January 20, 2025 • 27 mins
In this episode, I’m sharing a couple of my biggest takeaways from Podfest—both the excitement and the overwhelm—and why knowing your “why” can make all the difference. I’ll also dive into the surprising stats on audio podcasts and how staying true to your message can help you stand out. If you’re curious about how to keep your momentum and truly enjoy the process, tune in for insights you won’t want to miss.
Plus a special opportunity for entrepreneurs committed to growth
My email: Dan@DanW.us
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to Deep Dive Dialogues.
I'm your host, Dan Warheide,and if you're just joining us
for the first time today, thenwelcome to Deep Dive Dialogues.
I'm still your host, DanWarheide, and I want to
personally thank each and everyone of you for listening and
tuning in, if you will.
I have a couple things that Iwant to cover with you today,
(00:23):
and before I jump into that, Iwant to start with what I
believe is an incredibleopportunity if you're looking to
take the next steps in yourcoaching, consulting or creative
business working to build yourbusiness online however you want
to phrase that but if you're anentrepreneur and you're
committed to taking yourbusiness full time this year, or
(00:46):
you're already full timeself-employed and you're either
not where you're at wanting tobe most, or you're still craving
bigger challenges, then thismessage may be for you.
For you, If you've beensearching for things like
(01:10):
accountability, a real team ornetwork of support that you can
lean into and real results, thenI think this might be for you
as well.
I'm talking about my brand newmastermind that I just talked
about at the very end of my lastepisode.
I just talked about at the veryend of my last episode.
Let's start with what it isthat we're offering.
So I'm looking for people whoare willing to make a 12-month
(01:33):
commitment.
I believe in the power ofcommunity and the power of a
small community mastermindcommunity, if you will can be
tremendous, but one of thethings that makes it most
beneficial is when people aremore than willing to commit over
a longer duration of time to bein relationship with every
(01:56):
other member of the group, andthe only way to do that, in my
opinion, or the best way to dothat, in my opinion, is to get
in the minimum of 12 monthcommitment from people up front.
Now, that said, the first sixapplications that I receive who
complete a one on one interviewwith me, who then are invited to
(02:17):
join, will receive their firstthree months zero charge, no
strings attached, no expectationthat you will continue for the
remaining nine months of that12-month commitment.
However, if you do believe thatit's a great fit for you after
that and you would like tocontinue, and we believe it's a
(02:39):
great fit after that and wewould like you to continue,
you'll receive an invitation.
Great fit after that and wewould like you to continue.
You'll receive an invitation,Yours to say yes or no, but you
will then continue on for theremaining nine months at $500 a
month for the remainder of thatcommitment.
Why do I think?
Why masterminds?
Let me just talk aboutmasterminds for a second.
(03:02):
Because I because, again, Ibelieve in the power of a
tight-knit community where eachand every other member of that
community is 100% dedicated tothe success and support of each
and every other member of thatcommunity.
So I believe in a smallmastermind community.
I believe no more than 10 to 12people is more than enough.
(03:27):
Anything more than that, and Idon't think that the individuals
in that mastermind are gettingthe individual attention, the
individual success factors thatthey can receive as a result of
being a part of a greatmastermind.
I have been a part of somereally great masterminds and I
(03:47):
have adopted the lessons thatI've learned in many of those
places and some of the thingsthat I've seen that I don't want
to incorporate.
I don't believe a mastermind,for instance, is a study group.
I don't believe a mastermind isa place to receive group
coaching from a single coach.
(04:08):
It's truly each and every othermember of the group supporting
each and every member of thegroup to help you accelerate
your success rate by harnessingthe power of that group and of
people who are just as driven asyou are and are wanting to
(04:28):
achieve the same levels ofsuccess that you are.
Maybe they're differentbusinesses, Maybe they're in a
different place, but they'restill wanting and desire to
achieve the same level ofsuccesses and contribute to
other people achieving thoselevels of successes.
They really help to eliminatethe guesswork, because you can
(04:50):
get expert feedback, guidanceand support from people who
might have been where you are,may have experience in your
particular challenges and canhelp guide you.
At the very least, you canbrainstorm together and come up
with some really powerfulsolutions or potential solutions
(05:11):
to a challenge, simply bycombining the knowledge of every
other member present.
And then, of course, powerfulconnection, because you're
surrounded by those goal getterswho are pushing each other on a
regular basis, meeting weeklyto support each other, You're
going to achieve new levels ofsuccess.
(05:34):
So I already said, you knowsmall groups, right?
No more than 10 to 12 maximum,and that way everyone can
receive the focused attentionthat they deserve.
And that way everyone canreceive the focused attention
that they deserve and no one'ssimply a face in the crowd.
Speaking of face in the crowd,I attended PodFest this past
week.
I'm going to talk about thathere in a minute, so stick
(05:56):
around, bear with me.
What else do I want to shareabout the mastermind experience?
I'll share this.
If you're not familiar with amastermind or what that
experience is like and you'dlike to talk through that, then
I'm going to encourage you, ifyou fit the other criteria to
apply, To apply.
I simply ask that you send mean email to dan at danwus and
(06:20):
put mastermind in the subjectline and I'll reach out to you
with an application link thatyou can fill out and we will
have a one-on-one interview.
If you simply would like toknow more about what a
mastermind looks like or what itis, then put that in your email
and I will certainly helpprovide some more insights
(06:42):
around that.
Like I said, each and everyapplication will receive a
one-on-one interview.
I want to do my best to ensurethat you're a great fit for the
community that we are creatingand that I'm a great fit for you
, as I will be facilitating thiscommunity, but I will also be
(07:04):
participating just as much asyou are.
Let's see.
I think I have covered all ofthat.
So if you're serious about yourgrowth this year, then I'm
going to encourage you to sendme that email, dan, at danwus,
so I can send you that shortapplication and we can get you
scheduled for your one-on-oneinterview.
All right, let's talk about myexperience with podcasts.
(07:30):
I'm going to talk about PodFestin particular.
So PodFest 2025 is in the books.
I did not attend the fullweekend, but I did attend a
couple great days and I had agreat experience overall.
What I'm going to share withyou, I don't want to take
anything away or make it seemlike there's an overall negative
(07:53):
tone about my experience.
I want to put that up frontbecause, no matter what I share
with you next, the connectionsare always a rewarding component
of attending a live event,whether it's PodFest or another
event.
Right, If you can simply chooseto attend one event each year to
(08:17):
explore something different orstep outside of your comfort
zone, then I would absolutelyencourage you to see what's on
the calendar this year.
What could you attend thatmight challenge those boundaries
for you, that might push yououtside of the norm and get you
into a different space.
Maybe that's a trigger for newcreativity.
(08:39):
I know that it certainly isrefreshing for me in some
aspects, but let's talk aboutthat.
So, first of all, fear ofmissing out and overwhelm it's
if you didn't attend.
You've heard about Podfest,maybe, but you chose or did not
attend, for whatever reason.
(09:01):
You can potentially feel likeyou've missed something
incredible.
And let me just say, with somany tracks and simultaneous
events happening, it can be botha blessing and a curse.
On the one hand, you get avariety of topics and potential
meetups and all kinds of othergreat experiences, but on the
(09:24):
other, it can be a tremendouschallenge to decide what
sessions to attend, whether todivide your time.
So for me, on one of the firstdays I chose to attend the
Military Creator Con as aveteran, to connect with my
veteran community and see whatthey're doing in the world of
podcasting and writing and someof the other great experiences I
(09:49):
heard about this week.
But to have that eventconcurrently with PodFest seemed
like an obstacle to me.
So that leads me to talkingabout more the event structure
itself.
You know that I think is amajor hurdle We'll call it a
hurdle versus an obstacle thehaving to choose between niche
(10:11):
sub-events like Military CreatorCon or the Christian Creators
Conference that was going on inconjunction as part of PodFest
but not part of the main focusof PodFest itself.
They were completely separatetracks.
They were completely separateentities for the most part,
where you paid an additional feeto attend these niche
(10:35):
sub-events.
We'll call them so.
I think that lends itself tobeing faced with a challenge,
because it forces you to attendand make tough decisions.
You know you might be thinkingor feeling like you have to
sacrifice other events thatmight align with your own
personal goals to be able tospend time and connect with a
(10:58):
specific community, or viceversa, right?
I think there are benefits tobe gleaned if organizers were to
reconvene and, in planning forfuture events, were to schedule
these sub events on maybeseparate days or extending the
(11:20):
days of which the event occursto incorporate these sub-events,
and that would allow people theopportunity to maybe fully
commit to each of the tracks ofinterest without feeling like
they're being pulled toward twoplaces at one time.
In turn, attendees could have adeeper, more focused experience
(11:43):
overall, maybe even leading tobetter networking opportunities
and reinforcing implementationof the things that they do learn
, Instead of the experience oftrying to attend as much as
possible and glean as manyinsights from as many sessions
as possible.
I think they could also benefitfrom toning it down just a tad
(12:07):
right, I think, when you are.
You know I don't know that allof these speakers are unpaid
speakers at this event.
I know that the majority ofspeakers are not paid to speak
at the event and I alsorecognize that with so many
different tracks concurrentlyrunning in separate stages
(12:29):
throughout the event and Ididn't count, but I know there
were at least five to six, maybeseven to ten different stages
who were concurrently runningspeakers pretty much most of the
day.
You know a few exceptions, likelunch and some other special
events that they had ongoingwhere there was a bit more of a
(12:52):
focus.
But having so many options andso many different stages means
also having a lot of differentspeakers and I think the
potential impact to the level ofpresentation or the quality of
speaker could be something thatshould be considered.
(13:14):
I attended several differentsessions and I will give full
credit that these speakers thatI attended did offer a strong
presentation and were overallgreat speakers presentation and
we're overall great speakers.
But I heard some feedback aboutdifferent people attending
different segments of the eventwho did not have the same
(13:35):
opinion or experience.
Again, I only attended ahandful of sessions, when I say
a handful, less than a handful.
So I only attended three orfour official sessions and much
of my time outside of that wasspent in the hallways connecting
, learning, hearing otherpeople's stories, finding out
(13:56):
where they were in their journeyaround, podcasting, talking
about the challenges keepingthem from taking action to
create a podcast, especiallywhen they said well, I've really
been thinking about this,helping them dig into what that
looks like for them, and I had alot of fun doing that and I did
(14:16):
.
I spent a lot of time in thosehallways in different
conversations outside of thesesessions, because I have found
that's one of the best placesjust to create your own
experience, so to speak, and Iyou know, no matter how you
choose to consume events, Iencourage you to find what works
(14:39):
well for you.
So I talked about the.
I was talking about thepotential benefits of
considering some slightlydifferent formatting for these,
and I think I've hit that one asmuch as I want to.
So clarity let's talk aboutclarity for a minute, Because
one of the things I've takenaway is in observing not just
(15:01):
PodFest, but in several eventsand in observing the podcasting
space, in particular, online,but this can apply to the
coaching space as well.
I see a lot of similarities inwhat is being presented and what
is focused on in this spacethat I think it was worth
(15:22):
talking about here today.
So I'll frame this in the realmof podcasting.
But again, I've seen the samething in the coaching realm and
I've received a lot of thequestions that are very, very
similar to what I'm about toshare, and I've also heard from
many people in differentcommunities around coaching that
(15:42):
some of these same questionsright A lot of the sessions,
from my observation and lookingat the agendas are focused
around what you might expect.
They're focused around usingyour podcast as a sales tool,
using your podcast as amarketing tool.
You know really where they'refocusing on how to enhance your
(16:05):
sale, selling or enhance sales,or scaling your podcast,
audience growth, downloads, etcetera and, of course, the never
ending conversation of how do Imake money from my podcast, and
I think, while those may bevaluable goals overall, I think
(16:25):
what's mostly being focused onare results or the lag
indicators that come from thefoundational work that you're
doing ahead of time to helpmaintain your momentum and truly
enjoy the journey of creating.
So if you're a podcaster andyou are a coach, you know.
(16:46):
Why are you podcasting?
What is the purpose that youhave found yourself?
Found for yourself that you'recreating a podcast or creating
podcast content.
And, by the way, there'snothing wrong with focusing on
using it as a tool to sell foryour business.
I did not enjoy that experiencein the previous shows that I've
(17:09):
created.
I wanted to create this podcastsimply to enjoy the process of
creating promote, not promotingcreating and producing this show
(17:33):
that I then share with you.
And if you can benefit fromeven one segment of something
I've shared, then that's truly abonus to me.
You know why I'm doing.
It is about me.
It's about tackling that whiteblank paper that you know
writer's block syndrome, so tospeak.
And funny, I heard someone sayand I wanted to challenge it but
(17:56):
I didn't because it was aspeaker talking about you don't
get writer's block on a podcast,and I don't know what you call
it.
But yeah, if I sit down to tryand plan an episode and, you
know, think about all the thingsthat I could potentially talk
about, try to narrow down what Iwill talk about, then I find
myself challenged with what Iwould only refer to as writer's
(18:17):
block.
It's like, oh, I'm so stuck.
I don't even know what to talkabout.
So that's been my experienceand maybe you can relate.
The reason I'm creating thispodcast is really to address
some of those things within meand my own personal growth, and
then I share it here with you inthe hopes that maybe there's a
nugget that you can take awaythat will impact the way you're
(18:38):
doing business.
So, again, just focused onreally trying to enjoy the
journey and I would encourageyou to stay in touch with that.
For you as well, what's goingto allow you to create the
podcast?
If that's what you're doing,and continue to enjoy what
you're doing so that it doesn'tbecome burdensome or more like
(19:01):
work right, If you do what youlove, then you never work a day
in your life.
So getting clear on why youwant to share your message in
the first place, keeping that inthe forefront, will help you to
navigate some of theconversations as you start
looking at how to improveprocesses to enhance your
marketing efforts, or how toimprove tidbits of your podcast
(19:25):
to generate more potentialsubscribers or download numbers
or all of the things you knowmoney you know.
How can you start incorporatingmore of the things that are
going to help you sell for yourbusiness on your podcast.
All of those things, though, atthe end of the day, are the
results.
What are you going to do tochange how you're showing up now
(19:48):
to produce those results?
That's really what I feel hasbeen we'll call it lacking from
many of these events, and thereal focus is on the sexy things
like scaling and monetizationand gaining sponsorship, All of
the things that can distract youfrom your original goals, ideas
(20:10):
.
A couple key tips to help youalong the way here, just really
quickly, or you know.
Starting with key tip numberone defining your core purpose.
What is it that you care aboutdeeply?
What gets you excited when youthink or talk about it?
You know this level of claritywill help boost the energy that
(20:32):
you have, and it makes showingup to work day to day more
rewarding.
Now, I'm careful about how Isay showing up to work, but
really, if you're working inyour business and working on
your business, then you'reshowing up to do the work that's
going to produce the resultsthat you desire.
So getting that clarity willhelp you maintain that momentum
(20:55):
and keep your focus.
Key tip number two crafting amessage that resonates.
If you're genuinely passionateabout something, then your
enthusiasm is more than likelygoing to inspire your people,
your audience.
So build your content aroundstories that you have, the
lessons you've experienced orthe perspectives that connect
(21:18):
directly to your purpose.
Your given deeper focus.
And then, like I alreadymentioned, key tip number three,
focus on lead indicators.
Instead of obsessing over thosedownloads or your revenues,
(21:41):
which are, again lag indicators,hone in on the consistent
actions that are going to helpyou to continue to build your
show's foundation.
Are you planning high qualityepisodes?
Are you engaging with yourlisteners at all, one-on-one or
otherwise?
Are you focused on steadilyimproving your content?
These are things that you canabsolutely control and measure.
You can't control your incomefrom your podcast.
(22:04):
You can only control thingsthat will potentially negatively
or positively impact the incomeyou receive as a result.
So hopefully that's helpful onthe tips for clarity.
Now let's talk about theopportunity there.
Right?
Why am I talking aboutpodcasting today?
(22:26):
I think that there's tremendousopportunity out there.
The conversation has come upnumerous times over the past
couple months that I've observedabout whether or not podcasting
is crowded or oversaturated,and here's I'm going to give you
some real truths here.
(22:48):
Right Again, I think there's ahuge opening, but I think
there's a huge opening,primarily in the audio only
space.
There seems to be a huge pushfor people to go to what's
called video first or videopodcasting, right where they're
sharing video and audio contentof their recording and they're
(23:09):
calling it a podcast because itfounded is founded in the RSS
feed in a lot of cases Though Ichallenge the terminology
because there are a lot ofvideo-only podcasts floating
around on YouTube.
I've talked to many creatorswho don't create audio-only
content.
They only create video forYouTube.
(23:31):
I wonder if that's still apodcast by definition, Just a
question.
But let's talk about some statsreal quick that are going to
highlight the apparent gap inthis community podcasting.
That may entice you toreconsider if you've thought
about it but decided it wassaturated as an example.
(23:53):
So I already talked about videopodcasts being the current push
and the current trend.
2,743,000, almost 744,000podcasts exist today.
Let's remind you that there are8 billion people in this world
8 billion and we're talkingabout 2.7 and a half million
(24:16):
total podcasts.
Now, only 381,000, 381,000podcasts that are currently
active.
Of those active shows, only34,900 are considered
established and, in accountingfor this, that means that they
(24:38):
are producing 95% of thelistenership in the podcasting
space and it also means thatthey have released more than 100
episodes and continue toembrace improvement, steady
improvement.
In the last month, this wasreports from January.
So in the last month, thepercentage of shows likely to
(25:01):
reach 100 episode milestonedropped from only 6.52% to 4.8%.
That means that there are47,000 fewer podcasters who are
going to stick it out longenough to hit their 100.
What does that mean?
That means that there is roomfor you, hands down.
(25:24):
If you're willing to show up,to be consistent, to
continuously learn and stay inlove with your topic, you can be
successful in the podcastingspace.
Let's see here.
So I think.
Yeah, so you know events.
I talked about the events.
(25:44):
I talked about the mastermind.
I really think that's it forthis week, y'all.
Look, I am in my new office.
There may be a slight echo thisweek because I don't have any
pictures on the wall and we havewood floors, so I'm working on
study improvement here in theoffice, but that's the gist of
it.
Thanks for bearing with me.
If you listened to last week'sepisode, I did not trash it and
(26:08):
I actually received somepositive feedback about that
approach and what I did,basically out of necessity.
I got some really greatfeedback, people who loved it.
That said, I want to invite youto send me your feedback.
You can if you're listening onyour whatever device.
I know for sure Apple podcastsbear with me.
(26:28):
If you're not an Apple user,and that's okay, I don't mind.
But if you look at the top ofthis show on your podcast player
, you should see a button whereit says you can text me, Send me
a text, I'll get it.
I'll reply to you, shout youout on the show.
Make sure you leave your show'sinformation.
If you want me to plug yourshow or whatever you're working
(26:49):
on, I'm happy to share thatinformation.
As a result, or in exchange foryou sharing that feedback with
me Good, bad, indifferent I'dlove to hear from you.
Secondly, if you haven't yetsubscribed or followed this show
, then I would absolutelyencourage you to do that.
You know, depending on yourpodcast player, you can hit the
subscribe button or the followbutton and you'll be able to
(27:12):
continue to get updates whenthese episodes are published.
You can connect with me aboutthe mastermind.
Send an email to dan at danwusand put the title or the subject
line as mastermind and I'llsend over that application for
you, but that's how you're goingto stand out, that's how you're
(27:32):
going to stay consistent andultimately find success in the
podcasting world.
And if you want to find successin your world and your business
, I absolutely encourage you toconsider the new mastermind that
I am launching.
With that said, thank you somuch for hanging out with me
today.
I look forward to coming backand seeing you again next week.
(27:57):
Have a great one.
Welcome back to Deep Dive Dialogues.
I'm your host, Dan Warheide,and if you're just joining us
for the first time today, thenwelcome to Deep Dive Dialogues.
I'm still your host, DanWarheide, and I want to
personally thank each and everyone of you for listening and
tuning in, if you will.
I have a couple things that Iwant to cover with you today,
(00:23):
and before I jump into that, Iwant to start with what I
believe is an incredibleopportunity if you're looking to
take the next steps in yourcoaching, consulting or creative
business working to build yourbusiness online however you want
to phrase that but if you're anentrepreneur and you're
committed to taking yourbusiness full time this year, or
(00:46):
you're already full timeself-employed and you're either
not where you're at wanting tobe most, or you're still craving
bigger challenges, then thismessage may be for you.
For you, If you've beensearching for things like
(01:10):
accountability, a real team ornetwork of support that you can
lean into and real results, thenI think this might be for you
as well.
I'm talking about my brand newmastermind that I just talked
about at the very end of my lastepisode.
I just talked about at the veryend of my last episode.
Let's start with what it isthat we're offering.
So I'm looking for people whoare willing to make a 12-month
(01:33):
commitment.
I believe in the power ofcommunity and the power of a
small community mastermindcommunity, if you will can be
tremendous, but one of thethings that makes it most
beneficial is when people aremore than willing to commit over
a longer duration of time to bein relationship with every
(01:56):
other member of the group, andthe only way to do that, in my
opinion, or the best way to dothat, in my opinion, is to get
in the minimum of 12 monthcommitment from people up front.
Now, that said, the first sixapplications that I receive who
complete a one on one interviewwith me, who then are invited to
(02:17):
join, will receive their firstthree months zero charge, no
strings attached, no expectationthat you will continue for the
remaining nine months of that12-month commitment.
However, if you do believe thatit's a great fit for you after
that and you would like tocontinue, and we believe it's a
(02:39):
great fit after that and wewould like you to continue,
you'll receive an invitation.
Great fit after that and wewould like you to continue.
You'll receive an invitation,Yours to say yes or no, but you
will then continue on for theremaining nine months at $500 a
month for the remainder of thatcommitment.
Why do I think?
Why masterminds?
Let me just talk aboutmasterminds for a second.
(03:02):
Because I because, again, Ibelieve in the power of a
tight-knit community where eachand every other member of that
community is 100% dedicated tothe success and support of each
and every other member of thatcommunity.
So I believe in a smallmastermind community.
I believe no more than 10 to 12people is more than enough.
(03:27):
Anything more than that, and Idon't think that the individuals
in that mastermind are gettingthe individual attention, the
individual success factors thatthey can receive as a result of
being a part of a greatmastermind.
I have been a part of somereally great masterminds and I
(03:47):
have adopted the lessons thatI've learned in many of those
places and some of the thingsthat I've seen that I don't want
to incorporate.
I don't believe a mastermind,for instance, is a study group.
I don't believe a mastermind isa place to receive group
coaching from a single coach.
(04:08):
It's truly each and every othermember of the group supporting
each and every member of thegroup to help you accelerate
your success rate by harnessingthe power of that group and of
people who are just as driven asyou are and are wanting to
(04:28):
achieve the same levels ofsuccess that you are.
Maybe they're differentbusinesses, Maybe they're in a
different place, but they'restill wanting and desire to
achieve the same level ofsuccesses and contribute to
other people achieving thoselevels of successes.
They really help to eliminatethe guesswork, because you can
(04:50):
get expert feedback, guidanceand support from people who
might have been where you are,may have experience in your
particular challenges and canhelp guide you.
At the very least, you canbrainstorm together and come up
with some really powerfulsolutions or potential solutions
(05:11):
to a challenge, simply bycombining the knowledge of every
other member present.
And then, of course, powerfulconnection, because you're
surrounded by those goal getterswho are pushing each other on a
regular basis, meeting weeklyto support each other, You're
going to achieve new levels ofsuccess.
(05:34):
So I already said, you knowsmall groups, right?
No more than 10 to 12 maximum,and that way everyone can
receive the focused attentionthat they deserve.
And that way everyone canreceive the focused attention
that they deserve and no one'ssimply a face in the crowd.
Speaking of face in the crowd,I attended PodFest this past
week.
I'm going to talk about thathere in a minute, so stick
(05:56):
around, bear with me.
What else do I want to shareabout the mastermind experience?
I'll share this.
If you're not familiar with amastermind or what that
experience is like and you'dlike to talk through that, then
I'm going to encourage you, ifyou fit the other criteria to
apply, To apply.
I simply ask that you send mean email to dan at danwus and
(06:20):
put mastermind in the subjectline and I'll reach out to you
with an application link thatyou can fill out and we will
have a one-on-one interview.
If you simply would like toknow more about what a
mastermind looks like or what itis, then put that in your email
and I will certainly helpprovide some more insights
(06:42):
around that.
Like I said, each and everyapplication will receive a
one-on-one interview.
I want to do my best to ensurethat you're a great fit for the
community that we are creatingand that I'm a great fit for you
, as I will be facilitating thiscommunity, but I will also be
(07:04):
participating just as much asyou are.
Let's see.
I think I have covered all ofthat.
So if you're serious about yourgrowth this year, then I'm
going to encourage you to sendme that email, dan, at danwus,
so I can send you that shortapplication and we can get you
scheduled for your one-on-oneinterview.
All right, let's talk about myexperience with podcasts.
(07:30):
I'm going to talk about PodFestin particular.
So PodFest 2025 is in the books.
I did not attend the fullweekend, but I did attend a
couple great days and I had agreat experience overall.
What I'm going to share withyou, I don't want to take
anything away or make it seemlike there's an overall negative
(07:53):
tone about my experience.
I want to put that up frontbecause, no matter what I share
with you next, the connectionsare always a rewarding component
of attending a live event,whether it's PodFest or another
event.
Right, If you can simply chooseto attend one event each year to
(08:17):
explore something different orstep outside of your comfort
zone, then I would absolutelyencourage you to see what's on
the calendar this year.
What could you attend thatmight challenge those boundaries
for you, that might push yououtside of the norm and get you
into a different space.
Maybe that's a trigger for newcreativity.
(08:39):
I know that it certainly isrefreshing for me in some
aspects, but let's talk aboutthat.
So, first of all, fear ofmissing out and overwhelm it's
if you didn't attend.
You've heard about Podfest,maybe, but you chose or did not
attend, for whatever reason.
(09:01):
You can potentially feel likeyou've missed something
incredible.
And let me just say, with somany tracks and simultaneous
events happening, it can be botha blessing and a curse.
On the one hand, you get avariety of topics and potential
meetups and all kinds of othergreat experiences, but on the
(09:24):
other, it can be a tremendouschallenge to decide what
sessions to attend, whether todivide your time.
So for me, on one of the firstdays I chose to attend the
Military Creator Con as aveteran, to connect with my
veteran community and see whatthey're doing in the world of
podcasting and writing and someof the other great experiences I
(09:49):
heard about this week.
But to have that eventconcurrently with PodFest seemed
like an obstacle to me.
So that leads me to talkingabout more the event structure
itself.
You know that I think is amajor hurdle We'll call it a
hurdle versus an obstacle thehaving to choose between niche
(10:11):
sub-events like Military CreatorCon or the Christian Creators
Conference that was going on inconjunction as part of PodFest
but not part of the main focusof PodFest itself.
They were completely separatetracks.
They were completely separateentities for the most part,
where you paid an additional feeto attend these niche
(10:35):
sub-events.
We'll call them so.
I think that lends itself tobeing faced with a challenge,
because it forces you to attendand make tough decisions.
You know you might be thinkingor feeling like you have to
sacrifice other events thatmight align with your own
personal goals to be able tospend time and connect with a
(10:58):
specific community, or viceversa, right?
I think there are benefits tobe gleaned if organizers were to
reconvene and, in planning forfuture events, were to schedule
these sub events on maybeseparate days or extending the
(11:20):
days of which the event occursto incorporate these sub-events,
and that would allow people theopportunity to maybe fully
commit to each of the tracks ofinterest without feeling like
they're being pulled toward twoplaces at one time.
In turn, attendees could have adeeper, more focused experience
(11:43):
overall, maybe even leading tobetter networking opportunities
and reinforcing implementationof the things that they do learn
, Instead of the experience oftrying to attend as much as
possible and glean as manyinsights from as many sessions
as possible.
I think they could also benefitfrom toning it down just a tad
(12:07):
right, I think, when you are.
You know I don't know that allof these speakers are unpaid
speakers at this event.
I know that the majority ofspeakers are not paid to speak
at the event and I alsorecognize that with so many
different tracks concurrentlyrunning in separate stages
(12:29):
throughout the event and Ididn't count, but I know there
were at least five to six, maybeseven to ten different stages
who were concurrently runningspeakers pretty much most of the
day.
You know a few exceptions, likelunch and some other special
events that they had ongoingwhere there was a bit more of a
(12:52):
focus.
But having so many options andso many different stages means
also having a lot of differentspeakers and I think the
potential impact to the level ofpresentation or the quality of
speaker could be something thatshould be considered.
(13:14):
I attended several differentsessions and I will give full
credit that these speakers thatI attended did offer a strong
presentation and were overallgreat speakers presentation and
we're overall great speakers.
But I heard some feedback aboutdifferent people attending
different segments of the eventwho did not have the same
(13:35):
opinion or experience.
Again, I only attended ahandful of sessions, when I say
a handful, less than a handful.
So I only attended three orfour official sessions and much
of my time outside of that wasspent in the hallways connecting
, learning, hearing otherpeople's stories, finding out
(13:56):
where they were in their journeyaround, podcasting, talking
about the challenges keepingthem from taking action to
create a podcast, especiallywhen they said well, I've really
been thinking about this,helping them dig into what that
looks like for them, and I had alot of fun doing that and I did
(14:16):
.
I spent a lot of time in thosehallways in different
conversations outside of thesesessions, because I have found
that's one of the best placesjust to create your own
experience, so to speak, and Iyou know, no matter how you
choose to consume events, Iencourage you to find what works
(14:39):
well for you.
So I talked about the.
I was talking about thepotential benefits of
considering some slightlydifferent formatting for these,
and I think I've hit that one asmuch as I want to.
So clarity let's talk aboutclarity for a minute, Because
one of the things I've takenaway is in observing not just
(15:01):
PodFest, but in several eventsand in observing the podcasting
space, in particular, online,but this can apply to the
coaching space as well.
I see a lot of similarities inwhat is being presented and what
is focused on in this spacethat I think it was worth
(15:22):
talking about here today.
So I'll frame this in the realmof podcasting.
But again, I've seen the samething in the coaching realm and
I've received a lot of thequestions that are very, very
similar to what I'm about toshare, and I've also heard from
many people in differentcommunities around coaching that
(15:42):
some of these same questionsright A lot of the sessions,
from my observation and lookingat the agendas are focused
around what you might expect.
They're focused around usingyour podcast as a sales tool,
using your podcast as amarketing tool.
You know really where they'refocusing on how to enhance your
(16:05):
sale, selling or enhance sales,or scaling your podcast,
audience growth, downloads, etcetera and, of course, the never
ending conversation of how do Imake money from my podcast, and
I think, while those may bevaluable goals overall, I think
(16:25):
what's mostly being focused onare results or the lag
indicators that come from thefoundational work that you're
doing ahead of time to helpmaintain your momentum and truly
enjoy the journey of creating.
So if you're a podcaster andyou are a coach, you know.
(16:46):
Why are you podcasting?
What is the purpose that youhave found yourself?
Found for yourself that you'recreating a podcast or creating
podcast content.
And, by the way, there'snothing wrong with focusing on
using it as a tool to sell foryour business.
I did not enjoy that experiencein the previous shows that I've
(17:09):
created.
I wanted to create this podcastsimply to enjoy the process of
creating promote, not promotingcreating and producing this show
(17:33):
that I then share with you.
And if you can benefit fromeven one segment of something
I've shared, then that's truly abonus to me.
You know why I'm doing.
It is about me.
It's about tackling that whiteblank paper that you know
writer's block syndrome, so tospeak.
And funny, I heard someone sayand I wanted to challenge it but
(17:56):
I didn't because it was aspeaker talking about you don't
get writer's block on a podcast,and I don't know what you call
it.
But yeah, if I sit down to tryand plan an episode and, you
know, think about all the thingsthat I could potentially talk
about, try to narrow down what Iwill talk about, then I find
myself challenged with what Iwould only refer to as writer's
(18:17):
block.
It's like, oh, I'm so stuck.
I don't even know what to talkabout.
So that's been my experienceand maybe you can relate.
The reason I'm creating thispodcast is really to address
some of those things within meand my own personal growth, and
then I share it here with you inthe hopes that maybe there's a
nugget that you can take awaythat will impact the way you're
(18:38):
doing business.
So, again, just focused onreally trying to enjoy the
journey and I would encourageyou to stay in touch with that.
For you as well, what's goingto allow you to create the
podcast?
If that's what you're doing,and continue to enjoy what
you're doing so that it doesn'tbecome burdensome or more like
(19:01):
work right, If you do what youlove, then you never work a day
in your life.
So getting clear on why youwant to share your message in
the first place, keeping that inthe forefront, will help you to
navigate some of theconversations as you start
looking at how to improveprocesses to enhance your
marketing efforts, or how toimprove tidbits of your podcast
(19:25):
to generate more potentialsubscribers or download numbers
or all of the things you knowmoney you know.
How can you start incorporatingmore of the things that are
going to help you sell for yourbusiness on your podcast.
All of those things, though, atthe end of the day, are the
results.
What are you going to do tochange how you're showing up now
(19:48):
to produce those results?
That's really what I feel hasbeen we'll call it lacking from
many of these events, and thereal focus is on the sexy things
like scaling and monetizationand gaining sponsorship, All of
the things that can distract youfrom your original goals, ideas
(20:10):
.
A couple key tips to help youalong the way here, just really
quickly, or you know.
Starting with key tip numberone defining your core purpose.
What is it that you care aboutdeeply?
What gets you excited when youthink or talk about it?
You know this level of claritywill help boost the energy that
(20:32):
you have, and it makes showingup to work day to day more
rewarding.
Now, I'm careful about how Isay showing up to work, but
really, if you're working inyour business and working on
your business, then you'reshowing up to do the work that's
going to produce the resultsthat you desire.
So getting that clarity willhelp you maintain that momentum
(20:55):
and keep your focus.
Key tip number two crafting amessage that resonates.
If you're genuinely passionateabout something, then your
enthusiasm is more than likelygoing to inspire your people,
your audience.
So build your content aroundstories that you have, the
lessons you've experienced orthe perspectives that connect
(21:18):
directly to your purpose.
Your given deeper focus.
And then, like I alreadymentioned, key tip number three,
focus on lead indicators.
Instead of obsessing over thosedownloads or your revenues,
(21:41):
which are, again lag indicators,hone in on the consistent
actions that are going to helpyou to continue to build your
show's foundation.
Are you planning high qualityepisodes?
Are you engaging with yourlisteners at all, one-on-one or
otherwise?
Are you focused on steadilyimproving your content?
These are things that you canabsolutely control and measure.
You can't control your incomefrom your podcast.
(22:04):
You can only control thingsthat will potentially negatively
or positively impact the incomeyou receive as a result.
So hopefully that's helpful onthe tips for clarity.
Now let's talk about theopportunity there.
Right?
Why am I talking aboutpodcasting today?
(22:26):
I think that there's tremendousopportunity out there.
The conversation has come upnumerous times over the past
couple months that I've observedabout whether or not podcasting
is crowded or oversaturated,and here's I'm going to give you
some real truths here.
(22:48):
Right Again, I think there's ahuge opening, but I think
there's a huge opening,primarily in the audio only
space.
There seems to be a huge pushfor people to go to what's
called video first or videopodcasting, right where they're
sharing video and audio contentof their recording and they're
(23:09):
calling it a podcast because itfounded is founded in the RSS
feed in a lot of cases Though Ichallenge the terminology
because there are a lot ofvideo-only podcasts floating
around on YouTube.
I've talked to many creatorswho don't create audio-only
content.
They only create video forYouTube.
(23:31):
I wonder if that's still apodcast by definition, Just a
question.
But let's talk about some statsreal quick that are going to
highlight the apparent gap inthis community podcasting.
That may entice you toreconsider if you've thought
about it but decided it wassaturated as an example.
(23:53):
So I already talked about videopodcasts being the current push
and the current trend.
2,743,000, almost 744,000podcasts exist today.
Let's remind you that there are8 billion people in this world
8 billion and we're talkingabout 2.7 and a half million
(24:16):
total podcasts.
Now, only 381,000, 381,000podcasts that are currently
active.
Of those active shows, only34,900 are considered
established and, in accountingfor this, that means that they
(24:38):
are producing 95% of thelistenership in the podcasting
space and it also means thatthey have released more than 100
episodes and continue toembrace improvement, steady
improvement.
In the last month, this wasreports from January.
So in the last month, thepercentage of shows likely to
(25:01):
reach 100 episode milestonedropped from only 6.52% to 4.8%.
That means that there are47,000 fewer podcasters who are
going to stick it out longenough to hit their 100.
What does that mean?
That means that there is roomfor you, hands down.
(25:24):
If you're willing to show up,to be consistent, to
continuously learn and stay inlove with your topic, you can be
successful in the podcastingspace.
Let's see here.
So I think.
Yeah, so you know events.
I talked about the events.
(25:44):
I talked about the mastermind.
I really think that's it forthis week, y'all.
Look, I am in my new office.
There may be a slight echo thisweek because I don't have any
pictures on the wall and we havewood floors, so I'm working on
study improvement here in theoffice, but that's the gist of
it.
Thanks for bearing with me.
If you listened to last week'sepisode, I did not trash it and
(26:08):
I actually received somepositive feedback about that
approach and what I did,basically out of necessity.
I got some really greatfeedback, people who loved it.
That said, I want to invite youto send me your feedback.
You can if you're listening onyour whatever device.
I know for sure Apple podcastsbear with me.
(26:28):
If you're not an Apple user,and that's okay, I don't mind.
But if you look at the top ofthis show on your podcast player
, you should see a button whereit says you can text me, Send me
a text, I'll get it.
I'll reply to you, shout youout on the show.
Make sure you leave your show'sinformation.
If you want me to plug yourshow or whatever you're working
(26:49):
on, I'm happy to share thatinformation.
As a result, or in exchange foryou sharing that feedback with
me Good, bad, indifferent I'dlove to hear from you.
Secondly, if you haven't yetsubscribed or followed this show
, then I would absolutelyencourage you to do that.
You know, depending on yourpodcast player, you can hit the
subscribe button or the followbutton and you'll be able to
(27:12):
continue to get updates whenthese episodes are published.
You can connect with me aboutthe mastermind.
Send an email to dan at danwusand put the title or the subject
line as mastermind and I'llsend over that application for
you, but that's how you're goingto stand out, that's how you're
(27:32):
going to stay consistent andultimately find success in the
podcasting world.
And if you want to find successin your world and your business
, I absolutely encourage you toconsider the new mastermind that
I am launching.
With that said, thank you somuch for hanging out with me
today.
I look forward to coming backand seeing you again next week.
(27:57):
Have a great one.
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