How I spent 4% of 2021.

Resolution Kept!

In May of 2020, early into the COVID-19 pandemic, I launched a solo podcast, Liquor & Liqueur Connoisseur. In early episodes I gave the reason for its genesis as wanting to keep a rather tongue-in-cheek news year's resolution to myself, which was to drink more (alcohol). This tends to be an anti-resolution, with January often becoming a "dry" month for many. I however, enjoy distilled spirits and more importantly perhaps, have no addictive tendencies with it. So I was determined to lean in and drink, discuss, and discover the world of distilled spirits.

My initial episodes are terrible. So much so, I added a preamble to the first episode this year in an effort to get new listeners of my podcast to stick with me beyond the first batch. Content is solid enough, but my delivery and technical abilities have become much, much better with practice. While I doubt there is a "perfect", practice does make one better. Over a year and a half later, I'm still at it, and it's safe to say I've kept my resolution, this year and last.

Creation Takes Time. A Lot of Time!

My day job is as a marketer, and that role is primarily how I'm connected with most that will be reading this. Yet, I've not thought of myself as a creator before the podcast. And here's an admission: I don't listen to podcasts. But I create one and the creation process this year has been fulfilling.

I publish most Fridays. In 2021 I created 46 episodes, skipping just 6 weeks in this busy year. I took the first 2 weeks of the year off from the show, then skipped a week in March when my calendar shows I was neck deep in dealing with a minor vehicle accident and house hunting. I skipped another week in May because my wife and I moved into the home we purchased. A missed episode in June was for the same reason. And this past November I skipped a week due to the first illness I'd had in nearly two years (just a cold, tested and it wasn't COVID, whew!).

Beyond those breaks, I've been amazingly consistent, without being scheduled. My wife gives me the grace of indulging this hobby, primarily in the time I devote to it. It costs me a little money, but most hobbies do. The time is the valuable part. The format of my show is this: starts with an introduction of the featured spirit, then a tasting of it, the history of the brand and bottling, notable production methods, a brief mention of recommended ways to enjoy the spirit (notable cocktails for instance), then final thoughts and a closing. I pride myself on being well researched, and it takes time to get to a personal level of satisfaction.

I spend a minimum of 6 hours producing each episode. Probably more on average. Picking a topic, doing the research that has increasingly included interviews, writing up show notes, then recording, editing and reviewing the audio. Episodes average about 20 minutes, and that works out to 18x the time to create one as it does to listen to it. And when I did the math today, I've worked out that I've spent at least 14 DAYS actively working on the podcast. That's two solid weeks of 24 hour days. It totals 336 hours. It's more if you include the time spent reading and otherwise enjoying the hobby.

Consistency Leads to Cumulative Growth!

I had the notion at the outset that I'd quickly be able to monetize the show, and brands would be clamoring to sponsor me. I was naive. While I have received more than a few bottles for review purposes, this is not a money making endeavor, and I don't expect it will ever replace my day job. But, I've gained a growing following.

I hesitated to share the screenshot of my listenership, shown as total downloads, but I learned long ago that I'm really only competing with myself. And it may be helpful to others to see honest, unfiltered stats. Again, I'm not trying to sell my audience, I still do this show for myself. I love the knowledge I've gained, the diverse spirits I've tried, and the stories I've been able to tell. It is gratifying to see the downloads go up though, I feel like I've found my voice and an audience has found me.

I peaked at 780 downloads in August 2021, but as of about noon on the last day of the month and year, December has eclipsed August with 1,125 downloads; double listenership in November! The metric of total downloads is nice to track, but it doesn't exactly equate to audience size. That's harder to track, but my podcast platform does show I've had 385 unique listeners in the past 28 days. Working out to 3 episodes per listener on average. And that sort of tracks with the number of episodes I publish each month.

The real driver of growth in downloads though is having a large back catalog of episodes. Now, if a new listener finds my show and likes it, they can download the whole catalog. I've seen spikes of more than 100 downloads a day this month. New listeners playing catchup and hopefully subscribing to come along for new episodes.

What's Next in 2022?

I'm going to keep doing what I've been doing. I have a few spirits ready to feature in January. But beyond that? Well, I'd like to expand the Liquor & Liqueur Connoisseur brand. I've built a solid collection of books on the topic I refer to as my Liquor Library (more than 80 volumes), and admittedly with more than a dozen yet to be read, I'm always looking for more. So, I may expand my website to be more than just the podcast, and add on some complimentary content features. Book reviews, in written form, will be one such component.

I'm also looking to get into video. The audio podcast format is limited compared to video. I think there's the opportunity to expand my audience to people like myself who don't listen to podcasts, but do watch content on YouTube. So, with the research already complete, and a template to follow, I'm going to make an effort to produce new video versions of the audio episodes, and publish on YouTube.

The original format of my deep dives into an individual spirit shared as an audio podcast will remain the heart of what Liquor & Liqueur Connoisseur will become, but I'm excited for the creative opportunities that that lay ahead. I have a base to build upon, and know enough to know that there's a lot I don't yet know!

So, cheers to 2021 and I look forward to the promise of 2022!