This series is all about libsyn podcasters. Its sole purpose is to introduce these awesome podcasts to the world as well as share their podcasting insight to empower the community!
Q & A’s with MSG of Hope
When did you start podcasting?
I actually launched my first podcast in March 2018 however I spent about two months researching what type microphone, software, headphones were most commonly used among other podcasters mostly by watching YouTube videos of other podcasters.
Carey Green from Podcast Fast Track was a huge inspiration and helper to me. He was nice enough to quickly answer my questions through email and was the one responsible for leading me to Libsyn as my choice of host.
Also Pat Flynn YouTube videos did a lot to help with his step by step videos on setting up my podcast even though at this time I have no desire to make money from them.
Why did you start podcasting?
We have several reasons actually. We had been heavily involved with a local multi-denominational church for the last 15 years. As we studied bible scriptures on our own we found there to be many conflicts between what the Bible instructs us to do and how to live and what was being taught.
We decided to pull away from the church and start a bible study in our home to seek truth with others. However, that gets complicated because even though you’d like to, you really can’t just open up your home to anyone without knowing them so we decided to try getting truth out with videos.
After my first one I knew that Im just not comfortable with how I look on camera and a lot of times people judge you on your looks so I decided video was not the avenue for this old fat girl. LOL
Also, I have been through the school of hard knocks in my life with times of plenty and times of little, with drug addicted children, etc. (lots of life experiences) that I desire to share with others in hopes I could save them some mistakes or encourage them to hang on during dark times and stress in order to be an outlet, and encourager, and provide prayer if needed.
My husband has a desire to teach unadulterated truth about the Bible and how we are instructed to live by God (YeHoVaH). Not our opinion, not sugar-coated stories, but truth straight from Gods word.
What’s the name of your show about and what is it about?
Our show is titled MSG of Hope and that’s what we want to be-a message of hope.
Many times in my own life I have wished I had a non-judgmental friend that I could confide in about things I was struggling with or who would share honest truth about their lives and offer advice to help me with my struggles but because of fear of them breaking confidentiality or judging or gossiping about me I had to go through it alone.
We love God and we love people and its our desire to be a helper through inspirational, motivational and truthful content.
What’s your podcasting set-up? Hardware, software, CMS, etc.
We chose to get a Blue Yeti Microphone with a pop filter, Audio-Technica ATH-M50 Headset and MacBook Pro running OS High Sierra 10.13.3 for our computer.
We use the free download of Audacity Software 2.2.2 to record the audio then save it and open it in GarageBand (which came on my computer) to add our intro and outro tracks and audio loops for our music.
Then that is saved as an mp3 file before uploading it to Libsyn who is a one-stop solution for everything you need to start podcasting like publishing tools, media hosting and delivery, RSS feed for Apple Podcasts and iTunes, website stats, and a platform that can grow with you.
And the biggest thing for me is they provide a clean, simple, easy to use website because I was struggling to build a Word Press site while trying to get the podcast up and running so I have back burnered that for the time being.
We purchased our domain name at GoDaddy.com so we could have a custom URL for our site.
How have you promoted your podcast?
We made our cover art and business card with a free app in the iTunes Store called Canva and then paid $6.35 for 5 credits to use to remove their logo from your artwork before marketing it.
We have been handing out our business card as often as possible as we go shopping or to the bank, etc. and handed them out at a Passover event we attended last weekend as we met new people there.
We have made a public Facebook page and invited all our friends to like it and announce new episodes and where to find them on there. We are promoting on LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram, and Twitter.
What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started?
I just wish there would be a one stop place where you could find all the information you need to get going instead of watching hundreds of videos and having to weed out some of the information being given because everyone has different suggestions on every step of the process.
I found it frustrating to stick with it until I managed somehow to get things working through trial and error. But I have to admit I never heard of podcasts until I was watching YouTube videos trying to figure out how to video my content that is, until I decided that avenue wasn’t for me.
One piece of advice that was worth its weight in gold to me was given by Carey Green and that was that I didn’t have to have a separate website because one would be provided by Libsyn.
I wasted a lot of days trying to learn WordPress and actually paid for a website design that I liked and separate website hosting and one day I hope to get back to building that but I was anxious to get started with actually putting content out and that was hindering me until I was presented that gold nugget! Thank you again Carey Green!
So my advice to others would be if you have a decent computer, download the free audacity app to record, get you any decent microphone and some kind of headset you can hear on, sign up with Libsyn to host you and all you have to do is add content to get going with your podcast and website for your listeners to go to find your stuff.
Are you looking to find a faith based community and faith discussion to help you stay inspired and living the life that you desire? You can subscribe to MSG of Hope in Apple Podcasts! Or check out their website msgofhope.com where you have the ability to contact them through either live chat or email and also to submit any prayer request.
If you are feeling like you need to add to the conversation or start your own conversation on God, faith and The Bible, consider doing a podcast! We’d love to host your show. If you need some help getting started we have a monthly Podcasting QuickStart, so you don’t have to scour the internet for quick solutions!
