I have been asked to share some tips and tricks on starting a podcast. This question has come up in a couple of different forums so I thought I would share some of our podcasting journey. Luckily for me I had access to a full mixer board in the early days of recording. Our church had a lot of equipment along with a full stage so I was able to practice with a lot of different setups.

This doesn't translate into the world of podcasting now, especially if you don't have the budget. The good news is that getting started as a podcaster can be as simple or as complex as you want.

So what do you need to get started in podcasting?

1. An Idea
2. Equipment
3. Host
4. Distribution

Idea

When I say you need an idea I do not mean that you have to have a full show complete with format and outlines for each week. I mean that you need to have something to talk about. You need something that you are passionate about enough that you will stay interested. Podcasting, depending on the format, can have you talking to yourself a lot so you'll need something that matters to you.

Questions to ask yourself

1. What am I passionate about?
2. What do I enjoy doing?
3. What irritates me?
4. Who would I like to talk to if I can get access?

Equipment

I'll split this section up into beginner and intermediate. I am by no means a pro so I will defer to others on pro setups. I want to get you up and recording as soon as possible.

Beginner

If you are just getting started and are not even sure that this is for you I would recommend against spending a bunch of money up front. most of us carry around a full audio rig in our pockets in the form of a phone. Whether an iPhone or Android you can use your phones mic to get started in podcasting. Here are 2 apps that can be used for creating, hosting and distributing your podcasts.

• SoundCloud
• Anchor.fm

The process for both of these is to install the app on your device and record your content. New episode will be pushed out to users of their platforms and other podcast players as you configure them. I think Anchor distributes to more systems than soundcloud natively.

• Voice Record Pro

Lastly I also use an app called Voice Record Pro when I need to record a quick snippet. Here is an exple from series over on Youtube called The Minute Podcast over on YouTube.

Intermediate

If you want to invest some money into your podcast setup than you will need the following:

1. Mic(s)
2. Computer with editing software
3. Optional: Mixer

Here are some example setups depending on how you plan to record your podcast.

Single Desk Reporter

• Mic: Blue Yeti
• Computer: Windows or Mac dependant on software choice
• Software: Audacity or Garageband

Nice and easy for recording a single voice or multiple voices that do not need individual leveling.

Traveling Reporter

• Recorder: Zoom H4N Pro Recorder
• Computer: Windows or Mac dependant on software choice
• Software: Audacity or Garageband
• Optional: Audio-Technica ATR2100-USB Cardioid Dynamic USB/XLR

The Zoom is a recorder with the ability to attach multiple mics as well as a single built in mic for use in a roving interviewing setup.

Questions to ask yourself

1. What style of show am I doing?
2. Do I need my recocrder to be portable?

Hosting

If you are going with the Anchor or SoundCloud options than this section is not as relevant for you. Make sure you research the payment tiers for each. Hosting is expensive so there will be a charge for using either of these sites.

If you are recording/editing using your computer than you will need to host your podcast online. Here are some sites that can host your podcasts.

1. Podbean
2. Libsyn
3. PodOmatic

Our podcast Life in the Clouds Podcast is currently hosted on PodOmatic.

Once you have selected your hosts, signed up and uploaded some episodes you can move onto the last step. Distribution.

Questions to ask yourself

1. How much do I want to spend for hosting?
2. Do I need web streaming for my podcast?
3. How much support do I need?

Distribution

Once you have picked your host you will be given a RSS feed link which is what you will need to submit to the platforms where you want your podcast to be found. For our podcast we distribute through:

1. LITC on Apple Podcasts
2. LITC on Stitcher Radio
3. LITC on Google Play Podcasts

Depending on your host you may have to submit yourself to each platform individually. I know that Anchor provides you a way to submit yourself to different platforms. Here are the links where you can submit your podcasts:

1. Submit to Apple Podcasts
2. Submit to Stitcher Radio
3. Submit to Google Play Podcasts

Once you have been approved each time you post new episodes you episode will publish to each of the platforms.

Hopefully this will help you get started on your podcast journey.

Happy Recording

A lot of the media we consume is noise. To get something to bubble up you only have a few levers you can pull. One of those levers is to raise the volume. This is down by ratcheting up the rehtoric. Make it as incindeiary as possible. This drive the clicks and then the comment section takes care of the rest. Many folks don't even read the articles/posts and will go straight to the comments. This is where the money is made whether it is actual cash money or just the personal aggrandizement that comes from viral posts.

My approach to social media is no different than others. I share information that is important to me. Things that I post matter to me. This blog is where I share my thoughts, recollections and ideas. Luckily for me I do not get much traffic. While I am pretty open on the socials. I rarely get into comment threads unless either the topic matters or the person who posted matters.

The top of the article has this,

It has to do with refusing to be fully adult and neglecting to take on, each day, the maturity, grace and self-discipline that are expected of adults and part of their job. That job is to pattern adulthood for those coming up, who are looking, always, for How To Do It—how to be a fully formed man, a fully grown woman.

I have been posting about looking inward. I think that this is a skill that is being lost. Maybe we never had it. I posted not too long ago that Self Awareness is my Superpower and I mean it. I know my own mind. I know what the triggers are that get at me.

This has come at a great personal cost to me. To understand myself is to take stock of who and what I allow around me. It has made me reevaluate how I engage with people. It has made me quieter and louder at the same time. Not contributing to the noise means that I can put more energy into the things that matter.

I think I will stop there and ask you to do the hard work of introspection. Look inward and consider why you do what you do. This will help you to do the amazing work that you want to do.

Go GO GO!

All the hard work was worth it. I got accepted to Harvard at 16!! 😭😭😭 #Harvard #Harvard2022 pic.twitter.com/KjW3pAF0VG

The poet wrote, "No Man is an Island", an african proverb says, "It Takes a Village...", a president told us, "... when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together...", all are true and the collective cheers seen in the above video prove it.

Sure there was hard work. Sure there were solitary moments. There was also encouragement, mentoring, teaching and training. None of that happens if we don't work together. Providing the support needed in the rough times and the pipelines needed to fuel the engine.

I shout with my young brother today, excited to see him fly.

Who are you supporting right now? Who can you encourage? How can I lift you up and help you move forward? How can I cheer for you?

Let me know, I am here.

GO GO GO

Image Credit: Barbara Benson Keith

HT: Darren Novell

Much of those "expenses" he has no control over. The escrow numbers are part of his contract with the NBA and his taxes are part of this "contract" with America and the state of CA. His agent fees are a necessary evil and the 401K is a formality. ;)

My question for everyone is this, do the red numbers matter past a certain point? Curry is set to make 34.68 million dollars this season.

At what number, for you, do the numbers not matter any more?

When we were financial planners we spent a lot of our time talking to our clients about finding that number. I encourage you to at least know yours.

References
Sam Belden 19h 51,462 (23 Nov. 2017.). Stephen Curry will get less than half of his record $35 million salary — here is what happens to the rest. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/stephen-curry-salary-taxes-nba-2017-9

Bored at work today so you get to enjoy interesting things I find online. To start, we had an interesting conversation at the table about my favorite barbershop genius, LeVar Ball of the Big Baller Brand.

I call him a barbershop genius because every black barber shop I have ever been in has one. The guy who knows everything and is better than everybody.

It has been estimated that he has received 13.2 million dollars in free advertising as a result of his very public tiff. 13.2 million dollars because he knows the value of attention. Especially if you can get that attention on you. I wonder what that will mean for his brand?

As a sidenote, his crazy expensive shoes began to ship today.

For my business owner friends, a couple of questions.

1. How are you gaining attention to your brands?

2. What are you doing to get that attention? How do you keep it?

References
Valerie Edwards For Dailymail.com (23 Nov. 2017.). LaVar Ball's feud with Trump earns him $13 million in free publicity. Mail Online. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/~/article-5112683/index.html

Gleeson, Scott (22 Nov. 2017.). LaVar Ball can thank President Trump for boosting Big Baller Brand in time for holidays. USA TODAY. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/lakers/2017/11/22/lavar-ball-president-trump-big-baller-brand-black-friday-holiday-shopping/890844001/

I was having a discussion with an online friend about a business that he had gotten involved with over the summer.  I was once involved in a network marketing and since his new business was affiliate marketing he was asking our group for marketing advice.  Here is what I sent to him:

Things to Avoid

Self-limiting Beliefs

This is the thing that kills folks early on in their business.  We doubt that we can be successful in our new endeavor.  I know that there is the new business excitement.  Especially in network marketing situations because of opportunity meetings and conference calls.  While they are good for motivation they don't often encourage the internal work that we have lived under as 9to5'ers.  

Things that keep us in jobs for a long time is comfort, inertia, and fear.  We are used to what we have been doing and are most likely good at it. Changing means being vulnerable and we have been trained to not make mistakes.  You have to be ready to do something new and possibly stink at first.  When we are afraid of having to climb a new ladder we avoid taking the necessary steps.  We have to stop avoiding the difficult work, learn the fundamentals of the business and practice.

Next we need to track the right things.  Know what the effective measures are in your business.  I remember our 8-5-3-1 approach.  The specifics of that don't matter but knowing your numbers are important.  

Selfishness

The last thing to avoid is selfishly interrupting peoples lives with your business.  That doesn't mean you don't share your opportunity but you need to consider your approach.  Consider the person more important than you pitch.  If you lead with your pitch you will seem callous, uncaring and ultimately push someone away.

Community, Tribes and Mastering the Long Cut

If you want to build you business you need to have a tribe.  People who are with you in your business.  They might be directly affiliated with you or are people who know you that will bring opportunities.  When you are new you wonder *how do you build a tribe from scratch?  *

Is it really from Scratch?

I don't think that you will need to build a tribe from scratch.  There are tribes that you are already in that you need work within.  They can lead you to new tribes.  

Finding a new tribe

1. What does your opportunity provide people?
2. What is the smallest group you can support

Identify a Need

1. What does this tribe need?
2. How does my opportunity help?
3. How can I serve?

Serve Them

1. Take small steps everyday.
2. Give people something they can take action on.

I hope this helps you.  As always I am available to answer questions in the comments or on my socials.

Carlton

Everyone who knows me knows I love The Shawshank Redemption. It is one of my favorite movies and I can quote much of it. The story isn't terribly complex but the narrative is rich and engaging. And Morgan Freeman is awesome no matter what he does.

Today I want you to stop worrying about what obstacles are in your path. I want you to get started today. Even if you can only take one step today. Commit to that one step and do it.

Then set a goal to take another one tomorrow and take it. Every day commit to taking one postive step towards your dream. Let me know what it is and I will cheer you on.

It really does come down to making a choice. I want you to choose to get busy living. I will to.

Carlton

If you are wishing for less problems, stop now. That will never happen

Leaders extract value out of every problem.

What can you learn from the problems you are facing at the moment?

Carlton

Phenomenal Woman By Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can’t see.
I say,
It’s in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed.
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need for my care.
’Cause I’m a woman Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Maya Angelou, “Phenomenal Woman” from And Still I Rise. Copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou. Used by permission of Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
Source: The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou (Random House Inc., 1994)

Dear Future Me,

Take a listen to these thoughts on creativity from John Cleese of Monty Python fame. Here are my thoughts today. I hope we took some of these to heart.

Play For Play's Sake

Creatives play and it is just for the sake of playing. Your life needs to have space for play. That means you need to have time for it. The busyness of life destroys the creative flow. You have to build boundaries in your life to create space for play.

Breaking Through a Roadblock

Around 10 minutes John Cleese talks about how Alfred Hitchcock overcame creative blocks. He mentions that he, Hitchcock, would begin to tell a story that was totally unrelated to break the tension and open the creative flow. However, once the flow is open you have to swtich back to working on the creative pursuit.

Original Ideas

"Give your mind enough time to come up with something original"

Timeboxing yourself can often hinder coming up with creative solutions.

Humor Heals

Don't take yourself too seriously. Humor cuts through our self-importance.

"...giggle all you want."

Playing Together

Share your creative time with other people. Make sure that your play friends are people that you trust. Nothing kills creative work faster than the tension brought on by combining people who cannot work together.

Stamping Out Creativity

He ends his talk by sharing how managers could stamp out creativity in our subordinates.
1. Allow subordinates no humor
2. Undermine your employees confidence
3. Demand that people always be doing something

I used to be a morning person but I am finding that the more late nights I have the less mornings excite me. I might have to start prioritzing bed time again.

Today's Scripture

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.

And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord.

For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.“ - Jeremiah 31:31-34

There is a gift that is coming. Will you be able to receive it? Does the gift even matter? I wonder sometimes if we, read I, really think that this gift is important. I mean we live in the future. Does something that orignated so long ago have any relevance?

The more I think about these things the more I am settled in the fact that yes it matters and has relevance to our lives today.

Standards shift, morals move, but how do you live in a world of sinking sand? The only way I know is to fix my eyes on a star that never moves. The same way the old navigators were guided by stars. The same way, topically, that the magi were lead to Christ as recorded in the Gospels.

There will be a morning where this life with its shifting morals and absolutes will give way to The Absolute. At that point the questions will be gone and The Answer will have come.

My prayer is that you would learn the answer before the exam comes.

One thing we do know is that it is ok not to be fine.  We resolved that issue together years ago because we know that ultimately it is not in our hands anyway.  God has been so very faithful to us that even in our pain we can laugh because our God is bigger than all of it.  We also recognized our own privilege and that our issues are not nearly as large as the loom.

So I am praying for you dear reader.  That you would know the faithfulness of God even in your pain.  That you would seek Him first.

Why are you cast down, O my soul,     and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,     my salvation and my God. - Psalm 42:11 God's Man

Sometimes it just have to get done. Whether you FEEL like it or not.

Life is only lived in One Direction.

God's Man

Where trees provided shade and the grass was the only blanket you needed. When I talk to my daughter I don't detect the same level of wonder as she interact with the world. Maybe it is the difference between boys and girls. I remember sweeping adventures that went from one end of one neighborhood to the far end of another.

We had tales about the old homes in our neighborhood. From the story of old man Barry who had killed his brother to assume his familes property to the old boarded up house that was packed full of boxes of money. Then there were the old things we would find in the woods In between the neighborhoods. We would regularly find old cars in the woods and think how did they got there.

These paths were the wormholes to distant lands. Pushing through the undergrowth was emerging through a portal to elsewhen or otherplace. I guess I was just an imaginative kid. I don't know.

In my life God used this sense of awe and wonder to draw me in. As I look back over my life I see how he had set eternity in my heart. How His very creation pointed to something beyond the conventional. Even in my very hidebound mind I see that he was placing in me eyes that were always looking for the miraculous.

What problems did they face?  Among a variety of religious authorities espousing different teachings, how were they to know who was right?  How were men and women to be put right with God?  How could Christians in the midst of a pagan culture live lives truly pleasing to God?

Only one way, answered Paul, through Jesus Christ!  His answer holds true for us as well.  The details of our struggle have changed since those days, but the principles are timeless.