Starting a podcast is a pretty simple. Staying committed, inspired and consistent in publishing your podcast is a whole other matter.
In our Podcasting Luminary Series, we share the voices of podcasters that have been podcasting for 5 or more years and have them impart some of their best podcasting wisdom grounded in experience.
Today we feature Gene from The Tapping Q & A Podcast. Tapping Q&A Podcast started in March 2009 and they hit their 200th episode in November 2014 PLUS they are still at it!
The Tapping Q & A Podcast is pretty much about just that: tapping/EFT, and if you don’t know what it is, they you really need to listen!
We hope you find their journey as inspiring as we did!
Fun, Fame or Profit? Why are you doing the show?
When I started doing the podcast it was for my business, but it was mostly for fun. I have been listening to podcasts since 2005 and wanted to give it a try.
In the last 5 years it is by far the best marketing decision I have made.
What is your most memorable feedback from a listener?
I received an email from a listener who was caught in the middle of the Egyptian civil war.
He said one of my episodes was helping him sleep through the night during the major unrest and uncertainty.
What has changed the most in your recording setup since you started?
I have upgraded everything.
When I started I was using a $19 microphone plunged into an icicle (which don’t think they make anymore). I was doing my interviews over a landline and found a gadget that would hook into my phone and connect straight to my computer.
What tools on libsyn have you found most helpful in building your brand/podcast?
I am new to Libsyn as of October after self hosting for a number of years.
At this point I am just happy to have reliable platform to have my media on.
I am still in the process of moving my entire archive over to libsyn. Once that happens I will be moving to getting my own app.
What is your workflow: include hardware, software, text editing, and services as necessary
I use a Rode Podcaster microphone.
2/3 of my podcasts are interviews. For interviews I use eCamm skype recorder.
After recording the interview I always split the two sides of the conversation so when I am editing I have more control of the quality of each track.
Until 5 months ago I produced the show in GarageBand.
I have since moved to Adobe Audition and I love it. My editing work is much quicker.
I write all my show note is Google Doc so that my editor who lives in London can make it bleed as she cleans it up.
Do download numbers matter matter to you? or is audience engagement key?
I am not too concerned with absolute numbers.
I would like my podcast to keep growing.
I am more concerned with getting listeners who are looking forward to each show than I am about the number of people listening. As long as the orange line keeps pointing up I am happy.
What advise would you give a new podcaster so that they keep going!
There are two choice that I made when I started that made a world of difference.
First, I did a practice podcast.
I think I did 13 shows in twelve months. I had not real focus but was just trying a number of things to see what worked and what didn’t.
I had less than 50 listeners who were family and friends.
It was a great way to experiment where the stakes were high enough that I had to try to do well, but low enough it didn’t matter if it was flop.
This was a great opportunity to figure out all the technical stuff. I could make lots of errors and do things wrong in a safe learning space.
Second, I did 10 interviews before I published my first podcast.
This did a couple of things for me. I wasn’t spending any time tracking down guests as I was producing the show, which gave me the time to figure the tech stuff out.
It also helped me to get guests. I was able to say in my emails where I was asking people to be a guest, “The podcast is not live yet, but I am doing 10 interviews up front to make sure I have enough content to do a consistent show for the first 2 and half months.”
I believe this helped possible guest have more confidence in me that it was worth their while even though I didn’t have a track record.
How important is podcasting to the success of other revenue generating opportunities you currently have?
In the last 5 years I can draw a direct line between my podcast and $250k in sales. It has also generated opportunities to lead trainings in the UK and the Philippines.
Did you start off podcasting and that lead into a business or did you see podcasting as a necessary support for an existing business?
I started the podcast because I knew from a content marketing point of view it might help my business, but at the time I had no idea how that would play out.
When I started I committed to 10 episodes to see how it would go. It was an investment of time that I thought would pay off, but I was also willing to move on if it didn’t help my business out.
What piece of advice would give others looking to generate revenue from podcasting whether directly or indirectly?
The key to my business success in an old school email newsletter.
When I am posting article or publishing podcasts I am dependent on my customers to make time and room for me.
With email I am able to direct the conversation a little bit. Because they like, know, and trust me through my podcast they are more willing to read my emails. Once I have them on my list it is easier to sell to them directly.
Interested in Tapping/EFT? Then this Q & A show is your way to dive in! Let us know what you think 🙂
You can also hook up with Gene via Twitter and of course you need to subscribe to his podcast!
If you’ve been self hosting and you are ready to take the leap and have the best possible support for your media, come on and host with us! We’d love to have you!
