John Lee Dumas is the host of Entrepreneurs on Fire, a highly-successful podcast that (every day!) interviews successful entrepreneurs around the world.
Turning his dream of podcasting into a lucrative reality came down to a few key factors, John said at his We Are Podcast 2017 talk. Keep reading to get some of John’s top tips for making your podcast purposeful.
Create systems that help you win
John and his co-founder Kate Erickson talk a lot about systems. Systems, according to the duo, are automatic processes you set up to work on their own, or with minimal effort.
Going to work everyday to pump out eight hours of repetitive labour — that’s not a system. A system that John personally uses is batching: two days a month, he does all 30 of his interviews for the month and has them sent out automatically.
Don’t work harder, work smarter. Systems help you do that.
Use barriers as opportunities
When John and Kate first started Entrepreneurs on Fire, they wanted to set themselves apart by doing a podcast every day. People told them they were crazy. They said they would run out of ideas, that they would burn out, that they would run out of guests.
But John says that this exact niche was something he knew was golden because nobody else was doing it. Most people would hear that sort of idea and think, “impossible”. But sometimes that’s where the success lies, going where people refuse to tread and making it work for yourself.
Do things that don’t scale
As entrepreneurs, we often want to only do things that are beneficial for our business, valuing big numbers over small interactions.
These small interactions, however, can be a huge source of wisdom for your business. If a podcast listener hits you up on Twitter and says, “Great show today!”, you can ignore them, or you can engage them. Consider calling them on Skype and asking them how they came to find your show. What do they like about the show? What can be improved? Your audience is who you’re creating for, so don’t discount their opinions.
Create a funnel
A funnel is the journey your avatar takes when they go from experiencing your brand for the first time to becoming a customer, client or evangelist.
At first they might listen to your podcast. That’s free. Then, they might hear you advertising a free podcast course within your show that they can sign up for. Once they join that, they may be pitched to join a paid podcasting webinar.
You get the idea. Lead your customers down a trail from first listeners to dedicated customers.
I won’t even begin to describe all of John’s process for creating funnels here. For that, you’ll need to watch his We Are Podcast talk.
Do, don’t just be
If you want to be a podcaster, then you need to podcast.
Simple enough. But too many people get paralysed by the idea that they don’t know how to podcast, or write blog posts, or anything else.
Doing something is the best way of learning it. So get out there and make your dreams happen.
Listen to the entire podcast episode with John Lee Dumas here.
If you want to be proud of the voice you’re sending out into the stratosphere, download the comprehensive 81 Point Checklist here and get ready to launch your audio marketing machine.
Author: Ronsley Vaz
Ronsley is the founder & chief day dreamer at AMPLIFY. He is an author, speaker & serial entrepreneur.
He has a Masters’ degree in Software Engineering and an MBA in Psychology and Leadership. He is known as the creator of We Are Podcast – the first Podcasting Conference in the Southern Hemisphere, and the host of The Bond Appetit Podcast and Should I Start a Podcast. He has an audience of over 3 million in 133 countries.