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Pod-Crashing Episode 34: Can We Talk Business

There\u2019s so many different reasons why people get into podcasting. The love of the laugh, the openness to talk sports, freedom of speech to we\u2019ve got to make some easy money! Yeah? How\u2019s that working for ya?
My friend Ron wrote to me the other day physically excited that his podcast had finally started to collect pennies and cents. We\u2019re talking 3 cents. I loved his attitude! Dude! You have no idea how long I\u2019ve been waiting to make anything!
Look\u2026 when I got into podcasting in 2012 I wasn\u2019t in it for the cha and the ching. I was doing nothing but trying to feed my need to perform. Thirty three years of the daily hustle. Then Terrestrial radio saw better ways to lower daily costs. You don\u2019t need a fulltime local on air staff. In the biz we call it Voice Tracking! To the average Joe Blow listener they couldn\u2019t figure out how Ryan Seacrest drives to Charlotte every day to do a show.
Once I realized how planners and promoters were utilizing the availability of podcasting to help push the word out about their clients I was hit with a thought, \u201cWhat if I created a platform that took our terrestrial radio advertisers to an area where they didn\u2019t have to worry about getting their entire life story in a 30 second commercial?\u201d
In my head it seemed like a hot ass plan! So I went to the GM. Talked to sales executives. Only to hear, \u201cWhat are you doing again?\u201d I\u2019ll never forget the GM\u2019s response, \u201cI like what you\u2019re saying but I can\u2019t picture how it\u2019s going to work. Keep working on it.\u201d
As production director of the cluster of six stations it became my personal mission to locate the vein of gold. I kept digging for bigger interviews. Content that was lifestyle and affective. I tried religious podcasting to motivational thoughts for creative minds. I didn\u2019t say no to anybody that wanted to talk. Until the day Comedian/Actor Rob Riggle began answering my questions on the show.
It was all about the Holiday Inn Express. I could ask anything and everything pointed back to the hotel giant. There was no way this conversation was going to be posted. My listeners didn\u2019t need to hear a 7 minute commercial. That\u2019s when it hit me. Every person I talk with is selling something.
I didn\u2019t let it get me down. I studied the path. It\u2019s all about endorsements! As host it became a game to sell their product without listeners calling the episodes an info-mericial. Practice! More practice! Make the mistakes so we can try new things!
Eva the promoter and I became extremely good friends because the guests she was bringing to my platform now one million strong were huge. I loved podcasting! It was time to take the plan back to the station GM. Plan? What plan? If you want famous people listeners go to TMZ or Entertainment Tonight. If you want religion you hook up with a church. There was no product.
I knew that Eva was making money off her clients. I was trying to create money by not cutting off my foot. Eva was a solid source of content and fame. If I charged her for my digital time and space the race would dry up like a California desert.
I knew in my heart somebody was making money. I just knew it wasn\u2019t me nor the radio station. What kept me in the distance was the business world\u2019s lack of knowledge about podcasting. It didn\u2019t become a thorn in radio\u2019s side until 2018. That\u2019s when the top dog companies began to invite podcasters to appear on their digital platforms for free.
There\u2019s that word again. Free. I\u2019ve been a Broadcast instructor since 1988. Not a single class went by that didn\u2019t hear my Free Radio People speech. Radio people are passionate about their performance. So passionate that 90 percent of us left our homelands to chase down the next big thing. We\u2019d go from state to state, fired here. Fired there. Screamed at by listeners, sales people and whoever else needed to vent in the moment.
I was convinced in 1988 that one day Radio people would be doing it for free. Podcasting has given extremely creative minds the opportunity to play radio exactly what their hearts want to design. We already know about sacrifice! What\u2019s one more tiny little podcast really gonna cost?
Can we talk business? Unless you\u2019re Mike Rowe, Marc Moron or Joe Rogan you might have a fighting chance to collect some change for the candy machine. The real money being made is still connected to the hard working, deeply dedicated and extremely passionate promoters that have set up shop on their sacred grounds and increasingly blessed every day to connect the dots. Then call or send an email to the podcaster wondering when the interview will be posted.
We\u2019ve talked about this before. Most podcasters put up one to two shows a week. I\u2019m old school radio. I program every inch of the process. There\u2019s so much structure on how the content is delivered that it might actually straighten the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
How do you make money? I drive Michael Greenspan of Greenspan Advertising crazy! 2am text messages that shout \u201cI\u2019ve got it! We can!\u201d We work closely together introducing podcasting to clients. Selling their products without sounding like an info-mercial. Anybody can do it but can you do it being real and without dropping a price point? Practice it every day!
What about businesses that want to do their own podcasts? I brought this up to a very famous steakhouse totally ending the conversation after one thought, \u201cIt\u2019s cool that you want to produce and performer your own episodes. I\u2019ll be over to the restaurant in an hour to use your kitchen to cook my hotdogs.\u201d
So what\u2019s the moral of the story?
People are making money with podcasting. Promoters and Ad Agencies working with national brands seeking free appearances on podcasts all over the world. Well what about the talent, the hosts and the creators of the podcast? I had a comedian tell me a couple months back, \u201cNope not gonna get into podcasting. I\u2019m too late. The time and energy required to barely scratch into an extremely overcrowded arena is time I can make money somewhere else.\u201d