Should I Even Start a Podcast? Yes, and here is why. Americans spend over 60 billion dollars a year on diet books. Now you might say that is why people write books because people buy books - because each year more and more people are getting fat. How many people move to Los Angelas to become an actor or actress or to Nashville to be Musicians. You have your talent. You have your goals. You have your unique insights and they aren't going to help or entertain anyone sitting on your computer. I'll Never Be Good As.... I've spoken about impostor syndrome in the past. Today I'm going to talk a bit about Tom Brady who some consider being the best Quarterback of all time in American football. Tom Brady decided to pursue football in college (he was good in multiple sports, but LOVED football). He went to Michigan in 1999. He didn't look at the top quarterbacks in 1999 and say, "I'll never be as good as Bret Farve, Troy Aikman, or Steve Young. Instead, he pursued football and used those quarterbacks as inspiration. You may not be as good as someone, you may actually be better - because you can learn from their history. When Your Podcast Is Stuck Today we are going to talk about getting your show unstuck. Here is a typical podcast that I run into on a regular basis. Maybe this sounds like you: Podcasting for five months Averaging about 54 downloads per episode Looking to grow your audience (we all area) Looking to make some money with your podcast It's hard to monetize a show with 50 downloads per episode. Many people don't realize that you're lucky if you get 5% of your audience to take action. That means three people will take action (if we round up). Finding Motivation to Keep Going You started your podcast cause you love your subject, and you want to talk about your subject, podcasting sounded fun, and you jumped in. Scenario: You and your cousin love to talk about your favorite TV show. You start a weekly podcast and you talk about your favorite TV show. Conclusion: This podcast is successful. You wanted to talk to your cousin about your favorite TV show with your cousin and you are. Now you want to earn some income. You changed your why. Try this: Go to an episode from three months ago and measure how many downloads you got in the first week. Then measure how many downloads you received from one of your latest episodes. I did this for someone at Libsyn and his numbers were up 20%. You Changed Your Why Now you are stuck with a podcast about a TV show that is trying to make money. I said in my previous episode about making money with your podcast that the #1 BEST way to make money with your podcast is to have a product to sell your audience. You don't have one of those. The second best way is through affiliate marketing. Aside from DVD's of the show, there may not be a ton of products related to the show that you can promote and earn a commission on the sale. This leads you to crowdfunding with a  tool like Patreon. Patreon says you might get 5% (that's three people in your case) and the average donation is $7 so you might end up with $21 for the month. That should pay your monthly media hosting bill. At least your not losing money to enjoy your hobby. If you move to a platform that offers dynamic ad insertion (where you earn .0017 cents per download) you would earn an extra thirty four cents per month. Did You Make a Mistake? Some might say you didn't plan enough. You didn't think through your podcast enough, and I'm not sure you agree with that. You started your podcast and I run into people on a regular basis who have been planning their podcast for YEARS. The six quarterbacks drafted before Brady combined to start 191 games and throw 246 touchdowns. Brady has won 201 games in his career — including four Super Bowls — and thrown 450 touchdowns ... and counting. The Beatles were formed in 1960 (Harrison, Lennon, McCartney have been together since 1958). In 1962 they got a manager to make them a bit more professional, and a music