Smash Notes

Back to How I Made $8,000 per Month Podcasting, and Why You Probably Don’t Want To.

What Does Tim Romero Say Podcasting Is Like in Japan?

Japan is a hard place to launch an independent show. On a solo episode of Disrupting Japan, host Tim Romero says the popular podcasts are mostly recycled radio from major media companies. Good independent shows exist, but you have to look for them. He started Disrupting Japan in September 2014 to talk with founder friends about building in a culture that prizes conformity. The show got 42 downloads that month and about 400 listeners after six months. By the time of this episode it had passed 10,000 listeners in 160 countries, including one listener in Vatican City, and he had once turned it into more than $8,000 a month.

Transcript

How I Made $8,000 per Month Podcasting, and Why You Probably Don’t Want To ·

Disrupting Japan: Startups and Innovation in Japan

More from this episode

  1. How Many Listeners Can I Expect for My PodcastAs of this writing in May 2019, Disrupting Japan podcast gets 10,000 listeners in 116 countries. That is after doing 147 episodes over multiple years.
  2. What Is the Disrupting Japan Podcast All AboutIt was supposed to be Tim Romero talking with his founder friends, talking about what it is like to be an innovator in a culture that prizes conformity.
  3. Why Trade Podcast Polish for Honest Talks?Sacrifice production quality and "professionalism" if that means you could get honest and personal conversations that will resonate with your listeners.
  4. How Can I Grow Listener Numbers for My PodcastThe most effective way to grow is via interactions - find a handful of LinkedIn and Facebook groups and connect with people yearning for your content.
  5. How Do You Find Sponsors for Your PodcastFigure out who your audience is and then really understand who are the companies that would like to connect with this audience.
  6. What Do Podcast Sponsors Really Pay Money forClicks and listens are great, but they are a commodity product which makes it a perfectly competitive market for you, and does not differentiate your…
  7. Should a Podcaster Do Live Events, According to Tim Romero?Yes, if you can give them the hours.
  8. What Advice Do You Have for Aspiring PodcastersBe prepared to spend as much time on your advertisers as you do on the podcast itself.
  9. Should I Hire an Agency to Find Podcast Advertisers for MeIt is tempting to let someone bring sponsors to you, but at the end, your sponsorship and ad rates are proportional to how much effort you are willing to put…
  10. How Is a Podcaster Different From a Podcast Creator?Podcasters are professionals for whom the medium is the message.
  11. What Are the Benefits of PodcastingPodcasting lets you tell stories that cannot be told in any other medium.
  12. How Can I Have a Meaningful Conversation With PeopleIt is hard to get people to go off script, particularly if they are not speaking in their native language, or trained to speak in front of a microphone.
  13. Why Does Tim Romero Say Honest Stories Work Better Than a Polished Interview?Because people open up only after you go first. On Disrupting Japan, Tim Romero says guests froze when he rented a studio and put a microphone in their faces.

More answers like this

Related episodes

Plays from this note through the rest of the episode.

Note

Weekly highlights

One letter a week.

The notes worth hearing, with the minute they were said.