Shownotes
SUMMARY
Enjoy the second, bone-chilling installment of Podcast Graveyard's Halloween Special! This time, James crosses paths with John Welch from Humans of LinkedIn.
In this eerie episode, James and John venture into the ghostly origins of his show—why he conjured it into existence—and its spectral essence. John reveals the ominous warning against hasty podcasting decisions, cautioning against recklessly 'just doing it.' James and John also delve into the mysterious superpower of podcasting, while John shares his most bewitching piece of advice for all fledgling podcasters.
So, grab your headphones and prepare for a spine-tingling and thought-provoking journey through the haunted podcast graveyard.
This spectral podcast is brought to you by OneFinePlay, your one-stop source for all your unearthly entertainment needs.
TIMESTAMPS
00:05 Intro
04:28 Interested in podcasting; loves long-form stories.
07:09 Podcasts popularity is growing
11:36 Investing time wisely in podcast production
15:29 I may have been too open and unfiltered.
19:30 Get on the phone!
26:49 Make a show for the intended audience, not yourself.
30:24 Find your passion or abandon your endeavour.
34:34 Appreciate good ideas, plan segments, and grow.
37:47 Outro
QUOTES
"Between me and my partner, my business partner, we probably put 3 or 4 hours in each episode, and we did, like, maybe 2 a month. Now both of us, like I said, very specifically engineered what we were doing so that we could do it as quickly as possible.”
— John Welch
"I don't really give a **** about a lot of the marketing stuff that people talk about, and I think most of it's terrible advice...most of the time when people get stuff to work, they either stumbled into something that somebody else was already doing that was a good idea, or they just got super lucky. So, like, a lot of that advice just doesn't even resonate really because there's just the fundamentals.”
— John Welch
"Just know why you care. And if it's something that you're gonna be able to do because you enjoy it, then do it. If you're just doing it, like, people can sniff out it, like, the they can sniff out the inauthenticity thing.”
— John Welch
ABOUT THE GUEST
John is a sales consultant and top-of-funnel strategist/practitioner who spends his days making calls for clients, testing email scripts, writing LinkedIn content, etc. The point is that he takes your potential customers from "do I know you?" to "let's talk.”
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ABOUT THE HOST
James Bishop (40), is the founder of OneFinePlay and one of the leading voices in podcasting.
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Transcripts
Welcome to this service. I'm your host, James Bishop, and and I've been producing podcasts for years. What I've learned is that one of the hardest things to do is Keep your podcast alive. There's nearly 4,000,000 podcasts available today, but fewer than 8% are alive and kicking. I'm curious to learn more about these lost shows. Why did they start? What led them to stop? And what can we learn from their untimely demise? Who knows? Perhaps we'll even bring some back from the podcast graveyard. As we mourn the podcasts that were struck down before their prime, Let us all pray we too don't suffer the same grizzly fate. A brief interruption to today's service.
Speaker A [:What if I told you there was a way to cure your podcast? What if I told you there was a way to bring it back from the dead? We have a secret from beyond the grave, a creation of mine, in fact, podcast production from One Fine Play. Imagine, dear friends, Your podcast receiving the elixir of life itself, concept development that pierces the veil, production quality that could wake the dead, Launches that are a scream and marketing plans that haunt listeners everywhere. Don't let your podcasting dreams grow sick and wither in the grave. Visit onefineplay.com. Let's begin proceedings. John, thanks for haunting the show today.
John Wlech [:My pleasure, James.
Speaker A [:So tell me, why did you wanna make this podcast in the 1st place?
John Wlech [:It was probably just conceit and vanity if we're being honest with ourselves, but I told myself it was because I wanted to do some marketing stuff for my business. So, I mean, I really was interested in meeting people too. I I don't know. It's probably a mixture of, of wanting to grow a company, wanting to test out a new marketing avenue, and then also genuinely being interested in hearing about the stories of people from around the US and the rest of the world.
Speaker A [:Based on the fact you, I guess, were in are a LinkedIn user and people on LinkedIn make it sound really easy to start a podcast, Were you one of those people that fell into that trap of, like, oh, yeah. Just record some talking and post it, and I'll be Joe Rogan.
John Wlech [:No. I mean, I knew I know what goes into that kind of thing. I mean, obviously, if you can't tell, I'm using a very high quality microphone, so I clearly know what I'm talking about. But, it's more like
Speaker A [:We're actually microphone buddies. We are using the same microphone.
John Wlech [:There we go. We're using the same microphone. So James James knows, You know, the real ones here, but it was more like, I had a business partner. We were both in, like, video and audio stuff in college together. That's how we'd met. So we'd always thought it'd be fun to do anyway, and we like to flex our creative muscles. And the kind of web development stuff we were doing didn't always give us a chance to do it. So that part of it Was interesting to us as well, just having fun doing the production side of it.
John Wlech [:And I knew that the I knew that the actual process of recording would be easy because I have no problem. Just chat with people for however long they wanna chat. So it was one of those things where barrier entry wasn't high enough for it to be a problem, but I also didn't expect it to, like, become the next huge thing.
Speaker A [:Pod what other podcasts were your inspiration?
John Wlech [:That's a good question. It's probably more I mean, it was probably more like just the idea of podcasting interested me. Some some that I really loved are, like, some of the long form ones, like, like 99% Invisible has always been one of my favorite podcasts Or like History on Fire. Like, I always love those. So I just like the audio format, but I also I also really like Interacting with other people. So I didn't wanna spend a bunch of time, like, making my own long form thing where it was just like me on my own, but I wanted it to be like more long form story kind of thing. So that's where it kinda blended together, like, my love of having conversations with people and wanting it to be more than just, like, a 5 minute or a 10 minute thing.
Speaker A [:Pod I totally hear that, and I think it's tricky when you are inspired by shows like 99% Invisible, which is a pod audio work of art. Right. It's, it's the sort of show that can get you really passionate about podcasting. It can also demoralize you. Oh, that that too, I guess, when you realize.
John Wlech [:You're like, oh, wow. They spend, like, 40 freaking days on every one of these episodes.
Speaker A [:Yeah. And you start to get into the edit After you thought it was easy to make and you're like, Ah, you start to notice all the new things that you've never heard before that they're doing. Is pot humans of LinkedIn based on humans of New York.
John Wlech [:No. Not really. That's a I mean, I guess. My business partner came up with the name. He just thought it was a really interesting way to kind of encapsulate the unique side of the show, which was that we weren't really specifically talking about anything other than humanity, which is just something that I've always been very attracted to. I mean, even when you came on the show, I think we talked about that a little bit. Like, what I I don't know. Like, it's it's always just been something that's very important to me is just building human relationships.
John Wlech [:And, like, pod questions. It was much more about, like, your background and where you came from and what your dreams were and all that stuff than what it was you did with your time. When you started out, pot
Speaker A [:what were your expectations, and what were you hoping to achieve?
John Wlech [:Like I said, I mean, I was hoping to I was hoping to achieve, business relationships. What surprised me was how much how easy it was to start conversations with people. Like, I've been in sales for my whole life, and what was kinda weird was pod I so, like, I've been in the business of trying to start conversations with people, and seeing if someone wants to come on your podcast is the easiest way to get pod anyone to talk to you ever. It was kinda weird actually. So then I was like, alright. Well, I mean, it it became a much better tool for starting relationships than I ever thought it would be. Podcast. My original goal was just to have conversations.
Speaker A [:I think that used to be one of the best kept secrets was it's such a good way of meeting new people, but I think Slowly now that is leaking and people have become aware that, it's a really good thing to do. And I think vice versa, you see it with the speaking on podcasts. There was a time when only a certain type of person spoke on a podcast and now Anyone and everyone is using some Sass tool or platform or, you know, Tinder for podcast guesting, pod And there's no barrier to entry, and it's free PR, but we'll move on again. So, I I think it'd be really interesting to take some time to reflect on the podcast humans of LinkedIn. It was your love for 14 whole months. And so maybe let's talk about some of the finer details. Let's really get into the nitty gritty of the show and just reflect on what went well and maybe what didn't go so well. So, let's kick off with, You know, what some might think of as a as a tricky topic, but time and money, because it is a sap on both of those things, I think we can agree.
Speaker A [:How much time do you think you put into this project?
John Wlech [:Between me and my partner, my business partner, we probably pot. We probably put 3 or 4 hours in each episode, and we did, like, maybe 2 a month. Now both of us, like I said, like, we We very specifically we very specifically engineered what we were doing so that we could do it as quickly as possible. He he put more time in than I did because I would probably put I put almost no time into prep because the format of the show was very free flowing intentionally show so I wouldn't have to do that. He'd clip it all up, make some little clips to throw on, to throw on LinkedIn. We would do, like, a little title, like a little, Like a card, essentially, like a what's the word? Like a graphic card to give to the person for their to for them to post about the show and for us to put up on LinkedIn and An audiogram.
Speaker A [:You mean? An audiogram
John Wlech [:that No. Well, I started doing those at the end. I started doing the audiograms about, like, maybe 7 or 8 months in, which were also that became That probably added another 45 minutes to my investment in it.
Speaker A [:Thank god thank god that trend is over. They were dreadful.
John Wlech [:Pod Dude, it's such a such a time cycle. But, yeah, I mean, that like, the yeah. The answer to your question is a lot more time than you'd think. Like, it was literally a 45 you know, it's probably usually 30 to an hour and a half Depending on the on the guest and how talkative they were, and that was only about probably 15 to 20% of the time involved in any given episode.
Speaker A [:And I guess the worst thing about that as well is that you knew you were still taking shortcuts. Like, you were trying to do it a fast way, and it was still taking a lot
John Wlech [:of time. Yes. Yeah. That's what was crazy is we were not trying to do anything fancy. I mean, I didn't I didn't even I didn't even really go in and, like, edit the like, Like, if there was something that happened in the middle of the episode that needed to get edited, sure. But, like, I'd pretty much left it alone. I would compress it, do some EQ, pot Slap on the bumpers, but, I mean, I wasn't I wasn't doing anything other than just basic audio cleanup, and then we were just kind of, like, doing some clipping and stuff. And that That probably meant 5 to 6 hours total invested in each episode.
John Wlech [:So, yeah, probably probably a little more than I originally said.
Speaker A [:I wonder whether in that saving of time there were some things that cost pod the show in a bigger way, like, some say that free flowing conversation is intentional. When I hear that, I think that was lazy and not maybe Oh, a 100%. Best idea.
John Wlech [:Yeah. I mean, it can be intentional and also lazy. The the intention was laziness.
Speaker A [:Okay. Well, it's
John Wlech [:not even laziness. It was more just the bit like, I had a bucket of time I was working with. Like, I was running a company. We were running a web dev. And then this isn't And be able to see if we can get some value out of this. And there was value there. Like, we built some really good relationships. But, yeah, 100%.
John Wlech [:Like, the whole time, I'm thinking, This could be so much more effective if I put more time into the format, into the way that it presented itself, into the production quality. That was in my mind the whole time.
Speaker A [:Well, that is very honest of you and I appreciate that because that takes what you just said and puts it in a whole new light, which is a really interesting thing to look at, Something that's not always talked about that much, especially from producers and professionals is, well, I've only got a fine amount of time, where should I best invest it? Pod And I guess you invested it in the nuts and bolts, and it's always in the audio quality, and the bit of marketing, and a bit of this bit and that, and you've got to record the episode. And before you know it, you're into the, pod You know, half a day to a day. It's hard to do it for less than that.
John Wlech [:Oh, yeah. I mean, I would've if I wanted to, like, make what would've been, like, good in my opinion, I would've easily been at 15 hours per
Speaker A [:pod. That's a great insight. While we're on this topic, how much money did you spend on the show?
John Wlech [:Pod Not hardly any. I mean, we we had StreamYard, and then, like, I I already had a bunch of my audio. Like, I didn't buy this mic to do podcasting. Like, I already had this because I do, like, music stuff, and So I already had a lot of the gear. So, yeah, basically, probably StreamYard is about all we paid for.
Speaker A [:Okay. And then you hosted somewhere for free, I guess, like anchor or something.
John Wlech [:I guess maybe we paid for do you pay for I don't know. My my business partner set that up, but they would go on Apple and they'd go on Spotify through Anchor, which I think Anchor's free.
Speaker A [:K. So you were and you recorded on StreamYard?
John Wlech [:Yeah. Recorded everything on StreamYard. Okay.
Speaker A [:That's cool. And that's, like, $20 a month, I think.
John Wlech [:So Yeah. 25. I I think towards the end, actually, we might have switched over to Zencastr, which was free.
Speaker A [:You know, and then you always end up in the which is more valuable to you time or money equation, and that's when it Right. That's when the whole thing gets spicy. What was the biggest obstacle you think you faced when trying to make this podcast?
John Wlech [:The biggest one was probably just my own, Like, insecurity about whether it was a good idea or not. Like, it's hard to just do something over and over and over again when Especially when it's a podcast where it's not like there's a ton of feedback on, like, what's going on with it. So I was like, I'm just gonna keep doing this thing. Yeah. I mean, that was probably the biggest obstacle. I mean, another one would have been just the fresh like, the frustration of pot That constant balance between, like, this is a representation of my personal brand. So, like, how it shows up matters, but also I can't care that much about it because I'm pod to accomplish a certain objective with it that's not really, like, to make a super high quality podcast. I know that makes sense.
John Wlech [:Right? So it's like there's like there's like this constant pod Wind walk in my mind of, like, I can't get too attached to what it looks and sounds like because then I will start spending too much time on it. And I also pod Didn't do it to be like a podcasting savant. I did it because I'm trying to build relationships and it's accomplishing that goal, so just staying focused on the main reason for it.
Speaker A [:Pod Momon, you make some great points there. There's 2 things you've brought up. The first is about backing yourself, and it's something that I can completely relate to. I often wonder You know, it feels to me a bit like putting together IKEA furniture, but without the instructions. Like, there's no guarantee you're doing it right, in the right order, putting your efforts in the right places. So backing yourself is a really tricky one, and podcasting is notorious for people that haven't done very well, giving advice to other people that haven't done very well, and it just turns into this complete mess because it's as much about understanding marketing pod and human behavior as it is, you know, being an audio engineer and the ability to tell a great story. So I totally Can empathize with what you're saying there. And then that second thing of allocation of time and, you know, what am I doing and where am I putting it? It's tricky.
Speaker A [:It's tricky. So I can totally see that as a difficult obstacle. Are there any embarrassing or cringe worthy podcast stories. I mean, if the boys edit this episode well, you can see one that just happened to us where the producer just randomly appeared in the middle of me talking. That's kind of embarrassing when you've got a guest, but any that you have?
John Wlech [:I can't really think of I can't really think of any, like, specific really, really bad things that happened, but I'm a very, I'm a very talkative and open person and a very honest person. And I know there were definitely some points where I may have been a little too, like, what's the like, pod Just unfiltered, you know, in the way that I may be communicated with some people. I mean, I'm dealing with people in in several of these folks. I talked to, pot a young lady who was in India. I talked to a lady who was in Sweden, but was originally from Italy. And, like, I get excited when I meet new people because I'm like, oh, I wanna hear about, like, your culture, And, like, that was one of the things that was the most fascinating to me about the show. But I think I definitely potentially got a little bit unfiltered in those areas, pot But that's that's that may even just be my own mental noise and never even happened, but that was about it. Like, I never really found myself being like, oh my gosh.
John Wlech [:This episode was was terrible or that, you know, I should never have said that. You know?
Speaker A [:Can you remember what
John Wlech [:you said? I don't. It's more like I would just, like I mean, when we were just chatting before the show about, like, the pot thing. Right? And, like, I I have almost no, like, defensiveness around that. Like, somebody could say whatever they want to about, like, Americans, and it wouldn't bother me in any way, shape, or form. Like, I I'm pretty just aware of, like, I probably harder on Americans than other people are. Right? So it's like, that doesn't bother me, but, like, I then also would potentially treat somebody else's pot Culture and, like, the way that they are in that same like, with that same kind of, like, quote, unquote, like, objective. It's to me, it's just like talking about Reality potentially or, like, things that I've heard or stuff. Yeah.
John Wlech [:But it's a, like It's
Speaker A [:a jungle out there now knowing what someone might get offended to and not get offended to. Quick interruption from today's service to remind you that you're listening to Podcast Graveyard from OneFine Play with me, your host, James Bishop. A quick break from today's proceedings to bring you a message from the heavens. Pot. Making content can sometimes feel like an epic battle against the forces of darkness, sapping you of your motivation. Pod, but I have something that can increase your vitality, a source of energy like no other. I present to you Ayla, a pod. The world's 1st chemical free pre workout alternative made from the power of plants for long term results and a healthier pod.
Speaker A [:Ayla believes in the harmony of being active and well. With Ayla, you'll feel like you've harnessed the very essence of the night, giving you the strength to boost your workouts. Are you ready to uncover the energy that lurks deep within your soul? Visit the website at meet aila.com for more information, and if you dare, seize a special spine tingling offer of 20% off at checkout by using the code graveyard. That's meetaila.commeetaila.com. Now back to today's service. Coming up, ask John about the exact moment he knew the show was over and how he felt. John also his regrets on where he wishes he had invested more of his effort. But first, I wanted to ask him what the worst piece of podcasting advice was that he ever received.
Speaker A [:Let's dive in. Tell me, what do you think the worst piece of podcasting advice you ever got is? And if it's something that I said to you, then you're in trouble. Pod I
John Wlech [:I mean, I think I think the worst piece of podcasting advice is that, is that it's always worth it. Like, just do it. Like, that to me is really stupid advice for anything. Right? If you're not let let me make sure I couch this correctly. And you have a certain amount of energy and time that can be poured into your life and can be expended from you. And so, like, just pod Thinking about where you're going and and what things you're gonna do with your time that are gonna best get you there. Like, I I wouldn't run a podcast right now. Like, I've become savage with my time recently.
John Wlech [:I spend most of my time that I work on the phone because that's the activity that generates more for me than anything will, whether it's for clients or for myself. Pod So, like, that kind of attitude, I think, is important. If you are like, in your case, podcasting is literally your business. So pod There's not really it's not really possible for you to, like, misuse your podcasting time because if it's a mistake, then you learn from it. And if it's not, then you get something out of it, and, like, it's good for you. But if you're like a director of marketing or something anyway, yeah, you can disagree. You know? But the point is it's it's way it's way easier for you to spend time on podcasting and justify it and have it actually be worth something to you. If you're a director of marketing and you have a certain number of dollars or if you're a runner a a CEO of a company, you have a certain amount of time, whatever it is, like, podcasting pot May not be the best option for you, or or you may just wanna save up until you can pay someone to do it entirely so you can keep doing what you're good at, you know, that kind of thing.
Speaker A [:If it's not too emotional for you, can you tell me why your podcast died?
John Wlech [: uary to, like, June period of: John Wlech [:And And I quite frankly didn't have the, didn't have the, like, emotional or mental energy to continue having con like, I'm I was basically having a sort of, like, What's the word I'm looking for? Like, existential crisis. I'm like, I've put 5 years into this company. Am I gonna, like, just walk away from it? Which is what I ended up doing. Right? So it was just it was a very it was hard for me to kinda, like, make heads or tails of what was going on, and I was doing a lot of, like, lot of damage control in my own in my own self at that time. So in the midst of that, it just kinda dropped off. I think there's probably 3 or 4 episodes that got recorded that just never got released. Pot And, that's that's basically what happened. I mean, once once I'd made the decision that it was that it was time for me to go another direction, then the show didn't really matter to me anymore because I wasn't really looking to do it for any other reason than its involvement in our company, but it is kinda funny.
John Wlech [:I mean, it is my brand, essentially, because it wasn't related to our business, And I'm the host of it, so I could bring it back at any point, but that's really why it fell off.
Speaker A [:What was the exact moment in which you knew it was over?
John Wlech [: It was probably in April of: Speaker A [:So it was more just a case of running out of steam and maybe some, you know, personal direction challenges rather than the podcast wheels necessarily coming off.
John Wlech [:The podcast wheels didn't come off. I mean, I still was getting really good feedback from the people that were making the like, all the people that came on loved it. They loved the little shout outs of the and, like, I wasn't looking for, like, major names. So, like, it was fun. The people that the people that came on, they got to have a a little bit of a on LinkedIn because we'd spotlight them and we talk about their business, and then we'd, you know, thank them for coming on the show, and it was it was fun. Everybody that did it really enjoyed it. It really just I basically couldn't keep it going.
Speaker A [:I'd love you to share some learnings with me. What are some of the worst decisions you think you made when making the podcast?
John Wlech [:Probably the worst decision would have been like, the the worst decision was doing it too often. But we probably could have fixed the time investment problem if we had committed to releasing an episode every 2 months and then put More time into figuring out what each episode looked like. Right? So if I did half the episodes and put put double the time in each one and I think I was releasing them, like, once a week or, like, every other week, actually. So, like, We could've done 1 every 2 months, and then I could've given the 20 hours to each episode that would've made it like a work of art. And then it would've been about the show and less about, like, the output. That probably was a big mistake.
Speaker A [:By then you'd be in that conundrum of, am I now producing something that is pod Over engineered for the audience that I'm getting because actually I need a bit of volume because what else can you think of that comes out once a month that you're a big fan of once every 2 months, like, you know, unfortunately, weekly is the thing. That's what Yeah. Works. Daily and weekly.
John Wlech [:That's why I did it. And the other thing too, again, the focus of what I was doing was the relationships. I wasn't actually I was doing it for the sake of meeting people and building relationships, so it mattered more to me that I could continue to reach to folks and say, do you wanna come on my show and keep recording episodes? So, I mean, I I guess I know that was a mistake. I mean, I don't feel that I made any, like, Major mistakes because I I had kind of a calculated reason for what I was why why I was doing what I was doing. I mean, the I suppose 1 would have just been like, pot Yeah. It's not really a mistake. It's just me. Like, I'm not a super organized guy.
John Wlech [:Like, maybe it would have made more sense to, like, pay a couple of admins to be or, like, 1 admin to be involved And, like, do more of the just, like, very base stuff for, like, you know, $15 an hour or something. That probably could have relieved a lot of pressure. But again, I don't know if that was a mistake.
Speaker A [:And I'm a big believer of being in the grind at the beginning and learning, and also for you enjoying it. Like, you know, otherwise you have the financial burden, so, you know, lots of lots of different ways. Pot. What good decisions do you think you made too late, and what stopped you from seeing it sooner?
John Wlech [:I think probably the best good decision I made later was pot To, was to let the conversation be much more about the human side of it. And what stopped that was that I or, you know, why I didn't see that before was because I was probably taking some bad advice about, like, the show had to have some kind of, like, clear driving purpose or something like that. And it took me too long to realize that, like, the purpose of the show was the conversation, Especially because that was the purpose for me. Like, I guess realizing that what I wanted the show to be was all that mattered. Like, making the show for me is what was important. Otherwise, I wasn't gonna make the show, and what I wanted to do was have cool conversations with people all over the world. So, like, once I realized that, I started having way more fun and the conversations got way better, But that was probably like 9 months in.
Speaker A [:That's the tricky thing, right? Because that what you just said is like a podcasting faux pas, to make a show for yourself, That will get you to the next rung, but then you'll realize you've gotta make the show for an intended audience because all of your marketing problems, which we haven't talked about, but pod- are endless, like, why can't I get more people listening to this? Because you're not making a show for someone else, because you're making it for you, because that's why you're putting in the time and energy and love, And that's really important at the beginning, but then you get caught in the crossfire somewhere. But in your situation, what you probably came to realize was that actually what the listener wants similar to what you want. Because a lot of the time, like, people will speak to us and say, I, I'd love to, you know, I want to make a podcast, I have these really interesting conversations, and I'd love to hear from x, y, z. My response is cool, go down the pub and chat to them because I don't care about your conversation with them because what you think and want to know is different to what I want to know, and just Leave the rest of the world alone and go and have your conversation over a pint. That's a that's a unit of measurement we have over here in the UK you might not be familiar with.
John Wlech [:Potty. What is that?
Speaker A [:What is that? Is that like a bottle? And It
John Wlech [:comes in pints. So
Speaker A [:pod Yeah, I see the it's interesting that you think of that as a good decision, but I think what you really did there was you brought in heart, you brought in emotion, You gave a piece of yourself to the show, and that's what really brought the chemistry and the fire out and made it, pot more of a compelling story, I guess.
John Wlech [:Well, the guest can feel that and so can the audience, like, whenever it matters to you. Like, whenever I started asking questions because I wanted to actually know who this person was. Everyone can tell the difference between when you're asking questions because you're trying to, like, create something. And the reality is that I actually don't really give a pop about a lot of the marketing stuff that people talk about, and I think most of it's terrible advice. And, like, if you look at something like the tipping point, like, I think and I honestly don't really care that much about somebody's opinion on, like, what they did to succeed because most of the time there's, like, a couple actions you can do in marketing land that matter. Most of the time when people get stuff to work, they either stumbled into something that somebody else was already doing that was a good idea, or they just got super lucky. So, like, a lot of that advice just doesn't even resonate really because there's just the fundamentals.
Speaker A [:In retrospect, what aspect of your podcast do you wish you'd have put more energy into?
John Wlech [:More energy. I I mean, if I'd had it to put in, I probably would have put it into the, like, the format of the show. Like Okay. To where it actually followed some kind of structure. Because, like, I I agree with you. Right? Like, we I think I think Welcome to, you know, like, there was a little intro that said, like, this is humans of LinkedIn or whatever. But, but, like, I I I do like the idea of having there be some kind of, like, purpose to the pod Like, get to know the person, and it's, like, very specific so the audience can know what to expect. I think that that's I think that's really important because it can feel very weird when you're in the middle of, like, an hour pot Really have no idea where it's going or where
Speaker A [:it's gonna end up. Did you mourn its passing?
John Wlech [:Like I said, I mean, at the time, honestly, no. Like, at the time, I was kinda Look. I just can't put this into this anymore right now, so I just kinda let it fall. I had I literally had not even thought about that show until like, in a long time until pod You sent me that message, which kinda sent me down like a little nostalgia, you know, journey. I was like, oh, yeah. That show. That was fun.
Speaker A [:From everything you've learnt, what is the piece of advice you would give to a podcaster just about to start pod Recording their 1st episode.
John Wlech [:I I would say just, like, why do you care about this thing? Like, just know why you care. And if it's something that you're gonna be able to do because you enjoy it, then do it. If you're just doing it, like, people can sniff out it, like, the they can sniff out the in office pod Inauthenticity thing. Right? So, like, if you're doing this because you wanna gain some system or you wanna, like, accomplish some end that isn't pod Making a good podcast and, like, making people happy with it. Like, I would I wouldn't say don't do it, but figure out how to care about it fast or, You know, just understand you probably got a limited runway before you get tired of doing it. Like, if you don't care and it doesn't make you excited and it's not about the art, I just think so I think so much of what goes on in business land, the peep people can't tell the difference between folks who folks who succeed because they care. Like, it's It's we they're like, woah. I care about business because I wanna, like, make money.
John Wlech [:I was like, no. I mean, you can also care about business because you care about, like, helping people or you're passionate about the product that you sell or the thing that you do. Those are completely different things, and everyone can tell the difference. Like, even if you think that nobody can, everyone can tell the difference between the guy who loves what he does and the guy who's selling what he does.
Speaker A [:I love that, and I think it's great advice that more people need to hear. There's such a I don't know, having a podcast sometimes to me feels like getting tickets to Coachella. Like, everyone wants to do it, it's the trend, it's the thing you've got to have, right? And it's just not that simple, and you've hit the nail on the head. If you don't care about the thing that you're making a show about, Probably don't start. John. Finally.
John Wlech [:Yes.
Speaker A [:If your podcast had a headstone, what would you put on it?
John Wlech [:Oh, man. These are great questions. If it had a headstone, what would I put on it?
Speaker A [:Here I have a Thanks for your comment on questions. That's what happens if you spend 4 hours thinking about questions.
John Wlech [:It's like Sean Evans on Hot Wings, where I'm always like, pod John cares about humans, but not enough to keep talking to them.
Speaker A [:John, thank you so much for sharing this emotional story of Humans of LinkedIn, the podcast, on Podcast Graveyard. You've been fantastic, pod and I really appreciate you sharing your story.
John Wlech [:Thanks, James. It's been a pleasure.
Speaker A [:After everything I've heard today about the podcast humans of LinkedIn. I can't help but feel that this is a show that should be resurrected. Pod It absolutely shouldn't stay dead. There's too much value in here for 2 pod big and engaged community that it shouldn't continue in some format. I feel like there are a wealth of people on LinkedIn who would love this kind of thing. There are so many different angles that you could take the show, pod But I do think that maybe the format needs looking at. I think maybe it needs to be a 30 to 40 minute audio post experience that also has the 6 to 7 minute video version that goes out as a LinkedIn original on LinkedIn. That's the sort of thing, having sat with the team at LinkedIn recently, that they would love to see happening and would support, I would imagine, As a creator because obviously it's shining a light on their platform, I absolutely think that you need to get into the detail of The format and the idea, like you say, so really understanding which what humans of Linkedin means.
Speaker A [:But without any shadow of a doubt, this show should be resurrected. How do you feel about that news? How do you feel after hearing my very quick suggestion on where it should go?
John Wlech [:I mean, it's it's gratifying to hear somebody say you had a good idea, so I always appreciate that. And, I've had a similar thought after I read after I read the, The outline for the for the questions here was just like, it probably does make sense, but I agree with you. If I'm not going to, If I'm not going to do it right and I'm not going to plan out very specifically, like, what the segments are gonna look like and how it's gonna flow, I've already got some ideas, though, that are coming to my mind after we've had this conversation about it, just realizing, like, how much I've grown since Since I did it last. Based on James' feedback, I think it's time for me to to dig out the old notes and, and dig this one up out of the graveyard and and see what happens.
Speaker A [:My heartfelt blessings go out to John and I hope we have the privilege of hearing his podcast voice again in the near future. Let's take a moment to reflect on the key lessons from today's service. Make sure you're able to commit enough time to developing the content and if you don't have enough time don't be afraid to hire external help and outsource elements of your production. Nothing is for free after after all. Producing valuable content is always going to cost you in either time or money so make sure you're always aware of this and plan accordingly. Number 2, prioritize your audience. One of John's biggest regrets is that he didn't evolve the conversation sooner to be more about the guests themselves. The audience preferred it when he made this adjustment but it was too little too late.
Speaker A [:Ultimately, the show is for your listeners and its growth is driven by a deep understanding of their and needs when it comes to content. The final lesson from today comes down to passion and it's this point that remains John's biggest piece of advice for new podcasters. Invest a piece of yourself in your conversations because it not only adds depth to your content but also sets it apart from that plethora of AI generated and checkbox driven content. Your genuine care is pivotal. Our last service was haunted by former Olympic athletes Andrew Steele and Greg Rutherford. We discussed the origins of their show and the challenges of transitioning a social media following to a podcast audience. They also hinted at reviving the show in the future making it Podcast Graveyard's first potential resurrection. Next time, I speak to Ryan Sullivan from Podcast Principles.
Speaker A [:We discuss the challenges of being your full authentic self when making content and Ryan shares some of his biggest learnings as both a podcast host and producer. It's a great service. I hope you'll find a moment to pay your As we bring this service to a close we ask you to please pay your respects by recommending this episode to someone you think will find it valuable. And if you or someone you know has a podcast that's been laid to rest and would like to give it a proper send off. We'd love to have you on. Please email us at podcast graveyard at one fine play .com. A quick thank you to those who have helped make today's service possible. Kasar Faroozia was the producer and editor.
Speaker A [:Conor Foley was our assistant producer and Selena Christofides put together the visuals. Special thanks go to Andrew Davey for the In parting, let us not dwell on the darkness of this moment but instead let us focus on the light that humans of LinkedIn brought into our lives. Its memory will forever be a guiding star leading us through the night. I'm James Bishop and this is Podcast Graveyard.
