Sometimes you over prepare, only to spend money unnecessarily.
I was looking at my Podbean stats and realized, it really wasn’t worth the 240$ or so I spent to have my content on Spotify. We didn’t get any traction and arguably no one consumed it. The money spent was there to add convenience to an audience that lives on other platforms.
When we launched our new super local podcast covering neighbourhood stuff I made sure it was on Spotify. That was the thing you were supposed to do. Right?
So far no one’s listening there either. Each month another 20$ hits my card and I wonder if it’s really worth it. This one is someone else’s 20$ and I need to consider even more if I should be recommending this course of action.
When you really want to succeed you need to keep costs down.
Here’s a really good tip to achieve that. Don’t spend money on things no one is asking for.
Spending money is necessary but some costs are pointless
Let me be clear, I'm not advocating that anyone should be cheap.
Almost any new project you take on will come with costs. When dealing with a song you have things like:
Album Art
Mixing
Recording (either gear or studio rental)
Promotional video content (even if it’s DIY, you probably have some props).
Pretty much anything you can think of will require a bit of money. Having access to flush, liquid funds will often get you many of the things you need faster. This can go from beneficial to foolhardy real quick.
While there are things you absolutely need to move forward with your project, like album art, others are optional. You don’t actually have to film a music video. It’s a good idea to do so if you want to promote your song, but a music video is an optional promotional tool.
Everything to do with promotion is optional.
If there’s no clear ROI in sight, maybe holding off on the video is a better idea than pushing it. It may be wiser to release 5 songs and ask people which they want a video for. At least then, you can know that some people have asked for it.
Also, you can find out real quick if no one wants that video.
As you create more, the people will tell you what they want
It’s important to note that your one or two homies giving you advice is not “the people”.
You need to establish the difference between supportive friends and paying clients. Also pay attention to the difference between free followers and those willing to support you financially.
A lot of people have opinions and will share them with you.
Very quickly when you set out to learn what people outside your circle want you’ll start to see some contradictory asks. As an example, some people will push for more autotune and some people will remain against it at all times. Both are fighting for the version of reality they want. Each coming with valid arguments. It’s not easy to just pick someone to listen to.
While in music staying true to yourself matters most, if you are forced to pick between conflicting asks, choose whomever is willing to pay you for it.
This is clear in the world of consumer goods. People can confirm which colour variants they want in a merchandise drop ahead of time, especially with tools like advance orders. While you may have a vision, chances are you will let the data (money) decide where you should invest.
When you are considering how to expand and grow, before running to make decisions that cost you money, take some time to learn what people actually want.
Until you get that valid feedback, from potential clients, just keep trying new things.
One day you may find out pickle polarization is profitable.
There are no shortcuts in life despite what people tell you
All your choices should be following the focus created with well defined tactics and strategies.
When facing the reality of how many ways there are to burn through your savings chasing passion projects, it’s worth having a think. There are two main states that exist when project planning. The ideal state and what you can do today.
In an ideal state, there is a big audience following my podcasts and I need to be on every platform.
Today when I check my stats I’m not sure there is a real demand for me to be on Spotify. I bring this up because my ego told me I should be there for all the people who listen on Spotify. My entire focus is Twitch/YouTube. I never even talk about Spotify.
At first I dibbled and dabbled to see if there was an SEO play. But the truth is the internet at large said I should be there, so I spent money to be there. Now I question if the 750$ I spent on putting Behind That Suit content on Spotify was worth it.
For a while it was fair to experiment. For a longer while I knew no one was listening and was more worried about pleasing people than good business sense.
Work as free as possible until the you secure financing for more
You should always try and figure out all your costs before you start your project.
When you do this exercise, ask yourself if there is a freer way to accomplish your goals. Young people, with their limited budgets, are able to do incredible things with very little money.
The older, and richer, we get the less we remember that with a little work we can do a lot without paying.
For things like podcast distribution, focus on where your audience is. Along the way if there is a demand for you to be on a specific platform, people will ask specifically. You’ll find that most people will just go where you are to support you.
At a certain point the audience grows and the needs will change.
Given your audience is down for the cause, they’ll be willing to throw money at helping you solve the problem. If they are your clients, they may be willing to pay a premium for more. The point is before spending money to expand, make sure there is money coming in.
That way the people who are paying you will direct the ship and you can make sure you aren’t just wasting money on nice things. Nice things are lovely, but a lot of the time the impact they have will be significantly less than you were hoping for.
I don’t want to discourage you from trying new things. Only to really think about if you actually need something before blowing the kind of money I’ve blown over the last decade. There is a solid 15-20K I could have spent on far more impactful things.
Don’t be as foolish as I used to be.
Live Long and Prosper Everyone
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