Hey Sraj, just had my morning routine of coffee and hifi news. Your pal Darko's contribution today was a piece on how he decides what to review. As you might imagine, it led me to wonder how you go about the same task. Care to comment? Rick
John works on YouTube with its almighty algorithm and comments-happy often entry-level audience. My platform is old-school, the audience deeper into the more advanced stages of audiophilia. It takes him a full work week just to produce a single 20-minute video. That doesn't include actual reviewing, just the process of converting listening notes into a video narrative of high production values. It explains the need for careful planning to maximize his production regularity. Contrast that to me penning reviews where the same conversion process takes far less time. I work to far less structure and with far more improv. I mostly respond to unexpected solicitations. I never worry about my audience. They read me because they enjoy my content and selection. It's why they keep coming back. If they don't, they're not my audience and I'm not worried about them either. So I very much operate like that crusty chef who only cooks what inspires him and can get fresh from the market; and whose poor patrons must eat what he serves up that day. It's not about hitting numbers, targets or following a planned-out schedule. It's far more flexible and fluid. The real limitations are practical. Can I physically handle the weight and size of review samples? Can I store their packing materials for the duration? Do I have appropriate ancillaries? Do I have the necessary experience to do them justice? Will the maker ship to Ireland? Can I deal with the price? The answers to these questions inform what I can review. That's probably all I can say about my 'process' such as it even exists. I've now done this for 23 years. It's become a thing with its own life and routines. Rather than control it, I feel that I'm riding it as it makes its decisions. It's very much how I experience the creative process of downloads. As long as I show up and keep my receptivity sharp, it takes care of itself. But it's predictably not how proper business people run their businesses. I just don't have their kind of head or education. As a creative person, I'm winging all the business aspects. I'm super lucky it's worked thus far. Srajan
