Pod-Crashing Episode 35: The evolution of the podcast question


I love questions. It doesn’t mean I locate answers but it opens the gate to explore. Since I began my journey into the digital universe it’s been quite entertaining to see how the podcast questions keep evolving. In 2012 I was bombarded with, “Why am I doing this? Do I really need to do this?” To co-workers and bosses asking, “Are you gonna get any other work done? What are you doing and why?”

The biggest question from myself and all others has been, “How can I make money?” It’s a fair question that still doesn’t have a true answer. There’s a lot of people trying. I mean 700,000 plus. Which has evolved into a new age podcast question, “Why would I want to get started with podcasting when I’d be nearly next to invisible?”

Boom! How can your star be located when the Montana late night Big Sky is overflowing with light? What are you gonna do to bring people to your source of podcast art? Great questions! Do you have the energy or sound to grow a podcast organically? I’m blessed with the opportunity to sit with many different decision makers and podcast creator’s who want to jump into the rat race. Inside their tiny circles they invite two words, “What if?” I mean it seems pretty easy the what if should come with an earned bonus. Right? Until listeners can’t find you. You were last seen somewhere near the Big Dipper or was it Orion’s Belt?

Being fair to yourself. As we grow into a new pair of podcast slippers labeled 2020… You have the right to put it on the table, ”Why would I want to get started with podcasting when I’d be nearly next to invisible?”

Here’s my question, “Why not?” The other day I spent some time with Tom. He loves robotics but doesn’t like the podcasts that put focus on their importance. This huge global business leader feels in his heart that he and his company need to be pumping out two to four podcasts a week. Not so information driven but something listeners will be entertained by while learning new things about robotics. He’s doing it right. He’s asking podcast questions! Before he leaps into the project he’d like to understand its presence, growth, time well spent or wasted. All things that could or should lead him to serving current and future clients.

Then there’s Chris. He was calling for a major player in the advertising world, “We know we need to be podcasting. But we don’t know how. We can’t just start one. How will anyone know we exist? How much time should we put into social networking? Do we need to invest in a bigger team of players? What platform should we jump onto iHeart, Spotify or Apple Podcast?”

Very real podcast questions. Most of them didn’t exist when I first got in. If they did, it was probably in emails and text messages from the brilliant minds of pioneers that figured out a way to bring content to a new level of connection and conversation.

Look, I’m no expert at this game. An all-out armchair quarterback with a serious amount of passion to get people involved. Whether you create a podcast filled with 10 episodes to several hundred, the opportunity to reach an audience anywhere in the world sits in front of you.

You’re supposed to be asking questions. I’ve yet to meet a podcaster that won’t talk about your personal journey. There’s podcast groups on Facebook that love to chat it up. Always willing to share new ideas and ways to fix all that echo caused by recording your podcast in a poorly soundproofed atmosphere.

I walked in on a couple of people podcasting the other day and was shocked to see how far their faces were from the microphone. Even worse, one of them had their mic 45 degrees in the wrong direction.

With so much inexperience inside the podcast galaxy there’s bound to be baby Yoda’s trying to piece together what their hearts are screaming for. An opportunity to participate, be accepted, touch a little bit of success or just feed the beast that always wants to create.

Sometimes the podcast questions we ask others should actually be directed at ourselves first. Where is podcasting moving toward? Is it more than a fad? If podcasting is so big why are the politicians running for the White House campaigning on lesser known podcasts that still have an impact and reach? Why do I continue running into comedians that won’t waste a second of their day talking to a podcaster?

Grab a notebook or journal and start piecing together your side of the story. This show Pod-Crashing didn’t start out being a place to swap experiences. I actually wanted to team up with my good friend Gabe and be like Roger Ebert. Instead of talking about movies, we’d break down podcasts.

While sitting down to record the first episode I quickly dropped the plan. I came from the world of terrestrial radio where every player on the air is brutally judged by program directors, consultants, GM’s and OM’s. I didn’t need to invite that atmosphere here. I’m sure someone’s already doing it because like all things in podcasting you can search for any subject and find 600,000 different talkers expressing their opinions.

Will there ever be answers to our podcast questions? Chris wanted to know if there’s more money to be made producing episodes for the experience then there is for those physically being the voice? I know of three production houses that not only write and produce commercial copy but they’ve opened their digital stage for companies and performers who don’t have the luxury of a great sounding home studio.

As much as I truly and wholeheartedly support their business effort I took one look at the number of podcast episodes I’ve brought to life over the past seven years and know for a fact if I was shelling out money for studio time my deficit would be bigger than that of the United States.

I also run into a lot of people who’re afraid to ask podcast questions. The typical reaction, “I didn’t want to bother you. I don’t want to look like a beginner. You don’t the time.”

Always ask. We may have to set up a time to have a great conversation but always ask. I had no idea how fast time flew while I was with robotics man Tom. That 2pm meeting suddenly hit several ticks on the clock. Once podcasters get locked in on sharing each other’s information, you might as well set up ten to twenty more meetings.

So what’s the moral of the story? I learned one valuable lesson in high school with huge architect dreams. Never stop asking why. Nothing is drawn, built, rented or sold without questions straight out of the gate. Podcasting is something you build. It won’t happen overnight and you shouldn’t bombard yourself with stress filled expectations that may or may not be reached.

Find your peace of mind by hanging out with other podcasters. People that are living the life by way of never turning off the desire to constantly create or generate newer ideas. The one thing I’ve learned about sitting down with others playing the game is to do it one person at a time. You’ll get more out of it. The very second three or more begin to participate the questions usually stop a battle of I did this, well I did this, no I was first.

Podcasters use a lot personal energy to bring their styles forward. Please shy away from comparing analytic numbers and the size of your guests or subjects unless you’re willing to help each out. Your image as a podcaster has already been drawn by the way listeners digest your episodes. To walk into a conversation with a He Man attitude twists the stomach and creates an ache that’ll keep me from tuning back in.

There’s no such thing as a bad question. While creating together we can come up with brilliant answers.