You’re already hired…

I’ve said it a few hundred times, “You have the power of choice in your heart. Compete with an unheard of list of unemployed radio and television people for one or two jobs or pick up pod or pad-casting.”
If that becomes the next step in Broadcasting your real job isn’t hosting the show, it’s running the operation.
You’re the talent, head of promotions, program director, general manager, sales staff and production guru.
All with no budget and no monetary pay. At least for now! But maybe one day.
If you want it. You’re hired!
By far that’s the reason why most podcasts end up on that list of things you once did. From booking guests, to hosting interviews, producing shows then social networking the presentation, a lot of time has been lost without making a living.
I laugh when Howard Stern blisters the ears of pod and pad-casters, “If you aren’t making a decent wage don’t call yourself a Broadcaster!”
In 2006 my journey into the digital world started out as a Blogger. The station Operation Manager angrily scorned his on-air staff, “You complain about not getting enough time to talk on the air. Now that I’ve given each of you a webpage, none of you want to say anything.”
I raced to that computer and sat there doing absolutely nothing. Now that I had an open field what was I going to say? I’d start. Stop. Start again. I wasn’t into sports. The world had too many music writers. I can’t stand local and national news! Crap! I’m a failure!
It was that moment in a very dark hole that a new found energy pushed itself beyond my fingerprints straight onto a big ole ugly thick computer screen. I was going to be real.
What exactly does that mean? I wasn’t sure. I just knew I had to get onto this blogging kick and make it quick.
Before Spreaker, Libsyn, SoundCloud and Podomatic, the only place I could put my physical voice that silent screen was to attach an mp3 file. Double click and you heard the radio guy trying to be something he was a long way from becoming.
Even radio talk show hosts go through a growing period. There’s something about being live that fine tunes the craft of a communicator. Recording it for later use becomes a mastered art.
Getting to that comfortable position requires a great deal of self-discipline. Knowing when too much has been said. Even worse, when what you’ve produced doesn’t scratch the surface of good content. It sounds no different than two bored pigeons sitting on a powerline.
The moral of the story is simple… If you want to play radio get into the race and hope to God you not only land the on air position but you keep it longer than six months to a year. There are too many unemployed people willing to always do your job cheaper.
With podcasting? You’re hired! Find every business hat you’ve got and put em on your head. It’s show time! Not just today! Everyday! You can’t build a solid army of followers laying down one show a week or jamming ten shows into a season and we’ll see you in six months.
Work your fingers into those digital vibrations. You’ll see in no time the real payoff has nothing to do with cashing checks.