► Tell us about you and your podcast
My name is Scott Wyden Kivowitz, and I have been a photographer for over 20 years and have been podcasting since I was little. No joke. Growing up, my friend and I used to record radio shows on a tape recorder before podcasting was a thing. My first official podcast was over a decade ago, which was called Talking Imagery. I have since had a half dozen podcasts all about photography. Workflows is a podcast that helps teach photographers about ways to improve and streamline all of their systems and processes from behind the camera to delivery to clients.
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
My life goal was originally to own a recording studio and be the engineer who records bands' records. Things changed in college, and life took me on a different path toward photography. But my love for audio recording and music remained. So naturally podcasting came to be of interest. I listen to a lot of podcasts myself. They are a mix of business and marketing, stories, and entertainment.
My goal for the Workflows podcast is to interview successful photographers in the industry to help educate other photographers on ways they can improve their businesses. Workflows is the podcast of the company I work for, Imagen, which builds products for photography post-production.
We started the podcast on January 1, 2022, and launched with the first three episodes.
► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
We publish one episode monthly and have 18 available to listen to and watch. It takes one hour to record an episode and then about 3-5 hours to edit and prepare promotional materials for each episode. I do all the podcast work myself from producing, hosting, editing, etc.
Because the podcast is part of my job at Imagen, finding time for it is part of my day-to-day. But because I have other responsibilities, I have to prioritize what comes first and adjust my calendar accordingly.
Aside from my time as an employee, we pay Transistor.fm to host the podcast and are considering some advertising budget to help promote it. Otherwise, everything we do to market the podcast is organic. We also ask guests to promote and even provide assets to help. But we do not require it.
► What do you gain from podcasting?
We do not accept sponsorship of episodes as the podcast is from our company. We have three goals for our podcast. The first is brand awareness, the second is trial signups, and the third is paid customers. Of course, with the nature of podcasting, it is complicated to track all of those things with great detail. But we are trying.
► How does your podcasting process look like?
We use Riverside.fm to record the show with each guest. We edit in Final Cut Pro X as our show is recorded in video for YouTube and social clips. We show the show with Transistor.fm, and each episode is published on a dedicated podcast page of our site.
We have a structure for every episode and prepare the guests ahead of time so they know exactly what questions will be asked.
Each guest supplies a bio which is turned into an intro. Intro and outros are recorded either before or after the episode recording so as to not waste the guests time with it.
► How do you market your show?
Workflows is available on all major podcasting platforms, and we email segments of our email list with every new episode, we promote the show on social media with short clips, Reels, Stories, TikToks, Shorts, etc. We find the most listens come from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and our site. The most listens come once we email that the latest episode is available.
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
Get good audio equipment, and that does not mean breaking the bank. But make sure your mic is fantastic, and you know how to use it. Talk to the correct part of the mic. But I also have headphones. Because no one wants to hear echoes, and no one wants to listen to a show where the host sounds horrible. Most important is to study podcasting. Find shows that speak to your taste to figure out your preferred podcasting style. Learn from them and try to reproduce that style in your unique way.
My style comes from a mixture of photography, martial arts, and marketing podcasts I have loved over the years.
► Where can we learn more about you & your podcasts?
My site is https://scottwyden.com, and all my socials are linked there. I have a YouTube channel where I teach about photography, lighting, videography, podcasting, and everything I love. That's at https://youtube.com/@scottwyden. Workflows can be found at https://imagen-ai.com/podcast and anywhere you listen to podcasts.