310 - Essential Tools to Level Up Your Podcast Workflow and Production

0:05 Good morning, podcasting, morning chat. Today is Friday, May 23rd, 2025, and today we're diving into your mailbag questions again, everything from using AI and audio dramas to podcast milestone ideas. Plus, we'll wrap up with the winds from the week. So if you're listening live on Clubhouse, hit the share button, bottom left hand side of the screen and share it. However, Clubhouse lets you. And if you're listening via podcast, please share this episode with a fellow podcaster. And now give us about 30 seconds and. We'll get things rolling. Thanks for being here.

1:15 The. Good morning again podcasting, morning chat, thanks for being here. I am your host Mark Ronick and on stage with me we have Dr. Faye, Nick Naulback and Sid Meadows. I'm sure we will see more of the cast and crew momentarily. Happy Friday, Happy Memorial Day weekend to those of you in the US Hope you got some fun things planned. Looks like I will be driving back to North Carolina today. And then, yeah, we're going to be. We have some friends that right down the road from our house.

1:57 They've purchased land and they're building a giant retreat center type place and it just had its soft opening earlier this month. And they are now inviting all their friends to come Sunday and Sunday night to enjoy it for free and just have a good Memorial Day party weekend. So I'm looking forward to doing that and getting back to North Carolina, enjoying that area again. I've actually missed it even being on vacation. And yeah, so real quick, I just had to share. I don't see him yet here in the audience, but Janae, who has been joining us more and more over the past couple of months.

2:42 He is from the Washington DC area where I am currently, and we had a great lunch together just to catch up, to connect, etcetera. And he even brought some equipment, not surprising knowing Janae. He brought a nice little Canon camera specifically made for video and couple of wireless rode mikes and we ended up shooting some content after we had our lunch, which I really appreciate it. And it was a great reminder to me that a, you don't have to have a lot of equipment to, to do something quick and on the spot and you can make it really simple. And that's what he did.

3:25 And it was it was cool to see that. And like I said, a good reminder. I'm sure we will see Janae here momentarily. And he got to tell me a little bit more about his interview that he had hosting Pat Flynn on his show, which I think is very cool. So here's what we're going to do today. As you know, if you are a regular listener, Fridays we celebrate our wins from the week. But first I want to dig back into the mailbag because we had a bunch of questions on the docket yesterday and only got to a few of them. So I thought we would keep going and answering these questions.

4:05 There's there's some stuff in here that I think are really relatable and I think that a lot of us can can add some value to it. So let me start. We've got and by the way, if you are listening live, ping some people in the room. Let's get some people in here. And to those of you who are here, our I would consider all of you that I see right now in here, our regulars, our loyal and faithful. Thank you for showing up as much as you do every single morning. It means the world to me. I was just telling Janae that yesterday, being one of those people who shows up here regularly, how much you keep me going. If it wasn't for you showing up here, and I'm talking to you specifically, those people who show up here every day, if it wasn't for you here, being here all the time, I don't know that I'd have the energy, the willpower, the determination to keep going.

5:00 So thank you. You're. Going to make me cry, you'll. Make me cry. Yeah, and I see Billy's joined us on stage, so whenever somebody jumps up here, I just want to stop and say hello. So Billy, good morning. Anything in particular you just joined in the fun today? Yeah, I'm joining you from the Miami airport and actually just saw Sebastian Rusk walking through the airport with his giant podcast. And so I yelled at him. I go, yeah, podcast do suck. And then we soaked hands and took a picture and connected that way. And so anyway, yeah, I think earlier in the week or some point, man, I'm all scattered.

5:40 Somebody who's talking about personal branding and all that kind of fun stuff. So definitely. Works for him. That's really cool. Yeah, I know Sebastian. I see him a lot at conventions. Do you know where he was going or coming from? I think he was going to some family event, I think he said. Oh, OK. Oh, OK. I was curious if he was heading to one of the conventions going on. Cool, very cool. I love that. All right, so and please stick around if you'd like Billy and actually this, you may have some thoughts on this. First question. This comes from the podcasters on Facebook. Facebook group Stewart is the person's name. And Stewart says with Skype having ripped RIP, is there a decent and free alternative to video chatting?

6:28 And I just first got to say I didn't realize people were still using Skype these before it went under. And he said goes on to say and with the ability to record the chat for editing, I tried Microsoft Teams last week but the free option on APC doesn't allow you to record it. He said he ended up in Zoom and splitting his episode into 240 minute parts with a 10 minute wait in between. He said he may opt out for just going YouTube Live, but that doesn't really allow graphics on the live stream. So here's what I first want to say. It's it. Like I said, it is a relatable question, especially when I think about so many independent podcasters who seem to be on the constant hunt for those solid free solutions. And while I don't think many people, like I said, we're using Skype near its end, it's shut down to me still highlights the bigger issue that I'm reading between the lines here. Dependable and cost effective or maybe better put, free tools are hard to come by.

7:40 We've got platforms like he mentioned, like Zoom or even OBS that can fill the gap. But I think there's always a trade off. There's things like recording limits like he was talking about. He had 40 minutes and he had to wait 10 minutes in between free, I'm sorry, feature restrictions, steep learning curves, all those kinds of things can creep in when we talk about free tools. And I think it comes down to you get what you pay for. Free options might work in a pinch, but I think they lack the consistency or functionality that are needed to really put together a solid podcast or a podcast workflow.

8:21 So I think it's, I think personally, it's worth making a small investment on tools like that, tools that you use regularly every for every podcast, however often you do it every week, every day, every month. But I think if it's something that's a regular part of your workflow, I think investing a little bit of money into it is really important because it makes it makes a big difference. It can eliminate some of those headaches that we get doing this kind of thing. And I think it keeps everything looking top notch, professional, high quality. So yes, sure, explore the free tools. Just stay mindful of their limits and how they fit with the long term goals for your podcast.

9:04 And I get it, not everybody has unlimited budget to do this kind of thing. But I also believe if you're investing your own time into it, you, you can most, in many cases you could afford a $10 a month solution. Don't go to Starbucks for a couple of days and instead invested in this that you're putting your heart, your time, your soul into. So with that, I, I just, I'll get off the soapbox. But it I get more and more frustrated seeing people constantly ask how do I get this for free? And then you see a lot of complaints later down the road on those free tools on their group sites, whether it's a Discord or a Facebook group, you see them complaining about this, that and the other thing.

9:48 Well, you get what you're paid for. Yeah, Dr., go ahead. Actually, I saw Nick's hand up first. OK, go ahead, Nick. I was just going to say I agree with you. I mean, there are tools You can look at stuff like Google Meet. That would be a free tool. As long as you have a Google account, I think it's free. But you have to think about how that is going to affect your workflow down the road because even doing something like Zoom, you have to take that file, you have to bring it into other platforms sometimes, like depending on how you want the format to be, you're having to manipulate the video itself to actually look the way that you want it to. And it becomes a time consuming process. And if you use something like Riverside or Descript with their squad cast set up, it's paid.

10:45 But you basically have a built in workflow right there that is geared towards podcasting. So it's going to save you time down the road, even just for the sole fact that you get two different video and audio tracks like that alone, because that saves me a ton of time personally. But yeah, I I just think that the the time spent managing all these other free tools and getting everything ready for you to edit and work with it, it's just worth paying the couple dollars a month to have it set up and ready for you. Yeah, I'm with you. And yeah, like you said, Riverside I think is such a great solution in or alternative. It's really not an alternative in my opinion. It's the way to go.

11:26 But if you're looking for something a step up from these free options, go with something that's dedicated to your industry, go with a Riverside that's dedicated to creating content. And they've done such a good job over these past few years really working hard to become an all in one solution. And, and it may not be for everybody. And I think for a lot of people who are getting their feet wet getting into this industry, I think having that kind of all in one solution can really make all the difference in the world And it can grow with you. It's not one of those tools that I'm suggesting like as a beginner, you use it and eventually you're going to outgrow it because it's constantly evolving and it has so many features already that you don't have to start with.

12:14 But as you grow, as you get more comfortable, you can start adding on working with getting to know how to use it. Dr. What did you want to add? Well, you have stepped down from your soapbox, so I'm going to hop back on it. A lot of a lot of people who are constantly looking for the free stuff, free stuff. You know what, most of us in this room, our podcast is a business and sometimes you have to invest in your business. And so that's why, that's why sometimes the paid platforms are really the best way to go.

12:54 Yeah, it, it is a little frustrating to me when I hear a podcaster not willing to put or invest, like you said, into some of these tools. It it frustrates me because I'm on the other side of their mouth. Often times they're also hoping for a payoff, right? This isn't a lottery podcasting, right? It's not. So what something that you can do entirely for free and expect it to be a side hustle or expect it to replace your full time job. I think if you're investing time, you need to invest money as well and you got to treat it like a business, like you said. Anyone else want to comment on this?

13:35 And you don't have to comment on the free versus paid. You get what you pay for. You can actually share some some other ideas. Nick shared Riverside, which is the one I would have shared with you as well. And by the way, Riverside does have a free option to get to know it. I think you can record up to two hours a month, which doesn't give you a lot, but it gives you enough to at least play with it and see if it's something you want to invest in it. The free version I think supports up to 10 participants, so you can actually do something similar to what we do here on the podcasting morning chat. If you have multiple voices you it does support that. It only goes up to 70. I'm sorry, 720P quality.

14:19 So you're not even getting the 1080 high def quality. That to me is a bit of a downside, but you also do get some of their other features too, like their text based editing, all part of the free plan. So I you know, if you're one of those people who are hesitant to invest, maybe you want to dive into something like Riverside. Try their two hours a month for free to see if it's something worth your while. To continue adding on to the Riverside butt kissing, I I honestly am incredibly impressed with their team as a whole. Yeah, like Mark and I have been involved in their like close beta group thing for a while now and it's incredible how hands on their team is and how much they do actually listen to what customers are saying and hearing the feedback. I know a lot of times, especially with businesses that are getting large and I feel like Riverside is to that point, it feels like you can't get any kind of response. You can't get any support from the team because they're just too big to care.

15:25 And I, I get a lot of comfort knowing that Riverside is like their team is very involved. I It gives me the warm fuzzy feeling knowing that the people behind it are good people as well. Yeah. And, and they're very responsive in the sense too, that as part of that group you mentioned that we're in, people throw out suggestions, requests what they would like to see from Riverside down the road and Riverside listens. It's often times that somebody will make a suggestion in that group. And then, I don't know, 1-2, three months down the road, all of a sudden they've added that feature. That means a lot to me when I'm working with a company like that.

16:05 And it, it shows me that they're listening. Sid, I saw you had something. Go ahead. Good morning, everybody. I have a couple things. First off, you know, I'm a big advocate of just use what you have or use what you already have purchased right before you go in and start investing in other things simply because you don't know how long this is going to last for you or how long you're going to do this. And I think synthesis, these statistics prove that, you know, people don't necessarily stay with being a podcaster. So use what you got to get started and whether it's Zoom or Riverside or Teams or whatever use that you've got. I use Zoom.

16:48 I have used Zoom since the first recording and I'm at 159 and I like it. It works for us and it's convenient and I use it across my businesses. So, you know, it's easy. But I would also, I totally 100% agree with the statement that you made, and you've heard me talk about this before, that that your podcast is a business and you have to treat it like a business. However, I don't agree with the fact that most people treat it like a business. I think if people really did treat their podcast like a business, then you would not see the significant drop off of podcasters because building a business is hard, right? And so you got to put forth the effort, you got to be focused, you got a strategy, you got to know what you're doing. And so I think that that's part of the problem while we see podcasters pod fade is that they actually don't treat it like a business.

17:40 Thank you, Sid, and I appreciate that you sharing that perspective, you know, work with what you got and especially early on in the game. And you know, when I'm thinking about the question that I read here from Stuart, this, this is a person who's been doing it, it seems for a while now and was using a different tool and now is looking for something else. And if yeah, if it's a new podcaster, I would, I would definitely be leaning more toward what you're saying, work with what you got because it can be, it can be challenging to learn all the new tools jumping right into starting a podcast. So Zoom is often a a great tool for people because they're used to using it for other things. So finding the the right buttons, finding the right features, you already kind of know where those things are in many cases.

18:29 And it makes it a lot easier. That point of entry is so much easier at that point. I'm with you there. Anyone else have any other tools as an alternative to Zoom or in Stewart's case, a Skype? I mean, Nick also mentioned the script and their integration with Squad Cast, I believe is what they're using. And there's also Stream Yard out there. Stream Yard I believe is still out there. I don't use Stream Yard often. And yes, it is out there because I've done interviews using stream Yard and I know ecam Live, but that's for Mac users only Ecam Live can do well. And I also, I do appreciate something that Stewart had said that he was thinking about maybe using something like a YouTube live, which I think can really work well. But the problem is, is what he had mentioned here is, you know, you can't do a lot with popping up graphics, playing sounds, etcetera.

19:25 So then you'd, you would have to invest in other software, other hardware to make that happen. So that could be a challenge as well. I heard of something recently and I don't, I think it's been around for a little bit. Has anyone heard of Jitsi JITSI, Jitsi Meet? If you haven't, it's apparently an open source video conferencing thing. It's kind of like a Zoom, but it's open source. You don't have to have an account to start a meeting. Quote, UN quote. It's fully encrypted. It's free to use. It's I, I would say I just started looking at it when I saw this question and it's something that I'm interested, curious about, especially again, if I could get to know it a little bit, it might be a tool that I would suggest to other podcasters, But Nick has a thumbs down.

20:18 Nick, you, you're familiar with this? I was just thumbs down like no I haven't heard of it. OK, OK, got it. All right. So that might be something to JITSI. All right, so we're going to keep things moving. We'll do see if we can get to one or two more before we share wins from the week. And if you're listening live, start if you haven't already thinking about some of your wins from this week, big or small, that's that's up to you to judge. We don't care what size of a win you think it is. Just come up here. If you've gotten out of bed every day this week after a tough week, then that's, that's a perfectly acceptable win. We would love to celebrate with you.

20:58 And if you've got some big achievements too big to you, we're we're happy to celebrate those as well. So bring them up if you got them. We'd love to have you up here. So here's a question from Samuel, also from the podcasters on Facebook. Group. Says after a 2 1/2 year hiatus, I'm undertaking a new audio project and I'm seeing how radically the production landscape has changed in such a brief period of time. I'm not the biggest fan of AI for many reasons. My professional hat is a translator, so you can imagine. So I guess feeling threatened by the fact that AI can do a lot of translation for you now, although they've been a plenty of tools out for a while that helps you do that too. He goes on to say.

21:46 But I'm also aware that AI is here to stay and I want to make sure I'm not being stubbornly left behind. My question is, are any of you happy with new AI tools out there or finding them useful? In my case, I'm making audio drama with multiple layers, narration, characters, sound effects, etcetera. I'm mainly curious if there's anything out there that could speed up the manual edition, and I think he means maybe editing. Speed up the manual? I'll just read it word for word. Manual edition process? The idea of AI writing my scripts makes me feel nauseous. I'm also fairly concerned about property rights and how much creative output you see directly to the AI owner.

22:33 Any thoughts, tips, advice, misgivings, warnings, etcetera would be most welcome. I think Nick would probably be a good person to start with here. Nick, what do you think? Do you have any tips or advice for Samuel on what AI tools he should use, especially considering he's in my opinion feeling a little threatened? By it. Yeah, I, I think first of all, I want to commend Samuel for not being stubbornly turning the blind eye towards it. Like he's recognizing the fact that AI is here to stay and he needs to look at using it as a tool as opposed to just pretending it doesn't exist. There's a lot of people that want to put their head in the sand with it all, but I think there are so many. And I, I keep seeing, even from the Google IO thing this week, seen so many different tools that have existed or are proving that I didn't even know existed.

23:31 Google is they already have different music tools out. I know we've a lot of us have heard of Suno that can generate music and they'll add like words and lyrics and all that stuff to your songs. But Google actually has like a music creation tool called music LM and I think it also is called Lyria LYRIA. And like, I, I just think of different tools like that that can help aid in the creative process that might otherwise be very time consuming, expensive or difficult to pull off as a solo creator.

24:11 And we're seeing more tools coming out, video editing, images, obviously you have AI sound or AI voices and things like that. I mean, it's, it's just going to come down to what is he OK with letting AI handle for him versus having to do himself? I, I think the big thing with all these AI tools now that we're seeing as they're becoming increasingly more popular for creators and being created for creators and trying to cut down on that time spent on the creative process that VO3 that we were talking about the other day with video that now creates sound and music and soundscapes and everything that goes behind the scenes.

25:00 Like imagine just putting together a a 32nd video that has all of those elements to it. It's going to take you a long freaking time, much less do an entire audio drama for however long that's going to be. I mean, these tools can definitely help. So I'd, I don't know necessarily what is the best tool for you because you do have a lot going on, but I definitely start playing with some of these things, see where it can help you or even aid. The last thing I'll say to this, at the Google IO vents, they share a couple videos that people have been making with the platform, the model, and a lot of what people are doing.

25:47 They're not just using the AI to say create this entire video for me. They're using it to blend with real content that they're creating. So lady, she wanted to create this little short drama video and she had footage that she shot with characters that she has like real actors in. But then she used AI to supplement that and create scenes that would have taken a lot of graphic designers and a lot of work, video editors, etcetera to pull off. And she was able to create this whole short film just by herself and obviously the actors that she hired for this thing. So it it doesn't have to be an all or nothing. You think about how can you blend AI into what you're doing to help save you time and.

26:37 Save. You money and save you money too in a lot of cases, right? We're talking, we just the last question we were answering is somebody looking for free options to create his content. Well, this is a a great example and I love the example that you're sharing. Yeah, you've created as much as you can as much as, and I say this intentionally humanly possible. And now if there are gaps, if there are things missing that you can't afford to do, you don't have the time to do, etcetera, that's a great opportunity to lean on AI. And I, I do find it interesting that when a lot of people who are hesitant to use AI, they go right to things like it writing everything for you. I think that's because it's probably the easiest thing that you could do with AI, but it is not the only thing you can use AI for.

27:30 There are plenty of ways to use AI, including just using it for brainstorming and to get ideas. I've been doing that a lot lately. I've been working on content where I get the overall concept. I have it in my head and it's floating around, and sometimes it's hard for me to sort or sift through it and organize it in a way that just makes sense when I'm trying to put it on paper. So I just vomit out the idea to a ChatGPT and then I have it organize my thoughts for me, add on to it for me if it needs that. And man, does does that help move things along and help my mind continue to turn and be creative and and come up with my own ideas on top of that? Yeah, Dr., go ahead.

28:17 Well he mentioned a couple things. One is editing and the other one was script writing for me. For editing, I have a program called Resound that I used for my first pass. And if it's a solo show, usually that's all I need. It's flags all the UMS and ah's and the big gaps and stuff like that. And it's, it's great. I love this this program. If it's a interview show, then Resound gets about 85% of the job done. Sometimes I will move conversation if they start talking his organically.

29:03 If they start talking on top of each other a little bit, I will move the conversation to where it they are separate. They're pretty much butted up against each other, but they are separate. People can hear them, but if it's someone laughing, they're laughing together and talking and laughing. I'll leave that the way it is, but yeah, resound dot FM is the one that I use for my first pass and basically for about 75 to 80% of my editing. Yeah, very cool. I know I've heard several people talk talking about Resound. I have not personally tried it. So thank you for sharing a little bit. I didn't realize it had a lot of that AI functionality built into it. That's very cool.

29:47 Thank you. Dr. Anyone else have anything before I'll jump in? Go ahead, Sid. So I have a couple things on this. The first thing I would do is I would look at my workflow and I would look at my workflow and then I would say, OK, we're in my workflow. Can I leverage a tool, an AI tool to save me time, right? Like where is it Then? Maybe it's not the editing, right? Because of the editing is so important, right? Maybe that's not where you want to do it, but we're in your workflow. Can you use a tool to save time? Because that's really what AI should be for is to help reduce time and be a tool for you, right? I don't think a lot of people treat it that way, but that's how it should be used. And I'm certainly how I'm leaning into it. And then something that Nick hit on and you hit on it just a minute ago is using AI not to necessarily organically create the content from a prompt, use it a little bit differently. So I the other day gave it a prompt of Chat GPTA prompt of what I wanted to do.

30:50 And I said to ask me a series of up to 10 questions about this topic, ask them individually. And so it asked me the questions, I answered each question individually, and then I asked it to create a draft of a blog for me based on my responses. So basically, it takes a little bit longer, but basically what it's doing is taking my thoughts, my original thoughts, my responses to its questions, and crafting an article or a blog for me. That is actually what I want to say and not what it wants to say. So you can use it similar to the brainstorming that you're talking about, Mark. And then you actually get content that's more relevant to who you are, to your audience and things of that.

31:35 Nick. Yeah, I think you said and something that made me giggle, you said, you know, it takes a little bit longer, which yes, I hear what you're saying and it's all relative, right. It takes longer in the sense of what when it when we're talking about AI and using AI, it would make the process a little bit longer, but probably still saves you a ton of time if you didn't have AI to use. Oh, 100%. I mean, that article would have taken me an hour and a half maybe to write, get my thoughts organized and then rewrite, use Grammarly to check it and all that kind of stuff, right? And I probably did it in 20 minutes with it asking me the questions and then getting me to get the draft. Then I got the draft. I put it into my Google Docs and I reviewed it.

32:16 I edited, I changed it, and then I fed it through Grammarly to just check everything. So you definitely short circuits. But when you think about how fast AI moves, right, people want to put in a prompt in the a few seconds later, there's an article, right? So in this case of rather than a few seconds or a couple of minutes, it probably took 20 minutes. Yeah, I love that. Thank you, Sid. Great example. And if anyone, does anyone else have anything before I go to this, I'll call it our last mailbag question before we share our wins from the week. OK, so this last one comes from Ramon, also from the podcasters on Facebook group. Ramon says I post new episodes of my show every week. Next week will be my 100th episode. Any suggestions on what I should do? So first I want to say Congrats on 100 episodes. It's a huge milestone and very suiting for a Friday here on the podcasting morning chat since we celebrate our wins. So and you know, also I want to say especially worth celebrating because we know we've talked about it here before. How many podcasts don't get past 8 to 10 episodes? So really a milestone worth celebrating. Kudos to Ramon, and as far as some ideas what Ramon can do for the 100th, I mean, that's really it. It's really up to you and I think it is worth celebrating with your audience.

33:46 I think there's all sorts of ways, a simple thank you, a simple moment that you can take at maybe at the beginning of the show to share your gratitude could be all that you need to do. And there are plenty of other things that you could do. You could, well, you could do a giveaway, right? In honor of the 100th, you could do some kind of giveaway if your podcast is related to your business, maybe it's something related to your business. Maybe it's a, you know, one hour consult with you or maybe it's an actual physical item that you want to just give as a thank you to a lucky winner of your audience who helped get you to 100. If you're an audio only podcast, you may want to consider just for that episode, you do some video for the 100th. I think an audience that is used to listening to you every, at the very least, every so often, being able to see you doing your thing makes it really special.

34:45 So if you're looking at 100 episodes as special to you, do something like that that they would appreciate. Anyone else? Has anybody hit a milestone with their podcast? Oh, yeah. Let's go to Yvonne. Yvonne, good morning. Welcome to the stage. What do you suggest for celebrating the 100th episode? Good morning. I've done it a number of ways. My let's see for milestones like my my five year milestones coming up. And this year I decided to do it as a reflection of what I've learned over five years of podcasting. The in past years for either, you know, 100th episode or 200 episodes, I've invited past guests to send me a recording, like a short recording. I've have the speak pipe feature on my website and that's been really handy for gathering audio from people. So anyway, I had past guests come and give me an update on what they were up to since we last spoke. So that was a cool one.

35:55 I think that was my first 100 episodes that I did that for. And then I've also had, I've asked questions of audience members and, you know, former guests and then just ask people to leave me a little bit of, you know, a sound bite that I can use on the episode. And that's been fun. And another time I celebrated with my mastermind group. We got on a Zoom call and we did a big group conversation talking about milestones and things like that. I like that, particularly that last one you shared, just because sometimes maybe the celebration is internal. It doesn't always have to be an external celebration. I mean, I think it is valuable to celebrate with an audience too. And I just appreciate the idea of getting together with the people that may have helped you get to 100 behind the scenes. Yeah.

36:48 And actually we recorded that. So it it went out as an episode. So it was a private conversation, recorded and sent out. That's. Very cool, I love that. Thank you for that suggestion or that idea. Yvonne, that's really cool. And speak pipe. I just wanted to briefly add on to that just so that some people who may be unfamiliar with it understand. Yeah, like Yvonne said, it's it's a way to capture audio from your audience. Think of it like voicemail, but it all works online and you can embed a little player or button on your website. They click it and then they can record a message to you and then you can download that file and use it, play it on your podcast and then speak to it if you so choose.

37:31 It's a great feature and I, I, I recommend it really to anyone because where we're doing a format of audio and, or video, I like the idea of giving our audience that opportunity to provide it back to us. And, and it's, I think it holds a lot more weight value when you're actually able to hear the voice of that listener as opposed to like what I'm doing, just reading it on their behalf. It just adds another layer, another element to it and it keeps keeps people engaged and interested as they're listening to your episode. Anyone else have any other Sid? I saw you had something. Yeah, I. Think there's a couple of things here that you can do for my 100th episode.

38:13 And Stacy to this too. I had somebody interview me to talk about my journey and I always think that's really great because then your listeners get the opportunity to hear you behind the mic, right? So you're on the hot speed and they get to know you and connect with you better. I think that's a really great idea. I also think that if you depending on the type of show you've got, you could go through your catalog and look at highlight moments that were really important into the podcast or things that you thought were conversations you thought were really impactful and create a special episode that highlights some of the things that were said or talked about on your show for the last 100 episodes. So any kind of, you know, compilation, if you will, that is a celebration I think would be really good too.

38:56 So that's just a couple of ideas for. Love that. Thank you Sid and I'm going to keep it moving and go to Jinnade. Jinnade, welcome to the stage. I shouted you out before you got here and just sharing how much I enjoyed our lunch and recording session yesterday. Please share you have any ideas for celebrating the 100th episodes. Good morning. Thank you, Mark. Yeah, that was a lot of fun yesterday, getting to hang out with you and all the conversations to recording, getting to repurpose real life connection through podcasting, right? It's it's really powerful. And talking about celebration, that's another way to celebrate. Maybe you did 100 episodes. Maybe you can invite a few people and do kind of like a like a celebration party.

39:41 I don't like what you wanted and a Zoom call, maybe do it in person. I know that might be fun. What I've done, I've done, you know, combination of celebration like that were, you know, my, my wife brought all these balloons. We had people over for the 500th episode. And then for the 700th episode, I recorded a reflection, you know, talking about what I did in the past and the amazing conversation, the connections that we were able to make and what we're going to be doing differently and season 7. So again. You're not only am I celebrating, but also setting the the expectations for what what the audience can expect in the future of the new episode.

40:25 So yeah, thanks so much. Yeah, Thank you, Janae. Love that. I love the idea of throwing the party for the 500th or whatever milestone you choose, but in your case for the 500th and again, recording that content. And because now you have that to share in multiple ways. If maybe you're, you can find ways to incorporate it into an episode. And if not, or in addition to you can use it for social media. People love to see the behind the scenes stuff and what's going on there and they love to see those kinds of celebrations too. I think that's a a, a great way to both celebrate your milestone and share more content. That's awesome.

41:08 All right, Well, I think does any, anyone else want to add or shall we move on? I know we've got Jonathan on stage. No pressure. Jonathan. Yeah. OK, so then let's do it. I'm going to ask all of you who are listening live to come up on stage and share any wins from your week. Please come up because that's the whole purpose of our Fridays. We like to wrap up on a positive note and with for those of you on stage, get ready. I'm coming to you now. Let's begin. I you know what? I'll start with one because it's an easy one and it's already been shared this week. I'm Sharon. I had two lunches that I consider wins this week.

41:50 One with my old Co host and best friend Lowell talking about what our future holds with our podcast. It's been on the shelf for a while now. And when we posted a picture from that lunch saying that something's in the works, we got a huge response on social media. And it really made me realize that we did. We were doing something really special and I knew at the time it was and we had some pretty good success with that show, but I kind of was a little hesitant to bring it back because I thought, you know, we're probably yesterday's news. We, they people have probably moved on and the response we got proved that completely wrong. Our audience has been waiting and really shared some really kind words about their excitement for it coming back. So that really refueled my fire for sure. And of course my other when similarly was having lunch with Janae yesterday, I already shared a lot about that at the top of the show.

42:54 And worth saying again, it was absolutely a win to be able to sit down and connect with Janae, sit down and connect with Lowell. I think making those in person connections and keeping them going really adds a lot to those relationships as opposed to just maintaining them online or via text, etcetera. So that's one win for me. I'm going to keep it going. Dr. Do you want to share any wins from your week? Well I have found Ava to help me with all the YouTube mishegash that I hate so much and so that's my win. She has relieved me of a lot of stress and has given me some time back.

43:44 So I I am very appreciative. That's my win. Awesome, congratulations. Love that. Love hearing when people recognize the areas of weakness or areas of disinterest and recognizing I could bring someone in and do that for me. Yes, Michael Mishigash, he said, he said in the chat. Mishigash. You want to try to define that. Bullshit. There you go. Yeah, I'll take. That I'll let it that out. You don't have to. You could bleep it if you want, I don't care. I didn't even hear mushy. Gosh, I heard the second when you said it. I think it's.

44:25 Just there you go. Yeah, you're a girl, OK? And good morning to Jackie. Let's see, let's keep it going. Sid, would you like to share some wins from your week? Yes, good morning again. So I have two. Yesterday was the official launch of our new business that I started with my partners and friends and we made it public yesterday and we've gotten a really positive response and it's been really great to see all the messages on LinkedIn and the comments and stuff. So that's been really good. And now we're off to the races. The second one is we have a big event coming up in June, a big furniture event coming up in June. And I had a listener who's been listening for a long time reach out to me and say, hey, I'm going to go and can we meet up? I would really appreciate the opportunity I'm reading. I really appreciate the opportunity to simply shake your hand and say thank you in person. I've benefited from have benef that have benefited throughout the years from your from you and your podcast. And it would be great to be able to shake your hand in person. And when I get messages like that, that's the reason I do what I do.

45:37 That's the reason I choke everyday. It's the reason I do my podcast and create content, and it's always nice to be reminded of that so. Congratulations that that just warms my heart. And 1st, congratulations on the business launch. I know I commented on LinkedIn and I want to just say it here too. Congratulations. I've heard and felt your excitement and passion for this both on the show and behind the scenes. And it's so exciting to see that come to life. So kudos to you and that listener reaching out, just wanting to say thanks. I agree with you. That's why I do this, right? We don't have thousands of people listening to this show all the time. And I'm OK with that. What I love is when people reach out to me privately and say thank you that meant so much to me or thank you. I never thought of things that way. And I appreciate that you do this show and you help me see new perspectives.

46:32 I get that kind of stuff all the time and, and it really every time it, it revitalizes me, it gets me more excited the next day to come wake up in the morning and do this show. I feel that said, thank you for sharing that, Jonathan, Good morning. We haven't really talked to you yet this morning. Got any wins to share with us? Good morning. So sure, it's been a bit of a rough week for me. I've been in in and out of the vet with one of my boys pretty much all week. So, you know, we've, I have an appointment today, we're going to make a decision today. But you know, he's, he's doing all right and he's sitting next to me. So I'm happy about that today. But making it through the week honestly has been a positive thing.

47:17 And you know, I'm actually running, I'm also running a challenge in my in my business and being able to at least manage that without a losing too much ground this week has been, it's been a good thing. Well, thank you for sharing that and congratulations to you in the sense that you're still able to keep things going with business while dealing with personal. And and that's not to say I would fault you for putting business aside to deal with personal. Of course, there there's nothing wrong with that and that's definitely a worth celebrating that you were able to accomplish both dealing with the dog, dealing with work all at the same time.

47:58 So kudos to you Jonathan and I'll be thinking about you and thinking about the pup and I hope that everything works out OK. Let's keep it going and check in with Yvonne. Yvonne, good morning. Please share a win or two with us. Good. Morning. Well, my first win is that my youngest kiddo graduated from Community College on Wednesday, 2 weeks before his high school graduation. He got an associate's degree in web development and we got to see him graduate with all the other Community College kids about. There's a program that he's in at his high school and about 20 kids managed to do this, this particular feat.

48:44 So I'm very proud of him. And then we've got his high school graduation in a couple of weeks. So that was a major win. And on the, on the podcast end of things, you know, my, my community is, is intimate and it's, but recently I got a new member and then I got an inquiry call. I got on with another woman who was interested in joining the group. And I was like to kind of vet people before they join, make sure it's a good fit. And I said so. So I said, did you find me through the podcast kind of assuming that? And she said, no, I found you through this magazine article that you were featured in.

49:26 And I was like, Oh my gosh. That's so cool. Because it, you know, you go on other podcasts or you get featured somewhere and I never really know if it ever leads to anything. But there was, there was something that, you know, she, she connected and, and so she's going to be joining the community and that was a thrill. Congratulations on both those wins to your son. And with the second one, I'm which magazine article was this? Can you tell us a little bit about, I feel like you may have told us before, but I just want to hear a little bit more What, what was that all about? It's a magazine called Certain Age, and it's literary magazine. Actually, the woman who produced it moved to Greece some time ago and decided to do this passion project of hers. And so she Jean Shields Fleming.

50:17 So she's a writer and she's taking now she's built it up to a point where she's got contributing writers who are doing things and she's got a poetry editor and she's she's grown it into a little thing, you know, and really nice lady. So yeah, Certain Age magazine was the name of it. She originally approached me asking if I would want to contribute or written article or, you know, constantly contribute. And I was like, I'm not in my bandwidth right now. And then she said, well, how about if I do a feature on you and I'll interview you and put that in? And so that was delightful. She, she was great. And then she ended up being a guest on my podcast, so. Very, very cool.

50:59 I love that. And it just goes to show you, you know, you never know who's going to be reading one of those those things. I know that it's a good reminder to me because sometimes I'll get requests like that, and sometimes I hesitate just because I don't know the person, I don't know the publication. And this is a good reminder that just because I don't know doesn't mean that the right person isn't going to read that article at the right time and become a client or become a new listener of our show, whatever that looks like. I think it's important to put ourselves out there in as many ways as we can, and if an opportunity like that presents itself, go for it. Can't hurt. Yeah. Absolutely. I'll, I'll say I've done a number of these and I, and I do them just like with the intention of practice, like and, and try just trying to hone my message and keep getting better at what I'm trying to say, what I'm trying to share with people. And I just put it out there with no expectations. So I literally had no expectations of this and it was amazing to to see something come of it. Awesome.

52:07 Congratulations. All right, I'm going to keep things moving and because also I want to share a couple other wins when it comes back to me. So stick around, stay tuned for that. In the meantime, Janae share some wins with us. Good morning again. Some of the wins again, you know, the one that you mentioned getting to mean to you getting to interview Pat Flynn on the podcast, getting to report a few other episodes on the podcast, you know, putting some tools together for an in person event. And like lots of all these things are just coming together. And then of course, the launch of VO3. Come on, that's, that's rigging. Amazing.

52:50 There's a project that I'm I've submitted a proposal for using AI for video production, kind of like what Nicholas was mentioning earlier. So I'm going to be doing something like that. We'll see how that goes. So I'm excited for these new technologies coming in. One of the guests that I interviewed said, you know, three to six months, these things are moving so fast that people were talking about four years ago that this is going to happen in 10 years, but it's already here. So there are some of my wins. And I don't know if I shared. I created this song out of nowhere and I had Mark listen to it. It's done in AI.

53:30 Think that was a pretty really cool head and people have been loving whoever I've shared with, they've been loving this song and they're like, what? This is all done in AI. It was a lot of fun putting that together. So that's me. Thanks. Yeah, congratulations. And I love the way you experiment with these different tools and, you know, you're one of the people that will help a lot of us get to know some of these tools and get to know what tools may be for us and what tools may not be. So I appreciate that you experiment and then put it all out there for all of us to enjoy and to learn from. So thank you, Janae. Jeff, good morning. Good to have you on stage.

54:11 Would you share some wins with us? Good morning, guys. Well, you know, one of the one of the things that I would kind of point out as a win that I've I've been going through we're building in January, we started I say we Maddie True and I were asked to start doing a radio countdown for radio station on the weekends. And this coming up in a couple of weeks is CMA Fest, which is a big country music celebration in Nashville. And we are going to do our first live event that's tied to that radio show. The countdown is called Breaking Indies and we highlight independent artists and the DJ for the radio station is going to be coming into Nashville and we've built our first Breaking in These live, which is going to feature a lot of those artists. And I mean, so the fact that we're even going to have the event is a win.

55:14 But we all know with our podcasts and our other projects, how much we wish other people were sharing some of those things. And we make graphics for our guests that they never use and they never share. And some do, but many don't. And, and I've, I've, you know, gotten some appreciation out of the fact that some of the guests we have on this lineup have been requesting graphics and asking for what can we do to, to kind of spread the word. And I've furnished some graphics to people and they've actually shared it. And so that's been encouraging.

55:54 You know, the reminder to me is, is not to get frustrated by the people that don't show up just because it just highlights people that do show up. I would give an example of an up and coming artist that I've emailed them four times because they said they wanted to do it and they never responded. But I sent one e-mail about an artist and I got an immediate response. And the immediate response was from John Oates of Hall and Oates, who's working with that artist. So, you know, it reminds me not to get frustrated by the people that don't show up and just, you know, realize that you're just kind of digging through the drawer to find the people that do show up that fit our mode and fit our game plan and, you know, share our vision.

56:47 So, and with that, the other win would be today we release a new single that we're excited about for Maddie true single of the year. So yeah, if you're if you're looking for something new to listen to today, single of the year is on your Spotify. So that's it for me. Yeah. Congratulations, Jeff, on all of those wins. And I appreciate similarly to what I was saying about Yvonne's win, although it's a little bit different, but just the fact that what podcasting can do it, it can deliver so many other opportunities.

57:28 And I believe, and maybe I'm wrong, but I believe that part of the reason you and Maddie were asked to do that is because you guys have done a lot of podcasting together. You you're, you're proof that you can do something like a weekly countdown. I think it adds to that resume. It makes it more makes you more valuable to a radio station like that. So I think that's super cool. Thank you for sharing all of those wins, Jeff, and looking forward to hearing that single as well. Greg, welcome to the stage. Please share a win with us. Real quick, let me say that yesterday I got the news that I am qualified and by that I mean I have qualified getting 100,000 signature run to run for Metro Council next year.

58:21 So that's what I'll be doing doing next year. Congratulations, Greg. That's awesome. Very cool. I appreciate you sharing that win and please forgive me, I want to keep things moving because they see we're past 8:00. So Michael, go for it. Share some wins with us. Yeah, just I'll be real quick with this. A couple of things. I'm in a podcast accelerator or cohort with a bunch of folks. The. Hard date to launch the podcast is going to be July the 1st so excited about that. And then this Tuesday, we're going to have a small group Q&A with Pat Flynn to talk about our the podcast we're working on So. So that's a win.

59:05 And then my near miss is Mark is going home today when I have to work and he's going to be passing about maybe 10 minutes, 15 minutes from. Where I work, I'm assuming you're going down Interstate 81, of course, but if you happen to switch your plans and you go home tomorrow, give me, you know, just reach out and we'll try to connect on your way down. I can meet you right in Christiansburg, which is about 10 minutes from Blacksburg, where I live and work. Yeah, I know the area well. It's often an area I stop along the way on that route. So yeah, that's interesting. If if we stop there, I will or if we're thinking about stopping there, I will let you know. That's awesome.

59:45 OK, that sounds great. I will keep checking. I guess we're I think we're connecting on Facebook in some other ways. I don't know if you have my direct number. If not, I'll shoot you a message here in Clubhouse. Shoot me a message so that I have that. That would be awesome. Thank you, Michael. Yep. All right. And Jackie, before I take us home and wrap us up, go for it. Share a win or two with us. Hello everybody, it's people like to work out at 5:00 AM. I've been at work at 4:30. AMI have not seen any of you in such a long time. It is great to be in here. So that's when #1 #2 my baby boy is going to kindergarten next year and I got to see him graduate from pre-K. It was so sweet. Oh my gosh, crying so hard, trying not to let him see that because he cries when I cry.

1:00:32 Okay. Also my daughter who I've talked about on my podcast, she has the rare genetic condition. We got her an IEP and she is not as delayed as we were thinking, so it does create a lot of mayhem in our schedule because she's not getting all of the stuff that we thought she would. However, what a great way to cause mayhem in your life. Learning that your daughter that you didn't know what would happen cognitively is actually very close to her peers makes me want to cry again. I know, sappy Mom, but those are my two biggest wins and getting to see you guys again because I feel like it's been over a month.

1:01:15 Oh my God. Well, congratulations, Jackie. I know you're hustling behind the scenes, doing all the things, being a mom working and being a working mom as well. I know it's a lot of work. And thanks for making the time to be here when you can. It's good to have you back. One more. So Speaking of work, I'm going back to doing hair too. Oh nice. Who would have thought? Been out of it for four years, been a hair stylist for 20. I'm going back home. Very cool, very cool. Congratulations. And Jackie, keep in mind Empowered Podcasting Conference because you were one of our original attendees last year. It's coming at the end of September, and if you can make it work, we'd love to have you back there.

1:01:58 So keep that. Yeah, put that in your calendar and let's talk about it. All right, so for me, my other wins, our Empowered Podcasting Facebook group hit 2000 subscribers this week. I prematurely celebrated it earlier this week. And then what I often do with the group is I usually end up removing some people who I who I know are not there to actually serve and be served. They're there to either scam or make some money. So I had removed them and saw it went under 2000, but then we have since surpassed it. So that's a big win just to see this group growing and continuing to grow the way it has. Over on Facebook, that's Empowered podcasting, the Facebook group, if anybody is not a part of it and is interested, another win is.

1:02:49 I had a great talk. Was it yesterday or the Yeah, yesterday or the day before with Riverside about partnering with the Empowered Podcasting Conference in September? They were a partner last year, but this conversation was to be a more significant part of what we're doing in September. And they seemed very, very interested. In fact, I think the quote was we are definitely going to partner with you guys. So we had to send them some more information and she's taking it back to the team and they're going to get back to us as far as how they're going to do that. So super exciting as we start to land more sponsors for the big event. September 26th through the 28th.

1:03:34 And finally, personal win celebrating my stepdaughter's graduation from the University of Maryland nursing school. So cool to see all of that work and she's a great example of really following your heart. She went to school 1st to study. What was it, man, God, criminal justice, I can't. Something along those lines. And about halfway into it decided, you know what? This isn't for me, my real calling. I want to be a nurse. I want to help people. And she went for it. It meant adding another semester or so to her college career.

1:04:18 She went all in and finished with flying colors. And I, I just appreciate that. Not only that she had that desire, but she followed her heart and made the switch no matter how challenging it was going to be. And here she is on the other side of it now and she already has a job lined up. So I'm very proud of her and I know she's very proud of herself as well. OK, so with that, a reminder, we are back Tuesday the 27th, 7:00 AM Eastern. Monday is Memorial Day, so we are taking that day off. Enjoy your long weekend and join us on Tuesday and every day, usually Monday through Fridays here live on Clubhouse. You can get that info in the show notes and if not, you can get the podcast just a couple hours after we finish here. So until Tuesday, make it a great weekend. Everybody take care.