WordPress News For The Week Of August 29th 2008

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Who To Blame – I recently published an article which discussed who to blame when you upgrade WordPress and discover that your favorite plugin breaks. The thesis of the post describes release cycles, the testing of plugins, and how users should not expect the WordPress team to test every plugin known to man to ensure compatibility. - http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/08/24/stop-blaming-the-wordpress-team/

New Interface On The Way – Ryan Boren announced that the new user interface for WordPress 2.7 is now available in trunk. For those of you that are anxious to see the changes, you can download the latest build and install it on a local server. I’ve used the interface myself and for those of you who recently got used to the way 2.5 looks and feels, you’ll be in for a surprise. The write panel is now modular allowing drag and drop of elements, the top nav menu is now relegated to a left hand sidebar and last but not least, bits and pieces of the core upgrade functionality have been thrown in and so far, appears to be working.- http://wpdevel.wordpress.com/2008/08/22/new-ui-from-the-crazyhorse-experimental/

Tons Of Plugins – Did you know that the WordPress plugin repository houses 2,794 different WordPress Plugins and widgets with 10,946,839 downloads! That is a lot of extensibility. -

Plugin Of The Week – Liz Strauss Comment Badge – Liz Strauss Comment Counter is a highly configurable “comment badge” that shows the number of comments your WordPress blog has. Use it either to show off how social your blog is, as an incentive for commenter’s to be part of the blog, or just because it’s fun.

If you would like to know more about what is going on within the world of WordPress, visit www.weblogtoolscollection.com

Popularity: 37% [?]

Interview with Patrick O’Keefe about Managing Your Online Forums

Coming up on Friday, August 29th, 2008, we will have Patrick O’Keefe, author of “Managing Online Forums: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Run Successful Community Discussion Boards” as our special guest on Podcaster Training.

After our interview with Patrick, we will have a Q&A session for the viewers and listeners. Be sure to join us live and you can even call into the show live and ask your questions personally!

Want to know more about Patrick’s book? Visit his web site at http://www.managingonlineforums.com/

Podcaster Training airs live at 8:00pm EST at http://www.newmediapro.tv

Popularity: 25% [?]

Making Your Podcast Go Viral

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We all know what a virus is, whether a biological virus or a computer virus, it can spread like wildfire when introduced the proper way or method. These types of viruses can be harmful and sometimes devastating. However, when you want your podcast, web site or blog to go viral, then you really want this “virus” to spread to as many people as you possibly can.

In this episode, we discuss different ways to make your podcast go viral. Many of the methods discussed here are also applied to Internet Marketing as well.

Jeff gave his Wordpress Weekly News via a pre-recorded segment and did call in later in the show.

Patti and I talked more on the Business 101 Segment about podcast promotion and then I had to shutdown the show and not do an After Show as I had an early day the next day.

I found out later that Josh Budde ran his own version of the After Show and had several join him.

Popularity: 19% [?]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Video Sharing Networks that I am testing

Over the past few weeks, I have been testing different video sharing sites in order to find one that I can eventually settle down with for my weekly videocasts. Until I started doing my research, I never realized just how many of these type of sites are around. Did you?

Here is a list of the sites that I am checking out right now. Now, I know some of you have heard of some of these sites, but I’m willing to bet that, like me, there are some on this list that you have never heard of before now!

Here is a list of typical live video streaming features that I am looking into right now:

* Multimedia/Playlist integration: Allows you to video stream other content, such as YouTube videos, presentations, images and more, in live or scheduled shows

* Text chat: Integrated in the player or in the show page, lets you message with your visitors

* Co-hosting - Multiple web cameras: Host can decide whether to let other people show their webcam and actually mix them in like a real television channel

* Record: Lets you record the live show and, if you want, to embed a player with the recorded show on any page

1. UStream

UStream is a web broadcasting system that allows you to stream live content to the Internet from your webcam. In a matter of seconds you can create your own live station, and start streaming live images from anywhere: people can watch and chat with you on your UStream page, or simply on any site where you will embed your player. The service is free to use.

I have tried and used this service for more than 65 recordings. uStream has some glitches, but not stable enough (in my opinion) for a live videocast.
http://www.ustream.tv/

2. Mogulus

Mogulus is an online social tv service that anyone can use to create his own professional web tv show. With no technical knowledge, you can create your own channel with multiple live cameras and videos from major sharing websites (like YouTube), that you can easily mix with a click of a button. Players can be embedded on any site, and can stream live or recorded media. Free.

I have used this service since it was in private beta. The service has added many great features over the past few months, however, it seems to be CPU intensive and even though stable, requires a high end computer with enough CPU and RAM to support this service as a live videocast. As a 24 hour playlist station, it is very stable and usable by most anyone.
http://www.mogulus.com/

3. Yahoo Live

Yahoo Live is a website where everybody can stream video from their webcams. After a free registration, you can create you own streaming channel where you can broadcast right from your PC with an Internet connection, images from your webcam or any video source. Viewers can follow you, talk in the channel-chat-box, and also engage in video conferences between themselves, and obviously with you. Free.

I have signed up for an account for this service, however, have not yet tested it for my shows.
http://live.yahoo.com/

4. BlogTV

BlogTV is an online live video service that you can use to put yourself live with a computer and a webcam. You can broadcast live video from your cam, record your sessions and embed the player anywhere you want. Your viewers can send you feedback via the integrated text-chat in the player, without even signing up. Free to use.

I have not tested this service yet, but will soon.
http://www.blogtv.com/

5. Justin.tv

Justin.tv is a video streaming service, originally featuring Justin broadcasting his life 24/7 from a hat-webcam, that lets people stream their own video. With a simple registration and a webcam, you can broadcast live video at absolutely no cost, embed it on any site and chat with your viewers. Free.

I have used this service for 3 to 4 weeks now. It appears more stable than most and even has a nice feature where it will set your bandwidth for you to get the most out of your video. The downside is, that in order to reset your bandwidth, you must stop broadcasting in order to do this. Has a few quirks, but seems usable for most live videocasts.
http://www.justin.tv/

6. Kyte

Kyte is a multimedia broadcasting service that lets users put any type of content online. To start a new channel just register for free, decide whether you want to stream pictures, videos, or live images from your webcam, and embed the player anywhere so that people can watch your show and send you feedback via integrated text chat. Free to use.

I have not tested this service yet.
http://www.kyte.tv/

7. http://www.stickam.com/

Stickam is a live video streaming solution that allows you to interact with your viewers. After a free and simple registration, you can create your show, both with live and pre-recorded material, and embed it on your site. People can interact with you with text-chat or by adding their webcam and microphone to the conference, up to 6 guest video spaces. Free.

I have just started testing this service. It has the automatic bandwidth setting and will monitor and reset your bandwidth during your live show. I have not used this for a live show yet, but plan to within the next couple of weeks.
http://www.stickam.com/

8. Operator 11

Operator 11 is a website that lets you create video shows. You can stream live with your webcam and other participants can go themselves live with audio and video if the host decides so. Pre-recorded video clips can be mixed in or they can be broadcast live by anyone. All the live shows are automatically recorded so that you can embed them on your website right after. Operator 11 is free to use.

I have not tested this service yet. You are limited to 40 minutes of live show time at first. As you record more shows and use the service more frequently, you are awarded more points towards time limits and features.
http://operator11.com/

9. LiveVideo

LiveVideo is a free website where you can create your own video channel and stream your webcam video. After you create your channel, users can start watching you and add their own webcams to create a conference room where you can talk and text-chat. Registration is needed in order to use the service.

I have not tested this service yet.
http://www.livevideo.com/

10. Veetle

Veetle is a video streaming service that allows you to watch and broadcast live video in high quality. After a free signup, you can create your channel and start broadcasting both pre-recorded and live images from your camera. Viewers will need to install Veetle TV in order to watch you, and they will be able to join the show text-chat. Free.

I have not tested this service yet.
http://www.veetle.com/

11. Yaika

Yaika is a free video platform that anyone with a laptop and a camera can use to instantly stream a breaking story or share an experience, live on the Internet. After you register, you can put yourself live on the Internet with a click of a button, and stream live video instantly to the world. Shows get automatically registered and stored on the site. Free.

I have tested this service only broadcasting, not recording. Upon checking out the other shows, I noticed that there is an Erotic channel that can be gotten into as long as you tell the service that you are over the age of 18. This channel, although only has a few shows on it, does contain nudity. I may not use this service because of wanting to keep my show rated for all audiences and not wanting to expose my younger crowd to these types of channels.
http://yaika.com/

12. Veodia

Veodia is video streaming solution that you can use to broadcast live and on-demand video. With a webcam and a microphone, you can start your live sessions anywhere you are, with the possibility of uploading MP4/H264 videos, and people will be able to watch you through a multi-platform player. When you press Stop, your recording is instantly available for on-demand playback. To use it you can start a free trial.

I have not tested this service yet.
http://www.veodia.com/

13. Streamavideo

Streamavideo is a free portal that allows you to stream live video or upload recorded ones. You can send and stream live video right from your camera and have a live preview of how your video will look. You can also chat with your viewers, record video from your camera and have video conferences. The service is free to use.

I have signed up for an account here, however, I have not tested this service yet.
http://www.streamavideo.com/

I am not presenting this list to draw any conclusions about how good or how bad any one service is. I have put down my notes as to what I have experienced or have seen while using these services. It is up to the individual to make their own conclusions and test out these services for themselves.

Is this list complete? Most likely not. Services like these are coming online more and more every week with the growing popularity of videocasting. If you know of a service that is not listed here, please take a minute to place a link in the comments and I will be happy to check it out! Who knows, you may find the next service that I use as my new video home for my shows!

Popularity: 20% [?]

Great Lakes Scholars Parade at US Cellular Field

Ok, a brief break from New Media to show you a video I shot from US Cellular Field in Chicago, Illinois for the Great Lakes Scholars Program. My grandson, Malik Gayler, was among a lot of other student across the Country that were nominated for this program. Once they win the nomination, they get to partake in a ceremony like what you will see on the video. The video is shot from the first person perspective and my grandson was fortunate to be the first in line at the parade! We even had an added bonus when Ken Griffey, Jr. walked across our path on his way to the dugout. Needless to say, the kids were honored by thousands of cheering baseball fans as the announcer read off some names and told about the program. You can here some of this on the audio, but not real clear. Enjoy!

Popularity: 28% [?]

WordPress News For The Week Of August 22nd 2008

*Theme Repository Interview* – Joseph Scott and Matt Mullenweg were both interview by Ian Stewart of ThemeShaper.com in regards to the WordPress theme directory. What was interesting to note during this interview was that when Matt was asked which features were his favorite, his response was, there are a ton of features coming soon that will be his favorite. - http://themeshaper.com/matt-mullenweg-joseph-scott-wordpress-themes-directory/

*WordPress Keeps Growing * – During Matt Mullenwegs State Of The Word address which highlights the state of the WordPress project and WordPress.com announced growth statistics over the past year. Not going to go over the numbers here but they are pretty impressive. Worthy of note is that there are 2.6 million active user-installed WordPress blogs. This data is relatively accurate considering it is based off of real data.- http://hackwordpress.com/wordpress-continues-to-show-incredible-growth/ <http://uk.wordcamp.org/>

*Agencies Using WordPress* – Mark Jaquith recently published a post which highlighted 16 different U.S. Government Agencies using WordPress. These agencies range from the Air Force, U.S. Army to the National Security Agency and the Navy. Once again, this showcases that even the big boys are confident to use WordPress as their publishing platform. - http://markjaquith.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/us-government-agencies-using-wordpress/

*Plugin Of The Week* – *Open Games* – Open Games is a WordPress plugin created by FreeGames.DE which sits in your blog sidebar and gives your readers the opportunity to stay busy with easy access to over 400 different online games. Once the plugin is activated, a play online games button will appear in your sidebar. If you click on this button, a DHTML layer will open up in your browser allowing you to play different games without having to leave the webpage.

If you would like to know more about what is going on within the world of WordPress, visit www.weblogtoolscollection.com <http://www.jeffro2pt0.com/>

Popularity: 44% [?]

Using Videos in Viral Marketing

More and more advertisers are adopting video as broadband continues to rise and ad-serving technologies become more sophisticated. Online video advertising is really taking off. Users’ attention can be captured and ads stand out from the crowd in an increasingly ad-cluttered online environment. It is true that video formats cost five to ten times more to serve than standard banners and they involve a lot more production and implementation work but they may well be worth all of that if they achieve greater response rates.

Where to use online video if wishing to maximize its effect, is what advertisers must carefully consider. Video to be used on the Internet should be information and communication focused while video to be used on television should be focused on entertainment.

Like everything else, there are good ways and bad ways to use video advertising. Right now most marketers are incorporating their audio-visual content into existing embedded ad formats like banners or over-content formats like pop-ups. Though this could reach a potentially large audience, viewers are likely to be less captivated and more annoyed by these disruptive and distracting placements.

Cached or streaming video on a specific destination site offers the best chance of interesting consumers in brand messages, but it is not likely to reach a large audience unless it generates a viral outcome.

Whatever you come up with, don’t forget to make it easy to open and distribute. File size is important, as is the media format. If your viral video has been created for a particular type of software that not many people use, how will you get people to spread it like wildfire?

Also, if you’ve made a video the impact will be better if you send the clip as an attachment rather than stream it. It’s cheaper and, if you’re not hosting it, it’s more viral, too.

Popularity: 23% [?]

The Importance of Branding

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This episode was our first using Justin.TV and I must say, it was not your normal Podcaster Training Show! On the bright side, we had 14 new viewers using this service and they just kinda stumbled on in and mostly stayed around for the show!

Due to the absence of my Co-Host and Segment Hosts, I went ahead and dove into the main topic. Ok, I tried to dive in, but there were lots of questions in the chat room, so I paused and spent about 20 minutes answering questions. Needless to say, the viewers and those listening to the podcast will learn a little more about me! I won’t into any details here, but if you want to know more, listen to the episode in the player below.

Patti showed up later in the show (she told me earlier that she would be late and had a very good reason) and we went into the Business 101 Segment and brought the main topic into this segment and talked about the importance of branding your business.

I must say that this initial test of Justin.TV worked very well. I will try them for a few weeks to see how well they work and I am currently testing some other services, so I’ll let you know what I find.

Chris Brogan has a great post about personal branding. Check this out when you have time!

Next week, we will be talking about making your podcast go viral. If you are not acquainted with viral marketing, or simply aren’t sure what this is, be sure to tune in and find out more!

Popularity: 26% [?]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The Personal Publisher is back online!

A few months ago, I had a hard database crash at The Personal Publisher site, where I sell a lot of my eBooks and software. Well, since the crash, I have not had the time to rebuild it and finally have it up and running again with more than 200 products available. This time though, I am selling EVERYTHING for just $2.00 each! You read that right, just $2.00 each! No matter if it is a $27.00 item or a $97.00 item, you now have the chance to get it for just $2.00 each!

I will continue to stock the online store with more products as I have time. Why am I doing this? Because I believe everyone deserves a chance to get the eBooks and software at prices they can afford!

Now, there is a catch here. The only catch is, there will be no refunds on any of these items. I think this is only fair since you are only paying $2.00, don’t you?

Visit the site at http://www.thepersonalpublisher.com

Popularity: 23% [?]

The Transition to Video - Part 4

It’s been a few days since my last post in this series and I apologize for being away. Since my last post, a few things have changed and that’s just another part of the transition. I started this journey to video by using uStream.TV and have been using this service for a while now. Recently, they (uStream) have been having some issues with video freezing and chat rooms disappearing and not coming back. These are minor frustrations in any live show, and I know that there isn’t any “perfectly stable” service, at least, not for free!

Now, when it comes to live, video streaming, you do have a few choices. I’m not going to name them all here, however, I am looking at and testing Justin.TV and will give it a full run through on Friday Night. I have been testing Justin.TV all week and so far, so good. They have some good things and some not so good things, but as free services go, they offer everything a live, video streamer needs to produce a good show.

I have already changed my Live Page to reflect this change, so Friday Night, that’s the place to find me easily.

I will talk more about Justin.TV on Friday’s Podcaster Training Show. It will still air at 8:00pm EST.

I have been asked, “Has this transition been easy for you?”. The simple answer is, no. No transition is ever easy as there will always be pitfalls and other stumbling blocks that must be overcome. One of my biggest stumbling blocks has been having to start over again rebuilding my audience. I had a steady rising number of listeners on my live, audio program and it took more than 75 episodes (roughly about a year and a half) and when I went to my video format, I lost most of my “faithful” listeners. Now, don’t get me wrong, this told me a lot about who was listening to my show.

So, now, I am working to rebuild my listeners and viewers. I didn’t pick up many new viewers on uSteam and I am hoping that Justin.TV will prove differently. Just during my brief testing, I had live viewers checking me out, so this shows promise. Remember, Time will tell, it always does!

Even though this isn’t going to be easy, I will remain persistent and continue to produce my shows. In fact, in about a month, I will be starting a series on building and audience. I will be discussing most of the techniques that I am using to do just that.

Well, that wraps it up for for this post. More to come!

See you next time!

Popularity: 42% [?]

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