Less is More: A Sustainable Strategy for the Bigger Than Us Podcast

When is less, more?

It’s been said that artists never quite know when to stop working on a piece. One more stroke of the brush, one more word in the story, one last cut of the scalpel on a sculpture before it’s ready for firing. 

It’s also been said that if engineers had their way, not a single vehicle would leave the production line, nor would a website ever get published because there could always be one more improvement. 

My belief is that podcasting sits somewhere between art and engineering. Which causes me to ask, should I do more or less?

And while I’m never certain, I do have a clue. 

Listen to your audience. 

2020 was a fantastic year for Bigger Than Us. We hit record numbers and surpassed expectations. I had the pleasure of interviewing some amazing guests, some that have become close allies, friends, and mentors. 

For example, just to name a few:

However, while the year was amazing, I kept hearing one consistent piece of feedback. 

“You’re producing so much content, I can’t keep up!”

We received several emails from listeners in addition to this review.

And this proved itself to be correct. While we experienced a lull in downloads in November during the elections and other news that consumed most of the Nation’s attention, we had a record last week of the year. My guess is that listeners had an opportunity to catch up on episodes that were in their backlog. 

So, in the spirit of listening to the feedback from our audience, for 2021 I’m going to try something different. Bigger Than Us will now publish one episode per week instead of two. 

But wait, there’s more. 

While we’ll only publish one episode a week, an entire week of content will be themed around that episode. There will also be a curated transcription of each episode available on our website, and on our Medium publication.

I can hear you now. 

So what?

What does this mean for the listener?

Well, what this means is that if you choose, you can follow along on social media and learn more about the individual or subject being discussed on the show. 

This aligns with our original intention for the show to give innovative ideas a platform, especially those that help solve our planet’s climate crisis. It allows listeners to keep up with the publishing schedule rather than racking up a backlog of ideas and inspiration to catch up on while getting more out of each episode.

For example, our first new episode of 2021 featured Peter Kelly-Detwiler. In addition to having 30 years of experience in the electric energy area, Peter is a prolific writer and is a contributing energy writer at Forbes. So, our followers also got to discover more insights from Peter throughout the week of the episode featuring his interview. Those who prefer to read found a curated transcription featuring the key touchpoints of our conversation. It was a micro-lesson on the state of the energy industry.

This is the best way we know how to provide value to the students, energy geeks, industry leaders, and aspiring industry leaders who are tuning in. 

Thanks for Listening

Lastly, I’d like to thank all of you that have supported me on this journey and hope that by listening to your feedback we’re demonstrating that we’re here to serve our community, those that we believe have the same mission in their hearts as we at Nexus PMG, a mission of building a better world. 

Subscribe to Bigger Than Us wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you find us on Apple podcasts, please leave us a review and let us know what you think of our new approach. And, if there’s a topic or guest you’d like to hear on the podcast, send me an email at BTU@NexusPMG.com

Raj Daniels
Latest posts by Raj Daniels (see all)

You may also like: