By mid 2016, my educational mentoring and coaching business, had been rolling along for about five years. In the beginning, my team and I were seeing steady growth with every passing year, but we started to plateau in year four. By the end of year four we were declining. It was very apparent that the pool of interested prospects we’d been able to cultivate was stagnating.
We tried all kinds of different ways to reach a new audience, however, nothing seemed to turn the tide.
Then one day an industry leader and friend suggested I launch my own podcast.
My immediate thoughts were along the lines of, “Oh no! …more technology for me to fail at!”
In the process of learning how to teach “The Art of Owner Financing” and “Private Money Changes Everything” to students across the USA, I had overcome more than a few personal hurdles involving my lack of technology. That being said, I’m still a long way from competency when it comes to technology, computers, and the Internet. I have learned over time to embrace the things I don’t know or understand, and to bring in an expert when I need to cover my weaknesses. So that’s what I did.
The trick was to find a company that would handle it all for me. I hired the best company I interviewed and we worked together until all I had to do was show up, login, hit the record button, and begin the interviewing process with whoever my guest was for the day. And that’s how my podcast, Real Estate Investor Summit, was born.
Before long we began to witness all the benefits. I started interviewing the best entrepreneurs I could find; putting out 3 podcasts per week. The first month we had 7,148 downloads. The second month we inched up to 7,663 downloads. In month 3 we rocketed up to 17,973. Near the end of the fourth month we were at 24,108 downloads and sales directly related to the podcast were $55,245 for the four months. Sales were moving up but there was more to gain than just sales.
Being the host of a mobile podcast gives you a certain clout. It’s like writing a book and earning the title Author. You’re perceived differently the second your book is published and moves out into the universe. I’m sure some of the people who were agreeing to interview with me would not have made time for me otherwise. They’d agreed to give us some of their time in return for expanding their own exposure in the market place. My guests were picking up content they could use in their own promotions and social media efforts. It’s all about content, for them…and for me!
Here’s an interesting dynamic; when you ask a highly valued person, “May I buy you to lunch and rake your brain?” the answer is most likely “NO!” But when you ask that same person, “May I interview you?” the word “YES!” starts ringing in your ears. Same questions, different setting.
Podcasting is one of the hottest and fastest growing forms of media available to entrepreneurs and business owners. But don’t fall into the mental trap of believing you’ve waited too long to jump in, or that you’ve somehow missed the wave. This is the perfect time for you to get started! Podcasting popularity is still growing! The audience is still growing!
Understand this; podcasting, despite all of its growth, is still relatively new. There’s still a huge upside. You still have an opportunity to ride a lot of the momentum if you get started now. Don’t take my word for it, let’s hear what my friend and associate, Stephen Woessner has discovered. Here are some data points featured in Stephen’s recently released book, “Profitable Podcasting.” In a recent report from Edison Research, for the five-year period from 2009 through 2013, about 12 percent of the U.S. population age 12 and over were listening to podcasts. In 2016, that number increased to 21%, which adds up to a 75% increase in three years. Impressive!
In addition, 41% of podcast listeners have an annual household income of $75,000 or more, and 15% of the listeners earning $150,000 or more, versus 9% for non-podcast consumers. Nice!
Even more impressive is that 12% of podcast listeners spend ten hours or more every week listening, with the majority spending one to three hours a week. That is a ton of listening! This speaks to the ever increasing popularity of on-demand content, based on the specific topics consumers want to know more about.
You can find the complete report here: http://www.edisonresearch.com/media-research/podcast-research/
So where were we? …Aaaaw yes, the power of the interviews.
It didn’t take long to recognize, I was getting smarter with every interview. The people I choose to interview are sharp and have years of experience. Their insights are substantial, and their decision-making process is a testament to their success. It’s really difficult for me to listen to a multi-multi-millionaire and not learn a thing or two on how to improve my business or quality of life.
I recognize that I am growing with every podcast interview I do.
Eventually, the ideas on how to monetize the podcast came through. I began selling peripheral products and services that were not my own. When my team showed me how to do this, amazing things started to happen. We began getting paid to generate leads for my own products and services. Wow! This was money from heaven! I hadn’t planned on that income at all!
If you do it right, your podcasting website is evergreen and growing with every podcast you post there. Moving through our second year of podcasting we have over 250 podcasts to choose from and are approaching $400,000 in sales directly related to the podcasting efforts. Again, this was an income we hadn’t planned on. It’s not chump change!
Then there was another boost. Many of the people I interview have podcasts of their own. Each introduction had two possibilities; I could interview them and/or they could interview me.
As if the unforeseen perks weren’t enough, I ended up making some real friends. I began to do business with my favorite podcast guests. They are alive, creative, super active, intelligent, and some of the most genuine people I know. I’m not exactly sure how it happens, but maybe when you share in the experience of entrepreneurial combat, you have a common bond. Today, when I travel, there’s almost always someone interesting nearby that I can pick up the phone and call or visit.
My podcast has introduced me to people and places I’d never have found otherwise. It has connected me with sellers, buyers, Private lenders and mentors unplanned. It has led me to inspiration unexpected. It has inspired me! I believe podcasting can do to the same for you.
