In 2013, I set a goal to create a podcast. My first run was a bit of a flop – it yielded 6 episodes and went pretty much nowhere.
My first podcast was entirely a faith-based show, ran about 5-6 minutes, and was scheduled as a weekly recording. My audience consisted mostly of church friends and old Facebook buddies, neither of which were very interactive. The low quality of my recording environment (a guest room next to a busy bathroom) paired with a frustrating headset mic and slow PC meant each 5-minute show took over an hour to produce.
In short, my first attempt was unsustainable and short-lived.
WordSesh
A few community currents are convincing me to get back on the horse. First off, this weekend’s WordSesh was amazing and inspiring. A roundtable of podcasting greats really makes me want to give podcasting another shot.
Albeit with a slightly different format.
Instead of faith-only, I want to cover all of the topics covered by this blog:
- Faith (it’s hugely important to me)
- WordPress
- Technology in general (yep, I talk about more than just WordPress)
- Business and marketing (this blog started with marcomm strategy, and I’d like to get back to that)
Also, I want to make this a 30-minute broadcast rather than a 5-minute afterthought. I also plan to incorporate video (publishing on YouTube in addition to this site and an iTunes feed).
WordCamp
I love speaking at conferences. In 2013, I actually set a goal to speak at 5 or more events – the final tally was 8 different events! It’s the travelling that makes speaking so difficult. As a result, I try to be fairly choosy about when and where I speak to spread things around.
Unfortunately my imagination is far less choosy about what it wants me to speak about. My Google Doc of session ideas is aflood with topic titles and briefs, and there’s not enough time in the year for me to deliver all of these talks. Luckily, Jen Mylo came up with a great solution to this exact problem:
@andrea_r Don't wait for a WordCamp. Record it in your living room and let's post it to wordpress.tv!
— Jinx Mylo (@jenmylo) November 20, 2012
I still want to speak at WordCamps, but I don’t want to wait to present some of these topics. A weekly, 30-minute video podcast will give me a perfect way to broadcast my thoughts to the world!
IndieGoGo
In 2012, I used IndieGoGo to crowdfund a mission trip to Haiti. I thought I’d give the site another go to crowdfund this podcast!
I set up a campaign during WordSesh and, as of the time of this writing, I’m already 40% funded!
I’m asking the community to fund this for two reasons:
- I want to have buy-in from my friends and colleagues before doing anything. If you all think this is a dumb idea, then I don’t want to waste anyone’s time moving forward.
- I want to do things right, which means I want a quality recording setup from the get-go. I know, the first episode doesn’t have to be perfect (and it won’t be), but I have no intention to monetize this podcast beyond this initial crowdfunding request, so there’s zero chance it will pay for ongoing production let alone initial setup.[ref]I don’t sell advertisement for my blog and don’t do affiliate links in my posts. My content is – always – free, and I want the video podcast to reflect the same sentiment. Even with the occasional thanks-for-the-tutorial donation, this blog has never even come close to breaking even; that’s OK, because making money has never been the goal of this site. It won’t be the goal of the podcast, either. If it ever does make money for whatever reason, that will be a welcome bonus but will never be the emphasis.[/ref]
I think of this project as a goal for the new year. I’ve scheduled the IndiGoGo campaign to expire on the 1st, so I won’t be dragging this on forever. At the same time, there’s no rush. If the ideas above excite you, please take some time to donate to the cause.
If you think it’s a good idea, but can’t donate financially, please spread the word instead. I appreciate any form of help you can provide.
If you think it’s an awful, terrible, no-good idea I want to hear from you, too. Leave a comment below and voice your opinion. Remember, I’m trying to do this for the community, but only if the community wants it.
