A Podcast on Running a Podcast

Syntax - Tasty Web Development Treats

In this episode of Syntax, Scott and Wes talk about running a podcast — recording, sponsoring, where to start, and more!

Freshbooks - Sponsor

Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax and put SYNTAX in the “How did you hear about us?” section.

LogRocket - Sponsor

LogRocket lets you replay what users do on your site, helping you reproduce bugs and fix issues faster. It’s an exception tracker, a session re-player and a performance monitor. Get 14 days free at logrocket.com/syntax.

Cloudinary - Sponsor

Cloudinary is the best way to manage images and videos in the cloud. Edit and transform for any use case, from performance to personalization, using Cloudinary’s APIs, SDKs, widgets, and integrations.

Show Notes

01:45 - Recording Setup

• Zoom to chat
• Record on Zoom
• Quicktime
• Logic
• Riverside
• Wes:
  • Heil PR-40
  • dbx 286s
• Scott:
  • Electro-Voice RE20
  • Cloudlifter
  • dbx 286s

09:13 - Notes

• Shows begin as a Notion doc
• Big outlines with a point-based outline to where to go
• Sometimes points are detailed, other times are just one-word reminders as to what to hit
• Sponsors pulled from a Notion relational table
• Shows are created in a kanban board but moved to a calendar view

12:37 - How do you find stuff to talk about?!

• Technical skills
• Hasty
• Tasty
• Potluck
• Game shows
• Collabs
  • ShopTalk Collab
  • Changelog Collab
• Soft skills
  • Productivity
  • Apps
• We Cooked It: Explainer Episode
• Add ideas to the list anytime it pops into your head

21:02 - Editing

• Podcast Royale
• We record a clap for syncing
• Upload to Dropbox for our editors

22:07 - Hosting

• Libsyn
  • Archaic feeling, but covers everything

22:36 - The website

• Next.js
• Open source
• PRs are submitted adding the latest episodes

24:10 - Transcripts

• Generated

24:40 - Would you still start one?

• Podcast vs YouTube vs Twitch

29:20 - Getting popular / Marketing

• How do you do it?
• Consistency is key
• Need external audience

35:34 - Sponsors

• Five to six hours per week in prep
• Most of our sponsors are products we already used
• We sell and manage all our sponsors ourselves

42:17 - What about Patreon?

• Ad-free version?

46:04 - Live shows

• Confs
• Livestream

Links

• Delicious Brains
• Syntax Ep 004: JavaScript Tooling
• LulaRich

××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ×××

• Scott: Untold: Crime & Penalties
• Wes: Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain

Shameless Plugs

• Scott: All Courses - Sign up for the year and save 25%!
• Wes: All Courses - Use the coupon code ‘Syntax’ for $10 off!

Tweet us your tasty treats!

• Scott’s Instagram
• LevelUpTutorials Instagram
• Wes’ Instagram
• Wes’ Twitter
• Wes’ Facebook
• Scott’s Twitter
• Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets