Impact Versus Downloads And The Mindset Scorecard

So there I was on the zoom call using the same camera you're watching me on right now. If we're doing this on the live thing, if you're listening to the podcast, it's at least the same microphone that I was using or am using right now. And I told him quite clearly that you don't want downloads, you want impact. And then he said, no, I want downloads. Said, great, I can get you as many as you want offshore, really cheap. There was this awkward pause and he goes, well, that's not what I mean. Well, I know that's exactly not what you mean. You don't want downloads, you want impact. Hey, this is Paul Calligan and this is a live recording of the podcast report. Today we're chatting about Impact versus downloads and the Mindset Scorecard. We haven't been live together in a while. Life has been fascinating and this whole epidemic pandemic craziness has kept me away from you. But we're back together now and I'm pretty excited about that. We've been doing a series, this is actually part 8 of an 8 part series on what we call the Mindset Scorecard, the podcast partnership. The Mindset Scorecard is, get this, a scorecard that tracks our mindset, how we think about podcasting, and what we do about podcasting. And last episode, I don't want to say last week because it was quite some time ago, we chatted about the concept of assets versus episodes, but tonight I want to chat about the idea of impact versus downloads. Now, the Mindset Scorecard is simply a way for us to track if we're thinking along the same lines. Because if you're going to work with the podcast partnership, we want to be thinking along the same lines. We want to be looking for the same things, we want to value the same processes, and that's what we're looking at here. What's fun is by doing this as a podcast, you can understand the things that we've been able to do and see and accomplish for our clients and look at the things that they have been able to do and tell and the messages that they've been able to get out using these unique mindsets. And perhaps my most favorite is the idea of impact versus downloads. See, most of us in the podcasting space, most people, you know, we think logically. We want some moniker to keep score. We want some tracking element to know if we're doing a good job. I mean, 100 downloads is better than 10 downloads, right? Or a thousand downloads is better than a hundred downloads. Right. Or a million downloads is better than a hundred thousand downloads, right? Yeah, well, maybe. But what if you got 100,000 downloads and everybody hung up, click pause or click stop, decided to move to the next podcast? You know, five minutes in, 100,000 people stream, play, download, whatever. And then they all decide, five minutes in, that this isn't for me. That's. That's not a success. That's you accomplishing the turning off of 100,000 people from a single podcast episode. See, what you want is you want impact. What if only one person listened to your podcast, would you be happy? Most would say no. But if that one person was the editor of the book company that you always wanted to get that book on, or the CEO of the company that you always wanted to work with, or the check writer for the contract that you were always hoping to get, wouldn't be such a bad place. I've heard stories of people who've actually written entire books for the sole purpose of reaching one person. They do them self publishing on Amazon and then use the Amazon system to send a copy of that book to the person they're trying to reach. And, you know, think about it. Nobody won't open an Amazon package. One book, one person, one message, Great success. Now, I'm not saying that you should do a podcast for a single person, but what I am saying is that in the podcast production process, you want to look at impact. So how does this work in the mindset scorecard process? You know, the idea is that you look at what your score is, you know, on a scale of 1 to 12. And in the 1 to 12 process, you know, you rank yourself for where things count and where things are. And basically, 1, 2, and 3 is a really low score, and 4, 5, and 6 is, you know, the beginning of something. 7, 8, 9 is you're definitely getting there. And then 10, 11, 12 is the high score. So let's look at the low score on the impact versus downloads. If the mindset is downloads are the only thing that matters for my podcast, you're in good company. There are a lot of people who think that's the only thing that matters, but they're not checking when people hang up, they're not checking if people buy, they're not checking where the locations of the downloads are. I'll give you a clue. If 95% of your downloads are coming from Bangladesh, you're not a really popular podcaster in Bangladesh. There's something wacky happening. If downloads are the only thing that matters for your podcast, you Might be in a contract where you get paid for the downloads and it doesn't matter if they're true or not. And I don't know if that's the most ethical thing, but the fact of the matter is you're accomplishing the task at hand, but you're not in the impact versus downloads situation. A little bit further on is downloads are the only way I can track impact. Well, at least you're looking at tracking and you're wanting impact. But there's this misnomer. There's this dis. Understanding. There's. There's this moment where downloads is the only way you can track. Well, that's not the case. Like I said, consumption. How far did they listen? Response? What are they saying did they do to call to action? Did the right person call is the right response is what you're looking for happening regardless of the downloads. So I appreciate you want to track impact, and I just argue with whether or not impacts is the only. The. The impact. I'm sorry, if downloads is the only way to track impact. So impact versus downloads. This is good. You know, the next step is the process, and I've heard this from many. I'm more concerned that the right person listens to my show than anything else. That's good, that's solid, that's strategy. That's the beginning of the process that we want to take a look at. But the thing is, if the right person listens to your show and they don't do anything, you know, we're missing something. The right person listens to your show and they go, hey, Paul, good show. Hey, Linda, good show. Hey, Elizabeth, good show. But then they don't do anything else. You haven't really made an impact. They've listened. And who knows, they might call at some point, but you want to enter into the podcast process with an understanding, with an idea, with a concept, at least of what it is that you want your audience to do, how are you going to track whether it is they're doing it and is it working? See, if the right person listens to your show but then doesn't do what it is that you want them to do or respond the way that you want them to respond? You know, it's a hard tracking moment. Who knows, maybe it's a overtime kind of situation. You know, there are different elements here. It's. It's getting closer to what we're talking about, but being more concerned than anything else isn't where I want. And then the final element, the 10, 11, 12 in this progress, where you and I are together and where we can really help you get your message out is my only metric is impact. And I know what that means to me and I know how to track it. When you are at that point where you've realized my podcast is going to make this kind of impact and here is how I know that is going to make that impact and here's how I'm going to track that. That impact is being made. That's the game, that's what you're looking for in the podcast. And you do that and you are going to be in a fantastic place. So the Mindset Scorecard, podcast gold, we chat about that. Are you trying to get the right thing out of this? The idea of podcast seasons, not days where you do episodes and that kind of stuff, but complete and total strategic understandings of what it is you're trying to accomplish. Podcast technology, knowing that there are a lot more things important than the microphone that you're taking a look at, who vers how, the idea, the realization, the mindset that I want to get this accomplished, I don't have to do it myself. And in many cases I might not necessarily need to or want to or should do it myself. The idea of effort versus strategy. A good strategic podcast is going to do better for you than just spending a lot of time podcasting. Content versus sound quality. Do both. Get yourself a good mic, sound decent, but worry about the content first. Assets versus episodes. Build for the long term, and then finally impact versus downloads. What we chatted about today. If you want to get a copy of the Mindset Scorecard, you can go ahead and head out to headsuptuesday.com that's the weekly newsletter of the podcast partnership that get this gives you your heads up every Tuesday. And part of the information packet that comes when you sign up is the Mindset Scorecard PDF. It's even fill outable or fillable or whatever the right term is and you can give yourself your own score and go from there. If you want to get the Mindset Scorecard that way and then you want to leave unsubscribe to the newsletter. We only are interested in having the people who want the weekly update coming through. So now what do you do with this Mindset Scorecard? Are you thinking the same way as some of the most successful podcasts on the planet are thinking, or are you thinking differently outside the box? Now, there are many ways to accomplish the task at hand, but what I want to suggest here is that this Mindset Scorecard is proven this Mindset Scorecard has led so many folk accompanied. There's so many great things with their podcast that if we differ and it's okay if we do, just ask the question why and what the answer is. Once you do that, you're going to have a solid understanding of your podcast and how it plays into the big picture and how it plays into the grand scheme of things. You do that and you will really be at a great place. Glad we finished this series. I'm glad I was able to share with you the Mindset Scorecard. I hope that you can use it to produce great impact with your podcast. What do you see what we chat about next time. Chat with you soon. Bye.