Unleashing Creativity: The Rise of a Podcast Entrepreneur Second Coaching Of Mudwalker Productions

Welcome to the Undiscovered Entrepreneur, the podcast where brand new entrepreneurs come to life and could quite possibly be discovered. Join me, dj Scoob and the rest of the Scoob believers as we help these new businesses become a reality. And now away we go. Now join DJ Scoob with Mikhail, owner of Mudwalker Productions, already in progress. Alright, so I'm really excited to talk to you about what you've been doing, because I haven't following you a little bit about getting. I mean, one of the main things we talked about last time we talked was you getting out there a little more often, kind of being exposed to new things, different things, talking to more people than you have before. So what I'd like to do is actually kind of talk through that, since that was one of the main things we talked about getting over your fear of talking to other people and asking for help and things along that line. So can you give me kind of an update on that, what you've been doing?

I actually just had a few people that wanted to partake in the show and they have their own podcast called Whiskey Tango, and they all seemed really excited to be playing the parts of the soldiers in the show. So I was like that's really cool. So I got the script sent out to them and I've been chatting with them. I've had a lot of listeners that have been wanting to take part as well, so I have a couple listeners that I've sent out scripts too, so that's been really fun. I also sent out some merchandise to some of our Patreon supporters and they loved the fact that I did handwritten notes to them and just handwritten letters and they're like, dude, that's really awesome. They're like that was really personable and they're like that's something that I'm going to cherish, because that's really awesome to be able to hear from a creator and have that handwritten note like an old time letter and I'm like, yeah, i kind of figured it would be that kind of attitude towards it. So that's been really fun.

Great, that's a fantastic idea. To have a handwritten letter to each of your patrons that got these shirts and whatnot So that's fantastic. I didn't even think of that. That's something you thought of on your own, so that's fantastic. It's nice to see that you're actually thinking about these things on top of what we've talked about before and kind of using your own ideas too. So that's fantastic. Anything else that you could think of that you've been doing a little bit differently?

I've been trying to work on doing more of like the YouTube stuff. I've got all of my episodes up on YouTube. Now I'm working on doing some small like introductory videos about us and the crew and some of the recording processes, so people can see more of like the behind the scenes process of editing and recording and stuff like that, so they can kind of get to know us a little bit better, make it a little bit more personable. Good, got that in the works and then I've had a few other ideas that I've been working on. I started my online store, which has actually been really cool. I've had a few purchases on there and people really enjoyed the material, so I'm like that's really cool.

Good. What is that? Is that a website you go to, or what is that?

It's a printify. It's basically a merch on demand website where I can create and design all the merchandise that I want to see out and I can take requests from my listeners, which one request was. Somebody was like I want like a trucker's hat with, like, the mud walker emblem on it. I was like, okay, so I started looking at that. I designed a couple of those and once I threw out the link to the store, he immediately clicked the link and went and bought one of the hats. He bought a shirt, a sweater and, yeah, there's all sorts of stuff on there that I'm just really excited about.

What's the website?

It's printify. No, I mean yours.

If I wanted to go buy like a hat, like you were talking about. Printify Mudwalker Productions, that's what I have the store labeled under Fantastic. All right, that's great. Anything else that's changed, as you've done a little bit differently, that you've been getting out there a little bit.

I mean, last time I mentioned it, I got the interview for doing the Entrepreneur's Show The Blocks, which that one was really interesting. I did my initial interviews and my applications and then I had the call with the casting director and I chatted with her a little bit about like what you and I had talked about, and I gave her your name and I told her this guy has been like really awesome and like helping me along my way, trying to get me out of my box a little bit more, and I actually mentioned you about possibly interviewing some of their winners and she brought up you possibly playing a role as one of the judges for the show.

Okay, I'm about to fall over right now. That's wow. No way, That's okay. So I nobody's reached out to me yet, but I actually filled out an application for their next season. Oh, nice, nice So just to give it a shot and see what happens. It's really not too far away from where I live. I mean, i could probably get there by car. So if they say, hey, come see us, i'll probably go see him. But to be honest, that would that holy cow dude. I don't even know what I'd do with myself if that was the case. All right, well, we're talking about you and I, not me, not me. So, yeah, all right. So it sounds like you got some great things going. So now, now that you've gotten this far, tell me what your next few steps are and what you'd like to accomplish from here on out.

Well, i think the next biggest one was one of the only other things that you and I discussed was doing the newsletter and email list. I have a couple like drafts kind of saved in a couple different platforms because I'm just trying to tip my toes in to see what would work best for me. And I have one of my buddies who's a lot more familiar with how like newsletter and email lists go, so he's kind of working in the back wings helping me out And that's kind of the next step that we're going to do. And then on top of that we're looking at trying to increase our listener base and get more exposure. And that one is kind of another big one that I've been researching and working on. But I've been a little tied up getting scripts and doing all that. Like I'm six episodes in right now. So I've got half the half of season two already scripted And I've got script sent out and I'm just waiting for recordings to come back so I can start the editing process And hopefully people enjoy the second season of raising hope.

I'm sure they will. So far it's been great from what I've been made to understand. So fantastic. What else? What else do you want? What else can you have planned for yourself for this next few months?

Well, these next few months it's going to be pretty busy because, like I said, i got to get all my actors wrangled up together, all the local ones that are here. I got to go down and meet them and get their recordings done, i have to get my family's recordings done, i have to get my own recordings done And I got to still write the rest of the season. So it's like, yeah, i'm pretty tied up with editing, recording, writing and then managing everything else for, like the business side of doing like the shops, the Patreon members that I still have obligations to that, i have to send out their stuff And they'll be getting some pretty cool new stuff here in this next month.

Okay, writing some stuff down here. Hang on just a second, all right, old Bapuppies? Yes, all right. So let's say you get all that accomplished, because it sounds like you're the only way to do most of that. So let's take that a step further. Once we get all that accomplished, where do you want to see things happen? I mean, it sounds like you're going the right way, but I want to hear something that's a little bit further on than that.

Well, i'd really like to be able to branch out a little bit more and start a couple other shows that I've been writing as well, and that one is kind of a. It was a pipe dream in the beginning because I didn't have the actor list to work off of to find the characters for the parts. But now that this show has done so good and I've actually gained a lot of traction with finding voice actors, now I feel like that is my next step is to start producing my other shows, which I've already got. One. I've got three episodes of my other show already recorded and edited, but I'm waiting until I have at least the majority of that show done before I start releasing it so I can keep that on a proper schedule. And then I have the other one that I'm working on, which I need to finish the season three script for. But that one is kind of the scary one because that's my like Magnum Opus story, where it's the one that I really wanted to start with, but I didn't have enough experience to really delve into it just yet.

Nice. So you got some. you got some new stuff on the horizon for yourself. It sounds like.

Oh yeah, i got a lot of stuff in the works right now.

Good, No, monetarily. I want to talk a little bit about your podcast. So you have the shop that you've opened and you have some patreons. Do you have any other ideas to bring in some money for your podcast?

I've looked at local sponsorships for some of the local businesses in my area to kind of help promote, because since SamPoint is kind of a tourist town and I'm hoping that if people hear my story and come to the area then I can promote some of the local shops. Like, we have some really cool ale houses around here. That's really nice to go and get a good drink. We've got really cool like park areas that have a lot of cool events that happen. So I'm trying to branch out and look for local sponsorships to help generate a little more revenue for the show And at the same time promote these businesses, because they're my local businesses and I want to try to support them as much as possible as well.

Okay, Anything else.

As far as that, i'm not exactly sure where to go on extra revenue streams. I already have my ACAST platform, which gives me monetization through ads and stuff like that. That's done pretty well, but at that I'm just happy with everything that I've done so far and I'm not really in it for the money.

Right.

I want to be able to make my business self-sufficient so I don't have to keep paying stuff out of pocket myself.

Right, thinking a note for myself here. Okay, anything else that you want to talk about or discuss at this point?

At this point. no, i think I've pretty much covered everything that I've been working on and all the new goals that I'm setting for myself. I do have the next milestone that I'm looking forward to, which is 100,000 downloads. We're already at 63,000, so that one's a pretty big one for me and I'm pretty stoked with those numbers. But at that I think I'm just more excited that people enjoy what I do and have reached out and expressed their enjoyment of the show and everything that I do. So that, right there keeps me going that people really enjoy what I've produced.

That's fantastic. You're producing some good stuff. I've got to tell you, you've gotten the talent Now. you've got talent. You have talent behind what you're doing, not just your own talent, but the talents of other people that are willing to get behind you and what you do to accomplish what you want to accomplish in your storylines. It sounds like you've got a couple of new things in the works, which is really good, real quick. I want to go ahead and just start off here with the newsletter and email list. We actually talked about that in our last session as well too. So what kind of ideas do you have at this point for your newsletter and email list to actually get it out there, and what kind of subjects would you be talking about?

Well at this point I think for the subjects would be basically the introduction of new actors and the process of what we're doing trying to set like scheduled release dates for everything So when the email list goes out I can have like the next two months worth of scheduling done, and that way people can kind of see like OK, it's going to be two weeks, and every two weeks there's going to be a new episode. And I'm going to try to stick to that promise of doing it, because the last season that I did, we had a lot of issues that came up with, like my recording equipment, me not knowing exactly like what's going on and learning all those steps. But now that we've done that, I feel like I can actually schedule things a little bit better now to have that release schedule that I can send out an email list And then have other spots where I can send out special events that are going to be happening, like doing live Zoom meetings with groups of people that are interested in chatting with the creator or chatting with some of the actors that we have. So that's been a kind of fun one. I've done it a few times just in voice through the Discord with some of the listeners and they really enjoyed being able to talk with me, which was kind of fun, and at that I did find a couple of people who were doing some fan art And one of my listeners made a video game out of my story, which was kind of cool. So I really enjoyed seeing people have fun working with everything that I do.

Awesome. Keep in touch with the video game person. That actually might be a nice avenue to go down for yourself later on.

Yeah.

I mean you'll see a lot of indie games really taking off, especially if they get on to Steam, because I'm you know, I subscribe to Steam And it's basically a platform for indie video game makers. So you never know where that can take off to. I've seen two or three really take off and end up like on video game systems, like like PlayStation and all that kind of thing. So you never know. That actually might be a good thing to think about too. Back to the newsletter email. Now you got some great ideas for that, But what I'd like to know is what kind of value can you put in those emails? I mean, you got this normal stuff, which is good, But I want to know if there's a different type of value you could put in these emails and newsletters that somebody will want to see or think maybe they can get into. Is there any kind of value proposition you could put in there?

I'm not exactly sure how to go about that. Most of my ideas are basically just a like a general. Here's what we're doing, here's what we're offering putting stuff in there like the printify store, the Patreon, stuff like that, and offering special benefits to people who support the show and possible like guest appearances and stuff like that, if they want to take part, which I think would be great, which I think would be really cool. But other than that, i can't think of any other ideas or avenues that I'd want to approach or go down with newsletters.

So what I'm thinking is if there is a way on top of all that because all that you've given me so far is fantastic I want to make sure you use that, because that's all going to be all beneficial for anybody that's listening to reading your newsletter or being a part of your email list or anything else that you have. But on top of that, we have to think of a way to give them value of what you're doing. So, like you're going to have and I guarantee you're going to run into somebody who says, well, how do you do this, how can I do this for myself? or something like that. So every once in a while, you might want to throw in a. This is how I accomplish this particular part of what I'm doing. That's what I mean by value.

Okay, so kind of do like a workshop kind of thing. So it's like if somebody had questions I can run through the process of what's say doing the sound designing for an episode or something, or how to eliminate like the fuzz from the microphone and background noise and stuff like that, just to help create better quality sound.

That's a good idea. That's a good idea. That would. That's a value. So stuff like that, i think, is something that you should really sit down and think about in brainstorm, on top of everything else you already have in mind. Like I said, is great, but I also think that there's more value to what you're doing than just saying, hey, my show is going to be here and here's my Patreon, yeah. So I think if you were able to think of a value that people would like on top of that, it would just leaps and bounds, would help you in your discoverability, because not only are you doing this, but now you're helping other people do something similar to what you're doing, because now you have some experience in what you're doing and you've been doing it before. So now is the time to show people this is how I did it and this is how I can help you.

I'd love to inspire people to actually start doing their stuff a little bit more. It's not as difficult as everyone thinks, and at that a lot of people have that same mentality that I had when you and I first talked is they're afraid. They don't want to put their story out because they're afraid of how it's going to be received or nobody's even going to listen to it. And I keep falling back onto that one comment that I keep making. I'm like if you've enjoyed doing it, then it's worth it. No matter even if you just have one listener. As long as you have one listener, somebody's listening. It only gets better from there.

Exactly So. I think that's something for you to think about. I really think that's something you could benefit from as you go along. I know it takes a little bit more work, but at the same time, it doesn't because you already know this stuff. It's just a matter of going, getting it from here in your head down to you know a platform where people will be able to see it, and I think a good way to start is with your newsletter and your email list to do that. Yeah, does that make sense? Yeah, it does Okay.

I think I can preple those two things together, where, if I create my email list and somebody asks for, like, a workshop experience where they need to know information or something, i can provide a link to a video where, instead of trying to like type out and describe what's happening, i can show people exactly what the process is through the videos so they can have a better understanding. Some people have a harder time learning by hearing rather than seeing it done, so if I can show people at the same time explaining the process, i feel like that would be more beneficial and have a little bit more value to those people that want to learn.

You know what that's called, what That's called a course.

Oh, there we go, start my own courses.

Here's a new revenue stream for you. You could do a course on voice manipulation. You could do a course on audio video setup. You can do a course on how to actually reach out to voice actors, now that you've done it. One thing I always say is, when you get to a certain point of what you're doing, there's always somebody that's one or two steps behind you that want to know what, how you accomplished, where you get. Those are the people that are going to want that information from you, that are going to want that shortcut from you, and they're going to be willing to pay you for it.

Yeah, that'd be really awesome.

So I think that that's something to kind of I don't want to say, go do it right now even though I'm a now kind of guy but that's something to really seriously think about. as you're going along And then, as you're learning, you can use your teachings and add on to that course until you have like a beginning to end course that you can actually sell for a pretty high ticket.

Yeah, i'm actually going to have to start brainstorming a little bit more on that idea, because I really like the sound of that whole aspect that right there is kind of expanding on that journey of exploring the world of creative writing and storytelling while also, at the same time, giving people that that drive and that push to want to be able to follow their dreams and actually see their passion fulfilled.

Exactly, exactly. That's a very good way to put it. I actually want you to watch that. I'm going to send this to you. I want you to listen to what you said just now, actually probably like two or three times, because that's going to be your motivator of what you just said just now. Okay, all right, all right. So your listener base. We need more listener base. We always want more listener base, and sounds like you've actually reached some a good amount of people. I mean six, would you say. 64k downloads already. Yep, nice.

The last time I checked it was 63,847.

Okay, got down to a number, nice. So I mean, it sounds like you're already checking along on, for as far as you know, listener base and people listening to you. So I think something a little more to concentrate on at this point, more than actually increasing your listener base, is something that you're already doing is reaching out to your listeners to find out what they want. So you're actually accomplishing that already. The only advice I would have as far as expanding your listening base is getting onto more platforms, as far as, like other people's podcasts and things of that nature to, yeah, and it sounds like you're kind of doing that already too. So just keep up on that, because you're heading the right direction there And eventually you're going to get to one person that's going to have a huge listener base. That's going to boost you up Even more, and that's kind of what you're shooting for there. So, just as far as a listener base, don't concentrate. I don't, don't, don't say don't concentrate on it, but don't let that be a priority right now. You have other more important things to do, because you've already accomplished having a pretty good size listener base that keeps increasing as things go on. Yeah, so I wouldn't spend too much energy on that. Still keep doing what you're doing. Look for more podcasts that the YouTube channel is going to help you with discoverability as well, too. So keep on what you're doing there and you'll be I think you'll be doing okay.

I've done really good reaching out to other podcasts to, and I've actually done a lot of ad sharing campaigns with a bunch of other podcasts. The podcast that wouldn't die was a new one that they just ran my ad for my show and their show and I did the same thing in mine. I have their ad running in one of my episodes. so we're kind of doing this whole trade back and forth where I think I've got seven different podcasts that I'm doing ad shares with right now And that's been really fun because I love hearing other people's stories and it's actually opened up other avenues of hearing other people's creativity, which inspires me more to add to my show and help people get that same kind of passion out.

There you go. That's good. Just be careful with ad sharing, because you're already doing this. But I'm just kind of saying this in general If you do ad share with somebody, make sure it's somebody within your same niche. That makes sense.

Yeah.

You know, i actually have people that want to add share with me, but they're like a political podcast and I'm not into that. That doesn't have anything to do with what I'm doing. So I want to stick with entrepreneur podcasts or other entrepreneur podcasts that want to add share with me. Hey, i'm all about it, so things like that. So just kind of bear that in mind as you get people that come in that want to add share with you. So that's good, that's good. Now, one thing I really noticed here is you got a lot of things going on all at once And it's going to start getting to a point here where you're going to need more help than what you got. It sounds like it's coming up real soon too. So you have a couple people that are helping you. Can you think about the ways that you can get some more people to come on and help you as far as what you need to accomplish, to get where you need to go, because now you're talking about having two or three more podcasts on top of the podcast you're already trying to put together almost practically yourself. I mean, you got a little bit of help, but as you add these other podcasts on, you're going to need more help.

Yeah, i'm actually looking into another editor and I've already got one other writer who's helping me write some like smaller stories and some like extra bonus content for Patreon members so we can have short stories and many series kind of stuff, which I think is really fun and really cool to do because it's helping my sister-in-law get out and because she's a great writer. And at that she's afraid of people reading her stories or hearing her stories and at that I'm like you've heard what I've done, like you read everything that I've written, and I'm like, and I've read what you've written and I'm telling you to keep at it. And now she's really working hard at it and her and I are actually working together on another storyline. That I think is actually going to be really good. But I think the biggest two aspects that I'm going to need to help in is the editing and, honestly, social media management. Like that's one big one that I'm having a lot of trouble keeping up with because I have a lot of people that ask questions and I get a lot of spam from social media stuff. So if I had somebody that could actually like discern what is actually applicable to the show and help get that information to me directly and that way I can get that stuff that the listeners and people are wanting. I can get that out in a timely manner, so I'm not sitting there scrolling through all this stuff just trying to find that one piece.

Right. So social media management that's. there's a couple ways you could do that. Now you can do it the way I'm doing it and I don't know if you notice the way I post or things like that but I actually have an AI that helps me with the social media management. Oh, and all I really do is put the, put the content in a form into the AI and actually distributes it out at specific times during the specific days on when it's the most powerful for me, and an AI of all that. So all I do is put the and then I don't have to worry about posting at all. I can go a day without posting, but I still got posting happening, people people looking and finding my podcasts and things of that nature, because the AI posted for me. So you got that. You can hire a social media manager. I don't know if you're to that point yet or not, because I don't know how monies work for you and I'm not going to assume anything, but there are people that do social media management. I actually have interviewed two social media managers that I'm more than happy to put you in contact with if you want to, if you want to go that route. The editing, you know I was thinking do you have a college near you?

The closest college would be the U of I college, which is down in Moscow, And that's like two and a half three hours away.

Okay, The one I'm thinking maybe interns. have you thought about hiring an intern or two?

I've kind of gone with that idea and thought, but I do have apprehensions about having somebody else edit the show just because I have the specific design and sound that I'm looking for. So that's kind of one of the hardest parts about separating a little bit of the workload onto somebody else is like I want to make sure that they understand how the focus is supposed to go, how the the scenes are supposed to be delivered and kind of the setup of the sound, designing and stuff like that And a lot of that is a little bit difficult for me to kind of let go of, because I really enjoy what I do.

Yeah, editing for me, too, is kind of like my baby. Yeah, you know what I mean. It's one of those things I have a really tough time letting go of, because I have a specific sound that I'm looking for, just like you're talking about, and I'm afraid if somebody else does it, it's not going to be the same. So you need to learn to let get go, and it's going to be difficult because it's difficult for me. So I know it's going to be difficult for you, but that's one of those things where it's something that that you need to give up to be able to move on to something else and put your imagination and your zone of genius into something else, to expand and grow things. So what? what I've experienced and some ideas that I've had as far as that goes, is to actually hire two or three editors will not so much hire, but throw a test out to these editors and just have them do one thing, but all three of them do that one exact same thing again, right, and then listen to each one of their finished products and see which one sounds most like yours. Give them the same, give them the same directions, give them the same. This is how I want it and all that kind of thing, and then see which one has the best sound to what you're used to saying, used to hearing from yourself, and that's the one that you want to go with, because that's the one that's going to be closest to what you're doing. And even if you have to do that two or three times, at least you're getting an idea of this person's ability and what they're capable of. That way you know that you're getting a good hire. And it's not going to, it's going to be really inexpensive. I mean, here I'll pay you 10 bucks to do this quick edit or whatever. I mean, how are you going to do it to get the right editor? That's how you're going to be able to find the editor that's going to have a similar sound to what you're used to.

Yeah, And I think it might actually be beneficial to try to, instead of editing an entire episode myself, maybe split it up into scenes. That way there is that kind of difference in the reflections behind the story, so you kind of get those two different sides, like the two separate sides of a coin kind of thing, where I have the way I like to do it, but sometimes when I listen to it I'm like it could have been done better. So if somebody has a better idea of how to edit that scene together, that might be beneficial for the story and the show as well, because somebody also have a fresh perspective and go oh wait, like what if I take out this part that you had this idea for and tried this, and then just gave it a shot and it ends up being better than what I thought of? that would be really helpful, because sometimes I get too close to a project.

That's a good way to think about it. I think you should roll with that. Keep an open mind about how people edit differently or better or whatever when you're looking for an editor and maybe just get a sample of what they can do. Like you're saying, if there's something that you think you could have done better, give them that and see if they do do it better. You see what I'm saying.

Yeah.

So that's a good idea. I like that. You should go with that. Keep that in mind as you're going along there looking for an editor. So what else we got going on here? Local sponsors This is something I've been exploring myself too, and I think that's a great idea because you're not just promoting yourself but you're promoting the local businesses and they're going to be very thankful for that. Especially, i think you said you're in a tourist town, just like me.

Yeah.

So I really think that that would be beneficial. We should both look into that. I think I'm going to be looking into that too, and see how we could fit that in. Same thing, though, you got to find a way to work it to where it's in your niche of your podcast. Like I always use the example, if you don't want to sell mattresses on my entrepreneur podcast, right, doesn't quite make sense. So just make sure that the businesses that you visit you know there's going to be a way to work them into your specific niche or whatever it is that you're working with on your podcast so it fits, because if you get something that's confusing like that, you're going to throw a lot of people off and they're going to think you sold out.

Yeah. So I actually do have a few ideas, because we do have like a few firearms stores that actually run like gun safety courses and stuff like that, and I'm like that kind of coincides with the zombie apocalypse. You're going to need to know how to use a rifle or a pistol, you're going to want to know how to maintain and clean your weapon, and at that I can make ads for their company in a very cool way. We're using their products and their store and working that in with. Oh, even though the zombie apocalypse, you're going to want something trustworthy.

So we recommend going with it.

So you have that little bit of a comedic ad that I can run for a local business.

There you go, see, that's thinking, that's the way to do it, that's the way we work around, so that's good. So I want you to keep me informed on how you're doing on that too, because not just so I can help you along, but I want to learn from it myself too, to see how you handle it, because I'm going to be handling it also. So I think between the two of us we could actually work together and figure out how we could pitch sponsors and things like that to actual local businesses.

Yeah, that'd be really cool. It'd be kind of interesting to see the different issues that we have and how we're presenting the sponsorship opportunities to our local businesses, what works and what doesn't.

And we can learn from each other.

Yeah.

Okay, that sounds like a plan. Let's do that, all right. All right, so we'll keep in touch on that. Let's see More shows. Man, you're putting a lot on your plate. You're putting a lot on your plate And I could see you doing these. Every one of these things are fantastic ideas, but just be careful not to overwhelm yourself. Take it easy You have the main one that you're working on right now. Once you like we talked about once you hand off a few things with this one that you're working on now and then you have the capacity to work on these other ones. Don't overwhelm yourself because you will go into burnout, i guarantee it. So you got to be careful when you're you don't want to start too many things. I had ideas for about three other podcasts I would love to do, but the one I'm working right now I mean, i'm completely sold on everything. So you know I want to start these other ones. Really bad. But at the same time, i'm like, if I do that, i mean, i'm only able to work on my podcast a few hours a week. So you know.

And at that side I'm thinking am I only release one other show alongside my main show, Just for the fact that by the time I get done with like season two, there's going to be some downtime in between the third season And I don't want to blow myself out script writing just for this one show and doing all the editing for this one show specifically. I need to kind of step back a little bit and play around with some other stuff and figure out some other avenues for like editing processes and sound designs. So that's where I'm working on the second show called this dark space of mine, And I'm not going to release that one until I have the full season done. And that way, once raising hope comes to its conclusion for season two, I can start releasing those episodes as an in between what we're doing for raising hope. So that way people don't have that downtime in between waiting for the show to come out. They can kind of switch gears and like, oh, maybe I want to go listen to the sci fi space comedy. So I'll have these two different options that people can partake in and kind of see what other stories that I can provide.

That's good. I guess my main thing is just don't burn yourself out.

Yeah, and that's kind of what everybody else that I've talked to said. They're like, dude, like you've got like six other stories you want to do, but they're like you need to limit yourself to two, because I've seen other podcasts that have that same kind of setup and they're at that spot to where their workload is so big that they're having trouble keeping up with their releases. And yeah, i've talked with them about it and they're like, yeah, they're like we dug ourselves a hole when we did it, but at this point they're like people enjoy what we do And if they really want to support us, they're like they're going to stick around and hear it we have to offer. But at the same time, i'm like I don't want to overload myself like they did. So I'm thinking two shows is right within my wheelhouse, of being able to manage and maintain easily while working on multiple things.

And when you do have an idea for a show or anything else that you want to do, but you know you can't get to it right away, make sure you write it Now. I personally have a shoebox that I have that's full of ideas. Whatever idea I came up with that I couldn't get you right away, i put it on a three by five car and I throw it in that shoebox.

I have a giant headboard in my office with which has all sorts of different ideas posted on it, And then at that I'm like sometimes I have a piece string that goes over to another idea where it's like these can be connected. So yeah, there we go. But it's one of those like I could just kind of sit back and look at and go, oh, that's right, That's yeah, okay, And it kind of helps me clear my mind and think about other stuff. So I'm not working on just one thing, because I find myself getting writer's block a little bit more often now because I'm working so much on one idea. But the more I branch out and start working on another idea, it kind of clears my head a little bit more And then it opens up a lot more creativity for the scripts that I'm working on. So it's been really nice having another avenue to have as an outlet.

Yeah, keep that flow, keep that flow going. And that's why I go back to my ideas sometimes too, just like you're talking about how are those strings I put together? You want to keep that flow going, even if it's not directly connected to what you're doing right now. it keeps the juices flowing to keep. your synapse is firing about ideas and then suddenly something will click and you go, oh, i can use this right now, or something like that. You're on the right track there. I just like I said, i just don't want you to burn out, that's all.

Yeah, yeah, my wife makes fun of me sometimes because she'll come into the office and she'll look at everything. She's like if somebody didn't know what you did and they walked in here, they'd probably assume you're like a serial killer or something. And I'm like it's not my fault, i have ideas. And yeah, she's like no, it's like you're creating a web of just conspiracies or something. She's like you kind of look like a crazy person.

Hey, sometimes crazy people are smart people. They just were the ones that we know what we're doing. So another thing I wanted to throw out there is I think we talked about in our last session was conventions and events. Have you looked at any conventions or events in your area since then?

There's been a few that I've been looking at, but they're really specific like type of niche that doesn't quite coincide with what I do. Like there's a couple of comic-cons that are coming up, but a lot of the comic-cons don't really have like zombie themed stuff. It's more like anime or Marvel and stuff like that. But at the same time I'm like it would be kind of nice to go see other creators and kind of share ideas and stuff like that. But other than that I haven't found anything that kind of falls in line with like the stalker con for like walking dead or anything like that. Like I haven't seen anything pop up that would be within that wheelhouse.

I keep looking. Yeah, keep looking. You have several other people that are in your niche yeah, that you've contacted with and are in close contact with. Yeah, Why don't you put one together for yourself?

I've thought about that, but at the same time I'm not exactly sure how to go about it and I'm not sure about the cost of putting something like that together.

What if there's a way to do it for free?

That would be awesome. I'd be totally down to do that, okay. That's kind of one idea that I had with my community is we have a community hall and they have free times and free slots that you can reserve to have events. So I was kind of thinking about like maybe during Halloween, the month of Halloween, trying to do like a specific event where it's like a zombie dress up, competition and storytelling and stuff like that, to where people can kind of come in and experience that kind of feel and then meet the actors and creators and other writers in the same kind of niche and kind of fall into that. That's kind of something that I'm still kind of researching, trying to look more up and to So you know you can hold a webinar, right?

Yeah Well, why don't you just get all these people from these zombie podcasts or whatever and it's not so much as, like you know, you're trying to sell anything, it's more of a network kind of thing Invite them all to a Zoom meeting altogether and just talk.

That'd be really cool. actually, i didn't even think about that.

I mean it's not so much. and then if it starts to grow, then maybe start charging like 25 bucks a head or whatever, then start making an income. But at this point I mean it's right now it's just a combination of minds that are getting together to just talk and talk about what they're doing and what they're excited about and what's coming up next in their podcast, just like we're doing now.

It could be like a zombie mastermind, you know just I think I just came up with a good name for it too. Oh, what's that? Tell me The Dead Writers webinar. There you go.

How about that? So how would you tell me, how you each?

to all with a zombie family.

Hang on just a second there, mckay. So how would you actually put that together? I mean, really quick, tell me what did you call it? the dead zombie? Say it again.

The Dead Writers webinar.

Okay, so tell me about the Dead Writers webinar. Tell me about it Like if I wanted to join it. what would you tell me about it?

Basically it would be people who have their stories, where you kind of have the focus on like writing a zombie story or a story of like just to kind of like a horror genre about the dead and the walking dead and stuff like that. Like it's a place where people can come and bounce ideas off of each other or share ideas or share a show that they really like or an actor that they think would be perfect to play a perfect spot in a show. Like I think it would just be a really cool area to have, again like another workshop type thing, where people can come in and share their ideas or their experiences, especially like other zombie podcasters and stuff like that, like people who write for zombie shows. It would be an awesome place to kind of riff off of each other and share ideas and kind of critique each other's work or give hints or tricks that might be helpful. So I think that would actually be a really beneficial avenue for a lot of people.

Good, that's another thing I want you to listen back on. I want you to listen to that same thing over again. Okay, that was a great pitch, actually believe it or not? So now tell me three people that you invite right away. What's the first three people that come to mind when you think of something like that?

Casey Wayland for one, because he's a massive inspiration for the zombie stories that I really enjoy. Another one is a comedic podcast about zombies, which is Hannah and the Apocalypse. He's got a really good story. And then there's another person that did a zombie story, but I can't seem to find any information about him anywhere. But I've talked to him once and then he just kind of disappeared, so but then there's the Old Man's podcast, the Old Man and the Apocalypse. That was another good one that I think he would actually have a lot of fun talking with, which I talked to him on Twitter every once in a while too. And then the Day of the Dead podcast, where they talk about the different movies of George Avermero zombie movies, the Walking Dead, all different types of zombie movies. They talk about those and kind of run down like oh, this movie was totally horrible, like they could have done way better, or this was one of the best movies they have ever seen. That was a zombie film. So it's like talking with those kind of people would be really awesome Good.

That was actually more than three, which is actually good. That's really really good. So now you have an idea who you would invite to this zombie mastermind writing thing. I'm not going to remember the name of it, i'm sorry, but now what's the final thing you need to do to make this actually happen? I need to actually put it together. You need to actually put it together. You need to execute, you need to do it.

I need to reach out and I need to contact these people that I think would be perfect guests and pitch them the idea and see if there would be something that they would be interested in.

Exactly, and you can even invite people from the outside in, not to speak but just to listen, and charge them like 25 bucks a head or something like that If it gets to that point. I'm always thinking about ways to help you monetize what you're doing to make it a better podcast. So I'm not trying to sell you out or anything like that, it's just to help you along.

Yeah.

All right, So that's pretty much everything I have written down here. So I'm going to ask you again do you have any questions about what we talked about? Anything you want me to go over with you? Anything along those lines?

I think we've pretty much covered everything, and you've given me a lot more homework to work on again, so I've got a lot of Yeah, i've got a lot of stuff to chip away again, but, yeah, i think you've answered everything that I've really had questions for and you've given me some great ideas to really riff off of and actually start working on. I'm really excited to start working on some of these.

There you go. These are your ideas.

They're not mine, Oh you're kind of the answer. You're the muse behind the idea.

That makes a little more sense, you're giving me that quote. To think, yeah. So all right, give me three takeaways. I want three takeaways of what we've talked about.

Three takeaways, for I think for this one is continue doing what I'm doing, because I'm actually branching out, putting myself out there more. I need to actually figure out what I need to do for my newsletter that would have value, which we discussed, the possible ideas behind the value behind the newsletters. Putting myself out there more for doing webinars and creating an event that people can come to and learn more about what people do. the creativeness behind the storytelling and the processes. Yeah, there's one more My brain's kind of reeling, right now I've got so much fun in my head. They always seem to do this to me. Oh, sorry about that. Yeah, sorry.

I think, but yeah, okay, no, that's good, That's good And all those things I want to see progress on, not necessarily a completed thing, but just progress, moving forward on these things that we've talked about. Okay, and what's one thing you're going to do as soon as we get off this call? All right, we're going to get off the call, and then what's going to?

happen. I'm actually going to reach out and start pitching this webinar idea, because I think that might be the first avenue that I want to approach And that, right, there is a really good idea, and then at that that can coincide with the newsletters, and so I'm going to start working on creating events a little bit more.

Yeah, that's good. All right, That's awesome. Thank you so much. It's been awesome to talk to you. I'd like to talk to you a little bit. Thank you for listening to the coaching edition of the Undiscovered Entrepreneur Brought to you by Doing It Today Coaching. If you want to get across the start line, contact me, dj Scoob, at Doing It Today Coaching at gmailcom. Say the words, do it now for a free two-hour discovery call to see how I can help you in your entrepreneur adventure. Art and Graphics by Elaine Wilson, supported by my Patreon, brian Briggs of OceanTreat Creative and Oliver Siegel of Anol, and hosted by me, dj Scoob. Click the show notes below for more information and remember I can, i am, i will and I'm doing it today.