100. How to Successfully Launch Your Podcast

Connect with the host:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-e-jenkins/

Website: https://www.birchprosper.com/

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Podcast Launch Strategy Call: https://calendly.com/birch-prosper/podcast-launch-strategy-call


Episode Highlights:

✔️ Celebrating episode 100!! Thank you for your support!

✔️ 5 steps to successfully launching your thought leadership platform 

✔️ New direction for The Capital Stack

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

How successful would you be if you had the blueprint for building wealth as a real estate investor or as someone who acquires small businesses? If you want to move the needle financially in your life, then you need to understand one thing: the Capital Stack. I'm your host, Brandon Jenkins, and this is where your journey to financial freedom begins. Hey, what's up, everyone, and welcome back to the Capital Stack. I am your host, Brandon Jenkins, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but this is episode 100 of the show. Okay, we are 100 episodes in. And um, look, I can't believe we made it this far. And, you know, I'm so thankful to God for blessing me to stick with it and to get uncomfortable and to continue sharing this um experience with all of you. And of course, I want to sincerely thank all of our amazing, amazing guests for sharing their journey with us and for being so open and vulnerable in many cases, for sharing their ups and downs, you know, and um a lot of things with us here on the show. That's one of the things that for me is exciting. Uh, you know, we get to kind of do a deep dive sometimes into their motivation, into their why, into their background, into what makes them who they are. And I really enjoy doing that. I hope you guys do too. So I want to thank them for that. And uh last but not least, you know, I want to thank all of you, the listeners, okay, for making the show what it is. I take in a lot of feedback, I take in a lot of um uh sometimes criticism, but um pointers and tips from you guys uh through various channels. And so I certainly appreciate you for giving me those tips, those ideas and ways that I can make uh this show better and that I can add value to you. And, you know, I also want to thank my family, okay. My family and my friends, my wife, my children, my brothers, my parents, and on up the line. I've had a lot of support from my family along the way. You know, podcasting is uh something that can be challenging, especially if you are in somewhat of a niche uh space like this show is, you know, because it's not exactly getting a million downloads per per month, but the content can be life-changing. Okay, and so it's important for me to share it with you. Um, you know, but there have been times where I've kind of questioned my you know my show and the volume that we're getting and the listenership uh numbers, but you know, my circle keeps me going. My family uh my friends keep me going, you guys keep me going. And so, like I said, I really, really appreciate it. Um, so interestingly enough, you know, I've become sort of a resource for other people who are looking to launch their own podcast, you know. And so I've always loved helping people out, distilling information down um so that it's easy to take action on it, it's easy to understand. I like doing things like that, okay? I always have. And um, you know, many of you might be considering launching your own podcast, your own blog, your own thought leadership platform. And there are many, many amazing reasons to do it. And so I thought on this episode that um that I'd share some tips with you here today that could maybe help, you know, if you're on the fence, it could help you kind of get over to taking action, um, or it could just help you out in some way, or even if you're not considering launching a thought leadership, excuse me, platform, it can maybe help you understand why people do it and how they get the most out of it. So um, really quick, you know, if your goal is to create a space where you're the authority, okay, and where you build credibility to the point where you can successfully motivate your audience to take action on something, then you need to focus on building a brand. Okay, and you can do that around your podcast. But uh one of the things that you can um that you should do, and that's most important, I think, for you to do if you are trying to establish a brand, is to have a clear value proposition. So I'm gonna share five things um with you that you need to do in order to kind of build community, to kind of build a following momentum around your thought leadership uh platform. Okay. Um, you know, the first thing I would say is plan the launch of your podcast. Okay, if you are um, if you're like me, you know, I remember when I first started, I knew that there was a need. Part of the reason why I launched this is because I realized that um for active syndicators um in a multifamily space, that they would need a platform to get information out there and to reach a broader audience to say, hey, here's who I who I am, um, you know, and here are the things that I do, and here's why you should consider partnering with me. Here's my message. So I wanted to share their stories because I was feeling a need for them um and also for myself, right? But but I, you know, I didn't I didn't launch the the podcast in the right way. So I wanted to share this with you because this is something you can learn from, right? My some of my mistakes. And in launching it, what you want to do is to do a bit of market research. So, you know, these days, yeah, Facebook groups are uh abundant. So get in a Facebook group that focuses on real estate or whatever it is that you're trying to build your thought leadership leadership uh platform on, introduce yourself, but then you want to understand what people are looking for. So take the time to say, you know, it doesn't have to take long, it can be a month or something like that before you plan to launch. But you want to ask people what they're looking for. Okay, what would they listen to? What could they use? What would help them? And um, you can go in these groups and it's it's value added. You're you're basically saying, hey, listen, I'm I just wanted to ask a quick question. Um, you know, I'm thinking about launching a plot a thought leadership platform to help share information about XYZ. And I want to make sure that I have the right setup. I want to make sure that I have the right medium, the right format that would be most useful to you. And they'll open up, you know. Um, some people like interviews, some people don't. Some people like uh more informational, like here's how you do something. Some people like to understand uh or go along a journey with you. So if you're an active investor, they might want to understand what you're doing, uh, you know, as you're uh potentially acquiring a property or selling a property or whatever it is or operating a deal. So plan the launch of your podcast, okay? Build up some buzz around it. Um, and I think that that's the first step. So that's what I would say is kind of number one is really take the time to plan the launch. Um, okay. And then number two is just start. All right. Now that sounds counterintuitive to uh or can't not counterintuitive, but it sounds like a counter to number one. But here's what I mean by that. What I'm saying is you need to get out of your own way. Okay, so personally, uh number two, this this for me has been extremely important because I found that I um although I didn't plan my launch effectively, um I did find myself spending too much time trying to line things up. I was waiting for the stars to align. I was waiting for everything to be perfect before I uh published my first episode. And I think what I told myself at the time was, well, I need to have 20 episodes recorded, done, edited, you know, finished before I put out episode number one. And what that ended up uh turning into for me was several months of doing nothing, right? So I was sitting around and I had some things scripted out, and I had to rewrite them a number of times because I didn't feel like it was perfect. And um it just I got in my own way. So I put up, I put up all these barriers. I needed to have the perfect sound system, I needed to have the perfect, you know, website I was trying to build at the time. I put these walls up and these barriers up, and the only thing that it did was to cause me to stall. Okay. And so I don't want that for you. So what I'm saying is if if you are someone who is really good at coming with the coming up with a quick quickly, by the way, with a clear plan and then quickly taking action on that plan, fine. Then number then go ahead and like I said, number one, plan the launch, execute, do it. If if you know that you are like I was and you're gonna get in your own way, then I would say kind of not scrap that, but I would say limit that. Okay, put give yourself a time and say that I will launch my podcast within 30 days. And so if for example, and so if you don't have everything done by week number two, then you need to go ahead and get get you a mic. You can even do it with your phone, okay? By the way, because the phones these days have really outstanding microphones, and you can upgrade your sound system later. Um, so just start, okay? Don't get in your own way. I I think when I launched this podcast, I had um, I think I had three episodes recorded. So I told myself originally I wouldn't have 20. And because I kept writing the scripts out for, say 10 of them or so, and rewriting them, um, but I had only recorded three at the time, I said, you know what? I'm just gonna go. I'm just gonna launch. And so here I am at episode 100, where I know I know for myself, had I continued in that cycle of telling myself everything needed to be perfect and the timing wasn't right and all that, I'm pretty sure I actually would not have started. Okay. So number two, just start. Number one, plan the launch of your podcast. But number two, more importantly, just start. Um number three, this is a little specific to people who are doing uh doing interviews. I think most most podcasts at this point, unless you have more than one person, like if it's kind of a either panel or it's just two of you or whatever, you're probably going to be doing interviews. And even even if you have a panel or if you have two two people or three or whatever um working with you, I would still say you want to interview people at some point um on your show because it just had it's it's about having diverse content, right? Okay, so listen, um, if you are planning to interview people, or when you are planning to interview people, make it super, super easy for your guests. Okay. This is so like I said, this is number number three here. Make it easy. Okay. I I had uh when I started, I had a questionnaire. I still have a questionnaire, but it's changed. I had a process for onboarding guests. I had a questionnaire and it was cumbersome. Okay. I had all these, you know, all these questions that they had to go through. It was like an application for a job. And the email was, you know, overly verbose. And so um it was way, way, way too complicated. Okay. And I actually had a couple guests tell me that. Um, and I I think I had one or two guests that that just said, hey, can I skip you know filling everything out? I want to be on the show. I just want to send you a headshot, send you a bio, and then let's get it rolling. And so, and also my my uh I tapped into my family and said, Hey, is this too much? And they said, Yeah, it's too much. So, um, so make it easy. Um okay, there's nothing wrong with having a questionnaire because remember, I I have one now, but there are just a few short questions in there, okay? And it's and it's to help me, it's to help them. But beyond that, you know, when they get the email from me, it's a kind of a one, two, three uh type of thing, you know, you know, uh where the third thing is to schedule the time slot for them. But steps one and two are very, very simple. So make it easy, give them the links, give them everything they need to show to uh be on the show so that they only need to show up. Okay, if they if they don't have an outstanding microphone, things like that, there's not a lot you can do about that part, but but make it very easy, okay, because otherwise they're not going to want to be on the show. It's not it's not supposed to be something that is a task for them. People love to share their background, they love to share their journey, um, they love to share the things that they're working on, and you want to be the kind of host that that is very welcoming. And I think one of the early signs for people to know whether you're welcoming or not is actually how you onboard them. Okay. So um, anyway, that that's important. Figure out what questions matter the most. You know, if you're looking to screen people, sort of, you know, um, when you send out the uh an invitation or whatever you want to call it, then just think about the three most important questions, okay? And then boil it down to those. If you have, you know, five or more or something like that, you're gonna lose them. So just keep it very short. All right. So again, recap. Number one is uh plan the launch of your podcast. Number two is it, which I think is more important, is to just start. Number three is when you're doing interviews, because again, I strongly recommend that. When you're doing interviews, make it very uh simple and clear for your guests. Okay, uh look, point number four, you know, remember, um, I have a little cheat she here. Remember, you created the podcast for a reason. Okay, and so this is your platform, right? This is your opportunity to demonstrate credibility, authority in your space. This is your opportunity to uh to demonstrate, you know, to your audience, hey, that I know what I'm talking about or I've experienced something. Um, and if you're looking to learn, I think that's fine too. I actually believe the podcasts are an incredible way to learn as the host because you have people who are going to um share things that you've never thought about, maybe never heard of. And I would even say that if you're not doing that, then you probably aren't bringing in the right guests. Okay, so you want to have people on who have who have had more experience than you. You know, it's a good mixture to say that, you know, you you you want, I mean, I don't know, for me, I at least want about 40% of the guests to be more experienced than I am, because then I can learn and it's clear to the guests that I'm very, very interested in kind of what they are uh talking about. Okay. But again, remember, you created this to demonstrate your credibility and your authority. So um make sure, okay, this is this is very, very important, guys. Um, make sure that you point people back to your content, okay, whether it's your website because you want them to jump on a call or there's a link to fill some information out, or it's some other call to action or a lead magnet that you created, or whatever it is. As long as you're doing it in an authentic way, you're genuinely trying to, uh you're genuinely creating value, added content, okay, your audience will appreciate it and your audience will grow. Okay, it is very, very important to do that because um, and it's it's it's not selfish at all. You're bringing people on to introduce your audience to new ways of thinking, new ways of moving the needle for them. Okay. Um, and so I think it is important to keep that at the front, but you also must have ways to point people back to your content because there has to be something that you want them to take action on. Okay. Um, you know, whether you want them to, like I said, hop on a call because you you want to do some consultation type work with them, whether you want them to hop on a call because you want to potentially partner with them. You could you could set up a platform where you're looking for potential um equity partners. You could set up a platform where you are looking for people, deal makers, right? People to bring you different types of deals. Um, and so this again, this applies to um any number of niches, any number of areas, but it's very, very important to make sure you're pointing people back to uh your stuff because that's something that I personally um was not doing very well. Okay, and so I don't want you to make the same mistake, so it's very important, okay? All right, number uh four, right? Uh point number four here. So speaking of pointing people back to your content, okay. Actually, this is point point number five, isn't it? So point number one is yeah, plan the launch of your podcast. Uh, number two is to just start. Number three is make things super easy for your guests. Number four is um make sure you point people back to your content because you created the platform for a reason, right? All right, number five is uh speaking of pointing people back to your content, have content. Okay, this sounds um obvious. Have content. When I say that, I don't necessarily mean the podcast. Yes, the podcast is content, but what I mean is you want people to do a thing. Okay, I'll give you an example, right? So I'm a multifamily syndicator, okay. And um, for me, one of the things that I want people to do is if they are looking for ways to build wealth, and if they are um, so I'm educating people, right? So this podcast is part education. Um, um, it's it's sharing people's stories and journeys and that sort of thing, but it's also educating people. And so if there's someone who's looking for ways to build wealth passively and they want access to um to earn outsized returns through apartment syndication, so apartment investing, then what I want them to do is to hop on a call. So I want them to schedule a call so that we can talk about what they um are what their goals are, we can talk about what they're looking to do, we can talk about their timeline, we can talk about how they would potentially use uh that that capital to help you know their family, all those things that I like to talk about with people one-on-one. Um, but that's the action that I want them to take. And then I want them to fill out an investor questionnaire that says, well, you know, it maybe in the next three to six months, I'm looking for an opportunity, or I'm looking for one as soon as possible. And here's, you know, I have X number of uh dollars of capital that I'm looking to deploy. I'm accredited or not accredited, whatever it is. So I want to I want to gather some information so that I can best uh present an opportunity that's a good fit for them. So that is the action that I want them to take. And so when I say have content, it's important then to have something that can continue the journey for them. If they stop and listen to your show, that's great. But you you want to continue, they're on a journey, right? So they now have kind of that awareness, okay. And maybe even they like your message, right? But you want to continue um through to where you can now take action or they can take action on something, okay. Um, I'm not saying that you need to have a hundred different like downloadables because people I like PDFs and I like calculators, I like those things as well. I think they're very important and important because they can help people move the needle. And so it is important to have them, but I'm not saying that you need to have like a hundred different downloadables and things like that. Because I actually think that the more you have, when you start to get to a certain number, it gets a little bit confusing, right? You want to just keep it to say, you know, maybe four or five at the most. Um, I would even say three is probably better. But that way you can really, really sharpen exactly what it is you want them to do. And um, it also helps you because that because once you're presenting those things, whether it's on your podcast, on someone else's podcast, on you know, in person, whatever it is, it's easier to remember. You just have a few things that you're that you um that you give to people. They can give you their email or whatever, or they can take action on it, but you just have a few things that you need to remember, makes it a little bit easier, okay. So just have some high quality pieces of content um that can help them move the needle, okay? So you can move the needle in your listeners' businesses, um, or help them get one step closer to their goal. Okay. And again, it's look, you know, you spent the time and energy to build this platform. You spent the time and energy and money, okay, to um set up this show. And so it's it's your baby, right? So, like I said, you don't want to go through all of this and put all this work in. So you have the create you've created the ultimate platform. All of that means little to nothing if you don't have a way of working it with your audience. You have to, okay. That's just how it works. All right. Um, look, so like I said, I hope that this uh has been helpful for you. Going forward, I do plan to have kind of more of these types where it's like, okay, listen, you know, here are the three things you need to do, or the five things you need to do to get your thought leadership platform up and running. I want to be more pointed, more helpful for you, kind of direct. Um, and so I'll be having a little bit more content where it's it's really focused on let's get you, you know, to take a certain specific action so that you can move forward in your business in your life. Okay, so you can um step into that financial uh wealth, that financial abundance that you're looking for. And here's one way to move the needle to get closer to doing that. Um, I look, I love podcasting. Okay, I think it's a great way or one of the best ways, really, to quickly accomplish your goal of building a brand, building authority and um and learning, like I said. Okay, so uh it's just you know, you learn so much from interviewing people, if that's the format that you're looking for. But even if you're just doing research for your next episode, um, you'll learn a lot. I think that's a point that's uh one of the things that's important for you. So um, look, you know, if you have been thinking about launching a podcast, okay, a thought leadership platform, and if you've been stalling, then um then this is your wake-up call. Just start, okay. Just start. I know several people, and I'm talking to you, okay. I know several people who who've expressed to me that they have um, you know, that they've been wanting to start a thought leadership platform. They know that they have an audience that they um are wanting to speak to, they know that they have a skill set that they uh that they can present, they know that they are filling a need, but they want everything to be perfect. And I'm telling you, it will never be perfect, okay. Of all the podcasts that I listen to, there are quite a few of them at this point. And um of all the podcasts that I listen to, they're episode 100, right, which is where we are, is nothing like episode one. That's the same for me. If you go back and listen to listen to the first episode, it's nothing like this one. Okay, my tone has changed, my delivery has changed. Okay, um, so uh that's just how it is. Now, um, real really quickly, so uh if you you know want to have a quick conversation with me on strategizing, you know, on monetization, on how you can launch your own podcast in the next 30 days, okay? No need to wait. So if you want to have a conversation with me, go ahead and check the show notes for a thought leadership strategy call link so that we can talk about getting your show up and running. Um, also, before I wrap, look, I want to share uh a change that we're making in the content on the show. Okay, so broadly speaking, the capital stack is a term that's used to describe the sources of capital, debt equity, right, that's used to finance or fund an acquisition. Okay, so so far we've limited that conversation to the commercial real estate space, kind of for the most part. But um, as many of you know, I'm also passionate about the small business acquisition space. Okay. And um, so now this is where it gets interesting, right? So I have not bought or sold a business yet. Okay. Um, you know, I've started several businesses, but I strongly believe in growing your business through acquisitions. Okay, and so I'm excited to announce that we are going to almost exclusively cover three things, okay? Um, number one is how to attract capital, um, enough capital from investors to close large deals. That's whether they are large commercial real estate deals or um small to mid-sized businesses, which for me I'm kind of calling that like say eight to ten million or lower. Okay, that's kind of where we're gonna stay. Number two, um, we'll hear directly from other commercial real estate investors on a recent transaction where we'll cover the dynamics of the deal. Okay, so we want to talk about how they secured financing. How did they raise capital? How did they get awarded or find the deal? Why was it a good deal? You know, so uh these kinds of questions. Okay, so so it'll it'll continue where it's a there's a little bit of an interview on their journey, but we're gonna quickly get into the meat and potatoes, right? We're gonna talk about the deal. Okay, um, and then the last thing we're gonna do is we will be interviewing. MA investors, merger and acquisition investors who've recently bought or sold a business. Okay. And we want to ask them similar questions. Okay. There are two reasons why I'm doing this. Number one, I believe the structure will allow the show, excuse me, to better address many of the real questions that I get from people in my own circle. That it's whether it's at my meetups, um, you know, or in person or at an event or a conference or what have you. You know, I get questions around hey, how you know how do people find and close these deals? You know, how are they doing it in the first place? Okay. And it's an important question. And so this broad conversation will be exciting and highly informative. Okay. So the second reason I'm doing this is a little bit self-serving. Okay. Um, as I mentioned, you know, I have yet to acquire a small business. Okay. Started businesses, I have yet to acquire one. Um, but uh I'm that I'm looking to do that because I want to grow. Okay. And so I actually want to take you on this journey with me. So I think it'll be kind of fun where there's a little bit of learning on both of our parts, at least for the episodes where we're having those conversations. And um, so I'm still very active, obviously, in the multifamily syndication space. I'm still very active as a capital raiser, but I'm also an MA guy. Okay, so um looking forward to this direction, and I'm looking forward to taking you guys along for the ride with me. Okay, and that is all I have for this. Again, episode 100 is in the bag. Thank you very much um for all your support. And I'm looking forward to serving you guys and just um continuing to grow with you. So, again, want to thank you for making the show what it is, and I will see you next time. As always, thank you so much for tuning in to the show today, brought to you by Bridge Prosper. If you enjoyed today's episode and you'd like to learn more about commercial real estate investing, please like, subscribe, and share. And we'll see you again next week. I'm Brandon Jenkins, and this is the Capital Stack, where we help you learn, apply, and prosper.