1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:16,100 Hey everyone. 2 00:00:16,100 --> 00:00:18,100 Ashley here with RSS podcasting. 3 00:00:18,100 --> 00:00:21,220 And today we're talking about systems and processes. 4 00:00:21,220 --> 00:00:24,760 Now I know that some people, when they hear that, they kind of bulk up the idea, but the 5 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:30,400 truth is systems and processes can be a great way to make your podcasting more fun. 6 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:33,680 Whether you've been podcasting for a few months or you're just now getting ready to release 7 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:38,240 your first episode, I think you'll find that using systems and processes can actually help 8 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:44,040 you to get the things that need to be done for your episodes much faster than you might 9 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:45,320 already think. 10 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:48,020 Now the truth is that podcasting has a lot of moving parts. 11 00:00:48,020 --> 00:00:52,240 And that's why I was really excited whenever Kate Erickson of Entrepreneurs on Fire agreed 12 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:57,600 to sit down and chat with us all about what she's the queen of, systems and processes. 13 00:00:57,600 --> 00:00:58,600 Enjoy the show. 14 00:00:58,600 --> 00:00:59,600 Awesome. 15 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:02,120 Well, Ashley, thank you so much for having me on. 16 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:06,960 I'm very excited to be a part of this series because podcasting for me is a huge part of 17 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:11,260 my life and like practically all of our business. 18 00:01:11,260 --> 00:01:12,880 So I love talking about podcasting. 19 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:14,880 I'm super passionate about it. 20 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:15,880 I am Kate Erickson. 21 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:18,860 I'm one half of the Entrepreneurs on Fire team. 22 00:01:18,860 --> 00:01:23,320 So my partner, John Lee Dumas, launched a podcast called Entrepreneurs on Fire back 23 00:01:23,320 --> 00:01:25,560 in 2012. 24 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:31,360 Early 2013, about six months after he launched, the podcast had really taken off. 25 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:37,680 He had a growing audience and he started having listeners approach him and ask if he did coaching, 26 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:42,360 asked how he launched his podcast, how he made it successful. 27 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:49,960 And as that started picking up, he started getting all these ideas for communities, masterminds, 28 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:55,660 programs, courses, but it was himself and one virtual team member. 29 00:01:55,660 --> 00:02:00,360 And so he asked me if I wanted to quit my job and come on board as kind of like the 30 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:05,640 operations, like heartbeat system behind the whole setup. 31 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:08,120 And after a few months, I decided to do that. 32 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:12,040 And for the past nine years, we've been producing Entrepreneurs on Fire. 33 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:16,720 We've launched probably like seven or eight other podcasts as well. 34 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:18,000 All different kinds of podcasts. 35 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:22,680 I do a topic-based podcast called Kate's Take that I launched in 2014. 36 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:26,640 I also launched a podcast early 2020 called Ditch Busy. 37 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:30,480 Most recently, I started a podcast with one of my girlfriends, Nicole. 38 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:34,320 So we co-host a podcast called Nicole and Kate Can Relate. 39 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:41,640 So I've done everything from topic-based to co-hosted to series-based to interview-based. 40 00:02:41,640 --> 00:02:46,320 And that's kind of my podcasting background in a very small nutshell. 41 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:53,040 Do you basically just eat coffee out of the can or do you still like brew it? 42 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:54,520 Whole beans, whole beans. 43 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:55,520 I love it. 44 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:56,520 I love it. 45 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:59,240 So, I mean, it sounds like you've done a lot. 46 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:04,120 I mean, I knew that you had done some, but I didn't realize it was like that many podcasts 47 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:06,520 over the course of the nine years. 48 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:07,520 That's insane. 49 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:12,200 So clearly to do all of that, you have to have systems and processes in place. 50 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:18,040 So what are the systems and processes that you use and why do you think they're so important 51 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:20,320 for the beginner podcaster or even the pro? 52 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:22,000 Because obviously you've been doing it so long. 53 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:24,120 I'm sure you still use all these systems. 54 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:25,120 Yes. 55 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:29,760 Well, a common thing that we see happen and that I experienced myself when I launched 56 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:35,840 my first podcast, Kate's Take, is that there's so much excitement and passion and drive behind 57 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:39,120 starting a podcast and you're so excited to get your message out and you want to help 58 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:42,920 people and you want to, you know, a lot of people start a podcast to try and build a 59 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:44,640 business around it. 60 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:48,440 Some people already have a business and they're adding a podcast as a marketing arm, whatever 61 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:53,640 the case, like there's a lot of excitement that goes into leading up to launching a podcast. 62 00:03:53,640 --> 00:04:00,760 And what we see happen a lot is there's so much focus on the artwork, the interview format, 63 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:02,440 how you're going to get guests. 64 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:06,040 If you're doing a topic based show, what topics you're going to talk about. 65 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:11,040 And oftentimes what gets left behind is what's going to happen once you launch. 66 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:16,680 So you do all this hard work and you put all this energy and passion and emotion into it 67 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:21,040 and then you launch and then you're like, oh my gosh, I'm supposed to publish an episode 68 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:22,040 tomorrow. 69 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:24,840 And I was so focused on getting everything ready for launch. 70 00:04:24,840 --> 00:04:26,800 Like now I don't have anything. 71 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:32,040 So what we really preach a lot is having a content system in place so that no matter 72 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:36,200 what type of podcasts you're publishing, an interview based podcast, a topic based podcast, 73 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:41,480 a co-hosted show, a series based show that you have an actual production plan and system 74 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:47,520 in place so that that's one of the biggest stress points and consistency is so important 75 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:52,180 with a podcast that if you launch and then all you're doing is struggling to keep up 76 00:04:52,180 --> 00:04:56,480 with your production schedule, it becomes not that much fun. 77 00:04:56,480 --> 00:05:00,120 And you quickly get frustrated because you're not growing an audience. 78 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:02,960 Like things aren't happening the way that you thought that they were going to. 79 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:08,560 And so much of that is because of a lack of content or being able to produce enough content. 80 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:13,400 So that's one of our biggest systems that we use is the content production system that 81 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:15,640 we have. 82 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:18,640 It's largely based off from batching content. 83 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:24,560 So recording multiple episodes at one time versus always relying on like if your episodes 84 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:30,520 publish Monday, Wednesday, Friday, not being up on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, preparing 85 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:32,720 those episodes to go live the next day. 86 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:34,720 I've totally done that. 87 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:38,320 We all have. 88 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:41,000 You are not alone. 89 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:47,680 But it becomes so much more fun and something that is not like a stressful thing when you 90 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:49,460 have that bank of content. 91 00:05:49,460 --> 00:05:53,960 So we always encourage people to launch with a month's worth of content. 92 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:57,380 So if you do a weekly show, that would be four episodes in the bank. 93 00:05:57,380 --> 00:06:01,360 If you're doing a three times per week show, that would be 12 episodes in the bank. 94 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:05,440 So depending on what your consistency and schedule looks like, we highly recommend having 95 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:09,920 at least a month's worth of content when you launch and then putting a production schedule 96 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:10,920 in place. 97 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:15,640 It's the same every single week so that you don't fall behind that because it's awesome 98 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:20,800 to build up the bank, but you have to keep doing that or else the bank goes away. 99 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:24,160 And then you find yourself in the same position all over again. 100 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:26,600 So let's say someone's just starting out there. 101 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:30,320 They're trying to get all these systems in place. 102 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:34,800 What tools would you recommend that they start with so that they can actually create these 103 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:36,440 systems and processes? 104 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:37,440 Yeah. 105 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:42,240 So that's the thing with systems is that I know a lot of people don't love them and they 106 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:47,800 think that they're going to be grueling and boring and like tedious and all of these things. 107 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:52,880 Systems are incredibly simple at the base ground level. 108 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:58,880 Most of our systems are built on a Google spreadsheet or in a task management system 109 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:01,440 like a sauna or base camp. 110 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:05,360 It's simply creating a checklist of steps that you go through every time you do that 111 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:10,360 thing so that you're not relying on using mental bandwidth to like backtrack. 112 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:11,520 Am I forgetting something? 113 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:14,280 Oh my gosh, I didn't hit record. 114 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:15,640 Happened to me more than once. 115 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:19,040 I know it's happened to other people who are tuning in. 116 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:23,240 And so having that checklist and the set of steps that you're going to follow is absolutely 117 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:27,660 critical and a huge part of that system again goes back to actually having that schedule 118 00:07:27,660 --> 00:07:28,660 in place. 119 00:07:28,660 --> 00:07:34,320 So on your calendar, booking the time, okay, these are the two hours where I'm going to 120 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:36,300 prepare my next four episodes. 121 00:07:36,300 --> 00:07:40,820 And then maybe one day you have a two hour block where you're recording those episodes. 122 00:07:40,820 --> 00:07:44,760 And then maybe one day you have a two hour block where you're editing and uploading those 123 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:45,760 episodes. 124 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:50,660 And once you get into a rhythm with a system like that, that again is just like a Google 125 00:07:50,660 --> 00:07:55,480 spreadsheet or a checklist or a Google doc, or I use a sauna a lot. 126 00:07:55,480 --> 00:08:01,080 So I put some, a lot of my systems in a sauna so that I could just check done, done, done. 127 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:04,040 And then actually scheduling the time in your calendar. 128 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:06,600 And that's really all there is to it. 129 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:12,360 You just have to like do it that one time and then it serves you so big moving forward. 130 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:17,560 Yeah, I think that templates and systems like that are so important for me personally. 131 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:20,960 I use Google spreadsheets and I use Trello. 132 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:23,480 So Trello and a sauna are pretty similar, aren't they? 133 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:24,480 Oh yeah. 134 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:25,480 Yeah. 135 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:28,960 So I'm curious though, was it a lot of like trial and error to figure out what should 136 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:31,320 be on your checklist? 137 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:32,720 Totally. 138 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:36,640 Because sometimes you're creating a checklist when you're not actually doing the thing. 139 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:41,280 So in that case, you're kind of like, okay, if I were about to record an episode, what 140 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:42,680 are the steps that I would take? 141 00:08:42,680 --> 00:08:47,520 In which case, if you are doing that, because I highly recommend that whenever you have 142 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:52,320 15 minutes, so you can sit down and focus to ask yourself things like this, what are 143 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:55,240 the steps that I take every time I record an episode? 144 00:08:55,240 --> 00:09:00,000 Same goes for editing, same goes for uploading, same goes for your show notes page, same goes 145 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:02,320 for finding guests for your podcast. 146 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:07,520 All of these are like little micro systems within your production system that all need 147 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:09,520 to happen in order for it to work. 148 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:13,960 So when you sit down and you think about what are the steps that I take every time I record 149 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:18,840 an episode, if you just write down from memory the steps that you take, then the next time 150 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:23,640 you actually do record, have that list next to you so that you can really go through it. 151 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:25,320 Maybe you missed a couple of things. 152 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:29,360 Maybe there's something on there that you're like, oh, okay, I guess I don't actually do 153 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:30,360 that. 154 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:35,280 Maybe you already have your recording template set, which you absolutely should have, in 155 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:41,200 which case you're not putting on any extra effects or having to mess with the volume 156 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:42,680 levels or anything like that. 157 00:09:42,680 --> 00:09:49,160 So creating these templates and then having that checklist so that you can look at it 158 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:55,880 every time you do that thing and continue to improve it is a huge step in the process. 159 00:09:55,880 --> 00:10:01,240 And sometimes we'll recognize that, like this happened to us with our sponsorship system 160 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:10,760 recently is you can never communicate too much and too clearly and too basic. 161 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:16,000 And we found that with some of our sponsors, however, whatever we're doing to describe 162 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:22,600 this process is not working because our sponsors are coming back to us with a mid-roll that's 163 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:23,640 too long. 164 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:29,080 So in those situations, we're constantly thinking about, okay, how can we put this in different 165 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:30,080 words? 166 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:31,640 How can our template look different? 167 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:35,320 How can we set this up different from the time that we first engaged with a sponsor 168 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:40,480 to actually locking that in so that the communication is clear and that this stuff doesn't happen? 169 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:46,240 So absolutely, our systems are always changing and improving based on what's happening. 170 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:49,760 I'm really glad you said that because a lot of people that are going to be coming to this, 171 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:52,080 they're going to be the beginning podcaster. 172 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:55,240 And there's a lot of nerves that come with it like, oh, am I getting it wrong? 173 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:56,240 Am I doing it wrong? 174 00:10:56,240 --> 00:11:00,840 And just the fact that even nine years later, you're saying that you're still evolving in 175 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:02,680 how you're changing things. 176 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:03,680 I love that. 177 00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:07,280 I think that's fantastic because I think one of the problems that I've seen is that some 178 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:11,280 people, they'll try to start doing systems and processes and then they feel locked in. 179 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:14,360 They feel like, okay, well, I said I have to do it this way, so I have to do it this 180 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:15,360 way. 181 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:18,960 And so being able to adapt and change, it's brilliant. 182 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:20,480 I absolutely love that. 183 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:26,380 So I kind of feel like whenever it comes to having these things, you shouldn't wait until 184 00:11:26,380 --> 00:11:28,120 you have a few episodes in the hopper. 185 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:32,160 You should go ahead and immediately start acting on these things. 186 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:36,480 Why do you think you should implement systems and processes from the very beginning? 187 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:37,480 Time. 188 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:38,480 Yes. 189 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:45,260 That's what every podcaster, entrepreneur, human being wants more of is time. 190 00:11:45,260 --> 00:11:47,880 And systems are going to help you get that time. 191 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:52,440 Otherwise you're going to be continuing to spin your wheels and again, being up late 192 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:55,080 on a Sunday night, trying to get your episode ready for Monday. 193 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:57,480 Like nobody wants to do that. 194 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:00,840 And with systems in place, you're going to be able to create so much more freedom in 195 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:01,840 your schedule. 196 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:07,920 I hear all the time, like, no, I'm too much of a creative, like spontaneous person to 197 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:08,920 do systems. 198 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:11,880 Like that is a story you are telling yourself. 199 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:17,700 I'm all about being creative and spontaneous and my systems allow me to do that. 200 00:12:17,700 --> 00:12:23,960 If I didn't have my systems, I'd constantly be, you know, the one working for my podcast 201 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:25,720 instead of my podcast working for me. 202 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:31,380 When I have the systems in place, that gives me the time to be spontaneous and to be creative. 203 00:12:31,380 --> 00:12:37,240 So I highly encourage people to flip the script on that because if you continue telling yourself 204 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:40,840 that that's what systems are, they're always going to suck for you. 205 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:44,640 And like, you're never going to get them in place because you have this vision of them, 206 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:46,640 like ruining your creativity. 207 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:51,680 I agree with that completely because it's kind of like instead of giving up control, 208 00:12:51,680 --> 00:12:52,920 you're getting it back. 209 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:56,760 And that's what too many people don't seem to realize because I'll tell you right now, 210 00:12:56,760 --> 00:12:59,520 if I didn't have this script in front of me, I would have forgotten some of the questions 211 00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:00,520 already. 212 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:01,520 There you go. 213 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:07,800 So I mean, in fact, I actually took your idea of creating like a script template just so 214 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:10,600 that I could make sure, okay, these are the things I really want to ask. 215 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:13,800 These are the things I want to say and if time's permitting and things like that. 216 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:16,840 And it's funny to me though that, yeah, you're right. 217 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:21,360 Some people like they kind of butt heads with that idea, but that's what always leads to 218 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:26,560 podfading is they try to do it without a system. 219 00:13:26,560 --> 00:13:30,800 And the next thing you know, they are up, like you said, a Sunday and they have to release 220 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:31,800 on Monday. 221 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:33,200 And then they're like, okay, maybe this sucks. 222 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:34,680 Maybe let's just quit. 223 00:13:34,680 --> 00:13:36,340 Yes, absolutely. 224 00:13:36,340 --> 00:13:38,440 Because at that point it becomes not fun. 225 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:39,440 Yeah. 226 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:41,960 It's like, oh, your TPS reports are due and it's Monday morning. 227 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:42,960 Yeah. 228 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:45,000 That's my little office space moment. 229 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:51,200 So now what do you wish you had known whenever you were first planning your very first podcasts? 230 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:54,460 Because I know you've been working with John for a while, but on your very first one that 231 00:13:54,460 --> 00:13:58,920 you were kind of taking the reins of with Kate's Take and Ditch Busy, what do you wish 232 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:00,880 you had known that you didn't before? 233 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:01,880 Yeah. 234 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:07,060 I mean, we've already touched on it a little bit here, but it's about not everything has 235 00:14:07,060 --> 00:14:08,060 to be perfect. 236 00:14:08,060 --> 00:14:10,480 Not everything is going to be perfect. 237 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:14,360 I remember when I launched Kate's Take, I was like so focused on the fact that it was 238 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:20,880 a topic-based show and I was being a little bit like over the top about, no, my topics 239 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:21,960 have to flow. 240 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:25,000 Like it has to make sense and it has to be a progression. 241 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:30,760 And like by episode 400, I was like, I'm going to talk about whatever like my audience is 242 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:35,040 asking me, what questions I see on Facebook, like what conversations I'm having with people 243 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:36,120 at events. 244 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:38,240 And those were always my best episodes. 245 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:39,240 Yeah. 246 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:45,320 And very rarely, unless it's an actual serialized podcast, are your listeners going and thinking 247 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:49,420 like this is awkward, Kate's talking about systems. 248 00:14:49,420 --> 00:14:51,640 And last week she talked about marketing. 249 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:54,040 Like nobody's doing that, right? 250 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:55,040 Are you sure? 251 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:58,160 I'm just kidding. 252 00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:05,360 So there's things like that where I was putting so much bandwidth into that, that I was missing 253 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:12,000 the whole idea of like just starting, getting better, recording more episodes, engaging 254 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:16,680 with my audience, making my content better, becoming a better host, becoming a better 255 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:17,760 speaker. 256 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:20,660 Like all of those things are the things that are important. 257 00:15:20,660 --> 00:15:22,080 That's how you're going to get better. 258 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:25,480 That's how you're going to figure out how to grow your audience is when you start learning 259 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:29,520 to be better on the microphone, create better content that your audience wants and engage 260 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:34,180 with your audience so that you actually have a connection and can form community. 261 00:15:34,180 --> 00:15:40,020 Those are like the pillars of what's going to make this work, not whether or not your 262 00:15:40,020 --> 00:15:42,920 episodes match up well together. 263 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:43,920 I love that. 264 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:44,920 I love that. 265 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:48,160 So now is there anything that you think can't be systematized? 266 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:52,520 I already know the answer, but I just want to hear it anyway. 267 00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:53,520 In my mind, no. 268 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:54,520 Good, good. 269 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:55,520 I love that. 270 00:15:55,520 --> 00:15:57,080 I love that so much. 271 00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:00,820 Is there anything that you see podcasters doing that drives you bananas when it comes 272 00:16:00,820 --> 00:16:03,480 to systems and processes? 273 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:04,480 Not using them. 274 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:05,480 No, yes. 275 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:06,480 Okay. 276 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:07,480 That makes perfect sense. 277 00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:08,480 That makes perfect sense. 278 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:15,040 But I mean, there is like, I do think that maybe you have an hour or so one day and you're 279 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:17,320 like, okay, I'm going to do this. 280 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:20,080 And you actually spend the time to put something in place. 281 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:24,680 But then the next, like when you go to do your recording or whatever, you don't have 282 00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:28,080 anything scheduled and your prep isn't ready. 283 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:34,160 And like, sometimes I see people put the steps in place, but then not leverage them. 284 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:40,000 I know that creating systems and like getting on that, it takes time and it is a huge investment 285 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:41,320 to get it started. 286 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:47,840 But I've never spoken with someone who has adopted a system and actually implemented 287 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:53,280 it and been mad about the fact that they did that or thought like, what a waste of time 288 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:56,080 that was like, I've never experienced that. 289 00:16:56,080 --> 00:17:01,080 So it's all about like following through with it, actually implementing it, like hold yourself 290 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:02,080 accountable. 291 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:08,720 And if you don't feel like you can hold yourself accountable, get into a community, a group, 292 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:12,920 get an accountability partner, join a mastermind, like tell your friend that you're really working 293 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:16,960 hard on this and ask them to follow up with you next week to see how everything's going. 294 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:21,940 Like start putting stops in place so that it, cause otherwise it's way too easy to push 295 00:17:21,940 --> 00:17:22,940 it to the back burner. 296 00:17:22,940 --> 00:17:27,360 Now, do you think that there are any things that you're doing that you don't have a system 297 00:17:27,360 --> 00:17:30,600 in place for yet that you still wish you did? 298 00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:32,600 Hmm. 299 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:40,640 You know, to be honest, being a guest on other podcasts or doing like series like this, I 300 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:46,000 go, I go in waves of like being really adamant about having people use my scheduler so that 301 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:52,460 I'm batching those and then having an opportunity come along that is like, that I really want 302 00:17:52,460 --> 00:17:53,600 to do. 303 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:55,960 And it's totally off from my schedule. 304 00:17:55,960 --> 00:18:01,200 And when I do that, it's very obvious that I'm doing it because it kind of wreaks havoc 305 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:04,400 on the rest of my day because I'm context switching. 306 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:09,560 I'm, you know, being interrupted from other work and focus and all of that. 307 00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:15,840 So I'm really working hard on, on making exceptions, like so few and far between. 308 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:18,280 But sometimes it's tough because I love doing this stuff. 309 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:19,280 Oh, I'm sure. 310 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:23,120 Cause like if, you know, like if for some reason to the today show called right now, 311 00:18:23,120 --> 00:18:25,080 you'd be like, okay, what can I draw? 312 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:26,080 Yeah. 313 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:27,080 Anytime. 314 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:28,080 I can imagine. 315 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:29,080 I can imagine. 316 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:32,360 Well, is there anything that I didn't bring up that you think I should have? 317 00:18:32,360 --> 00:18:33,360 Hmm. 318 00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:41,040 I mean, I just say like for anyone looking to create and launch a podcast, like congratulations 319 00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:43,680 for even thinking it. 320 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:48,280 Congratulations for tuning into this and taking the steps to educate yourself and inspire 321 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:50,880 yourself to take that next step. 322 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:53,920 And yeah, I think that's it. 323 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:58,520 This was, I could obviously talk about podcasting for like a hundred hours, but yes. 324 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:01,560 And in fact, they actually have, they have a really awesome program. 325 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:03,560 Can you tell us a little bit about your program? 326 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:05,020 Oh yes, we do. 327 00:19:05,020 --> 00:19:07,000 So we have a free podcast course. 328 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:11,820 So free podcast course.com is a completely free eight video series on how to create and 329 00:19:11,820 --> 00:19:13,240 launch a podcast. 330 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:19,100 And then in addition to that, we have an online course and community called podcasters paradise 331 00:19:19,100 --> 00:19:21,840 where we'll help you create, grow, monetize your podcasts. 332 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:27,720 We have video tutorials, resources, templates, sample documents, like literally the whole 333 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:29,520 thing that you need. 334 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:33,160 And we also have a Facebook group with an incredible community of other podcasters who 335 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:35,000 are on the same journey as you. 336 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:39,160 John and I are in the Facebook group every single day supporting people, answering questions. 337 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:40,760 We do live Q and A once a month. 338 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:41,760 So it's really fun. 339 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:47,040 We've been doing it since 2013, which like I realized the other day that that community 340 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:49,040 is eight years old. 341 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:54,320 And I'm like, wow, that is feels really awesome to have been serving the podcasting community 342 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:55,320 for that long. 343 00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:58,160 And yeah, we just love the group so much. 344 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:00,760 That is pretty awesome. 345 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:04,240 I have your podcast journal and the freedom journal and the mastery journal. 346 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:05,600 And I love the podcast journal. 347 00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:09,120 So I'm definitely, in fact, can you talk a little bit about that for a second? 348 00:20:09,120 --> 00:20:10,120 Thank you so much. 349 00:20:10,120 --> 00:20:15,500 The podcast journal was such a labor of love, like had such a fun time putting that together. 350 00:20:15,500 --> 00:20:17,960 So what it is, is a physical journal. 351 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:21,660 They're also digital copies if you don't want a physical copy. 352 00:20:21,660 --> 00:20:24,180 And it's idea to launch in 50 days. 353 00:20:24,180 --> 00:20:29,520 So the journal walks you through day one through day 50 of starting out with your idea all 354 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:31,360 the way to launching your podcast. 355 00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:33,080 Each day there's a specific exercise. 356 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:38,120 So you don't have to think about like, okay, what's my next step or what am I missing or 357 00:20:38,120 --> 00:20:40,040 am I doing this out of order? 358 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:45,360 Like we created the entire roadmap for you to go from idea to launch in 50 days. 359 00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:50,340 And what I think is so great about that journal is that it kind of also starts setting you 360 00:20:50,340 --> 00:20:54,300 up to think, okay, how can I systematize everything? 361 00:20:54,300 --> 00:20:57,880 Because it really forces you to think of it, not just from the perspective of a hobbyist, 362 00:20:57,880 --> 00:20:59,760 although podcasters that are hobbyists, that's great. 363 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:00,760 I love it. 364 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:05,440 But if you ever have a plan to possibly monetize it, the more you can learn and the more you 365 00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:10,120 can actually put the effort in, put the work in, what is it that, didn't John call it putting 366 00:21:10,120 --> 00:21:11,120 in the reps? 367 00:21:11,120 --> 00:21:12,120 Yes. 368 00:21:12,120 --> 00:21:15,120 Like the more you can put in the reps, do it. 369 00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:16,120 Yeah. 370 00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:17,120 Yeah. 371 00:21:17,120 --> 00:21:18,120 So I love it. 372 00:21:18,120 --> 00:21:19,480 I think everything that you shared here is perfect. 373 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:23,560 And I hope that people will just really take this and take it for what it is, that it's 374 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:29,560 just a really great idea of a way that you can make your life as a podcaster easier. 375 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:31,760 Like you said, bring the fun back to it. 376 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:32,760 Yeah. 377 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:34,120 Yeah, absolutely. 378 00:21:34,120 --> 00:21:40,360 And I hope that for everyone because podcasting is, I mean, everyone who's been in the podcasting 379 00:21:40,360 --> 00:21:47,760 space knows what like high energy, awesome people, like you just become addicted to podcasting. 380 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:52,680 It's like such an incredible medium to reach people, to create a know, like, and trust 381 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:56,120 with your audience, to provide value, to create an impact. 382 00:21:56,120 --> 00:21:57,880 It's an incredible ripple effect. 383 00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:03,840 Like there are just endless benefits to it and the ease of access to it for pretty much 384 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:07,880 anyone in the world is unlike anything else. 385 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:08,880 Yeah. 386 00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:10,440 The podcasters are the coolest people on the internet. 387 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:12,440 Let's just, let's call it like it is. 388 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:13,440 Basically. 389 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:14,440 Okay. 390 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:15,920 Thank you so much for being on this with me. 391 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:18,280 I really appreciate your time. 392 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:19,280 You're so welcome. 393 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:34,280 Thank you for inviting me.