This is the second post of the series Meet the Podcaster. I chat with great hosts to get insights on how they run their shows. This time it's Madalyn's turn. Enjoy!

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I'm Madalyn Sklar, Social Media Coach and Consultant, Twitter chat host and Podcaster. I'm a practitioner and love teaching people what I learn whether it's a new app, an interesting social media site or a new feature on Twitter. I'm also a community builder and connector. I got my start as an entrepreneur in 1996 with the launch of my own web design company. In that same month I started an online community to promote, support and empower female musicians. I've evolved tremendously over the years. These days my passion is podcasting. I'm the host of the #TwitterSmarter podcast and I co-host the brand new Communities That Convert podcast.

I've always been an early adopter to tech and fell in love with social media when Myspace first emerged. I saw the power of using this medium to connect people. As social media evolved, Twitter caught my eye. I love the simplicity of it. 140 characters fit my style. It took me about a year to figure out what to do with Twitter. In 2009 I decided to go all in and consistently spend time every day connecting with people. I immediately saw the power of what this platform could do for my career. It was a game changer.

Podcasting has been an incredible way for me to connect with people interested in my message. I launched the #TwitterSmarter podcast in 2015. In each episode I bring in top social media marketers, asking them to share their best Twitter tips. At the time there were no podcasts devoted to Twitter marketing. I've never shied away from being the first to try something new. You'll either benefit big or fail miserably. In this case, I benefited big time! I watched my community grow exponentially in a very short period of time. I use the #TwitterSmarter hashtag for both my podcast and also a Twitter chat that I started two months after the launch. These days I'm well known as the "Twitter gal" in the social media community which has led me to being a guest on numerous podcasts and Twitter chats. I've been invited to speak and share my Twitter marketing knowledge at high profile conferences and events. All of this have lead to much higher sales in my business.

I'm old school so the first thing I'm going to do is jot down the message on a Post-it note or two. I'll then write up a post either in my blog or on Facebook. And I'll definitely tweet it out. But I'm starting to catch myself thinking about recording these messages in audio format and sharing it as a podcast. My podcast is normally a Q&A with a guest. I've stuck to this format for the past two years. But I remind myself it's my podcast and there is no rulebook that says, "this is how you podcast." I make the rules. I have a recent episode where I ranted about some new changes to Twitter. My goal is to do more of these and break my own rules!

I have a Heil PR-40 microphone, a Blue Icicle XLR to USB converter, a Samson spider shock mount, a BSW pop filter and a Heil microphone boom. I started podcasting in 2013 and decided to use the same gear as the top broadcasters at that time - Pat Flynn, John Lee Dumas, Michael Hyatt and Michael Stelzner. They're the ones I looked up to. They sounded incredible in my earbuds. I wanted the same gear so I decided to invest in it. And I will say, it was worth every penny.

I love Podrover! And I'm not just saying that. It's been an incredible tool helping me stay on top of every review. When I first signed up, I found out I had a bunch of reviews from the UK that I didn't know about. I love the features and updates. I have to mention another tool I can't live without: Zencastr. It's an awesome tool for recording my audio podcast. What I love best is after recording, it automatically sends the files to my Dropbox.

I think a great podcast has a passionate host, knowledgable guests and a great topic. The audio is high quality. The editing is impeccable. And the show notes are very helpful.

This is a hard question because I love podcasts and listen to them every day. I narrowed it down to StartUp, How I Built This and Smart Passive Income. But if I had to choose one, it would be hard but I'd go with StartUp. I like high quality podcasts with great stories. These all fit the bill.

My secret is being real and transparent. People love that. I get tweets every day from listeners telling me how much they like my podcast and that it's helping them. This fuels me to work harder and continue to make my podcasts better.

My advice to those just starting out would be to have fun, have confidence and smile. People can feel your smile in an audio format. Have a plan and record plenty of episodes before you launch. It's always better to be a step ahead. Learn as much as you can and hire an editor if you're too overwhelmed.