BY JOHN BILLINGER
A Fort Hays State University MBA student is sharing his passion for content creation with others through podcasting.
Colton Potts and his podcast “Dreamers” is devoted to interviewing up-and-coming content creators and sharing advice with other newcomers.
“I find and highlight artists who have a couple of hundred followers or 10,000 followers, and I do usually 30 minutes to an hour-long interview with them,” Potts said. “[Usually it’s] some form of artist whether it be musician, digital artist, 3D artist, make clothes, any kind of creative.”
Potts started on the path to “Dreamers” while editing someone else’s podcast.
“I edited several episodes of a friend’s podcast, and I kind of realized that it was something I could do myself,” he said. “I already had all the equipment, microphone, software, computer, everything I could need.”
Potts said he already knew how to do the basic edits and was proficient in the programs used to record a podcast when he drew inspiration to start “Dreamers.”
“ So, one day I was just driving home, and I just all of a sudden came up with the idea, came up with the name,” he said. “Then I commissioned someone to make a logo, started reaching out to people, and then a few months later the first episode was up.”
So far, Potts has done 17 episodes and hopes to do more on a bi-weekly basis. In each episode, Potts asks his guests how they got started being a creative, what they do, and how they got to the point in their podcast career.
“One of my favorite questions I like to ask is where the guest sees themself in the next five, maybe 10 years if everything went perfect in their dream situation,” Potts said.
One of the goals Potts wants to achieve with his podcast is to inspire and give advice to either becoming a content creator or to creators who are slowly on the rise.
“It’s definitely to encourage young artists, like middle schoolers or even if it’s like a 16-year-old that’s just starting to get more into art, but still not very confident,” he said. “I kind of hope that they can listen to the podcast and learn new techniques or how to get over a creative block.”
Content Creation isn’t as easy as it looks according to FHSU Associate Professor of Informatics, Stephen Schleicher, who also runs his own podcast company, MajorSpoilers.
“You need to have a weekly schedule. You have to be consistent, and have to be consistently good,” he said. “It’s a long road to success. It might be a year. It might be two years. It might be 10 years before you hit what might be considered successful.”
There has been a significant rise in content creators since the pandemic started. It is estimated by industry experts that over 50 million people across the world have become content creators.