Fabrício Masiero is a senior iOS developer at X-Team. In his spare time, he's the host of a podcast called Programando para Maçã Cast (find it on Spotify or Apple Podcasts). I spoke with Fabrício to understand why he started his podcast, what gear he uses, and how he reaches out to the people he wants on his podcast.
Hi Fabrício, thank you for your time. How did you get into podcasting?
I've always enjoyed talking about technology. In Brazil, where I live, there aren't that many podcasts that talk about tech and mobile development. Combine that with the fact that I love teaching and you get to the reason why I started my podcast.
Given that you talk about tech & mobile, how do you get the people you want on the podcast?
I tend to have a lot of friends in the business. I tell them about my podcast and see if anyone wants to participate. The episode I'm currently working on is about working in another country. So we'll have a developer who went from Brazil to Japan, one who went from Brazil to Germany, and another who came from Ireland to Brazil.
They're all colleagues, and they'll all talk about their experience and what it's like to work in another country. It's how I try to create an engaging podcast episode: with relevant topics and differentiated content.
It's interesting that you have multiple people on your podcast. Why did you decide on multiple people per episode instead of just one guest?
I decided to have several people on because I believe that a topic becomes much more interesting when there are at least three different opinions (or at least three people talking about it).
For example, in my last episode, we talked about a topic I didn't know much about. So I'd ask the questions while the three people I'd invited would discuss. That way, it's informative both for me and the listeners.
I tend to work together with all the participants beforehand too. I write out an agenda and send it to them. We don't always follow the agenda to the letter, of course, but it's there nonetheless.
That makes sense. How do you market your podcast? Any particular channels that work better than others?
Anchor.fm, owned by Spotify, is one of the best platforms. It's an all-in-one platform that lets you record audio, distribute it, and even monetize your podcast. It's quite simple to set up, you just need to follow the steps on their website. It puts your episodes on all possible platforms (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Google Podcasts, etc.).
I also put an ad into my podcast episodes. It's an ad for the Anchor platform itself, and it pays $15 click per mille (CPM). This means I get $15 for every 1,000 listens on any of the podcast platforms.
What gear do you use for your podcasts?
Before I started my podcast, I tried to understand what my needs were as a listener. I realized there were two main ones:
- Good production and sound quality.
- Interesting topics.
So I looked for gear that would give me great sound quality without having to immediately invest a lot of money. Currently, I use the BM-800 microphone (condenser mic). It's a white-label mic from China that's very cheap and a good way to have good sound quality without costing too much money.
Then I configured some bots on my Discord server that would record the participants' audio on separate tracks. This makes editing a lot easier. I also like to put some background music on Discord, so the participants feel more comfortable. Preferably lo-fi music without copyright.
After I record an episode, I edit everything in GarageBand (a free app on macOS). Finally, I publish the podcast on Anchor.
How often do you publish a new episode?
I publish a new episode every fifteen days, usually on Monday 10 AM my time.
What's your best advice to someone who wants to start a podcast, but hasn’t yet?
Just start, both for yourself and to help other people. It's always good to know that someone is listening to your podcast and learning something that's really rewarding for them. That's a big return on a small investment.
Additionally, you'll learn how to engage a community and improve your communication skills. Think about your favorite topics, learn some audio editing, and get started!
Best of luck with your podcast! To our readers, tune in to Fabrício's podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.