Mike Murphy Unplugged

Episode Summary: A full walkthrough of Mike's Instagram and Instagram Stories workflow and strategy — why daily content, the exact production steps, and the case for why more creators and businesses should be using it.

What You'll Learn

• Instagram usage and business-adoption stats as of 2017
• Mike's exact 6-step daily video workflow, from topic to AirDrop upload
• Why daily video-making started as a way to discover strengths and weaknesses
• The full morning routine and Instagram Stories rhythm behind the consistency

Follow along: @mikeunplugged on Instagram.

Instagram Facts & Figures (2017)

Source: Sprout Social. In 2016, Instagram had 300 million active users; by January 2017 (Episode 71: The Instagram Live Show), that had grown to 600 million; by this episode, over 700 million. On the business side, 70% of US businesses were using Instagram (8 million business profiles), up from 48% (1.5 million profiles) in 2016. Mobile ad revenue hit $4 billion in 2017, with 25% of all ads being video. Instagram Stories had 250 million active daily users. On Facebook, 85% of ads were watched without sound — a strong argument for captions and text overlays. Favorite stat: roughly 50% of Instagram text contains emojis.

Tip #1: mobile content matters — audit your website and always be thinking about what people will actually consume on a phone.

Why Instagram Is the Favorite Channel

Design, photography, video, and creative people cluster there, and visual creativity is genuinely inspiring to be surrounded by. As of this episode: at least one piece of hand-made content uploaded to Instagram for 693 days straight, including 290 consecutive days of one video per day since November 1, 2016 — and essentially no missed days on Instagram Stories since its release.

Why Make Daily Videos?

It started as a way to discover strengths and weaknesses and get genuinely good at making videos, tutorials, and teaching. Building a real personal brand and business takes skill and consistent effort — daily practice is simply the fastest way to get there, and the learning never really stops.

Daily Workflow & Routine

Each video typically takes 1–3 hours.

Topic — something tied to content creation, personal branding, podcasting, or a tool that's genuinely useful. Record & edit — Camtasia and ScreenFlow for screen recording (computer and iOS), plus a Logitech C920 for webcam footage and simple b-roll. Adobe Draw — hand-drawn icons or logos when needed, using an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil. Thumbnails — created in Photoshop, both square and horizontal formats. Write the description — a step-by-step writeup in Apple Notes (syncs instantly across devices). Tip: always write real descriptions with hashtags, keywords, and emojis for SEO. AirDrop to iPhone — for the final upload to Instagram.

Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.

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Episode Summary: Tips and strategies for building your own public relations department — how to prepare for podcast interviews and livestream appearances, craft your story, build a media kit, and actually deliver value as a guest.

What You'll Learn

• Why being your own PR firm means treating every post, tweet, and comment as brand representation
• How to prepare to be a great podcast or livestream guest: story, media kit, and delivering value
• What to include in a personal media kit, and why a Pretty Link makes it easy to share
• Why consistent story and language across appearances helps people remember you

Inspiration for this episode: a growing number of inquiries to collaborate with other businesses and appear as a guest on podcasts and livestreams.

Mike Murphy, LLC

The business is centered entirely on the personal brand — there's genuinely no separation. Every Facebook comment, tweet, Instagram post, podcast episode, and YouTube tutorial, personal or business-related, represents the brand. In practice, that means being your own public relations firm.

What PR actually means: spreading information to the public, listeners, and followers — for free. The goal is raising awareness and building a positive image so people get to know and like you or your business. PR isn't direct marketing or selling; it's about painting the picture and telling the story in a way that earns the attention of the audience worth serving.

Mike Murphy LLC's "PR firm" in practice: a weekly podcast, daily tutorials, articles on Medium, social media engagement, and daily Instagram Stories content.

PR Strategies

Being a guest on other podcasts and livestreams — a direct way to gain exposure in front of an audience that doesn't yet know you.

Preparing to Be a Guest

Craft and practice your story. Use the same words and framing across every appearance, tailoring only slightly as needed — consistency is what makes people remember you. Tip: an assessment like StrengthsFinder 2.0 can surface language worth building directly into your own branding, since the results tend to describe exactly who you are.

Create a media kit. Think of it as a cheat sheet for the host — everything they need to introduce you properly and build a blog post or social posts around the appearance.

What Goes in a Media Kit

• A 2-page Google Doc PDF (who you are, what you do, tagline, website and social URLs with handles)
• 3 images (square and wide headshots, plus podcast cover art)

Tip: host everything in Dropbox or on your WordPress site, and create a Pretty Link — a short, memorable URL for sharing (e.g. mikemurphy.co/headshots).

Delivering Value

A host invited you on their show to make them and their audience look good — deliver real value, whatever your specialty is. Double down here, and the payoff is real: new listeners, the…

Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.

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Episode Summary: A milestone reflection on 100 episodes of Mike Murphy Unplugged — favorite and least favorite episodes, the most-downloaded show, what podcasting has given back, and the lessons learned along the way, capped with 100 favorite quotes.

What You'll Learn

• Mike's favorite and least favorite episodes from the first 100, and which one hit 1,000+ downloads
• What Mike loves and doesn't love about podcasting after nearly 2 years of doing it weekly
• The real lessons learned: podcasting made him rich in skills and connections, not money
• 100 favorite quotes collected for the milestone newsletter issue

Episode 100

Launch date: Mike Murphy Unplugged went live on iTunes Friday, September 25, 2015. Why it started: simply to help figure things out personally, and to create an outlet for teaching and sharing the topics worth learning about. Teaching and documenting the process of building an online business and brand was always going to help find a real voice while inspiring anyone else trying to do the same — a genuine win-win.

Schedule: every Friday at 12:15am, with the newsletter following at 6:00am.

Side tip: show up. Listeners build a podcast into their routine — honor that.

Favorite Episodes

• Episode 1: About Mike — worked hard on it and it turned out well.
• Episode 17, 18 & 70 — the Roadmap Shows, which forced real thinking about business and goals.
• Episode 56: The Adobe Audition Show — mostly because Durin Gleaves, the head of Audition at Adobe, emailed to say the whole team listened.
• Episodes 57 & 58 — the Audio 101 Shows, which simplified audio terminology for anyone too embarrassed to ask the basics.
• The mobile podcasting shows (48, 50, 52) — recorded from a nude beach under the Golden Gate Bridge, a Naples beach, and the Everglades. Pure fun pushing gear and tech to its limits, and hopefully motivating for anyone intimidated by mobile recording.
• Episode 94: The Dead Show — just a genuinely happy one to make.

Least Favorite: Hardware-Heavy Episodes

• Episode 10: The Microphone Show
• Episode 41: The Hardware Show

Most Downloaded Episode

Episode 83: The Personal Brand Show (Part 2) — the only episode to break 1,000 downloads.

Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.

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Episode Summary: A behind-the-scenes look at the real financials of Mike Murphy Unplugged — what it cost to start the podcast, and what it costs to keep it running week after week.

What You'll Learn

• The real dollar breakdown of Mike's full studio podcast setup: $942
• Monthly recurring software and hosting costs: $83/month
• A mobile recording kit built for $500, and a beginner studio kit for $486
• Mike's buying philosophy: simple, reputable, and reliable over expensive or feature-heavy

Buying Philosophy

The goal is always the best quality affordable, not the most expensive thing possible. Gear with a good reputation, a simple design, and a track record of just working — not bells and whistles — wins every time.

Studio Podcast Setup

• Shure SM7B — $349
• Cloudlifter CL1-A Gain Booster — $150
• Rode PSA-1 Boom Arm — $99
• Allen & Heath ZED 10 Mixer — $249
• Canare 5' XLR Cables — $20
• Sony MDR-7506 Headphones — $75

Total: $942

Software & Web Tools

• Scrivener (for writing scripts) — $50
• ID3 Tag Editor — $15

Total: $65

Recurring Monthly Fees

• Adobe Creative Cloud — $50/month
• Libsyn podcast hosting — $15/month
• Spreaker podcast directory — $5/month
• Bluehost web hosting — $13/month

Total: $83/month

Mobile Kit

• Audio-Technica ATR2100 USB Mic — $60
• Shure SM58 — $0 (already owned, well past its cost-recovery point)
• Apple USB3/Lightning Kit — $39
• Zoom H6 Recorder — $400

Mobile kit total: $500 (excludes the iPad Pro or iPhone itself)

Beginner Studio Kit

Audio-Technica ATR2100 — $69 Rode PSA-1 Boom Arm — $99 On-Stage MY-420 Shockmount — $29 Shure Wind Foam — $5 Focusrite 2i2 Audio Interface (2nd Gen) — $150 Canare 5' XLR Cables — $20 Sony MDR-7506 Headphones — $75 Apple USB3/Lightning Kit (optional, for iOS recording) — $39

Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.

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Episode Summary: A full inventory of the gear, Mac software, and iOS apps behind every video Mike makes — camera and audio hardware, the editing stack, and where the music comes from.

What You'll Learn

• The 4 main types of video Mike makes: quick tips, gear demos, marketing animations, and vlogs
• The full hardware kit: cameras, mics, lights, tripods, and power
• The complete Mac software and Adobe Creative Cloud stack used for editing
• iOS apps and music/soundtrack sources, free and paid

The most common questions received: what's the favorite tool for making videos, and what software gets used to edit them? The honest answer — an array of gear and programs across Mac and iPhone, chosen based on what each specific video actually needs. Keeping things simple is always the goal, but there's genuinely a lot that goes into video production.

Follow along: Instagram @mikeunplugged, YouTube, and the full gear list on Kit.

The 4 Main Types of Video

• Daily quick tips & tutorials — posted daily to Instagram and YouTube.
• Gear & how-to videos — demos and "Podshed" style walkthroughs.
• Animations for marketing & products — weekly podcast promos, the holiday gift guide, and product videos for items like t-shirts and social ads.
• Vlog & on-location videos — Instagram Stories–driven promo content.

Gear Used

Computer/devices: MacBook Pro, iPhone 6 or iPad Pro 9.7". Webcam: Logitech C920. Microphone: Shure SM7B, mounted on a Heil Mini Boom Arm or a Manfrotto friction arm to keep it above eye level and off the desk. Lighting: iKan LED light (main), iKan Piatto LED light (fill). Camera: Canon T5i. Field audio: Rode VideoMicro, Rodelink Filmmaker Kit lavalier mic, Zoom H6, Rode NTG3 shotgun mic. Tripods & stabilizers: MeFoto DayTrip (DSLR), Joby GorillaPod, Manfrotto Pixi Mini, MeFoto Sidekick 360 (iPhone), DJI Osmo. Power: Eneloop AA rechargeable batteries, Anker portable chargers (large / small).

Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.

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Episode Summary: A behind-the-scenes look at making the "One Man Band: Create the Life You Want" promo video — the idea behind it, the 2-day shoot, and whether it hit the mark.

What You'll Learn

• What "One Man Band" means as a personal brand identity
• The goal behind the One Man Band: Create the Life You Want promo video
• A 2-day shoot breakdown: sunrise setup, sunset drone and Glidecam work, plus b-roll days
• The post-production stack used to finish it: Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Artlist.io

What Does "One Man Band" Mean?

Someone multifaceted, unafraid to carve their own path — self-motivated, resourceful, and not reliant on anyone else to get things done. A person on a mission, achieving what they want without waiting on others.

The Goal of the Video

A promotional video for Mike Murphy LLC, aimed at potential clients and brands, and a proper introduction for anyone visiting the website or discovering the content for the first time. The intent: come across as a podcaster and tech guy, creative and a little different, hardworking, with a genuinely positive message. Simple in concept, harder in execution.

How the Video Was Made

Day 1 (sunrise): the One Man Band microphone stand, a Canon T5i DSLR, a GoPro Hero 4, and an iPhone 6 all set up together, with Andrew Budz operating the drone.

Day 2 (sunset): a bike ride shot with a DJI Osmo and iPhone 6, with Andrew on a Vespa running a Glidecam and drone simultaneously — an ambitious, slightly chaotic setup.

Multiple days: additional b-roll shooting.

Post-production: Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects, with music from Artlist.io.

Was It Worth It?

Yes. As a creative, there's always some self-doubt when the finished product doesn't perfectly match what was pictured going in — but the final video landed well, mostly because it genuinely conveyed the tone and inspiration it set out to deliver.

Show Notes & Links

• Andrew Budz (Instagram)
• DJI Osmo
• Artlist.io

Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.

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Episode Summary: A mid-year, behind-the-scenes look at the 5 ways video powers Mike Murphy LLC today, and the strategy and focus for video through the second half of 2017.

What You'll Learn

• The 5 categories video serves for Mike Murphy LLC: branding, promotion, education, marketing, revenue
• What's currently being made in each category, and the mobile gear used to make it
• The moving-forward plan for each category through the rest of 2017
• Why podcast promo teasers get repurposed across every channel, not just posted once

Technology and trends move fast, so this episode is a mid-year check-in on the video strategy — shared to help you better promote your own podcast, personal brand, and business.

The 5 Main Ways Video Gets Used

Personal branding, podcast promotion, education, advertising & marketing, and revenue generation.

Personal Branding

The core of the business — building around a name and a person. Podcasting/audio and video remain the two most intimate, effective ways to promote a personal brand.

Currently making: Instagram Stories, Facebook & Instagram Live, and daily quick tips on YouTube.

Mobile tools used: DJI Osmo, Manfrotto Pixi Tripod, MeFoto Sidekick 360, Rode VideoMicro, Manfrotto Lumimuse LED light.

Moving forward: more documentary and vlogging-style content.

Podcast Promotion

Currently making: a weekly teaser video built in Adobe After Effects for each episode, shared across the website, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Medium. Side tip: always link back to the actual episode.

Moving forward: break each episode into bite-sized clips instead of one single teaser, to generate more interest per episode.

Education

Tutorial videos that go deeper than the daily quick tips.

Currently making: daily quick tips, plus product demos and tutorials.

Moving forward: more gear and product demos aimed specifically at podcasters and content creators.

Advertising & Marketing

Direct marketing through video ads.

Currently making: boosted Facebook and Instagram ads and promos, aimed at reaching a larger audience.

Moving forward: more promo videos advertising the podcast, website, and channels to build broader buzz.

Revenue Generation

Currently making: a couple of animated tool videos for local businesses, plus promo videos for t-shirt designs.

Moving forward: more products aimed at podcasters and creators, each promoted with its own branded video.

Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.

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Episode Summary: Peace-of-mind travel and remote work — the pre-trip prep, content creation strategy, gear kit, and post-trip routine behind traveling while still running an online business.

What You'll Learn

• A pre-trip checklist for backing up digital assets and batching content before you leave
• 6 types of content that work well while traveling, from daily vlogs to livestreams
• The full travel camera, audio, and power gear kit Mike packs for every trip
• A 4-step post-trip routine for turning travel footage into finished content fast

Recorded after a trip to Boston, with more travel planned for the summer — peace-of-mind travel and remote work is the long-term goal for Mike Murphy LLC.

Part 1: Pre-Trip Planning

Planning tools: an old-school clipboard for a running to-do list, Google Calendar for travel times and commitments, email for client communication, and the Wallet app for boarding passes.

Tip 1 — build a Google Drive travel folder. A master "Travel" folder with sub-folders per trip: photos of license, passport, insurance card, and every credit card's support number. Losing a wallet is bad enough without also having to remember what was in it — a 30-second inventory saves a lot of time later. 1Password stores card numbers as a password manager. A blank Google Doc collects content ideas and trip notes for future Medium articles or Stories.

Tip 2 — external drives and cloud storage. LaCie Rugged Drives for travel storage, backed by Google Drive, Adobe Creative Cloud Libraries, Dropbox, and iCloud Drive. Logos, brand graphics, and podcast production files (artwork, intro/outro music) all live here so everything's accessible from any device, anywhere.

Tip 3 — create and batch content in advance. Look at the calendar well ahead of the trip and build content for each day, with buffer days before and after. Schedule podcast episodes through WordPress or the media host, newsletters in MailChimp, and posts for YouTube, Facebook, and Medium. Stage Instagram content directly on the phone. Do all of it before leaving — livestreaming and Instagram Stories are the easy parts to save for the trip itself.

Tip 4 — clean up iPhone/iPad storage. Free up as much space as possible: empty the camera roll entirely, back it up to a computer first. Adobe Lightroom handles the organizing.

Tip 5 — gear prep. Format memory cards for camera, GoPro, and Zoom recorder well ahead of time, pull the travel bag out early, and get rechargeable batteries fully charged.

Part 2: Creating Content While Traveling

Start before you leave. Even a rough outline or idea list beats showing up with nothing and hoping to sort it out later — shooting everything and figuring it out on ret…

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Episode Summary: Ten life and business lessons drawn from 30+ years following the Grateful Dead — the core principles behind the Mike Murphy LLC personal brand, and why doing your own thing beats following anyone else's playbook.

What You'll Learn

• 10 core principles behind the Mike Murphy LLC personal brand, drawn from 30+ years following the Grateful Dead
• Why travel and adaptability sit at the center of the brand's values
• How self-sufficiency and uniqueness show up in daily business decisions
• The through-line: give value first, and the business follows

Past episodes on personal branding: Episode 82: The Personal Brand Show (Part 1) and Episode 83: The Personal Brand Show (Part 2).

Video made in Adobe After Effects, with music from Bensound.

10 Principles Behind the Mike Murphy LLC Brand

• Travel is a priority. The ultimate experience and education life has to offer — freedom to explore and travel is the entire reason for being in business independently.
• Self-sufficiency. A one-man band unafraid to try new things, trusting the ability to handle whatever comes up.
• Adaptability. Nimble and quick to pivot — a genuine strength, and one that helps others navigate change too.
• Less is more. The simple things are really all that's needed or wanted.
• Community & relationships. Connection and kindness guide how business gets done — treating people with common courtesy and respect is always the right call.
• Creativity. Never stop making things, and keep pushing personal limits.
• Uniqueness. Drive your own ship. No permission needed to do your own thing.
• Confidence. Trust the gut and the intuition — giving it everything is what leads to success.
• Sharing. Give value to others first; the money and opportunities follow from that, not the other way around.
• Life is good. Don't forget to smile once in a while and enjoy the ride.

Show Notes & Links

• Bensound
• Episode 82: The Personal Brand Show (Part 1)
• Episode 83: The Personal Brand Show (Part 2)

Related Episodes

• Episode 82: The Personal Brand Show (Part 1)
• Episode 83: The Personal Brand Show (Part 2)

Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.

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Episode Summary: A practical follow-up to the Pixels 101 episode — exactly how to size photos and videos for Instagram's main feed and Instagram Stories, file types, aspect ratios, and pixel dimensions included.

What You'll Learn

• What file types and video lengths Instagram accepts, feed vs. Stories
• The exact pixel dimensions for every Instagram post format: square, horizontal, vertical, and Stories
• How Mike's own export settings differ from Instagram's minimums for extra quality headroom
• Why aspect ratio fundamentals from Episode 92 carry directly into Instagram sizing decisions

The Two Sides of Instagram

Instagram Feed — where photos and videos get posted and browsed for accounts you follow. Instagram Stories — similar to Snapchat, with its own size requirements, built for ongoing 24-hour posts.

Past episodes on Instagram: Episode 37: The Instagram Show and Episode 49: The Instagram Stories Show.

What File Types Does Instagram Accept?

Photos: JPEG or PNG. Animated GIFs are not supported — Boomerang from Instagram is the closest alternative. Videos: Instagram accepts a range of formats, but H.264 codec with an .mp4 extension is the safest bet.

Video Length Limits

• Main feed: 60 seconds or less
• Instagram Stories: 10 seconds or less

Aspect Ratios & Dimensions

Builds directly on Episode 92: The Pixels 101 Show — aspect ratio is the width-to-height relationship of a photo or video. The most popular aspect ratio for video is 16:9 (wide), typically 1920×1080px HD. Resolution (measured in PPI) applies to photos, usually 72–96 PPI; PPI isn't a concern for video.

How to Size Photos and Videos for Instagram

Profile image: 1:1 (square). Instagram's recommended size is 160×160px, but any 1:1 image works — Mike uses 1024×1024px (overkill, but Instagram scales it down cleanly).

Square posts: 1:1. Instagram's spec is 1080×1080px at 72 DPI for photos, 1080×1080px H.264 .mp4 for video. Mike's own settings: 2048×2048px at 96 PPI (photos), 1920×1920px H.264 (video).

Horizontal, option 1 (16:9 wide): Instagram's spec is 1920×1080px at 72 DPI (photos) or 1920×1080px / 1280×720px H.264 (video). Mike's settings: 2048×2048px at 96 PPI (photos), 1920×1920px H.264 (video).

Horizontal, option 2 (1.91:1 wide): Instagram/Facebook spec is 1200×630px or 1080×566px for photos and video. Mike's settings: 1800×945px.

Vertical (4:5 portrait): Instagram's spec is 864×1080px or 1080×1350px for photos and video.

Instagram Stories (9:16 tall): 1080×1920px at 72 DPI for photos, 1920×1080px H.264 for video.

Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.

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