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Test Drive – Should you launch a podcast?
Today’s test drive is all about starting a podcast. I have learned a lot about podcasting in the past two years. There are so many ways in which The RV Entrepreneur podcast has improved our lives and our business. This episode is for anyone who is interested starting their own podcast, or just learning more about my journey with podcasting.
What we talk about in today’s episode
- How to get started if you’re interested in starting a podcast
- What the process has been like for me the past couple years
- What I’ve learned from growing this podcast
My overall thoughts on podcasting
Podcasting is a great medium for connecting with people. When we started our travels, Alyssa and I each had our own websites. We worked really hard to hone the craft of writing and connecting with our audience through this medium. Though blogging has been extremely rewarding over the past few years for building up our audience, I would put podcasting at a whole different level as far as making connections.
Even though a podcast is a one-way call, you get to know me and you get to know our story with each episode. When I meet people out on the road, at our RVE Summit, or through Instagram who listen to the podcast, it feels like they already know me.
Just like any other medium, there is a huge learning curve. From launching a show to learning how to interview, there is a lot to learn when starting a podcast. We will get into more details on what you need to learn and where you can find this information.
Why I wanted to launch a podcast
Podcasting is a facilitator of great conversation. During Hourly America, I sat down with over 70 hourly workers and asked them questions like “How do you find meaning in your work?” and “Why do you do what you do everyday?”. Even though we weren’t sure what our documentary was going to be about in the beginning, it was a great excuse to get to know the people we were working with each day. Having a project in general is a facilitator of good conversations.
After we finished Hourly America, I was really craving that type of good, deep conversation again. I had been listening to podcasts and this medium seemed like a great way to start having these types of conversations. Through the podcast, I have been able to connect with so many people that I may not have otherwise met. This is great for creating diverse content for the podcast, but also for creating a sense of community for us on the road.
The RV Entrepreneur podcast makes the transition into RV life easier. By interviewing all these people who have successfully made the transition, I am able to provide motivation and inspiration for the dreamers still out there. The podcast is a way for me to extract that value from other’s experiences and it share with people who hadn’t yet made the transition. This is kind of the more practical side of why I wanted to start a podcast because I felt that this was a need that was not being met in the RV niche.
My fears before jumping into podcasting
A few of the fears that I had before jumping into podcasts included understanding the overall technical knowledge. I didn’t know what actually went into podcasting. How do you go from recording to uploading to iTunes? Do you need a fancy microphone?
Here is a list of the equipment that I use for editing The RV Entrepreneur:
- Macbook Air
- Audacity – free program
- Blue Yeti Microphone
- Pop filter
- Libsyn – media company to host files and publish to iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, etc
I learned all of this information from Pat Flynn. He has a podcast called Smart Passive Income and he has all of these amazing free tutorial videos on how to start a podcast.
Another reason I was worried to start a podcast was the overall unknown factor of starting a new project — from all the above technical aspects to how to find interviews.
The last fear was that nobody would listen, so I was just afraid of being unsuccessful with the podcast. This is usually a fear I have before starting any project.
What I’ve learned, just from podcasting as a whole.
- Batch recording is your friend.
- Podcasting is a great way to build relationships. It’s a built-in reason to always be reaching out and connecting with people.
- Respect people’s time. If you are asking people for an hour of their time, use it wisely.
- As awkward as it is, ask people for reviews because it makes a big difference.
- Podcast cover art matters.
- You can generate a little from ad revenue, but not as much as you think.
- It helps you become a better storyteller. You think about how to extract stories from people.
Advice for starting a podcast
- I wouldn’t do it at the same time if I was just starting to blog or do Youtube. I would pick one to start with.
- Give yourself runway of 25-50 or so episodes to see if you like it.
- Try to pre-validate that people would enjoy the subject.
- Don’t let fear stop you. Before I actually started the podcast, I can’t tell you how many times I sat and thought about starting the podcast. It would have been so easy to just not do it, out of fear, logistics, or even wifi availability.
What is happening in our lives at the moment?
- One more week in Bar Harbor (it is awesome)
- Wrapping up a big client project for Winnebago (will talk more about this next week)
- Starting to plan our route back down through Nashville
Big wins
Student Debt: We finished paying off student debt this past week! Living in an RV has allowed us to pay off $27,000 of student debt in a little over three years, while also traveling all over America. If you have student debt and there are people in your life who tell you that you can’t travel and pay off debt, they are wrong.
Campground Views: We had the most epic campground view for a couple days at Narrows Too campground. I woke up the past couple mornings before sunrise and drank my coffee while the sun came up over Cadillac Mountain — It. Was. Awesome.
Episode 100 is coming up soon! Comment below if you have any ideas on how to make this episode extra special.
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Um… WOOOHOOOOO. Congrats on paying that beast we all love to hate.. STUDENT LOAN. That is amazeballs. Ours are… ugh. Scary. Since husband was smart and used military 100% to get his first BA, that limited it but they capped out and he would use student loans to finish the year. Then once he had that his GI Bill luckily covered his MBA but he also started his second BS in another field. So my little degree collector has racked up about 20k. I have about 20k and halfway through mine. Low balling me only with one degree. 😉 haha. So anyways… I know that is a huge accomplishment and another great podcast.
Yay thank you thank you thank you! Definitely feels amazing to be done 🙂 Worth all the hustle!