72 | Gary Arndt on Podcasts, Newsletters and the Fight Against AI Content

What happens when the platforms that built your business suddenly stop sending you traffic – or your entire industry shuts down almost overnight? Gary Arndt knows both scenarios very well. Gary was one of the early stars of travel blogging and an award-winning travel photographer. Then the pandemic wiped out 95% of his income within weeks. Instead of waiting for travel to return, he built something completely different: the daily Everything Everywhere podcast. That decision paid off. Everything Everywhere Daily has since passed 65 million downloads and now averages around 1.5 million downloads per month. In this conversation with Palle Bo and Rick Calvert, Gary explains why he became increasingly frustrated with a travel blogging industry dominated by SEO, algorithms and interchangeable listicles – and why he believes creators should focus more on building direct relationships with their audiences. The conversation also turns into a lively debate about AI. Gary isn't against using it, but argues that outsourcing the creative work can also remove the personality and expertise that give a creator a competitive advantage. In this episode Why Gary abandoned his old travel-media business model How a short daily podcast changed the economics of his content Why SEO dependence can leave creators dangerously exposed Where Gary thinks AI helps – and where it hurts creative work Why podcasts and newsletters may be a creator's most valuable assets Relevant links Everything Everywhere: https://everything-everywhere.com/ Everything Everywhere Daily podcast: https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/ TBEX: https://tbexcon.com/ RadioGuru: https://radioguru.co.uk The Radio Vagabond: https://theradiovagabond.com Follow Travel Matters in your podcast app for a new conversation every Friday.