That Are a Lot More Important Than What Microphone To Use 

Why Podcast?

Media is changing in a huge way. Just like with book publishing over the past decade, the barriers to entry in broadcasting are coming down. Gatekeepers are getting fired and it’s easier and easier for anyone who wants to build an audience to do so with a Podcast. New developments, technologies and content-sharing agreements are coming along every day such as this recent announcement from Apple. The podcast you record in your garage, office or kitchen table now can be right next to NPR’s RadioLab or Larry King — even in the place where most audio media is consumed: the car.

About 18 months ago, I decided to jump on this bandwagon and I’m glad I did. Over the past 14 months, I built a successful podcast and have learned a few things. I figured I’d put together my top 10 lessons learned.

Here we go!

10) Nag

your guests to share. It’s not enough to just say, “Would you please share this?” They‘ll say, “sure!” with great intentions, but won’t actually do it because they will get busy or forget. If you don’t stay on top of them, they won’t share it and you will lose out on one of the biggest benefits of podcasting — having guests that share!

9) Outsource

the grunt-work. While podcasting is one of the funnest things you can do, the details of editing, uploading, linking, posting and all the details will drive you to drink. Find someone to do all the small nit-picky things, so you can focus on doing what you do best, creating great content about something you are devoted to.

8) Enjoy

the fact that, while the medium of podcasting is maturing, it is still relatively new and, even today, you are part of a revolution that is rewriting the rules of media completely. You have a voice and the opportunity to build a platform that was unthinkable just 15 years ago.

7) Share

you episodes on social media often. Share them over and over and over. The Huffington Post shared one of my blogs at least 8 times (that i know of) with different headlines. Share old episodes, there will be plenty of people who missed it the first time and are delighted to see it for the first time. Never underestimate how overwhelmed people are with social media content — they miss most of what you post (no rhyme intended).

6) Invite

people to be on your Podcast who you think will say no. Ask people who you are certain would never consider coming on your little-ole podcast. This does two things: a) It gives you great practice at getting rejected, which is important in any business endeavor. b) If you do this for a while, you’re going to get a huge surprise when someone you don’t expect says yes. Magic Johnson hasn’t said no to me yet.

5) Do more.

In many areas of life and business the phrase, “less is more” applies. Podcasting is not one of them. In podcasting more episodes means more downloads, more listens and more opportunities for people to hear your message, buy your product or whatever you want them to do. You obviously have to do what makes sense for your desired lifestyle, but more episodes are better. Podcast like a fool.

4) Worry less

about technology and more about content and audience building. There are technology-type things that you have to consider (or outsource). Several podcasters like John Lee Dumas of the Entrepreneur On Fire Podcast have documented the precise technologies in detail that they use to create their very successful podcasts. Just buy the equipment they recommend and implement according to their instructions, like a recipe! And then — let me repeat — get back to creating great content!

3) Be consistent.

You have to do it regularly. If you set out to do it weekly, do it weekly. Always. Never miss an episode. I can proudly say that we have released an episode of the How to Quit Working Show every single week since it started. Successful veteran podcaster Jonathan Taylor elaborated on this point when I had him on my show.

2) Relax

and let it flow. Don’t script anything or write questions in advance. Let a relaxed and natural conversation flow out of you and your guests. It is a lot of fun if you just relax and let it be fun! Several of my guests have become friends and yes, sappy as that sounds, that’s one of my favorite parts.

1) Stick

with it. The bad news is that there are tons of new podcasts coming online every day, so the competition is intense. But that is eclipsed by some really really great news. Most of them will quit. You just keep going.

Most of all, have a lot of fun with it. The more you relax and realize how much fun you can have, the more successful your Podcast will be.

Photo by israel palacio on Unsplash

By doing less of what you don’t like

Everyone wants to be happy. But few people actually take the action required to actually be happy. It’s because most people think that doing stuff you don’t like to do is OK. They think it is just “how life is.” Nope.

How much time do you spend each day doing something you don’t like?

Now answer this: How much time do you spend Living?

Before you answer that, let’s define Living. Living is when there is nothing else you’d rather be doing at that moment.

Living is when you are completely focused on this thing you are doing because it’s all that matters at the moment. You aren’t looking at the clock. You aren’t looking at the clock, thinking about what to do next or what to eat for dinner.

Now really ask yourself: How much time do you spend Living? A few hours day? A few hours a week? A few hours a month? A few hours a year?

If the answer is anything less than 111, you’ve got some work to do. Spend 111 hours a week Living.

The Math

There are seven twenty-four hour days in a week for a total of 168 hours. You sleep eight hours a night for a total of 56 per week. 168-56=112.

One hour a week you can spend NOT Living. That’s it. That leaves you 111 hours that you need to get to Living.

Why One Hour a Week?

It’s a lofty, but attainable goal. It’s my goal. I meet it frequently, but I miss it a lot. We all need goals that will challenge us. Especially when it comes to the only resource we can’t get more of — time.

Most People Aren’t Even Close

Let’s start with how you are spending your time now. If you are like 80% of Americans (citation), you spend 40 hours a week working a job you don’t like.

So, right there, you’ve used up your one hour by 9AM Monday morning. By the end of the day Monday, you’ve run up a deficit of seven hours. Maybe it will get better after work. Oh, wait, but you have to get groceries. Another hour. Actually, the drive in to work was hell and you were pissed off the whole time you were getting ready for work because it’s Monday, so that’s another two hours you were not Living. It takes a half hour to get home. Now we’re at about nine hours and we forgot about sleeping. That’s another eight hours so we’re down to four and a half hours of potential Living. You cook dinner for an hour, then tidy up the house and check email. That takes another 2 hours, so now we’re down to two and a half hours. What do you do? American Idol and CSI, while Facebooking on your phone. I think there’s a half-hour or so left, but what difference does it make at this point?

Your entire day was spent doing stuff you don’t like. Except the TV, but was it Living? (refer back to the definition of Living above, please)

A Better Way

Realize that your time is all you have. You can get more of any other resource except time. You have what you have. 24 hours in each day and no more.

Before you make the bed, return a phone call, mow the grass, brush your teeth, go to work, get groceries or anything else, ask yourself: “Am I Living?”

Stop believing you have to do a bunch of stuff before you can do the one and only thing you want to do — Live. Stop believing that life is all about sacrifice. It’s not; it’s all about Living. Stop believing that the only way to earn money is by doing stuff you don’t like. Stop believing that making the bed, getting groceries and mowing the grass are just part of life. They don’t have to be.

But the grass needs to be mowed, I need to make money and somebody has to make the bed.

True.

There are three ways to deal with these things.

1. Don’t do them.
2. Pay someone to do them.
3. Make them Living

Don’t Do Them

We do a lot of silly thing that don’t matter. Making your bed is a great example. Your just going to mess it up again the next night, so what’s the point?

It looks better.

It‘s nice to crawl into a freshly made bed.

OK, but when you look at the definition of Living above, is it worth it? There is some benefit in virtually anything if you look hard enough. But the real question is: “Is it worth it?”

What could you quit doing to free up some more time for Living?

Pay Someone to Do Them

But I can’t afford to pay someone to do them.

Probably not. Most people can’t. But start by being very aware of the fact that you are robbing yourself of Living every second you do these things. And remember that you’ll never get anything you want if you don’t create a vision for what you want your life to look like. Preferably a vision that seems really hard. A vision that is slightly beyond what seems possible keeps you constantly thinking and challenging yourself to do more. Best of all, it will keep you asking questions.

You’ll like the next one.

Make them Living

You can enjoy anything if you put your mind to it. Does that sound hard? It is. But again, this is your life we’re talking about so it’s worth the effort. What’s the one thing you do a lot of that you could enjoy more? Probably your job. If you don’t like your job (like 80% of Americans) do something about it. Whether that means starting your own business or changing careers, it will be hard.

But, eight hours a day is a third of the day — a third of your life! Is that worth it?

It Is Hard

Is this going to be easy? Nope. Nothing worth doing is. Will it be worth it? This is your life we’re talking about. What else is there? If this isn’t worth it, what is?

Stop looking at Living as something you only do in your spare time and start looking at as ALL THAT MATTERS.

Photo by Fernando Brasil on Unsplash