Over the past eight months I have pondered the question that I titled this post. I am no closer to answering this question than I was eight months ago; therefore I felt the need to share my thoughts and allow others to add their two cents in the comment section below.
When I step back and look at how the internet works, it seems like an oxymoron. On one hand people don’t want to kneel to the large companies, and their stringent rules, but on the other hand people by the droves use these same services that they complain about daily. What strikes me as odd is there are many similar services that have existed, or do exist, in these same markets yet they don’t catch on. There are plenty of competing services that are created by someone within that market yet the masses will line up for the services they incessantly complain about.
I started creating podcasts in June of 2006. For the past 7 plus years, like clockwork, I have churned out podcast series after podcast series. I have spent hours upon hours producing, editing, and posting audio files to the web (over 3,000 to give you an idea). I have done sports shows, comedy shows, TV recap shows, relationship based shows, group shows, and solo shows. In my estimation, the shows that were most successful were the ones that had no production value, very little quality, and zero passion behind them. A couple years back I had a show that was getting 60,000 downloads a week and couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out why. Ever since then I have made it my goal to only create shows that I am passionate about yet I have never seen numbers like that again. Why is that?
How come the masses flock to podcasts that are made by the big networks? I know you can point out some smaller networks that have killed it in certain areas, but open up itunes and the names at the top of most categories will be from the big guys. I’ve always wondered how big companies get people to buy in? Large companies are able to do big numbers with no real interaction with their fans. Take for instance a podcast based around a TV series, you know going in that they can’t reveal anything pertinent, speculate on what might happen, and they will not engage the audience on an individual basis. Even with all these factors in play the general public will still get in line where they’re just another number and not support the smaller companies.
Recently, I was in talks with a very large company about becoming a sponsor for my podcast network. These negotiations went through 4 rounds of talks. Yes, you heard me correctly, four rounds of talks. I jumped through hoop after hoop in order to close the deal but at the end of the day the answer was the same, “Grow your numbers”. In my initial approach, the reason I wanted the sponsorship was to help facilitate the growth of my network. How can I continue to grow my numbers when I don’t have the means to put certain ideas in place? I need money to grow my numbers, but I can’t get the money without the numbers; it’s a vicious cycle.
Lately, I have lost faith in the internet and the people on it. The same people that clamor for change, ensure things stay the same when they put their money behind companies that are already financially set. They, like sponsors, want to put their money on the horse that’s expected to win. Much like the horse that’s a longshot, TPEnetwork.com might just fade away because no one will take a chance on the horse no one expects to win.
I would love to hear your thoughts below. How come the rich get richer? Why would you donate to a podcast network that’s worth 9 million dollars a year and complain about their content week after week? Is it too risky to support a small company? What turns you off about supporting a small network?