This is an excerpt from a YouTube video (a 90-minute coaching session) where Neil Valeo discusses podcast production and business-scaling challenges with another speaker. The other speaker describes perfectionism limiting scale (preferring high-quality, lower-volume work), while Valeo argues that lower-tier, cheaper options can be subcontracted with mentorship — and that end clients often won't notice differences in production quality.
In the last couple of weeks, my podcast producer, Neil Valeo, reached out to me and asked me if I would please do a session with him because he was wanting some direction where he should go in his business. And so we did this 90 minute session.
I think my biggest issue with scale is my perfectionism. Yeah, I could go down the road that everyone else does where just stack them high, sell them cheap, get it done, and do four or five episodes in a day like the guys on Fiverr do. But I was like, well, if I'm doing that, then I've got to really drop my pricing. And. And I want to, I want to get results. And the only way of getting results is to make it a decent listener experience. So I am kind of like a victim of my own quality.
Bottom line, no one will notice besides you. You think your clients are going off and like listening to their podcasts and comparing it against other podcasts. Like, I've never done that. Never. I've never sat down and listened to mine. And like, I don't even know what I'm listening for. I'm listening for. Do I sound like an idiot?
I don't.
The editing is beyond me. I know that we're getting results. Okay, so here's where my brain is going is like, if you're going to have lower tier options for people who can't afford to work with you, those are the people that you kind of use subcontractors for. And one of the perks of being a subcontractor for you is you're going to do some kind of mentorship, you're going to help them get better. Right? Because there's plenty of business out there for everyone. And you're still going to be like the creative, high level person in the scenario. However, you're not going to be in the weed saying, okay, well this, you need more breath work here and you help them get better. The end client, like, if they can't afford to work with you, they know they're not getting the master on their things, but ultimately they're not going to know the difference.