PerfCast

On this weeks edition of Perfcast, our special guest will be Patrick O’ Keefe author of the book, Managing Online Forums. The name might sound familiar to you considering I published a large two part interview with him back in June which you can view here (Part 1 – Part 2) As you might have guessed, David and I will be grilling Patrick on all sorts of issues relating to forums, online communities, and also, running his own blogging network iFroggy. To catch a glimpse of the discussion to take place later today, check out the interview I conducted with Patrick on BloggerTalks this week.

It didn’t take long for the team to release WordPress 2.7 after RC2 was released just a few hours prior. Despite any confusion that may arise from two versions being released in the same day, I highly encourage anyone that is using WordPress to upgrade to the latest release (WordPress 2.7). There is simply too much bundled in this new version to pass up in favor of a later release.

Just to name a few reasons:

• Customizable Dashboard
• User Interface That End Users Can Control
• Browse And Install Plugins From Your Administration Panel
• Automatic Core Upgrades
• Automatic Theme Upgrades
• A Write Panel That Is 100 Times Better Than The One In WordPress 2.3

I’ve been using WordPress since the 2.2 days. I know, it’s not a long time but 2.7 is by far the most exciting release for me as it introduces a user interface that reeks of pure awesome. Think about it, with 2.7, we now have automatic upgrades, plugin installation/upgrades, and theme upgrades all available as core features. I and many others have claimed this to be the holy grail of WordPress. I’m really impressed that ideas that have been discussed in prior months have turned into reality. A nice, shiny, polished reality at that.

Will you be upgrading to WordPress 2.7 sooner rather than later? What is your favorite feature in 2.7?

On this episode of Perfcast, David and I had the chance to interview Micah Baldwin who is the VP Of Business Development for Lijit.com. Lijit enables you to extend the functionality of the search function of your blog to go beyond the blog to cover the videos you have published on YouTube, your Twitter account, bookmarks, network of friends, and the blogs you read in your RSS reader. As part of the interview, here are just some of the topics we discussed:

• What it’s like to operate a tech company outside of silicon valley
• The benefits of using Lijit versus your standard run of the mill blog search
• Monetization opportunities by using Lijit
• Will Lijit improve upon the existing WordPress Plugin
• How Lijit will continue to improve the service

Also, there are a couple of things stated in the interview that could be labeled exclusive but you’ll have to tune in to figure out what those are.

LENGTH OF EPISODE – 1 Hour 11 Minutes

NEXT EPISODE – December 11th, 2008 at 7 P.M. EST

ITUNES – Click here to subscribe to the show via iTunes

DOWNLOAD THE SHOW: PerfcastEpisode15.mp3

LISTEN TO EPISODE 14 OF PERFCAST:

While those in the U.S. were celebrating a day of giving thanks, David Peralty was stuck with going solo on the show. However, after listening to the episode, I think David did a great job despite the one or two technical snafus. In this episode, David discussed WordPress Direct and it’s shady way of operating, GawkerMedia cutting back jobs but showing record traffic levels, a small discussion on podcasting and much more. Don’t kid yourself David, you held down the fort quite well!

LENGTH OF EPISODE – 1 Hour

NEXT EPISODE – December 4th, 2008 at 7 P.M. EST

ITUNES – Click here to subscribe to the show via iTunes

DOWNLOAD THE SHOW: PerfcastEpisode14.mp3

LISTEN TO EPISODE 14 OF PERFCAST:

Tonights episode featured a very special guest, Darren Rowse of Problogger.net fame. Within this episode, we discussed with Darren about his book, his new project called Twitip.com, the realities of blogging, monetization, the lessons learned so far in his career, community building and much, much more. This has become a classic show and I encourage everyone to listen as there is plenty of information presented within the episode that is sure to enlighten you.

LENGTH OF EPISODE – 1 Hour 20 Minutes

NEXT EPISODE – November 27th, 2008 at 7 P.M. EST

ITUNES – Click here to subscribe to the show via iTunes

DOWNLOAD THE SHOW: PerfcastEpisode13.mp3

LISTEN TO EPISODE 13 OF PERFCAST:

If you’ve ever wanted the chance to ask Darren Rowse a question in real time, next Thursday will be your opportunity. The problogger himself will be appearing for an hour on Perfcast next Thursday to discuss problogging, the success of his co-authored book, monetization, blog networks, the state of advertising, community, what it’s like to be a blogging rockstar and much, much more. This episode is a week away but it already has ‘classic‘ written all over it. If you’ll be unable to participate in the show live, you can email your questions to [email protected] or you can leave a comment on this blog post with your question. It may or may not be asked on the air but it’s worth a shot.

The show will air live on Thursday November 20th, 2008 at 7 P.M. EST on Talkshoe.com.

If you would like to know how to participate in the show, please read the How To Participate In Perfcast Live guide I put together which explains everything you need to know.

In tonights episode of Perfcast, David and I grilled Jim Kukral on a variety of subjects including:

• Personal Branding
• The Definition of the word “Brand”
• Establishing a brand
• The work involved with running a business based on a brand
• Do you need to be the first one in the market in order to succeed
• How blogs have become the easiest way to build a brand
• The benefits of video and podcasting

We also had Jim explain the various projects and services he is operating such as ScratchBack.com and TheBizWebCoach.com. Last but not least, Jim gave us a heads up as to how he is going about writing and then publishing his new book, “Blend This Book”. We ended the show by having Jim answer some user submitted questions we received through the chat.

This episode contains a wide assortment of information all about branding. I guarantee that if you listen to this episode, you’ll learn a new thing or two that you can apply to your own marketing efforts.

Guest BIO:
Jim Kukral is a web marketer & coach, speaker, long-time award-winning blogger, customer evangelist, writer, online monetization expert, and well, a bunch of other things. For years Jim has been working on the bleeding edge of web marketing and business. From owning his own web firms to consulting for some of the world’s largest companies, Jim Kukral has experienced just about everything web related you can think of. That’s why Jim has become one of the Industry’s most sought after consultants and public speakers.

LENGTH OF EPISODE – 1 Hour 17 Minutes

NEXT EPISODE – November 20th, 2008 at 7 P.M. EST (Special guest will be Darren Rowse)

ITUNES – Click here to subscribe to the show via iTunes

DOWNLOAD THE SHOW: PerfcastEpisode12.mp3

LISTEN TO EPISODE 12 OF PERFCAST:

Although we had to reschedule Jim Kukral for Thursday November 13th, the show turned out great as we had a number of things to discuss such as the return of pop ups, third quarter losses in advertising rates, are networks like 9rules still relevant, has blogging grown up, and last but not least, David launches a members only area on BrandingDavid.com. Thanks to DaveAC from the UK who stopped by to voice his opinions on these news stories and more. Another great time had by all.

STORIES DISCUSSED –
Are Popups coming Back?
Blogging Is In The Main Stream Baby
Are Networks Like 9rules still relevant?
11% Drop in Ad Rate
BrandingDavid Launches Membership Only Area

LISTENER FEEDBACK – In this episode, we answered a listener email, and a previous blogging challenge entry of the week. You can give us your feedback by shooting us an email at, [email protected] or leave a comment on this blog post.

BLOGGING CHALLENGE – The challenge segment has been postponed until David and I can figure out the best way offer the challenge to as many people as possible without alienating those who listen to the podcast and those who appear in the chatroom. If you have any ideas on how to do this, send them to [email protected].

BLOGGING JOB OF THE WEEK – Rosetta Stone is looking for a Native Language Creative Writer/Blogger. We are looking for native speakers of the following languages:

• English
• French
• German
• Italian
• Russian
• Spanish (Latin America)

Click for more information

LENGTH OF EPISODE – 1 Hour 18 Minutes

NEXT EPISODE – November 13th, 2008 at 7 P.M. EST (Special guest will be Jim Kukral)

ITUNES – Click here to subscribe to the show via iTunes

DOWNLOAD THE SHOW: PerfcastEpisode11.mp3

LISTEN TO EPISODE 11 OF PERFCAST: