Competition Myth Pt Two: In Regards To Competition It's All About YOU, with Bernie Franzgrote

Ever felt like you're shouting into the void, struggling to be heard among the cacophony of podcasters? Bernie Franzgrote joins us with a message of hope: The podcasting 'competition myth' is just that—a myth. Embrace the synergy of your unique narrative, as Bernie, a master of creating connection through storytelling, shares his transition from co-host to forging his own path in the podcasting universe. We tackle the early challenges that come with this audible journey, discussing how to find confidence in your content's value and the joy in competing with yourself to foster personal growth.

Bernie Franzgrote is a Synergy Architect…co founder of  Kreativ Insight Consultants, which connects people and ideas to other people. He’s also the host of the Knack 4 Business podcast, cohosted by Goal & Life Coach Wayne Pratt…The podcast is an extension of what they do daily in business…and he’s also the cohost of the Property Wizard Podcast with real estate expert Fred Crouch.  His journey into podcasting started with Fred..and it’s expanded to being a sought after guest, as well as host of his own show…however, that’s not how the journey started.

Connect with Bernie
https://www.kreativinsight.com/
Knack 4 Business Podcast
https://k4b.buzzsprout.com/
Social Media
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/bernie.franzgrote
LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernie-franzgrote/
Twitter
https://twitter.com/Conceptman

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

Welcome to Communication Connection Community the podcaster's podcast. This podcast takes a deep dive into modern day communication strategies in the podcasting space. We chat with interesting people who make the podcasting and speaking spaces exciting and vibrant. We also dive into the podcasting community with news updates, latest trends and topics from this ever-evolving space. So strap in, it's going to be one amazing ride. Let's dive into today's episode, and our guest today actually has a very interesting story to tell about his journey in overcoming or working through one of those five myths. It's the competition myth. That's what we'll be talking about today with.

Speaker 1: 0:47

Bernie. Franzgrohe is a synergy architect, co-founder of Creative Insight Consultants, which connects people and ideas to other people. He's also the host of the Knack for Business podcast, co-hosted by Goal and Life Coach Wayne Pratt. The podcast is an extension of what they do daily in business and he's also the co-host of the Property Wizard podcast with real estate expert Fred Crouch. Now Bernie's journey nice little rhyme there.

Speaker 1: 1:12

Bernie's journey into podcasting started with Fred, but it's expanded far beyond that to the point where he is a sought after guest on other shows. He's, of course, the host of his own show, but that's not where the journey started and we're so thrilled that Bernie is here today to talk about the competition myth. Bernie, welcome to the show. Harold, pleasure to be here. Let's talk about competition, because some might say that there is no competition, but it's that the myth of competition that kept you from being in the podcasting space in general. So, the myth of competition that kept you from being in the podcasting space in general. So when was the first time or when did you first get exposed to podcasting or the idea of podcasting?

Speaker 2: 1:53

Oddly enough, I was trying to convince someone else to be a podcaster and in the process he said come hither and co-host with me. I thought you know what I can do that that exposure of being a co-host actually opened the door up. And I thought you know what I can do, that that exposure of being a co-host actually opened the door up and I'm going. You know it's easy enough. That was with Fred Fred Crouch.

Speaker 1: 2:11

And that's been going on. Now the recording of this episode is the latter part of 2022 and Fred's show launched, I believe in what the middle part of 2021. So it's going for a solid year and a half. That experience, though. What led you to that experience? What trepidation did you have in saying yes, I?

Speaker 2: 2:35

think the competition was with myself in part. And also, what am I going to add value to? There are people out there already doing podcasts, and then I realized I am based on what I do for a living. I am connecting with a large range of people and in that range of folks they all have an interesting story, so I literally make this an extension of what I'm doing. I share that information with people every day, whether I'm sharing them on a one-to-one connection or now one-to-many, and the podcast deals with the one-to-many.

Speaker 1: 3:07

And stepping into that space obviously gave you the opportunity, or the encouragement, to start your own show. What was going through your mind as you were stepping into that course? And full disclosure. By the way, bernie has done some training with me. It was so thrilled that you went through the program. But what was going through your mind as you were thinking I'm starting a podcast, I'm starting a podcast. Oh, my goodness, I'm starting a podcast. What was going through your mind?

Speaker 2: 3:32

I think a lot of times, what looks like it's very simple on the outside, there's a lot of detail underneath it. So it's like the iceberg you see the top of it, but the bulk of it is below surface and my assumption would be there's a few things I got to do is there's a structure to the podcast, there's a technique to bring things together. Then there's the editing. Promotion's not bad. I can do the promotion pretty easily, but it's leveraging that. It's packaged Perfect might be an overstatement a good package, and if you go too perfect then you'll never get it out of the gate and again you're competing for yourself.

Speaker 1: 4:08

I like the iceberg analogy that you gave, too, where you only see the top piece and that there's many other elements that go to a show. And as a listener, or maybe as somebody who is toying with the idea of being a podcaster, do you believe that that's what they see is just the tip and that there's far more to it? That, maybe, is making them a little bit nervous of stepping into that space.

Speaker 2: 4:32

It can be. If they talk to another podcaster or talk to a person that is podcasting, they might pick up on certain elements going. Well, I have to do this, I have to do that, and if you're writing a blog, you still have to pay attention to details. Except, this podcast is interactive, so it's not like one person's narrative and in the case of where I have guests coming in, I get to change up what we're chatting about. I get to change up the voices that are heard, and having a co-host also helps and Wayne's come in provided another slant on conversations so you can have a dynamic conversation. So it's not back and forth and all of a sudden you get yourself in a corner. Your co-host comes in and brings you out of that corner and carry on the conversation.

Speaker 1: 5:18

And you can leverage that guest for not only their network but, you know, to further the experience as well. But let's get back to the competition piece here, because one of the things that we were talking about, just as we were setting up the recording, was this whole idea of, and for you it was more of a okay, there's a lot of podcasts out there. Where do I fit into this space? And I think you've leveraged it quite well with how you approach your podcast which, by the way, the links to Bernie's podcast will be in the show notes if you want to check it out. It's a great show, it's a fantastic show. One of the things that people wrestle with as they're getting set to step into this place is there's a ton of podcasts out there already and I'm just not famous enough.

Speaker 2: 6:13

Did you find that? That was you as well, and I'm just not famous enough. Did you find that that was you as well? I can then in the comment section say you know, this is my opinion on this subject. But you know what? Hang on. But wait, there's more. I have a contact and here's the contact talking in the podcast, so I'll bring the whole thing into that comment section. What I've just done there is responded to someone else's post, which helps them. I've introduced the person I've interviewed into that post to offer more comment and then on top of that, here's a podcast where they're speaking to the subject, plus, at the same time, a bonus round is. I've just advertised the podcast and it's serving, but serving well as opposed to being grandstanding.

Speaker 1: 7:04

Let's talk about imposter syndrome, because I know with the competition myth and it might not have been for you personally, but certainly I know for some people that it does hold them back, the whole imposter syndrome. How did that play in or how has that played into your show, or has it played into your show?

Speaker 2: 7:21

I think the imposter syndrome when people have that is they have content inside them, but they're worried about being over the top. Or look at me, look at me. Look at me as opposed to you know what you're shining. Let the light come out and share the wealth. There's always going to be an expert out there. There's nothing new under the sun to start off with. However, you're going to have a slant on something, and it's you, it's the DNA of you coming out, and that's okay because you can have experts in the field and that's why you have experts, and sometimes that's where you have the dialogue coming in. You exchange ideas, whether you're working with a fellow podcaster or working with someone who's in your field, because I meet people that talk about networking. There's nothing wrong. So it's not the only one that's out there. You can be one of the many that's out there.

Speaker 1: 8:16

Having said that, let me ask you this question. Maybe this will get a little bit deep and philosophical, as I ask this but not something we haven't done before, off microphone, but because I've known Bernie for quite a while. Folks, Having said what you've said and working through the competition myth, is there really when we break it down, is there really competition?

Speaker 2: 8:41

And again, I think this goes back to something I said earlier competition with yourself. In this case, you're worried that your ego is too big and you don't want to come off as a braggart, and you're not. In this case. I'm introducing people, I'm introducing a topic and the person is expressing themselves and they're sharing information. The reason I have the person on the podcast is because they have information that is worthy of sharing and I'm engaging them in the conversation. So, in fact, we're all going forward and the fact you're going to become a guest, let alone on your own podcast. You're already past the imposter syndrome. You have a story to tell, you have information to impart and just go with it. It's like I can't ride that bike. I can't ride that bike. Oh, look Ma, no hands and I'm riding the bike, and if there's an oops, that's okay. You can survive that.

Speaker 1: 9:31

I think it affects us more, though, when we do look into something like podcasting, and I think there's a misconception, which is why I'm so glad we're talking about the five myths today by the way, my guest is Bernie Franskroot and we're sort of breaking down the competition myth because we see something we talked about the iceberg effect where what we see is there's at the recording of this episode. Again, there's about 3 million podcasts worldwide, and 3 million sounds like a big number, but when you compare that to the number of blogs and this is the current statistic roughly it's about 500 blogs to every one podcast. Now, all of a sudden, it's not as daunting when you look at it and go oh my goodness, there are. Math is hard. Don't ask me what that math is, but that means that there is a huge opportunity. But sometimes we don't see it because all we see is 3 million and we don't see that.

Speaker 1: 10:28

Oh my goodness, underneath that is all this opportunity. Underneath that is all this opportunity, there's my expertise or, in your case, bernie, there's your expertise, there's your knowledge, there's the connections that you've made through Creative Insights that you're going to bring to the surface. You're a different person than I am as a host of a podcast, but not only that. Even if you're interviewing another person who's another synergy architect or expert at networking, shall we say that, connector, they're going to have a different perspective. So again, is there really competition or is it just? You know, there's enough space for all of us to play and let's just have fun in that space.

Speaker 2: 11:08

You know, I think you have four or five podcasters on the same genre. If everybody is talking and walking the same way, welcome to a vanilla moment. And you know, as opposed to having one that's chocolate chip, one that's cookie dough, I mean that's a food reference. That might be a bad thing. You know, now I'm getting hungry.

Speaker 1: 11:29

You just indicated that you really love cookies and you'd like to have a cookie break.

Speaker 2: 11:33

That's what you're saying, but what I'm getting at is there's a different flavor and even if you're coming from the same culture, you're coming from the same city, talking about the same subject material, your content, your delivery is going to be different. You're not going to be mimicked. You'd have to get a Jim Carrey in here or Robin Williams to mimic you, in which case then it's still different because it'll have a different slant. There's an opportunity here where you can push out information, you can share that information, and it's no different than if you're at a dinner party or in a social setting or a business meeting and you're having a conversation Like what's that all about? You know, let's talk about this. Why am I looking at this? This is what I'm experiencing, and you're sharing that information and each of those moments are very unique.

Speaker 2: 12:24

In this case, what really makes it handy in a podcast? You're making those moments, you're locking them in time in that conversation and you're sharing that moment and it can be re Even from there. You can then take over to your blog so your blog can feed into your podcast, or you can feed into your blog so the content materials also can be moved around to your benefit and just replicate the information, even keynotes. You might have that quote for the day. Just embed it right in the middle. What to do with that iceberg?

Speaker 1: 12:57

I like the analogy that you gave, too, bernie and great answer.

Speaker 1: 12:59

I like the analogy that you gave about the Bernie and great answer.

Speaker 1: 13:01

I like the analogy that you gave about the cookies and now you got me thinking about cookies, by the way. But everything would be so plain and vanilla if everyone was speaking, even if we're speaking the same language. It would be very plain and boring if we all were saying exactly the same things, exactly the same way, and there was no variance. And I'll take it a step further and say, for a guy like Fred Crouch, who is a real estate expert in his own community and in, you know, not just in his own community, but in Canada and the US, and there are a ton of real estate podcasts out there, but there isn't one that is exactly the same as Fred's and there isn't a podcast that is exactly the same as Knack for Business, because we're all coming at it from a different angle. So in that sense, yes, are there real estate podcasts out there or that deal more in the investing space? Absolutely, but no one's going to tell it the way Fred does and no one has a sidekick like Bernie, right?

Speaker 2: 14:00

Yes, yes, Every once in a while just ask those questions going. I don't understand that one.

Speaker 2: 14:04

Right and and there we go. Here's another example when you will go to listen to music, is it the same music your dad listened to or your mom listened to when they were teens? Is it? Is it the same music? If you have kids, is it the same music that they listen to? It's all different and there's everything from rock, hillbilly rock, to classical, to opera, to an ongoing story, right. And then there's genres, sub-genres in there, and each of them have a distinction and might appeal to you, might not appeal to you.

Speaker 1: 14:37

It would be like saying there's too much music out there. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 14:41

And I can't compete.

Speaker 1: 14:42

I can't compete in the music place, in that music space, so breaking down the competition. What you've been able to do is say, hey, here's what I'm good at, here's what I know I'm good at, I have the experience in this area and because you're a great connector of people, you have a Rolodex of being able to get guests on, and it's not just value for your show, but you've also identified the value that they bring and you'll extend it beyond the show and you'll help them or connect them or do whatever you can to make that guest experience even more phenomenal for them than they could ever imagine. Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 15:22

They've given up some time to have a chat with me. Some of them have made arrangements or affiliations, and affiliation doesn't necessarily mean money. It could also mean we're sharing knowledge and getting exposed to new information I didn't know about before, Tips and techniques. I mean you've done that many a time. You're saying oh, by the way, Bernie, here's something it can help you in your podcast. You're going hey, I like that and conversely, I'll do the same back. So it's not always money, it can be information opportunity. Someone comes along going, you know, I know somebody you should talk to, Carl Over here.

Speaker 1: 16:01

Here's Carl. Talk to Carl. It's funny because I think you hit the nail right on the head there. I think a lot of people are thinking of oh my goodness. Again, I'll take Fred as the example. I'm a real estate expert, I'd like to have a podcast to get more business, but what if people aren't listening to my show? That means I'm not making the money that I want to make from my show.

Speaker 1: 16:20

And I think that's a very you know, in somewhat twisted way of looking at it, where, if we're just supporting one another, helping one another in that space, we're not viewing it as competition. Yes, of course there is competition, we know that. But there's also enough expertise within each one of us that we're going to give a different flair, a different feel, a different taste to the content that we put out there. It's not going to be the same as if I was hosting and I'm not a real estate expert, but if I was, my take would be different from Fred's, would be different from yours, if you were in that space. So embracing that competition, supporting one another, and then also realizing that, yes, even if you are suffering because it's a real thing, imposter syndrome is real that you can put that aside and say, yes, I do have value.

Speaker 1: 17:09

And if you are feeling like if you don't, maybe that's where you bring in a co-host like Bernie, for example, to help you in that space, to help elevate you. So, bernie, it's been a great discussion. I'm so glad you took a moment to join us on the show. I think we've dispelled the competition myth 100%. I'm going to give you the final thought before we do our closing comments.

Speaker 2: 17:31

You know what? The only competition you have to worry about is, with your own mind and at the end of the day, just do it. If you have to edit and adjust, you edit and adjust. It's like anything else in life you grow into it. You may not be 100% perfect out the gate, but you become practiced. You become the Zen master of speaking and talking and podcasting soon enough.

Speaker 1: 17:55

Well said, bernie Franz, synergy Architect, co-founder of Creative Insight Consultants. Well said, bernie Franzgrohe, synergy Architect, co-founder of Creative Insight Consultants. And, of course, the host of the Knack for Business podcast and co-host on the Property Wizard. It's been a great conversation today. Thanks for joining me You're welcome, carl, I enjoyed it and thank you for joining us today. Special thanks to our producer and production lead, dom Coriglio, our music guru, nathan Simon, and the person who works the arms all of our arms, actually my trusty assistant, stephanie Gaffour.

Speaker 1: 18:26

If you like what you heard today, leave us a comment and a review and be sure to share it with your friends. If you don't like what you heard, please share it with your enemies. Oh, and if you have a suggestion of someone who you think would make an amazing guest on the show, let us know about it. Drop us an email, askcarl at carlspeaksca. Don't forget to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter as well. You'll find all those links in the show notes, and if you're ready to take the plunge and join the over 3 million people who have said yes to podcasting, let's have a conversation. We'll show you the simplest way to get into the podcasting space because, after all, we're podcast solutions made simple. We'll catch you next time.