Become a Yaktivate Podcast Star!

Establish Yourself as an Authority

What is your passion?  What is it that you want to do, share, accomplish? Are you looking for fame or fortune? Read on to find out all about podcasting and the answers to some frequently asked questions.

What’s a podcast?
A Podcast can be either an audio or video-recorded program that anyone can create with a minimal amount of training.  It can be listened to while you’re online, downloaded to your computer as an MP3 file and listened to there or on an MP3 player like an iPod™ or Zune™.

What is Yaktivate.com?
Yaktivate.com is a global media network that features podcasts on a multitude of channels combined with social communities, and a marketing organization.  Our purpose is to help you increase the number of your loyal fans by following Yaktivate.com’s well-planned strategy.

What will podcasting on Yaktivate.com do for me?

• Yaktivate.com helps take amateurs to stars in their niche areas.
• Provide the opportunity for revenue through the sales of your own products/services and through the placement of PodSpots on your podcast
• Provide a podcast network that gets over 450,000 visitors a month and is heard in over 90 countries giving you an opportunity to be heard world-wide.
• Provide a Podcasting platform and social community to help you create a loyal following.
• Provide a forum for you and your listeners in our safe, social community to carry on a discussion, including the ability to be in touch by email.
• Provide training on how to market yourself, your show and develop your audience through such things as search engine optimization (SEO) tips.
• Provide monthly stats for each channel allowing the monitoring of your podcast’s growth – as your audience of loyal followers grows, your stats help bring in paid sponsors.
• Provide the opportunity to cross-post your podcast show on another Yaktivate.com channel to increase your show’s exposure.
• Provide the listing of our multitude of channels in over 50 podcasting directories, one of many ways to increase SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
• Provide an opportunity to place your ad in our adpool to promote your services and/or products.

With all of Yaktivate.com’s communications, information sharing, user-centered designs, interoperability, and active collaboration, participation and contribution, we are in the very forefront of Web 2.0 design.  Maybe even beyond, since our system with all of the various components makes us unique in what we can offer you.

All of these benefits for a set-up fee of $200 and $24.95 per month.  And you also receive the opportunity of making income through sponsor mentions (PodSpots).

Want to talk with a real person?

Our business hours are 9 am through 5 pm Pacific Time

Monday through Friday   877-298-7650

Or you can send an email to us at contact@yaktivate.com.

We believe in the personal touch. Yaktivate.com provides each podcaster with a Channel Master – and this is what your channel master will do for you:

• Introductory training to get you off to a good start at your own pace.
• Provide the technical part of posting your podcast and blog.
• Give you one point of contact for anything related to Yaktivate.com – any time you have a question, the channel master is your go-to person to get you the answers you need.
• The  Channel Master is also available for advance training: Squidoo lens, deli.cio.us account, articles for submission.

What are the Requirements for Podcasting with Yaktivate.com?

• Each podcast must be legal, ethical and PG-rated (we want our podcasts to be appropriate for any of our listeners, no matter what their age).
• Podcaster must have basic computer skills.

What are the Responsibilities of a Podcaster (3 basic ones, and why):

1. Produce 4 podcasts per month. The more consistently your shows are posted, the larger your following.
2. Provide an accompanying blog for each podcast.
3. Provide a Monthly Press Release.

1.  Produce 4 podcasts per month.

a).  Submitting 4 podcasts at a time takes the pressure off of having to create one on a weekly basis; you can work a month ahead of yourself.  And it gives you the information you need to include in your monthly press release (see below about press releases).  The beauty of podcasting is that it can fit into your schedule.  If you want to go on vacation, you can create additional shows ahead that your Channel Master can then program to post at scheduled intervals while you’re away.

b). There are no time constraints on the length of your podcast (except for video podcasts which is 10 minutes – longer than that can take too long to download on some viewers’ computers).  Audio podcasts, though, are generally 15-30 minutes long.  So, for example, if you have an hour long show, unless it’s really compelling, we suggest that you break it into 2 parts and give a teaser at the end of part 1 to let people know they’ll hear the rest of the show in part 2.

c). Elements of a podcast include your material/interview, sponsor mentions, and mentions about your Yaktivate community/social site.  The contents of the podcast belong to you, not Yaktivate.com

d). Podcasts can be recorded either on a conference call line (land lines are preferred) or recording software on your computer, or, if you have access, in a recording studio.  Don’t worry about being perfect the first time, have fun with your podcast!  It’s more important to get your podcasts up – you can grow into a level of expertise as have other members of our podcast family.

2.  Accompanying Podcast blog:  Every podcast must have a 1-2 paragraph blog that is posted on the page of the selected Yaktivate channel so visitors can scroll down and see this introduction to your show.  There are 4 main parts or components of the blog.
a.)  The blog should use catchy language to draw people in to listening to your show—just like the teaser information you find inside a dust jacket of a book.
b.)  The use of key words in your blog helps direct those using search engines to your podcast.
c.)  At the end of each blog you also include your own website and appropriate information about any guests as well as list the sponsor(s) of your show. (see section: All About Sponsors and PodSpots)
d.)  Finally there should be a note about joining the related Yaktivate social community site where listeners can go to interact with you and your guest(s).

3.  Press Release:  The podcaster writes a monthly press release and Yaktivate.com provides you with both guidelines and a sample and then posts it on a press release service online.   An online press release allows you to get the word out, globally, about your show in your own words.

Questions for a real person?

Our business hours are 9 am through 5 pm Pacific Time

Monday through Friday   877-298-7650

Or you can send an email to us at contact@yaktivate.com.

All about Sponsors and PodSpots
You know what a sponsor is, but you may wonder what in the world is a “PodSpot”.  A PodSpot is what Yaktivate calls a sponsor mention.

Yaktivate.com is responsible for:

Once a podcaster has posted 10 shows and submitted their regular monthly press releases, the sales team at Yaktivate.com will actively work to bring in paid sponsors interested in your niche market.  The sales team bears in mind that any sponsor needs to be in alignment with a podcast/channel (we wouldn’t have McDonald’s as a sponsor of a raw foods show, for example). Yaktivate.com believes in making this a win-win for all, and one of the ways we do this is to have a 50/50 revenue split with podcasters.

The Podcaster is responsible for:

Each podcaster includes the PodSpot(s) as part of his/her weekly show. Initially, the podcaster selects PodSpots from the complimentary Yaktivate.com adpool where all podcasters are encouraged to place their own ad.  This gives each podcaster the potential to be marketed by other podcasters in the Yaktivate family.  As the paid advertisers come they, of course, will be your PodSpots (although your fellow podcasters’ PodSpots may continue). The number of PodSpots within your podcast depends on the length of your show; for each 15-minute increment, there will be 2 PodSpots. We here at Yaktivate.com believe that a brief, personal warm mention is more potent than a long, hard sell.  This is why the podcaster is responsible for mentioning the product in his/her own voice. The beauty of this Web 2.0 marketing is that it is a Pull rather than a Push system that draws your listeners in.

What about Editing?
If you elect to do your own podcast production and editing, this is pretty simple to do.  There are different software programs out there: for audio-Total Recorder (about $50) and Audacity (free); for video- Pinnacle (about $150). If you don’t want to do the editing yourself, you can talk to your CM and work something out, or hire a high school student to do it for you.

Ready to podcast with Yaktivate.com?

Please send us an email with the following information and a staff member will contact you within 48 hours.  Send the email to contact@yaktivate.com with Podcasting in subject line.

• Date
• Name
• Email address
• Mailing address
• Phone #s: Home / Office / Cell
• Skype Name
• Fax #
• Website

Thanks for your interest in podcasting with Yaktivate.com.  We look forward to talking with you soon!