A Paranormal comedy podcast where Elaine invites a guest to watch a strange documentary and talk about it on the show
"The best advice I can give is to listen to other podcasts and don't let the need for perfection hold you back."
Today Elaine Chaney, the creator of Wait, Whaaat Are You Watching!? shares her story of comedy podcast.
► Tell us about you and your podcast
My name is Elaine Chaney, producer and host of Wait Whaaat Are You Watching? I have a background in writing and public speaking (tour guide/comedian). I started podcasting in 2019 with Wait, Whaaat which ran for 3 years. In late 2021, after co-host Paula departed the show, I revamped the format of the show and renamed it Wait Whaaat Are You Watching where I invite guest co-hosts" every week to watch a strange paranormal documentary with me and then come back on the show to talk about it! My listeners are usually people who have an open mind, a great sense of humor and someone who loves documentaries and the paranormal.
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
I wanted to have a platform where I could talk about the topic I love the most - the paranormal/ufos and conspiracy theories. Podcasting seemed to be the natural place to start. I had just started listening to podcasts and I really enjoyed it and was inspired by podcasts such as My Favorite Murder. I had the idea to do a podcast in late 2018 and then released my first episode in Jan of 2019. In that time, I taught myself the ins and outs of editing (and you can see I didn't always succeed, some of the sound in the early episodes were atrocious) and put in a lot of research regarding marketing the podcast on social media and have grown a large following on Instagram and Tiktok.
► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
I release an episode every Friday and it takes me about a week to produce an episode from start to finish. After that, another day or two, to produce the social media content for it. I have to carve out time for the podcast as much as I can, so it's not unusual to see me sitting in my car after work for an hour or two working on TikToks or editing late at night after dinner. I spend a decent amount of money on the website, the store where I sell my merch, Zoom, etc etc - I fund about 85 percent of the podcast, the rest comes from sponsors, affiliate marketing, and ad money.
► What do you gain from podcasting?
I do take sponsorships - I've had two sponsorships thus far and with each one, I have negotiated the amount tailored to what they need. I've done a 60-sec ad for a product for $150.00. My first sponsorship reached out to me via email. At the time, I was getting about 750 downloads a month. I haven't actively reached out to sponsors as I've been working on building my youtube page. I would like to give future sponsors the option to advertise on both platforms. My downloads hover from 850 to 950 downloads a month. I'm looking to reach the goal of 2K downloads in the next year. Podcasting is my way of expressing myself creatively - it involves writing, storytelling, meeting interesting people and producing a fun, quality show from scratch. It checks all the creative boxes for me. Having a 'show' was something I always wanted when I was a kid, so in a lot of ways, podcasting is healing my inner child who wanted to express herself but didn't know how to do it nor had the platform to do it.
► How does your podcasting process look like?
I use social media and podcastguests.com to find my guest co-hosts. I don't have criteria on who I choose as a guest co-host - all I ask for in my guests is down to having some laughs and having an open mind. I take a lot of notes prior to the recording - notes on the documentary we are watching, I research the guest, I make sure to include their latest work into the episode and give them time to talk about it. I have 'segments' on the show but for the most part, it is unscripted. I want it to be a fun conversation between friends. I typically interview guests via Zoom, but I've done it live before. I have no preference.
► How do you market your show?
Listeners find my show through social media for the most part - I would say mostly from Instagram and Tiktok. Tiktok has really blown up since I opened it in 2020 - I am at 50K followers - but I think I will convert more followers to listeners on Instagram and TikTok.
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
The best advice I can give is to listen to other podcasts and don't let the need for perfection hold you back. As long as you are passionate about your topic, your listeners will pick up on that and will forgive minor audio or production glitches. The best podcasting resource for me is Youtube. If I have any production/audio/marketing questions, I always go to youtube!
► Where can we learn more about you & your podcasts?
Go to waitwhaaatpodcast.com and from there, you can listen to the show, follow me on social media, get the latest news on my blog, and check out my shop!