June 2, 2025 • 37 mins
It’s not about going viral. It’s about going deeper.
In this powerful episode, I’m joined by my new business bestie, Alex Sanfilippo, founder of PodMatch - a platform that connects podcast hosts and guests, to talk about what it really takes to build a podcast that grows your business and your influence - without burning out or giving up.
Alex shares the truth that so many of us have learned the hard way - the best podcasts aren’t always the ones with the most downloads. They’re the ones that create real connection with the right people.
We also discuss:
- The most important questions to ask before starting a podcast
- The truth about vanity metrics - and how to grow without "going viral"
- How podcast hosts can create unique, one-on-one relationships with listeners that feel surprisingly personal despite being one-sided.
- How to simplify your workflow using the "automate, delegate, eliminate" rule
Whether you’re just starting out or feeling overwhelmed by all the “shoulds,” this conversation will help you simplify your approach and stay focused on what actually matters.
Links & References:
- Join us at our next PWR Virtual Speed Networking Event!
- For even deeper connections, check out the Powerful Women Rising Community!
- Whether you are a podcast guest/host or an aspiring guest/host, https://podmatch.com/free will give you some quick ideas to help you grow and improve in your podcasting efforts!
- Join PodMatch to find guests for your show or to find shows to be a guest on! It's an incredible resource!
Connect with Your Host!
Melissa Snow is a Business Relationship Strategist dedicated to empowering women in entrepreneurship. She founded the Powerful Women Rising Community, which provides female business owners with essential support and resources for business growth.
Melissa's other mission is to revolutionize networking, promoting authenticity and genuine connections over sleazy sales tactics. She runs an incredible monthly Virtual Speed Networking Event which you can attend once at no cost using the code FIRSTTIME
She lives in Colorado Springs with two girl dogs, two boy cats and any number of foster kittens. She loves iced coffee, Taylor Swift, and Threads.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Melissa (00:02):
Hello Alex, Welcome to the Powerful Women Rising
podcast.
Alex (00:05):
Melissa, thank you so much for having me.
It's an honor to be here.
Given what your podcast is andwho it's for, it seriously means
so much to me.
I really, really appreciate you.
Melissa (00:13):
Yeah, I'm super excited to have you as a guest.
We've done, I think, over 90episodes and you're only the
second man to be on the podcast.
Alex (00:21):
Again, I'm honored.
Thank you, I really appreciateit.
Melissa (00:24):
Yes, I'm super excited to talk to you today.
So, before we dive in, telleverybody a little bit about you
and about what you do.
Alex (00:31):
Yeah, sure Again.
My name is Alex Sanfilippo andI've been a podcaster since 2014
.
It took me a minute.
Those numbers start runningtogether right.
So I've been in this space fora long time.
I went full-time with it in2020 when I launched a software
called Podmatch, and Podmatchcomis simply put.
It's a service that connectspodcasts, guests and hosts for
interviews, and the whole ideais to kind of streamline the
(00:52):
process for both sides of thepuzzle while also bringing the
right people together, for lackof a better term.
It works similar to a datingapp I'm told I've never used one
, a dating app but instead ofcatching people for dates, it
connects them for podcastinterviews, and that was sort of
my introduction to going from ahobbyist in the podcasting
space to full time and to thisday.
I mean, it is my passion, Ifeel like it's my purpose.
I just love being in this spaceand giving back any chance I
(01:14):
get.
Melissa (01:14):
Yeah, I actually don't know this answer to this
question, but I'm going to askyou when you started out
podcasting, what was yourpodcast about?
Alex (01:22):
I started, my first one was like a faith-based podcast.
So I happen to be a follower ofJesus and so like I just kind
of dove into my faith a littlebit.
The funny thing is it was a 15minute episode one time per
month and I was literallytalking into my iPhone and at
that like going back to 2014,.
The iPhones weren't what theyare now, so like to give
everyone a little thought here.
But I just fell in love withthe medium.
Like I really enjoyed writing,but it gave me the opportunity
(01:44):
to speak out what I was writingand it just kind of flowed very
naturally.
But yeah, it was a monthlypodcast and that was kind of my
introduction to the space.
Melissa (01:52):
That's awesome.
I never knew that part of thestory, and so you have a podcast
now also.
Alex (01:58):
I do Podcasting Made Simple, correct.
Melissa (02:00):
Love that show and I will give you a little plug for
Podmatch, because I had a goalthis year to do 20 podcast
interviews and I just met withone of my business strategists.
That kind of like keeps me inline with my goals and like
where are we at with this andstuff?
And she's like you've alreadydone five and I was like I know
she's like it's only January.
(02:21):
I'm like I know Podmatch, Ihe's like it's only January.
I'm like I know.
Alex (02:24):
Odd match.
Oh, I love hearing that.
That just makes my day to hear.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate you sharing that.
Melissa (02:28):
Yeah, it's awesome, your coach is going to think,
though.
Alex (02:32):
They're going to start thinking that you're selling
yourself short, so you look likea hero, aren't they?
They're going to make youincrease your goals.
Melissa (02:37):
I know exactly.
Yeah, it's really really greatfor people on both ends people
who are podcast guests andpodcast hosts.
So I want to talk to you todayspecifically about people who
are podcast hosts, and I lovepodcast guesting.
I think, even if you have nodesire to have your own podcast,
(03:00):
being a podcast guest is anamazing way to grow your network
, to get in front of otherpeople's audiences, to maybe
start taking yourself a littlemore seriously as an expert.
I feel like there's a lot oftimes that I go on someone
else's show and they ask me aquestion and I answer it and I'm
like wow did you hear that?
That was really?
Alex (03:15):
really good, right.
Can I get a recording?
I'm so smart, I have been there.
Melissa (03:22):
But I want to focus on people who have their own
podcast or are consideringstarting a podcast, and I want
to start first just by askingyou why you are so passionate
about podcasting.
What is it that you love aboutit?
Alex (03:36):
Yeah, if I can go back to that early date of podcasting,
I'll never forget this.
Somebody emailed me that Ididn't know it was probably six
months into doing that podcastin 2014.
And they just talked about howimpactful it was.
And I don't bring that up to belike, oh, look at Alex, right,
but I actually didn't know.
There was people all around theworld that were listening.
Going back that time, the dataand the analytics that we could
(03:59):
see were even more fuzzy thanthey are now.
They're still not great, butthey were really bad.
And so I just really didn'trealize.
I kind of thought it was justfor me sharing that and I tried
to make it valuable in caseanyone ever heard it.
But I kind of figured friendsand family and they'd just be
like great job, alex, thumbs up,right.
But somebody emailed me andtold me that it was it was
heavily impactful in making areally serious decision in their
(04:19):
life and it kind of changedthings for them.
And at that point I was like,wait, there's something really
special about this medium and atthat point I'd also gone all in
as a podcast listener as welland a little bit of ADD and
stuff like that, and I've always, even as a kid, my mom learned
real quick.
If she wanted me to focus onsomething, she'd throw Legos in
front of me and she'd teach me.
(04:43):
While I just retain betterthrough podcasting when I'm on a
walk, when I'm in the gym, whenI'm cleaning anything that I
might be doing, I just retain itbetter, and so for me it's
become a very intimate medium.
You listen when there's no oneelse around and you kind of
listen it's just you.
There's something so powerfulabout it and that's the reason I
have become so passionate aboutpodcasting is I'm seeing the
(05:03):
impact that it has on listeners'lives.
And yes, I talked about my showbeing a faith-based show, but I
know people that have comedyshows and for some people who
listen to that, that is the onlylaughter they're getting in
their life right now is thesecomedy shows.
So I always tell people don'tsell yourself short on the
category or the focus or thetopic of your show.
It can still really add a lotof value to people who get to
listen to it and for that reasonI'm like I just believe that is
(05:25):
the most powerful form of mediathat we have right now when it
comes to an intimaterelationship with someone who's
listening.
Melissa (05:31):
I love that you say that about it being an intimate
relationship, because I thinkbefore you start doing it, and
sometimes for a while afteryou've started doing it, it
feels very one-sided, like Ijust I just got an email from
somebody today and I'm like you,like I still think, 90 episodes
later, my mom's the only onewho's listening.
And I get an email fromsomebody that I don't even know
(05:52):
and she's like your podcastmakes me laugh every time.
And I'm like okay, but this isnot a comedy podcast, but she's
like I also love your content.
She said something about like Ilove how you ask like
rhetorical questions that wecan't actually answer.
Like sometimes I'm like hi, howis everybody?
Like no one can actually answerme but I like that.
Alex (06:11):
I don't mean to cut you off, I like that.
And when I listened to the showI remember the first episode of
your show I listened to Ilaughed almost immediately.
And yeah, it's not, it's notsupposed to be a comedy podcast,
but I laugh because you bringyour personality to it and I
immediately knew I'm like I likeMelissa, like I know we would
hang out and we'd get alongreally well, right, like, yeah,
I actually liked the rhetoricalstuff, like you bring listeners
into it.
So I didn't mean to cut you off, I just think it's a.
You do a really great job withthis show.
Melissa (06:33):
Thank you, and I think that's part of how you create
that intimate feeling.
Is like we've all listened tothe podcast, where people are
just reading off of their scriptright, even the solo episodes.
It's like I wrote this ahead oftime and now I'm going to read
it to you.
I'm like you can just email itto me and I'll read it myself.
I would actually probably enjoythat better, and so to be able
(06:53):
to bring that part and it'sdefinitely practice, I think I'm
much more myself in theseinterviews than I was in the
beginning.
I listened to some of my earlyinterviews.
I'm like, oh girl, what wereyou doing there?
But I think that's part of howyou create that intimate
relationship with your listeners, even though it is a one-sided
conversation is by not thinkingof it as a one-sided
conversation and really justshowing up to it like you would
(07:16):
a conversation with your friend.
Alex (07:18):
Yeah, to me again.
I think that that's what makesit powerful.
People wanna connect withhumans To your point.
Just email it to me If it'sgoing to sound robotic, if it's
going to not feel human.
People want to connect with apersonality.
I'll never forget, melissa.
The first time I discovered thiswas way later than you.
I think I was over 100 episodesin and it was during COVID.
I interviewed somebody and Ibrought her on and she's like
listen, alex, the whole worldshut down.
(07:40):
I have a newborn baby.
I have no help.
She's going to cry while we'rerecording and I was like it's
all right, we can edit out andpost.
Well, guess what, melissa?
I couldn't edit out and post.
I mean, it was like I told mywife I'm like man, this podcast
is just like not it's so goodthe content, so I'm going to
post it, but I'm like nervousabout it.
I got more compliments, comments, messages, everything about
(08:02):
that episode than anything else,because people said it felt so
human.
Oh, I'm right there too, mykid's at home crying.
I couldn't even tell which kidit was anymore, and so it was
one of those things.
I was like oh wait, people likethe humanity of it and I think
it's important for us to bringthat up really, really fast here
, just because don't have thisperfectionist mindset.
If it's got to be the highestproduction value, highest
quality, like, yes, have somepride in what you do, but don't
(08:25):
forget your humanity in it.
If we want to be perfect, we'llget a robot or an AI to do it.
At this point, right, peoplelike the personality that you
have, and I think that's part ofthe beautiful things of
podcasting.
Melissa (08:34):
Totally agree.
Yeah, there's a lot of stuffthat I would have edited out in
the early days and now I'm justlike, oh, and my dogs are
barking and I live in a circus.
Alex (08:43):
So anyway, blah, blah, blah.
Melissa (08:53):
So let's talk about starting a podcast, because I
you know, you mentioned ADD andI think that is very common
among entrepreneurs and even ifwe don't actually have ADD, we I
find that entrepreneurs areusually people who have like a
hundred great ideas a minute andinevitably one of those great
ideas is I should start apodcast.
And usually it's inspired bysomeone else who has a podcast.
(09:13):
That makes it look super easyand they have like 10,000
downloads and that is going tobe great for us.
So, when people are askingthemselves if they should launch
their own podcast, what aresome of the things that they
should consider?
Alex (09:27):
Yeah, the first thing to think about is that it actually
is a commitment, and at thispoint I named my podcast
Podcasting Made Simple for areason.
I actually believe podcastingis simple, but it's not easy.
Like the path has been laid out, but it's sticking with it that
matters.
And there are so many I meanliterally millions of podcasts
that have one episode, and it'snot because it was supposed to
be one episode.
It's because people are like oh, this was actually work.
(09:49):
And it's not because it wassupposed to be one episode.
It's because people are like oh, this was actually work.
And I always say to that, like,what in life isn't work that's
worth doing?
Right, it's going to take someeffort.
And so for me, step one is justto acknowledge the fact that,
yeah, someone like Melissa mightmake it look really easy, but
you know what it's going to takea commitment, it's going to
take some effort, and because ofthat, that foundational
(10:10):
knowledge then has to be builtupon, and I think the best place
to start is to start with why.
I know that's become a verypopular term, right, Like we
start with why, but really Ithink that you need to be able
to have a deep purpose andmeaning behind a podcast.
The people that I meet that, oh,I started a podcast just to
start one.
They're typically gone prettyquick and it's not because
they're quitters or anythinglike that.
(10:30):
They just realize like, oh, Idon't, like I don't, why am I
doing this?
This is painful, I'm out ofhere, Right.
And I always, like I alwaysthought why I use the word
purpose.
And if you go back to theoriginal Greek, the word purpose
actually means or sorry, theword passion, so that thing
about passion.
So purpose and passion, butpassion actually means suffering
and not that you're going tosuffer.
But I always like to tellpeople like, hey, listen, if
(10:50):
you're passionate about this andyou have a purpose behind it,
you're going to be willing tosay you know what.
I might have a late night ortwo to keep this going, but I
know why I'm doing it.
So I always tell people againacknowledge the work, but then
immediately go make a why for it, Like what is the real reason?
And then the last thing I'llshare in that point, Melissa, is
(11:15):
to also create an avatar, whichjust means a fictitious, ideal
listener.
So in your mind, who is itthat's going to be listening to
this show and create a story forthat person.
It can be fictitious.
For me, I have an avatar I'vebeen using since the beginning
and his name is Adam.
I know how old Adam is, I knowwhere he works, I know what he
does because it ties directlyback to my why.
But it gives me like a person tothink about, and so I asked
myself is Adam going to miss myepisode tomorrow if I can't
finish it?
Yeah, he is.
(11:35):
He relies on this, I know that.
And so those things, I thinkare the very first thing at the
foundational level we need to do.
And if someone who's hearingthis says I don't know if I have
all that, then maybe giveyourself the freedom not to
start a podcast.
Maybe start as a guest if youjust want to explore it a little
bit.
But I think we got to do thisbefore we do anything else.
Melissa (11:53):
Yeah, that's great advice.
I do think the podcast guestingis a good place to start
because I think you can get afeel for what actually goes into
it.
Obviously, you're not going tosee all the behind the scenes,
but you're at least going to getan idea of how it feels to show
up and talk and talk and talkevery week or every other week
or whatever you want to do.
I think something, too, thatwas important for me that got me
(12:17):
to actually start the podcast.
I had a podcast with my firstbusiness.
I was a dating and relationshipcoach.
I had a podcast called lovestarts here and I did about 85
episodes of that one.
And when I was trying to decideif I wanted to have a podcast
for this business, I wanted todo I was only doing interviews
first of all, because that'swhat I like to do.
(12:38):
And then I hired a podcast coachand she was like okay, stop
doing only interviews, you'vegot to do some solo episodes,
like people want to hear you.
And I was so caught up on this,like I don't have 20, 30
minutes worth of stuff to talkabout every week, how am I going
to come up with 30 minutesworth of stuff to talk about all
by myself, and then, all of asudden I was like who said it
(12:59):
had to be 30 minutes?
I don't know where I got thisfrom.
Like, sometimes I just show upand I talk for seven minutes.
Sometimes I show up and I thinkI'm going to talk for seven
minutes and I talk for 25minutes.
Like you really can make itwhat you want to make it and it
doesn't have to be.
I think sometimes, too, wethink it has to be about
something that is going to be ofinterest to a ton of people.
(13:22):
Right, were you the one thattold me the story about the
woman with the birdwatching?
Alex (13:27):
Yes, yeah, yeah, share that, please.
I don't.
Melissa (13:30):
I'll probably completely screw it up, cause I
think I heard it like five yearsago, but I remember you telling
a story about a woman whowanted to start a podcast that
was about like birdwatching inthe Western hemisphere,
birdwatching in the Midwest, orsomething there are not.
(13:52):
People like that is so specificthat there's not going to be
enough people out there thatwant to listen to it.
But what she actuallydiscovered correct me if I'm
telling this story somewhatwrong is that it was so specific
that the people who did want toknow about that stuff found her
podcast and it was like exactlywhat they were looking for and
it actually had the oppositeeffect.
She created this very loyalfollowing and this very intimate
(14:14):
community of people who wereall interested in this specific
thing.
So it doesn't have to be atopic that is like we're going
to talk about skin becauseeveryone has it right.
It can be, and sometimes it'sbetter if it's something very
specific like that.
Alex (14:29):
I think it almost always is, and you shared that story
exactly right.
And I've got a new one that Ijust recently heard.
I met a guy and he sellsinsurance for truckers and his
podcast is an insurance fortruckers podcast and I knew that
it was doing well without eventalking to him.
I'm like, as soon as he said,I'm like I know this podcast is
doing exceptionally well andpeople are like wait, does
anyone even listen to that?
(14:50):
He's like a few hundred people.
I'm like you're making high sixfigures of a few hundred people
are listening.
He's like, yeah, I do.
And guess why?
Because everyone who's lookingfor insurance is a trucker.
They're on the road and they'relistening to his podcast.
I'm like that's who I'm goingto hire to get my next insurance
.
And people are like how are youmaking money doing?
I'm of the niche right, likeactually really standing for
(15:17):
something.
And I think again, when you goback to that, why in that avatar
everyone is really specific.
There's something that they'rereally struggling with that you
know you can help them with.
Here's the thing I actuallylike going to the gym and
working out.
But my podcast isn't aboutpodcasting and working out
because I know I can't reallyoffer the best of me for you
through that right.
I know that podcasting is whereI can really really help, so I
just focus on that one thing andI think many of us are like
well, I really like fitnesspodcasting, sports and this.
(15:37):
So it's a fitness sportspodcast about podcasting and
getting fit right.
Like we just go so broad thatpeople can't even see themselves
anymore, because that's not thepain point that they would look
to you to be able to solve.
Melissa (15:47):
Yeah, absolutely, that's brilliant.
Alex (16:08):
So one of the things that I've heard you say too is that
it's important if you have apodcast to.
I think that too many of us welook for the silver bullet to
downloads and people want thatquick fix.
Like how do I make the nextviral post on on any of the
social media platforms?
Right, I know you and I both weboth have a mutual love for for
threads.
(16:28):
Right now it seems to be like areally, like you said, a
positive place and I like thatand uh, so, on threads like how
do I make that next big viralpost, it gets seen by tens of
thousands of people.
So my podcast grows.
And the real reality is thathappens for some of us sometimes
I should actually say for veryfew of us occasionally is what
that will happen for, and somany people are holding on to
(16:49):
that moment that they kind of doaway with any sort of
day-to-day rhythm to build theirpodcast.
Instead, they just keep onsaying what can I do?
That's going to go viral.
So my show grows and I'll sharesome stats here real quick.
I'm actually going to pullthese up on my screen.
I'm not doing like a screenshare or anything like that.
So if you're hearing this,don't worry, you're not missing
anything, but I does want to seewhat I'm sharing.
(17:09):
Podmatchcom forward slashreport is where we do a monthly
industry report, and I'm pullingthis up for a specific reason,
and here's why.
If you have 28 people listeningto your podcast in the first
seven days of a new episode sofirst week new episode comes out
, 28 people listening you're inthe top half of all podcasts.
If you want to be in the top25% of all podcasts, it's 111
(17:31):
people listening that firstseven days, and so I'll just use
that number as an example Top25 percentile, 111 days.
When I say do things that don'tscale every day, a suggestion I
make to podcasters is to findsomebody who's searching for
your podcast but doesn't know itexists yet.
Go to a website like Threadsand if someone's like hey, I'm
really having trouble, go to awebsite like Threads and if
someone's like, hey, I'm reallyhaving trouble, I'm having
(17:51):
trouble losing my baby weight, Ijust had my third kid, right,
join that conversation.
Don't say episode alert, thisis going to help you.
Say hey, listen, I was thereonce.
Or my guest was there once,like I talked to someone.
I think this would be reallyvaluable for you.
Would you mind if I sharesomething with you?
That a conversation I had withsomebody?
Most people are going to say,yes, and here's the thing Now
you've built a fan, thatperson's going to listen to your
(18:11):
podcast.
They're probably going to staywith it because they're going to
be like you know what the hostreached out to me directly about
this episode.
They're going to really beappreciative.
If you do that for 111 daysstraight or take weekends off,
whatever it is right Puts you inthe top 25 percentile of all
podcasts.
Not many people are willing tothat, though.
They even hear they hear me saythat and they're like oh, I'd
rather just try for the viralposts, right, right, I don't
(18:31):
know if those days ever come andthat's one of the things that I
believe in doing that itdoesn't really scale right.
You can't do more than that.
But every day go out therelooking for the person that you
most serve.
Two things happen.
Your show does grow, but twoyou get better at understanding
what the person you serve isactually looking for because
you're putting yourself on thefront lines of it, and that's
how you actually make a bettershow over time as well.
Melissa (18:52):
That's brilliant and that's why another one of many
reasons you and I are gonna bebest friends because that's one
of the things that I talk abouta lot when it comes to
networking too is, like it's notthat sexy to sell, like
networking is a long game.
You're not gonna show up to thenetworking event and meet 10
people and get their businesscards and now they're all your
like best power partners andyou're referring to each other
(19:14):
and you're making all this moneytogether and collaborate.
Like it's not going to happen.
And we love the online businesscoach.
That's like for $5,000, I'lltell you how I made $9 million
in 90 seconds.
And like, of course, that'sappealing.
Like I've paid her $5,000.
I want to know how to make $9million in 90 seconds and if I
can make $9 million in 90seconds versus this other lady,
(19:37):
that's like I can teach you howto network and you can grow your
business in one to five years.
Like, okay, I'm going to gowith the 90 second lady, but I
love what you're saying becausethat really is the recipe for
sustainable growth, right?
It's like I know several peoplewho have gone viral and then
it's like and then what happened?
(19:57):
Right, but if you're doing it.
The way that you're talkingabout you are actually.
You actually are networkingright, because you're connecting
with other humans.
You're building those genuinerelationships, you're providing
value to people.
That's what networking is andthat's how it's going to become
sustainable and continue to likemultiply on itself, as opposed
(20:18):
to like overnight you got ahundred thousand views and then
nothing else happened after that.
Alex (20:24):
Yeah, I think that would.
I've never had that happen andI think I'd actually find that
pretty defeating if it couldn'tbe a repeatable process.
Right, if it just was every dayfor the rest of my life, great.
But repeating that process, Ithink I'd feel like I've hit my
prime and now I'm past it, and Idon't know.
Melissa (20:37):
It's all downhill from here.
Alex (20:39):
Yeah, it's all downhill.
I don't know if I.
I just don't know if I wouldlike that personally.
Yeah.
Melissa (20:44):
Yeah, that's great advice.
So if somebody is working ontheir own and I've done it both
ways I've had a podcast editor,I've been my own editor way more
times than I've had a podcasteditor.
But what do you recommend forpeople who maybe are already in
(21:06):
podcasting and it is feelingvery overwhelming to keep up
with coming up with episodes,editing their episodes,
uploading their episodes,writing their show notes, doing
all of the things without a teamto help them?
Alex (21:17):
Yeah, if a team's not an option and you're like I've got
to do this alone right now, Irespect that.
That was me for the first fiveyears, or maybe four years, of
my podcast, something like that,and it's a grind.
But I'll tell you what Irespect those individuals who do
it because they're again.
They're the ones showing thatlike, hey, yes, this is simple,
but it's not easy, but I'msticking with it, and they're
typically the ones that havesome big purpose or passion
behind their podcast or acombination.
(21:37):
So I liked it.
We're talking about this and Ithink the first thing we have to
look at is what.
What I had to do, and it wasthis.
I hit this point, melissa, whereI felt like I was looking at
some of the greats in podcasting, seeing everything they do with
their podcast.
Their production value was toptier, every social media post
was top tier, beautifultranscript, all these different
things right, like every elementyou could ever imagine, and I
(22:00):
was comparing myself to that.
And the problem with doing thatis it's us comparing our day
one to someone else's year 20.
If you scroll back to when someof these individuals got
started and look at what they'redoing Amy Porterfield is a
great example.
I love Amy Porterfield.
They do an incredible job.
When I go back to how shestarted and look at it, it was
(22:25):
just random posts with typos init, right Like.
But I don't look at that.
I look at where that individualis now, and so for us, I think
we first and foremost need togive ourselves permission to not
be perfect, to just say this isthe best I can do today at a
high level, instead of spreadingourselves thin and just being
okay at a bunch of differentthings.
The fact about podcasting isthe only thing that's required
to be a podcaster is toconsistently release
value-adding episodes for yourlisteners to listen to.
You don't have to do anythingelse.
(22:46):
You don't have to have awebsite.
You don't have to have socialmedia.
You don't have to have any ofthat.
I'm not telling you not to.
I'm just saying the best thingyou might be able to do is these
three things.
This is like the core of what Idecided Automate, delegate,
eliminate, automate.
Is there any way that I can putthis on autopilot where I can
let my hosting provider scheduleit?
I happen to use Buzzsprout andBuzzsprout allows me to schedule
in advance.
I don't have to go back andtouch it once it's done.
(23:06):
Right, I was able to automatethat process.
Delegate.
Is there any way I can movethis onto a team member?
Can a spouse help me?
Is there anything I can do?
And if both these things are noand this is usually the right
answer is to eliminate.
The example I'll give isInstagram is where I was wasting
wasting all of my time at thatpoint.
Instagram has never been myfavorite platform, but I felt
like I had to make these reallyhigh polished pictures of my
(23:28):
guests with these like elaboratestories, and they were getting
no traction at all.
And I remember telling my wifeI'm like what if we just stop?
And she's like I don't know,will people still listen?
I'm like I don't know.
So we stopped and guess whatMore people were listening to
the podcast after that, weirdlyenough, because I was focused in
places that actually weremoving the needle and I freed up
(23:49):
an hour of my time every weekby doing that one thing.
If you're podcasting byyourself, you have to make
really hard decisions to do thethings that move the needle most
, not what you think you have todo because of everyone else
that you've looked at.
Melissa (23:59):
Such good advice.
Yeah, yeah, and I think we wantto do all the things,
especially when we see everyoneelse doing all of the things,
and I like what you said, too,about like it really takes very
little to get started, and Ithink that's true with so many
things in entrepreneurship andwe get so in our head for so
many reasons.
We find great reasons to stall,Like I can't do that because I
(24:23):
don't have a website, and Ican't do that because I don't
have a call to action yet Idon't have anything to sell them
and I don't have this.
And you, most of the time,don't need any of the things
that you think that you need.
You just need to get started.
Alex (24:35):
Yeah, yeah.
The more human you are in thatprocess, the more people want to
connect.
I mean, I mean, listen, the thepowerful and rising community
that you have is is beautifullydone at this point.
I'm sure it started with youand a couple of people just
meeting and being like, wow,maybe we should open this up,
right?
It wasn't like hold on now,don't tell anyone.
We got to build out all thisstuff first, like and I don't
know the full story, melissa,but I imagine at some point
(24:57):
something organic happened thatkind of sparked that.
Instead of sitting back like somany of us saying, okay, these
are the 35 things I have to havebefore I can press go, I think
it's just better to be human,just go and say you know what?
Do you want to do this moreregularly?
How about if I add an extra dayto my podcast?
Does everyone really like it?
Let's try it and see whathappens.
I think being curious and justbeing willing to allow the
journey to happen is where thereal beauty and the real joy is
(25:21):
actually found, and it's whatresonates with other people.
Melissa (25:24):
Yeah, and that's really the only way that you make
progress.
I mean, I've told this story acouple of times on the podcast,
I think but when I launched thePowerful Women Rising community,
I did like a founding memberlaunch.
I had like 36 members, I think,and they all paid for six
months in advance.
And at the end of the sixmonths, three of them signed on
to continue and I was likesomething has happened.
(25:44):
Why are three of 36 wanting tokeep going?
And I really had to like I tooka couple months off just to kind
of like regroup.
I went through all theirfeedback, I figured out what was
working, what wasn't working.
Why did these three decide tostay?
Why did the other 33 decide notto stay?
And I almost completelyrevamped what was involved in
(26:08):
the Powerful Women Risingcommunity, what was part of the
offering, what wasn't part ofthe offering anymore and
relaunched it in October, 10months after I had done the
founding member launch.
And I like to share that storybecause I think, like you said,
we look at people's, we compareour day one to other people's
day 20.
Like, I have a very successfulmembership community now and I
(26:31):
get people all the time that arelike teach me how do I have a
membership community?
I'm like you start one and it'sterrible, and then you change
some things, Like that's justhow you do it, and I think
that's part of entrepreneurshipthat we probably don't talk
about enough.
Alex (26:47):
But I think it's important , I agree, and in podcasting
it's the same thing.
The show that I thought I wascreating when I launched there
was a show between my first oneand the one I have now called
Creating a Brand, and what Ithought it was going to be was
completely wrong.
I mean, it was like it was inentrepreneurship, so it wasn't
completely wrong.
But like I was way off and, uh,I didn't know until I started
(27:09):
it, and I think a lot of peoplewant to say, oh, that was all a
waste of time.
No, I would have never beenable to hit the right target if
I didn't know where it was.
I discovered it by gettingstarted and trying something.
The key, though, most of whatyou just said, it's the same
thing with our, with withpodcasting.
Talk to the people that you'reserving.
Find out why I think a lot ofpeople in that scenario we're
(27:30):
only three converted.
They'd be like, okay, well then, I need 3000 people in the next
round, so they all convert more, and that's conventional wisdom
.
It's like, oh, you just needmore then.
But the better way to do thatis to get on a call and say, why
Not, because I want you to bethere, but what could we do?
What needs to change?
And now, like you said, youhave a very like.
It is thriving.
The community that you built,the entire brand that you've
(27:50):
built, is incredible, but it'sbecause you've talked to the
people, that it's for Right andyou've learned what they
actually want, instead of justcontinuously guessing and trying
to build more and more and more.
Melissa (27:59):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely Okay, I'm going to do a little
rapid fire with you.
I never do this with anyone,but I just decided that I'm
going to do it and I don't evenreally know what I'm going to
ask you.
Okay, finish the sentence.
The best thing about podcastingis connection with listeners.
If there was one thing I couldget podcast hosts to stop doing,
(28:20):
it would be long-winded intros.
Alex (28:22):
one thing I could get podcast hosts to stop doing.
It would be Long-winded intros.
Melissa (28:33):
That is hilarious, because you and I both know
Emily Aborn and she recorded myintro.
She's like the voice andeverything and she kept doing it
and I kept being like it's toolong, dude, it's too long.
We got it to 30 seconds exactly, so that if anyone wants to
push that 30 second button andjust skip over it, they can do
that, okay.
One thing that I wish morepodcast hosts would do Focus on
(28:55):
adding value instead of tryingto sell.
Okay, last one.
If you are a guest on a podcast, please do not ever leave some
leave something in the hidden,in the background.
Alex (29:08):
Like don't leave something and say, well, if you have to
buy my book, if you want to knowabout that.
Like don't do that.
Lay it all on the table is whatyou should do.
What you shouldn't do is try tohide something and tell people
they need to follow you to learnmore.
Melissa (29:20):
Yes, okay, that was good.
I'm glad I did that.
Alex (29:23):
That was fun, thank you.
I've never done that before.
Melissa (29:25):
Yeah, you're welcome.
It was tricky.
And now, when you're laying inbed at three o'clock this
morning, tomorrow morning,you're going to be like you know
what I should have said.
Alex (29:33):
It's already going to happen.
As soon as I this isn, it'sgoing to be in like 15 minutes
from now and be like you knowwhat.
Melissa (29:41):
No, your answers were great.
So, okay, before we wrap up, Iwant to make sure that people
know the best ways to connectwith you, the best ways to learn
more about what you do.
Obviously, if they are apodcast guest, they're a podcast
host.
They want to be a guest or ahost.
Podmatchcom is the best placeto go.
You have a resource there.
(30:01):
That is, I think, it's likefive ideas to help you grow and
improve your podcast, orsomething like that, right?
Alex (30:08):
Yeah, it's actually podmatchcom forward slash free,
and whether you're a guest host,aspiring guest or host, it'll
give you some ideas very quickly.
It doesn't want your emailaddress or anything like that.
That will help you know kind ofyour next right steps.
And again, whether you're apodcaster now or want to be on
either side of the mic, there'llbe a different link for you to
click.
But it's podmatchcom slash freehas all that information.
Melissa (30:27):
I will put that link in the show notes.
I will link to your podcast inthe show notes because it's
great and I would love everyoneto listen to that.
Definitely go to podmatchcom ifyou're interested in learning
more about being a guest orbeing a host, or being a better
guest or host.
If they want to connect withyou personally, should they find
you on threads.
Is that what we're doing?
These?
Alex (30:47):
days.
Hey, listen, you can that slashpodmatchcom.
Slash free link has a way toconnect with me as well, though,
so, really, any way you reachout, you're going to get me.
I don't have any virtualassistants or anybody checking
any of the frontlinecommunication.
I love to talk to people, soit's me.
If you reach out on threads orwherever you reach out, you're
going to get me, and that's oneof the things I really like to
do.
Melissa (31:06):
Awesome.
Thank you again so much forcoming on the podcast.
This was really really goodinformation and I always love
talking to you because you're mynew bestie now.
Alex (31:14):
Same Well, I really appreciate it.
Thank you again for having meTruly an honor to be on this
podcast You've created.
Hello Alex, Welcome to the Powerful Women Rising
podcast.
Alex (00:05):
Melissa, thank you so much for having me.
It's an honor to be here.
Given what your podcast is andwho it's for, it seriously means
so much to me.
I really, really appreciate you.
Melissa (00:13):
Yeah, I'm super excited to have you as a guest.
We've done, I think, over 90episodes and you're only the
second man to be on the podcast.
Alex (00:21):
Again, I'm honored.
Thank you, I really appreciateit.
Melissa (00:24):
Yes, I'm super excited to talk to you today.
So, before we dive in, telleverybody a little bit about you
and about what you do.
Alex (00:31):
Yeah, sure Again.
My name is Alex Sanfilippo andI've been a podcaster since 2014
.
It took me a minute.
Those numbers start runningtogether right.
So I've been in this space fora long time.
I went full-time with it in2020 when I launched a software
called Podmatch, and Podmatchcomis simply put.
It's a service that connectspodcasts, guests and hosts for
interviews, and the whole ideais to kind of streamline the
(00:52):
process for both sides of thepuzzle while also bringing the
right people together, for lackof a better term.
It works similar to a datingapp I'm told I've never used one
, a dating app but instead ofcatching people for dates, it
connects them for podcastinterviews, and that was sort of
my introduction to going from ahobbyist in the podcasting
space to full time and to thisday.
I mean, it is my passion, Ifeel like it's my purpose.
I just love being in this spaceand giving back any chance I
(01:14):
get.
Melissa (01:14):
Yeah, I actually don't know this answer to this
question, but I'm going to askyou when you started out
podcasting, what was yourpodcast about?
Alex (01:22):
I started, my first one was like a faith-based podcast.
So I happen to be a follower ofJesus and so like I just kind
of dove into my faith a littlebit.
The funny thing is it was a 15minute episode one time per
month and I was literallytalking into my iPhone and at
that like going back to 2014,.
The iPhones weren't what theyare now, so like to give
everyone a little thought here.
But I just fell in love withthe medium.
Like I really enjoyed writing,but it gave me the opportunity
(01:44):
to speak out what I was writingand it just kind of flowed very
naturally.
But yeah, it was a monthlypodcast and that was kind of my
introduction to the space.
Melissa (01:52):
That's awesome.
I never knew that part of thestory, and so you have a podcast
now also.
Alex (01:58):
I do Podcasting Made Simple, correct.
Melissa (02:00):
Love that show and I will give you a little plug for
Podmatch, because I had a goalthis year to do 20 podcast
interviews and I just met withone of my business strategists.
That kind of like keeps me inline with my goals and like
where are we at with this andstuff?
And she's like you've alreadydone five and I was like I know
she's like it's only January.
(02:21):
I'm like I know Podmatch, Ihe's like it's only January.
I'm like I know.
Alex (02:24):
Odd match.
Oh, I love hearing that.
That just makes my day to hear.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate you sharing that.
Melissa (02:28):
Yeah, it's awesome, your coach is going to think,
though.
Alex (02:32):
They're going to start thinking that you're selling
yourself short, so you look likea hero, aren't they?
They're going to make youincrease your goals.
Melissa (02:37):
I know exactly.
Yeah, it's really really greatfor people on both ends people
who are podcast guests andpodcast hosts.
So I want to talk to you todayspecifically about people who
are podcast hosts, and I lovepodcast guesting.
I think, even if you have nodesire to have your own podcast,
(03:00):
being a podcast guest is anamazing way to grow your network
, to get in front of otherpeople's audiences, to maybe
start taking yourself a littlemore seriously as an expert.
I feel like there's a lot oftimes that I go on someone
else's show and they ask me aquestion and I answer it and I'm
like wow did you hear that?
That was really?
Alex (03:15):
really good, right.
Can I get a recording?
I'm so smart, I have been there.
Melissa (03:22):
But I want to focus on people who have their own
podcast or are consideringstarting a podcast, and I want
to start first just by askingyou why you are so passionate
about podcasting.
What is it that you love aboutit?
Alex (03:36):
Yeah, if I can go back to that early date of podcasting,
I'll never forget this.
Somebody emailed me that Ididn't know it was probably six
months into doing that podcastin 2014.
And they just talked about howimpactful it was.
And I don't bring that up to belike, oh, look at Alex, right,
but I actually didn't know.
There was people all around theworld that were listening.
Going back that time, the dataand the analytics that we could
(03:59):
see were even more fuzzy thanthey are now.
They're still not great, butthey were really bad.
And so I just really didn'trealize.
I kind of thought it was justfor me sharing that and I tried
to make it valuable in caseanyone ever heard it.
But I kind of figured friendsand family and they'd just be
like great job, alex, thumbs up,right.
But somebody emailed me andtold me that it was it was
heavily impactful in making areally serious decision in their
(04:19):
life and it kind of changedthings for them.
And at that point I was like,wait, there's something really
special about this medium and atthat point I'd also gone all in
as a podcast listener as welland a little bit of ADD and
stuff like that, and I've always, even as a kid, my mom learned
real quick.
If she wanted me to focus onsomething, she'd throw Legos in
front of me and she'd teach me.
(04:43):
While I just retain betterthrough podcasting when I'm on a
walk, when I'm in the gym, whenI'm cleaning anything that I
might be doing, I just retain itbetter, and so for me it's
become a very intimate medium.
You listen when there's no oneelse around and you kind of
listen it's just you.
There's something so powerfulabout it and that's the reason I
have become so passionate aboutpodcasting is I'm seeing the
(05:03):
impact that it has on listeners'lives.
And yes, I talked about my showbeing a faith-based show, but I
know people that have comedyshows and for some people who
listen to that, that is the onlylaughter they're getting in
their life right now is thesecomedy shows.
So I always tell people don'tsell yourself short on the
category or the focus or thetopic of your show.
It can still really add a lotof value to people who get to
listen to it and for that reasonI'm like I just believe that is
(05:25):
the most powerful form of mediathat we have right now when it
comes to an intimaterelationship with someone who's
listening.
Melissa (05:31):
I love that you say that about it being an intimate
relationship, because I thinkbefore you start doing it, and
sometimes for a while afteryou've started doing it, it
feels very one-sided, like Ijust I just got an email from
somebody today and I'm like you,like I still think, 90 episodes
later, my mom's the only onewho's listening.
And I get an email fromsomebody that I don't even know
(05:52):
and she's like your podcastmakes me laugh every time.
And I'm like okay, but this isnot a comedy podcast, but she's
like I also love your content.
She said something about like Ilove how you ask like
rhetorical questions that wecan't actually answer.
Like sometimes I'm like hi, howis everybody?
Like no one can actually answerme but I like that.
Alex (06:11):
I don't mean to cut you off, I like that.
And when I listened to the showI remember the first episode of
your show I listened to Ilaughed almost immediately.
And yeah, it's not, it's notsupposed to be a comedy podcast,
but I laugh because you bringyour personality to it and I
immediately knew I'm like I likeMelissa, like I know we would
hang out and we'd get alongreally well, right, like, yeah,
I actually liked the rhetoricalstuff, like you bring listeners
into it.
So I didn't mean to cut you off, I just think it's a.
You do a really great job withthis show.
Melissa (06:33):
Thank you, and I think that's part of how you create
that intimate feeling.
Is like we've all listened tothe podcast, where people are
just reading off of their scriptright, even the solo episodes.
It's like I wrote this ahead oftime and now I'm going to read
it to you.
I'm like you can just email itto me and I'll read it myself.
I would actually probably enjoythat better, and so to be able
(06:53):
to bring that part and it'sdefinitely practice, I think I'm
much more myself in theseinterviews than I was in the
beginning.
I listened to some of my earlyinterviews.
I'm like, oh girl, what wereyou doing there?
But I think that's part of howyou create that intimate
relationship with your listeners, even though it is a one-sided
conversation is by not thinkingof it as a one-sided
conversation and really justshowing up to it like you would
(07:16):
a conversation with your friend.
Alex (07:18):
Yeah, to me again.
I think that that's what makesit powerful.
People wanna connect withhumans To your point.
Just email it to me If it'sgoing to sound robotic, if it's
going to not feel human.
People want to connect with apersonality.
I'll never forget, melissa.
The first time I discovered thiswas way later than you.
I think I was over 100 episodesin and it was during COVID.
I interviewed somebody and Ibrought her on and she's like
listen, alex, the whole worldshut down.
(07:40):
I have a newborn baby.
I have no help.
She's going to cry while we'rerecording and I was like it's
all right, we can edit out andpost.
Well, guess what, melissa?
I couldn't edit out and post.
I mean, it was like I told mywife I'm like man, this podcast
is just like not it's so goodthe content, so I'm going to
post it, but I'm like nervousabout it.
I got more compliments, comments, messages, everything about
(08:02):
that episode than anything else,because people said it felt so
human.
Oh, I'm right there too, mykid's at home crying.
I couldn't even tell which kidit was anymore, and so it was
one of those things.
I was like oh wait, people likethe humanity of it and I think
it's important for us to bringthat up really, really fast here
, just because don't have thisperfectionist mindset.
If it's got to be the highestproduction value, highest
quality, like, yes, have somepride in what you do, but don't
(08:25):
forget your humanity in it.
If we want to be perfect, we'llget a robot or an AI to do it.
At this point, right, peoplelike the personality that you
have, and I think that's part ofthe beautiful things of
podcasting.
Melissa (08:34):
Totally agree.
Yeah, there's a lot of stuffthat I would have edited out in
the early days and now I'm justlike, oh, and my dogs are
barking and I live in a circus.
Alex (08:43):
So anyway, blah, blah, blah.
Melissa (08:53):
So let's talk about starting a podcast, because I
you know, you mentioned ADD andI think that is very common
among entrepreneurs and even ifwe don't actually have ADD, we I
find that entrepreneurs areusually people who have like a
hundred great ideas a minute andinevitably one of those great
ideas is I should start apodcast.
And usually it's inspired bysomeone else who has a podcast.
(09:13):
That makes it look super easyand they have like 10,000
downloads and that is going tobe great for us.
So, when people are askingthemselves if they should launch
their own podcast, what aresome of the things that they
should consider?
Alex (09:27):
Yeah, the first thing to think about is that it actually
is a commitment, and at thispoint I named my podcast
Podcasting Made Simple for areason.
I actually believe podcastingis simple, but it's not easy.
Like the path has been laid out, but it's sticking with it that
matters.
And there are so many I meanliterally millions of podcasts
that have one episode, and it'snot because it was supposed to
be one episode.
It's because people are like oh, this was actually work.
(09:49):
And it's not because it wassupposed to be one episode.
It's because people are like oh, this was actually work.
And I always say to that, like,what in life isn't work that's
worth doing?
Right, it's going to take someeffort.
And so for me, step one is justto acknowledge the fact that,
yeah, someone like Melissa mightmake it look really easy, but
you know what it's going to takea commitment, it's going to
take some effort, and because ofthat, that foundational
(10:10):
knowledge then has to be builtupon, and I think the best place
to start is to start with why.
I know that's become a verypopular term, right, Like we
start with why, but really Ithink that you need to be able
to have a deep purpose andmeaning behind a podcast.
The people that I meet that, oh,I started a podcast just to
start one.
They're typically gone prettyquick and it's not because
they're quitters or anythinglike that.
(10:30):
They just realize like, oh, Idon't, like I don't, why am I
doing this?
This is painful, I'm out ofhere, Right.
And I always, like I alwaysthought why I use the word
purpose.
And if you go back to theoriginal Greek, the word purpose
actually means or sorry, theword passion, so that thing
about passion.
So purpose and passion, butpassion actually means suffering
and not that you're going tosuffer.
But I always like to tellpeople like, hey, listen, if
(10:50):
you're passionate about this andyou have a purpose behind it,
you're going to be willing tosay you know what.
I might have a late night ortwo to keep this going, but I
know why I'm doing it.
So I always tell people againacknowledge the work, but then
immediately go make a why for it, Like what is the real reason?
And then the last thing I'llshare in that point, Melissa, is
(11:15):
to also create an avatar, whichjust means a fictitious, ideal
listener.
So in your mind, who is itthat's going to be listening to
this show and create a story forthat person.
It can be fictitious.
For me, I have an avatar I'vebeen using since the beginning
and his name is Adam.
I know how old Adam is, I knowwhere he works, I know what he
does because it ties directlyback to my why.
But it gives me like a person tothink about, and so I asked
myself is Adam going to miss myepisode tomorrow if I can't
finish it?
Yeah, he is.
(11:35):
He relies on this, I know that.
And so those things, I thinkare the very first thing at the
foundational level we need to do.
And if someone who's hearingthis says I don't know if I have
all that, then maybe giveyourself the freedom not to
start a podcast.
Maybe start as a guest if youjust want to explore it a little
bit.
But I think we got to do thisbefore we do anything else.
Melissa (11:53):
Yeah, that's great advice.
I do think the podcast guestingis a good place to start
because I think you can get afeel for what actually goes into
it.
Obviously, you're not going tosee all the behind the scenes,
but you're at least going to getan idea of how it feels to show
up and talk and talk and talkevery week or every other week
or whatever you want to do.
I think something, too, thatwas important for me that got me
(12:17):
to actually start the podcast.
I had a podcast with my firstbusiness.
I was a dating and relationshipcoach.
I had a podcast called lovestarts here and I did about 85
episodes of that one.
And when I was trying to decideif I wanted to have a podcast
for this business, I wanted todo I was only doing interviews
first of all, because that'swhat I like to do.
(12:38):
And then I hired a podcast coachand she was like okay, stop
doing only interviews, you'vegot to do some solo episodes,
like people want to hear you.
And I was so caught up on this,like I don't have 20, 30
minutes worth of stuff to talkabout every week, how am I going
to come up with 30 minutesworth of stuff to talk about all
by myself, and then, all of asudden I was like who said it
(12:59):
had to be 30 minutes?
I don't know where I got thisfrom.
Like, sometimes I just show upand I talk for seven minutes.
Sometimes I show up and I thinkI'm going to talk for seven
minutes and I talk for 25minutes.
Like you really can make itwhat you want to make it and it
doesn't have to be.
I think sometimes, too, wethink it has to be about
something that is going to be ofinterest to a ton of people.
(13:22):
Right, were you the one thattold me the story about the
woman with the birdwatching?
Alex (13:27):
Yes, yeah, yeah, share that, please.
I don't.
Melissa (13:30):
I'll probably completely screw it up, cause I
think I heard it like five yearsago, but I remember you telling
a story about a woman whowanted to start a podcast that
was about like birdwatching inthe Western hemisphere,
birdwatching in the Midwest, orsomething there are not.
(13:52):
People like that is so specificthat there's not going to be
enough people out there thatwant to listen to it.
But what she actuallydiscovered correct me if I'm
telling this story somewhatwrong is that it was so specific
that the people who did want toknow about that stuff found her
podcast and it was like exactlywhat they were looking for and
it actually had the oppositeeffect.
She created this very loyalfollowing and this very intimate
(14:14):
community of people who wereall interested in this specific
thing.
So it doesn't have to be atopic that is like we're going
to talk about skin becauseeveryone has it right.
It can be, and sometimes it'sbetter if it's something very
specific like that.
Alex (14:29):
I think it almost always is, and you shared that story
exactly right.
And I've got a new one that Ijust recently heard.
I met a guy and he sellsinsurance for truckers and his
podcast is an insurance fortruckers podcast and I knew that
it was doing well without eventalking to him.
I'm like, as soon as he said,I'm like I know this podcast is
doing exceptionally well andpeople are like wait, does
anyone even listen to that?
(14:50):
He's like a few hundred people.
I'm like you're making high sixfigures of a few hundred people
are listening.
He's like, yeah, I do.
And guess why?
Because everyone who's lookingfor insurance is a trucker.
They're on the road and they'relistening to his podcast.
I'm like that's who I'm goingto hire to get my next insurance
.
And people are like how are youmaking money doing?
I'm of the niche right, likeactually really standing for
(15:17):
something.
And I think again, when you goback to that, why in that avatar
everyone is really specific.
There's something that they'rereally struggling with that you
know you can help them with.
Here's the thing I actuallylike going to the gym and
working out.
But my podcast isn't aboutpodcasting and working out
because I know I can't reallyoffer the best of me for you
through that right.
I know that podcasting is whereI can really really help, so I
just focus on that one thing andI think many of us are like
well, I really like fitnesspodcasting, sports and this.
(15:37):
So it's a fitness sportspodcast about podcasting and
getting fit right.
Like we just go so broad thatpeople can't even see themselves
anymore, because that's not thepain point that they would look
to you to be able to solve.
Melissa (15:47):
Yeah, absolutely, that's brilliant.
Alex (16:08):
So one of the things that I've heard you say too is that
it's important if you have apodcast to.
I think that too many of us welook for the silver bullet to
downloads and people want thatquick fix.
Like how do I make the nextviral post on on any of the
social media platforms?
Right, I know you and I both weboth have a mutual love for for
threads.
(16:28):
Right now it seems to be like areally, like you said, a
positive place and I like thatand uh, so, on threads like how
do I make that next big viralpost, it gets seen by tens of
thousands of people.
So my podcast grows.
And the real reality is thathappens for some of us sometimes
I should actually say for veryfew of us occasionally is what
that will happen for, and somany people are holding on to
(16:49):
that moment that they kind of doaway with any sort of
day-to-day rhythm to build theirpodcast.
Instead, they just keep onsaying what can I do?
That's going to go viral.
So my show grows and I'll sharesome stats here real quick.
I'm actually going to pullthese up on my screen.
I'm not doing like a screenshare or anything like that.
So if you're hearing this,don't worry, you're not missing
anything, but I does want to seewhat I'm sharing.
(17:09):
Podmatchcom forward slashreport is where we do a monthly
industry report, and I'm pullingthis up for a specific reason,
and here's why.
If you have 28 people listeningto your podcast in the first
seven days of a new episode sofirst week new episode comes out
, 28 people listening you're inthe top half of all podcasts.
If you want to be in the top25% of all podcasts, it's 111
(17:31):
people listening that firstseven days, and so I'll just use
that number as an example Top25 percentile, 111 days.
When I say do things that don'tscale every day, a suggestion I
make to podcasters is to findsomebody who's searching for
your podcast but doesn't know itexists yet.
Go to a website like Threadsand if someone's like hey, I'm
really having trouble, go to awebsite like Threads and if
someone's like, hey, I'm reallyhaving trouble, I'm having
(17:51):
trouble losing my baby weight, Ijust had my third kid, right,
join that conversation.
Don't say episode alert, thisis going to help you.
Say hey, listen, I was thereonce.
Or my guest was there once,like I talked to someone.
I think this would be reallyvaluable for you.
Would you mind if I sharesomething with you?
That a conversation I had withsomebody?
Most people are going to say,yes, and here's the thing Now
you've built a fan, thatperson's going to listen to your
(18:11):
podcast.
They're probably going to staywith it because they're going to
be like you know what the hostreached out to me directly about
this episode.
They're going to really beappreciative.
If you do that for 111 daysstraight or take weekends off,
whatever it is right Puts you inthe top 25 percentile of all
podcasts.
Not many people are willing tothat, though.
They even hear they hear me saythat and they're like oh, I'd
rather just try for the viralposts, right, right, I don't
(18:31):
know if those days ever come andthat's one of the things that I
believe in doing that itdoesn't really scale right.
You can't do more than that.
But every day go out therelooking for the person that you
most serve.
Two things happen.
Your show does grow, but twoyou get better at understanding
what the person you serve isactually looking for because
you're putting yourself on thefront lines of it, and that's
how you actually make a bettershow over time as well.
Melissa (18:52):
That's brilliant and that's why another one of many
reasons you and I are gonna bebest friends because that's one
of the things that I talk abouta lot when it comes to
networking too is, like it's notthat sexy to sell, like
networking is a long game.
You're not gonna show up to thenetworking event and meet 10
people and get their businesscards and now they're all your
like best power partners andyou're referring to each other
(19:14):
and you're making all this moneytogether and collaborate.
Like it's not going to happen.
And we love the online businesscoach.
That's like for $5,000, I'lltell you how I made $9 million
in 90 seconds.
And like, of course, that'sappealing.
Like I've paid her $5,000.
I want to know how to make $9million in 90 seconds and if I
can make $9 million in 90seconds versus this other lady,
(19:37):
that's like I can teach you howto network and you can grow your
business in one to five years.
Like, okay, I'm going to gowith the 90 second lady, but I
love what you're saying becausethat really is the recipe for
sustainable growth, right?
It's like I know several peoplewho have gone viral and then
it's like and then what happened?
(19:57):
Right, but if you're doing it.
The way that you're talkingabout you are actually.
You actually are networkingright, because you're connecting
with other humans.
You're building those genuinerelationships, you're providing
value to people.
That's what networking is andthat's how it's going to become
sustainable and continue to likemultiply on itself, as opposed
(20:18):
to like overnight you got ahundred thousand views and then
nothing else happened after that.
Alex (20:24):
Yeah, I think that would.
I've never had that happen andI think I'd actually find that
pretty defeating if it couldn'tbe a repeatable process.
Right, if it just was every dayfor the rest of my life, great.
But repeating that process, Ithink I'd feel like I've hit my
prime and now I'm past it, and Idon't know.
Melissa (20:37):
It's all downhill from here.
Alex (20:39):
Yeah, it's all downhill.
I don't know if I.
I just don't know if I wouldlike that personally.
Yeah.
Melissa (20:44):
Yeah, that's great advice.
So if somebody is working ontheir own and I've done it both
ways I've had a podcast editor,I've been my own editor way more
times than I've had a podcasteditor.
But what do you recommend forpeople who maybe are already in
(21:06):
podcasting and it is feelingvery overwhelming to keep up
with coming up with episodes,editing their episodes,
uploading their episodes,writing their show notes, doing
all of the things without a teamto help them?
Alex (21:17):
Yeah, if a team's not an option and you're like I've got
to do this alone right now, Irespect that.
That was me for the first fiveyears, or maybe four years, of
my podcast, something like that,and it's a grind.
But I'll tell you what Irespect those individuals who do
it because they're again.
They're the ones showing thatlike, hey, yes, this is simple,
but it's not easy, but I'msticking with it, and they're
typically the ones that havesome big purpose or passion
behind their podcast or acombination.
(21:37):
So I liked it.
We're talking about this and Ithink the first thing we have to
look at is what.
What I had to do, and it wasthis.
I hit this point, melissa, whereI felt like I was looking at
some of the greats in podcasting, seeing everything they do with
their podcast.
Their production value was toptier, every social media post
was top tier, beautifultranscript, all these different
things right, like every elementyou could ever imagine, and I
(22:00):
was comparing myself to that.
And the problem with doing thatis it's us comparing our day
one to someone else's year 20.
If you scroll back to when someof these individuals got
started and look at what they'redoing Amy Porterfield is a
great example.
I love Amy Porterfield.
They do an incredible job.
When I go back to how shestarted and look at it, it was
(22:25):
just random posts with typos init, right Like.
But I don't look at that.
I look at where that individualis now, and so for us, I think
we first and foremost need togive ourselves permission to not
be perfect, to just say this isthe best I can do today at a
high level, instead of spreadingourselves thin and just being
okay at a bunch of differentthings.
The fact about podcasting isthe only thing that's required
to be a podcaster is toconsistently release
value-adding episodes for yourlisteners to listen to.
You don't have to do anythingelse.
(22:46):
You don't have to have awebsite.
You don't have to have socialmedia.
You don't have to have any ofthat.
I'm not telling you not to.
I'm just saying the best thingyou might be able to do is these
three things.
This is like the core of what Idecided Automate, delegate,
eliminate, automate.
Is there any way that I can putthis on autopilot where I can
let my hosting provider scheduleit?
I happen to use Buzzsprout andBuzzsprout allows me to schedule
in advance.
I don't have to go back andtouch it once it's done.
(23:06):
Right, I was able to automatethat process.
Delegate.
Is there any way I can movethis onto a team member?
Can a spouse help me?
Is there anything I can do?
And if both these things are noand this is usually the right
answer is to eliminate.
The example I'll give isInstagram is where I was wasting
wasting all of my time at thatpoint.
Instagram has never been myfavorite platform, but I felt
like I had to make these reallyhigh polished pictures of my
(23:28):
guests with these like elaboratestories, and they were getting
no traction at all.
And I remember telling my wifeI'm like what if we just stop?
And she's like I don't know,will people still listen?
I'm like I don't know.
So we stopped and guess whatMore people were listening to
the podcast after that, weirdlyenough, because I was focused in
places that actually weremoving the needle and I freed up
(23:49):
an hour of my time every weekby doing that one thing.
If you're podcasting byyourself, you have to make
really hard decisions to do thethings that move the needle most
, not what you think you have todo because of everyone else
that you've looked at.
Melissa (23:59):
Such good advice.
Yeah, yeah, and I think we wantto do all the things,
especially when we see everyoneelse doing all of the things,
and I like what you said, too,about like it really takes very
little to get started, and Ithink that's true with so many
things in entrepreneurship andwe get so in our head for so
many reasons.
We find great reasons to stall,Like I can't do that because I
(24:23):
don't have a website, and Ican't do that because I don't
have a call to action yet Idon't have anything to sell them
and I don't have this.
And you, most of the time,don't need any of the things
that you think that you need.
You just need to get started.
Alex (24:35):
Yeah, yeah.
The more human you are in thatprocess, the more people want to
connect.
I mean, I mean, listen, the thepowerful and rising community
that you have is is beautifullydone at this point.
I'm sure it started with youand a couple of people just
meeting and being like, wow,maybe we should open this up,
right?
It wasn't like hold on now,don't tell anyone.
We got to build out all thisstuff first, like and I don't
know the full story, melissa,but I imagine at some point
(24:57):
something organic happened thatkind of sparked that.
Instead of sitting back like somany of us saying, okay, these
are the 35 things I have to havebefore I can press go, I think
it's just better to be human,just go and say you know what?
Do you want to do this moreregularly?
How about if I add an extra dayto my podcast?
Does everyone really like it?
Let's try it and see whathappens.
I think being curious and justbeing willing to allow the
journey to happen is where thereal beauty and the real joy is
(25:21):
actually found, and it's whatresonates with other people.
Melissa (25:24):
Yeah, and that's really the only way that you make
progress.
I mean, I've told this story acouple of times on the podcast,
I think but when I launched thePowerful Women Rising community,
I did like a founding memberlaunch.
I had like 36 members, I think,and they all paid for six
months in advance.
And at the end of the sixmonths, three of them signed on
to continue and I was likesomething has happened.
(25:44):
Why are three of 36 wanting tokeep going?
And I really had to like I tooka couple months off just to kind
of like regroup.
I went through all theirfeedback, I figured out what was
working, what wasn't working.
Why did these three decide tostay?
Why did the other 33 decide notto stay?
And I almost completelyrevamped what was involved in
(26:08):
the Powerful Women Risingcommunity, what was part of the
offering, what wasn't part ofthe offering anymore and
relaunched it in October, 10months after I had done the
founding member launch.
And I like to share that storybecause I think, like you said,
we look at people's, we compareour day one to other people's
day 20.
Like, I have a very successfulmembership community now and I
(26:31):
get people all the time that arelike teach me how do I have a
membership community?
I'm like you start one and it'sterrible, and then you change
some things, Like that's justhow you do it, and I think
that's part of entrepreneurshipthat we probably don't talk
about enough.
Alex (26:47):
But I think it's important , I agree, and in podcasting
it's the same thing.
The show that I thought I wascreating when I launched there
was a show between my first oneand the one I have now called
Creating a Brand, and what Ithought it was going to be was
completely wrong.
I mean, it was like it was inentrepreneurship, so it wasn't
completely wrong.
But like I was way off and, uh,I didn't know until I started
(27:09):
it, and I think a lot of peoplewant to say, oh, that was all a
waste of time.
No, I would have never beenable to hit the right target if
I didn't know where it was.
I discovered it by gettingstarted and trying something.
The key, though, most of whatyou just said, it's the same
thing with our, with withpodcasting.
Talk to the people that you'reserving.
Find out why I think a lot ofpeople in that scenario we're
(27:30):
only three converted.
They'd be like, okay, well then, I need 3000 people in the next
round, so they all convert more, and that's conventional wisdom
.
It's like, oh, you just needmore then.
But the better way to do thatis to get on a call and say, why
Not, because I want you to bethere, but what could we do?
What needs to change?
And now, like you said, youhave a very like.
It is thriving.
The community that you built,the entire brand that you've
(27:50):
built, is incredible, but it'sbecause you've talked to the
people, that it's for Right andyou've learned what they
actually want, instead of justcontinuously guessing and trying
to build more and more and more.
Melissa (27:59):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely Okay, I'm going to do a little
rapid fire with you.
I never do this with anyone,but I just decided that I'm
going to do it and I don't evenreally know what I'm going to
ask you.
Okay, finish the sentence.
The best thing about podcastingis connection with listeners.
If there was one thing I couldget podcast hosts to stop doing,
(28:20):
it would be long-winded intros.
Alex (28:22):
one thing I could get podcast hosts to stop doing.
It would be Long-winded intros.
Melissa (28:33):
That is hilarious, because you and I both know
Emily Aborn and she recorded myintro.
She's like the voice andeverything and she kept doing it
and I kept being like it's toolong, dude, it's too long.
We got it to 30 seconds exactly, so that if anyone wants to
push that 30 second button andjust skip over it, they can do
that, okay.
One thing that I wish morepodcast hosts would do Focus on
(28:55):
adding value instead of tryingto sell.
Okay, last one.
If you are a guest on a podcast, please do not ever leave some
leave something in the hidden,in the background.
Alex (29:08):
Like don't leave something and say, well, if you have to
buy my book, if you want to knowabout that.
Like don't do that.
Lay it all on the table is whatyou should do.
What you shouldn't do is try tohide something and tell people
they need to follow you to learnmore.
Melissa (29:20):
Yes, okay, that was good.
I'm glad I did that.
Alex (29:23):
That was fun, thank you.
I've never done that before.
Melissa (29:25):
Yeah, you're welcome.
It was tricky.
And now, when you're laying inbed at three o'clock this
morning, tomorrow morning,you're going to be like you know
what I should have said.
Alex (29:33):
It's already going to happen.
As soon as I this isn, it'sgoing to be in like 15 minutes
from now and be like you knowwhat.
Melissa (29:41):
No, your answers were great.
So, okay, before we wrap up, Iwant to make sure that people
know the best ways to connectwith you, the best ways to learn
more about what you do.
Obviously, if they are apodcast guest, they're a podcast
host.
They want to be a guest or ahost.
Podmatchcom is the best placeto go.
You have a resource there.
(30:01):
That is, I think, it's likefive ideas to help you grow and
improve your podcast, orsomething like that, right?
Alex (30:08):
Yeah, it's actually podmatchcom forward slash free,
and whether you're a guest host,aspiring guest or host, it'll
give you some ideas very quickly.
It doesn't want your emailaddress or anything like that.
That will help you know kind ofyour next right steps.
And again, whether you're apodcaster now or want to be on
either side of the mic, there'llbe a different link for you to
click.
But it's podmatchcom slash freehas all that information.
Melissa (30:27):
I will put that link in the show notes.
I will link to your podcast inthe show notes because it's
great and I would love everyoneto listen to that.
Definitely go to podmatchcom ifyou're interested in learning
more about being a guest orbeing a host, or being a better
guest or host.
If they want to connect withyou personally, should they find
you on threads.
Is that what we're doing?
These?
Alex (30:47):
days.
Hey, listen, you can that slashpodmatchcom.
Slash free link has a way toconnect with me as well, though,
so, really, any way you reachout, you're going to get me.
I don't have any virtualassistants or anybody checking
any of the frontlinecommunication.
I love to talk to people, soit's me.
If you reach out on threads orwherever you reach out, you're
going to get me, and that's oneof the things I really like to
do.
Melissa (31:06):
Awesome.
Thank you again so much forcoming on the podcast.
This was really really goodinformation and I always love
talking to you because you're mynew bestie now.
Alex (31:14):
Same Well, I really appreciate it.
Thank you again for having meTruly an honor to be on this
podcast You've created.
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