The older, and wiser-ish, I get, the more I am convinced that the quality of your life and business is solely dependent on the quality of your relationships. From the ladies at the bakery who are always happy to see me coming, to the clients I spend my days and nights working for, my life is infinitely better because of the people in it. One of the best things about being a business owner is I can decline business from the people I don’t align with, happened twice this week. But more importantly, I get to decide who I want to work with. I get to decide who I want to build into and support, and that is true freedom mis amigos.
Earlier this week a client told me that if a podcast has less than 7500 listens per episode it wasn’t worth her time and it stopped me dead in my tracks, I’m still trying to figure out where I went wrong in setting up the expectations, clearly I failed. I get that we are in a world where vanity metrics are driving corporate dollars but if you are a small business owner or solopreneur, those metrics don’t matter. It’s always going to be about the relationships you build and how you nurture them. For most people, 10 new clients would make their year and 100 would bankrupt them. Perspective is key here.
Here’s the thing, podcasting is expensive. From sourcing guests to production, editing, recording, paid ads, marketing, etc, it just ain’t cheap. The idea that you will go on someone else’s podcast with your golden voice and tap into their audience and walk away with signups, new clients, and raving fans is low key delusional and baseline rude. You are going on that podcast to build a new relationship with someone who has similar interests and a similar audience, not to tap into it and take from it. Not to mention the fact that most of you don’t even own a mic, talk about not having a golden voice yeesh.
True story, one time a client of ours had a guest on his show who said “hold on, I have to spit” because he was literally at the dentist. You think that host referred old Denty any business? You think that host posted about that episode? The best way to show people how you work, is to show them how you work. Show up prepared, don’t be at the dentist and actual care about the recording and the relationship you are forging with that host. That host is the the value, not the audience. Its about respect, not acquisition.
Here’s a little case study for you. Last year I went on The Power Lounge, a podcast hosted by Together Digital and Amy Vaughan. Because of that conversation Amy invited me to present a Masterclass for her community of badass women in digital. In the last 6 months my life, and business, has improved drastically because of that time spent with Amy. I have been introduced to so many incredible women and businesses through Together Digital and my pipeline is fuller than it’s ever been. Want to know how many listens per episode that show has? 100.
That’s right, 100. Imagine if I had turned down that opportunity how many opportunities I would have missed out on, including my friendship with Amy, who flew all the way to Florida with Bridget Murphy to support me speaking at Podfest Multimedia Expo. But wait, it gets better. We now have a podcast that is supported by 10,000 Small Businesses Cincinnati called Together Marketing Rescueand we are supporting even more women in business and generating even more revenue, for everyone. And not to toot my own horn, but Goldman Sachs thinks it’s pretty cool, so yeah… beep beep, or toot toot.
So the next time you look down your nose at podcast stats I want you to imagine me, shaking my head at you and my fists to the sky. Downloads matter but relationships matter more, what are you doing with yours?
Tune into Together Marketing Rescue, it’s pretty cool. Think reverse shark tank but everyone wins and Mr. Wonderful isn’t invited.
Till next time, don’t forget who you are out there. Integrity matters.
Molls