Podcasting with Aaron

My guest this week is Marc Sollinger. Marc is one half of Dead Signals, a podcast production company that produces the modern radio drama podcasts Archive 81 and Deep Vault. In this episode, we’re going to take a deep dive into what it takes to plan, write, and produce a modern radio drama. This is part one of a two part series: Next week I’ll be interviewing Dan Powell, who handles a lot of the e...

If you podcast long enough, you're going to get criticism or negativity. You can't create work and share it with the world without experiencing it. I say you haven't really made it until you've got haters. If people feel strongly enough about what you're doing to love it, then someone is going to feel strongly enough to hate it, or at least severely dislike it. I'm still pretty unknown, and I know...

It's been said that in basketball, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. The same is true for getting guests on your podcast or being a guest on other podcasts: If you don't ask, it's not going to happen. So getting over your fear of rejection is step one, but today I want to talk about things that you can do to increase your chances of getting a yes from the guests you want, and how you can...

Charli Prangley is a designer by day and a content creator by... well, pretty much the rest of the time. In addition to her day job, she produces two high-quality Youtube videos and a podcast every week, and also runs an online apparel shop. I was so impressed with the consistency and quality of her output that I knew I had to get her on the show to share how she creates so much while still workin...

Talking music today! Where are the best places to find music for podcasts? Can you use copyrighted materials in your podcast if you keep the clip under 30 seconds? And is podcast music even necessary? Key Takeaways: Don’t use copyrighted music in your podcast unless you have permission from whoever holds the copyrights. Finding music on a free music site doesn’t mean it’s automatically legal to us...

I got this topic from a question that I read in Gary Vaynerchuk’s recent book, #AskGaryVee. The question was this: “What’s the best way to grow a following or community from nothing?” For some people, an audience means ad revenue. For some people, it means enough people to buy your product or work to support you. Some people just want the attention because they feel empty inside and need to feel l...

It seems like some people can get on a podcast or video and sound so effortless and natural. How is this possible? What's the secret? I got a question from a listener asking how they could improve their speaking voice when reading from a script. Since most of my episodes are scripted, I decided to share everything I've learned about improving my speaking voice and how I read from a script without...

Ever wondered how to make a living with just your voice? Interested in becoming a professional voice-over artist? This week I'm joined by professional voice-over artist Jay Britton, who has done work for companies like HBO (Game of Thrones!), Marvel, Amazon, and more. He built his voice-over career from scratch in his late 20's, and in this episode, Jay shares everything you need to know if you wa...

The introduction to your podcast (the first 30-60 seconds) is a critical part of the success of your show. If you don’t introduce yourself, new listeners will feel lost. If your intro is too long, people will get annoyed and switch to listen to something else. Listeners want to know what they’re going to get out of an episode. If you don't tell them that right away, they're going to start wonderin...

My guest this week is Caleb Wojcik, the DIY Video Guy. If you're anything like me, you've been interested in making video for awhile now, but you probably also worry that you'll look or sound dumb on camera. I get it. In this episode, I talk with Caleb about how he makes video podcasts for iTunes, but we also talk about what keeps people from getting started with producing videos, and share some p...

How many of you have ever published anything on LinkedIn? If you're anything like me, you probably thought that LinkedIn is for the older generation or the corporate stooges who want to work 9-5 jobs in office buildings. Glenn Leibowitz is back to explain why LinkedIn is such a powerful blogging platform for creative professionals (and not just somewhere to host a digital resume). Even if you're n...

Glenn Leibowitz returns for part two of our three-part series about writing. This week, he shares how he turns podcast interviews into stories, why it's led to huge audience growth for both his podcast and his blog, and how you can use the power of story to reach a whole new audience. Cool Stuff to Check Out: Recommended Gear: https://kit.com/thepodcastdude Podcast: https://thepodcastdude.simpleca...

Want to be a better podcaster? Something I’ve seen over and over again is that the best podcasters spend a lot of time writing. Want to learn how to be a better writer? My guest this week – Glenn Leibowitz – wants to help you get there. Glenn has been writing and editing for the past 17 years, mostly for his company, but two years ago he started his own blog and also started to blog weekly on Link...

2021 update: Here's an updated, complete list of the gear I recommend for podcasting: https://kit.co/thepodcastdude/best-gear-for-podcasting My second episode was a guide to gear for podcasting, but I’ve learned a lot in the past months, so I wanted to make an updated guide. I said back then that if you couldn’t afford good gear, you should wait and save up money. I was wrong about that. I still b...

Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a podcast? What the steps are? This week, I’m going to walk you through my process, step by step. I'm going to give you a better understanding of what it takes to make a podcast, take some of the mystery and scariness out of podcasting, and give you actionable steps to follow to make your own podcast. Couple quick updates to this episode: I now use MP3...

Key Takeaways: Eliminate background noises before you hit record. Turn off fans, AC, or heaters, and set your phone to airplane mode. Listeners notice sound quality. Background noise and room echo is distracting and degrades the listening experience. If you have a noisy room or a room with a lot of echo and you can’t treat it, record with a dynamic mic instead of a condenser and grab blankets or c...

Today I’m sharing my process for writing outlines. If you've never written an outline for your podcast before, I'm going to teach you how today. What does a podcast outline do for you? It helps you stay focused. It helps you make sure you cover all the topics you want to cover, or ask or answer the right questions. It helps you keep the episode on track. Listeners want to know what they’re going t...

Welcome! My name is Aaron Dowd. This is a show about how to make a great podcast. If you're interested in learning how to start a podcast, grow an audience, or improve at all the various skills that are a part of being a podcaster, this show is for you. In this trailer episode, I'm going to share my backstory, and talk about why I decided to start this podcast, who this show is for, and what topic...