Looking To Get Rich Quick With Podcasting? Think Again

Dave Jackson:
I was out at Reddit today, and I saw a post that said, I work 2 jobs and wanna start podcasting. I'll share my thoughts.

Dave Jackson:
Jackson. So the post says, hi, all. I am in crushing debt right now due to special circumstances. I'm working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week just to scrape by. I have a great podcast idea and wanna start recording. I have a computer and a decent mic. What software would you recommend and why? I don't have a lot of time for editing, and obviously my funds are nearly non existent. Thank you for your time.

Dave Jackson:
And so I want to preface this answer with there's a difference between being poor and being broke. I know the taste of government cheese. When I was growing up, for a period of time, my family was on welfare. And in my twenties, I had to file for bankruptcy. And I remember standing I had a job, but I was standing in front of the vending machine going, do I want a Mountain Dew, or do I use this money to get some gas so my car will make it home? It sucks to be broke, and there is a difference. And so I say this with love, respect, and compassion. If you have crushing debt, you need to make money right now, and a podcast is not to weigh and a podcast is absolutely not the way to make money quickly. What you need is not a podcast.

Dave Jackson:
What you need is a job. Deliver some pizzas, whatever it is. I sound like Dave Ramsey. Deliver some pizzas, you know, do whatever you gotta do, sell some stuff. But the the problem with this and I wrote a book on podcast monetization called Profit From Your Podcast. It's available as a book. You can get it on Amazon, or you can get the audiobook at profit from your podcast. I'll have a link out in the show notes for this.

Dave Jackson:
But and nobody likes this answer. It takes about 3 years, maybe 2, but more than likely 3 to build enough audience, not even to where you can quit your job, but to where you can make enough money that you're like, okay. This is more than a happy meal. And the reason for that is you're just starting out. And if you're brand new to creating content, the 1st year, you're kinda finding your voice. And then you're also and, again, I'm not saying you're awful, but you're getting good. The first time you try to play basketball or tie your shoes or drive a car or anything, you aren't very good at it. And it takes you a while to to get your confidence up, to really figure out what your audience needs.

Dave Jackson:
These are the kind of things I help people kinda do on a on an expedited situation. But even working with a coach, it's gonna take years to get enough audience. And then there are things like newsletters. I mean, it goes on and on and on. And that's why I say it if you want to make money quickly, podcasting is not the way, especially if you have no audience. Because the 1st year, you're just getting going. The 2nd year, now you're actually pretty good. And if you're staying consultant, both in schedule, but more importantly, in making amazing consultant.

Dave Jackson:
And that amazing content takes time. But if you do that for and during that second year, now your your listeners are starting to say, wow. You need to check out this show. It's really good. And so it starts to grow organically so that by the 3rd year, you've got enough people that if you want to sell your own product or service, that's the number one way to make money. If you have affiliates, if you have a newsletter, if you have some sort of crowdfunding, if you have donations, there are all sorts of different ways to make money. But the problem is you can't do it quickly when you start up. When I first started the school of podcasting, I had gone back to school, and I was getting a teaching degree.

Dave Jackson:
I had been teaching in the corporate world for years, but I actually didn't have a degree in education. My original degree was in electronic engineering. And even though my resume showed all this this training and education I had done, I needed the piece of paper. And so when I got my first degree, I was in my twenties, and I worked as a waiter. When I got my second degree in education, I was in my forties, and I thought, well, I'll start a podcast because it's gonna be hot. This is back in 2,005 And especially in 2005, nobody knew what a podcast was. And so consultant, I wasn't making much money as a podcast coach. So I was playing in a band.

Dave Jackson:
I was giving guitar lessons. I was designing websites. I was doing all sorts of stuff to make ends meet. And the thing that people don't realize, they think that the podcast is the hard part, The recording and the technology and learning the software to answer his one question, if you're on a budget, Audacity will work. It's free. But once you get the podcast out, you think, okay. Now I'm done. The hard part's over.

Dave Jackson:
No. The hard part is the marketing and getting people to actually listen. When I wrote my book, I thought the hard part was, you know, I got a publisher that was great. They said we need however many thousands of words. And I started typing away and typing away and typing away. And finally, the book was done. And I was like, whew. Well, then it went through 5 edits.

Dave Jackson:
Yeah. 5. And when it was finally done and out, I was like, okay. There it is on Amazon. Look at me. I'm a published author. But that was really where the work begins. So, again, I'm sorry to hear that you're going through crushing debt.

Dave Jackson:
I've been there, my friend, and I've dug myself out. And, I just I feel for you. And and that's why I'm saying this. It's not don't start a podcast. It's don't start a podcast now. There are things that you can do that will earn money now, like, you know, whatever, delivering pizzas, you know, whatever you wanna do. There are other ways to do that. I know here in my town of Akron, Ohio, everybody is hiring in fast food, and fast food is, you know, not the dream job.

Dave Jackson:
But like I said, I worked in a waiter. I was a carhop. I was running out to cars and stuff, and it helped pay the bills. And when you look back later, you go, ah, I remember the time. And I learned a lot of good lessons as a waiter. You can always learn from anything. So if you're trying to make money quickly with a podcast, it's not that you shouldn't start a podcast. It's that maybe you shouldn't start one now.

Dave Jackson:
You know, get your finances in order. Because the other thing I wanna throw in here before we wrap it up, when you have the pressure of not only starting the podcast, but, oh my gosh, nobody's buying anything. It's just soul crushing. It's just soul crushing. And so I would get your finances in order, then come back to the podcast. And the podcast can be great for therapy, for getting away from all your troubles and things like that. I just wouldn't expect any money from it in the early stages. But if you've if you're really short on time, spend that time with your family, your loved ones, take care of your health.

Dave Jackson:
You know, take care is of your mental health as well. That's really important. And I just would advise if you're really, really strapped for time and strapped for cash, now is not the time to start a podcast. Now if you need help with your podcast, I would love to help, and maybe we can find a way to speed things up and get you up and going. But as you just heard, I actually care for you more as a person than as a customer. Because in the end, it's like they say on an airplane. Right? You put your oxygen mask on first, and then you take care of your kids. And if we don't take care of you, well, then there's no podcast.

Dave Jackson:
So keep that in mind. I do have a book on podcast monetization. You can find that at profit from your podcast.com. So dear listener, if you're not strapped for cash and time, I would love to help you. Go out to school of podcasting.com/consultant consultant apply a coupon code on either a monthly or yearly subscription that does come with a not a 7, not a 14, a 30 day money back guarantee, and that gets you access to all of our courses that get you from point a all the way to world domination. And then you also have our awesome community and, of course, endless as in unlimited one on one consulting with myself and you. Schoolofpodcasting.com/ consultant. I'm Dave Jackson, and I wanna be your podcast consultant.