- If you are in this just for the money, get out now.
Don’t get the wrong idea about this statement. I like money. Maybe you like money too. And if you are good, money will come, but what I’m trying to say is that if you are doing this just for the money, you’re going to have a rough go of it. Like I said, money will come, but it follows passion. Think about what you are passionate about in life. What do you just love to do or talk about? Find the answer to that question and podcast about that! You will enjoy doing your shows and get great satisfaction from them. Otherwise you will have a really tough time forcing yourself to do a show that your mildly interested in daily, weekly, or whatever your schedule is.
You may have heard of the term “podfade”. Podfade is defined at UrbanDictionary.com as “When a podcast begins putting out episodes more and more sporadically and at greater intervals. Typically it begins with only one episode missed, but if a podcast isn’t careful, it can compound, sometimes as severe as one podcast every other month. Podfade often leads to podcast death. Many podcasts deny their podfade until it is too late.”
Now you may even have listened to or watched podcasts that have podfaded. The creator or host of the show just gives up, lets it go, loses interest, doesn’t have the drive to keep it going, or just stops it for whatever reason. It may have been a legitimate reason, or maybe he just got bored. I can’t say why a podcast will stop every time, but I can tell you podfade will happen if you pick a topic to podcast about that you are not jumping up and down with joy about talking about. So, for example, if you love gardening more than almost anything, than you’d be a great podcaster about gardening. If you are a car enthusiast, I’d podcast about cars. Personally, I love tech and computers. Hence, my tech podcast network, Podnutz.com, that is still running strong! Podcast about something in which you have strong interest.
To emphasize this point and give you more insight on passion, I recommend reading Gary Vanerchuck’s book “Crush It” if you haven‘t already. I’d say it’s a great companion book to this product, at least with regard to thinking big, mustering up drive, and following passion. Heck, Gary’s goal is to own the New York Jets! If that isn’t thinking big, I don’t know what is! (And I think he may actually do it!) Personally I think Gary is a freak of nature, spaz ball of energy! But it’s actually a good thing, because his example shows you how far passion will take you and what we as people are capable of. It’s a great read and you can pick it up at HowToPodcast.biz/CrushIt.
Another benefit of podcasting about something you love is the podcast will be interesting to people who enjoy the same thing you do. They will feel your passion. It will come through in your shows and draw people in. Your listeners will share in your excitement and enjoy and look forward your upcoming shows. And most of the time they will be a listener for life and may even turn into a life long friend!
*A side bonus to podcasting is the amazing people you’ll meet! I know I’ve met a ton of people through my podcasts who I’m happy to call my friends.
Ok, the point I started off this rant about was to not podcast just for the money. The truth is, a large part of making money from podcasting first comes from people actually enjoying your show and respecting your opinion as a person, without you necessarily even advertising one thing! If they’re in agreement with you and like you, they will be more likely to follow recommendations about what you suggest that they buy.
But, if your show is a giant commercial or a spammy, scammy pitch, you’ll come off a bit slimy, and your listeners (if you ever get any) are not going to stick around. Your podcast will fail. You’ll hate doing it, and the whole thing would be one big waste of time.
