AskTheHost Lets BlogTalkRadio Audiences Say Goodbye to Longdistance Charges

‘AskTheHost’ Lets BTR Audiences Say Good-bye to Long-Distance Charges

“This could lead to some very compelling discussion – imagine a talk show on international politics with input from around the world.”

That’s the thumbs-up verdict on BlogTalkRadio’s “AskTheHost” feature, from sway-holding weblog TechCrunch.

Launched today, AskTheHost makes it possible for BTR listeners to participate in any one of the network’s 450-plus live daily shows without wracking up long-distance calling charges – or even having a traditional landline or wireless phone.

Rather, the “one-click” Flash-based Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service lets them listen and call into shows directly from their Web browser. They only need to plug a microphone into their computer, log onto BTR and “dial in” via the AskTheHost widget.

BlogTalkRadio expects AskTheHost to spur a dramatic increase in its listenership and audience participation, both in the United States and abroad.

“Unlike other VoIP applications like Skype, no software downloads are needed to use AskTheHost,” says Alan Levy, CEO and co-founder of BlogTalkRadio. “Users can call into shows from anywhere in the world, from any computer that has an Internet connection.”

BTR Celebrates 1 year!!

August marks our one year anniversary since launching the first social radio network. Since our inception
we have grown from just a handful of hosts to an amazing number of over 7000 hosts! Monthly downloads range upwards to 1 million with over 17000 broadcasts completed. I am very pleased to be part of this exciting movement in social radio networking.

Anybody with something to say can sign up for their own BlogTalkRadio show, its free and a great way
to reach your reader base, and to expand your own voice with a global network of listeners. With the launch of our new site, and brand new look, our hosts will get the many features and services they have
been asking for; keep your eyes open for this exciting debut!

Moving forward we thank all that have signed up to use our product, we appreciate everyone of you! Be sure to visit our site to experience our diverse selection of content. I am confident that whatever you are interested in you will find something to enjoy!

Please be sure to contact me if you have any questions and/or are interested in becoming a host on
the most dynamic, innovative social radio platform available today!

I wish you a successful day!

~John Sweet

john sweet@blogtalkradio.com

BTR and TheYearlyKos Convention

 

I was very pleased to attend the YearlyKos Convention in Chicago this past weekend. The tagline for this gathering was “Building a Netroots Nation,” in retrospect BlogTalkRadio was welcomed with open arms and our exhibit was a hot area with everyone wanting to “Join the Conversation.”

Saturday the Presidential forum was in full swing, over 1500 people and 250 media were in attendance. However the media presence didn’t consist of asking the candidates the questions for this open forum. The “town hall” atmosphere was vibrant and exciting! Questions were posed to the candidates directly from bloggers that submitted questions ahead of time, a microphone went around the room and the person(citizen) was able to ask the candidate their question directly. From grassroots to netroots it was a refreshing shift to see so many people actively engaged in the democratic process. These are exciting times for new-media outlets and conversation; building real dialogue with real people. It was an honor to be invited.

 

Shortly after the forum the candidates broke and went to private rooms. After a quick Secret Service once over I was seated in Senator Obama’s conference room. The Senator fielded questions from the audience, while we; the media, sat in the back of the room taking it all in. Again a microphone went around the room and the Senator hand picked people to ask questions to him directly. The Senator was very cordial and appeared happy to be a part of this new movement.

 

Overall the YearlyKos convention could be a catalyst for change in the way Candidates conduct their campaigns. Our country is ready for change, and this energized movement of how new-media plays a large part in how information/news is received brings forward a more “personal” view of each candidate. It will be interesting to see in the coming months how these candidates embrace new-media outlets and incorporate them into their campaign platforms.

 

John Sweet

 

BlogTalkRadio Presents it’s first Virtual Book Tour!

Tonight at 9 pm EST Blogtalkradio will air the first of it virtual book tours.  Brad Thor will join us to talk about his new book “The First Commandment“.  Brad is a New York Times best selling author and has served as a member of Home Land Security’s Analytic Red Cell Program.  He has been seen on Fox News, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS as a national security expert on terrorism.

The Host will be phoning in from the UK while Brad will be here in the US.  Thats what makes BlogTalkRadio such a viable platfrom as people can join in the conversation from any corner of the world.

So join in this conversation by clicking here to listen live.

You can also purchase a copy of Brads book by clicking through the Amazon link on the host page.

Founder and CEO of Fon.com on the Alan Levy Show

Hot off the desk of our fabulous CEO, Alan Levy!

I would like to welcome a very special guest to Blogtalkradio on Wednesday, July 25^th 4:00pm EST.

Martin Varsavsky the Founder and CEO of Fon.com will be my guest on the Alan Levy Show which can be found here

While it’s hard to believe, I have known Martin for almost 20 years. We met when I was an accountant in NYC at a small accounting firm. Martin, at the time in his twenties, was already an experienced entrepreneur. I handled his business accounts and personal financial matters. In October 1993, when Martin raised money with George Soros for his new upstart telecom company Viatel, he asked me to join he and his team to be his CFO. I had spent 13 years as an accountant and never really gave it much thought to changing careers at that stage of my life.

Well, I decided to leave the safe confines of being an accountant and joined Martin in the crazy world of emerging global telecommunications. I never looked back since. Martin saw something in me that perhaps I or others did not and for that I will always be appreciative.

We will discuss his exciting new venture Fon and whatever else comes up. Martin is a truly fascinating individual so please do tune in. If you would like to call into the live show, please do so by calling 1-347-677-0649.

Alan

BlogTalkRadio: Affiliate Opportunity

We are very excited to announce an exciting opportunity for you to earn residual commissions by participating in our new Affiliate Program. Details below. Attachment: PDF of Private Room Feature We are promoting. btr_private_room-affiliate.pdf

Fromt the Desk of Alan Levy, CEO BlogTalkRadio:

To all,

The purpose of this note is to introduce you to a white branded private room product that we have developed. Since the launch of Blogtalkradio, we have received many requests from hosts, private companies, non profit institutions, etc on the possibility of using the BTR platform in a private room environment.

We have developed such a product which can be used in a variety of settings. The attached PDF will provide you with more details on the service offering. Please note that this document is a first pass and will be enhanced in the coming weeks. Scott Baradell is developing a marketing plan for this product.

As you will see, our basic pricing for the private room service is $125 per hour for 0-25 participants on the call. Unlike the BTR platform where we allow 5 simultaneous calls, the private room product (not yet named) can allow up to 100 simultaneous calls. The streaming, archiving and podcasting capability complete with RSS feeds is available for the white branded product.

Affiliate program

We believe that our most capable and enthusiastic promoters of Blogtalkradio have been our hosts. We believe that this type of enthusiasm and energy could successfully migrate to our private room products. Therefore, we would like each of you to consider becoming affiliates or agents of Blogtalkradio. By becoming an agent and successfully selling the private room product, you will earn 10% of collected private room revenues (excluding installation fees) for as long as the customer uses the private room product and you remain an agent of Blogtalkradio.

For example, if XYZ Corporation decides to purchase 10 hours of BTR Private Room at a rate of $125 an hour, you would earn $125 for the month.

We have sold a few of these products in recent weeks and we have concluded that the price point is quite attractive. Other products and features will include:

•Webex type collaborative tools
•Multiple pricing levels based upon the number of simultaneous calls.
•Customized widgets and players
•Town Hall private room for candidates which will include call screening capability.

Please contact me directly if you are interested in participating. I look forward to hearing from you.

mailto: johnsweet{@}blogtalkradio.com

phone: 517-507-3770

I wish you a productive day!

Can you see me? Swamped in Lansing!

Success. How does ones define the measure of your success? Is it the mass content that you produce, or is it the quality of the relationships that you build? The old adage, quality before quantity holds no place in this office. As I dig out of from behind a mass of sticky notes and the dust bunnies under my feet, I take a step back and exhale a sigh of relief. I have managed to master the art of both. At least I have convinced myself of this.

This week we started off running, with John Kerry on the air to ending the week with Scott Kesterson; an embedded reporter in Afghanistan, heading the front lines of our programming guide. Mixed in through the week, you might have heard Newt Gingrich , former Alaskan Senator Mike Grave, Presidental Canidate Daniel Imperato, and then coming on the 22nd we have former DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe to start our week.

Behind the scenes if you look closely and hard, you might just get a glimpse of myself and Amy Domestico earning our place amongst the throng of the blogosphere trying very hard not to get wrapped up into all of the blogs we visit daily. What bliss it would be to have the time to read all of the wonderful bloggers that we are inviting to be a part of BlogTalkRadio. (Although Amy swears she reads them all.)

We are excited to welcome Business Intelligence Network to BlogTalkRadio. They have come aboard to utilize our private room feature we have available. If you would like to learn more about this valuable asset to your business please email me and I will be happy to discuss this with you.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and read. If you haven’t yet experienced BlogTalk I’m sure you can find a link somewhere on this site.

sidenote: if anyone has any advice or a cure all for the impending doom of carpal tunnel please let me know. I’m dying over here.

I wish you a successfull day!

Senator John Kerry Live on BlogTalkRadio 2pmEST

BlogTalkRadio, the up and coming social network scene, will be live on the air On Monday at 2:00 pm, Senator John Kerry will be “Heading Left” with BlogTalkRadio’s Senior Political Director, James Boyce, and Nate Wilcox. Chris Bowers of MYDD.com will also be a guest on the show.

We invite you to tune in today @ 2PM/EST on BlogTalkRadio today to listen to exclusive interview. Thanks for stopping by!

What a Great Week!

We have been working hard on contacting bloggers this week creating a buzz about our new social networking platform! www.BlogTalkRadio.com is an innovative networking site giving bloggers not only a voice, but also a global audience. We offer you a Host Channel for free so you can air your very own Live Radio Show. After each show we archive it for you and then convert the file into a podcast able for download, streaming, and on iTunes. We dont want to forget to mention that we share advertising revenue with our hosts too! 50/50 split on all revenue generated by your show!

This week we are happy to say that we had a great conference with MMI Asscociates Inc. an innovative Public Relations firm. They love the platform and will be utilizing many features we have available. Also, we have placed some new content in the Sports Genre with some high profile blogsites. Be sure to visit the site to see what we have to offer you.

If you like politics, be sure to tune in on February 12th @2pmEST for a live one on one interview with Senator John Kerry. This interview will be aired Live on Host Channel Heading Left. We are excited to have him on the air with us.

If you are interested in Hosting your own show, feel free to contact me or just sign up on the site and we will be there to help!

Thats all for now, thank you for taking the time to stop by today. I wish you a productive day!
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