1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:04,559 You need to define what your success metrics are because, for example, if 2 00:00:04,559 --> 00:00:09,359 you are podcasting to get new clients, then the number of downloads that your 3 00:00:09,359 --> 00:00:13,320 show gets doesn't matter as much as a number of client inquiries that you get 4 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:17,160 from the show. So you need to define that success and you need to 5 00:00:17,199 --> 00:00:21,440 define what those success metrics are for you so that you can track the metrics 6 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:25,079 that actually matter, rather than the ones that you think should matter, the 7 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:30,640 vanity metrics like download numbers. Welcome to Imperfect Action. I'm Steph Taylor. 8 00:00:31,239 --> 00:00:34,439 For years, I read all the books, downloaded all the freebies, and 9 00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:39,320 did all the courses, but it wasn't until I started taking imperfect action that 10 00:00:39,399 --> 00:00:44,840 my business had its first million dollar year. Imperfect Action is about doing things 11 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:51,359 before you're ready, prioritizing consistent action over perfect action, and moving forward even 12 00:00:51,439 --> 00:00:55,200 when you're not sure you're doing it right. On this show, you can 13 00:00:55,200 --> 00:01:00,119 expect mindset advice, actionable marketing tips, and strategies to build a business that 14 00:01:00,159 --> 00:01:04,959 brings you more profit, more freedom, and even more joy. Are you 15 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:08,200 on the list to get my daily busin Boss? Every day, I'll send 16 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:11,599 you a bite size prompt designed to help you grow your business in a more 17 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,920 intentional way, sign up at Steph taylor dot com, forward slash DBB, 18 00:01:17,439 --> 00:01:23,760 or at the link in the show notes. Hey, welcome back to Imperfect 19 00:01:23,799 --> 00:01:29,040 Action. This is episode six hundred and ninety seven. Today I'm talking to 20 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:33,599 any wannabe podcasters out there. If you are thinking of starting a podcast, 21 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:38,319 Today's episode is for you. I've been doing this whole podcasting thing for a 22 00:01:38,359 --> 00:01:42,359 little while now, coming up on five and a half years, and I 23 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:49,200 also accidentally helped to launch hundreds of new shows when I created my A to 24 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:55,640 Z podcast launch plan. Now I've watched all of these other new podcasters come 25 00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:59,519 out, I've been through all of the ups and the downs of podcasting, 26 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:04,879 and I've realized there are a couple of key things that you need to know 27 00:02:05,159 --> 00:02:08,360 before you jump in and start your own podcast. I've come up with nine 28 00:02:08,479 --> 00:02:12,680 key things. There might be a few more than that, but there's nine 29 00:02:12,879 --> 00:02:17,759 that I think are really the most important key things to think about and to 30 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:23,439 know before you just buy a microphone and hit the record button. Okay. 31 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:27,759 Number one, the first thing you need to know before you start a podcast 32 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:32,280 is no, there aren't already too many podcasts out there. This is something 33 00:02:32,319 --> 00:02:37,520 that people have been saying for the last like four years, five years, 34 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:42,039 and yet that number of podcasts has still kept on growing and there have still 35 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:46,719 been so many new shows that have been incredibly successful. Now, depending on 36 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:52,120 where you look and who you ask, there is anywhere between two million and 37 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:58,360 over four million podcasts out there now, not episodes shows, right, not 38 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:04,159 individual swords from each podcast, but actual podcasts between two million and over four 39 00:03:04,199 --> 00:03:07,759 million. But here's the thing is, most of those shows have not released 40 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:12,199 more than ten episodes. Most of them fizzle out in the first couple of 41 00:03:12,199 --> 00:03:16,039 episodes. I don't have the exact stats with me, but I was recently 42 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:22,879 at podcast Movement in Denver and Rob Walsh was talking about Rob Walsh works for 43 00:03:22,879 --> 00:03:25,280 Libson, which is one of the big podcast hosts, and he was talking 44 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:30,800 about how in reality, you're not competing against four million other shows. You're 45 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:35,800 competing against like three hundred thousand because those are the only ones that are actually 46 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:39,159 active. Now, don't quote me on that number. I can't remember exactly 47 00:03:39,159 --> 00:03:43,919 what number he said, but it was around that number. Now here's the 48 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:46,680 thing, though, You're not going to stand out just because you have a 49 00:03:46,719 --> 00:03:50,280 podcast. It's not like, oh, I've started a podcast, and now 50 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,599 because I have a podcast, people should come and listen to it. Instead, 51 00:03:53,639 --> 00:03:58,000 you need to still be asking should this be a podcast? Right? 52 00:03:58,159 --> 00:04:00,560 Is this topic that I'm going to talk about? Should this be a podcast? 53 00:04:00,599 --> 00:04:03,560 And I'll get to that in a second, But first number two, 54 00:04:04,039 --> 00:04:08,159 the second thing you need to know before you start a podcast is you don't 55 00:04:08,199 --> 00:04:12,240 need to have figured out every single topic that you are going to talk about 56 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,480 before you start your shot. It's really easy to think like, oh, 57 00:04:15,519 --> 00:04:19,639 how am I gonna keep new ideas coming up? How am I gonna come 58 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:24,639 up with more ideas beyond the first ten that I have right now? And 59 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:28,160 here's the thing. Your show and your content and your topics are going to 60 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:32,879 evolve organically over time, just like how this show has. What I spoke 61 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:38,279 about in the first one hundred episodes is so completely different to what I talk 62 00:04:38,319 --> 00:04:43,279 about right now at nearly seven hundred episodes. Okay, I used to talk 63 00:04:43,319 --> 00:04:48,680 about Instagram and social media tips and all of those little things, and now 64 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:56,519 I talk on a much deeper level about business strategy mindset. Because I have 65 00:04:56,639 --> 00:05:00,399 evolved, I've learned a lot. And as I learned new things and have 66 00:05:00,519 --> 00:05:03,360 new ideas. I come up with new ideas for episodes. I have more 67 00:05:03,399 --> 00:05:06,319 knowledge that I can teach, So you will not know all of the things 68 00:05:06,319 --> 00:05:10,319 that you can possibly talk about in the future right now, and that's okay. 69 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,360 You will have new ideas that pop up. You don't need to have 70 00:05:13,439 --> 00:05:17,959 every single one figured out. Okay. Number three, now, this one 71 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:21,000 relates to what I talked about earlier. Right should this be a podcast? 72 00:05:21,319 --> 00:05:26,120 So number three, you do need to be able to articulate why someone should 73 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:30,120 listen to your show instead of somebody else's show. Yes, a podcast is 74 00:05:30,199 --> 00:05:34,120 free to listen to, but you still have to sell somebody on it because 75 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:40,079 they have a finite amount of time that they can spend and they can choose 76 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:43,120 to listen to your show on their commute in the morning, or they can 77 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:47,720 choose to listen to somebody else's So why should they care about yours? And 78 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:53,360 a huge mistake that I see happening all the time is not being able to 79 00:05:53,439 --> 00:05:57,639 articulate exactly who your show is for and why they should choose to tune into 80 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:01,079 yours. And another big mistake is somebody will go and start a podcast and 81 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:03,600 they'll be like, oh, I've been listening to this show for years, 82 00:06:04,439 --> 00:06:08,560 this other show, and I really like the format, I really like the 83 00:06:08,639 --> 00:06:12,240 guests, and they've grown to be really big. So if I emulate that 84 00:06:12,319 --> 00:06:16,759 format and I bring on some similar guests, then my show will be successful 85 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:21,120 as well. But if you are emulating that similar show, then why should 86 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:25,319 somebody chose to tune into yours when they could tune into the one that they 87 00:06:25,319 --> 00:06:29,319 are already familiar with, with the hosts that they already like. Okay, 88 00:06:29,399 --> 00:06:33,519 so make sure you know exactly what is making yours different. Also, please 89 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:38,120 don't start a podcast just for the sake of starting a podcast. You need 90 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:41,199 to have a really clear idea of why you are doing it, who it's 91 00:06:41,199 --> 00:06:44,720 for, and why they should listen. Otherwise you're not going to stick with 92 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:46,680 it. If you don't know why you're doing it, if you can't connect 93 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:49,399 back to that, why you're not going to stick with it Because guess what, 94 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:54,439 just like every other fun, shiny thing that you do, at some 95 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:57,199 stage, it's gonna get boring. It's going to become just another task on 96 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:00,199 your to do list, And if you can't remember why you're doing it in 97 00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:02,240 the first place, then you're not going to keep with it. If you 98 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:06,079 can't articulate who it's for, then the right people aren't going to know if 99 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:09,560 it's for them, and they're not going to listen. And if you can't 100 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:13,360 articulate why they should listen, then they're going to choose to listen to somebody 101 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:15,639 else's show instead of yours with that limited amount of time that they have. 102 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:21,560 Okay, Number four, you probably won't see massive growth really quickly, and 103 00:07:21,639 --> 00:07:27,279 that is very very normal. You need to be willing to commit to it 104 00:07:27,759 --> 00:07:31,160 for three to six months without seeing much traction, just like anything new in 105 00:07:31,199 --> 00:07:35,959 your business, it's going to be at least three months minimum investment before you 106 00:07:35,959 --> 00:07:41,759 start to see some kind of traction from it. You also need to know 107 00:07:41,879 --> 00:07:46,959 what success means to you. Okay, you need to define what your success 108 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:50,879 metrics are because, for example, if you are podcasting to get new clients, 109 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:55,959 then the number of downloads that your show gets doesn't matter as much as 110 00:07:55,959 --> 00:08:00,519 a number of client inquiries that you get from the show, So to define 111 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:03,319 that success, and you need to define what those success metrics are for you 112 00:08:03,639 --> 00:08:07,720 so that you can track the metrics that actually matter rather than the ones that 113 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:11,720 you think should matter. The vanity metrics like download numbers, and then you 114 00:08:11,759 --> 00:08:16,720 can see, am I getting a true return on my investment, a true 115 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:22,120 return on my time that I'm putting into this from doing this podcast. Because 116 00:08:22,399 --> 00:08:26,000 if you only have one hundred downloads but you're getting five client inquiries, then 117 00:08:26,079 --> 00:08:30,879 who cares that your download numbers are really low because your client inquiries are really 118 00:08:30,959 --> 00:08:35,000 high. And that's the number that really defines success to you. So you 119 00:08:35,039 --> 00:08:37,440 need to know what that is. And I can't tell you what those success 120 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:39,440 metrics are going to be. It's going to be unique to you. It's 121 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:43,080 going to be unique to your business goals to why you are starting this podcast 122 00:08:43,159 --> 00:08:48,840 in the first place. Number five, you need to make it as easy 123 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:52,120 as possible for yourself, otherwise it's going to be really hard to stay consistent. 124 00:08:52,759 --> 00:08:58,159 Now I see a lot of people jumping in and from day one they're 125 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:00,440 like, cool, this is going to be a podcast. I also going 126 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:01,080 to do the video. It's going to go to YouTube. I'm going to 127 00:09:01,159 --> 00:09:03,120 slice it up. It's going to become short form, which is going to 128 00:09:03,159 --> 00:09:09,159 go to YouTube, shorts, TikTok and Instagram reels, and then it becomes 129 00:09:09,159 --> 00:09:16,480 this huge mammoth process that's really difficult and really time consuming. So rather than 130 00:09:16,799 --> 00:09:20,840 trying to do video from day one, if that's really difficult for you and 131 00:09:20,879 --> 00:09:22,720 you don't have a team to support you like I do, then maybe just 132 00:09:22,799 --> 00:09:28,159 keep it simple and start with audio only until you have that process figured out, 133 00:09:28,399 --> 00:09:30,440 and then you can add a little bit more, and you can add 134 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:33,240 a little bit more, you can plug in all the different pieces rather than 135 00:09:33,279 --> 00:09:37,919 trying to do everything from day one. It also keeping it easy also means 136 00:09:37,279 --> 00:09:43,679 repurposing. So can you turn each podcast episode into a blog post? Or 137 00:09:43,919 --> 00:09:48,159 can you take little snippets from your podcast episodes and turn those into Instagram captions. 138 00:09:50,159 --> 00:09:52,080 You need to make it really easy to come up with content ideas, 139 00:09:52,279 --> 00:09:56,080 So maybe you need to sit down once a month and brainstorm all of those 140 00:09:56,120 --> 00:10:00,720 topics. Maybe you sit down once a month and you record all of those 141 00:10:00,759 --> 00:10:03,399 episodes for the months. Whatever works for you to make it easy for you 142 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:07,240 to be consistent, That is going to be the right way to do it, 143 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:09,879 rather than looking at what everyone else is doing. And if somebody's telling 144 00:10:09,879 --> 00:10:13,799 you to batch, but your brain just does not work in batches, like 145 00:10:13,879 --> 00:10:16,559 I kind of struggle with batching. The only time I will do it is 146 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:18,279 if I'm going away, if I'm going to be offline for a while, 147 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:22,320 or if I'm traveling for a while, then I will batch record a bunch 148 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:26,320 of episodes before I go. But otherwise I actually find it really challenging to 149 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:28,600 sit down and record more than one episode in a day, or more than 150 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:33,200 two episodes in one go. So you need to find what works for you. 151 00:10:33,879 --> 00:10:37,080 Otherwise, if you are consistently having to work against yourself, you're going 152 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:41,960 to find it really hard to be consistent with your content. Okay, number 153 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:46,679 six. The novelty will wear off, and that is not a sign that 154 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:48,279 you should stop doing it. If you're feeling a little bit bored, if 155 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:50,960 you're not enjoying it as much as you were at the start, that's not 156 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:54,799 a sign that you need to stop doing it. Just like anything, it 157 00:10:54,879 --> 00:10:58,480 is going to be fun. It's going to be shiny at first, but 158 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:01,399 after a while it is going to to feel like just any other task on 159 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:05,039 your to do list. There are going to be times when you are like, 160 00:11:05,159 --> 00:11:07,159 oh, I really just don't feel like doing this. You know, 161 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:11,360 I have that as well, Like nearly seven hundred episodes in, I have 162 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:13,440 times when I absolutely love it and I have so much to say, and 163 00:11:13,519 --> 00:11:18,120 I have more than enough ideas for new episodes, and then I have times 164 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:20,799 when I'm in a bit of a creative rut and I just have no inspiration, 165 00:11:20,919 --> 00:11:24,720 no ideas, and I just don't feel like hitting the record button. 166 00:11:24,879 --> 00:11:28,759 It's okay, there's gonna be those ebbs, it's going to be those flows. 167 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:33,399 But when you commit to it, then you do it consistently. I'm 168 00:11:33,399 --> 00:11:37,039 committed to showing up three times a week with these episodes, so I force 169 00:11:37,159 --> 00:11:39,879 myself to do it even when I don't feel like it, and I know 170 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:43,799 that those times when I'm not feeling inspired, those are going to pass. 171 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:46,000 It's not a sign that I need to stop the podcast. It's not a 172 00:11:46,039 --> 00:11:52,039 sign that I should skip some episodes. It's just a normal creative energy thing. 173 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:58,240 You can't always feel inspired, you can't always feel excited. It's gonna 174 00:11:58,279 --> 00:12:00,799 you're gonna have those days where you feel great, and you're gonna have all 175 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:03,919 weeks or months we feel so inspired and so great and so creative, and 176 00:12:03,919 --> 00:12:07,200 then you're going to have days, weeks or months where you don't want to 177 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:09,679 do it, and you've got to force yourself to do it. Okay, 178 00:12:09,759 --> 00:12:15,039 Number seven, Your microphone doesn't matter as much as you think it does. 179 00:12:15,559 --> 00:12:18,440 And that goes for any of your equipment, your mixer, any of the 180 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:22,120 bits and pieces. I have a really great microphone now, but for like 181 00:12:22,159 --> 00:12:26,399 the first hundred or so episodes, I used a really cheap, terrible microphone. 182 00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:33,440 And it was only when I was at Podfest conference in Orlando back in 183 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:39,600 twenty nineteen and I won a spot prize. I won my wonderful roadcast to 184 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:43,679 pro and rode pod mic simply by being it seated in the audience at the 185 00:12:43,759 --> 00:12:48,080 right session and answering a question that somebody asked. I won this microphone that 186 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:54,120 is a pretty expensive microphone and mixer, But until then I was just using 187 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:58,720 a really cheap microphone. Because the content of your show matters so much more. 188 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:03,279 I think, yes, once you get to a certain point and you've 189 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:07,120 got a certain number of episodes there and you're really starting to grow, then 190 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:11,120 sure production quality becomes a bit more important. But I think at the start, 191 00:13:11,159 --> 00:13:13,840 and I know so many podcasting experts are going to be like, no, 192 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:16,200 staff, you're wrong, But I think at the start, the content 193 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:20,519 matters so much more. And I proved that with my own show like the 194 00:13:20,639 --> 00:13:24,200 sound quality was pretty average at the start, average a terrible. Actually it 195 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:30,600 wasn't great. But because the content I was consistently putting out was consistently good, 196 00:13:31,159 --> 00:13:35,039 that is how the show started to grow. So don't go and buy 197 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:39,039 the best microphone until you know that you actually enjoy podcasting and that it's something 198 00:13:39,039 --> 00:13:43,799 you are going to stick with in the long term. Okay, try just 199 00:13:43,879 --> 00:13:48,559 getting started. Try putting content out there, try and figure out what works, 200 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:52,679 what you like, what you don't like, and then once you know 201 00:13:52,799 --> 00:13:56,039 this is something you want to do longer term, then go and invest in 202 00:13:56,080 --> 00:14:01,600 something a little bit more expensive. Number eight, don't get too caught up 203 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:05,679 in the things that can be changed, things like your cover art, your 204 00:14:05,679 --> 00:14:11,039 show name, your description, all of those things they can be changed pretty 205 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:16,799 easily. Right at the end of twenty twenty two, we've rebranded this show. 206 00:14:16,799 --> 00:14:20,480 It used to be called Social Lette. If you scroll back far enough, 207 00:14:20,519 --> 00:14:22,879 you'll notice that all of the episodes when I'm introducing them, I'm welcoming 208 00:14:22,879 --> 00:14:28,159 you back to Social Lette podcast. But after four years of podcasting, I 209 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:30,960 decided, actually, you know what, the name doesn't suit the content of 210 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:33,000 this show anymore. I want a new name. I want a new cover 211 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:39,120 art, so we rebranded it and it was actually relatively pretty easy. So 212 00:14:39,399 --> 00:14:43,039 don't get too hung up on the things that can be changed, Like as 213 00:14:43,159 --> 00:14:46,360 James Clear, I think it's James Clear who said this. If a decision 214 00:14:46,399 --> 00:14:50,519 can be reversed, make it quickly. If a decision can't be reversed, 215 00:14:50,679 --> 00:14:54,120 make it slowly. Most of the decisions that you're going to be making when 216 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:58,960 it comes to starting a podcast can be reversed really easily. I actually can't 217 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:01,120 think of any that can't be first, So don't get too caught up in 218 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:05,080 all of those things. Don't let them stop you from getting your show out 219 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:09,440 there, because the thing that's gonna help you to succeed with it faster is 220 00:15:09,519 --> 00:15:13,240 getting content out there, seeing what lands, seeing what sticks, seeing what 221 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:18,000 you enjoy, and then tweaking based on your feedback that you get from that. 222 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:24,279 Okay, and then number nine lucky last, It's probably going to feel 223 00:15:24,279 --> 00:15:28,200 a little uncomfortable, and that is really normal. When I first started out, 224 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:33,320 I wasn't a confident speaker. I hated my voice. I didn't think 225 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:37,799 there was any way I could be a successful podcaster. But I just did 226 00:15:37,799 --> 00:15:41,919 it and Podcasting taught me to like my voice. It taught me to become 227 00:15:41,919 --> 00:15:48,000 more confident speaking. It has taken seven hundred episodes of practice to get to 228 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:52,360 this particular episode. And I know, when you're starting out with something, 229 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:58,200 it's really easy, really tempting to compare your episode one to somebody else's episode 230 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:02,399 one hundred or five hundred or one, and forgetting that you are a beginner 231 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:06,759 and they have been doing this for a long time, and it takes practice. 232 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:11,600 It takes those repetitions to build that mastery. And the sooner that you 233 00:16:11,679 --> 00:16:14,919 start, the sooner you can get practicing, the sooner you can start to 234 00:16:14,919 --> 00:16:18,679 put those reps in, and it's going to have that great ripple effect onto 235 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:22,159 your confidence, onto your speaking, onto your business. It's going to make 236 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:25,600 you feel a lot more comfortable showing up because now you feel a little bit 237 00:16:25,679 --> 00:16:30,240 more comfortable expressing yourself and articulating yourself. So there you have it. Nine 238 00:16:30,399 --> 00:16:33,840 things that you need to know before you start a podcast. Number one, 239 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:37,720 there aren't already too many shows out there. Number two, you don't have 240 00:16:37,799 --> 00:16:40,919 to have figured out every single topic that you are going to talk about before 241 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:44,080 you start your show. Number Three, you do need to be able to 242 00:16:44,159 --> 00:16:48,799 articulate why someone should listen to your show instead of somebody else's. Number four, 243 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:52,600 you probably won't see massive growth really quickly, and that is normal. 244 00:16:52,039 --> 00:16:55,960 Number five. You need to make it as easy as possible for yourself, 245 00:16:56,039 --> 00:16:59,759 otherwise it's going to be really hard to stay consistent. Number six. The 246 00:17:00,039 --> 00:17:03,080 novelty will wear off, and that is not a sign that you should stop 247 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:07,279 doing it. Number seven, your microphone doesn't matter as much as you think 248 00:17:07,319 --> 00:17:11,200 it does. Number eight, don't get too caught up in things like the 249 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:12,880 cover art, the name, or the description, any of those things that 250 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:17,839 can be changed really easily. And then number nine, it's going to feel 251 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:22,119 uncomfortable, and that is normal. Now, if you have learned anything from 252 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:26,000 this show so far, whether it's this episode or previous episode, I really 253 00:17:26,039 --> 00:17:29,839 would appreciate it if you could take thirty seconds to leave a quick rating and 254 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:33,240 a review. I've read all of them. They get delivered to my inbox 255 00:17:33,359 --> 00:17:36,400 every Tuesday morning, and I read them and they bring a smile to my 256 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:40,119 face. So if you haven't left one yet, please do. It reminds 257 00:17:40,119 --> 00:17:41,680 me that there are actual humans listening to the show, and it's not just 258 00:17:41,759 --> 00:17:45,319 me talking into a microphone. Believe me, when you start your podcast you'll 259 00:17:45,359 --> 00:17:51,759 understand just how important ratings and reviews are, so please do take the time 260 00:17:51,799 --> 00:17:53,960 to do that. That is it for today's episode. Thank you so much 261 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:56,200 for listening. Catch you next time.