This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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YouTube is huge these days, along with all kinds of other online video, but watching video requires a lot more attention than listening to audio, right? Because a podcast, you can take anywhere. Video, at least you're not supposed to be watching it while you're driving or while you're doing something else. It's pretty difficult, right? It kind of requires your attention, your full attention, or at least more of your attention than when you might be listening to something.
And also podcasts remain popular. So might there be room for an audio only course? That's what we're gonna talk about in this episode today. Welcome to Side Hustle School. My name is Chris Guillebeau.
I was working on another listener question from someone who's like, should I start a podcast or a YouTube channel? Like I feel like my topic could go either way, which one is better? So in another episode coming up soon, we'll kind of look at the pros and cons for that. Obviously just like anything in life, each approach has strengths and weaknesses. You have to figure out what's best for you.
And you can also, like when you're trying to figure out this stuff, you can start your brainstorming process by thinking of a topic or a medium. You could think, what is the thing I want to teach or share? Or you could think, what is the medium that I want to teach or share in? And perhaps the best topic then follows from there. Vice versa, as I said, pros and cons.
Today though, our listener is wondering specifically about can he make an audio only learning course? You got so many online courses out there. Most of them these days tend to use video. Can he do it with just audio? Could this in fact actually be a benefit?
Not just something that he's doing because it's easier or to save time. That question is coming up after this quick message from our sponsor, stay tuned. [Music]
Hey Chris, this is Josh and I'm from Oceanside. And I've been listening to the show for a while now. These days, online video is more popular than ever.
YouTube gets billions of views every day and TikTok is huge. But as a podcast listener, I prefer audio. It's more convenient to me and I can take it wherever I go. After all, you can't watch videos in the car unless someone else is driving. It seems however, that most online courses and information products prioritize video over audio.
Could it actually be a benefit to be audio first? Thanks. [Music]
Josh, what's up man? Thank you so much for listening. This is an interesting topic.
Your question is could it actually be a benefit to be audio first? I think absolutely. It certainly could be a benefit. I think you have to look at what else is out there. What is the topic?
I mean, that is kind of crucial because some online courses really do require video or at least they're gonna be severely handicapped without video. But if it really is somebody who's just kind of presenting something that doesn't require a lot of visuals or demonstrations, if it's something you could just kind of listen to as you're going about your day, perhaps like side hustle school or some other great podcast, then it could be a benefit. Or at least it could not be a hindrance, right? So a couple of thoughts here. Several companies are offering audio first courses now.
I don't think any of them have really broken out in a major, major way yet, but just for example, one of them is listenable.io. If you go and take a look at that website, listenable.io on their homepage, like they have a bunch of audio courses that you can listen to. There's an app of course as well. And on that homepage, there's a place where you can pitch them on doing a course of your own. Like if you're an educator or you want to be an online educator, at the bottom of that site, at least at the time I'm recording this, it says, teach on listenable, earn money, share your knowledge, build your personal brand.
And when you click that, you get some more information, why teach on listenable, again, grow your brand, get paid, et cetera. And just in case they happen to not be around forever, I hope they will, but just in case they aren't, there are others like this as well. I've seen at least two or three others so far, perhaps more to come. So you could send them a note and say, here's what I want to teach, what do you think? Now, of course you could also make something entirely on your own.
You don't need to go through a platform like that. If you're not using a distributor like Listenable or something like Udemy for a course that uses video, then there's no reason at all not to try audio first if you think it makes sense for your topic and the intended audience. I personally would be curious to see how it goes. I really, really do think it depends so much on that topic. And that's kind of what I'll come to in the other listener question from somebody who's like, should I have a podcast?
Should I have a YouTube channel? I can only do one, what should it be? I tend to think, well, what does the audience want? Like what is best for them? And also what is best for you?
Because obviously doing something with video does require a lot more effort and not every topic needs it. So that's the key point. Could it actually be a benefit? Of course, let us know what happens. And listeners, if you've got a question of your own, if you're trying to explore something, I'd love to know what's up.
Come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. Every single day we are having an ongoing dialogue conversation throughout the year. This is episode 1504. I am so glad you're out there. Thank you for being a big part of it.
The best is yet to come. All right, be sure you're subscribed. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. [Music]
From The Onward Project.
