One of my buddies sent me an article by James Altucher called “Why you absolutely must do a podcast”
If you don't know James, he's a best selling author, hedge fund manager, entrepreneur, and podcaster.
In the article he gave 10 reasons why everyone should jump into podcasting and I'm going to share them with you along with the realities so you can make an informed choice before getting in the game.
- You get to talk to your heroes – This is true, but it's a lot of work to book interviews, coordinate schedules, and get through gatekeepers (more on this in #8)
- It's easy – This is 1/2 true. If you put out a show with zero production then it's nothing more than recording your conversation. If you want to sound professional then you'll need an audio engineer to help you with editing and mixing so you have a clean audio.
- You can do a podcast about whatever you want – Yes, but it doesn't mean that anyone will listen
- You read a lot – When he has someone on his show he makes sure to read all their books. This is where the average podcaster loses it… They're too lazy to do any prep work and instead rely on asking the same exact questions to all their guests with zero thought put into who they are talking to. This is why so many interview shows suck and why it's only a matter of time until these interview shows with canned questions will rot and die. No one wants to hear their horse sh*t.
- You learn a lot of skills – Sure, it's great to learn new skills like being a better listener and interviewer, but most busy business owners shouldn't waste their precious time learning how to edit and mix audio, or how to create graphics, or how to upload and syndicate their show to iTunes and Stitcher, and Google Play. And that's the problem, people get into podcasting and get caught up in all this little stuff and it becomes a second full time job for them.
- Plus, Minus, Equal – He pulled this idea from Ryan Holiday where he talks about [Plus – Having someone to teach you] – [Equals – Having someone to challenge you] – [Minus – Having someone you can teach] – He says he gets all three from podcasting. But remember this relies on you booking interviews with guests (see #1)
- Podcasting is growing – And so is the competition, so if you don't have anything original to say, then you'll be one of the 85% of podcasters who fail.
- No Gatekeepers – Once upon a time it was true, all you had to say was “Can I interview You” and you could talk to anyone you want. And maybe for a guy like James Altucher he can still do this. But with all the bogus shows out there nowadays you'll be jumping through hoops to make contact with the people you really want to talk to.
- Network – Yip, podcasting is still a great networking tool.
- One Takeaway – True, if you pick good people then you will learn from them.
Frankly, I think James Altucher is a bit out of touch with reality. He don't know didly about what it takes to get into podcasting when you're first starting out.
Luckily for you, I'm here.
It wasn't too long ago when I was just starting out.
And I remember how hard it was to get in touch with the right mentors who could “plus” my career.
I can still see exactly how I missed opportunities by spending too much time analyzing and not enough time doing.
And I know how hard it is to find people you can trust to help you.
That's why I've created my Podcast Mogul newsletter. It's a way for you to tap into my brain and my network each month without a huge commitment. At only $1.13 per day you could easily get an ROI from just one idea in each issue.
The next one goes to the printer soon, join today at http://PodcastMogul.com
Producer Jonathan
