When you sign up for a podcast produced through OPN, you’ll be put in contact with me, and we’ll work out a time for you or your designated spokesperson to be interviewed over the phone.  Podcasts from OPN will be approximately five minutes long, and will be fully produced, including a short introduction and intro and outro music.  When completed, the podcasts can be posted as part of an OPN podcast, and will also be included in the Online PR News iTunes “store”.  Clients will also receive a copy of the file that they can post on their own web site.

To listen to a sample OPN podcast, click play on the flash player below.  For more information on this offering, visit the Online PR News podcast page.

Read the eMarketer report here.

Read the Podcasting News story here.

Podango announced on December 26, 2008 that it would likely cease operations as of December 31.  It’s horrendous timing, as many people aren’t fully tuned in during the holiday season.  The site now says they’re on a “vacation”, but it’s unlikely they’re coming back from their holiday.  Given that the notice was only five days, many users of the service didn’t have time to secure alternate hosting.  Even if they did have time, they certainly didn’t have enough notice to let listeners know of a change.  Podango is now only offering RSS feed redirection.  Blubrry is, by the way, offering to help Podango users who have their files.

This is a great example of why it’s critical to own your hosting and do regular backups of everything.  This is still another reason NOT to host your blog at a free service like Blogger.  You don’t own the URL for your content, which means you can’t easily move it or redirect it.  Using services that do everything for you puts your properties in the hands of someone who doesn’t care about them anywhere near as much as you do.

Promotion Alert: EndGame PR offers podcast consultation through its BizPodz Productions service. If your business or organization wants to launch a podcast or needs help improving an existing one, please contact us!

Richmond, Virginia (March 19, 2008) – In each of its 40 episodes, small business podcast Startup BizCast has given valuable advice to entrepreneurs and owners of small businesses. National Small Business Week is April 21-25 in the United States, and as part of that celebration, Startup BizCast will not only be giving advice, but will also be giving away valuable prizes designed to help entrepreneurs.

Each week, Startup BizCast features small business news as well as interviews with experts on managing and growing entrepreneurial endeavors. The show is the flagship program of EndGame PR Podcast Production, a business podcast production service operated by EndGame Public Relations, LLC in Richmond, Virginia.

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to host this podcast every week, and I learn a great deal from my guests,” said Startup BizCast Host Steve Mullen, who is also the owner of EndGame Public Relations. “National Small Business Week is an important celebration of the backbone of our economy, and I organized the Startup BizCast Small Business Week Contest as a way to reward small business owners, entrepreneurs, freelance ‘independents’, and even those who WANT to start small businesses.”

The contest begins March 19, 2008 and ends on April 12, 2008, when a random drawing will select the winners. There are three prize levels (one grand prize and two runners-up), each with prizes designed to help the winner grow his or her business.

Prizes to be given away in the Startup BizCast Small Business Week Contest include:

• Coupon codes worth $360 that can be used toward a news release distribution from premier online press release newswire PRWeb.
• A website SEO evaluation plus one hour of consultation from NetSearch Direct, a Search Engine and Internet Marketing firm based in Richmond, Virginia. This prize is valued at $800!
• ONE YEAR of unlimited online data backup from Carbonite. This prize has a value of $49.95!
• An interview on the Startup BizCast episode that will air during National Small Business Week, during which the winner will be given a wonderful opportunity to promote his or her business to the show’s listeners!
• Winners will receive website links and logo placement on the Startup Bizcast Blog.

The total value of the prizes available is nearly $2,000, NOT counting the interview on Startup BizCast!

For more details on prize levels and instructions on how to enter, please visit the contest page, at www.startupbizcast.com/contest.

About Startup BizCast
Startup BizCast, produced by EndGame PR Podcast Production, is the small business advice podcast that’s shorter than your coffee break. Episodes are each shorter than 15 minutes, and feature advice on topics important to entrepreneurs and potential business owners. To listen to episodes, find out how to subscribe to the show, and learn about sponsorship opportunities, please visit http://www.startupbizcast.com.

About EndGame PR Podcast Production
With more than 15 years of communications experience, including seven years in radio and television news, EndGame PR Podcast Production (a service of Richmond, Virginia-based PR firm EndGame Public Relations, LLC) creates professional podcasts and other Internet-based audio programs for businesses, nonprofits, and government entities. With systems in place for local and non-local clients, EndGame PR assists with not only the actual audio production, but also development of show concepts and formats, promotion, and even “nuts and bolts” such as hosting and online presentation.

###

This release can also be found at:
PRWeb: Small Business Advice Podcast Giving Away Thousands of Dollars in Prizes During Small Business Week
PRLog: Thousands of Dollars in Prizes at Stake During National Small Business Week Contest