Sharing the Truth of the Lord Jesus Christ through bible study, encouragement and testimonies.

Q: Tell us about you and your podcast

My name is Tudor Alexander and I am a professional ballroom dancer/competitor/instructor. I have a podcast on personal growth and development from the life lessons I have learned from my career. I am writing a book as well outlining a methodology on personal growth I am developing. My listeners are anyone interested in "Creating a life you love" which is the motto of the show, but primarily directed at professionals, 20-50, looking for personal development insights.

Q: Why & how did you start this podcast?

I started this podcast to help me articulate and construct the book I am writing about my life experiences as a competitive ballroom dancer and instructor. By talking regularly and interviewing people, it helped me evolve the information I want to put in the book, create a structure for future work I want to do and build a community for launch and post-launch. I started my podcast on January 4th of 2018 and in 2 months I am proud to have accumulated over 1,000 downloads! It did not take me very long to post my episodes because I am familiar with audio recording, have good equipment (I am a musician as well) and have edited audio before.

Q: How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?

Time management is definitely key. I have a variable schedule with my teaching job (I manage appointments), so it is all over the place. I also compete professionally, practice, and workout regularly. Being super active drains my energy, so a lot of it besides time management is mental focus - pushing through that barrier of wanting to do nothing and being productive. I schedule my interviews in my downtime or on weekends, and when I have the person I get 2 interviews with them. I plan on releasing my interviews every Friday, so far I have enough content to last me until the end of the year. I also want to do an episode in between, so 2 episodes per week total. For that one I usually wait for inspiration to hit and then find the time either late at night or on a weekend to record. My episodes are about 20-45 minutes in length, and then another 15 minutes or so for editing and cleanup. I also include another 10-15 minutes for other stuff like making "show notes" on my website/blog, posting it to social media accounts (outside of the regular posting that Libsyn does for me on my show's FB page) and so on.

Q: What do you gain from podcasting?

I am still new in the podcasting world but I absolutely love it! I am super excited to get this thing going because I think it can contribute to other people and it is fun for me. I do not have sponsors or anything yet, but my goal is to build a good community that I can share other things with in the future (my book, music that I create, support for non-profit events, etc). It is a fantastic social platform to meet interesting people, do networking and learn from others.

Q: How does your podcasting process look like?

I have an RE20, Blue Dragonfly and SM57(s) mics. I do all of my recording in an office in my condo. My current round of interviews (about 20) was solicited through my friends on Facebook - you have a lot of people with interesting lives that you are connected to if you just take a look and offer them a chance to talk. I use audacity for recording and processing (removing noise, etc.). My mics are hooked up into a Berringer 2 channel mixer (should have gotten the 4 but oh well) and I have two headphones hooked into it as well so that both of us can hear ourselves. I also test the recording quality (at first, then I don't bother because it stays the same) OVER MY PHONE - this is super important!!! Whatever you are trying to setup regarding your intro, voices, etc. test it on your phone and see how it sounds because those speakers are very different then your monitors and most people will be listening on their phones. As far as my episodes; I jot down notes of interesting ideas that come to me, then I pick the ones I want to develop and I sit with it more, make an outline of the things I want to talk about and get into it. I want to do Skype interviews but I am still working on ironing that out (I've got one person I want to interview but haven't ever done it before so just going to check on logistics, what kind of mic he can use and so on).

Q: How do you market your show?

I host my podcast on LibSyn and I have a ton of destinations that it is published to including the social ones like Facebook, Twitter and so on. Libsyn or any other host will give you stats breakdowns but I am not entirely sure how significant they are. Most of my listens are from Mozilla Firefox, while a few are on iTunes and Spotify organically discovered. I promote my show to my Facebook friends via my own profile (especially when I interview people, I tag them and they post it as well which helps greatly) and my show's Facebook Page, although that's not that significant. I have a website that is my blog and show page, with show notes and a way for people to subscribe via email because I make a blog post entry every time I have an episode summarizing the episode and giving a YouTube link for the video (Libsyn can't publish the episode player within a blog post so YouTube audio/video is the next best thing). I think destinations are important to have, you can look up "top podcast submissions" and there are quite a few. One of the most effective things is still person to person though, and having interviews and friends share it to their social media is super effective. I recently did an episode where I solicited answers from my friends on Facebook, and told them they'd be included in the episode (like a shoutout) so now I am going to tag them when I publish which will show up in a ton of feeds.

Q: What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?

Patience, consistency and vision. Be patient because there's a lot to learn and the world is diverse with options. Be consistent in the sense of consistent action towards your goal and you will get there. Vision is also important because it is where you are going - why are you doing what you are doing and what is it that you want to contribute and share with others? How are you making their lives better?

Sharing the Truth of the Lord Jesus Christ through bible study, encouragement and testimonies.

Tudor Alexander

March 19, 2018 - "Don't give up."

Full Interview

► Tell us about you and your podcast

My podcast is a Christian podcast focusing on in-depth bible studies, inspiring testimonies and encouragement for Christians on their walk with Jesus. I am a former professional ballroom dance competitor, certified health coach, entrepreneur, author of 5 books and coach. I discuss Christian topics through my extensive leadership experience and I cover relevant theological topics through bible study and discussion.

► Why & how did you start this podcast?

I started this podcast as a way to express myself because I hated my job at the time. It developed into a personal brand and I had people messaging me to be on the show booking 6 months out. However since coming back to Christ I switched gears with the show to more meaningful things for me, namely the gospel and helping people strengthen their relationship with the Lord.

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► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?

I am self-employed so I have all the time I need to talk on a microphone :). Most of the costs for a podcast are sunk costs via equipment, and I already have that equipment so the storage and ongoing fees are minimal. I no longer have things like Clickfunnels draining my wallet every month so I do not spend a lot of money for this show.

► What do you gain from podcasting?

I gain the feeling that I am using God's gifts in an appropriate way to help do my part in growing the kingdom of believers, especially in these last days.

► How does your podcasting process look like?

I have an RE20 microphone hooked into a Focusrite 2i2 and a Cloudhopper. All of that goes into my laptop where I use audacity or a video recording program to capture, and I edit in Audacity with custom macros I've set up. My sound quality is great and I use royalty free downloaded music for intros and transitions and other things.

► How do you market your show?

Word of mouth and relying on searches. I do not pay for advertising because it is a waste of money. I publish video podcasts as well, so I try to get as much exposure as I can.

► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?

Don't give up.

Sharing the Truth of the Lord Jesus Christ through bible study, encouragement and testimonies.

Podcasts

The Dance Of Life Podcast with Tudor Alexander

Full Interview

► Tell us about you and your podcast

► Why & how did you start this podcast?

► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?

► What do you gain from podcasting?

► How does your podcasting process look like?

► How do you market your show?

► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?

► Where can we learn more about you & your podcasts?