This series is all about libsyn’s newest 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 from Dawn The Desert Lady Diaries
When did you start podcasting?
Desert Lady Diaries podcast was born in July 2017 and was my first venture into the podcast space. Hard to believe episode 86 is dropping on Monday!
Why did you start podcasting?
This journey started combining two things: 1) being a voiceover by trade, recording my voice for eLearning, training, corporate narration projects as well as regional radio/tv spots and looking for a way to promote my voice, and 2) a few years ago, I had an idea to start a blog – being a woman of a certain age, I felt some of my life experience could be imparted on younger women on finances, relationships or other life lessons.
The domain name was purchased, the website created, a few blog posts written and it remains un-launched.
What’s the name of your show and what is it about?
After moving from Los Angeles to the Mojave desert (Joshua Tree) in the summer of 2016, I began meeting so many women who were doing some amazing things: running for Congress, running a household, artists, musicians, restaurant owners, immigrant prison advocates and the now 70-year old children of some of the original homesteaders to this area. One day it just became clear to me that interviewing these women about their life experiences, triumphs and challenges was the perfect podcast. And so, Desert Lady Diaries was born: a weekly conversation with women who’ve found their home in the Mojave desert.
What’s your podcasting set-up? Hardware, software, CMS, etc.
Some might find my set-up a bit amateur, however, I hope that inspires someone who may be struggling with the tech side of things. As a voiceover artist, I already had experience with some of the tech. My set up includes a shared AT 2100 mic, plugged into my laptop, recording into a program called Sound Studio I’ve been using for years.
All the recordings are on two flash drives. In addition to being distributed on the ‘big players’ I include SoundCloud and YouTube for folks who don’t do the ‘downloading’ or ‘streaming’ thing – and there are many of those in my immediate desert community.
How have you promoted your podcast?
In addition to promoting the podcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, I watch for local community events that feel right, purchase a space for a table and set up with information about podcasts in general and Desert Lady Diaries.
At the latest two events, I decided to bring my recording set up with me and do some ‘women on the street’ interviews, limiting the interview to about five questions, then editing those together as episodes. I also always have ‘sign ups’ to be a guest or receive the weekly newsletter that sends the latest episode to their email each week.
What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started?
If there is anything I wish I’d known when I started, it would be the time commitment. People are always surprised when I tell them a 30-minute episode takes anywhere from four to six hours to create. I’m a one-man band, doing all the work myself and created a checklist for myself to ensure everything gets done.
If you do an interview type show, I also recommend interviewing in blocks (several interviews in a day or week). I read about this when I was ramping up to start podcasting and there is great comfort in knowing you’re not out of material and winging it for the next weeks episode.
I’m most proud of the number of community members who tell me how much more connected they feel to the other women in the community hearing their stories, the number of Joshua Tree visitors that have found the podcast as a way to tap deeper into the spirit of our community and the fact that all past and future podcast episodes have become part of the archives of the 29 Palms Historical Society. All of the women interviewed will now be a part of the history of this desert community – a legacy I could have never imagined would have resulted from starting a podcast.
Looking for amazing women living powerful lives in the desert? Wanna get to know the desert life from a very personal point of view? Desert Lady Diaries is for you! Make sure you subscribe and start listening today!
If you’re feeling like you have something to share with the world, blogging is not for your but podcasting is the way to go, we’d love to help you get started! We have a monthly Podcasting Quickstart to get you going, and if you don’t need the help and simply want to get started, check out our powerful hosting plans!
