Welcome to episode 43 of the Nerd Journey Podcast [@NerdJourney]! We’re John White (@vJourneyman) and Nick Korte (@NetworkNerd_), two VMware Solution Engineers who are hoping to bring you the IT career advice that we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers. In today’s episode we talk to Ethan Banks, co-founder of the Packet Pushers technical podcast network about becoming a podcaster and turning that hobby into a business.
Original Recording Date: 05-28-2019
Topics – Beginning to Podcast and Turning Hobby into Business
1:47 – Getting into Podcasting

* Podcasting for Ethan was an evolution of blogging.

* He started a CCIE blog in 2007 as a study guide while he was working through the certification.
* There were not many networking podcasts out there, so Ethan thought it would be good topic.
* At the same time Greg Farrow was looking to recruit writers for his blog. Ethan didn’t want to write but wanted someone to help host the podcast. Coincidentally, Greg had been talking to someone named Dan Hughes about recording a podcast.

* The trio started recording together as a result.

* Ethan had done some audio work for the church he attended and even mixed an album for a friend of his. He had enough experience to put a good product out the door from an audio standpoint.
* Early on, Dan had to leave the podcast due to his role, leaving Ethan and Greg to move forward together.
* Fun fact – Ethan took a brief break from co-hosting the podcast to take Divinity classes but decided it was not for him. A friend that filled in for Ethan on the podcast stepped aside when Ethan was ready to return.

* Managing work, blogging, and podcasting was brutal.

* "Committing to a weekly show means you need to have a show every week."
* Coordinating schedules with guests can be challenging.
* Shows have to be recorded and then edited before released. An edit can take time depending on how comfortable the guest is on the air.
* Ethan had a long commute on top of all of this (more than 2 hours per day).
* Ethan was doing contract blogs for extra money as well as maintaining personal blogs.
* The podcast numbers took off, taking the subscribers from hundreds to thousands. They felt pressure to get good guests and good content to avoid disappointing listeners.

* People may not consider the burden to listeners before starting something that has potential to be very successful.

* Being married with children on top of all of this made for a VERY busy week.

* Missing the cadence with a podcast has a different impact than missing the cadence with a blog.

* People who like a show like it because they bond to the personality of the hosts. It’s more personal than writing. "People feel like they know you."
* Ethan gives the example of Network Break missing its scheduled release and the impact.
* Check out the Heavy Networking Weekly Show # 200 Ethan references.

* In this episode, Greg and Ethan had an open conversation about the struggle to keep up what they were doing.
* This resulted in community feedback telling Greg and Ethan how valuable their content has been to others.