National Podcast Post Month 2023

Congratulations! You’ve done it! You’ve successfully completed the 2023 National Podcast Post Month challenge.  If you look at the time between the two dates from 2005 to 2023 you’ll see an 18 year gap. 2005 being when I first heard about and began podcasting. 2023 being 18 years since and that podcasting is now my career.  You never know where podcasting will take you. I encourage you to lean into the part of you podcast that spark wonder and dare you to dream.  BIG THANK YOU to Alessandra White and Creative Work Hour for the daily NaPodPoMo support sessions. Alessandra has something quite special with Creative Work Hour. I highly recommend connecting with the Creative Work Hour community. Creative Work Hour is an official NaPodPoMo Community (the first one ever) and I am thrilled, honored, and excited to have them on board to expand the vision and possibilities of National Podcast Post Month. I would also like to give my deep appreciation to Todd Cochrane, Mike Dell, and the wonderful team at Blubrry. Their support of NaPodPoMo and this podcast made so many things possible. My goal is to share what I have learned about the robust features within PowerPress far and wide. You know me I’m all about that Learn Share Grow.  Learn Share Grow So, my experiment with Live was a resounding success…eventually. It took me a long time to first get over my own insecurities, then to have the confidence to do the thing and go live. Figuring out the tech, app, and tool side of things was an entirely different animal. Again, I am super grateful to Todd, Mike, and the team at Blubrry for being my guide. I can’t image even beginning to attempt something this complex without a guide. Of course now that I know how everything works, it doesn’t feel complex at all. That whole “knowledge is power” saying is oh so true.

Now that you are at the tale end of National Podcast Post Month did you accomplish your goals? Did your goals change? Did they expand? What makes a deep dive into a challenge like NaPodPoMo transformative is how quickly you learn and how the vision you have for yourself and your podcast changes. If that sounds grandiose, it isn’t. I’ve shared in the past that people have written books which came about because of NaPodPoMo. I think it’s the forced creativity where ideas take form. So, did you accomplish you goals? Did the goal posts for your goals change? What kind of adventure have you been on this month and what does your podcast map look like now?  If Wishes Were Fishes I will say the one thing I wish I had more time to do was to build the live audience during NaPodPoMo. That is probably my one regret. I would have liked to have been able to bring NaPodPoMo podcasters onto the show live. Sort of a see one, do one, teach one type of experience. Granted that was my pie in the sky wish when I got started. And one that is still burning brightly inside. Which means I’ll need to figure out how to fan the flames a bit to see what happens. 

Will you continue your podcast after NaPodPoMo? Or is it a one and done?  Does your podcast merit a sequel or an ongoing series or does you finish it with off with a bow on top? These are the questions you’ve probably asked yourself now that we are at the end of the challenge. Here are some things to consider. Did you enjoy the topic or show flow? Was it a grind and were you gritting your teeth just to get it done? Podcasting is a whole lot of work. If this is painful without joy or reward then perhaps this isn’t for you and that is totally okay. This possibility is why I always recommend a client start with a standalone series. This gives them permission to walk away without feeling the undue pressure to continue. NaPodPoMo is your standalone series. You can walk away proud of your body of work. No harm no foul. Of course, I do hope you found some joy in your NaPodPoMo experience and that I’ll see you again for the 17th annual global podcast challenge. Now What? Now that I have successfully figured out how to go live, now what? Well a whole new world has opened up for me. I know for a fact that 2024 will include a whole lot of live podcasting. I’m going to take some time in December to push the buttons and pull the levers. I want to put it through its paces. November was about me figuring out how to do it. December and beyond will be about me figuring out the best way for me to do it well. 

One thing I know about crisis is that it brings about clarity. Now I’m not comparing NaPodPomo to a crisis, but I can say NaPodPoMo always brings about clarity. I think it has to do with the focus, frequency, and time pressure. I know I learn a whole lot about myself each time I do NaPodPoMo.  So, if your NaPodPoMo experience left you feeling the highest of the high or unsure or pondering a thing or two, you’re not alone. Percolate and sit with some of that in early December. Maybe write some thing things out in a journal. Take what make sense and worked and leave anything that didn’t behind.  This challenge (as I’ve said many times) is challenging. Not every aspect of it is meant to be golden. Think of NaPodPoMo in the same way a silversmith refines silver. You’ve got to go through the fire to get rid of the impurities.  NaPodPoMo can be that fire that focuses and gets rid of what isn’t necessary to your podcasting journey.  Recording Your Live Show Remember when I talked about Audio Hijack and LadioCast? Well LadioCast is a free app you can download to your computer and it makes it easy to stream from your computer. What I realized after my first attempt was that it did not record what I was broadcasting. Doh! Which is where Audio Hijack came into play. Audio Hijack allows me to both broadcast and record. So, I’m not telling you to go buy Audio Hijack. However, you will need to find some way to record your show.  I haven’t tried it, but I wonder if Zoom screenshare with audio capture would do it. That’s worth a test. I also use Ecamm Live and know recording sound on my computer is something I can do easily, but then again that’s a paid app. So, if you know of free recording software. Maybe Audacity? Hmmm… need to test that, too. 

When it comes the fast tracking our podcast knowledge there is nothing like a challenge to show us the stumbling points, road blocks, and lack of knowledge. Holy smokes this month has been the most challenge NaPodPoMo I’ve had in years. It’s really stretched my tech skills or should I say shown me where my tech skills were lacking. But, I am thrilled at how fast I was able to overcome each stumbling block. How quickly I was forced to not put off something hard. The days were slipping by and the clock was ticking. Sort of like it is right now as I do this 10 episode naPodPoMo podcast marathon. This is episode 26 and I can see the finish line.  So as you reflect back on you NaPodPoMo experience give yourself a pat on the back for all that you have learned and done.  Ending Your Live Show Once you are done with your live show. Go back to Powerpress and change the status to “Ended” and click “SaveChanges” and now you are done.  Easy, right?  Well not so much. It’s a whole lot to think about. In the next episode I will talk about the production flow of making this podcast something that is both live AND recorded.