The Battle Against Irrelevancy In Podcasting

Expertise comes with an expiration date. In time, every record falls. And behind every first comes a wave of seconds that will push even farther. Podcasting isn’t immune to that. Nor are podcasters.

January 27, 2021

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I'm afraid of becoming irrelevant to the world of podcasting.

Not outdated. And not even unimportant. Simply irrelevant.

I wonder if other long-time podcasters at it for 16+ years or maybe just a decade or so are feeling the same way? I have a sneaking suspicion many are, but I honestly don't know. It's not like we're all on some sort of a public line doing wellness checks of one another.

My assumption is that the longer one is in the podcasting game, the more changes to the game have been witnessed, and that feeling of irrelevance or obsolescence starts to build.

I bet most aren’t talking about it. Not out loud in a public forum that I’ve seen, at least. Then again, I haven’t talked about my own feelings of growing irrelevancy until now, and they’ve been building for some time. So maybe my own self-evaluation and coming to terms with it might help when those feelings hit you. Or if they’ve hit you already.

How One Podcaster Fights Back Against Irrelevancy

Upping my game certainly helps. You know I’m always keen to improve my podcasting game, either with software, hardware, other skills. I’ve brought a slew of people-better-than-me into my life in recent years. But the smartest move I’ve made thus far is working closely with Sam Walker of ex-BBC fame. She’s opened me up to a whole new world of podcasting, and I’m forever grateful to her. (She also has a short-form podcast about her new life in the desert you should listen to.)

Likewise, I like to keep my eyes out for innovative and disruptive forces that impact podcasting, changing the industry in both subtle and revolutionary ways. That’s also a big part of my personality, a hold-over from my startup accelerator days. Hence my current focus on tools like Descript and Clubhouse. But they won’t be the last tools and tech I geek out on.

I also recognize that my podcasting generation doesn’t have all the answers. Or maybe better said: the answers we came up with are often no longer relevant. That’s why I’m happy I’ve established and try to keep strong ties with the generation(s) of working podcasters that came after my wave. I’m grateful for the joint-mentorship program Steph from Edit Audio and I have. And a huge shoutout to Brian from Sounds Profitable for letting me use my red pen on his articles, which keep me up to speed on what's new and happening in the podcast adtech space.

Sitting on advisory boards of some podcasting-related companies certainly helps. I'm fortunate to act as an “unofficial advisor” to some of the cool people behind some of the cool tech in the podcasting space. But a big shout out to both Captivate.fm and Maps.fm for formally asking me to sit on their advisory boards. It’s a responsibility I don’t take lightly, so thank you.

But even with all of that... I'm still afraid of becoming irrelevant. Maybe that's natural, much like the ever-present imposter syndrome. Perhaps they are two sides of the same coin.

I’ve never been one to talk much about my feelings, but here we. Maybe this helps you work through how you’ve been feeling about your relationship to the podcasting world. So let’s talk about it. Talk among your friends, perhaps using this episode of Podcast Pontifications to spark the conversation.

But also join me on Clubhouse to talk this out on Friday, Jan 29th at 11:00a Phoenix time. That’s 10:00a Los Angeles and 1:00p NYC. It’ll be an actual conversation about how we keep ourselves fresh and current so we keep those feelings of irrelevancy at bay. I hope you can make it. Let me know if you need an invite, OK?

And if you care to support the efforts that I'm doing here on Podcast Pontifications, please go to BuyMeACoffee.com/evoterra and toss a couple of shekels my way.

I shall be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications.

Cheers!

Transcript

Expertise comes with an expiration date. In time, every record falls, and behind every first comes a wave of seconds that will push even farther. Podcasting isn't immune to that nor are podcasters.
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Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.
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I'm afraid of becoming irrelevant. Yep. Specifically to the world of podcasting, and perhaps only to the world of podcasting. I'm afraid of becoming irrelevant, not outdated and not even unimportant, but irrelevant. I don't have many fears, but deep down inside, that's one of them.
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I wonder if other podcasters like myself, who've been doing this for sixteen-ish years or a dozen years, are they feeling the same way? I don't know. Maybe. I mean, it's not like we're on some sort of a public line where we all chat back and forth, but yeah, I think the longer we do this, the more things change.
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It's quite likely that other people in the podcasting space are feeling the way that I do. Chances are they're not talking about it out loud. I haven't talked about it out loud until now, but I think it's something that a lot of podcasters may eventually face. And so perhaps me talking about the reality will help you when it hits you.
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Maybe it's hit you already. I don't know. There are things I'm doing about it. Like anything, don't just complain, do something about it. So up-skilling certainly helps. It has certainly helped me. You know, I've constantly tried to do things differently and better in the podcasting space, but in the last year or so, one of the smartest moves I've made is working closely with Sam Walker.
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Sam does Desert Diaries - great podcast you should listen to. She's also of ex-BBC fame. And she and I are working on some projects together and that's definitely upped my skill level in a big way. Keeping up with innovation and disruptive forces in the podcasting space is huge. And who I am.
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I mean, I love doing that in-house so for me, it's easy, but that's also why I talk a lot about new tools, like Descript, and new platforms, like Clubhouse. Keeping up with those disruptive forces in podcasting and those innovations that are coming out is key to keeping my relevancy high.
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I also establish and try to keep really strong ties with the generation that came right after me. So not necessarily the brand new people, but those kind of in the middle wave. And are quite active that helps me give a boost. So a big thanks to Steph from Edit Audio up in Canada. She and I, well, technically I'm her mentor, but I don't think that's the case. I think we are equally mentoring each other.
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And then Brian from Sounds Profitable, really keeping me up to speed on what's new in the adtech space. So I really enjoy our interactions and collaboration together.
Sitting on advisory boards certainly helps. I mean, I'm an unofficial advisor to a handful of cool people in the podcasting space, so thanks to all of them. But a big shout-out to Captivate.fm and Maps.fm for officially making me a member of the board. That keeps my brain in the space and keeps me thinking about what's happening in the future anyhow, and also increases, therefore, the relevancy.
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But even with all of that, I'm still afraid of being irrelevant. Maybe that's a natural way all of us feel. We don't talk about it very much. I know I don't talk about my feelings a whole lot. Never have been that way, but it's how I feel. And so maybe it helps you.
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Are you feeling similar wherever you are in the podcasting world? Are you feeling similar? If so, I'd love to hear about it. I'd love for you to ask your friends you know in podcasting how they feel, what do they think about irrelevancy? When will it actually happen to them? What will you all do about it? Share this episode if you want to with them, that's great. But get them to tell you how they feel about this.
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I think on Friday, well, I know on Friday, I'm going to host another room on Clubhouse at eleven o'clock in the morning Phoenix time. That's 10:00 AM Los Angeles, 1:00 AM for the East coast. This coming Friday , January 29th.
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And I want to talk about this topic a little bit more and with you, hopefully. You're invited to participate. How do you keep yourself fresh and current and stay - so that you're not irrelevant? And we'll do that this coming Friday. I'll put a link out in the - there'll be a link in the episode details, and I'll share that on the social properties as well.
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And if you care to support the efforts that I'm doing here on Podcast Pontifications, bringing you these deep thoughts about podcasting, well, please go to buymeacoffee.com/evoterra, and toss a couple of shekels my way.
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Okay. That's it. Think about that. Think about your own version cause that's where I live.
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Anyhow. I shall be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications.
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Cheers!

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