Arroe Collins Pod-Crashing

Pod-Crashing Episode 53 The Writing Instrument
Making your voice last longer than a three hour Capitol building protest. We’ve all seen the 5 o’clock news and saw in the end that decision makers weren’t moved.
I posted on Facebook. Sometimes we have to be reminded of how important a Writing Instrument is. We can easily get lost in a sea of protest banners and other people’s loud voices without realizing that you were will probably never be recognized for being there.
With a Writing Instrument you can release you. Then take it to a long lasting podcast or blog. The reach is well beyond a protest on the streets of Anywhere America. Be your own leader and locate your voice in an age where its time that you accept the role of being a leader. Pick up a Writing Instrument and start a movement.
Ok… let’s get serious. Another great reason to add Podcast Magazine to your frontline of gaining access to unending content is to learn all you can about truly participating with where your voice can make a difference.
The founder of the magazine recently unveiled valuable information about the reality of where podcasting presently stands.
There are officially 1 million podcasts available. Wow! Sounds like we should be shouting in the streets like a wild party on Saturday.
Not according to Steve. While other industries find such a place on the map as a victory the truer picture of is has become two different faces. Of those 1 million podcasts only 47% are active. So that drops the number down to 470,000.
Wait… Out that number only 46% have more than ten episodes. Which we talked about on this very podcast in the early days. I called the episode Unlucky 7. It was inspired by how I was seeing most getting into podcasting barely making it to their seventh episode.
So according to Steve Olsher’s report there are in essence 216,000 podcasts proving to have longevity. Which he sees as the perfect opportunity to keep pushing your podcast forward.
Stephen does predict that by years end there’ll be 1.5 million podcasts, which he sees turning into a huge billion dollar business.
Why wouldn’t you support the cause by participating with the movement? Yes there’s a lot of pressure being put on podcasters living up to the performance but you can push through it by showing up more than ten episodes a year. Know what podcasting is. Grow with where podcasting will be tomorrow. Reach beyond the moment and be heard.
Don’t do just a sports show with last nights scores. Build your connection with stories that can still be heard ten years from now. I get it binge watching television is a hot issue but make it real by keeping it locked on forward motion. Podcasting isn’t really about what’s happening Now. Maybe, if you’re lucky ten people might check in for a daily Hollywood update. Two weeks from today they’ll be labeling you old news.
So what’s the moral of the story? Podcasting is a tough life. We’re all struggling to get through this Coronavirus mess. Gotta keep the episodes fresh and using Zoom, Skype and Google Meeting aren’t giving you that edge of perfection. You’ll never be great at this business until you listen to the radio like a listener. If everything you’re doing in a production room is how you think they’re picking up your podcast, you’re 100 miles off the path.
The trustiest moment of the spoken word is right now. If you do your homework and showcase a little love for promotion your message will reach the people you’re trying to affect. Social Distancing will never go away. Which means the best way to be up close and personal with your daily listeners is to speak their street. Know their language. Lead because you’re one of them and not someone trying to tell us how we should feel.

Pod-Crashing Episode 52 Programming
Let’s lay it on the line. I’m not a Trouble Maker or Firestarter but I’ve always been a walker of my own way. I can openly admit that during the thirty three years I invested in Terrestrial Radio I drove a lot of decision makers and leaders over the edge. I truly love those that took that time weekly if not daily to sit me down in their nicely designed programming offices and calmly said, “I like how you try but every so often we need to pull you back. I’d rather have that on my team then someone that makes no attempt at being truly seen and or heard.”
Does that mean without that brilliant programming staff and collection of radio consultants that I’m a rule breaker and ball buster on the digital platform? Well… after this episode you’ll have a clearer picture of why people have been known to say, “There are several different ways people host and post their podcasts. You know exactly what you’re going to get when you tap into the source of sound. You can’t say that about Arroe.”
I’m absolutely without a doubt 1,000 percent all over the place! But rarely does anyone stop to ask why. They just accept that I’m a weird guy.
It all begins with how I program podcasting. What? I know. Drop the vocal tracks. Clean it up. Post the monkey and watch the fans visiting the vocal zoo try to feed the animals. Yeah ok but that’s not me.
I look at podcasting the same way I see programming a radio station. It’s not right or wrong in a world still discovering its shape and identity. First let me clarify a serious point of direction. The only reason why I never took the required steps to grow into a pair of radio programming slippers is because of the enormous amount of people that literally knew me best. The experience was like the old Cheech and Chong bit. Look! What is it? Looks like dog dung. What? Yeah! Taste. What? They knew I’d drive people totally insane with unheard of expectations and that’s not fair to a creative mind and spirit.
Come on… In 2020 there’s a huge chance you’ve heard and created podcasting and have developed your own opinion as to whether it is or isn’t for you. It really is the Wild West and there are a lot of performers that aren’t in the mood or mindset to reset their sense of freedom. It’s gung ho or no go.
I totally grasp the concept of putting everything on the hook and seeing whatever fish is willing to bite in an ocean so large science won’t even touch it.
I first began programming podcasts in 2015. Watching how listeners were popping in for lengthy periods of time listening to several episodes at once I knew I needed to provide a variety of guests rather than focusing on music and movies. The mission was to bring more lifestyle into the Unplugged and Totally Uncut picture. People Magazine is brimming with every sort of interview. We needed to be part of that circle of content.
At the time I was hosting three different podcasts. Each one had its own personality but in order to get more reach I needed to cross-pollinate the episodes. Which meant it was time to figure out who was tapping in and why.
While creating an umbrella effect of podcasts I still needed to find focus for listeners that didn’t want to see camera people teamed up with musicians. So that introduced another podcast that was streamlined to bringing those conversations on demand.
Paying close attention to what’s posted is a full time job. View From The Writing Instrument is about authors, songwriters and anybody else that depends on using words to get their art out there. As the program director I had to exercise caution in the way of never putting two published books up back to back. The bigger bang was coming from the presented variety.
My side of the business of podcasting was to study how each episode was performing. It the manuscript writers were hauling butt then I had to think about giving them their own podcast. I talk to a lot of doctors and have yet to give them their own space. The hits are there but is it worth being a standalone podcast?
I host another podcast titled Like Its Live. It lives up to its name. Every conversation is posted unedited like its live. I took a chance on listeners wanting something that wasn’t edited. To be on the edge just as I am when I pop out an odd ball question with a huge hole of dead air at the end. These conversations are later edited and placed under different umbrella podcasts.
The Lyrics From Billy’s Forest won’t ever make it to Unplugged and Totally Uncut. There are certain motivational episodes that would push listeners away like a bad Country song. The same is true with the episodes found on Creativity The Addiction. Unless it has something to do with what the main umbrella is trying to project then it can’t go up for the sake of having something new.
Programming my podcasts was a huge gamble in 2015 mainly because the early years for me were about locating a platform that would push what I do out there a little further than most. I didn’t want to be compared to anyone. It had to be its own image or I’d walk away. That meant trusting the gut and tucking in the chin.
The programming logs are totally taken from the way terrestrial radio does its game. When you pull back and look at the entire picture a new episode on all the podcast features something new going up every hour.
Sixteen different podcasts. One of them always has a new feature. They all fit under the biggest umbrella labeled Arroe Collins.
Programming hours are extremely important.
The only hours for Unplugged and Totally Uncut are 7 10 1 4 10pm
View from the Writing Instrument 8 11 2 5 11pm
The Choice’s hours are 9 12 6 and 9pm
Whereas Like it’s live is midnight til six in the morning.
So what’s the moral of the story? Play with it til you break it. Pick it back up. Glue it together then get ready to break it again. Crafting your sound and image doesn’t just happen. It requires chance and a lot of work. Make it yours. Unique and worthy. Don’t stop at what you think a podcast is. Living it like it’s the greatest thing on the planet. Or like Gene Simmons says nobody will believe it is.

Pod-Crashing Episode 51: The Depth Of The Interview
First. I’m not a fan of the word interview. Why I chose to hoist it into the title is totally trying to spend less time having to explain what it is I do. I always say, “Let’s have a conversation!” People are like, “OK what about?” “No No No… lets do an interview.” “Ohhhhhhhh”
I get in a lot of verbal wrestling matches with friends, family, social media connections and whomever else happens to walk on my lawn. My passion. It gets in the way of everything. Interviewing creative people is one such place. I have a huge passion and drive to get into a conversation. It’s always worth fighting for.
Between 1979 to 2012 I did what every program direction and radio consultant told me what to do. 95% of the time I still believe they were wrong. I dreamed of the day when I could take them on a true journey through the creative self I was and still am. But it wasn’t about me. It was their station and their livelihood and my job was to participate or locate a new place to plug in my earphones.
With podcasting I am everything they once were. I play by the very rules they stamped into my noggin. Yes I’m very strict on myself and believe in showing up every day to bring forward a product that nearly 1.1 million listeners have tapped into. I stand before you confessing that no matter how crazy those decision makers made me, I wouldn’t be where I am with podcasting if they hadn’t been present.
As a podcaster you are your own boss. You are the writer, voice over talent, producer, promotions director and Operations Manager keeping every personality glued on the plan and purpose.
This didn’t happen overnight. The walk has been incredibly lonely and filled with a lot of strikeouts at the plate. During this Coronavirus breakdown and job loss point on the map I expect more terrestrial radio people to make their way to the digital stage. You can’t turn off being a Broadcaster. It’s worse than an itch in the center of your back and you can’t reach it.
I’m approached everyday by podcast promoters. Not one or two. Mega amounts of great writers and speakers that claim they’ve got the free ticket to the fountain of youth. “I can get you real people! Lots of them!” My general response is, “Please send me your podcast. I’d like to listen to your episodes and go to the sites to watch how people pick them up.” I never get an email with a podcast attached.
A promoter the other day wrote, “Your episodes only appear on one platform correct?” Keep in mind this is someone trying to get my business. Very calmly I replied, “Please listen to every interview. The way I ask questions and how I bring in several different subjects. As the writer, talent and producer I need each episode to reach five to fifteen different podcasts.”
Sounds like I’m a smartass right? I’m not trying to be. I need to play a smart game and that requires me to take the time to educate anyone walking by. The goal is to drop the ego and the door because out there in the real world nobody cares about the passion I put into every question. They’ve got a job to do and right now with the global shutdown everyone thinks they’re a podcast promoter.
In talking with other podcasters and their performances the average person can pretty much see that those of us broadcasting are pretty much convinced that we’re locked in on the next big thing. I remember Gene Simons of KISS telling me, “If you don’t act like it’s bigger than life nobody will think it’s bigger than life.”
Back to the original thought. The depth of the interview. Everything I get into is on a time limit. I’m not Marc Maron of Howard Stern lucky. I get 7 to 20 minutes then you’ve got to bail. I love it when the producers step through the restraint and say, “Take 30 or 40.” And I’ve only prepped for 7. That means the voice over talent is gonna have to listen to everything being said and bring new questions into the conversation by what was said. Question their answers.
Always try your best to end your interviews or episodes with depth. If the time keeper says you need to be out at 1:18 then you need to begin wrapping up at 1:16. Taking an interview over that line is going to earn you an email from the promoter. Or they aren’t going to send another invite. Plus having a solid question with two minutes to go allows the person you’re talking with to think the conversation is pretty much over and that’s when they let their guard down. The real one of a kind story starts now.
Introduce a small area where it sounds like things are stopping then leave the machine on while recording. Never turn it off until they’ve left the studio or hung up the phone. They’re always going to say something. If you’ve given them enough room to breathe.
I got into this way of recording back in the 90’s because all of these famous artists would step into the studio and say the best things and because didn’t have the microphone on I missed out on a very unique opportunity. Every person that steps into the room will see the recording light on. That’s the universal signal of somethings hot and it’s being recorded or the light wouldn’t be on.
As the producer you return to the front before all the formal hellos and how are yous and make it part of the conversation. Get creative. I’ve only had three or four people send me an email asking that I don’t use that part of the conversation. I play along. OK cool and the relationship doesn’t get damaged.
So what’s the moral of the story? I get it your podcast is the greatest thing since the invention of pasta meeting sauce. Promoters are ready to work with you if you’ve got the space to create with them. Another words. If Paul McCartney is only available at 9:32 it’s a yes or no question. You can do it or you don’t. Once you land it don’t walk into the conversation thinking your episodes are more mighty then the winds that shake the mile high bridge on Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina.
Every person you talk with has something to sell. Put your focus on the present without getting into a conversation about the past that listeners already know about. I wouldn’t want to talk to Paul McCartney about the Beatles or Wings. I wanna know about his first children’s book Hey Granddude. I want to hear the childlike voice he uses while reading it young people. They don’t know of his historic lie and style but in that moment where he’s reading the dude can paint a funny face!!!

Pod-Crashing Episode 50
I once had an Operations Manager that got very upset with the on-air terrestrial radio staff because they wouldn’t take advantage of the wide open space provided by the radio stations webpage. There it was! In plain public view! Do what you do! Create an army of followers with your point of view!
Outside of cutting and pasting the personality of the station website laid there nearly silent.
That’s how I was first introduced to Blogging. 2006. Man I hit it hard! Every subject known to man. I wanted to know where people were and how I could get into their circle of conversation. It still wasn’t enough room for what I wanted to say. I mean they were letting us bring things forward whatever it took to drive listeners and followers deeper into our site.
It gave us the ultimate permission to generate conversation beyond the image of the radio station. Why not invest a ton of creative energy into the sport of it?
A couple of years into it I got bored. I needed a new layer of where people were at. I know! Vlogging! Yeah ok for about five minutes.
Ok, what’s all this about? You know what gets old? People that think they have a voice or a reason to bring volume to their beliefs but refuse to build their own podcast and platform. If they governments got you all wrapped up in a larger than life conspiracy that resembles a national takeover don’t get pissed off at the podcasters that don’t want to give you time. Build your own layout and play the game!
I’ve never been a fan of radio listeners becoming a part of the on-air performance. I’m all about the one on one relationship. A listener pops up and can easily steer the entire day in different direction. All of that show prep just went out the door.
For many podcasters who aren’t hooked up to that instant connection to listeners, the voices they get to hear come after the episode. Usually through a text or email. God forbid you take it to Facebook because that’s where enemy lines have already gathered and their waiting for any type of response to pounce on a moment that’s pretty much long gone and forgotten.
First… I love listeners. Don’t get me wrong. Where the host gets off the path is when an unexpected twist is tossed into a machine that’s been locked on forward motion. I’ve really enjoyed doing these conversations and interviews with all walks of life that have been affected but not infected by the Coronavirus. One problem. The conspiracy tribes are loaded for bear and want to be heard.
Anyone watching news whether it’s globally or local, the headlines are doing their job. They’ve painted this picture of how the United States could easily fall into its darkest days ever. The Stock Market still can’t fully recover and the Unemployment rate is 6 million Americans without jobs. A 3000% increase.
My reasons for wanting to podcast are not linked to politics. I may talk with those making laws but it’s never at the level of trying to chop down their cherry tree. Here’s where I get worried. I know a lot of starter shows begging for any type of attention. The power of saying yes to any guest is more vibrant today than any other time.
We cannot turn the pandemic into Area 51 or a 9-11 planes being controlled by the government.
If this is what you believe create a podcast. Make your voice present. Do the work. Promote it. Put it out there and exercise your freedom of speech. A podcast to study is the most recent season of Slow Burn where we learn the whole east west Hip Hop battle was media generated. He said she said and a lot of it didn’t need to find its story being published.
Choosing how you podcast is part of the growing process. I’m absolutely inspired by the biggest names in the newspaper industry have located their new age paths of putting their investigative reporting to work for them in a podcast. Journalism today is reaching unheard of respect because they weren’t just another voice on a talk radio show or podcast. They made it their own.
Ronan Farrow is a brilliant talent to grow toward because he knew he had a story. The television network wouldn’t air it. He kept pushing the envelope which led to multiple connections he wouldn’t have had if someone didn’t say no.
Coronavirus is an uncomfortable place to hang an uneducated hat. Every new day is a place we can compare our notes to. What we knew four weeks ago is nothing to what’s unfolding today. The information and education continues to gain strength because the most brilliant minds on the planet have united like no other time in history. That’s not an opinion. That’s fact.
A Buddhist priest named Thich Nhat Hahn chose to visit the United States during the center of the Vietnam War. Protesters were angry that he wasn’t raising banners and shouting. His view was completely coming from a different shape of the situation. If he was in the states to bring attention to the war why not do it by exercising the peace living in your soul?
What’s the moral of the story? Be heard on a podcast or YouTube video. Use your words when blogging. Be you. But be aware. Are you trying to create a movement or win a popularity contest? At no time in man’s history on this planet has there been so many different ways to communicate. Why waste your time being just a listener when you can own the stage?
Podcasting is still an infant just as much as Twitter was a baby during the exchange of government change in Libya. Believe it or not Irish Limericks were once used to get the wartime conditions across country lines to outsiders. In Central America poetry was used in the 1980s to help tell the tales which invited new hope and supplies. Country music before it became. You ready. It was the local newspaper. They put the bad times in songs so people would remember the events.
There are a billion podcast books available today to learn new tricks of the trade. If you’ve got a conspiracy driven message that needs to reach out there and be heard make sure you don’t try to make a profit from the potential of generating a large audience. Do it for free. It’ll make you look like a better rebel. May the force be with you!

Pod-Crashing Episode 49 Not Open For Business
Here we sit. Week number two of the Great 2020 Coronavirus meltdown. One by one the bigger cities are officially declaring their boundary’s closed. As people are forced to stay inside the President teased us on Monday March 23rd that he was ready to put America back to work by Easter.
I felt hope. Like maybe he knew something and within minutes we’d all be leaping on the streets celebration like they did when WWII was announced over. Where’s the girl and the guy with that famous NYC kiss?
Hold it. Let’s look at this. While local authorities are buckling down to flatten the curve the nation’s top dog has latched onto a thought picked up on Fox News, “We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself.”
I was present in my living room when those exact words dropped from his lips. One problem. The one number that none of us know is the official count of how many men and women in America wouldn’t be here today if we hadn’t stepped inside for a couple of weeks?
I grasp where the President’s coming from. The Stock Market isn’t recovering and lawmakers barely agreed to the two billion dollar recovery package. That bright beautiful spot in American financial history is headed straight for the days of some of the darkest times not only on our soil but globally. Which brings me to a question I brought up to scientist Bill Sullivan, “Will we see a change in the Super Powers?”
Kind of an odd subject right? Now more than ever you’re services as a voice in America is being called into action. We pretty much know only six percent of the people avote during the elections but one look at every social media platform and the human heart and drive is caught up and botched by a fear of allowing your inner voice to be heard.
I talked with M. That’s all we need to know about her name. M isn’t a happy girl because she feels the only people via social media doing any talking are the trolls. The real voices and energy behind them are trapped in their homes right now binge watching Schitts Creek.
Podcasting is the truest form of connection without having to be boarded up and stifled by a connection with a corporation and or government Coronavirus crackdown. They want you off the streets not off the air.
RollingStone Magazine was quick to push forward a story about the President’s announcement of wanting to put business back to work. Their headline? Trump, in Tweet Says He’s Considering Plan That Would Kill A Lot Of People.
The magazine believes as many as 9.4 million people would simultaneously be infected at the time of the peak. Which means there’s no way hospitals can accommodate that presentation. RollingStone printed these words: Hundreds of thousands would die without access to treatment.
How you feeling about hosting that podcast now? I mean if there are 900,000 of them already pushing thoughts, emotions, jokes, cooking and beer making, what about one more that comes from the physical streets of it’s about to get really bad?
But is it? I sat down with Ralph from the Heavy Metal Band Ravenscroft who had no time calling out the media, “This is hype. It’s sensationalism.”
Wait! That’s what the President said the other day about NBC’s Peter Alexander? Talk about a public hanging! Never once in that reshuffling of exchange of thoughts did I feel the television reporter was putting his companies ratings hunt in front of the American people.
Let’s go ground level here. I’m not saying get a podcast and let the planet it take a verbal beating. The door is standing wide open for your voice to have a place. Yeah it’s tough right now and it’s probably going to break your foundation of success into pieces. You need to be heard. To empower different groups or individuals. To use your experiences during this Covid-19 stoppage as a tool. In the words of Madonna the virus has equalized us all.
Business leaders teaching each other how to rebuild. Regular everyday people who might have found prayer or meditation during the down time hearing from those who’ve been doing it for decades. Mothers and Fathers with children trying to keep focused on homeschooling. Truck drivers pushing their rigs across the nation with nobody else in the cab.
No need to verbally take pot shots at the Speaker of the House, the President and his side kick or anyone else serving their community in office. That part of the playing field already has enough armchair quarterbacks.
Use this downtime as a platform you to talk about being part of a Garage Band, what it’s like to sell pre-owned cars in a down economy, a reaction to the message each week at church or how to be a better Uber or Lyft driver.
Think longevity. Don’t dump your entire process into one episode.
So what’s the moral of the story? Go for it! Yep. Just do it! Make it til you break it. Don’t worry about reinventing the wheel. Find a few hours of focus and stand taller than what you were yesterday. Yep it’s a pain in the ass to keep up but man the payoff has a way of keeping you out there longer the last complaining session you had with a coworkers or neighbor. We’ve all hit some rough water lately and how you’ve turned it into a swimming adventure is an incredible display of making your voice be heard.
I’d love to hear a podcast where RollingStone Magazine readers actually talk about their reaction to the stories published. For years I’ve sat on the sofa or at a desk and pretty much agreed or disagreed with the reporter all by myself. We can change this.

Pod-Crashing Episode 48 Who Do You Support

As the Coronavirus continues to increase its presence globally, a lot of speculation and self-designed predictions are making their way to social media. I spent today disconnecting from Jesus Freaks and Political fire starters vowing that the U.S. Government is going to slam us into a wall of Martial Law making this nation a new land ripe for a dictatorship.
Can we just stop? Social Media is feeding the veins of thought and emotion that’s causing a lot of listeners and readers to stop participating with the volunteer distancing.
Look… I don’t know what the right walk is. As podcasters we have the right and privilege to be whomever we bring forward. It doesn’t matter whose team you’re playing for just get the facts first. Then fact check yourself again and again.
Then ask yourself “Is this really where I want to be with my podcast?” Back in the early episodes of Pod-Crashing I warned listeners that this would be an awkward year for hobbyists and professional podcasters because some of the decision makers and messengers would begin spread their message on their stage.
Joe Rogan just got sideswiped. I don’t know if he was bothered by it. The headline and story didn’t say. Because of Joe’s support for his rightful positions in life Representative Alexandra Cortez walked away from supporting Joe’s pick for the Oval Office Bernie Sanders.
I sat up straight when I read the article because over the past 8 years or even 41 years of Broadcasting have I personally endorsed a candidate or cause that would influence a decision maker to walk away from offering their gifts for a greater need?
I recently started a new podcast series called Play It Forward. It puts focus on every creative person affected and not infected by the Coronavirus. Two of the conversations I shared are hardcore in your face balls to the wall politically motivated by the influence of the guest. I showed up with a microphone to get the story not support the movement. They’ve yet to hit the platform.
Podcasting can be played safe or dangerous. What you personally put up there can disappear from your site easily but by the time you catch up to common sense your RSS has planted that message everywhere.
I totally grasp that we are exercising our freedom of speech. How many podcasters fully understand what that means and how it operates? What you say or share always has the potential of inciting an emotional connection or change. Are you really ready for the world to come after you?
In a recent interview with Kesha on Lets Be Real Podcast she flat out told the host how focused she needed to remain on what she was doing and saying.
Here’s the thing. The more we stay locked up in our homes and studios because of the Coronavirus, the more podcasters could become the new voice of an already changed world. Ultimately it’s up to you to make the right choice. Do you really want to be the voice or the journalist? There’s a huge difference!

So what’s the moral of the story? You hold a lot of power and don’t know it. You might be getting 20 to 30 hits for a little hobby as host but it only takes one conversation to turn it into hundreds of thousands.
There’s a reason why terrestrial radio has several layers of decision makers to keep the on air talent in line. As a podcaster you are the final decision and if you aren’t in the right mindset it could start the next fire.
This isn’t about getting numbers. This is about a weakening world affected by an uncontrollable virus and people will soon hit a level of believing anything they’re told. What are you putting out there? If you start a battle because of an uneducated opinion or challenge should you be held responsible for the state, national or global reaction? Almost like the person that dropped the hot match onto the extremely dry forest floor.
Are you ready to pay the price?

Pod-Crashing Episode 47:
I once had a program director that constantly reminded us to deal with Radio Reality. He’d begin every conversation saying, “Hey! This is how it really is!” Mike put so much refocus back into my career that I began watching every level of the Broadcast game. Hey! This is how it really is!
Conan O’Brien’s conversation with actor Paul Ruben. The creator of Pee Wee Herman is having a difficult time trying to understand the concept of a podcast. The typical question, “What’s the difference between this and radio?” Conan jumps in to explain only to realize that after a year or so of doing podcasting he still can’t figure out why it’s called a podcast.
I still remember how pouty I was about the name back in 2012. I hated the term podcast. Especially since the age of iPod listening was quickly disappearing. I had just gone through the death of AM stereo and HD Radio. So much energy put into trying to reinvent the wheel only to watch it fizzle like a firecracker on a rain soaked July 4th holiday.
My good friend Nathan Richie was the first to step up and say “If you don’t like calling it a podcast then stop doing it. Start educating your listeners. It’s Listening on Demand.”
Too difficult to say. It needs a dictionary definition to go with it. Besides, when I get a phone call from a promoter about doing conversations with Gordon Lightfoot and Dennis DeYoung telling them I host fourteen Listen on Demands… they literally stop. Then ask, “A what? Do you mean a podcast?”
Hey! This is how it really is! Radio’s Rodeo Clowns can’t come walking up the dusty path and change the barrel racing rules.
When I meet up with new people and tell them I host podcasts it’s pretty much the same act over and over, “Oh! I’ve listened to a podcast once or twice. Was never impressed.” Or the virgin podcast listener’s answer is “I can’t find the time to check into a two hour rant from Joe Rogan. Is Marc Maron really that pissed off at the world?”
I’ve heard all the questions! It’s like being a podcaster turns everything into the six degrees of separation. So many listeners think we’re all in touch with each other. You know hang on the weekend. Free food at Denny’s at 3am. Then it’s back to creating new episodes on Monday.
Hey! This is how it really is! I keep in touch with a lot of podcasters. Everybody needs to be swapping notes and experiences. It’s only going to raise the bar on quality. I’m not saying we should suddenly jump into a pair of Program Director shoes. Oh hell no! The art of being a great podcaster is doing it your way.
I love checking in with new-be’s like Pete Kaliner who’s extremely fresh from the large tower but on fire with podcasting because its keeping his fans and followers locked in on the energy he generated while with a Talk station forced to clean house.
It’s not that I’m babysitting or trying to pull off a Stock Market takeover. We need to create a stronger brother and sisterhood during these extremely early steps of digital vocal dancing. How Pete lays out his political conversations fed by a need to keep it local shouldn’t sound like my conversations with Elizabeth Chelan who’s got new research on how the military is struggling with recruiting volunteers.
Texture is everything. This is how it really is!
Part of growing with your podcast is knowing what to podcast. That’s an extremely tough mountain to climb for many. I mean, here it is! Your own podcast! Got the Zoom L-8, a fancy microphone, sound proofing, great set of cans and and and… so what do you wanna talk about? Just hit record and we can wing it right?
Collaborations are a cool thing but know your game. A couple of great friends want to chum it up on a podcast. I’m always ready for any performance. But I’m a show prep junky. I never drop tracks unless I go into the episode fully prepared. Hey! This is how it really is!
My conversation with Gordon Lightfoot yesterday needed to be an all-out conversation. To get Gordon into that emotional circle of storytelling I didn’t need to sound like I was pulling questions from thin air. Great talk begins with trust. Those receiving your questions will lower their guard when you build your relationship around the thought of a couple of people that happened to cross paths at Starbucks.
Did I invent that? Oh hell no! I study the masters Stern, Rogan, Maron, Ronan Farrow, Bill Burr and the calmest of the smooth talkers Bob Pittman from Math and Magic and iHeart Media.
Hey! This is how it really is! In this age of free form thinking and speaking the squeaky wheel isn’t always going to be the bird that gets the first worm. Part of growing your podcast is know what to podcast. Knowing arrives from experiencing. Not stealing ideas but using your own skills to bring forward a sound inspired or influenced by. Conan O’Brien does a brilliant job with long form famous people talk. What kind of nightmare did he go through developing that style? He’s a television guy who was barely given six to eight minutes with his guys. Now he’s getting over and hour with Pee Wee Herman?
I’d love to see how Stern would handle a conversation after the producer on the other side says, “You’re out time is 10:09.” And the clock in front of you says its 10:06. I’ve only turned down one interview during a moment like that. I honestly said, “I love and respect this actor so much that being with him for only three minutes shows a disrespect for his presence as an artist. The universe will unite us again a different day.”
I’ve done my fair share of itty bitty teeny weanie talks and had to rely on my producing skills to create an episode that wouldn’t make the listener feel like I just wasted their time. I’m not Entertainment Tonight where they billboard that coming up next so and so and he and she and when the story lands it was only 30 seconds in length.
Hey! This is how it really is!
Alright it’s time for me to reach out to Dennis DeYoung. He’s teamed up with Julian Lennon and Jim Peterik both of whom are huge conversationalists with a solid value at bringing forward the story and experience. Two days of prep has gone into this project. My friend Allan asked if I’d go anywhere near the history of Styx. No… No need. There’s a lot more to talk about than living in the past.
So what’s the moral of the story? There’s no greater feeling then watching your analytics grow. When advertisers start researching your episodes the process gets even more exciting. Building an episode is like creating a craft beer. If you ain’t making what the bar can sell… that stack of BBQ’ed ribs are gonna sit on that grill all night. I learned that from a club owner in the 1990’s. He told me to stop playing love songs. It doesn’t sell whiskey. Tired sweaty dancers buy it up.

Pod-Crashing Episode 46 The Forecast
In a letter to a business requesting information about my podcast, I forecast that by 2022 big companies would have their own podcasting departments. Not for entertainment but for content and connection. A valuable resource to help lift company websites and email blasts. To use the podcast as the tool but done so in a way that doesn’t push people away. That means hiring a professional. Someone with experience. Who doesn’t just talk about it but lives it.
That’s exactly what my vision was in 2012 at the start of this podcast adventure. I had been a production and image director since the early 90’s and literally jolted with excitement when Chevy announced that their new cars would feature Wi-Fi capability.
Having that power would give listeners even more choices. Why would I fork out money for satellite radio or wait for terrestrial radio to play my favorite song when Listening on the Demand was about to be introduced?
The problem for me wasn’t going to be locating podcasts to bring into my car but rather trying to generate the space to host an outlet for clients, sales and service. Yep. I went with the people linked to the green.
I mean come on! Here was this new platform that gave companies more than a 30 or 60 second commercial! They could take more time to physically talk about their product without sounding like they’re selling something.
I couldn’t get one radio sale person to budge. I mean they’d sit and listen to my passion to get to this next path. But I couldn’t latch onto a support group. I was a sick puppy.
This was a new way to say, “We are one of you.” Without pushing that you’re family owned and operated, been business 89 years, buy now and get two free and hey trust us!
I didn’t want that. Cuz I know podcast listeners are smart. They can sniff out a fake conversation the second it starts. Their next move is to hit the next exit.
I needed to do some research. I started with talking to any artist willing to leap onto what pretty much looked like a hobby. I knew they had a product to sell. Music, books, movies. I got it. Sell your product here without sounding like it. Oh I know! I’ll get a bunch of famous people interviews then invite advertisers to bring their message on board. Two birds! One stone!
My interviews weren’t about the history of the guest. Anyone can Google that. I needed to show interest in where they presently stood. I believe that’s where advertisers make their connection. They know the product. Listeners will purchase it based on how confident the conversation is without saying buy buy buy.
This is the very reason why I created the podcast On The Corner Of Walk And Don’t Walk. I was talking with everyone. A man on a mission. I needed to learn how to develop at atmosphere where any demographic could be tap into.
This podcast features episodes with doctors from The Mayo Clinic, Home Depot, auto factories such as Ford and Chevy, Bumble, Etsy and more.
Eight years into this formatic foundation clients now hire me to help them not only build their podcast platform but to execute it by way of social media. Making videos isn’t enough. Which makes me laugh because making a podcast isn’t enough. Developing a relationship with advertisers and companies isn’t about buying on a mentioned episode. I bring podcasts to life by putting the listener in the front seat with the client. And then it happens. A conversation is born. In a digital way. But it’s there!
Companies hosting their own podcasts is an experience their present and future clients can participate with. Inviting experts to the microphone. Bring real people who’ve purchased the product to the studio. Talk with those who haven’t tried the product out. The playing field is wide open.
A connected business will become seven to fourteen minute episodes released twice a week or more. A brilliant way to reach a listening audience that probably had no clue your company existed.
Don’t treat your business podcast like a daytime talk show. One subject at a time shared in a story format. Always forward motion. No fancy show open. No special effects. One on one conversations created to keep the attention of him or her tuning in. By not taking advantage of their time, it’s pretty much an automatic that they’ll listen to another episode.
Post production and delivery are huge stars here. Quality starts step one. In production everything planned, performed and produce comes together as a single story.
If you treat your business podcast like a podcast not only will you get burned out but so will listeners. If there are seven different ways to say a single sentence, the same is true about each individual product. Keep your podcast fresh and always shoot for long term projects. Reaching a top notch conversation doesn’t require an interview process. Set the pace and invite the experience.
So what’s the moral of the story? Most people are convinced the money in podcasting is in the sponsorships. It's how you take your podcasting skills to a company to help them build their fan base. As company podcasts continue to grow so will the need to add another body to the employee roster.
Look at the web. Study the videos. Businesses come with a lot of information that means nothing to millions of consumers. With proper discipline and delivery your podcast episodes will put you out there without sounding like you’re begging for a pot of gold.

Pod-Crashing Episode 45: On The Road
Taking your podcast out on the road truly is far from being an original concept. NPR mastered that magic trick decades before well edited blogs evolved into a vocal approach. Look at what CBS was doing with Charles Kuralt. Even Stern got into the action with his birthday bash and on the spot reporting that usually featured a huge guest list.
We can’t leave out terrestrial radio who’s always tried to play street games of the everyday world at sporting events, news conferences, live on location remotes to promote a business and I’ll never forget taking a microphone to backyard parties, weekend blowouts and other gatherings just to get real sounds for promos, sweepers and other local features that made us come across as connected.
When I first got into podcasting in 2012 the idea of leaping outside the warmth and comfort of the studio is a distant thought. I wanted to have complete control. Giant buses and trash trucks crashing against metal didn’t need to be part of the one on one conversations being planted on the digital platform.
Then May 11, 2014 I took note of a large group of people gathering outside the historic Park Terrace Movie Theater. There wasn’t anything new out. Had there been a crime? It turns out the theater was celebrating its 50th anniversary. Part of the celebrating was digging up a time capsule. (((sound bite)))
Nobody knew what was inside. I instantly went live on Spreaker which was hooked up to the iHeart Radio podcast Unplugged and Totally Uncut. (((sound bite)))
I did seven live breaks from Park Terrace. All of which drew a very large global listening audience. The experience opened the door for me to take the system to the infield of Charlotte Motor Speedway. (((sound bite)))
I honestly didn’t know what I was doing except screwing around with a new tool from the shed. I’m a bare to the bone roots driven hardcore terrestrial radio guy that wanted to feel that energy created by being live. Once again the numbers proved to be in the winning circle.
One problem. Podcasting wasn’t going to serve me or clients in the way radio and television had already seized with a call to action. That’s when advertisers can tell you how you can save money right now. But wait! There’s more! Radio sales people sat down with me and asked client questions. How will a Charlotte business serve a Denver Colorado listening audience? By the time listeners truly caught up with the Charlotte Motor Speedway podcast the winner had been crowned two weeks ago.
I wasn’t going to quit the live concept. There was something in my approach. It didn’t sound like I was sitting in cold lonely production room. So I took the conversations to the patio at Panera Bread. I invited guest hosts where we collaborated in gaining valuable content from people like Dennis Quaid (((sound bite))) Hec even Mike Nesmith of the Monkeys (((sound bite)))
I also created an Actors Studio style episode process where future Broadcasters and I recorded a huge amount of artists on the move. Nobody seemed bothered by it until a producer on their side said it caught them off guard that I was not inside a sound proof arena of fun. Then I did one during an unexpected invasion of children ran into my podcast area and that’s all we heard. Until you got into post production and the person being interviewed sounded perfectly fine. Only because I left right my channels. I’m on the right. They’re on the left. When it doesn’t sound right I re-record the question.
Now that I’ve added the Zoom L-8 to my fun little things to play with, it increases my reasons for wanting to be even further away from the studio. So much so I quickly reached out to tour promoters and managers about doing podcasts from the green room or just off the stage. It took no time for them to bite into the picture. Fans and followers want to be taken somewhere. As podcasters we can move in any direction and be prepared for the worst.
Like Gilbert Godfrey totally disappearing off the microphone. (((sound bite)))
Even Marc Maron has bad days and when those situations unfold you’ve gotta keep the show locked on forward motion.
So what’s the moral of the story? Podcasting is about being present. No matter where you’re standing or drawing mental pictures take the extra step and see if you can leave those you’ve invited as guests in their own environment. Guests coming to my studio turns them into worry warts. In the most recent Podcast Magazine publication Katy Couric touches on that subject. If doing interviews on camera people are horrified of how they may look but with podcasting those involved are totally unseen. Which invites people to drop their guard and get into the moment. It gets even better when you take the equipment to their safe zone. Best conversations every time.

Pod-Crashing Episode 44 Who Is Your Audience

Throughout my forty one years of terrestrial radio, knowing who your radio listener is has always been a huge part of the connection puzzle.
I always saw it as a game of Let’s Pretend. We are reaching our targeted audience of let’s say 25 to 45 year old women. Research shows this is who and how you should be directing every talk break. Do all you can not to step away from this person.
I still remember how we handled it at my last radio station. They actually created a book and a name for this invisible person. Everything was listed. Her favorite car, book, movie, soft drink and magazine. The only thing they didn’t cover was her sex life. Which I always thought was odd because most morning radio shows were open to the subject.
I’ve been doing this podcasting thing for eight years. I’ve never put any thought into who I’m trying to reach. I have disciplined myself to be organic. To be present and have a purpose. I know there’s someone on the other side of the speaker but to physically lay out a targeted audience puts the episodes in a shadowed area of being too niche and not open to every age and generation.
I was with Jamie Mustard the other day. He’s a branding genius. His first words were “Your podcast is everywhere. You’ll talk about any subject and anyone with an idea. You don’t focus on just one thing. That’s why I like listening to your episodes. I’m not going to get the same story.”
I look at every episode with an open view. On any given day a 16 year old boy or girl in 2020 just discovered Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones.
To put an age limit on who I’m directing my talk toward totally shuts out anyone willing to step in for 30 seconds or seven minutes.
That’s right. I said willing. I feel blessed that anyone would take the time to show up. I was shocked when a Facebook post passed one of my episodes forward. He said, “Arroe is sage with the lessons he teaches.” Sage? Oh God I pissed someone off. I had to Google it then go back and listen to the Episode from the Podcast called Poetic Elevation The Choice.
I don’t put these episodes on a global front. It’s about God, religion, Spirituality and motivation. Not everybody supports any of these platforms. So I allow the strength of the message to make its own waves.
The targeted audience is anyone seeking a moment of holy shit he’s talking about me. All of this changed a couple of years ago when a long list of creative people in music, movies books and culinary found reason to take their lives. I was deeply injured. Here is this platform and I’m doing nothing to help the creative hiders on the planet. Those who have the gift to be creative but not the personal umph to push their art onto the streets of everyday.
I had to be a different kind of broadcaster. Open my daily writing journals and start speaking the truth about what it’s like to endlessly lay awake at night with ideas and then bringing them to life during the day light only to fall flat on getting support. A creative life isn’t a choice. It’s a monster. I call it an addiction. So I created a podcast that addresses that issue and iHeart Radio leaped all over it.
When it comes to the journals I have one rule: have the guts to enter any conversation not as a Christian but rather a Creative.
I’ve lost a huge chunk of my religious followers. It was time to develop a different connection and I had to be faith filled not faithful to do it. The Spreaker platform is pretty healthy when it comes to providing analytics. What I hate are the moments I hit demographics and it just doesn’t agree with what I’m trying to accomplish.
Men 25 to 44. Where are the women listeners? Forty one years of adult contemporary radio training and the podcast is drawing them in. A good friend. A female told me that it’s because I’m not talking about motherhood, sex, wine and other alcohol and even more sex.
And I won’t. I’m not Dr Ruth. But I love how she located a path to connect with both men and women. She doesn’t fear being real. Sometimes I feel that way when reading from the journals. I do have those days though when being authentic is the toughest part of the journey. I stop. Re-read the journal entry and then give it to a higher energy.
We all face daily fears, hatred, guilt and yes even greed. My goals of building a following aren’t to fix anyone. Just relate. To be present.
Podcasting is still extremely early in its march forward. To say that you’re looking for a particular audience truly cuts your attempt at reaching out to a hit or miss. It reminds me of the conversation I had with Laurens Grant. She’s the creator of the documentary Black in Space. It’s about the first African American astronauts.
She could’ve easily said I only want to focus on a certain demographic. She chose to make it wide open for all to learn something then turn it into a teaching tool for tomorrow’s space travelers.
Three weeks ago I got hooked in to listening to the podcast Slow Burn. I’m a Marc Maron and Joe Rogan follower. To participate with the history of Watergate. Ronan Farrow got me seriously hooked on documentary style storytelling. Journalism has hit a new high and its paying off. I have a feeling though they weren’t sitting around a large table thinking, “Who is this for? Can we land high numbers in the male 50 to 65 year bracket? He has to have long dark hair, drive a Ford pickup, loves his dog, nature and must be able to learn from so much lost information.
So what’s the moral of the story? Stop wasting precious time trying to figure out who your targeted audience is. In a few moments I’m gonna be talking with Daryl Hall from Hall and Oates. He has a story. My goal is to share it with every demographic including the 9 year olds in the back of the car listening to a podcast their parents happened to log into.
Here’s why I do what I do. Russ from the early 70’s Rock band The Association said these very words, “I had to write this book. Everything that’s ever been written about me has been wrong!”