The wine podcast that's not "all about wine"

I'm a former disc jockey who discovered wine in my 20's, which eventually turned into a career in restaurants as a "wine guy" - and now I've come full circle to be back behind a microphone talking about my passion.

The podcast is about wine, in a very general way; we record it at a winery (where I work) and I usually talk to people who have some connection to wine - BUT it's not all about wine, and we try not to be too geeky. But if you're not careful you may learn something - about wine, or about life!

I'd like to meet my listeners, but I really don't know who they are. They seem to be all over the world. But my guess is they are people who are into wine, or just like the sound of my voice.
 

I actually didn't listen to podcasts at all, but my friends all started talking about podcasts a few years ago, so I set out to find a wine podcast that I liked. I was looking forward to it! Finding a podcast for me! But alas, it was not to happen. The wine podcasts I found were too concerned with the minute details of wine (there are a lot).

So, the initial goal was to create a podcast, a wine podcast, that I'd enjoy listening to!

January of 2021 was the first episode.

I'd been researching how it all works for maybe 6 months. Then I got the gear, a host site and recorded my first episode pretty quickly. Oh, and artwork. Gotta give props to the Fiverr website for that.
 

I want to release an episode every week if I can, but I don't always have guests to talk to. Two or three episodes a month seems to be where I'm at currently. I record and edit it all myself, and that's about a ten hour process, probably, I don't really keep track. But it takes longer than I thought it would.

I record the podcast at my job, and my employer actually gives me the time when I need it (just the recording part, so maybe 90 minutes).
I pay less than $20 for my host site. My artwork was cheap from Fiverr. I bought the mics and interface myself for maybe $400 total. The Audacity recording program is free (yay, free!!!). I haven't really marketed as of yet. Busy building content first.
 

I have no sponsors as of now. I'll attempt to monetize if and when my audience is large enough, and after there's sufficient content.
The main benefit of the podcast, for me, is a fun hobby, and something my friends think is really cool and interesting. A unique hobby!
 

I use AKG and Shure microphones, plugged into a Steinberg interface, and recorded on Audacity. I basically call on my friends to be my guests, though recently I've begun reaching out to other people I don't really know within my industry for guesting.

I write out an opening and a closing, then an intro for my guest and a few very basic questions. The questions are designed to spur conversation and follow-up questions so the conversation can flow naturally. Question and answer podcasts are boring.

I prefer the audio quality from in-person interviews. Although I've done one interview via Zencastr, which was fine except my interviewee didn't have a microphone so there was the "hollow" laptop sound on her end (not ideal). I'm a stickler for great audio quality!!
 

I promote the show via social media, but I haven't done any ad buys there. I also hand out coasters with the info about the podcast at the winery where I work (get it? a coaster to set your wine glass on, which is a promo for the podcast!!!). I don't really track a lot of stats from the various apps. I do track downloads and that's about it.

I find Facebook and Instagram work pretty well. I started with quite a few followers, which is helpful. I'm now considering "next steps" to get the word out.
 

I've learned that if you're going to have an interview show you need a good source for guests. Getting guests is the big challenge. After that, editing takes a lot more time than you think, IF you want your show to sound professional.

Buzzsprout.com is an amazing host site, they can basically tell you everything you need to know to not only produce your podcast, but to get it on all the apps. Go buzzsprout.com!!! Love them.
 

Follow me on Facebook facebook.com/tallmikewine and Instagram @tallmikewine and Twitter @tallmikewine69 - subscribe to my podcast on ANY of the apps. And by all means email me for feedback: tallmikewine@gmail.com