The sales guys talked shop between incoming calls. The animated, funny, and educational conversation taught me a few things – between the expletives and inside jokes. If an industry newbie like me found their shop talk useful, wouldn’t others?
At the time I listened to a dozen or more podcasts on a variety of topics from politics to photography. I even thought about creating my own but I never followed through until it hit me while listening to those informal office conversations.
Let’s do a podcast, I said. Huh was the response. (This was 2015) No one had listened to a podcast before then but soon everyone started listening to a bunch.
THE PODCAST BEGINS
The podcast got off to a slow start because I had never produced one before. I could navigate the technical requirements, but the setup with the podcast hosting site required some tech support. I then stumbled trying to figure out how to get the podcast to appear on Apple Podcasts. Eventually, I figured out the requirements and the podcast showed up on all the big aggregators – Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, and others.
The first podcast was recorded in my office with a set of new microphones and a new four-channel digital recorder. Everyone sat in folding chairs around the room separated to avoid audio spill-over between mics. I over-thought the editing and needed more experience with audio tools like compression, noise removal, and deEsser. Eventually, I stopped worrying about every little issue but I did spend considerable time ensuring each podcast had the right loudness. I learned loudness is very, very important because it measures “perceived” loudness by the listener. This insight transformed my audio editing. I encourage everyone to find a good, online course about audio editing with Adobe Audition or some other digital audio workstation.
SUCCESS
The show succeeded beyond all expectations. Within six months, we started getting thousands of downloads per episode. The numbers continued to climb and eventually downloads reached over a million.
Podcast success for a small, private company does not happen, usually. This case proved the exception because the company enjoyed a large social media following. The product line improves performance in common rail diesel engines. The audience is small and lives a so-called diesel lifestyle – a work-hard, play-hard attitude so the podcast delivered content they would enjoy: crude humor, personality, badge rivalries between diesel manufacturers (Ford, Chevy, Dodge), and – most importantly – solid gold information. Followers got their questions answered and problems solved.
The Diesel Performance Podcast is now in its sixth year and going strong. I’m no longer involved, but a recent listen confirmed the show retains its original personality. No doubt the number of subscribers and downloads continues to grow.
LESSONS LEARNED TECHNICAL AND OTHERWISE
Creating a podcast isn’t difficult. It’s just people talking, right? Yes, that’s true. But the typical podcast requires structure and some planning. A podcast needs a consistent opening, for example. Perhaps the structure includes two or three blocks of conversation about specific topics. Limit each block to a specific length, then close the episode. Like the opening, a consistent close is important because it includes contact info and teases the next episode. Play with the ending a little – experiment. But don’t ignore it. Listeners expect to hear you say goodbye.
Teach the hosts how to use a microphone. Help them understand proper microphone techniques because it saves editing time and makes a much better listening experience. Teach this before you record the first podcast. Help them understand that popping pees (blasting the microphone with air from “p” sounding words) sound awful and is a felony among audio engineers (I’m not an audio engineer).
ANOTHER PODCAST IN THE OFFICE
I used the same approach when I overheard other office staff mention a favorite television series. Their conversations about The Walking Dead on FX shared the same excitement, passion, and listening fun I heard with the sales guys. I couldn’t resist so I mentioned they would be great podcasters. It took a while, like a year or more, and eventually, they did produce a show. Fast forward five years – I edited my last podcast for them recently – so one of the hosts now does the work. Check out Aim for the Head Podcast. The audience size is considerably smaller than the Diesel Performance Podcast, but it’s a loyal audience that engages with the hosts on social media.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Those guys knew how to talk about their passion in a way others found entertaining. For them, the podcast required little effort beyond just talking, although they realized they produced a much better podcast if they created an outline and did some basic research. The hosts had a wicked sense of humor bordering on twisted and the typical listener loved it. So that’s the bottom line – go with the flow but try to be mindful of why you’re doing the podcast – for the listeners, not you.
If you’re interested in developing a podcast, please visit the packages page.