Chris Christensen from Amateur Traveler - Serious Hobbies

Today we interview Chris Christensen  of the  Amateur Traveler podcast. He has been doing since 2005, and has won awards for his podcast(s) and been featured in national magazine's and newspapers. You can see all the places he's visited by viewing his episode map on his website. He is also the developer of Blogger Bridge which helps bloggers and podcasters get guests (more on that next week).

In Today's Interview You Learn:

Chris uses Linkedin to find guests and places to promote his show

Chris started in one direction and changed later. So don't feel bad if you change your format. Your podcast can often be a work in progress.

Chris networks with other people in his niche (traveler podcasts) and they often appear on each other's shows

He has a clearly defined audience profile that he uses to determine what will (and will not ) make it on his podcast.

His podcast is used to help people learn English

Chris takes action to find sponsors. In the beginning they didn't come to him

Dave's Tour of Duty [42:45]

Scott Johnson from the Computer Tutor Show sent in a comment after listening to the Podcast Review Show on the One Word Go Show. You can hear this example of a podcast Dave does not connect with at podcastreviewshow.com/29

In general great content does not happen by accident. Keith and the Girl explain how they have always taken their podcast serious. They take four hours to produce a one hour show. In my interview with Keith and the Girl, Keith said that even though they were podcasting in a spare bedroom, they planned out their show, and didn't treat it like "just a podcast."

The Serious Hobbiest

I did some research and if I joined a bowling league in Rocky River Ohio, my local alley would charge me $4 a game. If we bowled 4 games a week that would be $64 a month. It would cost $184 to by a ball, shoes, bag, cleaning rag, etc. It costs me $20 for media hosting, $9 for website hosting, and $1 a month for my podcast. That means it cost me $30 a month. This is HALF of what it would cost to be on a bowling league. I can spend $50 on an ATR 2100 microphone and be good to go using free podcasting software like Audacity and Garage band.

 

If You Must Podcast For Free (Please, Please, Please Don't)

Scott Boyd wants to know how to podcast on the super cheap. Here is his website. He uses Absolute RSS Editor ($30) to edit his RSS.  He uses Filezilla to upload your files.

You can build your website using a site like Tumblr, or Blogger. You can use Archive.org as a media host. You can use blubrry.com for stats. Then you would have to use Feedburner (a really bad idea in my book) to add your iTunes information. We hope that Archive.org doesn't slow down your downloads TOO MUCH when you get busy. We hope that feedburner is still around if you have to move your feed (when you finally decide to "do it for real).

So why don't I promote podcasting for free? Because I don't believe in it. I think anything worth doing is worth doing well. If you are so strapped for cash that $30 a month is too much money, then go to Moneyplansos.com and listen to Steve Stewart tell you how to manage your finances. I'm pretty sure just cutting out soft drinks, coffee, or your TV cable would give you enough money to pay for your podcast.

When I was younger I moved from a small apartment to a bigger one. Then later I moved to a house. If I had to do it all again, I would've stayed in the smaller apartment and saved my money and moved to a house sooner (and without the hassle of moving three times instead of twice). I have come up with the least expensive way to do a serious podcast. I don't recommend places that want to charge you $70 for a domain. I recommend Name Cheap and Godaddy for your domains (around $10 a year). I don't recommend web hosting that's $30 a month. I choose Host Gator for $9 a month. You can get 25% off using coupon " podcastcoach " .  I show you how you can podcast in mono and save 50% on your media hosting bill. All these tools allow you to grow. They are a solid basement to build your house on. Free websites, hosting, and other tools are not. They are good for that person who isn't sure if they want to podcast. They want to record one episode and see how hard it is.

Keep in mind, you spend more than $30 if you take your wife to the movies and you get popcorn - and that's for one night. Podcasting is $30 for a MONTH of activity. 

See my previous episode on Podcasting for Free.

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