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. walked into a Lego store
recently. And as I was looking at all the sets,
a store clerk came up to me and said, can I help
you find anything? I said, what sets do you have
for free? And the clerk said, sir, everything
here costs money. And I said, you don't understand.
Lego is just a hobby for me. So I don't want
to spend any money on it. That sounds utterly
absurd, right? You have a hobby like Lego or
golf or playing some instrument. You have to
invest money in it. You have to buy stuff for
the hobby. But routinely when I talk to people
who have a podcast and they are unwilling to
invest in it. They say, well, my podcast is really
just a hobby. I hate to break it to you, but
if you want to actually enjoy this hobby and
make something of it, you're going to have to
invest in it. If you want to have listeners,
you're going to have to invest in it. Now, if
you just want to talk into a microphone and publish
it to YouTube, that's fine. But I suspect that
there's more to your podcast than you just talking
for other people to hear it. Investing in your
hobby doesn't mean wasting money. It means that
you value your time, the growth of your show,
and the enjoyment of your show. You'll get better,
faster, and you'll enjoy it more when you treat
your podcast as something worth investing in.
And that's what we're going to talk about today
on The Streamlined Podcaster. Because my goal
is to help you have a podcast That doesn't take
away all of your time and that de facto means
you're going to have to invest in it because
You can't just buy a microphone plug it into
your computer and say you have a podcast and
If you're going to Add music and edit it and
book the guests and try to do everything yourself
It's not going to be fun unless you want to become
a podcast producer. But if you're saying, well,
my podcast is just a hobby, so I don't need to
invest in it, you probably don't want to become
a podcast producer. So first, let's let's start
with the problem, right? The problem many creators
treat their podcasts as a side hobby that they
shouldn't spend money on. Maybe you are a hobbyist
podcaster. Maybe you have a day job and then
you have a passion in something else and that's
what you've started your podcast in. But that
means that you are probably even more time starved
than people like me who use their podcast as
a marketing tool for their business. That's not
to say that the only reason I do this is marketing,
but there is an inherent value and I can trace
an ROI of this podcast back to my business. So
it's a little easier for me to spend money on
it. When I had my podcast called Late to the
Party, where I was watching The West Wing for
the first time in 2017, I invested in it, but
it wasn't necessarily worth it to me because
really it made watching The West Wing a job and
I wanted to just enjoy the show. And I, I wasn't
really serious about it. It was just kind of
something fun. And I'm a podcast coach. So the
idea of doing a rewatch podcast could be tied
to my business, but instead I was left with more
frustration, right? And so this is what happens
if you just treat your podcast as, oh, I'll just,
this will just be a hobby of mine and I'm not
going to invest in it. You're going to be frustrated
with the poor quality or the clunky workflows.
You're going to burn out or pod fade because
you're trying to do everything yourself. Right.
And the show is not going to grow or improve
because you're not spending your time in the
right spots. You know, drumming is a hobby of
mine and it really is a hobby. I'm not a show
drummer. I don't play with other people. I have
an electronic set. Because I live in a close
neighborhood and have small children and having
a full -on drum set is just not Acoustic like
having a full acoustic drum set is just not in
the cards for me right now but I basically play
it when I have time and I play it for fun and
I invest in it, you know, I buy new drums from
time to time I Buy new sticks when I need to
I spend time learning new songs, but it's not
something that I am Truly dedicated to So I you
know, I don't I used to take lessons, but I'm
not taking lessons it's just it's just something
that I do to you know, get a get some movement
in and and just have some fun playing some songs
and So again, like if that's if your approach
to your podcast is just I want to talk about
stuff and put it on YouTube That's fine, but
do not have any expectations for growth or for
sponsors or for increasing the downloads or anything
like that. Just put it out there. Just like I
have no expectation. No one's going to hear me
ever play the drums. Very likely. No one's going
to have me be a show drummer for sure. And if
that's your approach, then you can stop listening
right now. But most people I talk to want their
show to grow. They want to eventually get to
a point where they're getting some return on
their investment, even if they are calling it
a hobby. And if you are in that camp, then you
need to invest money in it. Just like with Lego.
Sure, I can buy one set and build it and break
it down and build it again. That's going to get
boring. So I buy new sets from time to time with
cigars. Can't smoke a cigar more than once. Once
it's gone, it's gone. It's a hobby I have to
invest in and I gladly do because I like it.
So if your goal. Is to actually have a podcast
that people listen to. You can call it a hobby
still, but don't tell Don't tell me that because
it's a hobby, you're not going to spend money
on it. I want you to think about like how much
easier and more enjoyable your podcast would
be if you invested just a little bit of money
on it. Hiring an editor. Or paying for a good
recording tool, because this is the other thing,
like people are like, what's the best free editing
tool or what's the best free recording tool?
What's the best free distribution tool? Best
free. Is not a good combination The best free
piece of pizza is the one that's on the floor
that someone else paid for and now it's just
on the ground Are you gonna eat that slice of
pizza? If you're starving sure But if you're
looking for the best slice of pizza It's not
gonna be the one with floor pepper on it It's
gonna be one that you buy from a pizza joint
that's freshly made. So I want you to think about
how much you're willing to invest. Where are
your pain points? I guess that's the first thing,
right? Where are your pain points? Because then
you can invest smartly because we don't want
you spending all of your money. I don't walk
into the Lego store and buy every new set. I
buy the ones that are interesting to me. So if
you are spending your time in editing, why is
that? Is it because you sound, you know, you're
using the built -in microphone and you sound
bad? Invest some money in a decent microphone.
Is it because you're spending a bunch of time
with your guests trying to line up audio or you're
using Zoom or Google Meet to record? And your
guest sounds terrible and there's nothing you
can do about it. Or maybe the guest's dog started
barking while you were talking and there's nothing
you can do about it because you didn't get separate
tracks. Are you spending a bunch of time creating
clips for social media? When you could be using
a tool like Riverside to get at least a starting
point for clips. So think about what your biggest
pain point is and invest there first. When I
first started my podcast, which is now called
The Streamline Solopreneur, it was called How
I Built It, I knew immediately, nearly immediately,
that editing was too big of a pain point for
me to want to do it. So I hired an editor and
I told myself, if it takes me an hour to edit
a half -hour podcast, And I pay the guy I paid
started at twenty five dollars. I have a new
editor now. He charges a little more, not much
more, to be honest with you, but he does a great
job. So if I if I pay twenty five dollars to
somebody to clean up and edit the podcast. Is
that worth it to me? And absolutely it is, because
my hourly rate was way more than twenty five
dollars. And then I could spend time creating
better content. booking better guests, asking
better questions, and even maybe getting a sponsor
or thinking of other ways to monetize. So. You
know, the pain, the problem is that you have
is that a lot of podcasters have the mindset
that it's a hobby that they shouldn't spend money
on. But the dream. Is that you invest smartly
in your podcast? and then you make a better podcast
that gets more downloads, that gets a better
audience, the investment becomes the accelerant.
So how do we fix this for you? Well, there are
three places where you can invest. And again,
I want you to think about what your biggest pain
point is. You can invest in time -saving tools
like Riverside, Descript. I like Riverside better.
Zapier. Notion. Because when you use tools like
that, you are saving hours. And you're saving
a bunch of mental energy. Riverside's editing
tools are actually pretty good. So if you're
like, look, I can't afford an editor right now.
Check out Riverside. And do the light edits yourself.
and then save and then save and then spend that
time you're saving, planning a better show so
that you don't need to edit out as much stuff.
You can also invest in education. So workshops,
coaching, other podcasts or memberships, right?
And doing that means you're learning more. You're
getting better at your craft and then maybe you
you move from hobbyist to pro you move from hobbyist
to someone who can actually make money with their
podcast and That's really You know, so it's time
-saving tools. It's education and then you can
invest in the enjoyment right buying gear is
fun Get the Elgato teleprompter the you know
get a nice microphone get a soundboard But I
would say invest in the time -saving tools in
the education first So quick win what is a an
investment that you can make today To make your
podcast more enjoyable to make it better. Is
it a decent microphone? Is it an editing tool?
Is it Riverside? Think about that. And I encourage
you to make an investment. You don't need to
go pro to invest. Investing means intention.
It means that you are committed to the thing
that you're doing. When you say I'm not investing
any money in my hobby, What you're saying is
I don't care that much about this hobby. And
that's fine. But don't complain that no one's
listening or that your show is not growing and
that you don't have sponsors. You need to invest
to make it better. Because when you invest in
your hobby, you're investing in yourself. And
that's what really makes your show more sustainable.
Let me know what you think about this. I'd love
to hear your thoughts. You can send it over at
streamlinedfeedback .com. Thanks so much for
listening and until next time, I hope you find
some space in your week.