Showcase All The Best Qualities Of The State Of South Carolina

My name is Marquis Wideman and I am one of 5 ch-host (Jawaun McClam, Rashawn McClam, Eric Ruppert, and SheRon Knight) of the podcast Weight Of The 8. We are all natives of Florence, SC and this podcast was made with the intention to showcase all the best qualities of the state of South Carolina. The "8" in the name representing all the area codes that make up SC, 843, 864, and 803.

The reason we wanted to start a podcast is because we listened to several podcast and felt we had the ability to start one ourselves. The initial goal of the podcast was just to record and broadcast regular conversations we had amongst ourselves. We were all doing different things in the state so we felt that people would enjoy us talking about topics that they maybe thinking of themselves, just from our perspective. The podcast started back in March 2020, during the beginning of quarantine. The first episode "Coronacation" was released on March 22nd, 2020. The name of the episode came about for obvious reasons.

So we're actually in the 2nd season of our podcast currently. During the first season we released an episode every week on Sunday. We also have a sub series of our podcast called "Broken Records" that we just release every so often when we feel like it. That series is basically music oriented where we breakdown whatever album we want to talk about. Those episodes usually get dropped 3 episodes at a time in what we call a "pack". It usually takes maybe a day or two to actually produce an episode before it's to be pushed out on all platforms. Amongst 5 guys it can be pretty difficult to find time to record an episode. We have a group chat amongst all of us where we send all our availability and try to find the best day and time to record. Sometimes we're not a 100% on all the recordings but for whatever episode we record we always have at least 3 guys on it. I mean to have success in anything you have to put time and work in. The saying you make time for what you want and you get out what you put in really goes a long way when it comes to this. So whenever we're not working we're always thinking about the podcast and how we can make it better. It's almost like a second job that you never clock out of and we all like it like that. It's something we enjoy doing and we see the results of it. We fund the podcast out of our own pockets primarily. We have raised some funds while doing it but we're the main ones keeping the podcast running monetarily.

Yes we are actively accepting sponsorships. We just ended out sponsorship with Anchor not too long ago and are looking for others at this moment. Our revenue right now is kinda classified but we're open to talking numbers if a sponsorship agreement is on the table. We received our first sponsorship through the Anchor platform. Not quite sure how many downloads per month we received but we have other data about our podcast that is just as relevant. We now find sponsors through reaching out to businesses small or large and just presenting who we are and what we have to offer. We have an active sponsorship right now with a small business based out of Florence, SC but like I said we're still actively searching. The benefits of podcasting comes in many different forms. From the growing bond amongst us, the notoriety from our peers, and the opportunity to have a platform that allows us to give back to our state is all rewarding.

We primarily use Anchor for our software and audio editing. As of lately we have been using iMovie to edit our podcast recordings and push them to YouTube. We usually find guest through people we know and that know us. We usually prepare for each episode by having a running notepad of topics that we add to throughout the week and usually a day or two before we go through that list and pick out what we want to talk about. We interview guest through both means. Season 1 we did all our interviews in person. But season 2 has been a mix of virtual and in-person.

Our listeners can find our shows on all major platforms. Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and Listen Notes. 68% from Apple Podcasts, 19% from Spotify, 8% from other, and 3% from Anchor. We have active social media accounts as well on Twitter and Instagram. We have a running email account and website too.

Best advice I can personally give is make sure you enjoy doing your podcast. If you don't like what you're talking about then your podcast viewership will reflect it directly. Keep your audience intrigued by giving quality content as often as you can. Be sure to share your podcast directly to people. It's good to post on your social media but it makes people feel special if you send it directly to them. It's ok to please other people but make sure you're talking and doing stuff that you enjoy too. Make yourself happy first.

Website: weightofthe8.com Twitter: twitter.com/weightofthe8 Instagram: instagram.com/weightofthe8?igshid=123nfc0g1vcy Email: weightoftheeight3200@gmail.com