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514- Considerations for podfading — some strategies to deal with it

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we repurpose a previous episode that deals with a review of many considerations for podfading. If you are experiencing some of the symptoms described in this audio episode, we deliver some strategies to deal with the beginnings of podfading and perhaps avoid it altogether.

As you will hear in this audio episode, the 35 minutes are spent with descriptions that lead us to consider podfading and then think about some strategies to either podfade in the right way or to deal with the thoughts of podfading and not do so because of a resurrection of the passion and the good environment that may exist for you.

We give some good examples of podcasters who have created other businesses and podcast networks and communities — such as Daniel J Lewis and his Podcasters Society. And we deal with situations where you may have a co-host — e.g., the No Agenda Show with Adam Curry and John C Dvorak.

We hope that this evergreen content can assist you in any way so that any possible thoughts of podfading (for whatever reason cited) can be dealt with in a positive manner that will help you overcome the environment that leads to this thinking, and then help you to steer your shows and your business in the right direction for you to become successful.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Daniel J Lewis and PodcastersSociety.com and noagendashow.com and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.

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513- Successful podcast path — content creator to thought leader

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we repurpose a prior episode — and we do this once every year at mid-year. The topic is a review of the steps needed to become a thought leader.

In this episode, we examine the four steps in the journey to becoming a successful content creator, especially for the podcaster. Does “success” mean making lots of money? Some of the “newbies” in the podosphere are making 7 figures, and there are a few who proudly proclaim their revenues and share them online.

But, no, that may not be the measure of success.

Does “success mean having enormous stats? Some of the “newbies” have gazillions of downloads, subscribers, sponsors, listens, views, audience numbers, etc.

But, no that may not be the measure of success.

According to a couple of key podcasters, the true meaning of success lies elsewhere in “thought leadership” — but also with the positive results both in stats and revenue streams.

This content for this episode was inspired by two podcasters, both who have had over 10 years of experience:

(1) Paul Colligan, podcaster of THE PODCAST REPORT; and

(2) Chris Brogan — podcaster, blogger, author and trainer, among many other things.

It was Paul Colligan who called myself a “luminary” several years ago in his podcast episode, when he described me.

It was also Chris Brogan who described the real measure of success monetarily, but also emphasized the importance of “thought leadership.”

Together, they inspired the description of the 4-step journey from podcaster to thought-leader (the latter being the real measure of success, in my humble opinion, as the other mentioned victories in the journey have either been preludes or learning-steps).

As you will hear in this audio episode, the four steps to becoming a “successful” CONTENT CREATOR are detailed and described as:

(1) Subject matter expert that develops into a true “luminary”;

(2) Solution-provider or problem-solver;

(3) Trusted advisor; and then,

(4) THOUGHT LEADER.

After listening to this episode, the rhetorical question for you is “where are you in this journey today, and what is your personal and business target in steps for your future?”

Here are some of the links from the cases-in-point and the resources mentioned in this audio episode:

– THE REFERRAL ENGINE, book by John Jantsch

 

– THE SPEED OF TRUST, book by Dr. Steven Covey

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=the+speed+of+trust+by+covey&tag=googhydr-20&index=stripbooks&hvadid=49856365105&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8732313814208953106&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_28xgmol8ct_b

– PAUL COLLIGAN, podcaster, author & blogger at www.thepodcastreport.com

– CHRIS BROGAN, author, trainer, blogger at www.chrisbrogan.com

– SCOTT JOHNSON, podcaster at www.computertutorflorida.com

– LON NAYLOR, screencaster and podcaster and blogger at  www.screencapturevideo.com

Copyright (c) 2015, Matrix Solutions Corporation. All rights reserved.

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512- Different types of -preneurs to start up a small business

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the various methods of having your podcast assist in starting a small business, but not as the typical entrepreneur. We focus on the different types of “-preneurs” today.

As you will hear in this audio episode (which has been repurposed from another episode), we focus on several types of small business entities — and one of them may suit you, especially if you are a new or aspiring podcaster, or want to become a professional podcaster that wants to create revenue streams for your podcast show in your business.

So whether you wish to become an entrepreneur (in the conventional definition), or whether circumstances have forced you to become a “necessity-preneur”; or whether your end of service in the military is appropriate for you to become a “vetrepreneur“; or your strong desires have you wish to become a “want-repreneur”; or whether you are wanting to become a present-day “hobby-preneur” who will later monetize the podcast and create a startup as a result — the field of podcasting may suit your needs and give you the ability to enter the world of startups and small businesses with a jump-start.

The image of the Vetrepreneur site is at:

102- Vetrepreneur

And there are courses that can help you from the ground up to create a startup. One mentioned in the audio podcast is the course from Stanford University called “How to start a startup” — which still has much evergreen content at:

https://www.classcentral.com/course/independent-how-to-start-a-startup-2572

So if you are an aspiring or new podcaster with thoughts of becoming a small business owner, we hope that you will find one of these “-preneurs” suitable for you as your entry into the world of entrepreneurship.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation . All rights reserved.

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549- Podcasting recognition for top podcast overseas

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the theme of Recognitions of excellence and quality in the international aspects of podcasting today.

In particular, we are highlighting this type of podcasting acclaim given to Matt Cox and his show, Brunch with the Brits. Matt also has a co-host named John Lingard, from Lincoln, UK, since both share the passion for BBC old-time radio content. Below is a photo of Matt Cox.

 

We came to discover this type of recognition in podcasting from an email that was sent to me from Matt (who, by the way, is my co-host from another podcast show that we deliver usually every week or two since 2018, called The 2030 Podcast.).

From Mark Anderson, the author of the note from Best Startup UK, here is the email that was sent to Matt that explains the subject of “Nominated as a Top  British Radio Podcast by Best Startup”:

“I hope your podcast is doing well. 

I’m just reaching out to let you know we mentioned your podcast in our article about british radio podcasts. I hope it drives some new listeners! 

The article can be found here: https://BestStartup.co.uk/?p=9356. 

Any shares or backlinks from press pages pages would be greatly appreciated! Backlinks help us rank for relevant keywords and drive more targeted traffic to your podcast long term.

If you want to get some promotion from our broader network and hopefully drive some more sales, you can post on your website a post for your blog titled something like “We Were Nominated as a Top  British Radio Podcast by Best Startup”. Send us a link to the post and we will share across our network! 

Thanks,
Best Startup Team

P.S. Feel to follow us on: Linkedin: Best Startup UK.”

So in this episode that is casual and unrehearsed, we discuss with Matt what this award means to him as a podcaster with over 13 years of podcasting experience, and what this exposure may do for him the near future, as well as the long haul.

We hope you enjoy this story of Matt’s type of “success” in getting this totally unsolicited recognition and response for his flagship podcast show of Brunch With The Brits.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com . All rights reserved.

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511- Some lessons podcasters can learn from D-Day

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we contemplate on some possible lessons learned from the experience of D-Day on June 6, 1944. And this is especially memorable, as this episode is being published the day before the 77th anniversary of Operation Overlord — i.e., the invasion of France in World War II (both the airborne and the sea-landing operations).

(1) You should not plan everything to the nth detail and not budge for any reason — as this may cause delay and unnecessary frustration of correcting the content over and over again. Some thoughts on this are:

  • Daniel J Lewis tried to edit his initial podcast episodes so that they would be absolutely perfect — but this led him to delay launching his show and posting episodes for over a year. This delay was really a negative blot on his history and it just slowed down his success.
  • If you fall for this type of negative situation, you would then be subject to the syndrome that Charlie “Tremendous” Jones (a sales and motivational speaker) calls the “Production to Perfection” model. If you have this type of situation, then you may NEVER get around to publishing your relevant content. Because the content can go stale, your edits may not become relevant and never be used. Why? Because you will be saying to yourself “Just one more tweak; oh, and another tweak…” and then your episode may never see the light of day, because perfection is something that does not really exist in our worlds.
  • In D-Day, the plans were so extensive that this military operation was the most detailed project in the history of the world (with a close second being the Apollo 11 project — the launch to the moon in 1969). But when the paratroopers landed in the flooded fields, and when the beaches were hit with the landing barges — then all the best laid plans of the allies were worthless. It was the initiative of the landing forces and the paratroopers that changed their plans to suit the new situation that saved the day for the Allies.
  • So, too, can your podcast shows be “just good enough” to publish, and then you can chalk up the learning that you have from your current episodes to improve the next episode and use that experience to help your workflow and practices become better. You will see that your audience will be understanding, especially if your show is new. Thus, get started when you feel it is appropriate — and NOT perfect — and publish your episodes. You don’t want to wallow in the podosphere aimlessly when your perfect planning seems to go wrong and you must adapt to the conditions of reality for getting your show off the ground and improving it for the next episode.

(2) You should be open for new and changed ideas, in spite of plans that have gone wrong, to continue your show with good content.

  • In D-Day, the American 4th Infantry Division landed on the wrong beach. Did this stop the advance? Not in the least. As the Assistant Division commander said on the beach when confronted with the possibility that the reinforcements may land on the correct beach and not the wrong beach: “The reinforcements will have to follow us, no matter where we go. We are starting the war from right here. Let’s go inland.” (dialogue taken from the book and the movie from Cornelius Ryan’s content of The Longest Day).
  • So, too, you can learn and adapt from the situations from which you learn when you are thrown into a new area that you did not plan for, and when you encounter new possibilities. You may end up telling yourself that this is where you start, and you can then incorporate new experiences into your workflow and content creation, content publication and content promotion and marketing.

And there are other instances where either serendipity or a rude awakening can ignite new and better ways for you to deal with the speed-bump or road-block that you may encounter in podcasting.

We hope that these lessons from D-Day can help you to adapt any potential derailment of your podcast plans and help shape them into a new workflow that will not only improve your podcast development and publication, but also help to make you a more successful podcaster.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation . All rights reserved.

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547- Ideas for preparing Podcast audits and interviews

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the themes of professional planning that can be recommended when preparing a podcast show and episodes as a professional podcaster.

These themes and topics come from a podcast episode by Adam Schaeuble of the podcast show called Podcasting Business School.

Now, although the main thread of this episode intended to be focused on sales for your podcast, there are lots of smaller gems of suggestions that are discussed, and which could be of value to you and your show.

Here, several topics are discussed in the first half of the episode:

  • What service for scheduling and its cost (as suggested by Adam);

  • What you should be asking for besides “name” and “email” when someone schedules with you for the first time (e.g., for an interview in a podcast show);

  • The key series of questions that Adam asks when he is doing a one- on-one meeting or interview, or in a discovery session;

  • What Adam sees other podcasters adding to their interview scheduling form that could be worth a try;

  • In the 2nd half of this episode, Adam does a “podcast audit” (which is a program promoted by Adam for newer podcasters);

  • And finally, Adam gives some ideas for dialing in on a niche and rebranding.

  • For this podcaster, I would suggest that a newer podcaster consume the content (especially the first half of the episode) so that some key questions may be given consideration and possibly should be asked in many instances — especially for interviews and preparation workflow.

Many times, experienced podcasters (such as Adam) have learned the hard way the skills that include what works best in situations for interviews, having guests on shows, themes and other general information that can be discovered within a “podcast audit” — but Adam is giving you these highlights for free.

And if you do this before launching many episodes or your main show, you may be able to prepare a good habit for your workflow (especially for podcast guests or interviews).

I, myself, learned the hard way in 2006 about interviews, preparation and planning for guesting in podcasting — mainly because there were almost no resources or experience that dealt with these topics. And so, we had to learn about it on our own and refine our own tasks to make our podcast episodes better for our guests and interviews.

We hope that you can find value in the suggestions for an “audit” that are given by Adam in this episode, and that the VALUE can be delivered in final form by having a great episode with your guests.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com . All rights reserved.

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510- When the thrill of podcasting is waning — some strategies

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we deliver a repurposed episode that has evergreen content for the podcaster — especially when either the times are tough, the environment for business has been stretched to the limit, and when lockdowns have seemed to permanently bruise your self-worth and your business.

So, when you feel the negative signs growing upon yourself and you feel that “the thrill is gone” from your podcasting experience, what are some new strategies that you may investigate in order to get rid of the “podcasting blues” and re-ignite your passion for podcasting and get you back on the road to a thrilling and fulfilling adventure into the podosphere?

In this audio episode, we discuss several strategies that can help you at the time when you most need it. But even if these negative feelings are not haunting you at this moment, you may wish to keep this episode around, so that you can reach out to these strategies if and when the time comes in the near future.

We hope that these high-level strategies mentioned can help you to get through a slump of negative feelings if and when they arise soon, and that you can get yourself back on the road to passionate podcasting about your topic. And if you are monetizing your podcast within your business, we hope that these can assist you in recovering your passion and increasing your business success.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation . All rights reserved.

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509- A eulogy for podcasting — but a bit too early

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss how your departure from podcasting and downsizing of your shows from several to just one or two may be a bit premature at the time you start to suffer from health complications due to age.

I, myself, a podcaster for the last 15 years, did feel that the world of health complications was crushing in on me and that I would have to exit from the podosphere. And so, in January of 2018, I wanted to give my listeners from the last 3 remaining podcast shows a type of eulogy that will signal my farewell (as at that time, I did feel that I was going downhill and would not recover to my previous level due to my conditions — both mental and physical, especially with the reactions to my complications resulting from exposure to Agent Orange from my experience in the Vietnam War as a combat infantryman).

So, at that time, I did present a type of eulogy to my listeners as I had just finished shutting down 5 of my then current shows. And today, I had withdrawn 15 of my shows, even though since 2018, I did add 2 more shows — and that is my situation today.

Now, besides physical health complications and aging, what other situations would force an avid podcaster to podfade his shows? Well, I know now that aging conditions that start with dementia and alzheimers (the symptoms, that is) can signify slipping into non-productive situations that may force me to podfade my shows and resign myself to treatment in the VA for PTSD, dementia and alzheimers for my injuries and wounds during my time in the service.

But at this time, I have grown much stronger since the time that I recorded my eulogy in audio for my listeners in the podosphere. And because of this, I feel that I am still going strong in the world of podcasting — and this proves that podcasting is a great way to recover from declining weakness from health and other family medical situations, even though the cause of my health situations was 50 years ago.

And so, I wanted to give you in this audio player the six-minute audio episode of this podcast series (episode 95), so that you can hear what a eulogy from podcasting would be like — and you can understand that it was premature.

So I am in recovery and still feeling strong to podcast my episodes and see that my shows are growing with great numbers of listeners and followers. In fact, I have reached a new high for listeners to another podcast show (2030podcast.com) due to the value that others have received — and from their posting not only great reviews, but also republishing episodes in a worldwide stream that has grown my audience of listeners by many thousands.

Thus, I am living proof that age is just a number, but your mental attitude and strength to continue podcasting for passion is most important to overcome both ageism and some of the mental and physical “speed bumps” with declining health.

And for this, I am grateful to my audience, my listeners, my producers and to both Adam Curry and John C Dvorak of the show No Agenda for keeping me sane through all the craziness of 2020. I also thank Sir Ryan Bemrose and Darren O’Neill of the Grumpy old Bens show — especially for promoting my podcast episodes on the noagendastream.com worldwide stream.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation . All rights reserved.

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531- Podcasting growth — over 2 million podcast shows

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the news that podcasting had reached a milestone months earlier — which is more than 2 million shows in April, 2021. This is important for each podcaster — but this can be a double-edged sword. In addition to going more mainstream, this can be a dilemma for a podcaster, because now it becomes very difficult to be known in the podosphere, as well as getting more listeners in audio for your show.

This was discussed in an April, 2021 email from Ben Krueger of cashflowpodcasting.com to his email list, in which he titled the content “This month in podcasting.”

In summary, Ben wrote:

“Hi friends, 
This month the podcast industry reached a new exciting milestone by officially hitting 2 million shows on Apple Podcasts, according to Podcast Industry Insights courtesy of Daniel J. Lewis. This means that after a decade of audience growth, podcasting remains an extremely appealing and ever-growing advertising platform for your business. 

As the industry becomes increasingly more mainstream, this platform gives you an opportunity to connect with your audience on a more personal level, therefore allowing for more trust and commitment to your company, product, or brand. While your followers may otherwise feel overwhelmed with visual inputs or marketing tactics, this will give you the upper hand.

So how can you continue to show up for your audience in a way that provides them with enough valuable content that they want to keep coming back for more and share with their loved ones? Here are a few of our tips:

  • Engage with your audience. Be responsive. Let your listeners know you’re there for them. Try to make it as easy as possible for them to provide feedback, ask questions, or make topic recommendations.

  • Write top-notch show notes. For some of you, this might be a new venture as you start your podcast. Copywriting can be daunting and overwhelming. We suggest including a brief summary of the episode, top takeaways, links and resources mentioned, guest bios, and of course ending with a call-to-action. If this seems a little too stressful for you to attempt on your own, we also provide this as a service to our clients. You can learn more here.

  • Provide good quality audio. Try to minimize background noise and avoid raising or lowering your voice too much as you speak. Recording in a padded or smaller room often helps. We also recommend using a pop filter to remove plosives and making sure the level on your microphone is not too “hot.” Again, if you have questions, please let us know. We are happy to help! …

Some of you may be aware that Libsyn recently launched the 5th version of their publishing interface to their Beta community. It appears they officially launched it as a public beta on March 30th. You can take a sneak peak at what the new layout will look like HERE. This is what they stated in their recent email:

“ ‘This means that at this time new customers will initially be directed to the new interface at five.libsyn.com after account creation. All customers will be able to switch back and forth between the current interface and Libsyn 5 via available dashboard links. Remember Libsyn 5 is still in Beta, so there are features that may be in your current workflow that are not in Libsyn 5. They are coming and so many other good things. The new updated interface is available to libsyn.com customers and is not available for LibsynPRO customers at this time.’ ”

Ben Krueger

And, of course, Ben will update the status of Libsyn5 to his email list subscribers — and we will forward the news to you via this podcast show.

As we have stated several times in this podcast series, we respect Ben and his contributions to the podosphere, in not only educating aspiring podcasters or those who wish to make their shows better, but also for delivering many times free contributions in the form of pdf files and other content that are genuinely gold nuggets that aid recently published podcasters to improve their show.

But for the podcaster, the other side of the good news for the podosphere is that now, aspiring and current podcasters must create realistic strategies that will attract even more listeners and have them subscribe (or “follow” as the new term emerges from Apple) your own podcast shows, so that you may engage with your audience (as Ben suggests) with good audio and excellent show notes.

So we hope that you can put together some strategies that will help you to improve your show and generate the kind of listener growth that you will prefer and enjoy, and that your show will not only be popular — but with suggestions from podcasters like Ben, you can also then be successful in your strategies and action items to monetize your show in your business.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Ben Krueger of cashflowpodcasting.com and Daniel J Lewis of theaudacitytopodcast.com and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.

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544- Different monetization strategy with premium content in Podcasting

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss a relatively different strategy for monetization via a membership, with additional feedback and additional content where the chief objective seems to be more than just money or financial success.

The podcast from Evo Terra called Podcast Pontifications announced that they would have a membership of those who signed up for donating to the show via the buymeacoffee.com/evoterra .

 

How is this slightly different to the usual donation by other podcasters requesting money from buymeacoffee.com?

In this case, Evo will still continue to deliver FREE content on his main show of PodcastPontifications.com. However, instead of donating a one-time delivery of $5 for a cup of coffee, he is now welcoming his listeners to become a MEMBER of his coffee-club. In this way, he has set aside a premium podcast aspect of his show for those who will purchase a yearly donation to his membership system. And then, he will offer additional content to those who sign up for this membership.

Well, for this podcaster, since I have always followed Evo (even though I may not agree with him on various topics he brings up — but I still respect his right to pontificate his thoughts on his show, and I listen to him with an open mind on all things — even though I understand his point of view but reserve my right to disagree due to my own critical thinking). Thus, I signed up for this membership and waited to see what type of additional content and additional deliverables would be coming to the “members.”

The answer started to come in almost immediately. I received an email from Evo  not only with his gratitude for signing up, but also with his brainstorming ideas as what type of content would be great for the membership, based on their feedback. So I looked at what he had conceived and I quickly sent an email reply back with MY OWN VALUE-BASED ideas of additional content or follow-up actions for members that Evo could deliver.

The reply from Evo was almost immediate. And I saw that he was offering different ideas, based on feedback from myself and others who joined the membership.  And I responded with an email that thanked him for his planning, and I said that his ideas seemed good enough for me. And to this day, I am waiting to see what the results will be, for I know that Evo does deliver to his audience — especially when he is able to monetize the podcast and its infrastructure for his audience to provide more VALUE.

Now, will this be a trend for other podcasters to do so?

Or, will the podcasting community go along more with Adam Curry’s “value-for-value” model in his show No Agenda with John C Dvorak  (which is also being used by Ryan Bemrose and Darren O’Neill of the Grumpy Old Bens podcast (as well as other podcasts on the noagendastream.com)?

The answer is that time will tell to see which strategy will be adopted by other podcasters (or perhaps there will be NEWER strategies that will be implemented — and how successful they will be). I will be anticipating for that. And I also plan to report on the strategy from Evo and my opinion of the deliverables that will be sent to myself and others in this new “coffee-premium” audience.

So, if you wish to join a “coffee-premium” program, then you may want to listen to the podcast show PodcastPontifications.com with Evo Terra and decide if you want to join. Or you may listen to other shows on the noagendastream that are implementing a “value-for-value” strategy to see if you may want to go that route — or you may want to plan out, contemplate about, and START YOUR OWN VALUE-BASED premium program.

We hope that you will become successful in whichever way you decide to monetize your show and deliver even more VALUE to your audience for your own show’s success.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Evo Terra and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.