Melissa: You're listening to the do something more podcast. And this is episode number 52, happy Birthday to the podcast. Welcome to the do something more podcast, a service oriented show where we highlight the helper who inspire us all to do something more. I'm your host, Melissa Draper. Thank you so much for being here. Hello and welcome to this happy birthday episode of the podcast. This week, the do something more podcast officially turns one year old. I launched it on March 28 last year, and now I've had a whole year of putting an episode out each week of talking about service and giving back and making a difference, and also having the amazing opportunity to interview so many different guests that talk about the ways they serve, the things they're passionate about and the organizations that they run. And I am just so grateful to have made it to this point. It's been a lot of work. It's been good experience. I feel like I've slowly gotten better at things, at even doing interviews or other things with this podcast. So it's been a huge learning experience for me as well. I am someone who's always learned better in real time and just getting out there and doing it, not worrying about if it's perfect or not. And so I really have done that with this podcast, and I am so grateful for every person that learns along with me, for the guests that come on, for each person that listens, each download that I have, even on social media, each like or each follow. They all mean so much to me. And it's really been fun to do all of this with the podcast. So today, because I'm celebrating the one year birthday of the podcast, I just wanted to share a few things about it. So I'm going to share a few of the stats, kind of background information, and maybe some past episodes that have been good. And then I also wanted to share some questions. In my real life, I get questions when people hear I do a podcast or that have listened to the podcast. And I figure when you get several questions, there's a lot of people that have that question. So I'm going to go through and answer some of those for anyone out there that's just curious about all the makings of this podcast. So stick around today, it's going to be just a fun episode, again, highlighting the podcast itself. So, first of all, I wanted to go over some stats, and I have to clarify. My podcast in the podcasting world of speaking things is not huge. It has not been growing exponentially. There's definitely people that find it and listen, and this year, I kind of focused more on just getting each of those episodes out there and doing my best to create quality content. And so I do have plans, hopefully, for the future to work on growing the podcast. And I'm kind of learning and delving into that more each day. And it's a lot, there's a lot of things behind that. There are millions of podcasts out there, and especially when you're a small independent podcaster, there's lots of different things that you kind of have to do to get it out there. So I will definitely be working on that. But I do also practice what I preach, and I share all the time on this podcast how you do not have to be huge to make a difference. You don't have to do something big and grandiose. It doesn't even have to be this big, noticeable thing that everybody sees to make a difference. Really, the things that make a difference are things that find people, touch people, help people one on one. And I truly believe that it is something I've really put into my own life. And so I truly believe it for this podcast. And so even though sometimes I might be discouraged if my numbers are small, I know it is making a difference. I know there are individuals it's reaching out to, and I just love learning about all these good, good things others are doing and putting that out there and sharing it with the world. But here are a few stats. It has been listened to or downloaded in 21 countries and territories and 253 cities. So that's a lot. It's gotten around to a few places, and sometimes I love to go in. I don't do it all the time, but I'll go in and look at individual episodes and see where those specific downloads are coming from. So I just have to mention there is a download that I see quite often from Columbia, South Carolina. So whoever you are in South Carolina, if you're listening, thank you so much for each download. And it just makes me smile when I see that one because I'm like, oh, there's my friend, there's that listener. So thanks. Thanks for doing that. Then I wanted to share that the most listened place that people are listening is on Apple Podcasts. It's by far the most popular spot where people listen to my podcast, and Spotify is second. So there's a few of the fun stats about the podcast. So I also wanted to talk a little bit because I get the question too. What are your most favorite episodes? Or what are your most popular episodes? And it's really hard to answer a favorite, especially with the people I've interviewed, because I love talking to individuals about the things that are important to them, about what they're passionate about. And I love speaking with all the people that have come on. I have learned something new I did not know before in pretty much every episode, and I've gained so much from hearing their experiences and perspectives. So it's so hard. I can't pick a favorite interview episode. But for my solo episodes, the one that I do on my own, I wanted to share my two most popular ones, and they're probably, thus far some of my favorite ones, too. So my most popular solo episode was episode number 22, the power of a compliment. And it has a really cool story in there. So if you have not heard that episode yet, go listen to the story, my experience, and just the reminder that I share how powerful just a simple compliment to someone can be, even a stranger. And my second most popular episode was three ways to use service to improve your relationship with your spouse. So that's episode number 46 that I just did. That one was pretty popular, and I loved that one, too. And I love using service to improve my own relationship with my spouse, so I wanted to share those ideas with others. And then my third most popular solo episode was episode number 25. Have I done any good making service a guilt free part of your life? And obviously I love that one because that's kind of what I talk about on the podcast. But I liked kind of bringing in that element, too. Of service does not have to be filled with guilt. We truly can do the things that feel natural to us, and we can approach it and put it in our life in a way that is natural, meaningful, all those good things. So those are some of my most popular solo episodes. And finally, I wanted to go over some of the questions that I get. So the first one I've been asked, even by my own kids, do you get paid? No, I do not. And I think anyone out there that's a podcaster realizes that's the answer to that question, no, at this point, I do not get paid. I am just like many of the people I'm interviewing doing this because it's something I feel passionate about and want to do to spread goodness out into the world. And maybe in the future, as I grow the podcast, as I learn different things, that will change. But for now, it's a service for me as much as anybody else that comes on as well. So my second question, how do you find guests or choose your topics for the show? So as far as the guests go, I have a notes app on my phone, and I'm always just putting ideas in there. So many of the organizations that I've talked to, some of them were ones that I've worked with, some I read about in a news story or I saw something they did and I was super impressed with it. Some of them, I've learned through other organizations, will share organizations that they work with or people that they work with. And I'm just always keeping track, putting notes and trying to get a variety. I try to do a variety of things instead of sticking all in the same area. And that's my goal. And so that's kind of how I find my guests now, choosing my topics for my solo shows. Those honestly have just been, as I've lived life, I've had ideas come to me and I've thought, oh, this will be cool to share, or I want to talk about this aspect of service, or this would be great. And again, I write it down in a notes and put it together, and that's my episode. So it's something that I'm just kind of always have a little piece of my brain open to catch ideas and to write down those ideas so I remember them. So it's always there. And it's amazing when you have a specific thing that's kind of there that you're always floating and looking for ideas. It's amazing how many ideas or opportunities come to you and find you. So it's been a lot of fun. The third question I get asked a lot, of course, is kind of the technology questions. How do you do your podcast? Where do you record? So just to answer a few of those, I record in a basement room in my home. And so there's not a lot of outside noise that comes in, and it's nice and I can close the door. So, like during the summer when my kids were home, I could close the door and record and it'd still be a good episode. It'd work out without too much background noise. And I just use a Samsung mic. I'll put a link to it in the show notes. It's fairly inexpensive mic I found on Amazon. A lot of people use it. I didn't want to get too fancy, and it works for me and I love it because you can use it with a normal XLR mic, but you can also just plug it into your computer. And it's been good. I think it has good quality sound. And then to edit my episode, I use this program called Alitu, which I'll also leave links to that and so it has a yearly fee that I pay with it, but it streamlines everything. It's so nice. It has my music in there that I've made, and it makes the editing really easy, puts the episode together, lets me throw it onto my host that I use buzsprout. I'll put a link to that, too. And it also even makes transcripts, so it's completely worth what I pay for it. And it's great. I love it. It's been a great way to really streamline and make the whole creation process a little faster. And then finally a question I've been asked is, are you scripted? Do you write everything out? And the answer to that is, no, I do not. I take notes. But one of the reasons I was doing this podcast is I wanted to get better at talking and telling things on the fly without rambling. Sometimes I might still ramble a little bit, but that's what I wanted to get better at doing. So I've really worked to do that on the podcast. And the other reason I don't do that is just trying to put it out each week. I can sometimes tend to be a bit of a perfectionist, and I don't want to give in to those tendencies. And so I do try to spend a good amount of time to make each episode quality, but I do not want to labor over it too much because I'm creating and putting out there and creating and putting out there and telling myself it does not have to be perfect. So that's another reason I'm not scripted. It just takes a lot of time to do that. And I'm a talker. I can talk about almost anything. So I'll take my notes, I'll write them down, and then off we go. And I'll just have fun recording the podcast. So those are just a few things about the podcast. It's been such a fun year. I have so many fun new ideas for the future. I have ideas for growing the podcast, and I just want to say thank you again for every person that is here listening and being part of this show. If you want to send me any comments, any feedback, I will even take constructive criticism because I am just wanting to grow and learn in any way that I can. Please email me. I have it in my podcast description, but I'll put it in the show notes this time, too. My email is dosomethingmore podcast@gmail.com so any ideas for episodes or thoughts or anything you want to share, feel free to send me an email. I'd love to hear your thoughts. And then, of course, I always put this request out there. If you've loved listening to this podcast, if you've enjoyed the episodes that you listen to, leave a review on Apple Podcasts, or share an episode that you really loved with a friend, thank you so much for being here. Happy birthday to the do something more podcast. I'll see you next time.