Reflecting on Twenty Episodes
This originally appeared as part of my weekly Prime Lenses Newsletter. You can sign up for a weekly update here.
Photo by Matthew Ball on Unsplash
This weekend will see the release of the twentieth episode of Prime Lenses. When I started this project in December last year I set the really relaxed deadline of a launch in March. Episode one went out on the 18th and I had no idea what the uptake would be. All I knew was that I thought it would be fun and I didn’t want to accidentally create a second job. What I hadn’t anticipated was how energising I’d find making a podcast on a topic I’m so passionate about. It reminds me of when I first tried stand-up. The buzz that I get from a good conversation about image making is a wonderful natural high that I highly recommend you chase. Sometimes I record late in the evening Scottish time to fit around the time zones of guests and poor Alice has had to deal with many an excitable Iain after a call when what she’d really like to do is wind down and go to sleep. There was also the time I got up at 4am to record 😄 And that’s in the space of a few months!
The hook of the three lens idea has captured the imagination of guests with new and existing friends generously donating their time to take part and sharing the recordings with their fans in turn. I’ve been blown away by what I’m able to create and while I’ve not looked at the stats, getting messages from listeners with suggestions for future guests and feedback has been wonderful. In short, I LOVE making this show for you all and thought that now would be a good time to talk about what’s next.
1.More podcasts & newsletters
As I write this I’ve got 7 episodes to edit as well as 3 more recordings booked and more maybes being worked out. I may not be a project manager anymore but I do love to plan ahead and that buffer means I have episodes planned until early October. Based on listener feedback, the newsletter will start to support the podcast more as well with camera information and links from the most recent episode making up a bit more of the content.
2.Another special episode at the end of the year
The vacation episode has been super fun to make and hopefully can be something I make annually to celebrate the summer in the northern hemisphere. Meanwhile, I’ve had another idea for an episode that will be a different format which should be a fun half hour winter holidays treat. I won’t spoil the surprise, but what I will say is that it’s going to hopefully bring back previous guests to the show.
3.Ways to support the show
As much as I don’t want to look at the stats, I do want to grow this audience. I’d like to try to cover the cost of hosting and sending out the weekly emails which is about £200 a year and see if I can bring in some money to provide budget to travel to do interviews. In exchange for that I also want to come up with some good things to give to the biggest fans of the podcast so will explore monthly and annual contributions that will come with little treats to thank you for your support, and of course there’s got to be some merch at some point, right? I mean if you can’t buy a mug was there even a podcast?
Let me know what sorts of things you’d like to hear and most importantly thank you so much for listening. It really means the world to me that you are.
