It’s all about cozying up to people this week: The big aggregators, the keepers of the data, or the people who might provide you a way to earn serious money for your next show. Today, I want to talk about another class of people who you should cozy up to help your next podcasting project be even better: Other podcasters who are better than you.

Tennis players know they can improve their skills by hitting the ball against the wall and drilling on the fundamentals of the game. Buy to really get good at tennis, they have to play people better than themselves.

The same self-induced skills-limitation holds true in podcasting. 

Many of us, if we’re collaborating at all, tend to podcast with friends or peers at or near our same skill level. Many join online groups or attend conferences with the hopes of gaining some insight or tricks from better podcasters. And while that certainly can help, it’s a far cry from actually collaborating with other podcasters who are better than you.

I’m doing that. By fate, luck, or just the randomness of the universe, there are two people in Phoenix who fit the bill for me. Wil Williams, long-time podcast critic and podcast fiction force-of-nature, is transitioning out of her day job to focus on freelance podcasting life. And I recently met up with Sam Walker, the award-winning broadcaster and podcaster recently transplanted from Manchester in the UK to Phoenix with, among others, BBC chops.

These ladies are great at what they do. Both of them approach podcasting from a totally different angle than I. They are true podcasting professionals and, most important to this angle of this article, are better than me. 

The conversations on how the three of us will work together have just started, so you’ll have to wait for the exciting Wil-Sam-Evo collaboration announcement. Heck, we haven’t even scheduled our introductory dinner meeting.

My challenge to you is to do what I have done. Find the people (hopefully locally, but virtually can work as well) who you get along with, have some share thoughts and ideas, but -- and this is the important part -- are better than you. Suggest a...