The First True-crime Podcast Series In Israel

My name is Dana Hilman, I write and produce the first True-crime podcast series in Israel- עבר פלילי. It's a storytelling podcast, that focuses on serious Israeli crime cases, mostly historic ones, and tells their story in a way that was never told before. עבר פלילי (Avar Plyly), in translation means: Criminal Record.

My listeners vary from true-crime enthusiasts to Criminology professors, people in law enforcement, etc. I myself am a Criminologist.

I became familiar with podcasts in 2017, due to terrible traffic jams on my commute to work. I found that when focused on a good story, i'm much more relaxed and able to learn- all while driving.

In Israel we had at the time podcasts on Technology and History- but no True-crime storytelling podcast.

I challenged myself to do that because that really was what I wanted to listen to.

I work full time and so- yes, it is pretty intense to keep up with everything and still be able to release episodes every 2-3 weeks.

I decided early on that quality of each episode is more important than quantity. I spend a lot of time on the process of each episode: researching, interviewing, writing, recording- and editing and marketing. I do use the help of sound editor to get even better result but it's still a lot of work. It's kinda crazy maybe to put so much effort and time into this, and with no funding but my own. At the same time it's also very satisfying.

My first (and to this date- my only) sponsorship was with a family business of my relatives, when I had about 5,000 downloads per month. It worked out great.

I think that sponsoring a podcast, especially for small or new business, is a great way to get noticed by sympathetic audience. In Israel, companies and places of business are just now starting to understand the power of publicity on podcasts. There is still a way to go.

Since I've launched my podcast, I made strong connections with people: weather people who were interviewed, or listeners, other podcasters and etc. Career-wise, creating and producing an appraised podcast require skills that are highly evaluated.

I use Rode Podcaster microphone to record myself, and Audacity to edit. Lately I've been working with a sound-editor: I sometimes record interviews via phone or zoom, and sometimes interview in his studio. Most of the work, though, is in pre-recording stages: research and finding the perfect guests, writing.

Most of my listeners use Spotify as their listening app (about 47%). I have a fresh website: avar-plyly.com and that gives the chancee, even for people that from some reason can't or won't tune in, to enjoy the content. I share the podcast mainly on Facebook (page, group and my own profile), Twitter (@Plyly), Instagram and sometimes even Linkedin. Social media has a tremendous impact on the ability to share and get feedback on the episodes I upload.

I would advise for anyone starting a podcast to find that community for getting help from more experienced podcasters in your area.
In Israel we have one major group, which is a great source for help and support. Don't hesitate to ask "stupid" questions- we've all been there and we're all still learning every day. This is a good place to start figuring out what basically needs to be done: lifehacker.com/how-to-start-your-own-podcast-1709798447. As for basic editing- there are some good guides on Youtube.

The podcast's fresh new website: avar-plyly.com
Facebook page: facebook.com/AvarPlyly
Facebook group: facebook.com/groups/plyly
Patreon: patreon.com/Plyly
pod.link/1444409236