Podcasting Made Simple
Podcasting Made Simple is the premier podcast about podcasting! We’re here to help podcast guests and podcast hosts reach more listeners and grow their income so they can change more lives! Join Alex Sanfilippo and other podcasting industry experts as they share how you can level up on either side of the mic! (Show notes and resources: https://PodMatch.com/episodes)
Podcasting Made Simple
The Shift that Makes Podcasting Click | Jasmine Star
As podcast hosts and guests, we're told that we need to hustle and work harder to reach more listeners and get more opportunities. But this is a lie that has trapped most of us. The solution is to instead seek clarity. In this episode, Alex Sanfilippo and Jasmine Star share a 4-part framework for becoming crystal clear on your purpose. Get ready to start successfully reaching your goals in life, work, and podcasting while having fun along the way!
MORE FROM THIS EPISODE: HTTPS://PODMATCH.COM/EP/314
Chapters
00:00 Welcome Back and Setting the Stage
02:50 The Hustle Culture and Its Impact
05:52 Internal Clarity: Understanding Your Why
09:09 External Clarity: Who Are You Serving?
12:01 Projected Clarity: How You Show Up
21:50 Perceived Clarity: How Others See You
30:03 Taking Action: Steps Towards Clarity
Takeaways
It's important to show up as your authentic self.
The hustle culture can lead to burnout and confusion.
Internal clarity is about understanding your true motivations.
External clarity involves knowing who you are serving.
Projected clarity is how you want to be perceived by others.
Perceived clarity is how others actually see you.
Align your internal and external clarity for better results.
Focus on serving a specific audience rather than chasing popularity.
Take small, intentional steps towards your goals.
Building relationships is key to podcasting success.
MORE FROM THIS EPISODE: HTTPS://PODMATCH.COM/EP/314
You're listening to Podcasting Made Simple. Hey everyone, Alex Sanfilippo here. Welcome back to Podcasting Made Simple. And Jasmine, welcome. Thank you so much for joining me today. Thank you. I think you should say welcome back, brother, because I've been on the pod before and I'm so honored. I'm a little nervous. You always raise the bar. So I'm happy to be here. Yeah. Welcome back. Yes. This is your third time here. And it's funny, I was thinking about this the other day and I was telling Alicia, my wife, I was like, I really want to bring Jasmine back. We just had her on the podcast and she was like, are you sure? I was like, yeah, I went and looked and it's been exactly at time of recording two years. And I was like, wait a minute, that's not just brought Jasmine. We should do this every two weeks, but you know, I'm just gonna put that out there. Maybe we'll see what anyone who's listening, watching later on, let us know should Jasmine come back every two weeks. We'll get a little real poll here. Anyway, super excited you're here today. And here's the thing, this conversation I want to frame a little bit differently than I typically do this type of interview, which is what historically has been. And when I've had you on the past Jasmine, it's been more of an interview, but we have the opportunity to spend a lot more time together. And sometimes what we share is really valuable. And so I wanted to bring others, our communities into the conversation, just because some of the last times we talked recently, like, man, we probably should hit record, right? Like we probably should have been able to share this because a lot of people, especially look at you, Jasmine, like I want to be where Jasmine is. And we forget that you're human. stuff happens with you, right? That like you have to make some shifts and all and same with me. So it's funny, I sent you a five minute prep for today, because it's gonna be a conversation. You did not check that out. I didn't dude, I didn't. I didn't check it out. didn't check it out. You know, here's the thing though, Alex, I like showing up 100 % as myself and sometimes if I get in my head, not always, but sometimes if I get in my head, it becomes too rehearsed. And I want people to actually hear and see me exactly in this space. And if I might, you we've been working together about every five, six weeks. You and I have the opportunity to connect. And it is a true honor. It is a true privilege because I think that you are a guide's guide. And so how you've been able to speak into my journey and how you've been able to speak into my podcast has been very transformative. And I actually made a podcast episode and I released it just a few weeks ago. And I recounted the story of how you and I were having a conversation and we were talking in relation to the podcast and you had said, Well, it's just because you're just so confident. And then you said like two or three things after that, none of which I heard because my brain was fully stuck on, well, it's just that you're confident. And to tie this back to something that you had said, well, you're human and you go through things and we grow when we change. And one of the things that came up for me is in that conversation, I said, well, Alex, I'm not confident. I show up as confident. I think it's a version of me. There's a version of me that is confident. And that's the version that's always shown on the podcast. And I said, for better for worse, it's 100 % me, but I also think that it could be really repelling to a lot of people. It's a lot of straight edges. And then, you know, at the end of the conversation, you simply asked me, are you going to be any other version than the version who you are? And I said, nope. Even if, even if it comes on the back of having a smaller listenership, a smaller TAM, a smaller total addressable market, even if my podcast may or may not be destined for top of the charts. One of the things that you've come back down and grounded me in again and again is 100 % be you, serve the audience who will resonate with you and understand that unless your ambition is to be a top podcaster, then the goal of the podcast should be to connect with the right audience at the right time. And for me, that has been the biggest shift for me and my podcast in 2024. And I want to say thank you. Wow, Jasmine, we could just end right here. Maybe this should have just been like a, just a solo talk from Jasmine. It would have been perfectly fine. Not at all. mean, not at all. Not at all. Definitely honored to be able to help kind of bring that out. That was always in there, right? Like you always had that. was just like kind of helping draw it out. And that's actually where this conversation is going to go quite a bit. Before we get to that, I want to backtrack just for a second. to explain why, like this even came up in our conversation and why it's coming up today. And I took some notes here, so I'm actually gonna be reading this, because I wanted to be really quick, I'm gonna pass it over to you. But when I was thinking about building an online business, building a podcast, being a podcast guest, because we've got all those people in this group here, right? The people that are trying to make it online or are making it, but wanna make it further, wanna take it further, faster, all those type of things, right? And I was thinking about just the general culture of online. creation, business, all things, right? I thought of three things, the hustle, the madness, and the lie. And the hustle is that it has to be busy, right? And that really is the core of the culture. It's gotta be busy. It's full of opportunity, full of promises, and a lot of habit-forming bad practices to just kinda keep you involved, reaching milestones, right? I think of we need to grow social media followers. We need more podcast downloads. We need more podcast guessing opportunities. We need more website visitors. We need more... email opt-ins and that list could go on forever, right? Like that's the hustle that so many of us subscribe to. And it goes straight into like that culture goes straight into what I call the trap, which is when we don't get traction, means we're not doing enough. It means that we have to go wider instead of deeper. So you need to be trying more things. You need to find the quick win. If you don't jump to the next thing and keep on trying it, something will click, something will win. And that's that last piece, that's about the lie, which is you can do it. as long as you work hard on everyone else and keep on going and try everything and find ways to do more, cut things out of your life for now, you'll get them back later. You gotta get rich, you gotta get famous if you're gonna make it in this space. And many of us, might not say all those things, but that really is, that's what we've kind of created in the way that we act. And I'm just realizing more and more people seem almost frantic online when I'm meeting them. I have phone calls with people or even exchanging emails and they're just like, how do I grow my followers? because I get more followers and get more money. When I get more money, I can use that money to get more followers, I can get more famous. And it's like, man, like that's like the whole system. So that's really where we're gonna go to a really, we're not gonna focus too much on this. They're gonna focus on the healthy side, kind of the solution to this. But Jasmine, do you have any thoughts around this? Because you have been a core creator in the online space, on social media and in podcasting, you've done exceptionally well. Do you have any thoughts about what I just shared here? Well, one thing that I wanna hone in, you had said, we don't necessarily say this, you're right. But there's two frequencies that are constantly going on in our brain. We have the conscious and we have the subconscious. And the conscious stuff is, well, we don't really say this. That's the conscious level. I don't walk around thinking, you know what I need to be? Famous. You know what I need to do? More. You want to know what I need to do less of? Sleep. Do you want to know more than I do of podcast? No, we don't actually say that. But our behaviors betray a subconscious consumption. Because if what we see is the more, more, more do, do, do, then the subconscious, the thoughts that our thoughts are thinking in our mind is, well, if I want that level of success, then that's how I need to act and that's how I need to behave. you know, I mean, I'm falling prey to it. We started the conversation simply by saying what the truth was, was me accepting maybe I won't ever have a top 10 business podcast. Am I okay with that? Maybe I will. But what is the price I'm willing to pay for that? And it felt very freeing. It felt so freeing when Alex had said the same thing I say to people as they grow their business. It is one thing to be popular and it is one thing to be profitable. And he simply asked me, Jasmine, what is your driving ambition? And I said profitable. Now that's not everybody's answer. If your answer is to be Popular, well then great, you're gonna be on a different path and that's totally awesome. That active pursuit of that will require a different skill set, but the desire and the satisfaction of it will be the compensation. I have zero ambition to be popular. I have zero ambition to be famous. I have every ambition to grow a wildly profitable business, to show what is possible, not just for daughters of immigrants, not just for females, not just for women of color, but for anybody who has had the odds stacked against them. This is not a color thing. It's not a gender thing. It's not a belief thing. I just want to prove that somebody with a tiny bit can actually build a very successful business, not after going the masses, but after going after a very specific group of people and serving them well. And I think that you came in and you just hammered that down as like a re-grounding for me this year to be like, you know what? That is my objective. I got caught up. And so, yeah, that's my thoughts on the hustle. It's good to hear from your perspective. And I really appreciate some of that you said that conscious and subconscious level is so powerful. What we want to do is get those things to align, right? And so today we really want to help people get free from that. And both of us, the reason Jasmine shared that story right at the start, and I'll have some stories along the way as well, is because we're not immune to this. We're not like, we're above this, follow us. We might be one step ahead right now, and we might fall back into it at some point and need that person in our life to help us get there. But the solution I want to talk about today, and this is we get freedom and more results, is we have to start to walk in clarity. We have to walk. in clarity and it's not just gain clarity, it's to walk in clarity. And here's what I mean by that. It's very clear to almost all of us that if we want to be in better shape, we need to work out, but we don't walk in that, right? Most of us are like, eh, I know that's what I need to do, but I'm not going to do it, right? Like it's clearly there, but we're not walking in it. And that's what we want to talk about today. And Jasmine, think you go to the gym six days a week, I go five. So I got a little stepping up to do here, right? But any thoughts around this before we kind of get into four points around this idea of clarity and learning to really walk in it. More than anything, Alex said it and I'm just gonna say it again. I am a broken person trying to find the path that is best for me. And so I don't think that Alex and I are ever saying, well, follow us because we are beacons of light and knowledge and wisdom, not remotely. That a very AI comment of you, by the way. Beacon of light, like that's clearly you've been influenced by AI. That's funny. And I think more than anything is beyond being a separatist, we are definitely a lot more together. And what works for Alex works for Alex. And what has worked for me is working for me. However, somewhere in the spectrum of that, you're gonna find what works for you and to have the courage to step into your version of clarity because it looks very different for all of us. So when you and I talked about this, I came up with like four steps to gain this clarity, to learning to walk in it, to stepping in And again, I myself am learning to apply this and I will share some stories on the way of where I'm getting it wrong and where I'm getting it right. But the four steps to kind of give everyone the full view of this is internal clarity, external clarity, projected clarity and perceived clarity. And so I wanna jump straight into the first one there, which is internal clarity. This is yourself. What do you want? Like, why are you here? Like, you have to look internally. And I think so many of us, we skipped this one, we immediately look externally for why we should be doing what we're doing. And Jasmine, I wanna turn over to you and see if you any thoughts on this idea of internal clarity and beginning with that. Just as a side note, cause you know, like Alex knows that I go in a thousand different directions. I was like at like 10,000 rabbits in my mind and we all meet at the same point. So please know that the madness that is inside of my brain will all meet up in this. perfect little Easter basket of goodness. A lot of Easter eggs, okay, surprises along the way. So when Alex is talking about the internal, we all acknowledge and know that the reason we started our business, our podcast was for an internal desire. But oftentimes it gets convoluted by external variations of success. That if we aren't at a certain ranking, if we didn't debut at a certain place, if we haven't had this many podcast downloads, that the external factors will impact the internal clarity and whatever it takes for you to be grounded in your clarity. And I have to say it took me months of actually being super conscious of it. And here's like a real example. So for the podcast for the last few years, we were dropping two episodes a week and then we decided to experiment sometime in the summer, dropping three podcasts per week. Well, as a result of that, we started going up in the rankings. In fact, like our podcast PM, with posting them in Slack. This week were this, this week were this. And we started climbing. And I have to tell you, the dopamine factory in my brain was like, ooh girl, look at you, ooh ooh, like climb, climb, climb. And I started looking at the ranking climbing as a thing. However, what we just did was use a steroid for growth. I didn't have more singular downloads. I had more total downloads, which yes, did impact. So it's not like, podcast got better per se, it was just that the same people continued to listen. So did I get better as a podcaster? Did more listeners find what I had to say valuable? No, because we didn't see an increase in individual downloads to result in that. So then once we decided to go back down to two episodes per week, what happened? I dropped in the rankings and I realized. that the external ranking was impacting my internal satisfaction and worse, my internal purpose. That is so broken. And it's in the power of acknowledging, whoa, that brokenness, that comes from this lack or want or desire. And the minute I said, you know what, this thought doesn't serve me. And when the minute I went to my internal driver that you're using your podcast to help people not make the same mistakes you did, that whatever growth you had, you're gonna teach people. everything you know so that they can get results faster. That's your driver. And if that's what's actually happening on a small scale, clap that up. That was the internal alignment for Clarity for me. That's so good. You know, I'm gonna share something from a conversation we had about this when the decision went from three back to two. I asked you a question. I said, are you happy and do you like what you do? And I didn't know what to expect when I got that. And sorry, Jasmine, I'm gonna just. transparently put you out here. You didn't cry, you did what you call gangster cry. It was a gangster tear. It of came out the edge of my eye. It was just one, right? But the thing is, you're like, I love this. I could just hear the passion. I think that so many of us, myself included, I learned so much from our conversation when you said that and when that like, just that moment, like I went back and I'm like, do I love everything I'm doing? Like there was all the passion, I could feel it. was like, wait, I... Where do I have that? Like, I want that too, right? I want to feel that way. And I bring that up not just to call Jasmine out, but for all of us here, we have to go back to what we're doing to internally decide, like, do we have clarity? just, is there something that you love so much it drives an emotion? You know, if it's not crying, is it laughing? Like, what is it? Does a problem in the world make you angry? Like, if there's something there, we've like, we've got to be willing to take the time to explore that. And like, I know I say it a lot, it's like kind of returning to your why, the whole purpose, but without this level of clarity, this internal clarity we're talking about, I don't think you can get the next three steps we're gonna cover right. Like you've got to be willing to take the time to do this. Absolutely, amen. I often joke that for me, I kind of grew up having a hard time identifying an emotion or expressing emotion. I'm very expressive, but for some reason, tears. Like I would joke like, I don't cry, like I leak. And I think that would happen, that came out of like left field for me is when you asked me that question and I very much got choked up. Like I had to pause and I said, I love it so much it hurts. And when you love something so much, you want the results to validate your love. You want the results to validate your ability. You want the results to validate your skill. And sometimes they don't, despite your best efforts. I think I have become a better interviewer over the years. And has the downloads reflected that? No. So what does that mean about my skill? What does that mean about me? And the internal work is deeply knowing Jack Squat. The way you interview a person, your downloads, the way that somebody assesses your skill means Jack Squat. Because if you're doing what you have been called to do, external factors should not impact your internal clarity. But that level of depth and knowing it and then feeling it. are oftentimes at counterbalances. But this year it has been, man, I know who I'm serving. I'm okay and I love where I'm at. If in the future we go higher in the rankings, well bless, but it has nothing to do nor does it have an impact on what I am intended to do with my internal clarity. Chesma, that's so good. It brings us right into the second point, external clarity, which you just said that that's who we serve, right? Who do we show up to serve? Like if it's all internal, all us, I don't know if people are really going to resonate with it, right? It's got to have some sort of external factor. And again, this is what we do for others, what we want others to experience by engaging with our brand, our podcast, if we're the guest, what they feel after they got to hear us on their favorite show, all these different things. Can you speak a little bit about the role that, who we serve, this external clarity place? I mean, yeah. I mean, I think you probably have some notes to be like, I'm going to spill some tea about the conversations we've had, because I definitely have had an identity crisis with who I know I'm intended to serve. And then who I know is currently listening to the podcast and the business I have built. So my husband and I co-founded a SaaS offering called Social Curator. And we know that we serve SMBs and most of the people that we serve are earning in their business less than $100,000. And that is incredible. There are people in there who are making $40,000 or $50,000 doing something they're wildly passionate about and they avoid a desk job, but it's not necessarily perhaps their ambition or their skillset or even like. total addressable market growth capacity to do something that's over a million. And so a lot of the content that I had created early with the podcast was to serve the people who are becoming members of Social Curator. And then over the past year, I've really stepped into, know who I'm intended to serve, even if that is not in direct alignment to what Social Curator is offering. And so the separation or the divorcing of the content I'm creating on my podcast, versus the funnel that's leading into a business, they had to become separated. And a lot of the content that made the podcast as popular as it was, was focused on social media marketing, which is fine and it's beautiful, but it is such a small sliver of who I know I'm supposed to serve. And you and I have had this conversation at the top of the year and like, I know I'm supposed to serve seven figure founders moving onto eight. And I know it beyond all knowing it, but I said, Alex, let's just do some basic math. Anybody who starts a business, anybody who starts a business, only 4 % of them will actually cross into the seven figure mark. So I'm like, so we have a very small market of potential listeners. I'm like, but beyond that, I have a tendency to attract female listeners. And so if I'm going after female entrepreneurs making seven figures, that's only 0.7 % of all entrepreneurs, period. I was like, Alex, you want me to say that I wanna build a podcast for 0.7 %? of entrepreneurs and somehow make it into the top 10 business category. Does anybody notice a pattern here? I keep on talking about those freaking rankings because at the top of the year, I was like, rankings. And now I care and I totally don't care. I just don't care because I think we've done the work to actually say when we build a business on the back of doing something we love, podcasting, creating awareness, likeability, trust, funnels into whatever the offer it will be. We have to trust the process. And I'm going to close it by saying this. Alex had said, Jasmine, is there any way that you could start changing your content to start attracting the person that you want to serve that you're currently not serving? And I said, okay, I'm going to go all in. And he had said, well, how do we measure this? Right? Like how do we measure the effectiveness of the work and content, how it's changing, because you're going to be slashing a lot of the listeners. A lot of listeners who are at your podcast party for social media marketing, as you start talking about strategy and operations and systemization, you're gonna lose a lot of people. And boy, did I. And that's been a fun ride, tongue in cheek. However, I recently hosted a mastermind for seven figure entrepreneurs. And we have 16 people in our mastermind. And at minimum, at minimum, half of them during the interview had said, on your podcast. at minimum and the mastermind is $25,000. On the back of changing, really leaning into, can, without a shadow of a doubt, point back hundreds of thousands of dollars to changing the content on the podcast just this year. And we're just getting started. Alex and I started meeting in around March or April of 2024. Then we had to actually change the direction of the ship. But because we had produced many podcast episodes, The actual strategy deployment of when we actually changed that avatar and said, we're going all in, didn't happen until the summer. We closed registration in September for a mastermind. So you want to tell me that I'm not being popular, but I can completely cite without a shadow of a doubt, people who actually use these words without being prompted. Because I think that if I were to ask the people in my mastermind, have you listened to my podcast in the last six months? I think that the vast majority would say yes, but what they said, half of them, could say, multi six figures came back on the back of. content that I had been creating. And so to me, the external who I serve got very clear and I got an ROI within less than six months on the back of that. Congrats, Jasmine. Like so cool to fill up a mastermind like that. Like I remember seeing your initial post about it and it wasn't that long ago. Like just so cool that it just like it clicked and great job. That's a perfect example on time all that external clarity. It's funny. Like I feel like you just shined with both of these things, but where you're really going to shine to the next two pieces. So that's internal, that's external we're looking at. And then we kind of flip this next part. The next two points are really around where our brand comes in. And I think that you're the leading expert in this. So the third point here is our projected clarity. This is how you're showing up, how you're wanting to show up. This is the projection you want others to see. And I'm going to quickly say, and I mean no disrespect by this, I see a lot of people get this really wrong because What they want people to see is not the way they present themselves. So I'm like, so what are you? I'm a founder. I'm a coach. I'm a speaker, a podcaster. I have six books. I like to play golf a lot. It's my favorite. And I have three kids that I try to spend time with. I also just picked up playing guitar and all I could hear was chaos. I'm like, that sounds like a crazy life. I'd be fine, but it sounds crazy. And right. And if that person wanted to kind of shift that, not like saying this is perfect, but off the top of my head, it'd be like, Hey, I'm a father who's also a successful business owner who has learned how to prioritize my family and hobbies. and I'm teaching others to do the same, right? Like that's a different way to project who you are versus I've got a crazy life, what do you think, right? Because people can't really say much to that. They kind of like, that sounds like everyone I know, right? We need to find a way to actually project it differently. And again, I think you've done such a good job with this. Can you speak to this point of our projected clarity? Yeah, can you tell me why you think I do a good job? And this is not me, like tell me, tell me more. It's actually hard to see myself for how I'm perceived. And when you say, think you're do this, like, hear it and I humbly accept, but I would love to hear it from your perspective. What synergies are you actually seeing? Jasmine, you fishing for compliments again? I mean, you know, we do this on a weekly basis. Why are we pretending like we don't do this? Yeah, no, no, not at all. It's just actually a distillation because I can, you know, when you point it out, then I can break it down or systematize. That's why my brain works. But like, let me get in your head. Yeah. So for me, when I look at what you're doing, I go to your YouTube channel, your Instagram, like two places you're really doing really well, your website, your podcast. I go to these places. And I see that you just understand like being a content creator, but in the way that you're also driving a really big business and everything models that like, yes, I know you're a mother and I know that you, work out like a lot, right? And sometimes you'll post that stuff, but it's not like the core of your brand. And sometimes I see people, they blend those things. like, okay, are you a content creator or are you teaching me how to get a six pack? Like, I'm not really sure what's going on here. I don't get any of that from you. When I look at what you do, I'm like, this is someone who does help seven figure business. I always go to eight figures and she's doing it through teaching them how to build like a great system of content that's attracting who it is that they're looking for. And that's just what I see when I look at your brand. So the lens in which I look through, oftentimes people will introduce me for better for us. I'm like, this is Jasmine Star. She's an influencer. And I will always take a beat and like, thank you so much. I'm actually an entrepreneur with influence. And the reason why I can really stand in that re-education is that just because you have a sizable platform, it doesn't mean that the business you're building is on endorsing other people's businesses. That's what an influencer does. I don't endorse anybody's business but my own. Although this episode is brought to you by PodMatch. will say, will. Come on, Alex. Come on. I'm not gonna talk about your business. I mean, here's the thing. You've just done really magical things with it, right? So all jokes aside, all jokes aside, I really have to understand. that my business is in service of a specific person with a very specific need. And my content should only speak to that. So I believe 80 % of my content should be speaking to my ideal client's pressure points. So that when that pressure just gets a little too much, that I'm the person they think of at the top of their mind. And so sure, I might be sharing content that is 20 % other things that I happen to be doing or find interesting. which is why on any sort of social profile, you will see less than 20 % of my husband, my daughter, my church activities, my yoga practice, my workout or fitness. It is mostly in service of, and the other things I get to play with and test with and create the likeability factor, but maybe not the trust factor. Like you don't believe that I'm actually going to be an advisor, a consultant or a partner who's gonna transform or 10X your business when you see me at the gym. However, If you like to go to the gym or you aspire to go to the gym or you actually have an appreciation for the discipline that it takes to get to the gym, you're going to build the likeability. You might not trust me more, but I think that those types of pieces of content, 20 % of your content should build the knowing and the liking. But the trust comes from the actual content that you are using to educate or empower your followers. That's so good. I love that. And this goes straight into the last thing here, the perceived clarity. I'm going to quickly share my mistake on both these things. In 2023, we had so many different brands, I'll do air quotes there, that were associated with Podmatch. We had Podmatch, we had our podcast, we had our virtual event, we had our industry report, we had other software companies, like all these different things. And it ended up being, if I'm remembering correctly, I posted it in our community. So someone watching listening to totally correct me on this. think it was a little- No, but you also posted it on Instagram. I did, you're right. I posted it everywhere. Yep, yeah, yeah. And I posted as an apology. because I think we had like 11 different things going on. And I didn't realize it was a problem until I was meeting with podcasters in person in January. And I had heard it, the signs were there, because every time I got on a podcast, people would literally say, Alex is like the podcast guy. He does all kinds of things for podcasters. And it's so hard to keep up with everything he does. And they were saying it in a nice way, but it always bothered me. I'm like, no, that's not what I'm trying to do. And in person, it was this one person asked this question and she did it and really... She didn't mean to be rude by saying it. It came across in my head. It's like, I can't believe that. She goes, hey, I have just one question. I'm so confused, Alex, what do you do? And at that moment I realized I am projecting the wrong brand and it's being perceived in a totally different way than I want to. And that point, that's when I went and posted on social media and in our community saying, hey everybody, I am sorry. And so we've done our best to hone it in to just PodMatch because all I want to do is help serious podcast guests and hosts that are willing to invest in themselves. streamline the interview process, to find that next right connection, and just make it happen in a really beautiful way to serve listeners. Like, that's all I want to be known for, not the guy that helps you get more downloads or more reviews or any of these other things. And I realized I really made a mistake. And all year, I've been working really hard to get back to, this is now how I'm projecting it. And can already tell you the perception is changing rapidly fast. And the business is taking off faster than it ever has, even at launch, because of doing that hard work. And it hurt, I'll be real. And I wanted to be public to apologize just because I was like confusing people. So you and I, we meet every about five or six weeks and they are, when I see them on my calendar, a moment of deep revelation. I already feel like something's coming. I also feel deep, my God, Alex is gonna come back and we're gonna have to talk about stats again and he's gonna see what's going on. And we always have homework at the end of our calls. And to be clear, Alex, I don't think you do consulting in this way, do you? Because I'm like, okay, great. And so I wanna be very clear, Alex and I had a personal relationship and I'm actually asking for a personal favor and he and I are gonna be working on a few other things behind the scenes. However, going into this call, I'll never forget, I had to take a call in a hotel. I pulled off the freeway because I couldn't get home. I brought it up on my phone and we're sitting in a hotel and you were talking about this perceived clarity, like who do you serve? And you had said, Jasmine, how do you want people to introduce you? How do you want them to introduce you? Because I said, would express them like, Alex, I think that people are just saying like, I have a social media podcast, all great and amazing, but that's actually no longer who I am. And I'm being booked to speak at events and being introduced as being somebody who is a social media strategist. Again, all good things is what I'd worked for, but like, I'm ready for the next chapter. I'm ready for the next title. And you said, what do you want people to say when they introduce you? And for the first time I put to words, I want them to say, that's Jasmine Star. She 10Xs your business. And the minute it came out, it was like, woo, what am I gonna do? Make all my content point back to this is the process of 10Xing your business. And that was the first time that I was just like, 2025 ain't ready. 2025 ain't ready for this version, because you give me a full 12 months of knowing who I serve, having a clear path of saying, what are we going to do with your business, having testimonials, having proof so that my legacy, my brand, that my name on somebody else's lips comes before I even walk in the room. But that takes time, it takes effort, it takes volume, and it also takes deep integrity to your internal, your external, your projected, and your perceived. That's just the work. And so the work that you and I have done over the past maybe six months is in direct alignment to that clarity, but it is hard. And for people who want to like learn more about that, because I don't even know, Alex, you're putting this in your podcast, but I love this conversation and it feels very open and it's a very different look. It's very personal look. And so after it drops on your podcast, I would love to share it on my podcast. But like, where do people go when they're like, I'm ready? to dive into building out my clarity. I'm ready to be a guest on podcast or to host my own podcast. Where do they go to get more clarity? Yeah, I mean, the first thing you have to do, I love that you shared all that, Jasmine. I think the very first thing you have to do is like take, look at the whole thing holistically and start taking small steps. And that's gonna take courage, right? We're talking about like walking in clarity. You have to be willing to take small steps. And some of you are like, okay, I'm all in. I'm starting a podcast, I'm gonna guest, I'm gonna launch everything, right? And you go right back into the thing we talked about, that's the hustle, subscribe to it right away. And it looks courageous, because you're just doing a little bit of everything. No, it says, here's the destination, I'm gonna take one small step, I'm going to be clear along the way. And again, it means taking courage, and courage means being afraid, then doing what you have to do anyway. And so when I think about this, listen, there are tons of guides to starting a podcast, there are tons of guides to being a guest on a podcast, and like, listen, if you're not on PodMatch, podmatch.com forward slash free. We'll give you some great initial steps. Not here to promote my own stuff. Like there's no email needed or anything like that. It's just to tell you five things you can start doing. But at end of the day, I just tell people start taking the steps and put it in some sort of timeline and then get some accountability. Like Jasmine, we spend time together. I think of it more as accountability. Like, like I said this beforehand, I'm like, if I ever got into coaching, I have this terrible misconception that everyone's gonna be like Jasmine and they're just not going to. But it's because you know, in five weeks, we're getting back on a call and Alex said this stuff isn't done, he's firing me, right? Like, and so. can't be fired, no. Right? So the accountability is such a key point of this, but I think that, if you're trying to do all this stuff, just get started, tell somebody in your corner and just start going for it. Beyond that, just like some rapid fire tips, and I'd love to go back and forth on this, but like, I think the very first thing you have to do is, I love to say it this way, every yes has to be protected by a thousand nos. Let's just say you've committed to launching a podcast. When someone's like, man, I've got this new stage, we're gonna be launching this virtual event, do you want me part of it? The answer has to be no. And it sucks, I'll be the first to admit that. I actually love speaking on stages. I have turned down more in-person speeches this year than I ever have. A lot of them keynotes. And it's like, man, this looks really fun. But I just, know that I have to say no. And so that's one of the first things I think about when it comes to clarity, is we have to say no. And the other thing is, at some point, opportunity is the biggest killer of your business. Listen, everyone, I've got an opportunity for you. I'm like, yes, but my path is clear. I know where I'm going. And this opportunity is a door that if I walk through, can I come back out of it? Or does that leave me other doors I have to go through? And again, all this brings you back to the culture of what an online brand has become in the world, which is going to get you back into the hustle. And you're going to lose clarity along the way. Those are some of my rapid fire tips, Jasmine. I'd love to hear. if you have any thoughts around that before we close up here. Yeah, rapid fire tips. And this is all based, I can take zero credit for this, but I will say it's been a swift kick in the pants. Alex and I have met five times. And one of the things that he had said is, Jasmine, you're not linking back to any of your old podcast episodes. So there's a 99 % chance that as you look at Alex's show notes, what is he gonna do? He's gonna link back to my two other interviews. And I didn't actually think about this until we started meeting with him. Another key tip, and that's for actually a practitioner, like if you are a podcast host, But now let's talk about a podcast guest. And so most of the time I have only had inbound solicitations to be on podcast. But then I started realizing that I wanted to create relationships with other podcasters in the space, which required me to do for the first time ever pitch. So the team and I, talked to Alex and I was like, we're to come up with this one pager pitch. went blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And said, Jasmine, can I see it before you send it out? So this is, let me give you the tip that after we had spent well over 15 to 20 hours preparing my pitch, Alex says, Jasmine, that's great, but just send him a DM. Send them a voice memo and say, hi, I'm Jasmine. I would love to be on your podcast. I'm gonna be sending you an email. He's like, just make the intro. And I was like, dang, we could have saved 20 hours on pitching myself for a podcast by just doing a human emotion introduction on the back of a DM. So if you are a podcast host, you got a tip. If you are a podcast guest, you got a tip. Alex, you are all kinds. of a good, good human. And I know people in the back end, I obfuscated it. I said, Alex and I are working on things on the back end. Number one, I'm not an affiliate for PodMatch. If it was, I would be disclosing it. And if Alex ever decides to make that a thing, I mean, I just, don't need to be an affiliate for it because I actually believe in the product. So there's that. anything on the back end, no, we don't have a hookup. We don't have a code. This is just two really good peers who respect each other and each other's partners and each other's businesses. And we're just having a business conversation, but more than anything, I want Alex's business to win. And if I really say that I want to 10X people's businesses and I get the opportunity to work with somebody as good and kind and smart as Alex, then I hope that we look at PodMatch in a bit and we say we 10X that. So thank you. Love it. Thank you, Jasmine. I really appreciate it. Before I let you go here, any final thought for everybody who's tuning in? Yeah, build out a profile on PodMatch. you have, here's the thing. You have a message and you have a purpose and podcasts give you the opportunity to hone what it is they do. And I have to tell you right now, I didn't listen to Alex's five minute prep, but he frameworked this podcast, not just for you. He thought of you, but he framed it up for himself and myself because we have to teach ourselves before we could teach other people. And we learn more by teaching others. If you want to learn more about who you are, who you serve and your business, start talking about it. And so. There's no greater way for you to do the reps than by serving other people on other platforms. And I just want to say thank you. I think you're incredible. Thanks, Jasmine. I really appreciate it. And you totally did my job for me today. So thank you so much, everybody, for tuning in. Jasmine, again, I really appreciate you. And this was a great time. Super fun conversation. Thank you. For more episodes, please visit podmatch.com forward slash episodes. Thank you so much for listening.
