► Tell us about you and your podcast
I am an independent filmmaker who works in marketing by day in financial services. Fresh from a painful divorce, I thought "2020 is going to be MY year." Then the pandemic hit and, realizing I would be working from home alone, I decided to do a podcast where I could interview interesting people who would not normally talk to me.
AFRAID OF NOTHING, based on my award-winning experimental documentary of the same name, explores life and the afterlife through the lens of shamans, mediums, ghost hunters, authors, EVP experts, scientists, researchers, witches and other awakened individuals.
My listeners cover all age groups and are pretty evenly split by gender. Basically they are open-minded with a curiosity to explore subjects that go beyond the physical "reality" of Earth.
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
After making two films and being nearly bankrupt from a divorce, I decided podcasting was the best (and cheapest) alternative to keep my creative spark and supernatural/spiritual curiosity alive. I originally intended it to be a way to continue to promote my documentary, but in reality I just like having conversations with super smart out-of-the-box personalities about subjects that fascinate me.
It took me about 3 months - after researching platforms, creating key art, and lining up guests for the first few episodes - to record, mix and post my first episode. It has been a steady drum beat of content since then.
► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
I post an episode roughly every other week. I do the interviews and editing at nights and on weekends when I am free. I spend about 6-8 hours per episode as I make a point to get rid of the coughs, sneezes, breaths, umms, you-knows and repetitive sentences. It makes for a better listening experience and the guests appreciate the extra effort that makes them sound their best.
► What do you gain from podcasting?
I currently use Podcorn to help offset production costs through sponsorships. I have had a fairly steady stream of pre-roll and mid-roll sponsors since January of 2021 (my second season). I wanted to wait until I had a pretty good size audience before I reached out to sponsors. Plus I was nominated for a podcasting award (didn't win) so that gave me some cachet.
► How does your podcasting process look like?
I use Zencastr to record, Audacity to edit, Auphonic to sweeten the audio file, Canva for the episode art and Buzzsprout to post/manage my RSS feed. I had a sound producer that did post audio mix for my documentary do the intro and close for me. I have a basic mic/headphone set up. And a quiet room to record. I use Podpage for my website.
► How do you market your show?
I market via social media. Usually iTunes or Spotify are the top drivers for listener acquisition. But the weirdest thing - my most popular episode by far has over 3,500 downloads, gets several hundred new downloads every month, and the top site by far to drive listeners is Listen Notes (81% of downloads are sourced from there).
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
1. Just do it.
2. Keep cranking out content.
3. Try to be a guest on a more popular show (I was a guest on Jim Harold's podcast - he has 50 million downloads - and it spiked my listener audience by a LOT!)
4. Have interesting guests and try to remain topical.
5. Take the extra time to edit each episode for the best listening experience.
6. Look for future guests on similar podcasts.
7. Be yourself. Have fun.
► Where can we learn more about you & your podcasts?
Here is my podcast page: https://www.afraidofnothingpodcast.com/
Here is my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AfraidofNothingDocumentary
You can watch the film on Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Afraid-Nothing-Robert-M-Heske/dp/B0876LGY2N
If you do check out the podcast, I would greatly appreciate a kind review!
Thank you for your time today.