Podcast vs YouTube vs Blog vs Newsletter: Which to Start?

The best content format to start is the one you’d still create every day if it never made you a single penny. For most experts who want to sell courses or coaching, that’s writing. Pick one way to get discovered — a blog, a YouTube channel, or a podcast — and pair it with an email newsletter where you build the relationship and sell.

Why not just pick the most popular one?

Because popularity doesn’t make you consistent. 84% of U.S. adults use YouTube. 55% of Americans now consume podcasts every month. And yet 96.55% of web pages get zero traffic from Google.

There’s an audience everywhere. What’s missing is people who stick around long enough to reach it.

I wrote my first blog post in 2012. Since then, I’ve started three YouTube channels, a podcast I almost abandoned, and a daily newsletter that now pays my bills. Here’s what each format really costs you — and how to pick yours.

The short answer: one discovery channel + one newsletter

Most people frame this as “podcast vs YouTube” or “newsletter vs blog.”

That’s the wrong question.

There are two jobs your content needs to do:

Get you discovered by strangers who’ve never heard of you.
Turn those strangers into buyers over time.

A blog, a YouTube channel, and a podcast do job #1. They’re the bait.

A newsletter does job #2. It’s where you build trust, and where people actually buy your course or coaching.

So you’re not choosing between four options. You’re choosing one discovery channel. Then you point everything you publish to your newsletter.

That’s the whole strategy. One fishing spot. One boat to bring the fish home.

Podcast vs YouTube vs blog vs newsletter at a glance

Here’s how the four stack up when you’re a solo expert with limited time:

	Blog (or Substack/Medium)	YouTube	Podcast	Newsletter
How people find you	Google search, platform feeds	YouTube search + algorithm	Word of mouth, guest swaps	Only through your other channels
On camera?	No	Yes	No (unless video)	No
Skills needed	Writing, headlines, SEO basics	Scripting, filming, editing, thumbnails	Speaking, interviewing, audio editing	Writing, selling
Time per piece	30–60 min	Several hours	1–3 hours	30–60 min
Time to traction	Slow (6–16 months)	Slow (6–12+ months)	Slowest from zero	Depends on your discovery channel
Best for	Writers, slow thinkers	Natural talkers, visual topics	Conversationalists	Everyone (it’s where you sell)

Time estimates are rough and based on my own workflow. Your mileage will vary.

Notice something?

None of these is fast. That’s why the format you enjoy matters more than the format that looks best on paper.

Blog (or Substack/Medium): best if you like to write

A blog is the best choice if you enjoy writing and want content that brings in readers for years.

Here’s what nobody tells you about blogging, though: it’s slow.

My SEO articles bring in email subscribers like clockwork. But the screenshot I usually share covers a 16-month stretch. That’s how long it took for the traffic to really build.

Once it does? My blog gets roughly 300 visitors a day. Between 1% and 3% of them join my newsletter. Every day. Without me lifting a finger.

That’s the beauty of search traffic. You write once, and people find it months (or years) later.

The catch: you need to learn keyword research and how to structure a post. Most people won’t get that right on their first articles.

That’s why I recommend starting on Medium and Substack. They already have readers. You can copy-paste the same article on both and learn faster. (Substack recommendations alone added 1,600 subscribers to my list.)

But keep a blog on the side. Platforms can suspend you overnight. Your blog is the only piece of internet real estate nobody can take away from you.

YouTube: the biggest reach, the most work

YouTube is the best choice if you’re comfortable on camera and want the largest possible audience.

And it’s not just for kids. 86% of adults aged 50 to 64 use YouTube.

The problem? Competition. More than 500 hours of video get uploaded to YouTube every minute.

And YouTube has its own rules. In my experience, your thumbnail and title decide about 70% of a video’s success. Then you need a strong first 30 seconds so people don’t click away.

So should you start a YouTube channel?

Here’s my honest story.

In 2020, I started my third YouTube channel. Every morning, I forced myself to record a video. After 90 days, I realized I absolutely hated it.

I’m an introvert. A slow thinker. Video felt like punching myself in the face every morning just to hit publish.

Even years later, when I went back for a 10-video sprint, only one video took off (2,800 views). The other nine died quietly under 1,000 views.

And views don’t equal money. I’ve had a YouTube video with over 153,000 views that brought in zero customers. Meanwhile, videos under 3,000 views brought in thousands of dollars in sales.

If you love talking to a camera, YouTube can be a goldmine. If you don’t, it’ll drain you.

Podcast: builds trust, hard to grow from zero

A podcast is the best choice if you love conversations and want listeners who feel like they know you.

Podcasts are booming, even among older audiences. According to Edison Research, 27% of Americans aged 55+ listened to or watched a podcast in the past week in 2025, up from 14% in 2023.

That’s great news if your audience is 40+.

But here’s the problem: podcasts are terrible at discovery.

Apple Podcasts and Spotify don’t push brand-new shows to strangers the way YouTube does. Most podcasts grow through word of mouth, guest appearances, and swaps with other hosts.

I started a podcast myself. I almost abandoned it.

The good news? It gave me something valuable. I interviewed a lot of successful social media creators, and almost all of them said the same thing: they spent at least one year before getting any significant traction.

So should you start a podcast?

Only if you’d happily record episodes for a year with a handful of listeners. If that sounds fun, go for it. If that sounds like torture, skip it.

Newsletter: not how people find you, but where you make money

A newsletter is the one format every expert should have — but it won’t help strangers find you.

So if you’re stuck on “newsletter vs blog,” here’s the answer: you need both jobs covered. The blog (or YouTube, or podcast) attracts people. The newsletter keeps them.

Why does the newsletter matter so much?

Because you own it. Algorithms can bury your posts. Platforms can ban you. But your email list is yours.

And that’s where the money is.

I send daily emails. My open rate sits around 35%. That small list pays me a six-figure income — not because it’s huge, but because I sell to it consistently.

You can even speed up the “getting found” part. I’ve spent over $10,000 on newsletter sponsorships in two years and added well over 2,000 subscribers that way. One $40 sponsorship brought in $294 in sales. A $50 one brought in over $3,194.

One warning: don’t fall for the paid-subscription trap. Only a tiny fraction of free readers ever upgrade. You’ll make far more selling a course or coaching to your list. (I explain why paid newsletters are a waste of time for most creators here.)

How to choose: the “last breath” test

Here’s the one question that cuts through all the noise.

A reader recently replied to one of my emails with this:

“I get overwhelmed by all my ideas and interests and find myself taking action on none of them. I could write a book, I could create a digital PDF product, I could create an online course, I could start a podcast, I could create a newsletter…”

That was me six years ago.

So here’s what I asked him:

What are you willing to do every day until your last breath?

Not what you could do. What you’d do — and still enjoy — even if it didn’t make you a single penny.

The answer is the type of content you should create.

If you’re still unsure, answer these three questions:

Short or long? Do you prefer quick posts or long-form pieces? Long-form fans should look at a blog, Substack, or Medium. YouTube is a hybrid: you can script your writing and turn it into videos.
Talking or writing? Comfortable speaking off the cuff? Try a podcast or YouTube. More of a slow thinker who needs quiet to get ideas out? Write.
Where does your best buyer hang out? The format only works if the people you want to help are already there.

For me, the answer was obvious. Writing 500 words a day — emails, blog posts, sales pages — is the only thing that ever stuck.

Why trying all four will burn you out

Here’s the worst thing you can do: start a blog, a podcast, a YouTube channel, and a newsletter all at once.

In 2015, Gary Vee told me to be everywhere. Instagram. YouTube. LinkedIn. Twitter. Snapchat. Oh, and start a podcast too.

So I tried.

I burned out and quit. And hated my life as a bonus.

Every platform has its own rules. The skills to run a podcast aren’t the skills to write an article. What works on YouTube doesn’t work on Substack. Learning four rulebooks while staying consistent isn’t realistic when you have a job, a family, or a business to run.

And then there’s the doubt.

Two weeks after you pick a platform, you’ll see someone blowing up on the one you didn’t choose. A voice will whisper: “Maybe I picked wrong.”

Listen to it, and you’ll hop from platform to platform forever.

It’s like planting a seed, then digging it up two weeks later because nothing has grown. Then planting another one. And digging that one up too. Eventually, you conclude nothing grows — when really, you never left anything in the ground long enough.

People don’t win because they picked the perfect platform. They win because they stayed on one long enough to get good at it.

What I’d do if I started today at 40+

If I had to start from scratch tomorrow, here’s exactly what I’d do:

Pick one discovery channel using the “last breath” test. For most experts, that’s writing on a blog or Substack.
Publish daily, or close to it. A 400–700 word post takes 30 to 45 minutes once you have a system. When I wrote one Substack article a day for 30 days, I added 1,070 subscribers.
Commit to at least 6 months. Anything less, and you’re just guessing. Expect to write around 100 pieces before you see real traction.
Create a free lead magnet — a cheat sheet, template, or short email course — and link to it in everything you publish.
Start your newsletter from day one and email your list consistently.
Sell something simple. Coaching is the fastest offer to set up. Add a course later.

That’s it. No 17-step funnel. No being everywhere.

Just one format you enjoy, done long enough to compound.

The bottom line

The podcast vs YouTube vs blog debate has no universal winner. The best format is the one you’ll stick with for years — paired with a newsletter that turns your audience into buyers.

Pick your one channel. Plant your seed. And leave it in the ground.

If you want help turning what you know into income, join my daily insights newsletter, Make Money Teaching What You Know. Every day, I share one practical idea to help you grow your audience and sell courses, coaching, and digital products — without being everywhere.

Join Make Money Teaching What You Know →

FAQ

Is it better to start a podcast or a YouTube channel?

It depends on whether you enjoy being on camera. YouTube offers much better discovery because its algorithm recommends videos to new viewers. Podcasts build deeper trust but mostly grow through word of mouth. If you’re camera-shy, a podcast (or writing) is the better fit.

Do podcasts or YouTube make more money?

YouTube pays ad revenue once you qualify for its Partner Program, while podcasts usually rely on sponsors. But for experts, neither ad model is the best path. The real money comes from sending your audience to an email list and selling courses or coaching.

Should I start a newsletter or a blog?

Both, because they do different jobs. A blog helps strangers find you through Google. A newsletter lets you build a relationship with those readers and sell to them. Start with the blog (or Substack) to attract people, and collect emails from day one.

Can I do a podcast and YouTube at the same time?

You can record a video podcast and publish it on both YouTube and podcast apps. But it adds editing time and two sets of platform rules. If you’re just starting, master one format first, then repurpose once you’re consistent.

Am I too old to start a YouTube channel at 50?

No. 86% of U.S. adults aged 50 to 64 use YouTube, so your peers are already there. Age matters far less than whether you enjoy making videos. If you do, your experience is an advantage, not a handicap.