100 Episodes Of The Daily Larb
Yesterday I celebrated 100 Episodes Of The Daily Larb podcast. Well, celebrated is a bit strong, rather I marked it.
The Daily Larb isn't a show I did a whole pile of shouting about. In fact, I did very little marketing for the show at all.
As such listenership numbers are low enough in the grander scheme of things.
It was an experiment. One that I started using my iPhone and an iOS app named Anchor.
In the Anchor app, there is a feature where users can stitch their 5-minute, or less, segments of audio into an episode.
If you choose, Anchor can then publish your episodes to iTunes, Google Play, Overcast and various social channels on your behalf.
So I gave it a burst just for the craic, and although those early episodes were probably not the best structurally, I decided to keep it going and see where it went.
So yesterday after a couple months recording audio on the fly, the show has reached 100 episodes.
The format these days is a simple one.
I write an article here on my site, narrate it and create an episode using Anchor, then let the RSS magic do its work.
Is It Worth The Effort?
Well, if I'm after short-term results then probably not.
But nobody became an expert or garnered a strong following overnight. It takes effort and commitment even when people don't show up.
Listenership has grown slowly but steadily according to Spreaker stats and I've become better at delivering the content.
Right now that's what's important.
From a monetary perspective, there's no reward currently save for several listeners opting to become supporters on Patreon.
Now, that for me is a big deal.
You Can Listen Too
If you get this article every day to your inbox then you may not know that you can listen to it also.
This is because it takes a couple hours for the audio version to populate in Spreaker via RSS. And after that, I still need to manually grab the embed code and paste it in the article.
That means the player may not be visible in the article until evening.
I'd love a means to automatically add the player to an article within WordPress but there's no plugin for that. I'd need to build it myself.
Anyway, here's the show and all episodes for you to check out;
All Of A Sudden You're There
The other day I wrote about playing the long game, and how playing the short game is a fools game.
Well, these days I don't play the short game anymore.
That's what's going on with the stuff I'm making. Short-term thinking gets me into trouble, I've learned that the hard way.
I started as an apprentice electrician when I was 15. Before that, I worked the summer holidays as a tea boy and helper to the electricians where my Dad worked.
That time I remember vividly.
Not surprising considering that up to 13 years of age I saw nothing more than the inside of my home, the street where I lived and a school classroom.
Being dropped into a building site at that young age, surrounded by big blokes who took pleasure in giving a fresh-faced kid a ton of stick was an eye-opener.
I knew nothing about the world and so I had to get wide fast. I'm very grateful to my Dad for that experience.
Kids these days don't have that opportunity because of child welfare and workplace health & safety.
That was 30 years ago and looking back I realise I had no intention of becoming what I am. It happened all by itself despite my oft intention to the contrary.
All of a sudden I'm 43 and I'm here.
The Fun Is In The Surprise
Whatever my motivations were in the past it feels different now. Numbers are important but only as a secondary measurement of the work I'm compelled to do.
Why I'm compelled to sit here every morning and write, to produce this book I don't know. I'm just following it.
That's my primary reason, and that's how it has to be. If you are an artist you know what I mean.
The Artist's Manifesto is a reminder to myself that if I am to remain fulfilled, things other than metrics must occupy my mind and my time.
Numerical reward in the form of cash and followers of the work I make will come in time and to the extent that they will.
That stuff is not my job.
It is the consequence of doing my job.
By sharing my work with the world I have the opportunity to complete the creative cycle.
We don't know what the so-called future will bring. I've come to understand that trying to shape that is counter productive.
Besides, the fun is in the surprise.
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