At Podcast Movement Kevin Smith said to forget hanging around people who would answer, “Why?” when you said you wanted to try something, and instead hang around people who said, “Why not!” Troy Heinritz is a why not kind of guy. He had spent some time in radio, and start a podcast. In today's episode you will hear how his story has grown and grown, but it started with a single tweet.
It started by reaching out to someone on twitter because the guy had a bible verse
That lead to ABC PR calling to see how they could help the new podcast
Get an IMDB pro account and get all the contact info for people you want to track down.
Through building a relationship with his audience. someone in his audience knew one of the writers.
Relationships with PR people lead to interviews with more writers
Troy is now seen as the “voice of the audience”
He has received free “Shwag” from companies to promote
He is having a blast.
How he balances Marriage, Children, Work, and Podcasting
He co-hosts the Packer's Fan Podcast and just got a sponsor for the show.
Check out Troy's Podcasts at:
Mentioned in this Episode
The Blacklist, Season 1 – The Blacklist
Spreaker.com (use the coupon sopfree)
Noodle.mx Network
Podcast Player Survey (two questions – take the survey)
Great interview, inspiring!
I enjoyed this episode a lot. I have interacted with Troy and Wayne Henderson through various podcasts. They’re the best hosts out there, in my opinion. Troy’s explanation of the works of podcasting was awesome, making the media very understandable.
Thanks for having Troy and this great site!
What a great podcast! This is my first time listening to School of Podcasting and this was a great one to start with! Troy is super engaging and I can’t wait to listen to some of his own podcasts.
Two things that I wanted to comment on: first, the topic of listeners tuning in for the content and staying for the host. This is so true! There are some podcasts in which the content is sometimes not relevant or particularly engaging for me, but I’ll listen for the host. I’ve recently been trying out lots of different podcasts and while the content can be engaging on some of them, I find myself unsubscribing because the host is not engaging at all.
Secondly, while I can’t say that I feel that my life would be “changed” by a podcast about a TV show, I can say that the connection with your fans is so important. I don’t have a wide base of friends who watch the same shows I do and this is a way for me to connect with someone who is as excited about a show as I am. Being able to connect with you in other ways, like Twitter, is critical because it makes me feel like I ‘know’ you – as much as you can know a person over social media.
Thanks for having Troy on your show! So many good notes and take aways!!
Dave, great interview with Troy Heinritz.
I came to know of Troy through my HNR co-host Dave Dreher (his first co-host on Blacklist) and through our shared TV Talk adventure. As a podcast host who tends to do shows covering TV and movies, it is great to hear how more entertainment oriented podcasts can also impact their listeners and the hosts as well.
Hearing how his podcast opened up doors for Troy and his mates to enrich their own passion – as well his listeners and fans – for the topics they cover is fantastic to hear. I can relate to how exciting and rewarding it is to meet the creators of the very topics covered on the podcasts.
Best take-a-ways from the interview are how to approach press releases, how to gather information about the topic (IMDb) and how to get past fears of meeting those you admire in your niche. Wordswag looks to be a hidden gem buried in interview. As always, great podcast, Dave, you’re the best. Thank you for all that you do.
Doc Rotten, host/producer of Horror News Radio
Lisa, I have a client of mine who started a podcast about comics, sci-fi (the usual) why? Because family is tired of him talking about these all the time and he wants to make friends who want to talk about the same stuff. – Dave
Doc, tune in next week. I just got off the phone with Troy, the story just keeps on going and going… it’s really cool -Dave
Troy’s stories about hustling to get the word out about his podcasts and booking the big guests are phenomenal.
I enjoy every episode of the School of Podcasting, but this particular episode is a slam dunk! If any podcaster listening doesn’t have a clear roadmap on how to do a TV fan podcast, I don’t know what else to tell them.
I’m sure I’ll listen to this episode again.