Is My Podcast Just Reinventing the Wheel?
Content Warning: Cliché Advice vs. Amateur Anthropology
When I take a call with a potential client, they have a thousand questions. How does a podcast get from my computer to someone’s ears? What kind of mic do I need? Should I adopt a dog to be my podcast mascot?1 But for the client who has an idea they’re really excited about, that’s been stoking a hot little coal of motivation in their head, there’s one question they hate, but feel like they have to ask. “There are literally a million podcasts out there,” they say. “Won’t I just be reinventing the wheel?”
If our neolithic ancestors could hear us invoking their world-changing innovation to manage our own expectations for creative success, I suspect they’d have mixed feelings about it.2 I’m sure they’d be proud of engineering an enduring standard for utter originality. But I also think they’d be disappointed to know we’re setting such unrealistic standards for ourselves.
It’s true, there are lots of podcasts out there, and more are launching every day. The chances your podcast will be completely unlike any other are vanishingly small. On the other hand, the author(s) of Ecclesiastes complained that “there is nothing new under the sun” in about 300 BCE.3 If you want to do something completely original, you’re at least 2,500 years too late.
On the other hand, there’s no such thing as The Wheel. There hasn’t been almost since the beginning. Potter’s wheels were adapted for use in wheeled carts. The Egyptians developed spoked wheels that made them much lighter and faster. Today there are millions of specialized wheels, each engineered for specific jobs. One wheel steers your car, while other wheels transfer the motion power from the engine to the road. Different kinds of wheels are creating electricity from flowing water, scrolling through web pages, and trundling scientific instruments across the surface of Mars.
There are millions of podcasts out there, but there are billions of people. It’s impossible for any one show (or any dozen) to completely satisfy the interest in a particular topic.4 Even if you’re sharing widely available information, you have an opportunity to make it accessible, to educate, enlighten, and inspire, in your own personal way.
Of course, you should do some market research before you launch a podcast. Knowing what’s out there will help you think about how to make your podcast stand out from the rest of the shows in your niche. You’ll want to make sure your show name, cover art, and promotional copy are distinct enough not to cause confusion with an existing show. It will also help you identify opportunities for collaboration and cross-promotion. But don’t let the pressure to be completely (and impossibly) original stop you from feeding that flame of passion.5
Speaking of calls with aspiring podcasters; starting in the New Year, I’ll be offering weekly call times to get your individual podcasting questions answered. It’s a no-hype, no-pressure, no-sales opportunity to chat about your podcasting dreams, and what it would take to make them a reality. Click here to book yours now!
The answer, barring severe allergies, is always Yes. #poddogs
After they woke up from their culture-shock comas.
Only about 3,000 years after the Sumerians invented the wheel, FWIW.
If it could, there’d be around 500,000 fewer “white men who think they’re funny” podcasts on the charts.
I had to talk myself through the same hesitation before I launched this newsletter, and now you’re reading my weird little footnote asides. How fun is that?