By: Kenneth E. Boone, Sr.
To quote the late television icon Jerry Springer, “Someone once said I had a face for radio and a voice for newspapers”. He seemed to overcome those deficiencies. I'd be happy if I were half as successful as he was doing this thing. Welcome to my podcast, “Much More to Say”. I'm your host Ken Boone. I start every day by taking my morning of medications. Six pills, to be exact. Three of them prescribed and the other three are of the over-the-counter kind. Then I take the most important drug of the day – my first cup of coffee, heavily caffeinated. After completely dosing myself up, I'm ready to jump into my day. While my musician friends physically and mentally limber up by playing and/or singing scales and arpeggios, I step up to my microphone and, for about five minutes, say the first thing that comes to mind. I pretend to be a radio host doing an opening monologue for my morning drive show. I happen to refer to my show as “My Daily Reaper Rant”. And what in the hell is that? Here's a sample of it: Good morning. It's Tuesday July 25, 2023. My name is Ken, and this is my Reaper Rant, brought to you by Reaper – my DAW of choice. This rant is sponsored by the Descant MMG Podcast Network and the Descant Music and Media Group. I then would have to deliver the unfortunate news that there would be no Android Video Rant nor a Reaper Vocal Booth Rant. In fact, it's been almost a year since I last did a video recording, and about six months since I've read and recorded a script in my vocal booth. Although the segments are imaginary, they serve a practical purpose. If you recall, Item #3 of my 2023 New Year's Resolutions was to get my voiceover side hustle up and running. I also resolved to create video content for my dormant YouTube channel. Those two things also appeared on my 2022 New Year's Resolution's list. Needless to say, they were not fulfilled. That is until now. Thanks to that burst of creative energy in me that's still active, I've made some changes to my vocal booth and will resume my practice of script reading. I'll start with weekly exercises and go from there. I don't want to bite off more than I can chew. As for the videos, that will require a little more preparation. There have been a ton of changes to YouTube since I last produced content. Instagram and TikToc weren't even in the mainstream back in the day. On a positive note, the technology to create video content is now more powerful as well as being simpler to understand and use. And no need to worry if you don't know what you're doing. There are literally thousands of how-to videos on, you guessed it, YouTube. So, if the technology is powerful and relatively easy to use, and instructions are plentiful, why do I need the extra preparation? That's simple – I don't want to reinvent the wheel, content-wise. And I need to learn how to make videos that are short and sweet, without my face appearing in them. I have a good friend who happens to be a videographer. He offered to shoot Celia and me free of charge. I would say yes, but he's also a helluva guitarist who will be my first call if I ever start recording again. That's where I'll take him up on his offer to provide free services. As far as finding the necessary content, I need to look no further than my weekly podcast, “Much More to Say”. I already write scripts for each episode. And when you combine that with the recorded audio, you're halfway to a completed 15-minute video! And to connect with a whole new audience using just my smartphone, I could create YouTube Shorts, that are videos up to 60 seconds long. But I think I'll put that off until I get the hang of the more traditional videos. As far my camera-shyness, there's no need to worry, because faceless videos are becoming more popular and are accepted by consumers. Making them does require a bit of imagination to keep the viewer's interest. But I think that I'm up to the challenge, with the help of my research partners, Google and YouTube. I'm keeping my millions of imaginary fans up to date on the latest developments regarding my voiceover hustle as well as the videos I'll be creating. I've actually posted three pretty crude videos taken from Season 6 of this show. Please don't look for them, because they are terrible. But I'll still keep posting since that's the surest way to get better. I may also create more polished videos based on content from my blog, perhaps the News & Notes section I plan on posting every fourth Friday of each month. Parting Shots Before I recorded the episode you're now listening to, I recorded “My Daily Reaper Rant”, right after I took my morning medications, including the type that is hot, liquid, and caffeinated. And since I gave you a peek behind the scenes to hear the rant's opening, it's only fair that I let you hear the ending: Thank you for allowing me in your homes this morning. Today's going to be a hot one, so stay cool, dry, and hydrated. And don't forget the sunscreen. You've got all the necessary tools you need to have a great day, keep your expectations low and your acceptance high, and make your mark on the world. There's nothing you can't do. This is Ken, and remember that “I love you all, one and all. Take care.” Today's Quote “If you hear a voice within you say, 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” Vincent Van Gogh – Artist
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By: Kenneth E. Boone
Albert Einstein once said this, “I have reached an age when, if someone tells me to wear socks, I don't have to.” He's becoming my human quote machine. I'm Ken Boone, and this is to my podcast, “Much More to Say”. Today marks three years since I received my first pension check and Social Security monthly benefit! Back in the day, when they were still only mailing out checks, you'd have to call your local Social Security office to make an appointment, pray someone would pick up, and hope you didn't have to wait an eternity for the first available opening. You would be asked to bring a stack of documents with you to prove who you are who you claim to be and if you are indeed eligible for the benefits you worked most of your adult life to get. After all of that, you would finally get a determination letter telling you what your monthly benefit would and when you would start receiving that benefit. Now, after a few clicks and keystrokes, you'd get a quick notification by email and from the USPS. The only mystery for me was which Wednesday in the month my benefit would hit my bank account via direct deposit. Applying for my pension was an even easier process. All it took was a couple of friendly phone calls and filling out some online forms. On July 1, 2020, after a two-week processing period, my monthly pension magically showed up in that same bank account! The end of my employee life didn't exactly go smoothly. I've talked about it in the past on a number of podcast episodes and in even more blog posts. In fact, you could say that I was obsessing over it. But why not once again, for old time's sake. Not counting my work with Pete and his record label, I had a freelance gig with a local nonprofit that provided services for businesses trying to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. While I applauded their work, it wasn't something that was in my wheelhouse. The bulk of my duties for them was the production of podcasts. I was contracted to provide 24 finished episodes in a one-year period. Initially, things were going fairly well until two catastrophes hit within a matter of weeks. The first was me being diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure, which led to my hospitalization. The second, and most disastrous was the COVID pandemic. The medical providers at Atrium University City Hospital and Sanger Heart and Vascular did a phenomenal job of reversing my CHF. My friends, family, and even a number of strangers sent up a lot of prayers that help a great deal. And I did my part by following the doctor's orders of medication, diet, and exercise. Dealing with COVID was more challenging. Not just for me but for the nonprofit I was working for. As their main funding main source got shaky, my client got a little desperate. They realized that they could be easily replaced by virtual means, such as the podcasts I produced. To stay relevant, the nonprofit swooped in and began to micro-managing me, telling me what to do and how to do my job. They never did that in the past. They also were getting a little sketchy on the deliverable schedule, even though we had a signed agreement in place. Maybe they thought that I would be so grateful to have a little piece of a job that I would just go along with their shenanigan. Or maybe I would just throw up my hands and quit. Then they would get to keep the funding earmarked for podcasting for themselves. While I found their behavior deplorable, I could understand their actions. I even considered it some sort of Karma payment for past wrongs I committed. That's why I didn't put up a fight. Celia and I ran the numbers and determined that we'd be better positioned financially if I just retired. And that's exactly what I did. I didn't terminate my contract in a huff. I simply wrote a polite but formal letter to the Executive Director letting her know that I would stop providing services to them effective June 30, 2020. I then spent the last few weeks doing the tasks that I felt like doing, while submitting timesheets with zero recorded hours. As I've said in the past, I hold get a resentment against the nonprofit. Instead, I express my sincere gratitude for all they've done to prepare me for this next chapter in my life. They gave me my break into the world of podcasting. I created a number of episodes for them that are still available on the Internet and paying me in the process. Who can hate on that? Parting Shots From July 1, 2020, until present, I've been enjoying life as a retiree. That's not to say that I'm sitting around doing nothing. In fact, I'm probably busier now that I've ever been. And I'm enjoying myself much more to boot. In addition to my Social Security and pension benefits, my Medicare benefits are provide me with a great quality of life. With zero co-pays on all of my medications, a $25 co-pay to see my cardiologist, and free gym membership, I'm living well on the cheap. As for the nonprofit I worked for before I retired, I'm glad to announce that they seem to be doing just fine. They picked up more funding, allowing them to hire more people and expand the services they offer. For some reason, I'm still on their mailing list which allows me to keep abreast of what they're doing. Just the other day, I got a LinkedIn request to connect with them. While flattered that I was asked, I ignored the request. Not out of anger, but because I don't wish to give them anymore of my time or space in my mind. I choose to wish them well, and root for them from afar. It's safer that way. Today's Quote “Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been.” David Bowie – Music Legend
By: Kenneth E. Boone, Sr.
Just when I finally began deleting episodes from my dead podcast, a funny thing happened. I found out that the show still has a pulse. Well, not the show itself. I'm Ken Boone, and this is to my podcast, “Much More to Say”. Between 2019 and 2020, I wrote a blog as a companion to my podcast, “From Grievance to Gratitude”. At the time, my podcast served as little more than a rant detailing all of the perceived slights I got while growing up. And after 45 episodes, I managed to get a lot of stuff off of my chest. As for the blog, I wrote 56 posts that were supposed to cover anything I missed in the episodes. But unfortunately, my ego got in the way. The blog posts took on a life of their own and ended up having little or nothing to do with the episodes thay were supposed to support. I retired my blog on June 22, 2020, and I published my last episode of that podcast on September 22, 2020. And while the podcast is resting in my archives, the blog was actually taking a three-year nap. If I had to grade the podcast, I would give it a D+, and that's on a curve against some pretty bad, horribly recorded shows in my competitive space. Today, I can admit that the podcast served as a platform for me to vamp on all of the slights and slanders I felt were tossed in my direction. It wasn't until I got everything off my my chest that I could move on from my past. On the other hand, I approached the blog with much more sobriety. The writing was much more objective, although I didn't miss an opportunity to take a swipe at some nameless villain from days of yore. And minus a few careless typos here and there, the posts were pretty well-written. Now that I've wasted a lot of your time, let me tell you how I'm going to wake up the old “Grievance” blog. They call it repurposing content, and they've created a cottage industry recycling old stuff into shiny new stuff. This is how it works. For a fee, these experts will teach you how to turn a blog into a podcast, or a podcast into a blog. While I applaud their efforts to educate us content creators who are just starting out, the rest of us can save our money. If you've produced as much content as I have, I would still encourage you to do the research and learn the what, why, and how. And if you're one of the literally thousand other people who have produced much more than me, don't let your expertise stop you from possibly learning more. Especially if the advise is free. If you already know what the experts are selling you, you're now playing with house money. What I mean by that is you're not taking in the information to learn something new. You're using their tried and true techniques to confirm what you already know. All I'm saying is why reinvent the wheel? I checked all of the open-source resources I could think of as a starting point. Then I looked into the people who specialize in content repurposing, but for a fee. You have to be cautious when dealing with the second group, because they tend to hold back vital information until you sign up with them. In the spirit of content recycling, I'm going to share with you what I learned about it. Most of it requires just a little common sense. And since I'm charging nothing for the information, please feel free to take notes. I trust my gut and feel my opinions are valid, I still like to do my research. Doing so allows me to determine if my ideas are aligned with conventional thought. As a person who cherishes his solitude, I don't want to spend too much time isolated. Before I start, I need to give a shout out to Amy Woods, owner of Content10x, for her valuable pointers. Her business is geared to the Business-to-Business space, but it can apply to the rest of us as well. To start, create your own blog. There are plenty of free websites that will be more than happy to host your blog. And there are literally thousands of YouTube videos that will show you what, when, why, and how to post. But be warned, blogging can be habit forming. Now that you've got your blog up and running, take the next step and create your podcast. This is the part when people quit, but I know you guys aren't quitters. You don't need to reinvent the wheel. Since you've already got your blog, you've got your content. And remember, content is King! But before you even think about podcasting, I suggest that you return to your trusty Google machine and ask it “how to create a podcast?”. You'll get millions of hits! But be careful, a large number of sources you find will try to drive you to businesses who will help you for a fee. Avoid those and stick with the free sources. And take your time with the research. Be thorough. Now that you've created your blog and know how to create a podcast, let's create a podcast. First, you'll have to decide what blog posts you want to repurpose into episodes. The easiest way to determine the ones to use is to search for the ones that get the most hits. They've clearly connected with your audience. I suggest that you choose the top 5 posts to get started with. With the how-to knowledge you've learned, and your selected blog posts, you're now ready to plan your podcast episode. The good news is, you have just about everything you need for a great podcast episode. The bad news is, you can’t just read the post aloud. That’s going to be a major turn off for your audience.We don’t write how we speak. Blog posts aren’t written to be read out loud. But there are ways you can stop them sounding wooden and/or robotic. And all you need are some basis editing skills. The approach you take is up to you. You could start with using bullet points to guide you as you talk about the topic aloud. By writing the original post, you already have a good understanding of what the content is about. Some podcasters prefer to storyboard their episodes. That works when you're not confident enough to rely on just bullet points and prefer not to write a full script. In that case, a storyboard is the happy medium that gives you enough information to guaranty that you hit all the main points in your episode. Think of storyboards as speech cards for when you deliver a presentation. Because my glibness sounded robotic, when I started, I used bullet points. They worked okay until I began to ad lib, which was disastrous. Storyboards were too time-consuming for me. So, for this podcast, I chose what was behind Door #3. I write scripts for all of my episodes. I call them “Show Notes” and post them on my website. They come in handy for followers who are hearing-impaired, as I learned when I produced podcasts for a nonprofit whose mission was to service the needs of the disabled. Now there are businesses out there who will transcribe your episodes for about $1 per minute of finished content, which is reasonable. But if you take the time to write a script, that expense is unnecessary. You've now reached the point of no return. Let's talk about your technical needs. Here, you can spend a lot or a little, depending on your needs and desires. I say, don't go crazy. You don't want to be left with a desk full of useless equipment if you realize after producing a couple of episodes that this isn't for you. If you have a computer, any computer, you already have the most expensive piece of gear you'll need. I'm sure you already have headphones. You can download free software, like Audacity, to record and edit your episodes. There are some things that you'll have to pay for. Shop around for the best deal on a podcast hosting service. I use Spreaker, which offers plans beginning at under $100 per year. There are plenty of other hosting platforms out there, so do your research. You'll need a microphone. A lot of podcasters use USB mics with great success. I would strongly discourage you from using the onboard mic on your computer. For this purpose, they suck! Or, you could always use your cellphone to record your episodes. But you'll have to really learn the equipment in order to get the audio quality just right. All that's left is to decide who will provide the voice for your episodes. I suggest that you provide your own vocals, even if you can't stand the sound of your own voice. Most people cringe at the sound of their voice, even professional voiceover actors. The good news is that the more you hear it, the less it will annoy you. Parting Shots This was just a primer on content creation, that I hope was enough to pique your interest. I didn't dive deeper into production elements like Intros, outros, midrolls, calls to action, and music. They are all very common in podcasts, but not essential for our purpose here. Many of you are already creating content. Just look at the number of social media posts you publish, with some of you posting multiple times per day. If if you're not writing your own posts, you're sharing posts written by others. A number of you listen to podcasts on a regular basis, and wonder if you can create one yourself. Guess what? You can. And after a not so steep learning curve, you'll be a podcaster in no time. As I mentioned earlier, I wrote 56 blog posts that accompanied my first podcast, “From Grievance to Gratitude”, that were well-received. If some of them are decent enough to repurpose into episodes of this show, there is almost a year's worth of episodes that I've already written. I know you guys out there are better than me. I read some of your posts, and I find them profound, funny, and well-written. So why not take the next logical step. You already have the content, just add your voice and you're good to go. No need to reinvent the wheel. Today's Quote “To invent you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.” Thomas A. Edison – American Inventor
By: Kenneth E. Boone, Sr.
I can't believe I'm about to say this. Welcome to Season 6 of my podcast, “Much More to Say”. I'm your host Ken Boone. I took a week off between the end of Season 5 and this episode. While I wanted to rest and relax, I just couldn't shut off my brain. But I do feel refreshed, and my battery is recharged. My blog is up and running, although I'm still tweaking here and there. I wouldn't be me if I could stop editing myself. And while writing the blog, I noticed that my website could use some sprucing up. But it wasn't all work. I took some time to celebrate my fifth year of retirement. It's quite the accomplishment to reach the stage in your life when all you have to do is wake up and you'll get paid. Not a fortune by any stretch. But let's just say that I can afford to order a pizza once in a while. So, now that I'm back, what's the plan for Season 6? Simply put, it's to get a lot more work done. Because after 85 episodes, there's still room for improvement, even though statistically, I'm doing better than most podcasters. I may not have the same number of downloads as others, but I'm not in it for the numbers. There's still plenty of room to maneuver in the podcast game. According to ListenNotes, there are currently approximately 3 to 4 million podcasts currently out there. Podcast.org suggests that the actual number is over 4 million podcasts. According to Amplifi and Podnews, 44% of the podcasts have less than 3 episodes! Only 720k podcasts have more than 10 episodes. And out of those 720k podcasts, only 156k are releasing a weekly episode. I did say that I'm not in it for the numbers, I can always change my mind. That's because according to Edison Research, more than 80 million people in the US are listening to podcasts on a weekly basis. That means that if I keep putting out content, I may actually stumble on an audience. So, I put it out there again – what's the plan for Season 6? Content, content, and even more content! Toward the end of Season 5, I found myself getting creatively very antsy. Creating a new blog barely scratched the surface. Updating the website got me closer to a sense of fulfillment, but not quite there. In the past, I would have tried to do something musical. Because I made my house more playable, I do have the space as well as toys to try, but I passed. I didn't exactly say “no”, just “not yet” with a strong learning toward “never”. That's because trying to do something musical would have probably left me feeling frustrated. It would not have brought me joy. My heart is just not in it. Since I've been deeply steeped in music for most of my life, as is Celia, I do need to have an outlet for all things melodic and lyrical. If you go to my website, you'll see my blog that contains a number of my posts with embedded YouTube videos of some of my favorite artists doing the unexpected. I'm having a lot of fun with those posts, and I hope you'll check them out. In the title of this episode, I suggested that I was coming back, and would be bringing some friends with me. I hope you'll grow to like them as much as I do. To make it easier for them to grow on you, I'll give you a small taste right now. If all goes according to plan, I should hit the 100-episode mark of this podcast on Wednesday, October 18, 2023! October also marks the fifth anniversary of the Descant MMG Podcast Network! To mark the occasions, I plan to do something really special. And what would be more fitting than to create another podcast? How about creating three more podcasts! That's right, I'm creating three new podcasts. I'll be calling this trilogy the “DMMG 1st Friday Podcasts”. The concept is simple – every first Friday of the month, I will publish a new episode from one of the three shows. That way, I won't overwhelm myself since I'm still publishing new weekly episodes of this show. On Friday, October 6th, I'll launch the first full episode of my new podcast, “Words That Encourage and Inspire”, based on the quotes, sayings, adages, and occasional Bible verses I've collected and use in many of my other podcasts and blog posts. Quotes have the power to encourage, inspire, and motivate someone when they're not feeling their best. Inspirational quotes can make us feel ready to take on anything life throws at us. They can be happy quotes or funny quotes that remind us to see the brighter side of life. I've published two trailers, or teasers, that are currently available anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts. The trailers are only about two minutes long but they will give you a taste of you can expect from the show. On Friday, November 3rd, I'll launch the first full episode of my new Music History podcast, “The Music That Moved Me”. I've also published a couple of trailers for this show, which are also available on your favorite podcast directories. This podcast isn't limited to sacred music, as you might expect from me. In it, I will share stories behind the record labels and individuals that inspired me on my journey through life, no matter the genre. I will also highlight the music they created that, in no small way, helped define music as we now know it. On Friday, December 1st, I will publish the third podcast of this trilogy. Because it is a Sports Documentary show, I think that this will be my most personal show yet. I'm in the process of writing scripts for a couple of trailers that I will publish within the next few weeks. This podcast will be dedicated to the underdogs, the longshots, and the comeback kids of the sports world. They are the true heroes, because when they proved the experts wrong who predicted that success was unlikely. We draw strength from these athletes. Parting Shots If you think that one, or more of these shows are for you, then I would appreciate it if you would Like, Subscribe, and Share with friends and family alike. As with my other podcasts, I will try to keep it brief and to the point. This podcast will continue on with weekly episodes into the foreseeable future. It is my testimony, the spoken word legacy I'm leaving for my wife, my son and my granddaughter. And now, it will be the shepherd for this new generation of podcasts brought to you by this network. So, take care, God Bless, and as always, thanks for dropping by. Today's Quote “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” - Socrates |
About the HostKenneth E. Boone, Sr. is a writer, podcaster, music lover, sports enthusiast, and retired accountant. Archives
May 2024
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