“I’m thinking YouTube, Facebook, and a podcast. What do you think?” My client asked me excitedly.

“YouTube is a good channel, but very difficult to grow. Facebook is a good place to share videos right now. They seem to prioritize them in the algorithm. Podcasting is not a great idea, at least not the traditional approach. Podcasting doesn’t work.”

I couldn’t help myself – I had to be honest.

I started podcasting in 2009 and have since recorded and published 500+ episodes. Let that sink in.

I’m not one of the O.G., but I was in the trenches long before most people even knew what this newfangled “podcasting” thing was.

And my podcast results are… aggressively mediocre.

You could say whatever you want about that… bad timing, bad positioning, bad niche, bad marketing, bad content, bad luck, bad strategy…

(I’m self-aware enough to know when to tweak and pivot, thank you very much.)

I even got a mass email today from some so-called guru talking about how people don’t win at podcasts because they don’t have a strategy (bitch, please).

And I’m here to tell you:

Don’t be gaslit by “gurus” who think they’re smarter than you, or have figured out something you haven’t, and don’t attribute any of their success to luck or timing… because that’s B.S.

Most of us already know we need to work hard, persevere, speak to a specific audience, and clear a path to monetization. That ain’t the problem.

And that made me mad enough to want to write this.

So, let me save you a lot of time and anguish by painting the landscape.

The Three-episode Slump

We can look at the stats and know that 44% of podcasts don’t make it past three episodes, and only 8% ever make it past 10 episodes.

That first hurdle mostly has to do with:

• perseverance,
• gathering topic ideas,
• finding the right people to work with,
• having step-by-step procedures for recording, editing, and publishing your show,
• and, for the less computer-literate, leaping over a few tech hurdles.

And maybe I’m crazy, but I happen to think serious podcasters can surmount these challenges with relative ease.

Of course, this is not the full picture, because contrary to what you might think, podcasting isn’t easy; it takes a lot of time and energy, and there’s more to it than gathering a few of your bros or girlfriend besties to sit around a table and crap-talk into microphones.

People usually find out a little too late that it’s not just something they can “do on the side,” and that podcasting time can easily impede on other wanted focus time. This is a major deterrent.

But I still think the three-episode slump is a molehill at best. All it’s going to show is that a lot of people start and quit things. A lot of people start and quit New Year’s resolutions, so why should podcasting be any different?

So, where do non-celebrity, long tail hosts experience the most friction?

“Everyone’s Got a Podcast Now”

This is now the predominant thought.

Podcasting is the zeitgeist. Mainstream. Even people who’ve never listened to one now know what it is. And it sure doesn’t look all that hard looking in from the outside.

(And let’s be honest – some hosts with beautiful sets are just newbies with disposable income and aren’t anywhere near as polished as they pose…)

The stats show otherwise, but in a world where people think “everyone’s got a podcast,” you’ve got to be honest with yourself about your chances of standing out from the crowd. It’s not impossible, just very difficult without a plan (this is where strategy ACTUALLY comes into play).

You could start a new category in an existing industry, as I did – and at first that might seem smart – but you could still be co-opted by marketers who are smarter than you, know how to speak to an audience, and light up their brains with all the right words, without ever being as good, honest, and thoughtful as you are.

Because this is not a game where the best communicator, or the most intelligent person, or the most skilled speaker wins. There might be an arena where that is the case, but podcasting it ain’t.

And I’m sure there’s going to be someone who says:

“You’re a whiner and a loser. You’re not as good as you think you are, and that’s why no one listens to your show. You’re just jealous and bitter because your show didn’t get picked.”

And to that I say hooey. You’ve probably never published a podcast, let alone a single episode, so you don’t know. You’re just talking about something you think you know.

Still Want to Podcast? – The Solution

It’s okay, I’m not looking to scare you off. You can podcast and have it work for you. But you’re going to want to stay open-minded in your approach, especially in the early going.

You can bypass a lot of headaches if you just hear me out.

If you want to start a podcast in today’s climate, here’s what I suggest:

1. Experiment with Different Platforms

Remember Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland? You ought to. Limp Bizkit was the biggest band in the world in the early 2000s, and they’ve made a significant resurgence in recent years too (RIP, Sam Rivers).

Wes says he tried podcasting on YouTube like everyone else, trying to get people to subscribe on Patreon, and it wasn’t working.

Can you imagine?! We are talking about a celebrity musician here.

Then Wes heard from his friend that he should be live-streaming on Twitch instead of rolling out polished, edited content on YouTube, and guess what? It worked.

I’m still an advocate for a home-first approach (in other words, build your own platform and publish everything there first, even if just for posterity’s sake), but beyond that, you should ABSOLUTELY experiment with different platforms. I mean, there are just SO MANY out there, with plenty of opportunities to get creative.

I don’t know if Twitch is still the hot thing right now, and not all content is going to play well over there (it seems to be mostly video game and music-oriented content).

But just publishing your show to all the usual destinations (Apple, Amazon, iHeart, Spotify, YouTube, etc.) and hoping for the best probably isn’t going to do much for you, sorry to say. Again, I’m not saying don’t use these, I’m just saying don’t count on them to deliver your content to a wider audience.

You must find your platform, and for many, it will be multiple platforms.

2. Try Different Concepts

Despite all this talk about perseverance, persistence without adaptation is foolishness. Podcasting doesn’t work, exactly because people think they should just publish one more episode.

You might have a winning format out of the gate, but it’s exceedingly unlikely.

More likely, you’re going to be trying a bunch of different things, maybe even launching a bunch of shows at the same time, to see what sticks.

You’ve got to nail everything – show title, podcast artwork, description, etc. – without ever knowing exactly what “nailing” it even looks like. You’ve got a mercurial dartboard, and even your best guesses may fly off-target. Plus, you may not even find out until you’ve published a healthy number of episodes.

But to bring this down to earth a little…

Does the world really need another celebrity interview show?

Maybe. But maybe not. It’s not one way or another, but if you’re entirely reliant on the pull of well-known gurus or experts to be on your show, you might be amazed at how many people come around to watch, and how few actually stick around to subscribe.

Besides, there are a lot of shows like this out there already. So, what makes you unique or more valuable?

If you can figure out how to put a bit of a spin on it, though? There could be something there.

3. Test Different Monetization Options

I know. I recognize that all my advice is basically coming down to “try, experiment, test, iterate.”

But if you don’t do this, you’re going to end up doing a thing for 100 episodes without feeling like you’re making much headway, and there goes a year or two of your life, time that maybe could have been spent on a more productive endeavor.

Sunk cost fallacy will convince you that the book you pored over is destined for best-seller status, and that you should keep putting it out there until you’re green in the face.

(And there is a good argument for that. If you believe in something, and it doesn’t immediately take off, you may need to keep posting, sometimes to the tune of hundreds of times, to invite a favorable outcome. In the video below, you’ll learn how singer-songwriter Alex Warren posted his song, “Ordinary,” to six TikTok accounts, 30 to 40 times each before experiencing a breakthrough.)

But your audience might not be into that.

And you might think, “Fine, I’ll advertise on my show,” only to realize that you need a massive listenership to even attract advertisers, let alone make a few pennies on the ads.

I think having your own product is the way to go, but the point is you don’t really know what your audience wants unless they’re telling you, and getting too far into the development of something they’re not going to buy is time lost.

More importantly, if you can prioritize getting people on your list, you can at least follow up and test different offers in front of them without vying for their precious podcast attention again.

Podcasting Doesn’t Work

The algorithm might not be against you, but it’s certainly not for you. And that means it’s not a neutral force. Even if it favors you one day, there is no guarantee that this will lead to sustained attention.

But beyond setting up your own radio show, which I still think is pretty cool, if there are specific things you hope to accomplish with your podcast, you can’t be held back by so-called “models of success” that worked in 2015.

Take in everything you can, and learn as much as you can along the way. But also recognize that success is rarely a one-size-fits-all “just follow my method” thing, and is more often than not an individualized path, one of self-discovery, as well as relentless trial and error.

Find your platform. Find your concept. Find your path to income. Don’t take them for granted.

Turn “podcasting doesn’t work” into “podcasting works for me!”