Kurt Nelson is one of the hosts of the Behavioral Grooves podcast, a podcast that focuses on behavioral science. They’ve interviewed subject matter experts from all over the world, which is one of Kurt’s favorite things about the podcast – the opportunity to talk to and learn from all kinds of people that probably wouldn’t be available for a chat without the podcast. 

The logistics of interviewing people can be challenging. Because Kurt’s guests are global, there are often scheduling conflicts to be worked out between different time zones, and it’s important to be flexible. As for getting interviewees to come on in the first place, Kurt finds it useful to talk about the specific research of the person he’s inviting on the show and to offer social proof, such as awards they’ve won or other guests they’ve booked. However, Kurt also says that just asking nicely is surprisingly effective. 

If he were asked for advice from new podcasters, he points out that the content won’t have the same impact on listeners if they feel the host is just trying to sell them something. He advises that podcasters choose a subject they have passion for, and that genuine interest will spark interest in others. 

Links: 

Kurt Nelson

Behavioral Grooves

Behavioral Grooves on Twitter

Michael Stein is the host of the podcast Longshot Leaders, which is all about entrepreneurship, personal development, and the stories of people who went from a low point in their lives to a high point. Michael explains that he’s interested in finding the algorithm for this trajectory – what commonalities exist that allow people to go from low points to high points?

Longshot Leaders is only one of Michael’s endeavors, however, He’s getting ready to start two new podcasts. The first, SteinTime, is more of an entertainment podcast. Standup is something that Michael has been doing since the age of 19, and this is a way to reengage with the standup world. The other new podcast, Bulletor, will be a more branded podcast for his product line and will feature outdoor influencers and their adventures. 

Michael says that he would tell his younger self to calm down and take his time if he had the chance. His advice to new podcasters is to prepare, backdate, know when you’re going to start, have banked episodes stored up, don’t skip a day, don’t deviate from your niche, and lastly, keep it super simple. One of his mentors, John Lee Dumas, made the how-to of doing a podcast simple and helped him focus on getting past the fluff to the meat of the matter. 

Links: 

Michael Stein

Longshot Leaders

Mike Konrad’s podcast is an independent show, free of ads and sponsors. He’s not trying to sell anyone anything – in fact, his business model is all about giving and education. He believes that ads and sponsors affect both the content of a show and the way the listeners experience the show. 

Mike thinks of himself as a sales guy, and he started with a much more hardcore sales strategy, then realized that this tactic wasn’t really achieving what he wanted. He had to transition from a sales business model to one that was education based. He explains that he has 120 episodes published now, and it took a year to get to 1000 downloads, but now he’s at about 6000. His is a niche show, so the audience isn’t likely to overtake Joe Rogan, but it is growing and his business is flourishing. 

What makes Mike a good podcast host? He likes to talk to other people, he’s curious, and he likes to learn. Those are all important qualities for a podcast host. Mike believes that creating a quality podcast is easier to do than you might think if you’ve never tried it. The barrier to entry is low, and creating decent production values is very doable. With good production values and quality content, a podcaster will see success over time. 

Links: 

Mike Konrad

Reliability Matters

Sarah Diop wanted to create a book club for readers who were used to the business of life interrupting things like book clubs. That’s why the podcast Book Interrupted was born. The podcast includes a panel of six people who don’t stay strictly on topic, but instead, use the book they’re reading as a jumping-off point for other conversations. 

In fact, one of the things that makes Book Interrupted stand out as far as book clubs go is that it’s on-brand for them to go off-topic, not take themselves too seriously, experiment with different formats, and find themselves laughing and joking during their conversations. One of their missions is to reach and connect women readers, and they’ve succeeded, with a listenership that includes 82 countries.

Book Interrupted has used giveaways and contests to make itself noticed and drive engagement. For a monthly fee, the service Gleam has been an invaluable tool, keeping track of data and promoting their contests. They also lean into their purpose and subjects by giving away items that relate to what they’re doing. For example, their very first giveaway was a Kindle, a great choice for an audience of readers. They’ve also given away items that relate to books they’re reading. Book Interrupted runs giveaways a few times a year and has always seen a spike in engagement from them. 

Links: 

Sarah Diop: Book Interrupted

Castos: The Limelight

Life of Mine is a podcast all about different aspects of Australia’s underground mining industry, presented by somebody who’s in the industry himself. Matt Michael says that the idea for the podcast germinated from visiting the pub after a shift with other miners on a mining site and listening to all the different kinds of stories the other miners shared. He wanted to record those stories, and that became Life of Mine.

Matt says he gets listeners from inside and outside of the mining industry, including people who are outside of the industry but are looking for a job in it. The kinds of stories he features have led him to find out more about different aspects of the business himself. He discusses a series that he did on battery metals that introduced him to people working in a mining fund, and that opened up a whole new side of the business. 

In fact, Life of Mine is about to diverge into two podcasts. Life of Mine will continue to focus on stories from miners and general interest topics about mining. Money of Mine will focus on mining news and mining investment and will also branch into premium analysis and interviews. 

Links: 

Matt Michael: Life of Mine

Castos: The Limelight

PhotoCountry is a podcast that brings you showcases of photographers and inspiration for other photographers. Raj began the show as a pitch for a local radio show, choosing the name for his interest in photography and his love of country music. When COVID put an end to the radio show, his producer suggested that Raj keep doing what he was doing in podcasting form. 

Raj discusses the different kinds of photographers who guest on his show, including a cliff-diving photographer, a street photographer using an old-school camera, and a photographer who uses a unique method to team up with nature to co-create art. He says finding photographers he wants to talk to isn’t difficult, but getting them to come on the show can take convincing. 

Raj’s best advice for both aspiring podcasters and aspiring photographers is to just get started with what you have. Waiting for the next big piece of gear or equipment to come out won’t make you better at it, but doing the thing will. 

Links:

Rajeev Nedumaran: PhotoCountry

Castos: The Limelight

The podcasting world is begging for unique and interesting formats for shows. In this episode we certainly deliver on that with Joe Prata from Roll Play Game.

Joe and Craig talk about the origin stories of his podcast, how he got started, and how he's using the unique format of his show to really stand apart.

Stay tuned til the end where Joe talks about things he wishes he would've done different if he was just starting from scratch today. 

The Limelight is a Castos Originals podcast. Learn more at castos.com/podcasts

Check out Roll Play Games 

In this episode of The Limelight, Craig chats with Aime Austin of A Time To Thrill.

Aime's show is all about showcasing fiction authors. She is a full-time author, and publishes her podcast episodes only monthly. While conventional wisdom may say that publishing episodes every week or every other week is a best practice, you have to know your audience. Aime knows that her podcast listeners are busy professionals, and a monthly publishing cadence fits their listening behavior.

There's an interesting parallel between fiction authors and podcasters. With the huge popularity of genres such as True Crime podcasts, the need for great narrative storytelling has never been more important in the podcasting medium.

Aime and most of the fiction book world continue to utilize Facebook (Meta) ads as a primary way to grow their audience. While this marketing medium was popular in the late 2010s, it's fallen out of favor in some circles. This is a great reminder to continue to re-explore previous marketing channels for your show.

Check out A Time To Thrill by Aime Austin

View other episodes of The Limelight on Castos' YouTube Channel

Learn more about Castos Originals

Thanks for checking out the latest podcast in the Castos Originals series.

Here in The Limelight, we are sharing the aspects of super successful podcasts, and just what makes them tick.

Whether you're a new podcaster or have been podcasting for a while, here every episode we'll have nuggets of information you can take and implement in your own show.