What is a podcast? A question that has been increasing
in frequency for, I would say, the last five
to seven years. Pete Davidson has a new show
on Netflix that they're calling a podcast, despite
the fact that it's only on Netflix and that there
is no audio version of it. Some would say that
the core of a podcast is that at the very least
you could consume it via audio only on youtube
if you have youtube premium you can turn your
device screen off and still listen to the audio
this is as far as i know at least not the case
with netflix you need to have your device on
for netflix To keep playing. But this isn't the
first time, nor will it be the last, that people
ask, what is a podcast? Some people, many people,
have told me that if it's video, it's not a podcast.
I think we're getting away from that idea, though.
More people have told me that it's not a podcast
if it doesn't have an RSS feed. But if you have
a podcast... only on Spotify, where people can
listen only on Spotify, but they can listen to
audio only, I would say that's just a poorly
distributed podcast. If we look at the word podcast,
which is a portmanteau of iPod and broadcast,
linguists can argue that if it's not on an iPod,
it's not a podcast. But I'm not really here to
have this debate. I think this is a tired debate.
I think if you want to make content, you should
make content where you want to. But the line
is blurring between what is a podcast and what
is a YouTube video. What's the difference between
the two? It's certainly not length. An increase
in the number of short podcast episodes that
are really focused. It's not about video. Lots
of podcasts also publish video. No, I actually
think it's a lot simpler than that. When I was
in Italy in 2016, the Euro Cup was happening.
And I was gobsmacked that as we... traveled down
the country first starting in Venice ending in
Sorrento that when there was a game on there
were people gathered everywhere there were people
in Sorrento in the streets in lawn chairs all
watching the game together it was an incredible
communal experience but it wasn't a fully gathered
mass all in the same place there were people
at the stadium there were people watching at
home there were people watching in the streets
there were people watching in other countries
now compare that to something like a college
football game or a high school football game
a broadway show maybe is an even better example
where the majority of the people consuming that
content are all together in the same place where
they can react and interact together. This is
how I view podcasts versus a YouTube video. Podcasts
and the thing that makes podcasts great. is that
they are open. They are on an RSS feed. They
are distributed in multiple apps. But that makes
engagement in a single town hall or town square,
we'll say, really difficult. There are people
who are going to consume an Apple podcast, some
in Spotify. Some in Pocket Cast or Overcast.
Maybe you're just listening to this on the website.
Maybe you've downloaded the audio and you're
listening to it somewhere else. Maybe you are
listening to it on YouTube. But unless I, as
the host, get to some critical mass where I can
point people to a single place to interact, It's
going to be hard to get that engagement. And
I don't want to get too technical here, but I
do know that in the podcasting 2 .0 spec, there
are features that allow for things like live
streaming and podcast apps and some sort of engagement.
I know there's a proposal for adding comments
or donating. And at rss .com, we support a lot
of those features. Full disclosure, I am the
rss .com evangelist. I'm also a podcast host
and a podcast coach. And so I've been around
the block. But I know that rss .com and a few
other podcast hosts and podcast apps support
stuff like that. But not all of them do. And
certainly the major ones don't. I mean, Spotify
does have comments and polls. Apple Podcasts
at this point, at this time in recording, doesn't.
And countless other apps definitely don't. So
if I want engagement from my audience, I'm going
to have to say, go to Spotify or go to YouTube
or go to streamlinedpodcaster .com and click
on this post and comment or go to a generic forum.
And that's hard. It's a lot harder than what
you have on YouTube, which is a comment section
right under the video. And so as we think about
what is a podcast, what is a YouTube video, or
you, dear podcaster, dear solopreneur or small
business owner who is listening to this wondering,
should I put my podcast on YouTube? I think the
answer to that is yes, like you just want your
content everywhere. But should you have parity
between YouTube and your podcast? I think no.
Because if we go back to that soccer example
or football example, it's like dressing for American
football when you're going to play soccer or.
what the rest of the world really calls football
you're wearing pads and a helmet and it's hard
to see and move quickly and that's just not optimized
for how quickly soccer moves and conversely if
you are just for soccer and playing football
you're going to get deeply injured there is content
that is more suitable For this audio only medium
and more content that is suitable for the YouTube
video medium. And I know I've talked about this
before, but I've been thinking a lot about the
direction of Streamline Solopreneur, my, I guess
we'll call it my flagship podcast, and how I
want to approach YouTube. And I think I've worked
out my next experiment, at least. I want the
Streamlined Solopreneur to be largely solo episodes.
I am wrapping up my last couple of interviews,
but I suspect by April of this year, the show
is going to switch fully to solo episodes where
I'm really focused on solving a specific problem.
Those solo episodes are going to provide me content.
for not just the show, but articles and newsletters,
right? Or it could be the other way around. Usually
I write my newsletter and then I record the podcast
episode. Neither here nor there. All of that
is around the thought leadership, long form content,
adding my voice to the internet. But I really
like doing interviews. I love talking to other
people. I love getting their perspective. In
the 10 years I've been doing this show, the Streamline
Solopreneur show, I've learned a lot. It's had
a positive impact on my business, and I think
it's important to not just be in a silo or an
echo chamber. So how do I square that circle?
Well, the other thing I've been struggling with
is live streams on YouTube. When I was a programmer
and when I was heavily in the WordPress space,
live streams were super easy for me. I would
get on and start writing some code and showing
people some stuff. When I wasn't coding, I was
usually demoing some new software and showing
people how it worked. But since moving away from
the WordPress space to... Let's say a more 10
,000 foot view of how I can help people. It's
been hard. Building automations on live streams
is not fun. There's a lot of silence and silent
live streams are just not my thing. I don't really
think they're a lot of people's thing. And so.
I've been at a loss for how to consistently live
stream in a way that makes sense for me. Well,
you could probably see where the puck is going
here if I'm going to add more sports analogies.
I think I'm going to do interviews or let's say
joint live streams with other people on YouTube
where I can get questions ahead of time from
my mailing list, but then people can show up
in the chat and ask questions and we can react
to them in real time. Or if I don't have a guest,
then I can do a Q &A where I show something off,
but mostly answer questions. And I can engage
with my audience in a way that I really can't
on my podcast. Platform control and creating
walled gardens is not really one of my favorite
things, but it does have some benefits. YouTube
and Substack and Spotify are walled gardens in
a sense. Yes, you can embed a YouTube video anywhere.
YouTube has an API. It's a little less of a walled
garden. than, say, Substack, which is a completely
walled garden. But having platform control in
the way that YouTube does has benefits. Just
like if you want to watch a football game live,
you have to go to a stadium, and that's a totally
different experience than watching it at home.
Bringing people together on a single platform
allows for... more of the type of engagement
I'm talking about. So I know that this was a
little bit of a thought experiment. I'm thinking
out loud. But this is what I'm going to run with.
Podcasts are great for deepening relationships
on a one -to -many level. People will listen
to my show. They'll hear what I'm about. Most
of what I'm talking about on my podcast is not
time sensitive. And my podcast gives me the opportunity
to create other forms of content. If people want
to engage directly with me in real time, YouTube
is the place for me to do that. And YouTube live
streams are going to be a place for me to maybe
talk about some news or current events or things
that are happening, as well as bring on guests
and create more of a communal experience. Now,
where does that leave the Pete Davidson show?
Where it's neither audio nor is there a way to
engage? It's a television show. Simple as that.
That's it for this episode of the Streamlined
Podcaster. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know
what you think. Do you have an idea for how you're
going to treat your podcast and YouTube differently?
Should they not be different? Are you someone
who believes that it's only a podcast if it's
on an iPod? Let me know over at streamlinedfeedback
.com. Thanks so much for listening. And until
next time, I hope you find some space in your
week.