A True Crime, Real Detectives.
"Listen for what you like, but think more about the avatar you are after."
Today David Lyons, the creator of The Murder Police Podcast shares his story of true crime podcast.
► Tell us about you and your podcast
David is a former homicide detective and retired police commander with a great deal of experience in the world of death investigation. His wife Wendy, is a true crime fan in a huge way and represents the listening audience.
The Murder Police Podcast offers the stories of horrific crimes, as told by the professionals that actually work the investigations. Listeners will find the show interesting and educational, as the pros walk them through an investigation step-by-step.
Our audience is largely built on people that genuinely care about victims and the family and friends left behind, and want to know the truth about what it is like to investigate these cases and the real how and why of an investigation.
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
David is an avid podcast listener and that is what sparked the idea of jumping into the podcast world.
The goals of The Murder Police Podcast are to advocate for victims (so their names and stories are respectfully memorialized), educate the public in a world full of misleading information and give death investigation professionals an opportunity to speak to their passions.
The Murder Police podcast launched in September 2020. The first episodes dropped on day one were the results of months of research, equipping and learning audio engineering at a basic level.
► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
Our release schedule is set for every-other-Tuesday, but we often will release weekly if there is a mini-series coming out. Production in the long-term is weeks. In the short term, as for technically producing the episodes for audio and video, there is about three hours of post production for every hour the audience sees and hears.
Time can be a real challenge, as David travels around the country practically every week. Weekends usually are when the technical aspects are taken care of.
Costs are based on monthly platform expenses and minimal Facebook advertising, estimated at about $150 per month. This is funded through David's consulting and media company, David Lyons Communications LLC.
► What do you gain from podcasting?
Eventually will seek sponsorship, but want to be very stable in episode releases as a measure of good faith.
Podcasting fulfills a creative outlet for us, and as a hobby, we like to see if we can move the metrics up.
► How does your podcasting process look like?
For tools and hardware: Rode podcasting board and microphones, a portable Zoom recorder for travel, GCM video lighting system, GoPro cameras for YouTube and the Adobe Suite (Premiere Pro, Audition, Illustrator, Rush, Lightroom and After Effects).
Most guests are located through David's extensive law enforcement network.
Prepping is basically soliciting and scheduling the guest(s), drafting a show outline, recording and post production.
We try hard to interview in person (we can travel fully equipped) but use Riverside FM for remote.
► How do you market your show?
Due to our unique name, we have a strong index on internet searches, but most find us through word-of-mouth of other listeners. Most of the audience is found on Apple, but we are on virtually every other platform.
We stick mainly to Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, but tinker with others from time to time.
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
I would recommend that people do not rush. Do lots of research by listening to tons of other podcasts, both in and out of your target genre. Listen for what you like, but think more about the avatar you are after. For example, we really liked our intro music, but over time reduced it to a handful of bars so as not to lose the listener's interest.
Pay attention to audio quality! You do not have to spend a ton on equipment to not sound like you are in a bathroom; I think that drives people away.
Remember you are learning the whole time; this is a process of ongoing improvement. You will always be tuning your product up for the better as you learn, but that does not make your earlier work invalid.
Google and YouTube are perfect for the learning curve, but like medical opinions, don't jump on the first thing you see; check out multiple sources.
When we started Buzzsprout had an amazing tutorial that walked us through very well.
► Where can we learn more about you & your podcasts?
We are located at MurderPolicePodcast.com and at:
https://www.facebook.com/TrueCrimePolice/
https://www.instagram.com/murderpolicepodcast/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-murder-police-podcast/
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheMurderPolicePodcast