Learning from some of the world’s leading creative talent in all kinds of fields.

I'm a brand innovator for health, science, and technology products.

My podcast is about helping creative practitioners to 1) learn how to get inspired for original ideas; 2) find methods and tools to organize those ideas; and 3) gain the confidence and connections to launch their work out into the world.

Listeners are creative people who want to stop questioning themselves and overcome obstacles to launch their creative endeavors out into the world.
 

My podcast "why" is to share the experiences of creatives all over the world.

I do listen to podcasts myself and try to model best practices. Specifically, I love The Axe Files with David Axelrod and Song Exploder with Hrishikesh Hirway. My goals in starting the podcast were: 1) reach out to global creative connections; 2) feature artists like authors, singer-songwriters, inventors, and designers; and 3) produce content that I could re-purpose in many ways including books, articles, and blogs.

I started my podcast in October 2020. It took me about three months of preparation to create the podcast brand and schedule enough episodes to launch.
 

My podcast is weekly. I schedule them about a month or two ahead of time.

The time commitment is about one hour for preparation, one hour for recording, one hour for editing, 30 minutes for episode artwork, 15 minutes to post to our hosting platform, and another hour to promote each episode.

The way I am able to do this and still do my day job is by blocking out time for the preparation, the interview, and the promotion each week.

When asked how much time or money do I spend, I look at it this way. The time value might be about $1,000. The actual out of pockets are relatively low for the hosting platform and editing -- $100 to $200 a week.
 

I have only had one sponsor so far -- a guest with whom we did a trade-out. I have been approached by an energy drink for sponsorship, but I am still assessing the fit. We have about 10,000 downloads per month. More than sponsors, I have attracted new clients. Plus I've been asked to create and produce a new podcast for which we'll be compensated.
 

I have an AudioTechnica USB microphone and Bose headphones. I use Adobe Audition for editing, and Captivate.FM for hosting.

I get guests from many sources. Booking services like PodcastGuests, Legendary Podcasts, Oscar Hamilton, and Incontrera, along with the Matchmaker.FM app. Mostly it's referrals directly from other guests and from creative people whom I know.

I prepare each episode by thinking about the topics, not just a Q&A. I want to know their creative process, their resilience for creative success, their collaborations with others, their knowledge of the business and finances of creativity, any obstacles they have faced and overcome, and other creative leaders they admire and follow.

All my interviews are done on Zoom for the audio and video.
 

My listeners can find the show on all major podcast platforms, yet about 85% listen on iTunes.

The marketing channel I find most useful for me is LinkedIn. I also use podcast promotion to gain new subscribers.
 

Thinking about the advice I would share with new podcasters, the things I've learned on my journey were that, of course, you need great content for the listener and quality production to demonstrate that you're serious about creating a high-level podcast. But over and above, I've added delivering a great guest experience because this will make them want to share their interview and refer more creative guests.
Resources for me have been podcasting groups of fellow programmers, collaborators, and coaches. Specifically, I've benefited from attending PodMAX and taking a course from Luis Diaz. Other fellow podcasters that I've learned from and enjoy are Kristen Olson, Mike Ham, and Larry Roberts.
 

You can learn more about my podcast on my website, www.mark-stinson.com
my LinkedIn profile is at /stinsonmark
My Instagram is @brandinnovator
my Facebook is @markstinsonauthor