0142: Captivating Your Podcasts Audience with CEO of Rebel Base Media & Captivate.fm Mark Asquith

Ea interviews, episode 142, inspiration, transformation, success stories and the imperfect action round. Seven days a week. Join Mario Ficcini for today's expert Authority Effect interview.

Do you have a business? Do you have people that you want to impact? Do you have people that you want to influence? How do you get out and get that message out there? I'd like to recommend podcasting because ever since I started it, it's been a great time. A lot of people been helped, a lot of people been saying a lot of good things, but I didn't get there on my own. And that's why I'm super excited to have Mark Asquith here from Sheffield, United Kingdom, CEO of Rebel Base Media. And he's like all things podcasting. If you're looking for a website, if you're looking for hosting, if he's even going to reveal something to me that he hasn't really talked about in other settings that I've heard. And I'm going to bring them up right after we thank our sponsor. How would you like to grow your wealth Easier than you think with the change, you probably don't notice anyhow automatically. That's why I started the compounding interest snowball investing with Acorns and advise you do too. Get started simply and easily today@eainterviews.com ACORNS.

Here he is, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Mark Asquith. Mark, how you doing today?

I'm very good, thank you, Mario, how are you?

I am feeling great and I'm super excited to have you here. I know you've done TedX, TedX Talks, you're the CEO of Rebel based Media, and you have helped so many people. I don't even know the number. But like I was saying before we went live, every time I see something online, it's just good words about what you're doing with your companies. How did you get into it and why. Why do you have such a passion for it?

I appreciate that. Thanks, man. So, I mean, podcasting is. I'm kind of one of those weird people that, like, gets a bit obsessed with things, you know, I'm a big Star wars geek. I've got a Star wars podcast and a DC Comics geek. And when I get into something, I want to learn everything about it, but not, not everything about it on a superficial perspective. I want to learn how it works because my logic is that, you know, you can only get better at something if you know how it works or if it breaks, you can't fix it unless you know, you Know the inner. In a. Inner workings or something. So that, that was the case when I was kind of getting into podcasting years ago and I got into it through DC Comics, weirdly. So I'm a really, I've got a really storied career behind me. You know, I've worked for air forces, I've worked for navies, I've worked for banks, I've worked for all sorts of different people and done so many random things. But for about 12 years before I was in podcast, I used to own a design brand and digital agency. So anyone that knows me will know that I'm very design led, very much about how things work, the experience and obviously how things look, how they function and just what they deliver to people. So I was kind of in this, in this agency setting. I built a design agency, did work with Adobe and Bosch and we did work for, we've done Fortune magazine covers and you know, if you open up some Adobe products today, you'll see some of our work on the, on the splash screens. So that was kind of, you know, I was doing this and then really randomly, I started this blog about DC Comics. Can't quite see, it's just off camera. But I've got this big display case of DC Comics stuff. And my co host, smart, sorry, my co blogger, my co founder of the blog Two Shots to the Head, which is now sadly defunct. We do Star wars stuff now. But he said to me we should get into podcasting. I just said, that's ridiculous. Why would you want to get into podcasting? It's not 2005. I'm not going to sit in my pants in my basement talking about Lost. Like, I'm just not going to do that. This is ridiculous. Why would I want to do that, guys? And he made me do it. So he maybe get into podcasting. We recorded first of a podcast and I think it is maybe still online somewhere. And it was terrible. Like I was terrible, the sound was terrible. I was using some dodgy old blue snowball mic. But I got hooked. Like, I saw the downloads, like two people had downloaded it. I was thinking, this is ridiculous. I can talk about what I want and someone's gonna listen to it. That's exactly like, that's me. I'm up for that.

So then I started. People started asking me lots of business questions. You know, we come from a very little town in, in the north of England. And as you said, I'm fortunate enough to have done TEDx talks. I've educated at Harvard on podcasting. I'VE I've traveled a heck of a lot, and it's. That's not typical for someone from this town. So people in the borough and people in the town, in the local city started asking me for advice about business, like, how have you done all that stuff? So I thought, well, I'll do my own podcast on that kind of stuff. And then realized that I was in this mix of just a bazillion other business podcasts out there, you know, entrepreneur kind of podcasts. And I just thought, you know, let's just see where this goes. And that's how I got into it years and years and years ago. But the second I got into it.

We. We created our first product in podcasting, which was the podcast website product, which is one of our brands today. So I'd been podcasting for like 20 minutes, and I was. Then, by the time I'd been podcasting 20 minutes, I already had a business in podcasting, which is just weird. But it's just typical of our work. You know, I see some problems and decide to try and fix them. So that. That's how I got into it. Really, really kind of quick version of it was through. It was through DC Comics, which I know is wildly bizarre.

Well, you're joking around about it, but why do you think more people don't get into the business of podcasting? They're just doing it just to do it? Because you're joking about it, and I think it's impressive what you've done. But I also know that I don't. I'm new to this, but would you say it's 1 to 2 out of 5, maybe 3 to 4 out of 10 actually do end up monetizing it or actually even care.

Sorry to jump in. It's more like one out of a thousand.

Wow. Okay.

I think what we've got to understand. So let's be clear on. On. I don't make money. I mean, I make money from my podcast, and, you know, I've got sponsors, my show, but they're just. They're just people that I believe in. Like, my show is not my revenue, and I would not like it to be my show. Now he's called the Podcast Accelerator. Three times a week, seven minutes, eight minutes a pop, teach people bits of podcasting. It works.

The. My business of podcasting is I make podcasting products. You know, I make technology for podcasters. So I'm. I'm not an online entrepreneur. I'm not. I'm not that. None of that interests me. I make Tech products. I'm a tech founder. That's what I do. I'm a tech guy. But I love podcasting, so it's kind of nice that I can make tech products in podcasting because I love it. The business of podcasting that you're alluding to, there is the monetization side of it. And honestly.

This is not going to be good. This is not going to be well received. Much of it is a fallacy. Much of it is just. It's, it's.

It'S, it's, it's simply not an easy way to make money. And a lot of people believe that it isn't come into podcasting thinking they can make money from podcasting, and they can't, because all they're doing is the content producers. They produce content all of the time, all of the time, all of. All of the time, all of the time. That's not business, that's content product. That's content production. You know, Martin Scorsese is a director and a filmmaker. The studios do the business stuff. You know, that's the distinction. And I think it's a huge challenge.

We see so many people coming through, certainly with the old podcast websites brand, not, not now really with Captivate, but with podcast websites with. Some see people come through that had so much gusto and talent and, but just thought they could make money within three months of starting a podcast and getting a sponsor and, you know, do all that kind of good stuff. But.

I've got the data. Like, I have the data. I run a podcasting hosting company. I have the data.

The percentages are low, man. And the reason the percentage is a lot is that people don't realize how hard it is. How hard it is. You've really.

You got to increase your downloads. You've got to make sure that that person is getting return on investment. Like, none of this is easy stuff. And if all you want to do is create the content.

It'S all right to create a podcast for what it was initially kind of invented to. To do, which is to entertain people. Podcasting is entertainment. It's not adding value. It's not business. It's not content marketing. Like, if you aren't entertaining, you're going to. You will die a death. So you got. This is the thing, it's become a little bit.

Overcooked. You know, the business space in podcasting, you have to be entertaining a lot of people. I'll talk to a lot of podcasters and I'll say to them, right, tell me about your podcast. Like why is it so good? Why should I listen? And they said, well, I add value to my listeners. And I think, well, that's. That's. What is the point in that? That is a crazy thing to say, because by turning the mic on and publishing it, you better hope that you're adding value. Like, that is the baseline. That's the baseline. So that's like a plumber turning up and me saying, right, tell me, tell. Tell me why you should do the job. Well, it's because I can do the plumbing. That's the baseline, man. You ain't getting in if you can't do the plumbing. But what else can you do?

You know, like, congratulations on being qualified for what you. Your businesses.

That's exactly it. And that's the problem I do, certainly, with the business of podcasting, is that so many people spin up so many shows that are not doing anything fresh, and There are nearly 900,000 podcasts out there. I think that's probably going to probably hit 900k over the next 5 to 6 weeks. My good friend Danjie Lewis has got the data on that. But, you know, 900,000 podcasts, that's a drop in the ocean when you consider how many blogs are. But.

What you got to remember with that is that not as many people know how to access podcasts, know how to access blogs and content. So if you're not doing anything different, if you're not entertaining, if you're not making someone laugh, cry, feel angry, feel happy, feel elated, learn something.

You. You ain't gonna. You ain't gonna fly. You'll get a plateau of listeners, and then you're gonna find it really hard. I mean, I could go on about this all day, man, but you're gonna find it really tough. So you have to. If you're gonna be the business podcaster that intends to monetize the show, you better be really clear on how you're gonna do that. And it's not as easy as it's. As it's portrayed. It's not. I'm afraid to say, it's really not.

Well, one, I appreciate the honesty. I'm not looking for. I'm not trying to slant it any which way. I really thought it was one to two out of five, whatever, you know. But when you're saying it's one out of a thousand, I was just shocked because it seems like a fair amount of people just kind of kick it with a stick, we'll see what happens kind of thing. Like, the mentality I'm Just going to start a show on whatever, for whatever reason and if something happens, cool, I'm like, sleep getting in your car, going, well, I'll just start driving it somewhere and we'll see where I end up. Hopefully it's somewhere good.

Well, actually, just to jump in on that one, I actually think that stands a better chance than most well planned business podcasts.

And oh, do dive deeper with this because like I said, I'm new, I'm open to this. And I just, I was asking.

Because I don't know and obviously you have the experience with it, but just from what I've seen in the short time since I started, Even though it's 100 plus episodes ago, it's just fascinating to me. So why do you think that would stand a better chance?

And I'm saying that in a, in a, in a flippant, ish way to kind of open people's eyes a little bit. And what I mean by that is there's nothing wrong with jumping in your car, not knowing where you're going. If you love driving the car, there's nothing wrong with that. And the thing about that is that you're doing it for the enjoyment of it. If someone comes along and they say to you, do you know what? Actually, did you know that there's a really cool steakhouse down there that you would have never found had you not come down this street and just happened upon this thing, an opportunity presents itself that you didn't expect and it becomes the new favorite thing. That's a very random example, but I've seen the same thing happen time and time and time again in podcasting where someone starts a crazy little show and it goes crazy, it goes nuts because they're not trying to monetize it, they're not trying to sell the pre roll and fix their own price of sponsorship early on because they don't know what they're selling. Okay, you can come up with a business plan for the podcast. That's easy. Let's do a business plan for a podcast right now, come up with a format, have a few segments to it, name them, something quite cool, have some transitions that your editor throws in. And then we're gonna sell a couple of different spots and we're just gonna find the right kind of sponsors and that's the business plan. That's it. Like you could, I could sell that, I could sell that coaching model to a bazillion people right now and they pay me 997 books down from 17 grand. And they'd Pay me that today. For that, I'd just have to embellish it a little bit more. But that's the basics of it. The other option is you monetize it on the back end, create your online courses, do whatever the heck you want to do, or do listener support via Patreon. The thing is.

Your sponsors need to see something like, what are they sponsoring? They're sponsoring your download numbers. But the problem is download numbers are transient. What happens if my Internet goes down and I. I can't publish something? What happens if I have Christmas off? Well, you can't have Christmas off because you've got a sponsor that's expecting download numbers, so you can't have time off. So you make yourself this prison, this podcast prison. And so when you start to sell downloads, that's when it becomes a problem. And that's why the shows that are aching to jumping in the car and kind of naturally just progressing along. The fun thing with that is that the people that, you know, you've seen Rocky, We've all seen Rocky. Great film. Those kids chasing him, believe in him. They believe in him entirely.

They didn't know that he was going to be running through the streets. He didn't know he was going to accrue all these fans as he was going, you know, going on his. On his most recent run for his fight with Apollo. It just happened. It's a natural coincidence. And if he has a week off, if we don't podcast for a week, those fans are still coming back every single time. So the point that I'm trying to get to with this is that those serendipitous shows, those shows that are done for love, they find a little bit of magic early on. Now, when they find the magic, the sensibility that is required to monetize I.e. the clear common sense to recognize that there's some magic happening, to identify what that magic is and to do something with it. But if you treat a business like a. Sorry, a podcast like a business with a business plan, which is fine, cool, go for that. People see straight through it, and they're not going to believe in it. All they're going to do is they're going to consume. And here's the thing, here's the kicker. With this, you got to remember that everyone that is doing this business podcast is talking to the same 200 people, because podcasting is now a PR outlet. So if you. If you're an author, better get on some podcasts. Wrong. You're not coming on mine. I'm not interested in your book. And the reason for that is that my listeners are not chasing that person. They want to listen to that person. Go and listen to them on all of the other shows.

They might even have their own.

Well, that's the.

Point.

They're coming for you, Mario. They're coming for the host. They're coming to follow you. So what can you do to inject more of you into your show? Because that's where the magic is, you know, that's. I've done all the talking here, man, and people are tuning in to listen to you talk to me, you know, so this is, this is always very interesting for me. Look at the shows that do well on Patreon, because that's the most natural. That is the most natural link between a podcast that people believe in and people taking action to support. There's no more natural links. The downloads don't matter to these people that are making 5, 10, 15k a month on Patreon. Do not matter. They could get 10 downloads, but as long as those 10 people are still believing in that show and contributing via Patreon, it's fine. So the KPIs, the, the business indicators become different and we stop selling downloads. We get off the hamster wheel. We produce less content, but it's better quality. We can market it better, get more from it. And guess what? We can have a week off. You know, so that's, that's. I know that's a long rant. I could do an hour and a half talk on this.

Well, I'm glad you can because clearly you're passionate about it and you have people's best interests at heart. And that's one of the reasons I even invited you on the show, because there's a ton of successful people out there. And that's what I've realized. I get requests all the time. I want to be on your show, but I'm always looking for people that actually care about people and get results. And I know you have, and I know that's what you're about. So that's why I'm staying a little bit quiet going, you know, I want to learn just as much as everyone else, and you're sharing some really good things. But I do want to ask you about, let's dive deeper with your companies. How. What are they? How are you helping? And then I'll ask you about the people. Like, tell us a little bit more for the people who don't know about your companies. And if you could, for me, a bit little Elaborate and productivity.

So.

Where to start?

Podcast website. So go there.

Yeah, that's a good shout. Actually, should we just go back to the beginning? So end of 2014, that's when I launched my first show, the 30th of September International Podcast in 2014. And like I said, I had a digital agency at the time. So it was, it was very simple for me to sign up with a hosting company and kind of link it up to my website. Website. Even for me I was still very confused about okay, how do I link all this stuff together? And wait a minute, I want a scalable site because I know as an agency guy that WordPress is the best and I can add memberships on an e commerce and do my own about pages and my forms and have my pop ups for the lead magnets and all that kind of good stuff that we see online. How the heck does someone that doesn't know how to do this and just gets into podcasting, how do they do this? And this is back before a lot of the, this is back before a lot of the newer tools like Captivate are around, you know, making some of this a lot easier. So we create a podcast website and we did a joint venture kind of. It wasn't really a joint venture as such. It was more of a kind of enhanced partnership with John, as you know from Eofire, good friend here and Kate, great friends and a lot of time and respect for them. And we work together for, for up until probably August or July this year on podcast websites and just building out this WordPress platform for podcasters. And that was the first business that we had. But we all always had this strategy in mind of actually there are other things that we can do, but we'd not as often you see in industries that are starting to do well, like podcasting is now, we didn't want to be the people that came in, saw the money, created a product and after four months decided actually we got this a little bit wrong and we kind of, you know, we wanted to do the time. So we spent three or four years working on podcast websites, built some amazing friendships, helped thousands of podcasters to launch and build this amazing WordPress personal branded site around their podcast. All the while we were designing a slightly different business structure. So Podcast websites is the managed WordPress platform for podcasters. It's the world's number one one. There's no one else that does it and no one else that certainly doesn't do it like we do it.

Then we created Rebel Based Media which is a Huge Star wars reference. And we, we're essentially a. Rebel Based Media is a group company. So Kieran and I own Rebel Based Media, which in turn Rebel Based Media provides localized regionalized consulting for brands in podcasting. And we've got a couple of podcast studios in the UK as well. So that's like the, the face to face kind of touchy feely. If your brand wants a show, let's come and design it up. And James, who leads that and does all that. Then we've got Captivate fm, which is the world's only growth oriented podcast host, which Kieran and I single handedly, dual handedly. He and I have built this over the last year.

Is, and that's a hosting company. So you know, instead of Epson or Blueberry or somewhere else, you know, come somewhere a little bit more modern, host multiple shows. That's what Captivate fm. We've got the Podcast Success Academy, which is a membership that teaches all the growth skills for podcasting. Basically all the stuff that I ranted about like in courses.

And then the last one, as you, as you rightly mentioned, is productivity. So it's productivity without the R, which is kind of, kind of cute. And it's, it's, I can't say too much about it because it's still a little bit stealth. But our productivity, I'm sure you can.

It's just us.

Oh no, it's just us. Well, seeing as it's just you and me. As it's just us. So we've got, for each of our businesses, there's Kieran and I. We're kind of the strategic leads of the whole group. But each business has got its own product lead and its own team. And the productivity team led it by a guy called lady, who's wonderful, known him for years. We're building interaction technologies.

But it's not, in the words of Luke Skywalker, it's not going to go the way you think. So we've got, we've got a lot of interesting announcements coming up over the next, I would say three to six months. We, we announced at Podcast Movement 2018. Then being completely straight with you, we got hit with some legal paperwork work from a certain brand and that said you can't use the word pod. And we were like, well, yes we can.

So we can't use the word what?

Pod. Pod. You can't use the word pod in your brand and trademark. It was like, okay, well we can. So we had a bit of a chat through with those guys and we got that all Squared off in the UK. So that's all good. So we spent 2019 really quietly doing what we did with Captivate the year before, which was very quiet, quietly designing some of the infrastructure behind the scenes, lining up some of our advisors, lining up some of our partnerships, lining up certain things. 2020 might start to see some announcements actually over the next few weeks. We're slowly getting ready to roll that one out. So we're going to essentially do what we did with Captivate, which is stealthily build something, tease people out with what it is, and then launch it with a ban, which is what we did with Captivate. And that's, you know, that's going crazy. So productivities, I'm excited about that. You know, that's the Captivate and productivity, they're my two babies. I work with Kieran on Captivate, where the kind of product leads on that and as myself and Ed lead at productivity. And then we've got Sam and James and the podcast websites team doing their thing as well. So it's, it's good, man. It's a lot of work, but it's, you know, that's what we're there for.

But anything worth doing is.

It is. And it's, it's. I was talking to Sam about this, so I'm fortunate enough to work with my girlfriend Sam, who's fantastic. She keeps me on track and calls out a lot my bs, which not many people do because, you know, as you can tell, I talk a lot and to get a word in edgeways is difficult. So she keeps me on track. And we were talking about this last week and we just said that, you know, it's a lot of people look at what we do as rebel based media and say, wow, you're doing a lot. You should find. Focus on one thing. And I always say, well, I understand that, but ultimately we are focused on one thing and that is further in podcasting. It just so happens that, you know, the mistake that we could make is to believe that I and myself and Kieran and, and, you know, just a small team could work on every product. And we've been very strategic and smart in that each, each product is a separate business, a separate legal entity with a separate board, and it's got a separate set of team members and options pools and it's got a separate set of everything with one exception, which I think is the key to all of it, which is that the customer experience team is agnostic across all of the brands. So they understand every brand, how it talks, how it Works together, how it works individually. So that if you came in Mario to Captivate, you know, we could talk as authoritatively on podcast websites or podcasts. Productivity or the Academy. So the studio as anything else. And that's the key thing, you know, for anyone that's managing multiple projects, make sure that you've got the support. Whoever is customer facing, make sure that they are agnostic to everything. That's, that's vital. That's a huge thing to learn.

That is impressive because you have boards and everyone, everything is segregated out, but you still have it gelled together. It sounds like.

Yeah. And it's a story. You know, the old Donald Miller story brand idea. You know, we tell a story. Rebel Based Media is a, is a podcast tech company. We build various pieces of technology. And if you want to, you want to know how productivity works, you can talk to me or you can actually talk to Ed Podcast websites. Go and talk to Lester. You know, you want to talk to Captivate, talk to me or Kieran or the Academy with James and Sam and Allegra. And it, it's, it's about fostering a community of people, you know, internally and externally. You know, people believe in the halo effect of things. And it wouldn't work without having put the timing on podcast websites. Had we been arrogant and thrown our hat in and saying, we can, number one, we can do everything and we're going to reinvent horse and we're going to do this, people wouldn't have believed it, but they saw how we handle things. They saw that we're very fair. The saw that anyone, honestly. Ultimately, I might be the CEO of it, but I'm, I'm doing support. You know, I'm listening, I'm learning, I'm at the conferences, I'm doing the talk. But I'm also like, you'll never see me do a talk and then not be on the booth. Like, I will for three days. And you've, I mean, you've seen it. We've been together at the conferences. I am at the booth 24 7. I'm not one of those guys that will speak and then I'll disappear off to some exclusive lunch for, for the elite. Like, forget all that. Like, people are people. Let's all just mix. Let's just be friends, let's learn, let's listen, let's help. And I think that is vital because remember, the way that you pitch yourself is the way that you remembered. The way that you remembered is the way that you are branded. And that is, I think, absolutely Vital. So, yeah, you got to learn from that. You've got to tread. Tread the carpet down, you know, every single day.

That is a very good expert authority insight. That. That was good.

Thanks, man.

And without a doubt, it shines through with everything you're doing. And I realized that from day one, even before we met in person and everything. And I'm very excited for you for what you've done and what you've got coming up, I want to ask you, with all the people you've helped, who would you say maybe you can name a couple. We're talking about success stories. What's one or two of the biggest. Your favorite success stories of someone Go. And I started off with nothing. I used your stuff, and now, you know, their show just blew up.

I think there's a couple of great examples, and we've got a few of them. We're fortunate enough with Captivate to. To get people moving into us as well. So people like the Jerry Anderson Network. And, you know, it's great because I get, like, I've got a free Thunderbird T shirt. It's amazing. So, like, those kind of people that use the tool who are already doing well, but then excel even further when they've got a little bit more support. But. Excuse me. I think probably an example of someone who started from scratch with us, he's a guy called Cam Capriotto from Remarkable Results. And he, you know, he took a chance on podcast websites on February 12, 2015, which is when we had our launch webinar, we with John. And it was very much a look. If enough people sign up to make this viable, we will make it. And, you know, that was it. That's the way we ran it. And Cam signed up, and since then, you know, he. He didn't have a business plan. He was a guy that retired from the automotive aftermarket. He was just like, you know what? I'm gonna do a show. And I'm just. I'm gonna. I want to just educate this. This market, and I'm going to use podcast to do it. He is now the number one podcast network, the only major podcast network in the industry. He obviously just crushes it financially. And, I mean, I talked to Cam a heck of a lot, and he's a great friend, and he is just so impressive because what he does is he gets in the car and he just drives. And what he does is he realizes, well, that's a nice place to stop, but These are the 10 places I don't need to come back here. And the Fun thing about it is that he takes hold of it, he grasps it, and he takes a business plan and he turns it into a business based on what he's working and he will act. And just what he has done and the way that he does it is so impressive. I'd actually liken him to what you're doing, if I'm honest with you, Mario. And that's not just because we're talking now. You. He produces things in a very similar way to what you're doing. It's very well produced, very conscientious, very well articulated, just like you are with this show and everything that you do, you're on a parallel with what K is doing. And, you know, he saw the long term for this. He was doing it. I think he started early 2015 and.

And he's just crushing it, man. He's a keynote speaker. He's been asked to do things all over the country, and it's just. Yeah. Cam Caprioto, go and check out Remarkable Results Biz. Go and check out all of his shows in the podcatches. I think you'll be. I think you'll be impressed.

Well, I. I was just about to. First off, thanks for the compliments. I appreciate that. And also, I was going to ask you, could you name the network again? But I'm glad you did. I definitely do want to check it out.

I think he's launching something new. Remarkable Results Radio is the show, but if you do a search for calm. So do you know the hilarity with this? You'll not mind me sharing. This is in the automotive industry, and I kid you not. His first name is Carmen. Spelled Car man.

For anything.

Let me pause you right there.

Let me.

Let me pause you right there. Can you go back to the. Where you said, I kid you not, he's in the automotive.

Yeah, I kid you not, he's in the automotive aftermarket trade. And his name is Carmen, spelt Car Man. And it's just the perfect name. And so if you search for Carmen Capriotto or Carm Capriotto in your podcast app, you're going to find all of his shows. But I'm fairly sure he's got something fancy coming as well.

Where's he from?

He's from New York state. Okay. Yeah, he's from New York.

I'll definitely have to check that out. I mean, if you're going to talk about one thing here in Detroit, Rock City, it's automotive.

Oh, he's been there a lot, man. And I'm Trying to get him down a podfest, you know, but he, he. I think he's speaking at an event that weekend, which is. Which is a shame, but I was trying to get him down a Pod Fest, and I think we'll announce it live. I think we're gonna do a meet up down there, a bit of whirly ball and stuff. So if you're down there, come along, man. You invite you. In fact, you've just got the first invite to our meetup, our event at Podfest.

Well, I appreciate that. That sounds like a lot of fun and I'll definitely be there. I'm actually speaking this year.

Yes. Congrats, dude.

Thank you. I'm excited about that. So if you were to ask, if someone were to ask you, I'm thinking about starting a show, what do you think I should do? What would you tell them?

I think just make sure you've got a structure to it. Make sure you've got a decent structure to it and you're not just rambling along. You know, you've got to produce something of high quality, that's entertaining, that's valuable, that's funny, that's emotive, that's educational. You know, pick one and stick to it and be good at it. But it would. It would just truly be. Lean more into yourself. You know, if you're starting a show, everyone else is going to say, just do it. Just press the button. Like, that's easy advice. That's cool. That's. Yeah, fine, yes, do that. But lean into yourself more. You know, all those traits that everyone says you have, double them, because then it will really come across on your audio. Then it's really going to come across across how you are. It's like karaoke. You know, you feel like you're going all out on karaoke, but to everyone else, you're just kind of, you know, you're just kind of shook. You know, when you feel you're giving like 500 and your hair's all over and you're going crazy on karaoke, you're really pushing it to like 10x levels. It's only then that people can see that you're putting something into it. The same to be said for podcasting in your personality. Figure out those little nuances of your personality. The bits that people really, really feel make you you and really lean into them and expand on them and let them breathe and let them come about. And then don't be afraid to change things up. You know, if you do a format and you do five Episodes and you're bored of it. Change it. It's a podcast. Not in the world. Everyone's still alive. Change it. You know, so that it's your, this is your medium. No one's regulating as yet.

That is more great expert authority insight because there's someone, I was talking to a dear friend of mine last night and I'm going to make sure she sees this because there are so many people that I think just second guess themselves with too many things instead of like you're saying, put some time into it and just go for it. You obviously have no problem if someone wants to do a pivot.

No, I mean, everyone's pivoted all the time. You know, if you, if your show's 60 minutes long and then one day it's 53 minutes long, oh, guess what? That's a pivot. People have.

Freaked out over this pivot word because it's a cool startup word. You know, it's. Who cares? It's you. You know, pivot is you've got one foot on the floor and you change direction slightly, but you've still got one foot anchored. That's, that's the thing. It's not. Nothing's ever final when it comes to this sort of stuff. You just tweak and optimize and tweak and optimize, tweak, optimize, tweak, optimize. Because that's the game that we're in, is making things continually better. You'll geek out. You've got a high PR 40. You know, next time you might end up with a sure SM7B. You might end up with an ATR20,100. Either way, you're going to iterate, you're going to change, you're going to tweak, you're going to change your tie, you're going to change your, you're going to change your vest, you're going to change it. Like we're just iterating every time, every time people get stuck because they're like, well, wait a sec, I've said I'm going to ask 15 questions and it's got to be 32 minutes long and I've got to have a 90 second promo exactly 2 minutes 30. Forget all of that, just do what's natural. You know, everyone always asks, this is a great example of it. What, what is the ideal length for a podcast episode?

Just keep talking until you sound boring. You know, that is it.

Trying to fill it, then quit, stop, put a pin in it. So, yeah, don't Be afraid of changing things. People get scared so much about that.

That is awesome. I have just a couple more questions before we thank our sponsor, and one. One of them I'm a little bit on the fence about. I got to be honest, because we're having a great conversation. And I got to ask it, though, because it's what I've based my show off of. What do you think of video podcasting?

Depends on whether we're talking genuine video podcasting, as in uploading a video to a media host and only consuming that in a podcast app. But I don't think that's what we're talking about. I think. I think we're talking about sticking it on YouTube and repurposing it out to different places. It's all right. It's got its place. You just got to ask yourself, what's the point of me listening to your podcast if I'm watching it, you know, But. But.

On the flip side of that, if I don't know about podcasts and I'm seeing you on Facebook or YouTube, it's more exposure. So there's arguments either way on that one, I think. Crack on. If it works for you, crack on.

All right, so we're still 50. 50. I didn't know if you were one way or the other, but appreciate the honesty, as always. Now, this is what I call the wheel of Whatever I.

Do you want to see it?

Well, I'll just dive in.

Is it. Is the option to see it or to just dive in?

Well, no, we're going to dive in, but you know what? I like you. We're gonna bring it on here. How do you. What do you think about that?

Oh, yeah, go on. I like this.

All right, so I have been teasing everyone about this for probably 50, 60 episodes, and I was like, I should get a wheel where I can literally spin it and it will have questions on it.

Okay, I like this.

I've kept it under wraps because this is not black and yellow. We're in the process of, you know, we're making another iteration on the show, if you will. So let's just pretend there's questions on it and. Oh, we just landed on one right here. Has nothing to do with podcasting or business, but what's your favorite conspiracy theory?

Oh, JFK easily.

Why is that?

I just find it interesting. There's so many moving parts with it, and it happened. It happened at such a. A pivotal time in history with. With the Cuban Missile crisis just around the corner, and it just intrigues me that something of that magnitude could be carried out by a lone gunman. Yeah, I just amazes me. I just think there's so many moving parts to it. I think it's very interesting.

So what do you think's the real story?

Honestly, I think it probably is an inside job, bit of a CIA job. I just, I feel like the.

Some of the, some of the facts that you see, some of the, the, the kind of the connections that Oswald had and you, I just feel like somewhere down the wire he was being manipulated somewhere by someone that was getting paid by the government. That's what I reckon.

All right. Appreciate the honesty. You're, you're big on the honesty. You're not holding back on anything.

Nah, nah, I'm straight out with it.

All right, well, I very much appreciate it. I know Expert Authority World does too. We're going to thank our sponsor and we're going to come back for the imperfect action round. Invest automatically, save for later and spend today. That's why I love Acorns. I used to think spare change didn't make a difference and saving and investing was an old fashioned manual process. It's not and it's a game changer. If you're not leveraging compounding interest in your business and life automatically, you're missing out. Acorns not only makes saving and investing easy and automatic, it makes it even more valuable. By investing with diversified portfolios, spare change, extra cash and rounding up everyday transactions, you can even set recurring monthly investments in the amount you desire to make good. Great. There is also a debit card option that will continue to help you save and invest even further when you start spend plus no minimum balance and overdraft fees. Now for the cherry on top. They have partnered with 250plus companies and brands and growing with their found money program to invest back a percentage into your account with the everyday purchases when you shop, two of which you're probably listening to this right now through an Amazon or Apple device. Get started profiting from your everyday life and business simply and easily today@e eainterviews.com ACORNs Once again, that's eainterviews.com ACORNS.

All right, we are back with the imperfect action round. Mark, are you ready to take imperfect action?

Let's do this.

So this is 60 second rapid fire responses and the first question is what is the fastest path to the cash?

Fastest path to cash is sell something that people want.

Great answer. Keep it simple. Number two, what is the biggest problem? You see your prospects making and the fastest way they can fix it.

Trying to be entrepreneurs. Only Richard Branson is an entrepreneur. Ooh.

Okay, I'm going to expand on this past 60 seconds. Why, why do you say that?

Everyone else is a small business owner, man.

That's it. Richard Branson has proven that he can scale business. I mean, there's, you know, Bill Gates and, and you know everyone else, Jeff Bezos and Jobs, but like, if you, if you scale a business to like 10k a year or 100k a year or $2 million a year, you're not an entrepreneur. You're a small business owner. Let's be absolutely clear. Five million dollar turnover a year is a small business. Like, don't chase the tag. Chase the actual money and the actual, the, the, the profits and the ability to create a product that people want. And if you want to be an entrepreneur, prove you can keep doing it with different things, different markets, in different niches time and time again. Because doing the same thing over and over and over every single day does not make an entrepreneur. That makes a small business person. That is it. And I know it's a weird distinction to make, but as soon as you get the fact out we had that you are, I'm just here to run a business, you forget all of the ego stuff, you forget all of that stuff and you start focusing on what matters. Seen it a thousand times, man. Honestly, so much.

Great answer. I don't think it's weird. I think it's your honest to God truth. And, you know, that's your distinction of it. And it's not inaccurate.

Number three.

It'S a good one, I promise. Number three, what is it actually lines up right into what you were saying. What is the best way to maximize customer lifetime value?

Be an actual person and just talk to them like an actual person. And also don't believe that the customer is always right. You know, people will.

Familiarity breeds content. All right, so if you, if you over deliver all everyone says, oh, over deliver, deliver, over deliver, over deliver. Wolf, if you over deliver all the time, then you're not over delivering. You're just delivering because that's what they expect. And then what will happen is people become very pushy with you, so you've got to be, be a person. You know, I see. I'm, I'm a, I'm a bit of a bit of a one for this. Like, if someone's been a little bit rude to the team, I'll step in, I'll be like, look, okay, you're a little bit frustrated. Fine. I understand that there's a difference between being frustrated and being rude. You are a customer, but you can also not be a customer. Now, that is an instant level. It's a. People will respect that. And you guarantee pretty much 100% of the time, guarantee that they become a lifetime customer. So be a human being and understand that they are as well. Customers are not just card numbers. You know, the people love it.

Love you, love your attitude. Like I was saying earlier, it's one of the reasons I even wanted you on the show and invited you is because the servant's heart that you do have. But obviously you're successful with everything, too. You need, you know, fruit on the tree, but you just have such a heart for helping people. And I'm glad you didn't back down from anything. I didn't think you would. But you did surprise me with a few answers, which I enjoyed so fully appreciated everything you said. Thank you very much. Where would you like people to visit to learn more about you?

You can just check out. Just hit me up on Twitter, you know, no lead magnets or anything crazy. Just hit me up on Twitter if you want to have a chat, chat at Mr. Asquith. That's where I do most of my chatting these days. So just hit me up over there and we can. We can just have a chat.

Excellent. Well, I appreciate it so much, Mark. Thank you for everything you've shared and look forward to seeing you at the next event.

I'll see you through. My. Thanks for having me as well. You're a great host, you're doing great work and just keep it up. I see you on Facebook doing what you're doing. I'm always encouraged by it. So congratulations on everything, dude.

Well, thank you very much. It means a lot. All right, expert authority world. We got another great episode here today. See you tomorrow. Have a great day. Why every business needs a book, including yours. Would you like to save five plus hours with every prospect, generate more leads and profit in your business? Now visit businessbookchecklist.com and learn how you can implement this in your business today. Spare change. How's that going to make a difference? I know. That's what I thought before I started investing. With acorns, throwing change in a jar is not very leverage and time consuming. But what about all the transactions you don't use cash for? You know, like majority Acorns not only invest your spare change automatically with roundups, it also lets you add a preset amount to each transaction. Regardless, it's pretty inspiring. To see how quickly and easily you can end up with a pile of cash instead a pile of receipts. Get started simply and easily today at eainterviews.com forward/acorns once again. That's EA eainterviews.com acorns hey, thanks for listening to today's episode. I hope you got a lot out of it. I know I sure did. If you haven't done so already, I invite you to subscribe to the show. And also be sure to check out eainterviews.com for complete show notes, the full interview video experience, links to the resources we mentioned, and more. Have a blessed day and I'll see you tomorrow.

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