I read an article recently in Publisher’s Weekly about authors hosting their own internet radio shows. The site that was promoted in the article was BlogTalkRadio.com.

“The company is based in New Jersey and has about 14 employees. Levy, who has a background in the telecommunications industry, says, “Anyone can host their own show. All you need is a phone.” Signing up for BTR is free. New members get a logon that provides access to their site’s “switchboard” technology, which allows each show to field up to six live phone calls and upload music or recordings. Hosts can offer weekly, monthly or occasional shows.”
Publishers Weekly, December 24, 2007, page 6

As I perused the site I saw just about everything you could imagine, some of it pretty vile. But I did find an author of ours already utilizing the technology. Rebecca Totilo had this to say:

“Yes, the Blogtalk radio show has been very instrumental in getting the word out regarding my book and teachings. I do recommend it to new authors. However, like everything, it takes work and lots of networking. I am spending about 1/2 hour a day managing the radio emails, then added to that MySpace, YouTube, GodTube, etc. So many now, it is a full time job just to keep things going. It seems to be really catching on, but you have to work to get people to tune in. There are lots of programs for doing interviews - so plenty of opportunity if someone would prefer to just do an interview on their book and not a talk radio show. I am just starting off - having only been on Blogtalk for a couple of weeks, so it is a growing process and many of the listeners listed on my profile have shows too, so it’s just networking. I added the link on my website and people can find it there and tune in. I like it better than Paltalk because you can upload prerecorded programs, interviews, etc. And do it at your convenience and not be bothered with having to sit down and "do it live". The best thing is it’s FREE!”

I interviewed another author and talk show host, Dave Baum. He uses a higher end internet radio option called TalkZone.com. Here’s what he had to say:

“As a longtime over-the-air talk show host, I have found Internet radio to be an
exciting new way to be heard on a national and worldwide basis. Knowing that I now have listeners around the globe is terrific, as it allows me to really delve into topics that affect everyone, everywhere. Another advantage of Internet radio over traditional radio: all of my past shows are available on TalkZone on-demand, for 24/7 listening. This allows people to hear my shows anytime, even months or years after the original broadcast.

There are many ways to do a radio show on the Internet -- everything from amateur podcasts, to freebie talk sites, to posting audio files on a personal website, and so on.
TalkZone is more professional. The sound of my shows, the look, and the marketing has all been top notch. Knowing my show is being presented in such a quality way has been rewarding to me, as this is my first venture into Internet radio. Also, the worldwide response I've been getting to my show has been very gratifying.

There are many amateur talk radio sites, vanity talk radio sites, blog radio sites, and mass consumer sites out there. Some of these have hundreds of talk show hosts, all competing for listeners.

I am afraid that if you host a show on a site like that, you will get lost. So I suggest you look for an Internet Talk Network that is professional and has high standards. This will help you stand out from the crowd and make a real impact with your show. Also, you will probably have more revenue opportunities at a well-run site, because the quality of the shows will attract advertising dollars.

If you want quality and support, then you should expect to pay something for it. It shouldn't cost you a fortune, though. Hosting a show on TalkZone is fairly affordable for the average person. But only you can decide if having a quality show is important to you, and whether you're willing to pay for it. If not, there are free sites out there you can use.”

Dave Baum is a media trainer with Extreme Marketing.

Check out his show on Talkzone.com

We’ll be looking into this more in the future and getting more feedback from those actually utilizing this technology.