The cliched statement that “Podcasting is easy” and that you should start a podcast has created thousands of podcasters. But without a clue of where they want to go from there!
How many times have you heard that statement, “Podcasting is easy”?
I think innumerable. Right!
But let me spoil the day and break it for you.
Unlike what most of them say, it (podcasting) isn’t quite as easy as it sounds.
That’s right!
It isn’t as easy as they say it is.
For me that isn’t really new information. Because that is how I learnt all that I know of the digital marketing.
People kept telling me that it is easy and I followed them only to realize that what they meant was “it is easy to get in”. Nobody told me that it isn’t as easy to stay in there, hang in there and then do something of whatever it is that you were doing in there.
The story of the Chakravyuha and Abhimanyu isn’t just a one-off and something that happened only in the Mahabharata.
In fact, it is something that happens in everyone of those shiny worlds out there. They tell you that it is so easy that everybody can do it. But they don’t tell you about all of those traps inside and about how to win and come out successfully.
Part of the larger marketing strategy, probably!
But should they be blamed for that.
I wouldn’t.
Because it is the responsibility of every one of us who wants a piece of that shining object, to ensure that we have done out due diligence before getting in.
But how many of us are doing that?
All of what I am blabbering can be proven with some numbers.
You would be surprised to know that off all the inactive and dead podcasts out there, about 92% comes from FREE podcast hosting platforms.
About 75% of them comes from Anchor.
Do you know why?
Because the “easy to start” advice says that you can start for FREE with one of these FREE podcasting platforms.
So they start and then quit.
Which is where my worry with the FREE (something that I discussed in the last edition) is!
Nevertheless,
Does that mean that Podcasting isn’t something that you should get into?
Absolutely not.
In fact, I would be the first one to recommend you to get into Podcasting if you are looking at building an alternate career and a second source of income.
But then, you need to understand that it isn’t going to be easy out there. There is a lot of time and effort that you will have to put. You will have to sweat and toil to succeed.
Consider Podcasting just like any other business. The only difference being that you are selling knowledge and content instead of a product.
And you are using a front end (your podcast) to give out FREE samples (the content in each one of your episode) to a hungry audience so that they come and buy your services at the backend.
If you understand that entire cycle, you will realize that every one of the subsequent step, after entering into podcasting, requires a considerable amount of effort and time.
That is your investment in this business.
And, if you are not ready to invest that time and effort, then this is probably not for you.
But.
You need to know that the “creator economy” is growing and it is growing huge. Income is no more confined to running a conventional business or, working a 9-5. Instead it can come with every bit of content that you put out there. The only thing you need to know is how to sell it.
Find people who can guide you the right way. Don’t fall into traps.
Content marketing is a huge opportunity and you deserve to get a piece of the pie!
News You Should Know
In some interesting news –
It is now Buzzfeed jumping into the Podcasting bandwagon. They have partnered with Acast and are launching their Podcast Network. Buzzfeed, as you might know is a huge source of curated content. So I won’t be surprised if they start a new revolution of curated episodes or, something like that. But whatever they do, this is going to be interesting.
Amazon finally announced its entrance into the live audio space this morning, with the launch of a new app called Amp which is very similar to Clubhouse. Phew! that’s a huge one. Isn’t it?
You would like these Links
Writing a good podcast description is an important activity and this itself can help you gain new listeners while retaining existing ones. I happened to read this article at Spotify and found it interesting to be shared. (In fact, I learnt a tip or, two from it)
If you are somebody trying to understand all of those options and buttons in Audacity, this tutorial is an excellent one that will bring you upto speed with things without wasting a lot of time.
Questions from Readers
This is a question I received from Sunita –
Can we monetize podcasts in the same way as videos on Youtube? I mean, will a podcast host pay for the number of listens and downloads of a podcast?
Well, the one word answer to it is “No”.
You will need to understand the logic behind Youtube paying the vloggers first. YouTube inserts ads on eligible videos and they earn from running those ads. So it makes sense to pay the creators who have made those videos and are helping them make money from it.
Hence, they payout a small percentage of the money that they are making from those advertisements, to the creator who made that video.
Today, podcast hosts do not have that flexibility for a couple of reasons –
It is difficult to measure the views and listens of those ads
Not all creators will give permission to insert ads on their podcasts
Advertisers still do not have the required confidence to advertise on Podcasts
This could be something of a future model when Podcasting is a little more established like its evil Cousin, but not right now.
Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.
-Roger Crawford
That’s a wrap for this one.
See Ya again,
Dilip K
P.S. If you would like to connect with me or, read more of my writings in the form of blog posts, then you can visit my blog about Podcasting Tips.
