You should do a podcast

Image: Tony Martin & Craig Bruce

No really, you should do a podcast. Like, definitely. You’d be really good at it.

It’s been said that opinions are like a**holes, everyone has one. Replace the word “opinion” with “podcast” and we might be closer to the truth.

You should do a podcast. In fact, why has it taken you this long?

So what happens when you stop doing a successful, (radio industry) podcast?

What happens when you walk away from an audience you’ve spent 3 years carefully cultivating?

I don’t know. I’ll tell you in 12 months.

We live in a narrowcast world, where audiences can immerse themselves in whatever interests them. It’s fair to say that podcasting might have the longest tail in this new limitless world of content filled with every niche you can think of.

For the last 3 years I’ve been talking to an audience of like-minded people about the craft of making radio.

For normal people, radio is a free service, almost like a utility, that magically turns on when you start the car every morning. Normal people don’t notice the radio unless their favourite station has changed format or Kyle and Jackie have moved to Kiis….hmmm, ask me how that went?

For my audience, radio is an obsession. We care a lot about radio. We think about it all the time. We obsess over every detail and the minutiae of our stations in ways that our listeners will barely notice when the magic button is turned on.

We don’t have jobs. We work in radio.

The question for content creators in the podcast space, when you are dealing with a niche topic like radio, and I’ve been wrestling with this for a while is-“when have you said everything you need to say?”

And if you keep talking will it erode the goodwill you’ve created?

These are my questions. And this is why I’ve stopped.

After 100 interviews, featuring the world’s best presenters from Christian O’Connell, to Scott Shannon, to Bean from Kevin and Bean, to Denton, Eddie McGuire, Kyle, Hamish and Andy, Tony Martin, Mick Molloy, Wendy Harmer ect, it’s time to wrap this thing up.

I feel like they’ve said everything I’ve needed them to say.

I’ve asked every question. Learned every lesson.

I’ve made sense of a skillset I thought I understood, but in reality had barely scratched the surface on.

Having an audience has been a privilege. I spent 20 years talking on the radio but this is the first time I’ve felt like I’ve had a relationship with an audience.

Walking away feels like a necessary risk.

It’s funny, I’m supposed to be an expert on radio content and personal branding yet, right now, I have more questions than answers on whether this next move is the right one for me.

My gut tells me that sometimes it’s best to stop talking.

The Radio Game Changers book will be out later this year, it will connect the learnings and key themes from the podcast and include all your favourite mic drop moments from your favourite radio stars.

Hope you enjoy it.

And thanks for your support.

Listen to the final episode of Game Changers: Radio with The World Famous Bean below, and you can pre-order the Game Changers book here.

This article originally appeared on LinkedIn.