Beware the dreaded PodFade! This can happen to even the most dedicated podcaster. But that’s another blog post.
So, to reasons why not.
- You want to make a million dollars in the first three episodes.
- You don’t have the time.
- You really don’t have the passion.
- You think it would look on your CV.
You can see a pattern in these bullet points.
If you are not fully committed to process and it does take time, then you shouldn’t start a podcast. The attitude that this is way to riches misses the point. There are podcasters out there making a good living from podcasting. A little deeper investigation shows these shows have a serious back story. Either a long established, well supported blog, Insta account or Facebook page or a reputation of some sort is the perennial constant in these stories.
Another reason to not start a podcast is when you expect to be crowd funded. This puts the cart before the horse. To be funded, we need to have provided value. People, except perhaps family but even then they are unlikely to hand over hard cash when you’ve produced three episodes and have asked each time for money. Think about your own situation. Have you ever handed over cash to a new project with so little evidence? Three episodes, I’ve heard people complain they aren’t having their costs met after three episodes, but anyway, three episodes and hardly any listeners and the podcast is killed off.
This happens with some really good shows that could have been great. So if you’re not prepared to put in the time, add value, give value for free, simply because you have a passion for what you are doing. If you don’t lie awake some nights thinking of how to make your show even better, plotting new segments and reviewing your last episode for improvements or can’t see yourself doing this then just don’t start.
Takeaway:
- You need to have a passionate desire to tell the world your story.
- You need to know you will probably take time to build your audience and be ready for the long haul.
- Podcasting can provide a living but it probably won’t after three episodes.