Feb. 20, 2026

458. If You Had $5,000, What Would You Fix First?

Show Notes

If someone handed you $5,000 to invest in your podcast tomorrow, where would it go? Better gear, paid ads, media training, or maybe something else entirely? While Marc is out, Ralph Estep Jr. takes the lead and guides this week’s listener mailbag as we wrestle with that exact question. We explore how to think about investing wisely, not just spending fast. From there, we briefly tackle how to prep for interviews without sounding scripted, and whether a pro setup really makes a difference when you are just starting your podcast journey. The theme running through it all is simple: growth comes from intention, not impulse. To close out the week, we share wins from inside our community and celebrate the progress happening behind the scenes.

Episode Highlights:

[02:09] Mailbag question one: If you had $5,000 to improve your podcast

[09:38] Overcast promotion deep dive and what the metrics actually tell you

[13:50] Bigger lesson: build skills and content before buying more tech

[16:34] Mailbag question two: interview prep without sounding scripted

[20:37] Using ChatGPT and Otter to build a run of show quickly

[27:50] Professional setup versus starting simple with strong audio

[32:16] Starting with your phone and building momentum

[34:02] Post-production tools like Adobe Enhance and Auphonic

[38:55] Audio first: clean source recording and expectations

[41:44] Wins of the week and community shoutouts

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