Ok, let’s just stop it. This debate about monetizing podcasting: Let’s nip it in the bud, right now.
Are you really in it for the money? Is that what this is all about? You’re all pimped out with the latest microphones and mixer, and all you can think about is the cheques flying in?
You’re in the wrong game, bro. This is no country for the money-obsessed.
Podcasting is marketing for people with passion.
Podcasting is for when you love your product, love the stuff you do, and love the people you want to tell about your borderline-obsession.
Podcasting is another channel at your disposal, a chance for you to harness theatre of the mind to get people as excited as you are about the latest hockey stick/movie by the Cohen brothers/pear varietal from the Outer Hebrides.
Yes, there is an almost-unlimited variety of subjects you can riff on as a podcaster. Yes, be judicious in your planning and preparation. Vital, to get at least a decent quality sound cranked out of your studio, whatever its shape and size.
But to hell with all that unless you’re engulfed in love for your topic. Because mark my words on this: You will podfade, you will lose momentum, you won’t last the course, unless you have a genuine passion for the products and people who will make your podcast a success.
When I started out, I was intent on emulating some of my podcasting heroes in producing a show about the mechanics of podcasting.
Jesus, was that a bad idea. Because let’s face facts: The engineering of a show is dull to most of us. Sure, we love the planning, digging into new themes and talking to our communities – but if you lose the passion for the subject you vowed to cover, it’s game over.
I concede: I podfaded.
But like Edison and Ant and Dec, my entrepreneurial career, too, has been founded on failure. Success doesn’t course naturally through the body of business, and only tenacity and perseverance actually get you from A to Z and over the numerous hurdles and hiccups that stand in your path.
Did you get what I just said, from the very beginning? If you’re obsessed with the money, and not the subject of your show, then your number is up, friend. Reality check: Only when you’re truly passionate, can you succeed as a podcaster.
But here’s the thing (I love that podcast by Alec Baldwin, by the way. You need to subscribe to that): There are dozens of examples of truly excited podcasters who have made money by being themselves, loyal to their cause, informative and – drum roll – passionate. No doubt about it.
Heard the one about avid podcaster Cliff Ravenscraft getting a $12,000 cheque in the mail?
How about Olly from the Answer Me This! podcast – a Sony Award-winner – getting a regular slot on national breakfast TV here in the UK as a broadcaster reviewing the day’s papers?
In a year, Brian and Mike have notched a million downloads of their fun show and are now negotiating some exciting projects with traditional radio stations.
How about the thousands of businesses developing amazing relationships with clients who would never have discovered them otherwise?
You can do whatever you want. When you start a business, you set out with good intentions and a burning desire to succeed. Think of podcasting as a litmus test of that continued passion every time you sit down with a buddy or solo in front of a mic. This is the way the web radio world works.
Passion. It’s what makes the world go round. And podcasting.
