Podcasting Life and Business After Four Years-Podcast 622

What’s it like to support yourself as a podcaster? I looked up the other day and asked, “How long have I been doing this?” 2009 was the actual start date. I’ve been in business supporting myself as a podcaster exclusively since 2013. Learned a lot of lessons in that time. It seems like I’ve been in business a lot longer than nearly four years. Hear some of those lessons in Podcasting Life and Business After Four Years-Podcast 622.

Soul killing corporate jobs aren’t for everyone

Some business owners wish for the peace of collecting a paycheck and doing what the boss wants. Not me. Going into business for myself has been a path of self discovery and self realization. You say goodbye to eight hour days and regimented work schedules. No more guaranteed paychecks. Some months are great. Some aren’t so great. You’re ‘On It’ pretty much 24 hours a day. Freedom is one of the rewards. Wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Self Realization

Surprisingly, how I spend my time has become one of the top priorities. I can do anything I want. Is what I am doing with my time going to benefit the business? How does the business grow? What is the core business? How is that going to change? Self Realization is one of the big benefits of being in business alone. No one around to give orders. Good decisions accrue to the business owner. So do the bad decisions. Thus, you spend a lot of time thinking things through.

Content Creators

Centuries of business have been about consolidating physical space. Farmers need more land. Ranchers need more space for more cattle. Retailers always want to open new locations. Content creators have real estate in cyber space. With the right tools we can make that space as big as it needs to be. A new world requires a complete change in thinking. Content creators don’t just have to change the ‘working for the man’ mindset, but how we think about what we do as well.

Podcasting As A Business

Podcasting is still a fledgling ‘industry’. We podcasters are cutting a new trail. As an advertising medium Podcasting works. Smaller podcasts can yield very good results too. Podcasts big and small tell stories and provide basic information on highly specific topics unavailable anywhere else. Podcasters make an authentic human connection with the listener not found in broadcast media.

Walk and Talk

The rules of the Walk and Talk Podcast are no prep, no plan. Just talk. Join me. What came up in this podcast are the life and business lessons I’ve learned since I started podcasting. If you’re considering going into business for yourself, especially as a content creator, do what you love. Passion for the work will get you through a lot of rainy days.

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul

Podcasting Life and Business After Four Years-Podcast 622

 

 

 

Podcast 536

Podcast 536-Midnight Thoughts. Back in the studio after a long road trip. The excitement of travel gives way to scanning the news and wondering what to talk about in this podcast. Hence, Podcast 536-Midnight Thoughts. Midnight Random thoughts perhaps? But. No. Specific observations about the role of podcasting and transcending the nonsense in day to day politics. In fact the more I talk about politics the more I feel physically revolted by it and physically almost unable to talk about it. Why? Because what is going on distracts and obscures. Our politics in the United States no longer enlightens and illuminates. Our politics is no longer a soaring bird, but a slithering ‘thing’ down in the mud and dirt and grime. It’s depressing, boring, frightening and at the same time ridiculous. While I have not lost my passion and interest in what is going on politically, I find more people inexplicably joining tribes committed to convincing those in the opposing tribes with one ridiculous argument after another, spitting out what has been drummed into them hour after hour from social media, 24 hour cable TV news, talk radio and so on. Not wanting to harp on those same themes, all I can say is it is truly Orwellian; like there really is a little man behind a curtain pulling on levers. For me, the antidote to all this is travel; actually witnessing events. When you see it go down ‘for real’, you realize many things you see and hear are designed for video. The protests at the conventions? If you were there you had to go find them because you could hardly tell they were happening. The guy climbing Trump Tower in New York? If you were on Wall Street, or on the subway, or in the Bronx you didn’t even know it was happening. Did it? Did it mean anything? What’s important? I think it’s a the conversation podcasters have with their listener/subscribers one on one, based on the inner thoughts we share. It’s one of the things podcasting can do that radio doesn’t do anymore. Maybe the best thing we can do is provide a venue that helps you have that conversation. The news these days seems more like greek theater and less like, well news. Reporting on events, gathering facts and making observations based on those facts. You all know this, because I talk about it too much. I realized while traveling and while thinking about this podcast tonight that so much of what is happening in 2016, I’ve already done detailed podcasts about. For example, podcasts about the death of the conservative ‘movement’  over the years, and we’re just starting to see people write and talk about it. So, use the search window to listen to those podcasts. Meanwhile, the travel podcasts, the podcasts reporting on breaking local news, the podcasts about deeply felt emotions are the ones that resonate with me and hopefully with you. Finally, all this feels like its leading up to something; some big thing that is epoch changing, and you know, historically pivotal. Something we’ll talk about for decades after. As the rain comes down, it’s fun to be back in the studio and talk it out. Sponsored by Karow Contracting and Hydrus.