Getting The Podcasting Band Back Together Again

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I've been long enamored with the idea of coworking spaces in general, but mostly as related to podcasting. Eons ago, I built the very first pubic podcasting studio in Gangplank, one of the early co-working spaces in Phoenix. I ran a co-working-slash-incubator-slash-accelerator back in 2014 with the ultimately-failed intent of including a place for podcasts. And when I was living in Bangkok, I tried (and failed) to convince a few different co-working spaces to build out podcasting competencies.

Podcasting and co-working is on my mind once again. Yes, in the middle of a pandemic where getting together in close proximity is a terrible idea. Noted.

It’s on my mind for two reasons: First, there’s going to be a huge supply of commercial real estate very soon, which means prices will come way, way down. Second, we’re finding ways to manage life with the virus. I’m in no way saying things will go back to the way things were anytime soon (if ever), but we will emerge from isolation sooner or later, probably with a reimagined set of social norms.

Perhaps with that comes a reimagining of shared spaces that work well for podcasters? Now might be a great time to start that planning, as it’ll take a while.

Co-podcasting Space

I've been thinking about a few different ways to build a shared podcasting space. The easiest and most obvious the standard co-working space. But for podcasters! We’d want some good sound conditioning (most co-working spaces are noisy as heck) and some dedicated sound booths, but our needs aren’t all that different from others who use traditional co-working spaces.

Members would need to see the new space as a better option than their kitchen table, spare room, or closet. Or maybe it’s a better place to run the business-side of your podcasting efforts. That’s attractive to me, as I tried a few different co-working spaces pre-pandemic, and none of them really fit for me.

Podcast Collective

Maybe your re-imagined podcasting space is designed to run a collective podcasting business? Like-minded podcasters could pool their resources and skills together, providing complimentary services to one another or to third parties. This is fairly common in podcasting today, but it’s happening virtually. Quite a lot of “networks” in podcasting are really collectives. Some ventures even have the name collective right there in their name. (Hi, Bello!)

Being part of an in-person collective could be good for getting a group edit (very different than editing audio) on a clip or episode. Or the other members of the collective could help push and promote content from other members. On non-trivial challenge would be finding enough contributing members to make it work. Big metro areas like Phoenix could do it, but it’s not without its challenges.

Podcast Incubator

The classic startup incubator might be a good model to follow for podcasts. Someone with an idea for a podcast joins the incubator to see if their idea has legs or not. And if their podcast is sustainable or not. A podcast incubator would need to provide time and expertise to those being incubated, which means the incubator needs seasoned podcasters from multiple disciplines to make it run.

A podcast incubator would also need resources (read: money). Traditional business/tech incubators are often run in conjunction with universities or big corporations, relying on endowments and other non-profit funding to keep operating.

Podcast Accelerator

Accelerators and incubators are often conflated, but each operates at a different stage of the lifecycle. Broadly speaking, incubators make sure something can start and become viable, where accelerators make viable things grow big.

Running a podcast accelerator (not The Podcast Accelerator. Hi, Mark!) could be interesting. As with any other accelerator, there'd be a cohort of podcasts that go through a set curriculum or program. The “owner” of the accelerator would take an ownership stake in those podcasts in exchange for valuable services, so everyone’s skin is in the game.

With the right people on the right advisory board, the right companies adding their services to the mix, and a solid selection process to make sure the right podcasts are in the program, good things could come out of the other end.

When Reality Rears It’s Ugly Head

As enamored as I am by the idea of running some sort of podcasting co-working space, I also know reality is oftentimes a lot less glamorous. Lofty ideals aside, it comes down to the ability to create a place that offers things that podcasters either can't get or would pay too much to get on their own.

Co-working spaces that only exist to get stir crazy people out of the houses don’t stay around long. To be successful, a co-podcasting space will have to be both cheaper and more convenient. Not either/or. It must be both less expensive and more convenient than going at it alone.

If you, like me, have a gear-collection problem, then sharing a space with others might be cheaper for them because you’ve already sunk costs into buying high-end gear. I have around $5K of equipment in my in-home studio. Not everyone can or is willing to make that investment.

Speaking of convenience, it’s pretty convenient for me to podcast from my in-home studio. But there are plenty of people who don’t have a dedicated space at home. For them, it might be more convenient to go somewhere else that’s already set up.

But… even if you can make it both cheaper and more convenient to podcast from your co-podcasting space than someone’s home; can you stay in business? Somehow, this new space you’ve re-imagined will need to find the revenue to cover operating expenses.

So that minor (kidding) hurdle aside, I do like the idea of getting the podcasting band back together. Maybe next year.

But How’s The Coffee?

Yes, I’ve quit co-working spaces because of bad coffee. Rather than suffer that fate again, you can go to BuyMeACoffee.com/EvoTerra and buy me a virtual coffee to keep this program and my efforts going. If you join the handful of others who’ve signed up for a membership plan, you’ll start getting some special perks just for members.

And if all else fails, please reach out to one more podcaster in your life who needs to know about Podcast Pontifications. Send them a personal recommendation via email telling them how much you enjoy the show and that you think they should be listening to this show. I appreciate your efforts to helps my show grow.

I'll be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications.

Cheers!

Published On:

August 4, 2020

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PPS3E17 Getting The Podcasting Band Back Together Again

Podcasting is often considered a solo venture though. The biggest podcasts tend to have teams behind their success with the bottom falling out of commercial real estate dedicated podcasting coworking spaces may be coming.

[00:00:20] hello, and welcome to another podcast. Pontifications with me, Evo, Tara. Now I've been long in the hammered with the coworking space ideas specifically to podcasting. I built the very first podcasting studio in a coworking space in Phoenix, at a company called gangplank, a coworking space called gangplank backend.

[00:00:42] I want to say 2006. Yeah. Bought all the equipment, put it in. And we rented as a community space. I ran a real, a coworking space incubator slash accelerator. I'll explain those terms in just a moment, um, of my own back in 2014, with the intent of doing some podcasting out of there that never really materialized.

[00:01:03] And then when I was living in Bangkok, I was meeting with several different coworking spaces talking specifically about putting podcast studios in those spaces, which also didn't happen. And I now back in Phoenix, So I like the idea of coworking spaces and podcasting, and I need to recognize the fact that this is being recorded in August of 2020.

[00:01:25] And there's this global pandemic happening that is anathema to collectively getting together again. And I understand that. Not saying we're going to go back to the way things were, but still did I mention that glut of commercial real estate out there? I mean, it might get really inexpensive comparatively speaking to rent some space somewhere.

[00:01:53] And maybe with that comes a reimagining, if you will, of what we would do with a shared space in the podcasting world. If podcasters got together to share space is actual physical spaces. You know, assuming we can do that sometime soon. Good news is it takes a while to get these plans in motion. So. Not happening today.

[00:02:15] I've been thinking about a few different ways that we might do that we might build a coworking space for podcasting. One just might be a straight co podcasting space, just like coworking spaces where there's not a lot of extra things. I mean, really the, the reason you would do this as it would be a, it would be a place to podcast who would be a place you could go to.

[00:02:42] Instead of your home or your closet or whatever you're doing. And from who to places where you could go and do all of the podcasting things, or maybe if you're like me, maybe it's a place where you go run a podcasting business. In fact, maybe that's even better for this straight coworking space. It's less about the act of podcasting as in sitting behind a microphone and or futsing with the dog all day.

[00:03:06] Maybe it's a place where you run your collective podcasting business, maybe. Could be something like that. It could be ran as more of a, a collective let's say where like-minded podcasters get together and provide complimentary services to one another. This kind of happens right now in the virtual world.

[00:03:32] A lot of the quote networks unquote, are really more collectives. Some of them didn't have the name collective right there in their name. Hi, Bella. Thinking about group edits, thinking about the kumbaya is thinking about lifting all boats. That's an interesting idea. And having a physical space where you could do that could be interesting.

[00:03:55] Could be interesting. Give it a major Metro area. Like we are here in Phoenix that might work out. You could run them as a, an incubator. The classic startup incubator, if you will, but for podcasts, let's see if this podcast idea of yours has legs or not. So we'll put it in this incubator so we can literally incubate it, try to see if it can get off of the ground incubators.

[00:04:23] And specifically incubators in podcasting would need to give some things it needs to give time and expertise and the people that go along with that. Cause some ideas that go into an incubator yes. That ideas they need. So now, and experience to actually make them work. Yeah. And also resources, most incubators out there.

[00:04:46] I won't say all, but most incubators I'm aware of all running a nonprofit model or getting an endowment from universities or big organizations, but. Still, I like the idea of an incubator. There are a few podcasts incubators, again, happening in the, in the virtual world, as well as some of the real, the real world as well, to see if they can move.

[00:05:07] You could also run it as a, as a, as an accelerator. Accelerators and incubators are often conflated, but the difference is the accelerators usually, already have. Businesses in them that have proven that they are a business now as the time to make them grow really big. What's that mean in the podcasting space yet?

[00:05:27] It's a really good question. But if we were to run things like a podcast accelerator, and I don't mean the podcast accelerator high Mark, I mean, as a physical podcast accelerator, you know, there'd be a cohort, there'd be some set curriculum that, that cohort of. Podcasts almost said businesses are people, but they're really podcasts would go through.

[00:05:50] And typically in an, in an accelerator world, the whoever runs the accelerator is also donating some of their resources that it's not a donation. They're actually providing all of those things in exchange for ownership, stake in the podcast. So, but the nice thing about having an accelerator. Is that if you get the right people involved with the accelerator, not, not the companies, not the podcasts running through it, but the right advisory board, the right people on the outside throwing services at this to really make it grow, you've got the right people, then it works great.

[00:06:28] But if you don't have the right people, not so much, you know, I think there's a lot of challenge was when it comes to running. Um, A podcast, coworking space, any sort of coworking space, really, again, I'm enamored by the idea of it, but the reality is oftentimes a lot less glamorous. I mean, at the end of the day, you really have to do something that people either can't get or would pay too much to get like the whole reason that.

[00:06:58] Coworking spaces exist other than the fact that people are stir crazy and want to get out of the house. I totally get that, but it still has to be both cheaper and more convenient. Not, not either, or it has to be cheaper and more convenient that than doing your thing at home. So when a podcast coworking space that those two pressures apply, it has to be cheaper.

[00:07:23] And I guess if you already have a bunch of microphones and equipment all set up and that lowers the cost, but it also has to be a lot more convenient. And right now that convenience of me sitting at home, talking to you is pretty darn high. How, what could I get more convenient somewhere else? Well, all those shared services that I mentioned, I think is a, is a big part of that.

[00:07:46] Maybe there's things I could do at a studio. At a shared coworking space for podcasting. I can't really do here. I mean, I've done just looking around the room, I'm going to do some estimates around five grand worth of equipment invested in my podcasting setup. So I'm kind of set, but a lot of people who are just starting out, haven't done that yet.

[00:08:05] And so for them to, it could be both cheaper and more convenient. Then being in, of course, you still have to, if you're thinking about opening a podcasting coworking space, and I'm thinking about it clearly, I'm thinking through it with you here on the program today, it's got to stay in business. Somehow it has to make money.

[00:08:24] I haven't quite figured that part out yet, but I do like the idea. I do like the idea of getting the podcasting band back together. Again. Now we also like the idea of you going to buy me a coffee.com coworking spaces have great coffee, or they should have great coffee. I have stopped going to coworking spaces because they don't have great coffee.

[00:08:47] Speaking of coffee, you can go to buy me a coffee.com/evo Terra, and buy me a virtual coffee to keep this program and my efforts. Going in fact, you can even sign up for a membership plan, handful of members, very inexpensive, and I'm putting it together. There's some special perks just for members. And if all else fails, please find me one more podcast or in your life who needs to know about podcast pontifications and send them a personal recommendation.

[00:09:16] Yeah, fire off an email to them saying you should be listening to this show. I love it. You should too, please. I appreciate it. It really helps the show grow. That's it I'll be back tomorrow with yet another podcast. Pontifications cheers. .

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