Tag Archive | What’s The Word?

Madalyn Sklar: Online Community Builder and Social Media Influencer

By Cheval John

Starting today, I will be posting about each of the podcast episodes from What’s The Word? here on the blog.

You will be seeing snippets of videos from the Vallano Media TV’s YouTube channel in addition to the full episode which airs on BlogTalkRadio.

The videos are edited from Blue Jeans Network, which I use to record the majority of the podcast on Facebook Live.

The original blog posts will continue as always.

Today’s podcast episode features Madalyn Sklar, host of the #TwitterSmarter podcast and Twitter Chat.

Madalyn is a social media influencer who has built online communities in the age of the internet and now social media.

She started #TwitterSmarter podcast in early 2015 as a way to find out from experts their number one twitter tips people can use to grow their audience.

The podcast became so popular she decided to create a Twitter chat with the same name and it grew even more popular.

Madalyn was also among the first people in Houston to use Twitter in 2007.

In this episode, you will hear:

The history lesson of the formation of social media

What led her to start Go Girls Music Online Community

How she was among the first to live tweet an event at South By Southwest in 2008

How running Go Girls Music Twitter Chat prepared Madalyn to have “immediate” succuss with the current #twittersmarter twitter chat.

Video Snippet from Vallano Media TV

Full Podcast Episode on BlogTalkRadio

Here is the upcoming recording on Facebook Live on the business page:

Deirdre Breakenridge, CEO of Pure Performance Communication- 4 p.m. eastern, 3 p.m. central

If you have a guest you want featured on the show, please leave a comment below.

Returning To Business As Usual

By Cheval John

I started my podcast What’s The Word? on BlogTalkRadio in 2013 and knew this was going to be a fun journey in interviewing successful people.

Four years later, I achieved a milestone with the 300th episode of the show with the guest of honor Heather Havenwood last Saturday.


I went back to business as usual with yesterday’s airing of the show with guest D.J. Ramirez, social media coordinator of BMC Software.

One of the important traits of an entrepreneur is learning how to pivot your business model that serves a customers need.

I saw the importance of live streaming for podcasters in mid-2015

I would not have ever considered live streaming as an option for recording my podcast because at the time, a person could only use a smartphone.

Then I received a message about this new platform called blab.beta.

They wanted to have a group discussion about our thoughts on attending Podcast Movement which was held in Fort Worth.

At first, I did not understand the platform when it was not working on my side of the computer.

I would have given up on blab had it not been for the trio of Rachel Miller, Brian Fanzo and Christin Kardos, who had switched their #bizhour twitter chat to blab.

I was convinced about blab being a great platform to record a podcast after finding out they saved the live stream in both audio and video format.

Blab.beta changed my mind as their live streaming platform was only for computers.

So I started using blab for live streaming my podcast and it was a blessing and a curse.

The blessing part of using blab was meeting awesome live streamers like Victoria Taylor, Jennifer Hoverstad, Ross Brand, Vicki Fitch, Chris Strub and Jennifer Quinn.

And “meeting” people on video like Rebekah Radice, Kami Huyse and Kelly Hungerford from the years of chatting on social media.

The curse part of using blab was their platform was unstable and I had to worry about whether their technology would stay up during the live streams.

The executives of blab decided that developing their platform was not worth it anymore.

So they shut it down abruptly in August of 2016.

Before that, many live streamers decided to pursue other platforms because they saw the writing on the wall that blab was disappearing.

Plus, Facebook launched live video on their platform in early 2016.

As many of us were getting used to facebook live, were were wondering how we can do a two-person or more show there.

Two prominent live streamers, Mitch Jackson and Mrs. Hoverstad, mentioned about how huzza.io was a great platform.

So I decided to use huzza.io for my podcast recording because they had the capabilities to simulcast to facebook live.

A couple of months later, Blue Jeans Network launched their software “on social” feature which allows you to simulcast to facebook live with multiple people on the same platform.

As I decided to try out blue jeans network’s trial run, I continued to use huzza.io, believing they would still be around.

Then, the founders announced they sold huzza.io to kickstarter in February of this year.

I knew that blue jeans network was THE platform for me to continue recording my podcast via live streaming to facebook live.

Blue Jeans Network is so simple to use because you have the option to simulcast your “meetings” to facebook live or record the same meeting for people who could not attend.

This platform is a lot like blab with the biggest difference being they are very stable.

Mr. Jackson and Mrs. Hoverstad now uses blue jeans network to simulcast theshow.live to facebook.

In a lot of ways, blue jeans network is a perfect fit for live streaming what’s the word? to facebook live.

Plus, many people within my community on my business page on facebook, got the opportunity to see the live recording of the 300th episode of my podcast.

I was very happy that Ms. Havenwood was the guest because I found out through Winnie Sun, she uses blue jeans network as well for her podcast recordings.

As I close out this post, here are the most important lessons entrepreneurs must apply to their business:

1. They must know when to pivot their business.

The above can happen with the help of a business coach and also feedback from your customers.

2. They are many ways to skin a cat

The above saying means there are multiple options in getting your message out to your desired customer base.

Live streaming, blogging, webinars, podcasting, etc. are the mechanisms to build your potential customer base.

3. You must follow the trends that is happening in your business industry.

This is reserve for the podcasters within any sector of the market.

Just because your podcast is serving your purpose does not mean you should be closed minded to other ways to get your message out.

You can live stream your podcast recording to your followers on facebook to build a deeper bond with your loyal listeners because you will gain some new fans as well because they were apart of the recording process of your podcast.

As for me, I will continue to produce more quality shows using blue jeans network in order to take my business to the next level.

Plus, I will continue to use blogtalkradio to air those same recordings.

Both of those platforms are the parts I need to continue to build my business blog as well via podcasting.

How are you moving your business forward?

How I Record My Podcast Using Blue Jeans Network

by Cheval John


A couple of months ago, I had written a post about how I convert my live stream shows to a podcast.

Though it showed the step by step process of turning a live stream to a podcast, you were probably wondering how I did a two-person live stream on Facebook Live in the first place.

The video below will show how I simulcast my podcast recording, What’s The Word? using Blue Jeans Network.

I want to let you know there are other video platforms like Zoom Webinar, Wirecast, and even Crowdcast.io that allows you to simulcast to Facebook Live and YouTube.

I chose Blue Jeans Network because their platform is very simple to use and it fits me.

Without further ado, here is the video

In closing, I want to let you know that later this week will be the 300th episode of What’s The Word?

The guest of honor is Heather Havenwood, author, speaker and entrepreneur.

The episode was recorded on Blue Jeans Network and you will hear the entire interview on BlogTalkRadio

Here is a snippet of the interview with Ms. Havenwood

Newsletter On April Fool’s Day

By Cheval John

Today on April Fool’s, I will be launching my first company newsletter that will have articles from different professionals in business and social media.

The newsletter will be published once a month.

You will also see links of upcoming podcast recordings on Blue Jeans Network for this month.

The room for each of the recordings on Blue Jeans Network will hold up to 50 people.

If you can’t make it to the Blue Jeans Network Room, the shows will be simulcast to Facebook Live on my business page.

You can subscribe on the top right button for blog posts that will be out on Wednesdays.

So without further ado, here are the articles to check out:

The Dos and Don’ts Of A Strategic Company Blog– Kelsey Meyer, President of Influence and Co

Move Over Shark Tank, There’s A New Show In Town-Shama Hyder, Founder and CEO of The Marketing Zen Group

Social Media Marketing World Key Takeaways #SMMW17-Katie Lance, Owner of Katie Lance Consulting

No — I Won’t Supply My References Before The First Interview-Liz Ryan, Owner of The Human Workplace

The [Truth] about Influencers: Where we are + where we need to goDr. Karen Freberg, Assistant Professor at the University of Louisville

The 300th Episode of What’s The Word? will be on April 25th featuring special guest Heather Havenwood, CEO of Havenwood Worldwide, LLC on BlogTalkRadio.

Upcoming Podcast Recordings on Blue Jeans Network:

Thomas Mulliez, Owner of Trekkers-April 4th, 2017

Jeremie Piette, Former Professional Soccer Player-April 13th, 2017

Christine Clifton, Author of “You Don’t Have To Shout To Stand Out-April 18th, 2017

Melodee’s Journey To Becoming A 5th Degree Blackbelt

By Cheval John

Melodee Meyer is a lady that many people should look out for in 2016.

The reason is because she has accomplished so much in her life that many would dream of accomplishing.

Melodee is a successful business owner, runs the Fit Free Project, spoke at a TedX event and holds a 5th Degree Blackbelt.

Because of her rise in the different levels of karate, she was inducted into the Karate Union Hall of Fame.

Melodee mentioned on my show. “What’s The Word?, that one of her favorite people who inspired her to be successful is Bruce Lee.

I can understand why she admires Bruce Lee.

He was trying to be successful in Hollywood as a martial artist.

However, Hollywood was not ready to give him the lead role in movies because he was not what most people who have lead roles were at the time:
white.

Though he was successful in television, Mr. Lee knew that if he wanted to get his positive message out into the world, he needed a larger audience.

So he went to Asia to film movies which he was the lead character and became a successful movie star in Asia.

And because of his success as a movie star in Asia, Hollywood finally gave him the lead role in a movie which unfortunately was his last movie due to his death.

In the same way as Mr. Lee, Melodee choose herself in order to be a successful entrepreneur for the better.

Will not be surprised if Melodee goes to the next level in her business for the better.

To hear more of her journey to success for the better, here is the video and the audio link to the interview with the guest of honor, Melodee Meyer:

Video version of the interview with guest Melodee Meyer:
https://blab.im/96222749cc5043be86e946537ecb2859

Audio version of the interview with guest Melodee Meyer:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/vallanomedia/2015/11/24/melodee-meyer-founder-of-the-fit-free-project-1