Paul Vogelzang Talks About "The'Not Old — Better Show" [Podcast]

Podcast #147 – Marc interviews career pivoter and podcaster Paul Vogelzang, on podcasting for a living over 60.

Description:

Paul Taylor Vogelzang is an award-winning blogger, podcaster, writer, and producer, known for his down-to-earth accessible reporting and advice for men and women in the fifty-plus age community. Paul was one of the founding editors of MommyCast and MommyCastLatina, the wildly popular, very first Momcast in audio and video, and he was its producer from 2004 to 2009. MommyCast has been featured in the Hollywood Reporter, Washingtonian, Businessweek, Variety, USAToday, and The Wall Street Journal, along with others. Paul’s current award-winning podcast, The Not Old — Better Show, launched in 2014. Paul continues to share vibrant, focused, entertaining content on the show and writes frequently about the subjects of fashion, grooming, entertainment, technology, and relationships for those in the fifty-plus age community.

Marc is asking for your financial support for the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Please donate at Glow.fm/repurposeyourcareer to support this Podcast.

Key Takeaways:

[1:33] Marc welcomes you to Episode 147 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast.

[1:46] If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with other like-minded souls. Subscribe on CareerPivot.com, iTunes, or any of the other apps that supply podcasts. Share it on social media or just tell your neighbors and colleagues. The more people Marc reaches, the more people he can help.

[2:04] Marc’s expenses to put this podcast on are about $400.00 a month. After nearly 150 episodes, Marc is grateful for his growing audience. It’s clear that the stories from experts and people like yourself on this podcast have had an impact. Marc needs help continuing to provide entertaining content, mindful of your time.

[2:48] Marc is asking for direct listener support. Marc asks you for a donation of $5.00 a month but you can contribute as much or as little as you like. Every penny counts.

[3:01] If the Repurpose Your Career podcast is a part of your week and you love what Marc is doing, please support the podcast today. Go to Glow.fm/repurposeyourcareer/ to give. This link will be at the top of the show notes at CareerPivot.com/episode-147.

[3:25] Repurpose Your Career, Third Edition, is now available! The book tour has launched. Marc had a great first week. There are almost 30 Amazon reviews. Marc will be in New Jersey, and Erie, Pennsylvania, the week of September 29th and D.C., the following week. Marc would love to meet his readers and listeners.

[3:54] Marc has four events planned for New Jersey and Pennsylvania and a meet-and-greet in D.C.. Please go to CareerPivot.com/launch to find out more.

[4:10] Marc has yet to decide on the subject of next week’s podcast episode will be. It will likely be an interview Marc had with Mark Anthony Dyson on The Voice of Jobseekers podcast, but depending on how things go, it could be something different.

Now on to the podcast…

[4:28] This week, Marc interviews Paul Vogelzang, a career pivoter who, after being laid off from one of the big tech giants in his late 50s, is now a successful podcaster. Paul has The Not Old — Better Show, on which Marc has guested, twice. Mar gives an introduction for Paul and welcomes him to the Repurpose Your Career podcast.

[6:24] Marc and Paul are fans of each others’ work. Paul has worked in the private sector, technology, healthcare technology, and in the government. His passion is in the area of communications. All along the way, he has held communications roles. Now, in his ‘second act,’ he is doing communications again.

[7:39] Paul is the host, editor, and ‘chief cook and bottle washer’ of The Not Old – Better Show. Paul is grateful for the chance to talk to many people and learn from guests that have done interesting things. Paul has always been excited about learning. Paul continues to do communications work for the federal government.

[8:27] Paul hosts podcasts for The Smithsonian, the National Institutes of Health, NASA, and has done some work for the Department of Defense.

[8:40] Paul’s work focuses on telling stories. Paul is passionate about helping other people share information about what they’ve done, how they’ve done it, and where they’re going.

[9:04] Paul is a multipotentialite. Marc is one, too. Marc has a blog post on multipotentialites. Marc has tended to change career areas every three years.

[9:51] Paul explains how he became a podcaster. In 2004, Paul was the producer of Mommycast, the very first mom podcast. Paul’s wife, Gretchen and her friend, Paige Heninger, the co-hosts.

[10:36] Paige and Gretchen had a lot of success telling stories to moms and families. They had a lot of wonderful guests. The podcast lasted about seven years. Paul worked, full-time in the federal government while he produced the podcast, part-time.

[11:11] Paul eventually moved into the private sector, working for a large technology company. Paul refuses to give them publicity here. He was laid off at age 58. He desperately needed to do a career pivot, to use Marc’s term. Paul decided he was going to continue to work in technology, in communications.

[12:08] The company that laid Paul off had a significant outplacement service. Paul went on close to 100 interviews but never was offered a position. Technology was booming in the D.C. area where Paul lives, but in 2015, no one was looking for workers with his experience.

[13:09] Paul had a lot of energy to put to work. He had a lot of interests and personal, career, and financial goals. He was not in a position to retire. He enjoys working and he needed to continue.

[13:39] Paul started writing on LinkedIn. Some of the things Paul was writing about his interview process got a lot of reactions. Paul would return optimistic from an interview with ‘a great young person’ and then hear nothing. So, he wrote about it. As his writing took off, he decided to return to podcasting, this time, as the host.

[14:58] He planned to talk to some of the people who had written back to him about their stories of applying for jobs and finding the technology sector was unusually harsh for those of us over the age of 55. Some of the stories were gut-wrenching. This is what Paul turned into The Not Old — Better Show.

[15:38] As Paul developed the show, he started talking to authors and to people in the entertainment sector. He did some occasional work for the federal government that led to some introductions to government agencies for which he now produces podcasts. It has been a circuitous path with a lot of support from others. He wants to give support.

[16:41] After more than four years, The Not Old — Better Show is doing great! Paul has had a lot of fun, and he has a lot more to do.

[16:58] As a former federal employee, Paul enjoys supporting government agencies tell really great stories with their podcasts. Paul shares how he worked with guest interviews on NASA’s story of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo Moon Shot. Most of Paul’s audience is of an age to appreciate these stories from the past.

[18:26] The Smithsonian offers programs throughout the United States, along with the National Park Service and others. Paul explains some of the work he does with experts, authors, scientists, and others about their work for the Smithsonian Institution. Paul believes those are really important stories.

[19:13] Paul talks about the podcasts he does for the National Institutes for Health and the National Institute on Aging, which are related to physical and mental fitness in the years over age 55.

[19:43] Paul posts his podcasts everywhere his audience is found. His podcasts are on Next Avenue, and podcast directories like iTunes and Google Play, Soundcloud, Mixcloud, and even Facebook and LinkedIn, depending on the topic of the show.

[21:15] Marc takes a moment to talk about the Career Pivot Membership Community, which continues to help the approximately 50 members who are participating in the beta phase of this project to grow and thrive.

[21:36] Marc shares a testimonial from Vickie: “The Career Pivot Community has been a strong support system for me, the past year. Having a sharp, supportive group with diverse career backgrounds and experience to use as a sounding board has been invaluable, particularly when I felt isolated and doing battle with negative self-talk.”

[21:59] Vickie continues: “Members provide a perspective that I would have never considered on my own in helping me move forward when I felt stuck or lost.”

[22:11] This is a paid membership community where Marc offers group coaching, special content, mastermind groups, branding sessions, and Slack channels. More importantly, it’s a community where you can seek help. Please go to Careerpivot.com/community to learn more.

[22:38] Paul reveals the secret to making money podcasting! He didn’t make money when he first started. Paul has been doing three shows a week for almost five years. He does video, as well. It has taken a long time to ramp up an audience, and enough topics and expertise of his own. He has improved his ability to interview and to tell stories.

[23:39] Paul has progressed with his podcast audience. Over the course of about two-and-a-half years, and mostly over the last year, with getting top-name guests to appear on the show, Paul has started to produce interest from potential advertisers.

[24:29] Paul works with healthcare companies, health insurance companies, and technology companies. The hurdle has been that advertising agencies are taking a while to “get” this audience in the second act of their lives. But those over 50 represent a large, affluent market that interests advertisers.

[26:15] Paul sells ads on the podcast. He has prepared a marketing document he sends to advertisers when they show an interest. When they get back to him they work out an advertising package.

[26:45] Some companies call Paul to do voiceover work for their brands. Some people have called him to do guest hosting of other podcasts, such as the Smithsonian podcast and the healthcare-oriented podcasts he hosts.

[27:10] Paul has had to be creative in terms of making money from the podcast. He gets income from a few different sources.

[27:45] Marc notes that the podcasting business has a very long tail. It takes a while. Marc guested on Paul’s show a couple of months ago. Paul has eight-to-ten times the downloads that Marc has. He is also two or three years ahead of Marc. Persistence is required.

[28:25] Because Paul is a former federal employee, which helped pave the way to get in the door for opportunities like hosting the Smithsonian and other agency podcasts. Paul knows the shorthand of government communications and he understands what the government can promote and what they cannot promote.

[29:16] Paul’s podcasts for the government are not selling books or products but are spreading awareness. Federal communications personnel have confidence that Paul will not step over a line but will represent them appropriately in a journalistic style with fact-checking and being prepared for his guests.

[30:29] Paul’s first story-telling work was for NASA. He was interested in the role of women at NASA after seeing Taraji P. Henson in Hidden Figures. He approached NASA to help them tell their story behind getting the motion picture made. Paul interviewed Taraji P. Henson and also the author of the book Hidden Figures, Margot Lee Shetterly.

[31:32] It took some patience to get in the door, some understanding of the environment within the federal government, and making sure the agency was comfortable with him so they could turn over bits and pieces of the story to Paul, confident that he would tell the story fairly and properly. It took persistence. It helps that Paul lives near downtown.

[32:36] When Paul approached NASA, they did not have a budget for promotion or advertising. When Paul offered to tell their story, it appealed to them and they were happy with the result. He was in the right place at the right time. Paul spends a lot of time editing the audio to be as good as possible technically. Marc talks about editing.

[34:35] Paul says there are going to be a lot more of our age group coming up.

[34:51] Marc hopes you enjoyed the episode. Paul is hitting a home run with his podcast. It is very difficult to make any money from podcasting. Paul has eight-to-ten times the downloads that Marc has, and he’s just now getting to the point where he has sponsors. Marc needs donations because he is a long way from getting sponsored.

[35:30] The Career Pivot Membership Community is a platform to provide both inspiration and practical help in creating changes in our lives and careers. It continues to help the approximately 50 members who are participating in the Beta phase of this project.

[35:39] This is a community where everyone is there to help everyone else.

[35:44] Marc is recruiting members for the next cohort. If you are interested in the endeavor and would like to be put on the waiting list, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community.

[35:58] Marc invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.com/in/mrmiller. Just include in the connection request that you listen to this podcast. You can look for Career Pivot on Facebook, LinkedIn, or @CareerPivot on Twitter.

[36:08] Please come back next week!