3 Things That Only Top Rated Podcasters Do | Alex Sanfilippo

Do you ever wonder what it takes to become a sought-after podcast guest or a top-rated podcast host? Thankfully, success in podcasting leaves clues! In this episode, Alex Sanfilippo uncovers 3 essential habits that only the best of the best in podcasting, on either side of the mic, understand. Get ready to discover 3 essential traits that will elevate your podcasting experience and yield results and success for years to come!

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Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Personal Story
02:20 Consistently Sticking to the Basics
06:34 Protecting Your Energy
09:29 Trusting the Process
12:54 Conclusion: Seek Clarity and Take Action

Takeaways

• Consistently stick to the basics of podcasting, such as releasing episodes on time and being a guest on podcasts regularly.
• Protect your energy by focusing on one main direction and avoiding distractions.
• Trust the process and embrace the journey of success, even when it doesn't go as planned.
• Seek clarity, reconnect with your why and who, seek wise counsel, and bring joy to your podcasting journey.

MORE FROM THIS EPISODE: HTTPS://PODMATCH.COM/EP/276

📊 This month's Independent Podcasters Report is now available! To see podcasting industry insights that matter for indie podcast hosts and podcast guests, please visit https://PodMatch.com/Report!

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Personal Story
• 2:39 Consistently Sticking to the Basics
• 6:53 Protecting Your Energy
• 9:48 Trusting the Process
• 13:13 Conclusion: Seek Clarity and Take Action

Transcript

0:20

You're listening to Podcasting Made Simple. There I was, 11 years old, standing at the top of the high dive at the Olympic pool after having a swim meet. This was my chance to impress. This was my chance to really make known how amazing I am as a swimmer. Keep in mind, I'm already in a speedo, so people already, they already know, right? I was really nervous, I'll be real. So I'm standing atop this dive, in my mind, I can tell everyone's kind of watching, because people have taken turns jumping, but here I am, my moment, right? And so I'm walking off the end of that diving board, looking down the pool, not nervous to jump in it, but with what I'm going to do. So in my head, I'm giving myself two options. Option one, just jump to the end of the thing as high as you possibly can, break the record for the highest jump ever, and just do like a straight up pencil dive into the water with almost no splash. Or alternatively, get a little bit more of a running start, so I'm able to just fly to the other side of the pool and give the most majestic dive you could ever imagine. Here's what ended up happening. something right between those two things. You guessed it, a belly flop. And I'm not just talking like a little belly flop, like, oh, that was cute. Like, good job, you did a belly flop, right? No, I'm talking about something that like shattered the earth. Like I heard that windows down the street from the pool were actually shattering with how hard I hit the water. I was like out of breath climbing to the side of the pool, just like, oh man, like just hurting. And I'll say this, it didn't really build the reputation I was looking for. I got some laughs, right? But not the reputation I was going for with this. I'm gonna share about this story in just a moment here, but real quick, my name's Alex Sanfilippo, if I'm not have the opportunity to meet you. I'm the founder of PodMatch and I'm super honored to be here today getting to share with you. Now I share this story because I wasn't the best athlete growing up. So it made sense that I might do something in content creation, right? I think many people would think that you're like, oh, I'm a podcast guest and host and maybe you are athletic. I'm not gonna sell you short, right? But like, I'm not really athletic, so I'm probably better at being creative in this way. And the reality is that may be true and for me has definitely been true, right? But there is some crossover between these two things that many of us don't realize. And that's what I wanna get into today, is how athletics, sports, some of these things, they talk about things in that space that we don't talk about in ours, but they translate really well because they're actually somewhat connected. So what I'm gonna share with you today are three things that I find the best podcast guests and hosts do. and also understand really well that many others just don't because we're not willing to make this connection. So if you're an athlete, you're probably going to love this. If you're like me and you're not, and you have a story similar to my huge belly flop, let this resonate with you and think about how this can be applied to you as a creator, as a digital entrepreneur, whatever it is that you might want to call yourself. But it's just such important things I think really go well together. So I'm going to show these three things with you, starting with number one, it's consistently sticking to the basics. Consistency wins, consistently sticking to the basics. I wrote down this quote from Kobe Bryant. He said, why do you think I'm the best player in the world? Because I never ever get bored with the basics. Now, Colin Schultz is the best player in the world. I mean, he is, was, right? Like, yeah, for sure. But he said he never gets bored with the basics. And what are the basics? The basics are more or less the fundamentals. And so if you're a podcast host like me, that is consistently getting behind this microphone, right? Making sure the episodes are released on time. These things are very basic. Like no one is like, oh, you know how to be a great podcaster, record and then release, right? No one's like, oh, wow, groundbreaking. Like that doesn't blow anyone's mind necessarily. But the reality is that is the basics that so many of us drop out of. And so for us as a podcast guest as well, it's consistently being a guest on podcasts, not sprinting and getting on a hundred shows as fast as humanly possible. It's saying, how do I go on one or two a month for the next five years? That's how you build a legacy. It's the same on the host side. Don't release a hundred episodes as fast as you can, right? I think we understand it because it's a little bit more tangible, if you will. That's two years of work if you're doing a weekly episode, right? That you want to just be consistent with. And so the question I want to give you, write this down, I encourage you to write this down and really think about it. How many episodes can you consistently do for the next two years? Can you consistently do? Is it one episode a week as a guest, as a host? Is it two a week? What is that number for you? Think about it and stay consistent. Here's the thing I hear a lot on both sides of the mic. I tried it for two months, it didn't work. I was a guest on five episodes, it didn't move the needle. Here's the thing, going back to sports as the example, what professional athlete ever said, I played four football games, didn't do well, I'm not an athlete, I can't do it, right? No, that's ridiculous, right? Think about Jerry Rice, the guy that we didn't talk about until he was a professional athlete. We forget about the 18 or 20 years he did in the dark, right? He said, I did what others won't so I can have what they can't now, right? He was willing to put in the work and so many of us are, putting the towel doesn't work, but here's the reality of it. We can really learn a lot from athletes, from sports, with you have to put in a lot of time and reps before you can really get the result that you're looking for. And so again, like what professional athlete ever said this doesn't work after such a short period of time. For us, we have to be willing to remain consistent. We have to be willing to remain consistent. The way I like to say is consistent effort leads to results. It yields the result that you're looking for is staying consistent. The picture I've painted before, if you've ever heard me talk, I love sharing this, but imagine two horizontal lines. One is consistency, which is a straight line. The other is results, which is a lot further down on this like chart, just imagine, right? But eventually that one moves up, that the line of results overthrows consistency and eventually it transcends it, right? But it takes time to do that. Another way to say this, that people really talk about a lot is the J curve. Like you start off kind of like at like the top of, I guess the bottom of the J. It goes down into the little curve, right? And that's our result. Like it's here we are, we're going to drop down a little bit and then we're going to transcend. It's the same type of thing. Lionel Messi, just to keep the sports thing going, said it took him 17 years and 114 days to become an overnight success. We all like have this pipe dream of like, we're going to be successful overnight as a content creator, as a podcast guest, podcast host. The reality is it takes time. And we have to look at this example that athletes show us, sports show us that this is just the way it works. So again, this first point, so, so important, consistently stick to the basics. Think about what the basics are for you. Think about what you can do consistently for a long period of time and stick with it. And I promise you that alone will yield you more results than trying to sprint and go for it and get the quick win. Take the time. It really always produces a great result. That's been so true in my journey. All right, number two is to protect your energy. Protect your energy. I don't mean to pick on somebody, but I'm gonna use Simone Biles as an example. She won everything in 2016 in Rio. She won everything as a gymnast. Like consider the greatest gymnast ever live. And in Tokyo, there was all like her coaches, everyone said she's even better now. Like she's going to win it all again. She did really bad in Tokyo. And I'm not trying to be rude or mean. Like that's a lot of pressure, right? But you want to know why she didn't do well? It's not what people thought it was, which is like, oh, it was just too much pressure. It was too much pressure because it wasn't her main thing anymore. Her energy wasn't just to win the Olympics and get all the gold medals like it was in Rio. No one knew who she was before that, right? When she won all that, it's because it was her sole focus. All of her energy went into getting the gold. Now in Tokyo, it's how do I keep my sponsors happy? If I don't do this, am I going to lose that TV deal on time out? How am I going to grow my social media? I need to start getting on TikTok. I'm not doing that right now, right? My publicist is so mad about this. Oh, I've got all these other achievements. How am I going to pay the bills? Right? Like all these different things and her energy. If you just basically look like a wheel with arrows going out of it, right? That's kind of the picture I like to paint here. If your energy is split in all those different directions, it doesn't go far because we have a finite amount of energy. But if there's this one line getting the gold, that one line can go really far and your energy can go a lot further. So it's kind of like the whole thing, like going a mile versus going like 10 feet in each direction, right? If you do that, you're not really going anywhere. And that was the problem that she faced that so many of us do as well. Her energy was split. Our energy is split. And the way that that really applies to us as podcast guests and hosts is we say, I'm gonna be a guest on 10 podcasts. We get three episodes in and it's like, oh, well this person wants to partner up. They wanna do something. We're gonna start a business together, right? Or we start a podcast. Then you're like, oh, now I need a YouTube channel. Oh, I need to be making sure I'm sharing on TikTok as well and doing these things. We're splitting our energy. We'd be far better off picking the one thing that moves the needle the most, the thing that we committed to and taking that as far as we can using all of our energy in that one lane. Some of the best podcasters in the world are still audio only podcasts because they know that if they put all their energy into that, it's going to do well. And for so many of us, we need to be willing to say, you know what, what's the main thing? What am I going to give my energy to and not let it split? The more focus you can get, the more you can keep your energy in that one direction, that one lane, the further you can go because you have a finite amount of energy. And I find that to be just, for me, such an important thing. And I get better and better at this as a creator. And it's why I'm able to show up and add very valuable content on a consistent basis because it's... kind of the only thing I do anymore, right? Like I don't have side hustles or the things anymore, because I know the direction I'm going in. So I want you to ask yourself this question again, take notes, write this down. What am I giving energy to my life that I shouldn't be and where should it be instead? Really, really think about it. Ask yourself that. Where is your energy going and where should it be instead? And answering that question is gonna help you go a lot further without feeling beat down, without feeling like overwhelmed by it, because you'll have that singular direction and focus. All right, number three. Trust the process. Trust the process. I'm a Jacksonville Jaguars fan. I happen to live here in Jacksonville, Duval. Let's go, come on. It sucks, I'll be real. And I was watching our quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, throw interceptions. And I was just getting pissed. I'm like, good quarterbacks don't throw interceptions, man. Like, come on, how is this guy so good? So I went to Google. This was the week after the Jags route in the last, the 2013, what is it? 2013, whoa, where am I? 2023 season. I was like, man, the. Good quarterbacks don't throw interceptions. The final eight teams, get this, in the final eight teams, five of them were the top throwing interception quarterbacks. So they were throwing more interceptions than anyone else. Like that's crazy, right? I also decided, I'm like, well, what about some of the great, like legends in history of NFL? And Brett Favre, like people who don't even know what football is know who he is. He threw the most interceptions of all time. Tom Brady was not very far behind him. Here's the thing, I'm pretty sure the worst thing an NFL quarterback can do is to throw an interception. Right? So I'm like, how is this possible? Here's what it is. They were trusting the process. They were trusting the journey, knowing my job is to throw the ball in this certain way and it will yield the result. Even if it doesn't look the way I think I might throw some interceptions along the way, sometimes more than others. Right. But the reality is all the best quarterbacks ever lived have thrown the most interceptions, but guess what? They stuck to the process of also throwing the most passes. And so for many of us, my encouragement here is as a creator, as a digital entrepreneur, someone building an online business. Success is not going to look the way that you imagine. The journey never looks the way we think it's going to look. We think it's linear. We think it's just gonna keep on going down this beautiful path A to Z, right? There's all these zigs and zags along the way. And to paint a picture of it, imagine, I don't know, a two -year -old drawing a picture. What does it usually look like? It's just lines everywhere. It looks crazy, right? Like, that's what our success journey looks like. Not like something, again, that's a beautiful straight line. And what we have to learn to do is trust the process and not quit when we think it's not going the way we want it to, because it's not going to go the way you want it to. But here's the thing. The journey will look different than you think and often won't make sense, but the destination will be better than what you can imagine. If you stick to the basics, that's number one, right? And if you protect your energy, that's number two. If you do these two things along the way, and then you trust the process, although it's going to be squiggly lines every like a two -year -old drew the plan for you, right? In the end, it's gonna be better than what you can imagine, but you have to be willing to go through those things saying, you know what, this doesn't look the way I thought it would, and it's not going the way I thought it would, but I trust that it's going to get better. And so the question I want you to write down really, to really think about here is, do I trust the process or am I riddled with anxiety and stress and pressure to try to do more or change things? It's a big question. Go back and rewind that list that again, right? Are you trusting the process? Are you riddled with anxiety, stress, pressure to do more things? And if you are, if that's the answer, it's time to tweak and just say, you want me to trust the process and keep on following the success path laid out for me. Like NFL quarterbacks do, right? Trust the process and you're throwing a ton of interceptions. It still blows my mind that that's just the reality of how it works. And so again, these are kind of three things that we can take from sports, athletics, that we can apply to the content game that I really think will move the needle for us. And I find that the best hosts and guests really understand this and apply these three things really well. So I've got a few final thoughts for you here as we close out. It's this, this is the main thing. Seek clarity and take action. Seek clarity and take action. The more clear you are on where you're going and the more you take action to make the small course corrections along the way, the better you're going to do in the long run. I'm not telling you throwing the towel on everything that's not working. Like just seek clarity. Like am I right? If I'm right, it doesn't matter what the journey looks like. I'll take action. I'll keep on going. I'll make these small tweaks and adjustments along the way as I see that I need to, but I'm gonna keep on moving forward. And there's four ways I found to do this really well. Number one is to reconnect with your why. Get along with pen and paper. Figure out why you're doing what you do. Reflect and then reimagine, reinvent and make the changes you need to along the way. So reconnect with your why. Next is to reconnect with your who. Who is it that you serve? How do you show up in a way that you really make their lives better? Make sure you're always thinking about that person. And the third thing here is to seek wise counsel. Stay in community. Don't do this alone. Find people around you that you can talk to. that are in your circle, that are in your corner, that can really help you and encourage you along the way. Make sure you're seeking wise counsel from a thriving community full of an abundance mindset. And the last thing is to bring the joy. Listen, again, it doesn't look the way we always think it's going to, but keep that attitude of gratitude in the journey and bring the joy every chance you get. Uplift others, I'm telling you, in the end, you'll realize the journey was really the destination. That was the beautiful part of what you got to do. So in closing, I just want to share this, that you have a message. as a podcast guest or host, the message that somebody needs. Somebody is searching for it right now and your voice is the only voice that's going to be able to finally make it click for them. That's called legacy building. You are building a legacy that will change people's lives on either side of the mic. If you're a comedian, you're bringing laughter to people's lives. If you're a lifestyle podcast, you're helping them realize what could be ideal for them. If you're a personal development, mental health, any of these things, you're changing people's lives. Remember that your voice is the one that people really need. It might be the only one that ever makes sense. Again, my name is Alex Sanfilippo and I thank you so much for spending this time with me today. For more episodes, please visit podmatch.com forward slash episodes. Thank you so much for listening.