This time on Ron’s Amazing Stories – The Blog, we are going to talk a bit about the podcast. Today, as I write this, marks a birthday of a sort. On April 19, 2011, I published my very first podcast. That was seven years ago. I remember thinking, Who in the world was going to listen to this? I had no idea how to promote it, it did not sound all that great, and the content was ninety percent old time radio. [You can listen to that podcast here]

I did have some ideas as to what I wanted to accomplish. I was just starting out as a freelance editor and it was my hope to interview and connect with authors. These were lofty goals and I had no idea on how to complete them or measure my success. In those days there were no stats to speak off, at least at my host provider, all I had to go on was bandwidth usage. When I reached too many downloads I would get a nasty message. (So I was told, I never actually got that message). But, I could go in look at percent used. Early on it was disheartening, to say the least.

I knew that I had to score a big interview to at least generate some interest, so I set my sights on Greg Bell host of the radio show, “When Radio Was”. After a couple of months, I finally got that interview and things vastly improved. Greg helped with that by promoting it on XM/Sirius Satellite radio. [You can listen to RAS012 here] The numbers improved, but I was still in no danger of hitting that bandwidth usage goal.

In the end, it was persistence and not giving up that finally made the difference. Also, improving my knowledge, learning new skills and the art of self-promotion. I remember the week I broke 1000 downloads for a single podcast. It was like the world was finally listening to me and I had a voice. Granted my podcast is all about stories, but when you break it down we as humans are all storytellers. Today the podcast averages between 6 to 10 thousand downloads and I am on the radio in nine cities. I would say to myself, “Not Too Bad!”

This Week’s Podcast:

On the podcast this week we are doing a “Throwback Thursday” birthday edition of the show. It is going to contain only stories submitted by you guys. Of course, we can’t have a podcast without a Five Minute Mystery. I think it would break the internet if we did. You can listen to this podcast on Thursday at Ron’s Amazing Stories, download it from iTunes, stream it on Stitcher Radio or on the mobile version of Spotify. Do you prefer the radio? We are heard every Sunday Night at 8:00 PM (PST) on AMFM247.COM. Check your local listing or find the station closest to you at this link.