What The Future Of Podcast Looks Like With Special Guest Steve Olsher

Hey, it's Mark Podolski, the land geek with your favorite niche real estate website, thelandgeek.com and on this week's podcast, we have a very interesting guest. Very excited to learn more, but I'd be remiss if I didn't properly introduce my co hosts, the Brain, your flight school sherpa. You know him, you love them. Scott Todd from Scott Todd.net Lanmodo.com Learn anything about anything. Investorninjas.com Scott Todd. How are you, Mark?

I'm great. And you know, I can't wait to ask our guests just like this one question. I have a burning question to ask. It has to revolve around our podcast and like, I can't wait to ask him. So let's get going.

All right, let's go. Because our guest today is Steve osher from podcast magazine.com Steve Osher is known as the world's foremost reinvention expert. I don't even know what a reinvention expert is, but he's famous for helping individuals and corporations become exceptionally clear on their what that is the one thing they were created to do. His practical, no holds barred approach to life and business propels his clients towards achieving massive profitability while also cultivating a life of purpose, conviction and contribution. He is a 30 plus year entrepreneur and the founder and editor in chief of Podcast magazine. He's done a whole bunch of other stuff as well. New York Times best selling author of what is your what? Discover the one amazing thing you were born to do. He's also a real estate developer and and creator of the new Media Summit. Look, he's just a busy guy. Steve Osher, welcome.

Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

So before we get into it, I can't have Scott Todd sitting there in suspense. So let's just get into it.

Well, I'm just curious, like Podcast magazine, man, why have I not been on the COVID yet? I keep waiting for the phone call.

It's coming, it's coming. Yeah, actually, I just did my just my own unveiling here. We literally just got the. I just got this one in my hand right here with Hal Elrod. So you have to fight Hal for the next cover. I guess technically he probably won't be on the next cover, but yeah, I'm thumbing through this thing and I'm going, geez, yeah, we're cranking here so soon. Real soon.

I want to keep working real hard. One day I'm gonna be able to cover that magazine.

Exactly. We're gonna like it's like the COVID of Rolling Stone for us.

You know what it is? It's true. And it's been said that podcasters are to the 2000s what rock and rollers were to the 1960s. So there's a lot to be said for that.

There you go. There you go. I might start growing out my hair.

I'm on my way doing it right now.

I'm gonna take a little bit longer than you, Mark, but I'm gonna get it done.

Well, let's. Steve, let's just rewind the tape. Let's go back 30 plus years. And how did you start your entrepreneurial journey?

So pretty much in the DNA, man. You know, I think that there's, there's some folks who will sit here and say that entrepreneurs can be made. I'm of the mindset that entrepreneurs are born. It's just kind of in your DNA or it isn't. And for me, it's just always been part of who I am to try to rub a couple of dimes together to make a corporate. And literally from a very young age of being able to pick up a rake and rake lawns and grab a shovel and just shovel sidewalks and driveways, just how I've always been wired. I like making money. I'm just one of those guys that I don't believe that anyone can really take care of you and yours better than you possibly can. So you might as well put that destiny in your own hands. And from a very young age, as I said, always been wired in that, in that way. And the first real entrepreneurial endeavor I had roughly 30 odd years ago was actually opening up my own nightclub when I was 19. So, yeah, it's been a long journey, but that was the first true endeavor.

Wow. So fast forward to today. Why podcasts? Why Podcast magazine?

Yeah, you know, man, I've. I've always had a love for, for radio. Radio for me has always been kind of the holy grail. I had thought, I think, at one point in my career, actually at many points in my career, that if I could have a morning show or an evening show or something like that, that would, that would have been a holy grail for me of just having my own radio show. And it never panned out, got involved in other things, whatever, move forward, kind of bury that idea, bury that dream, and you go on other things. But when I caught a glimpse of podcasting in 2009, I was like, man, this is really interesting. It really gives all of us the opportunity to ostensibly have our own Radio station, right. To be able to reach almost anyone, almost anytime, almost anywhere, without anyone telling you what you can or you can't do. So, always had a love for podcasting since the first moment I was exposed to it. And as I've been in the space now for the better part of a decade and longer, I realized about a year ish ago, something like that, around October 2019, is when we had. When we had the first discussion around Podcast magazine with me and my team, I just realized that there was an opportunity here to do something for podcast fans that wasn't being done. There were some things being done for podcasters, but really nothing that was dedicated to podcast fans. And so, like I just said, you know, just really seeing that podcasters are to the. To the 2020s what rock and rollers and those rock stars were to the 1960s, I just. I felt like we could create the Rolling Stone, so to speak, for the world of podcasting, the Sports Illustrated for the world of podcasting, et cetera, et cetera. And I just knew in my heart that if I didn't do it, somebody else would, and I wasn't gonna be able to sleep if that was the case.

I love it, Scott. Todd, what are you thinking? What are your thoughts?

You know, I think that, you know, Mark, it's funny how our work evolves, right? How markets evolve and how things evolve. And I think it's really kind of cool to see podcasts and how they've grown and developed as well. And it's. Well to see how Steve is capitalizing on that piece as well.

Yeah, the media landscape has really, really changed. I mean, I'm just looking at my own teenagers. They don't ever watch television. They're really on YouTube or Instagram getting content they don't want to. Just like we grew up in just watching tv. It's really interesting how things are changing. And so, Steve, if everything's going to change technologically, where do you see the future of podcasting?

Well, I mean, look, the reality is the pie is big enough for everybody to get a slice, right? So I don't anticipate that television or radio or any of those things are going to go away. I mean, they said for a long time the VCR was going to kill movie theaters, right? I mean, that didn't happen. They said for a long time that satellite radio was going to kill terrestrial radio. That didn't happen. They said for a long time podcasting would kill radio and so on and so forth. So, you know, for me, I don't see it as an either or. I just see it as an. And so from, from my perspective, yeah, the kids, you know, they like, they like what they like. They look on their phones, they see things on their phones and obviously go to YouTube and TikToks and wherever. But at the same token, my youngest son and I, we just, we, along with my, my wife now, I mean, we watched all the episodes of Schitt's Creek on television. Right. So did we do it through Netflix? Yeah, but that's still traditional television. Right. My son, my older son loves movies now. He's watched Goodfellas probably, I don't know, two dozen times. Right. So. So the reality is I just, I see the future of media as being very much what it looks like today with the addition of other ideas. Right. I mean, and you can see some of that developing. And I know you're gonna ask me a question later. I'm gonna share some of my thoughts on that. But there, you know, there's one particular platform right now that is evolving and exploding at the moment, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. But again, I see that as an addition to and not a subtraction of.

Well, let's just get into it. Which is it?

Clubhouse, man. I am fully hooked and have gone way off the deep end in it. And it is the future of audio. And we have a fairly large group on there called Club Podcast, which obviously is about all things podcasting, covering podcast, podcast culture and discussions around the medium. And so we've quickly grown over 6,000 members in that club. And Clubhouse has barely even scratched the surface in terms of availability to users across the globe. I mean, I've got like a million users right now, so why am I so bullish on Clubhouse? Because it's real time interaction. It's real time dialogue. It is basically the equivalent of going into a huge global conference with all of these breakout rooms and all these discussions going on in real time. So there is no evergreen nature to it. It's not recorded. You don't have any of those elements to it. But you walk in and you're literally in the middle of discussions. And people are craving real, live, raw, authentic, unpolished, unproduced discussions and conversations in entertainment and education and so on. And they've really tapped into that evolving landscape in a pretty dang impressive way.

That's really cool. I've never even heard of it. Scott. Todd, have you heard of Clubhouse?

No. In fact, I just went to what I think is the website and it's like it's in private beta. I don't know.

I knew.

Secret way of getting in.

Yeah. And it's only available to iOS, right. So if you're an Apple user, just go to Clubhouse, that app in the App Store. The best thing to do is to set up your profile and then wait for someone to, quote, unquote, let you in. And someone, perhaps eventually will, if one of your contacts on your phone is already a member, so to speak. But they're opening it up. It's not as exclusive as they make it out to be, but it is invitation only, so to speak, at this point. But the reality is they're not going to continue to grow and thrive unless they let people in. So every day, thousands of people are being let in.

So it sounds like a back room kind of a deal, man. Like it. I mean, Mark, I think, like the exclusivity of it makes me want to get in even more. What about you?

Oh, absolutely. In fact, I'm going to try to get in before you.

And then.

Yeah, yeah.

Well. And I will say this, which is that they've been very smart about their growth strategy and whatnot, but they're. One of the main reasons why they're doing it in this way is because they. They have a very small team and their growing pains are real. There were. There were 5,000 people in a room last night on a particular subject and they had to close people off to even being able to get into that room. And the servers crashed earlier yesterday and so on. So it's not. Don't take it personally. It's just simply that they're having to manage their growth.

I see. This is. This is the Drop In Audio app.

It is the Drop In Audio app. It's the one that's got the black guy with the afro on the app there on the. The icon. Right. I think that's. That's their current. Their current icon. Yeah.

Yeah. I'm just trying to get in before Scott.

Yeah. Look at you guys. We can continue this conversation. We can just talk another day. I'll see you guys later, right?

I mean, no, it's fine. So it's a race. So, Steve, let's. Let's just, you know, go.

For those of you listening right now, as I lead this conversation, both Mark and Scott are looking down. They are on their phones. They are both applying right now to get into Clubhouse. And basically I'm just talking to myself. Just as an FYI, I've submitted my profile.

I'm done. Mark, by the way, what Username.

What username did you choose?

What's that?

What username did you choose?

E. S Toddler.

Okay. I am. I am at podcasts, so my username is odcasts. And. And we run Club Pod. So join us.

All right, I'm at the Land Geek. There you go. Done. Reserved. Okay, back to the show. Steve Osher. Hi. Good to see you.

Welcome to my show. Welcome to our show about clubhouse.

Clearly. What's a reinvention expert?

You know, man, I've just reinvented my life so many times over the years that it's one of those monikers that just kind of stuck, from nightclubs to catalogs to launching online in 1993 to building liquor.com and selling that to Barry Diller. I mean, I've done a ton over the years, and so for me, it just represents really who I am and then having conversations with other people over the years, and it's just very clear that so many people are also in a state of reinvention. We're all in a state of reinvention every single moment of every single day, really. So it's really just helping people understand that they are naturally wired to excel in very specific ways. And reinvention, to me, has nothing to do with changing anything, really, about who you are so much as it's about shedding the shackles of the outfits and the expectations and the agendas of others that you've taken on over the course of your life and really just getting back to the essence again of how you're naturally wired to excel.

Yeah, I want to go a little bit deeper into what that last phrase you had, because my parents are actually in Scottsdale right now, and I'm sort of observing them in a way to see, like, oh, wait, how have they, you know, their. Their thought patterns, what have I, you know, unconsciously of them taken on and has this. I'm sure it's a lot. And, you know, Scott, probably this the same thing, although his dad recently passed. But we can. We can sort of trace it back. These. These influences and then. But now that we're adults, we're sort of free in a way. But I'd like to know for you, Steve, how were you able to consciously tap into these unconscious patterns that we all sort of just inherit and reinvent?

Yeah. Well, it's like a light switch, right? I mean, when you think about a light switch, it's either on or it's off. So just even having this conversation, you're turning the light switch on that perhaps what you believe to be true actually isn't right. And so for me, what. What I have been. What I have been very clear on, more recently, certainly over the last year, more so than ever, is that, you know, the reality of our lives is that what we believe to be true and the perspectives that we have and our take on how the world actually is, it is completely formulated based on the data that we have received over the course of our lives. And so, like, I grew up in Chicago, and I came from, obviously, a very specific family. That family provided various input to me over the course of my life. The people and the friends that I surrounded myself provided various input over the course of my life. Listening to WCKG or WGN or WBBM or whatever that might be in Chicago provided very specific data. Reading the Chicago Tribune or reading Crane Chicago Business provided very specific data. The data that I received is not the same data that you received by any stretch of the imagination. Right. And so the reality is that the perspective that I have in terms of who I am and what I believe to be true is based on those billions and billions and billions of points of data. The radio stations, the television shows, the movies, you name it, right across the board. And what I. What I know is that someone sitting right next to me, who could be my exact same age, could have been born on the exact same day, but grew up in a very different place, is going to see the world from a very different perspective, even though astrologically, even if we were born in the exact same moment in time, we should be identical in a lot of ways. That's just not the case. Right. So what I now believe to be true is that there I am as much right as I am wrong. And more often than not, I am more wrong than I am right. Because that perspective that I bring to the table and my thoughts and my thinking and everything that makes me into who I am is totally and completely an illusion. And it is totally and completely based on all of the belief systems that I put in place that have gotten me to where I am at this exact moment in time. And so the more we can destroy those illusions and belief systems, the easier it becomes for us to recognize that there is not only the possibility of everything that we know to be completely untrue, but also that everything that we know about ourselves to be completely untrue.

Yeah, I mean, you're kind of preaching to the choir here with me. Scott will tell you. I say this all the time. I don't know anything about anything. And I always want to embrace beginner's mind and always sort of check myself what is the story I'm telling myself. Because just like what you said, we're kind of, you know, I have these different inputs that have colored everything. And it may not be reality, it could all be an illusion. And like a computer, the inputs I have are, you know, I'm just kind of running this program in a way. But. Scott, Todd, I'd love to know what your thoughts are.

Well, I do think. I think that it's funny because you. I mean, it's not even about, like you could have two people in the exact same household that see something, an event happen, and it's completely. That's not what happened. Like you've had this conversation. That's not what happened. Yes, it is. No, it happened this way. And these. We build these filters, right? Like we constantly build these filters. And Steve's talking about. And the reality is, is that, you know, we have to be able to know that we are being. That we are filtering our own views on things, business. Business wise, our own experiences. It's funny, Mark, because people will come to, like flight school, and we'll start talking about, you know, buying rural land, and people will be like, well, why would anybody buy. Buy something that's so far out that no one would ever build there? Who said you have to build, Right? Like, that's a filter. And so we become. We shape the world through our filters or our world gets shaped through our filters. And man, when you take down the filters, when you take down your filters and you embrace. Wow, all of a sudden it's crazy what's out there. And I was telling someone the other day, and they said, it's funny because whenever we learn something new that doesn't coincide with our filters, the first thing we always think is, they're crazy. They're crazy. Okay, well, are they crazy or your filters blocking you from being able to see another reality that's out there?

No. Yeah, absolutely. And I think I'm trying to think of. Okay, so Jim Collins, who wrote all these great business books, good to great, one of his big foundational things about great leaders is humility. And so when you adopt Steve's mindset on this, it is, I believe, the foundation for humility and compassion. Steve, am I correct or am I going in a different direction than what you're thinking?

Yeah, I mean, look, I think humility and compassion is certainly a component of that for sure. Right. There's no doubt. And what I would also say is that it's More about compassion for yourself. Right? And giving yourself the ability to just take a step back and breathe and recognize that again, the truth that you hold so dearly is in fact something that by letting go of that truth, you in fact gain even more freedom. Right? And so it's almost a matter of freedom, forgiveness, and allowing yourself to, to be someone who you perhaps never believe that you had the ability to be. So, yeah, I mean, I know that's a little complicated there, but I think the bottom line is it's, it's of course, humility and compassion and being humble and so on, but it's also about forgiveness and being kind to yourself.

So, but when you, you know, when you have this sort of, you know, mindset, if you will, I do think that it translates into a better entrepreneur because you're now more flexible and we all know that business is constantly changing. And if you have this fixed mindset, you know, we can just, let's just pick on Kodak, right? They, they didn't have this flexible mind, like nothing's better than film. Well, you know, people like digital and they are, they are leaders in it. So I do think that, that it does, you know, this reinvention, this, this mindset does help you be a better entrepreneur. Scott Todd, what do you think?

Yeah, I think that, you know, if you think about like businesses, a lot of times businesses get stuck in this trap, right? Like they, they get stuck in this one thing, Kodak, for example, or, you know, like when I worked at Hertz, that was another example is whenever we try to do something that was a little outside of the normal, there was resistance to it. And this is, that is the reason why, like, you know, these startup airlines, you know, these, these low cost airlines are able to kind of infiltrate an established market is because they bring to it a clean slate. And then whenever a company like, you know, Delta, for example, if Delta tried to compete with Southwest, which they've done with, I think the airline was called Ted. Well, it's, it's so hard to reinvent yourself as a low cost airline when you have all of these high costs built into it and you don't necessarily have that entrepreneurial drive to keep your costs low, become blindsided, right? Like you will get blindsided. And as a result, you put your own company at risk. So you got to remember always keeping that open mind and questioning all of your assumptions, because you're making assumptions every day. You're making assumptions about your marketing, about the people that you're buying land from. You're making Assumptions. And those assumptions could be way wrong. And you're making them with no evidence.

Yeah, no, absolutely. Absolutely. So, Steve, before we get to the tip of the week, I do want to ask you one more question about identifying your what. And is there a process you go through in helping you discover your what?

Yeah. So for those who are unfamiliar, what you're talking about is my book, what is your what? Discover the one amazing thing you were born to do. And so what you're talking about is the what is your what framework. And. And, yeah, I mean, the process is very simple. It's very straightforward. It's a lot easier than most people think, but it's also a lot harder than most people realize. And being able to identify what your what is involves having clarity around your core gift, which is your DNA. Again, it just really reflects how you're naturally wired to excel. Having clarity around the primary vehicle that you will use to share that gift, and then having a clear understanding as much as you possibly can, around who the people are that you're most compelled to serve. And so it's the combination of the gift, the vehicle, and the people that make up the what is your what framework. And most people will go a lifetime without ever having real clarity about how they're wired to excel. And what I believe is that your what really has chosen you, and it's not that what you have chosen. And so while in theory it's just three steps, you know, understanding your gift, your vehicle, and your people, it shouldn't be that difficult. Most people will go a lifetime without having clarity around one piece of the equation, let alone all three. So the book has tried to make it just as easy as possible to have clarity around those three pieces and provides guidance on how to come to those answers.

Yeah, I think it's interesting. You know, we get shiny object syndrome with business, but I think we get shiny object syndrome with wanting to be like other people. So, you know, Scott Todd takes up golf. He's a pilot. And all of a sudden, I get distracted about what I'm really good at. And I want to be like Scott, because that's super cool. But I have literally no gifts in either one of those things. But he loves it, and that's great. But as soon as you start doing it, like, oh, I want to start, you know, doing this, and then I'm like, wait, why do I want to do this?

Yeah. And look, I mean, there's. There's obviously there's skills, and then there are, you know, there are talents. Right. So skills can be acquired. Skills can, can be learned. Right. Whatever those things are. And then there are talents that are really innate to who you are and those talents can't be taught. So there is a difference between talents and skills. And I think a lot of people try to confuse the two.

Am I confusing the two?

Not necessarily. But I mean, like golf in and of itself is for a lot of people, it is a skill that can be learned. But the talent of being able to close out around and get into the mindset of being able to make the shots that you need to make on a Sunday with 100,000 people watching and millions of people watching on TV, that is not a skill that can be learned. That is a talent.

I see. Okay, well, this has been really a fascinating, wide ranging discussion.

I'm a wide ranging dude.

You are a wide ranging dude. We could go for hours, but unfortunately we're at that point now. We're going to ask you for your tip of the week. A website, a resource, a book, something else actionable for the art of passive income listeners to go improve their businesses, improve their lives. What do you got?

Oh, that's a pretty easy one at this point. Look, I have been online for 30 years, down near 30 years. We launched a store on CompuServe's electronic mall in 1993. I have watched fortunes being made. I have watched fortunes being lost. I will tell you that in the world of online marketing, seldom do opportunities come in the way that they came with the advent of the Internet, with Instagram, with Facebook, and with some of those platforms that have allowed us all, no matter where we are on the planet, to be able to connect in a deep, meaningful way. We talked about it a little bit earlier, but I have not seen anything like Clubhouse in a long time. And there is an early adopter opportunity here that if you put six months into the platform and really just, I mean, you have. It's very addicting and you'll see that it can suck your life away with the quickness. But if you're intentional about how you invest your time on the platform, I have strong confidence that six months in can pay dividends for quite some time to come. So this, this is an opportunity like I haven't seen online in quite some time.

So what would your advice be to Scott and I with our platforms in clubhouse? To be strategic.

So, so to be strategic in clubhouse number one, you're not going to compete with the big boys and the big girls. I mean, you're already starting to see them come over to the platform. We're sitting there struggling to get this many people, this many people. Gary Vaynerchuk comes on, and all of a sudden he's got 50,000 followers. Just like that, right? Just like that. Because he's Gary. And the hope was maybe this platform wouldn't be that maybe this platform and the dogs agree with me on this. And this is the joys of working from home. So I don't know how much of that you'll pick up, but the dogs are very bullish on Clubhouse as well. But what I will tell you is that I was hoping that this platform would really level the playing field for all of us and give people like ourselves the opportunity to create a really big following, loyal following, in a way that allows to compete with some of those bigger names in bigger pockets. The truth is, it's probably not going to happen. Those people are still going to come in and they're going to bulldoze, you know, just bulldoze their way through. So what do you have to do? So I would recommend being very intentional about creating a profile that speaks to exactly what it is that you want to use the platform for. Like, for us, getting the user name at podcasts was very intentional because we believe that there is an opportunity here to create a really strong community of the podcast community. Right. Those people online here in the clubhouse form. And so be really intentional about the username that you create, understand exactly what it is that you want to accomplish on that platform and what you want to be known as in that arena. So for us, it's one specific word. It's podcasting, period. End story. So podcast, Podcast, Podcast. That's where our focus is and one of the reasons why we created Club Pod. And that's the next step. So after you create your profile, the next step is to start opening rooms, have conversations about whatever that particular area of focus is, and then apply for a club. And the rule of thumb is you want to open three rooms in a week, really have good conversations, close those rooms, open new rooms around whatever that topic of influence is that you want to focus on, and then create a club and apply for a club as it relates to that particular area of expertise and that area of focus. Those are your two best steps right now.

All right, very interesting. Well, before we get to Scott Todd's tip of the week, I do want to give a shout out to our sponsor, which is flight school. Learn how the next 16 weeks can literally transform your life. Start building that passive income machine with Scott Todd as your Sherpa. He's done it thousands of times. He will take you up that mountain of land, investing quickly, safely, efficiently. And not only that, the flight school tuition ain't going to cost you nothing. You're going to make that money back 180 days or less, guaranteed. Just follow the recipe, show us your work, and you are destined to make this year the best year ever. Learn more. Go tolandgeek.com training thelandgeek.com for Scott Todd. What's your tip of the week, Mark?

You know what's cool is whenever you're, you know, you got a website set up and you're getting traffic from other places, you know, all of these people are referring traffic to you. Wouldn't it be nice to see where the traffic's coming from, Mark, and how much is coming in an easy way? Okay, so you can go into Google Analytics and dig through all of this stuff. What if there was one dashboard that showed you all of the websites that are referring you traffic and how much they're sending you? How valuable would that be for you, Mark?

Very valuable.

All right, well, check out my tip of the week, which is mentioned app. Mentioned app. And you go there, you sign up for a free account. It will track to see, like when someone clicks on a link somewhere in the Internet and it links back to you, it will show you where that website or what website that came from, and it will accumulate it over time so you can see who is sending you traffic, how much they're sending you, and you get notified by email whenever you get some new traffic from a referral source.

I love it. I love it. Fantastic. Well, my tip of the week is really cool because unlike Scott's, it's free. Go to podcast.

What are you talking about? Mine's free.

Is it free?

Yes. Big thanks, brother.

Fine.

Mine's still really good, though. Go to Podcast magazine for forward/free podcastmagazine.com free. We will have a link to it and start, you know, getting deeper into some of these podcast shows that you maybe you've never even heard of and start opening your mind. You start opening your mind and we go into Steve Osher's reinvention. So, Steve Osher, are we good?

We're good, man. Appreciate you having me on.

Thank you, Scott. Todd, are we good?

We're good.

All right. I want to thank the listeners and remind them the only way, the only way we're going to get the quality of guests like a Steve Osher from podcastmagazine.com is if you do us three little favors. You got to subscribe, get a rate, review the podcast, Send us a screenshot of that review to support attheland geek.com. we're going to send you the $97 passive income launch kit for free. So please do that. All right, Are we ready to do this? We are. All right. One, two, three. Let freedom ring. Thanks, everybody. Thanks, Ste.