The Hidden Trap Keeping Your Podcast Stuck

1
00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:07,160
Good morning podcasting Morning
Chat.

2
00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:14,520
Today is Tuesday, October 28th,
2025 and today monetization and

3
00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:16,640
audience growth.
We'll explore the turning

4
00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:20,680
points, trade-offs, and success
markers that guides every

5
00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:27,120
podcaster's next step.
So if you're listening live on

6
00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:29,200
Clubhouse, hit the share button,
bottom left hand side of the

7
00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:31,640
screen and share it.
However, Clubhouse lets you.

8
00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:35,000
And if you're catching us via
podcast, chatter, YouTube,

9
00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:37,880
etcetera, please share this
episode with a fellow podcaster.

10
00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:43,680
And now give us about 30 seconds
and we'll get things rolling.

11
00:00:43,800 --> 00:01:22,360
Thanks for being here.
Good morning again podcasting.

12
00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:24,080
Morning Chad.
Thanks so much for being here.

13
00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:28,880
I am your host Mark Ronick and
here with me on stage we have my

14
00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:33,360
Co hosts Feel better producer
Ashley Feller, Dr. Faye, Sid

15
00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:36,760
Meadows, Nick Naubak and Alex
Baelish.

16
00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:41,880
And yes, today, like I said,
we're going to get into audience

17
00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:46,120
growth, monetization, maybe some
re evaluating.

18
00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:50,080
Once again, I know we talked a
little bit about where we are in

19
00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:53,640
our podcasting journeys in the
sense that we had a whole show

20
00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:57,800
talking with Sid about his
revamping of his show.

21
00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:01,480
And I think there is some of
that, some of that will play

22
00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:05,160
into today's conversation.
I know also Ralph is in the

23
00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:08,000
audience currently and he is
going to join us as well 'cause

24
00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:13,240
he's going, he's doing something
similar with some re

25
00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:16,440
strategizing.
I'll say, 'cause I can't think

26
00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:21,320
of a better word.
So with that, let me also remind

27
00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:25,800
you real quick that for one, we
are streaming live on Facebook.

28
00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:28,920
And I know I said that
yesterday, yet I also know I

29
00:02:28,920 --> 00:02:34,600
failed to say where you can find
us on Facebook or find me live

30
00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:37,680
on Facebook.
So currently I'm streaming to my

31
00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:43,040
personal Facebook page.
So facebook.com/markronic Mark

32
00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:46,120
spelled with AC Ronic spelled
with ack.

33
00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:50,520
So you can find me over there
streaming live right now waving

34
00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:53,360
to you.
If you are already here, you can

35
00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:57,520
see me at on Facebook or
Facebook, I'm sorry, or YouTube

36
00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:01,480
as well.
Hi, Dr. Was that intentional?

37
00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:07,120
The choice of which page you do
the live on which Facebook page?

38
00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:08,720
Was that intentional?
It was.

39
00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:11,840
My first thought was going to be
that you were going to do it

40
00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:13,600
live.
On Empowered podcasting.

41
00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:19,400
Yeah, I debated and it was
honestly, I went with the

42
00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:22,040
easiest route.
And when I was setting it up on

43
00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:26,160
Riverside, it was the easiest
setup was to just stream it

44
00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:28,640
right to my personal page.
And I'm not saying they make it

45
00:03:28,640 --> 00:03:31,200
difficult, I'm saying just for
me personally, that was the

46
00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:33,200
quickest and easiest way to set
it up.

47
00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:35,840
So that's what I did.
I didn't know that there was a

48
00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:37,840
difference.
Yeah, you have to set it up.

49
00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:40,320
That's slightly different, just
different settings, you got to

50
00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:42,120
be in a different account,
etcetera.

51
00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:46,840
But yeah, so I just went right
to my personal page and the

52
00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:50,440
whole strategy, if there is a
strategy here for me, is I'm

53
00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:52,720
just trying to do these things
slowly, right?

54
00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:56,360
Like it's been one at a time.
First it was, yeah, First it was

55
00:03:56,360 --> 00:04:00,520
YouTube, then Chatter, then we
stepped away from Chatter a

56
00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:02,000
little bit, but we brought it
back.

57
00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,280
Although I don't think we're on
Chatter this morning.

58
00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:07,840
But the YouTube thing, I just
wanted to go one at a time.

59
00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:10,880
I did that live streaming
service and then I felt like it

60
00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:15,400
was time to expand recently, so
I decided, let's try this on

61
00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:19,040
Facebook as well.
I also made some changes on how

62
00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:22,840
this show is presented live on
those platforms.

63
00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,680
When you set it up with
Riverside specifically, it

64
00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:29,120
defaults.
It gives you a default title, a

65
00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:32,040
default description, and it's
very generic.

66
00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:36,560
I'm talking like you'll see some
of the old live recordings that

67
00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:39,040
are on YouTube.
It starts by the title says

68
00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:41,920
welcome to the welcome to our
live show.

69
00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:45,040
And then the description is just
as generic as that.

70
00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:49,640
So I've changed it with more
keyword heavy title,

71
00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:53,120
description, etcetera.
So sharing the behind the scenes

72
00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:55,880
because you know what, I know a
lot of other people do this as

73
00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:57,200
well, right?
A lot of other people

74
00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:00,880
determining and debating how to
get on YouTube, how they want

75
00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:03,880
to, how many platforms they want
to stream on, etcetera.

76
00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:06,520
OK, one more piece of
housekeeping for everybody.

77
00:05:06,840 --> 00:05:11,560
A reminder, especially to those
on stage, our moderators, we're

78
00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:15,880
we're evaluating another podcast
on Thursday that's two days

79
00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:19,880
away, The podcast Unbreakable
Spirit, a healing journey.

80
00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:24,560
And that host is also a listener
of the podcasting morning chat.

81
00:05:24,840 --> 00:05:30,760
Magdalena Joseph is her name and
this podcast is somewhat of a

82
00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:33,680
diary, if you will, of her
healing journey.

83
00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:36,640
She's had chronic illness for
years.

84
00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:39,520
Actually, I think it's an an
autoimmune disease.

85
00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:43,840
And she shares her journey and
her, I believe, and I'm going to

86
00:05:43,840 --> 00:05:46,960
follow up with her too.
I think her whole purpose is to

87
00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:49,920
share her journey so that others
who are going through something

88
00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:54,760
similar don't feel alone.
So we will dig into that show

89
00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:59,440
and the episode we're going to
dig into is Act of Letting Go.

90
00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:01,840
That's the title.
We'll dig into the episode

91
00:06:01,840 --> 00:06:05,280
specifically, but we'll also
talk about things like her cover

92
00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:09,040
art, her title, her description
of her overall series, etcetera.

93
00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:11,960
We'll give her a full
evaluation, which we think will

94
00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:15,160
also help others when they're
thinking about their podcast and

95
00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:17,280
what maybe they feel like
they're doing right and what

96
00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:20,760
they feel like could use a
little extra attention.

97
00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:25,200
Now you know the runner's soul.
Yes, the one we did last week.

98
00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:29,000
The the first one, right, she
hit 500 downloads.

99
00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:34,920
And I would like to think that
this show was responsible for a

100
00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:38,120
little bit of that, certainly
with all the moderators

101
00:06:38,280 --> 00:06:41,960
listening to it, right.
But other than that, I think our

102
00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:45,760
audience is kind of doing these
valuations with us.

103
00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:48,880
Yeah, I think so too.
Absolutely.

104
00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:53,640
So nice that we're maybe helping
podcasters in more ways than one

105
00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:56,680
with the evaluation, maybe
getting them a few downloads

106
00:06:56,680 --> 00:06:57,960
that.
Looks like we're doing that.

107
00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:00,560
Adopt A podcast, kind of that's
right.

108
00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:01,760
You know what I mean?
Yeah.

109
00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,680
Which I know is something we
tried 1 holiday season and I

110
00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:07,560
don't think it worked out, but
maybe we'll revisit that again.

111
00:07:08,280 --> 00:07:13,200
OK, today we are talking about
figuring out your next steps as

112
00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:16,640
a podcaster.
And at some point, every creator

113
00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:20,760
hits that moment where you ask
yourself, do I double down on

114
00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:24,200
growing my audience, start
focusing more on monetization,

115
00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:27,360
or maybe even step back and
realign your whole strategy,

116
00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:31,320
similar again to what Sid shared
with us last week.

117
00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:34,920
So we're going to dig into
really all three sides of that,

118
00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:38,480
the growth, the monetization,
and what I'm calling alignment

119
00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:41,160
and readiness.
Because sometimes the next step

120
00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:43,720
isn't about doing more.
It's really about getting things

121
00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:48,680
set up right for the stage
you're in, Not the physical

122
00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:51,600
stage, but the stage, the season
that you're in.

123
00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:55,800
And as you can see, if you're
here with us on Clubhouse, Ralph

124
00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:58,120
is already on stage with us this
morning.

125
00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:01,440
He's going to join us too,
because he's right in the middle

126
00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:05,720
of rebranding his own show to
help content creators with

127
00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:11,040
exactly that, making sure that
their foundation is solid before

128
00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:14,080
they grow or monetize.
That's the way I interpret it

129
00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:17,360
from talking with Ralph.
Ralph, is that a fair assessment

130
00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:19,880
of where you are right now?
Yeah, good morning.

131
00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:22,240
Absolutely, Mark, thank you for
having me join you this morning.

132
00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:24,960
That's exactly what I'm doing.
So I've been doing accounting

133
00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:28,040
work for 30 years, literally
since I was 8 years old, which

134
00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:31,080
is a whole nother story.
But over the last couple years,

135
00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:35,360
I've really leaned into the
content creator economy and I am

136
00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:37,480
rebranding my show.
I do a weekly show, I do a Daily

137
00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:40,120
Show, but also do 2 weekly
shows, but one of them is a

138
00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:41,960
weekly show called Grit and
Growth Business.

139
00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:45,120
And I'm what I'm really doing is
I'm pivoting that now to what

140
00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:49,480
I'm calling the content creators
accountant with the whole goal

141
00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:52,960
of helping fellow content
creators, whether to be YouTube,

142
00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:56,160
podcasting, whatever there is a
blog, writers, whatever that is,

143
00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,000
help them really set up their
business with the end in mind.

144
00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:01,320
Because the truth is we've got
to make a decision.

145
00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:03,840
Are we in business or is this a
hobby?

146
00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:06,800
And if this is a business, then
there are things that we can do

147
00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:09,000
as a business person to set it
up right?

148
00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:12,360
And that's my whole focus of
where I'm taking my show, where

149
00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:14,720
I'm taking my 30 years of
experience, really leveraging

150
00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:17,800
that to help people like all of
us really take it to the next

151
00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:20,800
level with their podcast or
whatever their content creation

152
00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:22,120
is.
Awesome.

153
00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:26,480
Thank you, Ralph, And also Ralph
sounding great this morning here

154
00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:28,280
on the podcasting.
Morning, Ted.

155
00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:32,480
I know he's plugged into his Rd.
Caster Pro, maybe Pro 2.

156
00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:34,520
Yeah, so good to have you here,
Ralph.

157
00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:36,080
Thank you.
And looking forward to digging

158
00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:38,560
into this more with you.
And Phil, I'm checking in with

159
00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:41,560
you because Speaking of Rd.
caster prose and sound, I know

160
00:09:41,560 --> 00:09:43,800
you've been working on it.
So let's hear how you sound.

161
00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:46,880
Good morning.
Good morning podcast, morning

162
00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:49,720
chat.
I wish I could sound as smooth

163
00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:55,040
as both Mark and Ralph, but I'm
doing it the old fashioned way

164
00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:58,000
just through my phone.
I tried to hook it up to the

165
00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:01,240
road caster, didn't work so I
went old school.

166
00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:05,000
So I'm authentically old school
right now.

167
00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:07,320
Nice.
I love it.

168
00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:09,880
Well, you sound good.
It sounds it sounds better than

169
00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:12,400
it has in the past, so.
I'm happy then.

170
00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:14,440
Yes, and look, it could be
worse.

171
00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:17,440
You could sound like Nick when
when Nick and whenever he speaks

172
00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:19,560
with that awful Bluetooth
headset of his.

173
00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:23,840
And finally, I will say, and
then we will dig in.

174
00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:27,240
Ashley, just want to make sure
you're doing well, you're safe

175
00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:28,840
and sound.
I know you're in Florida and I

176
00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:33,120
know unfortunately Florida got a
heck of a lot of rain thanks to

177
00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:35,440
Hurricane Melissa.
You're doing OK.

178
00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:38,120
Yeah, we're OK.
I just walked outside.

179
00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:40,760
It's actually chilly and misty
outside.

180
00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:44,320
About an hour from here.
Got some damage but we are OK.

181
00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:46,560
OK, good.
I'm glad to hear it.

182
00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:51,520
OK, so let's open things up.
I want to hear from either

183
00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:55,000
someone on stage, someone in the
audience if you want to come up,

184
00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:58,920
or even put it in the chat.
What phase are you currently in

185
00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:02,960
with your podcast?
Are you in a building phase, a

186
00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:05,880
growing phase, a reevaluating
phase?

187
00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:09,800
I'm curious to hear where
everyone is at.

188
00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:13,080
Let's dig in.
I think that the podcasting

189
00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:18,600
morning chat is going to go into
a back into a building phase.

190
00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:23,440
You know, Phil better has
obviously joined the team here

191
00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:26,640
as a Co host.
He's also joining as a producer.

192
00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:30,240
We have somewhat of our, we, I
guess an official now production

193
00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:34,240
or producer team with Phil,
Ashley, Dr. Nick and myself.

194
00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:37,000
We've been talking a little
behind the scenes.

195
00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:42,640
We had a even a call last week
just to try to get this show a

196
00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:45,680
little more buttoned up.
Not that we're a mess.

197
00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:48,160
I think we do a pretty darn good
job.

198
00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:52,560
But yeah, I think that we're in
this phase of maybe reevaluating

199
00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:55,960
slash rebuilding.
They see Lindsaya has joined us

200
00:11:55,960 --> 00:11:57,760
on stage as well.
And by the way, shout out to

201
00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:00,960
Simona Costantini in the
audience this morning.

202
00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:03,120
Good to see you, Simona.
Simona was going to join us

203
00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:06,000
today for a different
conversation, but it didn't work

204
00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:07,760
out.
So we're working on something

205
00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:09,080
next week.
Oh my.

206
00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:10,600
God, she's here.
Oh my God.

207
00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:11,480
Oh my God.
Oh my God.

208
00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:15,240
I had to get coffee and then I
had to go get to the gym and get

209
00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:18,520
the dog and then Oh my God, I
had to go see Sean.

210
00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:23,720
Oh my God, this has been the
greatest day ever but I can't

211
00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:27,520
talk because I got to get my
wonderful company up and running

212
00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:30,120
because I have like 47 things to
do Sorry.

213
00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:33,200
I got to go a little tongue in
cheek there from Alex.

214
00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:35,920
Thank you.
And yes, Simona is literally I

215
00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:38,640
think right now in route to the
dentist.

216
00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:41,000
So yes, there you go.
There's one of the other things

217
00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:44,000
on her To Do List today.
I knew she wanted to come up

218
00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:46,200
first.
Let me go to Lindsay so we can

219
00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:49,360
actually dig into some content
today and then we'll go back to

220
00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:51,920
Simona to respond.
Lindsay, a good morning.

221
00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:54,640
What stage are you currently in
with your podcast and tell us a

222
00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:56,240
little bit more about that if
you don't mind.

223
00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:59,320
Well, first I wanted to come up
and say you guys are all

224
00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:01,600
buttoned up.
So I love that there's going to

225
00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:04,120
be an amplifying.
Yeah, it's fantastic in here

226
00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:05,440
every morning that I'm able to
come.

227
00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:09,160
And when I can't, I do listen
sometimes over on other

228
00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:11,760
platforms too.
So yeah, that's fun that's

229
00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:13,800
happened.
I want to call it the

230
00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:18,600
redesigning because there I'm
keeping so much of what

231
00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:22,000
fundamentally started for the
Wellness Warrior podcast.

232
00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:26,960
And now I paused and took care
of my Mama and the most

233
00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:30,040
important things.
And it gave me such clarity on

234
00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:35,000
how I want to do this next
iteration of the podcast, both

235
00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:39,640
with consistency, who I'm going
to be interviewing, and also

236
00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:43,200
adding in some smaller segments.
I've been taking away some of

237
00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:46,280
what has been shared in here,
especially yesterday, the topic

238
00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:49,800
on episodes.
So I'm shifting, I'm ready to

239
00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:51,960
bring it forward more
consistently.

240
00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:55,280
And I'm actually going to be
doing more of my own producing.

241
00:13:55,280 --> 00:14:00,000
So it's all evolving and excited
to learn from you guys as I

242
00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:01,880
continue my journey.
Thank you, Lindsay.

243
00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:03,760
I appreciate that and
congratulations.

244
00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:10,040
I'm curious what what got you
into this phase of reevaluating

245
00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:12,960
and rebuilding?
I'll call it what what What's

246
00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:15,200
the reason behind it?
Was something not working well

247
00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:19,120
for you prior?
I would say my consistency

248
00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:23,120
because it was a hobby, I really
evaluate it from the place of

249
00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:26,840
hobby.
And yes, if someone asks to be

250
00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:28,640
on the podcast, they did have to
pay.

251
00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:31,080
So I didn't have to pay for
those particular episodes.

252
00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:36,960
I had worked in some ways to
help alleviate the expenses when

253
00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:39,000
someone was asking to be on the
podcast.

254
00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:44,080
However, you know, curating that
funnel to allow for simplicity

255
00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:48,520
and what really like changed for
me, specifically on wanting to

256
00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:52,600
change how we're being like, how
often it's happening.

257
00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:56,200
I want to go from hobby to
really considering monetization,

258
00:14:56,200 --> 00:15:00,000
bringing it in as an element of
upgrade for those that are part

259
00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,280
of my community.
Again, I see a bigger picture

260
00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:05,480
now, even in terms of
sponsorship.

261
00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:09,960
I feel more confident and
heading out and asking for

262
00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:12,760
sponsorship for the podcast.
Love that.

263
00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:14,640
Thank you, Lindsay.
Phil, did you have a question?

264
00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:20,680
I saw your mic come off mute.
Oh, I just wanted to agree with

265
00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:24,720
Lindsay that my podcast, I'm in
the I'm also in the process of

266
00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:27,880
going to be ending my main
podcast.

267
00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:31,080
Oh, OK, cool.
So and why, what's, what was the

268
00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:34,040
motivation behind that?
My main podcast to invest in

269
00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:35,720
yourself, the Digital
Entrepreneur podcast.

270
00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:38,680
I started because I didn't have
an idea what how to be an

271
00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:41,440
entrepreneur.
And now I'm moving into what I

272
00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:44,080
believe.
What I want to do is more

273
00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:47,120
coaching on the podcasting side.
So I'm going to move that more

274
00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:50,320
into how to be a coach.
So digital entrepreneur

275
00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:53,160
coaching.
And Phil, is that something that

276
00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:57,600
you decided because you felt
like you needed the change, or

277
00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:01,200
is that something that you feel
like your audience is really

278
00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:03,080
wanting?
Like, is that how they're

279
00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:04,840
evolving?
What was behind that?

280
00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:09,880
I originally started the podcast
with the idea of how to be an

281
00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:11,640
entrepreneur.
I had no idea how to be an

282
00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:14,440
entrepreneur, so I started
interviewing digital

283
00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:17,840
entrepreneurs.
This was back in 2020, and as

284
00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:21,440
I've interviewed them over the
last five years, I've come to

285
00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:25,160
see that I feel more aligned
with coaches than just general

286
00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:28,120
entrepreneurs.
So I want to move into talking

287
00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:30,440
with more coaches and
understanding the coaching

288
00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:33,080
world.
So that's pretty much what I

289
00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:34,720
plan on doing.
Very cool.

290
00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:36,960
More from Phil in a little bit.
Thank you, Phil.

291
00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:41,160
And let's go to Simona.
Simona, good morning.

292
00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:43,360
Do you want to answer the
question or maybe fire back at

293
00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:45,880
Alex?
Could you please remind me of

294
00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:47,280
the question?
Well, sure.

295
00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:50,760
Just where are you at in your
podcasting journey of specific

296
00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:53,680
to one of your podcasts?
Is it in a building phase,

297
00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:56,320
growing phase?
Are you reevaluating things?

298
00:16:57,080 --> 00:17:00,120
Those two podcasts, one of
them's actually been on hiatus

299
00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:03,920
since August of 2024, and I
honestly don't know what to do

300
00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:06,280
with it.
I've thought about, do I regrand

301
00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:08,800
it into something different,
into a new name, you know, do I

302
00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:11,040
bring it back with a different
focus?

303
00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:13,599
I don't know what to do with it.
And sometimes when you're so

304
00:17:13,599 --> 00:17:18,440
close to it, it's hard to like
look at it in the same way that

305
00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:20,040
I would look at a client's job,
if that makes.

306
00:17:20,079 --> 00:17:21,400
Sense.
No, it makes a lot of sense.

307
00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:24,880
You know I don't take enough of
my own advice.

308
00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:27,640
Exactly.
And I was thinking to, you know,

309
00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:29,600
like the name of it is happiness
happens.

310
00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:33,800
And every time I throw out a new
name to my audience or to my

311
00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:37,480
community or online or wherever,
everyone says, no, keep the

312
00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:38,760
name.
You know what I mean?

313
00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:40,960
So I'm like, I want to change it
or I'll like, you know,

314
00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:43,040
whatever.
And it never resonates with

315
00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:44,320
people.
And so I'm like, well, I don't

316
00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:47,240
want to change the name of the
podcast in a way that doesn't

317
00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:49,920
resonate with people, but the
name of it doesn't fully

318
00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:52,920
resonate with me.
So it's a kind of like a catch

319
00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:54,680
22.
But then in some ways I'm sure I

320
00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:57,840
could kind of redefine what the
new name would be, but it would

321
00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:00,440
take time to get the audience on
board.

322
00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:02,160
Like I've had the show since
2018.

323
00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:04,120
It's a long time, right?
And you know how sometimes

324
00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:06,680
people rebrand something and
it's like the wrong brand move

325
00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:10,400
and then it's like it doesn't
like you kind of like missed the

326
00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:12,320
whole mark.
So that's one show.

327
00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:17,040
And then the other show, I've
kind of refocused that podcast

328
00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:20,120
through a different lens, which
has been really interesting.

329
00:18:20,360 --> 00:18:23,480
I don't do series on this
podcast or like weekly podcast.

330
00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:26,920
It's like a weekly episode, but
instead of just doing 1 off

331
00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:30,840
random weekly episodes, I've
just been focusing in on like a

332
00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:34,080
topic for 11:50 weeks and then
running with that.

333
00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:37,400
So it's been interesting.
So we'll see how it goes.

334
00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:39,240
Yeah.
And I mean, it's probably a

335
00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:42,720
whole other conversation, but
what I couldn't help but to

336
00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:45,920
think while you were sharing,
and I know this is probably not

337
00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:49,400
what people would expect me to
say, but I mean, is there a

338
00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:53,280
point where you say maybe that
the like the happiness happened

339
00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:58,240
ones in particular, maybe it's
run its course and maybe it's

340
00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:00,640
time to put it to bed
officially.

341
00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:03,400
Yeah, you know, and that's such
a good point.

342
00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:05,800
Like that's exactly what I've
kind of been thinking.

343
00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:09,280
But then I go and I look at my
downloads, Mark, and I have more

344
00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:12,400
downloads in the last four
months than I had when I was

345
00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:14,680
actually producing the show.
I'm like, well, what the heck?

346
00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:15,920
Is that a sign from the
universe?

347
00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:17,480
Is the universe telling me to
pick it back up?

348
00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:20,560
Well, with a different focus, I
just kind of sit on it every

349
00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:23,120
single day, and one day I'll
figure out what to do with it.

350
00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:24,800
Yeah.
And then what's also interesting

351
00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:28,920
is, is why you're being called
to a different focus if it's

352
00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:31,920
becoming, for whatever reason,
more popular right now, it

353
00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:34,080
sounds like what you were doing
was working.

354
00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:36,800
Exactly.
But then I wonder, like, is it

355
00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:40,200
the SEO of the podcast and are
people just really unhappy and

356
00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:43,080
looking for help and guidance in
that way?

357
00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:46,720
And maybe those topics like
resonate.

358
00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:51,000
But the show was fun to do.
Like everything about it was so

359
00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:52,880
fun to do.
I don't know how to take it out

360
00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:57,840
of this like stuck phase, yeah,
and make it into what I've

361
00:19:57,840 --> 00:19:59,920
always like envisioned that it
would be.

362
00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:02,520
But I guess I'm not really
making any progress towards that

363
00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:04,040
by not creating any content for
him.

364
00:20:05,360 --> 00:20:07,240
Thank you, Simona.
Let's check in with Ralph.

365
00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:08,720
It sounds like Ralph wants to
chime in.

366
00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:10,040
Go ahead, Ralph.
Good morning again.

367
00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:13,320
I had a couple observations.
So the first thing that I think

368
00:20:13,360 --> 00:20:16,000
all of us need to do is we need
to lean into what I'll call you

369
00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:18,720
to your brand promise.
And this is where I think a lot

370
00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:20,800
of podcasters especially get
lost.

371
00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:24,640
I think before you start doing
anything to your show, you've

372
00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:28,040
really got to define what is
your brand promise?

373
00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:31,280
What are you promising that
people are going to get from

374
00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:33,600
coming to your content?
I think a lot of people just

375
00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:36,520
kind of moosy around the outside
of that and they don't really

376
00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:39,080
focus in on that.
And I think to be effective in

377
00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:43,080
this in this genre, you've got
to know what your brand promises

378
00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:44,760
and everything needs to lean
into that.

379
00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:47,000
And you mentioned, are you
building or growing?

380
00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:49,800
Listen, my personal being, it's
going to sound kind of harsh if

381
00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:52,280
you're not building always
you're falling behind.

382
00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:54,480
And I know that sounds kind of
mean spirited.

383
00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:57,160
I don't mean it to sound that
way, but it's just true.

384
00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:00,520
And then the third piece of this
is what is your measurement?

385
00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:03,040
Because it's easy to say, well,
I'm going to measure downloads,

386
00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:04,440
I'm going to measure this, I'm
going to measure that.

387
00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:07,440
If you're a business person, you
measure, there's measurements.

388
00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:10,000
I think you need to do the same
thing in your content.

389
00:21:10,120 --> 00:21:13,080
What are your measurements that
are going to say whether this is

390
00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:15,200
successful or not?
I think a lot of people lose

391
00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:16,880
sight of that.
And that's one of things I take

392
00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:19,720
away from business is we can
measure is our revenue growing?

393
00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:23,840
Is our profit growing, is our
exposure going, but have things

394
00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:27,000
that that are measurable and
then look at the actual results

395
00:21:27,360 --> 00:21:29,600
and stop trying to figure out
like what is working, what is

396
00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:30,360
it?
It's kind of like throwing

397
00:21:30,360 --> 00:21:32,960
spaghetti a wall.
If you don't know what you're

398
00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:35,400
throwing it at, and you don't
have a measurement to understand

399
00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:37,120
what you're trying to
accomplish, you're never going

400
00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:39,520
to get anywhere.
Excellent points, Ralph.

401
00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:41,840
Thank you.
And that first point you made,

402
00:21:42,360 --> 00:21:44,880
can you say that again, please?
Yeah, absolutely.

403
00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:47,840
One of the first things I do
when I work with people who are

404
00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:50,240
building and it doesn't matter
the kind of business, the first

405
00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:52,960
thing I say is what is your
brand promise?

406
00:21:53,360 --> 00:21:55,120
I'll give you an example.
I do a Daily Show.

407
00:21:55,120 --> 00:21:57,680
It's called Financially
Confident Christian, and my

408
00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:00,840
brand promise is to help people
break the cycle of financial

409
00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:04,320
shame with confidence.
So everything I do leans into

410
00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:07,640
that brand promise.
Every topic I talk about, every

411
00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:10,960
discussion I get into, all the
things I do, lean into that

412
00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:13,280
brand promise.
Because once you know what your

413
00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:16,120
brand promises, then you know
the content to deliver.

414
00:22:16,120 --> 00:22:19,120
Because listen, if we're not
providing something to our

415
00:22:19,120 --> 00:22:20,600
audience, they're going to
leave.

416
00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:22,960
So we need to know what that is.
I mean, understand your

417
00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:24,400
audience, I guess is the first
step.

418
00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:27,320
But what is your brand promise?
And once you understand your

419
00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:30,120
brand promise, then it all falls
into place.

420
00:22:30,120 --> 00:22:32,920
But the thing I see people
struggle with is when they don't

421
00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:35,520
know what their band promises.
And they try this and they try

422
00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:37,880
this and they try this, and it
just becomes frustrating.

423
00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:40,800
You get burned out, you get pod
feed because you don't know what

424
00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:44,240
you're trying to accomplish.
Yeah, your brand promise, it's

425
00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:48,760
basically your North Star.
And also, I think when you say

426
00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:52,320
brand promise, you were talking
about audience first.

427
00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:56,800
And yeah, I think if you know
your audience first that then

428
00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:59,200
your brand promise follows
because then you can actually

429
00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:03,920
make an accurate, a valuable
promise to that audience.

430
00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:06,520
So yeah, that's that's a really
important fact.

431
00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:09,240
Ralph, thank you for that.
And I agree with you, I think

432
00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:11,880
you do need to know your
audience, but I think the two

433
00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:13,800
things kind of go hand in hand.
Mark, I'm, I'm not trying to

434
00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:16,520
push back when you go ahead
really leaning into your brand

435
00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:20,360
promise because listen, I've
seen business people succeed if

436
00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:23,040
their brand promise makes sense
to the person that needs it.

437
00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:27,320
And I've seen brilliant business
people flail because they don't

438
00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:29,600
know what their brand promises.
They don't know what sets them

439
00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:32,600
aside from everybody else.
And that is so critical if

440
00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:35,160
you're going to be successful in
any kind of venture.

441
00:23:35,360 --> 00:23:38,720
Thank you again, Ralph.
And you also mentioned a moment

442
00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:44,840
ago measure measuring different
areas for success, right, the

443
00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:46,800
different.
So I want to get into that.

444
00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:49,440
Let's get into how we're
defining growth.

445
00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:52,760
And again, this is for the
individuals, right?

446
00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:55,680
We're not necessarily saying
there is one way to define

447
00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:57,400
growth.
I want to hear the different

448
00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:02,720
ways that we here today define
growth for our shows, right?

449
00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:05,960
For me, I think there's a couple
of things.

450
00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:10,040
The way I'm defining growth,
sure, I'm looking at downloads

451
00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:13,560
and I'm looking at retention
rate, but I think for me, what

452
00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:20,000
I, what I'm measuring most is
what kind of engagement am I

453
00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:23,280
getting?
Are we growing here live as a

454
00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:25,440
community?
Are people actually

455
00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:29,160
participating besides just the
hosts, All these different

456
00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:31,080
factors.
And then when I talk about the

457
00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:35,360
podcast version of this show,
I'm looking at similar things.

458
00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:38,440
Are people leaving reviews,
which by the way, nobody's been

459
00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:41,600
leaving reviews lately.
So I feel like I'm slipping

460
00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:44,720
there.
And this is a friendly ask.

461
00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:47,360
Please, if you haven't reviewed
this, go to Apple, go to

462
00:24:47,360 --> 00:24:50,560
Spotify, either.
Leave us a review on Apple, give

463
00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:55,000
us a five star rating if you
feel it over on Spotify.

464
00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:59,960
That is a big area for me to
measure our growth, our success.

465
00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:03,640
And also seeing other things
like are people commenting on

466
00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:06,040
YouTube?
Are people commenting on Spotify

467
00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:09,800
on the individual episodes?
Are they participating in the

468
00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:13,760
polls that we put up there?
That to me is what's super

469
00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:15,920
important.
And of course, the probably the

470
00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:18,000
biggest thing I'm measuring,
which we'll get into some

471
00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,520
monetization discussions.
But am I getting business?

472
00:25:22,120 --> 00:25:25,680
Yeah, it's not not a secret.
One of the reasons why I do this

473
00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:31,000
show, Yeah, it's to establish my
influence, my authority and to

474
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:33,600
get some business right to
connect with podcasters who are

475
00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:37,080
looking for help from somebody
who's experienced, been doing

476
00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:39,640
this a while, has seen success,
right.

477
00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:41,440
So those are the big factors for
me.

478
00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:45,680
Would I like to see us getting
thousands of downloads a day on

479
00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:47,840
our show?
Sure, of course.

480
00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:52,720
But it's not the driving factor.
If it was, quite honestly, we

481
00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:55,880
wouldn't be here right now.
I would have hung it up because

482
00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:58,040
our numbers aren't earth
shattering.

483
00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:02,600
And yes, they continue to grow,
but it's been a very slow burn.

484
00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:05,480
I think what's kind of
interesting between what Phil

485
00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:09,560
and Simona and Lindsay has said,
you know, there are a

486
00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:13,360
crossroads, and in some ways you
could just be in a different

487
00:26:13,360 --> 00:26:15,520
place.
And that's a hard thing as a

488
00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:18,560
podcaster because, you know,
you're talking about what Ralph

489
00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:20,120
said.
You know, what's your promise?

490
00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:22,000
Well, maybe your promise has
changed.

491
00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:25,800
And I think that's the problem.
Simona is a completely different

492
00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:28,280
person than when she first
started here, and because of

493
00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:33,040
that, her view on what she wants
to do might be changing.

494
00:26:33,360 --> 00:26:35,560
This isn't about you
particularly, Simona.

495
00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:37,640
I'm just saying like we all do
it.

496
00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:41,640
And I think that's a hard thing
as a podcaster because they know

497
00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:46,160
you as X or Y and you're not
that person anymore.

498
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:50,480
And not that the content isn't
important, it's just that you've

499
00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:53,280
changed and maybe you don't want
to keep talking about the same

500
00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:55,960
topics or you don't want you
want to change.

501
00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:59,240
And it's hard because people are
in a certain place.

502
00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:03,360
I mean, in power podcasting, one
of your clients, Mark, she deals

503
00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:08,000
with her divorce and she got to
a point where she wanted to go

504
00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:11,040
in a different, you know, go in
sort of a different direction.

505
00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:14,280
Not and it's still about
divorce, but she moved on from

506
00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:17,680
that one point.
And and that's a hard thing to

507
00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:21,520
to make that shift.
Yes, you have a promise, but if

508
00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:23,720
the promise is not what you're
doing, that's the kind of a

509
00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:26,120
different situation too.
I'm with you there, Alex.

510
00:27:26,120 --> 00:27:28,840
I think as we evolve, so does
our taste, so does our

511
00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:32,240
interests, etcetera.
I think what everyone is kind of

512
00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:35,200
alluding to is the bigger thing.
And that is what is your why?

513
00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:37,840
Because Mark, what you were
saying is really leaning into

514
00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:41,280
your why do you do what you do?
Because sometimes that is a

515
00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:44,240
bigger thing than anything else.
But that's the thing.

516
00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:45,960
You have to understand your
measurement.

517
00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:47,000
I'll give you an example of
that.

518
00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:48,920
I do a weekly show called Truth
Unveil.

519
00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:52,320
It's more of a sermon show.
And my why with that is I want

520
00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:54,600
to reach people and have them
make a decision.

521
00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:56,560
I'm not even going to get into
the talking about what decision

522
00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:57,520
is because it's not the place
for it.

523
00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:00,280
But that's my why.
I'm not.

524
00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:03,720
I could care less how many
downloads I get, but my why is

525
00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:06,600
that now when I switch over to
my business show, my why is like

526
00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:08,680
you said, Mark, I want to build
business.

527
00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:11,280
I want to build clients.
I think you have to really

528
00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:14,240
understand your why because if
you don't understand your why,

529
00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:17,920
again, you find yourself
searching for what do I do next?

530
00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:20,480
What do I do next?
But when you really lean into

531
00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:22,960
your why and, and I agree with
what Alex just said, I think

532
00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:25,560
what actually changes is not
your brand promise.

533
00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:28,760
I think your why changes.
And I think, you know, in the

534
00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:30,480
Bible talks about seasons of
your life.

535
00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:33,200
And I think we all go through
that, but I think it's more of a

536
00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:35,440
change in your why.
That's that's just my $0.02

537
00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:36,720
worth on that particular
discussion.

538
00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:37,720
Absolutely.
Thank you.

539
00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:41,240
Ralph Lindsaya, did I see your
mic unmute?

540
00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,080
So there's one part that I left
out and it's funny because I

541
00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:49,320
actually realized that and maybe
for someone else, it all this

542
00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:52,840
also connects with where the
shift in the podcast comes from.

543
00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:56,320
And I wasn't saying it because I
haven't been saying it out loud

544
00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:59,360
until all of the documents are
signed.

545
00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:03,520
And the big catalyst, a big
catalyst for me both taking

546
00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:07,240
personal responsibility and more
of the producing and also

547
00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:12,640
excited to amp up my consistency
is because I am securing a

548
00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:17,040
physical location and in that
location is already an

549
00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:21,440
established recording studio
rather a space that will provide

550
00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:25,160
an option for recording.
So one of the challenges, and

551
00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:28,160
maybe other people have felt
this too, when the podcast is

552
00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:33,280
more like a hobby for me, I
let's find a location or take it

553
00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:36,600
down to my office, pull out my
microphone, like get everything

554
00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:40,440
set up every single time versus
having that space.

555
00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:43,120
And my most consistent time was
after my daughter moved out to

556
00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:46,080
college and I had her room and
everything was set up all the

557
00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:47,760
time.
And so I'm putting this out

558
00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:51,760
there because sometimes it
really is a timing thing where

559
00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:55,160
simplicity finds its way and now
you're ready to lean in.

560
00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:59,480
And I feel as though these first
Four Seasons, if you will, have

561
00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:04,280
been all about establishing my
processes, my understanding and

562
00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:06,240
kind of the back end game of
podcasting.

563
00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:09,440
I think that as independent
podcasters, that's a big one for

564
00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:12,520
all of us.
I think that, you know, we start

565
00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:17,280
a little messy and we learn as
we go and as we're learning,

566
00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:19,920
we're growing.
And as we grow, we get more

567
00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:22,360
opportunities.
It sounds like that's what's

568
00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:24,080
what's going on with Lindsay
there.

569
00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:26,760
I was going to say I have an
office here for my accounting

570
00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:28,800
practice here on my farm.
And one of the things I decided

571
00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:31,640
to do, I guess it's been about
nine months ago, is I just said,

572
00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:34,240
look, if I'm going to do this
seriously, I need to build a

573
00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:37,200
studio.
And I did that and it has taken

574
00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:40,320
it to the next level because now
there is a separate place where

575
00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:43,800
I go to do the content stuff.
It's an intentional decision.

576
00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:45,920
That's one of the words I want
to really key in on today is

577
00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:48,920
intentionality is what is your
intention?

578
00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:51,600
And sometimes it's not easy to
do that with a budget.

579
00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:54,480
But I just said to myself, look,
I've got to spend the money I

580
00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:56,480
put in.
I do camera, I did lighting, I

581
00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:59,040
did a ton of stuff.
But like I lean into that

582
00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:01,280
because I said, this is
something that I want to lean

583
00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:04,320
into and I'm going to put, you
know, my resources into.

584
00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:07,240
And I think it that's one of the
decision points is OK, if we're

585
00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:08,320
going to be a hobby, that's
cool.

586
00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:11,800
I respect the hell out of people
that have podcasting and content

587
00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:13,720
creation as a hobby.
But if you're going to take it

588
00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:15,640
to the next level, then listen,
you got to be willing to spend

589
00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:17,400
some money.
You got to be willing to talk to

590
00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:20,560
people like me to set up a
business, to set up a LLC or a

591
00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:23,480
corporation and really get
yourself set up for the next

592
00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:25,280
step.
Because once that modernization

593
00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:27,560
hits, there are major
ramifications.

594
00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:30,320
And tax and all the bookkeeping
that goes alongside of that.

595
00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:32,680
And it's funny how many people
don't want to spend a little

596
00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:35,840
money for a consultation to go
and find the expert in that

597
00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:37,760
field to really know what
they're getting into.

598
00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:41,280
I definitely hear you on that
last point for sure.

599
00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:45,360
And I also want to say, Ralph,
what to what Ralph is saying

600
00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:50,120
here is, yeah, I'm with him.
I agree that and Lindsay, for

601
00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:55,920
that matter, where studio space
is important in the process.

602
00:31:56,080 --> 00:32:00,080
And I don't want to say you're
not taking it seriously though,

603
00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:04,040
if you don't have a suit studio
space or if you're not spending

604
00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:06,280
or investing a lot of money into
it.

605
00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:09,280
I think what's important, what
you can take away as an

606
00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:12,880
independent podcaster is what
what I think we're trying to say

607
00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:17,920
here is creating a dedicated
space, creating your content.

608
00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:22,080
It means you're focusing and
you're creating.

609
00:32:22,360 --> 00:32:25,480
You have this space without any
resistance.

610
00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:30,200
You've got a place where you
can, where you know I can go For

611
00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:34,320
my case, I can go down to the
basement, my dedicated area

612
00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:37,920
where I've got all of my studio,
all of my equipment set up.

613
00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:41,440
So essentially all I have to do
is hit more or less 2 buttons,

614
00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:43,960
the power button and the record
button, right?

615
00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:48,560
Then it doesn't feel to me as
much like a hobby anymore,

616
00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:50,840
right?
Because I've got that dedicated

617
00:32:50,840 --> 00:32:53,120
space, I know I can sit down and
focus.

618
00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:56,520
There isn't resistance to
getting things ready.

619
00:32:56,520 --> 00:32:59,920
I remember those days of
grabbing the microphone,

620
00:32:59,920 --> 00:33:02,920
plugging it into the computer,
setting up this camera, setting

621
00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:05,600
up the lighting.
It was always a process.

622
00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:09,440
I always have to give myself a
good 20-30 minutes before I even

623
00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:12,120
hit record because I wanted to
make sure everything was set up

624
00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:13,760
properly.
So there's something about

625
00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:17,640
taking it a little more
seriously, having that intention

626
00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:21,160
set.
I think there's a lot of value

627
00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:22,760
in that.
Yeah.

628
00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:26,040
Chris Baglio in the chat says
turnkey is nice.

629
00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:29,080
Yeah, I think there's a lot of
advantages to doing that.

630
00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:30,960
Simona, what did you want to
add?

631
00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:36,240
Resistance, because I think that
is a huge piece.

632
00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:40,200
We hear a lot, and I hear a lot.
I'm sure you do too in your

633
00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:42,000
business.
Oh my gosh, I don't know what

634
00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:44,000
tech to use.
I don't know how to start.

635
00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:44,800
I don't know, you know what I
mean?

636
00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:48,240
Look at it as a huge roadblock.
Especially today, it's a huge

637
00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:51,600
roadblock because there's so
many options and there's so much

638
00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:54,120
tech and every day there's
something new and every day

639
00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:56,320
there's a new AI tool.
And then every day there's

640
00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:59,040
something that you should, you
should do differently, right?

641
00:33:59,960 --> 00:34:01,920
The keyword is should.
You don't have to do it, but you

642
00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:05,520
like you people say you should.
But so interesting because a

643
00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:08,880
couple of years ago, and you and
Nick would probably remember

644
00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:10,880
this because you guys were both
guests on my podcast when I

645
00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:14,800
first launched it, it was like
camera and like all of the

646
00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:18,520
things that it was like it was
so intense.

647
00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:22,320
And I honestly can't be
bothered, you know what I mean?

648
00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:25,760
And I use my show for business.
I have a dedicated space to

649
00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:27,760
record it in.
So it's not that I'm not using

650
00:34:27,760 --> 00:34:30,920
it strategically in that way.
This is my show about podcasting

651
00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:34,560
that I'm still producing today.
But honestly, I just don't care

652
00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:36,800
for the camera.
Like I don't I don't care for

653
00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:40,800
all of like the fancy things
like it still looks good, you

654
00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:43,560
know, but it's so interesting
though too, because in some ways

655
00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:46,239
it's like you kind of quote UN
quote should have that higher

656
00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:49,120
production value.
You should have the good camera.

657
00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:50,639
You should have this, should
have this.

658
00:34:50,639 --> 00:34:53,880
But honestly, if you don't know
how to use the tech properly,

659
00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:55,800
sometimes it actually doesn't
look better.

660
00:34:55,880 --> 00:34:58,160
You know it, it doesn't it
doesn't look better in the end,

661
00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:01,120
but I don't know, I've just
found myself that I'm like, this

662
00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:04,880
is making me not want to do this
show, having all of this stuff

663
00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:06,840
and this whole setup.
And I moved in the last six

664
00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:08,960
months, so I don't have a studio
space anymore.

665
00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:11,960
And kind of like what Alex said,
it's a totally different season

666
00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:14,080
of life.
But I think it's really

667
00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:18,680
interesting because as the
industry continues to shift,

668
00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:22,400
people tell you you need to do
all of these specific things in

669
00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:24,800
order to be a quote UN quote
successful podcaster.

670
00:35:25,240 --> 00:35:28,040
But at the end of the day, if
you are doing all these things

671
00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:31,200
and they're causing so much
resistance for you, you're not

672
00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:33,280
going to enjoy the process and
you're not going to enjoy the

673
00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:34,760
show, you're not going to enjoy
the content.

674
00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:37,760
So that's where I always go back
to like, but if this is the

675
00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:40,280
thing that's going to make you
not do it, don't do that.

676
00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:42,360
Find a different way.
I'm with you there.

677
00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:46,760
I think that we, a lot of us
creators out there, we force

678
00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:51,840
different strategies, different
tools because we're told that

679
00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:53,200
that's what we're supposed to
do.

680
00:35:53,560 --> 00:35:57,360
And I think that the more we're
resisting it, we're getting more

681
00:35:57,360 --> 00:36:01,440
signs that maybe we need to try
something different.

682
00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:04,000
Yeah, I'm with you, Simona.
Thank you for that.

683
00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:08,840
I want to move into some
discussion around monetization,

684
00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:11,360
so let's shift gears and talk
about that.

685
00:36:11,840 --> 00:36:15,240
Everyone talks about making
money with your show and the

686
00:36:15,240 --> 00:36:18,040
reality is, is that I don't
believe there's a

687
00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:22,160
one-size-fits-all way to do it.
For some podcasters, it's

688
00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:24,960
sponsors or ads.
For others, it's using the

689
00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:28,160
podcast to promote a service
coaching community.

690
00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:31,600
And for some creators,
monetization isn't even the

691
00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:33,680
goal.
For them, they're doing it

692
00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:37,280
because they're building
credibility or maybe looking to

693
00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:41,480
open some new doors.
So what does monetization mean

694
00:36:41,920 --> 00:36:45,520
to you personally?
That's another area for the

695
00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:49,640
podcasting morning chat that I
really want to explore because

696
00:36:49,640 --> 00:36:53,320
yes, as I shared a little while
ago, one of the reasons I do

697
00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:56,800
this show is to build my
business and to get new clients.

698
00:36:57,240 --> 00:37:00,600
And I know that I have other
opportunities to monetize this

699
00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:02,480
and I don't take advantage of
it.

700
00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:05,080
And it's actually been weighing
on me a little bit lately.

701
00:37:05,240 --> 00:37:09,320
Why don't I have a sponsor or
two for this show?

702
00:37:09,960 --> 00:37:14,240
It's some extra money that this
show could use because I do pay

703
00:37:14,240 --> 00:37:16,920
people to help me with this,
right?

704
00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:20,560
Ashley is a producer slash
editor of this show.

705
00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:24,400
I pay her for her time to edit
it because that's a that's a

706
00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:27,480
process from start to finish.
It takes her a couple hours.

707
00:37:27,920 --> 00:37:30,120
And it's not just the editing
that she's doing.

708
00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:32,000
That's that's what takes the
time.

709
00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:35,880
So I want to be able to find
some other ways to monetize the

710
00:37:35,880 --> 00:37:39,400
show specifically, right?
Like the overall goal for me,

711
00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:44,440
for my business is to bring in
new clients, but in order to

712
00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:48,720
continue to operate this show, I
think it would be to my

713
00:37:48,720 --> 00:37:51,640
advantage to bring in some
sponsors, some advertisers to

714
00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:55,120
help pay for itself.
What I was going to say is, and

715
00:37:55,120 --> 00:37:57,280
it kind of goes on with what
Simona was saying, you can

716
00:37:57,280 --> 00:37:59,520
either pay with your time or you
can pay with your money.

717
00:38:00,040 --> 00:38:02,960
And if you find that you're
doing things that you just don't

718
00:38:02,960 --> 00:38:06,200
enjoy, then maybe like you're
getting at Mark is you need to

719
00:38:06,200 --> 00:38:09,880
go find a way to bring some
money into your show so that you

720
00:38:09,880 --> 00:38:13,040
can pay people to do the things
that you're not good at or the

721
00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:14,440
things that you just don't like
doing.

722
00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:17,080
You know, a good friend of mine,
Dave Jackson School Podcasting,

723
00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:19,280
he says this all the time and
it's so true.

724
00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:21,760
You don't monetize a show, you
monetize an audience.

725
00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:25,640
And so I think we need to focus
on, you know, if you, when you

726
00:38:25,640 --> 00:38:29,960
build that audience, look at the
way the audience can provide for

727
00:38:29,960 --> 00:38:31,840
you.
And if that means providing so

728
00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:34,560
that you can have somebody,
Ashley, to do production work.

729
00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:37,600
I actually have a team that does
all my production work because I

730
00:38:37,600 --> 00:38:40,960
don't, I don't have time to do
it #1 and #2 it's not my area

731
00:38:40,960 --> 00:38:42,880
expertise.
I am not a video editor.

732
00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:46,400
I'm not an audio editor.
I've got 30 years of experience.

733
00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:49,600
So I can talk about my content.
But I had to realize at the

734
00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:52,480
front end of this, if I tried to
do all those things, because I

735
00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:54,920
tried to do that at 1st and I
was driving myself crazy.

736
00:38:55,520 --> 00:38:57,920
So we have to realize like
either we pay with our time or

737
00:38:57,920 --> 00:39:01,040
we pay with our money.
And that's where we have to look

738
00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:04,520
at interesting strategies of how
to bring money into the show.

739
00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:06,040
And it could be different for
everybody.

740
00:39:06,040 --> 00:39:07,440
I, I think you're so right about
that, Mark.

741
00:39:07,640 --> 00:39:10,880
There's no one-size-fits-all.
A lot of people think, well, I'm

742
00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:12,480
going to base it on the number
of downloads.

743
00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:15,000
You're going to make pennies.
You're not going to make money

744
00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:18,160
doing that unless you have a
super, enormous audience.

745
00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:20,160
Otherwise you're lying to
yourself.

746
00:39:20,360 --> 00:39:22,800
So you've got to be creative and
look at ways to do it.

747
00:39:22,920 --> 00:39:26,760
And there are interesting ways
to do it, leaning into your core

748
00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:29,800
purpose, your brand identity,
your brand promise.

749
00:39:30,240 --> 00:39:32,960
Thank you, Ralph.
And Ralph, what are the ways

750
00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:36,400
that you're monetizing?
Pick one of your shows, What's

751
00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:38,560
some ways that you're monetizing
your show right now?

752
00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:41,520
Oh, absolutely.
So my main way of monetizing my

753
00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:45,000
show is really doing business,
coaching, helping people, set up

754
00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:48,000
new entities, help people
establish a quote business

755
00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:50,080
instead of just, you know, a
sole proprietorship.

756
00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:53,120
I'm showing them because I'm
speaking on my show, I, they,

757
00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:55,160
they owe Ralph, I can save money
on taxes.

758
00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:58,880
I've taken content creators who
are paying a ton of money in

759
00:39:58,880 --> 00:40:02,360
extra tax and showed them a way
to not do that anymore.

760
00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:04,160
So that's the way I'm monetizing
it, Mark.

761
00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:08,200
I'm building up clientele by
using my show as a conduit for

762
00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:09,560
that.
Thanks, Ralph.

763
00:40:09,560 --> 00:40:11,960
Appreciate that.
Love that strategy.

764
00:40:11,960 --> 00:40:16,840
And I'm curious, how are others
approaching monetization these

765
00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:17,560
days?
We don't.

766
00:40:17,560 --> 00:40:18,760
We haven't talked a lot about
that.

767
00:40:18,760 --> 00:40:21,440
And maybe what I'll do is, yeah,
I was just going to say, let me

768
00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:24,240
go to Sid on that one because I
know Sid talked a little bit

769
00:40:24,240 --> 00:40:27,400
about it last week, but let's
dig into it a little bit with

770
00:40:27,400 --> 00:40:29,360
Sid and then I see Simona had
something as well.

771
00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:30,840
Go ahead, Sid.
Good morning.

772
00:40:33,840 --> 00:40:36,600
Good morning, everybody.
So yeah, monetization is

773
00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:38,640
something that I did a couple of
years ago.

774
00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:41,960
I had a single sponsor for two
or three years and it was a

775
00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:45,040
great relationship and just came
to a natural end.

776
00:40:45,040 --> 00:40:47,920
And so then the last couple of
years I've just kind of not done

777
00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:50,760
it and not really sure what I
wanted to do.

778
00:40:50,760 --> 00:40:53,960
So as I was, I love the word
redesigning, whoever said that

779
00:40:53,960 --> 00:40:56,720
earlier today because I was
redesigning, I think Lindsay has

780
00:40:56,720 --> 00:41:00,000
said that as I was redesigning,
it's kind of my show and what's

781
00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:02,040
going on with it.
Monetization was at the

782
00:41:02,040 --> 00:41:03,880
forefront.
It cost me a lot to produce my

783
00:41:03,880 --> 00:41:07,320
show because I have a YouTube
person and I have a editor.

784
00:41:07,320 --> 00:41:09,080
I mean, so cost me a lot to do
it.

785
00:41:09,560 --> 00:41:14,480
And so I leaned into creating a
monetization strategy that I

786
00:41:14,480 --> 00:41:16,280
think it's going to be really
successful for me.

787
00:41:16,280 --> 00:41:18,840
And so I have 3 tiers of
sponsorship.

788
00:41:18,840 --> 00:41:20,920
I have a gold, silver and
bronze.

789
00:41:20,920 --> 00:41:24,080
And yes, I know that's boring,
but it's what I came up with at

790
00:41:24,080 --> 00:41:27,120
the moment.
I might change it, but the gold

791
00:41:27,120 --> 00:41:31,600
is the top sponsor and there I
have two spots available in

792
00:41:31,600 --> 00:41:33,200
that.
And I kind of wrote out a whole

793
00:41:33,200 --> 00:41:37,560
checklist of what it is that you
get by being a gold sponsor.

794
00:41:37,560 --> 00:41:39,520
And the same thing with the
silver.

795
00:41:39,520 --> 00:41:42,280
What do you get?
And obviously it diminishes

796
00:41:42,280 --> 00:41:44,360
based on the amount of money
that you pay.

797
00:41:44,840 --> 00:41:48,600
And then the other thing that
I'm working on is a community,

798
00:41:48,600 --> 00:41:51,840
because I'm getting to know more
and more of my people in my

799
00:41:51,840 --> 00:41:54,880
community.
I sat down last night to at a

800
00:41:54,880 --> 00:41:57,800
bar with somebody and introduced
myself, said, hey, I'm Sid.

801
00:41:57,800 --> 00:42:00,760
And he was like, are you Sid
from the trend report?

802
00:42:00,880 --> 00:42:03,840
And I went, yeah, because when
my wife and I were just talking

803
00:42:03,840 --> 00:42:07,120
about you and then he texted his
wife because you'll never guess

804
00:42:07,120 --> 00:42:09,840
who I'm sitting next to.
And it was just kind of a fun

805
00:42:10,280 --> 00:42:11,840
experience.
I connected with both of them

806
00:42:11,840 --> 00:42:14,440
right then on LinkedIn, I
screenshot of their profiles so

807
00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:18,560
I could remember who they were.
And so I'm really leaning into

808
00:42:18,560 --> 00:42:22,160
the people aspect here.
And I'm coming up with the

809
00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:26,200
strategy to, you know, whether
it's $10 a month or $20.00 a

810
00:42:26,200 --> 00:42:29,160
month of what is it that I, I, I
don't have the answer to this

811
00:42:29,160 --> 00:42:32,600
question, but what is it that I
can provide that would want

812
00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:36,920
this, I would want to pay $20.00
a month to or $10 a month,

813
00:42:36,920 --> 00:42:39,880
whatever it is to support me
because really what it is, it's

814
00:42:39,880 --> 00:42:41,480
supporting me and supporting the
show.

815
00:42:41,480 --> 00:42:43,920
So the sponsorships I got all
mapped out.

816
00:42:43,920 --> 00:42:47,040
I've talked to people about it
this week at a couple of

817
00:42:47,040 --> 00:42:49,880
conversations yesterday.
I've got one this morning.

818
00:42:50,240 --> 00:42:52,200
I've got all my documents
together.

819
00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:56,560
I had a call on my drive up here
on Friday with a potential

820
00:42:56,560 --> 00:42:58,680
sponsor.
So I'm actively out there

821
00:42:58,680 --> 00:43:02,000
recruiting and confident that
I'm going to fill up my

822
00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:05,160
different sponsorship levels.
I love this example.

823
00:43:05,160 --> 00:43:07,040
Thank you, Sid so much for
sharing it.

824
00:43:07,040 --> 00:43:11,960
And I'm curious if look it, it
took a while, from what I

825
00:43:11,960 --> 00:43:15,160
understand and know of you and
your podcast, it took a while

826
00:43:15,160 --> 00:43:18,880
for you to jump into a
monetization strategy, a

827
00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:21,080
specific strategy.
What?

828
00:43:21,080 --> 00:43:23,560
What do you think was holding
you back all this time?

829
00:43:24,200 --> 00:43:27,320
So in the very beginning, when
the, the sponsor originally

830
00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:29,400
approached me because I had the
sponsor actually originally

831
00:43:29,400 --> 00:43:35,480
approached me and I said no.
And because at that time, I, I

832
00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:39,440
viewed sponsorship as creative
control.

833
00:43:39,920 --> 00:43:44,120
And it was this community,
Amanda Pedro, others in this

834
00:43:44,120 --> 00:43:47,080
community, this was before Mark
took over the community that

835
00:43:47,080 --> 00:43:49,360
really helped me see that
sponsorship does not equal

836
00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:52,200
creative control.
And once I understood that, then

837
00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:56,160
I leaned in and, and the first
time around, he said, OK, what,

838
00:43:56,160 --> 00:43:58,840
how much and what do I get?
And so I drafted it all out and

839
00:43:58,840 --> 00:44:01,480
I put a price up there.
We negotiated a little bit and

840
00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:06,600
it was a successful, a
successful partnership in this

841
00:44:06,600 --> 00:44:10,640
time around.
So part of what I'm doing and

842
00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:13,200
redesigning is I'm really
looking at what I'm doing, where

843
00:44:13,200 --> 00:44:16,640
I'm spending my time, what I
love doing, and then how do

844
00:44:16,640 --> 00:44:18,600
those become, you know, revenue
streams?

845
00:44:19,040 --> 00:44:21,320
I have the collaborative
network, which is, you know, the

846
00:44:21,320 --> 00:44:23,680
partnership that I created
that's going really well.

847
00:44:23,680 --> 00:44:27,040
And so that's like move to the
top of my list of things to do.

848
00:44:27,040 --> 00:44:29,040
I really enjoy that.
And we just kind of get more

849
00:44:29,040 --> 00:44:30,880
people in there so we generate
more money.

850
00:44:31,560 --> 00:44:34,560
I love my podcasts, but I need
my podcast to be a revenue

851
00:44:34,560 --> 00:44:37,520
stream in my business to the
point that Ralph was making

852
00:44:37,520 --> 00:44:40,240
earlier.
And so how do I turn it into a

853
00:44:40,240 --> 00:44:42,440
revenue stream?
Well, that equals monetization

854
00:44:42,440 --> 00:44:45,880
because I'm not going to do ads
and CPM rates because I'll never

855
00:44:45,880 --> 00:44:48,680
make any money with that.
So and I have a good enough

856
00:44:48,680 --> 00:44:52,240
brand inside the industry that
the, I believe the monetization

857
00:44:52,240 --> 00:44:55,320
strategy is going to work.
So it just was the timing of it.

858
00:44:55,320 --> 00:44:58,280
Mark, I because remember I said
the lot when we talked about

859
00:44:58,280 --> 00:45:01,280
this at link, I goes to my
community for half a year and

860
00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:05,240
just kind of stopped doing.
I spent this year rebuilding

861
00:45:05,240 --> 00:45:07,640
that and rebuilding those
relationship, those connections,

862
00:45:07,640 --> 00:45:11,120
being consistent with publishing
twice a month, putting content

863
00:45:11,120 --> 00:45:14,800
out that was relevant and
rebuilding and re engaging with

864
00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:18,000
my you know what you hope to be
your thousand true fans.

865
00:45:18,280 --> 00:45:22,200
And so now that I've done that
and re established that the

866
00:45:22,200 --> 00:45:25,680
timing is right and I need to be
able to get a minimum cover the

867
00:45:25,680 --> 00:45:28,520
expenses that it cost me to
produce the show.

868
00:45:29,080 --> 00:45:30,920
Thank you, Sid.
Appreciate that.

869
00:45:30,920 --> 00:45:35,480
And let me keep things moving in
an effort to stay on track on

870
00:45:35,480 --> 00:45:37,480
time.
Simona, did you want to chime in

871
00:45:37,480 --> 00:45:40,000
on this discussion of
monetization methods?

872
00:45:40,520 --> 00:45:43,000
Yeah, I'll weigh in.
I think one of the things about

873
00:45:43,000 --> 00:45:49,400
sponsorship is just to always
remember that as long as you are

874
00:45:49,400 --> 00:45:53,720
approaching people and products
and services that alot that

875
00:45:53,720 --> 00:45:58,040
align with your audience, it
doesn't always matter how big

876
00:45:58,040 --> 00:46:00,560
your audience size is.
At the end of the day, what a

877
00:46:00,840 --> 00:46:04,920
sponsor is looking for is ROI.
They're looking for people who

878
00:46:04,920 --> 00:46:07,680
are going to either use their
product or service and they want

879
00:46:07,680 --> 00:46:10,960
to make money, right.
And so if your audience aligns

880
00:46:10,960 --> 00:46:15,560
to that product, that could be a
very good sponsorship.

881
00:46:15,560 --> 00:46:18,440
So it doesn't always have to be
these like big massive

882
00:46:18,440 --> 00:46:22,240
companies, and it can be, but it
can also be other things too.

883
00:46:22,240 --> 00:46:26,400
I used to produce this show and
the host of the show, her

884
00:46:26,400 --> 00:46:29,200
strategy was really smart.
So she actually created a

885
00:46:29,240 --> 00:46:36,200
specific sponsorship package for
past podcast guests because her

886
00:46:36,200 --> 00:46:40,440
logic and it was really smart in
my opinion, but her logic was,

887
00:46:40,600 --> 00:46:44,720
well, you've been a guest on my
podcast, so obviously your topic

888
00:46:44,720 --> 00:46:47,760
aligns to what we're talking
about on the show.

889
00:46:47,960 --> 00:46:50,840
And so she would have different
coaches that would come and

890
00:46:50,840 --> 00:46:53,400
promote their services.
If someone was doing a launch,

891
00:46:53,640 --> 00:46:56,720
you know, product launch, they
would run ads on her show and

892
00:46:56,720 --> 00:46:58,160
she had a specific package for
them.

893
00:46:58,160 --> 00:47:00,960
It was a little bit of a reduced
rate compared to, you know,

894
00:47:01,000 --> 00:47:04,200
other, other external sponsors.
But I thought that was so smart

895
00:47:04,200 --> 00:47:06,840
because if you're bringing on
guests to your show, that is

896
00:47:06,840 --> 00:47:09,080
most likely your target audience
because why else would you be

897
00:47:09,080 --> 00:47:11,800
bringing that guest on if it
doesn't resonate, right?

898
00:47:11,800 --> 00:47:13,320
So that I thought that was
smart.

899
00:47:13,560 --> 00:47:15,840
And then as kind of a final
thought, one way that I'm

900
00:47:17,200 --> 00:47:20,960
monetizing my podcast right now,
this is my podcast about

901
00:47:20,960 --> 00:47:25,600
podcasting.
I have in the last 10 weeks run

902
00:47:25,880 --> 00:47:29,640
a well, as we saw a couple weeks
left, but I'm doing a podcast

903
00:47:29,640 --> 00:47:31,560
launch series.
So I'm taking people through

904
00:47:31,600 --> 00:47:34,080
everything that they would need
from A-Z to launch or relaunch

905
00:47:34,080 --> 00:47:37,080
their podcast.
And it's been really great.

906
00:47:37,080 --> 00:47:39,360
And like the engagement has been
really great on it.

907
00:47:39,640 --> 00:47:45,000
And the only call to action that
I have in this entire series is

908
00:47:45,080 --> 00:47:48,520
to download my free podcast
launch blueprint because that

909
00:47:48,800 --> 00:47:51,880
blueprint goes deeper into what
we're talking about.

910
00:47:52,080 --> 00:47:54,840
And my goal with that is to
bring people out to my e-mail

911
00:47:54,840 --> 00:47:59,040
list because this ten week
podcast launch, you know,

912
00:47:59,320 --> 00:48:04,560
series, if you will, goes into a
sale at the end of November,

913
00:48:04,560 --> 00:48:06,760
like a Black Friday, Cyber
Monday sale.

914
00:48:07,080 --> 00:48:09,040
And then I'm going to do it
again in the new year for my

915
00:48:09,040 --> 00:48:10,680
podcast growth staff.
And then I'm going to do it

916
00:48:10,680 --> 00:48:12,920
again in the new year for the
monetization side.

917
00:48:13,240 --> 00:48:15,440
So we're going to see how we're
going to see how it works.

918
00:48:15,440 --> 00:48:18,800
But we've had a lot of people
join our, our list like it's not

919
00:48:18,800 --> 00:48:20,920
astronomical members by any
stretch.

920
00:48:21,200 --> 00:48:24,440
But I think there's, there's
something to be said about take

921
00:48:24,440 --> 00:48:28,480
a look at what you already have
in your, you know, in, in

922
00:48:28,480 --> 00:48:30,440
everything that you do.
And how can you leverage what

923
00:48:30,440 --> 00:48:33,680
you already have without having
to go and recreate something and

924
00:48:33,880 --> 00:48:37,720
bring people back into your
community, back into everything

925
00:48:37,720 --> 00:48:40,080
else you're doing with what you
already have?

926
00:48:40,440 --> 00:48:42,280
Thank you, Simone.
I see several people want to

927
00:48:42,280 --> 00:48:43,520
chime in.
Let me go to Ralph and then

928
00:48:43,520 --> 00:48:45,200
we'll check back in with Sid.
Go ahead, Ralph.

929
00:48:45,600 --> 00:48:47,240
Yeah, I just want to say
something real quick, Simona.

930
00:48:47,240 --> 00:48:50,000
You nailed something that a lot
of people don't think about, and

931
00:48:50,000 --> 00:48:52,760
that is you need to make sure
that your sponsorships match

932
00:48:52,760 --> 00:48:55,720
your audience.
I see so many podcasts and it

933
00:48:55,720 --> 00:48:58,680
frustrates me when I go to
listen to somebody's show and I

934
00:48:58,680 --> 00:49:01,720
hear a mattress ad or something
that just absolutely is

935
00:49:01,720 --> 00:49:05,440
irrelevant to the content.
That's a sure way to destroy

936
00:49:05,440 --> 00:49:07,200
your relationship with your
listeners.

937
00:49:07,440 --> 00:49:10,080
You always have to pay attention
that so somewhere I I think that

938
00:49:10,080 --> 00:49:12,240
is so critical.
Thank you, Ralph.

939
00:49:12,240 --> 00:49:16,680
Sid, go for it.
Well, if none of you are or if

940
00:49:16,680 --> 00:49:19,680
you are in the office furniture
industry or the interior time

941
00:49:19,680 --> 00:49:24,600
thin industry, then you would
know who my sponsors will be.

942
00:49:24,760 --> 00:49:27,840
If you're not in our industry,
you have no clue who they are.

943
00:49:28,240 --> 00:49:31,360
But everybody that listens to my
podcasts, which are

944
00:49:31,360 --> 00:49:34,680
predominantly people in the
industry, will know exactly who

945
00:49:34,680 --> 00:49:37,000
my sponsors are.
My, I believe my, my flagship

946
00:49:37,000 --> 00:49:40,280
sponsor will be a software
company and people know his

947
00:49:40,280 --> 00:49:42,040
brand.
He's really working hard to grow

948
00:49:42,040 --> 00:49:44,560
his brand.
I think my second sponsor will

949
00:49:44,560 --> 00:49:50,440
be a buying group that is also
really well known and that my

950
00:49:50,480 --> 00:49:54,000
audience will know who they are.
So to the point of both Simona

951
00:49:54,000 --> 00:49:59,120
and Ralph making sure that the
sponsors of my show are aligned

952
00:49:59,120 --> 00:50:01,960
with my audience.
Because when I'm charging what

953
00:50:01,960 --> 00:50:05,000
I'm charging, I need to be able
to show that my audience can

954
00:50:05,000 --> 00:50:08,000
engage with that content and my
audience knows who they are.

955
00:50:08,000 --> 00:50:10,600
My audience is going to lean
into whatever the call to

956
00:50:10,600 --> 00:50:13,320
actions might be.
And so it's so important to

957
00:50:13,320 --> 00:50:18,960
align the sponsors with the
industry and with my audience.

958
00:50:20,160 --> 00:50:23,760
I'm also going to say it's been
difficult for me to make this

959
00:50:23,760 --> 00:50:25,440
list.
I've got about 20 brands on this

960
00:50:25,440 --> 00:50:29,880
list because one of the things I
can't do is I can't have a

961
00:50:29,880 --> 00:50:34,600
product brand be my sponsor
because I interview product

962
00:50:34,600 --> 00:50:37,440
brands.
So I can't interview product

963
00:50:37,440 --> 00:50:40,880
brand A who's a direct
competitor with my sponsor and

964
00:50:40,880 --> 00:50:43,160
say this show is brought to you
by blah blah, blah.

965
00:50:43,480 --> 00:50:46,400
And then I go straight into
interviewing one of their direct

966
00:50:46,400 --> 00:50:48,240
competitors.
So I can't have and product

967
00:50:48,240 --> 00:50:51,360
brands are easy for me to get
to, but So what I had to do is

968
00:50:51,360 --> 00:50:56,760
go look at non product brands
that provide services or things

969
00:50:56,760 --> 00:50:59,480
of like that software services,
things of that nature,

970
00:50:59,480 --> 00:51:03,760
consulting to the industry.
And so it took me a while to get

971
00:51:03,760 --> 00:51:06,760
a list of I'm going to have 16
spots available in my

972
00:51:06,760 --> 00:51:09,600
sponsorship packages.
And so I right now have a list

973
00:51:09,600 --> 00:51:14,520
of 22 brands that I can talk to
that don't make product.

974
00:51:14,520 --> 00:51:18,000
And that was really important to
me to not have a direct conflict

975
00:51:18,000 --> 00:51:20,040
on this show with competing
product brands.

976
00:51:20,640 --> 00:51:22,880
That's awesome, Sid.
Thank you for sharing all the

977
00:51:22,880 --> 00:51:24,520
details.
I think it's so important for

978
00:51:24,520 --> 00:51:28,280
people to hear just that all the
different details that are

979
00:51:28,280 --> 00:51:31,680
involved in these decisions that
we make to monetize, to grow,

980
00:51:31,680 --> 00:51:33,120
etcetera.
So that was really helpful.

981
00:51:33,120 --> 00:51:35,840
Thank you, Sid.
And here's how I want to wrap

982
00:51:35,840 --> 00:51:38,320
up.
I'm going to go back to Ralph, I

983
00:51:38,400 --> 00:51:41,480
think because this is an area
for you that I know you like

984
00:51:41,480 --> 00:51:45,720
talking about and you're you
teased it or touched on it

985
00:51:45,720 --> 00:51:49,760
earlier before growth or
monetization, how do we make

986
00:51:49,760 --> 00:51:53,400
sure our foundation is solid?
What do we got to look into

987
00:51:53,400 --> 00:51:56,040
there?
That's where you need to spend a

988
00:51:56,040 --> 00:51:58,840
little money or spend a little
time and understand, do you need

989
00:51:58,840 --> 00:52:01,240
to create an entity?
Is that an S corporation?

990
00:52:01,240 --> 00:52:05,120
As an LLC, put your legal ducks
in a row because what you don't

991
00:52:05,120 --> 00:52:08,640
want to do is set yourself up
for a problem down the road once

992
00:52:08,640 --> 00:52:11,240
things start to click, because a
lot of people that I work with

993
00:52:11,640 --> 00:52:13,080
don't think about that at the
front end.

994
00:52:13,080 --> 00:52:15,760
It's kind of like when you build
a house, you start with a strong

995
00:52:15,760 --> 00:52:19,120
foundation and when you're doing
this type of work, you've got to

996
00:52:19,120 --> 00:52:21,900
start there as well.
So that would be my key take

997
00:52:21,900 --> 00:52:24,920
away is meet with somebody.
You're welcome to reach out to

998
00:52:24,920 --> 00:52:27,960
me and just sit down and talk
about like, what do I do to

999
00:52:27,960 --> 00:52:31,160
structure this in a way that I'm
not going to give myself

1000
00:52:31,160 --> 00:52:33,040
heartburn later on?
A lot of people get them.

1001
00:52:33,360 --> 00:52:36,520
You know, a lot of content
creators end up in tax evasion

1002
00:52:36,520 --> 00:52:39,680
issues because they don't
understand what it means when

1003
00:52:39,680 --> 00:52:42,400
people send you free products,
what it means when you talk

1004
00:52:42,400 --> 00:52:43,800
about products.
You get paid for that.

1005
00:52:44,080 --> 00:52:47,320
All those things, all those
monetization strategies require

1006
00:52:47,320 --> 00:52:49,760
you to do some reporting.
So I'm not going to be the the

1007
00:52:49,760 --> 00:52:52,840
curmudgeon, you know, tax guy
over here, but pay attention to

1008
00:52:52,840 --> 00:52:55,520
that because it's got a lot of
creative people in trouble.

1009
00:52:56,080 --> 00:52:59,440
Thank you, Ralph, appreciate
that advice as well.

1010
00:52:59,440 --> 00:53:03,720
And anyone else want to chime in
about your foundation, how do we

1011
00:53:03,720 --> 00:53:07,160
make sure that we do have a
solid foundation or how do we

1012
00:53:07,160 --> 00:53:09,640
create a foundation in the 1st
place?

1013
00:53:10,120 --> 00:53:12,480
If anyone wants to chime in,
doesn't look like anyone's

1014
00:53:12,520 --> 00:53:17,440
jumping at the opportunity.
OK, well, it's a great place

1015
00:53:17,440 --> 00:53:20,920
anyway to wrap up.
So thank you and 1st thank you,

1016
00:53:20,920 --> 00:53:22,680
Ralph.
Appreciate all your insights

1017
00:53:22,680 --> 00:53:25,240
today.
And as always, you're you're

1018
00:53:25,240 --> 00:53:28,080
welcome to join us anytime up
here on stage and be a part of

1019
00:53:28,080 --> 00:53:30,880
the conversation.
And that goes for any of you

1020
00:53:30,880 --> 00:53:32,960
listening live or listening via
podcast.

1021
00:53:32,960 --> 00:53:37,800
Join us at 7:00 AM Eastern live
on Clubhouse or YouTube chatter,

1022
00:53:38,000 --> 00:53:41,080
Facebook, all the places.
If you want to join us, feel

1023
00:53:41,080 --> 00:53:43,720
free.
But if you want to be a voice on

1024
00:53:43,760 --> 00:53:47,440
our virtual stage, you got to
join us over here on Clubhouse

1025
00:53:47,440 --> 00:53:50,880
and you can get that information
in the show notes tomorrow.

1026
00:53:51,000 --> 00:53:55,160
We are talking all the different
podcasting headlines around the

1027
00:53:55,160 --> 00:53:59,120
world, things of interest to you
as a creator, things that you

1028
00:53:59,120 --> 00:54:01,920
probably want to be in the know
about South.

1029
00:54:01,920 --> 00:54:05,720
Come join us tomorrow,
Wednesday, 7:00 AM Eastern for

1030
00:54:05,760 --> 00:54:08,880
that.
And until then, make it a great

1031
00:54:08,960 --> 00:54:10,520
day.
Everybody take care.