Unleashing the Power of Podcasting w/ Sonny Gault

as a business leader or having your own company, you have the potential to impact people on an incredible level just by your presence and how you carry yourself. Setting goals is like a huge thing with me, because if you're doing it for your business, it should impact your business. Also, I've seen people use their business podcast to reach out to other thought leaders in their space and connect with those people, because it's easier to say hey, would you like to be on my podcast? Than just asking them for something else. You're giving them exposure, so it's like a gift.

The journey to wealth is a long walk and some may walk quicker than others, but what good is sprinting to the finish line if you pass out when you cross it? On Walk to Wealth, we enlighten and empower young adults to build wealthy, abundant lives. They say the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step and your first step starts right now. This is Walk to Wealth with your host, John Mendez.

Hey everyone, welcome to the Walk to Wealth podcast. If you're tuning in on YouTube or any of the podcast directories, make sure to follow so you never miss a beat. We're bringing the heat all year this year, so make sure that you stay up to date with who we got bringing on. We got another super amazing guest, someone I was able to meet right before the end of last year, and I'm excited to have her on today because she's an expert in what I love to do podcasting. Sonny. For anyone that hasn't got the chance to know, you tell us a little bit about yourself. Who are you and what do you do?

Yeah Well, thank you so much, john, for letting me be on your show. I'm a podcaster. I've been doing this for 17 years now, which sounds crazy. My background is in more traditional media, so that's how I got started. That's what I went to school for. Then I just started seeing where the media was going and what was new, and I always really liked technology. When podcasting came out, I was like, oh well, I could do that. I had the background and being able to write scripts and do stories from my news days because I was in television news for a long time. Now I could do this, and then you put it up on the internet and then everyone can see your content, which was another thing that I was really excited about. When you're in radio and TV, it's usually according to your market size. Only people like it within a 60-mile radius can see or stop. I really loved that idea of anyone being able to see it from anywhere in the world. I could work out of my house, which right now this is a converted garage. It's the old, the running joke podcasters record out of the garage. Well, actually I am. I just got into a studio. It's worked really well with my lifestyle and wanting to be home. I have a family and young kids and things like that. I've been able to adjust my career, make a living out of doing podcasting, and now my passion is helping other people learn how to podcast, especially people that want to connect it to their business. I've seen a lot of businesses thrive by using podcasts really as a marketing tool and a way to connect with potential customers and clients. Those are my favorite people to work with. I help all types of podcasters. I'm really just a podcast cheerleader. That's what I do.

That's amazing. I'm excited to talk to you today. Before we segue into today's conversation, take us back a little bit in the time machine when you were a kid. What was money like growing up in your household? What was business entrepreneurship what was that like? Because you're an entrepreneur now and you're also podcasting Was sharing your voice and spreading your message something that was encouraged earlier on in your upbringing? Is that something that you have to uncover and unpack as you got older?

Yeah, the business side of it and being an entrepreneur. I grew up in an entrepreneur family. That side of it was pretty easy to do because I just grew up watching. My dad had an insurance business. Actually, my grandfather started it. My grandfather was the original entrepreneur. Then my dad took over the business and my whole family worked in this agency. It was kind of a small town. I got to see first hand what that was like and how many hours my dad had to put into it once he owned the business and some of the struggles and stuff that he had to deal with. My mom and my dad also owned apartment buildings. They started a business together where they would manage apartments All around me from my mom and my dad. I grew up in that kind of environment. What I saw early on that I really think motivated me was just the flexibility that it gives you, because even though a lot of entrepreneurs myself included, probably you as well and many of your audience you work long hours. It also gives you more flexibility. If you do need to do something, you're usually your own boss. There might be some things you've got to give up, but also setting your own schedule. One of the things in my family that was really important is that we took family vacations. It would happen every year because my dad didn't have to get approval from someone my mom and dad. They just worked it out. That really strengthened our family and really helped us moving forward. The other side, what you were asking about communication and sharing your voice my dad's a really good speaker. The technology wasn't really around when I was a kid to be able to do the kind of stuff that we can do today. I'm 45, just so you know I'm not ancient, but still a lot of this stuff wasn't around. When I was a kid my dad would go around and speak at different organizations and things like that. He's a really good presenter. He's also really good. He loves technology, especially audio and video. I grew up in a house where we had the latest cameras. We had the latest speaker system and stuff like that that most people I don't know. Maybe it's a little bit more popular to do that kind of stuff now. Back in the early 80s that was not really a thing that a lot of people were doing. I grew up around technology. I've always embraced technology and tried to figure out how can we use this and how can we connect with other people and make it exciting, sharing my voice. How I developed my own voice was actually through the arts, performing arts. I did a lot of theater, a lot of on-stage theater. I was a dancer, so I got cast in a lot of shows where I was dancing and that led into theater. That's where I learned to. I mean, granted, it was a script that I was memorized and reciting, but still that's where I started to discover my voice and my passion for connecting with an audience. I just love that feeling and I just love the whole process. When it was time for me to figure out what I wanted to do, I originally thought I was going to go into theater. Then I lifted that lifestyle and I was like, oh, I don't know if that's really the lifestyle I want to have. You have to move. The big people that do theater move all the time, or they're in New York City or places like that that I didn't really picture myself living or having that kind of lifestyle where you may not be able to have kids or just all be a little different than what I pictured for my life. Then I started looking at well, what else can I do? This is my skill set. This is what I enjoy to do. Again, I grew up in front of a camera, always with my dad. I got my first mixing board. That doesn't even really exist anymore, I don't think, but a physical mixing board to how DJs blend sounds. I got that at nine years old, which is insane, but that's what I wanted for my birthday when I was a nine-year-old. I've been doing this kind of stuff mixing music and it just kind of made sense okay, what's the next logical step? At that point I was looking at colleges and trying to figure stuff out. I thought, well, maybe something in media. Then from there it went the journalism route and then from there, podcasting.

That's an amazing story. We have some synergies too, because early in my upbringing around fifth grade, maybe early, and middle school I did monologue. I was in drama as well. That definitely helped a lot with finding my voice and being able to speak in front of people. I didn't really know how those skills were going to come back into my life. But there's something that definitely played a big factor had I cultivated it a little bit more, it definitely would have helped out more. It's something where you have to memorize something, whether it's an office script, whether it's a teleprompter, but even getting in front of it and saying it to people it's night and day. It's not the same thing. Big kudos to you, because I know how hard it was for me back then. I ended up winning a couple awards for a couple competitions, but then ended up letting it go. I forget why, but I think sixth grade I let it go. Then I never ended up picking up, but it definitely did help a lot. Before we start really talking about podcasting, I want to talk about the art of telling stories and communication and sharing your voice and the power and impact that it could have, because whether it's podcasting, whether it's public speaking, it's all just forms of leveraging our voice. It's just different ways that we're putting it out into the world. What is the importance of being a good communicator, a good person that can present and speak and share their thoughts in an articulate way, in a way that's clear, concise and a way that captivates people and compels people to act? How important is that to the business world?

Oh yeah, I think that's huge, even just on a general level. As humanity, we are wired to connect with other people. When you hear about people being in isolation or whatever like if they get sent off to jail, prison or whatever, that's supposed to be a punishment, because that's not how we're wired. We're wired to be able to see each other communicate with each other. That gives just from an energetic standpoint that can keep us going. If we're having a bad day and someone walks in the room with a huge smile on their face, that impacts us. Think about that from a business standpoint. As a business leader or having your own company, you have the potential to impact people on an incredible level just by your presence and how you carry yourself. Communication is huge, because if you can't communicate an idea effectively, you're not going to get your point across. There's going to be confusion and people don't feel comfortable with confusion, especially as a leader. That's one of the things that I've learned. You have to be crystal clear, in some cases going above and beyond, if you think. I think I explained that well. You may want to even do more explaining and make it as crystal clear as possible. Everyone has different ways that they learn. This is one of the things that I'm studying right now. I don't know if you've done any studies of left brain, right brain, but we all communicate and understand things a little bit differently. Having real crystal clear objectives and goals and just being able to connect with people like that and being vulnerable to, I think, is really important as a leader. I know that that's frowned upon because I'm the leader, I'm running a business and you've got to have this stoic persona or something like that. I think we're so craving those kind of relationships now and being able to be a little bit more vulnerable with the people that you're working with, whether that's an employee relationship or a colleague or just someone that you happen to meet, I don't know, at some sort of conference or whatever. Yeah, I think that's all important. We communicate. Think of all the different ways we communicate with people on a daily basis. That was one of the things that I was thinking about when I was in college. I was going the more communication route and I wasn't really sure exactly what I was going to do, but I thought well, you communicate every day. If you can't properly communicate, I feel like that's a safe area to go into into study, because communication is not going anywhere. We are always going to have the need to express ourselves and to communicate with other people. As a leader, that's even more important because people have to have a vision for where you're going with stuff. They have to be inspired. Having those kind of tools is really important.

Yeah, 100%. It's one of those things A lot of people are not communicating with a degree it's just frowned upon because so many people don't know how to actually use it. I'm just going to calm the grade because it's an easy degree to get into. It's like if you actually learn about this stuff you could make insane the amount of money. Like copywriters charge extreme amounts of money and that's because they're good at communicating and they learn how to use communication to get people to buy products. If you know how to leverage that communication not saying you have to be a copywriter, but you can make a very lucrative career for yourself, either communicating on your own, maybe helping others communicate, or maybe even just let that trinkle into your personal life. Now it's like you're the best friend to be around, because you always have the best stories and you're always the best person to be around. Whether it's at the bar or by the campfire or wherever you like to spend your past time. You're always that person that just caps the base of the room, no matter where you go into. I definitely want to segue now into the conversation a little bit more with podcasting, because both of us love this topic. Both love communicating through this medium that we call podcasting. Tell us a little bit about the origins around podcasting. I got into it about a year ago today, but you got into it a lot longer than I have. How does this podcasting get started? And then we just go from there?

Yeah, I mean it really had a grassroots start. These were very techie people that were. Browsers weren't what they are today. When you go on the internet it's really easy we can stream from our devices and all that kind of stuff now but it was really people just messing around trying to find another way to communicate. Remember the old you've heard of the ham radio days where people would try to set up radios and it was like shortwave communication you couldn't communicate with people that were that far away. I kind of view early podcasting as not ham radio, but those same types of people just a generation or so later Trying to find a different way, trying to do things a little bit differently. Maybe people not so happy with just what's being presented to them in the mainstream, whether that's radio or television, wanting more realness and less staged, whatever behavior. Sometimes it's just fun to do stuff that other people aren't doing. I think that's just a little bit of human nature. We want to kind of be unique. The early days of it were people that were a little geeky. My first couple of years in podcasting it was way predominantly men. I don't even know the statistics, but it was rare for me to go to any kind of meetup or event and have more than a couple other women there, it kind of lended itself more to that techie crowd, which was predominantly male. Then it kind of grew from there. I think what really helped was technology catching up to what we were trying to do. We called a podcast because of the iPod. That's where this came from iPods. Steve Jobs he had a vision that media should be free. How do you make media free? This was something that Apple this is why Apple is still probably the biggest. I know Spotify is right up there too, but Apple is still the biggest distributor of podcasts because that's how it got started. It's called a podcast because people were listening to it on an iPod. Steve Jobs found a way to make it really easy for people to, through an RSS feed, to be able to create content and send it out. You could subscribe to the stuff for free, just like you could with a blog post, which is different blogs. That was kind of the big thing right before podcasting. The little media players really made it possible for people to do that. We did that for a few years and then there was a time period where video kind of snuck in there a little bit. What killed video podcasts in the beginning was YouTube, because YouTube then came out. Youtube was, oh, I just have to go to one site and all the content was there, as opposed to video files or bigger files, as you know, running that through an RSS feed. The technology just wasn't there to compress it, so it would still look good, right, and then people would have to download it to their device and it would take up more room. So the idea of having a destination site like YouTube was attractive to people. Then, as you know, youtube just went through the roof. But I remember the early days of YouTube going oh, okay, I can also put my content. At the time. One of the first podcasts that I created was just a way for me to test out the medium and see what was going online. So I created a podcast called Anchor and PJs, because my background was television news and I thought, okay, well, why don't I do funny internet stories in my pajamas and make fun of the news business? And so, because that's something like a news anchor would never do the news in their pajamas. So I was just kind of having fun and so I created this show. It was a video podcast and so I would have it as I think I took the audio out and maybe just released it as an audio podcast that way, but then also uploaded the video file to YouTube. And the early days of YouTube they made it seem like the moment you publish something to YouTube, it's going to go viral, you're going to be this internet sensation, and so that's kind of what I was expecting, and even in the very beginning that's not really what happened, but that's kind of where podcasting started. It started kind of in the audio. We brought in video a little bit, but then we had everything happen with YouTube and then it backed away. It was like, okay, youtube is doing this, let's go mainly focus on audio. And then we saw, really, to your point, you're talking about storytelling. Then we started to see more production value being put into it. We saw more tools being created to help people podcast. Because when I first started podcasting, your RSS feed which is, I'm sure you know, but just for the audience is what you need to distribute your podcast To Apple Podcasts, spotify, all these different places, and it essentially just has all the content for your podcast. So your description, your media file link and all of that. When I started podcasting, I had to manually do that. So every time I released a new episode I would have to go in there and manually change my RSS feed and I'm not a coder, okay, I can't tell you how many times I'd screw something up and go why isn't the feed working? I don't understand. So just to give you an idea of where we were at that time, and then you know you have things change, like your browser, like right now we're recording through a browser and we're able to record audio and video. So first it was just audio for a long time that you could record, and now we're able to add video and at some sites you can even do 4K video right. So as technology changed, podcasting changed and what we're seeing now, which is exciting, is higher and higher production value being put into the shows. We're seeing a lot more storytelling. So it reminds me of the old radio days where they would have whole radio shows where they'd have sound effects and they tell a really elaborate story and people would just sit around the radio and use their imagination, as opposed to a television set. And we're seeing that a little bit with podcasting now, especially through the true crime, which a lot of people like listening or watching true crime shows, and so a lot of productions being put into those type of shows. We're also seeing a lot more advertisers get into podcasting, because we're seeing the numbers continue to rise as far as who is listening to podcasts and the demographics surrounding that, and so you're seeing more advertisers get into the space. So I think it's still growing. I think the industry is still growing. There's still plenty of room. So if you're listening to this, you're like oh, you know there's already X amount of podcasts. That's too much. No, everybody has their own unique voice, and that's the beauty of podcasting.

Yeah, 100%. So podcasting is something that definitely took a lot of leaps and bounds and took a while to get to where it's at right now, because it's been out for quite some time now and I feel like it's only just now, over the past couple of years, really started getting mainstream and getting real attention, which is something that is strange, because once I found it, I fell in love because it's a lot more intimate, it's a lot less scripted, a lot more it's like the same value and the same nuggets you would get from a YouTube video or from a course or master class or webinar, but in a more conversational way that makes you resonate with the person that's speaking and makes you feel as if you're talking to them in a way, and you get all that same information. So it's something that I love to use. And now what I want to ask you a little bit is where does the podcasting side of things now start to intersect into the business side of things? Because a lot of times it's like well, I'm already trying to run my business, I'm trying to figure it out, I don't even know how to run this. Now you want me to run a podcast, and why would it be beneficial to use the podcast. I know for me it's been super beneficial, but for your explanation, because you have a lot more years than me in this space, how has it been impactful and beneficial to business owners and people who want to start a business, to grow a podcast?

Yeah, and you're right, and it is tough, like I'm a small business owner, right, and my time is limited and I have to make sometimes difficult choices as to what do I want to focus my time on, and so it is primarily Ivy U. Podcasting is a marketing tool for businesses, but beyond that, beyond outreach to new clients and customers, it's also a way to stay connected with people you're already working with. So in my case, I run a podcast company. I have a podcast that primarily teaches people how to podcast for their business. It's called Podcast your Business, and when I release content a lot of the content it's not just good for people that are starting it for their business, but it's for podcasters in general. So I've got everybody that is on my newsletter list that receives an update every time I do an episode, and so it is kind of a reminder for those people. Oh yeah, they're sunny and maybe now is not a great time, maybe they've got a million other things that are going on in their life or for their business, but it keeps us kind of fresh in their minds and a topic I do talk about may strike a chord with them at one point, and I think that's kind of the big thing is being there and being top of mind for them so when they are ready to move forward, that they can do that. But as far as connecting podcasts to your business, definitely it's a marketing tool. Like I said, it is easier now to get into podcasting than it has ever been. I also don't want to paint a super rosy picture to say that it's going to be super easy, and there are definitely things that I recommend you do to make it easier on yourself. I've gone down the hard path before and that's one of the things I teach people is how can you do this so it's not so overwhelming for you and how can you manage expectations. And setting goals is like a huge thing with me Because if you're doing it for your business, it should impact your business and there's different ways it can do that. Increasing your bottom line and the money that comes in is one way, but it can also, like I said, just kind of keep you active, top of mind for people that you have come across in the past and just kind of keep you active in that way. Also, I've seen people use their business podcast to reach out to other thought leaders in their space and connect with those people Because it's easier to say, hey, would you like to be on my podcast? This is what we're going to talk about, or you've got a brand new book out, or it's an easier foot in the door than just asking them for something else, because you're giving them exposure. So it's like a gift. So I've seen business owners use that in a way like, oh, I want to connect with this person because I think we could work on a project in the future or something like that. So let's have them on the podcast talking about XYZ. So those are some of the ways I've seen people use it. But definitely needs to connect to whatever the goals are for your show. So whether that's increasing your clients or your customer base, whether that's bringing in more money, podcasts are a great way to promote other things that you've got going on for your business. So if you've got a course, those are real easy to promote because people click a link and can sign up for a course really easily. Free handouts maybe you just launched a book or something like that you want to promote. So those are some of the different ways I've seen people use it for their business.

That's amazing and it's something where I've been using the thought leader strategy to connect with them in. That's how I've been telling you before we have a press record that I've been landing a lot of guests. I've been dropping hints in my episodes towards the end of each of my episodes when I do the editing, and I actually drop them. Because the circle prospect thing is one of the biggest cheat codes, because you get one guy that's on the podcast or one lady that's on the podcast that knows somebody else, and now you start tapping into different circles because you know one person from within the circle and now it's like you use that to talk to everyone in the circle and one of those people in the circle knows someone from another circle that you may want to talk to. So you just find overlaps and then next thing you know, now your show is the hot topic. It's like yo, have you been on John's show? Oh, you've got to be on John's show. John, yeah, john's show, you've got to be on that one. And now it's like this big thing where it's like now people it's like oh, you know, I need to hop on your show. I would be, I want to be a guest on your show. And now it takes a lot less pressure of me to do outreach to get these guests on, because it's like it's going to be a no brainer almost a lot of these people. And I've been kind of doing that and just boosting my credibility, boosting my authority, so that when it's time for me to present my offer it's like, oh, shoot, john. And it's like with all these big dogs, he has to be a big dog, right, he just. It's like I'm looked at at, the perceived value as they say, right, it goes up as I start connecting with more people.

Yeah, and it also works to be a guest on other people's podcasts because that gives you credibility and, like what I'm doing today, like I was doing an interview I think it was last week and someone said, oh my gosh, it was so fun to talk to you and I've got, you know, five other people that I think would love, you know, to connect with you, that you know are thinking about starting a podcast or, you know, wanting to do something for their business. So you know, it's a nice little community that we have in podcasting. I mean, I think I read recently that there's it was some crazy number like five million podcasts out there, but those aren't actively producing podcasts. Those are just kind of podcasts that if you go scrolling through whatever feed you're going to find. But it's still a nice community and what I have found, at least, is especially the small to medium sized shows are more interested in doing these kind of collaborative things and connecting each other because we really see the value in it. We really had to kind of, you know, pull up our boots and do some things the hard way, and so we're more willing to help people. So, yeah, appearing on other podcasts is a great way to extend that as well.

Yeah, and I'm on a second that thought too, because, like a lot of the smaller to midter, middle sized podcast I've been reaching out to, it's like I reached out and it's like they're, you know, gladly help out a ton and they just want to help and collaborate a lot of these people. But I've also been realizing too, when I haven't been on any big podcast yet, but in terms of getting big people on the podcast, when you have a clear mission, it definitely helps out and if someone that's may have a bigger following or bigger impact in his world, it may be super successful. If they're in alignment with your vision, even if you're not the biggest show, they're super willing to help and hop on. It may not be for an hour, maybe only be like for 10 minutes or 20 minutes, but hey, that's a little something. They're giving up some of their time and sometimes you may have to buy like a book of theirs or something like that, but it's like I mean you could buy like five of their books so you could pay them $100,000 for what they normally charge. So it's like how do these people they're willing to help out and help out, and that's something that I've been finding as I've been connected to more and more people and then so any kind of action a little bit, so you better mention something.

Well, no, I was just going to say when I first started getting into podcasting, one of the first thing I did was turn to people that were already doing podcasts, and it wasn't to be on a show, but it was just to pick their brain. I had a couple of like. You know I don't think Zoom was around back then, but let's just call it a Zoom call or one person was in person, so I had coffee with him and he had a fairly successful show and I said you know, I just want to pick your brain and buy you a cup of coffee or whatever and just see what do you? What do you wish you knew now, right, that you didn't know back then and kind of pick their brain and there was no cameras rolling, there was nothing being recorded. But I use that information to help me because I'm a big fan of like not having to learn everything from scratch. You know you can learn from somebody else. You know and make you know you're still going to make mistakes, but maybe make different mistakes, and then you're going to, you know, kind of be ahead of the curve, I think.

Yeah so. So let's walk through a little bit right. We got the origin story of how podcasts started. We kind of have an idea of some of the benefits. You know, increased authority in your space definitely gives you an increased exposure to different people, different new audiences that you might have been able to tap into, increased collaboration and partnership opportunities with some fellow other podcasters. So if someone wants to hop on and start like, hey, sonny, I have this idea, I want to use this podcast to go what I got going on. I'm starting up an agency or something like that and I want to start a podcast because I have a lot of knowledge. Now, what is the process? What are the step by step for someone that just has an idea of starting? How do they get started? Because, as you know and from you know, starting your own podcast and doing your own show and then helping out all the tons of people, it's something where it's like, a lot of this stuff we don't foresee like a lot of it and it's like, oh, we have to learn how to any of you have to learn how to be video editors and audio people and you know, do all this different stuff that the? I thought we just had the show been talking. There's a lot more steps involved, so, right, what? What is the process like to get started with a podcast, or what is that the most efficient way and most effective way to get started as a podcast?

I always recommend that people get started If they're not, if they don't already fall into this category. If you're not already a podcast listener, that's the first thing that I recommend people do, because you don't even want to start to go down this path. If you don't enjoy podcasts, I mean it doesn't make sense. There's you wouldn't. You would be amazed at how many people come to me as like, oh, so and so, says I have a good voice, I should start a podcast. I'm like that's not a good reason to start a podcast. That may help you down the road and, you know, make it easier for people to listen to you or enjoy the sound of your voice. That is not going to keep you going week after week. So one of the things the very first thing I tell people to do is go on to a podcasting app they're usually, you know, something native is usually installed on your iPhone or you've got an Android device and subscribe to five different podcasts of different categories For a month, 30 days, listen to these podcasts when they release a new episode and start taking notes of what you like and what you don't like, because you can use that information and actually creating your podcast, because without that kind of information you're really not going to know. You know, kind of where to start. Yes, you need to know something about. You know how to record and you mentioned editing and some stuff like that. But in the beginning it's about the content, because if you can't wrap your head around what your value offer is, or you know why are you starting the show? Because, again, there's five million other podcasts out there and we still all have 24 hours in a day, but that was not extended. I don't care if there's 50 million podcasts or there's five million podcasts, we still have the same amount of time in the day. So what is going to make your podcast different? And so subscribe to those shows, write things down. You may find really quickly that you need a co-host. You need someone to do this with you because maybe you don't like. You know when shows are hosted by themselves, or you like the interview format better. That just flows better to you. You resonate with that better. Or you know, maybe you subscribe to a podcast that's a daily show and you're like whoa, that's way too much content and I can't even keep up with the feed. You know I don't have enough time to listen to that kind of stuff. You're going to hear how people like welcome you know their audience to the show and do they have commercial spots and how do they kind of how does the show flow? And do they say things in a weird way? Or, you know, do they start the show without even telling you what the show is about? Like there's some little things that you're going to notice just as a listener, because I think when you're creating your podcast, you always have to approach it from a listener perspective and it's easier if you're creating content that you yourself would listen to. So that's the very first thing Subscribe to some shows, listen to them, jot down what you like and you don't like, and that's going to help you with this building block of creating your own show. It's going to help you answer some questions like frequency. You know how often do you release. You know your episodes, what you know. What day do you release your episodes on? Like all of that, because podcasting people can listen to podcasts at any time. That's not as important Like the day I was referring to, the day that you release your podcast on. I don't necessarily recommend that you do it on a Monday or Friday, because people's minds are elsewhere, usually on those two days. But the beauty of podcasting is that you can listen to it whenever you want. So even if that is the day that you release, it's okay, not a big deal, but you may find that people wait a couple of days in order to listen to your content. So you know the next part is really putting your show together, right? So you've got some of that information from the podcast. You know if you need a co-host, you know you might have to go searching for a co-host If it's for your business, you know maybe you can think about other businesses that could be a good partner for you in your podcast. I've seen this happen where it was too much for one person to do their own show. They recognize that, they recognize their limitations and the you know the effort that they would have to put into it and they, partnered with you know a similar company as theirs and they do the show together. And now their company knows about the other company and you know you can create a nice symbiotic relationship that way. Obviously, you probably don't want to do that with your you know your biggest competitor, but there are different ways to do that, to be able to work on it together and then you're splitting. You know the amount of time that goes into the show, right? So there's different ways you can do that. You could co-host the show together, or one week, you know, someone could host and then next week's the other person host. So I like to encourage people to think outside of doing everything on their own, because what I have found is that a lot of times that people don't see results right away. If they're doing everything on their own, they have a tendency to pod fade, right, which is, well, there was a show, and then it was less and less, and then it was nothing, and that's not what we want. We want to be very realistic with our goals. So think about this. This is all about format for your show, right? We could talk a little bit about equipment. My biggest piece of advice with equipment is before you know that this is really going to be something you want to do, don't you know? Don't you know, put all of your money into it, because you can and it can be very confusing as to what equipment to use the number one piece of equipment if it's not in the shot already, this this is the biggest thing that you should invest money in. But here's the beauty of it is that you don't have to spend an arm and a leg for a good microphone. You really don't. I have several different microphones because I purchased different things just to test them because I'm weird like that and people ask me all the time about microphones. This microphone was around $300 about it a long time ago, but I have found really really good microphones for under $100. And honestly, the whole move that we've had over the last few years for people to work more out of their homes and do online meetings and things like that has really ramped up the quality and the pricing for these types of things. So you can get a good microphone for under $100. You can connect directly into your computer. I know we're recording video and audio for this, but in the beginning maybe you just want to do audio. There is nothing wrong with just having an audio podcast, because we are having a surge right now in people wanting to do video, because there's more things you can do with video and there's different things you can do to promote your podcast if you have the video. But in the beginning that may be a little too much for you. So there's nothing wrong with just having an audio podcast. It will find an audience. There are people that want to multitask, that do not want to watch video. Right, they are listening to you as they're driving their car or they're working out, or they're doing the dishes or they're cooking dinner, and you know they don't want to be bothered with video. So that would be another thing to consider. Are you just going to do audio or are you going to do video? But this is the number one thing your microphone. It can plug directly into your computer. If you have a decent computer that's been purchased in the last five or six years, you're probably fine. You can use these online browsers like we're using right now. That's the easiest way to record a podcast. And even if you're not recording with someone else, like we're doing today, you can't just record yourself through the same means. So even if you decide to just do a show on your own and you're not going to have guests, you can still use these different platforms, record through the browser. That's the easiest way to do the recording. When it comes to editing, this is kind of the big hang up, as you mentioned, for a lot of people. I usually there's one of two things that I recommend Either. Don't worry about editing, although there are some things that you're going to have to put in the show, no matter what right we have, like show intros that we like to do and things like that maybe add some music here and there. So there are some things and, depending on your recording platform that you're using, you might be able to drop some of that in as you're recording. It's a little bit like patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time, but you do get used to it. So that's one way to kind of avoid editing. The other thing to keep in mind is, if you edit a podcast too much, it's going to lose its value, its realism, right? You don't have to edit out. Every arm and all your ears are going to be super duper critical to what you hear. But understand, when we talk to people in normal conversation, we say ums and ahs and likes and so's and things like that. We don't finish our sentences. I didn't finish my last sentence right there and no one's probably really thrown off by it, right, because we're just having a conversation. So that's one thing is you don't have to edit a lot. The other thing is there are different resources out there and I'd be happy to recommend some to you guys. That has really taken the cost of editing down. I actually don't recommend that people you know try to edit their own stuff if they don't feel comfortable doing it. It is going to be such a stressful thing for you to figure out how to learn an editing program and to do it each week and you're probably going to get frustrated and that is time that you're taking away from creating great content. So I've got a couple resources. I can send you the link, john, or whatever you want to do, but you can get it done really cheaply. Like one resource, I know that you can get an audio podcast produced. You can do four episodes for 50 bucks a month. That's the cheapest I've ever seen and it's quality work. So again, if it's tied into your business like think about this, you know what would you. You know you're probably going to have to have some sort of budget for this. It doesn't have to be huge, but understand that there are some costs like this and, trust me, having a source like that and just sending your content out to be edited is going to give you so much more peace of mind than you trying to figure out an editing program. So I don't, unless you've got a background in that, like I've edited a gazillion episodes because I had. I was trained on how to edit. But even I got to a point where I was like I don't want to do this, I don't want to do this anymore. I've edited, you know, edited hundreds and hundreds of episodes. So even I hand my stuff off to editors at times because there's other things I want to focus on. So, um, those are. I know I said a bunch of stuff. I'll turn it over to you, but those are the the main things you got to think about in creating a podcast.

Yeah, definitely. So you kind of touch upon a basic. I want to hit one more thing what can we look forward to on the other side? What because we mentioned it's from someone listening it's like, uh, headaches, headaches, headaches. You know so many things editing we have, you know all these different things that we have to figure out and learn and microphone equipment and investment and you know all these different things. That sounds like a lot, but what does it look like if you make it to the other side, if you're running a podcast that doesn't podfator for anyone who doesn't know? It just means like a podcast kind of dies and never comes back. Right, yeah, or if you make it to the other side, right, and become a successful podcaster, what can that open up? Like? What kind of doors can that open up?

So many things, but the first thing that comes to mind in some of the shows I've done is just the when you get those emails from people that say thank you so much for covering this topic. Like you have no idea how much this impacted me. Everyone has different goals with their show, right, so it could be different things, but I've always found the personal. When you can impact people personally and change their day, their week, their month, their life. I mean, I know that sounds kind of dramatic Some of the shows that I've done in the past this isn't about my podcasting podcast on how to podcast, but I, when I first started my podcast, they were focused on parents and families because that was the stage of life I was in. I was married and starting to have kids and I thought, well, I'll, you know, launch these shows that are focused on families. And when I got those emails saying, oh my gosh, if you had not shared this with me, you know, you know I was just going crazy with my kid, or I didn't know that this could lead to section such down the road, or you know I'm pregnant and I had no idea that I didn't have to give birth in a hospital, that there were other places and ways I could give birth to my children. I kept all those emails, you know and when, and I do recommend that people do that. Save it, keep it somehow, because you know there's going to come a time when you're doing your podcast, you're like, oh again and this is with anything in life, this isn't just podcasting. You can start a blog or you know you could do an e-newsletter or whatever you want to do. There's going to come times where, like, do I really have to do that today? And those are the best times to reach into wherever you have those comments saved and to read those. So, for me personally, everyone's a little bit different, but I love the impact that I have on people. That's what motivates me to keep doing this and puts a smile on my face knowing that I'm helping people. For some people it may be that and then also knowing again, that their bottom line is increasing, right, they're connecting with more people. They bring more clients in. People are buying their online course, which leads to you helping people, right? So this is, all you know, kind of connected. So, you know, I think those are some of the things to really look forward to, because you are making a difference, you know, and people will reach out in different ways. Maybe it's through social media or something like that, but I think you may also notice improvements in yourself, right? So doing your podcast may give you the confidence that you need to do something in person, right? Or go on somebody else's show, and who knows what connections you're going to meet from going on somebody else's show. So I mean, you just have to, like, embrace these moments in life because you really don't know where it's going to go. But you always you improve your skills, your communication skills. We were talking about that earlier. Just by doing a podcast, you learn not to, you know, say all the little filler words you used to say, because you know you listen to your voice and you listen back and you're like, oh well, this is the way I can improve that. So you're always working and improving something and that can help you in your business in multiple ways.

Yeah, that's something I realized. So currently, at the time of recording this, I just started my speaker school that I'm attending. I went to the first one that I went to back in September and now I'm doing another speaker school that's in person, where I can help improve my public speaking. Now, the only difference now is between last time in September and now is that I've now been guesting on tons of shows and I spoke in my very first in-person engagement. So that was like a super big experience for me because I was like I think we're close to 150 people in the ring and that was like super nerve-wracking. That was only five minutes. It was like super nerve-wracking and I could see why people fear public speaking more than, if you're this but this podcasting thing, I've been able to really hone my craft the storytelling and sharing a message and as I do more and more of these, I've been able to continue on growing and ask better questions and meet amazing people, and it's something that's been super fun and I kind of wanted to ask you guys to grab things up here. We talked about how the podcast even got started. We talked about how to get started with your own podcast and we talked about kind of the things you may need to look into, and then we brought a full circle as to what it looks like if you make us to the other side of a podcast. I know you offer tons of amazing things and you have some great sources. Where could we connect with you at? Where could we find you at If we wanted some help starting our show and we don't only have any direction?

Yeah, of course. Well, thank you for asking, john. So the website you can find me at is independentpodcastnetwork, and when you go on the website, you're going to see two different options and one. There's two different boxes, and one box you can click on gives you a ton of free resources a ton. So we release weekly blog posts, we do videos. I mentioned the podcast, which is called Podcast your Business. It's on all podcasting platforms so you guys can search for that. That's free. I do handouts. I have online courses. Some of the stuff used to be behind a paywall, but I recently opened it up to everybody. You don't have to pay me a send. You don't even have to sign up for my newsletter, guys. I don't even make you sign any. You can just click a button and download it. So, again, there's a little search bar, so if you're searching for something specific in podcasting, you can search for it. That way, I also have a free newsletter. So if you do want to sign up for that, I'll send you some of the new content we release each week, but we don't sell your information or anything like that. My passion is really helping people get to that level where it's really working for them, the way my business makes money is by helping podcasts once they're at that level where they've grown their audience to help them with advertising so. But I give away all the content for free, so that's a great place to start. You're going to find a ton of information. If you're listening to this and you happen to have a podcast that has over 5,000 downloads per month and that's grouping all of your episodes together, I'd love to chat with you, because those are the type of podcasts that we typically work with and sell advertising for, but that's the best way to connect with me. I'm also on LinkedIn if you want to search for that way, but all the buttons and stuff are on independent podcast.

Amazing. Now it's time for a rapid fire round. The famous five reacts to every single guest that happens on the show. Question number one is what is the most impactful lesson you've learned in life?

Oh my gosh. I would say to always be myself, to be vulnerable where it makes sense, right To be truthful. I mean, I guess that's a little bit of multiple answers, but I found, in just being yourself and not trying to be someone, you're not be authentic. That's what I found.

Amazing. What is the most admirable trait a person can have?

Oh my goodness, I have found that being truthful is probably one of the best things. I think so because it allows you to make decisions. If you're making decisions off of bad information, that hurts a whole bunch of people. So I would say be truthful in everything you do. I know that's sometimes hard to do in business and we cross the line sometimes, but I think those people fare better in the end.

If you had to change someone's life with one book, which book would you recommend?

Oh, my goodness, this one's a tough one for me, because what book would I recommend? Honestly, john, I don't know if I have a specific book that I would recommend. I have read a bunch of books in my life, but there's nothing right now that's coming to mind. That's the top.

What about podcasts? If you had to change someone's life with a podcast, what would you recommend?

I always love the podcasts that tell real people stories, because we interact with so many people on a daily basis and we're all unique and different. There's so many different podcasts out there, but there's any ones that are telling people's honest, true stories I think are the best ones. So I won't give specific names, but those are my favorites.

What is the legacy that you're trying to leave behind?

That you have a voice and you have a perspective because, based on your life experiences, no one else has. We need to connect with each other more now than we ever have before. There's been far too many things that have put a roadblock, I think, between us. Oh you believe this, so I can't talk to you about this, or oh, you believe that, but really we're all humans. We're going through life in all of its challenges. I think we need to approach that with a lot more grace, so hearing people's different perspectives on things through something like a podcast is really important to me.

If someone wanted to embark on their walk to wealth today, what is the first step that they should take to get started?

The first thing that I would say when we hear the word wealth, a lot of people just think of money, but there's a lot of ways to be wealthy, so define for you what that actually means. For me, money is not really the driving force. I was using the example earlier of just getting feedback from people and knowing that it impacted their lives. So I think the first thing is understanding would you really be happy? Is it really about the numbers? Because if you got $100,000 tomorrow, is that really going to change a lot of stuff for you, or are you going to end up right back where you were? Are there other things that are more important in making you wealthy and happy in life?