podcast gummed up a different way

paul wheaton wrote:

Is there a permies Facebook page?

I think so. I think the main one is a fan page: www.facebook.com/PaulWheatonFans

they are not as widely advertised

There is a way to advertise?

There are many ways. How much do you share on your FB page? I see Joe Salatin stuff all over Facebook all the time, even non-permies send it to me because they find it - never a Paul Wheaton pod-cast. Same with Pinterest - and there I find links to your articles as well. But I don't stumble upon your pod-casts. Are they announced on FB? Because once they are there, it's easier to share (people are lazy with stuff like that). Why is it that your articles have gone viral and the podcasts haven't ? is it that the subjects are too heavy, the barre is raised to high? Or is it because they are too hard to find?

I can't help but think though that giving stuff away for free and then calling them freeloaders for not paying is counter productive

I think the story is a bit richer than that.

It all starts with a collection of people said that if I made podcasts, they would do X. I did my part. They didn't do their part.

Then it moves on to how much money I spend to get the podcasts out there. I didn't start this with the idea that it would cost me anything. But it ended up costing thousands. Then there is the fact that the time for the podcasts means that other stuff didn't get done.

So this is not so simple.

We recorded a huge podcast a few days ago. Part 1 should be up in a few days. In that podcast we talk about talk about the value of the podcasts.

I understand that - I have been working as a volunteer most of my adult life, and some times you just get tired - of promises that aren't upheld, and people who expect something for nothing etc. But it is sadly what you have to work with when you rely on volunteers. My experience is that I work better in that environment if I take 100% responsibility for my own part, and not blame others for wanting that for free which I have previously given away for free. If I don't want to continue, I stop - I don't have to continue. And I can see that is what you did - you are now charging money for what used to be free, cool! But you don't have 4000 freeloaders (most of them didn't promise you anything), you have a lot of listeners, which is a great potential for making some money on your shows.