Behind the Mic: Navigating the Challenges and Joys of Running a Podcast
Running a podcast is a mix of logistical challenges, creativity, and a lot of learning. Whether it's about editing, content curation, or juggling your work-life balance, podcasting is both a wonderful creative outlet and an evolving experience. Here’s a glimpse into our journey with "Podcast of the Paranormal."
Creating Content & Managing Time
One of the first hurdles in starting a podcast was aligning our vision with time management and a healthy budget. We also had the foresight to know that we will likely evolve over time and change the way we think about the paranormal. In fact, the original idea was to travel a few times a month to new haunted locations which quickly turned out to be unrealistic. Running a podcast while holding full-time jobs requires creative scheduling and a little sacrifice. For example, I no longer play video games as much as I used to, but that's okay.
The Art of Editing
Editing can be a long process. A one hour episode takes me about four to six hours of editing to meet our quality standards, well, my quality standards. I use a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW for short) to eliminate background noise and make our voices have the presence they should have in real life, not the tinny, echoey, flatness of the raw recording.
Despite the temptation to use automatic AI editing, I prefer a hands-on approach for the first pass in a DAW then Descript to adjust the word gaps, build transcripts, remove fillers and fine tune the final edit. I use it as an assistant for a second pass edit, and yes, I use it more or less as a manual DAW. My workflow gives me control over the sound quality and natural cadence, ensuring our episodes are consistent and sound great. I do not like how the automatic AI editing makes podcasts sound.
Growing an Audience
Reaching an audience in today’s algorithm-driven world really sucks. We rely on social media posts and word of mouth to get to our audience and we hope our content is unique enough that you are enjoying it.
However, despite the work we put into our show and social media, gaining traction is still a pretty big hurdle a year into Podcast of the Paranormal. We find ourselves constantly brainstorming on how to get our show to more listeners.
We are a small, independent show that produces all of our content ourselves, from our discussions, collaborations, and one on one interviews. Our goal is to be as authentic and engaging as possible whether that's you, dear listeners, reaching out to us via our contact form or just dropping a comment on our social media. It all helps us bring consistent content to more listeners to continue bringing you the show.
The Subject Material is our Motivation
Our passion for the paranormal and content we create drives us to produce episodes that we are genuinely proud of. We never started Podcast of the Paranormal for monetary gain. In fact, at the moment, there is none. The joy of exploring the unknown and sharing it with a curious audience is what motivates us.
The paranormal and high strangeness is sometimes a tough subject to talk about with many differing opinions and dismissive nay-sayers constantly challenging how to view this field. Maybe we’re just pissing into the wind, a sort of feedback loop if you will, but it allows us to share our thoughts and opinions regardless of who it reaches.
This is something that enriches our lives, builds knowledge, and pushes us into new reading material— recently the works of Carl Jung and Jacques Valee and how this all relates to human psychology. Our curiosity has opened doors and has really helped us grow into the paranormal space and high strangeness. And, oh boy, it's getting stranger!
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
Running a podcast is a team effort. Gabrielle has asked me to show her how to edit many times but the truth is, if it were not for her, we wouldn’t have a podcast. She puts together the outlines and notes for nearly every single episode and has taken on scheduling guest interviews. She truly is the heart of the show.
I am very particular about my editing style and a bit hesitant to give it up. Our roles ensure that each of us plays to our strengths, making the process efficient and preventing burnout. I’ll say it again. Running a podcast is a challenge. I feel we have embraced our roles and we are totally on the same page as far as content goes.
Adapting to Changes and Challenges
Flexibility is crucial in podcasting. We record episodes ahead of schedule, which grants us the flexibility to schedule interviews and publish episodes without a content drought. This is essential, especially when life gets crazy and throws us a curveball. At the time of this post, we’ve hit almost 40 episodes and we’ve started picking up momentum. We’re ready for new challenges and we welcome them.
Building Connections and Community
The feedback from listeners and community interactions keep us going. We’ve had some great feedback from family and friends as well as a few folks on the socials. We absolutely love people contacting us about personal stories as that form direct engagement not only allows us to hear different perspectives, but our audience genuinely loves it.
I would like to do more events like the Curiosities Market or Creature Feature when it makes sense. We do these things to get ourselves out there and connect us with the wider community interested in the paranormal, however, we don’t sell anything to offset the cost of renting a booth and we feel it’s just not the right time for merch until we are well established.
Conclusion: A Journey of Growth
Podcasting is more than just recording content. Sometimes it does feel like a grind, but that only happens when I’m super busy with my daytime job. I love what we have created and the topics we discuss. It is an ever so evolving journey full of learning, networking, and new experiences. Every unique interaction is a new opportunity to connect with someone in our audience, refine our process, and explore topics we love and are curious about.
Gab and Jody doing their thing in the “studio” with Charlie’s supervision
Although the path is lined with challenges, the rewards of sharing stories, making friends along the way, and engaging with listeners make it all worthwhile. If you’re thinking about starting a podcast, our advice is simple. Trust your intuition, get creative, and enjoy the journey!
At the end of the day, this photo sums it all up. I get to spend time in the home studio with my best friend for hours on end— editing, talking, and coming up with content for our episodes. And our old man pup Charlie helps too.
To hear more about running a podcast, we sat down and recorded our unscripted thoughts and feelings about just that and our shifting perspectives over the last year. I love that this conversation spawned episode art that ended up becoming our new logo. It was a rare peek behind the curtain and we felt it was a great way to get to know us a little more personally.
That episode can be found here:
The Unintended Episode: Reframing Our Journey Into the Paranormal
What are some of the things you do in your free time to enrich your lives? Maybe you have a podcast or love the strange and unusual like us. Tell us your thoughts in the comments.