Empowering Independent Podcasters | Launching a Podcast Conference, Mastering Daily Live Streams, and Embracing Imperfection

Welcome back to Digital Creator, Marc. Marc, last time you're on this podcast, it went by a different name. I'm glad to be back on the new version. I'm so glad to have you. I was like, it feels a little overdue. If you don't know who Marc is, check the episode description and just, like, do your research. You're gonna very quickly pick up on, how much of an expert and, wealth of knowledge Marc is. But the 2 main things I wanna talk about with Marc right now is number 1, live event that you put together and then 2, you do a daily live stream that I know so many of us would be really curious how the heck you do that, because if I was to tell someone like, hey. You got to do a daily live stream. That's also gonna be published as a podcast. Every day, they would just feel so much anxiety and overwhelm, and then by day 3 probably be like, what choice did I make to show up here? But you're able to do it, show up on this podcast, live a normal life, put together an event, like you're doing and in the community and clients, all these different things. So clearly, you have a system that works for you. So I want to talk about that. But first, can we talk about this live event? Could you just briefly show what the live event is? Yeah. Sure. It's called Empowered Podcasting. This is well, it's a podcast conference specifically targeted to independent podcasters. So similar to people like you and I, people that are doing it on their own and maybe in some cases either struggling or looking for an edge, looking for something that can help them level up, catapult their podcast to a new level. And, you know, I say it, and as it comes out of my mouth, it does feel a little cliche. Like, I feel like that's kind of the line that you'd hear from a lot of conferences. Maybe not the independent podcaster part, but the rest of it, it feels like that. And I've attended enough of these now over the past, say, 4 or 5 years, and I have so much respect for the people that are putting those on. I also noticed that there are things that I don't like about some of those conferences and there are things that I do like about the conferences. And I felt like there are there were opportunities missed, and I wanted to take advantage of that. And I feel like sometimes when I go to those conventions, I feel a little bit out of place or I feel a little left out or I feel like there are these established circles of people who've been attending these conferences for so long that they've become good friends, and sometimes I feel like I'm a little bit on the outside looking in. And that can be within that community. It could be also in some cases, I've noticed if you're not in with the coordinators, then it's maybe a little more challenging to get that speaking spot. Right? So I wanted to create something for myself, really. Like, that's why I got into podcasting when I feel like either I am a little out of place or when I feel like I could do something even better, that's usually the recipe that gets me motivated to go out and put on something like this. And then, of course, I wouldn't be able to do it by myself. Our mutual friend, Lloyd George, reached out to me and said, hey. I want you Lloyd George. Yeah. Shout out, Lloyd. Shout out to Lloyd. And he reached out to me because he was thinking about doing the same thing and recognizing he couldn't do it on his own. And so asked me if I'd wanna join forces with him. And I said, why not? So he and I and along with a committee of people decided, let's figure out what can make us different and what can make this event exciting. So we wanna make this something that's more, relatable to the independent podcaster. How do you manage all of these things you wanna do that Lloyd comes up with? Maybe because this would be a great idea, like, how do you how do you manage all of it? For me, it's first putting the right people in place because I'm actually kind of the reverse of what you just described. I'm the big idea guy. I always have these big grand ideas. And then being the guy also with ADHD, then to execute those becomes an even bigger challenge. So those details are what discourages me. So having the right team in place and having somebody like Lloyd who is a logistics guy coming from a project management background, he really pays attention to those details, which is why I think he and I work so well together because I could share the vision, and then he helps execute it along with people. We we've got, you know, Simona, and I think you've even maybe had her on your show. Dominic Lawson, who is a multi award winning podcaster. I'm finding people that really want to see something like this come to life and are excited about those details that I tend not to be. I look at it as having it easy. I know some people think coming up with big ideas is the hard part. For me, it's the reverse. So, yeah, having the right people in place has been a gold mine for me. When I saw that you were planning it, I'm like, oh, this is far enough in advance. This is good. Because sometimes, you know, you have a big idea and we'll do this next month, and it's like, what? And I that I often wanna do it that way when I get the idea. I want it tomorrow. Right? Yeah. And that one look. I have no idea really if the timing was the best in the sense that did we give ourselves enough time. Looking back now with only a few weeks to go, I think it would have been helpful to have more time, maybe start talking about it, planning it a year in advance as opposed to I think we gave ourselves, like, 6 months or so. I think the number one lesson for me that I learned as far as not having enough time is I don't think I had enough time to really promote the event. We're so busy with all the moving parts of the logistics, the hotel, the parties, the different the 30 different speakers. All these different parts are really challenging. I know I'm preaching the choir and I know you know this, but you can't get the second one without the first one, you know. Right. Yeah. I remember, the client I did a bunch of events. I had no background training in any of that stuff. It was just like trial and error and a lot of error and Yeah. More error than than anyone wanted. But it was, like, as long as we could kind of keep improving and I'll never forget, like, a few years into it. I don't know if it was the book traction or it might have just been from like the scrum methodology, which you might be familiar with. Yeah. I know that. Well, I've I know of it. Yes. Yeah. It might be similar things. So after we did the event, we just had a quick little huddle and we were like, what worked? What didn't work? And like, what can improve for next time. And we went years without doing that. And it was like trying to remember all these details. But what we did was just open up a Notion doc, type that in and it was, like, how did we remember anything? Because there were just little details that we captured during the event. Sometimes it was just, like, just write it down, don't analyze it and then going back, like, at the end to make sure we didn't miss anything made it so much easier for the next time we were, like, oh, yes. People couldn't figure out where to apply or we chain we didn't connect the Google Sheet to the type form in time. You know, these, like, little things that you just fix in the moment and we wrote them down when they would happen, but then at the end, we would just talk about them. Not like, you did this or you did that. It was literally just documenting them. No Yeah. No assigning. When I tell you the simplicity of it, but the stress it relieved and then it was like COVID hit and then we didn't. We stopped doing it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But I love that approach And I feel like it's one that I wanna now start preaching to other podcasters about podcasting. That idea of, like you said, write it down, don't analyze it. That second part of that sentence is so huge because that's often what'll happen is you write it down and then you sit and fester in it for a while. And then that brings you down with everything else you're doing. So just to take that minute, just to write it down. Okay. This didn't work and just shove it away, put it back where it was, and keep going. And then being able to come back to it later with a more objective eye, I think that's brilliant. When's the event date? It's, June 28th through 30th, and that's in Charlotte. Charlotte. And where can people go? Yeah. They can check it out at empowered podcasting.com. That's a dot com folks. You heard it here. That's not a dotc0. That's not a dotnet. That's not a dotio. It's not a dotso. It's the real deal. That's how you know it's official. That's right. And you know what? I'm gonna tell you and your audience specifically, for a limited time, we are actually giving away some free tickets. We're doing a bit of a flash sale. So when you go to empowered podcasting.com, check out and apply the promo code VIP, that will give you the ticket for$1. Sick. Thank you. Yeah. On behalf of everyone listening that can make it. Thank you, Marc. That is Yeah. Super generous. Let's hop into this next thing. So live stream. So can you just briefly share about this thing that you do? Yeah. So I've been doing a livestream now daily Monday through Friday, for two and a half years about. Just about two and a half years. And it's all about podcasting. It's all for podcasters. We talk about everything under the sun that affects us as podcasters from learning how to start 1, to grow 1, to monetize and it's really a community based effort. So, yes, I am the host. I am the lead, and I I've got multiple people who join me on stage regularly that helps pour into the community and helps by sharing their experiences and especially in their specific areas of expertise. So, you know, we have some people that are very social media focused. We have some people that are podcaster focused. And the reason why I did it, I started to do it every day was just because I had previously done been a part of a live stream. We still use Clubhouse, and that's what I was using prior to starting the podcasting morning chat. And we were doing that every day. And quite frankly, when I stopped doing the the original one before the morning chat, I was feeling a void. I liked that sense of starting my day with a group of like minded people that are looking to grow. Right? That that original room I was a part of was more personal development focused. This is more podcaster focused, and I really loved having a sense of community and a group of people I could really wake up with and start our days on the right foot. So I wanted to keep that going, and I did. And I never made it a podcast until this year. I felt like it was a live stream and didn't have a place as a podcast. That was the story I was telling myself because it won't translate. That's what I kept saying. It's not gonna translate well as a podcast. People aren't gonna quite get it because they aren't in the experience at the moment. But the more I I thought about it, it's like, you know, the Today Show on NBC, that's live and and, you know, available later for people in most cases as well. People are doing that. Companies are doing that, and there's no podcast out there that does that. Right? There's not any other as far as I've and I researched it. As far as I could find, there's nobody else that's doing a daily morning show with a you know, in a similar vein as a morning show, whether it's a radio or TV show, and specifically targeting it for podcasters. So I just felt like, you know what? I'm a guy who teaches podcasting, and, yes, I'm doing a live stream, but I had been on a hiatus of putting out any podcast content for so long that I just felt like I gotta I gotta walk the walk and practice what I preach. So I just kind of on a whim said, alright. This is gonna now I'm gonna save these recordings and post them. And that is the key for me is to show people you can do whatever the heck you want with a podcast. You don't have to follow all the rules, do all the things that every guru tells you out there. Do what feels right to you. And in my case, as a live stream, if I want this thing up every day, it was also a good lesson in pulling back on editing. Right? So I I there's no way I was gonna edit a podcast every single day, the same podcast, and be able to still maintain my business and my family and and friends and what have you. So Insanity. Yeah. And my yeah. And my sanity for sure. I gave myself permission again. I I basically give myself about 20 minutes every day to just clean it up, do whatever I think I can get done in 20 minutes, and then, okay, it's good, and put it out there. And and I feel like I I'm I'm using that as a lesson for podcasters or really I'm using that as permission to other podcasters to put it out as is and stop worrying about the little stutters, the little hems and haws and filler words that occasionally are gonna come out because for the most part, most people don't notice it at all. All they're paying attention to is that content that you're providing, is that value that you're providing. I love it. This sounds like me being an AI generated thing. Every word you delve into on this subject is an opportunity for no. You know, you've been doing it for two and a half years, but like that's a lot. You mentioned the 20 minutes after an episode takes place that you give yourself. What do you have to do beforehand to plan? Good question. And it's not easy. I'm not trying to promote this as an easy thing, especially when we're talking about something a little more niche like podcasting. Talking about it every single day, sometimes it's like, what the heck am I gonna talk about tomorrow? Right? And I have to be okay with repeating stuff. Right? You you just you're just gonna, and you have and it it's the good practice of recognizing you're always gonna have new listeners where it's gonna be new to them or even old listeners. Maybe it just doesn't connect with them the first time. So you have to be okay with that. And from there, what do I do to plan? I oftentimes use chat GPT or something similar. And what I'll do and I've created my own little custom GPT, so it really knows and understands the podcasting morning chat and is able to give me more direct ideas specific for my audience. And then what I have to do is once I kinda pick my topic or topics, I create an outline using AI to help me with that flow and that rhythm of the morning chat. A lot of it's based on questions that I get, whether it's from my own clients, whether it's from the audience because I'm I get a lot of questions from the actual listening audience. So it's really just paying attention to the questions and the noticeable challenges that I see people facing or the questions that they're asking me regularly, it's bringing that every day. And usually, they'll always be at least one kind of new perspective. Technically speaking, how are you running the show? So here's what I'm doing. I'm using Clubhouse for it's mainly audio, the show, and I'm using Clubhouse to facilitate the conversation. So we'll have live quote, unquote, callers, and my cohosts will be on the virtual stage with me. And what I'm doing is I'm running it on my phone. I have it plugged into my Rodecaster Pro, and that's it. As far as that's how the audio is coming in and out, I'm recording to my Rodecaster Pro because the audio quality is better that way than pulling it off of Clubhouse. And then what I'm also doing is running Riverside on the side, and I have a camera on me at all times. And this way, I can take that video content and then use it to promote the show because I find that that's gonna be way more effective than just using the audio. I've hesitated, and I don't have a good excuse, but there's no reason why I can't say use something like Ecamm Live or even use Riverside and stream live via video to YouTube, LinkedIn, or wherever else I want to. I just haven't yet. I think part of that, Dylan, if I'm being honest, is vanity in the sense that it's 7 AM every day, and I've just finished working out, meditating, doing my whole morning routine, and sitting down not looking my best. And I've gotten more comfortable. I've started putting out clips of those recordings, and I'm okay with it. I I I it's it's fine. I look okay. I look okay enough. Presentable enough. I can relate. Did you find because you were just doing the streaming and then adding in the podcast, was it difficult at first or has isn't that has it gotten, like, simple these days? It was, you know, it was relatively easy turning it into a podcast. It was more of a mental game than anything, just being mentally prepared for it. But logistically, like I said, it's really a matter of 20 minutes of editing, getting those show notes done with some help from AI as well and and getting it hosted. But, again, it's really more about the mental game for me and and that took a little bit. And I think the lesson learned is really being okay with easing into things. You know, talk about easing into it. Right? Like I did for 2 years. I was doing it just as a live stream and then made it a podcast. And then I also gave myself permission not to feel the pressure of promoting it regularly and religiously and just do it focus on the podcast until I feel really comfortable, or maybe there was a particular episode that lit me up that I feel like, yeah, I gotta share this and get this out to the world. But for the most part, I gave myself permission just to make sure everything felt good, sounds good, looks good, and then I can graduate and move on to the promotion side of things. And I think that's where a lot of independent podcasters suffer is because they feel like they have to do all the things all at once. And where can people go? What's the website? I think the best bet would be podpage.com/pmc. That stands for podcasting morning chat. Otherwise, your favorite podcast platform, just search podcasting morning chat. Beautiful. Thank you so much Yeah. For hopping on here with me today, Marc. Yeah. You're welcome, Dylan. Love it. Love chatting with you any chance I can get.