One question I get asked is, “Why are you doing this? What is it for?” I’ve explained this to a few people, and now I’ll explain it to you. I’m a media professional. I have been for my entire professional career. Usually, I operate behind the scenes, but sometimes I’ve been on stage, metaphorically. I love working with video. Mostly I like editing, but shooting is fun too. Over the years I’ve invested in some equipment, which I don’t use all that often.

At the same time, I’ve always been fascinated by the Internet. I’ve been fascinated by the way anybody can operate something like a television station, or a radio program, or a newspaper or magazine, with very little investment. I’ve always wanted to demonstrate what you can do with a limited budget, but a fair amount of expertise. I’m also someone who learns by doing. I want to get better at video production. I want to become a better video presenter despite the fact that I’m pretty sure I don’t have a burgeoning on-camera career in television. For me, the best way to improve, is to practice. One key goal of the show is to improve my production and presentation skills.

I’ve always been a huge fan of audio podcasts, but it’s hard to pull off a podcast by yourself. In seeking podcasts over the years, I’ve always been drawn to the ones that feature people who are passionate about their subject, even though I may not know that much about it. When it came time to come up with a topic for my own regularly scheduled Internet media, picking a topic was easy.

What was hard was opening up about my passion for comic books and graphic storytelling. When I started buying comic books regularly, they weren’t what they are now in popular culture or society. There was a definite stigma attached to being a grown man who read comic books. Often, particularly in professional environments, I would try to hide my hobby, at least until I came to trust coworkers.

Going on the Internet and promoting myself in the video is a huge trip outside my comfort zone, but I realize if I want to want to get better at presenting on video and using social media to find an audience, I just have to bite the bullet and do it.

I also realize that for me, at this time, there might eventually be some opportunity in being someone who knows about comic books and graphic storytelling, and can talk about it coherently in the media.

Peoples’ response to the first handful of episodes of my silly little Internet video thing has been amazing. I received such support from my friends and coworkers and just people who watch the show that I’m starting to become much more comfortable with doing it. People with more expertise in this area than me have been extremely generous with their ideas and suggestions. Many have been integrated into the show and helped to contribute to my goal of better quality every single week.

My secondary goal now is growing my audience to include a smaller proportion of my friends and family and a larger proportion of people actually interested in my topic.

So getting better – and finding a new audience. That is why I’m doing this.