Podcasts about social media unscrambled

Apologies And Statements Ralph has a few things to clear up before we jump into this episode, and it begins with apologizing for mispronouncing the name of one of the co-hosts of Social Media Unscrambled. Of course, next week he will apologize for calling it “Social Media Scrambled” in this episode. He also takes umbrage with Janet Johnson, one of the hosts of Business Growth Time, whose marketing campaign had a typo, but who didn’t respond when Ralph pointed it out. Mostly, he wants to know: whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy? Finally, SuperFred and friend Nadia Bracken let us know that we may have used the a-s-s word too many times in last week’s episode, especially since her mom listens, too. We apologize profusely because we’re just so happy to hear that her mom listens to our podcast! Traveling On A Budget. Or Not. Last week, Ralph asked me to tally up the expenses of our 11-week cross-country road trip. So I did. On this episode we disclose the amount we spent. But why? It’s important to let you know that we’re not “lifestyle entrepreneurs.” We don’t work from the beach and insist that you can too, if only you follow our ten-step plan and sign up for our email list. So we’re not talking about money to tell you how amazing we are or to pitch you on doing things our way. We just like to travel. We discovered that recently, when we did it for real for the first time. And we were fortunate enough to have a really good year financially, so we didn’t have to travel on a budget. We were cost-conscious in some ways, and extravagant in others. But we know we COULD travel on a budget if we wanted to. Here’s what we learned about traveling smart, so that if you want to get out of a stuck space and spend time somewhere else, you can do it even if you have a small budget. It’s a matter of mindset and a willingness to compromise. The Expenses After tallying it all up, the receipts, the credit card bills and the little bit of cash we brought, we spent about $22,000. Rounding it up just to have a nice even number, and in case we left anything out, let’s call it $25,000. That includes a place to stay, food, gas, parking, and entertainment. It also includes anything we spent on incidentals on the road. Like toothpaste. And coffee. It doesn’t include money we spent on souvenirs. We spent a couple hundred dollars here and there on t-shirts (one from every city and town!), gifts, and other fun things, but I don’t count that as a travel expense. It was totally optional. That’s less than Ralph thought we spent, and more than we could have. But what if you don’t have $25,000 lying around? Eating Smart You’ve got to eat. And you’ve got to do that whether you stay home or travel across the country. So if you eat smart then you don’t have to figure much if any additional budget for food. We went to restaurants when we arrived at our destinations but we almost never ate from the road. We bought a cooler and filled it with fruit and bottled water, and stocked up on non-perishables like nuts and granola bars. Grab a loaf of bread, some cold cuts and a little PB&J and you can eat anywhere, anytime, inexpensively. If you stay somewhere with a kitchen (or even an outdoor grill) you can cook for yourself instead of spending on restaurants. Our cooler was a lifesaver. We bought a Yeti cooler, because we had experience with their products in the past and we know how awesome they are. We used one of their travel mugs for years. You can make a cup of tea in the morning and it will still be piping hot by afternoon. We also got their half gallon jug. We put a cold beverage inside and days later it was still ice cold. So getting a Yeti was more expensive than getting a traditional cooler but it was easy to carry (more like a giant purse than a cooler) and it kept food cold for days. We could stock up on food from farmer’s markets, roadside stands and grocery stores. It was like having a mini refrigerator. We saved a ton of money simply by not buying bottled water on the road. Compare two bucks a case at the supermarket to two bucks a bottle at a gas station. That can really add up. Staying Smart Our trip included one very expensive, luxurious week at the Salish Lodge and Spa in Washington state. That one week accounted for a sizeable chunk of our budget, but it was our anniversary and we gave ourselves a present. It’s not the kind of thing you do on every trip but it was totally worth it! We got a suite on the waterfall and enjoyed every second of the beautiful room, the stunning scenery, the great people and the incredible food. If you want to feel like you’re on top of the world and have money to spend, we highly recommend it. But if you’re on a budget, there’s a lot you can do to keep your room costs in check. Start with one of the hotel apps, like Priceline or Hotels.com. If you can stand a little risk, pull the app out when you show up in a town and see what the deals are. You can sometimes get great deals at the last minute. Airbnb is another great option for lower cost rooms. If you’re OK sharing space with other people, you can get pretty good rates on rooms in other people’s homes. If you want a little more privacy, like your own bathroom, you’re going to pay more, but you can still find nice places at good rates. If you’re using Airbnb, look for rules and amenities that suit you. You can find places that allow pets, include parking, wifi, kitchens and patios, and a lot more. Some people don’t allow shoes or meat, others want quiet time by 9PM. Find something that fits your lifestyle. Look for extended stay hotels or Airbnbs that offer discounts for a longer stay. If you want to get away and aren’t looking to do the touristy thing, go someplace for a month and you’ll get a better deal than if you place-hop every few nights. Sometimes a MUCH better deal. Go off the beaten path. If you aren’t looking to go to the biggest tourist havens, you can get much better rates. January in our breach town is deserted, so rooms are much cheaper than they are in July. Don’t mind being in Arizona in the dead of the August heat? You can get some super nice rooms for dirt cheap. We even found hotels that did “stay two nights get one free” deals, so look for those, too! And finally: campgrounds. We didn’t stay overnight at one but it’s a possibility next time. You might be surprised by some of the amenities. You can find campsites with showers, electricity, and even wifi. And there are often common rooms where you can meet and socialize with other people, and even use laundry facilities. Yes, you can spend a little more and get yourself a cabin, but for very little money you can get a spot to park your car and either sleep right in it, or pull out a small tent. Depending on where you are, you could spend no more than $20 a night. And since you’re a nomad now, you can leave your camping spot during the day and do a little sightseeing, or go park yourself at a café and work right from there. Travel More, Spend Less Knowing what we know now, we could do another 11-week trip and easily cut our budget in half. We could do that without even thinking too hard, without having to sacrifice our private bathroom, and even getting to go out for a nice filet mignon and lobster tail dinner now and then. So yes, if you’re having a great year and want to treat yourself to something fun, grab your keys and go see some of this amazing country. But if you’re daydreaming about getting out of town “if only you could afford it”, then grab your keys anyway, stock up on granola bars and go find someone with a room to rent. If you’re willing to take a chance, to leave your “safe space” for a little while and roll with whatever happens, it really can be that easy. A Final PSA We learned early on that using a debit card on the road was a really bad idea. If it gets stolen (and ours was, numerous times), that’s a direct line to your bank account. Use a credit card instead because you’re protected if it's stolen and it won’t affect your cash. As for credit cards, use one with rewards if you’ve got it. We used our Discover card, which amounted to several hundred dollars of cash back at the end of the trip, and that’s like free money you can use to help pay for the credit card! Things And Stuff This episode was like one giant ad for stuff we love, and we think some of these people should pay us for raving about them. If you run into them in the street, let them know! Check out Yeti products if you camp, hike, travel or just want something you can keep out in the sun on barbecue day that won’t melt in an hour. Book yourself a room (even better, book a suite) at the Salish Lodge and Spa if you want to be pampered. Listen to Social Media UNscrambled and Business Growth Time and tell them we sent you. Also, big props to Bensound for providing the royalty-free music that we used behind Ralph's apologies.  Finally, enjoy this skit from Key and Peele, related to a reference Ralph made that we’ll apologize for next week.

The best podcast on earth is back on air! We’re talking about Social Media Unscrambled, hosted by our friends Chris Curran and David Deutsch, masters of the mic and all things unscrambled. They were on hiatus for a long time but it’s great to have them back. You know, hiatus. A thing we would never do around here. Except for that first one. And then this last one. Well, we’re back too, after several months and a 10,000-mile cross country trip during which we planned to podcast and never did. So what happened? Creative Block We went through a phase where we started scripting this podcast and that started getting less and less fun. We had an idea in our heads that it would help us stay more focused on a topic and have a higher quality show. In the end we struggled to make a scripted show sound anything but scripted and sort of lost our mojo. So we ditched the script and went back to having fun. Lesson learned. When We Last Left Our Heroes… We were on our way to Podcast Movement in Anaheim, one stop of many on our cross country trip. Some two dozen states and eleven weeks later, we learned a lot about ourselves and our business along the way. For starters, we learned that we’re not the planning type. Much like we started trying to plan this podcast, we started traveling with a serious plan. We had dates and stops and things to do and people to visit. But after two stops and a handful of days, we realized that planning was just holding us back. We didn’t need to know where we were going. We just needed to go. So we threw out the plans and got in the car and drove. We drove for as many as 15 or 20 hours depending on our mood and whether there was anything we wanted to see along the way. Then we’d pull into a town somewhere and pull up the Priceline app or the Airbnb app and figure out where to stay. If that sounds a little scary, perhaps it was at first. But after a while we got used to the idea of not knowing and were even comfortable sleeping in our car if we had to. It’s not something that I would have thought would work. But it did. Sometimes you have to forget what you think you know about yourself and let something else happen. Working On The Road It seems like it would be a challenging thing. After all, routines get disrupted, cell phone service drops out, and there are so many amazing things to see and do that work could easily fall by the wayside. It didn’t. In a completely counterintuitive experience, working on the road was easier than working from the same old table we’d been at for months. We had our work days. And we had our play days. The new environments were exciting and interesting. Our creative juices flowed. We got into an exploratory mindset and that transferred to our work. Being in great places made us feel great, which meant we got to be more focused and enjoy what we were doing, whether it was gaping in awe at the deep blue of Crater Lake or writing a blog for a client. Planning helped in that regard. One thing we did plan for was working. We got ourselves a mobile hotspot. We made sure we had plenty to do on our laptops even if we absolutely couldn’t get an internet connection. We made sure that we scheduled our client calls and we showed up, even if it was at 5AM our time. So it can be done! Far from being distracting and chaotic, working on the road was relaxing, energizing and fun. More Things We Learned Being on the road was a bit of a revelation. We learned more than the fact that we could survive without a plan. We learned that we’re better in long bursts than short ones. When it comes to driving, 20 hours doesn’t phase us. It’s a lot more enjoyable than 3 hours. In a way, we work that way, too. Long bursts of super focused time and then a break. We learned that we enjoy the outdoors more than we thought we would. We learned that we’re not city people, which was a strange thing to discover since we’re New Yorkers at heart and love the city. We love to visit, to dine, to explore. But then we go home. And then we hike with elk, and that makes us happy. We avoided most cities, from Nashville to Portland to Denver. But we hit lots of mountains and waterfalls and trails. We especially enjoyed our stay in Marin Country in California, where we had a cottage on a farm in a beautiful place with great people, great food, and plenty of elk. We learned that we can do it, and we know we’ll do it again. This time, without even pretending to make a plan. The Rest Of The Story Next time we’re going to talk about how to travel even if you’re on a budget. We didn’t exactly do that, but we did find ways to save and to spend a lot less than we might have. Until then, check out some of the other cool stuff we mentioned in this show… Podfudge, Chris Curran’s new podcast production and promotion agency. Double Exposure, our friend and wedding photographer Sophia Lemon’s podcast. In Episode 62 she and her co-host discuss a client who demanded a refund because they were offended by the use of the word “shoot” in “photo shoot.” We might even have an opinion on that next time. And of course Social Media Unscrambled, which is lots of fun.

My guest is Steve Stewart, owner-operator at Steve Stewart Podcast Productions and creator of Podcast Editor's Club (Facebook group). Steve also offers an Audacity workshop. We talked a lot about editing including advanced techniques like using very short fades to make edits feel natural, finding zero crossings, off-mic noise, keyboard shortcuts, breathing, joining half words, random noises, etc. *Note: Here's the link I mentioned to an older episode of Social Media Unscrambled where I initially forgot to press record and so we had to restart the episode, which was sooooo awkward. Listen to that craziness HERE. Here's a partial list of Steve's equipment and software: ATR2100-USB mic Audacity Backup recorder Ecamm call recorder Levelator iZotope RX 6 (de-breath, de-mouthclick, etc.) Thanks for sharing so much valuable info with us, Steve! DID YOU KNOW........We exist for the purpose of helping you, so please comment below with any questions or remarks. Thanks for listening! Want to Start a Business or Have a Career as a Podcast Producer/Engineer? Listen and Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, Android, RSS

On this exciting episode of Social Media Unscrambled we talked a lot about social media, naturally. First a quick Thank You to our sponsor, TribeBoost! A great way to grow your Twitter audience with relevant and quality people. Learn More Here, and be sure to use Coupon Code “Unscrambled” for 15% OFF the first month 😉 […]

Welcome to episode 79 of Social Media Unscrambled, featuring Chris Curran, founder of Fractal Recording, and David Deutsch, Social Media Director at Whitman Business Advisors, talking about social media and having a great time along the way. …a quick Thank You to our sponsor, TribeBoost! A great way to grow your Twitter audience with relevant and […]

Welcome to Episode 78 of Social Media Unscrambled! Where a couple of weirdos, Chris Curran and David Deutsch, attempt (and oftentimes fail) at making social media accessible to individuals and professionals who are a little intimidated by using social media. …a quick Thank You to our sponsor, TribeBoost! A great way to grow your Twitter audience […]

Welcome to the return of Social Media Unscrambled! Episode 77 is about the 3rd rebirth of our show where we show you how to use social media effectively for your business. Not only are we talking social media, we are building a community called The Unscrambled Army where we will leverage each other’s knowledge to grow our […]

This week on Social Media Unscrambled we welcomed guest Evan Dunn from Transform, a social media marketing and listening agency. His was the third appearance, which we called an Unscrambled Hat Trick! …And a quick Thank You to our sponsor, TribeBoost! A great way to grow your Twitter audience with relevant and quality people. Learn More Here, […]

This week on Social Media Unscrambled we didn’t talk about social media at all. In fact it turned into a giant therapy / brainstorming session with our friend Ralph M. Rivera and Carol Lynn Rivera. …And a quick Thank You to our sponsor, TribeBoost! A great way to grow your Twitter audience with relevant and quality people. […]

This week on Social Media Unscrambled we started with a wacky new concept: The Social Media Therapists with Cathartic Chris and Doctor David, and special guest comedian (Dr.) Davin Rosenblatt! …And a quick Thank You to our sponsor, TribeBoost! A great way to grow your Twitter audience with relevant and quality people. Learn More Here, and be […]

This week on Social Media Unscrambled we discussed two specific lead generation strategies, and of course an overabundance of other interesting topics. …And a quick Thank You to our sponsor, TribeBoost! A great way to grow your Twitter audience with relevant and quality people. Learn More Here, and be sure to use Coupon Code “unscrambled” for […]

This week on Social Media Unscrambled we welcomed Brian Crouch, Director of Marketing for MediaPro! We would like to designate him ‘GroupMaster’ (specifically referring to LinkedIn Groups) following this episode. …And a quick Thank You to our sponsor, TribeBoost! A great way to grow your Twitter audience with relevant and quality people. Learn More Here, and […]

This week we welcome Amber Osborne, CMO of Meshfire! …And a quick Thank You to our sponsor, TribeBoost! A great way to grow your Twitter audience with relevant and quality people. Learn More Here, and be sure to use Coupon Code “unscrambled” for 15% OFF the first month 😉 This week on Social Media Unscrambled we […]

Guest: Erik J. Fisher, host of Beyond The To-Do List. On this week’s Social Media Unscrambled, the show hosts got a visit from a “cousin;” another podcaster in the world of social media. “Beyond the To-Do List” host Erik J. Fisher (@erikjfisher), a source of social media and entrepreneurial knowledge, was welcomed onto the show […]

[Special guest: Dino Dogan, founder of Triberr, triberr.com] Without the listening community, Social Media Unscrambled, much like other social networking platforms, would be nothing. While it has been coined the “single best 30 minute chunk of time you can invest in your social media effectiveness,” without anyone to hear the catchy slogan, what point would […]

Are you tweeting, or are you merely chirping? What are the best ways to attract Twitter followers, make your Twitter useful, and manage your feed? In this week’s episode of Social Media Unscrambled, hosts Chris Curran and David Deutsch are joined by the intelligent and talented Dorien Morin-van Dam to discover some tips for using the microblogging […]

And we’re back! With the beta test show under their belts, Chris Curran and David Deutsch return for the first official Social Media Unscrambled broadcast, once again broadcast live via The Fractal Stream internet radio station. With their friendly demeanor, the hosts invite listeners to once again comment on the platform and “heart” posts as they […]