Episode 67: How To Start A Podcast Series: Producing (Part 3)

*some links included in the show notes may be affiliate links (see disclaimer below)*

Magic Mind: https://www.magicmind.co/mountain
-Use discount code MOUNTAIN20 for 20% off.
-Within 10 days of this episode airing you can get a subscription for 40% off.
-30-day money back guarantee.

Google Workspace: Sign up using my link https://referworkspace.app.goo.gl/Bdo3 and get a free 14-day trial, and email me (mountainpracticejourneys@gmail.com with Google Workspace in the subject line) to get an exclusive discount when you try Google Workspace for your business.

Podcast Guest Application: https://forms.gle/zEPVcNajRfQRaqF8A

Links from Part 2 of the How To Start A Podcast Series:

-Buzzsprout Podcast Hosting: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1247684
(use this referral link for a $20 Amazon Gift Card)

-Samson Q2U (Microphone): https://amzn.to/3QRbrZn

-Knox Microphone Shock Mount: https://amzn.to/3OrRsim

-Tonor Microphone Boom Arm & Pop Filter: https://amzn.to/3AbFxRx

-Bose QuietComfort 35 II Headphones: https://amzn.to/3nlpJnz

-GarageBand Audio Editing Software (included with Mac)

Links from Part 1 of the How To Start A Podcast Series:

-Canva: partner.canva.com/MPJ

-AudioJungle: https://audiojungle.net/

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🌲 Work with Cindy by joining Forestmind, a comfy, cozy, private, small-group mastermind.

🏔 Connect on Instagram for more practical magick for your life and business.

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DISCLAIMER

Some links included in this description may be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission, however there is no additional charge to you. Thank you for supporting Mountain Practice Journeys so I can continue to provide you with free content!

Links to other websites, products, and services do not endorse or guarantee the services, products, or information contained at the other sites. The information, products, resources, materials, services, and documents found here are not intended to be a substitute for legal, financial, or other professional advice, nor does their use establish a professional relationship between you and Cindy Norton or Mountain Practice Journeys.

INTRO

You’re listening to the Mountain Practice Journeys podcast: a comfy, cozy place for private practice introverts, highly sensitive therapists, and solopreneurs who help and heal.

This is the place for practical, nature-based, magickal support for your business and life.

MAIN

Hello there, and welcome back to the Mountain Practice Journeys podcast! I’m your host, Cindy. Here in Episode 67 I continue on with my series about how to start a podcast with Part 3 where I share my workflow of producing the Mountain Practice Journeys podcast. I’ll share everything from scheduling to recording, editing, and producing, and more.

I’ll start out with talking about scheduling. If you’re doing a solo podcast you won’t need to worry about this. But for those of you who are interviewing guests, you’ll need to consider how you want to go about coordinating schedules for your interviews.

Personally, I choose one day each month as a podcast recording day, where I have two available recording spots. Since I break up my guest interviews into two episodes, when both spots are booked, I can get 4 episodes worth of content out of my one podcast recording day each month. And this works best for me. I just wanted to share what my interview schedule looked like as an example, but yours will likely be different.

As the podcast host, it’s best that you decide what your recording schedule will be and then share that with your potential guests. As I’m always encouraging you to do – put yourself first and select the days and times that work best for your particular schedule and energy levels. This will help protect you from burnout and ensure that you continue to love your work.

I highly recommend using a scheduler for your interviews. Many of you listening are therapists, coaches, or other solo business owners who schedule sessions with clients – and you know all too well the nightmare of going back and forth with scheduling without any structure. I love using Acuity for scheduling my interviews, but any scheduling software will work fine.

This leads me into talking about my next topic of forms and paperwork. I like to keep it simple and house all my podcast related paperwork and forms in Google Drive. In the show notes you can find a link to get a free 14-day trial of Google Workspace, and you can email me to get an exclusive discount if you want to use Google Workspace for your business. I use it, and absolutely love it.

So, within Google Workspace, I use Google Drive to design and house the three main forms that I use for podcasting.

The first is the Podcast Guest Application. This just has basic information about the applicant. I have an introductory section on my podcast application which outlines helpful information for potential applicants, and helps to weed out those who may not be the best fit. I’ll have a link to my Podcast Guest Application in the show notes, but I’ll read my introductory section here so that you can get a feel for it, and maybe it will inspire you as you create an introductory container for your potential podcast guests.

Here we go…

“Thank you for your interest in being a guest on the Mountain Practice Journeys podcast!

IMPORTANT NOTES – PLEASE READ BEFORE APPLYING:

-This application must be completed by the intended guest.

-The intended audience of the Mountain Practice Journeys podcast consists of introverts, highly sensitive persons, therapists, counselors, coaches, and solo-business owners in the helping and healing fields.

-Please ensure that you have listened to several episodes of the Mountain Practice Journeys podcast before applying so that you can discover whether your niche and topic will be helpful and relevant to the intended audience.

-Podcast guests must have a basic understanding of, and be sensitive to, the traits of introversion and high sensitivity.

-We can discuss your business (including products and services), however the main focus of the podcast is to bring meaningful and supportive information to my listeners. Please do not apply if you are only looking for self-promotion of your products and services.

-Podcast recording is only available one day per month (usually between 10:00am and 3:00pm ET). Recording will typically take 60 minutes. Episodes are recorded well in advance, so your episode may not release for several weeks or months.

-I like to get to know my guests before considering their application and recording an episode, so if we do not know one another please schedule a Coffee & Connection session here:”

And then I link to my online scheduler.

So that was the introduction on my Podcast Guest Application. It then goes on to collect basic information.

The second form that I have is the Podcast Agreement. This is just a short agreement that talks about copyright protection and gives me the right to use the recording. Pretty basic stuff.

And the third form is a Podcast Preparation form where I go over the recording process and collect information from the guest, such as headshot, bio, and episode topic descriptions.

At the end of the Podcast Preparation form, I share a link to my online scheduler so that the guest can schedule their recording.

Now on to recording. For guest interviews I use Zoom for recording. And here’s a tip that may be helpful to you. I’m always paranoid that I’ll forget to hit the record button before an interview, so on Zoom I have it in my settings that each time I open a meeting it is set to automatically record. This ensures that I never forget. And for other Zoom meetings that I don’t need to record, I just stop the recording when I log on and before I let anyone into the meeting room.

When you’re finished with your interview on Zoom and end the meeting the recording will begin downloading. Then I just grab the audio file and drag it into GarageBand to begin editing. You’ll remember in Part 1 of this series, I mentioned that I use GarageBand to edit my podcast episodes. So for my solo episodes, I just record directly into GarageBand.

There are many wonderful tutorials on YouTube about using GarageBand to record and edit podcasts. I recommend the tutorial by Pat Flynn. If you want to look it up, the name of the tutorial is “How to use Garageband for podcasting with Pat Flynn.”

I do want to go off on a little tangent here when it comes to recording, sound quality, and editing. I believe that there is a happy medium, and you don’t have to do a whole lot to achieve it. As I mentioned in Part 2 of this series, some of my favorite podcasts are where the host just records themselves on their phone and then they upload the audio file. And, in my opinion, the sound quality is great. And I’m sure that there are podcasts out there that use this method and the quality is not great. I just wanted to share that recording can be done without a lot of expensive equipment.

I’ll finish off this tangent with a mention of editing. I’m in a podcasting group on social media and some people say that they spend hours editing a 30 minute podcast episode for sound quality. I just don’t get it. They will go through piece by piece and edit out little sounds, or ums and other filler words. This just isn’t really important to me. For my interviews, I like to have a real conversation – the ums, and fillers, and stumbling over words, and all.

I do understand that there are some award winning podcasts out there where sound quality, production value, and high-touch editing is important. But for a solo podcaster who just wants to get their voice out there, these things aren’t very important to me. As long as you can clearly hear my voice, and there’s not a lot of distractions or background noises, I think that’s just fine.

I know that I mentioned the specific equipment that I use to record my podcast in Part 2, but I’ll briefly go over my set up here. I have my MacBook Air that came with the pre-installed GarageBand that I use for recording and editing. I have a Samson Q2U USB microphone that I plug into my laptop, and the Bose QuietComfort headphones that I plug into the microphone. And the accessories that I have are a boom arm, shock mount, and pop filter.

So the Boom arm is a type of stand for your microphone that attaches to your desk and allows for a perfect placement of the microphone. The shock mount isolates the microphone and reduces vibrations. While a pop filter is a noise-protection filter for the microphone that helps reduce wind and popping noises when you speak.

Links to everything mentioned will be in the show notes.

I also wanted to share an additional feature of my podcast host Buzzsprout, and that is their service called Magic Mastering. It is described as an Instagram filter for your audio. So when I upload my episodes to Buzzsprout, they are filtered through Magic Mastering to help level out and sweeten up the audio. I highly recommend adding it on to your subscription.

You may think that after your podcast has been scheduled to release that your work is over. Far from it. You need to let people know about it. I could definitely be doing a lot more to promote my podcast, but it’s just me here and there are only so many hours in the day.

But I will share with you a couple of things that I do have time for to promote my podcast – and this is probably the minimal amount of things that you would want to do so that there are at least a handful of people who are in the know about your new episodes.

I create a show notes page, which is essentially a blog post on my website, about each episode. What goes into this is creating a header graphic in Canva, writing an introduction, embedding the audio of the episode, writing the show notes and adding appropriate links, and adding a transcript of the episode, along with a few more formatting and editing things. Now there’s a dedicated webpage for each episode of my podcast that I can refer people to. So that’s one thing.

The second thing that I do is create a visual soundbite on Buzzsprout. This is a minute audio clip of the episode with visual sound waves that is formatted to post on Instagram. Then I go post this on Instagram, and sometimes on Facebook too.

These are the two things that I consistently do for each podcast episode. I’ll often do a seasonal teaser and seasonal recap posts to highlight the episodes. I know that there are many more marketing things that I could do for my podcast, but that would be like creating another job for myself, and I really like my work/life balance right now.

So, let’s talk about consistency for a moment.

When I hear the word consistency, I sometimes want to scream. It’s impossible to show up in life consistently. We don’t have the exact same amount of energy at all times.

But I will argue that it is important to be consistent with your podcast. Hear me out. I’m not saying that you have to record a new episode every single Wednesday afternoon. That’s not what I’m talking about.

There’s a difference between the recording and producing of episodes being consistent and the releasing of episodes being consistent.

What I mean is this. I have episodes come out on Monday mornings consistently. This doesn’t mean that I am consistent in recording/editing/producing the episodes. I often record episodes anywhere from 2-6 months before they air. I may get into the podcasting zone for a full week and record, edit, and schedule a bunch of episodes – and then not touch anything podcasting related for a few weeks. And, I will admit that there have been few times that I have procrastinated on my solo episodes and I record them the day before.

Since I’m not podcasting on current events, recording episodes a few weeks or a few months ahead of time isn’t a big deal. That way I have plenty of space and breathing room to follow my energy and motivation when recording episodes, and it does not become overwhelming for me.

I’m also not saying that you can’t miss a week, or a month, or take a break. Life happens. And the fans who appreciate you will understand. But I do think it’s important to let your audience know what’s going on if there are major inconsistencies in how you show up on your podcast. In other words, don’t ghost people. It doesn’t feel good.

And, it’s okay to adapt and change your schedule. I’m already planning to adapt my schedule a bit for year three and I’ll be sure to inform you all of the changes when I publish the Year 3 trailer episode. Don’t worry, the Mountain Practice Journeys podcast isn’t going anywhere, I’m only playing around with my schedule a bit.

For example, if you don’t know how often you’ll publish episodes, just be honest about that upfront so that you’re not disappointing listeners from the beginning who may be expecting a weekly podcast. Just say something like, “I’ve always wanted to have my own podcast so that I can share my thoughts with the world, but I’ll only be publishing episodes as inspiration hits. Thank you for understanding.” So, even if you’re unable to be consistent, you can manage expectations.

Magic Mind

Before I wrap up this episode and move into the tarot card pull, I wanted to give a little shout out to a productivity drink that I recently tried called Magic Mind. I mean, how could I resist – it has the word MAGIC in the name!

Some of ya’ll that have been listeners from the very beginning may remember the “What I’m Digging” segments from my first year of the podcast. Well, consider this a spontaneous “What I’m Digging” segment.

As someone who is sensitive in many ways, sometimes caffeine can be a bit too much for my system. Although I love the taste of coffee in its flavored latte form, it can sometimes give me the jitters, so I only drink it sparingly. And as y’all know, I sure do love my London Fog Lattes, and tea is much easier on my system. I’ll continue with my morning tea, as it has become a beautiful ritual for me.

But I’m also adding on Magic Mind to my work days because I have noticed that when I drink Magic Mind I experience a lovely focus that feels really natural.

Many drinks that are meant to give you a boost of energy, at least for me, do not feel natural and make me have a “jittery” and “nervous” feeling which can be pretty distracting for me. And as a Highly Sensitive Person, my system is definitely more sensitive than most.

It really does feel as if there is some kind of magic to the clarity and focus that Magic Mind gives. The focus and energy that comes from the drink feels really clean and pure. Even though I say energy, it’s not the type of energy you might imagine. For me it’s a calm and even energy – which is right up my alley!

The Matcha, and more specifically the L-theanine, helps to increase focus and attention. And the adaptogens help to decrease the stress cortisol levels in your body.

This may sound silly but, as I’ve been working from home, I find joy in the smallest of things – and most of them are food and drink related. I love having little treats through out my workday to break things up and have a time out to re-center. I kept seeing Magic Mind around and saw that it had great reviews, so I decided that I would give it a try to see if it could earn a spot as one of my workday treats.

Although I believed the reviews, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot. But, I have to say, when I drink Magic Mind to get my workday started, I feel so good. I can’t explain it – well, I guess it can be explained on the Magic Mind website – but it still seems like magic.

Anyway, let me tell you a bit about the actual drink. It comes in little bottles that you can drink as a shot, or mix in with something else. Some people say that they don’t like the taste, so I wasn’t expecting much, but I tried a sip on it’s own and I liked it. It’s kinda like a healthy green juice – which I love. But I like it even better as an iced latte. I add the shot of Magic Mind to a cup of iced oat milk and it is such a treat! Personally, I love the Chobani Extra Creamy Oat Milk! Be sure to put your Magic Mind bottles in the refrigerator when you get them, because they taste much better when they are really cold.

If you want to try out Magic Mind for yourself, which I highly recommend, you can visit magic mind.co/mountain and enter the code MOUNTAIN20 for 20% off your order. If you get the subscription, it will be 40% off, but the 40% offer only lasts for 10 days from the date of this episode. If you’re on the fence, know that they have a money back guarantee if you’re not completely satisfied.

Be sure to visit the show notes for this episode for the link and discount code.

So this has been a blast from the past “What I’m Digging” segment. You’ll likely be seeing these peppered throughout episodes as I discover new things that I love and want to share with you.

Remember that I’ll never share anything with you that I haven’t tried myself and absolutely loved.

ACORN (Tarot Card Pull)

Welcome to the acorn segment. With each solo episode I’ll be drawing a tarot card to help provide some magickal inspiration and insight.

The card for this episode is The Sun (reversed).

I’ll describe the card for those of you who may not be familiar. The Sun card is radiant. There’s a large sun in the background of the card, as well as a wall of sunflowers in the middle of the card. Up front is a child with a crown of flowers sitting atop a white horse.

One interpretation of the Sun in its reversed position is a call for your inner child to come out and play. Have you been adulting too hard? Just because you’re an adult doesn’t mean that you can’t infuse more fun, joy, and play into your life.

If you’ve been neglecting your inner child, know that tomorrow is a new day and you can do something different. Even if it’s just for an afternoon, leave work behind and go play.

By you being playful and joyful, you inspire this in others, so don’t dim your light.

I’ll post a picture of the card along with the message today on my instagram @mountainpracticejourneys so head on over and let me know if this message resonates with you at this time.

On a similar note, I recently took this reversed sun position to heart and enjoyed a Summer Solstice Sabbatical from work so that I could play and have fun. I’ll be damned if I’m going to dole out advice to my clients about creating more time for fun and play in their lives and not do it for myself. I’m so over regurgitating the same old and tired well-meaning advice that I hear in the coaching world just for the sake of feeling like I’m being helpful, and not taking it to heart. It’s like I mentioned in a previous episode about the overwhelmed, burnout therapist that is preaching self-care. We’d all be in a lot better shape if we actually took our own advice. We know what to do.

THANKS

Thank you so much for joining me today. For episode 68 I chat with Sarah Bryski-Hamrick of Teletherapy with Sarah about media, capitalism, and feelings of failure.

If you haven’t yet listened to Episode 66, I urge you to do that. In that episode I spoke with Rebecca Lee of Just Living Therapy about how to transition to your authentic landscape.

OUTRO

I’m truly grateful that you choose to join me here for practical, nature-based, magickal support for your business and life. For more inspiration and to see what I’m up to, join me over on instagram @mountainpracticejourneys If you’re enjoying yourself here, please head over to Apple Podcasts and hit those 5 stars and I’ll be over the moon. And if you’d like to work with me, join me in Forestmind, my cozy, small-group mastermind for private practice introverts, highly sensitive therapists, and solopreneurs who help and heal. May the forest be with you.