This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Hello, hello, what's up? Welcome to Side Hustle School. Welcome as well to a brand new week. My name is Chris Guillebeau, so glad you're here. Every day on the podcast, we are looking at all sorts of different stories, examples, and ideas for how you can make extra money without quitting your job.
And not just a little bit of money, but hopefully something that is sustainable, something that is potentially life-changing even. People all over the world have been doing this, and I've been telling you their stories and their examples for 1,528 days now, every single day since January 1, 2017. Thank you for tuning in today. So if you want to teach what you know, if you want to share your expertise, become one of these successful stories, examples, et cetera, do you begin your search with the idea of a format or a topic? In other words, like if I say format or topic, we could also say medium for format.
Do you start with saying something like, you know what, I want to start a podcast. What should my podcast be about? Or I want to start a YouTube channel. What should my YouTube channel be about? Or do you approach it the other way and say, I know that I want to teach people about scuba diving, or backgammon, or programming Python, or whatever topic it is.
Like, do you start with the expertise and then figure out the format or the medium? Or do you start with the format and medium and then go to the expertise? I think in general, it might be better, like if you know what you want to teach, if you already have that settled. That might be the best way, but either way, you'll still end up having to make the other decision. So you have to make both decisions, topic and format.
And in today's question, a listener is trying to decide between a podcast or YouTube channel. What are the pros and cons of each? How can they make the best decision? The detailed question and my answer is coming up after this quick message. [Music]
Hi, Chris, this is Grace, and I've been following your work for a couple of years, thanks to you and your team for the helpful content.
After a rough 2020, I have some time on my hands and I'm committed to starting a new project this year. I'm torn and I'd like you to settle this internal debate. Should I start a podcast or YouTube channel? Which is best for me right now. I know I could record the podcast and then upload a version to YouTube, but if I do a YouTube channel, I want to do it properly with content that was designed with video in mind from the ground up.
So in other words, it really is one or the other. Which would you pick or better yet, how would you decide? Thanks again for your help. - Grace, thank you so much for the question. Thanks for being out there.
I definitely hope that 2021 is a good recovery year for you and for so many other people, myself included. Now let's look at this question and let's make some assumptions here. It's not always good to make assumptions. So let me just state what they are. We're gonna assume that the topic that Grace wants to cover in her podcast or YouTube channel, that it works equally well for either format.
And it's important to say that because not every topic will. And that actually might give you the answer, right? So some topics are much more naturally suited for video. I recently saw a woman who's doing all kinds of carpentry and other home renovation demonstrations and tutorials and such. I mean, that kind of requires a visual demonstration.
It's hard to just hear about it. You really need to see it. Conversations, on the other hand, are perfectly suited for podcasts. That's why so many podcasts use an interview format because you don't need to see the people talking. Like you can listen to them while you're exercising or commuting or going for a walk or running your errands, anything else on the go.
You can kind of multitask a bit and maybe not true multitasking, but the point is with YouTube, you kind of have to be looking at it, looking at it and listening to it. And yes, Grace is correct as well when she says, you could record the podcast and then release a version on YouTube or vice versa. But I think she's right in thinking, it's best to design with video in mind from the beginning, if that's your goal, as opposed to just recording a podcast and uploading it. Video is also gonna require more investment. So this is another filter that might help make a decision.
An investment both in terms of the equipment and also in terms of learning curve. Like there's just a lot to master if you want to stand out on YouTube and do it well. I don't mean to say that podcasting is easy, but in terms of those technical requirements and the learning curve, it is easier, let's say, or simpler. Also, remember that it's not all about what format is best for the listener. You need to think about your own needs and personality.
This is kind of what I'm coming to. Like if everything is equal, what do you think you would be best at? And ideally you can find two answers that overlap, like what is best for the listener and what is best for you. All of that said, if you come to the end of the process and you're like, I've applied all these filters, it really could be either format, help me solve this internal dialogue, and they're equally feasible as well, let's say, then I guess my question is what makes you more excited? Like if you close your eyes and imagine the Grace show or the name of your show, the scuba diving show, the backgammon show, whatever other examples I mentioned, or your topic, how do you picture it?
Like how do you picture the process of making it, recording it in some fashion? How do you picture listeners or viewers enjoying it? How do you imagine that they will consume it? And so if you apply these filters, including the last one where you're just like, okay, if I close my eyes and think about this, what does it look like to me? I think you're probably gonna find the answer.
So Grace, good luck, let us know what you chose. Listeners, if you have a question, a dilemma, an update, a report, come to sidehustleschool.com/questions, one URL to rule them all. We'll continue to feature them throughout the year along with updates from listeners as they launch their projects. Thank you so much for joining me today. Be sure you're subscribed wherever you get your podcasts.
My name is Chris Guillebeau, this is Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
