My Podcasting Experience and What It Taught Me
If you told me at the beginning of the year that I would create a podcast with nearly 400 downloads by the end of the year, I wouldn’t have believed you. As someone who likes to narrate and perform voice-overs, podcasting seemed like the perfect outlet for me. When I first created the Blue Oasis podcast, my goal was to create a podcast to teach other people how to make money out of their side hustles, along with finding peace and prosperity in their lives.
My podcasting journey began back in August of 2020. I signed up with Buzzsprout hosting. The plan that I had purchased was the cheapest one, $12 for 3 hours per month. My first two episodes were originally a combination of one episode. Originally, I decided to keep part 1 and part 2 as separate episodes, but then I change them to episode 1 and episode 2 respectively.
In the first two episodes, I describe what my podcast is about and where I planned to take my podcast. Once I got those two episodes out I began to get confident. Episode three had about the same downloads as the first two, but when I made episode four, that’s when things began to change. In my fourth episode, I talked about the history of video games and what anyone could do to create a source of income from it. I immediately received three of my first reviews. They were all five-star reviews. That podcast episode is now my most listened to.
After the fourth episode, I looked for other hobbies to talk about. In one of my more recent episodes, I decided to talk about Lego. This episode didn’t perform like the others, but it was an important learning experience for me because it taught me what not to do and what I needed to do.
A little over a month later, I decided to interview three of my friends. Those three episodes received over 20 downloads each. When I finished my first interview, I found that I had to keep finding new people. I decided to bring on two more of my friends for the next two episodes. These two episodes would help me gain more experience interviewing guests. Asking questions and sharing experiences with each of my guests made me feel right at home. It gave me a special bond, like when you meet a new friend and have so much in common.
Podcasting has helped me sharpen my skills, both technical and conversational. I have learned how to mix audio tracks, conduct interviews through Zoom, as well as live stream them. For anyone who wants to develop and sharpen their conversational skills, I highly recommend starting a podcast. Not only can it help you in your career, but it can also help you in your everyday life.
