A podcast to help you sleep to stories for all ages set to Delta wave background music

My background began in radio news but for the past twenty years or so I have been in the eLearning space teaching project management courses globally. I am also the author of three technical books and one children's book called The Hundred Year Hotel.

The podcast is hosted by myself and I use famous and not so famous Fairy Tales in the public domain and read them with Delta wave music in the background. The music is scientifically proven to help you relax and fall asleep. The intro to each episode is historical information about the authors, I think learning is important as well and a good way to lead into the story.

My listeners are all over the world from ages 18 to 60. Anyone who has trouble sleeping can use the podcast.
 

I've always done voice work professionally and I listened to many podcasts prior to starting my own.

When my mother passed away in May of 2021, I found myself not able to sleep. We had just moved across the country to be closer to her and she passed before we got there. I was very stressed and upset so I started looking for something to help me sleep. I discovered the Calm app and thought to myself..."I can do this. I can help people too.

I started Fairy Sleep in July 2021.

Once I had all the equipment and host set up I recorded and released it that day and weekly since then.
 

I release an episode every Wednesday. It takes about two hours from recording to upload. I do the edits and production myself.

I work on it at night and on the weekends as needed.

I do fund my podcast myself, I'd say between my Shure microphone, Focusrite processer, and hosting fees it cost about $700 US in upfront costs and about $23 US every month for hosting. I also bought the domain name/website on GoDaddy. Eventually, I'll do a podcast that could develop some monetary ROI but for now, it's fun and I enjoy doing it.
 

I don't take sponsorships at present. I'm still building my listenership. Plus, I feel like people need to sleep so blasting them with a commercial during all that would not be a good thing. At some point, I may set up a subscription model for all new or extra content. For now, I'm only six months into the process and still learning about all of it.

I have over 63,000 downloads and 35 episodes so I get about 16 thousand downloads a month to date.
Podcasting benefits me by keeping my mind engaged through learning all about the business, researching stories and the authors.
 

I use a Shure SM7B microphone, a Focusrite crimson processor, I use Audacity to edit the audio since I've been using it for years. I also have Adobe Audition but I'm still learning how to use it. A great mic and Audacity works well. I don't interview anyone so it's super simple to produce an episode.

I prepare by doing the research on the story I have chosen and then record it in one sitting. I go back and edit as needed and then export at an MP3 and upload to Buzzsprout which is my hosting platform.
 

Honestly, I haven't done anything to market my podcast at this point other than posts on social media. I didn't think I would get more than one hundred downloads. I'm shocked at the response and all the downloads but I'm solving a pain point for a lot of people and if you can't sleep it's a literal nightmare.

63% of my listeners come through Apple iTunes 8% from Sticher, and 6% from Spotify. There are a couple of others but those are the main ones.

I barely just signed up for IG and mostly use Facebook.
 

My best advice is to talk about something you love or that you are really good at. A lot of podcasters get pod-faded because they can't secure interviewees or lose interest in the process. You probably won't get rich doing it, so know that in advance and do it anyway.

Spend the money on a good microphone and find a quiet place to record. I'm lucky that I have a studio for work, if not I'd be in the closet trying to muffle the noise. I also highly suggest a free app called Krisp. It blocks out background noise at almost 98%. It's a lifesaver when the dog barks or the phone rings.

I'm fairly certain I have reached the end of the internet trying to learn about the business side of podcasting, but I attended a podcasting conference which was really great information and helped a lot in the beginning.
 

My very basic website is: www.fairysleepy.com
My Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyhuntpmp/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/fairysleepy
IG: https://www.instagram.com/fairysleepypod/