This month my focus has been to launch my podcast. I have found every step of this very challenging. I thought that since I had all my materials and I was about ready to record that it was going to be able to be done in a day or two. Boy, was I wrong. Let me give you the steps I have gone through since September, actually July, in order to create this podcast.
July 2016 LAPTOP - I ordered my new laptop that I have been wanting for a while now since I moved to the Houston area. I cracked my old laptop's screen right before the move and although I had a backup desktop computer, it was way out of date and I needed something that could handle all the programming I was going to use. Let's just call it an early birthday gift to myself. It was a pretty penny. September 2016 MATERIALS AND PROGRAMS... A LITTLE OF BOTH - My husband took it upon himself to order my microphone, cords, and stands for my actual birthday in September. I took it upon myself to get in gear and start researching what it took to start the podcast. What I knew I needed for a while now and am still working on partially, is my logo. As you notice at the top of my screen is a new logo which I paid someone on fiverr.com to create for me. I also utilized someone from the same website to produce my intro and outro for the podcast recordings. I was really impressed with the results as it didn't cost much. I still need someone to help with my formatting of my logo to fit the regulations of iTunes!! It is never ending. - I thought that I could have my podcast launched by the end of October, but I soon realized that it was going to be impossible with my perfectionist personality. November 2016 A BLURR - During this month, I'm not sure if I took a break or I started thinking of the holidays or what happened. All I know is that I did not accomplish much during this month. As you noticed there is a huge gap in blog posts from August through December. I think I took a step back to put a balance between life and life online. It is hard sometimes juggling work, life, family, hobbies, health, etc. I did hurt my back during this time and was beginning physical therapy due to bulging discs. I don't regret this break, but I have come back stronger now and am ready to juggle all the things life throws at me. I do remember starting my outline for my podcast during some slow days after work. This helped me out when I decided to record to give me a layout of what I wanted to say without having to do much editing. December 2016 MORE GIFTS TO BE HAD - I was a little better at juggling life at this time. I did manage to make a post at some point, finish my Christmas shopping, visit all of my family for the holidays, and clean my house for visitors. Life can be crazy at times. Christmas also came with much needed gifts as I was still missing my audio interface for my microphone. I knew that once the new year started I would jump on the New Year Resolution band-wagon and get back to work on this project. There were two main things remaining to complete before I could officially launch and that was finding a host and recording my first episode. January 2017 MY HOST AND RECORDING AND PROMOTING - Now that this month is more than half way through, I can say that I am unsure if I will be able to successfully launch my podcast before the month is over. I chose Libsyn.com as my host because of the many articles that I have read. This host gives you the most options and variability for what exactly you want out of your podcast. It also makes it easy to launch your podcast on other platforms such as iTunes. The setback that I have found with launching on other platforms is in the album artwork. I do not want to launch the podcast without proper artwork that doesn't fit the regulations of other sites. Just another bump in the road. I have started to record the podcast this month as well. This has proven very challenging. I realized I am very particular about editing. I went ahead and launched my introduction video on YouTube (click here if you haven't seen it). It was more raw and unedited, but I am taking more time for the actual podcast. - I would say I am half way done. The album artwork should be too. I am shooting for next week sometime, but it has proven to be very challenging. Oh! Did I mention that I am also throwing a baby shower this weekend for one of my best friends out of town on top of working full time, having 2 sick pets this month, and what else can I say. Life will be life though and I am more motivated and determined than ever. So for those that are hoping to start a podcast, record YouTube videos, run a Facebook page, etc... know that it requires dedication, consistency, passion, time, money, hard work, and the list goes on. It is all worth it to me and I am determined to let ya'll in on every detail through my blog and videos. BUT... Until Next Time P.S. I also added an e-mail list for future blogs and podcasts to give you all direct links and updates. Feel free to sign up on my home page.
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