SOW 71 - BlogTalkRadio with CEO Alan Levy

In 2006, Alan Levy, BlogTalkRadio’s Co-founder and CEO, starting writing a blog to update his family and friends about the condition of his ailing father. It was then that he saw the power of the social web, but realized that there were no platforms, which enabled a live two-way conversation with an audience. Jason Hartman is joined by Alan Levy to talk about the progression from a simple blog to a live online format on which people could call in. Alan set out to create in Internet talk radio network that leveraged a device everyone has – a phone. Listen at:  www.SpeakingofWealth.com. No stranger to voice-based communications, Alan has founded multiple telecommunications companies. Alan was President and COO of Destia Communications, helping build Destia into a global telecom enterprise with operations and customers in 10 countries and more than $350 million in annual revenue. Destia’s May 1999 IPO was shortly followed in December 1999 by the sale of the company to Viatel in a transaction valued in excess of $1 billion. Today, BlogTalkRadio, powered by Cinchcast, is the only platform that provides hosts the ability to interview multiple guests in different locations and take moderated questions from listeners tuning in live via landline, mobile or Skype. Alan explains how BlogTalkRadio works, the various platforms and the ad model available, and talks about the newest innovations available through the Cloud. He offers some great tips about standing out from the crowd. Cinchcast is Alan’s newest endeavor in 2010. His online publishers wanted something they could use within their own environment. The Cinchcast platform provides them with the concept of their own radio network and allows a large company or organization to host such things as a large townhall meeting, conference calls and more because it is built on a conference bridge and phone integration, unlike platforms like GoToMeeting that have limited space and chat integration. Alan wraps up by sharing his story of successes that ultimately led him to the creation of BlogTalkRadio and Cinchcast. The mission of his company is to provide an accessible platform that gives anyone the ability to express themselves and connect with an audience anytime, anywhere in the world.