An automotive history and news show detailing the week's biggest industry events.
An automotive history and news show detailing the week's biggest industry events.
“It was crude at first, but it's one of those things you start to figure out as you go and it gets better and better and better. So short of it, just try!”
Today Brian Corey & Jordan Stead, the creators of The Drive History Podcast share their story of automotive podcast.
► Tell us about you and your podcast
Jordan and I have very similar backgrounds, having both grown up in the Pacific Northwest, attending the same university and working in media, primarily journalism and corporate storytelling. While we have quite a bit in common on the surface, we have vastly different tastes when it comes to cars, which makes for great banter.
We love hearing from listeners. We're finding out they're from all over and have a truly diverse interest in cars. We'll get questions from people asking about the newest BMWs to those who are interested in antique Chryslers. Our show covers a lot of ground in terms of automotive history, so there is something for every enthusiast to grasp on to, while learning about new facts, cars and industry people.
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
Jordan and I started this podcast for a simple reason, we love cars! I prefer them older, he likes them young, but we are both into driving, admiring and learning about cars of all eras and origins. After running www.automotivehistory.org for several years, I was ready to try a new medium, and podcasting opened the door to a new audience.
Since starting this podcast in February of 2024 we have dialed in our tech and expanded our episodes to include more contemporary topics and news. We collaborate well, ensuring we're both able to cover what we love. Jordan is great at taking a topic about vintage cars and relating it to his interests and vice versa.
► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
New episodes of The Drive History Podcast drop every Tuesday. We try to record one or two per week, depending on our schedule. For us, recording is just hanging out. We get to talk about cars, learn something new and make each other laugh.
► What do you gain from podcasting?
Our show is still in its infancy, but we're seeing rapid growth in terms of viewership. Right now we are focused on growing our subscriber list and then we will tackle the monetization side of things. It seems the latter will follow organically as the listens spike. Ultimately though, we are having fun learning a new medium and that's what is most important at the moment.
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► How does your podcasting process look like?
I made a small investment in a mixer and a couple of decent microphones, all from Rockville Audio. We paired that with Audacity and used a hosting service to distribute our podcast via RSS.
We're phasing in guest interviews and eyeing a few different methods to best do that, but it will likely involve something such as Riverside since we can't always be together with guests in person -- though that's always a plus when we can!
► How do you market your show?
Before the podcast, and currently still, I run This Day in Automotive History (www.facebook.com/automotivehistory), which has a 50,000 person following. Unfortunately, Facebook isn't too keen on organically sharing links and other media that takes you off their site. So while that's helpful, we've been pushing on all our personal social and word of mouth as well. We try to connect with automotive groups locally who may want to be featured.
So far we've been pushing on Spotify the most, just to grow in one place. However, we've seen a spike in listens on Apple. We also take the time to optimize our YouTube listings, knowing how important that channel is as an active search engine.
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
I thought about podcasting for a long, long time before diving in. It seemed scary, I thought I wouldn't sound good, I figured I wouldn't know how to distribute, you know, all these fears. But then I just jumped in. It was crude at first, but it's one of those things you start to figure out as you go and it gets better and better and better. So short of it, just try!
► Where can we learn more about you & your podcasts?
Be sure to check out www.automotivehistory.org for more automotive history. If you want to support via PayPal, hit us at thisdayinautomotivehistory@gmail.com or Venmo @automotivehistory. Thanks for tuning in!
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