How Do I Make the Paid to Play Podcast… Pay?

For six episodes of the Paid to Play Podcast I’ve been talking with people across town, across the country and across the globe about how they took what they loved to do and turned it into something that other people paid them to do. I’ve interviewed a writer, an actor, a painter, three musicians and three shop owners.

But I’ve not talked about myself that much – at least, not myself as someone who wants to get paid to play too.

See, until now, I’ve not thought that I really had anything to offer. I’m a writer, but my first actual fiction “product” is still a ways off and freelancing seems like diluting my passion instead of picking it.

And while I’ve toyed with the idea of monetising this blog, that requires a narrowness of focus that I really didn’t want to give it – not to mention that I didn’t feel as though there was a particular subject I wanted to focus on at the expense of just blogging about where my curiosity takes me.

Now, though, I reckon I have that product that I love to make – the interviews I’ve done and have yet to do. It seems high time, then, that I started developing a plan to turn the play of talking with people into pay.

But where do I start?

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Episode 6: Leigh Dall’Osto, Plan B Cafe

The common trend in career changes is people giving up their old job in order to focus on what they love to do. While opening and managing a cafe might seem about as far removed from politics as you can get, Leigh Dall’Osto opened Plan B Cafe in order to keep doing what she’s always wanted to do, even when political avenues closed on her – help bring the people in her community, the town of Edmonton (around fifteen kilometres south of Cairns), together.

In my second location recording, I had the chance to sit down with Leigh at her cafe and talk about just how a cafe can help people get to know others in their own town – and what some of the surprises along the way have been!

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Album cover for Level 2, by Miracle of Sound

Episode 5: Gavin Dunne, Miracle of Sound

I didn’t think I’d be able to say this with only four episodes of this podcast under my belt, but I am very pleased to be able to mark my guest for episode 5 off my wish list:

Gavin Dunne, Miracle of Sound. Image sourced from the Miracle of Sound profile on Last.FM

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present for your listening pleasure, Gavin Dunne, the one-man band known on the Internet as the Miracle of Sound!

Gavin sat down with me over Skype on Thursday evening, Ireland time (which translated to before sparrows, Cairns time) to talk about how he went from the frontman of a band that broke up on the verge of hitting it big to a full-time, self-employed musician with a dedicated fan base that stretches across the world!

Gav was a pleasure to chat with, and had plenty of stories and insights on what it takes to become your own personal success story in the Internet age. Plus it was fun to geek out with him about games toward the end! Listen and enjoy!

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Episode 4: Jeremy Judd, DJ and Street Artist

If there’s one guy who’s managed to strike the ideal balance of work life, home life and getting paid to play, it’s Jeremy Judd. This former Adelaidian and now Cairnsite is an active DJ, street artist, entertainment advertising sales executive and event manager, not to mention dad and smokin’ hot fiancé (just ask his lady Kay)!

I’ve been lucky enough to work with and get to know Jeremy for the past couple of years, and after scheduling issues and a bout of laziness on my part, I finally sit down with Jeremy on Skype to ask how he got to where he is and how he does it all now.

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Episode 3: Mal and Amy, KerSplatt! Comics & Collectables

I bring you two interviews for the price of one download; a great pair of interviews with Malcolm Semmens and Amy Milligan, owner-operators of KerSplatt! Comics and Collectables, Cairns’ only dedicated comic book store and fast becoming a second home for the geek population of Cairns!

Amy Milligan and Mal Semmens.

I ask Mal and Amy just how much work they’ve done to turn a random idea into an operating business, how they balance selling their hobby and indulging in it – and in what new ways opening and managing a shop can actually be fun!

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A Return to Old Playing and Getting Paid to Podcast

It’s been a good seven days here at the Realm. It’s been an upswing in both progress toward getting paid to play and, well, just playing.

On the play front, Cairns’ first dedicated comic book store opened on Thursday, May the 31st. By luck, I wound up the first person through the door of KerSplatt! Comics (I was on my morning break at work). Though I was planning on just browsing, I got on so well with owners and operators Mal and Amy that I couldn’t just walk right out again without something, which turned out to be Issue 515 of The Invincible Iron Man!

Since then, I’ve popped in with such frequency that Mal has joked about making me the store mascot! I’m suddenly having visions of the two guys down the other end of the bar in Cheers.

Though it’s still early days, the business seems to be keeping Mal and Amy pretty busy, with sales of Magic: The Gathering cards doing as well as the comics. Some visitors, though, have been asking about Dungeons & Dragons books, and while Mal and Amy are focusing on their core business right at the moment, it seems pretty likely that KerSplatt! could end up as Cairns’ first Friendly Local Game Store as well!

Which is an interesting piece of timing.

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Episode 2: Terry Serio, Actor and Musician

Content Warning: This episode of the Paid to Play Podcast contains high levels of Star-Struck Gushing.

See, the gent whom I had the privilege of interviewing for the second episode is Terry Serio, the hardest-working performer in Australia today. He’s been acting and making music since he was knee-high to a grasshopper, and I ask him just how he sustains his career in getting paid to play.

He also happens to be my second cousin, from the Perth branch of the family!

The answers turned into a half-hour long conversation, so grab yourself a cuppa and settle in for a great chat!

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Episode 1: Raymond Masters, Self-Published Author

After interviewing my web host, I realised that it was both pretty scary and heaps of fun – so naturally, I wanted to do it again! This episode, therefore, is the first of the newly-rechristened Paid to Play Podcast, where I talk with folks who are making money out of having fun.

Raymond Masters.

I’m quite proud to have as my first guest someone who’s getting paid to play the way I want to be – by writing superhero action novels. Raymond Masters has already completed and self-published Forging Truth (you can buy it both in paperback and as a Kindle e-book on Amazon) and is currently touring blogs across the globe to spread the word about both it and his next novel, Corrupting Truth. He has a Kickstarter campaign underway to fund his promotion of both books.

In this podcast, we get to to have a good geek-out, talking comic books, science fiction and TV in between finding out just how Ray gets paid to play.

GTRF! Episode 4: The Marcus Herstik Interview

In early 2012 I was playing with the idea of podcasting after a friend introduced me to LibriVox and recording public domain texts for the hard of hearing. I decided to start my own podcast, Get Talking, Rob Farquhar! (this was when robf.com.au was called, Get Writing, Rob Farquhar!) by reading my own work and the things I wanted to read – but then came Episode 4, and everything changed…

This time around I decided to try something different from reading a story: Conducting an interview. And who better to start with than the guy I pay the monthly ‘Net bill to?

Image by Marcus Herstik

In all seriousness, Marcus Herstik is not only the man behind the company that hosts this very site, he’s a self-employed digital entrepreneur who’s been taking these touch economic times in stride. Not only that, he’s one of the most solid cats I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. In this interview, I ask him about how he got to where he is today and what advice he’d give to people who are still trying to figure out their personal definitions of success (like me).

Marcus, thank you once again for your time, your willingness to be the subject of my first recorded interview and – well, for being so damn cool in general!

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