Preparing young athletes and families for every next step in their athletic journey.

The Freshman Foundation® Podcast helps young athletes and their families navigate every next step in their athletic journey. I am a Certified Mental Performance Consultant® as accredited by the Association for Applied Sport Psychology. I help athletes ranging from 12-22 years old to optimize performance on and off the field through mental performance strategies. I host the podcast myself. In the vast majority of episodes, I invite an expert guest to share their perspectives on how to navigate major transitions in the athletic development process.
 

I started this podcast because I am a big consumer of podcasts. I love the long-form interview format. My major influence was The Tim Ferriss Show. I started my business in early 2020 at the start of the COVID pandemic and was seeking a marketing tool that would provide value to listeners in hopes of attracting new clients. My ideal listener is a parent of a young athlete - like myself - seeking to learn more about how to help their child to navigate transitions, particularly HS to college and college to athletic retirement. When I started the podcast, it was a passion project. I never imagined getting to almost 50 episodes. It was born strictly out of curiosity. I founded the podcast in mid 2020 and launched my first episode in February 2021.
 

I started out by releasing a new podcast every week. However, it became very costly and time-consuming, so I decided to release a new one every other week recently. I use outsourced help to edit the podcast, as well as generate promotional materials. I fund all of my podcast expenses myself currently. It typically costs about $100 per episode, which I regard as a marketing expense and a very good one. I usually spend about an hour recording with my guest and doing about another 1-2 hours to create show notes, record intros and outros, and coordinate the editing process. My podcast is an absolute priority in running my business. I make the time necessary to make sure every episode gets out on time and is high quality. It is a reflection of my brand.
 

I own my podcast 100%. I would love to have a sponsor or partner and I am flexible to any and all arrangements if it will help grow my audience. I feel as though my podcast is professional and worthy of a bigger following. However, I am still improving as a marketer. I would like to obtain higher profile guests that can help lend credibility to the podcast and grow my following.
 

I use Zencastr to record my episodes and intros-outros. My guests join me remotely. I am very pleased with the Zencastr platform. I use Simplecast to host the podcast. It is indeed simple to use. Easy to upload. Easy to manage. Easy to track analytics.

I use a Shure MV7 podcasting mic, which was perhaps the greatest investment I have made. I have hired a couple of podcast coaches to help me with mic positioning, acoustics, and sound optimization. I outsource my audio editing to a great editor, whose price is quite reasonable.

I find my guests through a variety of sources, including PodMatch, PodBooker, LinkedIn, referrals, and cold outreach. I will contact anyone that I think can add value for my audience. I use Calendly to book recording sessions, which helps greatly. Once I have recorded an episode with a guest, I listen to the recording to identify the podcast title, common themes, and write my intro and outro. I will then record the audio for my intro and outro from my written text. I then upload all of the individual audio files to my Google Drive and share with my editor. He edits it within 2-3 days typically. I then upload it to Simplecast and schedule for Tuesday 5:00am.
 

My show is hosted on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. Simplecast provides data on how my show is downloaded by guests. The vast majority of my listeners find my show on Apple Podcasts.

I market my show mostly on social media, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. I also share my podcast with subscribers to my email marketing list. I create a short audiogram clip to promote my show and share it on social media on a fairly regimented schedule in the days leading up to the drop. I will create short video clips too and upload them to Instagram Reels too. In general, I find that marketing in Facebook is most effective because more of my target audience resides there. I will boost post with a Facebook ad to targeted audiences at times. I have mixed results in doing so. I am open to marketing in other areas if the return on investment is favorable.
 

First thing I would suggest is to follow your instincts. If you have an idea that speaks to you, then go with it. I get great joy in curating, assembling, and sharing my podcast because the subject matter is important to me.

Next, I would suggest learning how to develop episode from start to finish on your own. I outsourced my podcast to a marketing agency when I started it. I learned a great deal from them, but they charged me entirely too much. I would have kept my costs much lower upfront. However, I am happy that I have invested in podcast coaches and creative outsources to help improve my podcast along the way. The costs have been manageable and completely worth it.

I will shout out Tim Wohlberg (https://podcastperformancecoach.com/) who audited my podcast and gave me some great advice that I have used constructively over time. He has has a great and very short podcast called "Just One Tip from Your Podcast Performance Coach." Most episodes are less than 10 minutes. It is very useful.
 

My personal website is https://michaelvhuber.com. You can find all of my podcasts, blog posts, and free resources there.
You can find me @michaelvhuber and @thefreshmanfoundation on Instagram.
You can find me @mhubercmpc and @thefreshfound on Twitter.
You can find me @FTBCoaching and @freshmanfoundation on Facebook.