Dominating Podcast Movement 2023: Seven Insider Tips for Podcasters

Hey, it's Paul. And today we're going to discuss 7 Ways to Basically Dominate Podcast Movement 2023 in Denver at the time of this recording. It's a couple of weeks away, but of course, one of the beautiful things about podcasting is you don't have to be watching this live, you'll be watching the recording. We've got it at Facebook, we've got it at LinkedIn, we've got it at YouTube, we've got it at all the podcast platforms. Because it's not just about podcasting, it's about making a show. Anyway, I've been to a number of podcast movements, I've been to a number of podcast events, I've been to a number of regular events, and I've learned a few things along the way, and I thought I' share them with you in terms of making the most of Podcast Movement 2023. Number one, the first rule with a bullet is hallway conversations. Beat sessions every time. Hopefully you've listed, you've looked at, the events you want to go to, the presentations you want to see, you've got them saved with your calendar, you're ready to go, you got your water bottle, you got everything. But if you're heading to a presentation and there's a conversation with the right person that can happen in the hallway during that session, remember the presentations are going to be recorded and you can buy a ticket if you've already bought it. A lot of the tickets come with presentations ahead of time. If you're in the situation where you're going to miss it, I'm sure they'll let you upgrade. But, you know, you're going to get a lot of chances to see my presentation about podcasting and YouTube. You're only going to get one chance to have that conversation in the hallway. So be aware of what's going on and be willing to have those moments with people that make the most sense, because they often are just simply better than the sessions you're going to get. And that's not a criticism to the sessions, that's just the realization of the opportunity of what happens when you go to an event like this. Number two, verify everything you hear. This is just the way it works. People will make claims. We are the number four podcast. We got 8 trillion downloads. People will say things, and sometimes they'll be straight out lying. Sometimes they'll be straight out, tell you the truth. Oftentimes it's in the middle of bad data. Overzealous reporting for the podcast consultant. Maybe, maybe a good old fashioned charting algorithm that really isn't effective or isn't even realistic to what the world's really doing. If someone says something and the impacts if it is true is really good for you and your show, definitely take it, take note, talk to the people, but make sure that what they're saying is actually true. And again, not because they're liars, but because the industry is kind of strange. We don't always validate everything that we say. And so just be careful. Number three, this one's key. Ask the right questions. I'm going to talk a little bit, number seven, about how these are your people and you're going to have a great time. But the long and short of it is pretty much everybody's there to help, everybody's there to assist, everybody's there to give direction and guidance and help you in your podcasting journey, but they're there to answer the right questions. And what do I mean by that? Well, everybody has sort of specific leanings to their show, to their technology, to their process, to their company, and that's what they're good at. So just going up to a random company and going, so what are you doing? Podcasting, eh, boring. But you go up to a certain company and just search on your smartphone and figure out what it is they do. Ask a specific question about that company. Becomes really, really interesting. If you see a guru who is doing really well in a consulting space, in a performance space, in a network space, great. Ask them specific questions about their consulting, their product, their platform, their network. These are the types, things that are really, really helpful. Ask the right questions. Number four, know your environment. This one is key. And this kind of goes off a number five a little bit and definitely off a seven. But the fact of the matter is it's Denver and it's going to be high up. And if you are not hydrated, if you're not aware of what the higher elevation does, there's going to be tired, there's going to be headaches, there's going to be different things that can prevent you from not only having the right conversation instead of going to the session, but actually going to the session at all. You don't want to get sick, you don't want to miss. You know, you spent the money on the airplane, you spent the money on the ticket, you spent the money on the hotel. For goodness sakes, don't let some missing water get in the way. Know your environment. Look it up, Google it, ChatGPT it, whatever it is. Just be ready for an environment that's maybe a little bit different than who you are and what it is that you have in this situation. Look up the hotel, look at the map, figure out what kind of meal options they have. Maybe you bring snack bars that aren't the candy crap, but actually what it is that you're doing. I'm doing the keto thing. And so I've got some specific keto bars that I'm bringing with me. I've actually got my own coffee. I roast my own coffee. And so, you know, I'm prepped for the environment. I've done my homework, and that will help me have the hallway conversations, that will help me be of sound mind to verify everything I've heard, that'll help me ask the right questions. Number four is knowing the environment. Number five, this is true for all events, not just podcast movement, but you can get booze anywhere. You can only get podcast movement. At podcast Movement, people are going to buy you drinks. You're going to want to buy people drinks. Hangout time is in the bar. The parties have the drinks. And it is very, very possible to drink a lot at podcast movement. And I have nothing against drinking enjoy. But drinking can get in the way of the hallway conversations, can get in the way of you having a chance to verify what you've heard, can get in the way of asking the right questions and knowing the environment. So, you know, enjoy the right drink at the right time. But again, just know that's available everywhere but your time with Guru X Network, you know, expert, whatever the right term is, just be careful with the boost. You can get that anywhere. You don't only get podcast movement at Podcast Movement. Number six. This is true of podcast movement, but it's also true for our industry as a whole. One of the things you want to do, one of the things that you need to do is you really need to follow the money. Somebody makes a claim and you need to ask yourself, how do they benefit from that claim? And if the claim benefits them in a really interesting way, maybe that helps you understand and interpret the numbers and what they are that they've got going. You know, somebody who says, you know, I've got a million downloads. Well, if they're selling, you know, CPAs, that's the CPA. I'm sorry. You know, they're. They're selling ads on downloads. Saying they have a million downloads means they make more money. And as different folk make different claims, if these claims seem a little bit interesting and then somehow immediately affect their bottom line, that gets interesting. That's Something I want to talk about. Now, following the money doesn't necessarily mean that it is wrong or that they're lying or that they're misinforming you or anything like that. It just. It's a way to interpret the money. It's a way to interpret the numbers. It's a way to interpret the different things that come through something like podcast movements. So always, always enjoy the money. Number seven. This one is perhaps the most important, and I want to spend a moment or two on it. Enjoy your people. These are your people. These are the fellow podcasters. These are the ones so into podcasting that they spend the money on the plane and on the hotel room and on the tickets and on the recordings and on the energy bars and on the drinks that they attempt to buy you. And on maybe, you know, maybe a show, maybe a, you know, you know, a party up in a suite or something. Something like, these are your people. As you deal with podcasts, your peers might not understand this space, and they might not understand what's so important here. And you've got a chance to really spend time with people who share your passion and share your excitement and share your language and share your world and share all these things. And it's a really neat chance to do that. I just got back from a glamping event with some dear friends from very, very different worlds. And, you know, we had some language in common, but there's some language that we definitely did not have in common, and podcasting was one of them. And that's okay. These are dear people to spend time with. But I'm really looking forward to at podcast movement, enjoying my people on stage, presenting in the audience, asking the right questions in the booth, sharing their projects in the hallways, having the conversations that are beating the presentations in the parties, in the special upstairs in the suite kind of situations. It's there. They're your people. There will be thousands of them. And it's pretty fantastic. I come in on Tuesday and I'm staying through to Friday. My presentation is on Thursday. Going to be chatting about podcasting and YouTube. I've got some interesting case studies and just some frameworks and some understandings on how to deal with these issues. The big guy from YouTube is going to be there at a Q and A session. Several other people are doing presentations as well. So I think this topic, which I also hit on the last episode of the podcast report, is going to be covered really well. Come say hi. Let me know you consume this episode. And I think even more interest, I know where it consumed it? Was it YouTube? Was it LinkedIn? Was it Facebook? Was it audio podcast? Was it video podcast? Let me know. I'd be really interested to know, but it's a couple of weeks away. It should be a blast of a time and I hope to see you there. Thank you so much. New episode coming soon. Bye now.