The Why WordPress.com Show

Episode Summary: The story of how one unexpected email led to Mike's first eBook, How To Podcast on Wordpress.com — and a case study in what makes a cold email actually work.

What You'll Learn

• The anatomy of a good cold email, illustrated by a real one Mike received
• How a 30-minute Skype call turned into 4 hours and changed Mike's mind about WordPress.com
• Why podcasting on WordPress.com was such an under-the-radar topic in 2018
• How this conversation became the origin story for Mike's first eBook

Shortly after attending Podcast Movement 2017 in Anaheim, California, Mike got an email through his website contact form that grabbed his attention from the very first line.

The Anatomy of a Good Email

Credibility. A university professor introduced himself and mentioned he'd listened to all 100+ episodes of the podcast. Tip: you never know who's listening — every listener matters.

Flattery. The professor said he'd reached out because Mike demonstrated qualities he respected: knowledge, motivation, productivity, personality. Tip: appealing to someone's ego, sincerely, genuinely works.

Kindness. He'd noticed Mike sounded like he was struggling with something in a recent episode and thought he might be able to help. Tip: podcasting can feel lonely, and you're never quite sure anyone's listening — but the people who are listening feel like they know you. That's the power of the medium.

Intrigue. He said he'd stumbled onto a podcasting resource that no one seemed to be talking about, and wanted 30 minutes on a call to explain. Tip: telling a podcasting nerd you've got a secret game-changer and you'll only share it for 30 minutes of their time is a great way to get a yes. Mike said yes, and they scheduled the call.

Summary: introduce yourself as a human, make a genuine connection, offer something of value, and make it hard for the other person to say no to a short conversation.

The 30-Minute Call (That Lasted 4 Hours)

The professor's pitch: WordPress.com — cheap, dependable, all-in-one podcast and website hosting he'd personally used since 2015, with almost no documentation or discussion of it anywhere in the podcast community. He thought Mike was the right person to teach others about it. Mike was skeptical — he remembered WordPress.com as the "lite version" of WordPress.org — but stayed open. The 30-minute call ran close to 4 hours.

Just How Under-the-Radar Was This?

Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.