Behind the Scenes: Podcasting with Dave Campbell

Have you ever been curious about what happens behind the scenes with podcasters, influencers and creators? If so, this is the episode for you.
In this Special Edition,  meet Dave Campbell, a podcaster from Canada with EIGHT podcasts, who kindly gave me the opportunity to sit in as a co-host on one of his shows, The How To Podcast Series.  As two guys who have gotten older, and thankfully continue to do so, we share our thoughts on life, podcasting and other things. 
Sit back, relax and hit that play button.

Chapters

• 0:00 Bill Monty's Guide to South Florida
• 8:33 Podcasting for Mature Audiences
• 17:42 Podcasting Tips for Beginners
• 25:16 Building Community Through Podcasting
• 34:11 Building Podcasting Community Through Meetups
• 42:07 Podcast Diversity and Impact

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to Bill Monty's Guide for Gettin' Older.

Speaker 2: 0:08

Hello and welcome to a special episode of Bill Monty's Guide for Gettin' Older. I am Bill Monty. This episode a little background here.

Speaker 2: 0:20

Several months ago I came across a meetup group, a how-to-pod podcast meetup group run by a man named Dave Campbell out of Ontario, canada. One of the best things to happen to me in 2024,. Dave does eight podcasts. I think seven are actually active right now. I get numb, I get heart palpitations at the thought of doing eight. I do two this one entails from South Florida, and it can sometimes be overwhelming. So the thought of doing eight or seven I just can't imagine. And not only that, but he also works and he has a life and he has a house and a wife and you know just what we all do.

Speaker 2: 1:05

Dave's one of the nicest people I ever met. You know. At the end of every podcast, as you listen, you hear me say the words be kind. Dave is the epitome of being kind because what he has done with his group is to find a way to support podcasters and to support people, and he doesn't even charge for it. If you are a podcaster, you need to listen all the way to the end of this episode because he will give you the information on how to join the meetup group or how to contact him directly for one-on-one, and if you are a podcaster, you know there's no one else offering this free of charge.

Speaker 2: 1:44

He has podcasts for dads to give advice. He has podcasts to help people edit their shows, their podcasts. He has a podcast about recycling that they do up in canada. He's got a podcast for everyone, not just podcasts about podcasting. So, look, I don't want to bore you here without further ado. This was Bill Monte joining Dave Campbell on his show, the how to Podcast series, and we're talking podcasting and life purpose and just what it takes to get by in the world sometimes. As always, thank you for listening. This is our last episode of 2024. I thought it was a good one to say goodbye to one year and hello to the next year with We'll see you again in 2025. And now my friend, dave Campbell.

Speaker 1: 2:42

Hey everyone, welcome back to the how to Podcast series. I'm excited to have someone on my screen because I see this person often on my screen. Part of our amazing meetup community over on meetupcom. We get together on a regular basis and Bill shows up and brings great wisdom, great knowledge and a great speaking voice, which makes me happy. And Bill Monti's on the podcast as my guest co-host. He's got multiple shows. He's going to talk about that here on the show and we're going to just talk about podcasting. And if you live in South Florida, bill's your next best friend. So everyone reach out to Bill if you live there, because he'd like to meet you. Bill Monty on the how to Podcast series Welcome, bill.

Speaker 2: 3:20

Thank you, dave. Thank you, it's great to be here and, yes, if you're in South Florida, I'd love for you to reach out to me. Billmonte04 at gmailcom or TalesFromSouthFloridacom is the best place to go Get more information on me and the show.

Speaker 1: 3:34

There you go, and if you want to visit South Florida, you want to move to South Florida you know somebody in South Florida then they need to hear about Bill's podcast for sure, Right, Bill?

Speaker 2: 3:44

you know somebody in South Florida, then they need to hear Bill's podcast for sure. Right, bill? Absolutely South Florida. You know Florida sometimes gets a bad rap nationally and everything else, going back to the hanging chads of the election of 2000 and Florida man, you know everywhere you go, is Florida man did this or there's a Florida man who did this. It's certainly not a wonderful spotlight on our state, but the fact is that Florida, and South Florida in particular, it's more than Disney World. It's more than amusement parks. There's a lot of culture, there's a lot of history, there are a lot of wonderful people, there are a lot of big names and stars that have come from South Florida and that do things in South Florida. You know the singer Pitbull is Mr 305.

Speaker 2: 4:27

And that's what my podcast about South Florida, the idea for it, came from, was let me kind of go out and talk about what a great place this is and what it was like to grow up here, because my family moved here in 1965.

Speaker 2: 4:43

We came from Texas. I was a wee lad, so I grew up in a really great time and it was a time when South Florida was very seasonal, so literally after Easter, so somewhere around April or beginning of May, all of the tourists, all the snowbirds, as we call them, would go back up north and for that period until right, like early October, mid-october, it was almost a ghost town. Hard to think of that now when you think of how big Miami, miami Beach, fort Lauderdale, all the growth here but it would literally, things would just empty out. Stores and businesses would close for that time because there weren't enough people to keep it going. Wow, so it was a great place to grow up. You know sunshine and beaches, elvis showing up every now and then to shoot a movie. I mean, who could ask for anything more?

Speaker 1: 5:38

There you go, yeah, and I guess a lot of Canadians come down and spend time there and they're part of that vacuum that they go back north again. So what do you love most about Florida, like, what is it that keeps you there?

Speaker 2: 5:53

Wow, you know, I guess it's home. I think that's what it is, more than anything else I have. Certainly I've left a couple times. When I was a younger person, I got married early and we moved to North Carolina. There was a time right after high school when I went out to LA for a little while, but I always came back here.

Speaker 2: 6:14

I think the reason is I'm just comfortable. You know I do things like I wish we had colder weather. Sometimes I wish it was more seasonal, I wish the leaves changed color, but for the most part it's really a comfortable place and the people are nice and there's a lot of different cultures. You can go from one city to the next, or one area or one town to the next, and maybe it becomes mostly Hispanic and you have all these wonderful Hispanic restaurants, this wonderful Hispanic culture that's there to greet you, and their celebrations and the way that they do things. Then you have a Caribbean influence down here, so you're exposed to all of this and without feeling overwhelmed, and that really is what I think is just a driving force of being down here.

Speaker 2: 7:04

Now I will say it has, in the last few years, become extremely expensive to live, and I guess that might be true of a lot of the nation right now, but if you're planning to move to South Florida, one thing I will say is check your bank account because it's very expensive because of the hurricanes. The property insurance, homeowners insurance is very high. So if you're going to own a house, you need to know that. You know we have it's, just I don't know. It's Florida, south Florida, and I think the same for like for many people. It's where I grew up, so you know it is it's home. That's why I stay, that's why I kept coming back, that's why I stay. That's good.

Speaker 1: 7:43

I'm glad you have a podcast. That's a local podcast. We brought this up in the meetups, that there's basically two types of podcasts that are underserved audiences, that are underserved in podcasting. What's interesting about you, bill, is you actually are hitting both of them and doing it very well. By the way, it's a local podcast because people wanting to come to South Florida, maybe move to South Florida, they're looking for a real estate agent or they want to know more about the area, all that kind of stuff. They will look for a podcast about South Florida. That's where I want to move to, so that's where I'm going to do my research and you will show up. That's amazing. I just did a Google search before we jumped on and you were like on the top of the list, which is amazing. So there's something about you and your podcast that's catching attention.

Speaker 1: 8:33

The other underserved audience is people like over 50 in their 60s, 50s, 60s, 70s that age group very underserved in podcasts. There's not a lot of content that brings people to podcasting because there's there's a big vacuum. There's a big. You talk about people leaving South Florida and that like places closing down. That's happening at podcasting, where people are coming to podcasting in their late fifties and all that, and they're looking at the content going. Well, I don't see myself here, so I'm not going to be a podcast listener.

Speaker 1: 9:07

And the potential podcast listeners looking for a podcast for anything over 50 in content, age-wise, they're the ones that have disposable income, they're the ones that have more time, they're the ones that are maybe making big life changes. They're looking for content that suits where they are in life. And that's your other podcast. So, of the two areas underserved in podcasting, you are hitting both, which I find amazing, and you're a great example. When I talk to people and they're like Dave, I want to start a podcast, I don't know what to talk about. I'm like go check out Bill Money, because he's doing exactly what you need to do, no matter where you live in this world or if you want to serve a generation underserved in podcasting. You are the textbook example that I used for people to go check out what you're doing. So congratulations for hitting both of these underserved areas in podcasting. It's amazing.

Speaker 2: 10:06

Yeah, thanks. Well, that shows what you can do when you have no idea what you're doing. So I have to say at the time when I started, so as a little bit of context, I do have a bit of a radio background. It's not a heavy radio background, but back in the late 90s, me and my co-host, jeff Wolf Jeff Allen Wolf, I was a brief over the span of about three years we were on radio in South Florida doing talk radio which was dying out at the time. As I say to him all the time boy do we have perfect timing right? We just came on right. We're coming on board right when the ship was letting everyone all on land. So I have that and I have a theater background entertainment. So I was an actor for years, performing mostly stage but a lot of film work, a lot of voiceovers and things like that, and hadn't done it for quite a while. And I was working in a place that provides services to seniors in the South Florida area and I was a little frustrated with the calls we would get that the people didn't seem to know where to go to or where to turn to get help. By the time they reached out to us, some of them were in panic mode, so caregivers caring for an elderly parent or spouse, and they thought they had a handle on it. And then you know, when you're dealing with things like maybe dementia, it can go south so fast for you and all the planning that you thought you did and you said you know well, I'll pick up the phone and call someone for help. When you do, you're told well, yes, we can help you, but there's a wait list and that wait list is maybe a year long. You need help tomorrow, you need help yesterday. Maybe a year long, you need help tomorrow, you need help yesterday. So I would kind of mention about this.

Speaker 2: 11:50

At lunch one day and some of the younger co-workers of mine millennials, one kind of jokingly said hey, with your background, you should do a podcast. Now, I kind of knew what podcasts were, but I didn't really and I laughed and I said, well, what on earth would I do a podcast about? And he goes, everything that you moan about here at lunch and I said, well, do people my age listen to podcasts? And he goes no, but maybe someone will. So I started doing research, I read books, I went on YouTube and I started saying you know what, maybe this is actually something I could do, maybe I could help somebody I didn't do it for, you know.

Speaker 2: 12:28

Of course, the first thought is well, this will become some kind of side hustle. It'll bring in some kind of money, you know I'll get. Obviously, my friends and family will support me and they'll put it on their Facebook and they'll tell all their friends and family. And it might take three or four episodes, but I should hit a million views or listen somewhere around three or four episodes, right, obviously, yeah, it doesn't work quite that way. So lesson number one for everyone if you're starting a podcast, best of luck to you, but be aware of the realities of podcasting, especially if you don't go into it really with a solid plan and solidly knowing what's going on. So my on top of that was I'm going to be creating a podcast for an age that doesn't listen to podcasts. So what do I do then? How do I do this?

Speaker 2: 13:13

And I just started tinkering with it at that point, and the initial response was actually pretty good. It was pretty strong and it just helped me to keep building and building. I started getting people reaching out to me and saying hey, I heard this episode that you did and I will say, the first year or so that I was doing it maybe eight, seven or eight months it really was kind of a how to anymore, but still watch all those you know. Here's how you stream. If you don't know how to do that, here's how you apply for Medicare. I literally took two or three episodes and talked them about how I applied for social security and all the things you need to be aware of, and here's the documents that you need and here's how long it's going to take and here's what they're going to tell you. So it really was kind of a how to get older and through that I started realizing that I could also just talk about my experiences of getting older and that that might be more valuable.

Speaker 2: 14:13

So the first season was kind of a how to get older. The second season is that I'm focusing on this kind of life lessons of becoming older, of being older but not being old. That's the big thing I always say. This podcast is for young people who have lived a very long time and that is not about being old, it's about getting older. Life as you age can teach you some really wonderful things and there's a lot of advantages to being older.

Speaker 2: 14:40

Obviously there's some disadvantages. You know I'll speak for myself. You know the mind doesn't work as quick as it used to, the body doesn't react as quickly. You know things like that. But your attitude and your knowledge of the way the world works and how things work, when you start lowering your expectations as you age, the world is not so frightening and not so frustrating. There's no reason to believe that it's going to be one way when you know, for 60, some odd years, it has never been that way. So stop thinking it will be and live in the world that you live in.

Speaker 2: 15:15

And that's like one of the things that I've learned and that's one of the things that I like talking about on the show is be aware of where you are, be aware of what's around you and who's around you, and be thankful for that Time, to stop planning for one day.

Speaker 2: 15:29

One day I'll do this, one day I'll do that. One day is today, at a certain point, and you need to understand that. So it's been an interesting journey so far and I've met some wonderful people, like in the meetup group, and I've had some great experiences and I can say this really hasn't been a negative aspect of it. So Bill Monty's Guide for Getting Older is the name of that podcast and available wherever podcasts can be found. I hope people listen, that they enjoy it, that they reach out and they share their experiences Because you know, like you were saying, this is kind of an underserved audience here and I would say that if you're a caregiver and you need to hear a friendly voice or some good advice or solid advice, then you know, give a listen Because I can steer you in the right direction if you don't know quite right now what to do or where to go to.

Speaker 1: 16:25

So when you look at your analytics and your stats and all that stuff for your show, are you hitting your target market? Are you seeing that age group listening to the show?

Speaker 2: 16:35

Yes.

Speaker 1: 16:36

Any surprises at all when you look at your stats.

Speaker 2: 16:38

The only surprise was when I see things like the people are listening in London or the Philippines or Spain or there's even one I can't even pronounce it Herzegovina, something, something, and I'm like, really I have listeners there. So if you're listening, I'm sorry I can't pronounce the name of the country you're listening from, but thank you so much for listening. I do appreciate it. So I think that was the biggest surprise. Is that, oddly enough, where I thought there would be the groundswell from my local, that, oddly enough, where I thought there would be the groundswell from my local community is, you know, one of my most vocal supporters actually lives in New York and, you know, often writes to me to tell me how much he appreciates and he'll comment on this. Is I enjoyed this episode? It really, you know, I really related to that. I think that's the part of it that amazes me Absolutely. The demographic for the show is probably 50 and up.

Speaker 1: 17:29

Right.

Speaker 2: 17:30

But I could say that if you are certainly in your 30s or 40s, you could be listening and find something Because, again, it might not be for you but there might be a relative or someone that you know or a neighbor that this would be good information for. And I try to keep the episodes short. One of the things I found early on was brevity is your friend. But those were my. My first episodes were probably about 25 minutes to 30 minutes long. For the first, I would say seven or eight episodes, and part of that problem was in and again going back to believing that it would be family and friends and friends from long ago on Facebook who would be the supporters. They might want to know also what I'm up to.

Speaker 2: 18:07

So there was this mix of here's, this advice for getting older. Then suddenly the second half of it would be and here's what Bill's doing. Here's the music I'm listening to. Or here's a great book I read. And when I would look at the analytics and see where people dropped off, they dropped off when I started talking about it. Here's what Bill read and here's the music I've been listening to. So quickly dropped all that. So the average episode is about 15 minutes now for this, for this podcast and for the South Florida one too.

Speaker 1: 18:32

Interesting For my dad's space podcast. I was looking at my stats and I had a listener in Japan. I'm like, who would? Who would be? Who would find my show, first of all when they're in Japan? And I'm like, and then I found out that this person is serving in a military base in Japan. They're from the US and I'm like, okay, well, that makes sense. So they're listening to a little bit of home while they're away from their family and they're missing their children and they're wanting to connect with stuff about dads. I'm like I didn't even put two and two together in that that someone's serving overseas and this is their connection with home. I'm like, well, okay, well, now my world is bigger. Just realizing that it could be somebody that's just away from home and just looking for something that feels like home when they're so far from their family, yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 19:22

I often think that and I also think that when we talk about aging, it's universal. So when I look at so, we talk about being a father or father things. That's universal if you are a parent and parenting doesn't go away just because your child turns 18. So it's actually something. You know. My daughter's 32 now I still feel towards her as I did when she was five is if there's something I can teach her, if there's still things I can do, even though she's more annoyed by it now. But you know absolutely. You know the love and the caring that you have doesn't stop. So you know you want to hear that from someone else.

Speaker 2: 19:58

And the universality of aging is there for everyone. So it doesn't matter if you're in South Florida or the Philippines or New York or wherever it might be. We're all going through experiencing. We have the same cultural memories and we have the same fears. We have the same triumphs and we have the same low moments. Sometimes it's nice to hear that someone else talking about it and go oh, it's not just me, wow, okay, that's cool, I'm good with that.

Speaker 1: 20:26

Yeah, it doesn't matter if you're 18 or 75, you're one day older than you were yesterday, so technically everyone is your audience, but you're focused on more of that older generation, which I love, yeah.

Speaker 2: 20:38

And then there was a you know about. Halfway through doing that, I thought to myself, well, this is fun. I did think to myself. To me it was feeling I needed something else. I wanted to podcast about something else that was more personal for me. And I kept going through Facebook and seeing I grew up in Fort Lauderdale, I grew up in Florida, I grew up in and I thought, well, what if I did that? But instead of posting pictures and putting a post up with a memory saying does anyone remember this restaurant or this place, or something like that, what if I did a podcast?

Speaker 2: 21:15

And each podcast would focus on one of those things that I'm seeing people talk about, and then I'll put my own personal spin. So when I went to this place, here's what's my experience and here's the history of it, yada, yada, yada. And so that became Tales from South Florida, which launched in January of 2024. And that's been. Now you talk about a reach. So apparently people who live in South Florida have branched out to all over the world, which is like amazing to think about. People from all these different places are locking into this idea of South Florida and the history of it. So I try to keep episode, where each episode, where it's not alienating people who have never been to South Florida. So, if you like history, if you like hearing about different things, if you ever watched Miami Vice, then my podcast is for you.

Speaker 2: 22:04

Did you ever watch Flipper? My podcast is for you. Did you ever watch Flipper? My podcast is for you. Did you ever hear of a man named Henry Flagler who started Standard Oil back in the 1800s and became a very rich man? Well, he basically is the reason people go to Key West. Now why is that? He built the train that went from Jacksonville to Key West. You know there's a lot of what happened here in Florida that reaches out to more of the world outside of just Miami-Dade County, broward County, palm Beach County and over to the West coast of Florida.

Speaker 2: 22:31

So that and that's been exciting, and I've been able to do some fun things with the, the website which I just launched. It's talesfromsouthfloridacom. So I created a playlist, a Spotify playlist. If you go to the website, you can actually listen to a playlist of songs that relate to the episodes that I've put into Tales from South Florida. So you can hear the theme from Miami Vice, you can hear the theme from Flipper. You can hear the music that I was listening to in 1968. When I talk about growing up in South Florida and riding my bike around and going fishing, or when my parents I would go to the Everglades, you know things like that, this is the music that was.

Speaker 2: 23:12

I like to say that the music that inspired the episodes and the episodes were kind of inspired by the times and the music, so I thought that was a nice dimension to put into it. I know a nice little flavor, so it's good to have fun with that also. So it's a lot. It's a little more playful than Bill Monty's Guide for Getting Older. They're both a lot of fun and I think of course I'm biased, but I think they're a good way to spend some time. Listen. You can listen to Tales from South Florida, driving from Miami to Orlando and back, and you can listen to Bill Monty the entire time telling you the history of Florida.

Speaker 1: 23:45

It's good. So, bill, we got a lot of people listening to the show that are at different stages of their journey in podcasting. They're coming here looking for inspiration from another podcaster. They want to listen to a new podcast, which is great. We got lots for them to listen to from you. But let's talk to that podcaster that's listening and what can you do to encourage them today in their journey? What are your thoughts Like for somebody who's maybe struggling with their show, maybe looking at continuing with their podcast? They don't really see a lot of response from their audience and they're like kind of making that decision, like should I continue, should I not continue? I just I'm not getting a lot of feedback. What would you say to them?

Speaker 2: 24:24

I would say first, if you're thinking about doing a podcast and you haven't started yet because you're trying to make it perfect, just hit the record button. You know, script out. If you need to write it out a script, write out an outline, even if that episode that you record no one ever hears but you. You will learn a lot about you and your podcast from doing it. So don't be afraid, because if you don't like it or you think it's terrible, you don't ever have to play it for anybody. You don't ever have to put it out there. But if you're like me, I think what will happen is you go, well, that's not very good, how can I make it better? And you'll tweak it and you'll try it again. I probably did about four to six recordings before I ever recorded one that I said okay, I'm happy with this one, so just do it. There was the old Nike commercial just do it. For those who have started, and you're not setting the world on fire the way you thought you would, that's okay, because maybe your message is hitting the right people or the right person that it needs to hit. I've had podcast episodes that have only had 20 downloads, but that's 20 people who enjoyed it, so it resonated with the right people for that time. At first I used to get really frustrated. I used to think, well, I'm not going to do this anymore, this is a waste of my time. But then I thought about it. I would hear people say and you've reiterated this also, dave, since I met you you know, it's not about the numbers, it's about what you're doing, it's about the quality of what you're doing, it's about the message you're trying to send out. So I would say you know what is the message you're trying to send out? How important is it to you? And start looking at. There's a lot of information out there. There's a lot of great books, there's a lot of great people and there's YouTube that will teach you how to do some things with marketing. So search engine optimization, seo, keywords, social media You've got to find the one that works for you. And I would also say hold off on the impulse to spend a lot of money when people say they will get you a lot of downloads. They will. They'll get you a lot of downloads, but no one will hear your podcast. But they will get you a lot of downloads. They're bots, and so just be careful of that. But be true to it and then don't be afraid to tweak it. This is your show you can do Bill Monty's Guide for Getting Older. It used to be called Bill Monty's Guide to Getting Older and about halfway through that wasn't resonating with me anymore. And the original artwork that I thought was great because there was my face shining and I realized no one is listening to this for me. They don't know who I am, so I changed the artwork to reflect what the show is about. I have re-edited episodes that I just didn't care for and made them better by doing that.

Speaker 2: 27:15

There are things you can do. So be true to yourself, be true to your vision, be true to your podcast, and at that time you'll find you're being true to your audience and once you make that connection, they'll be there for you. Don't focus on numbers, especially initially. Don't worry about it. Just do your show and do the best show you can possibly do, and I think you'll be happy. Now, if you're really unhappy with it, you might have to sit back and reflect is this what I really want or need to be doing? But if you had the passion to even think about doing it to begin with, that's a huge step right there, so so follow it. I think you'll have a lot of fun. I know I do it's.

Speaker 2: 27:58

You know, someone asked me a while back. They said why do you podcast? And I had to be honest and say I'm going to say for a very selfish reason. It's my way of trying to be immortal, because your podcast will live long after you stop podcasting. I can't tell you how many times I'm searching for a podcast and I'll look at. The last episode was 2017, you know, or something like that Long after I have shuffled off this mortal coil and joined the choir, invisible. If someone wants to hear about South Florida, they can search South Florida. My podcast is going to pop up and my experiences and my voice and my stories are going to live beyond me, and there's something kind of cool about that, of cool about that. There's something to me anyway. There's something that's kind of nice to know that you are making your own little footprint in the sand that's going to stick around for a while.

Speaker 1: 28:54

I was listening to James Cridland from Pod News. He was being interviewed on a podcast and he said the one thing that's so unique about podcasting is that your podcast is up against and with a collection of other podcasts and you're up with the best of the best, like some of the most popular people in the world having a podcast. Your show is right next to theirs. Now try to do that on television. Go create your own television station and see how long that takes and how much money that. Go create your own radio show and go get a radio tower and go get a. All that like I'll go get a newspaper. Go get a magazine and get on the magazine. Stand at the checkout counter. Go. Try to get yourself next to everyone else in a creative space.

Speaker 1: 29:41

Podcasting is so unique that you can be right next door to the best show in the world with hundreds of thousands of downloads. And then there's you, there's me. We're in that same space and I'm like what a great experience, what a great opportunity to know that your voice is being captured. There's legacy and there's reach. Like there's no boundaries time place into the future you can. People are going to press play on this episode years from now and where will we? Where will we be? I don't know, but somebody is going to press play on this, and that's what I love about podcasting is it's just taken away all of the restrictions and given us this platform to talk about the things that mean something to us and to build community as well.

Speaker 2: 30:29

And that's something else too. It's a great way to give back If you're doing something locally or if you're doing something for a very niche audience. I guess it is certainly a way to build community. It is certainly a way to support those all around you. And how often do you get a chance to do that?

Speaker 2: 30:47

I'm a big believer in every day we should try to always make a difference in someone's life. You know, sometimes when I say that people go well, that's very lofty kind of thing. You know who. What do you mean? Like you know, cure, cancer or something like that I said, you know, sometimes you can just hold a door open for someone who would struggle to walk through a door and you've made a big difference in their life that day. If you're in a store and someone can't reach that item on the top shelf and you just do it for them and hand it to them, expecting nothing in return, you've made a difference in someone's life.

Speaker 2: 31:18

Sometimes just a smile or a kind word, which is so lacking in the world today, is enough to make a difference in someone's life. And I think podcasting allows you to do that on a larger scale. So if you need a larger scale to do it. If it's not enough just to hold that door open for someone, then podcasting is a way to make a difference in someone's life. Again, when the gentleman from New York writes to me and says I loved what you did, I loved that episode, you know, it took me back, it made me think, it made me reflect Wow, if that's the only thing I ever did with any of my podcasts, it has been well worth it.

Speaker 1: 31:56

Yeah, and I think, going back to your getting older podcast, I'm in my early fifties and I'm realizing that there's less days ahead of me than there are in my early 50s and I'm realizing that there's less days ahead of me than there are ever before and I'm realizing that I'm at this tipping point where I'm like, wow, I want my legacy to continue. I want my voice to continue. My dad passed away like 20 years ago. I would give everything I own, bill, to hear his voice, to be able to press play and hear him talk. I don't have anything really recorded with his voice because it wasn't around back then. So you know, I just love the idea that we can get out there and share our voice, share our story. It's a gift to our family. Our voice continues on. I just love that. The whole idea around community. Talk a little bit about how you're building community around your podcast, if you have any plans to do that is anything working for you to build community adjacent to your podcast?

Speaker 2: 32:53

I would say for me, phase one of all this journey was just doing it and getting it out there. And getting probably where I am now in the website out there is, I think, the start of phase two for me. So when we look at marketing, one of the things I have found the most frustrating about podcasting is the marketing aspect of it. I initially thought, especially with Tales from South Florida, that all I would have to do is reach out to these other I grew up in wherever groups and say, hey, you guys were talking about the Hollywood Sportatorium, Well, I've got an episode about it on my podcast and that all 16,000 people in that group would come clamoring over. Fact of the matter is that a lot of people did come from that, but they didn't necessarily stay for the next episode. They came for that thing that they wanted to hear about that time and it didn't necessarily go to that. So that became a real frustration. And also, without having the website, back then I was having to take that episode link and put it into all these different Facebook pages, all these different social media sites and that was taking me like an hour out of my day just to put it out there and hope someone clicked on it or hope I didn't get banned from the group for spamming because they think I'm trying to sell something.

Speaker 2: 34:11

Part two of all this, phase two, for me, is going to be starting that build and that outreach of community and building the community. So, you know, I'd love to get out to some local. It's kind of easier to do at this time of year, you know local fairs, arts and crafts shows, get some merch created, you know, and things that I can hand out, little things that I can hand out to get people interested. It's a very grassroots way to do things, I understand, but it's kind of what I'm comfortable with.

Speaker 2: 34:45

I have a marketing background and it's from back in the day when grassroots was actually something you did. We all lived by rave cards. Back then we didn't really have social media or websites to do anything for us. That feels a little more comfortable to me than starting to do things like being a guest on other podcasts. You know is the other way to do it and to kind of spread the word and I just, you know, I just hope someone comes and maybe they tell a friend or if they they just want to keep it to themselves, they come back to the next episode. I'm perfectly happy with that too. That's. That's kind of where I'm at in the community plan right now, and it'd be interesting to see where it goes.

Speaker 1: 35:24

Yeah, there's a lot of tools that we can leverage. There's newsletters, social media, your website For me. I started our meetups for the how to Podcast series because I wanted to encourage other podcasters and give them a safe place to get together and talk podcasting without feeling intimidated or that they didn't have a voice. I want people to come in and talk podcasting without feeling like intimidated or that he didn't have a voice. I want people to come in and go. I don't know anything about anything.

Speaker 1: 35:50

I'm going to ask some really stupid questions that I think feel stupid to me, but I want to be able to ask this in a group where other people are going to build me up. And I started our meetups and the first two or three I sat there by myself, Bill, nobody showed up, and I'm like why am I doing this? Why am I giving up time to sit here and there's nobody here? And then, all of a sudden, somebody showed up and then someone else showed up and now we've been doing these for a while now, and what I love about the meetups that we're doing is it's not about me.

Speaker 1: 36:24

And what I love about the meetups that we're doing is it's not about me. It's not a Dave show. It's an us show where we all get together, and I found even today on our meetup I didn't even talk as much as I might normally talk, because the group just kind of took the conversation on and I got to sit back and listen. It's fun to do that. I'm trying to encourage more people to come join our meetups just so that they can meet each other and support each other. So I'm going to ask for a shameless plug from you, Bill. Can you explain to people the power of getting together with other podcasters, whether at a conference or a meetup whatever? Why is that so important to meet other people that do what we do?

Speaker 2: 37:02

It's so important because you really don't have feedback from anywhere, getting feedback, honest feedback on what you're doing, and having a group of people who answer the questions, like you said, the questions you think. Well, this is so dumb, I would never ask this out loud because everyone else must know the answer, and I'm just stupid. It's invaluable because everyone else must know the answer, and I'm just stupid. It's invaluable. I can tell you that, and if you're thinking of being a podcaster so I'm going to do the plug here you need to be a part of this meetup group. It's on Saturday mornings and Dave has started it on Tuesdays, I think, during the week.

Speaker 2: 37:39

I, unfortunately, am working at a time where I'd be a part of that one too, and it is the most selfless group of people. They're nice, they're caring, they offer their support, they reach out to you. You can reach out to them with questions beyond the hour and a half of the meetup or two hours, whatever it might be. There isn't another group out there that I'm aware of, and I've been a part of several different groups and none of them have been like this before. It is unique. I mean, dave, you have you know, kudos to you and thank you.

Speaker 2: 38:13

You have created something that if this were replicated in a lot of other businesses even, but even more in the podcasting world, the world would be a better place, because it really is a safe place of kind, good people and the only reason being there is to learn and to share, and that's something you just don't get every day in this world. I would say, if you're listening to the podcast, I have become a huge fan of Dave's how To podcast series. I listen all the time. Now Imagine that friendly voice that you hear welcoming you and thanking you all the time during the podcast, being in charge of this group, and then, like you said, he kind of asks the questions and then the group just takes off with it. It's like a great college course or anything like that that you just couldn't get anywhere else, and I am so glad and so grateful that I am a part of this group there's no other way to put it. It's really something special.

Speaker 1: 39:16

Yeah, I'm trying to build a meetup group around the idea that there's wisdom in the council of many, and I love the idea that we all come and we all contribute. We all put our two cents in and we may disagree or see things differently or we might have a different approach to how we do what we do, but nobody ever feels like they're talked down to. That's a big part of what I try to do in podcasting is I'm really tired of anybody that talks down to people or makes them feel like they're not welcome or they don't have a voice in the group. I've been in meetups we talked about this where I've I've sit there as an audience member and never given the opportunity to speak and I'm like this doesn't feel. I don't feel like I want to come back, like I don't feel like I was ever welcomed or acknowledged, you know, and I wanted our meetup to be different than that.

Speaker 1: 40:09

So, and again, I didn't want it to be a dave fest, because that doesn't. That's just my opinion, and my opinion is only my opinion. It might not work for you. So let's get bill's opinion on how he does his show and let's bring sharon in. And let's bring Sharon in and let's bring JJ and all these people because it helps us to get a better perspective. So I just like the idea that there's more wisdom with more voices. You know, that's kind of the whole underlying theme of the meetup.

Speaker 2: 40:36

And everyone that's in the group has a very different podcast than mine in terms of like the subject matter, but in terms of everything else, we all have this commonality among us and that we all have the same questions, we face the same problems. We're just there supporting each other. So if that's what you sought out to create as a safe environment for people to be creative you did it. Congratulations.

Speaker 1: 41:03

Well, you're a big part of it, bill, so I really appreciate that.

Speaker 2: 41:07

And if I could ask you a, quick question, because this is something I haven't had a chance to do. You do eight podcasts. Eight, yeah, I have a problem. When did you start podcasting? Back when?

Speaker 1: 41:21

2019, 2020, around there Just getting it around close to the pandemic, I guess okay, and did it grow like?

Speaker 2: 41:27

you started with one and then the end of one year you said I'm making two and then two became three. So yeah, is is it? It's an addiction? Yeah, because I'll be honest with you, I find two to be overwhelming at times and you and you work right I work full-time nights.

Speaker 1: 41:44

Yeah, I do this during the daytime, so so do you?

Speaker 2: 41:48

have you fit sleep in anywhere?

Speaker 1: 41:50

or well, I worked last night and I got, I slept for two hours, went to our meetup. Now I'm here with you it's like two in the afternoon for me right now and then I go back to work tonight. So I'll sleep about four or five o'clock this evening into tonight and then go back to work. So that's kind of my day.

Speaker 2: 42:07

And, if I could ask, can you list the names of your podcasts beyond this one?

Speaker 1: 42:11

Oh yeah. So yeah, I actually have to pull it up because there's a few. Well, we have the how to Podcast series, which you are on right now. This is one that I really love because I get to meet great people like you, though without this show, I don't know how we would have connected. Um, and now I know your podcast as well, so that's what I love.

Speaker 1: 42:32

I'm a musician, so I've been doing music for 45 years and so I did a lot of recording and all that stuff. So one of my music, my one of my podcasts, is the add to my playlist podcast, and that was done primarily. Spotify had a way where you can insert music into a podcast. Then they took it away, so I'm trying to think of how I'm going to continue with the show, but I could actually have playable songs embedded in the podcast without making you leave to your Spotify playlist thing. My songs were in the show, so I could queue up the show, queue up the song, talk about the song, play the song and then come back and talk about another song. It was really fun. I loved it. It was so cool. So that's my add to my playlist podcast. It was a Spotify exclusive, so that was that one.

Speaker 1: 43:16

I have Living my Side Hustle. It's a podcast for anybody that does something on the side of which I do all the time, so that's another one. I have the Upcycle Canada podcast. It's where we take things that people don't want. Instead of recycling them, we upcycle. So it used to be one thing and we turn it into something totally different and keep it out of the landfill. So that's the thing that my wife and I started a little business about 10 years ago and we upcycle products, keep them out of landfill, so we had our little business and everything. So that's that podcast. I did that one with my wife, jen. I have Living the Next Chapter podcast, which is an author podcast that has almost 500 episodes in three years and I'm not an author, but I interview authors and I get to meet people from around the world Hollywood actors, musicians, anybody that's written, anything Netflix writers. It's amazing. It's a really fun podcast.

Speaker 1: 44:10

I have Dad Space, a podcast for dads by dads, because I'm an empty nest dad and my three children are out of the house now, so I want to share dad lessons and life lessons with other dads and give them tools to help them be a better dad and bring other dads on to talk about their dad's story, so that one's that was fun for me. I love that one. I have the daily Santa podcast, which is daily 25 episodes in a row for children leading up to Christmas, where, um, we count down to Christmas and it's all kind of like AI voices with me mixed in the mix, and again it's all for kids. I always want to do a kid's podcast, so that was fun. So that's only. It's live 365 days a year, but primarily focused on December 1st to December 25th.

Speaker 1: 44:59

And then I have the podcast editing and support show where I help podcasters find an editor and editors to find a podcaster, where we can talk about how to hire somebody and how to find a good editor and what does good sound like and we kind of get more into that side of the podcasting side of podcasting, so that one's really fun to do and I really enjoy that one. And then on top of that I do edit for other people as well. So I'm an editor helping other shows. So all that's on my True Media Solutions website. But those are my podcasts. I love every one of them and I wish I had more time because I do more, but my wife's like that's enough, that's enough, that's enough.

Speaker 2: 45:41

That's. I mean that's great and I'm glad I got that list down so now I can start listening, because I was like searching. I was like, okay, where's other Dave? Other Dave podcast.

Speaker 1: 45:51

Well, you're brave. If you need more Dave in your life, you're very brave, it's good. So, bill, I want to wrap up with this because I think I'm again going back to the legacy piece. I really think that's important. I love that you're doing that through your podcasting journey. I'll kind of give you my answer to kind of frame what I'm kind of going for with you this question.

Speaker 1: 46:12

I think my purpose in life is to collect people. That's my goal. If I was to walk out of a room and the people that know me my family, my community, my friends, all that if they could talk freely and openly about me, I want them to say that, dave collected people. You're part of my collection, bill. I just love meeting new people and expanding my community, one person at a time. That brings a lot of joy to me. Through podcasting, that gives me the opportunity to do that. So, again, I've had conversations with people I should never have time with and people I would never meet otherwise. So I feel that's my mission in life is to collect people. What's your mission in life, bill Monty? What is that thing that, if you could kind of narrow it down for us, could be podcast related, could just be life in general. But what is Bill Monty's purpose? Why are you here?

Speaker 2: 47:09

For me, I think it's if I walked out of the room or when I'm no longer here, if people say, well, what, what about? Bill was special? I would like people to say he made a difference. And if that was on my well, I plan to be cremated, put out to sea so it won't be a headstone. But if there was a headstone, if it had my name and said he made a difference, that would be good enough for me. Both of my podcasts I end with the words. Every single episode I end with be kind. And there was a phrase by the Dalai Lama be kind whenever possible. It's always possible, and I just think the world could use a little more kindness. So my mission is to make a difference every day in someone's life, one little difference a stranger, someone that I know, someone that I love, whoever it might be. If I just do one that day, that's enough. If I can do more than one, that's even better.

Speaker 1: 48:00

Well, bill, I can tell you you're already on the right path because you've done that for me through your podcast, through your connection with me, through our meetups and just having time with you. You're on the right path because you're having an impact in some guy up in Canada. So thank you for doing that. Thank you Everyone. All information for Bill in the show notes, as always. You know how we do things. Please, what I'm asking from everyone that listens to the how to Podcast show is to go and check out Bill's shows, to listen when you listen, listen to the entirety of every episode that you listen to and leave him some feedback. Leave him reviews, leave him whatever, whatever he has out there that you can do to respond. Please do that and let Bill know that you're connecting with him, because I want to encourage him on his mission to do exactly what he said and to leave that impact on others. So, everyone, please, I'm asking you to do that. Let's support each other as podcasters. Bill, again, thank you so much for being on the how to Podcast series.

Speaker 2: 48:55

Thank you, Dave, and be kind.

Speaker 1: 49:01

Hey, thanks for listening to the podcast all the way through to the end. I love having these great guest co-hosts on the show to share their podcast with you. You have some homework to do. What I'm asking of you is to go check out our featured guest co-host today. Go over and listen to their podcast. The links are always in the show notes. I'd love for you to go and give them your love and support, and I think if we can all do that for each other, podcasting will be a lot more fun for all of us. So it's time to do what you've asked others to do for you.

Speaker 1: 49:38

It's time to do for this guest co-host Links in the show notes. Go over and check out their show and leave them a review. Do the follow. Go, listen to their episodes in full, the entirety of an episode, which again shows to the apps that it's a good podcast because you're going there and you're staying to the end. Probably one of the best ways you can help a podcaster grow their audience and be shown to more people is by simply going and listening wherever you listen to the very end.

Speaker 1: 50:14

Like you're doing right now here. This is the perfect way to signal to wherever you're listening on. This is a podcast worth promoting and all of the apps want you to stay on as long as possible. So go over and listen to our guest co-host episode and leave them some feedback. If they have a, buy me a coffee, send them a coffee. If they have a speak pipe, send them a voice message. If they have an email, send them an email. If they're on Instagram, send them a direct message. Do something to support our guest co-hosts. They've given up their time to be here with you, to be here with me, and we can give that back to them with time and attention, our love, our support. Thank you for doing all that for me as well here on the how to Podcast series. We'll talk to you soon for our next episode. No-transcript.