Words to the Wise

For those of you who missed my latest BlogTalkRadio segment, it’s available for listening and downloading at www.blogtalkradio.com/jason_pedley

Doreen Stern was a great guest, and she had some very useful tips for not only cleaning up the clutter in your life, but for growing your small business as well.

I’m talking with several people for an upcoming segment. I’ll let you know when a date is decded.

Doreen mentioned in the segment that she has a substantial email list that she is beginning to send e-newsletters to. Are you collecting email addresses? It doesn’t matter if they are previosu clients or not - you should have a place for people to sign up for your news and promotions on your site. And I’m not talking about a full-out IRS form…just an email address and maybe even a first name, will do.

You’ll notice that my sign-up page is very basic. No need for a name, just an email address gets you all the updates about my services, marketing tip and info on my BlogTalkRadio show.

There’s a saying going around the web right now:

“Boring podcasts suck”

Thankfully, the phrase acknowledges (albeit by subtraction) that there is the possibility for a suck-free podcast - which is exactly what my BlogTalkRadio show, This Hour has 22 Widgets, proves…or is in the process of proving.

I’ve wanted to podcast for well over a year now. But every time I listened to a podcast, I’d get turned off. My initial reaction to most podcasts is “I don’t want to do my own podcast and have it be as boring as the one I just listened to.”

I think, for too long now, companies have focused on the content of their podcasts and not the delivery. I believe content and delivery are of equal importance when it comes to podcasting. And it seems like a lot of companies these days aren’t getting that. I’m not sure if it’s their need for some marketing guidance, or if a PR agency has sold them on the idea that ‘dry is better,’ but I’ve heard WAY too many PR agency account execs read word-for-word from a script while their clients read back from an equally dry and over-prepared script.

It’s time for podcasts to stop sucking. It’s time to discover BlogTalkRadio, which is what I did.

If you’ve got a business, product or service, and you want to be featured on my show, email me. Here are five very good reason why this form of podcasting is so powerful:

1. It’s live…at first. When the green light turns on, and my intro music plays, there’s no turning back. Whatever game you brought with you that day is the game people are going to hear. The good news is, I’m pretty good at interviewing, have a halfway decent sense of humor and can help you get (and keep) your head in the show.

2. I’s live…forever. One of my favorite things about my show is that it’s always live - even if you listen to it a year after it’s recorded. It’s like watching old episodes of The Price Is Right. There’s excitement and vitality in every episode, no matter when you watch.

3. In the end, it’s YOUR show. While I submit a copy of the final podcast to iTunes and keep a copy on my BlogTalkRadio show page, you can do whatever you like with your copy. Put it on your site to build content. Put out a press release about it. Send a link to it in your company’s e-newsletter. There are a ton of ways to use a podcast as a business-building tool.

4. You control the content. Except for the odd commercial, sound effect and my theme music, the show is really yours. You tell me what you want people to hear, and I ask the right question to let you get your message out. There are no gags, no tricks, no potty mouth, just a live radio show to get your message out.

5. You can be anywhere. I live in North Carolina. You can live in California and still be on my show. I’ve got clients in Florida, Connecticut, Canada, New Jersey and other places. My show works no matter where you are.

What’s keeping you from podcasting?

Statistics how that Americans spend 12 weeks every year — a full three months — looking for things they know they have, but just can’t find.

Luckily, there are people like Doreen Stern, PH.D., aka The Desk Doktor, to save us.

Doreen will be my host on Thursday, October 4th at 10:00am on This Hour Has 22 Widgets. We’ll talk about simple things we all can do to clear the clutter from our lives, our businesses and our minds and get back to the things that truly matter.

And speaking of businesses…the average American executive wastes six weeks every year searching for misplaced documents. Also, the average American employee has about 37 hours of unfinished work on their desk at any time…and typically takes three hours each week to sort through piles.

I’d tell you to write the date and time down on a piece of paper, but with all these statistics, I’m afraid you’ll lose the paper.

Kim Mack and Staci Douglas will make an appearance on This Hour Has 22 Widgets Tuesday, September 25th at 10am Eastern time. Kim and Staci are sisters and the founders of Out of the Box Party - a website dedicated to helping busy moms find safe, fast and affordable solutions to throwing birthday parties for children.

During the segment we’ll talk about how the duo markets their products, why they started the business and the challenges they face in terms of sales and marketing.

This Hour Has 22 Widgets is my new radio show that mixes client products and services with marketing tools and trends.

…you’ll get to hear them, too. That’s right, I’m going to start my own BlogTalkRadio show called “This Hour Has 22 Widgets.” But it’s not just my ideas and marketing insight that you’ll be hearing. My clients will also be part of the show. They’ll be on the air to talk about THEIR marketing and their products and services. So now you’ll get to hear MY marketing wisdom and that of my clients.

I’m working on the details for the first show which should air sometime in the next two or three weeks. If you’re interested in being on the show, contact me and we’ll work out the details.

Also, if you have a radio spot already produced and would like me to air it, I’m offering a limited number of complimentary advertising slots to my blog subscribers.