Dave Jackson, from the School of Podcasting, joins us today. He lives in Cleveland, OH, and specializes in helping people get started with podcasting. Dave puts himself out there, trying new things and bringing his perspective on them – being our guinea pig. His day job is teaching people Microsoft Office and other software, so it’s ingrained in him to try new things and teach them to others. You can reach him through his many podcasts:

• School of Podcasting
• Ask the Podcast Coach
• HowToPodcast.com
• Building a Better Dave
• Jillian Michaels Podcast
• Logical Weight Loss
• Marketing Musicians
• More Podcast Money
• Power of Podcasting
• Weekly Web Tools
• Feeding My Faith

Dave’s stories help to see how one area of life can have life lessons that transfer to other.

Dave lays out some of the beginning steps of starting a podcast:

• Why do you want to start a podcast? If you can’t explain the why, you’ll never make it through the how.
• Who do you want to listen? A good podcast will move people.

How does Dave define a quality of life?

• Stress-free. There’s so many things that can go wrong.
• Making connections: with family and with the world.

What is something simple that Dave is doing to work toward a better quality of life?

• Going through subscriptions (blogs, e-mail, etc.), and asking if you are actually using it.
• “Knowledge is power. But it is only power if you act on it.”
• “Is there something I’m getting from this information? Otherwise it’s just noise.”
• Setting expectations.
• What is the actual value in what you’re getting.

What is a failure or struggle that Dave had and learned from?

• He was a paperboy and eventually earned enough to buy a car. His car ended up sucking up all of his money.
• He was fired at a grocery store for being too shy. He went back to school and one of his teachers encouraged him: “Act the way you want to be, then someday you’ll be the way you act.”

Some resources Dave recommends:

• “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Steven Covey
• “First Things First” by Steven Covey
•  “Leave Nothing Undone” by Joshua W. Rivers

If you would like a chance to win a free month at the School of Podcasting, leave a comment below and answer the question (you have until January 27, 2014):

Why would you like to start a podcast? What would the podcast be about? Who would your audience be?