Don't Be Afraid to Experiment [Day 6 30 Days of Podcast Notes]
September 06, 202600:03:37

Don't Be Afraid to Experiment [Day 6 30 Days of Podcast Notes]

After ending the TIL Podcast, I rebooted it as an interview show — I'd talk to friends about their professional lives, starting with Dr. Dan Ostermeier and my brother, who worked at Disney World. It lasted two episodes, because I had no mission for it beyond wanting to make podcasting work. This was before Serial and Lore pulled podcasting into the mainstream, and I still had no reason for the show to exist. Two failed experiments with the same show taught me more than a cautious success would have.

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00:00:00 --> 00:00:05 Hello and welcome to episode six of 30 days of
00:00:05 --> 00:00:10 podcast notes. Yesterday in episode five I talked
00:00:10 --> 00:00:14 about when to call it quits. Well for episode
00:00:14 --> 00:00:16 six I want to talk about how I came back again
00:00:16 --> 00:00:21 with the TIL podcast. I decided to reboot it
00:00:21 --> 00:00:24 to try to make the show work again. I loved podcasting
00:00:24 --> 00:00:28 and I wanted to try something. And again, I should
00:00:28 --> 00:00:32 say like this was before lore and serial really
00:00:32 --> 00:00:39 got big and those really catapulted podcasting
00:00:39 --> 00:00:44 into the mainstream in a way. I think it would
00:00:44 --> 00:00:50 take several years, but after that, but those
00:00:50 --> 00:00:52 those two podcasts showed that podcasting wasn't
00:00:52 --> 00:00:55 just like white guys talking about Apple. which
00:00:55 --> 00:00:59 is what a lot of podcasts were at the time. But
00:00:59 --> 00:01:01 I really wanted to make podcasting work. I loved
00:01:01 --> 00:01:04 it. I was in drama club and I love teaching and
00:01:04 --> 00:01:06 this kind of was able to combine both of those
00:01:06 --> 00:01:09 things. So I decided to try to make it an interview
00:01:09 --> 00:01:12 show where I would talk to friends in their professional
00:01:12 --> 00:01:15 settings and learn about what they were doing.
00:01:15 --> 00:01:18 I got through two episodes. One was my friend
00:01:18 --> 00:01:22 Dan Ostermeyer, Dr. Dan Ostermeyer. and one was
00:01:22 --> 00:01:23 my brother who went to Disney World and I love
00:01:23 --> 00:01:27 Disney World, but ultimately that was still very
00:01:27 --> 00:01:29 short -lived because I didn't have a mission.
00:01:29 --> 00:01:33 I didn't have a purpose for the show besides
00:01:33 --> 00:01:36 S &G's and I didn't have a lot of time for S
00:01:36 --> 00:01:44 &G's at the time. So I was still struggling to
00:01:44 --> 00:01:47 find the right thing, but I did reboot the show
00:01:47 --> 00:01:51 We recorded over Skype still with Skype Ecamm
00:01:51 --> 00:01:58 call recorder for Skype. And I picked a couple
00:01:58 --> 00:02:00 of people who I knew really well. Dan and I tried
00:02:00 --> 00:02:02 to start a business together in college that
00:02:02 --> 00:02:05 I bailed from. He did not. He was willing to
00:02:05 --> 00:02:07 invest more than I was, wasn't it? My brother.
00:02:08 --> 00:02:13 So I was still struggling at the time. And my
00:02:13 --> 00:02:18 tip for you in this series is don't be afraid
00:02:18 --> 00:02:21 to experiment, right? At this point now I've
00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 had two kind of failed experiments with the same
00:02:23 --> 00:02:27 show and it would take a little bit of time before
00:02:27 --> 00:02:32 I launched my popular show but I eventually did
00:02:32 --> 00:02:35 and the lessons I learned from TIL podcast were
00:02:35 --> 00:02:40 so important for that so very sad that I ended
00:02:40 --> 00:02:44 up letting it go but the truth is I didn't have
00:02:44 --> 00:02:47 a reason to keep doing it. And ultimately you
00:02:47 --> 00:02:51 need that in podcasting because it is hard. Especially
00:02:51 --> 00:02:55 today, right? Back then I was one of a handful
00:02:55 --> 00:02:59 of podcasts. I just didn't find the right people
00:02:59 --> 00:03:03 to resonate with. It is harder to get found today.
00:03:03 --> 00:03:07 And so even more, you need a good reason. But
00:03:07 --> 00:03:10 that's it for this podcast note. If you're enjoying
00:03:10 --> 00:03:13 this series, be sure to subscribe to the show
00:03:13 --> 00:03:15 wherever you're listening. I'll be back tomorrow
00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 with another tip. If you are a solo business
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 owner who is looking to improve your systems
00:03:19 --> 00:03:22 and processes so that you can create content
00:03:22 --> 00:03:24 better, focus on the stuff that matters to you
00:03:24 --> 00:03:27 without hiring a team, I call that creating your
00:03:27 --> 00:03:30 solo ops. And I talk about that over on my newsletter,
00:03:30 --> 00:03:33 which you can find over at streamlined .fm slash
00:03:33 --> 00:03:36 join. Thanks so much for listening and I will
00:03:36 --> 00:03:37 see you tomorrow.