“I started Awarepreneurs because I was meeting SO many skilled impact founders as my social entrepreneur coaching business was growing, and I wanted to do more to help get their stories out into the world.”
This series is all about Libsyn 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 Paul from Awarepreneurs
When did you start podcasting?
Our very first episode of Awarepreneurs was published on June 6th, 2017.
So as I type this we’re just a few weeks away from our 5th anniversary.
Before that, I had been a guest a few times on other shows, but that was the first time I ever published a show.
What made you think of starting Awarepreneurs?
Before I launched Awarepreneurs, my main marketing channel had been a blog.
I wrote long-form blog posts (up to 7000 words at times) twice a month.
It worked to grow my business, but I was burning out on basically writing two book chapters per month and giving it away for free as a way to stay in business.
Keith Carlson, a long-time friend and colleague, has one of the oldest nursing podcasts in the world — The Nurse Keith Show.
Keith kept mentioning to me that he thought I’d be great at podcasting. I mean he was relentless. 🙂
At first, I resisted – I had a lot going on and there was a lot about podcasting I didn’t know how to do.
But one day when we were talking about it, Keith shared about the relational nature of podcasting.
How intimate it is. He said, “Paul, think about it: people actually listen in a way that invites you into the space between their ears. Literally. (via earbuds).”
A lightbulb went off.
This coincided with me a) being burnt out on blogging and b) wanting to find a way to amplify the stories of the incredible social entrepreneurs I had shifted into working with.
I was meeting SO many skilled impact founders as my social entrepreneur coaching business was growing and I wanted to do more to help get their stories out into the world.
It was a perfect storm that finally helped me get over the resistance to learning new things.
I pushed go on June 6th, 2017 and haven’t stopped since.
What’s the name of your show and what is it about?
My show is called Awarepreneurs and it’s about the intersection of conscious business, social impact, and resiliency practices.
What’s your podcasting setup?
I use a Shure MV7 mic – which I LOVE – and record via USB direct to Zoom. I find the sound is quite good as long as I do three things:
1) record directly to my computer hard drive (not the cloud)
2) have both my guest and myself turn off video during the actual recording.
I then run the recording through Audacity to balance levels and enhance the sound.
Lastly, I use Audacity to splice in my intro, outro, and ads.
Then it’s time to upload to Libsyn! 🙂
How have you promoted Awarepreneurs?
I’ve been active in the values-based business world for over 15 years now and used to work for one of the biggest conferences in the conscious business space.
I was blessed to bring a fairly strong existing network to my podcast.
Plus, I launched it 5 years ago when there weren’t as many pods focused on social entrepreneurship and impact businesses – there’s definitely an advantage to being an early adapter.
What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started?
We wish in the beginning we knew how difficult it is to grow a following — it happens but it takes time and lots of effort.
Paul Zelizer imparts his knowledge about impact business and social entrepreneurship on his podcast Awarepreneurs. Listen to this highly educational podcast on Apple or Spotify today!
What is it in your life that you know will help others? For Paul Zelizer it was teaching other about how to do business better as a social entrepreneur. His podcast, Awarepreneurs, started its life as a very ong blog. He knew that he would be able to reach a wider audience by podcasting.
The first step is the hardest. Use our Start Your Podcast blog series to get you going. And, when you are ready, we have the best podcast hosting plans around!
