Relay FM is my new home on the internet.
We told you that we were working on something special and this is it. Relay FM is where you're going to find all of my podcasts from now on. This includes some new projects that I'm working on and the shows that you've known and loved for the last few years — rebooted and evolved as part of this brand new podcast network.
When I look back over my last five years of podcasting, I can see how all of the choices and decisions that I have made have equipped me to do this. Every success, every mistake and every failure have given me the knowledge and expertise to do this. I take a look at where I am now and where I have come from and I see how much I've progressed. It excites me to think where I could be in five years from now.
Right from the very outset, I knew that I wanted to work with Stephen Hackett on this. We have been partners for many years now. He helps me make smart decisions and we are an unstoppable team together. It just seemed like a natural decision for me to want to have him by my side to work on this new project together, there was literally no doubt in my mind.
Why a Podcast Network?
There's been a lot of talk recently about whether podcast networks are necessary today. On the whole I am in agreement, to have a successful podcast you don't need to be a part of a network. Too many people believe that they either have to start a network or fight their way in to one to be a success. But really, you just need to work on creating a great show. Networks can help with a lot of things, but if you don't have the basics nailed down then your show won't last too long regardless.
Podcast networks are not pots of gold. They don't guarantee you success nor advertising dollars. That still has to come from the hard work that you put in. Joining an established network today does not necessarily make you a runaway hit tomorrow.
These days it's so easy to start a show of your own. There are great services like Libsyn, Simplecast, Squarespace and many others that can help you easily get your show off the ground. This definitely was not the case a few years ago, it was a lot harder to work this stuff out on your own, if you didn't already have the necessary skills in place.
So why do I want to set up a new network? For me there is one clear reason. I host six shows. Working on one show is a simple enough affair, but once you start to grow from there, it becomes a lot more tricky to scale. I don't want to set up separate webpages for all of the shows that I do. For me, it makes most sense to put all my shows in one place that I can point people too. It's as simple as that.
I feel that I'm in a rather unique situation, as over the five years I have been podcasting, I’ve experienced all the usual approaches. I've produced standalone shows, I've run my own network and been a part of a bigger one too. Because of this background, I feel like now I know what the right choice is for me going forward. That choice is to once again be the master of my own destiny and operate my own podcast network.
Personally, I would prefer not to use the word 'network' to describe what we are doing. But it has become the accepted term, so it's what I'll use. I'd prefer something like 'collective' or 'syndicate', but I'm not going to be the guy that tries to force a name change in an industry. That stuff kind of grates on me in the long term.
What's the goal?
I plan to continue recording fantastic shows every week and I want to increase my output. I have other great ideas that I want to see hit the light of day. Some are small things and some are big.
But to do this, I need to be able to go full time with Relay FM. That is something we are working really hard at, trying to find the right sponsors and companies to work with to enable this to become a real business (by the way, send us an email if you think you are one of these companies). Truly, I think this is going to possible, it's purely a matter of time.
But on a day-to-day basis? We just want to become the place you think of when you want to listen to some cool, interesting and fun shows. I want you to be able to see a show on Relay FM and know that it's going to be good. That's what we strive for every day.
We still have a few more things to tweak, some episodes to record and some shownotes to write. There'll be all new episodes for you to listen to on Monday, August 18th. I really appreciate everyone being so patient during my time off. This was done so we could make sure we had everything ready and it's going to be worth the wait.
Here's to the next episode (yeah, I went there). It's time to Switch On.