Behind the Mic with Marc Ronick

Transcript

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Welcome back to Narrowing the Divide.

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As always, I'm your host, dan Warheide, and today's guest is Mark Ronick from Ironic Media.

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Mark and I met at the end of January at PodFest in Orlando, florida.

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That was a great experience.

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If you've never been to one of their events, I certainly encourage you to look it up and consider attending.

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The community and atmosphere there was astounding.

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I will admit I did not attend a lot of the individual sessions because I found tremendous value in having conversations in the community of other podcasters.

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Mark and I met that way and had some interesting, intriguing conversations.

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He introduced me to some of the work he's doing beyond ironic media.

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He is the host of the podcasting morning chat.

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We meet live every day, monday through Friday at 7 am Eastern time on Clubhouse, and that show is then produced in a podcast.

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Mark has a tremendous background in podcasting that I have uncovered as a result of our interactions and continuing to engage in conversation.

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Mark, thank you so much for joining me today.

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Dan, thank you.

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It's been a long time coming.

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We've been talking a lot behind the scenes and I'm glad it's finally come to fruition.

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I'm happy to be here.

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Yeah, I'm looking forward to this conversation, and I have been.

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I'm excited and you've given me some encouragement and shared some valuable insights along the way that made me say, oh yeah, I really, really want to learn a little bit more and I thought initially we could have a conversation where you coach me on this podcast.

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But I really want to dig into who you are, what you're working on and, well, let's start there.

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So let's start by talking about the podcasting morning chat.

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What is that about and what inspired you?

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Yeah, that's a great question.

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I really started that, as you know, just as a live stream.

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Right, I did that on Clubhouse, especially when it was more popular.

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For those that don't know, clubhouse is an app and it allows you to connect with people via audio.

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It's an audio streaming app.

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You can open up your own what they call rooms and you can start talking to random people if you want to, and we've established it in a way that, like you said, we do it every day, monday through Friday at 7 am Eastern time.

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So our community has gotten to know that and now a part of that, and so it's easy to fill that room up now because it's just become a staple for our community.

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And I started it.

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Honestly, I started because I was on Clubhouse since early 2021.

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I found a different group there, all around personal development, which I'm sure you would probably appreciate, and what we did there was the same thing, although that was seven days a week and it would start it at 6.30 in the morning, and I did that every day.

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I didn't do it on the weekends.

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I became a moderator of that group, one of the leaders of that group, and I just loved the idea of that community and meeting up with a group of people every morning to connect with and learn from and even be able to share my own wisdom with people, and that lasted about a year.

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And then that group ended up dissolving and I went for like two months maybe without doing that, two months maybe without doing that, and it was a real void for me, that sense of community.

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I didn't realize how important that was to me personally to have a group of people around me to empower and also in return, it empowers me when I'm able to do that for others.

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And I knew I hadn't been podcasting myself for a little while.

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Once the pandemic came, it kind of threw me all off.

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I had been doing my own podcast for years with a very close friend of mine, had a lot of success there.

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But come the pandemic, I was shifting into my new business and my interest in my old podcast just wasn't there anymore.

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But I knew that if I'm going to be a podcast producer, if I'm going to be a podcast coach or consultant, I really should still have a podcast.

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Because, sure, I've been doing this for somewhere around 20 years and I have the experience.

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But as you know, it's constantly changing and I want to make sure that I'm really on the forefront, that I'm going through and experiencing those changes that my potential clients are going through, so that I can really have a point of reference and be able to and hopefully have some solutions to that and be able to share that with others.

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So, with that void of no community and with that desire to empower other people, and being that I have a business that does just that helps podcasters podcast I just decided to go all in and started a new community based off of a previous one.

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In other words, the podcasting morning chat was one that existed prior to me.

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It also had dissolved and then I ended up bringing it back with one of their original members, who's no longer with us on that platform but does come back occasionally and joins us, just was not working with his schedule.

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So he just kind of handed me the keys and said go for it, and so I took it over from there, was doing it for two years and then we met just this past January, and something about being at PodFest this past year it made me recognize that this show is a live stream.

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I'm not putting it out as a podcast because I'm making up all the excuses that all the other people that I've helped have made at one point or another, and I just decided bite the bullet, put this thing out as a podcast too, because I wanted more people to be exposed to it and to see for themselves how powerful a community can be, even in a podcast format, how powerful that can be for them and for the listeners.

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So I just dove all in, dan, and decided to put it out as is stop making excuses.

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And it's been rapidly growing ever since.

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So it's just a matter of actually, like I said, biting the bullet, putting it out there, and the success is starting to unfold right now.

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So it's just a matter of actually, like I said, biting the bullet, putting it out there and the success is starting to unfold right now.

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So it's exciting, that is really intriguing, and there are a couple things, or at least one, I'd like to dig into.

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I have a question, but I'm going to hold on to it for a second Because I'll attest to since participating over the last few months, or in that format, in that forum by the way, I'll back up and say I too was involved in Clubhouse and moderated in several different capacities.

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So the leadership piece certainly I'm in tune with and I enjoy.

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I'd be curious later to know which group that was out of morbid curiosity, but I want to focus on you here.

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So that experience, I agree it sort of faded off after things started lightening up from the pandemic.

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Of course, I moved to Florida in the midst of it and that changed my world in a positive way because there was a lot more openness in Florida.

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Not that any other States are good or bad or indifferent.

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Just that, that was my personal experience.

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The the morning chat has grown tremendously and and I can see the tie to publishing it as a podcast uh, grown, grown in the clubhouse forum specifically, and we haven't even talked about the results on the podcasting side, but I can see it there.

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I love the conversations and what you have shared here, and the inspiration behind it makes perfect sense when I think about the day-to-day topics that are discussed.

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It is ever-changing and evolving and you're doing, in my opinion, the best at trying to be in tune with what others are experiencing from that same perspective.

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So thanks, thank you.

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I think it's extremely beneficial about it is to make it as relatable as possible and it's really geared to the independent podcaster, I think, anybody, whether you're in corporate or elsewhere.

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If you're podcasting, I think the show is going to be of value to you.

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And yeah, as far as what you're saying, I echo that.

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I think it is so valuable for somebody to really learn from others and that's the mission and so far, I think we're doing a pretty good job of it.

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Absolutely, and I mean I connected well with you when we were at PodFest and I like to explore the different topics myself, so it's been a lot of fun for me personally and it's challenged me to think about some things that I'm doing.

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For instance, I believe I've shared with you the reason I'm doing this podcast has nothing to do.

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I want to be careful how I say this has nothing to do with the guests in my audience, so to speak.

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it's more about me wanting to just enjoy the the process of creating it, because I had a different podcast and I wouldn't say experience what we call pod fade or burnout.

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I just didn't enjoy it and it was because I did it for the wrong reasons.

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So this one I reset and I'm having conversations that are of interest to me that I hope will be beneficial or even inspiring to others, and I've, you know, as a result of being involved in that community.

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Those are some of the insights that I've gained personally.

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So I can definitely it's valuable.

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If you want to check that out, I'll make sure that we put some links in the show notes for this episode so that you can check us out there or check out the podcast recordings.

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Can I interview you for a second Dan?

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Yeah, please.

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I just want to ask you.

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You mentioned something just there.

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You said you were doing the original podcast for the wrong reasons and I'm curious what maybe share one of those reasons.

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I'm really curious what that wrong reason or reasons are.

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Yes, and let me here's what comes to mind I'll clarify wrong reason.

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It was the wrong reason for me, uh, you know.

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So if if anyone out there hears this, I don't want them to think that they're doing something wrong, cause that's not the intent it.

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It caused me to stop doing it.

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There were other things in the fold, but I stopped doing it because, at the end of the day, when I think about the podcast specifically, the wrong reason for me was producing it to some gain for me, other than wanting to enjoy it and share content that I was driven to share with people.

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Meaning specifically, I was looking at it.

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At the end result, I wanted monetary benefit from potential clients.

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Yeah.

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And I don't think for me that's the right reason to show up and produce a show.

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If I happen to have a listener that would like to work with me as a coach, that is a tremendous bonus.

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It's a testament to what I am doing, but my intent here is solely wholly focused on I want to enjoy it.

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I want to share things that I find interesting.

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Does that answer your question?

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Yeah, it does, and that is you've, I'm sure, heard me say it to me that's the secret sauce of a successful podcast is doing it.

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I know you've also probably heard me say it's all about your audience if you want to put on a good show, and I still believe that.

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But ultimately, the host has to really enjoy what they're doing and the host has to be vested in this in a way that's more than financial, it's emotional, right.

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It's a curiosity you maybe want to learn, and I know from knowing you, dan, you want to connect with people and really understand what's making them tick right.

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So I believe that when a host is really truly putting on a podcast that they want to listen to, that translates to an audience and then that audience wants to listen as well.

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So I commend you for that.

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That's awesome.

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Well, thank you.

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And the realization came again from being active in that community that you're creating and you know thinking in my own world about podcasting and some of the challenges and what came up were those attachments to a specific outcome.

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Where now my attachment to any outcome is am I enjoying it?

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Yeah, I love that am I enjoying it?

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Yeah, I love that.

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So thanks, oh, and I want to.

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I'm going to flip it back to you, Mark, I want to go.

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I want to dig in a little bit to.

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There was a point right before, so you shared with us about the journey to transition through the pandemic.

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Avoid the nasty word, or I could use my beep function over here.

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Yeah, I avoid through the pandemic and then, uh, feeling a little lost there, before deciding to take this back on in a new fashion, if you will.

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There was a point right before you actually did anything.

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What was the driving factor for you to say that's it and commit fully to the process and the actions of getting back in.

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Yeah, I mean, aside from filling that void, yeah, what was that driving force?

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I mean, what was that driving force?

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I mean, like I said, the community.

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Having community around me was a big reason for me to do this in the first place.

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That time in between.

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So I incorporated, during the pandemic, a morning routine for myself, and that morning routine required me waking up prior to 5am and then kicking things off at 5am and that's doing things like exercise, meditation, journaling and something to educate myself for my own personal or professional well-being whether it's a course or whatever well-being, whether it's a course or whatever and I had successfully accomplished it.

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It was a challenge of 66 days.

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They say that 66 days of doing the same thing helps create a habit.

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But whatever it was that motivated me enough to do it and I got through it successfully, got through it successfully.

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Then, when, about a year or so after that, when the original group I was a part of dismantled, I was finding it more challenging to wake up in the morning, I mean, I was still doing it and I was finding it more challenging and so I decided you know, I can't just force myself to wake up in the morning and do the thing.

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I need a little bit more.

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So I created that challenge for myself and said all right, you're going to commit every Monday through Friday, 7 am Eastern.

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That gave me enough time to get all of my morning routine done and prep a little bit before the show, and that was it.

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That was the driving factor.

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It was accountability and creating accountability for myself.

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I have, as you know, I have ADHD and I have learned through hiring an ADHD coach how valuable accountability is to us as ADHDers.

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I know that you don't have to have ADHD and accountability can also be very valuable.

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It is particularly valuable for those of us that experience ADHD.

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So I didn't make that correlation at the time.

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I just knew I needed something to keep me going, and so I did that.

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But then later learned that through my coach.

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So, yeah, wonder, which means I probably do, but not to take anything away from that at all.

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I don't mean it in light.

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I do mean that some days I'm really just not sure, because there are days that I feel like I need to implement something to hold me accountable, like you've just shared.

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That's a tremendous way to do it.

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I'm curious, getting back into the morning routine, specifically having that accountability in place, how has the morning routine benefited you in the personal and professional growth?

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Yeah, I mean, that's so layered and such a great question.

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I think you know it has taught me how important accountability is, and it's also it gives me purpose in each day.

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I get to start off my day more or less with no distractions.

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I get to focus on the things that are important to me, which includes my own personal well-being, physically and mentally.

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Which includes my own personal well-being physically and mentally, and I think that's it for me.

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And I've kind of forgotten your question.

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Talk about ADHD.

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So yeah, so ask me again.

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So just what are the benefits of the morning routine that you've experienced?

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Yeah, so that's definitely one from the personal side, from the business side.

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What it does for me is creates so much more opportunity.

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I have so much more time now.

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When I get up, when I start my day at 5 am I mean by the time it's 10 am I've done, I believe, more than most people have in an entire day, because that's like five hours later, I mean more than half my day, or at least in comparison to most people's eight, nine hours.

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I'm already halfway through it and I've gotten so much done.

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And again, having ADHD, I sometimes need some breaks, right, because I can't sit straight and focus for 8, 9, 10 hours in a row, and sometimes I need to get up and maybe take a half hour, 45 minutes just to dilly dally and just let my brain do what it wants to do for a little while and get back to my work without feeling so much pressure to you know rush.

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I got to get this done.

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I got to get this done because I know I'm getting so much more done in my days because they start so much earlier.

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Love that and being retired from the Army.

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I can say I resonate with that, because there were many days where that was the theme is, by five o'clock in the morning, we had already done more than most of the world.

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Yeah, Just from having a regular physical routine followed up with other routine items that we were responsible for, and talk about accountability.

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So, yeah, that makes so much sense.

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The accountability piece definitely adds a layer of motivation to getting up and doing those things that we're driven to do, whatever they may be.

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So I appreciate that and and the perspective.

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I want to go back for a minute way back, Mark, because we touched on it at the beginning when I introduced you.

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You've been podcasting now relative for 20 years plus roughly, and I don't honestly I was thinking about this earlier.

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I don't know when podcasting first took off, you know, but what got you involved in podcasting?

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Yeah, you know, what got me involved was I think it kind of holds true to this day for so many podcasters that just get started it was just a passion.

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My hobby was.

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One of my hobbies was fantasy football Loved.

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I learned how to do it in college with my college buddies and I took it into adulthood.

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I still play it to this day and at the time there wasn't a ton of information.

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We're talking about the early 2000s.

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The way that most of us got our fantasy football information and advice was through magazines and there were a few websites and such out there and there were not as many podcasts as there are today and there were a few that I listened to and enjoyed.

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I also believed that after listening to a bunch of them and enjoying them, that I could do it too.

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I could do it too.

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I had success in fantasy football and I had some experience in broadcasting.

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I went to school for it, I worked a little bit in radio, I worked in TV, so it was the catalyst.

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I started it because I had a passion and because I knew I could do it and I just gave it a try.

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And again, there wasn't also a lot of people out there teaching how to podcast either.

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So I just had to take what I knew in broadcasting and try to apply it here and again.

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I found somebody.

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I like to work with people, I like to collaborate.

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So I found somebody who also had an interest in doing this, had a little bit of education in this, enough to create, or help me create, this podcast, and we worked on it together and it blossomed and it took me in all sorts of directions.

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From there we can get into if you want.

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But yeah, that's the real reason why I started podcasting in the first place.

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That's fascinating.

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So you started it essentially as a hobby and a way to share, at the time, your enthusiasm for a hobby, so to speak.

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And it's funny because I just interviewed Cliff Ravenscraft.

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I don't know if you saw that, but he shared a similar experience and I find that very intriguing.

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You know, his was slightly different but also based on something else, outside the world of entrepreneurship, that he found an interest in and started sharing with other people.

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So that leads me to my next question is what were the early days?

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Let's just say first five, 10 episodes.

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What did you see after publishing those?

00:23:46.624 --> 00:23:49.736
From a statistics standpoint, I'm really curious.

00:23:50.130 --> 00:24:00.503
You know, the biggest thing that I, looking back now or listening back now, the biggest thing I notice is my energy and enthusiasm.

00:24:00.503 --> 00:24:11.811
Back then you could hear it in my voice the nerves, the inexperience and actually what I'll do.

00:24:11.811 --> 00:24:21.922
Dan, if you want, I'll give you a snippet from the oldest one that I can find that I have in my library of one of my first podcasts.

00:24:21.922 --> 00:24:22.890
I'll share that with you.

00:24:22.890 --> 00:24:30.737
If you want to even play some of it on the podcast, you're welcome to, and I think most people will notice the difference.

00:24:30.737 --> 00:24:43.584
It's quite jarring for me to go back and listen to that sometimes, but it also makes me feel proud because I see and hear the experience that has developed over all this time.

00:24:43.584 --> 00:24:48.098
So, yeah, I mean that's for me the biggest thing I've noticed.

00:24:48.239 --> 00:24:49.342
And you mentioned Cliff.

00:24:49.342 --> 00:24:53.795
I mean I know I said a moment ago there was very little out there on podcasting.

00:24:53.795 --> 00:24:56.199
Cliff was definitely a source for me.

00:24:56.199 --> 00:25:00.986
At the very least his website I would frequent and learn from as well.

00:25:00.986 --> 00:25:16.999
Back then I think I'd be in a much different position than I am today, or at least much further along than I am today teaching people how to podcast.

00:25:16.999 --> 00:25:22.015
But yeah, I have such respect for Cliff and what he's done for this industry.

00:25:23.137 --> 00:25:38.791
But yeah, and then as far as podcasting itself, I mean, the biggest things that I'm noticing is how much easier it actually is to get started, and I know a lot of podcasters or people thinking about it think you're crazy, mark.

00:25:38.832 --> 00:25:40.055
It's not easy at all.

00:25:40.055 --> 00:25:46.457
But I assure you there was very little out there to help make this experience easy.

00:25:46.457 --> 00:25:51.670
You had to use all radio equipment, not podcast equipment.

00:25:51.670 --> 00:26:01.796
Some of that translates just fine with a podcast, some of it not at all, and you just have to try to figure out ways to make it work and, like I said, very little resources out there.

00:26:01.796 --> 00:26:16.852
So to me, as somebody who's an entrepreneur in a kind of a creative spirit, that was the best way for me to learn was to just dive into it and make my own rules as I go, and I encourage that even to this day.

00:26:16.852 --> 00:26:22.451
I believe the successful podcasters are the ones that are breaking the rules.

00:26:22.451 --> 00:26:48.596
Granted, they understand what the rules are initially going in, and then they learn how to break those rules, and it's those people who are finding the true success who are really leaps and bounds, in my opinion, above the rest, and of course, there are always exceptions too, but it's the ones that really understand the rules, understand podcasting and then know how to break those rules.

00:26:49.993 --> 00:26:50.737
That is so great.

00:26:50.737 --> 00:26:51.835
There's so much in there.

00:26:51.835 --> 00:26:54.750
I want to point out just a couple quick tidbits.

00:26:54.750 --> 00:27:07.066
One is the value of going back and listening to those original episodes and seeing for yourself the difference, because that tells a story all by itself, right.

00:27:07.066 --> 00:27:09.692
Especially, you talked about new podcasters.

00:27:09.692 --> 00:27:17.460
I think new anything right, you have to start somewhere and you can't have it all figured out when you first start.

00:27:17.460 --> 00:27:23.682
There are pieces of the puzzle that come together after you start practicing your craft, whatever it is.

00:27:23.682 --> 00:27:36.055
There's tremendous value in that Going back and remembering and sharing that remembrance of where you started for people who are thinking man, I don't have it all together.

00:27:36.055 --> 00:27:44.601
Right, you improve as you go, because I listened to your show today and I imagine that's absolutely not where you started.

00:27:45.549 --> 00:27:58.859
Yeah, I mean Dan you could probably go back two years plus from now and listen to some of the live recordings on clubhouse and probably notice a huge difference even today compared to two years ago.

00:27:58.859 --> 00:28:06.611
I could, because I was nervous as hell doing that, that live stream every day, even though I'd already gotten used to the idea of it.

00:28:06.611 --> 00:28:23.381
Now this is my thing and I'm on display talking about podcasting, giving people advice, and, of course, I went through all the things that I know so many do like who am I to be up here on a virtual stage and tell people what I believe is the quote unquote, right way to podcast, right?

00:28:23.381 --> 00:28:31.394
And so you heard all those nerves in me and you heard that uncertainty in me and over time, to your point, it improves.

00:28:31.394 --> 00:28:37.837
And the whole way to do that is just to dive into it and make those mistakes and be okay with those mistakes.

00:28:37.837 --> 00:28:43.840
And it took me a long time to get there and I'm still learning that lesson in other areas of my life all the time.

00:28:44.131 --> 00:28:44.612
I love that.

00:28:44.612 --> 00:28:46.655
Thank you so much for sharing that.

00:28:46.655 --> 00:28:52.382
You also talked about what well, I'm going to relabel it, but you talked about that.

00:28:52.382 --> 00:28:54.111
What's the word I'm looking for?

00:28:54.111 --> 00:28:56.018
Oh my gosh, I completely lost it.

00:28:56.018 --> 00:29:01.974
This is going to be great because little known secret I don't really edit my podcast episodes.

00:29:01.974 --> 00:29:03.818
That's just goes with what happens.

00:29:04.440 --> 00:29:07.913
So, I'm going to call it the 99% right To be.

00:29:07.913 --> 00:29:15.404
To be successful, you have to do what 99% of the people aren't willing to do, so breaking the rules.

00:29:15.404 --> 00:29:16.211
That's what you'd said.

00:29:16.211 --> 00:29:18.375
I should have written it down.

00:29:18.375 --> 00:29:23.634
99% of people are doing the same thing as the other 99% of people.

00:29:23.634 --> 00:29:26.200
It's the 1% that stand out, that comes to you.

00:29:26.200 --> 00:29:39.353
You learn the rules, you respect the rules and the boundaries and you start figuring out how to break them to make them fit for you, and that's a theme I've been on, I'd say, the last month or so, actually not that long, but I really resonate with it.

00:29:39.353 --> 00:29:49.682
I know that's what I'm doing in my work, in my coaching and working to achieve with my podcast, so that's a tremendously valuable nugget there as well.

00:29:49.682 --> 00:29:50.853
Thank you, Thanks.

00:29:51.273 --> 00:29:54.523
Yeah, you're welcome, thank you valuable nugget there as well.

00:29:54.544 --> 00:29:55.046
Thank you, thanks.

00:29:55.046 --> 00:29:55.867
Yeah, you're welcome.

00:29:55.867 --> 00:29:58.009
Thank you, one more.

00:29:58.009 --> 00:30:00.896
One more question about early podcasting, and again this is based on my other interview.

00:30:00.896 --> 00:30:04.872
I'll post a link to that episode as well, but your first handful of episodes numbers wise.

00:30:04.872 --> 00:30:05.974
What did that look like?

00:30:05.974 --> 00:30:08.340
Did you get a good response?

00:30:08.340 --> 00:30:08.781
Was it?

00:30:08.781 --> 00:30:10.472
Was it a great response?

00:30:10.833 --> 00:30:12.215
My fantasy football.

00:30:12.215 --> 00:30:29.577
Going back to that one, it was a little bit of a slow burn, but again it was also and there weren't there wasn't a lot of options out there, so it was easier for me to jump on at the time.

00:30:29.577 --> 00:30:36.361
A lot of different message boards were never like astronomical, but they were building.

00:30:36.361 --> 00:30:38.561
I think I ended up approaching them.

00:30:38.561 --> 00:31:39.084
Blogtalk Radio was one of the first live audio streaming services out there, if not the first as far as mainstream goes, and I noticed that one of the things that they were doing on their platform was they were creating channels, so think of them almost like an internet Sirius, xm radio, right, okay, and with the exception of they also were letting anybody come on and create a show and put it on their platform.

00:31:39.084 --> 00:31:42.134
But they had these channels that were more specialized and that they were more handpicked.

00:31:42.134 --> 00:31:51.003
And I approached them to start a fantasy sports channel and so they bought into that.

00:31:51.003 --> 00:31:58.363
They hired me as a contractor and I helped them build up this channel and it quickly became.

00:31:58.363 --> 00:32:16.258
I mean, it was getting literally millions of streams every month because it was a live streaming radio style channel that was just delivering lots of great sports information that was helping people with their decisions on their fantasy sports hobbies.

00:32:16.258 --> 00:32:19.022
So it worked beautifully.

00:32:19.022 --> 00:32:22.148
So, yeah, so it created opportunities for me.

00:32:22.148 --> 00:32:32.930
Yes, the numbers grew, but not to anything where somebody may think, until I found a new opportunity and worked with Blog Talk Radio, so yeah.

00:32:33.375 --> 00:32:35.559
And then my other show, the Mark and Lowell Show.

00:32:35.559 --> 00:32:38.468
That's the longest running podcast I've done.

00:32:38.468 --> 00:32:46.325
I think that went eight or nine years and we're talking about bringing it back now that one had well over a million downloads.

00:32:46.325 --> 00:32:52.558
Back now that one had well over a million downloads.

00:32:52.558 --> 00:33:05.355
And we were kind of lucky getting started because we more or less piggybacked off of a very successful podcast that I was producing at the time and so I became kind of a character of that show and my show became somewhat of a spinoff.

00:33:05.355 --> 00:33:11.664
So I mean, we're talking about this big show was getting somewhere around 20,000 downloads a day.

00:33:11.664 --> 00:33:16.103
They were a Monday through Friday show and that's huge numbers these days.

00:33:16.103 --> 00:33:20.445
And so I was because I was the spinoff.

00:33:20.445 --> 00:33:33.067
We, a lot of that audience came to us and then, even after I stopped working with that other show, we still had this now established audience with new listeners as well, and saw a lot of success that way.

00:33:33.796 --> 00:33:36.020
And it goes back to collaboration.

00:33:36.020 --> 00:33:49.103
Right, I mentioned to you how important it is for me to work with others, and that's another example is working with bigger shows, being able to contribute the way I did in that case.

00:33:49.103 --> 00:33:51.681
I was producing and running their business.

00:33:51.681 --> 00:34:00.605
So I, yeah, I, I, I always encourage collaboration, because you never know what opportunities it's going to bring to you.

00:34:00.605 --> 00:34:05.005
So, yeah, collaborate with as many podcasters as you can.

00:34:05.005 --> 00:34:06.436
Collaborate with as many podcasters as you can.

00:34:06.998 --> 00:34:08.641
That is a great transition, Mark.

00:34:08.641 --> 00:34:14.309
So I wanted to shift then into what you know, you talk.

00:34:14.309 --> 00:34:25.449
Talk a little bit about the work that you're doing from ironic media standpoint, and I know you've got a couple of things on the horizon I'd love to be able to share here.

00:34:25.449 --> 00:34:29.119
So, if you don't mind, share a little bit about your current work and what's coming.

00:34:29.119 --> 00:34:29.960
Yeah.

00:34:30.983 --> 00:34:34.469
So I started Ironic Media right before the pandemic.

00:34:34.469 --> 00:34:38.701
I was a TV producer working at a TV show.

00:34:38.701 --> 00:34:44.469
It was a political show and I am no politician.

00:34:44.469 --> 00:34:46.201
I don't enjoy politics.

00:34:46.201 --> 00:34:49.574
I have opinions about the entire political system.

00:34:49.574 --> 00:34:51.418
That would be a whole tangent.

00:34:51.418 --> 00:35:16.836
And I knew I had been there for at the time probably four years and I just knew it wasn't for me, I wasn't enjoying it anymore and decided on the side I would start Ironic Media, which initially started as a podcast production agency, and then, all of a sudden, the pandemic hit only a few months later, and so now I'm home and only working part-time.

00:35:16.836 --> 00:35:28.248
Because of the pandemic that TV we had to reduce our hours, work from home, so I had so much more time on my hands and got to really build out the business while working for somebody else too.

00:35:29.094 --> 00:35:49.096
And by the end of 2020, I left the TV show and started Ironic Media and, like I said, production for podcasters, and I learned very quickly in that first year that this was going to be way more than just editing and producing content for people.

00:35:49.876 --> 00:36:03.367
People wanted help, they wanted to put on a quality podcast and they knew that just sound and just video was not going to be enough to make it look and sound professional.

00:36:03.367 --> 00:36:08.965
It also has to do with your own voice and how you use it and the content that you're providing.

00:36:08.965 --> 00:36:20.275
So I quickly found myself consulting and coaching people from individuals to large companies that wanted podcasts as a part of their marketing strategy.

00:36:20.275 --> 00:36:45.021
So it blossomed and that pandemic yeah, it was a disaster for so many people and it was kind of a blessing for me and my business, because there were so many people looking for things to do and podcasting seemed like that thing and that really catapulted my business and taught me a whole bunch, not just about podcasting but about business too.

00:36:45.021 --> 00:36:51.244
And yeah, I mean it's weird to say, but I'm kind of grateful that it all unfolded that way.

00:36:52.474 --> 00:36:55.260
Yeah, no, absolutely, I would concur.

00:36:55.260 --> 00:36:58.148
What a great experience overall.

00:36:58.148 --> 00:37:07.934
So we've talked a bit about community as podcasters in particular, but I think there's tremendous value in community.

00:37:07.934 --> 00:37:28.556
In fact, one of my themes or statements or phrases I like to throw out occasionally is that I believe that relationships are the currency of the future, and you've kind of expressed that both through the community piece and what it means to you, but as well as the potential to collaborate with people, there's tremendous value in all of that.

00:37:28.556 --> 00:37:43.856
I know you happen to have an event coming up where new podcasters which we've also talked about experienced podcasters can come together in community and potential collaboration opportunities.

00:37:43.856 --> 00:37:48.208
Tell us something more about your upcoming events, mark.

00:37:48.815 --> 00:37:52.385
Yeah, you know well, you mentioned it at the very beginning of the show.

00:37:52.385 --> 00:38:16.614
We met at PodFest, which is a similar type of event that I'm putting on now, in the sense that we are creating a weekend long conference for the independent podcaster of any experience level Hold on a second and what it's all about is, like you said, it's about community.

00:38:16.614 --> 00:38:35.445
It's about getting as many podcasters as we can together to learn from one another, and we've got somewhere around 30 or so different speakers, all experienced podcasters that are sharing their particular experiences.

00:38:35.445 --> 00:38:41.945
You know where they have thrived and they're sharing that with our participants that are attending this.

00:38:41.945 --> 00:38:43.456
We're having it in Charlotte.

00:38:43.456 --> 00:38:56.126
The name of it is Empowered Podcasting Charlotte, north Carolina, june 28th through the 30th, and the whole idea here is look, I love PodFest.

00:38:56.126 --> 00:38:57.842
I've been going for several years now.

00:38:57.842 --> 00:39:10.900
I'm getting to meet great people like you, and I've been to other conferences as well, and I feel like there are opportunities that some of these events aren't taking advantage of and I want to take advantage.

00:39:10.900 --> 00:39:27.146
So it's just like there's a podcast out there for everybody, there's a podcast conference out there for everybody, and I want to make sure that I am providing as much variety as I can and I'm doing this with our community right.

00:39:27.146 --> 00:39:34.135
We've got most of the leaders on this team that's putting this conference together have come out of the podcasting morning chat.

00:39:34.737 --> 00:39:38.664
My partner in this, my 50-50 partner in this, lloyd George.

00:39:38.664 --> 00:39:55.336
He was not originally part of my community but he and I were part of another community together of podcast professionals and he had heard through those sessions that we did together, he had heard I was doing this, I was doing this event.

00:39:55.336 --> 00:39:57.882
He's been wanting to do one.

00:39:57.882 --> 00:40:00.286
He had some life events come up.

00:40:00.286 --> 00:40:04.463
He had some professional things come up where he knew he couldn't do it himself.

00:40:04.463 --> 00:40:07.068
So he approached me and said let's do it together.

00:40:07.068 --> 00:40:15.420
So that's what we're doing and we just have some amazing people wanting to put on a really special weekend and I think we're doing it.

00:40:15.420 --> 00:40:17.344
It really has come together nicely.

00:40:17.344 --> 00:40:20.735
People are signing up and I'm excited.

00:40:20.735 --> 00:40:25.119
Like I said, charlotte, june 28th through the 30th and we'll see how it all goes.

00:40:25.119 --> 00:40:26.041
Dan, I know you're coming.

00:40:27.181 --> 00:40:27.523
I am.

00:40:27.523 --> 00:40:29.585
I do plan to be there.

00:40:29.585 --> 00:40:37.771
It's a short drive-ish, yeah so, and I'm excited for it for all the reasons that we've already discussed.

00:40:45.125 --> 00:40:47.954
So if people want to sign up for that, where would they go?

00:40:47.954 --> 00:40:50.137
Empoweredpodcastingcom.

00:40:50.137 --> 00:40:51.121
You can register there.

00:40:51.121 --> 00:40:51.561
There's also a link.

00:40:51.561 --> 00:40:55.815
We have discounted rooms at the hotel that we're doing it and all the information you can find right there.

00:40:55.815 --> 00:40:57.800
Empoweredpodcastingcom we have.

00:40:57.800 --> 00:41:06.222
I don't know when this episode airs, dan, but if it airs before May 17th, the early bird rates apply.

00:41:06.222 --> 00:41:09.768
So after May 17th the prices are going to go up.

00:41:09.768 --> 00:41:12.259
So if you want the best price, now's the time.

00:41:13.382 --> 00:41:13.782
Beautiful.

00:41:13.782 --> 00:41:18.681
I have to look at the calendar so I can't answer your question directly on this episode.

00:41:18.681 --> 00:41:26.505
But there you go, at least we know May 17th is the date, so if you're listening to this before that, go get your early bird tickets.

00:41:26.505 --> 00:41:31.923
If you're listening to this after that, I apologize and go get your tickets anyway.

00:41:31.963 --> 00:41:42.599
You just won't get them as cheaply as you could have before the 17th well, you know I'll share here publicly, because I asked you whether or not there was going to be a vip experience.

00:41:42.599 --> 00:41:51.018
I believe in investing in yourself at whatever level makes the most sense, and for me that's the next level.

00:41:51.018 --> 00:41:57.923
So, not to steal from anyone else, because that's someone else's catchphrase, but investing in myself at the next level.

00:41:57.923 --> 00:41:58.083
Right.

00:41:58.083 --> 00:42:03.505
If there was VIP tickets, whether it was on early bird or not, I was going to get.

00:42:03.505 --> 00:42:04.728
So there you go.

00:42:04.835 --> 00:42:11.291
Yeah, I appreciate that, and we decided not to do VIP because we want to make this experience, especially for this first one.

00:42:11.291 --> 00:42:15.603
We want everybody to feel like the VIPs there, right?

00:42:15.603 --> 00:42:19.954
It's our first event and we're just looking to create community.

00:42:19.954 --> 00:42:27.809
As we grow I think we'll probably add tiers like that, but for this first one, everyone attending in our book is a VIP.

00:42:29.255 --> 00:42:39.405
I think there's something to be said about the inclusiveness of that, which we could probably go down a whole rabbit hole, but I love that and I appreciate what you're doing.

00:42:39.405 --> 00:42:40.795
I look forward to the conference.

00:42:40.795 --> 00:42:47.016
If people want to know, mark, how to work with you or how to find out more about you, where would you like them to go for that?

00:42:47.858 --> 00:42:54.699
Yeah, I mean, I think the best place would probably be Ironic Media, and that's a play off of my last name.

00:42:54.699 --> 00:43:05.141
My last name is spelled R-O-N-I-C-K, so when you're spelling ironic, add a K at the end of it ironicmediacom, and there you can find everything.

00:43:05.141 --> 00:43:06.824
You can find a link to my podcast.

00:43:06.824 --> 00:43:20.858
You can find a link to some of my other projects, like this shirt I'm wearing Next Gen Podcaster, where we're specializing focusing on AI and how to incorporate it into your podcasting processes and procedures.

00:43:20.858 --> 00:43:23.347
You can learn about empowered podcasting.

00:43:23.347 --> 00:43:32.686
You can get cool t-shirts podcaster t-shirts, all the things over there and, of course, you can find me on all my social media platforms through that website as well.

00:43:32.686 --> 00:43:35.521
So I think that's the best bet Ironicmediacom.

00:43:36.422 --> 00:43:39.938
Perfect Is the podcast morning chat that is there as well.

00:43:39.998 --> 00:43:41.463
Yeah, there's a link to it, yep.

00:43:42.766 --> 00:43:45.981
Absolutely Well, I just go to Clubhouse, so I wasn't positive.

00:43:45.981 --> 00:43:47.166
Right, I didn't look for it.

00:43:47.166 --> 00:43:49.923
I was on your website, but I didn't look for that in particular.

00:43:49.923 --> 00:43:57.445
Good to know Any final parting words or words of advice, encouragement, etc.

00:43:57.445 --> 00:43:58.367
That you'd like to share.

00:43:58.367 --> 00:43:59.050
Hmm.

00:44:00.336 --> 00:44:12.925
I think it's really just to reiterate something we said earlier, which, if you're thinking about starting a podcast, look, I know a lot of podcasters start because they were listeners or viewers first.

00:44:12.925 --> 00:44:33.110
So I'm going to guess that there's at least one person listening to your podcast right now, dan, that's been thinking about doing a podcast, because they were maybe inspired by what you've been doing and maybe they're hesitating because they don't know what to do or they're afraid of what people are going to think, of what they have to say.

00:44:33.110 --> 00:44:40.489
And the bottom line is just start, and it doesn't have to be expensive, it doesn't have to be difficult.

00:44:40.489 --> 00:44:43.719
If you have to use your phone, use your phone.

00:44:43.719 --> 00:44:52.541
Ultimately, down the road, when you're 100 episodes in, you're not going to care about that first episode, how it sounded.

00:44:52.541 --> 00:44:56.255
You're not going to care that you didn't sound confident.

00:44:56.255 --> 00:45:01.456
I really don't care anymore when I go back and listen to that old episode and it makes me laugh.

00:45:01.456 --> 00:45:11.759
And that's why I'm happy to share it with you, because at this point I'm kind of proud of it, because I think now people will see that progression and you'll be proud of yourself too.

00:45:12.280 --> 00:45:16.389
After you've gotten your feet wet, you've found your groove.

00:45:16.389 --> 00:45:26.161
You're going to be excited and proud of what you're doing, and I always encourage people don't delete the old stuff, don't get rid of it.

00:45:26.161 --> 00:45:28.759
Leave it out there for the public to hear.

00:45:28.759 --> 00:45:38.735
It's okay because, first of all, most people are going to listen to the most recent episodes and those are probably your better episodes and the ones that are going back to listen.

00:45:38.755 --> 00:45:49.489
They're going to hear how much you've improved and they're certainly if they're already listening they're not going to judge you and say, oh, forget it, that old episode stunk and I'm not going to be, I'm not going to listen anymore.

00:45:49.489 --> 00:45:50.740
They don't care about all that.

00:45:50.740 --> 00:45:52.606
They're going to be impressed.

00:45:52.606 --> 00:45:56.661
You're going to be impressed, and please don't delete your stuff because I don't.

00:45:56.661 --> 00:46:15.007
Even I I don't have my very first podcast anymore and I can't stand it because, a I don't even remember when I started it could be longer than 20 years and B I don't get to experience that before and after anymore.

00:46:15.007 --> 00:46:19.742
I don't get to really hear that very first podcast and say, wow, look how far I've come.

00:46:19.742 --> 00:46:24.358
So I encourage people just get started and don't delete it.

00:46:24.358 --> 00:46:29.427
Save it for a rainy day and you'll be really proud and impressed how far you've come.

00:46:30.427 --> 00:46:31.148
What a great tip.

00:46:31.148 --> 00:46:36.146
I love that and, by the way, I hope there's at least one person listening to this.

00:46:36.146 --> 00:46:39.135
I know that wasn't your point, but that was the thought I was like.

00:46:39.135 --> 00:46:40.862
Yeah, I hope there's at least one.

00:46:40.862 --> 00:46:43.916

Behind the Mic with Marc Ronick

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