Today’s joke:

Q: What did the artist without a niche say the school teacher?
A: “Do you want fries with that?”

A great truth disguised as a joke.. I hope everyone who reads my blogs and tracks my guests stops and pays close attention. Because in the end we return to the question of who we are and what we really want again and again untill we get some where or stop breathing..

Take a minute and work it out in some detail for your self.

Thanks Sean
Eric Wolf

Yes, I was playing to the energies of your podcast when you interviewed me. I tend to reflect the interviewer. It’s an old radio injury.

Our Storyteller.net Podcast pushes my agenda? Umm, what? Let me know when you figure out how my podcasts make any money or whatever else you think my agenda is.

Time to quit giving it away? LOL!

Today’s joke:

Q: What did the artist without a niche say the school teacher?
A: “Do you want fries with that?”

Sean

I definitely think this one should not count as a regular show. You need to have Baba on as a proper guest and interview him about his work, and don’t wait until the 101st episode. Then maybe he can be the “guest host” on another future show, and HE can interview YOU about your storytelling work.

I enjoyed listening to the two of you ramble, though. As a podcaster myself it was interesting, but tough to gage how helpful it would be for newbies. I think at least the listener will come away feeling that if these two can do it, anybody can! I mean, if you don’t really need to know the difference between a backslash and a forward slash, I think that removes one big impediment for a lot of people right there!

A word about Disney, Warner Brothers, etc. Yeah, those are the big dogs in entertainment, and of course all entertainment comes down to storytelling on some level. Their medium is different, though - they tell stories through animation, television, etc. You guys tell stories person to person - you are literally “telling” - with your mouth and your body. Disney is not in that business.

So while you may be competing with them for the general attention of your audience (aren’t we all?), you are working a niche they can’t reach. And when it comes to competing for attention you have a definite advantage if you tell at schools and libraries. There you get to tell to a captive audience! It’s just convincing the schools and libraries to hire you that’s the marketing challenge, and Disney isn’t your competitor there.

I know for folks like Baba, who is selling recordings of stories online, it can be an even more complex challenge. But I think it’s still the personal face-to-face connection with your audience that is most likely to motivate those sales. That and/or the overall message of your storytelling. It seems artists who are “about” something have an advantage at getting attention.

Now when you consider competing with Disney et al in getting your podcast listened to, yeah that’s a whole ‘nother kind of challenge. But I have to agree with Baba that podcasting definitely levels the playing field. Just imagine trying to do this ten years ago. You’d have to get on the radio. Your only chance of doing that would be at a local public station. A station has only so much airtime to carve up, and even if you were lucky enough to get a half hour slot, your audience would only be local. Unless you live in a huge metro area, a local pool of listeners probably wouldn’t sustain a show focused on so narrow a topic as interviews of storytellers.

With a podcast you can reach all the folks in the world who want to hear what you do, with nobody telling you your ratings aren’t high enough or moving your time slot around - you’re the boss! Just deliver the goods, keep plugging it, and your audience will grow! And remember the face to face connection - you should be at all the storytelling conventions and festivals passing out cards with your URL. (Or get someone who’s going anyway to do it for you!)

So ’nuff whining about corporate conglomerates - I’d rather hear you talking positive about how to carve your own niche!

Thanks for what you’re doing here, Brother Wolf. Keep after it!

And now, it is time to bestow a medal upon you for reading all this!

I can’t wait to get you on the show.
I just read you comment it left a warm and furry place i my heart.

Brother Wolf

So here’s my reactions:
1) you two were having a great time;
2) it was fun to listen to two such passionate podcasters shooting the bull
3) I learned a wee bit about podcasting, but it was too technical for your primary audience
4) it was waaay off topic from storytelling to children, but I don’t mind, that’s not why I listen
5) yes, you two should do a regular podcast together, although not an hour-long one
6) good luck finding a niche or an audience for it
7) next “special” that features you two should be a cage match (two men enter, one man leaves)
I’d like to hear from Baba about the role of mentors/elders in his practice, or what his primary audience is, and how they react and interact with him

And finally, to both of you:
forget you ever heard the word “backslash.”
Believe me, neither of you will ever use a backslash in any URL for any site, podcast, or feed you acquire. A backslash is a programming character. It rarely appears in a URL.
You both meant a “forward slash,” although you can say “slash” and be correct.