You probably SHOULDN'T start a podcast

I’m so old that I remember when podcasts were something you downloaded overnight on your computer, then manually synced (with a cable) to your iPod 💀

And I’ve done a few hundred podcasts since about 2011 with millions of total views/downloads, so I know a thing or two about podcasts.

With all of that being said, I usually suggest that my clients DON’T do a podcast.

And I actually quit doing mine earlier this year.

Here’s why:

1. It’s HARD to get anyone to pay attention

It’s just supply and demand: there’s SO many podcasts that nobody has time to consume a fraction of them.

And asking people to listen to a 30-60 minute conversation is a big ask.

Especially because people usually have their go-to podcasts, and listening to your means bumping one of their regular shows to make room for it (I listen to Group Chat or Sharp Tech when I lift in the morning).

You can do all the right things: put it on YouTube, Apple and Spotify; post clips on LinkedIn/IG/Shorts; promote it to your mailing list etc and the most likely outcome is that it’s gonna get 150 views.

Not because it’s a bad show!

But just because people don’t have time for yet another interview show.

Especially if it’s interviews with B2B people. Let’s be real, they’re not the most entertaining guests for the most part 😅

2. They’re here for the GUEST, not you

Let’s say you DO get people to pay attention to your show. By definition the interview format makes it focused on the guest, not you.

When you stumble on an interview with someone you like, you don’t care about the host, right? You probably don’t even pay attention to their name.

It’s one of the reasons I stopped doing my podcast.

After seeing so many comments like this, I realized it wasn’t even really doing much for me— the audience literally just wanted me to shut up:

So… the less I talk, the more they like the show 💀

Which brings up the larger point:

All you’re really doing is building up the GUEST. And that’s a nice thing to do, I guess?

But it’s probably not going to move the needle for your business.

3. They’re more work than you think

It’s easy to think “it’s just a 45 minute interview, doing one of those a week is no sweat.”

But in reality, think about everything that goes into it:

• Outreach to potential guests

• Scheduling

• Prep/research

• Recording it

• Creating graphics

• Posting the full episode

• Sending it to the guest

• Selecting clips

• Reviewing the clips

• Posting clips

• etc

Unless you have a team to do all that for you, realistically that’s a full day of work. And even if you DO have a team, just managing all that takes a ton of bandwidth.

So is it really the best use of your time to spend a full day of work on something that’s gonna get 150 views and mostly just build up the guest?

Probably not.

4. Just make your own content instead

Take the 8 hours you would have spent on that interview podcast every week, and put that into making your own content on LinkedIn or YouTube.

You’ll almost definitely get better results out of it. For example the LinkedIn video above got 221 likes and 261k impressions, and I spent less than an hour on it.

(I also cherrypicked that one to make myself look good, my videos normally get about half that many likes)

So what’s a better use of my time, 8 videos like that or 1 interview podcast?

Or even spending 8 hours on an original, longform YouTube video that could potentially hit the algorithm and help your channel break out.

The bottom line:

When it comes to podcasts, the juice usually just isn’t worth the squeeze. Skip it and just make your own original content!

—

PS - Here’s the part where I try to sell you something.

I can help you:

→ Define your positioning to immediately stand out from the crowd

→ Figure out your content strategy for LinkedIn or YouTube

→ Create offers that sell (I’ve sold millions in courses)

If you want to talk about the options for working together, reply to this email or just set up a call here!