► Tell us about you and your podcast
My name is Joe Costello.
The name of my podcast is "The Joe Costello Show".
My goal with this podcast is bring on very interesting guests from all walks of life who can bring value to my audience. I like to mix it up so that I may bring value to a wider demographic.
I believe my listeners are entrepreneurs, business owners/leaders, people in the music industry and people wanting to live a more fulfilled and purposeful life.
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
I thought was a good vehicle to share my knowledge and the knowledge of others.
I listen to a ton of podcasts :)
I have to say it was somewhat selfish as it allowed me to bring on some of the smartest minds in the world and it allowed me to ask questions that not only did I want answered but questions I felt could help my audience.
I started my podcast in March of 2020 when the pandemic was in full stride.
I did it quickly...I would say within a week. It was the editing and learning all about my podcast distribution software, etc., that caused any minor delays.
► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
When I first started, I challenged myself to post a new episode every Wed. and I was on a really good roll for about 6 months but then I went on a 28 day trip and came back with 28 days of video footage to release for our YouTube channel so it delayed my getting back into the podcast groove.
I would say it takes me a day to produce an episode once it's recorded. Between editing it in Premiere Pro (I use the video portion as well from Zoom), running the audio through a service for better quality, editing the video footage and cleaning it up, putting the intro and music to the episode, writing some show notes, uploading the audio to a transcribing service, doing a once over on the transcript and finally uploading to my podcast distribution software...yup, it's a day.
It's somewhat of a struggle to maintain a schedule with running a company as well, which I do. At the same time, it's consistency...we hear it all the time so the alternative of not producing episodes, is the audience you built up, will end up bailing on you if they are counting on your content and you don't deliver.
I'm afraid to add up what I spend but I would say with all the services and software I use, I probably spend about $75-$100 a month in the podcast.
Yes, at the moment, my podcast is completely funded by me. I have yet to investigate ways on how my podcast can be monetized and I also know if I go that route, I definitely need to be consistent with producing episodes because I am now responsible for getting the word out about a brand or a products, etc.
► What do you gain from podcasting?
At the moment, I don't have nor have I looked into any sponsorship possibilities.
Podcasting gives me a way to reach out to influencers and business leaders that I might be able to because I offer a platform for them to share their message.
It also allows me to create an enormous network that I would not have been able to build without having something of interest to offer.
As I mentioned earlier, one of the biggest values I get, is I learn so much from the people I interview and I actually have one hour of each week (during the recording) where I'm completely focused on listening to another human being share their thoughts, ideas and knowledge and I can't afford to be pulled in any other direction or be distracted by all the noise that surrounds us all.
► How does your podcasting process look like?
I record my podcast using Zoom with a Logitech C920 1080p webcam. I bring the audio and video in Adobe Premiere Pro, edit it where necessary. Send the final audio up to Auphonic to get cleaned and leveled out. Add my music and intro to the front end, add music and outro to the back end with guest credits, links, etc.
I then export just the audio to MP3 format to upload to Libsyn, I take that final audio and upload it to Sonix.ai for the transcript (https://sonix.ai/invite/qxwbxwn). Once I review the transcript and correct the blatant mistake, I upload that to the description of the episode. I have a plugin on my website that allows me to share my podcasts to a blog type page and then I start sharing it on all my social media platforms.
A few days after the podcast release, I release the YouTube version of the interview on my YT channel. For the YT channel, I'm using MorningFA*ME (https://morningfa.me/invite/JoeCostelloGlobal) to make sure all me SEO is the best it can be so the channel and episodes are found.
I search out people that interest me that have a message that I think will help my audience. Through social media (Clubhouse and Instagram being the best), I reach out and ask them if I could have them as a guest on my podcast. I just landed my biggest guest for March 9th, simply by following his mantra "Ask and ask big!" so I did. :)
I do my research on the person and have some basic questions and the route I would like to take during the interview but I don't do so much research that the interview sound rehearsed and mechanical.
I record all my podcast episodes via Zoom.
► How do you market your show?
I have a website (joecostelloglobal.com) where I use the Libsyn plugin which allows me to show my episodes on my website without having to duplicate the work I've already done in Libsyn.
I have my podcast listed on all the possible podcast platforms out there.
Unfortunately I don't really pay too much attention to the numbers and quite frankly, I need to educate myself more on where to find those numbers and where I can find them.
I share my episodes on social media as often as possible without being a pain. I share on all platforms but I think LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. I think Clubhouse is going to be a big help bringing listeners to my podcast.
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
You need a great mic, you need to ask the people you interview via Zoom, to use headphones or earbuds so your voice coming over a speaker, doesn't cut out your voice or their voice. If you use the video, make sure they use a decent camera and if they use a phone, turn it horizontal.
Be consistent with releasing content because your audience will count on you, to bring them content once they come to like what you're offering.
Know you're going to need an editing piece of software, you'll learn how to level the audio files so both you and your guest's volume are at the same level and clarity, you would need to learn a video editing tool (used for audio too) if you're going to repurpose the podcast video for your YouTube channel. Pick a transcription provider as a transcript is huge for the SEO of your podcast and if you share you episodes on your YouTube channel.
Use YouTube to find all the answers to your burning questions in regards to starting a podcast. Everything you need to know, is up there!
► Where can we learn more about you & your podcasts?
My website is: joecostelloglobal.com
Facebook: Joe Costello Global
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-joe-costello-show/id1506290755
Instagram: instagram.com/jcostelloglobal
Twitter: jcostelloglobal