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Podcasts in Web3 with Jay Harris
14 Plays1 year ago
Jay Harris is the founder of the Web3 Podcast Network, which produces audio shows to educate and encourage Web3 communities. Many of Jay’s listeners credit him with providing the motivation they needed to launch their Web3 projects.
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Transcript
Introduction to The Laughing On Earth Podcast
00:00:07
Speaker
Hello, and welcome to The Laughing On Earth, where we are making the world a happier place, one person at a time. I'm your host, Jeff Bogenberger, and on today's show, we have Jay Harris, AKA Podmaster Jay, who's the founder of Web3 Podcast Network.
Podcasting in the Web3 Community
00:00:25
Speaker
So we're going to get a lot of knowledge on how to run a podcast, what podcasting is all about, and how to best succeed around a podcast, as well as how this fits into the Web3 community.
00:00:37
Speaker
Really excited to have Jay on the call. And he's also from my hometown of Toronto and big time Leaf fans. So welcome to the show, Jay. Jeff, buddy, thanks for having me on the show, man. It's amazing to be here. Happy to share with you and share with your audience. Yeah, that's great. Now, you have been doing a lot of work
00:01:07
Speaker
in podcasting, really afraid from the beginning. And so how did you get into this space in the first place? And what are you doing currently?
Why Jay Started Podcasting
00:01:20
Speaker
Yeah, as most stories are, it's a funny one. So I was completing my MBA.
00:01:28
Speaker
in 2020. And of course, I was in the middle of the global lockdown. So I got out of the MBA, realized I had done most of the degree online, and that I hadn't met anyone. And that is really the purpose of an MBA, right, is to increase your network and meet a whole bunch of people.
00:01:48
Speaker
So, you know, the MBA is over. I'm trying to figure out how do I correct this mistake that I've made. I'm sitting in my living room listening to a podcast and of course suddenly it hits me. Well, I'll start a podcast because I hear all of these other podcasts as interviewing really cool people. Maybe I can interview some cool people and that's how I'll expand my network. So I started a podcast with the intention of meeting some cool people and I did.
00:02:17
Speaker
ended up meeting some people who became my clients, ended up meeting some people who eventually hired me.
From Passion to Network Creation
00:02:25
Speaker
And all in all, it was a really great experience. But it turns out that I really fell in love with podcasting. And over time, I started thinking of myself as an artist and started thinking of my podcasts as my medium for my artistry. And one podcast turned into two and two podcasts turned into three.
00:02:47
Speaker
Then before I knew it, I had a podcast network and I was teaching other people how to start their podcast and helping businesses to create podcast mini series so that they can market their companies. And the whole thing just sort of exploded. And I, I love it. I love what I'm doing and love where it's all heading. Yeah, it's, it's a, one of the things for sure is, um, it is great fun. The people that you can interview and the amount of learning
00:03:17
Speaker
And obviously I have the same experience. I'm interviewing cool people because I got you on my show here. So yeah, no, so that's, that's, that's fantastic.
Advice for Aspiring Podcasters
00:03:27
Speaker
And now if, if, if somebody who, um, wanting to get into this, this space, what's, what are the best steps to take to, to start your own podcast and what are some of the pitfalls that they need to avoid?
00:03:44
Speaker
Well, I'll start with the pitfalls, right? Because you sort of want people to know this right off the bat. I'll tell you, the majority of podcast hosts don't make it past their sixth episode.
00:03:58
Speaker
And then the majority of the people who get past the six episodes don't actually make you past it to get the episode. Because from the outside, and I thought this as well, from the outside, it looks super easy, right? You're just interviewing people, just talking to folks, and then you take the audio, you put it online, that's the end of it. It's a whole lot more difficult than that.
00:04:21
Speaker
You got to find the folks that you want to interview and you got to edit the episode. You have to market the episode so that you can build up an audience and then interviewing just on its own. Jeff, I'm sure you can attest to this. It's not as easy as it looks, right, to keep the conversation going and think about what the audience wants to hear. There's a lot that goes into it. So I'd say in terms of pitfalls, it's about really being ready to take on the responsibilities of being a host.
00:04:49
Speaker
Then how you get started, I usually tell the people I'm helping my clients that the thing that you want, the three things that you want to do upfront are what I call the three T's. You need a title for your podcast. You need to know the theme of your podcast and you need a podcast thumbnail. So the image that people see when they look up your podcast. Those are the three things. Once you have those, you're probably in pretty good shape and it's not, you're not too far away from the finish line.
00:05:19
Speaker
It sounds a lot like it's really the same as starting anything. Everybody thinks that launching an NFT project is really easy. Building a Web3 community is really easy. Building a website is really easy. But really, or really any business, if the idea is and the
00:05:48
Speaker
motivation behind the idea is just a tiny percentage of the effort that goes into actually being successful. So yeah, that's, that's great advice and people can apply it to a lot of different things.
Web3's Role in Building Inclusive Companies
00:06:02
Speaker
Um, I know that you're also a web three enthusiast. Um, just like love before we get into, you know, how podcasting is fitting into web three, I'd love to just hear your thoughts about web three in general and where it's heading and, um,
00:06:19
Speaker
what you're seeing in the marketplace. Oh yeah, this is a terrific time for Web3. Are using this term to describe this moment right now, they're calling it the great reset. And I think a part of what's happening is around the introduction of Web3 technology. So crypto and NFTs and the metaverse
00:06:45
Speaker
It's this moment in time where it's almost like a technology renaissance where we as a global human community are rethinking the ways that we did things previously. And a lot of that is based around the missteps and the mistakes that we made in the previous version of the internet.
00:07:08
Speaker
So we would have done some things that didn't really work out in our favor for sustainability and access resources and diversity of thought and people who are working on these projects. Now in Web3, we realize that there's an opportunity to correct some of those mistakes and to move forward with fresh ideas and to be a bit more inclusive in terms of who is allowed to be prominent in this space.
00:07:36
Speaker
And so you see a lot of companies that are popping up in Web3 have those ideals built in where they're in good as well as being profitable. And that's really what I think as a society, we all want from our companies, not just for them to make as much money as they can and, you know, ham the planet and do whatever they have to do to make a dollar, but to actually put some good back into the planet.
00:08:04
Speaker
And from a Web3 perspective, one of the things that I see that's coming into the industry that I think is eventually going to be really big are DAOs, decentralized autonomous organizations. These organizations that aren't necessarily formed in the way that organizations were traditionally formed with, like
00:08:26
Speaker
a founder and that founder leads the organization single-handedly and where people have a whole lot of expertise in an area and that type of stuff. Now, DOWs are these organizations where just random people from your community get together because everyone
00:08:45
Speaker
feels the same way about a particular topic. They want to keep their community clean, or they want to save the whales, or they want to build a special type of community where they live. And so they come together, they pool their resources together, and they all vote on initiatives for how they're actually going to implement the things that are important to them. And so it's decentralized in that
00:09:11
Speaker
You can be anywhere in the world and still participate and be a part of this organization. It's autonomous and that many of them are using NFT smart contracts where stuff just happens automatically based on the decisions that the organization makes. And then obviously it's an organization because everyone is organized around one central theme or topic that is really important to them.
00:09:41
Speaker
Yeah, like everything that you just said is the reason why the Laughing Otter pivoted from a traditional Web 2 website and membership community to Web 3 and a DAO. It's this idea of decentralizing that ownership and everybody rowing towards the same goal. And in the case of the Laughing Otter,
00:10:11
Speaker
It's about just making the world a happier place and giving back to the community through helping people in need, addressing mental health issues, and giving children a fair start in life. That kind of emotion just doesn't exist in Web 2, to the degree that it does in Web 3. And really, for us, the technology is super exciting, but it's not about the technology. It's the use cases.
00:10:41
Speaker
around the talk technology and the emotion that we're seeing in Web3 that inspires us every day.
The Human Connection of Podcasts
00:10:52
Speaker
So yeah, so I think we're definitely on the same page there. Where do you see podcasts fitting into this mix?
00:11:02
Speaker
Yeah, I think I've been asked that question a few times recently. I think over the last few months, my answer has changed. What I really feel and see that's happening right now is there are lots of people with really cool ideas.
00:11:17
Speaker
who want to get their ideas out there, they want to build audiences and build communities. But where they get stuck is the traditional means and traditional avenues of creating a community are really flooded right now. So if you go to Twitter and try to build a community there, it's pretty tough because it's a saturated market, same for Instagram, same for Facebook.
00:11:44
Speaker
Even LinkedIn is becoming a bit more difficult to build an audience now.
00:11:50
Speaker
you know where there's sort of like a still a blue ocean where it's still really wide open is in podcasting. Because like I was saying before, like so many people start podcasts, but don't actually continue. If you get past your 21st episode as a podcaster, you're in the top 1% of podcast creators, the top 1% just by getting fast episode 21. And so,
00:12:18
Speaker
That's where I really think it fits in. A lot of what we're doing in Web3 has to do with narratives and telling stories and educating people. And sometimes it's tough to do that in a tweet and in a LinkedIn post. You have to get a bit more deeper in with the information that you're offering.
00:12:39
Speaker
And so that's where audio and video podcasts come in because you can have these long-form conversations that people can tune into during their spare time and they can listen to an audio podcast while they're at the gym or doing a chore or walking home from work or on the train. They can listen to these audio podcasts during that moment in time.
00:13:04
Speaker
And they really have the opportunity during that time to absorb that long-form information that you're putting out there. And so they can get all of that information in just a few minutes versus, you know, having to spend hours and hours reading up about a topic and trying to pass through some information to really get to the point that
00:13:27
Speaker
where they can understand a particular topic. And depending on how really good you are at sharing information and really breaking down Web3 topics in a way that's understandable for most people, you can go really far with your podcast as long as you have some good marketing behind it.
Networking Through Podcasting
00:13:48
Speaker
So I'd say podcasting is
00:13:50
Speaker
It goes really well with web free topics, just because of the amount of education that usually has to go into sharing this information, making sure people are able to understand it accurately. I agree 100%. And to get your thought on this too, I also have this theory that podcasts really fit in well with
00:14:20
Speaker
with founders who are genuine and have like real legitimate projects that they're developing as a podcast provides this vehicle that puts a person behind that project. So then it differentiates itself from the ones that are hollow, potential scams people can't trust because they don't know who exists
00:14:50
Speaker
under the hood or behind the wheel. So in this case, podcasts puts a real human element to the project, I would think. What are you seeing?
00:15:07
Speaker
I like the way that you've put that out. Because as a podcast host, people get to sit with you for a really long period of time. And when you spend time with someone, you get to know them. You get to know whether or not this is a good person or a bad person, if they have the same ideals as you, if they grew up in the same type of environment as you.
00:15:30
Speaker
And as people, we're really good judges of character. Most people are really good judges of character. And so if you spend some time with someone, you can find out what kind of person they are. And like you were saying, you also get to learn about their project as well and find out if this is the kind of project that's for you. So podcasting for Web3, for cool Web3 founders really helps them to develop
00:15:55
Speaker
a relationship with their potential customers and with their community members and fans in ways that you just couldn't accomplish in a 300 character tweet. Yeah, and one thing that I'm finding as I'm building the Laughing Otter community, it's also giving me a reason to connect to someone. Like you and I started this conversation around podcasts and Web3.
00:16:25
Speaker
But without those kind of catalysts, we probably wouldn't have had a conversation, but listeners wouldn't know this. But prior to us doing this recording, we probably had about a two hour conversation just about life and life in Toronto and shoveling snow and being stuck on the Don Valley and all that wonderful stuff. But we got to know each other as people. And this is definitely
00:16:54
Speaker
The podcast is definitely a catalyst for that. Yeah, absolutely. You get to meet some really cool people and it's, podcasting is such a women's situation, right? Like I remember, so I told you, I got into podcasting after my MBA. During my MBA, I was definitely trying to meet people, but it's so difficult to just sort of cold call someone and say, Hey, do you want to come out and have coffee with me? You know, I know you don't know me, but you know, not many people are going to go for that.
00:17:24
Speaker
It's kind of tough, right? But if you have a podcast and you say to someone, Hey, I don't know you, but I've been looking at what you've been doing online. I think it's super cool. I have a podcast. I'd love for you to come onto my show and tell my audience about what you're doing that nine times out of 10. I found this anyway, nine times out of 10, those people will say yes. And.
00:17:46
Speaker
And so you've given them something and then they're in a much better opportunity, much better position to give you something as well. And it becomes this win-win situation where you're creating a relationship just off of having a conversation. Yeah. That is that win-win. It is so attractive to me too, because I liked everything we're doing at the Laughing Otter is all about creating multiple wins. And you're right. Like you get to meet people.
00:18:16
Speaker
who are doing really cool things, and really just when I'm interviewing people, I'm learning too, and I love to hear what people are up to. We focus, or like with this podcast, we focus on people who are really active in Web3, or who are making a social impact, or ideally both. And a lot of times that's the case, is there's a lot of great projects out there that are,
00:18:46
Speaker
doing cool things with the Web3 technology that's also giving back to the community. And the podcast is giving me an opportunity and a reason to connect with these people. So I agree with you there. And same thing, prior to the Laughing Otter, I had a career of sales and GM roles and leadership roles that we're primarily customer facing. It's not that easy to just get somebody to come and meet you.
00:19:14
Speaker
just for a coffee without actually having a reason. People are really, really busy. So by creating that win-win situation, I can see how podcasts are really valuable.
30-Day Podcast Launch Challenge
00:19:28
Speaker
Now, on that note, when somebody engages with the Web3 Podcast Network, how are you helping people? What can you offer them to get their podcast going?
00:19:42
Speaker
Yeah, so actually, you know, what's what's one of the things that we started doing now actually next month, we're going to be doing this in September. I'm not sure when the audience is going to listen to this. But in September, we're launching this for the very first time. We're doing a 30 day podcast challenge.
00:20:00
Speaker
Because usually what happens is, you know, people start doing their podcast and they realize, man, this takes a bit more thought than I originally anticipated. And so it sort of slows down and maybe they don't even get to the place where they actually launch the podcast. And so what I've decided is to create a challenge where a group of people come together
00:20:21
Speaker
And we all create our podcast at the same time. And so it's a community of podcasts. So right off the bat, you've got a community of people who are encouraging you and helping you along the way. And everybody's doing the same work at the same time. So it doesn't feel like you're alone. So we're creating this 30 day podcast challenge where we walk through
00:20:40
Speaker
all of the steps of creating a podcast from the three T's like I said of getting started but then also walking through the the technical details of getting your podcast up off the ground and the administrative stuff the sales and the marketing production and scheduling and walking through all of the steps
00:21:00
Speaker
until we get to the end of the 30 days. By the end of the 30 days, you actually have a fully functioning working podcast and you've recorded at least three to six episodes by that time. And hey, if you get to episode six, remember we said this earlier on, most people don't get past episode six. So we get you to that episode six Mac where you're already ahead of the game. First of all, that sounds fantastic. Second of all, sign me up.
00:21:27
Speaker
Um, like I'd love to be a part of that. And thirdly, um, I'll make sure I get this out, uh, before, um, fast enough so that the, that the, the audience, um, can take advantage of that as well. Like that's a great idea. And I think that's, uh, um, again, it speaks volumes for the web three community and people who are starting to really embrace this idea.
00:21:55
Speaker
of community working together on common goals and interacting and sharing ideas. So I can see where the motivation for that comes from. And like everything, it's like going to the gym. If you can get through the first month or so, then you're probably going to go for consistently, but it's getting that initial momentum going that's
00:22:23
Speaker
That's the hard part, so yeah, I love the idea. Sign me up. Absolutely, buddy. Glad to have you, Jeff. Yeah, that'd be fantastic.
Future of Web3: Community-Driven Projects
00:22:35
Speaker
So where do you think Web3 is heading? And just blanket question, where do you think we're heading and where are the opportunities and where are some of the challenges?
00:22:52
Speaker
Well, I think the main challenge for Web3, you probably noticed, I like to deal with the challenges first and then deal with the good stuff afterwards. The main challenge is...
00:23:04
Speaker
or around the education, I think. There are lots of people who still really just don't get it, you know, like the internet is working fine for them, you know, they've got their smartphone, they've got their apps, they're fine with have, they don't necessarily see a need to improve on what they already have, you know, pass some slight changes to security and some user interface type stuff.
00:23:29
Speaker
So it's really about educating folks and showing them what are the opportunities that are available to them. In terms of where it's heading, honestly, the sky's the limit at this point. We're so early in this Web 3 thing, like the way this is how I describe it. In the 1920s, that was the first time that commercial airlines
00:23:53
Speaker
came into existence where you could buy a plane ticket and wake up on one side of the Atlantic Ocean and then fall asleep on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. But by 40 years later, so 1920s to the 1960s, 40 years later we were landing people on the moon and not that you know air travel and space flight is the same thing but you can draw a line between the two and
00:24:16
Speaker
And I'm like, geez, in 40 years we went from hovering off the ground to landing on the moon? That's really incredible. And I feel like we're in the 1920s version of Web 3 at the moment. Things are going to pick up so quickly that we won't even
00:24:32
Speaker
believe where we started out. I think a lot of innovation is going to come in through the metaverse, through people being in virtual reality. One stat that I saw recently from a really well-respected company, a company that's called Gatner, they do a lot of analytics and a lot of research in the business world and they're very well respected by tons of the companies that you know, major companies, even some smaller companies, everyone in their research
00:25:00
Speaker
are to sort of chat their path forward. But Gattner recently said that by the year 2026, so four years from now in 2026, 25% of the world's population is going to be in the metaverse for at least one hour a day.
00:25:17
Speaker
to put that into perspective for you. That's about the same percentage of people that use podcast for at least one hour a day. So in four years, the metaverse is going to catch up to where it took podcasting, I don't know, 10 years to get to.
00:25:33
Speaker
You know, so it's just the growth and the trajectory of this whole web three spaces is really massive. There are lots of other places where there's going to be some really cool growth. We talked about it before in terms of building communities. So one of the drawbacks to
00:25:52
Speaker
social media was that, you know, when you're in social media, it's sort of a free for all. Everyone is all in the same place. And so, you know, that's when you end up getting the crazy uncles with the conspiracy theories and everyone just say whatever they want on your post, you know, you can't really do anything about that.
00:26:11
Speaker
But I'll tell you what, what happens with Web3 communities is that people end up grouping themselves around shared interests. And so a lot of the sort of animosity that just sort of generally happened in social media, just because we're all in the same space, sharing views about the same things, that stuff fades away.
00:26:31
Speaker
Because even in the Web3 communities that I'm in right now, whether it's on WhatsApp or it's in Discord or some other place, the reason why we're in the group is because we all believe in one specific topic or theme. And that's all we talk about in that group. And so I'll be in dozens of different groups. If I want to talk about NFTs at a particular group, if I want to talk about saving the wildlife, I go to another group.
00:26:58
Speaker
But I want to talk about how do we help those people less fortunate than us. I go to another group. And so there are all these groups that I can jump into and jump out of where the communities all care about the same things that I care about. And so when I get into those groups, I don't have to worry about being bombarded by messages that don't align with what I'm thinking. So I think community is really going to be big and going to be awesome.
00:27:24
Speaker
Generally, the whole Web3 space is around identity. And that's connected with community as well. So it's like, what are the things about me that make up my identity? And then how can I find the groups and the products and the services that most align with my identity? Web3 really gives you the ability
00:27:47
Speaker
to dive into those identities and find people who are connected, who have the same identifying factors as you do. Usually we're seeing it right now, sort of in the NT space, in the PFP, the profile picture space, where people become
00:28:08
Speaker
super interested in a particular NFT project, and usually those people who are interested in that profile picture NFT project, they all sort of share that identity where those profile pictures can be used as an identifier for them. And I think it eventually will take it past
00:28:28
Speaker
profile pictures and get really deep and really super niche and meta in terms of what really matters to us. And so you'll have groups of people who like Harley Davison's, groups of people who are like mama's boys, groups of people who are like Canadian expats living in Australia. So Jeff, you'll fit right into that one.
00:28:50
Speaker
But yeah, it'll get really niche. And so I'm looking forward to just whatever else comes about because of the ability for us to build these super niche communities through Web3. Yeah. And what I'm really pleased, at least to this stage, and I hope it continues, is all of the niches that I've
00:29:18
Speaker
uncovering and all these, these sub communities and that exist, they all, I can't think of too many that are built on a negative common goal. Like, um, like, like some of that, like, um, for example, like violence or racism or, uh, uh, like,
00:29:46
Speaker
inequality, anything that drives the negative side of society, those groups have not seemed to have permeated into Web3 yet. And I hope that continues to be the case because like you said, most of the communities I see are around something positive, like an artist that's supported or a social impact cause that's supported or something really positive that's moving the world forward.
Building Positive Community in Web3
00:30:15
Speaker
And so I hope that continues. And it's, and it's up to all of us who are in this space to very quickly stomp out communities that have ulterior motives and let them, and let the, let the crazy uncles, um, you know, let them play in, um, on an other traditional social media networks. And let's, let's keep this clean.
00:30:44
Speaker
Absolutely. I'm with you, buddy. Yeah, because it's. Yeah, but but you're right. And it goes a lot in the line with what the Laughing Otter wants to do is if you read our white paper, there's the idea is to build this community around the Laughing Otter, which is making people happier and giving back the community. But we're also creating sub brands like the Laughing Otter Music, the Laughing Otter, the Outdoors, the Laughing Otter Business, the Laughing Otter Gaming.
00:31:14
Speaker
et cetera, et cetera, so that people can not only, they can believe in this vision, but they can also connect with interests that they really enjoy. So yeah, super exciting place to go.
Conclusion: Podcasting's Role in Web3 Community
00:31:31
Speaker
I've really, really enjoyed this conversation, Jay. I'm really glad that we connected. I know that we're going to continue to work together for a long time and
00:31:42
Speaker
I'm looking forward to the 30-day challenge. Maybe you can tell the listeners how to find you, where they can get involved with Web3 Podcast Network, how you can help them out. So others who are trying to get started in podcasting, and in particular, if they're trying to do it for Web3, where are you hanging out?
00:32:07
Speaker
Thanks, Jeff. Absolutely. I've enjoyed having this conversation with you, too. It's like 10 p.m. on my side, but I'm super excited and energized to be chatting with you. It's been great to get to know you a little better. And to your audience, if anyone's interested in launching a podcast, whether it's in Web3 or something else, I'm happy to help you to get going.
00:32:30
Speaker
If you've got a business and you're thinking, man, I want to be able to create some content. I'll tell you too, like miniseries are definitely the way to go for businesses. And I can share with you some of what I've done with some of the companies I've worked with to help them to get their miniseries launched.
00:32:46
Speaker
So just hit me up and we can have a pretty cool conversation. You can find me anywhere on social media as at PodmasterJ. That's PodmasterJ, like Jam Master J, P-O-D-M-A-S-T-E-R-J-A-Y.
00:33:02
Speaker
Or if you're on LinkedIn, I spend most of my time on LinkedIn. That's how I met Jeff. You can find me there. I'm Jay Harris on LinkedIn and I've got an NFT as my profile picture. It's got a purple background and it's got a gray beard. So purple background, gray beard, that's my NFT, Jay Harris. You can find me there. If you're listening to this after September and maybe the 30-day podcast challenge has ended,
00:33:28
Speaker
don't worry if September was successful we'll keep it going and if it's not then I'll continue to work with you one and one and we can just make this whole podcasting thing happen. I think podcasting is going to be a space that continues to explode and more and more people are going to find the benefits of creating long-form content for their audiences and for their communities. So hit me up, happy to have you all
00:33:55
Speaker
Well, thanks Jay. It's it's been great. Lots of fun. I have noticed that your NFT with the gray beard that there's every day I look, there's a little bit more gray in that, that in your, your image, which is impressive. So yeah, so thanks a lot for being on the show and yeah, absolutely listeners reach out to this man. He's, he's good at what he does. So.
00:34:23
Speaker
And remember to visit the laughingauter.com and to find us on Twitter and Discord, Facebook and Instagram for all the latest news and cheers. And remember, we all deserve to be having a lot more fun.