Yes, The Creative Impostor Podcast PRE-season launches NOW!
What the heck is a podcast pre-season?
Well, I am in the process of editing the 8 interviews I have already recorded for The Creative Impostor podcast, and learning how to set up my RSS feed in Libsyn (where the audio files will be stored) and then properly tag it to submit to iTunes and then wait for approval to be “official.”
I am finding this to take much longer than I originally anticipated. And I am finding myself getting stuck in perfectionist tendencies, lack of accountability and distraction (there’s always one more load of laundry, a sink full of dishes, a kitty to snuggle with, a dinner to prepare, a festival to attend…)
So as I was doing some walking meditation this week, I came up with the idea of a PreSeason Podcast, hosted on SoundCloud (which I already know how to use and do not need to wait for approval or deal with RSS feeds…), which consists of a DAILY audio blog with me… unscripted, unedited, totally authentic!
I spent my 4th of July holiday recording my first episode (the easy part) on an outdoor patio while cat-sitting and then uploading, linking, writing descriptions, embedding, re-learning how to use Instagram and Tumblr, creating an opt-in on this site for you to subscribe and writing this blog post (the part that took many hours.)
It’s a behind-the-scenes view into what it takes to launch a podcast. So many people have told me recently they want to launch their own podcast, or are curious about how to start. There’s plenty of resources, trainings, tutorials, etc out their on the web (my faves include Pat Flynn’s, John Lee Dumas’s, and the She Podcasts community with Elsie Escobar and Jessica Kupferman.) What I want to offer is a real-life account of the days leading up to launch, no matter how messy that may get, so that you can learn right along side me and maybe even get inspired to take the mic yourself!
I listened to a great interview by Nathan Chan with one of my favorite people, Seth Godin, in which he said two things that really stuck with me:
1) The people who aren’t grabbing the microphone are hiding.
He summed up beautifully the way I feel that is part of the whole purpose behind The Creative Impostor, which is that EVERYONE has something inside you — a talent, a skill, an idea, an insight, a generosity — that would make the world better if you shared it. NOW, more than ever, is the time where it’s possible to have a voice and a platform, and the time when it is needed, more than ever, to cut through all the static of useless noise that’s out there.
2) Blog every day.
Even if no one reads it or you publish under a pen name, write something every day. Get in the habit. Train your brain. Polish your skills. Seth says…
“The act of writing something down that you believe in, that you have thought about, and knowing that you have to do it again tomorrow will make you better at everything you do.”
And he DOES have a daily blog which I READ nearly every day. It keeps me motivated and inspired to do my best work no matter what.
So I’m launching this pre-season for YOU to inspire you to share your gift with generosity in full confidence that it’s possible to be heard and make a difference. And I’m launching this pre-season for ME so that I can “ship”, as Seth says, work every day even though it isn’t perfect.
I, for one, am NOT hiding.
Listen to the first episode here! And then subscribe at the bottom of this page for exclusive access to the rest of the daily PreSeason podcast.
(Oh, and that’s Gracie, my co-host for episode 001! You can see more of my outdoor recording studio and Gracie on Instagram.)