1: Find web space available for you to upload your media files to.

There are plenty of web hosts available for you to choose from. From Google, do a search for “Web Hosting”. I recommend getting a Linux/PHP based host – because they are simpler to configure than Microsoft based hosting. As a general rule, try to find the most web space available, with the greatest amount of traffic allotted for your site. As your podcast grows in popularity – you don’t want to get sacked with extra traffic fees.

Before settling for a host, it also is in your best interests to do a little research to make sure they have a decent reputation. Lots of hosts over-sell their plans in order to get more business. There are lots of horror stories I’ve read of people that found thei

No One Ever Wants to Give Cash Back: You Can Profit!
I learned this technique from an ancient Umatic (3/4 inch) video cassette. It was produced to assist car dealerships in getting the most money from trade-in sales. I don't know if car dealerships still teach this, but I've never had it fail me, yet.Here is how it works in the video. Someone wants a thousand dollars for their trade-in. It's worth a thousand dollars, but you don't want to pay them a thousand dollars. You only want to pay them six hundred dollars, which they have already turned down. You let them see you think about it and then you pull your money out of your pocket. Into their hand, while counting, you put a one hundred dollar bill, then another, then another, then another . . . you hesitate . . . you slowly give them one more hundred dollar bill . . . and then add one more hundred dollar bill, and stop. You think about it and then say something like, "No, I'm sorry I know it's worth more than that, but that's all I can afford to pay." You have placed them in a predicament. They have six hundred dollars in hand. Ready money. Hard cash. You reach out to

When our church first decided to venture into the world of podcasting last year, the process seemed daunting. We had only ventured into multimedia development a little bit – mostly in recording and burning our sermons to CD. The internet, however, and things such as podcasting, seemed completely foreign to us.

Our friends in other congregations who already had podcasts running kept extolling how wonderful the technology was, and how it enabled them to get the message out for a relatively low cost. When our neighbors showed us that they were getting weekly updates from every church in the area apart from ours, we made the decision to make the leap as well (no, there isn’t any sense of competitiveness here. Certainly not!)

This article is the end result of the past year of our endeavors, and hopefully will serve as a primer for those that want to get their church podcasting as well. The hardest part of getting the podcast up and running was understanding exactly how a podcast works, and getting everything properly prepared. I hope to help you through that learning curve, by explaining everything in simple language. The concept isn’t difficult whatsoever!

First, let’s define what a podcast is.

A podcast is a text file located on the internet that points to a group of media files. This text file is called a newsfeed (or an RSS feed), and acts like a roadmap to media files that are also located on the internet. When someone views a podcast, what they are actually doing is reading this text file, and being pointed to the appropriate media files.

The program that reads the text file (newsfeed) is called an aggregator. The aggregator reads the text file, and grabs the media files that it is being pointed to. All of this is done in the background, giving you the illusion of “single” show that has multiple episodes. In reality, however, it’s just a bunch of files located on the internet tied together via this text file.

This text file must follow a certain format, in order to assure compatibility across the range of aggregators out there (e.g., iTunes). The structure of the text file defines the details of the show (the show’s title, description, etc), and where to find the show’s episodes. It’s done in a pretty straightforward manner.

For an example of how a newsfeed looks, check out Apple’s technical document on podcast structure. http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcaststechspecs.html#_Toc526931673 “Channel” defines the shows, and “item” defines the episodes. Once you have the file created, to add more episodes, you simply add another “item” pointing to a new file.

That’s how a podcast is structured.

Next, we’re going to tell you what you need to get your podcast up and running. There are two options. The first is what you will need if you want to do it all yourself. The second (and our preference) is the simpler route, which is to get a podcast host. These instructions presume that you already have your sermon, or other audio file, converted into MP3 format and ready to go.

To set up a podcast by yourself, you will need to do the following:

1: Find web space available for you to upload your media files to.

There are plenty of web hosts available for you to choose from. From Google, do a search for “Web Hosting”. I recommend getting a Linux/PHP based host – because they are simpler to configure than Microsoft based hosting. As a general rule, try to find the most web space available, with the greatest amount of traffic allotted for your site. As your podcast grows in popularity – you don’t want to get sacked with extra traffic fees.

Before settling for a host, it also is in your best interests to do a little research to make sure they have a decent reputation. Lots of hosts over-sell their plans in order to get more business. There are lots of horror stories I’ve read of people that found their

Tips for Finding the Perfect Work at Home Freelance Job
The freelance market is booming due to the poor economy, and many people are trying to find jobs that will allow them to work at home. Many companies are choosing to pay freelancers instead of hefting the cost of regular company employee. Why should you consider freelance work? Freelance jobs allow you freedom to choose when you want to work and how you long you work. You can set your schedule around your life. Freelancing allows you to do home work and not worry about commuting to the office. However, there is a lot of competition in the work at home job market. Here are a few tips to help you break into the freelancing world.Networking is key to finding any job, and it is important in finding job that allows you to work at home as well. Tell everyone you know you are looking for freelance work. Someone might give you a inside tip about a potential job opportunity. Approach small businesses that might need help.Apply for regular jobs that might turn into a work at home opportunity. Many employers might be advertising for a regular office job, but might consid

serve as a primer for those that want to get their church podcasting as well. The hardest part of getting the podcast up and running was understanding exactly how a podcast works, and getting everything properly prepared. I hope to help you through that learning curve, by explaining everything in simple language. The concept isn’t difficult whatsoever!

First, let’s define what a podcast is.

A podcast is a text file located on the internet that points to a group of media files. This text file is called a newsfeed (or an RSS feed), and acts like a roadmap to media files that are also located on the internet. When someone views a podcast, what they are actually doing is reading this text file, and being pointed to the appropriate media files.

The program that reads the text file (newsfeed) is called an aggregator. The aggregator reads the text file, and grabs the media files that it is being pointed to. All of this is done in the background, giving you the illusion of “single” show that has multiple episodes. In reality, however, it’s just a bunch of files located on the internet tied together via this text file.

This text file must follow a certain format, in order to assure compatibility across the range of aggregators out there (e.g., iTunes). The structure of the text file defines the details of the show (the show’s title, description, etc), and where to find the show’s episodes. It’s done in a pretty straightforward manner.

For an example of how a newsfeed looks, check out Apple’s technical document on podcast structure. http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcaststechspecs.html#_Toc526931673 “Channel” defines the shows, and “item” defines the episodes. Once you have the file created, to add more episodes, you simply add another “item” pointing to a new file.

That’s how a podcast is structured.

Next, we’re going to tell you what you need to get your podcast up and running. There are two options. The first is what you will need if you want to do it all yourself. The second (and our preference) is the simpler route, which is to get a podcast host. These instructions presume that you already have your sermon, or other audio file, converted into MP3 format and ready to go.

To set up a podcast by yourself, you will need to do the following:

1: Find web space available for you to upload your media files to.

There are plenty of web hosts available for you to choose from. From Google, do a search for “Web Hosting”. I recommend getting a Linux/PHP based host – because they are simpler to configure than Microsoft based hosting. As a general rule, try to find the most web space available, with the greatest amount of traffic allotted for your site. As your podcast grows in popularity – you don’t want to get sacked with extra traffic fees.

Before settling for a host, it also is in your best interests to do a little research to make sure they have a decent reputation. Lots of hosts over-sell their plans in order to get more business. There are lots of horror stories I’ve read of people that found thei

Open a Dollar Store - It is About Relationship Building
If you open a dollar store you will soon discover that the most successful stores are built on strong relationships. Those relationships involve employees, customers, suppliers and vendors and the community. Long term growth and success are built on those relationships.Vendors and Suppliers Reps are in touch with the business world. Often they are the first to spot market trends. Knowing those trends when you open a dollar store can put your store ahead of the curve as new hot products enter the market. They also can save you from losses when you are among the first to know about products that have fallen out a favor.Customer relationships are the very foundation of long term growth and sales success. It doesn’t matter whether you have the hottest products. It doesn’t matter whether your store is the most conveniently located. When you open a dollar store you will soon find that if you and your employees have failed to establish a solid relationship with shoppers you are doomed to struggle.Establishing a solid relationship with all of your employees is

ggregator. The aggregator reads the text file, and grabs the media files that it is being pointed to. All of this is done in the background, giving you the illusion of “single” show that has multiple episodes. In reality, however, it’s just a bunch of files located on the internet tied together via this text file.

This text file must follow a certain format, in order to assure compatibility across the range of aggregators out there (e.g., iTunes). The structure of the text file defines the details of the show (the show’s title, description, etc), and where to find the show’s episodes. It’s done in a pretty straightforward manner.

For an example of how a newsfeed looks, check out Apple’s technical document on podcast structure. http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcaststechspecs.html#_Toc526931673 “Channel” defines the shows, and “item” defines the episodes. Once you have the file created, to add more episodes, you simply add another “item” pointing to a new file.

That’s how a podcast is structured.

Next, we’re going to tell you what you need to get your podcast up and running. There are two options. The first is what you will need if you want to do it all yourself. The second (and our preference) is the simpler route, which is to get a podcast host. These instructions presume that you already have your sermon, or other audio file, converted into MP3 format and ready to go.

To set up a podcast by yourself, you will need to do the following:

1: Find web space available for you to upload your media files to.

There are plenty of web hosts available for you to choose from. From Google, do a search for “Web Hosting”. I recommend getting a Linux/PHP based host – because they are simpler to configure than Microsoft based hosting. As a general rule, try to find the most web space available, with the greatest amount of traffic allotted for your site. As your podcast grows in popularity – you don’t want to get sacked with extra traffic fees.

Before settling for a host, it also is in your best interests to do a little research to make sure they have a decent reputation. Lots of hosts over-sell their plans in order to get more business. There are lots of horror stories I’ve read of people that found thei

The Extreme Importance of Capturing the Email Addresses of Your Website Visitors
If you are promoting yur website without a system in place to capture the email addresses of your website visitors, then you are simply losing your sales. Reasearch has shown that a potential customer may view your offer seven or more times before purchasing your product. Most first-time visitors to your website will not buy your products. They do not know you and are not familiar with your products. They may have ended up on your website while casually surfing the web.Therefore, by capturing the names and email addresses, you will then be in position to open up a communications channel to provide them maximum exposure to your products. Again, it must be emphasized that providing potential customers maximum exposure to your products will most likely induce them to buy from you.The key ingredient to collecting and managing the names and email addresses from your website is the Autoresponder system. You must subscribe to an Autoresponder account to manage the database of your potential customers. You can generate a signup form from your<

" target="_blank">http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcaststechspecs.html#_Toc526931673 “Channel” defines the shows, and “item” defines the episodes. Once you have the file created, to add more episodes, you simply add another “item” pointing to a new file.

That’s how a podcast is structured.

Next, we’re going to tell you what you need to get your podcast up and running. There are two options. The first is what you will need if you want to do it all yourself. The second (and our preference) is the simpler route, which is to get a podcast host. These instructions presume that you already have your sermon, or other audio file, converted into MP3 format and ready to go.

To set up a podcast by yourself, you will need to do the following:

1: Find web space available for you to upload your media files to.

There are plenty of web hosts available for you to choose from. From Google, do a search for “Web Hosting”. I recommend getting a Linux/PHP based host – because they are simpler to configure than Microsoft based hosting. As a general rule, try to find the most web space available, with the greatest amount of traffic allotted for your site. As your podcast grows in popularity – you don’t want to get sacked with extra traffic fees.

Before settling for a host, it also is in your best interests to do a little research to make sure they have a decent reputation. Lots of hosts over-sell their plans in order to get more business. There are lots of horror stories I’ve read of people that found thei

Where Are Those Affiliate Commissions I Earned?
When you sign up for an affiliate program, you have the highest of expectations, and begin doing the math: x number of an item at $50 each, times your commission rate, and you’ve earned yourself a bundle! If you have a site that’s an authority on a certain subject or a gathering place for people who are, you may do very well.But you still may not be seeing the big checks in your mailbox. Why not? There are a number of possibilities: Your merchants or affiliate network may pay only on a monthly basis. You may be working with a merchant who pays only after you reach a certain threshold of sales. Commissions may be paid monthly, with rollovers from a prior month if your click-thru’s didn’t hit the threshold the prior month. Your commission account may have been debited for returns or order cancellations Or, worst, your merchant may not be able to pay the commissions.Returns are a tricky one, but one way to reduce them is to be certain you link only to sites with high quality products. Check out the advertiser’s site and see how it strikes you. If you

ng:

1: Find web space available for you to upload your media files to.

There are plenty of web hosts available for you to choose from. From Google, do a search for “Web Hosting”. I recommend getting a Linux/PHP based host – because they are simpler to configure than Microsoft based hosting. As a general rule, try to find the most web space available, with the greatest amount of traffic allotted for your site. As your podcast grows in popularity – you don’t want to get sacked with extra traffic fees.

Before settling for a host, it also is in your best interests to do a little research to make sure they have a decent reputation. Lots of hosts over-sell their plans in order to get more business. There are lots of horror stories I’ve read of people that found their websites censured for excessive traffic when they were nowhere near the limits their plan advertised. A little research can help you avoid falling victim to an unscrupulous host.

2: Upload your media files (mp3 files, pictures and video files) to your new host.

You will most likely transfer your media files to your host through what’s called FTP. FTP is “File Transfer Protocol”. On Windows, I like “Wise FTP” by AceBit the best. On Macintosh, my favorite is Cyberduck. You can find both on Google.

One thing to keep in mind is whether or not your media files are supported by your web hosting company. If you’re simply podcasting your audio sermons, MP3 is pretty much universally supported. If you’re podcasting video files (M4V or MP4), you might need to configure your server to recognize those files. This is done via what’s called a “mime type” and is set up in a file called .htaccess on your web server.

To find out more information, if you need it, google “.htaccess mime types” for a detailed explanation.

3: Once you have uploaded the files, and thereby know where the files are located, it’s time to create the newsfeed.

Make sure that your newsfeed mimics the format we showed you earlier. If you follow that format, you should be good to go. Create your channel, and add all of your items.

Once you have created your newsfeed file, upload it to your server as well. Test it out by going to feedvalidator.org. If your feed comes back invalid, it will give suggestions as to how to fix your feed. If it comes back saying the feed is valid, then you’re good to go! Start submitting it to channels like yahoo, and the iTunes music store.

Those are all of the steps required to get a podcast up and running, if you wish to do it all yourself!

The other alternative is to get what is called a podcast host.

Podcast hosts take care of all of the hosting, newsfeed creation and testing for you. When you contract a podcast host, you don’t need to worry about file types, ensuring that your feed is valid, or finding web space. They take care of all of that for you. With a podcast host, you simply upload the media file, give it a name and a description, and you’re done.

After a few months of maintaining our podcast and constantly updating the feed to reflect new additions to our podcast, this is the direction we chose to go. It really simplified the production process, and actually ended up costing us less per month than what we were paying before. This is an excellent option to consider for church podcasting.

There are a lot of podcast hosts out there offering different packages. When determining which one to contract – look at the following things:

1. How much do they charge vs. how much space do you get for your podcasts?
2. Do they limit your bandwidth? (This is particularly important. One host we went with charged for bandwidth beyond a certain point, and it cost us a pretty penny.) It’s best to get a po