018: Is Podcasting Worth It?
Pat Flynn just released a YouTube Video titled ‘Why Podcasting Isn’t As Easy As It Looks” and the premise of the video is that podcasting is hard work. Your first several episodes will likely not be that good. Like one of my favorite sayings from a book, ‘Shitty First Drafts.’ Creatives and artists and writers and let’s say podcasters, agonize over their work for days, weeks, months before they hit publish or share to the world because they want to make it perfect. The fact of the matter is that no matter how ‘perfect’ you think your early work is, it’s still a Shitty First Draft. It takes time and experience to get good at anything and the only way to get better is to start. Everybody’s earliest works are embarrassing to them now, but no matter how much studying and observing others and asking for advice from experts you get before launching a podcast, the real learning starts once you hit record for the first time and release your first episode. You will get better each episode and it will get easier technically, but podcasting is really hard work.
Why is it worth it?
After watching Pat Flynn’s video in which he admits that he delayed almost 2 years to start his podcast and he invested a lot of money in gear and coaching, it made me think, why are some things in life worth the effort and others we know to discard immediately?
Since my online journey started, self-awareness has been a focus for me. I was anything but self-aware and I knew that if I wanted to succeed on my own, I needed to align my business around my strengths and weaknesses and I really needed to learn what made me unique and how others saw me. I honestly had no clue. That means if something I try is not a good fit, I eliminate it and if it is a good fit for me and my business, I double down. Why double down on podcasting once I discovered how hard it was?
Podcasting is really hard as Pat admits. It takes a lot of time and hard work for me to publish on 15 minute episode per week. Seems silly that something only 15 minutes long could be hard, right? I hear ya. But that 15 minutes is like writing a Masterpiece week after week. I put all my mental energy into thinking of a meaningful topic that will help people improve their lives and businesses. Every word is deliberate and counts. I am efficient and accurate and I craft each podcast episode to flow and make sense and be easy to digest and understand and learn. Am I obsessive or over the top with this view? Maybe. But that is why podcasting is hard. It matters. Podcasters do not take each episode lightly. They know their listeners or potential listeners are taking valuable spots out of their busy days to listen to what you have to say or teach. They are relying on us to give it our best week after week and deliver really valuable (and free) content because that is what we committed to when we submitted episode 1 to iTunes.
Responsibility and accountability is hard work.
Showing up is hard work.
Being consistent is hard work.
Being good and talented is hard work.
The list goes on, but the fact of the matter is podcasting is hard. I am mentally tired after each episode I complete and then I get right back up and work on the following week. My download numbers are low for many (I’m grateful for any), I do not make a dime off my podcast, it costs me money to podcast, I can’t make as much other content because the podcast eats up a lot of my free time. I have many reasons why I could quit, but it has never crossed my mind. Why is podcasting worth it, when so many other things I’ve tried would have been done with long ago?
The reason podcasting is worth it to me is for my long-term business and personal goals. There are some things in life worth fighting for and struggling for and I recognize that. This is clarity. Podcasting is making me a better teacher, communicator, speaker, networker and forcing me out of my comfort zone socially. I’m getting better at audio and technology and writing and graphic design and presentation and I feel better, I’m more confident, I’m proud of myself, I create more, I publish something daily, I have new goals. I have new friends and colleagues and people look at me differently because I have an internet-newsletter-radio-blog-show-thing.
Podcasting is worth it to me because it is bringing out the best in me, which is required to serve others. My business is built around teaching and helping others become the best versions of themselves and it starts with me. I launched my podcast to find my voice and figure out how to best use my skills and talents to help others.
Podcasting is really hard. I want to make a dent in the universe and expected that to be hard work, too. Is it worth it? You bet.
My name if Mike Murphy, I’m a one man band and podcaster.
Learn. Create. Move Forward.
