Quality > Quantity?

And other musings from a media mogul friend

This newsletter is a look into how I’m building my podcast to 1,000,000 downloads per month. Sometimes that will mean posts about what I’ve learned. Sometimes that will mean posts about what I’m learning. This is a post about what I’m learning.

Imagine someone you respect telling you that you’re doing everything wrong.

That’s what happened to me last night.

My friend, who we’ll call Ricky, has dominated the media world over the past two years.

He basically said to me…

“You’re going to be successful no matter what. But do you want to be successful in 7 years or do it in the next 12 months? You can choose the longer route, but here is the blueprint to do it much, much faster.”

Which pill, Neo?

Ricky broke down everything I’m creating and explained how I could do it differently to get a better result.

And it somewhat broke my brain.

Because I know he’s right. But does that mean he’s right as it pertains to my own unique set of skills, experiences, and DNA?

The suggestions about what to do better were long. And I can’t share everything here (got to save some for the paid newsletter), but here were some things I can share…

Instead of sending out this newsletter, I should focus all my attention on getting good at short-form content. Not just good. Exceptionally great. The best in the world at podcast clips. If I can’t do that myself, I should figure out a way to work with an editor (the specifics of that will have to wait for another time).

I mean, how can you argue with that approach? Every platform (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram) is prioritizing it. I am doing a lot of clips, but am I creating or putting out the best podcast clips in the world? Absolutely not.

Maybe sending a daily newsletter isn’t in direct competition with that. But it certainly does take my energy and focus away from that.

Ricky sent a passage from Sam Altman:

Is the newsletter a small opportunity?

Maybe. But maybe it’s a big opportunity given a long enough timeframe. It’s something I need to think through.

There are also more benefits to this newsletter. I enjoy writing it. It makes me a better podcaster (because I’m forced to clarify my thinking). It connects me to the people who listen to my stuff. Maybe it’s not the best use of my time, but it certainly can pay dividends if I build it up to a sizeable level.

In my head, it’s always been, “Just stick to it for 10 years.” But I’ve never truly considered the possibility of… “Every full-length podcast can get 100,000 views on YouTube in the next 12 months.” How does that actually become a reality? Likely only if I focus fully on creating incredible YouTube Shorts.

It’s clear to me that my podcast is “kind of working” but not working to the level that I want it to work. On YouTube, my videos get anywhere from 200-1,000 views (with the odd episode getting 3,000 or 20,000). On Anchor, my podcasts get anywhere from 600-2,000 plays per episode. It’s great (compared to where it was when I started), but it’s nowhere close to where I want to go.

And if I want to 100x the view count, I don’t necessarily need 100x better content. Maybe it’s just 2x better clip quality, instead of 10x clip quantity.

My approach has been in the past (literally just earlier this month): just fire shots a bunch of shots at the wall. See what sticks. More, more, more.

And Ricky stopped that train. And said…

“The answer is not more. The answer is better. And look, I have the results to prove it.”

Ricky gave me a lot to think about.

I don’t know what I’ll do. But I do know I’ll keep you posted.