Profitable Podcasting
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Q7: Do you have any final advice—anything else you want to share with business owners who may be considering starting their own podcast?
Kelly: Don’t let fear get in your way. If this is something that you are seriously considering, and are excited about, don’t let fear get in the way. Push yourself outside your comfort zone. There have only been upsides to doing this podcast for me. I can’t think of one negative thing. It’s only brought positive things to my life and to my business. Just because you want to do a podcast doesn’t mean that you need to know everything, all of the technical aspects, and all of the marketing components. There are people out there like Predictive ROI who can help you with that. I haven’t seen any downside. Just do it.
David Mammano, host of Avanti Entrepreneur
David has started seven businesses from scratch, was named to Inc. magazine’s list of the 5,000 fastest-growing companies in America, is host of the Avanti Entrepreneur podcast, and is a TEDx speaker, author, and adjunct professor at the University of Rochester.
Q1: Give us an overview of your podcast and the advice shared during a typical episode.
David: I started the podcast because I kind of wanted to have a forum, a conversation, for “the rest of us.” I love reading Inc. magazine, SUCCESS Magazine, Forbes, and Fortune, etc. Often you’ll see on the covers these massive superstars, the founder of Uber, or the founder of Go Daddy. I mean all great entrepreneurs, don’t get me wrong—I want to be them tomorrow; there’s no doubt. But the fact is I’m reading these articles and I’m thinking, “That’s just not me right now.” I’m not going to go out and get $100 million of venture capital. I think most people reading these articles are probably a lot like me. They’ve created businesses from scratch, maybe bought a franchise, maybe took over a business, but at the end of the day, we’re not the sophisticated venture capital dudes in Silicon Valley.
We’re main-street entrepreneurs who roll up our sleeves and work our freaking tails off, and our investment money that we get from the outside is from making sales. The certain realities are, we’re out on the streets, we’re making it happen, we’re getting our MBAs in the streets. I wanted a podcast for “the rest of us,” meaning, let’s share some really good practical advice and experiences from people like me or a few steps ahead of me.
Q2: Why did you start your podcast and what are two or three of the biggest impacts it has had on your business?
David: I’m a lifelong learner. My podcast really is, at the end of the day, a very selfish way for me to learn. I’m getting guests on whom I really love and respect, and kind of want to suck their brain for knowledge, so I just get to ask them tons of things that I’m wondering about their success. Taking notes as I’m talking to them, asking questions, and listening—so I’m learning.
Second, my podcast is really good for my business. One of my main businesses is the Avanti Entrepreneur Group, where I help business owners either grow their business or I help people start their business. I have a whole strategic process on taking businesses to the next level. I’m a coach for business owners. It turns out that I get a lot of people asking how they can start working with me, so my podcast has been good for attracting prospects and customers.
Q3: What is the most critical skill for a business owner to master in order to be successful at podcasting?
David: I think what I’ve learned so far is just becoming a really good interviewer. Really paying attention, being curious about the path, the way the conversation is going, and asking good questions because what you get out of guests is amazing. The first few podcasts I felt like I was talking too much because that’s what I do, but now that I’ve kind of learned a little bit, what makes a better podcast in my opinion is when I’m actually doing very little talking. So I would say become a really good questioner.
I’ve taken Dale Carnegie courses, and one of their top things that they teach is: The way to get people interested in you is to become interested in them. People love to talk about themselves and their successes and share experiences. People end up liking you more as a person, and respect you more, if you ask them really good questions and allow them to talk and share their experiences. It just makes a person feel good when they’re able to talk about themselves and even their failures, if it’s a learning lesson, because they’ll feel good about helping others.
Q4: You’ve had some impressive success with your podcast. So, let’s flip that. What do you consider to be your biggest obstacle or challenge to building momentum?
David: Well, I’m 100 percent a salesperson. I love people, and it’s my superpower. I should probably be selling 99 percent. But, when it comes to technology, and the process that goes along with the behind-the-scenes tech, I’m terrible. I get anxiety about it. I can picture myself breaking out in hives. I know what I do best. I sell, I coach, and I love content. I love to write, and do videos, so I should be spending most of my time doing that, like the podcast. Developing relationships with guests and asking questions during the interviews.
So working with [the] Predictive ROI team—I did not have to do any of the stuff that I’m not good at, which was such a joy. I probably would not have launched a podcast on my own because of all the production and technology involved.
Q5: I know you track where you invest your time as well as your productivity—so how many hours do you typically invest each week toward your podcast? Where are you spending the time? What are your vital priorities as it relates to your show?
David: I’m spending probably two hours—three hours at the most—per week on my podcast. There’s about forty-five minutes to an hour of doing the podcast. Then I would say there’s another hour or so when it comes to finding guests for the show, then sending them some prep material so that we’re good to go.
Q6: What has been your most unexpected surprise during your podcasting journey so far?
David: How much I freaking love it! In fact, Diana on my team, she has said, “I think you found your calling.” When I ask people what I’m really good at, I often hear that I’m a connector, a host, and this is kind of the perfect role for somebody like that. I feel like if I could become the Jimmy Fallon of entrepreneurial podcasting, then I’ll be a happy man. I don’t have to be the star—I can be the host. It feels natural to me. I want to do more.
I also didn’t expect how good it would be for my business. It’s a really nice piece of what we’re doing here. Now, I don’t think somebody should get into podcasting just with the sole purpose of increasing business because you probably won’t be focusing on good quality content, and I think that you have to have very good quality content from the heart so people want to listen to you.
Q7: Do you have any final advice—anything else you want to share with business owners who may be considering starting their own podcast?
David: There’s no reason why you shouldn’t give it a shot. At the very least you’re going to learn a ton from the people you’re interviewing.
Just do it. You’ll get energy from it, you’ll build your network, you’ll build your reputation, and you’ll build your credibility as a business owner.
Mitch Stephen, host of Real Estate Investor Summit
A nationally known real estate entrepreneur, trainer, and consultant, Mitch has purchased more than 1,300 houses in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas. He is also the author of two books, My Life & 1,000 Houses: Failing Forward to Financial Freedom and My Life & 1,000 Houses: 200+ Ways to Find Bargain Properties. Mitch is a high school graduate who never stopped learning from books, seminars, and webinars and is a fine example of what “on-the-job-training” can produce in a person. Mitch now teaches others how to become financially independent and invest for more than just the typical lump-sum check.
Q1: Give us an overview of your podcast and the advice shared during a typical episode.
Mitch: I was just trying to find a place for the people in my niche, which is flipping houses or creating cash flow, so they can become financially independent.
I wanted to have a place they could go to—I wanted to reach the world as much as I just wanted to reach my niche. We are attracting people who I think we can help—people who are looking to be financially free.
I started the podcast because I know just like with my Tuesday night coaching call (I held a call every Tuesday night for the last six or seven years), it has made me a smarter person as well as delivered value to attendees. It’s like the teacher gets the benefit: I might bring ninety-nine pieces to the puzzle; because I’ve been in the business a long time, I’ve got a lot of pieces of the puzzle already figured out. But every now and then, someone raises their hand in the room and gives me an extra piece that I didn’t know existed. Then I’m thinking, “Oh my gosh, this changes everything.” Or, “How in the world did you figure that out?” Or, “Where are you finding this list of people?” Then I think, “I have to start doing that!”
If you think the guys who are listening to me are getting smart, I’m getting really smart by listening to everybody. And the podcast helps me in the same way.
Q2: Why did you start your podcast and what are two or three of the biggest impacts it has had on your business?
Mitch: I was trying to get more people into my mentoring program. I was trying to move from thirty to forty people a year to fifty or sixty to seventy people a year, just to see if I could. If you do all this stuff just for the money, it becomes kind of a drudgery or it’s an obligation. I just recognize in my life that activity begets activity. The more active you are and the more things you’re trying or doing, just the more people you bump into, and the more possibilities and the more options come to you.
I thought, “Well, I haven’t done this before, I wonder what this would bring me?” And I have no idea exactly what it’ll bring me. I knew my goals were to get my sales up and to get some more followers, but what kind of followers am I going to find? What kind of opportunity will they have in store for me? I don’t know, but it’s fun to go out there and try it and see what happens.
Then the other thing about it is, if you ask a really successful CPA to go to lunch so you can rake his brain, get some tax advantages from him, he’ll say no. If you tell him you want to interview him, he’ll run to your door. It’s the same conversation, but one is I’m stealing from him and the other one is I’m honoring him. If you want to talk to them as an interview, they’ll talk to you for two hours. If you want to rake their brain, they’re not going to talk to you—they want your money.
Q3: What is the most critical skill for a business owner to master in order to be successful at podcasting?
Mitch: You have to listen. Listening is the hardest thing I’ll ever do because I like to talk. Listening is hard for me. I recommend slowing down. To let my guests take the conversation where they want to go and for me to shut up and let them finish. That’s my personal challenge. I’m kind of ADD; some people would call me high strung, or tightly wound.
Q4: You’ve had some impressive success with your podcast. So, let’s flip that. What do you consider to be your biggest obstacle or challenge to building momentum?
Mitch: My biggest challenge is that I would like to interview some more famous people. We often think of them as unattainable because we are not a TV station or some other media channel. I decided this year I was going to make this a goal. As a matter of fact, I just got off the phone trying to contact Doug Flutie because I wanted to have a conversation with him about underdogs. I talk to a lot of people who are underdogs. I love a good comeback, and you know who was the king of comebacks in the NFL? Doug Flutie! He was small for the giants he was playing around.
Someone said, “Well, how in the world is his story going to relate to real estate?” I said, “Well, his story’s a little broader; it’s not about real estate, it’s about overcoming the odds, incredible odds.” How did he do that?
Q5: I know you track where you invest your time as well as your productivity—so how many hours do you typically invest each week toward your podcast? Where are you spending the time? What are your vital priorities as it relates to your show?
Mitch: The setup was the hardest part. After the initial setup it’s three to five hours per week because we air three episodes per week, and I invest about one-and-a-half hours per episode.
I don’t have to do a lot of rehearsal or scripting because I live the subject that I’m talking about with our guests. And my guests live the subject, too, so they don’t need a script either.
Usually what we do is we map out the initial four questions, just so we get off to a smooth start. I also spend a little bit of time reading their bio, how I’m going to introduce them, and then we’re off.
Q6: Do you have any final advice—anything else you want to share with business owners who may be considering starting their own podcast?
Mitch: Yeah, don’t do it by yourself. Don’t think you have to do it all. There are experts out there—find them to help you.
The reason I never did it sooner is because I thought I had to do everything myself. Now that I have a team in place—and for only three hours a week of my time to have three episodes go out per week, that’s an incredible reach. That’s not too much to ask—three hours a week to be available to the world and to build this body of work and content. When I complete the first year, it will be 150 interviews. What are the chances that I hold 150 interviews and something good doesn’t happen? I think the odds are in my favor. Something is going to happen!
Lee Caraher, host of Focus Is Your Friend
Lee started Double Forte in 2002 as a new kind of communications firm designed to provide the best service in the business. Previously executive vice president at Weber Shandwick, president and founder of Red Whistle Communications, and vice president of SEGA, Lee has managed multiple offices and hundreds of people of all ages and was named in the “40 under 40” by PRWeek magazine.
Q1: Give us an overview of your podcast and the advice shared during a typical episode.
Lee: The purpose is really to help marketing people who are just bombarded with, you know, tactic, after tactic, after tactic. Do this, do this, do this, and do this, right? No company, and I’ve talked to companies who now are $10 billion companies or $100 million companies or haven’t-made-revenue-yet companies, and no one has enough money. No one has enough time. No one has enough people. There’s always more to do, no matter what size the company is, more to do than you can do. The purpose of the show is to focus on what matters so you can actually get traction.
My guests are chief marketing officers, chief revenue officers, chief communication officers, or CEOs. It sort of depends on the size of the company. Those people who are responsible for connecting a company with its audience and causing them to act. Sometimes at Google it’s a director. If you get a director at Google, that’s an “intergalactic president of something else” at another company. It just really depends on the size of the company, but the responsibility is to communicate and engage an audience that moves that audience to act.
My favorite question I ask everybody is, “If you had a hundred dollars and you had two activities and the two tasks, the two programs, cost $70 each, what would you do?” Frankly, I have a point of view, which is clear in the title of the podcast, Focus Is Your Friend, that you should do one thing. However, no one is really paying attention to that when I talk to them. I’ve gotten every answer from do one thing and save the $30, take the $70 and add $30 to it to do that one thing, do both, negotiate. I mean everyone!
It’s really interesting to see the wide range of answers on that very simple question that I thought I would get the same answer. There’s a rationale for everything!
Q2: Why did you start your podcast and what are two or three of the biggest impacts it has had on your business?
Lee: There are two reasons I had to start my podcast. One is to provide a place where my employees can tap into the wisdom and insights that I’m bringing. It’s important they get to hear me—the bigger we get and the farther away we
are. Right now I’m in New York, and we have an office in Boston, and we have an office in San Francisco. My podcast allows me to be present on topics important to our business.
Then the second purpose was I get asked a lot by people, “Lee, can I pick your brain? Can I pick your brain?” I’m like, “You know, I got no more brain to pick, frankly.” This podcast allows me to do that as well.
Then third, what’s been so far with the people I’ve interviewed, they’re all people I know. I mean I’ve been around the business for a long time. I’m that old. I’ve worked at really large companies that have really large clients so I’ve had a lot of contacts. I don’t have an excuse to talk to them all the time. This has been a great excuse to talk to those people and to (A) find out what they’re doing, and (B) almost half the time I have an idea for these companies after I talk with these people. We may not be the ones who implement it, but that person on the other side I’m interviewing has always said, “Thank you, that’s a great idea.” Then sometimes it comes back, “Could you guys do that for us?” Sometimes we can, sometimes we can’t. When you are in the service business, which most of us are, being helpful is the key to staying on top of mind.
Q3: What is the most critical skill for a business owner to master in order to be successful at podcasting?
Lee: I think it’s the same skill you need to be a good leader, which is listening, and not listening to respond, but listening to hear. This has been the hardest thing for me—to not talk over my guests. All I want to do is, “Oh, yes, great idea.” My early interviews are not as good as my later ones. I’m always listening for the nugget. Then trying not to talk over the person when I find it.