Honestly the personal benefits of podcasting far out weigh any thoughts of monetary or celebrity awards:

1. Clarity of thought- You have to learn to write, think, and speak off the cuff on a subject or subjects. It’s like a regular practice in essay writing and public speaking.

2. Work with People- Unless you’re operating strictly on your own, you’re going to either have a co-host, a producer, or multiple guests. And maybe all of those. How you learn to work with those people ESPECIALLY when there’s no money exchanging hands builds in your skills on learning how to communicate effectively.

3. Taking Criticism- A couple years ago, I made an off-handed comment about there being multiple reasons at the time why someone may not wish to provide transcripts for their podcasts. I wasn’t ENDORSING those reasons, or saying they were crap. I simply outlined the reasons and for about a week I became the object of a full-blown (or in my case a mini-blown) series of attacks from professional agitators. I was really hurt by their actions. I couldn’t understand such nastiness when I wasn’t taking a position. In the end, I realized, it wasn’t about me, and none of the people attacking me were actually listeners anyway. One of my oldest friends (who has passed now recently) ran the most successful recipe site online. We’re talking he was making between 25–50 grand American every month on this site. It was his full time obsession/pleasure. He told me that he got all kinds of hate. Once you get a little bit of popularity, the trolls come out of Lake Envy looking for blood. You just have to ignore them. Like T-Rex’s they always focus on movement.

4. Improve your Tech Ability- Learning audio technology comes with the trade. When you’re an audio drama producer as I’m forced to be sometimes, you learn all kinds of things about making voices sound like they are coming from one side and panning to another. You learn to thread in sound effects, and music, and everyone needs to find ways to best EQ your voice and those of others on the mics. Getting to understand the hardware has always been one of the bigger challenges of mine, but it’s good learning new skills.

5. Be Creative- Podcasting is one of the great ways to be creative in the world. If you have an interesting idea, you can build a following. It may not be a big one, but if you do it right, they’ll always look for your next drop.

ENJOY!
Jack