Unlocking Your Podcast Potential

Leaving the safety of a steady job behind in 2020, Chris embarked on an entrepreneurial journey that is as exciting as it is insightful. We get into his choice to pivot into the world of podcasting and consulting and the 'burn the boats' mentality he adopted - a commitment to the path chosen devoid of any possibility of retreat or looking back.

Chris shares the magic of video in online communication and how it catapults you above audio-only podcasts. The journey begins with the importance of good audio, and then we venture into the world of lighting and camera setups. Chris even shares a quick guide on lighting, explaining how a studio-like ambiance can be created with a few lights and simple items, and the importance of eliminating shadows. We also address the fear of being on camera and how to rise above it.

The latter part of our conversation centers on the income potential in podcasting, and the steps to unlock it. Chris highlights how leveraging the power of video can build meaningful connections and advance your brand or business. He also unveils key strategies for podcast growth — creating a specific message, maintaining consistent output, and constantly innovating based on constructive feedback. Discover how Chris's decision to shift from releasing one episode a week to three helped him catapult into the top 2% of podcasters globally. Join us, this could be the sign you were looking for to begin your podcasting journey.

Chapters

• 0:00 Journey to Entrepreneurship
• 10:25 Video's Importance in Online Communication
• 13:53 Lighting and Overcoming Video Fears
• 19:20 Income Potential in Podcasting
• 24:28 Key Strategies for Podcast Growth

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to the Elevate Media Podcast with your host, Chris Anderson. In this show, Chris and his guests will share their knowledge and experience on how to go from zero to successful entrepreneur. They have built their businesses from scratch and are now ready to give back to those who are just starting. Let's get ready to learn, grow and elevate our businesses. And now your host, Chris Anderson.

Speaker 2: 0:25

Today I'm sitting down with David Shomer and Ken Wilson on their show, the Firing the man podcast, where I'm going to talk about my journey in entrepreneurship, video tips and much more. So thanks for tuning in. Now let's get to the episode.

Speaker 3: 0:41

So, to start things off, can you get us up to speed on your path to starting Elevate Media?

Speaker 4: 0:49

Yeah, how long do you want me to go? No, it can be a very long story, but I'll try to keep it brief. Basically, back in 2020, there were a lot of things that led up to the moment of me quitting my job to start pursuing entrepreneurship. Lost a lot of loved ones in a short amount of time. Covid would start to trickle it in in the world and just saw the frailty of life and the brevity of life, and I just got to the point where I got tired of someone else telling me what my time was worth and where my time could go. And so I'd been listening to a lot of individuals in the world of personal development, business development, entrepreneurship, and I saw the possibility. I knew that there is something out there I could do to build a life I wanted, build a life I loved and dictate my own time. And so 2020, april 2020, covid hit in Indiana and at the same time, I decided to quit my job. I actually gave them four weeks notice, which was April. Halfway through that, I got furloughed and sent home because of COVID, and so my journey started right there.

Speaker 4: 2:02

And if you're seeing the video, if not, ken has a poster behind him and says burn the boats and burn the boats. It was my motto. I had read a book and I want to say it McGregor was his last name, I can't remember, but the last arrow was what the title of the book was called and in there he told the story of the general who told us people, hey, we're going to this island, we're going to fight, but we're burning the boats when we get there because it's either winter, die, and there's no turning back. And so that was my motto burning the boats. Going after this, I felt led to do it and not going to look back. I'm going to take a one step at a time, and so that's. I jumped into it. I don't necessarily tell people to do that. It's not really the easiest thing. Entrepreneurship's already hard, and so when you quit your job at Cold Turkey with no money coming in from anything, with no business background, it's not for the faint of heart. And so did that, and I'd had my podcast going since 2019. It was a different name previously and I was just learning from entrepreneurs. I was inviting successful entrepreneurs on the show, learning from them and sharing with other people. And so now, in 2020, I was like oh yeah, okay, I've learned enough. I'm going to help other people grow their business. The problem is I hadn't done it yet and so there was this misalignment. I think internally that I didn't really want to sell that because I knew that I hadn't done it, and so there was like that battle, because I'd seen so many other successful entrepreneurs doing that and I was like, okay, that's where I should head towards. So went through 2020, our savings were dwindling. My wife's just a teacher, so she's not making a whole lot.

Speaker 4: 3:41

2021 comes around and I have people start asking me hey, how's your podcast growing? Like, how are you becoming successful at it? All these different questions, technical questions, how do you find guests, all these things, how do you start a podcast? And so I was like, hey, I need some money coming in. So I leaned into that a little bit and started taking on clients on how to do that, how to launch a podcast successfully, and that was doing well. But I still wanted to do the original idea I had.

Speaker 4: 4:10

And it got to the end of 2021 where we ever had that road let T in the road where you have to decide. And I kept getting these questions and people coming about podcasts and my ego and my pride said no, I don't want to do that. I want to do this thing and you'll figure it out eventually. And it took me a little bit to just sit and still and quiet and listen. And I heard get out of the way, move yourself out of the way and look what's being given to you, look what path is opening up, if you would just take it. And so the end of 2021, I think it was October I ended up doing a DBA, doing business as, created an elevator media group and really went full into that. In the next month I think it was the next month or the same month that we did that I got my first reoccurring monthly client and it just has been growing since. Yeah, so that's a condensed, quick version, if you can believe it.

Speaker 5: 5:05

Yeah, now, absolutely, and thanks for sharing your story. It's pretty amazing. I love hearing stories like that. That's why we love doing this podcast, firing the man, and so, if we can take a few steps back and we always, david and I, always get this question from listeners is what was quitting your job like with no revenue? Did you have a plan? Did you burn the boats without a plan? What does that look like for the listeners that are contemplating this or thinking about doing that in the future?

Speaker 4: 5:32

Yeah, it was definitely a burn the boats kind of thing. I had an idea, but the idea was the original idea that I wasn't prepared for, that I hadn't had the experience of doing, and so we really just my wife and I. So faith is a big part of my story and just my life. And it was previous to quitting my job where I brought the idea to her and she's a math teacher very analytical and she said, yeah, no, no way that's going to happen. She said A and A plus B equals C. So you see C down here, but where's A and B? I got to see those two and I said, ok, I get it, no problem, like I was like, if this is what we're supposed to do, if this is what God wants us to do, you'll be on board, because that's what I believe. I believe he'll keep us on the same page with that.

Speaker 4: 6:17

So eventually she did, and that's what led to me quitting my job, and there wasn't a real plan. But the plan was figured out as we go the Indiana Jones, las Cruces, I don't know, making this up as I go, cool, just winging it. And again, just taking everything I've learned from the guests I had previously on the show from those I was listening to on other podcasts and really just nose down to the grindstone trying to figure it out. So there was real no plan, really no plan. Just burn those boats and figure it out as fast as you can.

Speaker 5: 6:48

OK, awesome, I like that. I think that's so. Your risk tolerance is very high. No, I think it's great and it sounds like you had a backup plan and everything, but you went off, you went all in, and so sometimes that it closes off that little voice in the head of are you really going to do this? Are you not Like when you go all in, there is no voice back there saying, no, it's, you have. You have one option it's forward, and I really like that.

Speaker 4: 7:13

Yeah, sorry to jump in there, but that's like how I've approached a lot of things like my life. We were talking about the other day and I thought about it and I run marathons and I had previously at least. This is 2023 right now We'll see the future, but previously I would run marathon was like little to no training, just go out and run in. I've been a runner all my life and things like that and been decent shape. But 26.2 miles I was just like, yeah, I'll sign up for this race and race. They came around and I said, as long as I finish, as long as I cross the finish line, that's all it matters. I'm not going out to try to beat everybody and be first or anything like that. I just want to finish and do my best.

Speaker 4: 7:49

And that's has become now like a mental challenge, a physical challenge that I push myself to. I'm doing one this coming October and I think I signed up like three months ago and I ran like twice since I've signed up. But we'll see how much more I run until then. But yeah, I think it's just my nature for sure, and I've learned and the big thing is like I've learned that, but I've also learned how to make a little bit better calculated risks along the way, because then you know I've taken some risks that, have you know, come back to bite me or haven't been the best outcome, but I've learned from them and moved on, where my wife is very anti-risk, tolerant and she wants to have the exact plan, and so we kind of balance each other in that way. But yeah, that's awesome.

Speaker 5: 8:30

It sounds like you deliver under pressure.

Speaker 4: 8:33

Yeah, try to, at least most of the time.

Speaker 5: 8:36

Awesome, or you, david.

Speaker 3: 8:38

I know there's a lot of people listening to this show that are probably still working a full time job, and it's on their mind I want to fire the man, I want to do my own thing, and so my question to you is what advice would you give to them, or what advice would you give to yourself, if you could do it all over again?

Speaker 4: 8:57

Yeah, I'd probably say saying my job a little bit longer If I could. I know, make sure, if you are going to quit your job, if that's the step you're going to take, make sure you have some sort of savings. We had some and again we it's crazy story but like we burnt through it on what we needed to and got to the point where we had to make money. And that's when LV happened. It all just happened at once. But yeah, yeah that's a hard one, because you've got to know when to burn the boats. You got to know when to take that, take that leap. Because I know people who are successful in their businesses that still have a nine to five and but you're battling that time commitment between the two. So you've got to know when, if you have bigger goals, when is it time to cut ties with that nine to five and go all in on your business to get that next level, because you only have so much time.

Speaker 4: 9:45

Your job. That nine to five takes a lot of it. You could do so much more without it. But if you're just starting out and you're not at that point, then you're not at that point. I would just say just continue to grind. Continue to hone in your message of your business or your brand or what you're, who you're helping with, the product you have, and just narrow that in and get it as lean, as simple as possible and just get reps until you're at a certain threshold that you feel comfortable being able to step away from that.

Speaker 5: 10:13

Nine to five yeah, I like that. So, Chris podcasting, let's get into podcasting a bit Through audio podcasting, video podcasting, and I know you're an expert in these. What are your thoughts of audio versus video? What's the future look like? What should people be focusing on?

Speaker 4: 10:31

Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 4: 10:32

Video podcast is what you should be focusing on if you're going to spend any time doing it, and that's because, where we are right now, with social media, with online presence, with, now, ai that you have to start competing against because you can do an AI avatar and AI voice video is going to cut through a lot of that, because eventually, people are going to want people and not avatars.

Speaker 4: 10:59

It's going to be a different connection, but prior where we are right now. Video sets you apart from all the just video or just all the audio only shows, and you're able to connect better online on social media with video, because people are going to be able to see your mannerisms. They're going to be able to see your face as they hear your voice, which just builds a better connection a little bit easier than if they were just to hear you speaking. So it's a great marketing tool, it's a great connection, it's a great audience builder, it's a great community builder, which is the video because of that bridge you can gap. Even though you're not in person, they can at least still see you and pick up on things that way. So video is definitely the priority.

Speaker 3: 11:46

Very nice. Now to somebody who's listening that may only be recording audio. What's step one to get them into video, like what would be a logical first step?

Speaker 4: 11:59

Yeah, for sure. The first step make sure your audience on target. Obviously you want to have the best audience. So if you haven't got that yet, that'd be the first thing to focus on, because even if you have video and your audio quality is not very good, it's going to, it's going to turn people away still. So that's where you want to really start. But once you have that audio down, you've invested in a decent mic. That's going to sound good.

Speaker 4: 12:22

The next step is just getting on camera somehow. You don't have to start with some huge fancy setup. We've got a DSLR we use. We have multiple that we can set up. You don't have to have that you could start with. You can honestly start with the webcam on your computer. As long as you have good audio, starting with the webcam, and you just make sure you have the right lighting, you don't have to buy a bunch of tech to start with video. So yeah, that's where I say make sure your audio is on point and then you can start deciding on your video. Do you want to invest in a little bit of lighting to just use your webcam, or would you like to invest into the next level? There's webcams that are only a couple of hundred dollars, then your DSLR is at thousand, two thousand, and then the excuse me, the big fancy cameras that are multiple thousands that you can get when you're ready for it. So, audio, and make sure you have good lighting to use for your video, and then you can upgrade your camera.

Speaker 3: 13:20

After that, okay, yeah, you mentioned lighting and for those tuning in on audio, this may be a challenging thing to describe, but for those of you tuning in on YouTube, what would be some kind of lighting for beginners? I am taking note of your lighting seems very professional. You have an accent light behind you. What is lighting for beginners look like.

Speaker 4: 13:45

Yeah. So really, what you want to make sure is your face is illuminated. You don't want a bunch of shadows, especially on the talking head, like this. Now, if you're doing more cinematic than the whole different story with shadows and things, but to start you're doing a video podcast, you're talking to someone, you're going to want your face to be fairly illuminated. You might be able to see if you are watching over on my left side it's a little bit blue. There's a little bit blue too. I have a LED bar light here and you'll see on my hand as I get closer, just putting a little bit of color.

Speaker 4: 14:17

And again, that's just cinematic effect and you want to have a big thing with lighting is obviously no shadows on the face. So you want to have maybe a couple of fill lights out at an angle in front of you about maybe 30 degrees off to each side, just slightly above your eye level coming in. So that's where you could start To start with those fill lights and then make sure that they're not too harsh so that when you see those big photo lights that have the big white boxes, those diffusers on them, that diffuser helps spread the light out to make it softer and less harsh, so it feels better. So you want to make sure you have at least some diffusers already on your lights. We have two Elgato key lights here in this studio. They're pretty non-expensive, they just go on stands. They come with their own diffuser. You can actually use an app to increase the brightness or the hue, because if you want warm light or if you want cooler light, depending on your situation based on the lighting around you those are good ones to go. But you could start with those fill lights so there's no shadow on your front, but just make sure they're not overbearing where they wash everything out. So start there, again, non-expensive, maybe a hundred, couple hundred, I think, I can't remember for these.

Speaker 4: 15:39

And then the next step you'd want to think about is the depth, so the more depth you can have in your video. So there's a gap between me and the wall behind me, a decent size gap, probably five feet. If I could do more, that'd be good, but that worked for us. So that depth separates you from the background, allows the light to come on you and then, depending on your camera or settings, you can have that little blurry background. Now, when you do this, if you're watching the video, if you're listening, though, I have a lamp off to my right shoulder in the back, and that's called a hair light. That comes and just illuminates the back of the head and the shoulder a little bit. It separates me from my background. So, again, that's another little tip. You can just use a lamp, you know, and that's the simplest two fill lights in front of you, or even just one ring light If you have just one, just making sure you're illuminated and then just separate yourself from the background, whether that be from a lamp or something like that.

Speaker 5: 16:44

That's incredible. David. I don't know about you, but I'm taking a bunch of mental notes. I've got some improvements to do over here.

Speaker 3: 16:50

I agree. I'm looking at all the shadows in my face from the light that I have directly above me. Yeah, I was yeah no, that's really good tips and the way you explained them. You don't need to be a Hollywood lighting guy to figure that out. Often things that you may have at your house like a lamp. So, no, I really like that.

Speaker 4: 17:11

Yeah, and then you can get fun. It's what you want. You can get crazy with it, you can get really cool with it. Like we have two LED hue LED bars behind on the ground putting some color up just up the wall a little bit. So again, to separate that background, give a little different essence, and we tried to match it with this LED bar light over here that just puts a little bit of glow on the face. All are changeable, so you can change the colors or whatever you want. I mean, there's obviously the LED rope lights or string lights that you could put under and around things. So, yeah, there's a lot you can do. I mean you can invest. We have, you know, $1,800 cameras, $600 or, excuse me, lights, based on whatever your need is. But like a smaller 10 by 8 section here that we're in doesn't need those big fill lights, whereas if you're on a bigger or open area you'd want those bigger wattage lights.

Speaker 5: 18:01

Yeah, that's awesome. So, for anybody listening, if you're driving, don't do this now, but when you get home, go to our YouTube channel. We'll have some clips up on our YouTube channel. But Chris is set up for a podcasting studio. It's pretty sick. It's got all the accent lighting and so, yeah, I would recommend anybody listening. Go take a look at that and, yeah, get some tips. So I know I've got some notes here and so I'm going to upgrade my setup. Chris, one thing that you probably get this all the time I know we get it a lot is entrepreneurs that everybody has fears, right, and so what do you tell people that you're recommending video podcasting, and so maybe someone is comfortable with their voice, but maybe they're not comfortable being on video, and I know a lot of people that they're like we've invited guests on the show before. They're like, no, I don't want to do video. And so what do you recommend to people that are that have that fear?

Speaker 4: 18:49

Yeah, first, obviously, where's that fear coming from? Why is that a fear for you? Obviously, that's got to be where we start, because you need to be on video, or at least someone. Maybe you have someone, a partner within your business or brand that's less fearful of it. Someone needs to be the face. You've got to have somebody on video. So I would say, figure out where that fear is coming. What's it? What's causing that? Do you feel like people are going to like you or whatever it is? Figure that out and then just take it one step at a time and start getting.

Speaker 4: 19:20

I like I didn't like getting on camera and still sometimes I'm like getting on camera, especially if it's like just a phone thing and I'm doing something like a story or a video. I'm like I don't know, but I want to do it because I want to share a message, I want to help and whatever it is, it doesn't always go away. I had a choir, I did drama in high school and still, getting on stage, you still get butterflies. You still get that nervous not exactly that nervous energy kind of excitement when you go up there, and so it's just being able to take those steps and walk, that walk despite all of that, but it's definitely with where we are in the world and society and social media. You got to get on video or someone at least does for your brand or business, absolutely.

Speaker 3: 20:09

So question for you that relates to people that are thinking about starting a podcast. Ken and I have been in the podcast game since 2019. And we've talked to a lot of people with podcasts and it seems that there's traditionally two routes or two motivations for people to go into podcasting. One is this is going to be fun, or there's a social cause, or there's a non monetary benefit, and then there's a separate camp of people that get into it with the goal of producing an income. And so for that second group of people, can you maybe set expectations or talk about what is possible or what is realistic from an income producing standpoint?

Speaker 4: 20:52

As far as what's plausible, like what they could actually make on average kind of thing. Is that what you're asking? Yeah, so that's hard. It's based on a lot of things your audience, your demographic, yourself. Is that definitely doable to make money for directly from your show? You've got to figure out what that looks like for you. We a lot of our clients we consult on how to make money indirectly through the show, including their show as that platform that sends their audience to their product or service and just adding a whole bunch of value within the show. But the show itself can directly make you money and a lot of times people are thinking sponsorships. That's what they always hear about. How can I get sponsors? And that would be the last one I would say to think of. If you're trying to make money from your show, I would again start with just pushing your product and service, or at least directing people to that through your show to make more that way. But then as you grow and as you build an audience that is consistently there and you've done hundreds and hundreds of episodes and you've stuck with it to show this is a good deal and then you can start. There's different ways to do it. But you can start charging guests to be on the show. You can start having maybe those sponsors come to you or if you've made those connections, those are all ways.

Speaker 4: 22:17

Affiliates are a great way and maybe you already use a service that you love email, crm or something and they have an affiliate program and you become affiliate. You can just share. Hey, this is what I use. I love it because this it could help you in this. If you're interested, I'm an affiliate. Here's my link. You know more or less you can make it and tailor it how you want. But affiliates is another good one to get kind of revenue coming in. But if you're thinking your podcast is going to make you really big bucks, it can. It's going to take a while, but you're more. It'll be better for you if you spend more of your energy using it as just a value loaded tool and lead magnet to direct people towards the thing you actually are selling or doing.

Speaker 3: 22:59

Got it, got it. That makes sense. That makes sense. And one point I want to highlight is that sponsorships is probably the lowest thing on your list and I think that's something that people go into right out of the gate thinking about. I know when we started, that was something that we were thinking about right out of the gate and have since pivoted to more of the affiliates and things like that.

Speaker 4: 23:22

So, yeah, because sponsors like, if you, if you have a super niche show, like super specific, maybe it's a hyper local, like for your city or something specific like that, then that's a different, that's a different ball game with sponsors. Because if you're a hyper local show, you know your show about Indianapolis and even that might be too big. So if your show about just north of us, carmel, indiana, maybe it's just a show just about Carmel, now you have the opportunity to say, hey, we've had, we have this show about Carmel and we have a decent following that living Carmel that want to know about Carmel, obviously specifically Carmel, because that's what the show's about. Go to local businesses Say, hey, look, this is what we have. Would you like to be a sponsor for X amount of episodes or whatever it is. A hyper local or a super niche in show has more possibility to getting sponsors earlier than a show like mine is just helping entrepreneurs grow. It's not as super hyper local or hyper niche as those can be. So that's something to think about too. Yeah.

Speaker 5: 24:26

No, that's excellent. Next question I have is in, but it's, it's our job to bring out all the nuts and bolts, one of the best things that you have right when we interview people, and, as David alluded to it in the intro, you've built the elevate media podcast into a top 2% globally listened to show and to provide maximum value. What are, let's say, the top three things that people can focus on, to whether it's their brand, a podcast, anything, top three things to focus on that that helped you grow.

Speaker 4: 24:53

Yeah, the first one is being a little bit more specific on your message. What's your episode about? You could be all over the place, and I'm blessed that elevate has grown like it has, because we are a little bit more broad. We're talking about elevating your brand through the stories of successful entrepreneurs and in the episodes I share solo and so that the first one would be know your message and know who you're talking to those kind of together, because that'll help you keep on track and keep the episodes relevant to those listening, and that's a big one. So no one who and what you're talking about. The second would be consistency.

Speaker 4: 25:31

It's funny I've talked to a lot of podcasters who are like, hey, exact same question How'd you get the top 2% globally? Like, how'd you get charted Things like that? Cause we want to do the same thing. I said, okay, how often you're releasing an episode? We're pretty consistent. I'm like, okay, what's consistent? We do one a month. I'm like, okay, that's not going to work. I hate to tell you if that's your cadence, that's just it's going to be super, super slow growth. It's the. If you're watching Netflix and you got a show comes out right now Secret of Agents on Marvel, on Disney plus. Like what if an episode came out one Wednesday and you had to wait a whole nother month before the next one? In this you're going to get bored, you're going to move on to something else. That's the same with your episode. You need to at least be weekly once a week and again, that comes from my mind frame of it being something more than just a hobby, something for fun. That just takes up time because I have a purpose for the show and I think most of your listeners would too. So you've got to treat it as part of your business, of main crucial piece, and so having that consistent weekly cadence is going to keep people you know on board. Okay, every week I hear you know something that's going to be a value and help me move forward. So that consistency is crucial in that cadence, at least once a week. We do three a week now, but I started for with one a week for a long time. So just doing that and staying with it, you've got to get over and you got to do more than seven episodes and think you're going to be Joe Rogan. You got to do way more episodes to have any success. It just that's just part of it Work up on 300 or over 300. I mean nowhere out now, honestly, on numbers, but I just keep moving. Keep that consistency. That's the second one.

Speaker 4: 27:15

And then the third always keep improving and be open to advice and feedback from your guests, from your listeners. So always be learning and innovating, because there's always something we can do better. I can do something better here. I can always improve that. I can prove my topics. I'm definitely still trying to improve on being a better speaker and so there's always things we can do to grow and improve. And feedback from guests are great. Hey, you ask a lot of questions, you talk too much, blah, blah, blah. Anything. Just take it with a grain of salt and take it as positive feedback so you can grow and improve. So just stick with your audience. Look at your reviews. If people are happy or if they're not, they'll say it and say, okay, can I do something better to reach more people? So that would be the third is just continue to grow and innovate and keep moving forward.

Speaker 5: 28:04

Yeah, that's excellent. And just to recap essentially, chris, you mentioned fundamentals right, being open to constructive feedback and consistency, and have a simple message what are you going to deliver in value and what are you going to speak to? And so excellent. One follow-up question is, like you had mentioned, you did one show for a while and now you're at three. For anybody looking to grow, what was your when you switched from one? Did you go from one to two or from one to three, and what was the impact? Was it? Did it correlate to the amount of your stats, your downloads, your stats, your charting, and did it correlate to the amount of episodes that you generated?

Speaker 4: 28:41

Yeah. So we went from one straight to three because I got the point. It was actually just this year that I decided to do that with the show, because I've been interviewing successful entrepreneurs every week since 2019. And I got the point where it's okay now, like we're building something, I've had success, I want to share what I've learned, I want to share and show my expertise as well, because it's all part of the bigger business picture as well. But I was like I have stuff, I have stories I can share and get that out there and motivate and inspire. Hopefully and people can hear me, you know explain and teach and approach these different topics, and so that's one reason I wanted to do it. But we went from one to three, with Monday being the interviews we do, and then Wednesday and Friday I do a solo or I release a solo each week. And it was also another. It was a stretch moment too. It was like, okay, we've been doing this for the podcast for two years, three years, what's next? How are we going to grow, how are we going to innovate, how are we going to improve? And that was the next step to push me a little bit more out of my comfort zone of coming up with topics and getting topics to speak on and speaking solo for episodes. So that kind of was the reasoning behind it, as far as we see any change.

Speaker 4: 30:03

Funny enough, I don't really look at metrics a whole lot. My metrics just come obviously with the business side of things. So downloads, I think we just can, we could just continue to consistently grow. I have noticed weekly downloads have increased and yeah, I've had a lot more people reach out to be on the show, which has been. It's been a cool thing. We've actually that's one reason we started to charge when people reach out because we've done a lot of work with the show. We do a lot to market it, we've built the network, the audience, and so a lot of people want to push their thing or whatnot anyways. So we do a small thing and it's been going well with that.

Speaker 4: 30:41

But yeah, it's just been just consistent growth and that's what a lot of people need to look at. They want to see their numbers jump. They're going to have thousands per week or per episode right away and it takes time. I think the last time I looked at average download per episode was 75. It's nothing crazy. You just all see those outliers of Joe Rogan and things like that and all these celebrities. You've already done the work to build a huge audience. They put it on a show and they're going to get those numbers. So you got to think about that too. Don't worry too much about that. As long as you're continually growing, speaking to your audience, speaking to what they need, and you're having consistent growth, like things will happen.

Speaker 5: 31:19

Yeah, absolutely, David over to you.

Speaker 3: 31:24

So, as we sit here talking in 2023, for those of our listeners that may already have a podcast and they've got the fundamentals down right, they have good audio, they're consistently posting. Maybe they have a YouTube presence with video, but they've seen their downloads kind of plateau. What are some strategies or tactics to continue to build that audience?

Speaker 4: 31:48

Yeah, to ask them what are they doing right now to connect with their audience? What are they doing to advertise the show? Are they just posting it once a week? Same thing. They're posting it once a week, once a week. Once a week that's not enough anymore. Some people say, oh, you just need to post once or twice a week, it's okay. You really you got to post once a day and that might seem daunting to some, but you got to think who else is in your market? How can you set yourself apart?

Speaker 4: 32:15

So showing up more and leading people to the show more. Don't be scared to say, hey, go check out the show. Most of my posts at the end, hey, this was from the elevate media podcast. Or go check out this topic on the elevate media podcast, and I'm just big about pushing it out there and letting people know about it. And that would be one way. Just make sure you're getting it out there more in front of people.

Speaker 4: 32:39

The second way is get on other people's shows. Share your value, share that topic to other audiences that have been built and share your knowledge. Share your stories, share your excitement, share whatever it is to a show that has a similar audience. It doesn't be the exact same thing, but there's going to be people who say that sounds like a great show, I might be able to learn something from that. And then they're going to go to subscribe and listen to some, so that that's the second big way, organically, without necessarily having to pay anything. And then, of course, there's ads. If you want to look into those, but very nice Ken over to you.

Speaker 5: 33:19

Yeah, absolutely, Before we get into the fire on that, I wanted to ask, Chris is there, are there any other messages or anything else that we didn't cover that you think could be helpful to the audience?

Speaker 4: 33:30

Don't get discouraged I think that's a big one on entrepreneurship, podcasting Just don't get discouraged. Play the long game If you can play the long game. And that's the most important thing, these short-term hopes and dreams, instant gratification type stuff like that you're just not going to make it if you can't play the long game. So that'd be one thing. I just remind people Don't focus on the downloads as much. Don't even focus on the charts and stuff as much. Just focus on adding value, connecting with an audience and just keeping things streamlined and simple as possible.

Speaker 5: 34:06

Excellent advice. Yeah, one thing that David and I have done is tried to create the podcasting experience where we enjoy it, and so it's like a passion project for us and it's not. Hey, we're chasing this and chasing that. So I think that advice is excellent. Okay, so, chris, we run all of our guests through the ringer and it's called the fire round. Are you ready? I think so. All right, what is your favorite book? Lord of the Rings, awesome.

Speaker 4: 34:32

What are your hobbies? Don't necessarily have any specific hobbies. I love to travel, love being outside around animals. We have many farm and then working out.

Speaker 5: 34:43

Okay, excellent, and the random marathon, right yeah. What is one thing that you do not miss about working for the man?

Speaker 4: 34:52

I do not miss having someone tell me what my time is worth, where my time can go and how much money I can make.

Speaker 5: 35:01

Absolutely Last one what do you think sets apart successful entrepreneurs from those who give up, fail or never get started?

Speaker 4: 35:09

I think it's the fortitude tender. I think having the courage to battle through all the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, I think for those who have started, that's a big one. If they can have the fortitude to endure, they can do anything, because entrepreneurship it is a marathon. It's climbing a mountain and then going down the valleys and it's everything. If you haven't started it, if you're thinking about starting a business, an entrepreneurship journey, get ready because it's going to test you, it's going to stretch you, it's going to beat you down. It sounds terrible and it is. Sometimes it's hard. You can make it simple, which is good, but it's always it will be hard, it's not going to be easy and it's funny.

Speaker 4: 35:55

I just talked to a friend of mine the other day. We were talking about it and hey, how's life, how's business? I told him. I said it feels like I'm going through a refinery right now. I've been doing this since 2019, 2021 with Elevate and right now I feel like I'm in another really refinery type era. I just feel like I'm getting smelted down, beat, molded, shaped and just going through this process again, which all of it sounds terrible, but it's all for good. So I'm leaving parts of me that I don't need anymore Habits that I don't need anymore. I'm going through this process but within that it's uncomfortable, it's painful, it hurts. But on the other side coming out, tools, swords, a lot of things only are made going through this refinery and so you're going to go from a solid object, a solid state of matter to be created into something even more beneficial and more deadly or strong, going through this refinery period. So you've got to be able to have the fortitude tender all of the challenges that are going to come your way.

Speaker 5: 37:05

That's an excellent analogy and I really like it. David, over to you to close out the show.

Speaker 3: 37:11

Absolutely so for our listeners, if they're interested in working with Elevate Media, what would be the best way to get in touch with you?

Speaker 4: 37:20

Yeah, you can either email us at support, at elevate-media-groupcom, or you can just reach out to me on Instagram at christanderson. I still personally respond to messages there, so you'll be getting me. You won't be getting a bot or AI or an assistant or anything like that. I still go and answer those messages in them. I've been answering any questions too. I love that. So if you have any entrepreneurship questions, video, podcast questions, anything, shoot them over to me. I just love helping and giving where I can, so those would be the best places.

Speaker 3: 37:53

Awesome, we will post links to that in the show notes. Chris, I want to thank you for being a guest on the firing command podcast and looking forward to staying in touch.

Speaker 4: 38:03

Thank you both for having me. I appreciate it.

Speaker 1: 38:05

Thank you for listening to the Elevate Media Podcast. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review. See you in the next episode.