Latest / Abbey the Podcast Lady / From Broadcasting to Podcasting: How it Can Change Lives with Scott Miller

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From Broadcasting to Podcasting: How it Can Change Lives with Scott Miller · Abbey the Podcast Lady

0:04
Hello and welcome to another episode of Abby
0:07
the Podcast Lady. Today we have another special
0:09
guest joining us courtesy of the Podmatch service
0:12
that I am so incredibly fond of. We are chatting
0:15
today with Scott Miller. Scott, I am so excited
0:18
to get into all of your amazing stories that
0:21
you pitched me on Podmatch because the second
0:23
I saw that come through, I'm like, oh, there's
0:25
some doozies in here. There are, you know, like.
0:29
is interesting and you never know how interesting
0:33
it's going to get and I am thankful you know
0:36
it's so crazy I am 66 years old actually a little
0:41
closer to 67 than 66 I think only little kids
0:45
which don't say they're three they're three and
0:48
a half or four and a half little kids and old
0:51
people count half years yeah everybody else in
0:54
between we don't don't count it but um happy
0:57
and proud to be almost 67. And in my 67 years,
1:02
my life has taken so many twists and turns that
1:05
I never saw coming. And so I'm happy to talk
1:09
about whatever you want to talk about in this
1:12
amazing life that I am thankful I get to live.
1:15
I am so excited. So I really want to start with
1:17
the first thing that you mentioned to me when
1:20
we were chatting on Podmatch, and that is the
1:22
story of you being a person in the television
1:25
space and working in traditional broadcasting,
1:29
because I come from that world, too. I was a
1:31
radio DJ for almost a decade, and that was my
1:34
dream job, and it's all I ever wanted to be.
1:36
And so I think we have a lot of similarities
1:39
in finding our dream roles, doing that kind of
1:41
thing, and then transitioning out of it to move
1:43
on to the next dream. and the next big thing.
1:45
So I would love to hear how you got your start
1:48
in the traditional broadcast space. Well, it
1:51
starts with radio at 16. I was a high school
1:55
junior in Denison, Iowa, and I was running track,
1:59
but I wasn't very good. I was not a good athlete,
2:02
but I played all four sports. And anyway, so
2:05
I sprained my ankle and could not participate
2:08
in a track meet. My coach mentioned to the, you
2:12
know, Dennis and I was a small town, less than
2:15
10 ,000 people. The radio guy, they broadcast
2:19
from that track meet. And he asked me if I would
2:25
be on with him. And I'm telling you something,
2:28
Abby, that's when my life changed. Because that's
2:32
when I knew that I liked talking. And I liked
2:37
it a lot. So give me a microphone. Tell me what
2:41
we're supposed to be talking about. It's better
2:43
if I know something about it, which, of course,
2:45
I knew the track team very well. So I started
2:48
on radio, worked on radio in a small town in
2:52
Iowa, Creston, Iowa, went to Harrison, Arkansas
2:56
and Berryville, Arkansas. And so I'm working
3:00
on the radio and there's a guy, a television
3:04
sports guy. Channel 10 in Springfield, Missouri,
3:08
and in Northern Arkansas, that part of Northern
3:11
Arkansas, you watch Springfield TV channels.
3:13
And so I communicated with the sports guy and
3:16
gave him a couple of tips on some things that
3:18
had happened that I knew about. And so one day.
3:22
He calls me back and says, hey, Scott, we've
3:25
got a weekend sports opening. And I told the
3:29
news director about you. I listened to you when
3:32
I was driving near your area. And I think you're
3:35
really good on the radio. So you have, if you
3:38
want it, an interview this Saturday at the TV
3:41
station for our weekend sports job. I got excited
3:45
about that. So I didn't own a suit. I borrowed
3:49
a suit. I didn't own a tie, didn't know how to
3:52
tie a tie. So I had somebody tie it for me and
3:55
then I loosened it so that when I got to go,
3:59
you know, I put it on and just tighten it up.
4:01
I borrowed the suit. I borrowed the tie. I go
4:05
to the TV station. I sit on the set and do a
4:08
demo. Abby, here's what happens. The news director
4:12
says to me on the walk back from his office,
4:15
you've never been on television before? I said,
4:18
no, sir. You studied it in college? No, sir.
4:23
You said, Scott, I am just sick. I hired a guy
4:27
yesterday. He has TV experience. I figured there's
4:31
no way this radio guy that's never been on TV
4:34
is going to be any good. You are 100 times better
4:38
than the guy I hired. You belong on television.
4:40
If I had known, Abby, I would have asked him
4:42
if I could have the tape so I would have a demo
4:45
tape. Right. But I didn't know. I didn't know
4:47
to do that. I am now looking in. Broadcasting,
4:51
I think it was Broadcasting Magazine back 100
4:54
years ago, and they put openings, job openings
4:58
in the back. So I called a TV station in Cedar
5:01
Rapids, Iowa. Now, I'm a native Iowan. I know
5:05
Iowa sports. I continue to follow Iowa sports.
5:07
I'm like, this is my job. Talked to the news
5:12
director. I said, look, I don't have a demo tape.
5:15
I'll drive to Cedar Rapids. And if you put me
5:19
on the set, you'll hire me before the day is
5:21
out. So he agreed. Two or three days later, I
5:23
drove all night long in the middle of the night
5:25
from northern Arkansas to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
5:28
Had no money. I spent the night in the McDonald's
5:32
parking lot because I figured it would be safe.
5:34
When I woke up, I put on my borrowed suit and
5:37
put my borrowed tie back on. And I go into the
5:41
bathroom at McDonald's and make myself look as
5:43
good as I can. And I sit in the lobby for eight
5:46
hours. We had an appointment, but I sat there
5:49
for eight hours. And he comes out at five o 'clock
5:52
and he said, Scott, I'm sorry, can't do this.
5:54
Give me your resume. I said, look, you know,
5:58
and I know you're not hiring me off my resume.
6:00
You're not. Right. So it's a waste of time. But
6:04
I said, it's not right what you did to me. So.
6:08
someday you're going to regret this. I don't
6:11
know when it is, but someday you're going to
6:12
regret it. I was, I was, what was I, 19 years
6:17
old or something like that and a little full
6:18
of myself. The delusion of being 19. Sometimes
6:22
I wish I could get it back. Other times I'm like,
6:24
never again. I understand that. So I drove across
6:27
the state of Iowa. to Denison, where my parents
6:31
still lived, and I kind of went there to have
6:34
a home -cooked meal and maybe have mom and dad
6:38
sympathize with me. Sunday night, we are watching
6:41
KTIV TV, Channel 4 in Sioux City, Iowa. I was
6:46
born in Sioux City, had a lot of family in Sioux
6:48
City. We're watching the news, and the sports
6:51
guy is horrible. I mean, bad, bad, bad, bad,
6:56
bad. Monday morning, Abby, I promise you this
6:59
is the truth. Monday morning, I call and say,
7:01
what is the news director's name? Mike Beecher.
7:04
Great. Could you please connect me with Mr. Beecher?
7:07
Mr. Beecher picks up the phone. I said, Mr. Beecher,
7:11
my name is Scott Miller. You don't know me, but
7:13
I watched your sports last night. And the guy
7:16
was, let's just say, not good. I've never been
7:19
on television in my life, but if you'll put me
7:21
on your set today. You will hire me to be his
7:25
replacement before the day is out. He said, you're
7:29
right, Scott. I don't know you, but I like your
7:31
attitude. How soon can you be here? I said, I'm
7:34
an hour and 15 minutes away. He said, I'll see
7:37
you in an hour and 15 minutes. I drove up to
7:40
Sioux City. I got on the set immediately and
7:44
we walked back to his office. He doesn't say
7:47
a word. We sit down and he says, you're right,
7:49
Scott. I am going to hire you. The job wasn't
7:53
even open. Right. I got the job, went from the
7:56
weekend guy three days a week as a news photographer.
8:00
I knew nothing about that either. I didn't know
8:02
anything about being on TV. And then a few months
8:05
later, I'm at this banquet. John Wooden, the
8:08
legendary UCLA coach, was speaking in Sioux City.
8:12
A couple of days before that, the general manager
8:14
of the TV station comes in to the newsroom and
8:18
everybody's like, what's he doing in here? Because
8:20
our GM never. Went into the newsroom. So he walked
8:24
straight up to me and said, and called me Scotty.
8:26
He said, Scotty, he said, there's a banquet Saturday
8:29
night. Would you like to be my guest? Yes, sir.
8:32
I would love to. So we're sitting at this round
8:35
table of eight with all his media cronies, all
8:38
the radio guys that own the radio stations and
8:41
manage them and everything else. And one guy
8:44
says. Scotty, can you tell me why you're on on
8:48
the weekends and not Monday through Friday? Because
8:50
you're a lot better than that Monday through
8:52
Friday guy. And then all these other guys chime
8:55
in. Next thing you know, Monday, I am anointed
9:00
to become the Monday through Friday sports guy
9:02
at KTIV TV Channel 4 in Sioux City, Iowa. The
9:06
funniest thing of all is that's not a way to
9:08
become popular in a newsroom. Now, you know,
9:12
radio and TV people. have egos you have to have
9:15
an ego to put up with the abuse and all of that
9:17
stuff that you sometimes get it did not go well
9:21
but it went well for me and and but it was kind
9:25
of tough sledding and i was too young to know
9:28
what was really going on you know Especially
9:31
if you're in that 1920 age range, because that's
9:34
when I started, too. I was fresh out of college
9:36
when I got hired. And you don't know what you
9:39
don't know, especially when you're around people
9:40
who have been doing it for 20, 30 years. It's
9:42
a very strange dynamic. It is. But I love being
9:48
on TV, and especially Sioux City was my hometown.
9:51
So it's where I was born, had family there. It
9:54
was a good time. It was a good time. And it's
9:57
a crazy series of events that happened. that
10:01
I never could have predicted. So what decade
10:04
was that in? Was that 80s, 90s? Yeah, that would
10:08
have been the 80s. It would have been, I started
10:10
on TV, I think, in 1980. Okay. You started when
10:15
you were 19. How long did that TV run last? Did
10:18
you hop stations? Did you change states? What
10:20
was kind of the trajectory and the pattern with
10:22
that? Yeah, this is such a great story. It's
10:26
so funny to even believe this really happened.
10:28
And I promise all of... this may sound wacky
10:31
but it's true so you well on television you get
10:35
off the set at 10 30 or 10 35 and there's nothing
10:39
else to do but drink oh yeah so it it's why a
10:44
lot of tv people drink a lot and some have a
10:48
problem with alcohol but anyway so We finished
10:52
the news, the whole group of us on the weekend
10:55
and or during the week at that time. And so a
10:58
bunch of us went to this bar where they are you
11:02
familiar with a loose meat sandwich? Of course,
11:05
I'm familiar with a loose meat sandwich. Nobody
11:08
in Costa Rica where I live now knows what a loose
11:10
meat sandwich is. And they don't know it in Dallas
11:12
where I lived for many years either. But OK,
11:14
this place had. I don't remember the name of
11:18
it, but this place had great loose meat sandwiches
11:22
and cold beer. And there's nothing else you need.
11:25
That's a perfect combo. So we go there and I
11:30
go up to the bar to get another round for all
11:32
of us that are there. And a guy by the name of
11:35
Bob Lawrence that was a stranger to me, this
11:38
guy says to me, you know, you're too good to
11:41
be working on TV in Sioux City. And I said, well,
11:44
thank you, sir. That's very nice of you to say.
11:46
I appreciate that. And he said, let me introduce
11:49
myself. I'm Bob Lawrence from Channel 9. Now,
11:52
at the time in Sioux City, Iowa, this has changed
11:56
since. But at the time, there were three TV stations,
11:58
but only two of us had news. So it's head -to
12:01
-head competition, four and nine, four and nine.
12:03
Bob Lawrence was the news director for the competition.
12:07
So I'm like, what is he? You know, what's he
12:10
talking about? I thought maybe he was just trying
12:12
to blow up my ego so I'd get lazy or something.
12:15
That's, you know, a young kid. What do you what
12:18
do you know? So he says to me, have you ever
12:22
thought about working in Minneapolis? I said,
12:25
no, I really haven't thought about, you know,
12:28
working anywhere else right now. I just, you
12:31
know, got the Monday through Friday gig a few
12:33
months ago. He said, you're too good to be working.
12:37
in Sioux City. Would you consider going to Peoria?
12:40
I said, I'd consider going anywhere. He said,
12:43
look, here's the deal. And at the time, Channel
12:46
9 was owned by Forward Communications Corporation,
12:50
and their sister station in Peoria had a sports
12:53
opening. Okay. And he says to me, here's what's
12:57
going to happen, Scott. Is the break room number
13:00
at the TV station still blank? He knew the the
13:03
direct phone number to the break room. I said,
13:05
yeah, I believe it is. He said, okay, be there
13:09
at noon on Monday. I'm going to call you with
13:12
the details. So Monday, I go in a little early.
13:15
I'm in the break room. Phone rings. I pick it
13:18
up. Is this Scott? Yes, sir. Is this Bob? Yes,
13:22
sir. He said, look, here's the deal. There's
13:25
a TV station in Peoria that we own that has a
13:28
sports opening. They're going to hire you. I've
13:30
already told them about you. I've already sent
13:33
them your tape. I told them I want you out of
13:35
town. You belong in a bigger market. Here's how
13:39
it's going to go down. Go to the Sioux City airport.
13:42
There will be a ticket waiting for you. Your
13:44
flight leaves Saturday morning at 7 a .m. They're
13:46
going to offer you the job on the spot. You can't
13:48
tell them I told you this, but they're going
13:50
to offer you $25 ,000 a year. You tell them $32
13:54
,000 is the only offer you'll take, and they
13:57
will give you $32 ,000. I know how much they
14:00
can afford to pay you. It goes down exactly like
14:04
he said. Unbelievable. Talk about a gift. And
14:09
so I went to Peoria. I flew that weekend. I got
14:14
the job. I loved my time in Peoria. And I worked
14:18
on television there for a couple of years. And
14:20
then I got back into the radio business and did
14:23
morning drive radio in Peoria. You know, TV is
14:27
great. But if you want to have a family, if you're
14:30
married and you want to have a family, you stay
14:33
up. When you get off a job at 5, you don't go
14:36
to bed until 10 or 11. When you get off a job
14:40
at 10 .30 or 11, you don't go to sleep until
14:42
4. You sleep until noon. You get up, you shower,
14:46
you go to work again. So it's not a life. That's
14:52
why there's so many people, especially in the
14:53
smaller to medium -sized markets, that are younger
14:55
because they're willing to do that. It's a grind
14:58
and I did morning drive radio for almost five
15:02
years and you're up at 3 a .m. to prep a show
15:04
to start the show at 5 to then do it until 10,
15:08
finish out whatever else you need to get done
15:10
and then you're crashed out on the couch by 5
15:12
p .m. It's a very weird grind of a lifestyle
15:15
that I think people, when they turn on their
15:18
TV, when they turn on their radio, they're just
15:19
like, oh yay, fun, someone's entertaining me
15:21
and they don't realize the craziness that goes
15:24
on to make that happen. No, they do not. It's
15:27
an isolated life in a lot of ways. And it's why
15:30
a lot of radio and TV people are introverts.
15:33
Yeah. They're not naturally extroverted. I am,
15:36
but not everybody is. A lot of people are not,
15:40
as you well know. We kind of put on this mask
15:43
to go out and entertain. And then once we can
15:46
take it off and go back into our little hermit
15:48
crab shell, we're very happy doing that as well.
15:50
Yeah. That wasn't me, but I know it was most
15:54
of the people I worked with. Yeah, for sure.
15:57
So you mentioned also in the message you sent
16:01
on Podmatch about wrestling a bear. I'm very,
16:04
and not just wrestling bear, you wrestled a bear
16:06
twice. Can we get into that story? Because I'm
16:09
very intrigued by that. I did not learn my lesson.
16:12
I'm not very good at learning lessons, but I
16:15
paid for it the second time. So I was doing something,
16:20
I don't remember what we called it, but basically
16:21
sports challenge. So people would challenge me
16:26
to do sporting things. And it was just a fun,
16:29
silly feature segment in the sports when it was
16:33
a little slow. So somebody said, Victor, the
16:38
bear has a name. And you can look this up on
16:40
Google, by the way. Victor, the wrestling bear.
16:42
Now, Victor was around for years. He had a muzzle.
16:48
Okay. And he was declawed. Victor, the wrestling
16:52
bear. And he wrestled some famous people. I was
16:55
not one of them, but he wrestled some famous
16:57
people. So Victor is at a mall in Galesburg,
17:02
Illinois. which is in our coverage area. So I
17:05
drive up to Galesburg, Illinois, and you have
17:08
to sign this release form before you get in the
17:11
ring with Victor the Wrestling Bear. And the
17:14
release form says, Abby, that if you die, it
17:17
says it in really good language, legalese, but
17:20
basically it says if you die, it's your own fault
17:22
because you're stupid. Because you signed up
17:24
to do this. Yes. Yes. So anyway, I sign it. I
17:28
don't care. I see him wrestle a few other people
17:30
and no big deal. I get in the ring and amazingly
17:35
enough, in pretty short order, Victor the Wrestling
17:39
Bear has me down and I'm like, okay, I give up.
17:43
That's it. That's enough. So months later, Victor,
17:46
I guess he made the tour of malls. Victor the
17:50
Wrestling Bear is in Bloomington Normal. And
17:54
so I get another person that says, Scott, it
17:56
was the PR person at the mall, very smart, says,
17:59
you know, you should have a rematch and maybe
18:01
you'll be one and one with Victor. Right. So
18:05
I do it. Now, here's where the fun part comes
18:08
in, Abby. I am wrestling Victor the Wrestling
18:11
Bear. He gets me down. So Victor has me down.
18:16
And when you're down in wrestling, the first
18:18
thing you got to do is you got to stand up and
18:21
then you take. the arms and you take this arm
18:25
and pull it out that way and that arm pull it
18:27
out that way and then you rotate and get away
18:29
from your opponent in this case a bear i did
18:33
that and it worked well for about 20 seconds
18:37
or 10 seconds it worked and victor got me down
18:40
and he took his paw and i'm on my back and he
18:45
slammed his paw right here on the chest i knew
18:48
immediately i was in pain did not know immediately
18:51
that he had cracked my ribs. Also did not know,
18:54
oh yeah, until I went to the doctor, that there's
18:57
pretty much nothing you can do for cracked ribs.
19:01
When you breathe or cough or sneeze, your ribs
19:06
hurt when you have cracked ribs. So, needless
19:11
to say, I am 0 -2 against Victor the Wrestling
19:14
Bear. Would never consider doing it again, but
19:18
it's a great story. And I so wish I had the tape
19:23
because the second time we had video of it and
19:27
they slow mode Victor. You remember the Lee Harvey
19:30
Oswald when he got shot by Jack Ruby and he's
19:34
going. Yeah, that was me. That was me when Victor
19:38
hit my ribs, hit my chest. It was. Anyway, I
19:43
have lived to tell the story and I would not
19:46
do it again. So I'm an avid hunter and I'm a
19:48
bear hunter and I can't imagine getting anywhere
19:52
close to a bear, even one that has a muzzle on
19:55
and is declawed. Those things are terrifying.
19:57
And so for you to willingly do this twice, major
20:01
props to you because I would never. Yeah, well,
20:05
ignorance is bliss and I have never hunted a
20:08
bear and never really thought about how vicious
20:10
they are. I just thought if other people did
20:12
it, I could do it. Another funny story, though,
20:15
that time in Bloomington Normal, there was a
20:18
woman that wanted to wrestle the bear. And she
20:23
says, you won't let me? And he said, no, ma 'am,
20:25
I'm sorry, you can't. And she said, you are a
20:28
sexist. And he says, ma 'am, if you really want
20:32
to get in the ring with Victor, no problem. But
20:34
you might want to know that it's mating season
20:36
in the wild and it might not go well for you.
20:40
She quit talking and she backed away. I'll never
20:44
forget that. This was a long time ago. But I
20:48
have had an interesting and fun life. And one
20:51
of the things that, Abby, I believe, you know,
20:54
we're only here for a short time. And I want
20:58
to do all the things I want to do. Because it's
21:03
going to be a short time. I don't want to be.
21:06
70 or 80 or whatever, and regret what I didn't
21:09
do. You don't regret most of what you did, even
21:12
if you did stupid stuff, which I have. Like wrestling
21:15
bears? Yes, that would be a good illustration.
21:19
But you regret what you didn't do. So I'm just
21:22
not going to do that. Yeah, I think that's very
21:25
wise words to live by. So I am a podcast producer.
21:29
I produce for so many different clients around
21:32
the world. And one of my clients is the Love
21:34
Story podcast, where we have couples on to share
21:37
their unique love stories. And part of what you
21:39
sent me on Podmatch was your own multiple love
21:42
stories. And I think they're just fascinating.
21:45
So if you would... kindly grace me with the love
21:49
stories that you've had in your life and how
21:51
they got you to where you are now. I would love
21:53
to hear them. Okay, fantastic. Thank you for
21:56
this opportunity. There are changes in life that
21:59
we make and there are changes in life that other
22:02
people make for us. Firing you from a job would
22:06
be a change somebody else made for us. In this
22:09
case, my wife of 32 years left me for another
22:13
man. And I was 32 years. I was devastated. I
22:18
contemplated that I didn't want to live. And
22:21
it was an awful, awful time. I was working on
22:23
television again as a news anchor and reporter
22:26
in Fayetteville, Arkansas, which is a place I
22:29
love. I love Fayetteville. I love the people
22:32
of Northwest Arkansas. And so it was awesome
22:34
being on TV there. But I quit my job because
22:38
one night about. 10 minutes before the 10 o 'clock
22:41
news just before we're going on the set i'm sitting
22:45
next to the producer and i'm going over again
22:47
our top three stories and they were Horrible,
22:50
tragic, sad stories. Do you remember when those
22:54
women, I think it was Cleveland, those women
22:56
escaped from the guy that had held them for years?
22:59
Yeah. That was the time a local kid had fallen
23:02
to his death from a prominent landmark in Arkansas.
23:05
So it was local and it was national and all these
23:09
stories. And I, at 10 minutes to 10, just break
23:12
down and start crying. And I am literally bawling.
23:16
I mean, tears streaming down the cheeks. Now,
23:18
it's also because my wife left me for another
23:20
man. So it's like life just sucks at that moment.
23:24
So if the producer says, dude, we want it like
23:27
10 minutes, are you going to be OK? I said, I'll
23:30
be fine. I'm a pro. I'll be fine. Let me go in
23:33
the bathroom and make sure I don't look like
23:35
I've been crying. So I go do the newscast. And
23:39
that is when I decided that I'm going to quit.
23:42
my job because I just couldn't deal with all
23:47
of the pain, a lot of horrible stories in news.
23:50
I mean, really, to be the one to have to tell
23:52
this story on TV live is difficult to do sometimes,
23:56
even under the best of circumstances. So I did
24:00
not want to be the guy because I knew there would
24:03
come a time when I would literally start crying.
24:05
live on TV. And for the rest of my life, I knew
24:09
somebody would put that video on YouTube. And
24:11
for the rest of my life, people would say, Hey,
24:13
I know you, you're the, Oh my gosh, you're the
24:16
crying guy on TV. Yeah. I just knew that was
24:20
going to happen. So I didn't want that to be
24:22
the case. And I don't know if you've ever watched
24:25
the story that the old Mary Tyler Moore show
24:27
where she was the TV or she a producer, I guess.
24:31
Yep. At the end of that episode, and the reason
24:33
I remember this so well is I just watched a Mary
24:36
Tyler Moore special on television of her story.
24:39
And at the end of that series, turns out the
24:42
lights, closes the door, comes back and takes
24:44
a look around. And I forgot, I forgot about the
24:47
TV episode. I did the exact same thing. I didn't
24:50
leave the TV station until like one in the morning.
24:52
All the lights were out in the studio and newsroom.
24:55
I'm walking around kind of saying goodbye. And
24:59
it was so freaking sad, man. I got to tell you,
25:02
Abby, it was horrible because I loved doing what
25:06
I was doing. I go to Dallas, Texas to live with
25:09
my son because I have no job and I have no money.
25:12
And in my eyes, I probably have no future. Been
25:14
there a few days and I get a Facebook message
25:17
from the girl I took to prom 36 years earlier.
25:21
She did not know at the time that I was madly
25:25
in love with her in high school. and desperately
25:28
wanted to marry her. I just didn't tell her because
25:31
I was intimidated by how beautiful she was. And
25:35
so she sends me this message. I'm really sorry
25:38
to hear about your divorce or your wife leaving
25:41
you and all this. And sends me this really nice
25:44
message. And I get it at 10 o 'clock at night.
25:49
And I happen to notice she's on Facebook. I sent
25:52
her a message. And we started talking for two
25:55
or three hours. I just told her the truth. I
25:57
said, did you not know that I thought you were
26:00
the hottest girl in school and that I had the
26:03
hots for you? And that, you know, I went on and
26:06
on. She said a few things. So I was in Dallas
26:09
and she was in San Antonio, which I did not know
26:13
where she was at the time. And I said, so where
26:15
are you? She told me San Antonio. I said, look,
26:17
I could be there in five hours. She said, well,
26:20
I have to work tomorrow. I said, well, I'll be
26:22
there when you get off work. So I drove to San
26:25
Antonio. We reconnected, spent two and a half
26:29
days together, and it was like we were 18 all
26:33
over again. Oh, that just makes my heart melt
26:36
into a puddle. Thank you. We were separated,
26:39
apart, no communication for 36 years, one month
26:43
and five days. But who's counting? Prom. We had
26:46
one date in high school, our senior prom. That
26:49
was it. She was all I could think about before
26:51
long. I was leaving Dallas and moving in with
26:54
her in San Antonio. She was truly the most amazing
26:59
woman I'd ever met. Accomplished, beautiful,
27:04
amazing. And so we got married on 12 -10 -14,
27:09
which was a Wednesday. Now, who gets married
27:12
on a Wednesday on the island of Ambergris Key
27:14
in Belize? Who gets married on a Wednesday? Well,
27:17
we did. Add 12, 10, and 14, Abby, and you get
27:21
36, which is the number of years we were apart.
27:26
Oh, my gosh. And on our wedding day, around her
27:31
waist, Maria wore the shawl she wore to prom
27:35
36 years earlier. She had kept it all those years.
27:40
And then 113 days later, she had a heart attack
27:43
and died in my arms. It was a fairy tale romance.
27:48
We would go places and I would say, do you want
27:53
to hear the most amazing love story you've never
27:54
heard in your entire life? And I would tell them
27:56
more details than I just shared with you. It
28:00
was amazing. And unfortunately, it was only 113
28:06
days married, 22 months together. Maria was just
28:11
an amazing woman. I introduced her to my adult
28:15
children. I was telling my daughter about Maria.
28:18
Now, Maria was born in Mexico, but I never thought
28:21
of her as Mexican. It just wasn't something I
28:24
ever thought. So my daughter, as I'm telling
28:28
her about Maria, I said, she's Mexican. Who knew
28:31
why I said it? It made no sense to say it. But
28:35
for the first time ever, I thought of her as
28:37
Mexican and said it. My daughter says, well,
28:40
duh. I said, I don't understand. She said, Dad,
28:47
who do you think are the most beautiful women
28:50
in the world? Eva Longoria, Jennifer Lopez, Eva
28:54
Mendez, Sofia Vergara. Dad, you have a type.
28:58
Now, her mom was not that type. But it didn't
29:04
hit me until I was driving away from her house
29:08
that what she said was true and that the reason.
29:13
I had a type was Maria. She was for me, the very
29:18
definition of beauty, you know, that's it. So
29:22
also two months after we're married, she says
29:26
to me, if anything ever happens to me, I want
29:28
you to be happy. I thought, well, that's kind
29:30
of strange. But at the same time, I knew where
29:33
this came from. Her husband of 25 years had cancer
29:39
and had hidden it from her. until the very end
29:42
and he passed shortly thereafter and he never
29:45
had i'm not saying anything bad about him but
29:48
he never had that conversation with her that
29:50
she just had with me if anything ever happens
29:52
i want you to be happy because in this case he
29:54
knew it was going to happen so i'm like okay
29:58
i have a type i know what the type is and scott
30:03
i want you to be happy and i knew she meant it
30:06
by the way i also know that she wanted me to
30:08
say it back to her and of course i did Long story
30:11
short, I was like, OK, I'm going to try this.
30:15
I'm going to try. Went out on a couple of dates
30:18
with some very nice women, but it just wasn't
30:22
there. But then I went on Google and typed in
30:27
Latina dating site. And then it came up with
30:30
Latin American Cupid dot com. So I went on there.
30:36
And I thought, what the heck? And I met this.
30:39
gorgeous woman on that site from Costa Rica.
30:42
And it was her idea for us to have a Skype date.
30:47
I'd never heard of such a thing. We had a Skype
30:51
date. She said, I'm going to have a bottle of
30:53
wine. You should have a bottle of wine. Let's
30:54
have a Skype date. We're on Skype for over two
30:58
hours. Wow. I was blown away by how beautiful
31:03
and amazing. What I wasn't going to do, Abby,
31:06
was settle. for anything less than amazing. I
31:12
wasn't going to settle for anything less, not
31:15
even a teeny tiny bit less than amazing. So she
31:22
was amazing. Right then and there, I told her
31:24
I'm going to fly to Costa Rica. Things were financially
31:28
a little bit better for me at the time. I'm going
31:30
to fly to Costa Rica and I would like to meet
31:33
you. And I'm going to schedule it for a month
31:35
from now. So that if you change your mind, you
31:39
know, you can back out. So what I did not know
31:42
is that a lot of men are not, this is a nice
31:47
way of saying it, not truth tellers. I know me
31:50
and I tell the truth. So she said, send me your
31:54
itinerary. So I emailed it to her while we were
31:57
on the Skype date. I didn't know at the time
31:59
that she thought that I was not serious. Right.
32:04
Come to Costa Rica. It's a beautiful country.
32:08
She's an amazing woman. And she has now been
32:11
my wife for nine years. So from heartbreak over
32:17
my wife leaving me for another man, which was
32:20
unfathomable to everything I just told you, and
32:23
then to be back. And I have the most amazing
32:28
wife. She is beautiful. She is smart. She's just
32:34
an amazing woman. And I never thought that I
32:37
could ever find somebody again who is truly amazing.
32:41
But that is what I have. I am so thankful for
32:45
my amazing wife. And it wasn't her idea to live
32:48
in Costa Rica. It was mine. I came here for her
32:51
daughter. I went back to Dallas. She came to
32:54
visit me a couple of times. I came to Costa Rica
32:57
for her oldest daughter's wedding. And then we
33:00
went to the... beach town, very close to where
33:04
she was born on a farm in the middle of nowhere.
33:07
And I fell in love with it. Her mother had just
33:10
been diagnosed with cancer. And so she said,
33:12
can I stay? And I'm saying, stay as long as you
33:14
want. You know, you don't know what the future
33:17
holds. Right. Her mother was 81, I think at the
33:20
time. And so I said, of course. So I go back
33:24
to Dallas and I'm in our apartment and I am dreaming
33:29
at night about Costa Rica. I'm looking at pictures.
33:32
I'm looking at videos. I am daydreaming about
33:35
Costa Rica. I'm not getting a thing done. And
33:38
then I just went, why am I living in Dallas?
33:41
Right. I don't need to live in Dallas. And so
33:45
I called her up on WhatsApp and I said, what
33:48
would you think if we lived in Costa Rica instead
33:51
of Dallas? She said, I'd love that. I said, okay,
33:54
let's do it. I've already got two tickets ready
33:56
to go. on Southwest Airlines to fly to Costa
33:59
Rica. I don't know what, but we're going to move
34:01
in 45 days. Yep. And boom, made the decision,
34:05
did it. This blue monstrosity behind me is my
34:08
booth. It weighs like 800 or 900 pounds. It's
34:11
one of the few things I brought from the United
34:13
States, mostly. I sold or gave away everything
34:16
I own, except for my recording equipment and
34:20
all my stuff to do this. 45 days later, baby,
34:25
I'm in Costa Rica and I am never moving anywhere
34:29
else. And since we bought this condo, this is
34:32
where I'm going to live till I'm not living.
34:35
That's so beautiful. Like when you know you're
34:38
supposed to be somewhere, you just, you have
34:39
to be where you're meant to be. You're not settled
34:42
until you are. Absolutely beautiful. Tell me
34:45
more about like. recording equipment and how
34:48
podcasting plays a role in all of this because
34:50
my audience is primarily people who are kind
34:53
of getting into podcasting and I always love
34:55
telling the stories of how podcasting can change
34:58
your life. So tell me all about that journey.
34:59
Absolutely. Did I say that I've lived a few lives
35:02
in my 66, almost 67 years? You may have mentioned
35:05
a couple. Moved to Costa Rica and I've got a
35:09
couple of part -time freelance gigs that I'm
35:12
thinking are going to last a long time and that's
35:14
how I'm going to make my money. I tried to sell
35:16
the booth in Dallas, tried to sell it. Nobody
35:19
would buy it. So I'm like, well, I'm not going
35:21
to give this thing away. It wasn't cheap. So
35:24
I shipped it. The freelance gigs both ended within
35:27
two months. So now I'm living in a strange country
35:31
where I cannot legally work and I would not do
35:33
what I couldn't legally do. So I got no way of
35:38
making an income. That was frightening. So I
35:41
started narrating audio books, which I had done
35:44
before in Dallas. So started over from scratch,
35:48
narrating audio books for other people. Now,
35:51
one of the interesting things is my wife would
35:53
continue to tell me that she does not have a
35:56
pension. So that upon my end, because of the
36:01
laws and everything, my social security, even
36:04
though we've been married all these years, Flory
36:07
will never get my social security. So upon my
36:11
death, it's not good. So I'm trying to figure
36:14
out, you know, what could I do? Well, I started
36:17
doing some audio books with royalties attached.
36:20
It didn't make a lot of money off of those. But
36:23
then I thought, you know what? I love science
36:27
fiction. I love that genre more than any other.
36:31
Started with Planet of the Apes in 1968, if I
36:35
remember correctly. I saw the first movie at
36:37
the Orpheum Theater in Sioux City, Iowa, and
36:40
every Planet of the Apes movie since in the theater.
36:43
That's the way it has to be. Love that franchise.
36:45
So I'm thinking, hmm, how am I going to make
36:49
this work financially? So I read on a Facebook
36:53
group about public domain stories. Never thought
36:58
about that. Public domain simply means the rights
37:01
holder did not continue to apply for the rights
37:06
so that they expired. So now they're free and
37:09
open for anybody to use pretty much however they
37:11
see fit. So I started narrating public domain
37:14
audio books. And I say, Florian, baby, this is
37:17
going to be good for us because it's all our
37:19
revenue. We don't have to share it with anybody.
37:21
So the first month I recorded, I don't know,
37:23
10, 12 short stories. And at the end of the month,
37:26
the next month, I'm like, hey, we're going to
37:28
get royalties, baby. This is going to be awesome.
37:30
And we made five bucks. Better than zero. Yeah,
37:36
well, it is better than zero, but you can't live
37:38
on five bucks. So I continue to do audiobooks
37:41
for other people and do the sci -fi public domain
37:45
stories whenever I could, whenever I could fit
37:48
them in with the long -term goal of eventually
37:51
just sci -fi just for us so that she would indeed
37:55
have a pension. Months later, I'm on another
37:58
Facebook group and a guy talking about his podcast
38:02
and how he's doing quite well. with his podcast.
38:05
And narrators were blasting him saying, you're
38:09
giving away for free what takes us, you know,
38:13
all this. Anyway, so I guess I'm a contrarian,
38:16
Abby, because I thought, well, if this guy says
38:20
it's working for him, maybe there's something
38:23
to this. About that time, somebody said, man,
38:26
you should start a podcast, Scott, with these
38:28
vintage science fiction short stories. So I put
38:32
two and two together. And started the Lost Sci
38:35
-Fi Podcast February 23rd or 24th of 2022. Now,
38:41
I didn't know anything about podcasting. So if
38:45
people who are watching this now say, I don't
38:49
know much about it or anything about it, you
38:50
can be successful. And you can be successful
38:53
beyond your wildest dreams. Because this little
38:57
podcast that I started. I didn't even know where
39:01
to host it. I hosted it with this company that
39:03
I knew of that had no way of tracking downloads.
39:09
There was no reporting at all. It was where I
39:13
was selling my audio books direct to the public,
39:15
but they also did podcasts and I didn't know
39:18
any better. So I stayed with them for, I don't
39:22
know, four, five, six months, who knows how long.
39:24
Then I switched because I didn't know. I didn't
39:28
know. anything. Okay. Except that I have a microphone.
39:32
I have a booth. I have the skills to do this.
39:36
So I switched podcast hosting two or three times
39:40
since then went to a place. I said, okay, if
39:43
I mentioned my podcast hosting. Yeah, please
39:46
do. Okay. Acast .com. A -C -A -S -T .com. Highly
39:51
recommend it. And I'll tell you why. I didn't
39:54
monetize the podcast for almost two years. Because
39:59
I didn't know how. Again, I didn't know anything.
40:02
Except I knew I could create the podcast episodes.
40:05
That I knew. So I am on another Facebook group.
40:11
And I learn a lot on Facebook and Google. So
40:15
I'm on this Facebook group. And somebody says,
40:17
you know, I'm with this company. It was a Facebook
40:20
group for this company's hosting. And this guy
40:24
says, I think. By switching to this other company,
40:26
I can make about a thousand bucks a month. And
40:29
again, people just started beating him up verbally.
40:32
Why would you switch? It's a great company. We're
40:34
without that. And I'm thinking, oh, wait a second.
40:37
And I commented, if this guy thinks he can make
40:39
a thousand bucks a month over the next decade,
40:41
that's $120 ,000. Yeah. That he's saying no to.
40:48
And that's only if he doesn't grow. Right. If
40:54
he grows. It could be a quarter of a million
40:56
or more. So he switched, I think. But are you
41:01
familiar with ListenNotes .com? Yeah, yeah. Okay.
41:05
So I looked up his podcast on ListenNotes and
41:09
I thought I was doing okay. He had more than
41:11
I had. I'm thinking, well, maybe I can make,
41:16
maybe I don't make a thousand, but you know,
41:18
whatever. So I sent an email to ACAST customer
41:23
support, and I knew what I was going to get back,
41:25
but I did it anyway. I have this podcast. I have
41:28
this many downloads per week, per month. Here's
41:31
the last average over the last three months.
41:33
Do you have any idea how much I would make? And
41:36
I knew they weren't going to tell me, and they
41:37
didn't. They said it's difficult to predict.
41:40
But I switched anyway. And here's one of the
41:42
reasons I switched. It's so simple. You just,
41:45
I don't remember the button, but you hit the
41:47
button, hit the link. And it's basically to apply
41:50
for monetization. So I did it like the day after
41:54
I switched. And of course, they had no tracking
41:56
data because I'd just been there for a day. Right.
41:59
I did it again like two or three weeks later.
42:01
And boom, I got accepted. A few weeks later,
42:06
they sent me an email saying that I was going
42:09
to get some money. I was only with them for like
42:12
10 days in the month of October 2020. And I got
42:20
like 400 bucks. Oh my goodness. Yeah. I had no
42:25
idea. That's why I asked if it was okay if I
42:28
mentioned it. Yeah, definitely. I am telling
42:31
you that I will never switch from Acast. I'm
42:35
flattered that another company has approached
42:38
me three times now trying to get me to switch
42:41
to them. And I won't mention their name. I'm
42:43
not saying anything. disparaging about them it's
42:46
just that i love a cast and i'm going to stay
42:48
with a cast forever i did that you know as a
42:52
partial month and the next month i made over
42:53
a thousand bucks is that all through just like
42:56
dynamic ad insertion or how is that's all dynamic
42:59
ads really all dynamic ads i did nothing do my
43:03
podcast and put the ad placement in the middle
43:07
and it has grown Considerably since then, thankfully,
43:11
I now have the number one science fiction podcast
43:14
in 33 countries around the world. Abby, I had
43:18
no idea any of this was going to happen. I just
43:22
knew, I think there's a lot of reasons why I've
43:24
been successful, but I knew that I was going
43:27
to start and never stop. I made a non -negotiable
43:31
commitment to myself that I was going to do this.
43:35
I'm going to do the Lost Sci -Fi Podcast. Until
43:39
I'm dead, which is pretty difficult to do it
43:41
posthumously. Or physically, I cannot continue.
43:46
Okay? If for some reason, can't continue. So,
43:50
other than that, I'm in this forever. I hope
43:54
that I get that I've done 462 or 63 episodes,
43:58
something like that. I hope I'm still doing this
44:02
at 80. If I am, I would probably have somewhere
44:05
in excess of 2 ,500 episodes, maybe 3 ,000 or
44:09
more. One of the things, if you want to be successful
44:12
in podcasting, you got to have a commitment to
44:16
stick with it. Did you know, Abby? And I did
44:19
not. I didn't know this when I started, but I
44:21
looked it up later. Somebody told me about it.
44:23
I looked it up. The average number of podcast
44:26
episodes a podcast will have is like three or
44:28
four. People start. Oh, this is not as easy as
44:31
I thought it was going to be. Or they think I
44:34
didn't reach phenomenal success immediately.
44:37
Right. So and I didn't either. You know, like
44:42
I said, it was almost two years before I made
44:44
any money from the podcast. But then I started
44:47
making money and it's coming in every single
44:49
month. And I absolutely love what I do. I love
44:54
getting in that booth. I am doing a story right
44:56
now. that I think I've done 497 or 98 stories
45:02
so far, because some episodes have more than
45:05
one short story in them. I'm doing a story now
45:09
that if you want a phenomenal story, give me
45:13
about two or three days, and it'll be on the
45:15
Lost Sci -Fi Podcast. It's called The Cold Equations
45:19
by Tom Godwin. It goes back to 1954, 55. Something
45:25
like that. Abby, the most incredible story I've
45:29
done so far. And I've done some cool stuff by
45:32
Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury and Philip K. Dick,
45:35
the giants. Yeah. Mary Shelley, the giants of
45:38
early science fiction. And then a lot of stuff
45:40
with people you've never heard of before. But
45:42
this story, I'm telling you, if you're watching
45:46
us now, and how would you know about it if you
45:49
weren't watching us now? I don't know why people
45:51
say that. I don't know why I just said it. The
45:54
Cold Equations, Tom Godwin. When you hear this
45:58
episode, it's just amazing. And it was written
46:04
70 years ago. Wow. I'll make sure I get a link
46:10
for that in the show notes. Oh, amazing. Gosh.
46:13
So I love what I do. So when people ask me about
46:18
what are the keys to podcast success? Number
46:20
one, make a commitment, man. People quit stuff
46:24
every single day. They quit the Girl Scouts,
46:26
the Boy Scouts, quit marriages, jobs, everything.
46:29
Don't quit. Don't be a quitter. Because, and
46:32
I don't have the numbers right in front of me
46:33
right now, but in the United States, I have been
46:37
as high as number eight in science fiction. The
46:41
four podcasts at the top. 2008 is when they started,
46:47
2011, 2012, and somebody 2019. Joe Rogan didn't
46:52
become successful for, depending on how you measure
46:55
success, three to five years. Three to five years.
47:00
I will hit year four in February of next year,
47:05
so a couple of months. And I feel like I'm just
47:09
getting started, but I've had all what I determined
47:12
to be success. already. So you've got to be committed.
47:16
And then one of the other things that's really
47:19
important is niche or niche clarity. You've got
47:25
to be, you know what you're going to hear when
47:26
you go to the Lost Sci -Fi Podcast? It's the
47:29
Lost Sci -Fi Podcast hyphen vintage sci -fi short
47:33
stories. My title tells you exactly what you're
47:37
going to get. I don't do modern science fiction.
47:41
I don't do interviews with science fiction authors.
47:45
I do lost sci -fi, vintage sci -fi short stories.
47:51
So if your name of your podcast tells people
47:54
what they can get, that helps you. Because nobody's
47:58
looking for the Scott Miller podcast. But I did
48:01
have a guy recently on Spotify tell me he found
48:04
me by looking up sci -fi. And there I was in
48:07
the search. He says, I love your podcast. I'm
48:09
so glad I found you. If I titled it the Scott
48:11
Miller podcast, he never would have found me.
48:14
I wouldn't be where I am today on the podcast.
48:17
That's another important thing, the name of your
48:19
podcast, but niche or niche clarity. Do the same
48:23
thing every single time. If all of a sudden on
48:25
the podcast, I've got an interview with some
48:27
author that nobody ever heard of. And I have
48:30
amazingly tens of thousands of listeners. they
48:34
would not be happy with me. They would click
48:37
on that, listen to it for five seconds ago. What
48:40
the heck happened to Scott? Yeah, this is what
48:42
I signed up for. Exactly. And many of them would
48:46
unsubscribe immediately and never listen to me
48:49
again. So you got to know what you're doing and
48:52
keep doing what you're doing and don't deviate
48:56
from it. Then you got to do it long enough to
48:58
build an audience. And there's a thing, discoverability.
49:03
You got to be. Discoverable. People have to be
49:06
able to find you. So you use the keywords. In
49:10
my case, if somebody's looking in the future
49:12
for the cold equations by Tom Godwin, I'm going
49:15
to be high in the search rankings. My website
49:18
page is going to be high in the rankings. My
49:20
Apple podcast, Apple podcast for me does really
49:23
well in search because it's an authority website.
49:27
So that's going to be there. Acast. This is another
49:30
reason why I love being with them. Didn't know
49:32
that this was going to happen. ACAST ranks well
49:35
in search. So a lot of times I am in the top
49:40
five with three of them. Apple Podcasts, my website,
49:44
LostSciFi .com and the ACAST. So sometimes I'm
49:49
dominating the top 10. So if they're looking
49:52
for a story and they see me everywhere. That
49:59
works. And then I use, are you familiar with
50:02
Headliner? I am. I love Headliner. Okay, good.
50:06
You get it free when you go with Acast. Oh, really?
50:09
Yeah. So that pays for your hosting. I just signed
50:12
up for two years. Okay. Well, I wish we'd had
50:16
this conversation before that. But you can still
50:20
use that account and get a free one with Acast.
50:22
So I don't even pay for it, but I use that. And
50:25
so I am now committed. I wasn't doing this. very
50:29
seriously before but i am now every episode if
50:33
it's long enough and i can squeeze it out of
50:35
there i create 60 videos really it's 30 square
50:42
39 by 16 yep and i put those suckers everywhere
50:47
i can so that works and this is another reason
50:50
why your podcast the longer you go but the better
50:52
off you are in discoverability because now I
50:56
have almost 500 episodes for people to search
51:01
for. Stories by Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke
51:04
and all that stuff. And so if they're looking
51:06
for that, I'm not aware of, and I don't think
51:10
there is, but I'm not aware of anybody in the
51:13
science fiction space that has done anything
51:16
close to the amount that we have done. So longevity
51:19
helps you. Now, it hurts you in the beginning
51:22
because you haven't been around long. But man,
51:25
podcasting is a long game. There are times when
51:29
you don't want to do a podcast episode. You're
51:31
sick or whatever. You got to power through. You
51:35
got to be consistent. And man, I just love it.
51:39
And I love talking to people about podcasting
51:41
because it's been so good for me. My wife, you
51:45
know, my wife used to say a lot. Flora used to
51:47
say this a lot. I don't have a pension. And what
51:51
she was saying. I don't blame her for this. If
51:55
you die, where am I? And she was telling me she
51:58
was concerned. And she used to say that a lot.
52:00
And I don't blame her for saying that. I am so
52:02
thankful she said that because she altered our
52:06
future, mine and hers, by motivating me to find
52:10
a way to provide for us. If I get sick and I
52:14
can't work, I still have all these episodes that
52:16
are still generating revenue. But you know what's
52:18
really gratifying? I still have a U .S. bank
52:21
account. We have a U .S. bank account and have
52:24
a bank account, a couple of them in Costa Rica.
52:26
I switched about three or four months ago. My
52:30
audiobook sales from all the retailers around
52:33
the world and libraries and everything, those
52:36
now go directly deposited to our Costa Rica bank
52:39
account. And our podcast revenue now directly
52:42
deposited into our Costa Rica bank account. And
52:46
my wife hasn't brought up for many months. I
52:49
don't have a pension because now she does. Thanks
52:53
to podcasting and this voice and that booth and
52:58
a desire to take good care of my wife. So I'm
53:01
very thankful for all of this. If people get
53:04
started podcasting, don't stop. Do not stop.
53:09
I wish you knew more than I knew when I started
53:12
because I didn't know anything. So I wish that
53:14
for you. And hopefully just by watching Abby,
53:17
you're going to learn and learn and learn and
53:19
be able to apply it. But I know what my future
53:23
holds. My audience. Here's another thing, Abby,
53:26
about how being a podcaster for a long time benefits
53:29
you. If you start a science fiction podcast,
53:32
I don't mind sharing everything I know and everything
53:35
I can do to help people. Because if somebody
53:38
starts a science fiction podcast, they go, oh,
53:40
I can narrate stories and I can do vintage sci
53:42
-fi in the public domain. I can do what Scott's
53:43
doing. Come on in. But a month from now, when
53:47
you've got five episodes, congratulations, you've
53:51
got five episodes. If somebody finds you, the
53:54
most they can do is listen to five episodes.
53:56
But if they find me and they like the Lost Sci
54:01
-Fi Podcast, Abby, they're going to listen. And
54:04
I get this all the time in five -star reviews,
54:08
emails. binge listening. I listen to two or three
54:12
a night or I've listened to everything but 70
54:14
episodes. I'm trying to catch up with you. And
54:17
I'm like, please do catch up with me, catch up
54:19
with me. Keep going. But they have all of this
54:22
inventory, all of these stories to listen to.
54:26
And that's another reason. And I did not expect
54:29
to be number one in any country. I really had
54:32
no expectations. But when it starts happening
54:35
and then it keeps growing. What's happening is
54:37
new people in that country are discovering my
54:40
podcast for the very first time. And they're
54:42
listening to all the episodes they can take as
54:44
fast as they can go. And I hear this all the
54:46
time. They are sharing it with the people they
54:48
know. One guy says, I'm telling everybody who
54:51
will listen to me about your podcast. So another
54:56
important thing is do a good podcast. Do the
54:59
absolute best you can do every single time. Give
55:03
it your best. Do not stop. giving it your best.
55:08
No, in my case, when I walk out of this booth,
55:10
I know I have done the absolute best I can do.
55:13
And if I'm not feeling it, mine's a little different.
55:17
You can't just walk away mid -interview. That
55:19
wouldn't work. But in my case, I can stop. If
55:22
I'm not feeling it and it's just not working
55:25
and I just get out and leave the booth, get something
55:29
to eat, go talk to my wife. I tell my clients
55:32
that all the time, especially the ones that record
55:33
just solo episodes. I'm like, if you're not feeling
55:35
it, go take a lap around your house and come
55:37
back to this. It can wait. Absolutely. Do it
55:41
right. Quality matters. It's always going to
55:45
matter. But man, stick with it. I am so thankful
55:49
for this opportunity to talk to you today and
55:52
hopefully bring some value to somebody out there
55:56
that watches this so that they know. You don't
55:59
have to know everything when you get started.
56:01
I didn't know anything or I would not have hosted
56:04
my podcast with a company that does not give
56:07
you any, any reports. I knew nada for several
56:11
months. And then when I started looking at the
56:13
numbers, this is another thing. When you start
56:15
looking at the numbers, don't get upset because
56:18
your numbers, you know, you're getting. 10 downloads
56:22
an episode or 12 or 20 or whatever. Now I'm used
56:26
to, to be honest with you, I'm used to now seeing
56:28
within 24 hours, two to 5 ,000 within 24 hours.
56:33
But I also have this back catalog that is getting
56:37
downloads in that 24 hour period of time. So
56:41
that's, what's so cool about it. So if you're
56:44
in my case, you know, I market my audio books
56:48
that are for sale, but That has become a secondary
56:52
income compared to the podcast income because
56:56
the audience is so huge. Well, to me, when you
56:59
have 25 to 30 ,000 listeners, that to me is huge.
57:02
It may not be huge to other people, but for me,
57:05
that's pretty huge. Yeah. No, I think this is
57:08
all super valuable information. I think this
57:11
is going to be very inspirational for the bulk
57:14
of my audience who are new podcasters and just
57:16
getting into the industry. Like this is. inspirational
57:19
and aspirational. And I just think that it's,
57:22
I love hearing stories of how podcasting can
57:25
change a person's life because it's changed my
57:27
life and everyone who gets into it and sticks
57:31
with it, it will change your life for the better.
57:35
I feel ya. You know, love sharing this with people.
57:40
It's like, here's the truth. I am, I believe
57:43
pretty healthy. My cardiologist says I'm doing
57:45
pretty good for a guy that had a heart attack
57:47
and died. That's another long story. But I had
57:50
a heart attack and died 21 years ago. And I'm
57:54
talking about dead at the house, blue, not breathing
57:57
for minutes. Amazing. The paramedics got there
57:59
and brought me back to life. Flatlined at the
58:03
hospital a bunch of times. Was in the hospital
58:05
for a month. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Very thankful
58:08
to be alive. But when you go through life. You
58:13
never know where it's going to go, the twists,
58:15
the turns and all of that stuff. But there are
58:17
lessons to be learned from all of these things.
58:22
And if you can learn a lesson from me, it's that
58:25
you can be really dumb when you start this podcast
58:28
venture. You don't have to know hardly anything.
58:31
Maybe that's not the best way to start, but you
58:34
can still be successful. And I love what I do.
58:39
I love sharing it with people. Because at this
58:42
stage of my life, while I think I'm reasonably
58:45
healthy, you don't know. You don't know how much
58:49
longer you have. You know, I have friends every
58:52
week, every month that are younger than me, some
58:56
that are older than me that pass. And it happens
58:59
every single day. So you don't know. But I do
59:03
know this. I'm going to share with people the
59:06
honest truth about what I've done to be successful
59:08
and hope. that they get something from it. I
59:12
thank you, Abby, for this tremendous opportunity
59:15
to share with you and your audience today. I
59:19
cannot thank you enough for that. It fills me
59:22
up inside to know, even if only one person gets
59:27
something from it, that I've helped somebody.
59:29
And that's a cool thing. It really is. That's
59:31
a cool thing. You can't, nobody can take that
59:33
feeling away from me. Yeah. And from you, from
59:37
what you're doing every single episode. Yeah,
59:40
I think that is a beautiful way to close out
59:43
this episode. That is, I couldn't have said it
59:45
better myself. Scott, you just take the reins
59:46
from here. You can be Abby the podcast lady.
59:50
Well, I would look kind of funny as Abby the
59:52
podcast lady. This has just been fantastic. I'm
59:56
so happy that we had a chance to connect and
59:57
I hope we can do so again in the future because
59:59
I know you have more stories to share. So we'll
1:00:02
have to do this again. I would love to do it.
1:00:05
I would be honored to do it. I thank you again
1:00:08
for this opportunity. I just started doing interviews
1:00:10
in the last week. I love sharing this information
1:00:13
with people because I love bringing hope to people.
1:00:16
You know, I love seeing you can start like I
1:00:19
did not know a darn thing. But if you stick with
1:00:23
it, you learn as you go, you maintain the core
1:00:26
principles, niche clarity, don't change what
1:00:28
you're doing. Don't stop doing what you're doing.
1:00:31
You can have success. That's the soundbite right
1:00:35
there, pulling that one out. Well, Scott, this
1:00:38
is great. Where can people connect with you,
1:00:40
find you online? Where should they go to listen
1:00:43
to your show and just be invested in your world
1:00:46
as well? LostSciFi .com. There's an About Me
1:00:51
section. I even mentioned Wrestling the Bear.
1:00:53
It's got this huge picture of me. I don't know
1:00:56
why I made the picture so big, but it's huge.
1:00:59
LostSciFi .com. You can look for the Lost Sci
1:01:01
-Fi podcast wherever you get your podcasts. If
1:01:04
you just do a Google search, I'm like everywhere.
1:01:06
I had no idea that was coming either. I have
1:01:09
a newsletter that if you're into sci -fi, sign
1:01:12
up for the newsletter. It's free. Cool stories.
1:01:15
Free sci -fi. I give free science fiction out.
1:01:18
Commercial free. Every single week. Because I
1:01:22
love. exposing more people to these amazing talents.
1:01:29
So lostsci -fi .com and then look for the Lost
1:01:32
Sci -Fi podcast wherever you go. Sign up for
1:01:35
the newsletter if that trips your trigger. If
1:01:36
not, no big deal. Yeah, thank you for this opportunity.
1:01:40
I truly appreciate you. This has been a wonderful
1:01:44
way to spend a Wednesday. Thank you.