Published authors inspiring others to create their own piece of immortality and living their best life ever

I'm a Certified self-leadership trainer with the John Maxwell Team that advances others through motivational teaching and book-casting. My podcast is an informational, inspirational, and motivational show where published authors share their life experiences to help others advance themselves in the areas of health, wealth, and happiness. My listener base is broad with professional men and women ages 25-65.
 

The Going North podcast started in September 2017 from a place of service and as a way to use my voice and market my books. When I published my first book, "Going North!: Tips & Techniques to Advance Yourself", my father passed away 6-months later from dementia. A few months after his death, I realized that I should get back to promoting my 1st book since sales were down and my dad would have wanted me to get back to work since he was a man of action. The action I decided to take was to start a podcast named after my book and make it bigger than myself by interviewing other authors. That decision was made in June 2017, my first episode was recorded in August 2017 and the podcast finally launched in September 2017.  I decided to make it an authors-only podcast because I love reading and there are a plethora of writers out there that I can not only help but also learn from. My initial goal was to just go as far as I can go by interviewing a few authors I already know. But since my podcast has reached more people around the world than I ever imagined, my goal now is to interview over 1,000 published authors.
 

With anything, you must make the time for the things you want to do. If you are serious about podcasting (especially if you are doing everything yourself), discipline will be required. I set business hours before and after work to record my episodes using calendly. On average, I'd say 15-20 hours a week is dedicated to podcasting when I tally everything up. This includes researching my podcast guests, interviewing the guests, editing the episodes, writing the show notes, creating multiple pieces of content for promotion, uploading the episodes, and posting the content. I'm also the main funder for my podcast since I have a day job but the show is slowly starting to fund itself. New episodes go up every Monday and Thursday.
 

I've gained a lot from podcasting. This includes a global network of fellow published authors, securing more speaking engagements, new friendships, self-confidence, and a higher personal growth level.
 

My main tools now are an Acer Nitro 5 Gaming Laptop, Blue Snowball Mic, 4TB Hard Drive for backup, Adobe Audition for editing,

DropBox for sharing mp3 files with guests, and Zoom for recording. I prepare for each episode by dedicating anywhere between 1-4 hours of research for each guest before we record. Folks love it when you do your homework. :)
 

My listeners come from the network that I started from joining Toastmasters International and by branching out to the networks of my guests when they appear on my show. Since I published a book before starting a podcast, I use my books, networking events, guesting on other podcasts, email lists, and of course social media to market my show.
 

If you are looking to start a podcast, get some decent equipment including a 2TB hard drive for backup and start sooner than later because you will grow as you go. Don't be afraid to suck because if you stay consistent, find your voice and reinvent yourself, you will have a good personal growth story to share along with a great network of people if you have an interview-based show. The 3 books I recommend new podcasters to read are "Anything You Want" by Derek Sivers, "Podcasting Good to Great: How to Grow Your Audience Through Collaboration" by Jared Easley, and "Podcast Launch: How to Create & Launch Your Podcast" by John Lee Dumas.
 

Thanks a bunch for this opportunity. If you want to learn more about me and have me as a guest on your podcast or possibly guest on my show (if you have a book), head over to dombrightmon.com. There's also a FREE gift for podcasters and aspiring podcasters if you sign up for my monthly newsletter.
goingnorthpodcast.com/follow
amazon.com/Dominique-B.-Brightmon/e/B07B7F37N5?ref_=dbs_p_pbk_r00_abau_000000
paypal.com/paypalme/DBrightmon?locale.x=en_US
buymeacoffee.com/dombrightmon