The Who, Not The How, Of Podcasting - The Podcast Report Episode #153

The best podcasting help is often found in the who, not the how. It's the podcast report episode 153 show notes, links, conversation and more@thepodcastreport.com 153 I have a book called how to Podcast. You can find out more about this book at get this howtopodcast.com the origin story of the podcasting book isn't that complicated. My first podcast book, the Business Podcasting Bible, came in a couple of years before the iPhone ever did. And as I progressed into this next phase of podcasting with my clients, I would get introduced on big stages, Joe Polish's annual event stage, as if you want to know how to podcast, talk to Paul. So I wrote the book out of the Need. But what's interesting is the whole how to Podcast space is quite fascinating. You can go to Google, you can type in how to Podcast and you'll get a bunch of articles, some of them old, some of them new, some of them bad, some of them good. But you're going to get a lot of conflicting interest. You go to YouTube to find videos, and there's some wonderfully produced videos that give you really bad advice. There's some videos that give you advice that were really good 10 years ago, but not so much these days. There's just a dirge of content. Some of it's good, some of it's bad, some of it's right, some of it's wrong. And I decided to come together and compile a simple how to process. And again, the book is called how to Podcast. At the time I recorded this, it's in version four. We're actually working on the fifth version of the book, and to be honest, I see several versions of the book coming down the pike. But you know what? The how to Podcast part is not enough. And I bet you that's not even why you're listening to this show. I've been a fan of Dan Sullivan and Strategic Coach for some time. If you don't know that name, you can head out to itunes or Spotify or any places that you listen to podcasts, and you'll realize that Dan Sullivan's name is behind 10 different podcasts right now. Is Dan a podcasting machine the likes of which we haven't seen out there on the Internet? No. Dan actually runs a business called Strategic Coach, and it's a coaching program. And I know coaching for some people, it doesn't invoke the best image, but I'm a member. This is my second year. I recently paid for my second year, and I'm really, really excited about it. I was a fan of Dan long before I got to work on his first podcast, the 10X podcast. The 10X talk podcast, the one that he does with Joe Polish. One of the things that I love about Dan and has always intrigued me from the very beginning is this concept that he has. This way of life, this understanding, this lens to view the world, mindset, if you will, that questions are bigger than answers. And if you think about it, it's true. If I just tell you what to do, it's a boring how to podcast book. If I get you how to ask the right questions about what do you want out of podcasting, what do you want to sound like? What kind of impact are you looking for? If I get you to ask those questions, those questions become bigger than any answers you might have got in my book. Aha. See where we're going here. Now, one of the recent things that Dan has been chatting about in Strategic Coach, there's been workshops on it, there's been training to it. He has these tools that the members walk through, but he's also been very public about this. So I'm not giving away any insider information or anything that only students get is this concept of who versus how. Now, I've gone through the worksheets and I've sat in the classroom and I've debated what this means inside of my organization. I have been doing questions that are bigger than actually answers. But the basic concept is this. If you need to get something done, who is faster? I mean, think about it. If you pick up a book, you got to learn. If you watch the videos, you got to learn. If you go to the website, you got to learn. But if you pick a who, the who can do it immediately. The who can bring you in faster. And if you pick the right who, the who's not only faster, but the who is better. If they've done it before, if they've made the mistakes, if they've tested the stuff, and obviously this makes a lot of sense with podcasting, but this makes a lot of sense other places as well. And then the last thing about the who, or at least in this basic explanation of the who versus the how, the right can actually be, the right who can actually be a lot more profitable. So I've had access to a lot of training, I've had access to a lot of information from Dan, but when he's come in and his team has become the who guides me through it, things have been better. And that's just my own experience. I don't want to make this a commercial about strategic coach. I want to make this a dialogue, a concept piece, a thought process, if you will. I mean, I want to ask the questions because the questions are bigger than the answer. What happens in podcasting if you make it a question of who versus the how? Now, what's interesting about my book, I didn't necessarily see this coming yet it's happened. It's happened in force now. I've gotten the royalty checks and I've gotten the number one status and I've gotten a speech, a speaking gig here and there because of the book. But what's been really interesting is the two types of responses that have come to the book. Come to the book. The group one has been the thanks for your help crowd. Paul, thank you for actually clarifying the process and not making it thousands of pages, not making it complicated, but getting it done in 50 some odd pages. If you take a look at the book, really it's 50 plus. Maybe it's 60 plus. I can't remember. The rest of it's just commentary. Group one says, thanks for the help. I saw that coming. That's why I wrote the book. That's why we work so hard. And the fact of the matter is, maybe that group is the who should I listen to when it comes to the question of how do I podcast? Maybe that's it. But group two, this has been the interesting one and I haven't. I didn't see this coming. I didn't plan on this coming, but it has and I've been able to leverage it. And I suggest that maybe you and your podcasting might see the same thing. Group two has been the hey, yeah, I looked at the book. Maybe I didn't even look at the book, but the question was, can you do this for me? Some said, yeah. I looked at the book and I realized, you know what you're doing and I want you to do it. Others have said, I don't even want to crack open this book. Can you do it? This book on how to podcast has quickly become a question of are you the who to podcast? And I've launched a good chunk of my audience from that very question. I've launched a good chunk of my client audience from that very question. The next edition of the book will include something about the who, and hopefully this episode might even be the beginning of the outline for it. I didn't see it coming, but seeing it where I've seen it and then see Dan Talk about it means we really got to think about podcasting and the who versus the how. My experience in the whole who versus the how of podcasting, a couple of interesting things. Number one, there are really two podcast ceilings. Nobody has unlimited time and nobody has unlimited money. Those who act like they have unlimited time never get the podcast out. Those who act like they have unlimited money. At some point, the bookkeeper or the spouse or the boss or someone comes in and goes, yeah, we don't have unlimited money. We got to stop this thing down. If you act like you have time unlimited and money unlimited, you hit the ceiling and it stops. Partially, this is an issue of short attention spans. Partially, this is an issue of shiny happy object syndrome, but partially it is the realities of a bigger picture. See, the thing is, for podcasting, there's really only so much time that you have before you see podcast gold. And podcast gold is one of the concepts that we teach our clients, one of the concepts we work with our clients. But the idea that podcasting has to be purposeful, has to be strategic, that your mindset should not be, I'm going to record a podcast and see what happens, but that I'm going to record a podcast for a very specific reason. See, if you go in with unlimited time mindset, you're going to hit the ceiling. If you go with limited money mindset, you're going to hit the ceiling, because those things don't really exist. But if you actually start the process of what do you want? This gets interesting. Of course, when you start the process of what do you want? The question comes, who is going to help you do it? Now, what's funny is sometimes the who can actually save you money? I've met people who have bought all the books, all the training programs, all the microphones, all the consulting, all the initial experiences, all the retreats, all these things because they were collecting the how. Whereas if one person would have come in and just said, this, this, this, and this, money can be saved. And money can be saved on two different levels. A, you're not buying all the microphones, you're not buying all the equipment. You're not setting up for all the programs, you're not setting up all the books, but also simply speed up the process. This host, this mic, this model, bam. You don't hit the ceiling of time because now you got a plan and you see results soon. You don't hit the ceiling of money because the money's been spent, only the money that needs to be spent, and it's heading towards Podcast gold. So at least you can decide whether or not the effort is worth it. Two ceilings. Time and money. Sometimes the who saves you the money. Something I've seen, my own personal experience of who versus how. Now, it obviously needs to be said, you have to do your due diligence on both the how and the who. Buying a how to podcast book from an idiot, not a good idea. Hiring a who to do your podcast who is an idiot, not a good idea. So this isn't an issue of a one size fits all solution to everything, but a couple of thoughts for you in the due diligence world. Number one, if you're going to look at the how of podcasts, it's not necessarily, I don't necessarily recommend it, but for goodness sakes, on the how, ask yourself a couple of questions. Is the person who's teaching you how, do they actually have a show? Is it a show that people actually listen to? Is it a show that there's actually been some results from? Sure, it could have been a technical writer who was assigned the task of figuring out how to podcast, and they wrote that, but is that necessarily what you want? If you're looking at the how, do your due diligence. But I think if you're looking at the who, even more importantly, do your due diligence there. Have they seen podcast gold for somebody more than. Well, first of all, they've seen it at all. Secondly, have they seen podcast gold for someone other than themselves? Because if they're going to see it for you, it's time for proof in the pudding, people. And of course, the real ultimate question is if you look at the who had they done it more than once? A guy who got lucky because the right keyword at the right time, who helps one other person get lucky with the right keyword at the right time, that's, you know, lightning striking twice. Not necessarily a good strategy. I gotta say it. You know, it needs to be said for either who or the how do your due diligence. When should you how? When is it not a question of who? When is it a question of how? I mean, Paul, I can't get the consultant. What's the situation? Well, I would suggest that how is very easy on some levels, when it's a basic interest, when you're just dipping your toes in the world of podcasting. Now, I'd guess at 11 some odd minutes into this episode, you're past that basic interest. But if you're trying to understand the dialogue, if you're trying to get to the Point to where you want to ask the right questions, you want to interview the right who, you want to know where to find that right who and that kind of thing. That's a time when you should look for the how. A book is often a real fast read. A book with a recent copyright date. What's funny is my first podcasting book actually came out a couple of years before the iPhone did. Still for sale. And still people who pick it up and follow up and say, hey, I read your book. You don't mention the iPhone. Can we get some free consulting? That's not due diligence on the book, but a book can be a fast read. Check the copyright date. A video on YouTube can be an interesting space. Look at the publication date. A podcast about podcasting. There are plenty of them. Just look. Has this person seen success? Has anyone followed them outside of this podcast about podcasting? All questions that you should be asking yourself in how to podcast, it's the first and I probably should have looked this up before I recorded it. It's like the first 64 pages or something. It's what you need to know that will let you know the how to podcast and really the questions for the who. So when should you how you should how, when you're trying to get the basic information to go from there. And that basic information really could be a point where you make the decision, do I stop? Do I go forward? Do I do it myself? Do I do a who? But just when you do the basic how do your homework, make sure it's recent, make sure there's some success here, make sure the person has the authority to actually teach you the how of podcasting. So when should you jump from the how to the whole when should you bring a person on board? Be that consultant, be that employee, be that retainer kind of relationship? When do you make that jump? I would suggest that jump of the who comes when you know that you need podcast gold. Now. Maybe a better way to phrase that sentence would be, you know now that you need podcast gold. See if you know now what you want. If you've asked yourself the question, if you've got answers to what it is that you're looking for, it's time to take action bigger than a how. If the gold level is right, if the potential for profit is true, you know how much you can invest in bringing on a how. And you do that. And by the way, if you know what that podcast gold is, that's one type of who. If you know that your organization could see podcast Gold. If you did it right, you just got to find out the right who to direct you towards that goal. That might be an entirely different who. Bring on a who if you know what it is that you need. Bring on a who if you know that you need someone to figure it out for you. And the thing is, it's not just the starting process. It's the back end for the who. It's the been there, done that for the who that's really important. I've got two examples that are kind of funny because they're about this. They both happened this week. I didn't plan on this for this episode, but it was funny. Had someone say, hey, my podcast only has 100 episodes. What's going on? I got a lot more than 100 episodes, yet iTunes only shows the 100 episodes. So the fact of the matter was it was just a simple setting in their podcast host, we did it. Podcast episodes tripled. And you know what? Search engine terms tripled. The way this person could be found tripled. Guess what happened? The audience pretty close to tripling. Great topic, a lot of type in stuff, really interesting. And the fact of the matter was, been around for years, the right who could have brought exponentially bigger growth than just this little flip of the switch by noticing that the number on itunes is just 100. If this person had brought on the right who at the right time would be at a much better place. And the spread and the profit and the podcast gold being made from this podcast more than would have paid for getting the right who. An example just this week. Now what's funny is another example this week. Somebody comes to me and says, wow, my numbers are up, my subscribers are up, my impact is up and I don't know where it came from, what's happening. The funny thing is is we looked at it and it was actually the same exact situation. Didn't realize that not all the shows were showing, got all the episodes out and saw that same results that I helped the other person see by just getting more out there all of a sudden, more impact, more downloads, higher reaching on the charts, hopefully more sales. Don't know, smaller type of conversation that was had. But it's interesting. If these people would have had the right who at the beginning, where would the podcasting, where would the podcast, where the podcast gold be today? Another great example is this purging of itunes that happened recently. If you have been watching this, monitoring this, maybe you were affected by this, but Apple came in recently and shut down a lot of shows shut down A lot of big shows for what Apple considered to be keyword stuffing. Now, in some cases, it was outright keyword stuffing. In some cases it was they had gotten bad advice, they'd maybe hired the wrong who. Now, I'm proud to say, and I don't want this to be a nya nya nyah, but we knew it was coming. And any consultant, any client of ours who could even maybe look like keyword stuffing, we fixed quickly because we were able to respond, because we know the back end. That's the type of who that we are, and we're thrilled to be that. And we were glad to give that to our clients. The great thing was it wasn't like they got a bill for us keeping them from being shut down. But the episodes continue to raise, the downloads continue to come, and the podcast gold continues to grow. You need a who. Who doesn't just know how to get this out there, doesn't even necessarily know the strategy, but is in the thick of it all. Who knows the back end of what is going on. Look for them in the who and you'll be fine. It has not been my goal to make this a add for either strategic coach or the podcast partnership. Fact of the matter is, if either one of these makes sense for you, you'll be in contact and relationships will be made. I want to make this episode an episode about the question of who versus how in podcasting. It has always been a fun element of podcasting to solve the puzzle, crack the code, read the book, watch the video, do the research. But for those of you who are with us on this journey, I know that your goal is not to crack the codec code or to figure out the cheapest hosting solution. Your goal has been for quite some time, the acquisition of podcast gold, making the impact that you've always known you could, and creating assets, not episodes. I'm going to suggest that sometimes the quest for the how has slowed you down. Sometimes the quest for the information has gotten away with the fact that maybe the information was looking for is the person who should have been doing it for you in the first place. Earlier today, I had an interview with a podcast who asked me how things have changed. And, well, one of the things, big things that changed is we've hit mainstream. Anybody who wants a podcast has got a podcast. The question now is, why is someone going to consume your podcast over all the other podcasts out there? And that's when it's done intelligently, when it's done strategically, when it's done correctly with someone who knows how to take you there. And I'm going to suggest that, yeah, there might be the right article that gets you to ask the right questions. There might be the training program that points you in the right path. But I'm going to suggest for many of you, stop looking for the how, stop looking for the what, but start looking for the who in your podcasting. Thanks so much for listening this episode. You know the deal. Thanks for watching. I'd love you to subscribe. ThePodcastReport.com Apple the PodcastReport.com Google the PodcastReport.com Spotify and Pandora and all those. I'd like to continue to get these episodes out to you as they're released. As we've chatted before, this season, we're doing two episodes a week. So the numbers and the results of that have been fascinating. If you subscribe at the end of the season, I will share those numbers and I will share those results with you. And what that means the next episode that we've got coming, the next traditional episode, not the live one that we'll do, the next traditional episode is going to be a look at, well, a bad podcast producer. I gave the last season of this podcast over to a bad podcasting produce and producer. Spoiler alert. It was my fault. I didn't give them the directions. I didn't really know what I wanted and it didn't go well. Then we're going to chat about that. Maybe what we can learn from that as we look to the who, you know, really is a part of the larger story of picking the right who. Love to hear from you. ThePodcastReport. Com 1, 5, 3, ThePodcastReport. Com, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pick the social media platform of your choice. Thank you so much. We'll chat next time. Bye.