Mignon Fogarty (@MignonFogarty) is the founder of Quick and Dirty Tips, the multi-faceted publishing website that produces dozens of topic-specific podcasts based on several characters, the most famous of which is Grammar Girl.

Since creating the Grammar Girl Podcast, Mignon has authored 7 books, collected a host of podcasting awards, and recently assumed the Donald W. Reynolds Chair in Media Entrepreneurship at the University of Nevada Reno.

Our conversation follows Mignon’s origins in online business, how she leveraged her early podcast success and existing personal relationships to create a broader network, and how she still prefers to do certain production elements herself.

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Show Notes & Links

  • Mignon Fogarty is a professor — not a doctor — but her students call her by her first name
  • Britons will call Professors as such, whereas the Americans favour Doctor, when that’s available. e.g. Professor Alice Roberts (@DrAliceRoberts), a medical doctor and professor at the University of Birmingham

“There's a lot of power in networks”

—Mignon Fogarty

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“People write in different ways for different media.”

—Mignon Fogarty

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“What texting is, despite the fact that it involves the brute mechanics of something that we call writing, is fingered speech.”

—John McWhorter

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“The Internet is (still) mostly a written medium.”

—Prescott Perez-Fox

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Mignon Fogarty tells her story to Leo Laporte on Triangulation, episode 117

Tools

Techniques

  • Use the script from your podcast as a blog post
  • Use guest writers for narrow subject matters, especially if they have a PhD in that topic
  • Assign content and schedule shows about 6-7 weeks in advance
  • Edit your script for pronunciation — some things are hard to say out loud
  • Use Pinterest to promote a podcast
  • Set deadlines for yourself
  • Hire help to manage you (especially for writing)
  • Keep two separate phones for your separate social media accounts

Habits

  • Delegate, especially social media
  • Uses content from her books and newsletter for podcast content
  • Workout every morning, before lunch rather than first thing
  • Make sure to drink caffeine with lunch

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About the author: Prescott Perez-Fox

Prescott Perez-Fox is a graphic designer, brand developer, and educator with 18+ years experience in branding, packaging, graphic design, and web design. He runs The Busy Creator.

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