Last week I was interviewed on a podcast for an episode that will come out this summer. As the conversation started to wind down, since the show is actually about the podcasting world, the host asked me if I might consider starting another (an additional) new podcast.
“No,” I answered him quickly. “I have two podcasts right now that I still love and am passionate about and they’re both weekly, which means they take up a lot of time. I don’t have the bandwidth to do a third.”
| Related posts: |
| Get Out There: See and Be Seen |
| Here's Why Many People Don't Stay with Podcasting |
| Why It's NOT Okay to Miss "Just This One Time" |
But then I continued so as to give his audience something to contemplate. “I wouldn’t want to start another show just for the sake of saying, ‘Look at me, now I have three podcasts.’ I don’t know of another topic that I’m passionate enough about that I could sustain over a long period of time.”
We all hear the word ‘consistency’ over and over these days. A new episode of my “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast has been delivered on time every week for more than twelve years now. And a new episode of my other show has been released every Monday since February 2019 without missing once. If I couldn’t have that same kind of follow-through with a third show, then why would I bother starting one up?
As a quick aside, while it’s easy to say, “Get someone to co-host it with you” and/or “Outsource as much of it as you can,” let’s just say that both of those ideas come with their challenges.
What do you create? How long have you been doing so? Can your followers see an obvious passion for what you do? Honestly. Try to do an objective self-audit.
Are you doing what you do because you have to do it? Trust me when I say that if you’re just going through the motions, people will notice. For sure.
Approximately ten days ago I was out of town, speaking at the Inklight Festival. I did a presentation there, telling the authors in attendance “How to Partner with a Publicist.” And I noted that a good publicist (whether working with a recording artist or an author) should have certain genres that they don’t work in/with. (Meaning, those who say, “I’ll rep anything,” are likely just in it for the money.)
I went on to tell them that if I just took on anything and any client – “as long as the check clears” – then it’s going to show through. Eventually someone that I’m pitching on that client’s behalf is going to realize, “Wow, this Bruce guy, his heart sure doesn’t seem to be in this. I don’t know if he even really believes in his client or not. There’s no excitement. It feels like he’s just on autopilot.”
There’s a scene in the 1993 movie “Groundhog Day” where TV weatherman Phil Connors (played by Bill Murray) sighs and says, "Once again, the eyes of the nation have turned here to this tiny village in western Pennsylvania. Blah, blah, blah, blah! There is no way that this winter is ever going to end as long as this groundhog keeps seeing his shadow.” Can you imagine watching the weather forecast and that’s how the person doing the reporting delivers the information into the camera?
If you are a performer and show up at your gig having had a bad day and you’re banging things around as you’re getting set up on stage, we can already see that this isn’t going to go well. You’re ready to start and you either go right into strumming and singing or you only say, “Hey, what’s up everybody,” very monotone and obviously seeming like you don’t want to be there. Guess what? It doesn’t take a music industry executive to realize that this is not going to be a good show. And saying, “Sorry, folks, I’ve had a really crappy day” is not going to cut it. There are loads of other performers who’d love to be on stage, cheerful and interacting with the crowd in a “let’s have fun (together)” way.
YouTubers, I’m looking at y’all as well. If you record a video just because you have to in order to stay on schedule, the viewers are going to dump out really quickly and you’ll see the watch time (and their jumping off point) to be shortly into what they’re watching – maybe even the first minute!
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band Rush is back on tour for the first time in eleven years. Even though Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson are both 72 years old, the theme running throughout the reviews of their four opening shows in Los Angeles last week was the obvious passion that they still have for their music. If you’re half that age and people are questioning your interest in what you do, that’s a sign that you need to look deep as to where the passion went and how you can get it back.
Sometimes I start talking to a potential client and I have to come up for air and say, “I’m sorry. I’m really passionate about what I do so I get really excited when I start talking about all this” and I have to force myself to pause and let them talk. Give people that same sense so that it doesn’t even have to be stated that you love what you do and are in it for the long haul.
A Member of the Recording Academy, I have been helping indie music artists, authors, actors, entrepreneurs, podcasters, filmmakers, small business owners, and more for over twenty years. What challenges are you having in your creator career that I can lend some insight to? Connect with me so you can take advantage of all my experience, and I can help and keep you moving forward.