Great-ish Expectations

Iím not going to pile on the New York Times article about the overabundance of podcasts. You probably at least saw people tweeting or posting on Facebook about it. You donít need me to tell you that focusing on some deluded podcaster who thought that all she had to do was start a show and advertisers would flock to her is like doing an article proclaiming golf is dead because someone took two lessons and gave it up because he didnít become Rory McElroy. You also know that there are a zillion podcasts and a lot never make it past a few episodes. You know that.

Doesnít matter.

Look, Iíve written this column before, but it bears repeating: If articles like this dissuade you from podcasting, if the talk ó quite true, incidentallyó that few podcasts are making solid and sustainable profits yet make you think that thereís no point, maybe you should rethink why it is youíre doing it, and why it is that youíre doing anything creative.

Rule of thumb: If the only reason you're doing a podcast is financial, don't. Otherwise, do it. Yes, there are a lot of podcasts. Yes, a lot of them aren't very good. Yes, many podcasts disappear quickly. Sure, yours might be one of those.

Again: Doesn't matter.

Do it because it's fun. Do it because it's something you want to try. Do it because you have something you need to say. Do it because it can be a cheap, efficient way of getting your content -- such a cold, generic term for what's more of an art than a featureless object -- to anyone and everyone who wants it. Do it because you don't have another megaphone right now. Do it because the other megaphone you have comes with restrictions that won't let you do what you want to do. Do it because you have a great idea.

Articles like the Times piece are trying to extrapolate business trends from anecdotal evidence. Is the podcast boom busting, plateauing, still exploding? You can find people to take any of those positions.

Repeat: Doesn't matter.

I don't know where we really are in the evolution of podcasts, but, then again, I've been in that game for a long time and I've heard all of the cheerleading and doomsaying before, years and years ago. What I DO know is that on-demand audio consumption is clearly an option future generations will take for granted as the primary means of receiving talk and music programming. I also know that the future will see the key, for those looking to break out of the glut and become financially viable, being effective and aggressive marketing, whether advertising or social media or some other way ot drawing attention. When, if ever, will it reach the financial status of traditional media? Will there be a sustainable business model that makes podcasts with narrow audiences profitable? We're all still guessing. But in the meantime, if you're not like the woman in that article expecting fame and riches right away from your obscure podcast -- if you want to do a podcast because you just want to get what you have to say out there, or because you just think it's cool that you can do the effective equivalent of a radio show and have it instantly and internationally available to everyone with a smartphone or computer -- feel free to ignore the noise and do it anyway.

Who knows? Your show might find an audience, and advertisers, and international fame. Or you can be like me and do a really short daily podcast on the cheap and not care whether I have two or two million listeners (SPOILER: It's probably closer to two), because I'm just trying stuff out. (Speaking of which, subscribe, because why not.) We're still waiting for measurement to settle into a standard, and we're still waiting for some players to stop making up download figures (and some in the trade and consumer press to stop accepting those made-up numbers as gospel). Hobby, business, a little of both, whatever. We're still so early in this game and nobody, as William Goldman observed of Hollywood, knows anything.

That shouldn't scare you. It should excite you. Now, go make something good.

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I might repeat some of these thoughts when I moderate a panel on "Celebrities in Podcasting" at Podcast Movement in Orlando on August 14th, on Coleman Insights' Industry Track and sponsored by Audioboom. But there'll be a lot more from a panel of people who have a lot of insight into podcasting and how the influx of celebrity hosts plays into it. Be there. Register here. Oh, and yes, I've been off work for a couple of days; Talk Topics will be back with new stuff Sunday. Okay, talk to you next week.

Perry Michael Simon
Vice President/Editor, News-Talk-Sports and Podcast
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