This is episode 50 of the Saving Lives Podcast. On September 25th I took the plunge into the podcast stratosphere with a version of my YouTube video titled “A Day in the Life of an Intensivist“. I have been doing YouTube for several years now but I am usually on time constraints and setting up cameras and editing. I honestly haven’t had the chance to film any in a while now and that channel has basically become a depository of uploaded podcasts where people can listen to this content there for the time being. At the time of this recording, I am happy to report that the total amount of plays of this podcast have exceed 76,000 times. I want to thank you for doing so. Many people had asked me to make a podcast so I couldn’t say no to a good challenge. And here we are.
Equipment Used
Many people have asked me what equipment I use to record all 50 episodes of the Saving Lives Podcast. Let’s just say it’s very simple and some of you audiophiles may potentially notice. For my microphone I use a Blue Snowball USB Microphone (This is an affiliate link, btw). It’s small, gets the job done, and I throw it in my book bag and take it to work when I’m on night shifts to knock out some podcasts. It cost me $49.99 when I originally bought it but inflation has kicked in and it is $69.99 at the time of this podcast today.
Length of Time for each Podcast
Many people have commented that they either want longer or shorter podcasts. Honestly I cannot make everyone happy and I am okay with that. Being someone with a short attention span, I have created this podcast in a way that I would like to listen to should I be an audience member myself. Some of the NP’s I work with such as Josh and Cody tell me I need intro music but I haven’t gotten around to looking for something. If I am being honest with you, I have never been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD but come the 7 to 8 minute point of recording, I get quite itchy to get up and do something else. Unless its a conversation format, I do not see myself doing longer episodes than the 7-15 minute episodes I am currently putting out there during these 50 episodes of the Saving Lives Podcast.
Ebb and Flow of Each Podcast
Obviously, I have to introduce myself in every podcast and I also mention the citation used to provide the grounds for my commentary on the podcast episode. I always mention the date. Why? Because new studies come out which may supersede the data previously found and I don’t want anyone to point fingers at my claims.
Things I need to do better
I am not going to lie, every time I publish a podcast I cringe a bit and hope that I did not misspeak. My mind goes on rants sometimes despite how much I try to script the podcast episodes. Since these get locked in to people downloads and into the abyss of the internet, I always hope that I do not say something that can be used against me in the future. Crazy how all that works, right? When I edit my podcast I do it within the app of my podcast host, Anchor, who is also my sponsor. I have noted that the software sometimes makes errors and thankfully you all sometimes let me know of these errors so I can correct it. I could potentially listen to the podcasts from one of the podcasting services myself but truth is that I hate the sound of my voice. Chances are that you do as well.
Goals and the Future
Regarding the future of the podcast, I find it to be quite bright. Then again, I am quite the optimist. As long as I have sponsors (which I know are great for me and dreadful for you), I will earn some income from this to make it worth my while. More on this later. The income motivates me to keep pushing because I find myself getting checks for my earlier podcasts in the form of passive income and that’s very rewarding.
I am going to keep on crunching through recently published journal articles in my “journal club-ish” type podcasts that were the reason for my social media rise on instagram and now other platforms. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, it seems like many publications have been put on hold as academic institutions have channeled their resources towards battling said pandemic.
Inviting Guests onto the Podcast
I hope to start having guests on the podcast soon. There have been many great clinicians and nurses who I have met over the last couple years doing this whose brain I would enjoy picking to figure out how they take care of certain types of patients or pathologies. Or just how they get about their thought processes each day.
Hopefully 2021 will provide me with some time to be able to dedicate some time to that. I hope that I have listened to sufficient episodes of the Joe Rogan Experience to learn how to be a great host and have some conversations that people would enjoy. Please skip the Post Malone episode, of course. That one made me lose a couple neurons. Reach out if you’d like to be on the show. I know of several greats out there who I have in mind already.
The Ads on all 50 Episodes of the Saving Lives Podcast
Let’s finish up discussing the main drawback to listening to my podcast, the ads. I know we all hate it, but it keeps the lights on. Without the ads, I would not earn an income from this. Without the extra income, there is decreased incentive to keep pushing this hard. Note that I do all this on my free time. But for those of you who are interested in jumping in this podcasting game, here’s how the revenue stuff works.
Working with Anchor
I work with a podcasting company called Anchor. They start compensating you for your brand spanking new podcast right off the bat. This is at a tune of a CPM of $15.00. That means for every thousand ads that get listened to, you get $15. Now, don’t get too excited because this promotional CPM only takes place for the first $52.25 you earn, or about 5000 plays of your podcast. After that, they pull the rug out from underneath your feet and you’re left making zero.
Working with Audible
This is where Audible came in to fill the void but rather get compensated for each time an ad is listened to, they only compensate me per person who joins Audible on the free trial that you may have heard me mention. Many thanks to the 20 people who have signed up for Audible using my link in the description box thus far.
Working with the Americast Podcast Network
A company called Americast Podcast Network has now been driving my revenue. They have been able to get Anchor to be my sponsor again, now at a CPM of $17.50 but they take a 15% cut. Basically I am earning a CPM of $14.87 which is definitely better than zero. They’re out there looking for better sponsors for me but being a medical podcast is hard to recruit for. That being said, there are sponsorships which have a CPM of $50 out there that I hope I can hook in one day.
When dealing with the ads on my show, yes you can skip them as I have purposefully made them only 30 seconds long to facilitate the amount of times you need to hit the skip forward button. If the podcast is less than 10 minutes long, you’ll only have to deal with one ad or two if it’s in excess of 10 minutes. YouTube crams far more ads than I do.
Thanks again for your support in now 50 episodes of the Saving Lives Podcast. Let me know your feedback!
How to support my work: my efforts are at no cost to you and I would like to keep it that way. You have to look at ads on this website, listen to them on my podcast and YouTube content. Thanks for bearing with me. But if you want to help out a little more, also at no cost to you, consider a free trial with Audible where you will get a free book (and two books if you are an Amazon Prime member. If you CLICK HERE and sign up for Audible, they will provide me with a commission in exchange for you joining. They will remind you to potentially discontinue your membership so you don’t get charged. Thanks for your support!
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