1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:23,520 Hey everyone, Ashley here with RSS.com. Today I'm bringing you Patrick Strevens of North 2 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:27,940 Bank Media Podcast. And I'm so excited to chat with him because he committed to doing 3 00:00:27,940 --> 00:00:32,640 100 podcast episodes within a single year. So we're going to be talking all about what 4 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:36,800 that process was like and how he went through it and all the insights he gained along the 5 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:39,120 way. Hope you enjoy the show. 6 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,960 Well, Patrick, welcome to the show. I'm so excited you could be here today. Could you 7 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:46,520 do us a favor and introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about what it is you do? 8 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:52,480 Sure thing. It's my pleasure. My name is Patrick Strevens. I guess by trade, I'm a video producer, 9 00:00:52,480 --> 00:00:58,520 operator up here in Edmonton, Alberta. But podcasting was sort of a secondary line for 10 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:02,600 me, kind of a hobby, something to do during COVID when there wasn't a lot of video production 11 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:07,920 going on and something I've continued to do as life gets back to normal. 12 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:11,160 It definitely sounds like a familiar story. It seems like a lot of people started doing 13 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:14,800 the podcasting thing right in the height of the pandemic. You know, we were all at home 14 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:19,420 where we're trying to figure out something to do with our days. And so we all got microphones 15 00:01:19,420 --> 00:01:23,400 and it was kind of funny because whenever I got started, it was also in the middle of 16 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:29,120 the pandemic. I actually started my show on April Fool's Day 2020. And I remember whenever 17 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:33,040 I was trying to find a microphone, a lot of places were already sold out because everyone 18 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:35,040 was buying podcasting equipment. 19 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:38,960 Interesting. Well, it's I mean, it's such a you don't need much to do a podcast. That's 20 00:01:38,960 --> 00:01:39,960 the beauty of it. 21 00:01:39,960 --> 00:01:43,140 Yes. And that's actually one of my favorite things. It's a great way to like get your 22 00:01:43,140 --> 00:01:47,200 message out there without having to, you know, invest a lot into equipment. I mean, while 23 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:51,480 you can, you can get started with just a few things like as long as you have a computer, 24 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:56,240 a Wi-Fi connection, a podcast host, a podcasting mic, you can rock and roll. 25 00:01:56,240 --> 00:02:00,200 Absolutely. And use RSS.com for that hosting, we should say, right? 26 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:05,360 I love the plug. That's fantastic. Okay, so so you started, you know, it sounds like just 27 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:11,160 a couple years ago. Tell me a little bit about how your podcasting journey began and what 28 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:13,000 you went through as you were starting. 29 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:17,560 Sure, I think I think it really kind of occurred like I listened to a lot of podcasts starting 30 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:22,920 about 2017 2018. You know, the big ones, of course, being Joe Rogan, but also some of 31 00:02:22,920 --> 00:02:28,440 those comedians that I like, Bill Burr, Theo von guys who would just basically ramble for 32 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:31,640 an hour. And I kind of thought that maybe that's like a meditative thing, you know, 33 00:02:31,640 --> 00:02:35,960 just to be able to speak your mind for an hour could be a healing thing. But, you know, 34 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:42,200 when the social and political climate really ramped up to a very divisive and sort of aggressive 35 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:46,440 place, let's say June, you know, May, June of 2020, you know, after George Floyd and 36 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:51,160 all that, and everybody had an opinion, you know, to have an opinion was was to wade into 37 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:58,040 the battleground, almost and I just, I felt a lot of personal unrest. Because I wasn't 38 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:02,600 speaking my mind, I wasn't organizing my thoughts. And the podcast kind of was the first step 39 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:07,160 in that of like, okay, I'm going to commit to working on what I think about this world 40 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,280 around me, because I think we have to do that in order to be healthy. 41 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:17,400 Absolutely, absolutely. Yeah. So now when you first began, was it just you in the microphone? 42 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:22,200 Did you have guests on? How did that go? I was pretty committed to doing it with with 43 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:27,400 guests, you know, I, yeah, I did about the first 20 episodes with with a guest and it 44 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:32,760 was a dialogue, you know, gradually, I started working into doing some solo episodes, which 45 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:38,520 were interesting, you know, because again, it's just you in the microphone and dead air 46 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:43,000 is not a good thing or or stumbling over your words is not always a good thing. But, 47 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,040 um, no, it was to me, the dialogue is the most important thing. 48 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:53,080 I can definitely relate to that. Because whenever I first started, I was like, okay, 49 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:57,640 I'm just speaking into a microphone, but I actually committed to starting mine without guests, 50 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:01,480 I didn't want to bring on guests yet, because I wanted to kind of, you know, play with things 51 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:07,000 and figure it out. And it was always like, okay, I'm speaking into the ether. And maybe no one's 52 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:12,920 gonna hear this. Will anyone even care? No, they won't. But it doesn't matter, though, 53 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:17,240 I don't think it I think yet. Well, what I mean, I'd ask you the same thing that I'm about to say 54 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:21,080 is like, does it matter if anybody hears it? Or is the saying it and getting it out and 55 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:25,960 organizing it the most important part? That's very much the, you know, if a tree falls in 56 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:30,920 the woods and no one's there to hear it, does it make a sound? It is. And we're making a lot of 57 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:35,320 noise. Yeah, and it's actually also liberating, you know, just to just to get your message out 58 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:39,960 there just to speak your words, speak your truth, say what you got to say. I can understand that, 59 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:44,120 like just you know, who cares if no one hears it, at least you, you took a chance, you said something. 60 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:48,360 Exactly. It's better that it comes out because then you can hear it for yourself and be like, 61 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:53,240 well, that's stupid. I need to work on that, you know? Yeah, that's pretty good. Yeah. 62 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:58,840 So I'm curious, whenever you began, did you know what your niche was going to be? Or did you just 63 00:04:58,840 --> 00:05:04,840 kind of jump in and experiment? I just jumped in, truly, it was, it was, I want to figure out what 64 00:05:04,840 --> 00:05:08,840 I think about the world around me. And I need to talk to people to be able to do that. I had a 65 00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:14,280 hunch that talking to people who were sort of self starters, like or self employed was kind of a way 66 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:19,400 to go. I know a few entrepreneurs, a lot of like a lot of the filmmaking and video production 67 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:24,040 community here at Edmonton, they're all entrepreneurs. So there's, I kind of tended in that direction. 68 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:29,640 But I mean, I also talked to, I talked to people that are career people, people who are employed 69 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:35,720 by businesses. So I didn't know the niche and that I'm not going to say I regret that because 70 00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:40,600 there's no point, but there was no, there was no rhyme or reason. Actually, there was no plan 71 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:45,960 beyond just like recording episodes. I think that's actually a good thing though, because 72 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:52,120 it gives you the chance to, if you just start and you just like begin, then you can figure out what 73 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:56,200 it is you even like to talk about. Because, you know, whenever you start with something like this, 74 00:05:56,200 --> 00:06:02,840 it's such a diverse medium where you can literally talk about anything. But the problem is a lot of 75 00:06:02,840 --> 00:06:06,280 us, you know, if you were to ask anyone like, hey, if you were to start a podcast, what would 76 00:06:06,280 --> 00:06:12,280 it be on? You'd get a lot of I don't knows. And so I think it's actually really cool that you didn't 77 00:06:12,280 --> 00:06:16,760 know what you wanted to do. So you just kind of jumped in and went for it. Right. And that's what 78 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:21,640 I would suggest to anybody who wants to do anything is that you don't, there's that paralysis by 79 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:25,560 analysis thing where it's like, if I just sit, if I want to figure it all out and then do it, it's 80 00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:30,040 like, no, you should actually just do it. And then figure it out as you go. Yeah, for me, it was 81 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:35,320 definitely imposter syndrome. Like I did have the analysis paralysis too, but it was also imposter 82 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:41,720 syndrome of the, you know, are people going to find out I'm a fraud? Whoa. Oh, that's interesting. 83 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:45,560 Like you really didn't have anything to say and you had no business saying it or well, like I knew 84 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:50,920 what I wanted to talk about because like my own personal podcast is all about blogging. And I've 85 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:58,280 been blogging since 2009 and I went pro in 2011, but it was still the, you know, is someone who's 86 00:06:58,280 --> 00:07:01,640 more successful than I am going to hear this podcast and be like, well, she doesn't know 87 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:07,080 anything. She's not making six figures, that kind of stuff. Interesting. Yeah, that's a huge part of 88 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:12,520 it. But again, it's like, well, so what you, you as an individual have something to offer that no one 89 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:19,160 else can, I believe. I like that. I like that a lot. Okay. So one of the things you did say to me 90 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:23,560 is you said, I began the podcast as a way to figure out what I thought about the world around me and 91 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:28,360 the issues of our time. I wanted to talk to people, entrepreneurs, artists, activists, political 92 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:33,000 hopefuls, friends, and anyone. And you said you did that for a hundred episodes, a hundred episodes 93 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:38,760 in a single calendar year. Tell me about what your process looks like of how you go and you find your 94 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:43,240 guests, how you record your episodes, how you edit your episodes. How does all that work for you? 95 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:48,760 I guess I'd say I'm blessed or I'm lucky to know a lot of interesting people. I didn't realize 96 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:53,480 that until I started doing this. Like I easily made the list of the first 40 people just in one 97 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:58,520 sitting. Like I, I easily thought of 40 people. I have a couple of friends who did multiple episodes. 98 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:03,960 So it wasn't a hundred different people, I'd say it was maybe whatever, 75, 80 individual people. 99 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:09,640 So that was it. And a lot of people, when you tell them what it is, is like, I just want to sit down 100 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:14,360 and talk to you there. They're in, they're into it, you know, and going through Zoom on a lot of 101 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:18,840 them, or like a Zoom call is like, it's very easy for people just to sit and talk like this. So 102 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:22,840 there was no barrier that way. And then I think when you put it to them as like, well, you get 103 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:27,800 to promote yourself and the show is kind of about you, I'm the host. That appeals to a lot of people, 104 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:31,960 right? A chance to speak their mind, especially in a culture where everyone's just blabbing all the 105 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:39,080 time. Give someone a space to blab and they're happy to do it, I found. And then as far as editing, 106 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:43,480 there was very little editing and that was kind of the beauty of the show is like we press record, 107 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:48,760 we talk until we're sick of each other, we press stop, and then that goes up as the episode. Well, 108 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:54,520 I would do an intro at the start after the fact. But that was part of what allowed me to be so 109 00:08:54,520 --> 00:09:01,880 efficient was like very little effort. I like that. So minimum effort, maximum results. 110 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:08,360 Well, minimum effort for sure. Yeah, I don't know the results or whatever, but yeah, let's say. 111 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:13,320 Well, how much time did all that take you to do 100 episodes? Like from the beginning to 112 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:19,000 the end, if you were to tell me, you know, I from episode number one, how long did all of that take 113 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:26,680 you? Well, I guess I recorded episode one on New Year's Day 2021 and I posted episode 100 on New 114 00:09:26,680 --> 00:09:33,800 Year's Eve of 2021. So it was right down the wire. Wow. Yeah, I did. I did because I said it at some 115 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:38,360 point that I was going to do it and then I thought, oh, shit, I shouldn't have said that. Because then 116 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:43,640 by the end of December, I was like doing episodes every day. And I got into video, doing video 117 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:49,480 episodes maybe in about September. So that adds to the workflow. But we got it done and then I 118 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:56,280 walked away for a while. But yeah, took a year, a true, a year truly. So I bet in that year, 119 00:09:56,280 --> 00:10:01,560 you learned a lot. What were some of the big takeaways of committing to 100 episodes 120 00:10:01,560 --> 00:10:06,840 and doing it? What did you learn in that year? Well, I learned a lot for sure. 121 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:11,640 I learned that people for sure will talk if you give them the space to talk and if you just get 122 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:17,240 out of the way. You know, I did 20 episodes, the first 20 episodes thinking about, you know, 123 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:21,880 trying to impress my point of view on things. And then I got into a bit of a tangle up or 124 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:27,720 a more confrontational episode with a girl who was, I guess you'd say very progressive. Maybe you'd 125 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:33,480 use the word woke. And it's like, I just backed off after that. I was like, I don't have to agree or 126 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:38,040 disagree with anybody. I just need to, we just need to have the conversation. So that was, 127 00:10:38,040 --> 00:10:42,360 that was probably the biggest one is like my opinion of right and wrong is not really that 128 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:47,480 important. It's just about letting the guests speak. I mean, if they say something horrific, 129 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:52,120 then you're going to have to call them on it. But that's what I learned was it was actually, 130 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:55,480 again, minimum effort, just open the door and let them walk through it. 131 00:10:56,200 --> 00:11:00,120 Did you ever have any trouble finding guests or getting someone to commit to speaking with you? 132 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:05,000 Never really had any trouble. I guess I'm having a bit of trouble now because it's March and I've 133 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:10,840 only done three episodes in the last three months. But for the first 100, it was, it was, it flowed 134 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:15,320 like water. It was like this weird thing where it just started picking up speed. And every so often 135 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:19,400 a guest would recommend another person to me. That's when you know, you're on the, on a roll, 136 00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:23,080 right? When people are coming to you and that happened a few times, but no, it was, 137 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:25,720 it was never hard to get people to do it. 138 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:29,720 Well, that's good. Cause a lot of people, they struggle with actually finding guests. And I 139 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:34,440 wonder sometimes if it's because they're trying to niche down just a little too much and they don't 140 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:39,080 know, you know, where to find the people that they're looking for. So where do you find your 141 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:43,240 guests? Like I know you said, you already knew a lot of, a lot of cool people and you have mentioned 142 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:47,880 that you have had referrals of new people to speak to, but when you're looking for a guest, 143 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:48,720 where do you go? 144 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:53,640 I just go to my, I mean, Instagram is another way to get people to speak to me. 145 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:58,280 I just go to my, I mean, Instagram is another big one. Like I would say, you know, of all the guests 146 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:03,320 I've had, I know most of them personally, probably three quarters or more. Like so, and it's the same 147 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:07,800 thing as like, there's no secret and I'm no business giant, but there's no secret to business 148 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:13,240 really beyond personal connection. Right? So, you know, we're sometimes in this digital landscape, 149 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:17,880 we're kind of separated from one another, but to me, the key has always been personal connection 150 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:23,480 on a real, like a real human connection. So, but beyond that Instagram social media is huge. 151 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:26,680 Just reach out and ask, you know, because the worst thing someone could say is no. 152 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:32,200 Hopefully they could say something else, I guess, but really it's, it's just having the confidence 153 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:37,320 to believe that your show is worth having someone on. And if all else fails, just have one of your 154 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:40,360 stupid friends on it. They probably owe you to a favor. 155 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:45,240 I love that. So where do you promote your show? Like, how do you, how do you go about telling people, 156 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:47,320 Hey, these new episodes are out, come listen to me. 157 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:53,080 I really don't do a whole lot of that. And I'm, I guess that was part of the a hundred episodes 158 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:57,160 in a year. There wasn't much time to promote them. It was just about doing them. But I've, 159 00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:02,280 I've slowly started to build out the Instagram page. So it's North Bank media podcast on 160 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:08,600 Instagram. So I'm starting to post reels clips, episode notes there. Beyond that, that's about 161 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:14,120 it. Like I want to get onto LinkedIn eventually, but there's not a whole lot of promotion going on. 162 00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:15,720 Do you have any regrets with your podcast? 163 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:22,600 Oh boy. Well, I don't know if I have any regrets. I mean, there's definitely things that I've said 164 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:29,640 that probably weren't, weren't the smartest things, but that's part, but that's also part 165 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:33,560 of the thing is like you commit to doing it. You say that you put it out there. Now you have to 166 00:13:33,560 --> 00:13:38,840 stand by it or else do you have to apologize for it? I don't think I have any regrets. I think I 167 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:43,960 wish maybe I could have kept it rolling. Like, as I said, I've only done the three EPS since, 168 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:49,320 since March, since January. But I don't have any regrets. I mean, it's, it's to me, it's a lifetime 169 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:54,120 pursuit, right? Right now things are busy. So I'm not doing it. If things slow down in the summer, 170 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:56,600 then I'll start doing it more regularly. 171 00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:01,400 Well, so speaking of which, it sounds like, you know, your podcast is, is almost more of a hobby. 172 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:06,040 Are you doing anything to monetize it or you do you have like a day job and then the podcast is 173 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:06,600 just for fun? 174 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:11,960 I think that's more accurate. It's, it's just a hobby in some ways. It's, it's, it's like an 175 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:16,200 education. You know, you learn how to talk to people, you learn how social media works and what 176 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:22,760 it likes. You learn what people will do and not do. To me, it could, and what I'm trying to get 177 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:27,560 it to is a place where, you know, it gets me in the door with somebody, let's say an entrepreneur. 178 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:32,600 And then we talk for an hour, I provide them this content and then there's maybe a soft sell 179 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:37,080 at the end where I say, you know, my business is video production. Do you require that sort of 180 00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:41,480 thing? And that has actually worked a handful of times in the past with certain guests where they 181 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:47,560 say, oh, I need an ad. I need a, I need to do some video. So, uh, it's not directly monetized, 182 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:52,440 but it's sort of like, uh, I don't know, like, uh, I don't know what you'd say. It gets me in the door 183 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:53,720 with people that make decisions. 184 00:14:55,080 --> 00:15:00,120 So you're starting to like build the relationships and network with people. And as you kind of just 185 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:04,680 chat with them and get to know them, it's that, like you said, a soft sell. I like that. 186 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:08,040 Yeah, that's exactly it. That's, I would recommend that more than, I mean, I don't know, 187 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:12,920 do you monetize your podcast? Because to me, it's like no one, no Bluetooth or whoever is not going 188 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:18,040 to sell ads on my podcast. I only get 12 views on some episodes, but, but at present with my 189 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:22,920 personal podcast, no, I don't have any monetization, but I do mention several times, you know, that I'm, 190 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:26,760 that I'm a blogger and that I'm a ghost blogger. And I tell people about my website and things 191 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:31,000 like that. But, um, for my personal podcast, no, right now there's, there's no monetization. 192 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:35,240 I have hopes that maybe one day I'll come up with something. But I think for right now, it's, 193 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:39,320 it's kind of like what you're doing is, is just still like trying to have the conversation and 194 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:44,280 still learn. And that's why I'm so excited to be, to, to be hosting this podcast for rss.com is 195 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:48,840 as I'm learning, I'm getting to teach others what I'm learning. And I think that's what's so awesome 196 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:53,960 about this is it's, it's where we're teaching others what we're learning and continuing the 197 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:59,320 conversations, continuing to evolve. And it's just, it's a whole lot of fun. That's a whole lot of fun. 198 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:03,800 Right. There's no, there's really maybe nothing else we can do beyond just keep teasing out the 199 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:11,160 ideas infinitely. Right. It's certainly better than not doing it. Well, um, I'm curious whenever 200 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:15,320 you're about to have a conversation with someone, do you have a script or like a certain line of 201 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:19,800 questioning that you, that you have ready to go, or is it more that you just kind of let the 202 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:25,880 conversation evolve as it, as it naturally will? Yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's depends on the guest, 203 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:30,680 I guess. If, um, when I first started, I tried to do with no script and it was, there were some 204 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:36,360 miserable moments of just like running out of things to say after 15 minutes. Uh, I definitely 205 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:42,680 got better at going without a script, um, as time went, but there were certain guests, like, you know, 206 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:47,720 some, some musicians who have a bit of a following and don't want their brand to just get stepped on 207 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:53,720 where I would do some work, uh, as far as emailing them questions, where we're going to go. So I would 208 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:58,440 say it was a mix of both. I would, I don't love heavily scripted conversations, you know, like, 209 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:02,840 like radio interviews where you can tell the guy is just thinking of the next question and not 210 00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:08,760 like what he says is not going to depend on what the guest says. Um, yeah, those publicist approved 211 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:14,840 questions. Exactly right. So that'd be, I mean, not to give recommendations, but it was about 212 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:19,240 letting the conversation evolve naturally, but also maybe having some bullet points where if we 213 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:25,400 got stopped, we could, we knew we had somewhere to go. Now with your, uh, podcast list of guests, 214 00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:28,600 do you have like a dream list of who you would really love to talk to? 215 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:38,360 I mean, I've, I love talking to musicians, I guess, because I'm like a hobbyist musician. 216 00:17:38,360 --> 00:17:43,800 I have had a few pretty, you know, decently successful musicians. I guess, I don't know, 217 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:48,360 someone like, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know if I have a dream list of people I want to 218 00:17:48,360 --> 00:17:53,800 talk to. I definitely do. That's why I ask. Okay. Well, you, you give me your top three, 219 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:58,360 maybe that'll... Well, I actually got to interview one of them already and that was Kate Erickson of 220 00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:03,480 Entrepreneurs on Fire. I was so excited to talk to her, but, um, for my personal podcast, I want 221 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:09,000 to talk to Natalie Sisson. I want to talk to Denise Duffield Thomas and I really want to talk to Ruth 222 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:14,600 Sukup. Those are my top three, like big people that I really want to have on the Bluggy Friends Show. 223 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:19,240 Interesting. Could it happen or is it like, I'm sure it could happen, right? 224 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:23,160 I don't know. I think it would be a matter of, um, I know one of the things that, that people say is 225 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:26,920 you need to catch people when they're in promotion mode because they're more likely to say yes, 226 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:30,920 because they're trying to get on every podcast that they possibly can. So I'm, I'm kind of like 227 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:35,000 watching their calendars and seeing what they're promoting and, and all that good stuff. So I think 228 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,680 that's kind of a good piece of advice is if you, if you do have a guest that you really want to get 229 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:44,360 on your show, see when it is that they're actually trying to, to get their name out there or remind 230 00:18:44,360 --> 00:18:48,760 people who they are, because if they have a promo calendar, like let's say they have a course that's 231 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:53,000 coming up, um, that's going to be the best time because they're already in launch mode. They're 232 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:59,320 already prepared to be on camera or be on, you know, audio and talk about something big that's 233 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:03,400 happening in their lives. That's interesting. That's a great, that's a great tip. Yeah. Those 234 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:07,080 people, they don't want to talk all the time, but then they really need to talk when they're, 235 00:19:07,080 --> 00:19:11,080 when they're trying to, yeah, like you say, re-engage the audience. Exactly. It's kind of 236 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:15,480 like, um, you know, uh, anytime a celebrity has a movie that's about to come out, what do they do? 237 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:19,320 They go on a press tour because that's when they have to remind people, Hey, I'm still here. I 238 00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:27,240 still exist. I'm relevant. I'm relevant. I like that. Yeah. Yeah. I kind of got that idea of, um, 239 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:31,640 of, of like watching people's calendars from John Lee Dumas, who's also from entrepreneurs on fire. 240 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:35,720 Um, he was talking about that at podcast movement, which is, um, we're, we're recording this in March 241 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:39,960 and podcast movement is coming up in a couple of weeks, but, um, but yeah, there's just so many 242 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:44,680 things that, that I never would have thought of before, uh, before starting the podcast that like, 243 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:48,120 yeah, if you just start watching someone's calendar and seeing, Hey, they're about to have a launch, 244 00:19:48,120 --> 00:19:51,560 they might be more willing to talk to you, even if you're a smaller podcaster. 245 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:57,400 For sure. And that's one shift I've made in my podcast is like, I'm clipping short reels and 246 00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:01,800 doing more social media content. So they might give that to them. Yes. Right. It's like, 247 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:05,480 here's a bunch of free, you know, maybe you're, maybe you don't want to invest an hour listening 248 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:10,200 to this person, but here's three minutes of this person talking about their business. To me, that's 249 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:14,120 should be invaluable for an entrepreneur. Yes. And that's actually one of the things we're doing 250 00:20:14,120 --> 00:20:19,720 with the rss.com podcast is, um, we're starting to do what's called quick hits where we'll have the 251 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:24,200 35 minute, you know, 45 minute episode, but then we also release like three to five minute clips 252 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:28,520 that can not only be repurposed on social media, but if someone's just, you know, on the go and 253 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:32,360 they just want to hear those golden nuggets that are like the best pieces of each episode, 254 00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:39,000 you can find those too. Absolutely. I, because as much as people have the appetite for the long form 255 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:43,240 stuff is like, they also don't, or also they, it's a different world. It's like, if we can give it to 256 00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:48,040 somebody on their Instagram feed, you might get them and look for it. Yes. And I have to tell you 257 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:52,200 one of my dirty little secrets when it comes to, uh, listening to podcasts is I always use the 258 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:56,760 pod catcher that has the ability to speed up the time of the episode. So if it's like a 45 minute 259 00:20:56,760 --> 00:21:01,560 episode, I'll do it at like a 1.5 times speed so that it can be done in 30 minutes and I can get 260 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:07,000 back to whatever it was doing. Right. Just, right. Just, yeah. Cram it down and move on. I'd say, 261 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:11,640 yep. It's just one of those weird, uh, cork things that I do. I do it with YouTube videos too. If I'm 262 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:15,800 like trying to learn something, I always look and see like, can I, can I get this done a little 263 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:21,080 bit faster so I can get the content and then get back to, you know, what I need to do. Interesting. 264 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:25,320 I'm going to have to try that out. It's, I'm kind of addicted to it though. And it's bad because 265 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:29,560 like, then when people are talking in real time, I'm like, can you talk a little faster? That's 266 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:35,480 hilarious. Yeah. Which is probably not good. Well, you could say a lot of things about YouTube, 267 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:41,640 maybe not being so good, but whatever. Yeah. But it's, Hey, I mean, I, I've learned a lot on 268 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:47,160 YouTube. I mean, I learned how to change my own, um, my lights on my car, like, you know, my headlights, 269 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:51,640 like that kind of stuff. It's kind of wild how literally anything you could ever want to know 270 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:57,400 you can find online. Your exact make and model of car. Sometimes the headlights on that thing. 271 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:01,880 Yeah. And that's exactly what it was. Like I just Google exactly what you're looking for. And, 272 00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:06,200 and that's kind of one of the cool things about podcasting too, is that, you know, because people 273 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:10,520 are talking about anything and everything, you never know what you're going to find. And, and 274 00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:16,280 once you do find it, you can be opened up to like a whole realm of possibilities. And I think that's 275 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:20,200 one of the things that's so cool about this medium is not only are people finally getting their 276 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:24,120 messages out there, but they're, they're, they're teaching people things that they didn't even know 277 00:22:24,120 --> 00:22:30,040 existed. Absolutely. I had a guy on my podcast, maybe you should have him on your show. His name 278 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:34,920 is Clayton Cutary. He's out in Pittsburgh and he does a podcast about consciousness. So things 279 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:39,720 like psychedelics, meditation, all that sort of stuff. What I learned talking to him was like 280 00:22:40,360 --> 00:22:44,360 mind blowing. It wasn't stuff that I didn't know, but I just, I didn't understand it as well. And 281 00:22:44,360 --> 00:22:49,000 then you talk to him and it's just like, but as he found his niche first and then went for it. 282 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:54,120 That's awesome. I absolutely love that. So now with the, with your podcast, what do you see for 283 00:22:54,120 --> 00:23:00,520 the future of it and maybe even like the near future and beyond? Yeah, good question. Well, 284 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:04,600 like I said to you, like the first hundred episodes, it was just a mishmash. Some of it was good. So it 285 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:09,400 was bad that a lot of the visual branding was pretty, pretty corny on my part. I had a friend 286 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:13,080 finally tell me, he's like, you gotta, it's looks like, it doesn't look great. It looks a little 287 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:17,400 cheesy. It's like, okay, so I changed the branding. We went to this side of blue and orange, a little 288 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:23,880 sleeker. And now I'm really focusing on talking to entrepreneurs, people who are building people, 289 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:28,680 not just entrepreneurs, but creatives, artists, you know, people who are building a legacy, 290 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:33,560 people who are building something bigger than themselves. And then I want the podcast to be of 291 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:37,800 use to them because I've got what I need out of this podcast already. Now I want to turn around 292 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:43,720 and in some insane way, think that I can maybe offer something to other people. It's just a chance 293 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:48,360 to express their thoughts and then have those thoughts packaged and used to promote themselves. 294 00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:52,280 So that's the shift I think is making this useful to the guest for a change. 295 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:59,560 That's awesome though. I think it's really cool though, that you kind of just started as it was, 296 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:04,840 you know, just, I'm going to just talk about stuff. And then it evolved into, well, and now I'm not 297 00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:08,840 just talking about just stuff. I'm talking about something with a, what's almost like a mission 298 00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:14,920 and a purpose. And the further you go, I mean, who knows what could happen in a year or two years or, 299 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:19,560 you know, five years down the road. Exactly. You don't know who you might get introduced to 300 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:24,120 and who you might then be able to say, Hey, I've got a podcast. That's not a joke. It's less of a 301 00:24:24,120 --> 00:24:27,480 joke than it was two years ago. Would you like to come on it? You know what I mean? So you have to 302 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:32,280 be ready. I would say build your show now and be ready for when the door opens to somebody big. 303 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:37,000 I like that. I like that a lot. So I think there's been a lot of really good advice in this. And so 304 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:43,080 where can people find your podcast and where can they find you online? For sure. So my podcast is 305 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:49,240 called the North Bank Media Podcast. I'm on YouTube, I'm on Spotify, Google, Amazon, all those sorts of 306 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:56,680 things. Definitely find us on Instagram, maybe first at North Bank Media Podcast. And yeah, 307 00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:59,800 let's see. Let's just leave it at that. You don't want to find me online. There's nothing. 308 00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:04,840 There is. There is. But if you keep it to the podcast, you can find me as well. I've done some 309 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:10,040 photography, videography, that sort of thing. But yeah, it's pretty much everywhere. It's easy to 310 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:15,960 find. That's not the person. That's awesome. All right. Well, now I got to ask you the one 311 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:21,240 question I ask everyone before I let them go. What is one question I didn't ask you really wish I had? 312 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:28,680 Oh, boy. What is one question? I don't know. There's that dead air we're trying to work around. 313 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:35,960 I don't know. I guess maybe the name of the podcast, because it's a stupid name, truthfully. 314 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:41,240 So I live up here in Edmonton and the North Saskatchewan River runs right through Edmonton. 315 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:46,120 And I grew up on the North Bank of that river. And the North Bank of that river is where I did 316 00:25:46,120 --> 00:25:53,160 a lot of conversations and things as I grew up with people. So it was the place where I did the 317 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:59,080 same thing that I do now that I'm podcasting. And North Bank Media was supposed to be my brand, 318 00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:03,960 my video production brand. It hasn't quite gotten there yet. But I thought that this would be a way 319 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:11,000 to create content for North Bank Media. Because then you see the name, it's like, well, 320 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:15,720 I have no idea what this podcast is. Yeah. So maybe that's one. I'm not going to say regret, 321 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:19,480 but that's one thing that we're working on is making that brand synonymous with 322 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:24,680 conversation and dialogue. So I love that, though. I think it's I think it sounds really cool. 323 00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:30,040 Hey, I appreciate that. It's yeah, it's not bad. It's not bad. I'm working with it. 324 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:34,440 That's awesome. Well, I want to tell you, I really appreciate everything you shared with me here 325 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:38,200 today. I feel like I got a lot of good golden nuggets. I took a bunch of notes while we were 326 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:43,240 chatting because I mean, there's just the conversation, just the way that it evolved with, 327 00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:46,680 you know, I didn't know what you were going to say and you didn't know what I was going to say. 328 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:51,960 And and but it was still educational and it was still about connection. And I think that's what's 329 00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:57,080 so important. So, podcasters, if you're listening to this, I hope that you'll just be inspired to 330 00:26:57,080 --> 00:27:03,000 just start, start, just start. That's the best way to put it. Because if you just start, then you can 331 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:07,400 kind of figure out what it is you like, what you don't. And just start reaching out to people, 332 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:12,120 see who wants to talk to you. You never know. You could get a yes. You could get a yes. That's 333 00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:15,960 absolutely right. Don't ever forget that as an individual, you have something to offer the world 334 00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:20,040 that no one else can. So you have to, through podcasting, maybe you could find it for sure. 335 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:24,360 Oh, that is so good. Great way to finish this off. Well, thank you again for being here, Patrick. 336 00:27:24,360 --> 00:27:27,240 And I hope you have a great thing. Thanks, Ashley. Thanks for reaching out. 337 00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:34,280 Well, my fellow podcasters, I hope you enjoyed all the insights that Patrick had to share with us. 338 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:40,120 To learn more about how to launch and grow your podcast, head over to rss.com backslash blog. 339 00:27:40,120 --> 00:28:08,280 You can get started for free with your first episode on us. Thanks for tuning in.