Our guest feature this summer Friday is from California DJ, podcaster, and professor Amani Roberts. He hosts The Amani Experience Podcast, which focuses on “creatives who have taken the leap from the corporate life to the creative life.” As an entrepreneur and audio producer, he gets a lot of questions about his process and experience in podcasting. In this piece, he shares hard-earned advice on how to stay consistent, including the key to nailing an interview.
“I view every interview I record and produce as a master class on the person I am speaking with,” he says. “They are an expert on their journey through life, and there are countless lessons to learn from each person.” He’s passionate about learning from others but loves to teach as well. Thanks, Amani (or should we say, DJ AmRo) for the words of wisdom.
Fantasy fans, rejoice! The Adventure Zone, the wildly popular Dungeons & Dragons comedy podcast by the McElroy Brothers, has been adapted into a second comic. The McElroys, some would say, are the First Family of podcasting. Brothers Justin, Travis, and Griffin experimentally brought their father, Clint, on board to record a D&D campaign in 2014. Needless to say, it went well. Steph Auteri reports on a delightful interview with The Boys about the new graphic novel, The Adventure Zone: Murder on the Rockport Limited.
In response to the question, “Why the comics?” Justin points out that approaching the 69-episode, 3-year podcast as a first-time listener could be overwhelming. “I felt very proud of the story we ended up telling, but I felt a weird sense of guilt asking people to just invest 70 hours to consume this story we made,” he explains. “I like the idea of a story that doesn’t require 70 hours of unadulterated audio processing to consume.” Readers like this idea too, propelling the page-turner to a #1 New York Times bestseller.
Editorial shoutout: Congratulations to Carey Pietsch, the incredibly talented illustrator of both TAZ graphic novels.
If you use Apple Podcasts for multiple shows and haven’t set up a provider page, Dan Misener at Pacific Content would like to have a word. You’ve probably seen them: In the iOS Podcasts app, the “More on…” section beneath a show leads to, you guessed it, additional content from the same network. According to the company, “If you have multiple shows listed in Apple Podcasts, we can create a single page, called a ‘provider page,’ to list all of your podcasts in one place.”
Working with a sample of 300,000 podcasts, Misener estimates that “there are tens of thousands of podcasts that could take advantage [of one], but haven’t yet.” That’s a lot of free cross-promotion opportunity left unused. To set up one of these promo-portals, simply request one. From your Podcasts Connect account, go to the Contact Us page and use the dropdown menu. The below screenshot, courtesy of Pacific Content, spells it out. Easy, right?
A weekend offers choices, like which t-shirt to wear on Saturday. Stripes? Tie-dye? That band you kind of liked in college? If a soft, comfy PodMov Daily option is in the mix, the decision’s been made. How else will you and other VIPs (Very Inviting Podcasters) recognize each other in public?
Luckily, there’s enough free Ambassador gear to secretly signal in any ensemble. Refer some friends using the unique URL at the bottom of your email, and you’ll be on your way. Thank you, stylish readers.
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