Episode 3 - Podcast Epiphany
Podcast Epiphany - My Origin Story
This Thanksgiving will mark the first podcast epiphany, the day I first decided to become a podcaster…
Last year as I’ve done for the past several years, I went to my sister’s house for Thanksgiving Dinner. It was a pretty small get-together. Just my sister, Cindy, her husband, Rob, their daughter, Zoë, my sister’s BFF, Holly and Holly’s friend Samir.
My sister had recently started a podcast. Because I’m a professional musician, I had helped her shop for microphones and audio equipment and helped her set up a recording studio in her office. During our dinner conversation, I asked how her podcast was coming along. I had listened to the latest episode on the way to her house, and we talked about it for a little bit. In fact I had been a guest on her show. She informed me that the episode with me was coming up soon. Then she added, “Oh, by the way, Zoë has a podcast, too. She and some of her friends have a podcast with about 5,000 followers. I said, “Wow, that’s great!” But, deep inside, she had planted a seed.
Later that evening, on the way home, I started thinking.
I had been involved in the internet since 1994. I built my first website before you could even sell anything legally; the World Wide Web was for educational purposes only. My website, Li’lHank’s Guide For Songwriters had actually become one of the five most popular online resources for songwriters and musicians for a few years. I was uploading images, downloading files, compressing audio and embedding videos for clients before most people knew the difference between a web browser and their desktop. But right here, right now, in the year 2018, my sister and my niece have podcasts – and I’m the one that wasn’t podcasting!!??
After letting this marinate for a few days, I woke up that following Monday, with an epiphany! Tales of the Road Warriors! That was going to be my podcast. A great podcast. An important one!
Where I Started
After going down many rabbit holes through Google searches and Youtube channels, I gradually learned who’s who in the world of podcasting. There’s an index of podcasting resources at the back of this diary. For now, I’ll tell you how I started, and it might be a good idea for you to start the same way, because it’s free.
I found a website called the Podcast Movement Launch Your Podcast Challenge. At first, I thought I was entering a contest to win an all expense paid trip to Podcast Movement 2019 in Orlando, Florida. However, I soon realized the challenge was just left as a guide from the previous year when it was an actual competition. But even though there was no prize, I thought, “WTF? I may as well go through the steps, because the end result would still be the launch of a podcast in 28 days, which is about how long I had promised myself I was going to launch my podcast anyway. So that’s exactly what I did.
A little about the Podcast Movement 28 Day Challenge. Podcast Movement was founded by two guys: Jared Easley and Dan Franks. It’s an annual conference featuring new technology, prominent keynote speakers and a gathering of podcasters of every level including people just curious about starting from scratch. I am in no way affiliated with them.
Before I get to day one of my own podcast, let’s go back a couple months to when I was helping my sister set up her podcasting room. I suggested that she meet me in the Pro Audio section of a nearby music store to help her select a mixer, some mics, and other accessories. As I began to put the studio together, I realized I had a lot more knowledge about this stuff than I realized. I had forgotten more than some people ever learned in the first place. So when the time came for me to be a podcaster myself, I felt very confident that this is what I should be doing. Nevertheless, I still had a lot to learn. In fact I still do. Which brings me to my first Rule of Podcasting (or life for that matter):
It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts!
This Thanksgiving will mark the first podcast epiphany, the day I first decided to become a podcaster…
Last year as I’ve done for the past several years, I went to my sister’s house for Thanksgiving Dinner. It was a pretty small get-together. Just my sister, Cindy, her husband, Rob, their daughter, Zoë, my sister’s BFF, Holly and Holly’s friend Samir.
My sister had recently started a podcast. Because I’m a professional musician, I had helped her shop for microphones and audio equipment and helped her set up a recording studio in her office. During our dinner conversation, I asked how her podcast was coming along. I had listened to the latest episode on the way to her house, and we talked about it for a little bit. In fact I had been a guest on her show. She informed me that the episode with me was coming up soon. Then she added, “Oh, by the way, Zoë has a podcast, too. She and some of her friends have a podcast with about 5,000 followers. I said, “Wow, that’s great!” But, deep inside, she had planted a seed.
Later that evening, on the way home, I started thinking.
I had been involved in the internet since 1994. I built my first website before you could even sell anything legally; the World Wide Web was for educational purposes only. My website, Li’lHank’s Guide For Songwriters had actually become one of the five most popular online resources for songwriters and musicians for a few years. I was uploading images, downloading files, compressing audio and embedding videos for clients before most people knew the difference between a web browser and their desktop. But right here, right now, in the year 2018, my sister and my niece have podcasts – and I’m the one that wasn’t podcasting!!??
After letting this marinate for a few days, I woke up that following Monday, with an epiphany! Tales of the Road Warriors! That was going to be my podcast. A great podcast. An important one!
Where I Started
After going down many rabbit holes through Google searches and Youtube channels, I gradually learned who’s who in the world of podcasting. There’s an index of podcasting resources at the back of this diary. For now, I’ll tell you how I started, and it might be a good idea for you to start the same way, because it’s free.
I found a website called the Podcast Movement Launch Your Podcast Challenge. At first, I thought I was entering a contest to win an all expense paid trip to Podcast Movement 2019 in Orlando, Florida. However, I soon realized the challenge was just left as a guide from the previous year when it was an actual competition. But even though there was no prize, I thought, “WTF? I may as well go through the steps, because the end result would still be the launch of a podcast in 28 days, which is about how long I had promised myself I was going to launch my podcast anyway. So that’s exactly what I did.
A little about the Podcast Movement 28 Day Challenge. Podcast Movement was founded by two guys: Jared Easley and Dan Franks. It’s an annual conference featuring new technology, prominent keynote speakers and a gathering of podcasters of every level including people just curious about starting from scratch. I am in no way affiliated with them.
Before I get to day one of my own podcast, let’s go back a couple months to when I was helping my sister set up her podcasting room. I suggested that she meet me in the Pro Audio section of a nearby music store to help her select a mixer, some mics, and other accessories. As I began to put the studio together, I realized I had a lot more knowledge about this stuff than I realized. I had forgotten more than some people ever learned in the first place. So when the time came for me to be a podcaster myself, I felt very confident that this is what I should be doing. Nevertheless, I still had a lot to learn. In fact I still do. Which brings me to my first Rule of Podcasting (or life for that matter):
It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts!
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