Hi there! My name is Aaron Dowd. This show is for anyone who wants to make a great podcast.If you're interested in learning how to start a podcast, grow an audience, or improve at all the various skills that are a part of being a podcaster, this show is for you.In this trailer episode, I'm going to share my back-story and talk about why I decided to start this podcast, who this show is for, and what topics I’ll be covering in future episodes.Little bit about me:I'm a podcast producer and editor from Fort Worth, Texas. I started helping people make podcasts back in 2013. I was a full-time editor, producer, and consultant for a small podcast network and a bunch of independent shows for several years before joining Simplecast in late 2017 to be their customer success lead.My job for the past 6 years has basically been to answer questions and help people make great podcasts.I started this podcast in 2015 to share everything I'd learned about podcasting. After producing 75 episodes, I took a break to finish a couple of online courses about podcasting called Successful Podcasting, Logic Pro X for Podcasters, and GarageBand for Podcasters.Topics I'll Be Covering in This ShowAs I'm recording this trailer episode in September of 2019, I've actually already published 80 episodes about a wide range of topics related to podcasting, including:How to Start a PodcastThe Best Affordable Gear for PodcastingHow to Grow Your AudienceHow to Outline a Podcast EpisodeHow to Record Audio That Sounds GoodHow to Write Great Show NotesHow To Sound Natural When Reading a ScriptHow to Make Money with a PodcastHow to Streamline Your Podcast Production WorkflowHow to Get a Job Producing Podcastsand moreMost of these episodes were recorded between 2015 and 2017, when I was working as a podcast editor and producer for my friend Sean McCabe.While a lot of the advice and tips I shared in these episodes are still helpful, a lot has changed in podcasting since I recorded them, and I've improved as a podcaster as well, so I'm going to re-write and re-record a lot of these episodes.I hope you find my podcasting journey helpful and inspiring (remember, you don't have get everything perfect the first time).My Story (How I Ended Up a Professional Podcast Editor and Producer)My story really starts with music. My mom is a classically trainer singer who also plays guitar and piano, she taught me (and my siblings) how to sing and gave us piano lessons when we were very young, and I started learning how to play drums when I was 12. Pretty soon after that I decided I wanted to be a professional drummer, but I wasn’t sure how to make that happen or if I could even make any money with it.As I got into my late teens and into my college years, I didn't really have a plan for how to achieve my dreams, so I ended up just kinda drifting for awhile, working lame jobs and wasting a lot of time and money.I woke up one day when I was 21 and realized I hated the life I had, so I decided I'd make a big change, set some goals, and start pursuing my dreams. I wanted to be in a band and tour, but I knew that most musicians don’t make much money, and I didn't have much money, so I wasn't sure what to do.I had started working in an automotive parts factory around that time, but the work sucked and didn't pay much, and I didn’t want to be broke my whole life. I got the idea in my head that I could find a job I could do on a laptop so that I could make money while traveling with a band.Hey Google, How Do I Make Money From a Laptop?So in my early twenties, I googled "how to make money from a laptop". I found some articles about how it was possible to start a web design business and work from anywhere, so I started trying to learn how to be a web and graphic designer. I discovered podcasts around this same time too, and started listening to shows like Radiolab and This American Life, but also independent shows about business and marketing and web design and audio engineering, all kinds of inter