I read this when it topped the AOTD 8 months ago, but I got reminded of the title today when reading about @bartadamley's plans to start a podcast himself.
Re-reading, I find that this article has many issues (among a few good points).
First of all, the writer comes over as a know-it-all, and slightly arrogant. He seems to assume the reader knows of him, but I didn't (though I noted he had a Readup hit recently).
He's praising the medium of podcast and lists successful, high-quality production podcasts that he likes. Then he seems to expect that every new podcast should live up to that same standard.
I don't think that's how creativity works. Some big things start big because a rich person inflated it with money or prior success. But not everyone can or should start that way. 1) Many current big things have started small, and they were bad in many respects at first. But they had something that made them live on, and grow. 2) People may have varying definitions of success. If someone makes a low-fidelity podcast for their local community; only consumed by and enjoyed by that community; who are you to tell them that they "should not start a podcast"?
Where he does have a few good points:
Because “lots of other people are doing it” is a really poor reason to do anything.
Because when someone really respects a medium, they don’t half-ass their contribution to it.
Though I don't agree with what he considers half-assing. One person's 'half-assing' might be another's hard work.
And finally—proving they’re not actually a fan—if you don’t respond to this email right away, they will resend it automatically a few days later, because they’re not actually sending it to you in the first place—a CMS program is.
This was funny. But I think he meant a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program, not a Content Management System (CMS).
If you are thinking about a podcast, well this is a good read. I thought about it but now it's clear to me that I have to FOCUS on what I actually do and want to achieve. Instead of a podcast I'll shift to a few irregular YouTube interviews. I'll join the podcast charts later, when I myself have a real exciting story to tell. Podcasting? Not now.
I read this when it topped the AOTD 8 months ago, but I got reminded of the title today when reading about @bartadamley's plans to start a podcast himself.
Re-reading, I find that this article has many issues (among a few good points).
First of all, the writer comes over as a know-it-all, and slightly arrogant. He seems to assume the reader knows of him, but I didn't (though I noted he had a Readup hit recently).
He's praising the medium of podcast and lists successful, high-quality production podcasts that he likes. Then he seems to expect that every new podcast should live up to that same standard.
I don't think that's how creativity works. Some big things start big because a rich person inflated it with money or prior success. But not everyone can or should start that way. 1) Many current big things have started small, and they were bad in many respects at first. But they had something that made them live on, and grow. 2) People may have varying definitions of success. If someone makes a low-fidelity podcast for their local community; only consumed by and enjoyed by that community; who are you to tell them that they "should not start a podcast"?
Where he does have a few good points:
Though I don't agree with what he considers half-assing. One person's 'half-assing' might be another's hard work.
This reminds of streamers streaming to no one, but also of a podcast (how ironic!) about the story of the brand VICE I heard recently: these guys managed to make a 4B $ media company, without journalistic training, against all odds, because they had something to say that people were interested in.
PS:
This was funny. But I think he meant a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program, not a Content Management System (CMS).
If you are thinking about a podcast, well this is a good read. I thought about it but now it's clear to me that I have to FOCUS on what I actually do and want to achieve. Instead of a podcast I'll shift to a few irregular YouTube interviews. I'll join the podcast charts later, when I myself have a real exciting story to tell. Podcasting? Not now.