Best month ever for WHP

Working Hours had its best month ever for downloads this April. Not for a particular episode either but, across all episodes. This proves that as these episodes age, they become more interesting and valuable.

Working Hours episodes aren’t just podcast content, they’re first-hand lived-experience accounts of working through Brexit and lockdown. They’re a record of opinion on Climate Change from ordinary everyday people, as we live through, the now noticeable, impacts on our pockets of that reality, but most importantly they’re a snapshot of the lived reality of ordinary Loiners during this decade.

The work stories of ordinary Loiners we have captured is a living history of our city and our behaviours. It’s only glimpse of the reality but, it is a clue as to who we are and what we think we’re doing.

Remaining episodes to 200

There’s now only five episodes left to record to hit the new target of 200 (free) episodes.

I am massively relived to create the space in my head and my life by deciding to finish this project at this early with a reduced target. I am very proud of the interviews I have gathered and published, and I am mostly happy with the show I have made.

Was the project a success? Well, no.

If I could change any three things about making Working Hours, I would:

1. Not be massively depressed while trying to make such an ambitious show
2. Not be poor
3. Spend more time advertising it and less time trying to make it.

Quitting just over half-way through the stated project time at nowhere near even a quarter of the target number of interviews could not be described as a success.

I have mixed feelings about the project as it draws to a close. I should have done more, much, much, much more on the marketing. I should have been relentless in pursuing interviews for the show. I should have been more sycophantic to legacy media. I should have been a relentless podcast bore droning on about my show to all and sundry at every opportunity.

So, why didn’t I?

Well, because I didn’t wanna.

I didn’t want to be flattened in to just a podcast host. I didn’t really want to flirt with traditional media because I didn’t want to be their product. I wanted my show to be the product.

I wanted this show to be listened to because I thought that people were interested in people, were interested in reality. I thought that it would be interesting to hear from people who did different things in their day to us. I thought something like that would be interesting to Leeds and also to the broader world. I thought that if I made it people would listen. And, to be fair, some have (especially in April).

Paid episodes

So, I talk about Working Hours ending at 200 episodes and in all honesty, I think that will be its fate. Which is a shame because I actually think the show is rather good.

As one of the few people on the planet who has listened to each and every episode, I can honestly say that when I sit down to listen to the interviews and put them into their respective episodes, I do think this is a good show. I know there is real valuable insight in these episodes. But no one else really does. And that’s what really matters for a podcast.

Paid episodes are a final hope that the show can continue in some way, but I don’t feel too hopeful about selling a show that nobody was clamouring to be on when it was free.

I think there’s easily a couple of thousand people in Leeds that would love to give Working Hours a go. But unfortunately I can’t reach them. I don’t know them. I don’t move in their circles and none of my audience is a gateway to them.

I’m hoping that if I can sell some episodes then there will be a monetary incentive for guests to word of mouth market their paid episodes and thus help to sell some more of them.

If a guest has paid for their episode they’re more likely to show it off and share their episode. They’re more likely to tell people if they enjoyed being interviewed or whether they had extra involvement in their episodes production. At least that’s the hope.    

Review and repost

Once I have reached 200 episodes, I want to email all Working Hours’ guests to update them on the project and ask them to reshare their episodes.

I will also be offering Working Hours guests a chance to buy social media packages from their episode to help support their episode promotion and to help promote this project going forward.

Curation of WHP

Working Hours is an oral history project. Podcasts are disposable contemporary online content.

Most of the podcast content available to listen to now will not survive for very long, nor is it intended to.

What will make Working Hours in to an oral history project is your help.

Your active and ongoing financial support will pay for the curation of these interviews and help ensure they’re not just forgotten abd left to slowly decay on the internet of today.

This is what your financial support will go to.

It will go towards putting a transcript on every episode opf the show and making sure there’s a full package of archived material available for each and every episode of Working Hours.

If you can help Working Hours with a one off or regular donation it will go directly towards curating and preserving this archive of recorded material (and any new material that might get made too).

Support Working Hours with a monthly memebership from Patreon here: patreon.com/WorkingHoursPod

Or give a one off donation of 3.00 GBP or more to Working Hours here: https://ko-fi.com/workinghours