Archive for the 'iPod' Category

I love to listen to audio books. Over the last year I have listened to over thirty business oriented titles. I can listen while driving, exercising, or walking. The venerable ipod has really changed the way I learn from books. With an audio title, I always finish the book. I can easily bookmark sections, and play popular sections over and over.

The only real problem I have with the format is making notes while listening. If I’m driving, or out walking it’s hard to write down notes. Since I usually don’t have a written copy for reference it’s hard to go back and find an exact section to capture notes at a later date. This also makes it harder to review the book since I don’t have access to the written copy for pullouts and quotes.

With over 30 great books to review, I’ve struggled to find a way to bring them to you in a review format. I’ve resorted to buying the hard copy in some instances or relying on an author’s website for additional information. In preparing for a seminar that I’m doing this week on podcasting, I’ve run into a little device that may really help to capture notes along the way.

The device is called the I-talk Pro from Griffen technologies. It’s a small microphone that plugs into the bottom of newer iPods and allows you to record hi quality stereo audio to your iPod in Wav format. When you sync your iPod with your computer, this audio is automatically moved from your iPod to your computer and the disk space is reclaimed.

I ordered one of these from Amazon last week and have been amazed how well it works. You plug the device into your sync port at the bottom of the iPod and it automatically pulls up a recording screen. It gives you a choice of high quality (stereo) or low quality (mono) audio recording and has a recording button. It’s as simple as that.

I usually choose high quality on my video iPod since I have a lot of disk space. The recording quality of this unit is superb. When I want to make notes about an audio book I’m listening to, I just plug it in and record. It’s really as simple as that. To go back to listening to my Audio book, I just remove the unit. It’s fast and simple.

This is an ideal unit for recording podcasts. It is especially useful for recording group conversations as it can be placed on a desk or table where everyone can talk into it. The pickup range is good and the stereo separation really adds a spacial effect.

After recording some podcast material I have realized how useful this will be for Audio book reviews. When I’m done listening to an Audio book, I can listen to my notes at home and put together an informative outline. Then it is just a matter of putting together a book review podcast. This unit makes it fast and easy to record the podcast almost anywhere, with great sound.

I plan to use this unit to create reviews of many of the great books I have listened to over the past year and bring them to you with a written outline, three major points, and a podcast that you can subscribe to. I hope to be able to make this site a resource for audio book reviews that you can take with you.

Technorati Tags: ipod, italk, audio book

Have you ever picked up a book and read the first chapter and then said to yourself “Ah-Ha”, that’s it! It’s called an Ah-Ha moment and these 5 books all contain numerous examples. I have been amazed at the material I’ve learned that has had a major effect on the way I look at the world. I recommend that you pick up a copy and see what I mean. Here are some of the Ah-Ha moments that I’ve had over the past year

1. Leave out one of these 7 Things and your business may suffer
Patrick Hanlon will take you on an amazing journey with companies like Nike, Starbucks, and UPS and show you why they have been so successful. Patrick list seven things that are an absolute must for any company to include in their “brand.” Leave any one of them out and your business may suffer.

2. Reach this “point” and your business will change forever
There is a point in the life of an idea, product, or personality that can take on amazing proportions. Business may increase 100 fold in just a few days when you hit it. While often elusive, Malcolm Gladwell will give you some clues how to achieve this magical “point” in your life or business.

3. Success does not equal money and power.
Three amazing authors will lead you on a journey through the generally held concepts of success and challenge each one of them. I’ve come away with a new outlook on success and what it really means!

4. This company will affect the way you do business.
No matter what business you are in the presence of this company will have an effect on the way you do business. Charles Fishman reveals some of the secrets of this amazing enterprise. From pricing, to supply chain, to the way you market your product, this book will really open your eyes to the power of this growing corporation.

5. You and 50,000 other people came to the same conclusion.
How is it possible to know what the majority of the people in any large group are thinking? And are these people right? James Surowiecki explores this remarkable topic and will reveal some statistics that are truly staggering.

All five of these books have changed my world view in one way or the other. From subtle little ideas to giant concepts each one of these books should be on your must read list. All of them are available in hardcover, audio, and as a download from iTunes.

I’m headed out to Palm Springs this weekend for The Summer Symposium hosted by the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Speakers Association. I’m looking forward to hearing some great speakers and hoping to improve my speaking and presentation skills. Since I’ll have a 2 hour drive I decided to download some podcasts to take along in the car.

I decided to look up some of my fellow bloggers podcasts and headed over to Rosa Say’s blog, Talking Story. I went down the list in her Ho’ohana Community and found the following…

The cranky middle manager show with Present Like a Pro

Kevin Eikenberry on the Advanced Selling Podcast

Dwayne Melancon With Lisa Haneberg on Focus & Change

Greg Balanko-Dickson & Phil Gerbyshak in How’s your Creative IQ?

Easton Ellsworth via the Podcasting Roundtable

Lisa Haneberg and her Virtual Fireside Podcasts

Rosa is hosting a learning symposium all month on her site and it will be great to hear some of the participants via their podcasts. Be sure to check out her month of learning series.

You can also check out the MBA On The Run podcasts here.

We also have put up a test video podcast here.

Have a great weekend!

Over the past year I’ve had the pleasure of reading and listening to a number of great books. Books that motivate and inspire and have changed my life for the better. I thought I would share one of the gems with you today.

The “Fred Factor” is a small book that touts just over 100 pages. It’s based on a true story of a Postman named Fred and his extraordinary gift of helping and encouragement. Written by author and motivational speaker Mark Sanborn, this little book is a powerhouse of motivation for individuals or groups. I’ve put together a short 6 minute podcast that will give you a short introduction to this great little book.

Podcast: The Fred Factor

Subscribe to the Podcast Feed

 As part of the MBA On The Run program, I’ve had the pleasure of listening to over 30 popular business oriented audio books this year. I would like to share some of my reviews and experiences with you. Over the next few months, I hope to be able to bring you a book review
a week. Some will be podcasts and other will be written reviews.

I’ve included my list of titles below. Most are available as audio books which are available on iTunes and also in printed version which are available online through our success store.

Many of these titles are powerful, life changing works.

Leadership Titles

• The First 90 Days: Michael Watkins
• Fit To Lead: Christopher P. Neck
• 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: John Maxwell
• 21 Most Powerful Minutes in a Leaders Day: John Maxwell
• Coach: Lessons On the Game of Life: Michael Lewis
• Becoming A Person of Influence: John Maxwell

Networking-People Skills

• How To Win Friends & Influence People:  Dale Carnegie
• How to Make People Like You: Nicholas Boothman
• 25 Ways to Win With People: John Maxwell
• Brag: The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn: Peggy Klaus
• Never Eat Alone: Keith Ferrazzi

Business-Entrepreneurship

• The Wal-Mart Effect: Charles Fishman
• Millionaire Upgrade: Richard Parkes Cordock
• The E-Myth Revisited: Michael E. Gerber

Life Hacks & Organization

• Making a Good Brain Great: Daniel G. Amen
• Stumbling on Happiness: Daniel Gilbert
• 60 Second Procrastinator: Jeff Davidson
• Getting Things Done: David Allen
• Ready For Anything: David Allen

Success & Motivation

• Integrity: Dr. Henry Cloud
• The Success Principles: Jack Canfield
• Racing to Win: Joe Gibbs
• The Seven Hidden Secrets of Motivation: Todd Beeler
• Failing Forward: John Maxwell
• Today Matters: John Maxwell

Marketing & Branding

• Primal Branding: Patrick Hanlon
• All Marketers Are Liars: Seth Godin
• The Wisdom of Crowds: James Surowiecki
• The Big Moo: Seth Godin & Group of 33
• The Tipping Point: Malcolm Gladwell

Financial

• Rule #1: Phil Town
• Little Book That Beats The Market: Joel Greenblat
• Rich Dad-Poor Dad: Robert T. Kiyosaki

Innovation, Technology, & Creativity

• The World Is Flat: Thomas L. Friedman
• The Ten Faces of Innovation: Tom Kelley
• 10 Quick Steps to Blogging: Bryan Hoff
• On Writing Well: William Zinsser
• Blink: Malcolm Gladwell

Storytelling

• The Alchemist: Paulo Coelho
• The Fred Factor: Mark Sanborn
• Don’t Eat The Marshmallow Yet: Joachim de Posada

Inspirational-Spiritual

• If You Want To Walk On Water: John Ortberg
• The Purpose Driven Life: Rick Warren
• The Greatest Salesman In The World: Og Mandino

Wal-Mart is the discount store down the street with smiling faces and great prices. Or is it really something different? The “low prices every day” policy is good for shoppers… or is it? When a new Wal-Mart comes into town what really happens to other businesses? A great way to find the answers to these questions is to pick up a copy of “The Wal-Mart Effect,” by Charles Fishman.

In this objective look at the worlds largest retailer you’ll discover fascinating things about the products on the shelves and the stories behind them. You’ll discover the rags to riches fame of a twelve year old girl and her dad with a unique product called makin bacon. You’ll find out how huge companies have been driven to bankruptcy with Wal-Mart’s always low prices.

A great way to experience this book is to download the audio version on your iPod or other portable audio player and listen while walking around a Wal-Mart store. This book is so eye opening that you will find it hard to pause the audio. From the strategic placement of products on end caps to the remarkable story of Chilean salmon, this book will keep your attention.

Your next visit to a Wal-Mart will be so different. You’ll discover the winners and losers in this multi national corporate battle to have their companies products included on Wal-Mart’s shelves. You’ll see that $99 lawn mower and $2.99 sprinkler that cost many Americans their jobs. You’ll suddenly notice the small quality differences in the national brand jeans selling for $13.95 and wonder what the next quality cut might be.

This is a fascinating and somewhat troubling adventure. You’ll never look at Sam Walton’s company the same again. If you are a business owner this is a must read, because this retailer from the little town of Bentonville Arkansas is changing the way the world does business.

I spent the weekend discovering the world of Podcasting. It was an amazing journey fraught with pitfalls and frustration. Podcasting is not as easy as it sounds. Creating the audio vocal track is only the beginning. To create something that sounds professional you’ll need to mix the audio track with intro music and add noise reduction. Then you need to upload it, create a XML feed and publish the link where people can find it. There are a few software packages that make this task much easier.

If you have a Mac, the garage band software that is included in the iLife suite is setup to make this task easy. Unfortunately on my Mac-Mini you can’t just plug a microphone in and start recording. The Mac is setup for line-level input so you’ll need to purchase a USB microphone or amplify a standard microphone. This was a frustrating little “gotcha” that kept me from using my Mac on my first Podcast experience.

Next I tried my Windows XP computer. I plugged my Sony microphone into the PC and tested the recording. It worked great and I was on my way. I went online and looked for PC based podcasting programs. The most popular was a program called Propaganda which is available for free testing (full featured but with unacceptable company name audio overlays on the final output). The test went well and I decided to purchase the full version.

With the full version loaded, I was ready to go. I recorded some audio which was full of um’s and ah’s and paused all over the place. I found that I couldn’t just wing it. I needed a script. I tried using some blog posts as the outline and the result was much better. The more I practiced, the more expression I was able to add. One of the big battles was trying to get a consistent vocal level. I found that keeping the microphone close but below my mouth worked pretty well. This reduced the breathing noises that are sometimes picked up in audio recordings.

With the audio recorded, I added some intro music and put all the clips together. I added some clip info and cover art and then published the final podcast on the web. The next step was the creation of a XML file for subscribers and then a listing on feedburner. The final step was a link uploaded to iTunes and Odeo. This whole process took many hours the first time around. There are actually quite a few steps and multiple pieces of software are involved.

The finished product is available on a feed from Feedburner. You can subscribe to the feed and be notified when it is updated. The link on iTunes is in process and hopefully will be available in a day or two. Once I get this process refined I’ll post some detailed instructions on the individual steps.

For now you can subscribe to the link by clicking the icon below. Please let me know what you think.

For a listing of all of our current blog feeds, please check out our feed page.

I found a cool little five minute exercise that lets me synchronize my Ipod with Outlook 2003 on my PC. This is very handy when I’m out walking and I need to make a phone call or look at my calendar. If you have Outlook 2003 and Itunes 6 on your PC you are already to go. Here are the steps.

 1. For Calendar Data: Open the Edit menu in iTunes and choose Preferences. In the Preferences dialog box, click the Calendars tab. Next, select the Synchronize Calendars From Microsoft Outlook checkbox and click OK to confirm your synchronization choices. Your calendar data is now available for syncing with your iPod.

2. For Outlook Contacts: Open the Edit menu in iTunes and select Preferences. Select the iPod tab and the Contacts tab, and then choose Outlook or Outlook Express from the Synchronize Contracts From drop-down menu. Next, choose whether you want to synchronize all of your Outlook contacts or only those contacts from selected groups or distribution lists. Click OK to confirm your choices for synchronizing contacts.

If you have an older version of Outlook, check out this article from PCToday for helpful hints. In a short five minute session, My iPod just became a lot more useful.