I’ve decided to start season 2 of The Jag Show Podcast. It’s going to be a podcast….about podcasting (apologies to Seinfeld). Like most podcasters, I see this as an opportunity to brand my business in my field. I can create another touch point with friends, colleagues, and potential clients.
In my first episode, I did a “Podcasting 101,” covering the basics of podcasts.
This was a quick 12 minute tutorial on podcasting, and I published it over a month ago. Many podcasting topics have cropped up in recent weeks, but none of them got me fired up enough to turn on my microphone.
I decided episode 2 was going to be about something I’m always discussing at networking events. Radio opened the door to podcasting. This happened through many events, dating back two decades.
- The Telecommunications Act of 1996 lifted ownership bans and allowed for massive corporate consolidation.
- The advent of “People Meters” as a new ratings technology prompted radio execs to tell DJ’s to “Shut Up and Play The Music.”
- Pandora, Spotify, and more quickly arose, hastening the obsolescence of stations that did just that.
- Many corporate radio owners became so obsessed with revenue for large markets, they lost individuality in smaller markets.
I started my day today by having a conversation with a former radio co-worker I’m pursuing a podcasting venture with. As we wrapped up, we (once again) began to reminisce about our time in radio and our new perspective. When I hung up, I was fired up to finally record this podcast.
I turned my microphone on, grabbed a glass of water and starting talking. I was pausing a lot as I organized my thoughts. But I kept pressing through, knowing I could fix those pauses in post-production. I looked at my timer, and I was at 18:38, which was longer than I wanted the episode to be. I hadn’t covered every topic, and I was starting to bounce between them.
So I pulled the plug.
This episode wasn’t ready yet. I needed to prioritize my ideas, and I needed to organize them better. I’d hit the point where I was forcing it.
For podcasters on a consistent schedule with a large enough audience, there is pressure to crank out new episodes. For those folks, you need to have a workflow so that you’re consistently ready to go. But for other podcasters who are still honing their craft, don’t push out an episode for the sake of publishing. Wait until you’re ready.
A delayed episode won’t cost you downloads or subscribers. Poor content (or worse, poor audio) will.