Before You Start a Podcast, Hear This Advice!

Why Most Podcasts Fail

Speaker 0:00

The Podcasting Morning Show is your morning meetup where podcasting meets purpose and creativity. Sparking connection. Hosted by Mark Ronick with two decades of experience and elevated by a team comprised of award-winning podcasters, accomplished entrepreneurs and producers, and podcast hosts with years of experience. Together, they form the backbone of the Podcasting Morning Chat. Diving into the nuts and bolts of content creation, sharing real-life challenges, solutions, and success stories. Streaming live every weekday at 8 a.m. Eastern Standard Time from Clubhouse, yes, Clubhouse, and available as a podcast just a couple of hours later, the show has evolved into a go-to resource for content creators worldwide. Imagine a mastermind group's collaborative spirit combined with the engaging vibe of a Morning Drive radio show. That's what we're all about. Learn more at www.podcasting morningshow.com.

Guest Bio Intro 0:57

Today's guest is someone who knows what it's like to build something from the ground up, hit burnout, step away, and come back stronger. Super Dave is the creator and host of the Anime Field Guide, an anime podcast dedicated to helping fans discover not just what to watch, but why the stories they love matter. Before launching his current show, Dave spent years experimenting, learning audio production, and hosting his first podcast, the Treehouse Anime Club, where he discovered the challenges and rewards of creating content as an independent podcaster. By day, Dave works as a forester in Mississippi. By night, he's a storyteller, researcher, and passionate advocate for sustainable podcasting and creative hobbies. His journey is a reminder that success isn't about overnight growth. It's about consistency, curiosity, and building something you're proud of one episode at a time. In this conversation, we dive into why people should start podcasts, how to avoid burnout, the realities of balancing a creative passion with a full-time career, and why community can be the difference between giving up and finding your voice. So grab your headphones and settle in.

Gabe 2:07

So let's start with the first question that I've been asking every guest that I invite on. So, why should you have a podcast? Do you have this idea, right? You have this great idea, you think there's something that you're pretty passionate talking about. Why not just write a blog of news articles, write, or create YouTube videos for this? Why pick the medium of saying I want to get behind a microphone and start a podcast?

Super Dave 2:30

I mean, that's the most important question right there. Because one, it could be but for me, I wanted to learn a new skill. I wanted to learn audio editing. I was also at my work, I'd also taken some evaluation. So they said, you know, you could work on your communication a little bit better. So for me, it was I'm a fan of this stuff. Like you said, I'm a fan of this stuff. I want to talk about it. I've had this voice in my head for a while to do it. But even if it is like, why should you start a podcast? It's why would you want to? You know, think about your your concept that you want to do. And if you are thinking the podcaster out, well, okay, I have this thing that I want to talk about. How many, like, see if you can get like just off the top of your head, can you do you have 10 episodes? Do you have 10 topics to write about? Do they work better? And then kind of mull it over. Do you think it would work better as a blog? You know, what's your time commitment? What's your budget? You know, all these different considerations. You know, if you're if you are gonna do a podcast, the big thing is just audio quality. You don't need a super expensive mic when you're looking around. Like this mic I'm using right now, I got it for like 50 bucks off Amazon, and it got a whole this is an XLR. I did splurge on I Gotta Focus Right. So that was where my splurge money went. But the mic that I'm using is not really that expensive. I'm not using a $400 mic, I'm using like a $50 mic, and I can make it sound like a really good one. So really why should you start a podcast is like the core the core thing. What's your concept? What's your schedule? What's your passion as well? Once you just sit down and start what I think folks underestimate when they are, it's like why should you start? It's how much planning really goes into it. So it's the the time is a big factor. Your planning. It may just be that it doesn't have to be also your podcast doesn't have to last for 20 plus years. It could be you you could even just look at it as like a mini-series, like, okay, this is just something that I want to try. That's a good appeal about podcasting, is you know, it's relatively I think it's relatively easy to just jump in and you can just run a mini-series. There's there's all these different questions that you can ask yourself, why should you start? But I think it's also like, do I want to? Does the concept that I have in mind would actually work for the format? But I honestly it's sometimes it is just good to just dive in and give it a shot. But why should you start really the you should because you would want to?

Gabe 4:47

Right. And and you have, like you said, I think that's the the foundation that hopefully most podcasters when they're thinking about doing this, is to look at the realistic side of saying, do I have enough content to say if I wanted to create 10 episodes, if I wanted to create 15 episodes, do I is it enough for it to stretch? And like you said, and maybe even consider the idea of saying, hey, I'm gonna do a limited series. That's it. Uh eight episodes I want to record because it's talking about a specific thing, a topic, a genre, just something along those lines, without saying, okay, I have to commit to, like you said, thinking I have to be a long-term 20-year-old podcaster. Um that that that's a whole different route. That's a whole different like concept to sit down and think about as far as how long you're going to invest the time and energy, because that it is a lot. It is a lot to get that idea down and say, okay, let's get recording. So, like you said, um investing in the idea number one is totally the first thing you need to do. Second thing, of course, like you said, the audio, the quality, what you want to sound on, what you want to focus on, uh spending money on, getting into uh getting a good microphone, getting good quality. Uh, I think those are all very important. We're gonna talk about those a little bit more. Uh, but I also wanted to go into you know the energy that

How To Become A Better Podcast Interviewer

Gabe 6:10

goes into what it takes to record a podcast because people don't also realize the energy you're gonna put into developing a topic, having conversations with people. So, what does like being in a good mental place help with saying doing something like this, especially when you think of the idea of being introverted, extroverted, um, and leaning into saying, I'm gonna be talking to strangers. Like if I have I'm gonna have guests on, I'm gonna I'm gonna have to conversate with people I've never met. So, how do you approach that if you're a podcaster who's who wants to do, say, a interview show like we're doing now?

Super Dave 6:47

Best thing to do if so let's say let's say we are doing the interview route. Best thing to do, I I would say interview family members, interview your friends first. Get warmed up. If you really are considering an interview style show, watch other people who give interviews. If you're, you know, depending on your life experience or your your work experience. If you think that this is what you want to do, but you're not sure of like your total skill set, just run a bunch of trials. You don't have to jump in immediately and just begin creating. You can get all the you can knock out most of your awkwardness before you even get behind the mic. The energy, people again, it it is it is interesting. Like people don't or new folks don't tend to realize just how much it really does take out of you. It's not just the sitting down behind the mic. Honestly, that's the fun part.

Gabe 7:34

Right.

Super Dave 7:35

And some people do find the editing uh process to be fun as well. I find the editing process uh to be rather enjoyable, but it is also like if any time that I'm recording something, it takes me about two and a half times that amount to actually sit down and record that edit the edit the episode. Right stumbling over my words already. And also there's there there's that right there. Don't be afraid of your flubs. If you are, if you do have an interview or if you are like whatever it is, my personal experience was I did not start out doing an interview podcast. I started out doing, I want to run this solo. Okay, well, how much content do I need to run this thing solo? Or what kind of things do I want to you know make up for? I'm not bouncing off of another person. So what do I need to do to make up for that? So you could take that route as well. But if you are going the interview route, you just gotta get comfortable with networking. There's nothing else to really say about it. You gotta be, if you're gonna be an interview style, I mean you have to be comfortable with reaching out to people and putting yourself out, which networking is an entirely you know separate but related skill with podcasting. You just gotta get comfortable doing it. A lot of things you don't realize with starting a new hobby how many other like new skills and new things you will suddenly have to be picking up. And that's also like a fun, it is a fun part of the journey, but it can all of a sudden seem intimidating. There's so many things that when I started podcasting, I didn't realize I had to learn this skill set. I had to learn this skill set, and I have to just, like you said, reach out and talk to strangers. And I started out as a solo show, but bringing on guests to uh my show, Treehouse Anime Club, and then now the anime field guide, sort of my favorite parts. So I don't have to prep as much, but then how do I also like lean the conversation in a way without railroading my interviewee? You know, I want them to I want this to be I want them to be comfortable. So it's just part of the thing of you're just gonna have to get those awkward bits out of the way. And if you get comfortable doing that off the screen and beh off behind the mic, you'll have more, you know, just the more you do it, the better you'll get at it. If you are intentional about being a good critic, listening to an episode going, yeah, that was a bit awkward, so how can I avoid this in the future, or how can I improve on what I did good in the future? So just all kinds of various factors go into that.

Gabe 9:49

Yeah. And

The Work Nobody Talks About In Podcasting

Gabe 9:50

you did you touched on something um that I think most podcasters when they think it's this easy to record, is the fact that in the in the idea of doing the other external parts of the work, it's probably gonna take longer for you to actually edit, publish, put out than it is the actual conversation, right? It's it's all the other work that you're gonna have to invest into doing it. Like you said, the conversation's the fun part. Once you're here, you're here. It's fun to have these conversations to get to communicate with other people, but then it's the moment you hit stop. Now I have work to do. Now I have something that if you want to publish it, you want to put it in, you gotta hold yourself accountable to doing some of the work. So I I like that part that you did mention that because I I want podcasters to realize that this is again, this is a an investment more than just financially in doing this. There's more to it than just the money side, you know. So I wanted to ask you too, you because you did you just mentioned that you're kind of leading into where the next question was, but you relaunched completely under a different name, right? With a different focus back in April of 2025. That's a whole completely different thing. That's a whole rebuild. So, what did you learn from the first show that made you willing to start uh you know, start to count over again and do it with the second show, changing the format, going from solo to now interview? What were things that you had to learn that to make that shift? And what did you really lean into to help you the what view what you learned from the first show that really made the second show seem a little bit more polished?

Super Dave 11:25

Right. That's uh that's a lot of questions rolled into one. I I think I'll try to get it in sequence as best as I can here. So my my first show, so I am an anime

Why I Rebranded My Podcast

Super Dave 11:35

podcaster. I live in Mississippi, I work in Mississippi. My day job is a forester, which the forestry business runs hot and cold, usually runs pretty hot, so it keeps me pretty busy during the day. So my my my first show was called The Treehouse Anime Club. I thought it was like a whimsy little title and things. And what I started with it was let me just see if I can do podcasting. That was basically the goal. I had wanted to do this for a while as a classic thing of mold about it for years and years. I followed a couple other podcasters. I had friends who started their podcasts. My first ever supporting of a Patreon was a retro gaming podcast called Remember the Game. I'm still a patron over there, still in the Discord, great community of friends. So we were all like sitting around and talking. And so in 2023, I finally decided, well, I can either buy a PlayStation 5 or I can get into podcasting. And I decided, let's just do it. See, I just took a bet on myself. I had wanted to, and I'd I'd done like other creative projects before, drawing, other things, and just this felt like the next step. So I just started the Treehouse Anime Club going, can I do this? And 10 episodes later, it was like, okay, I can do this. And the scheduling that I had was very intense. One thing I would say when you're starting out, do not feel like you are pre-like everyone's if you talk like a podcasting coach, they say like weekly, weekly, weekly, always do this, always have a new episode out, always content, content, content. And I was killing myself doing it twice a month. It was just so busy. And again, I was a solo podcaster, so originally I thought I need to make up for I didn't trust myself. I didn't trust my personality. I thought people are gonna show up for my show because I'm going to talk about anime and anime production. So my whole thing was, well, I'm gonna talk about this cartoon, but I'm gonna say, here's all the people that worked on it. And I had all these names and I had all these fun facts and I had all these things, and it was just running myself into the ground. And then I thought, well, I'm gonna do weekly things, I'm gonna do uh I'm gonna talk about the uh the seasonal anime broadcast. So every three months or so we get a whole new broadcast slate. So I thought, well, I'm gonna be a I'm gonna be a reviewer of the seasonals. I'm gonna do all this stuff, just throwing things against the wall. And it was really fun in the moment, but again, the schedule was just knocking me down. And so first I thought, well, maybe I'll just shove off a little bit and leave leave a bit and go to like once monthly, which helped. But then I was still obsessed with like I have to be like this source of information. I have to be, you know, and to and towards the end of the Treehouse Anime Club, I made it about a year, and but in the end, I decided to walk away from it because it was all getting a bit too much. 24 was also 2024 was also like not the the best year, like in the summer. Just I was not I was not in a good head space. I've had various battles with depression through through my life. I was beginning to burn out. And so what I discovered during that time was I should have had more of a focus. Like that the concept was there, but I wasn't doing a lot really to promote it. I wasn't I had something like an art style, but I wasn't like developing all of my episode thumbnails were the exact same. You know, me holding a mic and smiling. Yeah. And just like a lot of cute drawings that I had all these plans and this the time investment of the editing and promoting and trying to go through. I was gaining traction, but it is pretty brutal when you put out an episode and then like two weeks later you still have like 15 views, and you haven't really done anything other than here's the episode, guys, and then I don't know, feeling fee feeling guilty about promotion. You know, you feel like you gotta shout it from the rooftop. So you're like, should I oh how often should I uh you know, I don't want to spam social media with, hey, listen to my stuff. But you kind of have to do that in in some cases. And you just that was a thing that I just never quite cleared that hurdle during my time with Treehouse Anime Club. And plus people were like, it was a nice title, but people were like the anime treehouse club or the clubhouse anime, like the name wasn't quite sticking like I thought it would. And people weren't really sure what the show was about. So there was a little bit of like in the name as well. So just a lot of it wasn't like one big thing, it was like a death of a thousand cuts.

Gabe 15:49

Yeah, that makes it worse. And you know, to what you just mentioned, you you hit on a few things because here's the reality. Here's the reality. Most podcasters who want to jump into doing this and developing this, they still have a full functioning life outside of just podcasting. You can't have the idea that I can sit down like Joe Rogan and that's my job. Like I can just sit down and talk for three hours and I'm okay. Uh they get paid enormous amounts of money to do that. We, and I mentioned me because I'm in the same boat. I'm a podcaster who has to still clock into a job. I still have a time clock, I gotta I gotta work around, I still have bills that have to get paid, but I I also still want to do this. So it's it's the passion of laying into it that really plays a lot whether or not you're gonna be able to find a way to develop a way to to continually publish episodes and create. I think you meant you hit on a big one was you find yourself in an instance where you feel burned out because you take on too much too soon. You have the grandiose idea of like, hey, I can I can handle this workload, I can do all of this, and not realizing, yeah, it takes a lot of work. I gotta promote. I gotta I gotta constantly promote. Like you said, I have to be on socials, I have to put it in in every place that I possibly can. Because if that's the focus of finding your audience, it's gonna take a while. It takes a minute, it's not just something like you said, you have a you might have an episode that sits there on 15 downloads for months, and you think it's everything that you put into it's like, man, this is great. This was a great episode. In your head, it's like this is awesome. Why aren't people listening to it? It's the same thing. Why aren't you and you're not you're probably not putting all the effort that you can into promoting because you do say you you you hit on something too. There's this guilt that comes around that, oh man, I don't want to be man, I don't want to be doing this. The self-promotion thing is very hard for a lot of people, and all the podcasters.

Super Dave 17:35

It's also just hard to be on social media in general. Yes, there's there is that space. Their mental load of just always online mentality. Or for me, I'll just be very honest. I hate social media, I hate all things about it, I hate the platforms. I'm just I even even where I am, like threads has been very good to me. The meta landscape has been like decently good to me. Instagram, no one gives a crap. Blue sky, it's it's almost I can't, I don't know. I post the exact same thing on threads than Blue Sky and Instagram, they just die over there. Threads does better. I'm not on Twitter, I refuse. I was on I was on Twitter before it was acquired, and I left it then because I just couldn't take it. There's there there's so much that that's just kind of like the quiet part. I'm saying the quiet part I'll know. Being on social media pretty much just sucks. And so trying to promote your stuff, you know, how do I also promote the thing without seeing like an asshole? Yeah. You know, like watch you don't want to be all clickbaity or like trick people, but yeah, that or I ideally I would say you wouldn't want to be like I'm nothing but Mr. Positivity over on threads and things, which sure I don't get as many uh views or likes

Is It Okay To Quit Your Podcast?

Super Dave 18:45

as uh as probably I would get if I had like some super you know clickbaity, oh my gosh, you know, you know, pogger's face kind of title thing. The the folks that do stick around are more engaged because they know that I'm a comfortable space to be in. You also don't need yeah, you also don't need to have like tens of thousands of followers. You can have like a hundred folks or less with you, but again, if you have those people engaged with you, you could see it on YouTube and other spaces all the time. You know, a guy with you know tens of millions of followers is getting outperformed financially by the little channel with like ten thousand subs. Right. Because the the person with ten thousand subs is able to personalize a bit more, you know, all kinds of different strategies. So it's social media just being on there sucks. But if you can make it work and if you can find your community on there and if you're consistent, then at the very least you can make something you you you you can make something out of it that gives you happiness. Because at the end of the day, we're all into into this because it's a hobby. You know, if this was making me miserable, then I wouldn't still be doing this. And that the social media engagement is part of that.

Gabe 19:50

Right. And you you you hit on another one that I have uh we haven't gone too far into deep in some of these episodes, but it's the the personal the personal ethics that go into how you promote, especially with social media. Like you said, there are some platforms that people will don't align with. I don't like who owns it, I don't like how an algorithm works, I don't like anywhere. So I pretty much just cut that one off and don't even worry about it. And it is, like you said, it's the personalization of how you approach an audience, how do you approach outreach, how do you approach all these things? They're important because everybody that I've interviewed so far, they don't quite always mention what you just mentioned, which is why I was why I'm kind of highlighting it because they they tell you the general thing about social media. Hey, yeah, just put it out into the world, put it here, go here, go here, go put it here, post here, post here, post this. And it doesn't always, it doesn't always net results. It's just something they've probably heard themselves from another person, creator, guru, whatever you want to call them, and they come and they decide that, hey, maybe that's what I need to do. That's the strategy. And it's not so much like what you just said, where I refuse to, in some places, in some instances, to go and play in that pond. I don't want to be there. I want to be where the uh I'm gonna get the kind of traction I'm searching for, which is important in developing your audience while still crafting your voice and your own brand of what you're talking about. So I want to go into the next thing, Dave, where you do everything yourself because this is another one for creators that's very hard. You do all the recording, the editing, the graphics, the promotion. So walk me through what a full promotion week actually looks like after you've done recording of your episodes, you know, as far as the time, how much do you figure out it takes for you to do this to make it, like you said, sustainable and not burn yourself out in the process?

Super Dave 21:38

Well, to answer that, I'm gonna

How To Avoid Podcast Burnout

Super Dave 21:40

back up to to one of your previous questions. Because when I was taking my hiatus or when I thought I was done podcasting in 2024, there was I I took a break of just no no podcasting, no nothing, but I was still watching anime, I was still enjoying it. I love anime, it didn't burn out because I stopped the podcast. But what I found. Is after that one month of just nothing, a still I was watching a show and I go, Oh, I found myself writing down notes. In fact, I have part of my creative process is physical notebooks. When you talk about the animal anime field guide, that little uh graphic that's in all my episodes, that's a physical notebook. I am writing down notes, and that's just my learning style. That's just how I do it. And so there's I made the episode notes. And then for the anime field guide, if you look at my profile picture, that is the picture of the physical book. And so what I'm trying to say is even though I I stopped with the Treehouse Anime Club, I still wanted to create and I wanted to work on it, and I thought, well, maybe I'll just rebrand or maybe I will relaunch the show as as that. But as I as as the months and weeks rolled by, I began to really sit down and consider, hey, why did I quit? What did I enjoy? Essentially, I was asking myself, where did I go wrong? Namely, it was the scheduling, it was the taking on, it was the kind of just kind of scatter shot purpose. And so I said, okay, it's summer of 2024. I've been away from the treehouse for like two months now. If I'm going to come back, what do I want to do? And so I started dissecting my episodes, running through, just really just started to study my content and went, okay, this is what I enjoy. This is where I think I was repeating myself or going through. And as I went through, I slowly began to build, like, okay, here's going to be the foundation of what would become my new show, the anime field guide. It's like, okay, I I workshopped a couple of other names. And so, like, what when you think of a field guide, you know, it's it's a guide that helps you navigate the the world or helps you navigate a space. Right. And so I just put anime in front of it. It also rolls off the tongue pretty easy. So, okay, what about the styling? Okay, I like the notebook style. So I started to play around with, okay, do I want to draw in a notebook and do that, or do I want to have I start I started experimenting around, like, okay, what's my color scheme? So Death Note, it's very black and white. Simple colors seem to adapt. It works well with a lot of other different colors. Uh, if you look at my short form content, my YouTube shorts and things, you know, I have the episode title and then I'll have just notebook paper. Simple notebook paper. I downloaded a Death Note font that works decently well for promotional stuff. And so I decided let's just go all in on this notebook aesthetic. And part of it was, okay, how were other anime podcasters designing their space? You know, some of them are more bubbly and others are more uh you know, they they have characters. They've made either commissioned an artist or they've done an AI-generated, you know, character of their face in an anime style. You know, what what are their other styles and how can I stand out from the crowd? And use using a little bit of my personal background with a little bit of art student and things. So when it came to the planning stage, it wasn't just about the audio content. And I said, okay, if I am going to relaunch the podcast, here's exactly what I'm going to do. So like number one, page limit. I'm going to if I'm going to do a script, I'm keeping myself to a relatively strict page limit. That's number one. Number two is just let the process happen. I have

Building A Podcast Brand People Remember

Super Dave 25:10

a lot of I met a lot of friends. I've made more connections through podcasting. Like I said, the anime field guide. I still do solo episodes. In fact, my next three episodes, March, April, and May of 2026, are all going to be solo. I just wrapped up, so I'm kind of going back to the old style. Then we're going to have interviews lined up. So I enjoy doing both, but I enjoy the interview process. Okay, how far in advance do I need to talk to people? So started putting the feelers out.

Gabe 25:35

Yeah.

Super Dave 25:36

And all of the all of the various things. So when I started to go through, it's like, okay, here's my style, here's what I want to do, here's my aesthetic. And so a lot of my promotional side then comes from I just have I kid you not, I have like five different variations of notebook paper. So I just use very simple tools. I'm essentially designing my episode logos in PowerPoint. In free PowerPoint. I'm I'm not even joking. It's Google Slides. It's very unconventional, but it works. Well, I thought like, can I just make it work like this? Because I don't need anything complicated. My episode logos are, again, that little bit. I have another picture of a black notebook. Here's my you know, just make it just make it stand out. Black, you know, white text on a black background, easy to see. And I just get all of my images from Google and such, and so I just plug it into whatever episode I'm running. That's basically how it how it works.

Gabe 26:27

And it you do three different shows.

Super Dave 26:30

It's all the anime field guide, though. These are all like sub-series. And the studio rundown is more like when I can do it. Sidetracked is like this is something it's not a review style, or sometimes it is a review. I do have a full anime review on sidetracked, and then I have another one of called Read the Manga. One of my other sidetracked was my episode zero was actually anime production field guide. So I'd said here's all the staff hierarchy in a typical anime production. Here you go.

Gabe 26:57

Yeah.

Super Dave 26:58

And then if you want more information, there's my studio rundown over there. That you can get a full 30-minute rundown of the entire history.

Gabe 27:06

So you do you do both styles, then you would do you do a uh a very scripted, strict, timed sort of I guess you would call them a micro podcast inside of what you already creating.

Super Dave 27:20

I call it a supplemental, yeah.

Gabe 27:21

Supplemental, that's a good one too. That's a good week a supplemental podcast to go along with it, a companion piece. But then you also do the anime field guide, which is also more free-flow conversation, would you say? So you do both.

Super Dave 27:34

It's a review, it's a review focus. So I pick a show and my guest and I, we both watch the show. I make sure they have seen the show, or at least they have a good memory of the show and can can talk about a little bit, and then we just kind of run through it. So I try to tailor it to their experience.

Gabe 27:50

So, in terms of what you said, you're you're kind of going right in the next direction. You have guest requirements that are specific, right? You have they have to know the show, keep in language of what you what the subject matter is. So, how do you go about finding outreach to bring on guests that fit inside your particular niche? And what would what advice would you give to somebody who a new podcaster who's who's maybe planning to do something along this lines of saying I'm going to be talking about anime or comics, and it has to be uh genre specific. How do you how do you find your guest?

Super Dave 28:24

My process is if if it's a guest that I know or if it's someone through honestly, through the process of putting out episodes, people will naturally find you. And so a lot of the times early on, my guests would reach out to me and say, Hey, we run this other podcast over here. Would you like to be on our show? Or we would like to be on your show. Usually it's my process was I started out, it was a little bit of you can you can call it give and take. It's not so much like I scratch your back, you scratch mine. It's more just I want to be, you know, someone wants to be on your show, so you would find an opportunity to be on theirs. A lot of the times, if it's someone that I don't have that connection with that we've talked for a while online, because usually if I'm gonna bring someone on the show, I've been talking with them for a couple of weeks, kind of getting a feel. And also if you're gonna have someone on their on your show and they have a show of their own, listen to their damn content. Tune in. And I mean, like, seriously listen. Sit down, what are their what are their tells? What are their quirks? You know, what what do you think they do well? And how do they, how do you think they're gonna mesh with your program? And it's perfectly fine to go like, okay, I thought this was gonna work out, but maybe, maybe not, or maybe you have a guest that just casually, like again, sort of I've had a couple that casually just swear a lot. And sometimes you just kind of gotta moderate that or to let them know, like, hey, let's let's kind of tone it down a little bit. It's okay to like go, it's it's a it's okay to have like clear guidelines as long as you can as long as your guest finds them reasonable. It's it's perfectly fine to have compromise or to take a break or to kind of give them a reminder. But my guests are typically folks that I've been talking for a number of weeks or that I've been checking out their content, and then again, part of the outreach is just don't be shy about saying, hey, I really like your show. And it really helps also if you are just going to reach out to somebody to say, I've listened to these episodes, and to have like if you can take one or two key points from their episode so they know that you've been paying attention, that goes a long way. And it's also one thing that I found is I've been on the guests of some relatively, in my mind, are are like big fish in the in the areas, you know, some some big catches, you know, reel them in. Don't be afraid to just reach out to it. You may not get the attention of like the super duper mega guy, but there are plenty of folks like in the in-between space who have that Patreon, who have those large followers, you know, the thousand plus followers on on Patreon and such. Feel free to reach out to them. Most of them have an outreach page for that purpose. Don't be intimidated. Just freaking go for it. You're not going to get anywhere if you're always shy of, oh, well, I'm not big enough or I'm not important enough to do. A lot of folks who get in that position were in your position early on. And so more often than not, again, listen to their stuff, listen to their attitude, see also follow them on social media, give them a follow, check their posts, you know, what you know, is there are there any tells, or there's anything, you know, you know, just just follow them and get a read on them. And if you're comfortable, then just reach out. Don't be afraid to reach out, because they can't say no or they can't say

How To Find Podcast Guests

Super Dave 31:30

yes if you don't ask them in the first place.

Gabe 31:32

Right. And you know, you the way that you made mention of doing the outreach to finding your guest, and even you you even hinted to having what what I would call a vetting system, which for most podcasters are they're very unfamiliar with the idea of saying, hey, it goes beyond just saying, hey, come on my show, right? I want to say they have to fit a certain characteristic to be able to come on, especially in these shows and genre-specific shows when you have people on. It's good for you to have those guidelines to say, look, um, I want to be able to reach a certain target audience, a certain individual that uh that listens to the show. And there was another one about having a good show cadence, is what I call it. So you have guests on and you let them know ahead of time. Listen, my audience might be a little bit more toned to milder sort of style. So, you know, maybe the cursing thing is not what's working. But those are all inside of guidelines that you create as a host when you're creating a show, and that's what I want podcasters to specifically learn is that it has to be able to number one be comfortable with you because you it's it's is your personal ethics that go into it. And secondly, whatever your audience is and how you craft that message to your audience, it has to matter. You said you found a community in podcasting in Discord, right? Uh during the pandemic, and you credit that with changing your trajectory from going from uh the treehouse and the solo show into moving into the anime field guide, right? Um so what do you what would you suggest to people who are trying to find these uh little areas or these niches where they can find and learn from other hosts, from other podcasters, uh especially when it's coming to deal like with what you're talking about in your genre. Because if you are going to create something that's very niche, you have to be able to find out what works, what isn't working, like you said, find your audience, find guests. So they're usually within these communities. How do you suggest about navigating something like jumping into a Discord to find, you know, again, to find sometimes even the subject matter that you're talking about?

Super Dave 33:38

Well, as far as the Discord side of things, I did not jump into a Discord looking for fellow podcasters or folks. Like these are friends who we were all members of this one, again, Canada Podcast, remember the game, Adam Blank. He's an amazing fella. And he's a fell he's a guy who his comedian career during the pandemic, he was doing pretty well as a comedian, but then like you know, pandemic just shut down all the comedians. And he had a this retro gaming podcast, and it was his kind of wake-up call. The pandemic was his wake-up call to, okay, maybe I should take a bet on myself. And so he went all in on podcasting. And he really turned the remember the game into something special. And so there is something about he was, you know, he's he's much bigger than he was then, so it's a bit harder to get with him one-on-one. But even back then, he was super uh honest about the journey and the struggles and things. And so a lot of us there were inspired by him. And again, most of them went over to do the retro gaming space, because retro gaming is a very popular podcasting space, and there's tons of content to talk about. And as far as in the anime space, sure, we're getting much more mainstream, you know, pandemic pandemic has been and the and the audience, you know, just grow grew explosively after the pandemic. So all of a sudden there's all these different anime podcasts coming up. And it's not like you have to have any sort of specialized or specific interest. I wanted to focus on because I'll just kind of say this right now on for for my personal opinion. I don't like most other anime podcasts because a lot of them are just weekly reviews or like this is the show, or they're all just like, oh, this was hype and this was mid or this is trash, and just kind of just directionless. And it's just like we like anime, so we're just gonna talk about whatever. And a lot of them do, also video games, other nerd stuff. So the anime foc the strictly anime focused stuff is a bit more is a bit like you said, a bit bit more of of the niche. Yeah. But it's not like they're it's not like they're it's it's just the kind of content that I don't personally like listening to. But I respect the folks that that sit down and do it. Most of them also have a guest with them, or they are most of them have a co-host.

Gabe 35:43

Okay. Yeah.

Super Dave 35:44

Sometimes sometimes when you reach out to a podcast like that, it is you can bring on most of the co-hosts, or it may just be one person from the show, you know, however it is, if you have like a rapport with that one person or with the group, then that's great. But as far as the networking side, it just kind of happened. I didn't really I wasn't going into Discord looking to communicate and connect with a bunch of podcasters. This was just something that we all started off as we were fans of something. And that can happen in any kind of community Discord, any kind of fan group. We're here in a in a common area. I've been in a number of other or I've tried a number of other Discords and uh other servers because it's essentially like it essentially it's the modern version of like the AOL chat rooms. Yeah, you just have a whole topic, focus topic sort of group. So anytime you'd be surprised, honestly, to kind of I feel like I'm rambling a little bit, but you uh you'd be surprised how much can just develop from just having a conversation with the person. Because all these other all my other friends and who I bring on the show, a lot of their stuff started with just talking with buds on the internet and hey, we like talking with each other, we have a good rapport, so let's try you know essentially going into this hobby together, or in some cases they've gone into business together, you know, three hosts, three or four hosts on the Patreon, however that gets divvied up to them, you know, that's just how it works out. The solo act is I find it a bit more intimidating to to think about because again, it's it's you. Yeah. So it just depends on are you more comfortable talking with people, or do you want

Building A Podcast Community

Super Dave 37:15

to, you know, have more of a focused experience? And I think when you're when you're in that kind of space and when you're talking to people, it is important to again remember what is your podcast about? What is your topic about? What are you trying? And also it's kind of a thing of it's not just what's the topic about, what are you trying to say about the topic? And that's what I find like that's the main thing that when I'm listening to a podcaster, whether it's anime or if it's I don't really listen to true crime, but yeah, like other like nerd-related podcasts, video games, it's not just, oh, we're gonna be here and we're gonna just talk about this game and why it's great or why this thing is amazing. Oh, love it, love it, love it, love it. Just you know, universal praise. Why do you have that opinion? I'm not interested in in so much, you know, anyone else can have any number of opinions about a topic, but what do you have to say? Are you just talking about a topic because you I don't want to see someone who's like just parodying other opinions. I want to like you start a they have the episode count, they have the consistency, I know their quirks. So you're trying to find that middle. It's the personality that people will show up for, not so much the you know, content will certainly drive if you're doing like the latest and greatest show, but audiences will will show up for you, not necessarily just because of the show, your topic you're talking about. You're talking about a lot of the times to bring up these connections, and you have to build a rapport with the person. Because think about it, you know, you are coming or someone's coming onto your show, you're going onto someone else's show, and essentially, in some small way, the way you present yourself, both in your show and on that other person's show, says something about that show. You were you were tying yourself to the in some way to the reputation of the thing that you are appearing on. And so that is something to keep in mind when you're trying to, again, it's not just the the content side, it's the when you're talking to someone, you know, are they a good fit? Are they going to you know enhance what I already have? Or are they gonna you're gonna have a good back and forth, you're gonna have a good conversation, and is it still in line with basically the story you're trying to tell for that episode? Or are they just or are they just not a good fit?

Gabe 39:20

I want to go one more thing before we start wrapping up, but you you you said you quit it one time and you came back. I won't I want to talk about that because there's a lot of people who get frustrated. They start building something and they invest a lot of time in the initial process and they'll create a show and it and it'll go on, and then they'll realize, like, man, I'm not getting no traction. Uh, it's not just taking off. Uh, I'm ready to quit this thing. You can find them all over, you can find them on any podcast directory. You go look, go type in whatever podcast you're looking for. You'll find one that has just a dead branch where it's like three episodes and they stop. They hung it up. So, what was that like when you took that time off to develop and to say, okay, I'm I'm still passionate about what I was talking about, but maybe I need to reframe and reapproach what I was doing prior because I the the idea the idea that I'm trying to develop is I wanted to I want to create a way and a system so that podcasters learn how to sustain what they what they develop, what they create out

The Truth About Podcast Growth

Gabe 40:20

into this world. Because there's a lot of great messages that get left just hanging there because somebody, I don't know, didn't take the right approach, their system was too much, they became overloaded, they left it where it was. So I want to be able to to add people the idea that it is a sustainable thing. You just gotta remember um about what it takes to put into this, especially if you have a full-time job like you were doing. So when you came back, when you developed the the the second iteration of what you're creating now, how hard was it to go and say uh I'm leaving behind this first series or this first podcast and starting something new and building everything fresh again?

Super Dave 41:01

So what I want to say first off is if we are in this space, most of us are in this space because it's a hobby, makes us happy. And that this falls true for any hobby. If it's not making you happy, if you're not getting a fulfillment out of it, if it's making you, if it's actively making you unhappy, quit. It's okay to it's okay to quit. Quitting just not does not automatically mean, oh, I was a failure and this thing didn't take off. Well well, I will tell you right now, there are several moments where I thought, well, I'm not getting the episode traction that I think I deserve during the tree house. I still feel that a little bit with the field guy, but that that's also like a timing thing. I just don't I haven't put out as much promotion as I would like to, but again, I'm never putting out as much promotion as I would ideally like to. There's there's never a sweet spot for that. But with it, with the tree house, quitting, I had I had to tell myself that quitting was not failure. This was at the end of the day, this was not good for me in my personal life. It was it was being detrimental to my personal life is all the time going into it and things. I was missing out on other opportunities. So if it is, and it's perfectly fine to start a hobby, you know, how many other hobbies have you started and realize, you know, oh, this isn't really for me. You know, it's okay. You don't have to box yourself into a hobby just because, you know, for what you know, insert reason here. Also, this holds true for YouTube as well. You know, there's the whole deal like I want to be a YouTuber, then you realize all the stuff and other things, other things that go into it, and just how much of a mess the platform can be. It doesn't matter what platform you're hosted on, podcasting or YouTuber, what like let's plays, you know, insert whatever thing here, you're it's the the the the the algorithm's just gonna do what the algorithm's gonna do. But the the idea is quitting is not necessarily failure. It's not a it's also not a mark against your personal character. And that's you know, don't don't think of it like that. If it's making you unhappy, then stop. If it's hurting your personal life, then stop. And some for me, that was I needed to take a break. If your motivation for getting into podcast is making money, then yeah, you are going to be the three to ten episode dead branch within a couple of weeks. I'm sorry. That's just what it's gonna be. Again, I've been doing this for a total of two years, you know, two shows. I'm just about to celebrate the first year of Anime Field Guide. And I say this from a hobby space, like, yes, I like money. I like earning money. I think I'm compensated rather fairly for my day job. And I would, of course, like to be paid

Stop Comparing Your Downloads

Super Dave 43:30

for the anime field guide, but this would be something of like, this would be like a hobby space. I have a monthly hobby budget, so this would mainly be going to there where I would invest it into, again, like a new mic, like a nice mid range, solid $100 mic, you know, insert whatever. I'm not looking to make a career pivot into podcasting. Now, of course, if I get if I suddenly am making like $100,000 a month, then yes, let's just let's just say let's just say I become one of those mega podcasters. Sure, but odds are you are not going to be a mega podcaster. That's that's just the reality. That that the the odds are against us there's so many other companies with so much more backing. Hell, Netflix is jumping into the podcasting game because there is money in the space, but if your motivation is to make money, you are not going to last because that's not going to sustain you. It's also the the passion of your subject matter is also not going to sustain you. It might for a time, and it did for me with the Treehouse Club. But the thing is, if you're going to make this last long, you need to approach it. I just said like this is a hobby space, but you really do need to approach it like a business. You need to put in the hours. It is like a part-time job, but it is also my hobby. So it's a weird mental it it sounds like a weird mental thing. You just gotta just jump into this space to kind of really understand what I'm trying to say in that statement. It's the part-time job that's your hobby. You gotta put in the hours, you're probably not gonna get paid for it. You gotta make you gotta give people a reason to give a shit. So there's a lot in that side as well. So once you start getting bogged down by the busy work of it all, that's this that's the time where it's really like your make or break moment. And if you can get over that hump and if you can make it work for you, then I can guarantee, yes, it will not feel like work. You know, do what you love and it's not gonna feel like you're working a day in your life. Forestry is a really damn tough business. I work every single day of my life. And there are days that I'm burned out at my career, but I stick with it because it's something that I'm passionate about. I make it, I feel like I'm making a difference in the world, and of course I'm monetarily compensated for it. Podcasting, I have to think about it differently. It's the hobby. I don't get paid for it, but what I'm doing right now with the show is I'm trying to be consistent in my messaging, consistent in my approach, in my art style. And it's not like I'm just rigidly going like this is my art style, and I'm never deviating it from it. I'm always experimenting with new ways to get around, new ways to post my content, new ways to reach out to folks. So don't be afraid to experiment. Don't be afraid to throw things at the wall. And if it at the end of the day, if you've done everything that you think you can and it's still like you're not satisfied or you're just left, if again, if you're unhappy, quit. It's okay to quit. It's okay to take a break and realize, like, okay, if if you did have that moment where you thought maybe I'll quit, but then a couple months later you're like, no, actually, I was just burnt out. Well, then analyze, study yourself, be a critic, be open to criticism and know where there is a criticism and that guy on the internet who's just trying to troll you. Know that difference. And so if you can be honest and take that criticism and then continually hone your craft, you're not going to have a great episode by by episode one. If you but if you are consistent and if you stick with it, then yes, you can be the kind of podcaster that can go, all of a sudden it's 20 episodes have gone by in a flash,

Why Audiences Follow You, Not Your Topic

Super Dave 46:45

and it's been, you know, however long, you know, it's been over a year, and it feels like you just started yesterday, and then you listen back to your first episode and you go, Oh my god, it's awful. It's the worst thing ever. Be the yeah, nothing like the first. So be the kind of podcaster and be the kind of person, and that's that's any kind of hobby. Like you're be the kind of artist that you can look back and really appreciate your first attempt. And yeah, even if you are still only getting like a few downloads a week, like I'm finally at the moment now after a year where I'm crossing like a hundred, like the moment I was consistently crossing a hundred downloads a month, I was like, all right, I made it. Because in the time that I had multiple weeks where finally there were no days of there, there were no drop days, there were no days of zero listeners. I screenshot that. I'm sure it was like 20 listens for the week. But again, think about it in this way. If I have people in a room, I have 20 people in a room that listen to my show in a day, you know, you think that's a pretty good crowd. That's a good lecture size right there. So, yes, in the grand scheme of things, you'll probably looking at other folks in or around your subject matter or even just under that are just pulling in or just have the star power or whatever, just have the more resources, or maybe they just hit the algorithm just right. However, it is, don't play the comparison game, celebrate your successes, celebrate yourself, so celebrate the progress that you made yesterday to today. Right. That's that's that's another thing to keep you from from not burning out.

Gabe 48:17

Right. So this is the fun part of the show where

Growing A Podcast The Right Way

Gabe 48:20

we get to talk about you. So I want to know what's you know, what's on the horizon. You said you're about to celebrate a whole year, the anime field guide. What's on the horizon? What do you look, what are you looking forward to, you know, for the next six months to a year as far as the creative process and what you're putting out in the world? Don't freak out, I'm just gonna go full screen here, so it gives you the full autonomy to say whatever you need to say. But what is that gonna look like for Dave here in the next year, as far as what you've already started and what you what your plans are or what you envision for yourself and in the podcast.

Super Dave 48:49

Let's see. What do I want to how much do I want to reveal here? Well, obviously, I have more times. Obviously, my uh episodes are generally pre-planned out for for a while. So yeah, my the next year of the field guide, I'm looking to expand, keep doing what I'm doing, and I am embracing more of the YouTube side of things and the short form content. I am not transitioning to like a talking head in a in a in a window kind of deal. We are looking to, but we are looking to take on more of the YouTube side. We're looking to have more guests on the show, of course. But as far as my day schedule, it has been very, very busy at work. There's a lot of things, you know, temper prices aren't doing that great. So there's a lot of extra things that I'm having to do at work. So in some spots, I'm having to pull back some of my more ambitious plans. But I am looking to expand more on YouTube. The Treehouse Anime Club is also in the process of I'm I'm revamping that show, re-editing it, and we're gonna throw it up on YouTube. And so we're gonna have the anime field guide and the previous show. Some of that also involves revisiting some old episodes, and I thought I could do this better. So March's episode is Samurai Troopers, and in May is Gurren Lagan. April will be Ghost in the Shell standalone complex. And uh on a related note with the YouTube side, I'm gonna do a I'm gonna launch, or when I can, I'm gonna start a mini-series called Stories from the Shelf, which is my personal journey through collecting physical media in anime. So I'm looking to expand just gradually. I don't have like grand designs mainly for the next year. I'm gonna keep doing what I'm doing, continue to reach out and improve where where I can on my promotion game to where by next year I think I'm gonna start looking within the next six months to a year, I am going to start looking at the Patreon route and see what what can I do to foster more of my community and have more of a centralized space for more folks to jump in. Because Discord and things are not everybody's where where everybody's comfortable. But if I can make a free space over on Patreon and kind of build the audience there and keep everyone like a neutral third space, then I think that'll be a a good place to to grow and expand the show to when if I decide to go more of the the paid route or the the more expanded route.

Gabe 51:06

Right. So I love that though. I mean, taking that approach of you know, shifting how you want to again placate to your not placate, but to to serve your audience, right? To find a way to to, hey, look, this is a builder a stronger way for us to build a community together, have people that again want to show up there, want to be there, and really want to invest into your content, what you're creating. I think that's super vital. So thank you again.

Super Dave 51:32

The tortoise, not the hare.

Gabe 51:33

Yeah, exactly. This is the the that's the message that I want everybody to understand for new podcasters. This is a long game thing. If you're thinking this is gonna be a short term, I I find the results that's a lightning in the bottle. Not saying that it doesn't happen, but to build and develop a good podcast that's gonna be something that's sustainable and people will constantly show up and where you'll get to a point where like, hey, I do have the 20 downloads in a week. I'm happy this is great. It takes time to develop that. And I want I want podcasters to understand that. Like, you know, some people it does a message takeoff, but that's the exception, not the rule to what most people are gonna go through.

Super Dave 52:08

Well, and some folks aren't ready to handle that capacity if they do take off. Let's say like they've only put out a couple of things and all of a sudden they become popular. So the idea is basically to I have a generally solid foundation and it's a focused experience. I I want to do more community events as well. Uh, I recently wrapped up uh throughout March, I decided to jump in on the March Madness train. So I just did this grand event of uh running a bunch of series of polls that became basically a Discord exclusive event. You know, this is I called it Mecca March Madness. And so it's my love letter to robot anime that I I'm a recent convert to to the mecha genre with mobile suit gundam when I did my review in 2023 and Gurren Lagon and others. And so I am the the past two, three years, I've been experiencing all things mecha and doesn't get a lot of love nowadays in in the wider group. So I thought mecha march madness, I'm also a fan of alliteration, that's just my little thing that I enjoy doing. So we have a winner, and so again, Gurren Lagon will be reviewed in May. So I'm really looking forward to that one and then making that bigger and then doing more community events like that. My Discord, I'll I'll put a couple of things out to the Discord, like, okay, we've done, I'll say, like, here's the next batch of studio rundowns, and I'll have like five to seven studios or anime production companies, and I'll say, here's what's on the horizon. So those next six months or so will be uh I typically put out one anime review either myself or with a guest, and then next to with the month, I put out a studio rundown episode. And so I'm just slowly building up both catalogs again, that recursive strategy. So when, if it does take off, I will have both the infrastructure and the way to handle that capacity once it does start growing. But it's been a slow but gradual growth, so it's not like an overnight success kind of thing to where yes, I am able to meet that capacity. So if it does get to a point where I need to bring on an editor for like the short form stuff or have someone to help me with the graphics or whatever, then I will be in a space, basically pull from that Patreon money, or just pull from again my hobby money and bring up to that capacity. But again, we'll we'll see what it is. I'm I'm not afraid of that kind of success. And part of that, I think I was kind of afraid of what if I do take off, I'm not gonna be ready with the Treehouse Anime Club. So there was there was that as well. But you know, fear of success sounds arrogant on my part, but it does in any give back. It was legit fear. So now I I feel much better about where I am. It's part of my regular schedule. I take a couple hours out of the day to just do a little bit of work, and so it's it's everything is a gradual. I don't just sit down and magically come up with all this stuff. It's a matter of days and sometimes weeks of planning for an episode with just slow and steady, and then I may jump between topics. So it's it is what it is, but I hope that I've built something, and I feel like I've built something that can handle when we start getting in more people, or again, just keep coasting along and just I'm just here to enjoy the ride, man. I'm having a great time.

Gabe 55:07

I feel you on that one. I I totally feel you on that one. I I'm getting to that point that this is to me right now, this is the fun part of getting to do this. So I want to thank you, Dave, for coming on. I do appreciate you um sharing everything. Thank you for taking the time, man. I do appreciate it.

Super Dave 55:23

Absolutely, yeah. Just reach out, you know where to find me. And so we'll catch you on the next one. Yep. All right, thank you,

Final Advice For New Podcasters

Super Dave 55:30

Dave.

Guest Bio Outro 55:30

That's a wrap on this episode. Super Dave's story is a reminder that podcasting isn't about chasing overnight success, it's about finding your voice, learning what works for you, and building something sustainable that you're excited to return to again and again. He proves that sometimes the most important part of the journey isn't how fast you grow, it's having the courage to evolve. If this episode resonated with you and you'd like to learn more about Super Dave, explore the Anime Field Guide or connect with his work. Head over to HTTPS colon slash slash animefield guide.card.co slash. And if you're listening to this because you're thinking about starting your own podcast, or maybe you've already started and you're trying to figure out how to keep going, I'd love to help. To learn more about me, discover how I can help you get your podcast off the ground, or follow future episodes. Visit www.podcastaboutpodcasting.com. Until next time, keep creating, keep experimenting, and remember the microphone isn't waiting for perfection, it's waiting for your story.