Listen Notes: How A Fertility Expert Continues To Educate Through Podcasting

May 16, 2018

How a fertility expert continues to educate through podcasting. Valerie Landis — “You don’t need the fanciest equipment to start a podcast. The infrastructure is far more important.”

Interview

►Tell us about you and your podcast

My name is Valerie Landis and I am a fertility-focused advocate. I host the Eggology Club Podcast — Redefining the modern day journey to parenthood

The show is designed for listeners who are curious about their fertility, egg freezing, family planning, cryopreservation, and female related cycle health education.

►Why & how did you start this podcast?

Why I started the podcast was to provide educated information I was already producing online into another format that would make absorbing this complicated fertility related information easier to digest and understand. I was spending a lot of time coaching and educating women about their fertility health, egg freezing, and cryopreservation options that it made sense to talk to a larger audience in an easy way to consume the information.

I am a podcast junkie and know how instrumental they can be to encourage or teach. I love podcasts and I know how useful podcasts can be. I want to help others take my knowledge and learn from it. Podcasts are the perfect platform for that. I was already interviewing people about their fertility journey so it only made sense to turn it into a show.

My goal and motivation for Eggology Club podcast is to provide the level of educational knowledge that should have been taught in school but wasn’t. Also to pass along my industry knowledge from over a decade of work in the women’s healthcare field/career.

I launched Eggology Club in summer 2017 to compliment my eggsperience.com educational website I founded in 2015. I initially spent 2 months recording several shows before releasing them. Podcasts take a lot of work to do right. I wanted to make sure the sound quality, content, and interviews were stellar before publicly releasing the shows/episodes.

►How’d you find the time and funding to do this podcast?

The first season of Eggology Club was on a very strict schedule of 13 shows, one each week. Because I have a full-time day job and fund the project myself in addition to a few industry sponsored ads, recording new episodes/shows is a bit of a time challenge to accomplish weekly.

In Season 2 of the Eggology Club podcast, each new episode is being released as they are completed, interviews recorded, and ad space accounted for. I spend well over 40-hours to produce each episode of the show. Interviews take a lot of time to tape, schedule, and record. Not to mention edit and prepare to make everyone sound good. Luckily, I have found great audio producer help that I pay to edit and produce the show which assists me plus helps me save time. I spend any of my extra time working on the show. I know how much it helps people so I’d rather build new content than go out or party on the weekends.

I do all of the social media, marketing, and content creation for the Eggology Club podcast. Work and daily life help fuel the discussions and interviews that I collect. It helps that my day job provides the undertone for the content I’m creating. It helps inspire me to keep that relevant information flowing to share to listeners and remind me what people want to learn about or what concerns them. Because I have been doing this work for so long I forget what is not common knowledge.

►What do you gain from podcasting?

I only take sponsorship from vendors/companies/products that help the consumer and are relevant to the user or topic discussed. The revenue really just helps break even for the time I’ve dedicated to the show and costs for the website, hosting, producing, marketing, brochures, Google business and platform fees for the Eggology Club to live online.

I got most of my sponsorships through relationships I knew in the industry, startup companies I have followed or helped, and cold-calls / emails I have sent for brands/products I thought would be good fits for the show. I have steadily seen an increase of traffic, downloads, sharing, and online traction each month.

Podcasting is a lot of work but very rewarding. It is nice when people you don’t know find you, reach out to you, tag you, and talk about your show to others. Word of mouth has been the organic way Eggology Club has grown, but I think it is because the podcast helps during a very emotional journey or discovery process of planning your future and family. I still find new sponsors by all of my research, industry knowledge, and career history.

I also make sure I promote and get my content out on social media for more eye balls to see so my hard work doesn’t go to waste. I want to produce the best quality I can so it ensures people want to come back and consume more of it or share it with friends.

►How does your podcasting process look like?

I create a number of topics I want to talk about. I find stories and people that are willing to talk around that topic. I find sponsors that match that target. I then record the show and see what happens.

I use Adobe Audition software for editing/creating the podcast. I have a mixing board and professional headphone/mic to record.

I then give the raw files to my editors to work their magic. I try to bring in new elements, improve, and keep pushing myself to make the show better with each episode. I have online accounts for hosting services with Blubrry, Word Press with GoDaddy, and Soundcloud plus a few other paid platforms that I work with.

I have built the website myself. I source many of the guests that have been open about any kind of fertility journey and are willing to talk and record their story via Skype.

I research, listen/watch the news, setup Google alerts, and talk to industry related people daily. I prepare each episode with a theme and find unique key elements for each show to make them unique and entertaining. I prepare guests for interviews by explaining how to forget the camera is rolling and talk to me like you would any friend if you were explaining what you have done, choices you have made, or what was happening in your personal life.

I use Skype to connect for interviews and recording screen software to tape it. Then I turn the mp4 into an mp3 sound file. Sometimes I also use the camera video version for YouTube video release as an extra bonus to bet odds on more viewership.

►How do you market your show?

Listeners find Eggology Club via many hosted sites like iTunes, Google, and a zillion other audio players. I do guest articles and constantly offer content for others to learn from or learn about the show. I have networked with fertility centers and doctors to also share the podcast with their patients. I spend hours each day connecting with people who might need the answers to the problems I am fixing. I network within FB groups and private pages.

I diligently promote via online social media. I have a newsletter, email exchange list, and industry call points to count on. I consider the podcast very new still. I am working to improve each episode and build something great. I hope others enjoy the show.

Listenership varies and is all over the country. I have most of my listeners from USA, Canada, UK and other European locations. But I also have a dedicated group of listeners in other countries like Australia, New Zealand, Italy, China, and Singapore.

►What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?

The advice I’d share with aspiring new podcasters is that you don’t need the fanciest equipment to start a podcast. The infrastructure is far more important.

Get a good name, branding, social media handles all the same, google email, website URL, etc. That is the foundation for a recognized podcast to stand out from everyone else. To be unique don’t consume too much of everyone else’s content or it acts like a barrier from being creative yourself.

There are a lot of podcasts out there. Don’t worry about what anyone else is doing. Do you. Do your thing. Do what inspires you. Talk about what you care about because it will be obvious and more genuine when you do.

If you have partners or co-hosts, get your agreement in writing. What happens if podcasting is too much work or time commitment for someone? What kind of agreement do you have if someone doesn’t want to continue? Line out who has what responsibilities. Talk about long term and short term goals.

Keep striving for big lofty goals like that celebrity interview or big sponsorship. It can happen. Most of all be committed to a long term plan to promote your show. It does not happen over night.

Don’t be afraid to plug your show everywhere you go. Don’t be afraid to shine light on others or their work, website, podcast. When you cross promote and work together you expand your network. Print business cards with the show website/URLs, socials, and iTunes links.

Always get your show on iTunes first because it helps distribute to other networks. Make sure to use a reliable host site like Blubrry and back up your work. Google drives are great for working with people remotely. The investment is worth it and will help you when you grow.

Watch YouTube videos if you don’t know how to do something. You can learn anything you need to know if you are willing to try.