Too Late to Start a Podcast? Hardly. We Need Your Voice More Than Ever
Is it too late to start a podcast? People worry that they missed the boat or that every good idea has been taken. Rest assured, now is the perfect time to get into podcasting.
People like to throw around numbers, like how there are 600 million blogs and less than 800,000 podcasts (the majority no longer active), and how podcast listenership is increasing steadily. On episode 32 of Podcasting Step by Step, I dig into some more important numbers and talk about why you’re the voice someone needs to hear right now.
People today feel more alone than ever. Yale Professor Laurie Santos teaches “Psychology and the Good Life,” the most popular course in Yale’s 300-year history. According to Laurie, feelings of loneliness have doubled since the 1980s and 60 percent of college students in the U.S. say they feel very lonely most of the time, the negative health consequences of this are equal to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
People are desperate to feel part of something, and they’re listening to podcasts for comfort and to connect to something greater.
When podcasters are asked about their proudest, most satisfying achievement in podcasting, they never say ‘money,’ or ‘popularity,’ or ‘I get to be the boss.’ They tell stories of listeners writing in to them, thanking them for saving their lives. For helping them to feel less alone. For motivating them to try something new or to get out of a bad situation.
Podcasts are bringing us together. First through our shows themselves, then through online communities, then meetups and conferences in real life. There’s a real feeling of ‘we are in this together.’
There are people out there who want to hear from you. Who need to hear from you. Who need that connection and are waiting to be inspired by you.
How exciting is that? Doesn’t it make your heart swell that your podcast has such purpose? Whenever you worry about not being good enough, or not being ready, remember there is an audience who will love you, and they don’t want you to be perfect. They want you to be real and to feel like you ‘get’ them.
Now is the perfect time to get into podcasting. You’re the voice someone needs to hear right now.