The Protectors® with Jason Piccolo
The original The Protectors® podcast, established in 2019, is about great conversations with interesting people, from veterans and leaders to athletes, entrepreneurs, and authors.
Hosted by retired federal agent, U.S. Army veteran (OIF 2006), and author Dr. Jason Piccolo, the show explores the paths that shaped each guest and what they've learned along the way. Many episodes also go behind the scenes with writers, from debut novelists to New York Times bestsellers, on the stories behind their books.
Honest, curious, and unscripted, these are the kinds of conversations you'll want to hear all the way through.
The Protectors® with Jason Piccolo
#476 | Jon Vaala |Charting Your Podcasting Journey: Tips from Jason Piccolo on Finding Your Voice
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Embarking on the podcasting voyage might seem like uncharted waters, but with the right compass, anyone's voice can find its harbor.
Make sure to check out Jason on IG @drjasonpiccolo
Starting a Podcast
Speaker 1A handful of questions . Well , that's a great way to start the Protectors podcast , because we're going to do we're doing a very special episode today , a little bit different than usual . Typically we talk to our guests , we just get into our life story and all sorts of other good topics , but today we're going to get into podcasting , and the reason I'm doing it this way is because John wants to start podcasts and I know a lot of people want to start a podcast and there is plenty of room for more and more podcasts out there . Just got to remember one thing get past four or five episodes , then it gets a lot easier , john . Welcome to the show , brother .
Speaker 2Thanks , man .
Speaker 1So many people , so many people jump into podcasting and they're like , okay , this is going to be great . You know , I can have conversations with my friends , we could do this , we could do that . But the thing is , I'll do three or four episodes and then I'll be like , wow , this is actually work . I mean , it's fun work , it's entertainment and you're getting a message out there , but you actually have to put the time in . So , john , when you first thought about getting into podcasting and starting , what was your thoughts Like ? Why do you want to podcast ?
Speaker 2Well , I mean , you know , got a lot of positive feedback from the podcast you and I have done in the past and you know we put the nonprofit that you know that I'm that I that I helped co-found . You know I figured it'd be a great way to bring , bring you know issues within the bomb tech community out and talk about , talk about those , talk about the amazing people we have in our community . You know there's there's such a great outlet to to really , you know , dive deep into those , into those topics and , you know , highlight the the amazing , incredibly talented people we have in our community .
Speaker 1Well , there you go . That is the first question you have to ask yourself when you're starting a podcast is why for one ? And then take your why . So your why , for instance hey , you want to , you want to shine a light on the topic . And then you have to find a niche , like the protectors obviously . You know , I talk to people who support the protectors community and in the beginning it was , it was very niche down . It was , like you know , you had to have some sort of connection , you had to be like a veteran police something .
Speaker 1But now , with yours , it's perfect , because now you have a caniche , so you're going to talk to people in the eod explosive ornest disposal community and you're going to shine a light on them . So you're going to have a lot of topics . Because the other thing too is , if you're going to start a podcast , you're going to have a topic , but then that topic might just dry up or it's overused and you're not going to have to go the distance with it . So , yeah , like let's say , you did have a topic and you say , hey , I want to put a podcast out . I'm only going to do 10 episodes , but with a podcast like yours , you have life behind it , you can get behind it and you could keep building on that eod community and you can have a show like the last .
Speaker 2Oh yeah , I mean , we have app , we have amazing stories , you know , from guys going back , you know decades , and then we have real world topics that that need highlighted . That are , you know , the stories that need shared , because you know there are ongoing issues that need need need highlighted and I think this is , you know , like I said , a really , really good platform to do it in .
Speaker 1So now you have the niche , now you have your topic . Next thing you're going to , you're going to need a title and you're going to need all that stuff . But what I would recommend is practice . Get on to other people's shows , see how they do what they do . So the podcast community is very good . There are a lot of nice people out there . I mean , there are some idiots . We all know that there's idiots and everything , and a lot of , a lot of contentious folks who are like they have their own little kingdoms . But you could find a lot of podcasts to go on to , to practice , to get your speech going , to get your . You know whether or not you're going to be doing like an . So the other next thing is so you have your topic and everything . So are you going to be doing interview based ? Are you going to be doing monologues ? Are you going to be looking at current topics ? Are you going to be doing what type of show do you want to have ?
Speaker 2Right , well , and I think I think really , you know it's going to be from what you know , what I have in my head , I think it's going to be , you know , conversations with guys , and then it's going to be interviews with guys , you know guys and gals , but I think really , and I think there will be the occasional monologue , but really I think it's those , it's those conversations and it's those stories that are the most impactful , that are the really the most important that we really need to talk about .
Speaker 1Okay , so we can go now in two lanes . Right now , you could develop your show and figure out hey , you know what ? How do I want to do this ? How do I want to interview people ? Do I want to map out a future Me ? I like to like , if I'm going to interview you , like today , I'll take a couple of scripted notes . I'll keep an eye on them . I'm like , okay , that's great , I know what I'm going to be talking about .
Speaker 1The other thing is , before we even get to the show , you have to get equipment . Yes , you don't need a lot of equipment . Like me , I'm using a shore mic right now but the thing is I would highly recommend headphones , as some sort of microphone Doesn't have to be crazy expensive . Don't have to be crazy expensive . And for those out there that are starting a podcast , a lot of times you'll go on to YouTube and it'll be like the top 10 things to buy for your podcast , and a lot of it's pretty pricey , but when you're starting a podcast I recommend this is my own recommendation is going bare minimum . Like I'm using a $30 pair of inner ear headphones that connect right to my microphone , and the reason I'm doing that is because I've seen a lot of times . People use headphones that are wireless and you get a little choppy here and there when it comes to hearing and whatnot . Now , the thing is you have to wear headphones . People are like , well , why do you need headphones ? Because you'll get a lot of feedback when you're recording , if you're recording off a speaker or not , and I'm trying to be as basic as possible when it comes to starting a podcast Microphone , I use a USB .
Speaker 1Now , you could use a USB 3 . But just a regular USB microphone connects right to your computer . I use a webcam and you know that's the other topic you could think of . I like audio podcasting because I get so much more listens than I do views . Now , I'll record a podcast , like we've done it before , and I'll record clips , and clips are great for social media marketing . But the thing is , you're not going to need a lot of equipment . You can use a laptop . If you really wanted to just use , like your laptop or desktop or anything , and use the built in camera , that's fine .
Speaker 1But just make sure you have a microphone and you're going to want to have some sort of headphone , preferably wired , and you ask yourself , well , why do I need a microphone . And why do I need headphones Is because at the bottom of the bottom of the day or the top of the day or whatever you want to call it you want people to listen to your podcast . And a lot of times when you're listening to a podcast where it's the audio is very bad , it's really tough to listen to it when , if you go back to my first 10 episodes or so , some of the episodes the person's driving in their car . I'm on my phone because the only way I can connect to them is my phone and the audio quality is really bad . So then these first few episodes you have , you're going to be catching a lot of audience . You're going to have a lot of followers that listen to you , but they want to listen to you . A lot of people go out and buy a nice look at TV with Dolby surround sound or you go to the movie theaters and you see the Dolby surround sound . It's because listening is really part of the art form of podcasting . So just remember that when it comes to microphones and stuff , you don't need super pricey microphones to start Later on , like the one I have now the sure one , I think I picked it up for two something .
Speaker 1But I bought this like 300 something episodes in or 200 something episodes in . I first started out with my phone , which is a mistake . Then I went to Audio Technica microphones , which were about $75 , $80 . You and I , for instance . You and I actually did it in person , yeah , and that's the ones I used . So I'm still using those years later . So you have your equipment . So then you're either gonna do it in person , like we did that one time , so an in-person setup . We'll do a completely different show for that , but right now we're just gonna kind of we're gonna stick to just getting this setup going on your computer at home or wherever you could set up your mic , wherever you could set up .
Speaker 1Think about your ambient sound too , when you're buying this equipment , when you're setting up . My dogs are upstairs . When they're gonna bark , I can mute it . They're gonna bark . They always do , oh yeah . So think about where you're at . Think about the soundproof . When I first started , I was doing it out of my like closet . A lot of times , you know , I came out of the closet . Now I do it in my studio , but I have wood and soundproofing around here . So think about your surroundings where you're doing this ? Are you gonna have complete concentration when you're doing these interviews , distractions ? So now that you have your equipment , you're like okay , this is great , let's go into what you do .
Speaker 1Next is you need to have a platform to upload . So you're gonna record , and I typically like , so I'm using StreamYard to record . So StreamYard's much like Zoom , so it's the same type of platform , zoom . You can hit the record button and you record really good audio and then I'm gonna download that audio and then I'm gonna upload it to a platform . For instance , I use Buzzsprout and I pay a certain amount of money a month , probably like jeez , probably anywhere between I think it's $12 and $29 a month , depending on what plan I'm using and that gives me the opportunity to upload a certain amount of hours a month . But not only does it I could upload my audio to that but it also transcribes it and it also cleans up a little bit of background music not music , but sound . So it's actually a pretty decent program . So you have Buzzsprout . You have a ton of different ones out there , but find a good platform that you wanna use , like , for instance , I use StreamYard , like I said , like Zoom , and I pay a certain amount of money .
Speaker 1Zoom , I think you can get certain free plans , but you just have to find something that you can record good quality audio off of and you'll notice you're starting to tack up money now . So you're starting to put in monthly fees for this , monthly fees for that . These are all part of your decision-making process , whether or not you wanna start the podcast in the first place , because you're looking at about a minimum of $30 , $40 , upkeep a month just for the platforms . Okay , so now you have your equipment . So we're using a USB mic , webcam , webcam , headphones , we've got our surroundings , we're quiet , you can hear a pin drop , and then the other thing is you have your platforms that you're gonna upload .
Speaker 1These are kind of the easy things , but there's so much more about podcasting than just sitting down and chatting with someone Even though that's like my favorite part about it , but getting up to that point . So then let's talk about doing the interview itself , and then we'll talk about post-production and all that other stuff later on . So when you're interviewing someone , you're not just here to have a conversation , you're here to bring information to people .
Creating and Managing Podcasts
Speaker 1Some of the I couldn't stand some of the podcasts that have started in the past . They've only lasted maybe two or three episodes and you can hear it's just a bunch of buddies sitting around talking and chatting with inside jokes .
Speaker 1Yeah think about a podcast is like you watch some of these like a good show on TV . There's always a story around it . There's always something that the audience wants to get . Now , not , believe me , I mean episode's . Not everyone has been great , I mean some of them . I'm really struggling to be a good interview and to be a good host .
Speaker 1But think about what you want that episode to be about and write a little outline on a piece of paper or something , some notes around you . So when you're looking at it , you could go , oh okay , like today , my notes are a bus sprout titles , uploads , bomb tech , community research , map it out . So I'll have little notes that I don't want to hit during each of those , each like , for instance , that's a really good one . Turn off your phones while you're doing this because I'll get a no . But it comes down to like you know , I'll be listening and all of a sudden , like I'm talking about my notes and I'm trying to keep focused , and then I'll get a buzz and I'll be like , oh crap . So it's like you lose focus .
Speaker 1Part of audio quality is having conversations with someone , and when you're having conversations with someone , you have to think and this is my first 20 or 30 , 40 episodes , you're gonna hear a lot of ums and ahs . So little things , little things . You want to become like you were a great bomb deck . I'm sure your whole career is probably like wow , I've done a lot of really cool things and I've mastered that . I've mastered that art . It's the same thing with podcasting . When you're , when you're having these discussions , start thinking about you're not just your background anymore . Now you are a podcaster , now you are an interviewer . Now you are a host , now you are part of entertainment . So that's . I'll pause my soapbox for a little bit . So what other questions you have , john ?
Speaker 2Well , you started hitting on a lot of . I mean , my first question was the equipment . You know , based on , you know , our previous podcast . You know we've done one online and we've done one Face-to-face and I liked . I liked when we did that face-to-face , that was good and I liked that portable equipment . It seemed like that was a really good way to go . But you know , right , starting from scratch , do you think the ? Would it be better to , you know , have both available , or is that something that you would ?
Speaker 1I tell you what I tell you . Let me look up I'm trying to remember the exact model I have because I bought that . So I have a mobile setup and it's I use as a just regular , like you know , two mics . And Let me look it up right now . It's I've had it for like four or five years and I bought that's . The thing is , I bought it like when I first started it . I'm trying to remember which one of this . Anyway , well , it is really is just a basically an MP3 recorder , okay , and two microphones , and two decent microphones , and I'll put , like I'll write down all my list of equipment Below this , but it's really just a simple , simple setup .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1And I reckon you know what I mean if you're gonna be out and about with people , but then you have to think about logistics for that as well . So you and I met in a library , which was perfect , yeah , because it was like quiet area , and you know , if you're out and about , it's kind of tough to . This is killing me .
Speaker 2I could look this up when you thinking about starting with your With online or in person well , I think , I think we'd like to have the ability to do both , because you know we'd like to . I'd like to be able to do that . I'd like to be able to do in-person interviews at some of our training events that are at our top on tech competition and then , well , as you know , video in the In our facility . But I would like to have a have a portable system .
Speaker 1Yeah , you know , the one I'm using is it's called a zoom h6 handy recorder , so I could have the ability to put in four different microphones onto this . So if I want to have three guests , four guests . You know you don't want to get too many guests because then it starts getting a little unwieldy .
Speaker 2But yes , let's get a little chaotic there when they have four or five guests and To go .
Speaker 1Yeah , so that's the one I'm using for my mobile setup , and I love doing mobile interviews now . That's why I like I always tell people I'm like have cheap , will drive , will , will meet you in person to do it .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1So you have your topic , you're gonna have your guests , you're gonna do your conversation , you're gonna record anywhere from 25 minutes to an hour and a half . It's kind of tough to talk to someone for a long time . So until you get into the rhythm , just start thinking about doing shorter shows . I've always stuck with kind of like 25 , 35 , 40 minutes . I Kind of want to get into longer conversations because I think by the time you build a rapport with your guests and you start getting into it , it's probably about 45 minutes into the conversation before you really start getting a going . So I think it just all depends on what the topic is and whether or not you want to get it out there .
Speaker 1Yeah so now you have this recorded audio file and you're like , okay , what do I do now ? These are little things . Some people should think about Nexus , your theme music .
Speaker 2That's part of . That was one of my questions .
Speaker 1You know I used Geez years ago . I had my daughter help me out to pick out the tune and it's like it's stuck with me . It's something that stuck with me and I'm trying to like Remember where I got it from . But you have to make sure that it's licensed and you could buy the license . I think that cost me about 90 bucks back in the day , but I've used it for every episode since . So really it's just finding the type of intro music I keep mine to 14 to 15 seconds and it's just long enough for people like , okay , they turn on and then you get right into it , right into the conversation . Let's pull up a little protectors here , and you know some people are different . They have , like you know , like cleared hot . I love there .
Speaker 2It's like yeah , that's a good one .
Speaker 1So what's next , brother ? What kind of questions you got for me . So then , oh , whoa , there we go . Yeah , just something that's like catching and it just sticks with you . Yeah , that's a that'll be interesting finding that on that intro .
Speaker 2So then , as far as like platforms like Apple , spotify , youtube , what is ? What was the decision-making behind that ? Now I use Buzzsprout , and the other good thing about Buzzsprout is it gives me the opportunity to link it to every , every major podcast platform .
Speaker 1So when you get Buzzsprout , there's a lot of people that are interested in podcast platform . So when you get Buzzsprout , there's gonna be plenty of . It's gonna walk you through the whole thing but I'll be able to upload it . Like as I upload an episode , it automatically goes straight to like . It takes a couple minutes but it goes straight to Apple , goes straight to it , goes straight to Spotify , goes all over . I'm gonna pull up Buzzsprout now and kind of walk through who goes to , and that's BUZZ SPROTcom , and it goes to Apple , spotify , google Podcast , poddeck , podcast in index , amazon music , iheartradio , itunes and Alexa podcast addict , listen notes player FM . I believe it also gets connected to Audible , so it'll be part of like their library as well .
Speaker 2Oh , wow .
Speaker 1They'll give you a free website . You could monetize it , but you know monetizing is little touchy when it comes to that , so you don't really make a lot of money . And and then it gives you the stats . It gives you All sorts of stuff . I am paying $18 a month . I have 477 episodes uploaded and you could have different plans . So $18 a month gives me six hours . The episodes are hosted indefinitely and For $3 more a month . If I , let's say , I do a bunch of bunch of Episodes every month , I paid $3 extra for an hour . And if you already have an existing one , then it um existing podcast . You can you can shuttle it over to there . But there's two other fees that I have in here . I have magic mastering and I have co-host AI , so that also gives me like AI , so that'll transcribe all my episodes and everything else . So Buzzsprout , brother , and I'm sure there's so many different hosting platforms out there that I just happen to be using Buzzsprout since I started .
Speaker 1So once you this other thing too , is once , so I use you have to edit , like in order for me to . I could just upload an MP4 and it's great , it's good to go , whatever , but editing . So I try to keep it as simple as possible for me editing and I'll use Adobe Premiere Rush , so it's an Adobe product . The only problem with that is it's just more additional costs . So look for different types of discounts to get Adobe . But I use a really basic Premiere Rush . I'm not going to get into how it works , but in that in that program , I could upload my MP4 , my audio file , I could upload my intro music and if we're doing it like this , I can cut out clips of you , etc . But I could also go through there and edit . So when you're recording a podcast , always keep a notebook next to you and keep track of the times that if you want to cut anything out so if there's like a lot of dead spots , like not just dead spots but like , let's say , your guest doesn't want that in there or just the topic kind of goes the wrong way , and you want to remove something you could use like Adobe Premiere Rush and cut it , cut it right out of there Then what you do is you render it , you export a render and then you could upload it into Buzzsprout and then you have an episode and then , once it's up in a Buzzsprout , you know that gives the opportunity to put down like your title .
Speaker 1Like , for instance , I used to do seasons , so I do season one , I do 50 or 60 episodes season two . But then I found out I was getting I lost track of who and what season people were on , I guess , and everything . So now I started doing like a numbering convention , so every episode would be like number one , number two , number three , and then the guest name and then the topic we're talking about that day . It just all depends on what you want to do . But you have to remember one thing At the end of the day , it all comes down to entertainment . The part of entertainment is people need to know where to find you , and that's marketing . That's one thing we'll get into in a little while .
The Power of Conversational Podcasting
Speaker 1But before we get to that , what kind of question is what other questions you have ?
Speaker 2I think we've hit them all , except for the . I've seen you know some podcasters . They'll do the interview like scripted interviews and others just have a normal conversation . How do you feel is your best ? How do you feel is the best way to go on that ?
Speaker 1Well , you know , you and I have a law enforcement background , so my initial episodes were all like interrogations , interview interrogations . I swear I would have a list of questions and I'd be like , okay , I want to get to this . I found that when you ask people questions without building a relationship with them , building a conversation , a lot of times it just kind of comes out as scripted , like they have their scripted responses , they know what they're going to say . When you have a conversation , it kind of gets more into a conversation , like you're getting more personal with them . I like the idea of having my questions but integrating them into a conversation . So , like those notes I have here for this today is information I wanted to get out there to the audience . But when I have a conversation with , like an author or with someone in the protector community , I'll have a bunch of questions or bullets written down that I want to hit . But I like to hit them in a conversational piece rather than like I don't know . So , john , where were you born , right ?
Speaker 2John , where were you ?
Speaker 1born Right . What's your mother's maiden name ? You ? Know what I mean , you're pulling out all the credit card things . What's the last four years of Social Security ? But I mean , it's just kind of like you lose the personal .
Speaker 2That's one thing about POTS . That's your most successful interviews that you get , or those conversations where you hit those key points .
Speaker 1Yeah , and I think the other thing is it's more personal .
Speaker 1That's what I like about podcasting is you have the time , yeah , when you're on these shows and stuff , when you're doing mainstream media or you're doing interview shows , you're on there for seven , eight minutes and you already have a scripted way You're going to talk about that day . You're not getting into the conversation , and I think that's what the power of a podcast is is whatever topic you want to talk about , it gives you the ability to have a conversation about it and to learn . I am very what do you call that ? We're so self-serving or not self-serving , something like that . You know where I started this podcast ? Because I wanted to know more . I personally wanted to know more information from people . I wanted to hear people's stories and I wanted to talk to people and it became kind of like . It just kind of morphed into what do the people who follow the podcast want to learn ? What do I think they want to understand ? Like podcast , we always talk about it , but it's always like well , how do you start ? And there's this YouTube channel . I watched all the time when I said I wanted to do YouTube so much . Think media and one of their things . You just got to hit record . That's what I said . I'm just going to hit record Every time I do an episode . I'm just like I'm just going to hit that record button .
Speaker 1Now there's different ways to get into the first shows or second shows or whatever . I used to like the way Jaco does it , where he does like a monologue in the beginning or reads an excerpt from the book . I like the way Joe Rogan does it because , like it's more of a conversation , but you can tell what Joe Rogan is , someone like what he's talking to , a friend , or if he's just talking to something that he wants to learn about or just some people who just happen to be there . Yeah , the thing is it's time and you're not going to make a lot of money . You have to get into it for the right reasons .
Speaker 1It's like podcasting is about telling a story . And the other thing something hit me the other day , probably a couple of weeks ago Now . I have two kids , two teens , and I'm like you know what ? This is a living record of their dad . This is me having conversations with a ton of people that 20 , 30 , 40 years from now , when I have grandkids , great grandkids or whatever they could be like okay , that's my dad talking , that's my grandfather talking , that's my god father talking , that's my you know whatever . And you know it becomes your legacy , it becomes a way to keep your own voice going .
Speaker 2Yeah , absolutely , that's a great point .
Speaker 1So what other questions you got from me , john ? John Valar starting his own podcast about the EOD community .
Speaker 2Well , I mean , you've crushed them all . The marketing is one that we need to bring up . That's important .
Speaker 1So marketing , you know , the only reason I'm really on social media is for , well , marketing . Yeah , whether it's like I love shooting and eventually I want to become an instructor with that , I want to do a lot more in that realm . I mean , I am an instructor but not doing it full time or anything . The other thing is I have the protectors foundation , which is I have to . I have to drum up money for that , but the big thing is the podcast is using social media to gain people to listen to your podcast . So marketing is tough and you know what comes from any type of protector . It's really tough to sell yourself . So I like to try to sell the product , the guests . The reason you should listen to it is because of the people I bring to the podcast .
Speaker 2Yeah , that's a that's a great way to , and paying for marketing is tough too , because it's like where do you put your money ?
Speaker 1So once in a while I'll pay for ads , but not a lot of times . I mean I really should be paying for more ads . But it's like do we really need to pay for a million ads when you're not making any money ? You're putting money into it , so use it for what it is Right . I think we are putting the reach in our communities .
Speaker 2Yeah , and use other podcasts to promote your podcast .
Speaker 1Like , I'll be a guest on as many podcasts as I possibly can and always bring up the podcast , but always bring up other topics , you know ? Yeah , that's a that's a great idea .
Speaker 2I mean , I've been on years twice , I've been on two , so it's a . That's a great way to do it . And keep talking , brother , keep getting out there and talking to other people Now
Mock Interview and Starting a Podcast
Speaker 2with your look .
Speaker 1Okay , let's do a mock interview . Ask me a question how would you want to set up your podcast ? Let's say I'm Jason Piccolo and you just want to say , hey , what's up , dude , let's talk . Oh yeah , I'm Jason Piccolo and you just want to say , hey , what's up , dude , let's talk . Oh man , I have to put you on the spot .
Speaker 2Yeah , I wasn't in that headspace . That was , yeah , you , you put me on the spot there . Good , we , you know , we know each other a little bit . Jason , how , how do you , how do you , how do you , how do you get to the point where you're ? How do you , how do you want to get into the , the actual shooting instruction part of of you know you want to do pistol . Do you want to be rifle ? What is your plan going forward ? I ?
Speaker 1love that , that perfect question , because it gives me something to talk about , something I'm passionate to talk about . So you found , so you listened to , you listened . Rule number one is you listened to what I was saying and you were saying , okay , well , he's marketing about this . This is an you're thinking one step ahead . And that's one thing about the interviewing process is you're always thinking , thinking what is my next question ? I love having conversations , but a lot of times I'll listen a little bit at to the conversation as I'm getting ready to ask the next question , to kill the dead space , to keep the conversation flowing . You don't want too much of this , you want to be able to keep talking . So you asked me that question and what I would say is I'm like , look , very passionate about firearms .
Speaker 1Firearms is a sport , it's a community . It gives me some way to push my limits , to push myself . So I love shooting . I love seeing where I could put that bullet . I love having fun with it . I love the enjoyment of picking up any type of pistol , rifle , shotgun , firing the bullet sound range , doing it for speed , doing it for fun , having a good time , and I also want to teach that to other people . I want to teach other people the safe aspects of firearms . I want to teach them how I want to , how they could have fun with it , how they could build community around it , how they can have fun with their family about it , and how just a firearm is in your room , it's just not going to automatically explode and fire off . So then we start having a conversation about that and we go deeper into it . You go .
Speaker 1So , jason , you want to talk , you want to , you want to , you want to teach families ? I'm like , yeah , I want to teach families . I want to teach families about firearm safety . I want to teach them the basics of firearms , not even really introducing a full-fledged firearm or dummy firearms , dummy rounds , teaching them the normal nature of firearms . Oh , that's pretty cool . I mean , how are you going to do that ? Well , the first thing I did was I went to Amazon , I went to other different vendors and I bought different things where I could bring another mobile setup . I can go into people's houses and I can be like , hey , this is a net and this is what a firearm is . It's something you don't need to be afraid of if you respect it . Oh good , jason , I get the hell off my show , okay , so there you go . There's that . That's a whole conversation .
Speaker 2Yeah , absolutely .
Speaker 1And you could build 10 , 15 minutes on that and you could build time into it . But I'd hesitate to say you want to do ? I tell a guest hey , look , how long we're going to talk . I'm like , yeah , 20 minutes , because anybody can talk for 20 minutes , anybody .
Speaker 1And sometimes you're going to get a guest that hasn't been on your show or hasn't done a podcast before and you tell them we're going to talk for an hour and a half and they're going to be like , oh shit , I can't even talk to my wife for an hour and a half . I can't talk to my friend for an hour and a half . Do I even want to talk to anybody for an hour and a half ? You know so I mean , I have friends , I could talk to them for 78 hours , but you tell me I'm going to go talk to certain people for an hour and a half . There's no way . But that's the thing is , you want to . You want to get your guests to talk , you want to get them to open up , you want to get them to fill that dead space . So be ready for your next question when they , when you hear that Dead space .
Speaker 2Yeah , not smart . I mean that's kind of kind of the way we did it . We did it in law enforcement . I mean you didn't , you don't , you don't want them to start stewing on the next . You know what they said . They were thinking , what they were thinking about . You get them going on the next question . So they're not stewing on what they just think . They just said .
Speaker 1Exactly and think about it as like just a just a really cool conversation or something Right .
Speaker 2Absolutely there's , and I think , especially when , when you're excited about guests , to that there's so much you want to learn about certain guests , I think that's going to be that a lot of those will flow naturally because there's so much you want to talk about . That's something that's going to going to vary , probably with different guests .
Speaker 1You know , that is one aspect of podcasting I want to get into is chasing guests , chasing influencers , chasing the name . Just interview people who have good stories and good conversations . Some people you'll interview have never , ever been behind a mic . Some people have . They're not social people , but they have a great story , they have a great conversation and a great piece of knowledge that they want to get out there . A lot of times we get these high profile guests They've been there , done that , they've done a million shows to same names , doing the same circuits .
Speaker 1I want to talk to someone who has an incredible career or a credible moment of that career , a credible moment in their life they want to bring to light , they want to talk about it , because you and I love talking . I mean , when we put us together , we're talking , we can get into conversations . But some people want to tell their story and they need a platform and you're their platform . So when you're thinking about guests and you're thinking about this , you're thinking about that . Don't chase the name right away . Yeah , you can get some good , good guests on there , but don't , just don't chase the , the numbers and name .
Speaker 2That's a that's a great point .
Speaker 1And you know , one thing I want to tell the audience out there too right now is what I did was I adjusted my camera . I had this monologue in my head . I cut it to about a minute , a minute and a half to my head about the what I wanted to get the information out there about , that I want people to listen to this podcast about . So I did a quick minute and a half there talking about guests , talking about chasing the names and stuff , and now I'll use that clip right there to advertise this show . So you have to think but little things to think about while you're doing the conversation is when your guest is doing a little monologues and you'll get them . You'll be able to pull little clips out from your conversations with people that are really good and just really exciting to talk to people and like get people excited about that episode .
Speaker 2So , for sure , that's I think that you know , based on what I've seen from , and that's something you're really good at , you do that very well .
Speaker 1I'm going to interrogate you , john Valor . So what else you got from your brother ?
Speaker 2No , that that you hit all the I think nine questions I had . That was you hit him all without me asking a lot of them .
Speaker 1Well , john , the other thing , too , is like your startup costs . Let's let's recap the startup costs . So you're looking at so Buzzsprout for me , is 18 , 25 bucks a month , depending on what the magic metering is stream yards , gee , he's probably 24 bucks a month . So you're looking at like 50 , 60 bucks a month , right off the bat Equipment . You're looking at , let's say , you buy a nice microphone 50 , 80 bucks and I'm talking about a decent microphone and some people out there being , oh , you need a nice microphone , you need to spend $500 . Now , you don't . You need something that's going to sound good . A lot of people are going to be listening in their car , they're going to have a lot of ambient noise , headphones , whatever . You're going to need a microphone .
Speaker 1I use these awesome inner ear headsets headphones . They're actually like 23 bucks off of Amazon . They plug right into my microphone . I like to have as much minimal amount of wires as I can . I mean , if you look at my desk yeah , you're crazy , but that's all like lighting and stuff I use a webcam . I'm using a Logitech webcam I upgraded that a while ago but just a regular webcam so you can look at your people you're talking to . I like using webcams and seeing my guests rather than just talking to them , because if I wasn't seeing you a very visual person I like to be able to see you . So you have probably about 100 bucks worth of equipment , 7,500 bucks worth of equipment Don't go crazy on equipment and then you have your monthly fees .
Speaker 2That's not terrible ?
Speaker 1No , it's not . You know the mobile setup this Zoom H6 , I bought this like five , six years ago for 300 something bucks . Find used equipment that works . You don't need to buy a brand new equipment and that with that it's battery operated , has a memory card . And then my two audio technica mics I bought them back in the day for like 75 bucks a pop , so you can go full mobile for about 300 , 400 bucks .
Speaker 2That's really not bad at all .
Speaker 1And don't go by big mixing machines and big , this big , that Just stick . Stay simple in the beginning , get your audio out there and then learn as you go .
Speaker 2When do you , when do you , decide to use co-hosts ?
Speaker 1I love using co-hosts . That is an excellent question right there , brother . I love using co-hosts because , for one thing , I don't know a lot about a lot . I know some things about some things , but sometimes , like , if I bring some authors on , I don't know about their series , so I'll , I'll be like , hey , you know I am a dare , my buddy , gene O'Neill , I have as many co-hosts as possible , you know .
Speaker 1And if you ever want to co-hosts , feel free , because that gives you an opportunity to to start the podcast and I'd be , I'd be honored to start . You know , get your podcasts off the ground , just interviewing people with you . I'd love to do that . Obviously , you're doing the interviewing , I'm just there to be kind of chime in once in a while . Yeah , absolutely .
Speaker 1But I love co-hosts and if you're using a co-host , I love . Let me get into that real quick . So right now I can see you , I can see my co-host and you have to get a good rhythm with them . You have to have a good conversation . So when I hit my mute button , you can see my mute over my thing . So what I do with my co-hosts is like when they come off a mute , I know they meet . That means they want to ask a question Helps you get into a rhythm . Little things to think about later on when you have a co-host . But definitely have as many co-hosts as possible , because then you're not only using , you're going to be part of their , you're going to get their audience as well .
Speaker 2So , like with the people you reach out to , like your authors and people like that , how do you connect with those people ?
Speaker 1Well , I'm lucky enough that the publishing houses will now reach out to me with upcoming books and stuff like that . In the beginning I would just do emails and I wouldn't do shotgun emails . If I found a guest that I really really wanted to talk to , I would do my research , like I've gotten a bunch of guests off of LinkedIn , you know , I just liked it . Like I saw this , this Netflix series Victim Suspect , and one of the cops on there was I really wanted to talk to him . So I just friended him on LinkedIn and emailed him and boom , he was on the show in a week . Oh nice . And like you know , speaking of co-hosts , when I interviewed him I had my friend Laura do it and she's a cop and she knows how to . She's done those types of investigations . So it's like I want to have people like that as my co-hosts . So if I was going to talk to someone in the EOD community or SWAT or anything like John Hakey , he could be a come on a co-host , because you're going to have questions , yeah .
Speaker 2Yeah , absolutely , that'd be really cool , that was . I think that would be a good way to help with , help you gather your thoughts too .
Speaker 1Exactly so . If I get like a brain fart or something like that , the co-host will jump in , and that's happened to me especially , like with life going on around me , like , as we're recording this , my daughter just came home from school . I hear going on upstairs the dogs are barking . I mean , this is the life of a podcaster . Right , you know you can , and that's one thing I should have brought up before . It's you can . When you get into it is you can . There's always every major town probably , or cities always have places where you can get into it and use their equipment and they'll send you the file . I haven't done it yet , but I know friends who have done that . Like Battleline podcast does that all the time . Really good dudes , huh , I do not know that . Yeah , so there'd be podcast studios .
Speaker 1Just , I mean going to Yelp going to Google like put it on YouTube , like like you know , you know , you know , you know you can get to your podcast studio . You can get into Google like podcast studios nearby , and you'll see them comes up and like okay , interesting . So yeah , man , there's , there's plenty of places to find podcast studios . So you know what I'm going to look up Yelp , my go to Studio's two and a half miles away , capital one , hall five , gvo studios , the Grammy room , yeah , there's a bunch .
Speaker 2Yeah , I would have never guessed . That's very cool .
Podcasting Basics and Promotion
Speaker 1Well , brother , I appreciate you . So , you're ready for your podcasting adventure in there ?
Speaker 2Got to do some more research , get some equipment , find some music , subscribe to some software and watch this .
Speaker 1I'll do a quick , we'll do a quick average . So what are you going to find on this show ? You were going to find how to start a podcast from point A to point B to point C to point D , and not in the most eloquent way . We're just going to talk about the down and dirty basics of starting a podcast and this is part of it Marketing and advertising your episode . So everybody , tune into the protectors podcast , episode 400 blank , blank , blank . It's . You know , it's just , it's the podcast and life brother . I appreciate you , john , and when your podcast comes out , feel free , we will promote that everywhere .
Speaker 2Awesome . Thank you so much for all the information . This is a . This is a super helpful .
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