A Review of Blogtalkradio.com

If you’ve been bitten by the show business bug, yet can’t quite find a way to scratch your itch in the bright lights of a big city, BlogTalkRadio may be just what the doctor ordered. Launched in late 2006, the owners of BlogTalkRadio describe it this way:

BlogTalkRadio is the social radio network that allows users to connect quickly and directly with their audience. Using an ordinary telephone and computer hosts can create free, live, call-in talk shows with unlimited participants that are automatically archived and made available as podcasts.

I have used the site, both as a listener and as an amateur radio host and I believe that it is one of the greatest social media tools created to date. Certainly, it is not appropriate in every situation requiring some form of outreach, but it truly offers more bang for the buck than many social media platforms.

Real-Time Connections

For one, the ability to connect with an audience in real-time, disseminating information to them all at once and in a live voice, is a precious commodity not only for those wanting to break into show business, but also to corporations and other organizations. Sometimes, there are issues that an organization deems important that the news media may not—in effect making the ability to speak to the public audibly impossible. BlogTalkRadio gives a business or organization a modicum of power that they did not have before its inception.

Amazing Sound Quality

Another great thing about BlogTalkRadio is the fact that considering you can use a standard telephone line, the quality of the broadcasts is actually very good. In fact, as long as the telephone used is in good working condition, the sound quality is as good as that heard on most any talk radio broadcast.

Ease of Use

For some, the thought of doing something in real-time can seem like a daunting task. There are the considerations about saying something inappropriate, not having the right answers or just simply freezing up, unable to perform altogether. Because BlogTalkRadio can be used with nothing more than a standard phone line, including cell phones, this tends to put the host at ease. They don’t feel so much like they are actually broadcasting something live, but more like they are simply having a conversation with friends or with a customer the same as they would while sitting at an office desk.

Now, this can be both a good and bad thing as the comfort level can make it a bit easy to forget that the broadcast is still actually a broadcast and it is being recorded to eventually be repackaged as a podcast. So, this is something that should be carefully broached with a host before going live.

To become broadcast ready, a host simply needs to register at www.blogtalkradio.com, set up a profile, which can include a logo, sound effects and any other audio files she would like to use during the broadcast of her shows. Then, using the show scheduling feature at the site, the host can schedule a broadcast and either prepare to go live in as little as 15 to 30 minutes, or set up a show for future broadcast and then begin promotion efforts.

Once the show is ready for broadcast, the host need simply to prepare herself for going live and answering questions from her audience or to fill the time with something more than dead air.

Almost As Good as the Real Thing

All of the simple processes mentioned above are just some of the many things that make BlogTalkRadio a tremendous asset to any organization’s social media toolkit. During live broadcasts of shows on BlogTalkRadio, hosts operate a switchboard that allows them to screen and take calls live on the air. It is a very simple set-up, requiring very little instruction for a host to get up and running.

Calls can be patched through to go live on air and if a host should tire of a caller who refuses to be respectful, with the click of a button the call can be ended and dropped from the air.

More than One Way to Connect

Aside from the live broadcast, there is even a chatroom feature attached to each account. So, during a live broadcast, a host or co-host can also engage in conversation with a listener in a chatroom. This is a wonderful feature for those who would like to ask a question of a host, but would rather not use their own voice over the air to ask the question. Or, the switchboard may be full and a listener desperately wants to ask the host a question. The chatroom makes this possible and every listener feels as though their needs have been met.

Worth a Try

BlogTalkRadio is one of the most innovative social media tools available on the market today. While there are some features that are only available for paid accounts, the features included in free accounts are more than sufficient for being able to create a live radio broadcast. It’s not Air or Radio America, but considering the fact that there is no cost associated with using this platform, it is too good to pass up. Give it a try.