I was going to do a show today that was a microphone shoot out. That’s next week. Instead I want to share something that happened to me because of a podcast. It was in the mid nineties and very humid in Ohio. It had been a long day. I was in my car headed home, wishing the air conditioning would kick in quicker. I was listening to the Bitterest Pill by Dan Klass. This is one of the few podcast that
A) Has been around since 2004
B) Has held my attention since 2004 and I’m still listening.
When I first started listening, his son Hudson was 5 I believe, and now he’s 12. I’ve listened to Hudson and his daughter Princess T grow up. Dan inspired me to create a cheap imitation of the Bitterest Pill that I call “Building a Better Dave.” Dan had mentioned that would be talking about a Prince center he want to in the next episode. He spit out his voicemail number and I called in (as I thought he mispronounced Prince’s name). Dan played my voicemail.
Now I’ve been Podcasting since 2005, and I’ve got hundreds of episodes under my belt, etc, etc. When I heard my voice on one of my favorite podcasts I got downright giddy. WOW, I thought I’m on the bitterest pill! Now this shouldn’t be a big deal. I’ve met and hung out with Dan at the first two Podcasting conventions. He’s a great guy. This should NOT be a big deal.
But it was.
And now I’m telling you about it. See how that works? I say this so that you treat each piece of feedback as a piece of gold. Guard it with your life, and put it into your podcast.
Then Dan did something that I didn’t think was possible as I turned up the air conditioner, cursed the sun, opened the sun roof, and tried to do anything to find some oxygen. He was talking about when he grew up sharing music meant lending someone your LP. You handed them the actual album. I remember albums. I have about 325 in my basement next to the broken turntable.
He talked about his first exposure to Prince’s music by listening to the Prince album Dirty Mind. He then said the phrase; Well there is a big difference between the song Dirty Mind and Muskrat Love by the Captain and Tennille. I busted a gut. I hadn’t thought about the song Muskrat Love in a long, long time. Suddenly, it wasn’t so hot anymore. Suddenly the day wasn’t quite so long. As Dan continued to describe his night at the Prince concert his Prince imitations (which actually sounded more like Michael Jackson) made me smile each time. Weather he meant to or not, Dan Klass had changed my world from a smoldering hot Summer day stuck in rush hour traffic, to a fun time spent with a friend laughing on the freeway.
On another day (a while ago), I was listening to School of Podcasting alumni A1 Mark from a1blues.com and he was interviewing Tommy Castro. I love Tommy Castro, but had somehow lost touch with Tommy. Mark’s podcast got me caught up, and prompted me to buy Tommy’s new CD. The Music made me smile, the interview was great (Lucky Mark getting to talk to one of my idols), and it educated and entertained me. It added value to my life.
The other night we had one of our Podcasting Round Tables. Our next one is in July, and you can sign up at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/webinars and I got to hang out with some other podcasters. Just answering questions, but more importantly sharing our passion for Podcasting. It was a small group, but it was great to have some like minded folks gather to share their passion. My podcast had brought me some friends. Friends I may have never met face to face, but we do share something in common.
So today is a short show. To simply answer the question, “Why should I start a podcast?” Because you can change the world one download at a time. You may not cure cancer. You may not solve the deficit problem, but you may make someone stuck in a hot car, stuck in traffic on their way home smile. You may deliver some information to someone that will move them to act to better their life. You may develop friendships with people who share your passions.
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