Today I want to share what I do to put together an episode. My example will be the the latest episode of the Logical Weight Loss Podcast. I also do a podcast microphone shootout with microphones in the $300 range (last week we did a shootout with microphones that are under $100)

This week's show is sponsored by Emerald City Productions. Get your podcast edited and sounding great with this awesome special. Your first four episodes will be $15 each (after that they go to the regular price of $40). Check them out at www.emeraldcitypro.com/sop

Joe Pardo is the man behind the Dreamers Podcast, and also the organizer of Podcast MidAtlantic. Today Joe shares how his podcast got him invited to an event. At that event he got to meet some influencial people. Those people got to know Joe, and through his podcast they knew what his credentials were, and offered him a job. Find Joe at SuperJoePardo.com

So I had someone who was surprised at the amount of work that might go into a podcast. So this week as I prepared to publish an episode of the Logical Weight Loss Podcast, I took notes. There is one key point here.

Length of time spent on and episode does NOT equal more downloads. You can spend all day working on content that doesn't connect with you audience. So here is what I did.

First based on the ideas in the book [easyazon_link identifier="0849921902" locale="US" tag="sop2-20"]Secrets of Dynamic Communications: Prepare with Focus, Deliver with Clarity, Speak with Power[/easyazon_link] I came up with my main idea. Which is, "Based on mainstream media, it is easy to feel out of place if you are alone for the holidays. This along with the numerous activities of the holidays can lead to stress, and stress can lead to emotional eating." That is where I started.

Here is a little confession. Last year I was "Alone" for the holidays. It turned out it wasn't that bad. Different? Sure. Bad? Nope. I wanted to help anyone who might be feeling down for the holidays. So I set out for strategies and insights for those who are alone on the holidays.

I started with Google. I looked through about 10 articles, and ended up reading five.

I pulled from my own experiences.

I looked into resources for people who really were in a bad place and then made sure they were legit.

I then went down a rabbit hole, when I found iPrevail. A pretty cool website that offers live chat for those who need to talk, and for those who want to go deeper, the offer some online courses. Intrigued, I signed up and took one. Note: This wasn't needed to complete the episode, but I always go with the thought "If it interests me, it probably interests my audience."

I then looked at the holidays, and tried to find things that might be entertaining. I injected some humor to stop the episode from being so dark. I found examples I thought people could relate to (overly gushy Jewelry commercials), decorating a Christmas Tree, and weird family members. All of these to point out that the holidays are not a world of splendor filled with Rainbows and Lollipops.

I took some time to figure out what topics I wanted to hit first. In other words, I tried to take the smattering of ideas and organize them into a stream of ideas that flowed nicely.

I also through in a quick segment on an egg cooker I recently purchased.

Finally I recorded it. My show notes were pretty done as I now make my show notes first