What I Use: Blog Talk Radio

I've been using Blog Talk Radio for the past two or three years now. I've always been fond of the idea of podcasts, and if I had known about them in 2006, I probably would have my own regular podcast by now to be honest. I really just like podcasts, even if I don't listen to them as often as I used to. But as someone who is usually low on funds, I couldn't afford to use many other alternatives. So for what I wanted and needed (and all the minor annoyances included), Blog Talk Radio has been nothing but a god send to me.

This is my third account with them, and their dashboard has cleaned up considerably since I returned to them. To be honest, I really like it like this. It's really easy to navigate, and it's just a lot cleaner. In fact, I think this is the best the site has looked on the log-in front. Blog Talk Radio gives users the ability to schedule their own shows and listeners can actually phone in to the designated number. Which brings me to:

The podcast studio. Sorry for the censoring; my host pin number is under there. Let me sigh in dreamy relief because it used to be a cluttered mess when I first started using it. Though it was easy to learn with time and a quick read through of the tutorial, it was an intimidating interface, and this is just beautiful to look at. I'm not sure what I want to talk about this time around. Games, life, music, comedy? All of the above? I don't know. I usually shrivel up and die once I hear my voice, but maybe I can keep this project alive this time around.

For me, I'ven't had many problems with Blog Talk Radio. Any questions I had we answered through the sites or the PDFs I was given at the time. I'm not sure they do that anymore; I honestly can't remember despite signing up again this year. If I had to say anything in the negative about Blog Talk Radio, it's this: do not lose your password. Usually password recovery is pretty easy for me. I know that for some web sites it can be touch and go depending on who your email host is, but with BTR, you must go the extra mile... by not losing your account information in the first place.

I have accounts under Hotmail and Gmail. Hotmail is usually pretty huffy with getting mail quickly whereas Gmail is usually right on point when I need it. For the times that I have forgotten my password, I always was left in frustration. The first time I forgot was no problem, honestly, but after that, I don't know what happened. Maybe BTR evaporated its password recovery system. I don't know. I've had to make an entirely new account because of forgetting a password I eventually found again. By the way, it's been months since I requested an email reset, and I still have yet to see it from them.

Another thing is, BTR can be a bit overwhelming, especially for first time users. Even though it's free for the most part, BTR offers a lot of services: a studio, a call line, event planning, live chat, etc. That's amazing, especially since you are almost guaranteed to have a hard time finding anything else like it. If you find anything at all (again: main requirement is that it's free). Try not to skim over too much of the captions and be sure to consult their help desk a lot when you need it. You can learn a lot of it if you take your time, but you're really going to need to take your time on this.

If making a podcast is a dream you would like to make come true, or if you know someone who wants to be an Internet radio personality, have them check out Blog Talk Radio. No minimum skill level required; trust me on that one. Just have fun and give it a try.