This series is all about libsyn’s podcasters. Its sole purpose is to introduce these awesome podcasts to the world as well as share their podcasting insight to empower the community!
Q & A with Rob from Making Ways
When did you start podcasting?
I started developing, recording, and producing my first series in 2016.
My first episode was released in the spring of 2017.
Since then I’ve continued podcasting independently and have consulted and produced on several branded podcasts, including the Webby-Award nominated Design Better podcast by InVision.
Why did you start podcasting?
I was looking for a medium where I could give back to the creative community.
I wanted to share the stories of brilliant creative people whose winding career paths would be inspiring to listeners charting their own unique journeys.
What’s the name of your show and what is it about?
Just this year, I relaunched Making Ways with a new focus on the art of music.
I’m interviewing bands together with their visual art collaborators for album covers, posters, and videos, about the intersection of art and music.
I love music so much, am a longtime illustrator for bands, and wanted to find a way to share my unique perspective on how art amplifies the impact of music while elevating some incredible musicians and visual artists.
Khruangbin, Nada Surf, Shamir, Sad13, Fruit Bats, Hazel English, Ra Ra Riot, and Deafheaven are all part of our new season. I’m also illustrating original festival-style artwork to launch the series and concert-style “gig” posters for each episode (as well as square versions for podcast feeds).
What’s your podcasting set-up?
Here’s a rundown of the gear and software used to produce the show:
- Shure SM7B microphones
- Cloudfilter
- Scarlet Solo
- Sony MDR–7506 Headphones
- Rode PSA1 Boom Art
- Snowball Mic Pop Filter
- Riverside.fm (for remote high-quality audio and video recording)
- Zoom H4N Handheld Recorder (for field and backup recording)
- Pro Tools (for audio editing and engineering)
- GarageBand (for VO recording)
- Rev.com and Sonix.ai (for transcriptions)
And I’m really interested in exploring Descript. I’m probably leaving off something, but those are the biggies. Many of these recommendations come by way of our amazing audio engineer Brian Pake at Pacific Audio.
How have you promoted your podcast?
I promote the podcast through my website. Social Media like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. Also press outreach, podcasting platform merchandising, and guest channels.
I Illustrate custom artwork for each episode (drawing in a sketchbook and then working in ProCreate on the iPad Pro with Apple Pencil) and design graphics for promotion.
On social media, I will share branded audiograms (I use Headliner), quotes (that I’ll draw), images from the artwork discussed on the show, band photography, and my original episode poster as well.
I have an ongoing newsletter (you can sign up here) where I’ll share early episode access and give listeners a chance at special offers and merchandise.
I’m currently rebuilding my website using Editor X and I’m looking forward to adding bonus content to my episodes there as well.
Each of my guests receives episode live links and a Dropbox folder with all the assets I’ve created for easy sharing on their part.
And I regularly reach out to press and potential marketing partners to cover the series or specific episodes.
Friends of the show like Noise Pop have been very supportive (promoting in their newsletter and on social media), Headliner featured the show as well after we worked together on a bespoke audiogram together, and Inside Podcasting was kind enough to feature us too.
I’ve also found the team at Spotify Podcasts to be incredibly supportive. Given the topic of my show is around the art of music it fits so nicely into their world and I’ve seen promotion of my series in theLINER discovery section as well as home banner promotion of our recent episode with the band Khruangbin.
I’m continuing to pitch press around the series as a whole and distinct episodes for coverage.
If you have an opportunity or idea to cross-promote together, I’d love to hear from you.
What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started?
What I love most about podcasting is how it combines all the elements of media that I enjoy: branding, storytelling, design, community, partnerships. And the underlying thread beneath all of those efforts is: time.
I was lucky enough to have an amazing audio editor and engineer in my early days with Jim Heffernan at TTO Production and now am working with the incredible Brian Pake at Pacific Audio.
All that is to say, I suggest finding amazing partners who can help you with the workload. There’s always more that can be done in podcasting, so whatever your strong suit is, focus on that. And bring in superheroes to support you in their areas of strength.
Rob’s shares his unique creative perspective about the interesting people and bands he has come across in his career. You can listen to his amazing interviews on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Music and the arts inspired Rob to start Making Ways, a podcast that uplifts the mediums. He came up with the idea while working in the music business as an illustrator.
Are you in an industry that really inspires you and you would like to start a podcast to talk about it? We can help you if you don’t know where to begin.
Check out our Start Your Podcast blog series. If you are ready, we have the best podcast hosting plans around!
