Telling stories about historically significant people, places and events from Connecticut's long and fabled past

Amazing Tales from Off and On Connecticut’s Beaten Path is a podcast that brings local history to life through the time-honored practice of storytelling.

As a Connecticut resident for 50+ years – who’s also a former radio news director, talk show host and documentary producer (at NPR’s Boston affiliate WBUR) – podcasting was a comfortable transition.

Following my journalism career, I spent several decades in government and corporate, giving me unique perspectives and incredible traveling opportunities (28 countries and 45 other United States).

Along the way, I’ve learned that most people find it fascinating to find out that historical events or famous people graced the neighborhood where they now live – particularly if they were previously unaware.

To make the podcast work, I must extract the essence of an interesting event to make the ensuing story as appealing as possible to a broad audience. One of my promotional claims is that “you don’t have to be from Connecticut to enjoy these stories.” That seems to be the case. So far, around 40% of episode downloads have come from Connecticut, while the other 60% have come from other states (48 other states) and even other countries (28 other countries).

Another key success factor is finding the right guest experts. This often takes a lot of time – to identify them, find contact details for them and then to actually connect with them to discuss participation.

I like to keep episodes short and crisp. The average run time is around 20 minutes. I do a lot of editing.

I have been maintaining a challenging schedule of publishing a new episode every week.
 

I retired from my corporate career in 2020. A long-time friend and former radio station colleague (he didn’t leave the radio station, as I did after working there in the 1980s) approached me with a pitch. My name had come up to host a weekly segment on local history – anything I wanted to talk about. The Place You Live was subsequently launched in early 2021. It quickly became so popular that I contemplated starting a separate podcast.

I actively planned the launch for four months – developing a strategy, forming an LLC, researching the podcast industry (similar, but much different, from radio), compiling a story board calendar, buying equipment, etc.

I involved my family. My son wrote and recorded the theme music, my daughter created the logo, and my wife took the photo that appears in the logo.
 

Being retired is an advantage. Nevertheless, with my weekly radio show and a new podcast episode each week, timing can get tight. It pays to plan and work ahead by scheduling and conducting guest interviews several weeks in advance of publishing.

For these first eight months, I have self-financed. Soon, I plan to approach sponsors.
 

The same thing that I gained as a reporter – the opportunity to meet fascinating experts as well as to learn unbelievably interesting stories about a wide range of events and historical figures.

On those occasions where I visit the site I am talking about, it’s a bonus. To me, a good day is one where I have driven on a road that I have never driven on before.
 

Each weekly episode consists of the following nine steps: (1) find the topic, (2) find the expert, (3) conduct the interview, (4) edit the interview, (5) compile the script (yes, I write a script for each episode), (6) record my narration, (7) produce the final version, (8) assemble promotional photos and (9) promote the episode on my Facebook and Instagram pages.
 

My home base is Podbean – a reasonably priced starting service.

One of Podbean’s offerings is that it automatically forwards new episodes to key platforms (Spotify, i-Tunes/Apple, Google Podcasts, Alexa, etc.). Warning: they do not take phone calls; e-mail communication only.

I push the generic line: “Get Amazing Tales wherever you get your podcast,” but I also mention Podbean and ask people to “follow” the podcast.

I have seven platforms that contribute the most downloads. Each contributes at least 7% of the total downloads – some considerably more. They are (in order of contribution): Apple, Podbean, Spotify, Facebook, Safari, Google and Amazon/Alexa.

In case you’re not aware, national surveys show that fewer than 50% of Americans know what a podcast is and how to access one. This creates significant marketing challenges. Don’t expect that so-called “normal” advertising channels will deliver results.

I use two social media platforms: Facebook and Instagram. I have a podcast page on each.

I promote my podcast on my weekly radio program. This has been quite effective.

Finally, I ask my guests to promote their episode on their own social media channels.
 

Exactly what I learned when I first started out: this is hard work and not for the feint of heart.

Do not expect overnight success (it takes lots of time to build an audience).

Have a good strategy and game plan.

Think through your offering. How many others out there are doing something similar (note: there aren’t a lot of Connecticut history podcasts)?

Think about how you’re going to launch it – who do you think will listen to it and why?

Unless your name is George Clooney, your new podcast is not going to make a lot of money right away (and perhaps not ever).

This is a marathon, not a sprint. Get conditioned and prepared for such.

The number of podcasts has been steadily shrinking through the first half of 2022. Experts say it’s because so many podcasters have become disillusioned with the hard work and long lead times necessary for success along with the difficulty of competing against celebrities and established production companies, both of which are introducing new programs at a very rapid clip.

If you have a good strategy, a worthy offering and your gut says it’ll work, stick it out. Don’t give up. Ask for feedback and don’t be afraid to modify your approach to improve your product.

I follow two podcast newsletters: RAIN (with its excellent / informative weekly Zoom interviews) and PodcastNewsDaily.

Good luck and have fun.
 

https://AmazingTalesCT.Podbean.com
www.facebook.com/AmazingTalesCT
AmazingTalesCT@gmail.com