Eco Chit Chat

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► Tell us about you and your podcast

Kim and I have known each other for years, since we meant working Front of House in Theatre. We have always had a lot in common asides from our Arts background and at some point, both had an interest in being more eco aware. After many random chats, Kim suggested that maybe we could do a podcast about trying to be more eco and the rest is history.
I would say our listeners are either people like us, that are already making eco changes in their houses/lives but always want to learn more about this area from others. Or people that are completely new to this area and just want to live more sustainable lives. It’s a learning curve, so we can all do this together!

► Why & how did you start this podcast? 

So both of us love to learn and definitely like to keep up to date with changes and knowledge in areas we like. Kim likes watching things on YouTube, as I like listening to podcasts and watching documentaries on Netflix. I think the combination of our knowledge is interesting, because it has helped us to technically shape the podcast we wanted to create.
Our initial goals were to talk about things we were already discussing and learning about, but just offering our findings to others: Small changes from all of us can make such an impact to helping our rather injured world.
Our first podcast ideas started at the end of last year, but our recordings didn’t start until this year and initially were a bit spaced out: Just us getting used to all the researching, planning, editing and more.
We released our intro and 1st episode in June 2021, so we are very new but very excited about the journey it could take us on.

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

Our episodes will be released roughly every 2 weeks (have had a few upload issues the last two times, but we think this is sorted now). We are not aiming to do more than this anytime soon, as we have other priorities to work around too.
I took some time out this year, after saving up money from WFH most of last year. Kim has been on furlough, but is returning to work soon. We have already been discussing how to work this new project around our ever changing commitments and I think we’ll be fine.
We don’t really have many costs. The only cost I can currently think of, is that our podcast platform and distributor costs us about £4.50 each a month and that’s just because we wanted a premium account. We currently fund this project ourselves, which is why we wear many hats to cover all the duties involved.

► What do you gain from podcasting?        

We do not have sponsors yet but in the future, we may look into this. We think this podcast could have a great journey in front of it, so we think it has a lot to offer our audience.
I think this podcast helps: Kim and I to continue our eco journey; to be more knowledgeable about an important subject; to have fun together whilst learning new things and to offer information to others. Podcasting is also a different career path than either of us saw ourselves going down, so it will be interesting to see how the skills we use in this area come into use elsewhere.

► How does your podcasting process look like? 

We use Zoom to record our audio and then edit in Audacity. Our Podcast host/distributor is Buzzsprout, which I heard about from listening to Dana Carvey’s current podcast: The site is really good, so our £9 or so pounds a month is well spent, especially, as it links us up to so many podcast distribution sites.
We don’t currently have guests, but have had a few people approach us already, so it’s something we may consider going forward.
We prepare for each episode with everything from chats on Zoom to Whatsapp messages and sending research and useful information to our joint email account: It’s full on, lol.

► How do you market your show?

What podcast sites aren’t we on! Barring Apple Podcast, which has been a bit slow to set up. We are on Google, Amazon, Spotify and many other wonderful platforms like Listen Notes (you helped us get noticed on search engines when we first got set up, so thank you!).
Actually, our listener sources are very mixed but our highest listener rate comes from Listen Notes with 37%, with 38% of our total downloads via android phones.
Currently we have a Twitter and Instagram account but I think Instagram has more of the audience that we can target and access through the posts we do. I have also personally done the odd post through Facebook and LinkedIn, although word of mouth through friends and family has also worked very well.

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

Have fun and enjoy the process.
However good you are at editing and recording, things will crop up to challenge you.
Do your research and always keep your notes together in an organised manner.
If you’ve always wanted to host a podcast, put some energy into it and have a go: You will never know if it is for you unless you try!
I personally recommend watching live radio shows (some of these are still happening virtually online), as you learn a lot from watching about pronunciation, how they edit themselves while recording and how a piece is generally formatted. Also, listen to lots of different podcasts (especially when you are setting one up), as you can get ideas about how people do jingles, how they structure, the way in which they communicate on their episodes etc: It’s so useful! For guidance on everything relating to podcasts, check out the videos that Buzzsprout produces for YouTube: Really interesting short videos that give you a bit of guidance if you don’t have the knowledge you need.

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

Other than listening to our podcast on https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/eco-chit-chat-eco-chit-chat-CcFjARYTtZp/ you can currently find us on Twitter and Instagram @eco_chit_chat
If you want to support our podcast (and give us a well needed caffeine hit while we work), you can also buy as a coffee via Ko-Fi at Ko-fi.com/eco_chit_chat