When to Ask for Help Building Your Podcast with Paul Rosenblum – Episode 120

[DRIVING GUITAR THEME MUSIC IN // GHOSTHOOD FEATURING SARA AZRIEL “LET’S GO” BEGINS]

MARY: 

When you created your podcast, did you know what you were podcasting for? I mean, really podcasting for? As you continue to create episodes, you might start thinking, am I getting enough download numbers right? Like, who’s listening to this show? But that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m not talking about the numbers, the downloads. That is all for advertisers and the industry itself. 

I am talking about your legacy. What will your podcast mean to you when you actually stop podcasting and you don’t do it anymore? This is your why. And this, the legacy piece, is something we explore with Paul Rosenblum as we chatted about how he started his podcast and where he’s gonna go from here. It’s funny how this conversation I recorded quite a few weeks ago compared to a conversation I just had with a past guest of the show. Shout out to Jamie Weiss, who was a guest on episode 104. 

We were out having tea and coffee the other day and he reflected on some of the same things from only doing his show for about a year. How the download numbers, when he told me what they were, he had this sort of like a shrug to him, like, you know, I don’t really know what this means. Is this a good number? Who knows? But then when he talked about how he gets emails from listeners, he just lit up. It’s things like that that is what he’s doing his podcast for. He wants hear from listeners when they give him ideas on future guests for episodes or get questions from his listeners from around the world on places to run where he and his co hosts live right here in beautiful British Columbia. 

That’s the special thing about podcasting. It’s the connections, the helping of other fellow humans who like doing the things that you are doing that is the legacy that you are going to pass on to others. It really is that simple. When it comes down to it, what makes you love doing this, this podcast, this show of yours, that you will continue to do it? What legacy do you want to leave behind? 

And with Paul, it’s the same. It’s sharing his knowledge with the next generation. He’s using his spare time outside of his regular job to create his podcast. It’s a hobby, it’s a passion project. It’s all an alignment of what he does and what he loves. Paul’s podcast is called the Not Boring, Boring Bookkeeping and Accounting Podcast. He’s been a bookkeeper for 30 plus years who’s also taught QuickBooks for 30 years and now of course has a podcast about bookkeeping while still working as a full time bookkeeper. That’s a lot of numbers to crunch in one’s brain during the day. More than I would like to do. 

And as you can tell, Paul’s got quite the sense of humour, especially with that name of his show. So listen in as Paul talks about the start of his podcast and what it felt like to have his podcast actually implode on him. What felt like to me, it was imploding on him after he already did a short series and he thought he was going to be back, but the guy helping him decided to stop helping. He got busy. He was like, sorry, can’t do it anymore. Here you go. You’ll get the full details on how this all worked out for him on this episode. And also listen in for the mental shifts you need to make when creating your own show and the power of asking for the right kind of help. And finally, why passion goes a long way to keeping you podcasting.

This is episode 120 with Paul Rosenblum on the Podcaster’s Guide to a Visible Voice.

<< WOMAN SINGS: So so so so let’s go >> 

Paul, thank you so much for coming on the show.

[INTRO MUSIC ENDS]

I am so glad that your podcast discovery person, Steph, good friend of mine, introduced us together and we get to have this conversation.

PAUL: Yeah, I am too. Steph has been really, really great. We’ve been together for about three and a half years. Steph is absolutely great and I will never want to lose her. I look at her as part of my podcast. I could not have done it without her guidance since 2023. So she’s great.

MARY: Yeah, Steph is amazing. And we’ll get into a bit more about her role and how she helped you and stuff as we talk more about, like, how your podcast has evolved over the years. But I want to get into the whole, you know, title of your show stereotypes that bookkeeping is boring. But I gotta say, when I was prepping for, you know, chatting with you and I was listening to your show, I was inspired and I did some bookkeeping. So I don’t know if that was ever your goal, but I’ve done bookkeeping for the week and I feel pretty satisfied about that.

PAUL: Well, that is certainly, that was certainly one of the goals. I mean, I started the podcast because I taught in New York City computer schools part time since 1994 when I stumbled into it, literally stumbled into it. I quit my last full time job and I started freelancing as a bookkeeper. And about maybe a month or two into that, my kind of, pseudo boss phoned me and said, I’m sick at home with the flu. And they asked me, there’s this New York City computer school who asked me to come in and tutor people on QuickBooks. And I said, well, I don’t really know QuickBooks. I know other software. 

And she said, don’t worry about it. It’ll be fine. This is the phone number. This is the person to talk to. And I told. Called the phone number and it was a gas station. So I was ready to give up. And I said, I guess he gave me the wrong phone number. Um, and I decided, and I don’t know why I decided to do this, because it was totally very different from how I normally act or acted back then. But we had something called for you young people out there something called the Yellow Pages. This was before Internet and all of them.

MARY: It’s a physical book that got mailed to your house that you had to flip through. [LAUGHTER]

PAUL: Yes.

MARY: I remember those white pages. 

PAUL: And we had yellow pages. So I decided to go to my big Yellow pages book and go to the advertising section and look for New York City computer schools. And I said to myself, I’m going to call every single one until I find the person who needed tutoring.

MARY: Oh, my gosh, that’s a lot of work.

PAUL: Yeah, there was about eight pages of I figured I would go with the display ads first rather than just the listing. So I started to call, and about eight pools in, someone said, well, let me put you on hold. Let me find out if there’s anyone here looking for tutoring. And I waited for about almost 10 minutes on hold. And I was just about to hang up the phone and someone picked up and said, I’m sorry for that long wait, but we found the person who called. 

And that’s how I stumbled into teaching. I walked in the next day, they gave me a brief book and introduced me like an hour later to the, to the two students. And I had no idea what I was doing. And two hours later, they gave me a 10 out of a 10 evaluation. And I said to myself, I have an aptitude for teaching. And so that’s how I started. I fell into teaching. 

And from there I was teaching Microsoft Office products. I really learned QuickBooks. I started teaching QuickBooks. I was doing some bookkeeping, and I was building, kind of, two businesses in one. Flash forward 32 years later, I’m still teaching two, or three classes a month in computer schools. And the bookkeeping business was totally crazy. Tax season for me started to be as crazy as it is for accountants and CPA’s.

 And so I left teaching right before January because the owner of the company wanted me to teach three or four classes in January. And I said, I can’t. January is my worst month with 1099. I have deadlines. And so, we kind of ended that relationship kind of abruptly and I got through tax season and I started to miss teaching. And that’s really how the podcast started. I wanted some kind of an outlet for my teaching skills. And so I started the podcast and it went from there.

MARY: Why a podcast though? You know, you could teach over video, you can go find some other schools. Why specifically a podcast?

PAUL: Well, because I figured that if I, first of all, I didn’t want to find any other schools because that was a full day. 

MARY: Mmm. 

PAUL: Those classes are generally 10am to 5pm I could be back to the office for a couple of hours and work and get home at 7 or 8 o’ clock at night, but that’s a very, very long day. And at that point I was in my late 60s, so I didn’t have the energy that I used to have. So I said I don’t really want to do that. I did look at possible webinars that people would either pay for or I can advertise myself and do them for free. And it just wasn’t feasible. Some of these companies at that time, they were out there where you can have a listening for a webinar for $5 or $10 for people to attend, but they would take such a big commission then it wouldn’t leave me with anything. 

MARY: Of course. Yeah,

PAUL: People don’t really want to pay for webinars unless they really really have to. And there were free classes available. So I said no, that’s not really the medium that I wanted. And then I remembered a few years earlier, a friend of mine or a business associate of mine who had her own manufacturing company wanted to do a podcast. And so we did some, did some run throughs and we did some tests. And even though we like each other as people, we had no chemistry. In the podcast. She wanted to talk about her tech company, and I wanted to talk about bookkeeping in general. 

MARY: Yeah. 

PAUL: And so it just did not work. And I remember that, you know, we tried that. And I said to myself, that would be an interesting way to try to carry on my teaching career in a totally different medium. And when I was in college I always wanted to go get into radio. And I said, well, and podcasting is really 24/7, the dedicated radio station all over the world. So I said, why not?

MARY: That’s right. Yeah. People were calling it almost like radio on demand at one point,… 

PAUL: Right. 

MARY: …which is, it’s a very. I’d like to say that the mediums are like cousins because I used to work in radio for 20 years. And so it’s like, it’s very similar, but it’s not broadcasting. It’s not over a frequency. And so you get to actually call the, your own shots too. So when you decided to go on your own and do your own thing, what were some of the first steps that you did that you were like, I hope this is going to work?

PAUL: Well, the first thing that I thought about, because I knew nothing at all about podcasting. I didn’t know about hosting systems, I didn’t know how to upload files. I mean, I didn’t know how to do anything to get it onto the Internet. So the first thing that, that I did is I was working with a bookkeeper who was getting married. They were engaged and they were planning their wedding and they were getting married soon. And her soon to be husband was in the audio, he was a sound person for Broadway and off-Broadway shows. But he also put together podcasts and edited some small podcasts for other people. 

So I said, can you ask him to see if he’s willing to kind of help me out for as little money as possible? Because I just want to kind of dip my small toe in the podcasting world. And he charged me $50 a month to just to go on a server. You know, I would send him files. I talked to him and he said, why don’t you record as many small files as you want? I’ll put it together. I’ll use my hosting system and I’ll charge you for that. And I said, that’s a great way to start. 

So that was the first thing I had planned there. And then I sat down and I said, well, if I were a beginning business person, what information would I need to know? And I came up with, well, what are startup expenses and how do you design a chart of accounts and what kind of software do you use and what kind of entity should you have? And I put together about eight or nine, 10 different episodes that were 100% information based. And I recorded between May of 2022 and November of 2022, roughly about 10 episodes. 

And then it got, it started to get very busy very quickly with the beginning of tax season for bookkeepers is October, November… 

MARY: Ah yes, yes.

PAUL: …it’s not really in January because we have to finish books. Yep. So I found I didn’t really have the time, you know, to come up with new episodes. So I wrote an email to this person, I said, I’m going to go on hiatus until next May after tax season. I’ll contact you when I’m ready to start. And he said, fine. 

And right before tax season and a matter of a few days before I was going to write to him to say, okay, I’m ready to resume, he wrote to me and said, my audio career is really, really, really busy. I can’t do your podcast anymore. I moved all the files and everything that I have to a free hosting system. Here’s the ID, here’s the password, goodbye, have a nice life.

MARY: Oh no.

PAUL: And I had about a 24 hour period that I said, I’m back to zero again. What am I going to do? And when I got my act together, I searched the Internet and I, I had a couple of meetings scheduled with podcasting editors, you know, with nice websites. So I had one meeting with someone and I loved everything that they said. They would do the SCU’s and they would do the editing and they would do the uploading and they would do the liner notes. And I said, well, this sounds really, really good. What is it going to cost me? I won’t even tell you what they told me. But I had to hold back a laugh because it was totally out of my price range. 

MARY: Yeah. 

PAUL: I mean completely. It was a monthly price and it would have bankrupted me, I think.

MARY: Wow.

PAUL: And I, I, and I do okay in bookkeeping. It was just way above. And I said I’m sorry, but it really, you know, it’s above what I’m willing to, to pay. Do you happen to know anyone who does small startup podcasts? And that’s where Stephanie Fuccio’s name came up.

MARY: Wow.

PAUL: So it was just luck.

MARY: Okay, so wait, let’s walk back a little bit here. Talk me through from when your friend of a friend decided to stop help you to finding stuff. At any point did you think that this was the end and you were going to stop or was it a no-brainer that you wanted to continue with the podcast? How did that all come together for you.

PAUL: Well, I think the first 24 hours after I got that email saying that I moved everything to a free server or a free hosting system. That first 24 hours, I thought it was the end of the podcast. I just thought that was there was there was no, no future. The universe was telling me I’m not supposed to do this. And then I remembered, and this is, this is in an episode where I talk about how I got started in bookkeeping. 

But then I remembered many years ago when I first started doing bookkeeping and I was teaching, I had a tutoring session with three partners of a brand new business. It was supposed to last two hours. It ended up we had lunch together and we had dinner together. It was like a nine hour tutoring session because it was a very complicated accounting system I was setting up. 

Then a couple of days later, Karen from that company called me and said, I said, things are really happening here at the company. Are you available to do bookkeeping? And I said, well, I’m really more of a consultant and I do some bookkeeping. I don’t know if I really want to do, you know, a regular gig. And to make a long story short, Karen hounded me for three weeks and finally I said, okay, let’s try it, let, you know, let’s, let’s see if it can work out. You need me two days a week. You’d need me for four hours a day, five hours a day. Let’s see. That was in 1995, and I’m still doing some bookkeeping for them today. And I remember that story. Well, back to the question that you just asked.

MARY: Mhmm.

PAUL: I remember that when I said to myself, well, maybe the universe is telling me I shouldn’t have a podcast. I said to myself, well, maybe it’s not telling me I shouldn’t have a podcast. Maybe it’s telling me I need to get someone and pay some more money. Someone who really has the time to help me grow. And that’s what got me going.

MARY: So then what would you say? I mean, yes, Steph, great to work with. She has such great ideas and insights,… 

PAUL: Yes. 

MARY: …but what would you say that is the most valuable thing of having a partner in creating your show?

PAUL: Well, I think that the best thing that she did for me because, I mean, my original, my style of teaching, when I’m in a classroom, I taught from the front of the room, I taught from the back of the room. I walked around a little. And nobody really taught me that. It was just kind of instinctual. And I wanted people to not just to pay attention, but not be bored by everything that I was talking about from accounting and taxes and bookkeeping and numbers. 

So if you move around and you write on, I had a whiteboard in the front of the room. I had a whiteboard on the side of the room. So I would write in a lot of different places. I would walk around, I would use my hands a lot. I would talk the way I’m talking now with a lot of inflection in my voice and excitement. And I did that on purpose because I didn’t want people to be bored. And I thought that when I first started the podcast, that would naturally come out and it’s something I wouldn’t have to worry about. 

And I realized after that first season, those eight or nine episodes, I realized that I was just doing straight content, informational podcasts. And the first thing, when Steph started listening and giving me feedback on all the episodes that were already done, she really said the same thing in every single one. We gotta get your personality in there. And that’s the thing, the big, big thing that Steph did. 

MARY: Hmm.

PAUL: She pulled out my personality, and she taught me how to talk into a microphone and pretend you’re talking to other human beings.

MARY: Yes.

PAUL: And that’s what really, I think made the show.

MARY: Yeah. And I don’t think people realize when they’re starting out a podcast. Same like you, right? Like, you’re like, I teach in front of class all the time. I’ve had people who were like, I’ve been in theater, but it’s such a weird thing to then have a microphone stuffed in front of your face and you feel like you need to perform in a different way because you’ve never done this before, and you put on that, I almost call it like your professional hat. I want to sound professional, so I’m going to speak in a way that isn’t really wholesome you. 

So, yeah, I think, like, having a partner like Steph who can get you outside of that fishbowl that you could be in when you’re podcasting by yourself to give you a different angle to make the show sound better, not just on a technical and sound standpoint, but from a brand and a feeling standpoint is really, really powerful. So good on you for realizing that.

PAUL: Well, I think the second that she said it, I said to myself, yeah, she’s absolutely right. Where’s my personality? It didn’t convert from the classroom to podcasting. And I listened to every, and I read every word of feedback that she ever gave me for three and a half years,…

MARY: Wow. 

PAUL: …and she was brilliant. And I mean, I didn’t take anything, you know, I didn’t do anything that she suggested. But I thought about it, and I think without that kind of hand holding, if you’re just starting out doing the podcast, it’s not going to grow as much as you want it to, and you’re not going to get to where you want, you want to get. You really do need to work with someone who can listen to you and look at you with a different set of ears and eyes. And that’s what she did for me. She really handheld me through Substack and through. I mean, she even told me she gave me a list of microphones [LAUGHTER FROM BOTH PAUL AND MARY] to buy because she didn’t like the one that I was using.

MARY: Steph and I were a little tech nerdy when it comes to that, but I’m sure it sounds much better now.

PAUL: Oh, absolutely. It’s like it was night, night and day. Absolutely night and day. I mean, I think hand holding is the best way that I can, that I can put it. She did a lot more than the agreement was between us because I think she liked the podcast and she’s very passionate,…

MARY: Hmm.

PAUL: …about what she does, the same way I’m passionate about what I do. And we were two peas in a pod for a long time. And now she’s kind of branching out to other things. And so I thought after the 100th episode I wanted to change things up a little bit, but Steph is absolutely still working for me and will continue to work for me. She’s great.

MARY: I know we can do a Steph love fest. This could be a I love Steph episode. 

PAUL: Yes. 

MARY: But let’s, let’s go back to that, you know, you were saying 100 episodes now, as of this recording, September 2026. What has surprised you about podcasting that you didn’t expect from the start?

PAUL: Well, when I started it, it was really more of a labour of love than anything. I mean, you didn’t use it for advertising. I didn’t use it because I needed more clients. I was, when I started in 2023 with Steph, I was overloaded with clients. So I wasn’t using it in the same way that a lot of people use podcasting. I was doing it as almost a legacy. And Steph and I had a lot of conversations about that. And it took me a while, I think, to understand and to really understand why I’m doing it. 

MARY: Yeah. 

PAUL: And I’m doing it to pay society back for all the good people who helped me learn stuff that you can’t learn about taxes and bookkeeping and accounting in classrooms. So when I, when I started, it was really kind of playing back the universe. And then I realized after about a year or so, this is really my legacy. You know, I’m starting. You know, I’m in my 70s now, and I don’t know how many more years I’m going to be a bookkeeper. And this is. This is something that I’m leaving the universe for. After I’m gone, people can still listen to this and learn something. And I’m. I love the idea of sharing information with a younger generation.

MARY: That’s one of the beautiful things about podcasting, is that it is out in the world. Like, I remember when I started in radio, and all we could do is just record onto cassette tapes. So, like, we have stacks and stacks of cassette tapes. But I don’t have a cassette player anymore. I don’t. I’d have to find one in order to listen to all of that or have my daughter listen to any of that, right?

PAUL: [LIGHT CHUCKLE] Yeah.

MARY: But you do have this legacy now of it’s on the Internet. People will find it. So do you ever have any, like, setbacks and you. You want to, like, turn this all off? Because sometimes creating a legacy podcast is great, but I’ve had some clients as well who, you know, get into a rut, and they’re like, oh, I’m so busy. Do I really want to keep paying for this? Have you ever run into a mindset shift like that?

PAUL: Yeah, but it doesn’t last long with me. I mean, it might be a couple of weeks where, you know, what am I going to write about? How am I going to have the time? I’m really stressed. But it goes away. Because when I sit down, I mean, my schedule is during the week I do bookkeeping, and on Saturday mornings, I get up early and I get a cup of coffee or tea, and I sit down at the computer, and I always find something to write about. And that’s when the creativity comes out. 

Once in a great while, I run into a writer’s block, but it doesn’t last long. It lasts maybe until Sunday, and then I sit down and I start writing, and something will come out. But, yeah, there’s been short stints where, you know, I say, well, how many more years do I really want to pay for this podcast? And how much more do I have to say? And as I start thinking about it, as long as I’m doing bookkeeping, as long as I have a bookkeeping practice and I have new clients, there’s going to be more client stories to tell. And Steph loves and loved and still loves, I think, when I tell the story about a client, because it’s the greatest way to learn bookkeeping is to hear about a story about messed up bookkeeping and how I fixed it. And those are fun to read.

MARY: Right. Because people want to not feel like an idiot because they’ve done that exact mistake in their bookkeeping, right? They’re like, oh, good, I’m not the only one. It’s so satisfying, I guess, maybe to hear, other people’s challenges, let’s say.

PAUL: Yeah, I still get. I mean, I love cleanup jobs. I just did an episode about why I love cleanup jobs, but it’s rather than just a monthly bookkeeping. And it’s not. Not too much to say about that because there are patterns and almost every company. But if you take a cleanup job, I mean, I had a cleanup job over the summer that an accountant rejected doing the tax return three times. Three different bookkeepers told the client, oh, your books are clean. You can give it. You can give them to the accountant. They can do taxes. Three different times. The accountant sent it back to the client saying, these books are a mess. I can’t even begin to do a tax return. 

And I was giving a webinar, and this client, who I’m talking about, went to that webinar, loved the webinar, loved the way I talked about bookkeeping and accounting. And she called me like, five minutes after the webinar ended and explained to me what the situation was. And I got such great satisfaction when I knew that the books were really, really clean, gave them to the accountant, and the accountant not only said, yes, these books are clean, but this is a really good set of books. These are great. My heart just, you know, stopped beating as fast as it was, and it’s still, as long as that gives me satisfaction, I will keep on not just doing bookkeeping, but I’ll keep on doing the podcast.

MARY: So what would you say to people who are like, bookkeeping not exciting? How do you turn that? How do you make that exciting for a podcast? What do you say to those naysayers?

PAUL: You know, for me to make the podcast exciting or something that people will really want to listen to? I use some teaching techniques. If you’ve listened to some episodes, you can tell the way I breathe, and how I hesitate in between sentences sometimes. I do that on purpose because I want people. I don’t want too much information going into people’s brains because the brain has to digest… 

MARY: Yes.

PAUL: …a little bit.

MARY: Yes.

PAUL: And so everything that I say, and everything that I do and the pauses and the hesitations and the jokes that I make sometimes are all kind of put together. So it’s. If people have tension, listening to something about bookkeeping and numbers and budgets and, you know, debits and credits and all that fun stuff, I try to break it up with a joke or something that’s funny. And I did that in the classroom, and now I figured out a way of doing it on the podcast. [LAUGHTER] 

So that’s a big part of it for me. And when I came up with the name, the Not Boring, Boring Small Business Bookkeeping and Accounting Podcast, everyone said, that’s really a long name. You should really make it much shorter. And then I started getting. Immediately I got email from 2 or 3 people after I started working with Steph, and we put it on Apple and LinkedIn. We did a lot of promotion about it, and two or three listeners said, uh, where did you come up with that name? I love the name. And at that point it couldn’t change it.

MARY: No, it’s not.

PAUL: So I know it’s long, but it’s staying the way it is.

MARY: I think the length of it adds to the funniness, right. Like, who has a long title like that? 

PAUL: Yeah. 

MARY: Like, this is going to be an interesting show when you have a title like that. So kudos to you for keeping it.

PAUL: You know, I thought it was, you know, that’s one of my big mantras when I was teaching in a classroom that how do I keep, you know, 20, 25 people interested in this for the next seven hours?

MARY: Yeah.

PAUL: And that’s kind of where I came up with the format pretty quickly. I mean, a matter of maybe, maybe, you know, four or five, six classes in. I came up with a. With a way that I wanted to teach, and it was really. Nobody really taught it to me. It was just kind of natural. And it worked. It worked for me. I don’t know if it’s going to work for everyone, but it works for me.

MARY: Yeah mhmm. Okay, then I’m going to put you on the spot. What’s your favourite, bookkeeping joke? Lay it on me.

PAUL: Well, it’s not really a. You know, I don’t tell actual bookkeeping jokes. 

MARY: Yeah. 

PAUL: I’ll tell a funny story about, about a particular client.

MARY: Right.

PAUL: You know, like a client, um, when I was doing bookkeeping for a client who did a lot of mixing, of mixing personal expenses in her business account. And, I thought it was really, really funny because it was the first time it was probably in the late 1990s, so I was still kind of starting on. 

MARY: Okay. 

PAUL: And I thought it was really, really funny that I said, I said to a friend of mine, you know, if I needed to find this person because I needed to get in touch with them and they weren’t answering the phone or something, I have so many places where she eats out and she goes to entertainment and all of these places. And I said to my friend, you know, I even know why when she buys her underwear, I shouldn’t be knowing that. [LAUGHTER] I don’t really care that she buys stuff at Victoria’s Secret. But I thought it was really fun at the time.

MARY: I mean, that that’s like stand up comedy, right? It’s not a one liner joke. That is still comedy. [LAUGHTER]

PAUL: Yeah. And people don’t really realize it. And I finally ended up telling her, I said, look, it’s not that I’m not really interested in where you buy your underwear, but I don’t really need to know that. Why don’t you separate, business is business and pleasure is pleasure. 

MARY: Yeah. 

PAUL: I don’t need to see both sides of it. And then she changed and she stopped going on. But even today, one of the biggest projects I had over the summer, uh, it’s a husband and wife with two different businesses. And they’re mixing, mixing and matching everything, their personal lives. Business A is taking business’ B, money, and business B is paying for stuff for business A, it was a, it felt like an 8,000 piece jigsaw puzzle to put together. 

MARY: Oof. 

PAUL: And they don’t need to know about their, that much about their personal lives. I’m just a bookkeeper. I always laugh when, when I see that. I think that’s just really funny that people won’t realize it. Whatever credit card is on top is what they use to buy something.

MARY: Right. It seems, yeah, they just forget to pull out. I mean, I have the separate credit cards, but sometimes I’m just so used to like paying for personal things, right? You’re just at the store and you’re da, da, da. And then, and now with the tap, you’re like, beep. And you’re like, oh, no, that was the wrong credit card. Got some bookkeeping to do.

PAUL: Yeah.

MARY: Paul, it’s been such fun chatting with you. So as we wrap up the conversation, right now it is September, fall weather. What is exciting about podcasting for you right now? What are you excited about?

PAUL: I’m excited really to see where this podcast goes because it’s been growing since the first article came out from Frank Racioppi. He does articles on independent podcasts, and he heard me. This is totally unsolicited, and he wrote an article about it. And then the download numbers have gone way, way, way up. And then when the hundredth episode was about to come out, he wrote another article, and the numbers are going up. 

So I’m excited about the future of the podcast because I have no idea where it’s going. I like the grassroots idea. I mean, could I do more advertising and could I really push it? Um sure. But I have done a minimum amount of advertising and promotion and I’m proud that it’s just kind of catching on and people are hearing about it. So I’m excited about where this podcast is going and, and, you know, how many more years I’m going to be doing it. I mean, obviously, for the foreseeable future, for sure, but I just go into this excited, just not knowing what’s really going to happen.

MARY: The possibilities are endless, as they say.

PAUL: Yes, for sure. I do have my dreams, you know, where I wanted to go, but those are, you know, those are just fantasies.

MARY: Paul, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. And yeah, thank you for sharing your stories with me.

PAUL: You are very, very welcome. It’s been a pleasure. I love, I have as much passion for the podcast as I still do for bookkeeping after almost 35 years. So it’s really kind of neat to be in your 70s and still have the passion to get up every morning knowing that I have another episode to write for the podcast. It’s really cool. It keeps me going.

MARY: That’s a life goal for me. I want to keep podcasting when I’m 70.

PAUL: Yeah.

MARY: Thanks, Paul.

PAUL: You were very, very welcome. It’s been a pleasure. Thank you for having me.

[CHIMES AND ENERGETIC RHYTHMIC MUSIC IN]

MARY: And I wasn’t kidding. If I can still be podcasting when I am 70, disclosure, I am 46. That would be so fun. Fun to still be doing what I like to do when I’m 70. You know, I’m already thinking about it. Maybe I’ll resurrect my Homestay Kitchen podcast that I used to do. Since I’ll be retired and have more room in my house, I can host more international students. There would be so many things I could talk about on that show. Like I said earlier, the possibilities are endless in podcasting. 

One of the main takeaways I got from chatting with Paul is having that partner in creating a show. I mean, just like when I created my Homestay kitchen, I had my co-host creating this show now I have people that work with me to help write the show notes and create the graphics and all the other things. That leaves me room on my mental bandwidth to do other things for the podcast, like find more great guests, organize my thoughts for the next episode. 

Paul talked a lot about this in knowing where his strengths lie and where he needs to focus on what he can do, because it’s a very mentally draining thing to have to do every single thing by yourself. And then you also get out of that fishbowl effect I was talking about. You really can’t see or hear what you can improve when you were always in it. A podcast is a lot of work and most people don’t realize that when they first start or they’re in the thick of it and they’re like, my gosh, there’s so much to do. I don’t have the time now to ask or even look for that help. But it never is too late.

If you’re feeling that need for some outside feedback or additional support. I’m always happy to have a 30 minute complimentary strategy session with you. And then by all means, also check out Steph too. She does things that I don’t do and I do things that she doesn’t do. It’s kind of like dating, you know, you’re finding that perfect partnership that will work for you because not everyone works the same way. And like Paul was saying, they could also charge you an arm and a leg. So budgets are also important and everybody charges differently. So for whether you are a bookkeeper and know numbers or not, it really is beneficial to have someone on your side to help you with all the parts of podcasting, whether that is looking at numbers or not. 

So links in the show notes to all of that, including a complimentary 30 minute strategy session if you need it. On the next episode, we’re going to continue down this theme of how do we keep podcasting? Yes, yes. Like Paul says, passion can keep you going, but having systems in place to help you do it easily. Like he said, he likes to create episodes on the weekend and he has Steph that helps him. These are all habits and processes that he has to keep podcasting and keep going. So what are the things that you do on a consistent basis to keep you podcasting easily? Let’s figure this all out next time on the podcast. We’ll talk to you then.

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MARY: Thank you so much for listening to the podcaster’s guide to a Visible Voice. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d love it if you share it with a podcasting friend. And to reveal more voicing and podcasting tips, click on over to VisibleVoicePodcast.com. Until next time.

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