Is Podcasting Still Worth It in 2025?
Is it worth starting a podcast in 2025? Dave Jackson dives into this question, addressing common concerns about the podcasting landscape and whether it remains a viable medium. He emphasizes that despite the increase in podcasts and competition, the audience for podcasts continues to grow yearly.
Drawing an analogy to college football, he illustrates that passion and the desire to share a message are key motivators for many podcasters, regardless of the competitive environment. Jackson also highlights that monetization is not the only goal; many creators start podcasts simply to express their creativity and connect with others. For those considering podcasting, he stresses the importance of understanding your "why" and "who" to build a meaningful and engaged audience.
Making it in the NFL
The odds of a football player making it to the NFL are extremely low. Only about 1.6% of college football players make it to the NFL2. For high school players, the chances are even slimmer, with only about 0.00075% (or roughly 1 in 133,333) of high school football players eventually making it to the NFL6.
To break it down further:
About 7.3% of high school players go on to play college football.
Of those college players, only 1.2% get drafted to the NFL.
Even for highly-rated recruits, the odds are challenging:
Five-star recruits have about a 50% chance of being drafted.
A 5-star recruit has a 39% chance of "sticking" in the league.
These statistics highlight the extreme competitiveness and selectivity of professional football, emphasizing that making it to the NFL is a rare achievement that requires exceptional skill, dedication, and often a bit of luck
Takeaways:
- Podcasting continues to grow every year, with millions of listeners in the U.S. alone.
- Just because podcasting seems crowded, it doesn't mean there isn't room for new voices.
- People often start podcasts not to make money but to share their passions and creativity.
- Understanding your audience is crucial—monetizing a podcast means monetizing your audience.
- Even successful podcasters initially started because they enjoyed discussing their topics and connecting with others.
- The competitive landscape of podcasting is much less daunting compared to platforms like YouTube.
Mentioned in this episode:
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This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
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00:00 - None
00:04 - Starting Your Podcast Journey in 2025
00:47 - The Evolving Landscape of Podcasting
03:40 - The Harsh Realities of NFL Aspirations
06:13 - The Motivation Behind Starting Podcasts
07:58 - Understanding Your Podcast's Purpose
I can't believe I haven't answered this question before, but somebody asked it on Reddit.
Dave Jackson
Is it worth it to start a podcast in 2025?
Speaker B
Welcome to your podcast consultant.
Speaker B
Small lessons with big Value.
Speaker B
With more than a decade of experience and millions of downloads, this hall of fame podcaster is a featured speaker, author, and mentor to thousands.
Speaker B
Now he wants to work with you.
Dave Jackson
He's your.
Speaker B
Your podcast consultant, Dave Jackson.
Dave Jackson
So I'm on Reddit.
Dave Jackson
Why?
Dave Jackson
Because I'm looking to see what people are asking questions about.
Dave Jackson
Because that way I take the guesswork out of.
Dave Jackson
I wonder if people are interested in this, because I know.
Dave Jackson
And so Intrepid Turnover 76 said, Is it worth starting a podcast in 2025?
Dave Jackson
And that's all we got.
Dave Jackson
And so part of it is might be fueled by, is podcasting still hot?
Dave Jackson
And I'll give you an example back.
Dave Jackson
I mean, 20 years ago, I was doing a show.
Dave Jackson
It was myself, Rob Walsh from Libsyn, Paul Culligan, and Gary Leland.
Dave Jackson
It was called Today in Podcasting.
Dave Jackson
And what was interesting about this, I remember we did an episode because Maytag the company had started a podcast, and we were like, all right, a big company sees the power of podcasting.
Dave Jackson
Yay.
Dave Jackson
Now, would that be a story today?
Dave Jackson
No.
Dave Jackson
Every company is starting a podcast.
Dave Jackson
It's almost like having a podcast now is like having a fax machine in the 80s.
Dave Jackson
Like, just everybody had one.
Dave Jackson
And so I'm not sure why he's asking that, but if he's thinking, hey, podcasting isn't as hot as it used to be, it grows every single year.
Dave Jackson
The audience gets bigger and bigger and bigger, and millions of people, and that's just in America, are listening to podcasts.
Dave Jackson
And so just because there may not be as many headlines about podcasting doesn't mean it is cooled off.
Dave Jackson
And so then I thought, well, maybe he thinks it's too crowded.
Dave Jackson
You know, there's already a bunch of shows about whatever your topic is.
Dave Jackson
And I thought about it, think about, and I'm going to talk about American football here, but in college, right?
Dave Jackson
Think about all the quarterbacks in college, while Tom Brady, considered the greatest quarterback of all time, was still playing.
Dave Jackson
There is no way that they will ever measure up to Tom Brady.
Dave Jackson
So why were they even attempting to play?
Dave Jackson
Like, why were they playing football now?
Dave Jackson
Also, we could say there is no way, because I'm sure Tom broke records of people that everyone thought, well, no one will ever break that record, so keep that in mind.
Dave Jackson
But I mean, Tom Brady, even if they make it to the NFL.
Dave Jackson
I mean, there's no way, you know, so they should quit, right?
Dave Jackson
What's the point?
Dave Jackson
No, these people were playing football because they loved the game.
Dave Jackson
And there was a chance, a small one.
Dave Jackson
We'll talk about that in a second.
Dave Jackson
That they might be drafted into the NFL and then even a smaller chance they would make a team and not get cut.
Dave Jackson
So I looked into this, and when I say a small chance, I mean a small chance.
Dave Jackson
According to a website called Career Village, the odds of a football player making it to the NFL are extremely low.
Dave Jackson
For high school players, the chances are pretty slim.
Dave Jackson
Roughly 1 in 133,333 football players eventually make it to the NFL.
Dave Jackson
7.3% of high school players go on to play college football.
Dave Jackson
So right there, you take that 133,000 and take 7.3%.
Dave Jackson
That's a huge cut.
Dave Jackson
That's whatever.
Dave Jackson
92.7% of high school players do not move on.
Dave Jackson
Of those college players, only 1.2% get drafted into the NFL.
Dave Jackson
Yay.
Dave Jackson
I'm in the NFL.
Dave Jackson
Well, nope, not.
Dave Jackson
Not so easy there.
Dave Jackson
If you're a five star recruit, you have about a 50% chance of being drafted.
Dave Jackson
And then they say a five star recruit, though, has a 39% chance of sticking in the league.
Dave Jackson
Meaning not only do you get drafted that you actually end up playing because there's a practice squad.
Dave Jackson
There's all sorts of different.
Dave Jackson
The fact that you're going to end up on the field again, 1 in 133,000.
Dave Jackson
It's kind of the same when it comes to podcasting.
Dave Jackson
The chances of being the person that makes a full time living.
Dave Jackson
And I don't have stats on that, but why are people still starting podcasts when there are some people that are already doing a show like yours?
Dave Jackson
And if you think that it's too competitive in podcasting, go look at YouTube.
Dave Jackson
Holy cow.
Dave Jackson
I mean, there's about right now around 250,000 active podcasts.
Dave Jackson
There's about 4 million of them, but only about 250,000 that are actually active.
Dave Jackson
And if you look at YouTube.
Dave Jackson
Oh, that's, you know, billions of people.
Dave Jackson
Millions and millions and millions of people.
Dave Jackson
So if you're worried about competition, well, you've got much less competition as an audio podcast versus a YouTuber.
Dave Jackson
So why are people starting podcasts?
Dave Jackson
Well, I'm getting ready to go to Florida and induct two people into the Podcasters hall of Fame.
Dave Jackson
I'm also doing a presentation.
Dave Jackson
This is all at Podfest.
Dave Jackson
I'll albeit booth 32 if you're there.
Dave Jackson
And so I'm sure, and I love listening to the acceptance speeches at the hall of Fame because I'm pretty sure most of those people did not get into podcasting to make money.
Dave Jackson
And the key word here is quickly.
Dave Jackson
They got into podcasting because they had to talk about a subject and they would do it for free.
Dave Jackson
They just had to talk about it.
Dave Jackson
They started podcasting because they needed to talk about something.
Dave Jackson
They needed to scratch a creative itch in some cases.
Dave Jackson
And it just so happened that the stuff that they created ended up being so good that people told their friends.
Dave Jackson
And that's the key if you want to monetize.
Dave Jackson
Step one is grow an audience.
Dave Jackson
You don't monetize a podcast, you monetize an audience.
Dave Jackson
And their content was so good that people had to tell their friends.
Dave Jackson
But also keep in mind that you don't have to monetize.
Dave Jackson
I've talked about this in the past.
Dave Jackson
You do not have to monetize.
Dave Jackson
If you just want a creative outlet, you don't have to monetize.
Dave Jackson
I ride my bike in the summer and I've never made a dime.
Dave Jackson
In fact, I pay for that hobby every year when I get my bike tuned up.
Dave Jackson
All you need.
Dave Jackson
And you know what I'm going to say, if you listen to the show, you need to know your why and your who.
Dave Jackson
That starts it, because that helps you.
Dave Jackson
If you don't entertain and educate the who, you're not going to grow an audience.
Dave Jackson
If you don't know, if you don't get your why, then you'll burn out.
Dave Jackson
And here's something else to consider.
Dave Jackson
If we go back to the football analogy, eventually Tom Brady retired and somebody has to be the new Tom Brady.
Dave Jackson
And if you've got that passion and you've got that need, that could be you.
Dave Jackson
And if you need help with this, you know where to find me.
Dave Jackson
School of Podcasting.com use the coupon code listener.
Dave Jackson
That'll save you on either a monthly or yearly subscription.
Dave Jackson
Comes with a 30 day money back guarantee.
Dave Jackson
And I'd love to see what we can do together.
Dave Jackson
I'm Dave Jackson.
Dave Jackson
I help podcasters.
Dave Jackson
It's what I do.
Dave Jackson
And I want to be your podcast consultant.