of the reasons why. The piece was too long and unstructured and as a result, the edit was so severe, it left me sounding like a non-stop robot. My mood wasn’t great, and that came through. I got lost in detail. The format didn’t feel like it worked.

And this week, I’ve learned something useful - how to fail and be just a bit more human. I realised that my desire to do this stuff better was greater than my desire to maintain a veneer of infallibility. Aha! At last! He can be taught!

January 31, 2008 | Filed Under podcasting technique | Leave a Comment 

Facebook suicide

22.00 Monday. I removed myself from facebook. For good. I wiped myself out, wondering as I did how I would vanish from my friends’ ‘friends’ list. Would I just not be there? Would my picture fade (like in ‘Back to The Future’)? Would I crumble into ash at the bottom of the browser window? Or would I stay there, mute and unreachable?

I’d only been on a few weeks and only had 18 or 19 friends, but in that short time, I had grown very uncomfortable with the vortex that is facebook. Hungry, needy, demanding is how it felt to me and I’m quite relieved to be out of it.

January 28, 2008 | Filed Under online networking, smile | 1 Comment 

Audio testimonials - dynamite value for money

How’s this for value?

In 2006 we made an audio testimonial for 4Networking. Since then, it’s been listene to by over 3,000 people. That’s a piece of direct, powerful ‘word of mouth’ marketing heard by 3000 people - all of whom chose to listen to it.

We sold that audio testimonial at an introductory price of £50. Each listen has cost 4Networking less than 1.5p. Bargain. Is there anything to compare??

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

January 26, 2008 | Filed Under Benefits of podcasting, WOW! | Leave a Comment 

G2B@ business networking podcast featured on Make Your Mark blog

This week our G2B@podcast (the first - and so far only - business networking podcast for Devon and Cornwall or anywhere for that matter!) was featured on the Make Your Mark blog.

We’re 12 weeks old this week and it’s been a great experience so far.

January 22, 2008 | Filed Under news, online networking | Leave a Comment 

The Emperor’s New Online Business Directory

I’ve lost count of the number of online directories that sell their directory listings in the following way (or a variation of).

“Want to promote your business on a Top Spot prominent display?
Want to achieve a page 1 presence on Google?
We can network local business to business through chamber of commerce meetings and local Network meetings”

Roughly translated:

1) “You’ll be exposed to HUNDREDS of thousands of people coming to our site!”

2) “We’ll put you on page 1 of Google!”

3) “We’ll set you up and broker introductions…”

In reality:

1) Nobody searches a directory to find your products and services. Like you, they use Google.

2) A simple test (which most directories fail) is this: go into their directory, pick a category and find a paying advertiser in that category. Note the business name, the town and the category. Now go to Google and do a search on that business category in that town. You’d expect to find that business high up in the Google search results, right? So look through all the pages of results to find the directory listing for that named business. If it’s not on page 1, the directory failed to keep this promise. If it’s not there at all, that advertiser’s been had. Try this out yourself the next time you spot someone selling listings in an online business directory.

3) “We can network local business to business through chamber of commerce meetings and local Network meetings”? Er… so can you.

That’s 3 shiny non-benefits in a row.

January 11, 2008 | Filed Under GRRRR!!!, business insight | Leave a Comment 

Keep it clean and everything will work out, Son

We were pleased to notice today that someone visited our G2B@ podcast blog via a Google search for “free networking events in Exeter”. Its even more pleasing to see how high up the natural search results the G2B@ podcast comes because it shows that our resource is getting in front of people who want to know what’s happening in the region.

That and an upsurge of visits to the G2B@ blog as soon as business restarted after the break really do encourage me to dive right back into it with renewed vigour for 2008.

January 3, 2008 | Filed Under marketing, news | Leave a Comment