We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dusty Weis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dusty below.

Dusty, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

The term “flyover country” makes me bristle.

I come from an overlooked part of the USA that not everyone understands, particularly in the media industry.

Milwaukee, and more broadly the state of Wisconsin, are more often the butts of jokes than the objects of admiration. They certainly aren’t glamorized in the media.

And so, when I launched my podcast production company, Podcamp Media, I knew I wasn’t doing myself any favors by choosing the Upper Midwest instead of a more alluring locale like New York or L.A.

Like many Wisconsinites, I have a preference for substance over form. Practicality over flash.

But we also have a rich storytelling heritage in the Northwoods, a deep well of creativity that spans decades, and an appreciation for the hard-working people of Middle America.

I wanted to shout that out in naming my company.

And so I recalled some of my earliest, most formative storytelling experiences: sitting around the campfire with my family, fishing with my grandfather, exploring the woods with my fellow Scouts.

They all hearkened back to the abundant outdoors legacy we enjoy here.

When you “make camp,” you leave behind the extraneous comforts of the big city. Everything inconsequential falls away, and you’re left with the essentials.

That’s what we offer our clients at Podcamp Media. Nothing too flashy, nothing superfluous.

Just a passion for storytelling, the professional knowhow to stand out boldly from the crowd, and the experience to meet strategic objectives in today’s demanding content environment.

Kind of like a bootcamp for podcasts, I guess you could say. Plus, who doesn’t love a good pun?

Ergo, Podcamp Media. It just fits.

Dusty, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

At Podcamp Media, we produce high-quality podcasts on behalf of brands and associations.

Our clients are national and global brands who want to use podcasting as a tool to position themselves as thought leaders, expand top-of-funnel lead generation, create a pretext for B2B brand interaction, or add educational and informational value for their membership.

From our studio in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, we work with stakeholders across time zones to create content that is professional and polished. We also travel with our clients to trade shows, conventions and events to record podcasts in-person.

I founded this company in 2019, leveraging more than 20 years of experience in audio production and strategic communication.

I was 17 when I got my first job in radio. My career as a broadcast news reporter spanned the Wisconsin state capital, the national CBS Radio Network and Miami, Florida.

Then, I turned my passion for storytelling in a different direction. During my time managing strategic communication and thought leadership for one of the world’s largest trade associations, we launched a podcast on behalf of the brand.

Suddenly, I realized the power that on-demand audio had to drive results for brands, and that I had a unique skillset and perspective on how to deliver those services to clients.

It was my entrepreneurial “Ah-ha!” moment.

Since then, I’ve grown the business, I’ve built our podcast studio, and I’ve accumulated podcasting milestones.
I’ve recorded podcasts in the back of a U.S. Navy Blue Angels fighter jet, on the infield at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, and in a historic committee room at the U.S. Capitol.

Our work has earned accolades from Adweek, Forbes, PR Daily, the Webby Awards and the Podcast Academy.

But most importantly, we’ve continued to drive results for our growing portfolio of clients.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Perhaps it should surprise no one that, as a business that produces podcasts for clients who want to use them as B2B growth tools…

…Podcamp Media’s most potent growth tool has been… a podcast.

Lead Balloon is a podcast for marketing, public relations and branding professionals because, ultimately, these are the people who end up being our customers.

But when we launched Lead Balloon in January of 2020, there were already thousands of podcasts catering to this audience.

And that’s how I learned one of the most important tenets of the Podcamp Media approach: “Be original, or don’t bother.”

Rather than rehashing a format where a couple of SMEs discuss a marketing topic of the week, Lead Balloon uses narrative-style storytelling to explore notable campaigns, people and tactics from the industry’s history with the strategic communicators who were there, doing the work.

It’s been a rewarding storytelling experience, it’s taken us to some unexpected places, and it’s earned us some awards and recognition.

But ultimately, it turned heads by being original, built an audience, and is responsible for more than 75% of the business’s revenue today.

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

One of the biggest hurdles we face as a podcast production company is the notion that anybody can make a podcast.

And don’t get me wrong, that notion is not untrue. Anyone can make a podcast.

But not everyone can make a podcast well.

And to make a podcast that’s up to the standards of a global or national brand requires copious expertise, is incredibly time-consuming, and is not cheap.

The fact-of-the-matter is that, for every hour of finished product we produce, more than 60 hours of skilled post-production, editing and planning went into it… not to mention the equipment, software and infrastructure that it takes to support that work.

So prospective clients are often in for a bit of sticker shock when they request a quote from our podcast production team. At least once, I’ve heard the phrase, “Well I’ll just hire my nephew to do it!”

And at one point, I found myself managing a critical anchor client who, facing a leadership mandate to cut expenses, had sought a quote from a competing “podcast producer” who was willing to take on the project for 60% of the rate we charge.

Fortunately, the client’s project manager recognized it for what it was—a trap.

They trusted me enough to bring me into the process and help them parse the competing scope-of-work. Together, we identified the hidden pitfalls, the missing context and the out-of-scope services that would have derailed their project.

And, with management’s mandate to cut costs hanging over our heads, we retooled some work processes, right-sized the scope and identified some efficiencies that allowed us to continue to meet their needs.

It was a testament to the power of building meaningful relationships with your clients. Yes, we lost out on some revenue. But, more importantly, we maintained a contract with a long-term client who trusts us to do what’s in THEIR best interest when the chips are down.

And that’s the sort of relationship on which long-term business success is built.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.podcampmedia.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/podcampmedia/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodcampMedia
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dustyweis/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/dustyweis
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgwLVrYLO4z9_b4XjllgYBw