My New Guidelines for Podcasting – To Maintain Issues Attention-grabbing

“At any time when you end up on the facet of the bulk, it’s time to pause and mirror.”
— Mark Twain

For almost 15 years, I began nearly each public presentation with the above quote. In the beginning, it was a reminder to myself. It nonetheless is.

4 rating and 750+ episodes in the past, I began a podcast.

In 2023, The Tim Ferriss Present crossed a billion downloads. This previous April marked the tenth anniversary of the primary episode. It appeared pretty much as good a time as any to pause and mirror.

Let’s kick it off with a bizarre graph and wild numbers:

listennotes.com/podcast-stats/ 

The dip in 2022 is solely the resumption of pre-COVID developments, as 2020-2021 was an at-home anomaly. That mentioned, the pandemic interval noticed a few of the largest offers within the area, and it helped propel deal comps and mass media consideration to new heights, a variety of which caught round or no less than closely rounded up. The celebrities, the advert {dollars}, the gazillion-dollar exclusives, the controversies… It’s all been outrageously thrilling to look at.

statista.com/chart/10713/podcast-listeners-in-the-united-states/ 

After I began my podcast in April of 2014, there have been fewer than 200,000 podcasts listed on iTunes (as Apple Podcasts was known as again then). On the time of penning this put up, there are greater than 4,200,000.

That represents a 20x+ enhance, however there are different fascinating metrics to ponder. Right here’s one: larger reveals. 

If we outline a “larger” present as any present with no less than 100,000 downloads per episode, I’d guess the overall variety of such reveals has no less than 100x’d. It is a huge paradox of selection and discovery difficulty. Having a great present is not adequate. Having an amazing present is not adequate.

If you wish to survive within the mindshare of listeners, you want differentiation. 

I believe that is mirrored in how properly special-interest podcasts with a spotlight (e.g., The Drive with Peter Attia, Founders, Huberman Lab, Acquired) have accomplished not too long ago relative to newer interview-format reveals the place almost something goes.

As is so usually the case, in the event you stand for every part, you may find yourself standing for nothing.

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So, how do you differentiate your self if each particular person and their grandma is beginning a podcast?

In case you’re ranging from scratch, I believe selecting a distinct segment you will have a weird love for—and due to this fact endurance for—makes a variety of sense.

If, alternatively, you will have a broader, interview-based legacy present, it may be a bit of difficult. Maybe the enterprise is nice, however you see the writing on the wall and need to be forward of the curve. As I see it, there are no less than just a few choices: 

1) Begin a brand new podcast with a distinct segment focus. Sadly, I think I’d get bored inside weeks or months, nevertheless it’s not off the desk…

2) Pack up your tent and stroll off into the sundown in quest of different adventures.

3) Create new and higher guidelines.

I landed on #3.

Within the midst of a weekly ship cycle, it’s arduous to flee the collective pull of algo chasing, thumbnail tweaking, and particulars lengthy sufficient to zoom out. The waters have been churning at a fever pitch, ever altering and ever quicker. While you’re contained in the washer, it’s very arduous to step out and get perspective.

So I made a decision to take a sabbatical of roughly 4 months. It ended just a few weeks in the past.

Through the sabbatical, I finished recording new episodes, republished a few of the biggest hits (e.g., Jamie Foxx, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Margaret Atwood, Jerry Seinfeld, and extra), and did a variety of considering.

The total break allowed me and my workforce sufficient respiration room to consider the lengthy recreation. What will we need to do, and moreover, why are we doing this in any respect? 

Since almost all the principles are made-up anyway, I requested myself a bunch of questions, together with:

What would possibly this seem like if it have been maximally enjoyable?

What would possibly this seem like if it have been straightforward?

If I get to do that for an additional decade, or needed to do that for an additional decade, what new guidelines would possibly I create to maintain it fascinating?

After all, these are implicitly “for me.” It’s a extremely private factor.

In my expertise, maintaining it fascinating for me usually retains it fascinating for my beautiful listeners. On the very least, it’s the one manner to make sure I’ve the keenness required for endurance.

Certain, generally what-Tim-likes is just too unusual and misses the mark, however attempting to cater to the tastes of an summary “viewers” or the YouTube gods, with out listening to what you like, has despatched a variety of podcasts to the elephant graveyard.

And even in the event you handle to “win” that recreation, successful is perhaps essentially the most harmful.

Quite than getting Outdated Yeller’d behind the barn, you will have simply sufficient earnings or traction or validation or progress to make it appear loopy to cease. How may you shut it down? You then alter to the creeping boredom and incremental beneficial properties, and also you persuade your self that it’s all a value of doing enterprise. You begin by feeding the machine via the cage, solely to get up sooner or later and notice that you’re the one contained in the cage. For an excessive instance, learn this text on viewers seize, however it might take many kinds. Some are very refined.

Media is a superb device and a cruel grasp.

Thankfully, that is NOT how issues must be.

Based mostly on the entire above, listed below are some new guidelines that I’ll be implementing beginning in the present day:

No extra book-launching episodes.

The podcasting circuit has largely change into the identical authors showing on 15–30 podcasts in any given week or two for guide launches. It’s the trendy equal of a radio satellite tv for pc tour. For authors, I completely get it, however I’m over it, and I do know a variety of my podcast mates are over it. It’s boring for everybody.

So, I’m opting out. No extra book-launch episodes for some time.

If I make an exception, it would seemingly require that each of the next circumstances are true:

– You’re a very shut pal, which means we’ve identified one another for no less than 10 years, we’ve stayed at one another’s properties, see one another a number of instances a yr, and so on.

AND

– The episode will come out a minimal of three months earlier than the guide’s publication date. Early could be a nice technique for authors. That is precisely what I’ve accomplished with previous friends like Jocko Willink, who made his first-ever podcast look (the truth is, first public interview) on The Tim Ferriss Present in September of 2015. I steered we publish properly earlier than his pub date as a result of this area would permit his writer to gauge pre-order demand and considerably enhance the preliminary print run. His first guide, Excessive Possession, hit the New York Instances bestseller listing, and the remainder is historical past. Even one month is kind of tight if abroad printing is concerned, and sadly, a variety of podcasters don’t respect embargos (crabs in a bucket!), so… no less than three months prematurely it’s.

90/10 barbell technique for future friends.

The barbell technique is an strategy to investing popularized by previous visitor, creator, and self-described flâneur Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

The metaphor of the barbell is apt as a result of weights are positioned on the far ends. Within the investing context and in easy phrases, the vast majority of your property is perhaps in very conservative positions with the remaining property in very high-risk, very high-reward bets. For example, municipal bonds and angel investing. The center is empty.

However how may you apply this to a podcast? It’s really very straightforward. Simply search for extremes. I apply the barbell strategy throughout my life and enterprise.

Within the case of The Tim Ferriss Present, I’ll goal to interview friends who’re both:

Identified by greater than 90% of my viewers (e.g., Jeff Bezos, Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey)

Or

Identified by lower than 10% of my viewers (e.g., a few of my favourite previous episodes, like Dr. BJ Miller, Boyd Varty, Dr. Sue Johnson, or Elan Lee)

I’m attempting to keep away from the messy center, which is a Tokyo subway automotive of repeat friends on the circuit. It’s crowded, and I don’t like crowded. Cue The Blue Ocean Technique.

Prioritizing dwelling legends.

I like individuals who’ve mastered a craft and who seldom—or by no means—do podcasts.

I actually get pleasure from interviewing masters who’ve produced excellence decade after decade. This usually means such folks have some grey hair, and I’d like to have a good time them and immortalize their knowledge whereas they’re nonetheless sharp. The final particular person holding a convention, the tenth era of X, a reclusive genius… you get the thought.

Experimental hyperdrive. 

I’ve experimented loads on the present prior to now, and I’m going to place that into hyperdrive. It’s merely extra enjoyable.

I’ve accomplished podcasts in saunas (e.g., Rick Rubin’s first-ever podcast), dwell Q&As, walk-and-talk episodes within the mountains, drunk-dialing followers for shits and giggles, interviews in taxis in Uzbekistan, audiobook excerpts, and extra. It’s straightforward to imagine that slick, labor-intensive, polished episodes get essentially the most downloads, nevertheless it’s merely not true. And rather more essential, the experimentation retains issues enjoyable and contemporary. In spite of everything, I nonetheless take into account this the early days for podcasting. Lower than one-third of terrestrial radio advert spend has landed in podcasting up to now, and there’s numerous room left to innovate and make unusual issues work.

In case you solely persist with what has labored, you would possibly miss one thing that works an entire lot higher. 

So, if you wish to hear to 1 podcast that delivers quite a lot of enjoyable stuff in quite a lot of codecs, that’s the following chapter. Perhaps I ought to rebrand as The Tim Ferriss Selection Present… or make a mobile-only TimTim WalkWalk? That final one is for the oldies.

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So, let’s get this get together began.

I’ll proceed so as to add to those insurance policies and this weblog put up, however within the meantime, I’d love your solutions:

What would you wish to see or hear on the podcast?

Are there any experiments that will tickle your fancy? Or podcasts or codecs I ought to see for inspiration?

Any friends that match the 90/10 barbell technique? Dwelling legends?

Different ideas or solutions?

Please let me know within the feedback under! Feedback listed below are much better than social media, as I’ll really see them. And thanks for studying this far.

All the most effective to you and yours,

Tim

P.S. In case you haven’t already, you may subscribe to The Tim Ferriss Present on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you discover your audio niblets.

Associated

The Tim Ferriss Present is one of the preferred podcasts on this planet with a couple of billion downloads. It has been chosen for “Better of Apple Podcasts” thrice, it’s usually the #1 interview podcast throughout all of Apple Podcasts, and it has been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many events. To hearken to any of the previous episodes without spending a dime, try this web page.