School of Podcasting: Expert Tips for Launching and Growing Your Podcast

Today we in this episode: We have a great because of my podcast story that has someone getting paid to do something they would do for free We tackle some of the podcast jargon starting with the A's We revisit the File For Download debate in a podcast smack down! A tale of sleazy guests And we remind you that you never know who is listening. Because of My Podcast Lucas Apps Podcast leads to relationships, and those relationships lead to opportunities. Those opportunities can lead to more relationships (you get the idea). Lucas ended up getting paid to do something that he loves - because of his podcast. Check out Lucas’s show at triangletactical.com Can I Podcast With a Built-in Microphone? 8: 53 If someone invites you to go golfing. The host shows up with their golf club, and another friend shows up with a pool stick, and you show up with a hockey stick. Sure you can attempt to golf with a hockey stick and a pool stick, but compared to the other people who are using the proper equipment it is going to be obvious that you are not using the right equipment. This doesn't mean you need to spend $1600 on equipment. You can start with an Audio Technica 2100 with a pop filter and mic stand for $93 (full disclosure bestpodcastinggear.com is my amazon affiliate site). The Wrong Podcast Gear Can Mess With Your Head I did an hour session for International Podcast Day and to make a long story short, I brought along a microphone (as I was on the road) and then locked it in an office. I HAD to use my built in microphone. I was embarrassed. While I think most of my presentation was OK, I would be the first to admit that this was not my best presentation. I had notes in front of my, but in my head, I just kept hearing a voice in my head shouting that I sounded like a hack using a built-in microphone. Had I had access to the Audio Technica 2100 with a pop filter, I would've been relaxed and more focused. I Can't Believe ____ Is Listening to my Podcast! 14:20 Try not to use the word "only" when talking about your audience. I "only have" 20 downloads. Check out Podcast Legends by Todd Cochrane Here is the Episode where he talks about his phone call with Steve Jobs. I share a story about talking with Michael Hyatt at the New Media Expo and finding out Michael Hyatt listens to my show. Check out Michael's Book Platform Sting explained on the Tonight Show how he had three people in the audience of a "the Police" show. He interacted with them and made it very intimate. It turns out two of them were DJs who started playing their music. Cal Nelson of Ham Radio 360 had Adam Curry (one of the people who helped invent podcasting) listens to his show. The Libsyn File For Download "Discussion" 24: 15 A few episodes ago Mike Dell (a friend of mine who I've known for years) stated my advice about when and when not to use "File for Download" on the Libysn platform was "bad advice." Mike is a great guy, and we are going to have to agree to disagree on this. The fact that I work for Libsyn as a support person and he works in support for blubrry.com is probably not a coincidence. Two years ago (roughly) I had severe problems with my Wordpress install. One of the things I did was move my RSS feed (which was getting pounded at the time). Luckily at the time I had been publishing my episodes on Libsyn (and copying and pasting the link) into Powepress. Now because I set these episodes up using the "Add New Episodes" in Libsyn, when I switched my feed from PowerPress to Libsyn, my Libsyn feed looked just like my PowerPress feed. Last week I talked about how using File For Download option in PowerPress is not a great idea. People Like Pat Flynn and Cliff Ravenscraft have recommended that strategy. That makes sense for them as they have multiple podcasts and they are using ONE libsyn account and using their Powerpress. But they are missing out on some automation that would not hurt their WordPress install. So here is my point, if you go to Libsyn and create an episode as an episode (not a file for download) you are not hurting your podcast at all. Some might argue that you are creating a second feed and that could be confusing. To this I say, for 11 years I've been having to hand hold people to subscribe to ONE feed, let alone two. Some might say that this might damage my SEO. To this I say, I've been using the Internet almost since it was invented, and I have NEVER pulled up an RSS feed in a search result. Google Chrome doesn't display RSS feeds in a way that makes then readable, so why would Google pull up something you can't read? A file for download is meant for people who want to restrict access to a file. A classic example is someone who has a podcast, and they also have a membership site. They only want members to have access to this file. In this case, they can upload the files as a "File for download only" and only the people who have the direct link can access that file. So when you upload a file in Libsyn, you CAN use the Add New Episode option and have it do zero harm to your Wordpress feed. You can copy the direct link into PowerPress. Much a like driving around with a spare tire doesn't harm your car, having a second feed available doesn't hurt your Wordpress install (you'll only use it if you need it). PLUS you can also have that episode go to Twitter, Facebook, LikedIn, YouTube, iHeart Radio, Spotify, Tumblr, and more. When you make a file for download, you now have to promote to those sites using another tool. So you are missing out on a TON of automation. To those who think, "Who would watch an audio file on YouTube?" according to Tory Heinritz of the Black List Exposed podcast people who are deaf. Because YouTube attempts to transcribe the audio in the video,  deaf people can now read your podcast (with some noticeable imperfections). Get a free month of hosting at Libsyn.com or Blubrry.com using the coupon code sopfree Podcast Glossary 36: 46 Today we will tackle the terminology beginning with A Audio Interface (XLR to USB/FireWire) You will hear phrases like XLR and quarter inch, 3.5 MM USB, and Firewire. So let's cut off the fat. Firewire was a connector used on old Macintosh computers and no longer is used on new equipment. XLR and Quarter inch are typically ways to plug things into a mixer. An XLR has three holes in it to line up the plug. A quarter inch is a thick plug about the size of your pinky finger. A 3.5 MM connector is better known as a headphone jack. If you are looking to purchase a mixer you want an XLR input jack for every person. USB is another way of connecting things primarily with computers. To use these in a sentence, the Sure SM58 microphone plugs into your mixer via an XLR jack. You can connect the Audio Technica ATR2100 microphone using its XLR jack or via its USB jack. If you think of extension cords, some have two prongs and others have a third prong. Audition/Audacity Audacity is a free software that runs on Mac or PC that is used by many podcasters to create podcasts. It has many, many options. Most of them you will never use. Audition is a software from Adobe that runs on a Mac or PC that you rent to use each month. It has some features that make it easier to use than Audacity, and it is considered by some to be "More Professional" but that is up for debate as both are very powerful. Audition has many, many options. Most of them you will never use. Auphonic/Levelator Auphonic is free software (for PC or Mac) with premium options that you can run your audio through, and it will remove noise and adjust audio levels. Auphonic is great for interviews where one person is louder than the other, or you recorded yourself, and you were too quiet. Find it at www.auphonic.com The Levelator software is free (for PC or Mac) that adjusts the volume of your file to be equal. So if you have two people and one is quieter, it will boost the quiet person to match the volume of the other person. You can find it at http://www.conversationsnetwork.org/levelator Sleazy Guest Who Hijack Your Website 44:27 Jon Buscall shared a story on episode 48 titled "Integrity" of his Online Marketing and Communications podcast about a guest who kind of used a special link to overly promote themselves on Jon's website. It was so intrusive that Jon eventually pulled his episode. It's a very fascinating story. Maybe in the future we will have to spell out the common sense details to guests who come on our show and explain how they are allowed to link to our websites. School of Podcasting is Now Open with New Options to Meet Any Need You can purchase courses separately, or you can order a monthly membership You can also purchase a yearly subscription (and it's like getting two months free) Mentioned in This Episode Platform by Michael Hyatt Podcast Legends by Todd Cochran Podcast Junkies Podcast XV - King's X

Becuase of My Podcast - Rick Seizemore of VRStudio Workforce  Rick Seizemore from VRStudio Workforce shares how your podcast will help you land guests, and those guests can then point people to your website. Your site then becomes an audio business card that can capture people’s attention. This is what the VR Workforce Studio Podcast Does   Is Podcasting A Ponzi Scheme? I got an email from a friend of mine who has kind of "had it" with podcasting. He said, " I have recently done some calculations and have come to the conclusion that the hours spent podcasting would be better spent doing other things, like narrating audio books and maybe even some work around the house. I am doing a weekly video show via Skype, being streamed live on YouTube. I use Wirecast to make it look professional, and I have been releasing the audio as a podcast. I stopped the podcast side this week. I said when I started podcasting a couple of years ago, I would do a serious review at the two-year mark, and have concluded that while I have learned much I will be using for audiobooks, and am glad I did it, to continue would be a waste of time. Here's the part you probably won't agree with:   In the 80's Amway came through this area, and a lot of people joined and got hyped up (me included). After a while, it became clear that a lot of people at the top were making money, but it depended on a constant supply of fresh "believers" to fuel their incomes. People who started early were making money, but the thousands below were being Nickle and dimed and were doing nothing but financing those above. It worked as long as everyone believed they could make it.   Podcasting today is a similar type of pyramid structure, where everyone who started before 2007 or 2008 are making an income off of the believers below. (I find your motives pure, and I appreciate that.) It is VERY important for those below the median numbers (Around 120 according to Rob), to believe there is no discovery problem. That way they keep paying their $20 a month to Libsyn, buying books, Wordpress plugins, and tools for podcasting and going to conferences.   No matter how good your content is, the average basement independent has about 0% chance of ever being heard the first time by hardly anyone who doesn't know them already or is only 1 or 2 degrees separated. This is simply due to saturation.   The main people who make it now either are famous already, are starting a full-time business that happens to involve podcasting and has 6 figures to invest, like JLD, or are part of the corporate invasion. There may be an isolated incident here and there where it happens, but it so rare it doesn't bear mentioning. It is simply too late for the average independent show by a person working a full-time job to make an impact beyond a few niche listeners.   I was also dismayed to find the same "entrepreneurs," using many of the same books, and the same hype milking the same types of people. There is a sucker born every minute. They find them, use them, discard them, and move one since there are always more suckers on the internet. An example: a well-known personality in podcasting who was putting out yet another book solicited all of us to submit articles for it. We of course, had to buy the book to see if were in it. We weren't. Not one of us. The book had already been written and included older interviews that happened long before he solicited for articles. He simply lied to get us to buy the book. It worked, and we were the suckers. Well, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.   I calculated how many listeners I would have if gained one new one each month, and how many hours I would spend editing and putting out the content I already have from the video show. My conclusion: I hope to retire in 3 years or so.  36 new listeners. Over 600 hours of podcast editing during that time.  BTW, I am not getting 1 new listener a month.   Contrast this with the one audio book I have narrated so far. It didn't sell. Only 11 copies so far. I have made $50 from that. What would happen if I spent those 600 hours over the next 3 years doing audio books that don't sell, and get royalties for the next 7 years on each?   Allow me to soften this by saying I have always found you and your efforts on behalf of the little guy podcasters to be the most honest and trustworthy of all. Your human-ness and transparency is wonderful, and I would love to spend time with you in person but neither of us have that time to devote to it. Thank you for all you have done and you continue to do for us bottom feeders. POWER TO THE SHRIMP!!   My Response   In looking at your stuff here would be my comment.   I'm not I would've put everything into one stream. I understand the extra cost, but I wouldn't have done it that way. I knew the name of your show and couldn't find it because all of your shows were under the name of the network in iTunes. That is a recipe for failure. It's hard enough to find a show when the name is correct.   I'm sure you found putting out so many episodes was a LOT of work. Anyone who starts out and gets no money in return (if that is the goal) means, "lots of work with $0 = burnout."   The bottom line (boiling it down) is the same reason I do podcasting over playing in a band. The band is days (months) of work for $50 if I'm lucky. If I practice two hours a week for six months to learn enough songs and do that for year that is 104 hours of practice. But wait, each gig is 4 hours. If we play every other weekend for ten months that is twenty gigs so another eighty hours (184 hours total). Those twenty gigs pay $50 each (20X50 )= 1000.   1000/184 =$5.34 an hour. If I say I "play for free" and remove the 80 hours of performing (and loading gear) that is still $9.64 an hour.   I'd rather stay home, not put up with drunks, and save my back and make more (or less) the same kind of money.   Some reports that 80%, 90% of businesses don't make it, others say 33% don't make it.   When I look at someone like John Lee Dumas he is the poster child for "Yes you can make money with a podcast." In the same way that the Beatles are the "Yes you can make money in music," not everyone with a guitar and long hair is the Beatles.   I don't believe there is a discovery problem. There wasn't a discovery problem for the Serial Podcast. Liz Covert at Ben Franklin's World has over 1 million downloads and she only has 100 episodes.  She doesn't have a team.   I agree that a ton of podcasts are coming out each week, but when a horse race starts, there are tons of horses coming out of the gate. Someone is going to win.   The Recipe of a Successful Podcast 1. Know who your audience is and what they want. 2. Give it to them on a consistent basis 3. Go to where they are (get out from behind the microphone) 4. Make friends with them. 5. Tell them about your podcast.   You said, "It is simply too late for the average independent show by a person working a full-time job to make an impact beyond a few niche listeners. " Podcast is only consumed by 30% of the planet. We are just getting warmed up.     Used in this Episode (in no order ) Hall of Fame Podcaster Godfree from Gamertagradio.com Jessica Rhodes of Interviewconnections.com Harry from podcastjunkies.com Daniel J Lewis from theaudacitytopodcast.com Ray Ortega from the Podcaster's Studio (courtesy of the Podcast Engineering School) Erik K Johnson from Podcast Talent Coach Paul Colligan from the Podcast Industry Report John Lee Dumas from Eofire.com Glenn "the Geek" Hebert from Horse Radio Network Brian from Profitcastuniverse.com Adam Ragusea from The Pub podcast Jordan Harbinger from the Art of Charm Dan Benjamin from http://5by5.tv/podcastmethod The Wolf's Den Podcast Eric Fisher from Beyond the ToDo List Mark from Late Night Internet Marketing Rob Walch from The Feed Podcast and Today in iOs Elsie Escobar from She Podcasts Jessica Kupferman from She Podcasts Michael Sharky from The Talent Show   Nick Seuberling http://spnt.tv/  Jared Easley and Starve the Doubts ( Check out Stop Chasing Influencers) George Hrab of the Geologic Podcast   See Me Speak I will appear at the following events CD Podfest Novmber 5-6 Washing DC http://www.dcpodfest.com/  Pofest in Tampa Florida February 2017 See www.podfest.us Northeast Ohio Podcaster's Meeting see www.neohiopodcasters.com Ready To Start Your Podcast? Join the School of Podcasting

Rachel Smets is the author of Awaken Your Confidence and stops by to share some insights into building your confidence. You can find her at Racehsmets.com as well as @rachelsmets and Facebook. and YouTube We talk about overcoming imposter syndrome, and how telling someone "just start" doesn't work. Here are three things you can do to help boost your confidence: Don't compare yourself to others. Start Small Failure is Feedback On this Week's taping of the Ask the Podcast Coach show Carlos asked, "how do i become a popular podcaster when i was the most unpopular kid in high school?" to this point to the following people who were not popular in school: Steven Spielberg says, " “I was a nerd in those days. Outsider, like the kid that played the clarinet in the band and in orchestra, which I did.”" Taylor Switft says, " I remember when I was in school, the whole reason I started writing songs was because I was alone a lot of the time. I’d sit there in school and I’d be hearing people like, ‘Oh my god, this party that we’re going to is gonna be so awesome on Friday. Everyone’s invited except for Taylor Charlize Theron - “I didn’t have any boyfriends in high school. I had a massive, massive crush on this one guy. He was a couple of years older than me and I did not exist in his world. Selena Gomez " “I was bullied every second of every day in elementary and middle school.” Lady Gaga " “Being teased for being ugly, having a big nose, being annoying. ‘Your laugh is funny, you’re weird, why do you always sing, why are you so into theater, why do you do your make-up like that?’" Jessica Alba " “I’d eat my lunch in the nurses’ office so I didn’t have to sit with the other girls. Apart from my being mixed race, my parents didn’t have money so I never had the cute clothes or the cool back pack.”" Cameron Diaz " “I’m a dork! When I was high school, I was a total goon! All the kids used to make fun of me. I was like all skinny and gangly and guys were like no thank you.” Jennifer Garner - I was a real nerd. I wasn’t the popular one, I was one of those girls on the edge of the group. I never wore the right clothes and I had a kind of natural geekiness. I was in the school band and I think that has a bit of a stigma at the age of 13. If you’d asked me what I wanted to be, I would have said something like a librarian. Kate Winslet - Winslet was bullied and teased for being chubby. Her nickname at school was Blubber, and she was once even locked in the art cupboard Miley Cyrus - At school, there was an “Anti-Miley Club” full of “big, tough girls” who were “fully capable of doing [her] bodily harm” and went above and beyond in their bullying pursuit. Cyrus was once locked in a bathroom during class: “They shoved me in. I was trapped. I banged on the door until my fists hurt. Nobody came.” Other incidents included challenging Cyrus to a fight, which only ended when the principal stepped in. And when Cyrus wasn’t being physically abused, she was being teased, with classmates telling her, “Your dad’s a one-hit wonder. You’ll never amount to anything — just like him President Bill Clinton - As a junior high schooler, he was picked on relentlessly for being a “fat band boy” with bad taste in clothes. He was also known as a band geek. Michael Phelps - He was taunted for his “sticky-out ears” and lisp, as well as his long arms, which ultimately took him to greatness. Tom Cruise - His Dad had the family moving a lot to find work. Tom says, " I was always the new kid with the wrong shoes, the wrong accent. I didn’t have the friend to share things with and confide in.” And at each school, he faced the fresh experience over and over again. He was small for his age and easily pushed around." Walt Disney He was fired by a newspaper editor because, "he lacked imagination and had no good ideas." After that, Disney started a number of businesses that didn't last too long and ended with bankruptcy and failure. He kept plugging along, however, and eventually found a recipe for success that worked. COMMENTS: 888-563-3228   A Podcast Can Be A New Start When you start a podcast all of the stupid people who didn't know the "true" you are gone, and you can start from scratch. Don't let your past dictate you future. Podcasting has boosted the confidence of many leaders in their field who say the practice of talking into a microphone. It has helped people be better speakers as they are familiar with coming up with presentations. So jump into the podcasting pool. The water is warm and friendly. File For Download Only and Other Mistakes Others are Making If you are using Libsyn.com (if you're not use the coupon code sopfree to get a free month) there is an optoin called "File For Download Only." This is useful for people who have membership sites, or VIP groups and they don't want the general public to have access to the file. The only want certain people to have access. The problem is two very popular consultants are telling their clients to use this all the time, and that is just bad advice. While this works for them (where they have multiple shows, and other outside circumstances) its not a good idea for most. Here is why: If you want to use any of the automation at libsyn, you've somewhat shot your self in the foot If you go back later and want to add this feature it's not easy. So as you Mom use to say "If Johnny Johnson jumps off a bridge are you?" I ask, "Just because Cliff Ravenscraft uses file for downloads only, doesn't mean you should as well).  Keep Your Wordpress Website and Plugins Updated I had a handful of people contact me this week when the name of their podcast changed to "No Title" in iTunes. The reason? They were running an older version of the PowerPress plugin. Now the PowerPress plugin is not bad, but you HAVE TO keep it up to date alone with your Wordpress install. If you don't you are asking, no, BEGGING people to hack you and give you headaches. Then always have a backup of your website. I use Backup creator. I've used Backup Buddy.  I'm looking into ManageWP which just joined Godaddy. Why I'm Changing the School of Podcasting I recently changed the School of Podcasting to try a "Scarcity" strategy. To make a long story short, it didn't work for me. I apprecaite all those who wanted to help my business, but as a teacher the one thing I want is eager students. Now when I get them I have to tell them to wait 9in some cases months) until the site reopens. For more details, read this post on my blog International Podcast Day is September 30th Check out the Gratitude Award we you can get an award for having a wide variety of Review (Via My Podcast Reviews - free). For more information check out https://internationalpodcastday.com Ready to Start Podcasting? Visit www.theschoolofpodcasting.com

Today I'm fresh back from a trip to Podcast Midatlantic where I spoke on a panel about podcasting. On Sunday I had some time before I flew home so Rob Greenlee and I Went to see the Liberty Bell in Independence Hall in Philadelphia. There are some things that learned in this visit that I thought we could apply to podcast. - When there is no great entertainment, people will flock to ANYTHING. Case in point the Liberty Bell, an old large bell with a giant crack use to go on tour and people would FLOCK to see it. In today's society, the bar is set pretty low in regards to content so you can stand out pretty easy - The Liberty Bell was flawed. Yet, people came out in droves to see it Did it sound impressive? No, I watched a video, and no it didn't but what it did do was stand for something. People came to the event, but more importantly, wanted to pay tribute to it's ideals. The ideals of the liberty bell is what is strong and stirs emotions. It's not the technology. The creators of the Liberty Bell has never made a bell so large. It shows, x-rays show how there are cracks throughout the bell (and that's why you won't here it ring) when you ring the bell you only make it worse. The lack of knowledge didn't stop the creators from doing their best. In the end, I'm sure they felt they failed, but by creating something, they gave their audience a gift. - After a tour of independence hall (where a large amount of the early forming of America occurred), I learned how they all collaborated together to put together the declaration of independence. Article Five of the United States Constitution detailed the two-step process for amending the nation's frame of government. The constitution was put into place on March 4, 1789. If they had waited until it was perfect, the Constitution wouldn't have been adopted t until May 7 1992 (the date of the last amendments). As of 12/2014 approximately 11,539 proposals to amend the Constitution have been introduced in Congress since 1789. The point being you can "Amend" your podcastwhenever you want. - The bell first cracked when rung after its arrival in Philadelphia, and was twice recast by local workmen John Pass and John Stow, whose last names appear on the bell.  When I was there on 9/11/16 reflecting on 9/11 there were people there all over the world. There are probably millions of bells across the world. Some of them are bigger, sound better, and yet here people flock to see an old broken bell because of what itstood for Liberty. More Great Take Aways From Podcast Mid Atlantic I was greeted by Heather from Craflit who presented me with a custom t-shirt that has *psbs and my logo. What does PSBS stand for? Podcasting since before serial. Heather was just as cool in person as she is online. The fact that someone would go out of their way to make me a custom t-shirt was amazing. It these tings that leave me speechless. Heather is a truly amazing person. A mind like hers you don't find often in this world. Mich O'Neil from the solopreneur hour had a great top for interviewing people. How do you avoid having a seasoned guest come on your show and NOT spew the same lame answers? You put their answers in your introduction. You disarm them. Now they can't reference those "traditional answers" and they have to dig deeper into their bag of answers for something new. Mark Asquith from podcastwebsites.com took what I've been saying, "Ask your audience what that want" and sharpened it. Ask them what they NEED. Awesome. Jessica Kupfeman of She Podcasts who help people get sponsors through her www.jkmagency.com showed that people love an underdog. Poor Jess had lost her voice, but we were all pulling for her as she tried to present with her lack of pipes. Her content made up for the lack of tone and quality of voice. This works in person, I'm not sure it would work as a podcast. Your might have a perspective that nobody else has. On Sunday 9/11/16 I had breakfast with Rob Greenlee from Spreaker, and Heather Ordover from Craftlit. We kind of shared some thoughts on 9/11 as it was the 15 year anniversary. Heather's perspective was like no other I had ever heard in 15 years. Why? Because she lived it. The plane engine from the second plane fell on the roof of her school. At one point, she turned to see the second dust cloud as it covered her. Her husband knew she was in the cloud. He was watching it on TV. You are a unique person. Only you have your history, perspective, and experiences. It gave me goosbumps. Christian Lee and CJ - What My Son is Learning From Podcasting Chrisian Lee does a podcast with his 10-year-old son. It's called What are we watching. Chrisitan (a standup comic) was very entertaining and dropped some great knowledge including: His son is learning how to push on when technology lets your down. He is getting to talk to celebrities. Their podcast has lead to some conversations that were needed. They opened the doors to some much-needed conversations. He is comfortable with technology, and working in his school. He is building his confidence. Because of My Podcast: Jim Collison (Starts at 1:56 )Jim Collison does show for his job (how cool is that). Jim was recently given an award for his work on the podcast (demonstrating that his podcast is making him a more valuable employee), and when Jim goes out to meet his audience he is somewhat swarmed. Congrats to Jim. Dave and Jim do the Ask the Podcast Coach show every Saturday Morning at 10:30 AM EST at www.askthepodcastcoach.com/live Jim's show for his job are at Http://coaching.gallup.com Jim also is the man behind the Average Guy Network Dave Jackson Talking Podcast Success I appeared on episode 19 of the Podcast Fiend show talking podcast success Check it out at http://podcastfiend.com/show/19 Podcast Questions? Call them in 888-563-3228 Get Podcast Consulting Find an available time at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/schedule Get the Show Notes Delivered To You www.scoolofpodcasting.com/newsletter

Today I am excited to have Jen Briney of the Congressional Dish podcast on my show. Jen reads legislation that is going through the house of representatives. She then reports back to you with no slant on democratic or republican slant but more of a intelligence vs moron slant. Her passion to help people understand what is happening right under our noses oozes out of her. Any conversation about politics will make it obvious. Congressional Dish is so good that at times I have to turn it off. It makes me upset and I need to punch something. Yes, it's that good. Jen also makes it entertaining. While she tries to restrain herself she does have any cursing replaced with the sound of a golf club. This stops her show from being explicit, and adds just a pinch of comedy to the show to keep it light. Her goal is to have the people use the control we have as American voters and vote these losers out of office. Here are some of the reasons why I wanted Jen on the show. Her success didn't happen over night. She's been doing this for four years. She hasn't been afraid to try new things and new formats She realized that she could do a great show, or go crazy. This meant no reading EVERYTHING. She realizes that if there is no Jen, there is no show. Consequently, the show is better, Jen is better, and we all win. She started with horrible equipment, and later upgraded. She didn't let equipment stop her from launching her podcast She is a great example of taking control of her show, and doing it the way she wants to do it. She shares today that dealing with haters takes long term vision. It's also easier said than done. She wants to have a paywall where she can do more experimental episodes for her die hard fans without potentially costing her new listeners. Her content has lead to getting almost 10,000 downloads per episode - and she's just now starting to promote the show. We talk a little politics and play a clip that Dave found very funny. As Jen explained it, we all have buttons that can be pushed. A listener wrote to the show and began telling Jen how she could grow the show to a much bigger audience if she would work on "her tone." Well this is something she heard growing up and set her off. She grabbed a microphone and off she went. She liked the raw emotion of the clip and got a lot of support from her audience (When Dave did this he almost got sued). Check out Congressional Dish at www.congressionaldish.com as we as in iTunes, or download the Congressional Dish iOs App as well as Android App Because of Her Podcast Jen has been on the Jessie Ventura show on TV, and she has been asked to speak at Podcast Movement.  Mentioned In This Show Please support The Messengers Podcast Documentary. They are sooo close to reaching their crowdfunding goal. Goal chip in a few bucks, and then tell a friend to go to www.supportthemessengers.com Podcast Consulting Need some podcast consulting? Book a session at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/schedule sessions start at 15 minutes. This is show #530 of the School of Podcasting and originated at www.schoolofpodcasting.com

I can handle some people explaining their strategies of launching a podcast, but there are some things that are just blatantly WRONG. Here are a couple that get my goat. Episodes Get Downloaded When People Subscribe If you simply launch with only one episode on your first day, and someone subscribes to your podcast, then you only get one download. BUT, if you launch with five episodes and they subscribe, then you get five downloads, which will help to raise your rankings within iTunes. This is not true, and easy to test. Go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/itunes and subscribe and see if my back catalog automatically downloads. You Only Get 8 Weeks to be in New and Noteworthy Podcasts based on TV shows go in and out of New and Noteworthy all the time 50+ Honest Reviews Will Get You Into New and Noteworthy Nope. It's subscribers that really count. Not that reviews don't mean anything, but subscribers appear to carry more weight. Also boosting people to the top of the charts before they have found their own voice doesn't work. Case in point Philip Phillips. Who? Exactly (season 11 winner of American Idol). They talk about generating buzz, and getting people to talk about your show. You want to do this every week you are podcasting. You want to bring value on a consistent basis. Here is a video that explains why I know these are not true https://youtu.be/gp1T4aj3ucw Rob Walch at Podcast Movement said the following things about New and Noteworthy His KC Startup podcast was featured (front page) of iTunes and saw a bump of about 300 His son's podcast Porter's podcast saw a bump of about 1000 He said a front page listing will get a bump of anywhere from 200-a couple thousand. Podcasters who game the system to be #2 in the Education category and rarely got over 200 downloads per episode (most were around 100ish). The sad thing is people are never launching because they can't get the recommended number of podcasts (3,5,8, 30) ready to launch. Just launch. Losing Your Audience in Jargon and Inside Jokes We are all too close to the trees to see the forest and depending on who you audience is, we need to remember that we get new listeners all the time. When we start using jargon (words that only people with experience in you field, or potentially an inside joke ) you can leave them confused. This makes them feel like an outsider, and potentially tune out. Recently on an episode of the Podcast Review show both myself and my co-host Erik K. Johnson were lost in the hosts use of big words and inside jargon. Now, maybe we aren't their target audience but it really took away from the experience.  Being a person who grew up in the church Christian people who are trying to reach the world when they start spouting things like "Lion of Judah, Bathed in Blood, Alpha and Omega, evangelical, Holy Ghost, born again, unspoken prayer requests (which just means someone in my family messed up again). Be a "Proverbs 31 woman". The list goes on.  I asked my buddy Cale Nelson from HamRadio360 to come in and share some jargon.  Tascam US-32  Tascam MiNiSTUDIO Personal US-32 Audio Interface for Online Broadcasts is a brand new interface for podcasters who are looking to broadcast live and have the ability to mix in (up to) three sounds. There is also the ability to add effects. Most of the effects are pointless (make your voice deeper, higher, reverb, echo, distortion).  This is kind of exciting as this particular  https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1263856-REG/tascam_ministudio_personal_us_32.html/BI/5223/KBID/5977 Mentioned On This Episode Podcasters Roundtable Round 76 State of Live Streaming Hamradio360.com Black List Exposed Milaminthemiddle.com Book a Podcast Coaching Call With Dave Jackson Sessions start at 15 minutes and go up. See www.schoolofpodcasting.com/schedule for availability  

How Do I Grow My Audience? Know Who Your Audience Is Know What They Want Go Where They Are Make Friends With Them and Bring Value to Your Conversations Tell them About Your Show Make it Is To Find, Share, and Remember How Long Should My Podcast Be? Don't do the "Dave Jackson Power Hour" if you only have 18 minutes of content. There is no such thing as too long , only too boring (Valeria Geller - Beyond Powerful Radio) How Do You Handle Headlines When You Have Multiple Topics in a Show? For me, I've just been taking the topic that I think reached my audience the best and use that as the "Main" Headline Do I Have Any Tips For Doing a Live Show? If you're worried about looking stupid don't go live I use firetalk.com to stream live. Realize you will have people who want to ruin you show. You MIGHT get 5% of your audience live. Live is addicting because it's instant feedback If you are looking for your audience to provide the content, remember when you start you don't have an audience. Should I put My Face Out There? If you are the brand it might be a good idea I might think twice if I was a woman as guys are creepy What Do You Think About Regional Podcast? I would love to start a local podcast I think getting local advertisers would be easy What is the Biggest Mistake When it Comes to Making Content? Guessing What Your Audience Wants Including personal family details You need to know WHY you are doing your podcast. You can talk about what your audience, but if that topic doesn't line up with your goal it could cause issues. What Are the Beginning Stages of Podcasting Like - What Can I expect? You can answer every email, every comment, every tweet You are "the host" and that carries weight when you reach out to your audience 50% of people get more than 150ish downloads and 50% get more. The average is around 2000. Mentioned The 27 Steps to start a Podcast What I Started a Podcast About Topic A, and Your Audience Wants to Hear About Topic B? If you want to talk about that subject, and that topic aligns with your goal then follow your audience If the topic is something you DON'T Want to talk about then don't. It will come through to your audience, and if you're not excited about the subject it will come through. When you try to do something that is not yourself it is hard, and you will start dreading creating your podcast. I'm an Accountant, and sometimes People Don't Want To Hear What They Need to Hear... Not everyone can handle the truth. Those people who like you will like you, and those that don't won't. When delivering not so great information back it up with your research,  and facts that you are using to shape your opinion. How Do I Come Back After a Long Hiatus? The same way you started. Know what your audience wants, and press record. Don't start off your show with an apology. Troubleshooting Your Podcast Sound - Separate Your Gear Into Pieces I have not been happy with my sound for the last few months. I seemed to pick up some hiss along the way. I went direct into my Zoom H5 recorder and the his was reduced. I then knew it was something in the mixer. From there tried using a different channel (it didn't fix it). I then switched the cabled from going to the 1/4" out of my Behringer Xeynx 1832 mixer (into the line in of the recorder) to the XLR out of the mixer into the xlr in of m mixer. I'm going to be slimming down my mixer as I don't need anything that beefy anymore (I used a big chunk of it when I have the live phone call in show). What is it Like To Have a Film Crew Come to Your House The crew from the Messengers Documentary came to my apartment to interview me. It was pretty crazy. The crew is so professional. They hit a snag when their flight got delayed, but they came through running on fumes. These guys have full time jobs and are fitting this movie into their schedule by (more or less) not sleeping at all. They got done filming here and drove to Kansas City to do more filming before flying back home to Florida. Amazing group of guys. Support the documentary at www.supportthemessengers.com I also go to hang out with Angelo from blubrry.com and Daniel J Lewis from the Audacity to podcast. At the North East Ohio Podcasters Meetup the crew showed off some footage and I got to me Scott Sykora from the Beardcaster. Scott does a podcast about professional competitive "bearding". I have got to go checkout a competition they sound fascinating. Upcoming Speaking Gigs I will be speaking at Podcast Mid Atlantic (go to www.podcastmidatlantic.com/sop to save $10). DC Podfest in November 4-5 I will also be speaking at Podfest in Florida in February 2017.  I will be having a meetup at Podfest. Need Podcast Consulting? Hire Dave for podcast consulting by going to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/schedule sessions lengths can be as short as 15 minutes (great if you have just a few questions).  This episode 528 appeared first at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/528 Mentioned in This Show www.podcastgeargroup.org Beyond Powerful Radio Book by Valerie Geller Free Book at Audible.com      

Today shares his thought on Podcamp Pittsburgh, the death of blab.im, and what geese, Ringo Star, and Michael Phelps can teach podcasters. Comments 888-563-3228 The Messengers Are Coming! If you live within driving distance of Akron, Ohio you might want to make a trip this Saturday the 20th of August as the Film Crew of The Messengers (a documentary about podcasting) will be joining our Northeast Ohio Podcasters Meetup group from 3-4:30. They are going to share their story, some cool footage, and film out meeting as well. For more information go to www.neohiopodcasters.com If you haven't heard the behind the scenes podcast about the making of the movie, check out www.themessengersdoc.com/podcast Here is a recent write up about the podcast and movie (and it's not done yet). Attention Podcasters' Hangout Family... I'd like to take a moment and recognize Dave Jackson from The School of Podcasting for spending what has to be an ENORMOUS amount of time editing and producing a podcast that highlights "behind the scenes" for an upcoming film called The Messengers: A Podcast Documentary. The film is the brainchild of Executive Producer Chris Krimitsos and I also serve as Executive Producer myself. This film has taken us and the crew - Director , D.P. Willie L. Harper, and Lead Film Editor Saulo Zayas - literally into other countries to highlight the stories of how podcasters have used this medium to make a MAJOR impact in their communities and/or through their audience. This episode chronicles the back-story of our experience flying down to Guatemala to support and film mobile podcaster Shawn Smith's Now Is The Time Mission, where the organization serves villages living in extreme poverty through building and installing high efficiency stoves, laying down concrete floors inside homes, donating *tremendous* amounts of clothing, school supplies and other goods as well as lead a daily VBS program for all the kids of the villages they serve in... Shawn has been doing this every single year for over TEN years. At the end of each day, Shawn sits down to interview the volunteers about their experience and as you can imagine, these conversations get raw and emotional. These podcast episodes are then uploaded and shared with loved ones back home. This episode of our podcast for The Messengers: A Podcast Documentary highlights this trip and some our own experiences -- and emotions. I hope you take the time to listen to it and enjoy it, and also enjoy the level of production podcasting PRO Dave Jackson has poured into this. Thanks Dave, you are freaking amazingly talented. Join the email list and get access to behind the scenes footage by going to www.themessengersdoc.com Podcamp Pittsburgh In a slide show of the previous 11 years of Podcamp Pittsburgh, you could see where this event was well attended in the past. This year they had approximately 50 people. NOW HOLD ON, before you judging things just by numbers. For me, my goal is to find individuals who want to launch a podcast. I started off my opening keynote speech asking the intimate crowd how many of them already had podcasts. Very few hands went up. When I asked how many people didn't have a podcast yet, TONS of hands went up. So while this was an intimate group, it was a perfect group for me. So judging things by numbers only goes back to people looking at producers who love to share their huge numbers. They might think, "I wish I had those numbers" but what you don't know is how engaged that audience is. While there is no spam in podcasting, some people may not be that engaged with the host. For example, I get very little interaction from my Weekly Web Tools podcast. I love the show, and I love my listeners, but it's a fact that my School of Podcasting Audience is more engaged than the Weekly Web Tools audience. As always I go to events to network with some folks, Saturday night I got to meet some very cool people. I also got to hang out with some of my awesome Libsyn people (Elsie Escobar from Shepodcasts.com and Krystal O'Connor the mind and voice behind all the libsyn tutorials. Sometimes Different is Better Than Better In talking with someone at Podcamp Pittsburgh, they asked how not to sound monotonous. The person explained how they did a show where they asked the same questions to each guest. Now I could be wrong, but my knee-jerk reaction was to think that this person might be trying to follow in the steps of John Lee Dumas (who wouldn't? He makes millions of dollars with his podcast), but (and I've said this before) you will never out "John Lee Dumas the actual John Lee Dumas." You see, it comes to him naturally. I live in an apartment complex with a few lakes. Because of the lakes and the lovely surroundings, we have hundreds of geese. I see them all the time as I walk around my neighborhood getting some exercise. Last week I saw a goose where it looked like they ran out of black paint when they were painting his head. Typically a goose's head is black, with some white coming up from their neck. This goose looked like his head was white, and someone had sprinkled some black on his head (instead of the other way around). I don't know if the geese do this on purpose, but this goose is also separated from the rest of the geese by about 10 feet. When I ran into tonight, they were all by the lake; he was 30 feet away walking down the sidewalk. Now I see these geese every day. They all look identical. I could see the same goose day after day, and I wouldn't know it because they all look the same. That goose with the different paint job may be thinking to itself, "I wish I had more black on my head. I don't look like the other geese. I'm ugly. I stand out. " My point is because this goose is different and it DOES stand out. Embrace your uniqueness. There may another goose in that flock that can fly better, honk louder, and swim faster and I would never know because it looks like all the other geese. I do not notice them. Sure they may be "better" geese, but I don't remember them. The goose with the different paint job I will remember. I have one more example. Ringo Starr is probably one of the most famous drummers of all time. He has a specific style. These are due to a couple of things. One, he was born left handed but his Grandmother "made him" right handed. He still plays the drums with his primarily with his left hand. Meanwhile he plays drums that are designed for a right handed person. He also plays (as he describes it) with his "shoulders" and this often causes his snare drum to be just a shade late on hitting the beat. Many people say they can tell when he is behind the drums because his "wrong" style of playing delivers a unique style. In Ringo's case, different is better. So you may be thinking, I'm not like the other podcasters. I can't publish a daily show, I don't have a Heil PR40, I can't, I don't, etc. To this I say, It's not the tech. If you have nothing to say but have a great microphone, it won't matter. For the record, when John started HE looked DIFFERENT. Nobody had done a daily show for entrepreneurs. Michael Phelps Competition I didn't watch much of the Rio Olympics, but what I saw was very inspirational. Michael Phelps is the best swimmer of all time. The media was preparing for his final swim meets, and they were talking about who he would be up against. Different athletes were coming from different countries with different ages and speeds. These were Michael's competition. This was when I thought about swimming. It's not like his competition is in his lane blocking him from swimming. They weren't going to be grabbing his arms, or legs. The only person Michael Phelps had to beat was Michael Phelps. Podcasting is very much the same way. You are only as good as you last episode (for the most part), and we shouldn't shouldn't measure ourselves against other podcasters. We never have the full story, of what is going on behind the scenes of someone's podcast success. Obsessing over other podcaster's success takes your focus off your audience. Blab.im is Dead Here are some comments from their farewell letter We took a hackathon project that we built in 3 weeks and grew it from 0 users to → 3.9 million users in less than one year. The average daily user spent over 65 minutes per day on Blab The problem? According to their farewell letter, "Of the 3.9 million total users, only 10% (~400,000) came back on a regular basis." This is really stupid part of this statement is they provided a download link to the audio and video. People then took these files and put them on YouTube, and their Media hosts like Libsyn (use the promo code sopfree to get a free month). They also said, "Because the off-the-cuff, unpredictable nature of live streams make for terrible replays." You mean average untrained people are not masters of improv entertainment? They said, "But the majority of usage came from everyday people “just hanging out”. They weren’t making content; they were making friends." The best ‘content creators’ used it ~once a week, for ~2 hours. The people who were hanging out with friends used it 5–6 hours per day, every day. My team is here for one reason. To build a product that millions of people will use everyday. Another classic line which I respect is "For us; we would rather fail to try to achieve our mission than succeed at someone else’s mission." Here is another example of someone shooting for perfection (a life changing social network like Facebook), they missed the mark, and ended up on pretty good. Well, that wasn't their goal. To that, I can say I understand, but people hanging out and making friends will be much harder to monetize. In the meantime, I've moved over to firetalk.com and will be playing with Huzza.io Need Some Help With Your Podcast? I'm available for one on one consulting. Check my schedule at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/schedule Get Future Episodes the Minute They Are Released Go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/itunes and subscribe today

Today I'm going to share three things your podcast needs to be successful, I'm also going to share some podcasting news, and a product review on a blab.im replacement.   Call the Show at 888-563-3228 Blubrry Launches Adverting Partner Plan If you are looking for an advertiser for your show, Blubrry was one of the first companies to try to pool a bunch of smaller shows together to attract sponsors. They recently launched a partner plan. Here are a couple of things about the plan It's for someone who is serious about getting a sponsor It's for someone who check's their email and values communication In the past Todd and crew would setup an advertising campaign only to have podcasters pull out at the last minute, or they forgot to let Todd known they had already sold their own spots. For more information go to https://create.blubrry.com/resources/blubrry-podcast-advertising/blubrry-advertising-priority-list/ Ask the Podcast Coach Moves to a New Platform After blab.im waved it's middle finger at podcasters, this week we waved back (after last week it just stopped working). The platform I am using is firetalk.com which has the same functionality (give or take) as blab, and its free. You don't get the audio file (just the video). You can always "rip" the audio out of the video file. So far I like it, and will continue to use it going forward. Because of His Podcast Michael O'Connell Got a Book Deal. I was interviewed for a future episode of It's All Journalism by Michael O'Connell and he shared that due to his podcast he now has a book deal about podcasting. The Messengers Documentary Team will be in Akron Ohio on August 2oth The Messengers Documentary team (doing a film on podcasting) will be in Akron Ohio (Cuyahoga Falls to be exact) on August 20th to film me, and to share some video and film the Northeast Ohio Podcasters Meetup (normally the third Monday of the month, but moved to Saturday this month). The exact location and time will be announced later (more than likely 2-5ish in Cuyahoga Falls - location to be determined very soon). For more information go to www.themessengersdoc.com to check out Dave's podcast about the project go to www.themessengerspodcast.com/podcast Podcast Rewind The Biz Chix Podcast episode 26 had a super frank talk about sex after children. Gentlemen if you want to know what women think and feel about sex, now is you chance it starts at the 27 minute mark. http://bizchix.com/226/ Another new show I've been listening to is the Rhoades to Success Podcast with Jessica Rhoades who has great tips on getting and being interviewed. The Three Things Your Podcast Needs That Have Nothing to Do With Microphones, Downloads, or Hosting Today I want to talk about podcast success and the things you need to achieve. Here is the fun part I’m not talking about microphones, downloads, or hosting. While those are ingredients that you need to podcast, without these you are doomed. They are attitude, health, and support. The first thing is your expectations and/or attitude. I have people contact me weekly with dreams of getting into Apple’s New and Noteworthy and “making it big” (whatever that means). Per Rob Walch of Libsyn, fifty percent of podcasters get less than 160 downloads, and fifty percent get above. I feel this is mainly due to the thousand plus podcasts launching every week. They are just starting to build their audience. I come from a training background where if I had twenty students in my class, my hands were going to be full. When you have 160 listeners, that would equal eight classrooms. In the last building I worked in, that would be an entire floor of classrooms filled with people who want to listen to you. People who could consume AM, FM, CD, Sirius, Local and Cable channels, HBO, Netflix, Hulu, Audible, etc. They choose to listen to you. So how do you get your attitude straight? You have to be able to answer the question, “Why are you starting a podcast?” For me, I love to help people. That’s what I worked in training departments for 20+ years. Now, let’s not fool ourselves. I like making money as well. However, when I have someone come to me too scared to launch a podcast, and I later I hear them cry over the phone as they see their podcast in iTunes, it is hard to put a price on that. The other reason you need to know you “Why” is so you can create content that fits in with your goal. If the purpose of your podcast is to position yourself as a leader in your field, then maybe you should use a Q&A format. What if you’re in just to make money. You’re in it to boost sales. Remember when you first start out you don’t have an audience, so if the goal is to convert your audience to sales, the first thing you need to do is focus on getting an audience, and second how to convert them. The length of time it takes to achieve this is why Podcasting is often said to have a slow burn. You have to have an audience before you can sell to your audience. Also, you better be willing to podcast for free, because when you start out, you are. In fact, you’re losing around $30 a month in expenses. The second thing is your health. Certain gurus love to tell you to stay up until three in the morning, get up at 6 and go to work. If you really want it, you will do this. If you don’t do this, well then (LOSER) you don’t really want it right? You just need to dig down deeper. After all, it’s not going to come to you; you have to HUSSLE DOWN and GO GET IT TIGER! No for the record, you do have to do the work, but killing yourself to live is not a great option. I did this for a while. Here is what it produced. A crappy attitude because I constantly felt “behind.” That I wasn’t working hard enough, and that was I was doing wasn’t good enough, and that I need to sacrifice more. A crappy product. I make enough typos when I’m awake, let alone when I’m sleep deprived. I was struggling with energy, and creativity because my body wanted something. It was called sleep. I recently lost 30 lbs. You know one of the key ingredients? Sleep. I now get at least 6, typically 7 hours of sleep a night. WHAT? THAT IS INSANE. No, what it is, is a strategy to be more productive because you’re not doing rookie mistakes because you can’t keep your eyes open. I can focus. You have the attention span of a puppy hopped up on red bull. The other thing it did was mess up my back. Countless time I would wake up at my desk with my head pointing down in some weird position as my body was in some strange position sleeping in a chair. Great, my hustle would now slow me down cause I can’t stand up straight. I gained weight. Why? Because I was BUSY, I had THINGS TO DO, so I would go get some “fast food” and slam my Double Mystery Meat, Fries, and a Coke. Never realizing by the time I drove to the Burger Hut, waited in the drive through, and got home to eat my luke-warm home slop, I could’ve cooked something much more healthy at home. Eating fast food is like pouring the cheapest gas you can find in your car. It doesn’t burn well, and it leaves a residue in your engine. Well, in this case, you body doesn’t know what to do with strange chemistry abortion called fast food that tricks your mind into thinking it’s not full so it can dump enough sugar down you face to light you up like a Christmas tree. You will notice on ingredient labels they don’t put the percentage of sugar contained in that Starbucks (because your morning Late probably has your over your daily limit already). Poor nutrition leads to you getting sick, and tired. Which eventually leads you to be sick and tired of being sick and tired. Now instead of being upbeat, creative, and inspired you are tired, unmotivated, potentially cranky, and/or depressed. Now because you’re tired and cranky (and maybe depressed), you will probably notice your family and friends don’t want to be around you. Being tired, sick, and cranky leads to: The third thing you need to have a successful podcast: Support. When your friends and family (going forward let’s just say family) don’t support your podcasting efforts, it will suck whatever energy you have left in your body. It is often the final nail in the coffin. You can’t demand support. Demanding support often can lead to resentment on the person waiting in the wings. When you FORCE someone to support you, they aren’t supporting you because they believe in you, or they want to. They are supporting you because they HAVE to. If someone puts a gun to my head forces me to say “Soundcloud is the best podcasting platform on the planet” I would do it because I like breathing, but would that really be support? When your family is complaining about the time, money and effort you are putting into your show it creates stress. Stress is not a great fertilizer for creativity. Some people strive under pressure, but many have a hard time concentrating. They can’t “be in the now” because they are too busy waiting for the shoe to drop. So those are the problems. How do you solve them? For Health Do the Following: Batch cook food. For me, I buy a family pack of chicken thighs and dump them into a pressure cooker. I then package them up and put them in the refrigerator. When I need a quick snack, I throw them into the microwave, and while I’m eating the chicken I microwave a vegetable, and I’m done in 10 minutes. It’s true fast food. The pressure cooker requires no overseeing. For me, I look at what time I’m getting up in the morning. For me, that is 7:30 AM as I have to be at work by 8:30. If I want seven hours sleep, I have to be in bed by 12:30. I know I need to exercise for at least 30 minutes that means takes me back to 12:00. Now Let’s Take This Thought into the Support Area I need to eat and spend some time with my family. Let’s call that two hours. That would be 10 PM. If I arrive home at 6 PM, I would have FOUR FREE HOURS. Now my family isn’t going to want to eat at 10 PM. So from 6-8PM I enjoy my family. I then spend 30 minutes exercising. It’s not 8:30. I have three hours and thirty minutes to work on my podcast, 30 minutes to brush my teeth and say goodnight. Realize something in this scenario. Your family gets 2.5 hours; your podcast got three hours and thirty minutes. If you did this every day, your family is going to feel short-changed. Setting a schedule is also where you need to go back and set expectations with your family. Can you pull this plan off two times a week (giving you potentially 6 hours of podcasting time)? Are they willing to support this? If not, what ar they willing to support? It may turn out that you might want to consider doing a shorter show instead of an hour long show. In the event you make some money with your podcast, give some to your spouse to do whatever they want. Now not only are you benefiting from your podcast but so are they. Make family time just that. Turn your phone off and concentrate. What happens if you run out of time? For me, I have found (unless it’s a deadline of a customer) most items in podcasting don’t have a time limit. The research you wanted to do tonight, can probably wait until tomorrow. That new tool you wanted to play with, can probably wait until tomorrow. 99.9% of whatever you wanted to do will still be there in the morning. I didn’t believe it, but I now can say 100% it is true. Quit the following actions to boost your attitude: Quit looking at other podcasters income and downloads. Much like golf or bowling, in podcasting, you compare yourself to your last game. Realize the gear you have will probably do just fine. Microphone envy leads to people spending money on things they don’t need which leads to spouses resentment. Avoiding resentment leads to people sneaking things into the house. You are developing bad habits. Obsessing over stats. Looking at them does not make them grow. Reach out and network with similar podcasts. They know exactly how you feel. Having someone “In the trenches” with you can help. Here are some tips to help with productivity Used web-based services like Evernote, Onenote, Google Docs, etc. This way if you find yourself trapped somewhere, you can do that research on your phone or tablet. You can spend your lunch hour doing research instead of reading the outdated magazines in the break room. I love todoist.com for keeping track of things with deadlines, and you can easily make items directly from websites (thanks to a browser extension) and from within Gmail. So set your expectations for your podcast, and set the expectations of your family. Protect your health by getting enough sleep, eating the right things, and exercising. Protect your family by giving them the time they need. If you have lots of energy and support, but your attitude is crap, it will hurt you creatively, and you may lose your motivation. If you are motivated but are sick all the time, then don’t have the energy to get behind the mic - even if your family supports you. If you have a great attitude, feel great, but have to deal with an upset family, your podcast may be okay, but your life is spiraling down the drain. Attitude, Health, and Support. Simple, but not easy. Mentioned in this Episode Planning Your Podcast Course The Podcast Producers Podcast Blubrry Advertiser Partner Program Biz Chix Biz Women Rock Rhoades to Success Shepodcasts.com It's All Journalism The Messengers Documentary The Messengers Podcast Need Help? Schedule A Session Today www.schoolofpodcasting.com/schedule

Driveway moments are podcasts that have you so captivated that when you get to home instead of going in to be with your family, you sit in the driveway to finish the episode. This week I had such a moment with episode 206 of the RED podcast hosted by David Hooper. I wanted to get Dave on the line to see what went on behind the scenes of this episode. Follow Upon on Troy Heinritz - The Story Isn't Over Troy called me this week (you'll hear the call) to let me know that he has been asked to fly to LA to host a show where he gets to interview the two creators of the television show The Blacklist (Troy does the blacklist exposed). They wanted a "super fan" to interview "the Two Johns" (the creators) about season four. So Troy gets to fly to LA, stay in a hotel, and feel the promotion power Sony Pictures as they promote him on a global level. If you missed Troy's story, you could click here to listen (or subscribe and never miss another show). Great Content Has These Ingredients I tell people that you want your podcast to make people laugh, cry, think, or groan. You want it to educate or entertain (or both). Today we are looking at some of the ingredients that you can use to inspire those results in your audience. Great content: Is content you can't get in other places Is unpredictable - not sure what you’re going to get (as long as its relevant). Is a dialogue, an open discussion. Is educational Is entertaining It’s often well thought out Has relevant personal stories Has a tease to get you engaged to stay or come back. Always Brings Value Beware of Inside Jokes The hurdle I have to get over with this episode is Dave has heard this episode (obviously) and I have heard it, but you haven't (maybe). So I need to give you enough information, so you don't feel left out, but not too much information to be a spoiler. Dave had an automated phone call that pretends to be from the IRS and threatens to throw him in jail. Dave knew this was a scam and turned on his skype recorder and called them back to investigate the situation (you can hear this at www.redpodcast.com/scam) his first attempt kept the person on the line for more than an hour (and he was not happy when he figured out that Dave was playing with him). Eventually, Dave was able to get someone to "put their guard down" and explain their operation (at the risk of getting in trouble). This intimacy was fascinating. Dave wasn't yelling at the worker but just wanted information. It made for a very intriguing episode. Then in true David Hooper fashion, he used the experience as a lesson to learn about growing your business. Episode 206 of the RED Podcast David Hooper has a very wide skill set. He spent many years doing marketing for musicians (at one point managed his own event for musicians). Dave is the author of NUMEROUS books on Amazon. He has been doing his Music Business Radio program on Lightning 100 WRLT in Nashville (and subsequent podcast) where he has interviewed some pretty big names. He recently started shifting his focus to include other types of marketing outside of music. His RED Podcast is NOT another podcast that interviews entrepreneurs about escaping their dreadful lives into the world of six-figure incomes etc., etc. It's not named RED Podcast On Fire. Instead, Dave has a solo show where he uses his life's travels and ties them to lessons you can use to grow your business. Just to make it easy, here is the link to Episode 206 to hear the whole "Scam" call go to www.redpodcast.com/scam In this interview you will hear: How it took multiple calls to get this hard to believe interview. Dave ended up with lots of content, but it would need editing before putting it before his audience. By not judging his guest, the person felt safe to open up and reveal inside information. Dave stuck to his guns and didn't take advertisers that didn't fit his show, or advertisers that wanted to pay him peanuts to get in front of his audience. Dave puts thought into his episode, so there is a theme that lends itself to transitioning from one part of his show to the other. Dave realizes there is a skip button and starts of his show with a tease to keep people tuned in, and includes one at the end to make them come back. The Power of Editing I've been called to produce The Messengers Podcast. The Messengers is a documentary about podcasting. I'm making a podcast about the movie about podcasting (yeah, I know). The difference is it's up to me to stitch together the story of what has been going on (with help from executive producer Chris Krimitsos). When I'm done, I submit the rough draft to Chris. At this point, I've put in lots of hours, and I want it to be done. Chris has always come back with ideas. You know what? They are always good insights. I'm too close to the trees to see the forest. Editing can make a good thing great if you're open to feedback.  Some people do the, "I just hit record and post it. I'm keeping it real." It's podcasting, and you can do what you want. I'm keeping it real by knowing that every word out of my mouth is not gold, and everything can ALWAYS have room for improvement. So I took an hour today and edit this interview. Here is what got cut: A bunch of UMs from me. A tangent that Dave and I took about playing music backward. Dave was explaining how he is starting a new podcast. His new podcast is not out yet. I cut out many things I said that were giving a second example of something that Dave had just said (thus I was creating duplicate content). What Did I Learn From Editing? I did very little prep for this interview. I knew I was just going talk to Dave about his episode and pull the best. In the end, I don't think I did a good job of letting Dave know why I asked him to come on the show. I OFTEN take a very roundabout way to a question. This action happens as I've started talking before fully forming the question in my head. As always, more preparation up front leads to less editing. Mentioned on This Episode Pro Coach Podcast - How to Get More Clients Building a Better Dave - Dave's"Say whatever I want" podcast Support The Messengers Documentary at www.supportthemessengers.com Schedule a Podcast Consultation at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/schedule Toastmasters 101 School of Laughs Glenn The Geek Episode