Podcasting has been referred to as the wild, wild West of media because essentially podcasters can do, say, show anything they want on their podcasts. This is true, you can do whatever you want. But what happens when someone else doesn't like what you're doing? Can you get in trouble...with the law? Listen as lawyers +Gordon Firemark and +Greg Gronholm join me (+Ray Ortega), +Daniel J. Lewis and +David Jackson  to discuss the legalities of podcasting. We cover the biggest questions most commonly asked like, how much of someone else's music can I use in my podcast? Or can I play an audio clip from another media source? And how about names, trademarks, copyright, we'll cover that too. To view the chat archive which includes links, please visit the Event page for this Round. Circle Ray on Google Plus to be notified of future live recordings, to meet other podcasters and share your opinions in the chat! See ya at the next Round! Sign up to appear on a future Podcasters' Roundtable!

What to do when all your best laid podcasting plans go out the window. What do you do when your interviewee cancels and you're about to go live? Or maybe the Internet goes down, your hard drive crashes or any number of problems that can arise when producing a podcast. How do you react, how do you adjust? Join me (+Ray Ortega), +Daniel J. Lewis,  +Harry Duran, +Corey Fineran, and +Jim Collison as we discuss what to do when all your plans fall apart at the last minute. To view the chat archive which includes links, please visit the Event page for this Round. Circle Ray on Google Plus to be notified of future live recordings, to meet other podcasters and share your opinions in the chat! See ya at the next Round! Sign up to appear on a future Podcasters' Roundtable!

  Join the Roundtable in celebrating National Podcast Day (NPD)! September 30th, 2014 marks the first official NPD. Spearheaded by Steve Lee from NetCast Studio, NPD was created to promote greater podcast awareness around the globe. We gathered to talk about the origins of NPD, what podcasters have been doing to promote podcasting to others, the future of podcasting and NPD as well as many other great topics to honor podcasting! AND, very exciting news, during this stream we broke the news that National Podcast Day will become International Podcast Day! Join me (+Ray Ortega), +Daniel J. Lewis +David Jackson +Steve Lee +Dave Lee and +Nick Seuberling  as we discuss raising podcast awareness. To view the chat archive which includes links, please visit the Event page for this Round. Circle Ray on Google Plus to be notified of future live recordings, to meet other podcasters and share your opinions in the chat! See ya at the next Round! Sign up to appear on a future Podcasters' Roundtable!

This Round is all about iTunes. Whatever questions, ideas, tips that stirred up, that's what we discussed. Literally any and everything to do with iTunes as it relates to podcasting. Watch me (+Ray Ortega), +Daniel J. Lewis +David Jackson +Angelo Mandato +Krystal O'Connor +Rich Baxter +Lou Mongello and +Steve Stewart as we discuss podcasting's relationship with iTunes. To view the chat archive which includes links, please visit the Event page for this Round. Circle Ray on Google Plus to be notified of future live recordings, to meet other podcasters and share your opinions in the chat! See ya at the next Round! Sign up to appear on a future Podcasters' Roundtable!

The entire Roundtable crew just returned from Podcast Movement, a new podcasting conference held in Texas, and we had a great time. We talk about this conference and its impact on podcasting as well as the news coming out of the New Media Expo that they are teaming up with NAB in 2015 for a mega conference. As a podcaster, which conference should you attend? It's fantastic that we have choices but budgets are limited and often times we must choose. Watch +Ray Ortega, +Daniel J. Lewis, +Elsie Escobar +Jared Rypkema +Juergen Berkessel +Addy Saucedo and +Dustin Hartzler discuss the value of these two conferences and find out if there is something for you as a podcaster at one of these shows. To view the chat archive which includes links, please visit the Event page for this Round. Links mentioned: National Podcast Day Create the Perfect About Page Side note: Noticed something while editing Podcasters' Roundtable. Custom overlay in HOA breaks full-screen view pic.twitter.com/X3o3BkZOgf — Ray Ortega (@PodcastHelper) September 2, 2014 Circle Ray on Google Plus to be notified of future live recordings, to meet other podcasters and share your opinions in the chat! See ya at the next Round! Sign up to appear on a future Podcasters' Roundtable!

It's an "open mic" Round where everyone in the chat room had a chance to join the Round with whatever topic they thought was important or interesting. We pulled in the best topics over the one-hour broadcast. Join me (+Ray Ortega), +Daniel J. Lewis, and +Dave Jackson and others as we tackle topics such as podcast marketing, podcast categories, "new media" as a label, creating a legacy through podcasting, what happens to your podcast after you die, podcasting market mistakes and building an email list for your show. Circle Ray on Google Plus to be notified of future live recordings, to meet other podcasters and share your opinions in the chat! See ya at the next Round! Sign up to appear on a future Podcasters' Roundtable!

  One of the cool parts about podcasting is that the show is truly yours. You decide what to say, how it looks/sounds, where to publish and hundreds of other decisions that make up your podcast. But with no must-do rules to follow there is a large continuum of quality content in podcasting. So what are the podcasting best practices; those elements common to most podcasts that make up a good show? Hopefully as our show grows over time we glean podcasting nuggets from other podcasters that make our show that much better. On this Round join me (+Ray Ortega), +Daniel J. Lewis, and +Dave Jackson, , +Charles McFall, and +Jon Rojas in a discussion about the most common elements that go into a quality podcast production. Circle Ray on Google Plus to be notified of future live recordings, to meet other podcasters and share your opinions in the chat! See ya at the next Round! Sign up to appear on a future Podcasters' Roundtable!

  What does a podcaster do when they want to record a podcast outside of their "studio?" Find a more compact setup of course! Or maybe your studio is always mobile? Join myself (+Ray Ortega), +Dave Jackson, +Rob Walch +David Anderson, +Jason Bryant and Jeffrey Powers as we discuss all the ways to record a podcast on the go. Do you have to sacrifice quality? If so, is it worth it? What are the biggest challenges to being outside of your normal setup and how do you overcome them? This Round aired live on June 20, 2014 at 4pm EST, GMT -5. If you'd like to read all the comments including lots of great links to the devices and software people are using in the mobile setups check out the event page on G+. *Links mentioned on this Round: ATR2100 or AT2005 microphones with dual output (XLR and USB). European version: Samson Q2U Bossjock App for iPhone Behringer Xenyx 1002B w/opt battery power, 1 aux send post and 1 pre. USB Audio Recorder for Android Two Lav microphones in one - Giant Squid microphones Sony ICD-PX333 Digital Voice Recorder. Cost around $50. Slightly bigger than a pack of gum and no fragile parts. Rob's mix-minus device for iPhone http://recapmycalls.com I/O devices for smartphones at http://www.esdevices.com/ Rode SC6 Dual TRRS Input and Headphone Output for Smartphones Article from TSA about traveling with batteries  Auphonic for auto post processing and some editing Recordium for iOS Rob's NMX presentation about podcasting on iOS  iOS recording and editing - TWISTED WAVE Multitrack DAW for iOS for editing ART Dual Pre for multi-mic mobile recording Circle Ray on Google Plus to be notified of future live recordings, to meet other podcasters and share your opinions in the chat! See ya at the next Round! Sign up to appear on a future Podcasters' Roundtable! * all links should be considered affiliate links. Read my ethics statement for more info.

  +Ray Ortega, +Daniel J. Lewis, and +Dave Jackson, recreate their presentation given at New Media Expo 2014 titled, "How to Grow Your Audience from 100's to 1000's." For those of you looking for new ways to increase the number of people who listen and/or watch your podcast this Round will provide well over 50 different strategies for increasing your podcast's audience. Presented back in January 2014 at the New Media Expo, this panel was originally planned to be reposted on the Podcasters' Roundtable site at podcastersroundtable.com/nmx14. Unfortunately NMX lost our recoding. To make up for that, we're doing it over, live! Listen to get just a taste of the many ways you can find new people to listen to your show or retain the viewers you already have. Links mentioned on this Round: Complete outline of promo tips from NMX14 presentation Enter this into Google to see who is linking to your website: Google: link: yourdomain.com (go to google.com and enter Link: WHATEVER_DOMAIN_YOU_WANT_TO_VIEW.com) Circle Ray on Google Plus to be notified of future live recordings, to meet other podcasters and share your opinions in the chat! See ya at the next Round! Sign up to appear on a future Podcasters' Roundtable!

How much personality in your show is too much? Do you fear being "vulnerable" with your audience or do you share everything? This Round features: +Ray Ortega, +Daniel J. Lewis, +Dave Jackson, +Neil Perrin, +Jeffrey Powers, and +Tyler Smith. Circle Ray on Google Plus to be notified of future live recordings, to meet other podcasters and share your opinions in the chat! See ya at the next Round! Sign up to appear on a future Podcasters' Roundtable!

Is podcasting really any different than old media? Are we, as podcasters, simply falling into the mold created by media producers before us? Podcasting may be one of the few remaining truly free mediums. There are no rules, no gatekeepers, no censors, nothing telling you what you can and can't do with your show. So why does your podcast sound like all the rest or worse, like radio?;) This is a fun Roundtable in the spirit of the Roundtable's origins, podcasters sitting around on a group call discussing whatever comes to mind. We jump off from this topic of "breaking the mold" as it refers to content production styles and see where it goes. This Round features: +Ray Ortega, +Daniel J. Lewis, +Paul Blais, +Corey Fineran, and +Gary Fawcett. Circle Ray on Google Plus to be notified of future live recordings, to meet other podcasters and share your opinions in the chat! See ya at the next Round! Sign up to appear on a future Podcasters' Roundtable!

It's time for another Round of Podcasting Peeves. What are those things that drive you crazy about podcasters, podcasts, the podcasting industry, etc? This Round features: +Ray Ortega, +David Jackson +Daniel J. Lewis  +Kenn Blanchard +Jordan Harbinger +Ryan Parker and +Paul Blais. Circle me on Google Plus to be notified of future live recordings, to meet other podcasters and share your opinions in the chat! See ya at the next Round! Sign up to appear on a future Podcasters' Roundtable! Links mentioned on this Round ScheduleOne - Online scheduling to help with setting up podcast interviews.

Should you add live-streaming to your podcast production? Recording live won't give you a big boost in numbers, isn't likely to help you get discovered, and probably won't attract a lot of participation all while adding more to your workflow. So why go live? Watch +Ray Ortega, +David Jackson +Daniel J. Lewis +Rob Cesternino +Andrew Zarian and +Mike Howard discuss the good and bad of live-streaming your show Circle me on Google Plus to be notified of future live recordings, to meet other podcasters and share your opinions in the chat! See ya at the next Round! Sign up to be notified and appear on a future Podcasters' Roundtable!  

What do you do if someone promotes your podcast but you don't necessarily agree with their content? Do you care? Is there such a thing as "bad press?" At any time, someone can share your content with their own audience be it a simple word-of-mouth mention or sharing your logo, content, or promo. But what if your personal beliefs or brand don't align with theirs? Do you worry that you'll be seen as associated with their brand or is any promo, good promo? Watch +Ray Ortega, +David Jackson +Daniel J. Lewis +Mignon Fogarty and +John Wilkerson discuss the topic of podcast promotion and whether or not you feel it's necessary to "police" your brand.

Your podcast is available in iTunes, Stitcher, etc. but what about its own app? Do you need one? What are the benefits and what are the costs to having a standalone app for your podcast? Watch +Ray Ortega, +David Jackson +Daniel J. Lewis  +Rob Walch, +Chase Nunes  and +Kevin Scullion discuss standalone podcast apps. Circle me on Google Plus to be notified of future live recordings, to meet other podcasters and share your opinions in the chat! See ya at the next Round! Sign up to appear on a future Podcasters' Roundtable!    

Recorded live on the show floor at New Media Expo 2014 (NMX), Ray, Daniel and Dave ask, Are Conferences Worth It? This is an audio only Round. See the player below. Attending a conference is rarely a cheap endeavor. You spend money on travel, lodging, food and of course tickets. Even if the conference is free and local, you invest time and energy. So, is it worth it? What do you get in return for your investment? On this Round, Ray Ortega, Daniel J. Lewis, David Jackson and a whole host of new Roundtablers, chosen from the audience (see below), discuss the value of attending a conference with special focus on the 2014 NMX show in Las Vegas. Special thanks to everyone who showed up to watch us record this Round, to Nick Seuberling for doing an awesome job managing the guest microphone and Megan Enloe from NMX for helping to make this happen. I've been told that NMX loved the Round and is excited to have us back on the live "stage" again next year. We hope to see you there! Returning Roundtablers making an appearance on this Round include: Nick Seuberling, Ibarionex Perello, Ben Adam-Smith, Corey Fineran New Roundtablers featured on this Round: Jeremy Chandanais (aka JC), Larissa Galenes, Vickie Velazquez, Shannon Hernandez, George Hrab, Craig Gilley, Amy Bowser-Rollins, Rob Cesternino, Tawny Fineran, and Charles McFall.  

John Lee Dumas is getting a lot of attention these days; in part due to the money he is making with his podcast. No doubt his story and success are inspiring others to start their own podcast. In some cases, motivated to do exactly what John is doing.... making a lot of money. What's the danger in starting a podcast based on someone else's success? Can you start a podcast and make tons of money too? Are you the next John Lee Dumas? Watch myself (Ray Ortega), +Daniel J. Lewis +David Jackson +Steve Stewart and +John Lee Dumas himself, discuss a blog post Steve wrote entitled: The John Lee Dumas Effect. We'll find out if you can podcast your way to riches and discuss the pitfalls of trying to copy someone else's success. Circle me on Google Plus to be notified of future live recordings, to meet other podcasters and share your opinions in the chat! See ya at the next Round! Links mentioned on this episode: Sign up to appear on the Roundtable Podcast Sponsorships: All the goods - John's awesome post about how to get sponsors for your podcast Podcast Launch - John's podcasting book John's Free Templates (Please click-through to see all the templates listed below at the bottom of the post before the comments) How to approach a sponsor for the first time EntrepreneurOnFire’s Price Chart Email template of Sponsorship Proposal Excel spreadsheet template of Dates and Dollars sponsorship proposal Email template for guests Sign up to appear on a future Podcasters' Roundtable!    

The holiday season is a great time to give thanks and dream of new podcasting goodies. So what are podcasters thankful for and what kind of podcasting stuff makes a podcaster's wish list? Get ready for a fun-filled discussion about the things we've enjoyed about podcasting over the last year(s) and those items (gear, software, etc.) that we hope to enjoy in 2014. Watch, myself (Ray Ortega), +David Jackson, +Daniel J. Lewis,, and new Roundtablers +Andrew Zarian and +Ibarionex Perello to discuss the gifts of podcasting. Circle me at gplus.to/rayortega to be notified of future live recordings, to meet other podcasters and share your opinions in the chat! See ya at the next Round! Links mentioned on this episode: Sign up to appear on the Roundtable Andrew Zarian's studio tour    

Podcast award season is here and that means asking your audience for votes, in some cases, constantly asking them. How do you deal with this as a podcaster...as a listener? Are we asking too much or is it a great way to show your support of a show? Beyond awards, we're repeatedly faced with asking our audience for all many different things. We ask for reviews, ratings, feedback, sign-ups, and a whole host of other things that we put into every episode. So how much is too much? Join me (Ray Ortega), +David Jackson, +Nick Seuberling +Corey Fineran +Izabela Russell and +Ileane Smith to discuss the balance between asking your audience to support your show and wearing them out asking for too much. Circle me at gplus.to/rayortega to be notified of future live recordings, to meet other podcasters and share your opinions in the chat! See ya at the next Round!

Did you have a hard time deciding what your podcast should be about? Are you sure you made the right choice? How do you decide and does it even matter what choice you make? Watch +David Jackson, myself (+Ray Ortega ), +Ben Krueger +Kevin Mulryne and +Ben Adam-Smith to discuss the process of choosing a podcast topic. Circle me at gplus.to/rayortega to be notified of future live recordings, to meet other podcasters and share your opinions in the chat! See ya at the next Round!

When is choosing to start a podcast the wrong decision? Have you heard that you need a podcast or that podcasting is the hottest thing going and you want to start your own? Have you asked yourself if a podcast is really the best way to spend your limited free time? Listen to +Daniel J. Lewis +David Jackson +Lisa B. Marshall and myself (Ray Ortega) discuss when a podcast is and isn't the best form of content creation for your brand, message or hobby. Circle me at gplus.to/rayortega to be notified of future live recordings, to meet other podcasters and share your opinions in the chat! See ya at the next Round! Rountablers featured on this Round included +David Jackson, +Daniel J. Lewis, myself (Ray Ortega), and +Lisa B. Marshall.

Have you ever considered deleting an old podcast episode or updating it because the information was now out of date? Perhaps you've been asked to take an old episode out of your library because the information is now wrong. What would you do? +Daniel J. Lewis +David Jackson +Steve Stewart +Kelly Mitchell and myself (Ray Ortega) discuss what to do when time makes your archive irrelevant or just plain wrong. Circle me at gplus.to/rayortega to be notified of future live recordings, to meet other podcasters and share your opinions in the chat! See ya at the next Round! Rountablers featured on this Round included +David Jackson, +Daniel J. Lewis, +Kelly Mitchell, myself (Ray Ortega), and +Steve Stewart.

Is podcasting making a comeback? Did it ever really falter? The raw numbers tell us podcast viewers have grown every year since it's inception in 2004 so why are we increasly hearing that podcasting is back? What's the difference between now and last year or two years ago? Find out what the Roundtable thinks is behind articles that claim podcasting is making a comeback. Circle me at gplus.to/rayortega to be notified of future live recordings, to meet other podcasters and share your opinions in the chat! See ya at the next Round! Rountablers featured on this Round included +David Jackson, +Daniel J. Lewis, , Rob Greenlee, Todd Cochrane, and myself (Ray Ortega).

If you have a podcast or want to start one you're going to need a place to host your audio and/or video files. On this Round we'll be asking, where do you host your podcast media and why? When choosing where to host your podcast files you have plenty of options (for audio at least). Those options however are not all created equal. There's both free and paid options and each has it's advantages (sneak peak, free's only advantage is in it's name;)) So how do you decide where to host your files? Watch (Ray Ortega), +Daniel J. Lewis +David Jackson +Steve Lee and Chase Nunes talk about the sometimes confusing issue of podcast media storage. We put together our collective experience as seasoned podcasters to discuss what has worked, what is a fair price and where we've failed when choosing media hosting. And of course we'll dig into the controversial issue of storing your files on a shared server! Circle me at gplus.to/rayortega to be notified of future live recordings, to meet other podcasters and share your opinions in the chat! See ya at the next Round! Rountablers featured on this Round included +David Jackson, +Daniel J. Lewis, +Steve Lee, myself (Ray Ortega), and Chase Nunes.

Can a podcast niche be too small? How do you find an audience in a niche that isn't very big? Watch myself (Ray Ortega) along with +Daniel J. Lewis, +Cynthia Sanchez, +Jason Nagy, +Joseph Polk, and +Peter Lamb talk about podcasting to a small niche and how to find your audience when the potential pool of listeners for your topic isn't that large.