Podcasting Made Simple

The Key To Succeeding In Podcasting | Alex Sanfilippo

January 25, 2022 Episode 159
Podcasting Made Simple
The Key To Succeeding In Podcasting | Alex Sanfilippo
Show Notes Transcript

Starting with why is vital for any business, and the business of podcasting is no exception. Remembering the people who will ultimately listen to our interviews is key to succeeding in podcasting! As podcast guests and hosts, we serve our listeners, and remembering why we've decided to serve our specific niche, is paramount to succeeding in podcasting on either side of the mic. Join us as Alex Sanfilippo reminds us all why we podcast.

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I want to start off today by asking you a very simple yet powerful question. Why do you podcast, why do you podcast? Now that goes for both sides of podcasting, whether you're a podcast guest or a podcast host, why are you doing that? What is the purpose of it? My name is Alex Sanfilippo. And today we're going to dive into why we all need to have a why behind podcasting. It's been found that people that are succeeding the most in podcasting have a very stable and strong why, a big reason for podcasting in the first place. And again, that's on either side of the mic, whether they are a consistent podcast guest that's seeing a lot of success. Or a consistent podcast host that's seeing a lot of success and has a lot of episodes out at this point. Either side of that equation, they both have a very strong why in purpose for podcasting. And today, I really want to make a case for having a why with podcasting. I believe that many of us, we jump into podcasting on either side of the mic really fast, because it looks exciting or because it's a big time trending thing right now, right? Like podcasting is really booming, right now. So we just want to jump into that, but without first developing a why and having one that's set in stone, it's going to be short-lived. I've seen so many podcasts. That was, I believe it's only 6% right now are actually continuing their podcast after 10 episodes. And that's because the other 94% don't really have a why. On the flip side, there's many people that are a guest on one podcast. Now that could be because the podcast hosts that I'm on wasn't very good. And maybe they were one that sucked , but more realistically, I believe it's because there wasn't a strong why behind it. It just looked like something that was fun to do. And for some of us just exploring our hobbies, that's okay. That's fine. But if you're somebody who's saying, I want to get serious in the podcasting industry, I want to take my podcasting game to the next level. Then having a why is going to be what really helps you to do that. And today I had a lot of things that I thought about that I could share of my own why and how it helped other people on their journey and other, it used, it was something that really just helped other people make it further in their own podcasting journey, or entrepreneurial journey, because that's what mine's really tied to. But instead of doing that actually want to make more of a case for why and give a few reasons today that help you just really get thinking about this idea of why. So I've got five things I'm going to share with you today. Number one is your why has to come from a place of service towards others. Your why has to come from a place of service toward others. Now, what I mean by that is a why that is simply I'm going to podcast because I want to get rich or I'm going to podcast because I want to get out of debt or I want to quit my nine to five job, or I want more influence, or I want to be famous podcasting on either side of the mic for all of these reasons is not a good why. And I'll take that a step further. Another why that isn't good enough is because you want to provide for your family. That's still not enough because the key word there is your family, right? Why has to be in service towards somebody else without that it is not big enough. And I'll tell you this right now. I don't mean to discourage anyone from podcasting. There are a lot of easier ways to get rich and get noticed than podcasting in the world today. So you have to podcasts because you believe this is the best medium that you can serve somebody. For me personally and I don't mean to push my faith on anyone. I happened to be a Christian. I've read the Bible many times and I always look back to the life of Jesus who had a true why that was serving other people. And for me, I've done my best to mimic that in my own life. And it's helped me develop a really strong why. And without pushing faith on anybody, I just encourage you sit down and think about why you are doing what you do and how it actually is serving and helping somebody else. It has to be a true selfless act. So remember your why has to start from that place of service towards somebody else? So when you sit down to think about why you're podcasting, make sure to think about that person that's going to be listening. That's going to hear you. That's going to take action based off what you say and why does that matter? That's such an important part of this. And if we don't get this first part right, none of the rest of this is going to work. Number two. The second thing is, why keeps you in the game. So podcasting and just about anything else in the world gets tough, right? Like life gets difficult, but when you can remember why you're doing something, the what gets a lot easier or you can push through, you can motivate yourself. Podcasting is no exception. I already mentioned that most people who start one don't succeed in it. And most people that guest on podcasts usually don't get past one show. And that's because it's a lot of work. And because of that, people are like, oh man, I'm just going to stop. And that's easy to do unless your why is so strong that it draws you back to what you're doing. Or you're like, man, this is difficult, but I know it's going to be worth it. I know that it's going to be worth it in the end because it's going to serve this individual. So think about it. Your why, if it is strong enough and it is made correctly, it's going to keep you in the game. Number three, why is your compass. Why will lead you to the direction that you already going. It's going to help give you some clarity along the way. What I mean by that is when you are being asked to be on a show that has nothing to do with your why it gets really easy to say no, because you know, that's not the direction in which you're best able to serve other people. So, or if you, if you have a show and people are always pitching to be on your show, it's very easy to say, no, I can't go with that guest. And here's why, because it doesn't align with the why that it have it, doesn't align with the people that I am trying to serve. So your why can serve as a true compass for you. In addition to that, we get so many emails every day. If you filter it all through this why that you create, it's very easy to say, okay, delete, delete, delete, delete, right? You can delete all these things and say, okay, this one has some merit because it's actually going to help me do better with serving the people I want to serve that again, aligns with my why. So it can really serve as a compass. And that's a great reason to just make a really powerful why. Because it keeps you on track and make saying no much easier. Number four, your why compels you to action. Your why compels you to action. This is something that has been really difficult for me at times when I first got into the content creation game, I was probably like most people. In the sense that I was really insecure. I was not confident at all in what I was sharing. And there are many things that just sat in a draft folder forever, whether that was audio, that just sat on my desktop, on my computer, or maybe something like a WordPress blog that just sat literally in that draft fold that built up. I remember at one point I saw that it had reached 100 draft blog posts and yes, some of them were incomplete thoughts, but the majority of them were just ones. I was like, I don't know if I can share this. Like, I don't know if I should, like, what if someone gets upset about it? What if somebody doesn't like. But then the day, once I developed a strong why I was able to go back through those and say, you know what, by it sitting in this draft folder, it is not serving any of the people that I have set out to serve. And with my podcasts, I was able to say, you know what, maybe I'm not the best podcaster yet. I've got a lot of room to go. Like all of us do. I'm still a work in progress myself, even after almost 200 episodes now, but I can say, you know what? This serves somebody, it serves the person that my why is about. I owe it to them to ship this work, which simply means to get it out there to the world. One of my mentors, his name is Seth Godin, and many are familiar with him. And something that Seth has always told me is that. Without shipping your creative work, which means getting it out in front of the world, that creative work that you're bringing, that's your why. Without getting it out to the world, it's not serving or helping anybody. As a matter of fact, it could be holding somebody back from the breakthrough that they are currently searching for in their life. So by sharing that, whether you're confident it or not, by actually taking that action and getting it out there, you might be the change that somebody needs in their life to make it to that next level. So hope that really encourages you to get out there and just share. As long as it aligns with your why, and there's somebody that you're serving, put it out there to the world, cause you never know who it might impact and affect. And in a later session, we'll probably share more about that with everybody. Moving on to my fifth and final points, you should regularly review your why. Have you ever been in an organization or like a business and you see this beautiful piece of artwork on the wall that has like their mission and their purpose, their core values, their why ultimately, right? We've all probably seen that before. You know, most people can't actually read those. And it makes me think of a story back when I was in corporate America. I was working for one company that had a two story banner made . And that two-story banner was huge. It was on this giant wall, in the building. Everyone walked past it every single day. It had their core values and their mission right on it. And it wasn't even very long. It was like pretty short. It's just giant text. And one day there was a company-wide meeting. It was a pretty big organization. And the president of the company asked, who knows our mission and our core values. One person raised their hand. Only one person actually knew what was said there. And that's because what's talked about in the halls is more powerful than what is written on the walls. For each and every one of us, we have to write this on our hearts. We have to review this regularly because if it ends up being a pretty piece of paper sitting in the corner, or maybe something you wrote on the bathroom mirror and never look at it again, that's a problem. You have to set regular reviews of your why, because then again, it's going to drive back into these first two, four points. I'm sorry that I made, it's going to help you remember that you're serving other people. It's going to keep you in the game. It's going to be your compass and it's going to compel you to action. So make sure that you regularly review your why. And ending this short episode here. I just want to quickly mention one final quote here. That's really just had an imprint on my life and it's this, what we do for ourselves dies with us, but what we do for others echoes into eternity, what we do for others echoes into eternity. Remember your why has to be bigger than you. Remember it's to serve somebody. I believe that podcasting is one of the best mediums out there right now to really get your why out there and to serve the world in a very intentional way. And I hope this really inspires you to sit down and think about why you are doing what you're doing in podcasting. Thanks so much for listening everybody.

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