My Biggest Takeaways from Podcast Movement 2024

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Hello, hello and welcome to another episode of Podcast Workflows. We've got another episode

[00:00:06] [SPEAKER_00]: of Three Things in Podcasting for you. I am freshly back from Podcast Movement as I record this

[00:00:14] [SPEAKER_00]: and I have three things on my mind and those are the three things we're going to talk about

[00:00:19] [SPEAKER_00]: today. But before we get to that, I do want to share a fun thing with you. My friend Chanel

[00:00:28] [SPEAKER_00]: reviewed or audited basically my website for newsletter growth and she gave me some pretty

[00:00:36] [SPEAKER_00]: incredible feedback that basically the whole homepage was terrible. She didn't quite put it

[00:00:42] [SPEAKER_00]: that way but that was the TLDR and I really loved it. So I redesigned the homepage,

[00:00:48] [SPEAKER_00]: I took her advice here, I added trust logos and then recommended articles and latest articles

[00:00:57] [SPEAKER_00]: on the podcast. So and then some information about me. So this is a much better experience

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_00]: I would say than the original. It's still a work in progress. I basically redesigned this

[00:01:08] [SPEAKER_00]: on like a Monday morning maybe like a Sunday afternoon Monday morning before I went to Podcast

[00:01:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Movement. But I'm very excited with the way it's turned out so far and I'm excited now that I'm

[00:01:20] [SPEAKER_00]: back in the office to see how well it does. But one of those articles is what I'm thinking

[00:01:27] [SPEAKER_00]: about after Podcast Movement and those are the three things I want to talk about today. So

[00:01:32] [SPEAKER_00]: let's dive into it. So these are the three things I'm thinking about after Podcast

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Movement. Show segments, masterminds, and community. So let's go with number one here.

[00:01:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Segments for shows. I was having a conversation with someone during a brain date. I think brain

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_00]: dates were the best thing at Podcast Movement. It's basically you can set up your own sessions

[00:02:01] [SPEAKER_00]: in this area with tables and up to five people can sign up to sit with you on this

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_00]: topic you've selected. So all of my more about process improvements and automation. I held three

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_00]: and then you could also set up one on ones. I think I had four, three or four one on ones.

[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_00]: So it was just great. I got to talk to podcasters about what was on their mind and

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_00]: what they were struggling with. Strongly recommend it. But in one of these brain dates

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_00]: we were talking a lot about the importance of having segments for your show. And I also

[00:02:36] [SPEAKER_00]: recorded an episode from Podcast Movement. So once I get that video, I will release that on the

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_00]: feed. But I think segments can do a lot to accelerate your planning process for one,

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_00]: knowing how you structure your show ahead of time will make it easy to fill in the blanks

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_00]: versus starting from scratch. If you're like, oh, I know I talk about X, Y, and Z every

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_00]: episode, then it's easy to fill in X. Right? Number two is segments mean you don't necessarily

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_00]: need to really script your show. This is a thought I have because if you have segments,

[00:03:15] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean look at like The Tonight Show. Ira Glass talked about this at Podcast Movement. If

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_00]: you look at your podcast as a show, then a podcast is just like the distribution medium.

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Right? Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, right? Like they have a show with segments and then

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_00]: they release each of those segments as YouTube videos. Right? And so if you have segments,

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_00]: then you're creating similar structure to having a script without necessarily fully

[00:03:50] [SPEAKER_00]: scripting it. And then number three, they give people something to look forward to,

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_00]: forms a habit in them. Right? Thank you notes is one of Jimmy Fallon's most popular,

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I would think it's one of his most popular segments that people look forward to every

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Thursday or Friday, like every last show of the week. Right? And the monologue is a video

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_00]: that I watch every morning. So it gives people that habit. Another example of this is Talking

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Yanks. I love Talking Yanks. I watch most Yankee games. So if you don't know,

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_00]: different types of shows. But one of my favorite episodes of Talking Yanks, I always look forward

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_00]: to their series recap episodes which are recorded and streamed shortly after the last

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_00]: game of a series. And even though I watched the game, I still like listening to what they

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_00]: thought about. I look forward to The Burns, which is where Jake, one of the co-hosts,

[00:04:46] [SPEAKER_00]: the games in a pun filled, mostly scripted segment. And so, you know, he'll write his

[00:04:55] [SPEAKER_00]: burn down and he, again, he recaps a game I watched, but I'm interested to see what he highlights.

[00:05:01] [SPEAKER_00]: But then they also have awards. And those are the things I look forward to. Who do they think

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_00]: was the best player of the series? Who do they think was the worst player of the series?

[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_00]: What did they see? Because it enhances the game for me. So this is something I'm thinking

[00:05:15] [SPEAKER_00]: about, something I would encourage you to think about for your podcast is how can I make my

[00:05:22] [SPEAKER_00]: episodes, especially the solo episodes, more segmented? I think that this show is,

[00:05:28] [SPEAKER_00]: is or at least the three things is very clearly segmented. Thing number one, thing number

[00:05:33] [SPEAKER_00]: two, thing number three. But the streamlined solopreneur, it's what my solo episodes are

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_00]: somewhere in between a scripted story and a segmented show. And that's just like,

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I feel I could do better now. I should say my solo episodes do well,

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER_00]: but I feel I could do better. Right. I don't want to rest on my laurels.

[00:06:01] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's for another reason, which is number two in this, which is masterminds. And so

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_00]: my friend Alex Sanfilippo gave a really good talk about monetization.

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_00]: I appreciate it because it was different. It was so different that it actually gave me an idea,

[00:06:22] [SPEAKER_00]: I think worth exploring for the streamlined solopreneur. And I think about making money

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_00]: a lot like I like I have a framework about it right. But something he said unlocked this

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_00]: in me. Right. So I have felt a little bit stuck on monetization for my show

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_00]: because in part it's not in part, but it's because sponsorship has been down and sponsorship

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_00]: has been down in part because I'm not putting maximum effort into finding sponsors. Right.

[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_00]: I could reach out to five potential sponsors every day and then start those conversations.

[00:07:00] [SPEAKER_00]: But it's also in part because 2022, 2023 was a wake up call for me. Sponsorship money dried up

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_00]: and it put my business in peril. And I'm a sponsorship coach for my friend Justin Moore.

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_00]: So for Creator Wizard and the Wizards Guild. So I fully believe in sponsorships, but

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: if sponsorship is down, I don't want my whole business to have to fold. Right.

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't realize how reliant on sponsors my business was. And so I started to diversify.

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, I think it's it's sponsorship was definitely the best way for me for the streamlined

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_00]: solopreneur to make money because it is a decently popular show, but it's not a huge show.

[00:07:56] [SPEAKER_00]: It's not a show where I can sell a five or ten dollar per month membership to enough people

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_00]: to make ends meet. You know, if it gets, you know, it gets a little over maybe it gets like

[00:08:08] [SPEAKER_00]: 1200 downloads within the first seven days. Downloads does not listens. Engaged fans are.

[00:08:16] [SPEAKER_00]: But even so, if we look at like a one percent conversion, right, we're looking at like 10

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_00]: people. So our 11 or 12 people maybe. But like that's 120 bucks if I charge ten dollars per

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_00]: month. Right. So it's not enough for me to support myself on a small dollar membership.

[00:08:35] [SPEAKER_00]: And the show also isn't fully aligned with my coaching services. Right. I my main business

[00:08:44] [SPEAKER_00]: is helping podcasters. That's what this show is about. When the streamlined solopreneur started,

[00:08:52] [SPEAKER_00]: it was called How I Built It. And my intention was to ask developers how they built tools and

[00:08:59] [SPEAKER_00]: then make courses like it was originally designed to help promote my online courses.

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_00]: But then it got sponsored and I you know, I failed in a couple of places. I just I

[00:09:11] [SPEAKER_00]: didn't think I should be promoting my stuff when I had sponsors. And that was

[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_00]: an incorrect thought. I didn't build my mailing list soon enough and that was an incorrect thought.

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_00]: But then I switched the scope of this show to talking to busy solopreneur parents,

[00:09:29] [SPEAKER_00]: the streamlined solopreneur not this show. And that you know, that's not something that

[00:09:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I focused my business around. I've niched down to help podcasters save time producing their

[00:09:42] [SPEAKER_00]: podcast and I've spent a lot of time building my authority around that. So the audience for

[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_00]: streamlined solopreneur, busy solopreneurs probably parents may or may not have a podcast.

[00:09:57] [SPEAKER_00]: And this is where Alex's advice comes in. He mentioned that one way to monetize would be to

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_00]: start promoting your coaching services or doing a mastermind group. And I don't know why I never

[00:10:12] [SPEAKER_00]: thought of this, right? But I think this could be it's definitely worth exploring. I'm not going

[00:10:19] [SPEAKER_00]: to say I'm not going to sit here right now and say this is it. This is going to make me

[00:10:24] [SPEAKER_00]: thousands of dollars per month, but I think it's worth exploring. And this is why I think

[00:10:29] [SPEAKER_00]: having a podcast mission statement is so important. I know exactly who the streamlined

[00:10:34] [SPEAKER_00]: solopreneur helps. So if I can figure out a way to add more value for them,

[00:10:39] [SPEAKER_00]: either through a community or a mastermind group, that could be a big boost for me

[00:10:46] [SPEAKER_00]: and for my audience. And this is definitely a higher dollar membership, right? Which means

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_00]: let's say I can get 10 people listening to join at $100 a month. That's $1,000. That's an extra

[00:11:04] [SPEAKER_00]: thousand dollars per month, right? And so it makes that endeavor worth it, right? Because

[00:11:10] [SPEAKER_00]: at the very least between that and sponsorship, the show is well in the black, right? And so

[00:11:22] [SPEAKER_00]: I want to really think about that more, especially in conjunction with the third thing,

[00:11:29] [SPEAKER_00]: which is podcast communities. Podcast communities are a must. Before I left for podcast movement,

[00:11:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I talked in my newsletter about feedback and communities and how hard it could be to build

[00:11:41] [SPEAKER_00]: one and how I'm thinking about that more. And that was one of my goals for podcast movement

[00:11:46] [SPEAKER_00]: talk to people about this. Because now I think that some sort of community

[00:11:54] [SPEAKER_00]: is a must for a successful show. Because remember, downloads don't matter.

[00:12:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Engaged listeners matter. Communities are full of engaged listeners.

[00:12:15] [SPEAKER_00]: And so it made me realize a couple of things, right? One is that I should be more active in the

[00:12:21] [SPEAKER_00]: discords I'm a part of, right? I'm a member of some or I'm a subscriber to some podcasts or

[00:12:27] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm a member of some podcasts and I should see how they're doing it and be part of these

[00:12:33] [SPEAKER_00]: communities because podcast membership can and should be more about just bonus content.

[00:12:39] [SPEAKER_00]: I think maybe you could have a free community, but a paid community is something that could be

[00:12:44] [SPEAKER_00]: a big boon to you if you have enough people who are interested either way. And I know they're

[00:12:49] [SPEAKER_00]: hard and finding the right tool can make them easier, right? And this is the other thing that

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER_00]: kind of part of this podcast community is our must, the third thing here.

[00:12:59] [SPEAKER_00]: I had a really great candid conversation with Pat, the founder of FanList. If you have been

[00:13:06] [SPEAKER_00]: following my YouTube channel, you'll know that I talked about FanList. And when I last looked at

[00:13:12] [SPEAKER_00]: it, I passed on it because you had to sign up or the people leaving feedback had to sign up

[00:13:20] [SPEAKER_00]: in order to leave the feedback. And I shared this with Pat and he pushed back. He gave me

[00:13:26] [SPEAKER_00]: some insight into his decision making about why he did that. And honestly, he convinced me

[00:13:31] [SPEAKER_00]: that this was the right thing to do. And so I'm taking a second look at FanList and I think this

[00:13:38] [SPEAKER_00]: could be a good tool for me to build a community around the Streamline Solopreneur.

[00:13:44] [SPEAKER_00]: And potentially this show, right? I think this show, the scope is a little bit different.

[00:13:51] [SPEAKER_00]: My newsletter is very aligned with this show. I think that's kind of like, Streamline Solopreneur

[00:13:57] [SPEAKER_00]: is a little bit the odd man out in my offerings. It's a podcast that gives me the authority to

[00:14:05] [SPEAKER_00]: talk about what I talk about because it is a fairly popular podcast. It's sponsored.

[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_00]: It's my main weekly interview show and it's bigger than this show. It's been around for

[00:14:17] [SPEAKER_00]: a long time until I want to keep it going, but it's not necessarily aligned with my coaching,

[00:14:24] [SPEAKER_00]: like I said. So it's a little bit the odd man out, but I think that there are some things here

[00:14:29] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm thinking about to make it not the odd man out or to make it its own thing. I think this

[00:14:34] [SPEAKER_00]: show is good. It could obviously be improved, but this show is still growing. Like it hasn't

[00:14:40] [SPEAKER_00]: had a chance to get stale. It hasn't had a chance to build an audience and get stale,

[00:14:45] [SPEAKER_00]: right? Whereas Streamline Solopreneur has been around for eight years in some way,

[00:14:48] [SPEAKER_00]: shape, or form. It's gone through a lot of changes this year and I want to build momentum

[00:14:53] [SPEAKER_00]: for the new audience and my new direction for that show. So that's one thing. And then similarly,

[00:15:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I got to meet Lindsey Graham. Not that Lindsey Graham, the guy who hosts some of my favorite

[00:15:04] [SPEAKER_00]: podcasts like History Daily and American History Tellers. I did a deep dive on into history.

[00:15:09] [SPEAKER_00]: I was in his membership last year when it launched. He thanked me for being like a

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_00]: champion of the membership and being a part of it. And the funny thing is I let it lapse

[00:15:20] [SPEAKER_00]: a couple weeks ago because the two shows... And this comes back to why community is important.

[00:15:29] [SPEAKER_00]: I wasn't being a part of the community because Discord scares and confuses me.

[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And so I was really only paying for the bonus content to have it ad free,

[00:15:39] [SPEAKER_00]: but I could get it ad free in the Amazon Music app. So I was like, I'll try that.

[00:15:45] [SPEAKER_00]: The Amazon Music app is not good for listening to podcasts. It's just not a good experience.

[00:15:50] [SPEAKER_00]: He didn't know I churned out, but I immediately went and I signed back up

[00:15:57] [SPEAKER_00]: and I logged back into the Discord. And I remembered how much value there is in hanging

[00:16:05] [SPEAKER_00]: out with people who are just as into history. Pun time. As I am. So those are the three things.

[00:16:17] [SPEAKER_00]: How can I add more better segments or actual segments to my show, The Streamline Solopreneur?

[00:16:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Is there a viable monetization option in me offering a mastermind for

[00:16:30] [SPEAKER_00]: busy solopreneurs? That is people who listen to the podcast.

[00:16:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And how can I build more of a community around my podcast? And how can podcasters do this?

[00:16:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Right. This is a lot of work. We already have a lot of work. My job is to help you

[00:16:44] [SPEAKER_00]: save time. But I want to help you save time in your processes so you can spend your time

[00:16:51] [SPEAKER_00]: in the right places, like creating good content and figuring out a way to monetize that isn't

[00:16:57] [SPEAKER_00]: necessarily sponsorship. It could be, but doesn't have to be. And how can you build

[00:17:02] [SPEAKER_00]: a community? Because I think all of those things kind of inform each other. So that's it for

[00:17:08] [SPEAKER_00]: this episode of Podcast Workflows and Three Things in Podcasting. Let me know what you think.

[00:17:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Right now, you can go to YouTube or Spotify and leave a comment, or you can head over to

[00:17:23] [SPEAKER_00]: PodcastWorkflows.com slash episodes and there will be a link to this episode and a comment box.

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_00]: So let me know what you think. All of those links will be in the description or the show

[00:17:36] [SPEAKER_00]: notes for this episode. Thanks so much for listening and until next time, I can't wait to see who you make.