WS1906 How To Be a Great Podcast Guest | Erik Allen

In today's episode, we continue our conversation with  Eric Allen, an expert in podcasting. Eric shares his insights on podcast metrics, increasing listenership, and improving interview skills. He emphasizes the importance of focusing on how much of the show people are listening to rather than getting hung up on download numbers. 

Eric recommends being a guest on other shows to increase exposure and shares the value of sharing episodes with one's network. He also discusses the importance of being prepared for interviews by writing down and rehearsing one's story. Eric highlights the significance of gratitude and morning routines in his own life, including waking up at 4 am and spending time in prayer and reflection. 

He encourages giving back to others and shares his experiences with mission trips. Overall, Eric's passion for podcasting and helping others shines through in this episode.

Key Points:

• Focus on how much of the show people are listening to rather than download numbers.
• Being a guest on other shows can increase exposure and listenership.
• Share episodes with your network to expand reach.
• Prepare for interviews by writing down and rehearsing your story.
• Express gratitude and establish a morning routine for personal growth.
• Give back to others through time, financial support, or acts of kindness.

To connect with Erik Allen and learn more about his work, visit his website at ErikAllenMedia.com. You can also find him on Instagram at @erikgallen and on YouTube at Erik Allen Media. Don't miss out on the opportunity to connect with Erik and discover valuable insights in the world of podcasting and entrepreneurship.

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Transcript

Erik Allen: So I don't get too hung up on the numbers, but more when I'm looking at that, I want to understand how much of my show are people listening to. Right. And that's really the only basic that the number that I look at now, I check listen notes dot com. That'll tell you where your show is ranked globally. I'm blessed to have my show ranked in the top one and a half percent globally. But so I really check that and I check how long people are actually staying on to listen to my show. But again, I don't get hung up on any of the numbers.

Whitney Sewell: This is your daily real estate syndication show. I'm your host, Whitney. So we're back again with our guest, Eric Allen today. He is an expert in podcasting. He's going to lay out more tips for you around the metrics that he tracks and increasing those numbers as well, even nailing down Uh, you know, your presentation, right? Right. When you're being interviewed, what should that sound like? And how do you, how do you be confident, right? In that you're going to hear that today from him as well as some daily habits in a morning routine that I hope you are going to listen closely to. Welcome back to another segment with Eric. I know if you listened to yesterday's show, no doubt you learned a lot about podcasting and why it is so important. And it's like the thing you need to maybe need to be focused on for your business and branding or growth, uh, you know, in this new year, our expert Eric is back again today. Welcome back to the show, man.

Erik Allen: Thank you so much, man. Truly an honor to be here. I love this.

Whitney Sewell: honored to have you again. Again, appreciate your time. I want to just continue the, excuse me, continue the conversation, jump right back in. We were, we left yesterday talking a little bit about some metric type things or, or, or talking through, you know, how to get guests, you know, high, uh, impact guests on the show. Right. And things like that. And you, you, I mean, that's just some great tips. Uh, but what metrics do you track? Do you, you talked about, man, don't focus on it too much in the beginning. Right. It can be so discouraging. However, you know, I love tracking things, right? So we know we're improving or maybe what is working, what is not, what do you track?

Erik Allen: For me, I really will go in and so I use Blueberry as my host for podcasting. I would definitely recommend them great customer service, but they have great analytics. I used Anchor before, which is free, made the jump to Blueberry about a year and a half ago. But their back office really gives me a lot of analytics in regards to how many of my listeners are listening to 75% or more of my show. And so that's what's interesting to me is, is there a fall off where people stop listening? And right now, 95% are listening to 75% or more. And so I'm OK with that. I think that's a pretty good metric for me. There's downloads, right? I can look at some shows, might do 50. Some shows might do 2,000. It depends on my guests, depends on if they share it with their network, if they accept the collaboration, right? So I don't get too hung up on the numbers. But more, when I'm looking at that, I want to understand how much of my show are people listening to, right? That's really the only basic that I, the number that I look at now, I check listen, notes.com. That'll tell you where your show is ranked globally. I'm blessed to have my show ranked in the top one and a half percent globally. But so I really checked that and I check how long people were actually staying on to listen to my show. But again, I don't get hung up on any of the numbers. It's all just like, okay, cool, whatever. I know that I I'm making. impact at least one person listening to that show, right? And so that's what I want to look at as a podcaster. I think we can get hung up on numbers where people are reaching out and their sponsors and how many downloads you get. I don't know. The reason I say I don't know is because when I had Anchor, I had Anchor for four and a half years and I got, I don't know, 20,000 downloads on there. But then I switched to Blueberry. In the podcast world, when you switch a host site, your numbers go back to zero. So you start over literally. And so I just don't get hung up with numbers. I'm like, Hey, I don't know exactly how many downloads I have, but I can tell you that my show is ranked on top one and a half percent globally. And we're making an impact and here's who's been on my show. And so if you want to work with me, great. If not, I totally understand. Like I have to just have that be okay with I'm putting out the show because I love it.

Whitney Sewell: A lot of that, it kind of goes back to what we were talking about yesterday, you know, picking something you're passionate about. Yeah. That's so helpful. Right. You know, you know, you're coming to work and, or you're going to podcast and you're going to get to talk about something you're passionate about or interview somebody that's really good at something you're passionate about. Uh, right. That's so helpful. Uh, and you know, are there ways that, uh, you know, and, and maybe we shouldn't get too hung up on it, uh, but any tips on increasing, right. Your, your reach, right. You don't get in front of more people.

Erik Allen: Uh, number one, best thing they could do is be a guest on other people's shows. That, that is number one. I, in my opinion, how you grow your show is be a guest on other people's shows because you don't know what listeners are going to listen to that show. Now I've been a guest on a show where a guy lived in Tennessee and then a radio station in Tennessee heard my episode on his show and reached out to me and said, Eric, we'd like to interview you. Well, then they interviewed me and then they emailed me like three months later and said, Eric, we forgot to send you a link, but your shows has 50,000 downloads. So all because I was on a show in Tennessee that someone else heard. It's the best way to get exposure is be a guest on other people's shows. That's the number one way to increase your shows. Also share it. Like when you're a guest on other people's shows, share it with your network. That's a respectful thing. This show will get shared to my network because I love being able to do that when the shows come out, right? It gives you exposure to your show. It gives people in my network like, oh man, that's an awesome show. I'm gonna start listening to that. It's the same way. If I'm the host, I'm sharing that out to all platforms. So my show, when it goes out, it goes out to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, like all audio formats. I get it out as far as I can. Some are gonna be maybe three people watch it, but then on other platforms, maybe you have 2000. It just depends. And there's going to be different people and different platforms. So I say as much as you can get your show out, do that and be a guest on as many shows as you can.

Whitney Sewell: Yeah. That's so valuable. I I've slacked off the last probably year and a half or so myself. I used to also try to guest probably at least show, I don't know, two, three shows a week sometimes. And then sometimes I'll go a month and none, you know, uh, and, but have a, a yearly like goal that I'm trying to do or something like that. But no doubt, that's that's when other people start. They hear you, like you said, and they're asking you to be on their show as well. Right. You know, you know, with that being said, oftentimes, if you haven't been interviewed much or been a host on a show, so, you know, you're a little nervous. Right. About being, you know, interviewed. You don't know what they're going to ask. And I get those questions all the time. Well, how do I know I'm prepared? And, you know, I'm going to sound crazy. Right. All these things. Right. You know, how do you know you're prepared, right, Eric? How do you maybe nail down your story or maybe even prepare the host, you know, so they know how to have a good interview with you? What does that look like?

Erik Allen: Yeah, I think for me is if you've got a story to tell, write it down and just read it and go over it as much as you can. I mean, I am writing a book. It's in the draft right now. So like I've been writing that. So I understand my story. But if you're like new and you're like, Uh, how do I get this? You know, how do I get my story lined up, write it down and reread it. And if maybe Sav somebody that's close to you to read it as well. Oh, is that a good store? It doesn't even have to be a long story. It could just be like bullet points. Like, Oh, I want to talk about this because I'm passionate about waking up early. I'm passionate about spending that time in the morning. Oh, I got to read a book every day because that helps me grow. Like talk about things that you're passionate about. And then you never get into these gotcha type situations. Right. I always want to just express to my guests, I'm never going to ask you the gotcha type questions. I'm going to ask you about what you and what you know, because I'm interested, truly interested, in what you do to do what you're doing today. That's my number one goal is I want to bring value to you, but I'm so interested in learning. I heard someone talk about podcasting. It's like when you're listening to a podcast, you're almost like this kind of creeper guy, so to speak, listening into an intimate conversation between two people. Right. And that might sound funny, but it truly is like you, people that are listening to this show, they're like getting to sit next to you and I having a conversation. And I think that's so important and so special for someone to be able to do that. And so, yeah, I mean, definitely do that type of stuff. Yeah, it's always good. I think podcast is so good. And then go join Toastmasters. I'm a big proponent of Toastmasters. And that has helped me curate my story. It's helped me get better at publicly speaking. It's helped me get better in dropping the uhs and the ums and all that stuff. Like, go join some sort of group like Toastmasters as well.

Whitney Sewell: I helped a friend one time start a podcast and he was a professional speaker, like a highly paid speaker, but but he never had a podcast. So so we would meet maybe every other week, 30 minutes to an hour, and I would help him with, you know, getting his podcast going and then he would help me with some public speaking. And we would tally every time we heard an um or off from each other in your little competition, right? Just during the call, you know, and that was so helpful just to get me thinking that way. And I haven't done it enough lately, but that was so helpful. Another thing you mentioned was writing down your story. It just helps you be prepared. Right. And you're going to come with more confidence into the interview because you've thought through this. And I've seen people do this a number of ways. Some people put sticky notes all over their screen. So they have like something to remind them they can be looking at, you know, or they have a document open that has their story. But I hired a speaking coach a number of years ago. I was speaking in front of thousands of people that one of my first biggest events to speak at. And I thought, oh my goodness, you know, I only had 10 minutes, but it's like the first 10 minutes of the, I'm opening this event, you know, it was a big opportunity. So I hired the speaking coach and he did, he said exactly what you said. He's like, we're going to write this out and we're going to get every word to maximize that 10 minutes. But what that did for me. because we laid out like five topics, you know, like five bullets, you know, and then just some details under each one. It also allowed me to be able to build on those. Right. So I could have a, I can make it into a 30 minute or 45 minute or hour long presentation, or I can make it 10 minutes, you know, and still hit those things that I'm passionate about. I love that. Uh, even something like, like Toastmasters as well. Well, you know, Eric, I, uh, any other tips on, on podcasting specifically you want to leave the listeners with, uh, before we jumped to a few other things.

Erik Allen: No, I mean, I think I'm so passionate about podcasting, and I think that if you have a story, and we all do, if you have a brand or a company, you need to share it. And whether you put that out publicly, but record it. and share it with your family for legacies to come. My 10-year-old interviewed my 89-year-old grandma for a school project earlier this year. And we didn't put that on YouTube, but it was such a great interview. And my son thought of these questions that I would never have thought to ask my question that I asked my grandma. And I didn't even know stuff about my grandma that he was asking about. But I get to save that video forever. And video gets a change. So you have a story. You have a brand, a company. Record it. Put it on video. Even if you don't put it out publicly, save it for your legacy.

Whitney Sewell: love that, especially with the family stuff, too. It's Yeah, it's too easy to video now, even if it's just with your phone, like get that recorded, right? Yep. Well, Eric, what's the what's the biggest challenge in your business right now? Hmm.

Erik Allen: Right now, we're going through some transition, I would say. But right right now, so I'm getting ready to launch my life insurance agency. And so in that, that's a big transition for me going from, you know, a customer success and sales background for the last 20 years to launch a life insurance agency. And so that that's kind of that that new step. It's something new, but I'm excited about it and excited to get into that. Um, and I think for the podcast, it's really just, I want to help more people. Like I want, I want to help. I want to help people launch their podcasts. So I've got a self-paced video course that people can take on the website. They can work when they want to one, like I'm trying to put out as much content as I can to help people. Realize that just launch a podcast is a great thing and just, you can do it. You just stick with it and you don't quit. So I would say that's kind of the biggest challenge right now is I just want to help more people. And then this new life change right now with launching my agency.

Whitney Sewell: What are you know, maybe this would be tied to that in some way. But I know there's some habits that are non negotiable for you. You know, what are some what, you know, what does that look like for you? Some of those habits or morning routine? How do you do that?

Erik Allen: It starts as soon as I open my eyes. So I'm 44. As soon as I open my eyes, I immediately out loud in a whisper, I say, God, thank you for another day that I get to see and hug and hold my family. And then for me, I go downstairs and I work out. I hit the gym five days a week. We have a home gym that we built over the last 10 years. So we've got some stuff done there. I hit the gym for for about 45 minutes or so, and then immediately come up here to my office. And for me, that's really where I have my quiet time. I turn on worship music, I spend time reading the Bible, and I spend time in prayer. My prayers are very gratitude-driven, man, because I'm just so thankful that I'm here today and that I've been blessed to be able to do what I do. And, you know, my wife and I, and we have two kids, they're 13 and 10, and we're raising them in a household that we didn't have, you know, They won't experience what we experienced as kids. And so that worship time, that prayer time for me, that's non-negotiable. Waking up for me, non-negotiable. When I say that thank you, right? And I think in our minds, we have to stack wins. So for me, it's that first thank you to Jesus, that's win number one. And then I jump up and I make my bed, there's win number two. So my brain is already starting to stack up wins. And then I hit the gym. win number three, right? And then I'm in prayer time and just more thankfulness. And that's kind of that non-negotiable that helps me kind of start the day. And sometimes prayer is five minutes. Sometimes it's 20 minutes. It really just depends on the day, but I really have to spend some time in the Word before I even start my day.

Whitney Sewell: Yeah, I love that. I love the structure, right? And I love the gratitude first thing too, just to the Lord. No doubt about it. Is there a specific time? Are you like early riser? I get questioned about this all the time because I talk about myself. I love being up early. Uh, and that's just, that's kind of changed my life over the last 10 years. Uh, diligent about being up early and, and, and bulletproof coffee probably. But, but yeah. Speak to, you know, is there a time of day, is there a time of the morning that you're like, man, I got to do this or certain amount of sleep or how you track that?

Erik Allen: 4am, six days a week, I'm getting up. And that means that typically I'm asleep by 930. But 4am every day, that's a it's a non negotiable for me that that's one of those times that I have to get up. The reason that I get up early is one that allows me to have that solo time for myself. One to you know, listen to music, worship, prayer, have that time with God, right? And people are like, why the heck do you wake up at 4am? And see, my desire to be successful in life as a husband, as a father, right, is more important than sleep. And so I want to be able to do that. And so I wake up early and it allows me to have that time where I'm not cutting into family time. So that way, at the end of the day of work, I get to go spend time with my family. I don't have to worry about, oh, man, I forgot to do this and that and that. I got it all done two hours before they wake up. Right. So waking up at 4 a.m., it allows me to get so much done throughout the day. And sometimes I'm a little bit tired, but I drink coffee and I'm drinking my coffee throughout the day. But that 4 a.m., that's that non-negotiable for me. I have to get up and Saturdays are probably my most productive days because I am up. early. My kids sleep in. They're not going to school. My wife homeschools our kids. So we're all in the house at the same time all the time. Right. And so and she's just a trooper for taking that on. And but it just I have to get up early to be able to hit that solo time.

Whitney Sewell: Here, I thought I was doing something over here, being up at five every morning. No, that's incredible. I love that diligence and I love the, the thought too. I think this probably helps you get out of bed. Right. The, the thought of, Hey, this is more important than sleep, right. Or being that husband, that father, you know, and just reminding yourself of that. Right. Cause it's right. It's hard to get up at 5 a.m. for me often, right? Man, alarm goes off. I'm like, are you serious? You know, like, and most mornings, you know, I love that thought process. And something similar to that, I've often told myself is, Hey, if I expect investors to hand me a hundred thousand dollars or half a million dollars invested, like if I, if they, if I expect them to, to believe I'm diligent enough to manage that well, like I should be able to get out of the bed. You know, and I love having a structured morning routine, similar to what you are, you're laying out here. Uh, have you ever, uh, do you and your wife ever, uh, incorporate anything together in the morning routine?

Erik Allen: Mm. She is is more of a night person than I am. And so typically our mornings, though, are I'm during the school year, I'm usually up and I'll go get breakfast for the kids. I'll make their lunch while she's getting ready. And then she'll come out and then we're able to kind of have some breakfast together as a family with our kids. And then they start their day. And my wife starts with prayer and reading the Bible with my kids every day. And so we see each other in that. But I also have it on my calendar to be intentional to have a lunch with my wife at least once a week. And that's every Monday at 12 o'clock. I go downstairs or 11 o'clock and so go down and her and I, that's when she eats as well. And so we go down and we have breakfast together. every Monday. Sometimes it's a little bit later or a little bit earlier, but I have it on my calendar to make sure that no one can block off that time. It's intentional about making some time with my wife and us just to connect. And then, of course, at the end of the night, you know, there's this thing I saw a buddy of mine through a mentorship class that I was in. He talked about at the end of the day, Be within five feet of your wife for five minutes. No intention. Just go and be around her for five minutes within five feet, whether it's close and hugging and snuggling or whatever that is, but five minutes and ask her about her day. Ask her how things are. How is she feeling? Right. So that's something that I would highly recommend implementing. And my wife and I do that. And it's not every day, but we try to get there and make that happen. But that that you have to schedule that time to really draw close to your spouse.

Whitney Sewell: Love that. Be within five feet for five minutes asking about her day. I'm making a note of that. Cause that's, that's such a good routine to be in. I feel like we do that, but I'm probably not thinking about it every day like that, you know, just, uh, yeah. I want to almost like track that, you know, like, did I do that yesterday today or yesterday? Or, um, that's really good. I will speak to what's the number one thing that's contributed to your success.

Erik Allen: Hmm. My number one thing is my wife, I would think. Well, first of all, I think God for sure. God has got me to where I'm at. But my wife is such a supporter in my dreams. And sometimes we have spouses where For me, as an example, I'm a flyer. Like, I want to go out and fly and make stuff happen. My wife kind of holds that string sometimes, but not in a bad way. Like, hey, you should probably think about this a little bit more before you do this. Or, oh, you know what? That's a really great idea. Maybe tweak it this way, right? So it's that support of my wife. And she knows that my dreams are wild. And as an entrepreneur, that can get crazy. And sometimes we eat like kings. And sometimes it's top Robin month, right? frustrating as a woman, because she wants that, you know, solid income coming in. And so she understands that my mindset is kind of crazy like that. But having that support for my wife has been huge. And she's like, like I said, she's gone through it all. But she her and I have just been able to do things and do life together. And that's really helped us. When we moved to Idaho, we came here and some of our family members still don't know where we live, like because we had to break away from the toxic relationships. And we came here, we didn't know anyone. And it's just been our journey to start fresh. And that partnership that we have for coming on 19 years this year, that has made me successful, I think.

Whitney Sewell: Good for you. Wow. I love that. Uh, yeah, my, uh, I always tell people, my wife couldn't care less about real estate, but man, she's been one of my biggest counselors, best counselors, you know, uh, just, it says a lot about your leadership, I think in your home and your humility too, that she can, that she feels comfortable to speak into, into these ideas that you have. Right. Uh, so that's, that's incredible. I appreciate you just honoring her in that as well. What about, how do you like to give back?

Erik Allen: Man, I love giving back. One time, like if someone needs something, I'm very much like, okay, I'm going to drop it and go make it happen, especially if it's somebody that I know or family or friend or my wife needs something like my family will always come first. And I've always said that to every job, like, I they'll always come first. But to give back, I think it's spending time with people, it's giving financially, if you can, it doesn't have to be a lot, maybe they just need a coffee date, right? Maybe they just need a break, right? Give them give them five bucks for coffee, right? But I think giving back Time-wise is so important. Give back to your family. Go help somebody. Go help your neighbor. When my wife and I were first married, we did two trips to Tijuana to go build homes. I'd never been exposed to emission trips before. I grew up in a house where my dad said, pay people to build things. I didn't know how to fix anything or do anything. My wife, she was raised by her grandfather who was a shop teacher for 30 years. So she was exposed to every tool. And every tool in this house today is hers and every tech thing is mine. And we joke about it because all the tools and his tech is kind of what our joke is. But we went down to Mexico. thinking that we're going to change lives down there by building some family home. And man, it was life change for me. You know, we're all standing around after we built them a home and got them off the dirt floor and things like that. And we're doing a key ceremony. And us manly men are just boogered crying, right? Like, give back as much as you can. And it's not about Sometimes it's money, sometimes it's financially, right? But whatever you can to give back, I say that feels good in your heart, right? You can't have gratitude and give back and be angry at the same time.

Whitney Sewell: Love that. Eric, thank you so much. Uh, grateful for the time you spent with us over the last couple of days and just, and laid out so many valuable tips through podcasting, how to podcast, how launch, how to get great, uh, guests as well. I love some of those tips, no doubt about it. Even, even your, um, you know, your intentionality around your morning, I think is crucial to, to success. I've, I've interviewed thousands of people now. And it's like, I, it's a common thing, you know, that I hear. And, and it's like, it's not always rocket science, right. We make things so complicated at times, but you know, it's like, I love that, you know, you're that intent and being intentional is difficult though. Right. It's not normal, always knowing what we should do, but it's actually doing it, you know? And, and so you, uh, are modeling that so well, and I appreciate just your transparency around your faith and your family and what the Lord's done in your life. Thank you again for the way you've given back to us. How can the listeners get in touch with you and learn more about you?

Erik Allen: Yeah, Eric, GL or excuse me. Yeah, Eric G. Allen on Instagram is probably where I'm most active. It's er ik and then my website just Eric Allen media.com. Feel free to reach out at any point. I love connect with people on there. And then my show drops every Friday at 7am on YouTube and all audio formats on all platforms as well. But absolutely love connect with people. So make sure if you have questions, please reach out.

Whitney Sewell: Thank you for being with us again today. I hope that you have learned a lot from the show. Don't forget to like and subscribe. I hope you're telling your friends about the Real Estate Syndication Show and how they can also build wealth in real estate. You can also go to lifebridgecapital.com and start investing today.