Welcome to the Streamlines Podcaster, a podcast
that shows you how to put the right systems in
place so you can stop spinning your wheels, focus
on making great content and see your show grow.
Because there's nothing worse than putting a
ton of effort into your show to see very few
benefits and even fewer downloads. My name is
Joe Casabona and I know you're strapped for time.
So let's get into it. Something that I observe
with a lot of podcasters is when they start out,
they say something to the effect of, yeah, so
I figure I'll just launch and get a bunch of
downloads and then hopefully sponsors will reach
out. And that's just simply not the case. As
somebody who's been podcasting for over 10 years,
who has had brand deals for over 10 years, and
who is an active sponsor coach for the Wizards
Guild, Justin Moore's thing. I can tell you that
sponsors are not just going to reach out and
you probably aren't going to get a bunch of downloads
right off the bat. Now there is also a distinction
right between people who want to support their
business with a podcast and people who start
a podcast for the love of the game and so If
you're looking to support your business with
your podcasts, I have episodes like Tiaran and
Thought Pieces over at streamlinedpodcaster .com.
And I'll probably put out more of that because
I think a lot about that. But if you have started
your podcast as a hobby and you want to maybe
turn it into a stream of income, I think that
there is a path to that. But I think you really
need to switch contexts, right? I love playing
the drums. And I am very aware that it is a hobby
for me. I don't think I'm good enough to play
live. I think I'm barely good enough to play
with other people, but I also don't care to do
that, right? There's like Rod Stewart famously
uh does model trains but does not do them very
well and the idea behind that and and other things
like that is that you know a hobby could be something
that you don't do well enough for people to want
to pay you and that's what the drums is for me
i don't want to turn drums into a job i want
to keep that for me and it can be for me and
maybe your podcast is the same way maybe you're
really passionate about Disney or Star Wars or
coffee mugs or Lego or model trains and you just
want an outlet to talk about it and if other
people enjoy that then they can follow along.
But if you start your podcast off as a hobby
and you have a little bit of intention to turn
it in to a stream of income then again the mindset
shift needs to change. So let's go back to me
playing the drums. Let's say tomorrow I decide
I want to, I actually want to make this a job.
I want to get paid to be a drummer. My approach
has to change because right now my approach is
I have an electric drum set The cymbals don't
work as well as they should. I need to probably
replace them or fix them. And it's like not really
fully optimized for me to play well. It's good
enough. You know, it's good enough for me to
just go for a half hour or 40 minutes and just
play along with songs. And I do have a drums
playlist. I'll teach myself a new song every
once in a while. But it's mostly a set of 20
to 30 songs that I like to play and I just put
the playlist on random and I play for a half
hour. Some of those songs I don't even play right,
like play correctly, right? I just play along
to them in such a way that I'm keeping the beat
and it's fun. And I do, you know, I do try to
learn new songs. But again, when I try to learn
new songs, I don't know how to read music. At
least I don't know how to read it very well.
And so I'll usually listen, I'll learn by ear
and it takes me longer and I'll probably play
it incorrectly, but I'll play it through and
pick up new things as I'm playing. That's a fine
approach for a hobby, right? But if I wanted
to be a professional drummer, I would have to
start playing for, I'm gonna say two to three
hours a day. I'm actually gonna have to learn
the songs. I'm not saying I have to learn how
to read music. But I'm gonna have to learn how
to play them the right way, especially songs
that are more distinctive, right? If I learn
how to play In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins,
you know, I need to play that correctly. It's
got iconic drums in it. If I'm just playing like
generic punk song by one of the many bands I
used to listen to and still listen to, then it's
less crucial that I play the drums exactly right.
octopus's garden like I gotta play that I know
how to play that so I get but I gotta play that
right right so I'm gonna need to properly learn
how to play those songs I'm gonna have to invest
a lot more time I'm going to have to get a better
drum set cuz like again right now the drum set
I have is fine for the way I'm playing but it's
not fine -tuned the cymbals or things just sound
a little bit off but it's good enough for me
to play as a hobby The same thing goes for if
you are switching your podcast from a hobby to
a source of income. You can't really take the
approach of, ah, let's just hit record and see
what happens. You need to go in with a plan.
You need to understand who your podcast helps
and why people listen to your podcast, whether
that is for entertainment purposes or to learn
something or for some other reason, right? No
matter what, your podcast solves a problem. If
you're like, oh, well, this is really just entertainment.
Entertainment solves problems, right? You know,
I will watch when I'm sad or having a bad day,
I will watch Friends because, you know, 196 of
the 200 plus episodes are not heavy episodes.
They are just funny, high jinks, sitcom things
happen. And it helps me forget. Right? So you
need to think about what your podcast, what problem
your podcast solves, why people listen to your
podcast. And there are actually, I have three
eyes for changing your podcast from a hobby to
a source of income. The first is intentionality.
Like I was saying, you need to be intentional
with your show. Determine who you're talking
to. Make the sound quality better. Have an actual
outline for the show. Don't just say, oh, it's
totally unstructured. We're just going to have
a raw conversation. Because that's not good enough
for a podcast where you want it to generate income,
especially now. Right. You know, with Wondery
closing or with the layoffs at Wondery. I think
a lot of people are trying to figure out where
exactly podcasting lives. And I think it's somewhere
between raw unedited conversation that sounds
like it was recorded in a bathroom stall and
highly produced cinematic quality audio. It's
somewhere in between there, right? Because the
cinematic quality audio, the level of effort
for those wondery shows has clearly not borne
out as a worthwhile investment. But the crappy
shows aren't good either. So you need to be intentional
about who you help and the quality of the show
you're putting together. The second I, related
to the first I, is invest. They say you got to
spend money to make money and ideally you're
going to spend a lot less money than you make
but in the beginning you are going to have to
invest a little bit in What you're doing hire
an editor Get better software Maybe if you're
putting the show on YouTube hire a thumbnail
person get a better microphone Sound quality
matters, right? So invest a little bit to show
people that you actually care about the show.
And the third I is iterate. When you're doing
a hobby, right? Again, if I'm going back to my
drums example, I'm not iterating that much. I
learned a bunch of songs when I was a teenager.
I played them when I went off to college. I didn't
bring my drum set with me for a million reasons.
But then Rock Band came out and I actually learned
a bunch of songs thanks to Rock Band and my friend
and my housemate John. John Kelly, shout out.
He brought his drum set because he was a drummer
too, a much better drummer than me. He brought
his drum set and put it in the basement of our
house. And he told me I could play it whenever
I wanted. And so I ended up learning a bunch
of new songs thanks to Rock Band and John Kelly.
And, you know, now I'm approaching 40 and I've
learned a few new songs, but I'm not really iterating.
I'm just doing it for fun. But if you are investing
in your show, if you're being intentional, the
third I is iterate. Make the show better by getting
feedback, by figuring out what's working and
not working, and just improving to make it something
that people want to invest in, right? Make it
something people want to give you money for.
Whether that is through sponsors, or other ads
or hiring you to do something or buying your
product. So intentional, invest, iterate. If
you want to take your podcast from hobby to income
generator, those are the three things you need
to do. I'd love to hear from you. Do you have
a hobby podcast that you want to start making
money from? Let me know what you think. You can
send your feedback over at streamlinedfeedback
.com. That's streamlined with a D, feedback .com.
Thanks so much for listening, and until next
time, I hope you find some space in your week.