► Tell us about you and your podcast
Hosts Rodney Wash, Kami Simmons, LaRon Majors, and Nosha Harwell, all have a media and entrepreneurship background. They wanted to create a space where they can combine their creativity and have a genuine conversation about what’s going on in the world. They want their listeners to feel like they aren’t judged for their viewpoints. The listeners can tune in a sit back and enjoy the conversations with their Friendz!
ConVo with Friendz podcast is a podcast where anyone can tune in and feel like they are talking with their best friends. They are creating a space where everyone feels welcome. The hosts all have different perspectives and political views so the conversations they have aren’t one-sided. The conversations can go from a political view to “how do you tell your spouse that they need to lose weight?” It’s a weekly podcast so the conversations are never the same. We also have a segment where our Friendz, listeners, can write us, and ask whatever question that’s on their mind called The Letter.
We have chosen to be on listeners because it is a well-respected platform, and it is the number one source to see a true ranking amongst the best of best podcasters.
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
We created our podcast because I wanted to give a voice to voiceless people. We wanted a place where listeners didn't have to worry about cancel culture. Freedom of speech is dying, but not for our show. Yes, we listen to over 15 podcasts a piece.
One of our goals is to reach 100k downloads by the end of 2021, and our motivations are our Friendz who tune in and listen to us. We love our Friendz for real.
We started our podcast in October of 2019.
It literally took us 2 weeks to release our first episode. A rookie mistake lol.
► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
We release our episodes every Friday. It takes roughly about 15 minutes to produce an episode. Honestly, when you love what you do. You make time for it. We spend around 10 hours per week to make this podcast work. Our podcast is self-funded by us and our lovely sponsors.
► What do you gain from podcasting?
Yes, we do have sponsorships. Nosha is the one who markets our podcast out to potential sponsors. We had about 1500 downloads before we landed our first sponsor for our podcast. Right now we average about 2500- 5250 per episode. Podcasting has been great to all of us. We have set on many panels because of people listening to our podcast.
► How does your podcasting process look like?
We use Podbean to host our podcast. We love the analytics that the hosting platform provides. We also use veed.io for editing and making snippets that we promote across all of our social media. Since we all have been in the media industry for a long time. We built relationships with a not of PRs. That is how we find our guests for our podcast. We have a google drive doc and outline that we use every week to prepare for our show. Every host knows their segment so all we do is plug our notes into the podcast outline. We interview guests in person and over the phone.
► How do you market your show?
The best marketing strategy is to know your niche. You must know who you are speaking to. A podcast is very personal. It is not as easy as liking a picture or double-tapping to follow a person. A listener must search your name on a podcast hosting app then press play to listen to you speak. So before you record, you need to know what your listeners like and what they don’t like. I suggest researching a lot of articles around your listeners.
Also, you need to have segments within your podcast where your audience can feel like they can contribute to your podcast. That’s why we Created “Wack ass of the Day” and “The Letter” segments. That is a way where our Friendz can feel like they are a part of the show.
We also use a website, veed.io, that transforms our mp3 into an mp4. We grab snippets of our podcast and use that to promote our latest episode (attention grabbers).
Lastly, we network within the media industry. We can’t emphasize enough how important networking is for your podcast to thrive.
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
My advice to aspiring and new podcasters is to not get caught up in the numbers game. Just focus on the content that you are bringing to your listeners. Have a quarterly goal for your podcast so that you can measure your progress. Also, Do your research on a similar podcast that’s in your niche before you start.
Lastly, make sure that you have A1 equipment before you start recording if you are not in a studio. The one thing you don’t want to do is lose a valued listener because your audio is too choppy. Once you have done all of that create a ‘Pilot” episode. Use this pilot episode to message the listeners of a podcast that is similar to yours, and tell them about your podcast. You can also use that episode as a feedback tool from your potential audience that you are trying to reach.