How An Active Podcast Mission Statement Can Establish A Tribe Vibe Just Like The Co-Hosts Of The Discussion Combustion Podcast, Kevin Batstone And Arthur Rawe

Wish you were one of those influencers with raving fans who binge on your every word, consume all your content, buy everything you have to sell, and demand even more. Then stay tuned while Authority Magazine columnist and buzzfeed contributor Tracy Hazard shares strategies, tips and tactics from top videocasters, podcasters, authors and social influencers on creating that bingeable factor. Now let's join Tracy as she explores how to rise above all the digital noise with the Binge Factor.

Hey everyone, Tracy Hazzard here on the Binge Factor and I've got some co hosts today with some serious podcasting chops going on here. They have a long form show, a show that's well over an sometimes well over a hundred minutes and they have just been killing it and gotten themselves over a hundred episodes. So I was so excited to get them on the show here to really talk about what they're doing. But what's really exciting is that they've got video format and the audio format going on, so they're getting well, well, well north of 650,000 views. And that is an awesome thing to see on the YouTube side of things. So you're definitely going to want to check out their show. We've got Discussion Combustion to talk about today. So it's the Discussion Combustion Pod with Kevin Batstone and Arthur Ra and this show is designed to include anyone and everyone from all walks of life. Kevin and Art host this podcast and new episodes drop weekly. Discussion Combustion's mission statement is clearly to be critical, loving and accepting, welcoming guests and providing a platform to be heard. They have been doing a fabulous job and they've got some so many unique things that I can't wait for you to hear about. And you're going to have to check out the show because it's really got a nice format to it. And the video, I mean you don't just want to check out the audio, which is our. You know, we're podcasters here, right? We tend to check out the audio first, but you're going to want to check out the video. They've got some cool things going on and you're going to want to check out the video from this episode because they show us some of their equipment and things during the episode as well. So you're going to want to check that out. So let's go listen to Kevin and Art and talk about Discussion combustion.

Kevin, Arthur, let's have a Discussion Combustion right here on the Binge Factor. I am looking forward to talking with you guys. I don't get to Talk to two co hosts as often as I would like. So I love that I've got a co host combination going on here.

Oh, yeah, we're super excited to be in here. It's always a fun time. We record out of dtc, which is near Denver, and we just get together weekly. And Kevin and I, we've known each other for over, what, 12 years or something like that?

Yeah, a little bit too long. And then having to sit next to each other each week to do podcasting. You gotta like that guy, I'll tell you that.

Yeah, for sure. So, yeah, we got plenty to talk about. It's easy having a co host. That way you got somebody to lean on and, you know, in case the guests don't participate or don't schedule correctly.

Well, I've been lucky. My co host is my husband. Normally not on this show, but on many of our shows. So we've been having discussions, and I say that because our children are shocked at the way we have discussions, our discussions about business. We've been having them for 30 years, so when we got to have them on the air, it was awesome. So did you guys already have this sort of, like, kind of debate, you know, kind of interjecting each other? Because I wouldn't say you had. I mean, it's combustion, but it's not heated. Like, it's not heated in an angry way on your show, but it's an intense discussion. Was that before?

You know, I think it goes back to when Art and I first met, and just a lot of late nights, you know, having good chats, maybe disagreeing about something politically, you know, or just in life in general, and just giving each other honest advice. And it was somewhere around early 2019, we decided, man, this podcast train is moving. Let's start recording these conversations. And that's kind of where the idea came about. And we shot the pilot, and we didn't know what we were going to call the show yet, and we were throwing out names and Art likes to make things rhyme. So, you know, discussion, combustion. It just stuck and we just ran with it.

Yeah, it's got that nice little sound to it. I mean, you know, Schoolhouse Rock next, right?

Yeah.

We both have a little background in music, and so that's something that we both partaked in and participated in throughout our lives. So this kind of scratches the same itch of, like, getting. Cause my motivation for music was always to send a positive, you know, untapped. Like, no one touched the message. Like, it's a pure message from me. Out to the people. And I feel like the podcasting scratches the same edge. Cause you could talk about some real things on here and you know, open up the discussion where it's, you know, it could get really serious and you know, people spill their guts. And Kevin and I have both shared a lot of our personal, you know, difficult times and things that we've had to overcome to become successful. And that's a good story to share.

Now you do some things that are different, but you do some things that are similar to, I'm going to say some of the, like more talk show style podcasts that are. Are highly produced. So you guys are independent, but there's like really highly produced shows that have similar, I'm gonna say, model that you seem to follow. You do live reads of your ads, which is very rare with most podcasts. I love that you do that. And we're gonna talk about that in a minute. You also seem to have a little bit of a, I'm gonna say a YouTube first focus. Is that. Am I not wrong about that? Do you love the video a little bit more?

Yeah. We put so much emphasis on it and there was so much buildup, you know, being audio for, I think we were 47 episodes in. And we always had this goal of to film it, you know, because we started out early. It was just friends and family sitting in a basement drinking beer and we were having recordings. You know, we started upgrading the mics. We started taking the equipment more seriously and the people said, well, hey, why not try, you know, like maybe that Joe Rogan approach and do the YouTube stuff. So we made an announcement pretty early on that, hey, we're going to go video in 2020. And we stuck to it. And when we rolled out to YouTube, the success was just. Trajectory was just skyrocketed. So we put a bunch of money into the equipment to do it properly and that aspect has really shined. And it was a huge roll of the dice for sure in podcasting, but it definitely has paid dividends.

I love that that's kind of a focus for you guys because I think it's really working for you because your show is long format. We don't often, you know, here on the binge factory we get a lot of business shows or you know, the more marketing ones, the shorter they are. So like, we don't get to talk about these long format shows and what it takes to sustain them. So, you know, really for you, when you set out to do it, did you realize you were going to doing this style or was it intentional from the beginning or is just that what it morphed into?

Well, really, we just wanted to capture our friendship. That was one of the main things. So that way when you're tuning in, you're listening in, you feel like you're part the crew, you're part of the circle, the best friend. That bond is what we really want to share with people. And it took about maybe three months of doing these audio recordings and we realized, okay, we're starting to develop a platform, so what do we want that to be? And so the mission statement was to include anybody and everybody from all walks of life. That way we're being open minded and then to be critical, accepting and loving. So if we can, you know, that's kind of a.

Wait, wait, wait, stop right there. Critical, accepting, and loving. Like, those are not the three things I would think you would put together on a typical BRO show, okay? Like, you know, to categorize you guys. So that's not the typical thing. So that's really a flip.

Yeah, it was important for us, you know, because like I had mentioned, we both come from music and had that idea of creating something that could create a movement, you know, something that's more powerful than oneself. And so by stamping it with the strong mission statement and preaching that every week, you know, that has helped us succeed.

And definitely when you start to factor in guests too, I think that's where that mission statement started to develop. Because, I mean, Arthur and I can sit down. We've done plenty of solos, you know, and our show has a very welcoming feel, like crack a beer. It's a bunch of guys sitting around, guys, gals, whoever's on the show. And once we started getting some guests in that maybe we were unfamiliar with, that was a transition point too, where that mission statement really applied.

Well, you know, I want to talk about that. Great guests and all of that. I want to talk about that in a few minutes when we get to our five things. But first, I really want to talk about what you guys have just touched on here because it's a. The audience hasn't heard your show yet, right? They don't know how you've created this DC PC community. Right? Like, you've given it, you know, as you said, you gave it a brand, you gave it a mission, and you gave it a brand and you use it. You reiterate it all the time. And you're creating a fan club and a base out there. And I think based on the way I can see the views on your YouTube, you're authentically getting them. It's of course, harder for us on the outside to see how well your show is doing. I know you guys sent me your stats, but, you know, it's hard for just the outside person to check out a podcast and know, hey, it's doing well. But I can see it very consistently your audience is tuning in week after week or YouTube, so they're likely really doing that for your podcast. So, you know, there's no question in the success build.

Yeah, I mean, it's just been a really slow grow and we like to coin a bunch of phrases here. So for any podcast that's getting started, you know, advice that Kevin and I were given in the beginning was you don't go into this expecting to make money. You gotta go into it to enjoy your time. You have to do it because you want to do it. And we thoroughly both enjoy showing up on Wednesdays. It's we have a blast. But that being said, to coin another phrase, we do a CQC and we feel like that's the recipe to success here and that's being consistent. So show up every single week. You know, consistent drops, we have good quality, that's good mics, good lighting, good switchboard, and then, and then the content, that's guests and just having good flowing conversations. So if we could do the CQC every week, then we feel like we could have some success.

Ah, you're speaking to, you know, speaking to my language right now. The audience has heard me say consistence, quality, like all of these things again and again. And that's some of the factors you guys have built in your show. And you're doing really, really well. I want to touch on the five things because I think we're going to hit onto some other features and things that you've put into your show that are just really interesting. And everyone's going to find them fascinating in the way that you do them. So you talked about using your mission statement to get to kind of screen your guests to really decide, are they worth it? Are they the right fit for what we're looking for? And you've gotten some unusual ones. I listened to an episode with Lewis Fox, 13 year local news person. She'd never done a podcast before, but she was a great guest, like amazingly good guest, which you would know because you probably seen her on the news and that's why you invited her. How do you guys go about finding great guests that meet your mission statement?

Yeah, it really changes every week. I mean, we have some Organic reach. You know, a lot of people will either find us on social media, they'll send us an email, hey, this is what I got going on. Can I come on your show? Other times, like Amy Lewis, like you mentioned, you know, a local news reporter, we wanted to get a local news person on here to just kind of picked her brain about what it looks like in our city of Denver. You know, we've kind of built this community here in Denver. And so, you know, we reached out to her organically. She agreed to come on the show. And you're right, it was her first podcast. We've had a lot of first timers come on our show because, you know, the Denver, Colorado scene right now is still kind of strictly audio only. So we're trying to brand like that, that video style that we talked about earlier. So it does vary week to week. As far as the guest acquisition goes, some of it's organic reach for us, and sometimes we'll send an email out to someone we want to talk to.

You know, I think your mission statement's really serving you well there because it's really helping you choose just the right people for you. I think that that's the key. Increasing listeners. This is what every podcaster wants out there. It's what every YouTuber wants out there too. Right? We want more viewers and more listeners. What are you doing that is creating this movement that's creating more referrals and more listeners and subscribers?

Yeah, that's a good question. Because it is. You're right. It's a very competitive market. There's so many podcasts out there. And early on we saw it was going to be difficult to, you know, obtain a lot of listeners weekly, and we just kind of ran with it. I mean, I remember when we got our first thousand downloads, it was celebration.

Oh, yeah, we were stoked. We're like, what thousand people listen to this?

Are you kidding me?

Yeah. And so at that moment, we're like, okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. You know, let's focus on the show. You know, we're not. We're never done. So, you know, I think a combination of social media and having the interactions of the show, having some, you know, I don't like to use the word high caliber guests, but I'll say in a way that maybe a guest that has a lot of followers themselves, that's really paid dividends too. You know, they'll share it on their social media and then it just kind of comes full circle. A little bit of advertising. We have, you know, thrown some pennies at advertising, you know, commercials and stuff like that. So all those combined, I think, are the rest for our growth.

And I just got one more thing to add on there would be that Kevin and I just both genuinely want to be ourselves. Like, we don't try to fake a personality on here. Like I mentioned earlier, we've talked about some of our struggles in life because that's important information to put out there. So we really do our best to be heartfelt and genuinely ourselves. And I feel like that also helps energy out to, you know, retaining listenership.

That's so great. Well, you guys produce a really professional show, but it's grown over time from your very early ones to now. And you were talking about added equipment and added things that you do. What do you do now? What do you think have been some of the keys to producing this show like a pro?

It's definitely going to come back to the equipment for sure. I mean, if you go back and listen to our pilot, episode one, it's absolutely horrible. It was recorded on a cell phone. You can barely hear what was going on. And it was by episode three, I think one of our friends said, look, if you guys are going to do this, you got to at least get.

It, because should we show the board?

And then of course, the board. I don't know if we'll be able to get a. Can we probably get a camera on that? Yeah. See, this is DCPC action right here. And so this board here that you're about to see is what runs our camera switcher.

Wow, that's quite fancy.

Yeah. So if we're going to describe to the listeners here, it's basically a channel switcher. So you have four HDMI inputs. All the microphones run through there. It's a simple board that really makes our job a little bit easier because we can switch cameras. Live action. It cuts down on the post edit and it looks kind of professional while we're doing it. So that piece of equipment there was the game changer to elevate the game of production.

Okay, so if you're watching my show on video, what you're seeing happens is that it's actually switching. So I have a view on zoom of both Art and Kevin just sitting side by side. Like it looks like your typical zoom view, but every time one of you speaks, it's switching automatically for you. You guys aren't manually hitting the button, right?

It's a manual switch.

Yeah.

So we do it on the fly manually.

It's live action.

Yeah.

So art, you're over there sneaking the button over there and highlighting.

Yeah, it's down here. I see also this thing, it auto equalizes the audio which helped post production. That took off so much time.

Oh, absolutely. Yeah.

So what's the board? Who made it?

I was just gonna say shout out to Roland. Roland equipment is fantastic stuff. Some of the best equipment in the podcasting game. I know there's a lot of other equipment out there, Roadmaster and stuff like that. But Roland has been holding it down for us since we got this board and it really makes production a lot easier.

It was worth it.

I love it. I love it. Well, thank you for sharing those revealing those tech secrets you got going on because it does look like magic. Right.

And we got soft lights hanging from the ceiling too, you know, gotta get the lighting right.

Yeah, I've gotta figure out my lighting because this morning it was like yellow, nasty looking. It looks great at this time of day, but I don't always record at this time of day. So I've gotta figure out lighting structure that is like all day long. You guys have like a nice little booth thing going on. So you got that control factor. I love it. You built this community. You've got your DCPC crowd, you got your fans. How are you encouraging engagement with them?

Yeah. So one of the things we do weekly on the show, just as an example, is a submissions for word of the week. Once we revealed that, that really started to get fun. Because if you listen to our show enough, I usually read off the word and it sounds like I know what it is, but I never know what it is. So I get stumped weekly and I think that kind of gives a little bit of a fun factor to. Okay, let's see if, you know, million dollar word we can send in this week. And then the would you rather segment, that's pretty fun too. We're going to start rolling out to it after it airs on our show. We're going to do Instagram polls, social media polls on what the viewers would take in that situation.

Yeah, that's going to be. So we haven't started that yet. So that's like new info.

Yep.

So tell us, what is the would you rather segment?

So I just, I try to tailor it to who the guest is and whatever their interests are and just ask them, would you rather. So I'll pull one from episode 103. So let's say what is this? Let's say a space colony exists on Mars. Would you rather continue to live on Earth or Live in the space colony. But it also. The space colony is substantial. Okay, I had to reread it. So it's a huge space colony. Would you go on Mars and live in this big space colony? It's like huge. Or would you stay on Earth? And it's just. Would you rather is like that.

So we're not going to be the solo man on Mars here. We're going to go. We're going to go live with other people. Got it? Yeah. I love that. That's great. You know, and as you're doing it, I'm starting to think what would my answer be? And I don't know. I don't want to. I might go a ready player to kind of answer but you know, send my consciousness but I'll stay on Earth, you know, who knows? But yeah, you could get some really fun answers. That's a great idea.

It's fun too because a lot of people that we interview, you know, for example, we had John Rinke from Tiger King Netflix and I think he was expecting for it to be strictly that. So when we throw like, would you rather scenarios at a guest that is used to being interview interviewed, very scripted and structured. When we can get those guests a little bit off kilter, maybe have a beer and ask them a wild question, we try to capture those fun moments, get them to open up a little bit. And that's a great way to do it.

Well, and I think what it does is it encourages that engagement in your audience. So now that he gave his answer, I want to give mine. And so it encourages them to make comments.

Exactly.

And then one other thing outside of the show is just constant promotion and trying to innovate with that. Kevin and I do a bunch of brainstorming conversations throughout the week. And so it's just putting out little promo clips or you know, we have like we went to a shooting range a couple months ago, so it was like DCPC gone shooting. And then.

Patreon.

Yeah, Patreon. And then also like some freestyles. Like we do freestyles in here for fun. So sometimes we'll record those and then drop a freestyle file. So it's giving people more than just the show. It gives a, you know, a piece of our friendship as well. And we put that out there to try to churn it and get that momentum built.

Well, you guys have some goals for your show. I mean, I would imagine you got a mission statement going. You've decided to go all in. You've got over a hundred episodes, you've got some Sponsors, do you have plans for monetization? Like, this isn't your day job, I'm assuming. So what are you going to do with this? And how are you going to monetize the show?

Yeah, the name of the game is for this to be our day job. We're definitely headed that way. That's the plan. The trajectory will hold through. So with the sponsorship acquisition, we landed them early, which was great. And they're local Colorado companies. We really support what they do, and they support us, too. So we got really fortunate early on in the game to build such great partnership. You know, it goes a long way in this business with sponsors that you can believe in. And on the backside of that with YouTube monetization, because we've met those requirements, YouTube does give us kickback on the revenue, you know, and it's all calculated on how long that individual viewer watches the show, things of that nature. There's a crazy algorithm that goes into it that two years in, we're still trying to get our hands around, but that's where we're at with the monetization piece.

Now, are you finding that your live red ads, which are, you know, really good because you guys are putting your own personalities into it, you've obviously, obviously gotten to know your sponsors. So this isn't just some random thing you're hawking. Right. Care about your sponsors, too. So do you find that they're doing well, that people are actually clicking through, you know, trying the links? Are they using your code?

Yeah, we've definitely seen some success and heard of success through our sponsors. You know, it's like anything else. There's waves, you know, it comes and goes. But definitely DCPC has helped grow the businesses that are involved with and spoke.

To about, well, sponsor us, certainly people that have been with us for a long time and weekly listeners, they're familiar with our sponsors. Right. They hear it every week. They've heard it 110 times at this point point. So it's kind of old news to them. So it's the newer viewers that we see is where some of the, you know, the kickback goes to these sponsors, being that one of our sponsors, an outdoor company located here in Colorado, doing trail hikes, stuff like that, it's kind of regionally based, whereas our other sponsorships nationwide. So it really just depends on, I think the newer viewers is where we see a lot of the sponsorship growth at this point, because our old viewers, you know, it's old news to them. They've heard this every week.

They've Tried it out. They're. They're good there. Yeah, exactly. So capitalizing on the New Year's. Well, do you have any idea that you might have binge listeners?

I mean. Yeah, one of our really good friend that actually Kevin met through his day job is Chris. And he came on our show once and he's like in his 70s, isn't he? He's very religious, you know, and not that that's a bad thing at all. He's a wonderful human being and it was interesting, his story. He listened to one or two and he's like, oh, that's really fun. I'm having a good time laughing, watching.

It's good.

And so what he actually did is he listened to him back from the most recent to like the oldest and then met in the middle.

So that's a really interesting way to listen. I love it.

Yeah, yeah, that's a good example for sure. We have a lot of people that, you know, message us each week and just give us their feedback. Okay, well, this guest was kind of, you know, this guest was great. I laughed at this part. There is a lot of loyal binge watchers of our show, which is fun because we like to do personalized shout outs, you know, during the show. Hey, you know, whoever, thanks for watching, thanks for submitting. We really try to capture the engagement piece as well and make everyone feel included that's contributed or watches our show weekly.

That's really great. Well, you know, this is at a time where I would psychoanalyze your show and give you a little bit of feedback on what I believe your binge factor is based on listening to thousands of shows. There are not as many that I have listened to in sort of your style. But what I can tell from that is that you guys have hit on a formula where unlike a lot of the hosts of those long form talk shows, the ones over a hundred minutes. Right, that's what we're talking about. You know, the 90 minute shows, that kind of thing. You guys are over an hour, pretty consistent consistently, but you also don't watch the clock. And I think that's kind of important too. But for those kind of long format shows, typically it's either the host harps on the same things again and again and again, they have such a tight viewpoint on the world, or we've heard their story a thousand times before and you guys drip out your story. So we get a little piece of Arthur and Kevin just every week. We get kind of little bits and pieces, little stories of things that we didn't hear before. And so we're getting into this sort of long tail. Like we're the friend that just joined you that just joined the group, and we want to catch up. So that's why we go back and binge on your show, because we want to get. We want to be in on the new jokes. We want to. We want to be in where everybody else is. And you've given us an opportunity to. Because you got this great catalog of shows where you've given us little bits and pieces of you all along the way. That's your bench factor.

Thank you. That's very. That's honorable. Like the. It's a great compliment.

Yeah, I would agree. That's good technical analysis coming from a professional like yourself, Tracy. I know you've done this a long time and you know the business, so, hey, we'll take it.

Well, I appreciate that. So you know your show. Where are you going to take it? What's next for you? Do you want to try some new things? Are you just going to just dive in deep and, you know, keep going for the next hundred?

Yeah, we'll split this one up. I'll start it here. So Kevin and I are ambitious and created the LLC for discussion Combustion Production recently. So Tongue Twister, if you haven't tried saying it a bunch of times. But we do have a couple podcasts that are interested in jumping on and using our services. And, you know, we invest the time and money into all the equipment and we would like to use it and help other people be successful, too.

Yeah. So growing the channel on the way a little bit, too. I mean, what that's going to look like, yet it's still very new. So to answer your question of where we're headed next, that's going to be. It is bringing some other shows under our umbrella, you know, and starting the DCPC Productions, you know, DCPC Studios and the YouTube channel as well. So that's going to be trial and error. You know, we might have to come back and talk about that on your show a year from now. We'll see how that pans out. But as far as our specific discussion Combustion Podcast goes, you can count on every Thursday, new episodes are gonna be uploaded and we're going to a thousand. I mean, who knows? Sky's the limit.

Yeah, we're doing it.

Well. I want to touch on the fact that you celebrated your hundredth episode and you really had a great celebration. You had a ton of guests in there, and I was listening to it, thinking that was a logistical Feat. And you guys said that that's exactly what it was. It was a lot more than you expected it to be. But I think it was really good that you did that celebration. It was really great for your audience and not just the two of you who deserve that. Tell us a little bit about that hundredth episode, about your plan for it and about how it came off.

We started talking about episode 100 somewhere in the 70s.

Oh, my gosh, Kevin. No, he was talking about episode 100 and episode 20.

You are planning.

No, no, you're good. Because he's right. I get very excited. I'm like a weasel. I just latch on. I want to keep going. And so 100 was always like, I can't wait. And we were looking at the calendar. Okay, if we do this week and this week, if we hit it right, it's going to be the first weekend in May. So we knew for a long time. So we started hyping people up. We had people flying from New Orleans. We had. But, you know, people around Denver, our closest friends and family, they were aware of it. Some couldn't make it, but a lot of them did. So, yeah, it was a logistical nightmare in the sense that obviously we were coming out of COVID times. We are in a big office building here, so we had to reserve the boardroom for them to sit in until their turn was to be on the show. And there was a lot of alcohol consumption. If you haven't seen that episode, there's a lot of alcohol consumption.

So how we really organized it was once we had all the confirmed RSVP's, then we made a list of, okay, we got to do them in twos because we can't run 12 different guests solo. Like, it's going to take too long. So we just, like, really thought about it. Okay, we'll give each pair of people 20 minutes. And then we wrote down the list, and we're like, okay, these two would go good with these two. Would go good with these two. And then we just, you know, told everybody show up at a certain time. Everyone was super patient and hung out. And then, you know, they just kept cycling through, and we had some food in there, you know, so it was a good time.

You know, I'm really shocked because listening to it, you certainly couldn't tell that the two that you paired up at any given time didn't really know that, you know, didn't know each other. Like, it was just so. They seemed like they were offended it. So you guys did a great job in planning that.

Oh, thanks. Yeah, that's good feedback. Because we didn't know how it was going to go, Tracy. It could have gone off the rails. We were prepared for it to go off the rails. So we even started at noon because usually we start late when we record. We're like, we can't be having too much inebriation. So let's dial it back to noon.

There was still enough on there.

Yeah, there was still more than enough. Yeah.

Well, I love it. Well, good for you. Because so often we don't celebrate our 100th episode enough. I think you guys are squeezing in just before I hit my hundredth episode, because I recorded my 100th as well on this show. Like, you know, because this is a spin off the binge factor is a spin off of feed your brand. So Feed your brand had a hundred before that, but this one I've just hit a hundred on. I've been planning it for months as well, actually, you know, or I should say my team has been planning it. I told them what I wanted, and then they've been planning the rest of it for me. But I did just record it. And, you know, it's so interesting because you kind of get into this mode of, like, what are you gonna do? And how are you gonna make it really special? And, you know, and how are you gonna make sure. Yeah. What's gonna be different about it? Right. But, you know, I'm not one to celebrate often enough because it's like my seventh show. Right. So it's like, like, okay, you know, yeah, I can hit a hundred. But you really should. And you guys did that well, so good for you. We'll celebrate the next hundred. Don't forget to keep celebrating them.

Oh, for sure. Yeah.

It's important.

I don't know what we're going to do for the next one just yet.

We'll brainstorm that soon it'll come together a new time. But you're right, I mean, to piggyback off that, it's important to celebrate, you know, milestone accomplishments, whether that's 10, 25, 50, 100 episodes, whatever you feel is giving you some value in return. And you're like, wow, I've really put a lot of time into this. It's worth taking a minute and just reflecting on it.

Absolutely. I'm going to piggyback off that just a slight bit. I always like to go into motivational stuff on dcpc, so I'm just going to do a little bit of that here. But too often people are so busy and keep Moving forward. And it's always the next goal. What's the next goal that we forget sometimes? To celebrate our successes. So to tie that back in, you know. Yes, absolutely. Celebrate your successes, you know, even if it's small successes throughout your day, you know, just give yourself a pat on the back. Everybody deserves to give themselves a pat on the back for sure.

Yeah. I had a coach that once said to me, tracy, it is not okay to have your celebration be setting your next goalpost. That's just not a celebration. Right, so. Well, good for you. I'm glad you're doing that. But let's talk about that sort of future goal post though, that you've set for yourself. So you're going to start this network. Have you thought about it? Because look, I've got a lot of listeners who are podcast hosts out there. Have you thought about the kind of shows you're looking for to bring under your umbrella?

Yeah, I think it's really going to be contingent on what their mission statement is and what they're trying to accomplish. Because I mean, as you know, this is a business where a lot of people want to get into it and they want to have a show produced and there's a huge market for this that. So it's kind of, you know, dialing it back to do we want to just take any show that we can get our hands on or do we really want to focus our attention on, you know, the consistent quality content and a strong message? You know, we don't want to take on something that maybe we don't agree with just. Just because it's going to line the pockets a little bit. We want to take on shows that we can get behind, you know, and trust these individuals and build a relationship. You know, we really value the relationships here at dcpc.

Yeah. Just like sponsors, we want to believe in what they do well.

And maybe that's the case too because, you know, if you've got sponsors going on, you need to have some synergy amongst them and some, you know, co quality requirements, things like that. You know, all that, you know, all the CQCs that you were talking about before. Right. You need to have them because your sponsors are going to expect them from the other shows in your network as well or you're not going to have the ability to monetize all of the network.

Absolutely, for sure.

Hit the nail on the head there.

Well, good. Well, if you're out there thinking I'm a good fit for that, go listen to the discussion Combustion show and check out what Art and Kevin are doing there, and you'll see all the really great things that they've combined together. And, you know, hey, if you're interested in starting a new podcast, I'd love for the two of you to give them some advice. If they haven't started yet. What's your best advice and what they should focus on first?

Well, I would honestly say do it because you want to, because it's something that's gonna make you feel good. Do something that you're passionate about. Because with this podcasting, we have a wonderful opportunity to create a platform on something that we're passionate about. And Kevin and I, we're passionate about our friendship. We're passionate about, you know, getting to know people. And that's what our podcast is basically about, is just an organic, organic conversation. So for any. Anybody new out there, if you're passionate about it and you have drive and energy behind that subject, then absolutely, go start.

Yep. And I'm going to echo off that for advice. You know, once you do release your show, don't overthink it, because that's, I think, one of the most common thing. When they first hear their voice back or they see themselves on camera or they maybe see a comment on social media that makes you feel uncomfortable, don't let that get you discouraged. You know, if you have found your niche, specific thing and whatever it is you want a podcast about, out run with it, you know, and put go like hell, as we like to say around here, you know, and really own it. And I think in due time, if you put it out there and give it, your best results will come. And don't get discouraged.

The long crawl, like, don't expect us to come in sprinting as fast as, like, you gotta be prepared for the tough weeks. Like, you gotta pull yourself and push yourself. Like it's not. To be consistent. The CQC show up every single week and bring a positive energy. Sometimes that's not easy to do. And so just be prepared for that long, that long, hard road, because it's not easy, especially if you want to be successful. And that's the thing, you know, do it because you're passionate and your passion will create success.

Well, I really hope that this is your day job very soon, both of you, you deserve that. And I'm looking forward to seeing the shows that you bring under your network and the guidance that you bring them as well. So good luck with everything in the future. Kind of check back in in a year. I think we definitely need to make that happen. Here.

Oh, for sure.

I think that sounds fun. And I'll tell. I know you're busy with everything that you do over there at the Binge Factor, Tracy and everything else, but, hey, maybe we can get you as a guest on discussion, but sit down, have a drink.

Yeah, uno.

I would love that. You know. Yeah, I got some family in Colorado. I can make it through Denver at some point. I don't see why not. I think that would be a lot of fun. I'll have to bring my husband with me and we'll do the co. Host. Co host show.

We got four mics.

We got four mics. Four cameras. Let's go.

Four mics. Next time you're in Denver. We'll schedule that.

We'll schedule that. I love it. Sounds like a lot of fun. Well, everyone, discussion combustion every Wednesday, right, guys?

So we record on Wednesdays. It drops on Thursdays.

Drops on Thursdays. Oh, wow, you guys are fast. You're getting it right out there then.

Yeah, we grind.

I love it. Well, Kevin Bastone, Arthur Ra, discussion combustion. Thank you so much for coming on the show and sharing with us your podcast success.

Yeah, thanks so much for having us race. This is a lot of fun. It's always fun to have the heat brought at us a little bit. Kind of, you know, kick our feet back and not have to worry about the hosting bit. So great time. Had a lot of fun.

Yeah, absolute pleasure and honor. You've had some great, great podcasts and awesome guests, and we're really honored to be, you know, part of that league now.

So, Kevin Batstone, Art Raw. They're doing something really great there and they've got a really nice rapport with each other. They've got totally different personalities going on. I think that's really playing into what's working for them. They are making it easy for their audience to love them and binge on them. They have got great format that they're feeling really comfortable in and they've got big plans like, this is just not. And this happen happens a lot. When I see these talk show style hosts, I always get kind of like, do I want to review them? Do I want to check them out? Do I want to invite them on the binge factor? What are we going to, you know, learn from them? Because very typically, they're set up in such a way that they just wing it and. Well, of course, they're not scripting their show here, but they've revealed, but they're not winging it. They have a plan, they have goals, they have a mission statement. They have things that they're working towards every single week on what they're doing with their show. This is serious for them. This is not a couple of guys in a basement deciding to turn the camera on. It might have been in its early days, but it's certainly not now. And it is really worth listening to and learning from. So that's why they've made it all the way to the Binge Factor here and getting to be featured and getting you to listen to all the great tips that they have. I love the tip on live ad reads. I love the video insights they gave us into the equipment and things that they're using. So definitely check out both the video, the audio and the blog for this episode. You could do that at the Binge Find.

As always. So thanks again for listening everyone. Go check out Discussion Combustion and check out the DCPC vibe that they've got going on. And don't forget that I'll be back next week with a totally different style podcast house. So thanks again for listening everyone. I'm Tracy Hazzard on the Binge Factor.

You've been listening Listening to the Binge Factor Podcast. For more information on podcasting and videocasting success tips and tactics, please go to thebingefactor.com and be sure to listen to our other show for podcasters called Feed you'd brand. If you'd like to be interviewed on this show as well as featured in Tracy's column, please go to thebingefactor.com guest and apply.

Sam.