Richard Harbutt from DigitalVisual.co.uk discusses starting his Web career and makes a generous donation of code for your XML product feeds.
From making Tea's and coffee's and running tasks in a News Television production company to building sophisticated eCommerce web sites and online businesses, Richard has become a seasoned web veteran (and great bloke too!).
A BC partner based in the UK visiting San Francisco, I was able to drag him away from more exciting adventures to sit down and record this interview.
It's a tale of dial-up internet, custom web development and writing XML parsers.
Listen as Richard shares his story and tips for the XML Product feed:
Simply click the play button below to stream the podcast via your browser.
To subscribe and receive the BC Podcast each month, you can find us on the iTunes store here or by simply searching "BC Podcast" from iTunes.
What I love about the Business Catalyst Partner community is the free sharing of ideas, work-arounds and best practice - and Richard is giving away the PHP code he uses to create the BC - Google Shop product feed.
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Ouch! 23% of your profit might be going down the drain.
Years of hard work building his Web Development business, managing client projects and leaking cash through un-tracked time billing, caused Geoff McQueen, BC Partner and CEO of www.affinitylive.com to solve that problem and ensure his growing business had systems in place to manage and measure all the tasks that "made money" or "cost money"
Listen as Geoff shares his story and lessons learned:
Simply click the play button below to stream the podcast via your browser.
To subscribe and receive the BC Podcast each month, you can find us on the iTunes store here or by simply searching "BC Podcast" from iTunes.
Geoff began building a Web Development business in 2000. Painfully as it grew he found deficiencies in managing projects.
Always being very busy but not as profitable.
Decided to scratch an itch to solve his own business irritation.
"It's only by taking that first step, getting out there, getting over the fear of failure and the issue of being a perfectionist and thinking we need to have it 100% before releasing something."
Without spending any more money or acquiring more customers you can increase profitability by around 23%.
Fixed price billing Vs time-based billing.
You might do fixed price projects, but your Variable costs still have to be paid.
How are you measuring your profitability and "how long did it really take"?
If you're a current Business Catalyst Partner interested in access to AffinityLive (It's integrated into the BC Partner Portal) AND to score a Free AffinityLive T-Shirt* - leave feedback about the Podcast in the comments below.
Our monthly quiz - be the first listener to chime in with the correct answer in the comments, and we'll give you a special shout out in next year's first episode!
Laser focus and building a business with passion in a niche you love; listen as Patrick Steil from ChurchBuzz.org shares his heart, then think about how you might apply these lessons to become a specialist, not a generalist:
Simply click the play button below to stream the podcast via your browser.
To subscribe and receive the BC Podcast each month, you can find us on the iTunes store here or by simply searching "BC Podcast" from iTunes.
My wife and I have spent the past 17 years owning our own business.
For the first 15 years we survived, made some money, enjoyed the freedom that it offered. But at the end of 15 years, I looked back and realized that we had very little to show for all our long hours at the grindstone.
And then a friend of mine told me to read “The E-Myth” by Michael Gerber. As I started in chapter one I began to see the reason we were still struggling to “make it”. By the end of the book I was both disappointed that I had never read this book before, but excited because Mr. Gerber had taught me THE #1 most valuable lesson about being in business.
In my own words, if you want to be a business owner, then you are not in the business of building widgets or providing services - you are in the business of “building a business”! A business is not simply a place where provide a service and get paid - that is called a JOB! At the end of the day, a business is a standalone entity that produces cash. It is a system of many sub-systems - marketing, sales, product development, product fulfillment, finance, HR and management. MANAGEMENT is the most important system - this is where YOU live... this is where you are designing, planning, documenting THE SYSTEM that is your business. You are in the business of BUILDING a business - the system.
This book truly changed our lives. It has transformed us from simply having jobs that made enough money for us to survive to giving us a pattern and plan for how to transform our business into a scalable system that grows every day towards allowing us to manage the business instead of just “building websites”. And more importantly we are fulfilling our life purpose and will some day be able to look back and be proud about the people and churches that we have helped along the way.
Version 1 of our business was a custom web application development shop. We were proud to boast that “if you can’t find something off the shelf, we can build it”. We found our customers by random networking. If you talk to enough people, you can find someone that needs the work you want to do. We had no solid direction - each client we took on was in a different industry, with different needs - very different projects. We could never gain any traction - we never got REALLY good at ONE thing. We were the “jack of all trades, master of none”. We did good quality work for our clients, but I now realize that if we had decided to specialize in ONE solid area, we could have done so much more for them and our “system” would have developed into an awesome business.
Anyway, fast forward to Version 2.0 which we call ChurchBuzz. We are laser focused - we provide website design and management for Churches. In fact, not just any church, but we are focused specifically on helping Methodist Churches. Why so small a niche?
We don’t have to learn how each type of Church “does business”... we learn it once and then all of them are the same in terms of their desires, needs, approval processes, budgeting, etc.
We become experts at providing exactly what they need and can develop documented processes and systems for delivering high quality work for every client, every time. We can deliver a “better” service.
We can do the work faster than other firms because we know exactly what we need to produce and how to produce it. We can deliver a “faster” service.
We can hire lower skilled people to do the work because we can train them on exactly what, where and how to do the work. We can deliver a “cheaper” service.
I used to tell our clients - you want it “better”, “faster” and “cheaper”? Well you can’t have all three - you have to pick two! I have a theory that if you can figure out how to deliver it better, faster AND cheaper, you may just have a business plan that works.
My tips on how to BUILD a successful business:
1. Read The E-Myth by Michael Gerber - an easy read and so powerful.
2. Read Built to Sell by John Warillow - another easy read with more specifics on how to grow from one person to a true business.
3. Find a business mentor - someone who has built a business in this way, who you can see has a quality operation and acts like a business “owner”. Contact me!
4. Invest six months to a year in planning your business. Figure out and design each of the sub-systems of the business. Start networking and talking to people about what you want to do and figure out where the real need is. You can’t be successful if you aren’t fulfilling a need. Find your NICHE market - don’t try to be all things to all people - find a niche that has a need that you are passionate about serving.
5. Network like crazy in your niche market... make sure everyone knows you and make sure you only take on projects that you can deliver on 110%. Word of mouth and trust in your “network” will keep you getting new clients all the time. Your goal is to build your marketing engine and reputation such that your business gets leads every month without you having to knock on doors or pick up the phone each month.
6. Figure out exactly how to do all of the above and do it without debt. Debt will kill you. Take Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University class before you begin and get your own personal finances straight before you make it worse by trying to start your own business. Then read Dave Ramsey’s “EntreLeadership” book - great stuff on practical ways to hire, fire, build your team, build your company culture and how to be a great leader.
7. Find one client and do a fantastic job for them. Use that as a stepping stone to your next client. Rinse and repeat until the clients are calling you!
8. Always under promise and OVER deliver - most people do the opposite. This is your best selling tool! Train your team to do the same!
To my last point - find a great team. I consider Adobe and the Business Catalyst (BC) team part of my “team” that is helping us “win” in our business. We searched high and low for the best Web Management / CMS solution out there. We think that as it stands today Business Catalyst is a great product - gives us flexibility when designing and producing websites to do ANYTHING we need to do, and also is friendly enough for our content managers and power user clients to use. The plans that BC has for the future - we believe will put it head to head with Wordpress and every other CMS out there.
We love BC! It is a solid product to build a business if you are looking to do:
website design
website production
website seo
website management
And for those of you who love Wordpress or other “free open source” CMS products - do you want to be in the business of managing technology, dealing with installs, server upgrades, redundancy, making a world class hosting setup?
Or do you want to leverage a world-class team that
manages the servers and provides great performance and up-time
updates the CMS and Online Business Tools, CRM, eMail Marketing and eCommerce constantly
charges you a very minimal monthly fee you can scale your business as you need with one small up front investment
allows you to focus on designing and documenting your business so that you can get out there and sell!
In my mind, this is the way to build a web development business. Little up front investment, they manage it all. This allows you to focus on delivering a quality product to your clients. This is a great foundation for building a true business as I have described in this article.
Have more questions on building a true business or are considering using BC for your website business? Please feel free to contact me!
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Ever wondered if you can tell if someone is genuine and ethical in the work they do?
You can usually tell by the volunteer work they're involved in and the way they talk about the lessons their parents taught them.
Julio and I (Adam Broadway), had the chance to talk recently about his life lessons growing up and also the process he went through setting up the first Adobe Business Catalyst User Group in Puerto Rico.
My business partner, Scott B. Reynolds, has been an Adobe User Group Manager for years and currently runs the the Hartford Adobe User Group. He has created a place for web professionals to learn, network, and exchange ideas. I thought it was such a great community resource, that I decided to do the same thing for Business Catalyst in Puerto Rico.
There are specific things I needed to do to get started. Adobe first had to approve the group as an official BC User Group. I contacted Aaron Houston, Community Manager for North America. Scott already had a working relationship with Aaron, and introduced us. I met up with Aaron at AdobeMax and talked to him about the idea. He told me that to be certified as an official BC User Group by Adobe I had to meet a set of requirements, I had to:
1. Secure a venue
I wanted to secure a safe and professional venue with ample room and a projector. I approached the local office of New Horizons Learning Center and asked them if we could use their facilities after hours to host our group meetings. They said that we could and since it was after hours it would be free of charge. You’d be surprised how many people are willing to help you if you only ask.
2. Recruit members
I set up a meetup.com site and invited all of my friends and professional contacts I thought would benefit from this type of community. We had 7 people in our first meeting and had 14 confirmed for our second. Recruiting people to start a group can be hard work; you have to motivate people to take time out of their busy days to come and listen to you. With every meeting though, recruitment becomes easier, your group members become convinced of the value the group provides and they themselves begin to recruit more members.
3. Apply for Adobe User Group (AUG) status
This is very straight forward, your Community Manager walks you through this step.
4. 30 Day Trial in AUG Program
During this Trial Period, all you need to do is keep your Community Manager apprised of your efforts. Let them know about your preparations for your meetings; tell them how your recruitment efforts are going; show them that you are proactive and committed to creating a solid User Group.
5. Fill out the AUG Info Form
Again, a straightforward step that your Community Manager can help you with.
6. Hold 1st Meeting
This is the most exiting part - it’s what all of your hard work leads up to. During my Group’s first meeting I went over our group objectives and asked for topic suggestions from our members. The group was very motivated and it really was a great experience.
7. Contact Adobe Community Manager about meeting
In my case I wrote a short e-mail to Aaron Houston and summarized how the meeting went (it went great!). I let him know how many people came, what we talked about, and what our goals were for our next meeting.
After the end of your trial period, if you’ve completed all the steps, you are confirmed as an official AdobeBC User Group.
After Approval
Running a group requires a good deal of work and it’s real commitment. As most things that are difficult to do, the rewards are many. In life you get what you give, and sharing your knowledge is great way of giving.
Good Reasons To Start A Group
This type of group benefits everyone. Both web professionals and business owners learn and discuss how Business Catalyst can help accomplish their goals more efficiently. And, you get to improve your public speaking, make new contacts, and continue to develop BC skills.
A Bad Reason To Start A User Group
Business opportunities might be a serendipitous byproduct, but shouldn’t be your principal motivation. The minute you start thinking about personal profit, the entire feel of the group goes out the window. People will pick up on your intentions and they will stop going. It’s important that you keep a generous and altruistic attitude towards your work with the User Group. You get what you give, so just trust that good things will happen.
Listen to Brent Weaver share important tips for Business Catalyst Partners.
In a perfect example of leveraging your professional network to grow customer leads, Brent Weaver talks to me (Adam Broadway), about how BC Gurus helps Business Catalyst partners sell and build more profitable websites.
Mentioned in the podcast are 3 free videos showing you:
How to lift your profit and sell Business Catalyst at 3x the list price
How to design Business Catalyst templates with business functionality in mind, and get a free Photoshop PSD
How to find more potential clients as a Business Catalyst partner
Listen to my interview with Brent Weaver by clicking the play button below to stream the podcast via your browser.
I like the valuable information you supply in your articles. I will bookmark your blog and check once more here frequently. I'm quite sure I will be told many new stuff right right here! Good luck for the next!
To subscribe and receive the BC Podcast each month, you can find us on the iTunes store here or by simply searching "BC Podcast" from iTunes.
Stay honest. Be creative. Work hard.
I've found, when I truly care about what I’m doing, the results are incredible.
So what is the secret to going from an idea that I'm passionate about to an incredible finished product?
At the end of the day it really comes down to sticking to my guns, giving myself permission to pour my heart and soul into the project, then working like a dog until I see it come to fruition!
Before founding Small Green Door, I was an artist making interactive digital installations. This passion led me to constantly scouring the internet for DIY coding projects. I have always loved experimenting with code, but I never thought it would become an addiction! Letting my curiosity take over is how it all started.
My passion for coding and interface design is ultimately what led to founding Small Green Door. It began as an experiment involving myself and a few other creative freelancers. Our collective goal was quite simple at first. We wanted to bring a fresh perspective to the way websites were being made. The implications of this mission statement, however, were far from simple.
Our little experiment has since evolved into an amazing team and a great business. We have accomplished this by staying creative and true to our roots, while making a profit from doing what we love.
This brings me to the title of my article. So, what exactly do I mean by the phrase "Stay honest. Be creative. Work hard."? Let me explain myself by defining each of these three statements.
What does it mean to stay honest?
Staying honest is buying what you sell. It’s delivering what you promise. It’s standing behind what you create. It’s not being perfect. It’s not lying to yourself. It’s not making a quick buck. It’s trying till you fail and getting back up till you get it done right. And, it’s letting the people you work with know that they can do the same.
Now for the being creative part...
The creativity itself is the simplest and most rewarding part of the process. The challenge presents itself when it comes to transforming the creativity into a finished product! I may sound naive in saying this, but I truly believe that each and every person has hundreds of ideas that could change the world. So why doesn't everyone set out to make their world changing ideas a reality. Well, I can tell you that having only actually made a hand full of my ideas a reality. The reason....IT'S REALLY HARD! So choosing the right idea to work on really matters because it is going to take tremendous amounts of energy to see it through.
Now for the most important statement....Work hard.
The real question is "How do you make yourself work hard?" I’m just like everyone else. I get totally into an idea and then weeks later I’m still trying to find a way to get it off the ground. This is the time when it’s critical to just start building. Make that first prototype, make a schedule with deadlines that you can stick to, sketch, research, just DO SOMETHING take the idea one step closer to a reality. During this time you may find that the idea isn't worth your energy but at least you will have produced something physical rather than simply thinking about or talking about the idea. If you can’t take that first step, you will never have enough energy to see the idea through to a finished product, so scratch it off the list and move on to something that can ignite your passion and drive!
I am sure you have heard this before. "Follow your dreams, work hard and things will just work themselves out." Well...you hear it because it’s true. If I could edit this phrase the only thing I'd change is the word "follow". To me, "follow" suggests that it's as easy as walking, when in reality it's more like hunting the dreams down. When you "hunt" your dreams, you find yourself working till 2 am every night and still wishing there were more hours in the day to work because you are really enjoying it! When you "hunt" your dreams you're having the courage to take on jobs that truly challenge you to grow rather than just taking the easy way out and following in someone else's footsteps.
My strategy is to think BIG. This strategy usually forces me to learn a few new tricks along the way but the big goal makes this learning experience pleasurable by continuing to add fuel to the "internal motivation fire" so to speak.
This strategy also helps me learn only what I need to know to accomplish the BIG goal. For instance, I don’t need to learn everything there is to know about jQuery, objective-c or whatever. I only need to learn the pieces I need to make my idea work then move on. This makes everything much more manageable. On the contrary, if I thought I needed to learn everything first, the fire would be extinguished before I'd even get the chance to start working on the big idea itself.
Ok, now all of this is great, but you're probably thinking, "How do I get paid for these big ideas?" The truth is, in the beginning you might not.
What I did was "partner with" my first clients rather than asking them to hire me for a flat fee. I convinced them to pay me once the profits started to come in. That way they knew I was fully committed to seeing them succeed. This allowed me to work on the projects I actually wanted to work on, while pushing me to learn as fast as possible so I could start seeing the rewards. Not all of these attempts were a success but all of them helped me grow and improve so that the next project would be an even greater success. I definitely had some problems with some clients and their expectations, but I was open and honest with them and we were able work through the problems and reach an understanding.
Through those first jobs I was able to find my strengths and have working examples of my vision. Once you have a hand full of working examples (portfolio pieces) it’s a lot easier to sell your service to new clients!
Now that you’ve made it this far it’s critical that you stick to your guns. The sooner you define your principles the stronger your business will be. I have always tried to keep things simple. What I mean by that is I like to find the core of the idea/project. What makes it work and what’s unnecessary clutter. I like to think of this type of problem solving like rearranging a room. By doing this, I can actually see challenges visually. This process helps me see the pieces that need to be fixed. The key here is continuing to build and progress, while making the critical decisions needed to efficiently reach the end goal of making the idea a reality. In other words, If you can’t explain it in a simple demo then its probably way to complicated. It’s time to strip away the fat.
Finally, don't let excuses and perceived limitations slow you down. Thoughts like "If I only had that software, or that computer, or that office, etc. then I could get the projects I really want." In the end, these are all just excuses for not working because there is always a way around these perceived limitations. For example, some of my favorite movies are low budget independent films that had to make do with what they had available to them.
I find that the most innovative and creative moments have come out of situations where I've had to think on my feet and solve problems on the fly without a lot of resources. This goes back to keeping things simple. It’s never what you have that makes the projects work. It’s what you do with what you have. Start with what you have access to and try to get the most out of it. If you really hit a wall, reach out to your community and you’ll be surprised to see how helpful most people are. Don’t be afraid to speak up!
I would like to take this opportunity to reach out to the BC partner community to let you all know that you are always welcome to drop me a line. I hope this has been useful information and I look forward to your comments and feedback.
A funny thing happened on the way to this Podcast tutorial.
@lizign, a work collegue here at Adobe, tweeted: Well I've been doing Podcasts with Jackson Palmer, @AdobeBC, for over 12 months now, so I thought "Why not see if I've got some podcast tutorial gems to share."
So I did a big brain dump email for Joe and Jeff and hoped it didn't smell too bad. Then thought others out there might like to learn some Podcast recording secrets too.
After reading, please if you've got comments, critique, any links to other resources, or other ways to improve on this Podcast recording tutorial, go ahead and share your thoughts in the comments at the bottom, groovy!
The gist of the email I sent Joe and his mate Jeff :
Hi Joe and Jeff,
Here's a brain-dump / run-through of how I go about creating a Podcast and the tools I use.
It’s not exhaustive, but a work in progress - hope it helps!
- I'm assuming that you'll be interviewing people in other locations.
Calendar of topics
Try and plan 3 months ahead a rough outline of what you want to talk about.
Creating a theme throughout your Podcast that will help to create stickiness, and so you can allude to what's coming out in the next episode. You want to leave people satisfied with this episode, but wanting to hear more.
A theme might include a monthly trivia piece a 'tip of the month' or 'on this day in 1890'.... use your imagination.
Script.
Create a general outline of content for the Podcast
Write out the script in ‘spoken voice’, write the copy as you would say it.
Read it out loud to yourself / rehearse. Some word combinations can tongue tie you and might need changing.
LESS IS MORE.
STORIES are engaging
Emotion, passion, humor, confidence (this is NOT arrogance) and just being yourself is key.
If you want to be controversial, go right ahead, but showing respect will win you a genuine audience, rather than lurkers and voyeurs.
How long is long enough? Depending on how compelling the topic is, how engaging the speaker is and how long the listener has, this can be a moving target.
- 5 minute snippets and 20 minute detailed podcasts. Though I've been known to listen to a 40 minute recording, but ONLY when it was really engaging and almost story like.
People are only going to remember 3 main points, so summarize those and reinforce your points multiple times.
Product placement and Advertising SUX worse than grandmas sloppy kiss on your 12 year old cheek.
ANY SPONSORSHIP, editorial or blatant sell-job had better be VERY entertaining, world changing and unique or include some knowledge sharing that doesn't require the listener to do anything more than to listen and learn (don't demand a sign up. good content will compel the listener to want in.)
Set a date / deadline for the recording...
...and if you’re interviewing someone, then jump on the phone to them right now, don't put it off for tomorrow, and sync your diaries.
Always email a few different days and times for them to pick from.
Always make it easy for your guest.
Do all the leg work for anyone you interview. Send them a concise email with a list of helpful links and ideas they might want to talk about, right down to a TimeAndDate.com link if they're in another city: http://timeanddate.com/worldclock/meetingtime.html
Spoon feed all the steps you're going to go through to make this a great interview for them, so they're not going to worry about logistics (too much).
This keeps them focused on their expert opinion / commentary, which is what you want for great Podcast content.
Rehearse your questions, read through the interview key points, Read out loud, Revise the content,
Avoid Umms and Errs and Ahhs and chewing gum and coughing….. Or edit those bits out in post-production
Pause when you're not sure what to say next. Don't umm & ahhh. err OK?
Look after your primary tool - your voice!
A glass of ROOM TEMPERATURE water is important. Keep your throat lubricated.
Coffee and dairy isn't a good idea before a recording - drink that well before your start talking. Sip warm water right after your coffee fix.
Blow your nose! A clear nasal passage helps your breathing and a bonus: no-one will be distracted by the green bat hanging out of your nose cave! Having a box of tissue's handy is also a good idea if your podcast content and interviews get on the emotional side. Lets face it, some interviewers can bore you to tears! ;)
Do a test recording
There's nothing worse than recording white noise for 30 mins and technical glitches can happen, like broken mics (or sticking them in the wrong hole - of course I've not had that problem. ;)
Just before the recording, have some preamble before the formal interview, get some general chit-chat going to relax them and mention "If there's anything you want me to remove or re-record, just shout and I'll fix it in the mix, post-production.
Be aware of background noise!
Mouse clicks, keyboard tapping, chewing food and police sirens are distracting sounds that are time consuming to remove post-production. BUT, ambient noise in a noisy environment - if you're recording at a cafe, outdoors or a conference, is quite fine - as long as its consistent sound throughout the recording. The amazing human brain can filter out non-contextual sounds if the sound pattern is constant and unrelated to the main spoken voice. Just be mindful of distracting sounds.
Stop and play-back before recording the formal interview.
Intro and Outro
(start and finish) of the podcast is a good place to re-enforce the identity of your podcast.
Consistency, something catchy helps build rememberability (is that a word?), to your recordings. "Hi and welcome to Podcast #n. Joe from MySQLtalk, ready to impact wisdom on all things relational!" "This is Joe from MySQLTalk, signing off: "May your Tables be normalized! Or not!" queue the outro music.
I like to include a bloopers snippet after the outro music. It's an Easter egg that brings a smile - but not a requirement, I'm just a silly guy.
Dealing with mistakes during the recording.
Reassure your interviewee that "we can fix it in the mix".
"Hey, if you stumble or need a second take, just pause and tell me. We'll clap 3 times for a sound marker and edit it out later." You can find these clap markers easily when viewing the wave file.
This also relaxes the person speaking, because the pressure is taken off a little and they'll end up doing a better job.
If you or guest has to cough or sneeze, fix it in post-production
Save your recording IMMEDIATELY afterwards
AND copy the file to a separate drive, drop box, USB key, email a copy to yourself at gmail.
Imagine having recorded the most incredible pod cast in history, the one that included a spontaneous verbalization of the principals of Quantum mechanics. And your Hard Drive failed the next day!!
If you interviewed someone remotely and the interviewee also recorded (for mixing later), then ask them to save and send the file right away.
Promote!
Investigate "Where do your listeners hang out?"
BLOG and email your updates
RSS feed for lovers of your dulcet tones and insight, to easily subscribe
Make it easy to SHARE, wherever it seems relevant for your content to exist, not just social sharing widgets for the sake of it.
A big choice of social media like / share / + this, adds more confusion than choice, so go easy. Surely your target audience will have one out of 4 options?
I mostly use Skype for conversations, and there are two ways to record:
A. Use an external recording application on BOTH SIDES of the conversation.
B. From within Skype:
http://labnol.blogspot.com/2006/06/how-to-record-skype-conversations.html
I find option A. is superior.
The key to a good Podcast, apart from great content, is Audio Quality.
Audacity is a seriously awesome FREE (leave a donation, the developer is a legend), piece of software: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/
It's more important to check the audio settings on your PC / MAC and experiment recording at various settings.
Mic Boost generally distorts. A cheap piece of packing foam over a mic can also help with SSSsssesss.
Any headphones will do - my phone headphones work just fine.
If you can get the interviewee to record their side and send you a WAV or MP3 recording of their part of the conversation, you can stitch the two parts together, creating the impression that you’re both in the same room.
But if you're recording a hands free telephone conversation is fine, as long as the speaker quality is high and you're not picking up too much background noise.
Thanks for being interested in doing an interview, I know our audience will learn a lot from your insights and real-life stories.
I’m looking for an article or story (whatever writing style you prefer) to put on the BC Evangelist site. http://bcevangelist.businesscatalyst.com/
A topic you’re passionate about.
It might be:
- a best practice piece for small business partners, not just in technology, but solid, proven business “thought-leadership”.
- A BC tech ‘how-to’.
- Thoughts on User Experience Design
- A Case Study on your most complex BC Site Build.
In combination with the Blog article, I’II record a Skype interview starting off with these questions:
- You in under 5 words!
- Who inspires you?
- What advice were you given that you never forgot?
- Where or who do you turn to for help?
- Top 3 MOST important points of your presentation/article
In your words, a Two paragraph synopsis of your advice:
Title example “How to turn a once-off project into a life-long business relationship” Or “Why it’s stupid to include a FB page link on your Branded website pages.”
(I’m making this up.)
This shouldn’t be a chore (too much), so any parts that are onerous, or better covered by a recorded conversation, we can do over the phone/skype interview.
Feel free to choose your own topic! I reference back to your site and hope it gives you good coverage.
When we record the interview, I’ll get you to record your side, send through the audio file and I’ll mix together.
We will also highlight you in the Partner newsletter and BC Blog http://businesscatalyst.com/_blog/bc_blog
So there's my brain dump for now......
I'd love to get your comments and ideas to add more to this Podcast Tutorial list.
And if you're interested in being part of my Podcast, let me know on this contact form.
Thanks again to @lizign and @joedevon for prompting me to write this up.
OH!! Almost forgot, here's how I go about embedding the Podcast MP3 streaming, MP3 download and iTunes link.
Listen to this blog as a podcast:
Simply click the play button below to stream the podcast via your browser.
To subscribe and receive the BC Podcast each month, you can find us on the iTunes store here or by simply searching "BC Podcast" from iTunes.
In our last episode:
A recap of BC @ MAX 2011
Hear what Partners had to say about this year's event
Catch full recordings of all our great sessions and Unconference presentations
The future of Business Catalyst
Find out what to expect from Business Catalyst v3
Learn how you can begin using the new and improved UI and Liquid markup today
A HTML brain-teaser - win one of three copies of the official Adobe Business Catalyst book! Simply be one of the first three commenters to answer correctly
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Jackson Palmer and I (Adam Broadway) celebrate our 1st birthday podcast!
Crack open the party poppers and take a listen.
We're giving away copies of the first official Business Catalyst book, hear a recap from Adobe MAX 2011 and learn more about the much anticipated Business Catalyst v3.
Listen to this month's podcast:
Simply click the play button below to stream the podcast via your browser.
To subscribe and receive the BC Podcast each month, you can find us on the iTunes store here or by simply searching "BC Podcast" from iTunes.
In September's episode:
A recap of BC @ MAX 2011
Hear what Partners had to say about this year's event
Catch full recordings of all our great sessions and Unconference presentations
The future of Business Catalyst
Find out what to expect from Business Catalyst v3
Learn how you can begin using the new and improved UI and Liquid markup today
A HTML brain-teaser - win one of three copies of the official Adobe Business Catalyst book! Simply be one of the first three commenters to answer correctly
From making Tea's and coffee's and running tasks in a News Television production company to building sophisticated eCommerce web sites and online businesses, Richard has become a seasoned web veteran (and great bloke too!).
Right-Click here to save the file - renaming it from .txt to .php and install on your 3rd party PHP server.
Years of hard work building his Web Development business, managing client projects and leaking cash through un-tracked time billing, caused Geoff McQueen, BC Partner and CEO of 
For the first 15 years we survived, made some money, enjoyed the freedom that it offered. But at the end of 15 years, I looked back and realized that we had very little to show for all our long hours at the grindstone.
Version 1 of our business was a custom web application development shop. We were proud to boast that “if you can’t find something off the shelf, we can build it”. We found our customers by random networking. If you talk to enough people, you can find someone that needs the work you want to do. We had no solid direction - each client we took on was in a different industry, with different needs - very different projects. We could never gain any traction - we never got REALLY good at ONE thing. We were the “jack of all trades, master of none”. We did good quality work for our clients, but I now realize that if we had decided to specialize in ONE solid area, we could have done so much more for them and our “system” would have developed into an awesome business.
I've found, when I truly care about what I’m doing, the results are incredible. 
Well I've been doing Podcasts with Jackson Palmer, 
Having a box of tissue's handy is also a good idea if your podcast content and interviews get on the emotional side. Lets face it, some interviewers can bore you to tears! ;)
Promote!
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