► Tell us about you and your podcast
Chris Dillard & Mike Royer, we're two guys who have been friends and started sharing superhero news via text for years, and decided to turn those conversations into a podcast.The name comes from the topic, Superheroes, and the term Slate, which is a film/television item to help sync audio and video files, also known as a clapper. Our show brings the biggest, latest, most relevant, spoiler-free news each week to our super fans.
Our listeners are anyone across the entire world, from Australia to England and more, who are interested in all the superhero movies and tv shows going on.
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
We podcast because it's our conversation we'd normally have. It's like listening to friends talk on the phone or overhearing two guys talk at lunch. We listen to podcasts ourselves, to see how we can always evolve and make ours work better.
Our goals were to bring the news each week with differing view points and then started to add in reviews of movies too, which has been a big staple of our regular news feed.
We started the first of January 2015, and are entering our 5th year of podcasting. The first episode was pretty easy, we recorded our call and listened back to it. Its not released yet, but once the first one came and went, its all been easier since then. We love it!
► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
Superhero Slate releases episodes weekly, if not more with a review. We can usually record an episode and have it out the same day, with 90 minutes of recording, and about 30 minutes of editing. More if we publish to YouTube.
We dedicate our Sundays to record the show. Thankfully, we both have spouses who encourage our hobby and we can work across the 3 hour time difference for every show.
We spend approximately $300/yr for the show, including hosting, website, and really thats it. The funds come out of our pocket usually twice a year and despite not being financially successful, we will continue to do the show as long as we can.
► What do you gain from podcasting?
Our gains are mostly our knowledge, the phone call we have, and our fans. Its really brought a lot of listeners out of the woodwork and that has been the most rewarding.
We've had one sponsorship with GeekFuel for a San Diego Comic-Con episode (our biggest), but I don't feel it affected our numbers without any backlinks.
► How does your podcasting process look like?
We both use Blue microphones and Macs to record our show, including Quicktime and Skype. We record our call and then use Final Cut Pro X to sync the audio files afterwards. From there, Mike creates the artwork, and I create the audio files with our MP3 chapters and then upload to YouTube as well.
We prepare each week by gathering a Google Doc full of news articles we think relevant throughout the week and refer to that on the show, putting in time codes while we talk.
► How do you market your show?
Most of our listeners come through iTunes and YouTube, and we share via social channels like Facebook and Instagram throughout the week. We don't see much traction from there currently.
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
If anything, keep your audio quality clear as can be, and just record it. The format and topics can change all the time, podcasting isn't a static thing at first. Take feedback, engage with your audience, but just record. You can't have a podcast without any content.