July 21, 2025 • 38 mins
Adam Schaeuble shares his journey from fitness entrepreneur to successful podcaster, revealing how he built a thriving online business from scratch after making just $37 in his first three years of podcasting. He breaks down his strategic transition process while maintaining two businesses simultaneously until his podcast generated enough income to become his full-time focus.
• Only worked for someone else for one month of his life, starting entrepreneurial ventures from early childhood
• Built a successful gym business with 35 employees and over 500 clients before discovering podcasting
• Recorded his first podcast episodes on GarageBand in 2015 without knowing how to publish them
• Struggled for three years making just $37 total from affiliate marketing on his podcast
• Created a breakthrough with a $37 fitness challenge that generated nearly $4,000 in revenue
• Implemented "electric fence" scheduling to manage both businesses until transitioning full-time to podcasting in 2019
• Uses a specific two-thirds content rule: position yourself as the expert through solo and coaching episodes
• Recommends strategic podcast naming that includes searchable keywords your ideal clients are using
• Advises focusing on solving other people's problems first, which naturally solves your financial problems
• Emphasizes that podcasting remains "fresh and fertile ground" with only 10% of launched podcasts staying active
Check out Adam's Podcasting Business School podcast to learn more about monetizing your podcast and turning it into a client-generating machine.
Thanks for listening & being part of the Mindset Cafe Community.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yeah, it's Mindset Cafe.
We all about that mindset.
Gotta stay focused.
Now go settle for the last.
It's all in your head how youthink you manifest.
So get ready to rise, cause weabout to be the best.
Gotta switch it up.
Gotta break the old habits.
Get your mind right.
Turn your dreams into habits.
No negative vibes, onlypositive thoughts.
(00:20):
What is up, guys?
Welcome to another episode ofthe Mindset Cafe podcast.
It's your boy, devin.
And today we got a special guest, a true powerhouse in the
podcasting world, adam Shibley.
He is an online business coachfor podcasters.
He is the host of the top 100ranked podcast business school
(00:41):
and he has honestly been inpodcasting since 2015.
So when podcasting really justkind of started taking a turn
and making its way to thenetwork.
So he's recorded over athousand episodes and amassed
over a million downloads.
Honestly, I'm excited to diveinto just the mindset of you
know, creating a podcast and youknow the mindset of once you
know a business owner hascreated a podcast like getting
(01:01):
over that hump of hearing yourown voice.
A business owner has created apodcast like getting over that
hump of hearing your own voice.
Essentially, what is the nowradio right?
And in that whole nervousness,you know, behind starting a
podcast and so forth.
But without further ado, adam,thank you so much for taking the
time out of your day.
Yeah, devin.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Hey, I enjoyed that intro.
Was that you singing on thatLike a little autotune action or
like?
Yeah no, no, not at all, I'mnot not, not even in the shower.
Do I sound that good?
I like it, though I was gettinggetting in the in the rhythm
over here.
I'm ready to rock now.
My brain, my mindset, is readyto go so let's dive in.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
I mean let's, let's rewind.
You know when?
Why did you get into podcasting?
What was your?
You know?
Come up, because I know you hadan entrepreneurial background.
What was your?
What was your childhood like?
What was your?
Come up into theentrepreneurial space first.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Yeah, I mean, growing up I was always kind of built
with that entrepreneurialmindset.
I didn't like working for otherpeople like straight up, since,
like kindergarten, first grade,I would round up my buddies and
we create little businesses inthe neighborhood, whether it's
like some kind of like ice creamtruck hustle.
We'd let people know when, likethe ice cream trucks come in.
(02:10):
We're on walkie talkies and wealert the kids.
You know, for a small fee, uh,we'd alert the kids that, uh,
you know the ice cream truck wascoming down their street next.
Uh, we made like homemade cardsand stuff and we'll go door to
door selling these homemadecards.
I'd, I'd, you know, supply, allthe stuff.
I'd get my cut out of mydistribution channel.
This is like six, six years old, seven years old, eight years
(02:31):
old, you know lawn care, allthat stuff.
I've only worked for someoneelse for one month of my life.
I bagged groceries for onemonth while I was in high school
.
I was like this is terrible.
Never doing this again, uh, andI've never worked for anybody
ever since that point, I've justbeen a wild entrepreneurial
stallion and running the planes.
(02:51):
But yeah, podcasting was reallyexciting to me.
Back in 2013, I startedlistening to podcasts.
I owned a gym and had a verysuccessful gym.
I launched a boot camp programaround that 2011, 2012 time span
.
That became really reallypopular, Grew my gym really
(03:13):
quickly to the point where allof a sudden, I had 35 employees
and 500 plus clients.
We were doing 100 person bootcamps month after month and
really doing well with it.
People were like you shouldfranchise this.
I was like I don't know if Iwant to be in charge of more
things and more people.
That doesn't really vibe withmy personality or my life goals,
but I do like helping morepeople.
(03:34):
So let's maybe look at thispodcast idea and let's start a
health or a weight loss basedpodcast, kind of in alignment
with what we teach at the gym,what I teach at the fitness
facilities.
That's kind of how I gotlaunched in the space initially.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
No, I mean that's, that's awesome, and I mean being
both in the fitness space andyou having that background.
I think that was one of thethings we were really connected
with, you know, when we firsthad spoken.
And, you know, having that,that realization too, right,
cause, you know, selling yourgym and transitioning, people
think that when you start off onone career path, even in
entrepreneurship, like you haveto stay on that path.
(04:11):
Right, and you're, you're atestament to, you can pivot at
any point.
Right, you, it's uncomfortable,right, there's going to be
growing pains, but if you'rewilling to go through those
pains and learn something new,then the world is endless of,
you know, full of possibilities.
Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
I think.
Well, let's put it in thisperspective I graduated college
in 2003.
Podcasting didn't exist in 2003.
And now I'm a full-timepodcaster, like within 16 years
of graduating college.
I was a full-time podcaster,which was an industry that did
not even exist.
(04:48):
So, like I look at my son nowhe's getting ready to start high
school I'm like just learn asmuch as you can Find what you're
passionate about, becausetechnology evolves.
You will be like ateleportation expert or
something who knows what isgoing to.
You may maybe a time travelingboss of something I don't know.
So I think me I've always beendriven by impact.
(05:11):
And how can I create income viaimpact and create the lifestyle
and build the lifestyle that Iwant?
So podcasting was really,really attractive to me.
Yeah, pivoting that's.
One of the superpowers of beinga small business owner is that
I wasn't a franchise of anybody.
You know, as a podcaster, Iremain independent.
I get invited to be a part ofnetworks all the time.
(05:32):
I get hit by sponsors all thetime.
I tell them all no because Iwant control of everything.
So I can pivot and do what Iwant to do and sell what I want
to do and build the businessbrand that I want to build.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
No, and I think that's awesome, and I mean, I
know a lot of podcasters that dodo it for the sponsors and it's
not that it's wrong or anything.
I completely understand it.
Like, for even for us, like youknow, my main thing is just
giving back right and and beingable to have full control of
what I want to talk about when Iwant to talk about it, and so I
think that's awesome thatyou've stayed true to that.
(06:03):
You know for you and your owncore values of like, look, I
want to be in control.
I don't want anyone telling mewhat I can't say or can say, not
that you're saying anything bad, but it's.
It's just that ability to havethe freedom to pivot, transition
, move, do what you want to do.
So what I mean, what was thatinitial phase like for you
getting into the podcast space,especially with it not being
what it is today?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
dude, it was super hard.
Like it's difficult now fordifferent reasons, but back then
there weren't all like theyoutube videos and online
courses and all the coaches andeverything.
I just knew I listened topodcasts.
I'm like I think I could impactpeople in this medium.
Let's try out.
And I figured out how to recordstuff just on GarageBand on my
(06:46):
Mac, my MacBook Air, my 2000,whatever MacBook Air just a war
horse of a machine.
That thing lasted me almost 20years.
I'm like this is a greatcomputer, but anyway, I recorded
like seven episodes onGarageBand.
I'm like, okay, I got this part.
I had no idea how to make it goon Apple Podcasts.
That was the only thing thatexisted.
There wasn't like Spotify,wasn't even around or anything.
(07:07):
So I had heard that there wasan insurance agent in my
hometown that had a podcast andI was like I got to find this
guy.
So I scheduled an appointment.
He thinks he's going to sell meinsurance and all I want to do
is hit him up about how to makemy audio go on Apple podcast and
he showed me.
I eventually bought someinsurance from him down the road
for my fitness business.
But that was like the hardestthing ever like trying to figure
(07:29):
out how do I make my words gointo Apple podcast.
And once I figured that out,you know I just got into the
cadence of all.
Right now we just need to getweekly episodes going and I
tried some different stuff veryinterview heavy, some solo
episodes.
But to sum up, my first threeyears like 2015, 16 and 17, I
(07:50):
tried a lot of stuff.
Nothing really worked.
Hardly anybody was listening,like the growth wasn't happening
and I had earned a total of $37in the first three years and
that was from a four sigmaticmushroom coffee affiliate link.
Um, I made 37 total dollars.
So I was like I was thinking,like most podcasters do they get
in and they they do what theirpodcasting heroes do.
(08:14):
Like I was listening to certainshows, like tim ferris show.
I'm like, oh, he talks aboutfour sigmatic, I'm gonna talk
about four sigmatic.
I don't make so much money.
Athletic greens let me get someof that.
Cash.
Me undies, let me get some.
My piggy bank Like.
None of that worked for mebecause I was starting at a
completely different brand level.
Tim Ferriss has a huge brand,huge email list, huge social
media following, bestsellingauthor, all these high level
(08:36):
connections.
I was starting from a pointthat I call a triple zero, zero
social media following a zero,zero subscribers to my show and
zero email list.
That's a different brandpositioning level and we have to
monetize and grow in adifferent way, and I eventually
figured that out and thingsstarted taking off after those
initial three years.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
So I mean, that's where people don't realize that
there's a threshold in a lot ofthings and you didn't just burn
the bridges and burn the boatsand dive into podcasting.
I mean, you just mentionedright now like you were
podcasting and you, you knowfrom you learned from the
insurance guy you boughtinsurance for, from your, for
your gym, meaning that you stillhad your gym, you're still
(09:17):
operating that while you werekind of playing around with this
new thing, right.
So what was that transition,you know, made you want to stop
with the gym and go full intopodcasting.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
So I think the more I got into podcasting, the more I
saw like, all right, a fewpeople are starting to listen.
I see the potential really inin 2018,.
I tried an experiment.
I was like, all right, theaffiliate link sponsorship thing
not really working, let's try apaid online, a paid challenge.
(09:52):
And so I'm like I'm going to doa three-day fitness-based
challenge that's free and thenI'm going to sell a $37, 28-day
extension of that challenge.
Let's see what happens.
So I promoted the three-day freething on my show to my meager
social media following and myvery meager email list.
And I promoted the three-dayfree thing on my show to my
meager social media followingand my very meager email list
and I was like, okay, I'm gonnado this free fitness challenge.
I'm gonna show up live onFacebook live.
(10:13):
This is but the one advantage Ihave.
This is like the beginning ofFacebook live.
Think about like how long agothat was.
And I was doing.
I had no fear of just throwingmy phone in my face, going live
and let's see what happens.
And I was doing.
I had no fear of just throwingmy phone in my face, going live
and let's see what happens.
And everyone's like, oh, it'sso nerve wracking I'm like hell,
no, I can do this.
So I would go live.
People were into it.
And then the last day I go hey,if you want to keep doing this
(10:35):
for 28 more days, it's 37 bucks.
And I had, um, I ended upselling like almost a hundred of
those.
I was almost $4,000.
I was like, okay, first threeyears I made $37.
And the reason I priced it $37,course, was because I've made a
total of $37.
Let's charge $37 and see if Ican double my income that I've
(10:56):
made in the first three years.
So I sold about a hundred ofthem, made $3,700, something.
I was like, all right, thatworked and people liked it and
they started going.
Well, what's next?
Like how can we keep workingwith you?
So I developed a membership.
I was like now I can keepcoaching you, keep inspiring you
, mentoring you.
For I think I charged like $47a month.
Eventually that membershipended up being about $97 a month
(11:19):
.
Then I started doing thesechallenges and the next one I
did I go same program, sameprotocol, let's charge 97
instead.
And I sold 140 something.
I made 14 000 in three days.
On that one I was like, okay,this is something is happening
here so that and at the sametime, still have my gym doing
everything 35 employees, 500clients, blah blah.
(11:41):
So I had two kind of full-timejobs is what I was doing,
basically.
But one of the smartest moves Imade was I started putting like
an electric fence around myschedule for podcast time and
online business time.
It wasn't just like meltedNeapolitan ice cream of just
everything all mixed together.
It was like really definedtimes and flavors there and as
(12:02):
that online business started tomake more money, I started to
fence off more of my time towhere.
Starting off, it was like threehours on every Tuesday and then
became half a day on Tuesday.
Then it became every Tuesday,then it became Tuesday and
Thursday and I started to seethe light of leverage and I was
like I think, if I caneventually go full time in the
(12:23):
online space, I was putting inso many hours, man, and you know
how it is with fitness.
Like we work when other peopledon't work, so I'm getting up at
3 am to set up boot campclasses at my gym for the 530 am
class and then I got to bearound making sure the 7 pm
class is going off without ahitch and doing all these boot
camp things going off without ahitch and doing all these
(12:47):
bootcamp things.
So I was like I think I canwork like and like way less than
40 hours, just do an onlinebusiness.
And that was very attractive tome.
With two young children, I waslike I want to be around for
them.
So that why started to develop,uh, to the point where I'm like
, all right, this is now thegoal.
Like I want to replace myincome, get to a point where I
feel secure.
Sell the business, sell thefitness business, go full-time
(13:08):
into podcasting and that came tofruition at the end of 2019,
right before the pandemic hitand all the gyms went crazy
anyway, so good timing there,but yeah, that's when it
actually happened.
I sold my gym in 2019.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Oh, I mean that's awesome.
And I mean like 20, you got tothink so.
Timeline 2013,.
You know, listen to podcast2015,.
You know, really starting todive into and really you know
making it a thing.
Four years of recording andtrying things out and testing
things out.
People think that a pivothappens and you know the next
(13:41):
day you're already on the pathto success.
It's like it takes time.
You know, in any, in any areaof life, it takes effort, it
takes, you know, kind of pushingthrough that barrier of
discomfort and of essentially nogrowth.
Sometimes you know making 37,you're just like, oh, wow, like
I didn't really make much rightand it's like, but then it's
(14:04):
like, okay, well, I didn't makemuch doing that.
What else can I tweak, alter,modify, add to?
You know, start to actuallymake this a thing.
And that's when you test stuffout and play with stuff.
I still think that the one hardthing with podcasting is unlike
social media even though Iguess it kind of is social media
but unlike traditional socialmedia you can't just like boost
(14:27):
an episode right, and that's theone thing is like to grow an
audience like you have to bekind of strategic, you have to
put yourself out there.
So the first part of myquestion to you is I know you
said it wasn't an issue for youright, going live, right.
But that first podcast episode,episode when you're going to
record your voice and you knowpeople are going to hear it you
(14:49):
don't know how many people aregoing to hear it what went
through your mind in thatinitial recording or planning of
recording?
Speaker 2 (14:57):
I think one of the key things was my mindset.
Um, I don't know why.
I mean, this was like one ofthe smartest things that I ever
thought.
I did a lot dumb things, I dida lot of things wrong when I
launched, but this was a greatmindset to have.
I was like, okay, this firstepisode, this is the least
amount of people that will everhear me, so I'm not going to
stress out about this one LikeI'm more worried about episode
(15:19):
500 or 300, because thenhopefully lots of people are
listening in.
So I just went in.
I'm like, okay, I'm going tobring energy and education.
It was a solo episode.
I just kind of taught, told mystory.
At that time I had my storypretty well dialed in.
I was like you know, I used toweigh 327 pounds.
I went on a journey.
I lost over a hundred pounds.
(15:39):
Then I started my bootcampprogram where I've helped over
you know however many peoplelose 100 pounds in my hometown
community lost 35,000 pounds infive years.
Like this whole thing, likethis whole transformation story.
Now I'm helping other people,now it's your turn.
Here's what we're talking abouton this show.
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
So I just kind of did that andI was used to talking in front
of people because I always wouldour bootcamp, graduations and
(16:00):
stuff.
I do a big ceremony thing likea high school graduation and
everybody's crying and all thisstuff.
Uh, so I was.
I had some public speakingexperience, but I think so many
podcasters stress out about thatfirst episode I call it
podcastination, like they.
They sit and they likeeverything's gotta be perfect
and they look for an excuse tonot launch their show.
(16:22):
And people hire me to launchtheir shows and I see this
almost every single time.
People are so dialed in like wegot the launch, four episodes
ready to go, and then you knowall these topics, we've got
expert positioning, we've gottheir marketing plan up and
ready to rock social mediaassets and they're like wait, I
think we need to tweak the artof the show 12 more times and
(16:44):
start finding reasons to stall.
Maybe that audio on that firstone may just I said um, a couple
of times on there, whatever, sothat's that starts to creep in,
that imposter syndrome, thatpodcastination, like I said, and
podcasting is ready fire, aim.
It's not ready aim fire,because if you take ready aim
(17:05):
fire, I see podcasters go readyaim, aim, aim into infinity, to
the point where devin, I legit Ihad a dude approach me and he's
like I've got 47 episodesrecorded, haven't launched yet.
I was like, dude, you got a yearof content that's a year,
almost, you know, of weeklycontent.
And it was because his artwasn't perfect yet.
And it's just like you can'tlet good get in the way of
(17:28):
perfect because nobody's gonnabe listening to those first few
episodes anyway.
So let's get it out there yourfirst year of podcasting.
Is you figuring out how in theworld to be a podcast, or what
your voice is, what your messageis going to be, and you're
going to have all these little1% micro pivots along the way,
like I did where I started offin health.
(17:48):
Now I'm full-time in onlinebusiness, podcasting.
I mean, it's going to be ajourney.
You just got to get the dangjourney started, and a podcast
that is launched is always waymore effective than the podcast
that is an idea for another yearin your head and sits there
effective than the podcast.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
That is an idea for another year in your head and
sits there oh, a hundred percent.
I mean it's funny.
This podcast was actuallystarted off in the fitness and
health space more.
It would mean we had to take abrand transition right Because
it was so tied to my gym and thebrand of that that getting any
guests on related to fitness itwas like impossible because it
was called the Strive Tribe.
So even if you on related tofitness, it was like impossible
because it was called the strivetribe.
(18:27):
So even if you scroll back toepisode I think it's like 20 and
below it was the strive tribeand it was like I'm running out
of stuff to talk about.
Like I'm talking about fitnessall day long.
Then I'm getting onto thepodcast and it was like no one
wants to come on because theyhave their own fitness brands
and they don't want to promotemy gym and it's like, oh, fine.
And then my former businesspartner wanted to kind of step
(18:48):
away from the podcasting and hewas like just do your thing with
it, like that's, that's you.
And I said, well, I'm doingthis for kind of our business.
But I, okay, fine.
And we transitioned to themindset cafe and it was, like
you know, it opened up so manydoors and it was one of those
things where, again, you canpivot, you can change at any
point and you never know whatyou're going to click with.
(19:09):
I mean, some of the earlyartwork.
Like I'm not not gonna lie,looking back I'm like dang, I
thought that was a good idea touse that artwork, like you know,
but it at the same time, likeit was still darker at the time.
Now it's, you know, evolved in.
It in probably will evolveagain, and that's just something
.
That that's minimal.
People aren't listening to yourshow because of the artwork.
(19:30):
They might click it for thefirst time because the artwork,
but if you typically have apodcast and people are listening
, it's because someone else sentthem an episode.
Someone else you know said, hey, you should listen to this, and
so it's like that's what getsthem out, that the artwork is
just, you know, secondary innature.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
It it's like that's what gets them out, that the
artwork is just, you know,secondary in nature, it's more
of your flavor.
You know that you want to putthat last cherry on top.
In my opinion at least, wellsaid, well said.
It's.
People get in their head aboutall the details and it's just
like if you can delivereducation and energy and if you
can do it in a relatable way,you will win over your audience.
You can become the people'schampion of your, of your niche.
I used to joke all the time withmy health show.
I was like there are all thesepeople out there that are, like
(20:14):
you know, male models and stufflike that.
They have all these shows andthey have all these listeners
because they're famous, sothey're extremely, you know,
giant instagram followingsbecause they're extremely good
looking and all this stuff.
And I'm like extremely giantInstagram followings because
they're extremely good lookingand all this stuff.
And I'm like I'm not like that,like I will deliver that If you
listen to this show, it's notbecause I'm a male model, it's
because I deliver the education.
And I became the people'schampion.
(20:37):
My niece, like I relate to thisperson and you know, even back
in the with the gym, with thegym space, I was like you can
hire me, you can hire someoneelse, but look at our websites
and if the only testimonialsthat you see are pictures of
themselves, like how goodlooking I am, and I'm like you
(20:58):
walk into my gym it's an 8,000square foot studio and we've got
it wallpapered withtransformation 30 pound plus
transformations you had to be 30pounds or more weight loss
transformation to get on thewall 8,000 square feet I'm like
walk into that.
That's what you want to be apart of and that's the attitude
I brought to my show, whether itwas my weight loss show, which
(21:18):
I ended up selling in 2021, butum, and it's still going strong.
It's got almost 2 milliondownloads now, which I'm very
proud of.
But now with podcastingbusiness school same deal.
It's like it's more about thejourney of the listener.
That I've been through thejourney now and I've achieved a
lot of cool things in thepodcasting online business space
, but to me, it's more aboutimpacting the listener and reach
(21:41):
.
It's like doing one of thosetough mutters and you're on that
nine foot muddy wall and you'rejust at the top, reaching, and
I'm just pulling people over.
At this point I'm like come on,here's my hand, I'm pulling you
over now.
Next one pull you over andthat's our job as online content
creators is to we're five stepsahead of somebody else.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
We just got to get them caught them up, you know,
caught up to us no, definitely,and I think I mean what was
crazy is at least this was myhurdle not in podcasting,
podcasting, for some reason,especially the first episodes
that I didn't do a videorecording.
So maybe that was the comfortlevel.
It was just like me and mybusiness partner talking and it
(22:17):
was like you know, talking aboutstuff we always talk about.
But I was almost more nervousin the beginning, trying to
create a personal brand and bemore of like the brand face for
the gym and having to recordyourself like saying a
motivational quote or whatever.
And it's like now you havegoing through your head not just
what you're saying, but how doyou look on camera all these
kinds of things?
(22:37):
And it's like it was justrepetition, like the way you get
over it is repetition.
At first you start to thinkabout everyone.
What are people going to thinkabout me?
What are people going to thinkabout what I say?
You know, because you know yourfriends, your family, that
normally don't see that side ofyou.
They're going to you know, inyour head you think that they're
going to judge you and it'slike, honestly, it within a
(23:00):
month, within two months, all ofa, that's what they do.
You know.
That's, that's them Right, andso it's it's.
You have this spotlight theorythat you know everyone is
looking at you, you have aspotlight on you and in reality
everyone has their ownspotlights on them and they're
not paying that much attentionto the minuscule, like mistakes,
that you make.
They just look at the successes.
So just because your firstcouple episodes aren't good, you
(23:22):
know that's going to mean verylittle in the long scope of
things when all of a sudden youhave a podcast that is bringing
in downloads that people arelistening to, that are sharing
with their friends and so forthyeah, yeah, first time you work
out you get really sore and youfeel terrible.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Right same thing.
I mean, it's just reps.
It gets better.
You just gotta keep walkingthrough the door of the gym and
with with a podcast, you justgotta focus on two things hit
button, hit the publish button.
And you do that every singleweek.
Get those reps in.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Things get better that you would tell a person
wanting to get into podcastingthat they need to have around,
launch their podcast toessentially get leads and get
(24:10):
clients up, because just talkingis one thing, but if you're
talking with the intention ofgetting clients or leads, I feel
like there's a differentmindset, different way to
communicate.
What is your kind of, I guess,firsthand advice that you'd give
someone that's maybecontemplating starting a podcast
but you're like look, you don'tneed to just start a podcast,
this could essentially generateyou leads, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
So like with my brand podcasting business school,
with that show, with that brand.
That is my goal.
It's to get leads for mybusiness and that's also what I
happen to teach people how to do.
And the reason I made the jumpfrom weight loss into this is
with my weight loss show.
When I'd have guests on, theywould hear me talking about my
membership, my, my onlinebootcamps, like.
(24:54):
They heard me like saying thathe's making money online and
they would go, hey, can I hireyou to teach me how to do this?
And I was like, why?
Yes, you can.
I quickly found out that peoplepay you a lot more money to
show them how to make money.
Then they will pay you for,like weight loss bootcamps and
things like that, which isunfortunate, saving people's
lives a certain amount of money,but like almost infinite amount
of money higher if you canteach them how to make money.
(25:17):
So that became what I was knownfor in that space.
That's how I made the jump topodcasting business school.
But if somebody wants to launcha show and get clients from it,
the first thing they need tothink about is what is that end
result offer that you want yourlisteners to jump into and what
are you?
What problem are you helpingthem solve with that end result
offer?
(25:37):
So if you are like, if you'vegot like a really killer like
intermittent fasting program andyou're like this is like what
I'm known for, I get people intothis.
It works every time, it'sreally great.
I think you should really starta podcast based around
intermittent fasting that wouldbe really wise.
(26:00):
And or if you are like a socialmedia agency and you help
people grow on Instagram, thatneeds to be a focus point for
your podcast and using thosekeywords.
So we get the pain point thatwe want to solve first.
Then we use strategic naming ofthe show and we leverage
keywords like the name of yourshow will be the number one
reason why or why not your idealpotential clients find you.
(26:20):
So I've got a simple namingstrategy.
I call it my perfect podcastnaming formula.
There's three checks on thecheck boxes when you create the
name of your show.
Number one when I read it, Iwant to know exactly what it's
about.
Number two, I want to knowexactly who it's for.
And number three, I need to seeat least two keywords that not
(26:42):
basic web keywords like YouTubekeywords I'm talking about.
Somebody goes on Spotify.
What are they putting intoSpotify search bar or the Apple
search bar, which is usuallydifferent?
Spoiler alert Chad, gbt and AIsucks at coming up with podcast
keywords like really bad.
They'll come up with creativethings, but you have to be very
specific.
So, for example, my showpodcasting business school the
number one search term for myideal listener, my ideal client,
(27:06):
is podcasting or podcastingtips.
So the fact that the first wordin the name of my show is
podcasting, that is huge fororganic discoverability.
This is why my ideal listenersand clients and why my discovery
call calendar is full everysingle week.
People are searching podcastingtips while I sleep and then
they binge listen on my episodes.
I got 566 episodes as of today.
(27:28):
They binge listen backwards andthey hear me positioning myself
as an expert doing a lot ofcoaching on the show.
So naming it first pain point.
Then we name it to attract thepeople that want to solve that
pain point.
Then, with your content this isa very, very important part of
this I've got what I call mytwo-thirds content rule.
I want two-thirds of yourcontent to position you as the
(27:51):
expert.
So we're talking solo episodesand what I call coaching or
consulting or case studyepisodes Two-thirds of your
content.
Because if you only dointerviews, your audience will
view you as the person thatinterviews experts and not the
expert, and that's a problem.
When you're going to sell yourwhatever it is that you want to
sell they won't buy from you,they'll want to buy from the
(28:12):
other person.
So, solo episodes 10, 15 minutesolos Mine tend to be a little
longer because I've been doingthem forever and I just talk a
lot, I teach a lot, devin, butI'm telling you these, these
coaching or case study episodesthis is the magic deal, this is
the magic bullet where I invitelisteners on, I coach them for
(28:33):
free, as if they're paying me 30minutes.
I just show off what I do.
It's a and it's a great episode.
Case study episodes I bringsomebody on that's a client hey,
what were you dealing with whenyou hired me?
Okay, how do we solve that?
What's your next goal?
Let's do a little bit of lifecoaching and let's show off
there.
It's just like a built intestimonial, and so having that
as my primary content formula ishuge.
(28:56):
And then you still have onethird of your content that I
call strategic interviews, whereevery person that you bring on
for an interview.
A they're going to delivergreat content for your audience.
But B you have to ask themwhat's in it for me and what's
in it for my brand.
Is this a person I want to beconnected with?
Do I want to hopefully be aguest on their show?
(29:17):
Do an email list, collabpromotion, social media, live
streams together?
Do I want them?
Do I want to go into businesswith them potentially or look as
an affiliate link for eachother?
Referrals, like there has to bethat what's in it for me factor
.
That's a strategic interview.
I think once podcasters getgoing, the biggest mistake they
make is we get hit up by thesepodcasting PR agencies and we
(29:37):
just say yes to all of them andmost of them are really terrible
, like I used to always say yesand they're like there's guys
with like their gardenersrunning their weed whacker in
the background of the of theaudio, or like they don't have
headphones or it's.
I mean they don't share it,it's.
It's pretty terrible.
That's just a one of the darkspaces in podcasting, I think,
(29:58):
with the whole paid promotionand PR services.
But anyway, if you follow ittwo thirds and one thirds
principle, it's really going todeliver with your content.
Now we've got a flywheel.
People find the show because ofthe naming and the keywords.
They binge on your content.
You have a very specific callto action.
Usually I like to do discoverycalls.
My discovery call calendarfills up.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
I get lots of clients .
Speaker 2 (30:19):
That's how it works.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
No, I mean, that's huge.
I know, when we had talked andyou told me about the keywords
and I was like man, that's crazy.
I never thought about keywordslike that, because I think I
have seen Chachapiti give mesome ideas and I was like I
don't think this is going to be,I don't think this is the move.
But, as even I was creating themindset that I had to shift was
(30:46):
when you're like for podcast,business school podcast, tips
and podcasting, how to podcast,and it's like man, sometimes, if
you just simplify it, how wouldwould someone type this into
Google?
Or how does someone type thisinto a search bar?
It's like that's your keywordsand I was like, dang, I need to
(31:07):
go back and redo my keywords,you know, um, but I think that
is so awesome.
I love the mindset shift of.
I'm not just starting thishoping that I get leads Like
you're intentionally creatingyour podcasting mindset around.
I'm being intentional of whatI'm going to talk about, what am
I going to pitch, why am Idoing this?
Why would I have this guest on?
What is, what is in it for me?
(31:27):
Because, even though we allhave I mean you and I, not we
all, but you and I have, likeone of our core values that was
aligned was having a positiveimpact.
Like there is still somethingthat you get in return right.
One it's connection, one it'snetworking, whether it's, you
know, future or present but thenthere has to be something that
is a deliverable, otherwise, whyare we spending the most
(31:48):
precious thing that we have,which is our limited time, right
?
So it's like there has to bethat in it, and it's not wrong
to think that, because I thinkthat's where people get mixed up
is they realize or they thinkthat I just need to give back
and I can't ask for anything.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
It's like you can and you should, and you should yeah
, I wholeheartedly agree andlike, just looking at this
relationship, like now, devininvited me to come on his show,
which is always, uh, an honorfor for anybody to invite me to
come on his show, which isalways an honor for anybody to
invite me to come on their showand now you're connected, you
got your podcasting.
Big bro, adam, over here, all Iam is connected to thousands of
(32:25):
podcasters and if I thinksomebody needs to know you or
you need to know somebody else,I'm making that connection 100%.
Whether, oh, you're going tohave Devin on your show here's
what he talks about oh, devin'sdoing this really well, you need
to go talk to him because hemay be able to consult and help
you out with your business orwhatever.
Like that's locked in andthat's how podcasting works.
We collaborate, we make friendsand we develop relationships
(32:46):
100%.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
I mean that's one of the best parts of it.
And for those of you guys thatare in that podcast
procrastination, you phaserealize that you can get
connected with people inbusiness that are above you just
by having a podcast, right, andI mean you got to have some
episodes on your belt, becauseeven when I get asked to come on
(33:07):
a podcast and it's like oneepisode, I'm like sorry, like
you know, it's not.
You got to grow a little bit.
But when you want to getconnected with someone that has
an influence and that has afollowing or has the connections
that you want to make, and youhave a podcast and you're going
to let them share their messagefor free, they're going to
reciprocate by now allowing youinto their network to a degree,
(33:29):
right.
So it's like now you can makethat connection, now you get to
meet that person, talk to thatperson, ask them the questions
that you want answered to, right.
And so you have to realize thatthere's so many benefits on the
upside that if you're stuck inthe well, I have 47 episodes
downloaded.
It's like yo publish it, justpublish it, throw it, like you
know, full send.
So I love that and it is sotrue, and I love what you, what
(33:52):
you got going on, cause I thinkit is so crucial.
Even though it has definitelygotten easier than 2013, 2015,.
It still is difficult,especially getting over that
slump, especially getting intothat mindset of becoming a
podcaster.
Um, so I love what you gotgoing on, that's why I wanted to
, you know, bring you on, causeI haven't had someone that's
done this yet in on the show andcreating that podcast mindset.
(34:15):
But as we, as we wrap up, Iwant to ask you one final
question.
Right, and this is the legacywall question.
Now, I will say it's not atombstone, right?
So I'll preface it by sayingthat so it's the legacy wall of
Adam.
What is the one message thatyou would leave for the up and
coming generations that you'velearned along your life's
(34:36):
journey?
Speaker 2 (34:47):
My life's journey.
Oh my gosh, I think for me it'sget really good at helping
other people solve theirproblems, like that's what I've
always done, that's how I'vemonetized since I was six years
old, you know, like if you canget really, really figuring out
what problems are and analyzingyour own unique solution and
then helping lots and lots ofpeople solve problems, whether
it's with your gym and weightloss or whether it's with making
money online, that's the deal.
(35:11):
That's how you make a bunch ofmoney, and you do that by making
a really positive impact.
And I think the error peoplemake is like we're trying to
solve our own problem of notmaking enough money and that's
the focus points.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Like I'm not making enough money.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
I got to go sell something to make more money.
But no, no, no, no.
What problem are you solvingfor somebody else and that will
solve your own problem?
I'm not not not having yourLambo with the podcast or
license plate yet, or whateveryou want to.
Whatever you want to do, youknow.
So that's, uh, that's what I'vegotten really good at, and I'm
big on the mantra of less butbetter.
I'm big on simplification, soif I had to simplify it down,
(35:45):
that's what it would be.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
No, and I love that Cause.
I mean, that's where I thinkpeople do get mixed up, not just
in podcasting, but in life ingeneral and business in general
is it's you know general andbusiness in general is it's you
know profit first and it's likeit's people first.
Right, think about the impactthat you're having on your team.
Think about the impact thatyou're the problems that you're
solving for your customers, yourclients.
The profit comes when you focuson the people that you're
(36:07):
trying to solve the problem forfirst.
So I love that.
Where can people connect withyou at?
Speaker 2 (36:12):
Yeah, I mean, I would love for you all to dive into
my no-transcript.
(36:40):
There's a lot of strategiesthere and it really will help.
A lot of people don't realizethis, devin, but there've been
over four and a half millionpodcasts that have been launched
and only 10% of those so aboutless than half a million have
more than 10 episodes and havereleased any content in the last
90 days.
(37:00):
So opportunity friends, youlook at YouTube channels, you
look at blogs, social mediahandles.
There's lots and lots and lots,but podcasting is still fresh
and fertile ground.
There's a lot of podcasts thathave been launched.
There are not a lot ofpodcasters actively podcasting.
That's the trick.
So, yeah, I think that hang out.
(37:23):
Podcasting business school byepisode five 60.
I'm podcasting business schooleverywhere, online podcasting
businessschool.
So come and say hey no, I lovethat.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
And, guys, if you guys know someone or even
yourself, you you're debating onlaunching a podcast, go check
that episode out 560.
But if you know someone thathas been talking about launching
their own podcast, make sureyou guys share in this episode
and let them get off that humpof.
I'm going to do it one day.
It's going to happen.
This is my New Year'sresolution.
Five years in a row.
Send this to happen.
You know this is my new year'sresolution, five years in a row.
(37:55):
Right, you know, send this tothem.
But with that being said, guys,make sure you guys leave that
review.
You know we love you guys.
We appreciate you.
And Adam, thank you so much fortaking the time out of your day
to hop on the mindset cafe.
(38:16):
My mind on the prize.
I can't be distracted.
I stay on my grind.
No time to be slackin'.
I hustle harder.
I go against the current Cause.
I know my mind is rich to becollected.
Yeah, it's Mindset Cafe.
We all about that mindset.
Gotta stay focused.
Now go settle for the last.
It's all in your head how youthink you manifest.
So get ready to rise, cause weabout to be the best.
Gotta switch it up.
Gotta break the old habits.
Get your mind right.
Turn your dreams into habits.
No negative vibes, onlypositive thoughts.
(00:20):
What is up, guys?
Welcome to another episode ofthe Mindset Cafe podcast.
It's your boy, devin.
And today we got a special guest, a true powerhouse in the
podcasting world, adam Shibley.
He is an online business coachfor podcasters.
He is the host of the top 100ranked podcast business school
(00:41):
and he has honestly been inpodcasting since 2015.
So when podcasting really justkind of started taking a turn
and making its way to thenetwork.
So he's recorded over athousand episodes and amassed
over a million downloads.
Honestly, I'm excited to diveinto just the mindset of you
know, creating a podcast and youknow the mindset of once you
know a business owner hascreated a podcast like getting
(01:01):
over that hump of hearing yourown voice.
A business owner has created apodcast like getting over that
hump of hearing your own voice.
Essentially, what is the nowradio right?
And in that whole nervousness,you know, behind starting a
podcast and so forth.
But without further ado, adam,thank you so much for taking the
time out of your day.
Yeah, devin.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Hey, I enjoyed that intro.
Was that you singing on thatLike a little autotune action or
like?
Yeah no, no, not at all, I'mnot not, not even in the shower.
Do I sound that good?
I like it, though I was gettinggetting in the in the rhythm
over here.
I'm ready to rock now.
My brain, my mindset, is readyto go so let's dive in.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
I mean let's, let's rewind.
You know when?
Why did you get into podcasting?
What was your?
You know?
Come up, because I know you hadan entrepreneurial background.
What was your?
What was your childhood like?
What was your?
Come up into theentrepreneurial space first.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Yeah, I mean, growing up I was always kind of built
with that entrepreneurialmindset.
I didn't like working for otherpeople like straight up, since,
like kindergarten, first grade,I would round up my buddies and
we create little businesses inthe neighborhood, whether it's
like some kind of like ice creamtruck hustle.
We'd let people know when, likethe ice cream trucks come in.
(02:10):
We're on walkie talkies and wealert the kids.
You know, for a small fee, uh,we'd alert the kids that, uh,
you know the ice cream truck wascoming down their street next.
Uh, we made like homemade cardsand stuff and we'll go door to
door selling these homemadecards.
I'd, I'd, you know, supply, allthe stuff.
I'd get my cut out of mydistribution channel.
This is like six, six years old, seven years old, eight years
(02:31):
old, you know lawn care, allthat stuff.
I've only worked for someoneelse for one month of my life.
I bagged groceries for onemonth while I was in high school
.
I was like this is terrible.
Never doing this again, uh, andI've never worked for anybody
ever since that point, I've justbeen a wild entrepreneurial
stallion and running the planes.
(02:51):
But yeah, podcasting was reallyexciting to me.
Back in 2013, I startedlistening to podcasts.
I owned a gym and had a verysuccessful gym.
I launched a boot camp programaround that 2011, 2012 time span
.
That became really reallypopular, Grew my gym really
(03:13):
quickly to the point where allof a sudden, I had 35 employees
and 500 plus clients.
We were doing 100 person bootcamps month after month and
really doing well with it.
People were like you shouldfranchise this.
I was like I don't know if Iwant to be in charge of more
things and more people.
That doesn't really vibe withmy personality or my life goals,
but I do like helping morepeople.
(03:34):
So let's maybe look at thispodcast idea and let's start a
health or a weight loss basedpodcast, kind of in alignment
with what we teach at the gym,what I teach at the fitness
facilities.
That's kind of how I gotlaunched in the space initially.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
No, I mean that's, that's awesome, and I mean being
both in the fitness space andyou having that background.
I think that was one of thethings we were really connected
with, you know, when we firsthad spoken.
And, you know, having that,that realization too, right,
cause, you know, selling yourgym and transitioning, people
think that when you start off onone career path, even in
entrepreneurship, like you haveto stay on that path.
(04:11):
Right, and you're, you're atestament to, you can pivot at
any point.
Right, you, it's uncomfortable,right, there's going to be
growing pains, but if you'rewilling to go through those
pains and learn something new,then the world is endless of,
you know, full of possibilities.
Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
I think.
Well, let's put it in thisperspective I graduated college
in 2003.
Podcasting didn't exist in 2003.
And now I'm a full-timepodcaster, like within 16 years
of graduating college.
I was a full-time podcaster,which was an industry that did
not even exist.
(04:48):
So, like I look at my son nowhe's getting ready to start high
school I'm like just learn asmuch as you can Find what you're
passionate about, becausetechnology evolves.
You will be like ateleportation expert or
something who knows what isgoing to.
You may maybe a time travelingboss of something I don't know.
So I think me I've always beendriven by impact.
(05:11):
And how can I create income viaimpact and create the lifestyle
and build the lifestyle that Iwant?
So podcasting was really,really attractive to me.
Yeah, pivoting that's.
One of the superpowers of beinga small business owner is that
I wasn't a franchise of anybody.
You know, as a podcaster, Iremain independent.
I get invited to be a part ofnetworks all the time.
(05:32):
I get hit by sponsors all thetime.
I tell them all no because Iwant control of everything.
So I can pivot and do what Iwant to do and sell what I want
to do and build the businessbrand that I want to build.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
No, and I think that's awesome, and I mean, I
know a lot of podcasters that dodo it for the sponsors and it's
not that it's wrong or anything.
I completely understand it.
Like, for even for us, like youknow, my main thing is just
giving back right and and beingable to have full control of
what I want to talk about when Iwant to talk about it, and so I
think that's awesome thatyou've stayed true to that.
(06:03):
You know for you and your owncore values of like, look, I
want to be in control.
I don't want anyone telling mewhat I can't say or can say, not
that you're saying anything bad, but it's.
It's just that ability to havethe freedom to pivot, transition
, move, do what you want to do.
So what I mean, what was thatinitial phase like for you
getting into the podcast space,especially with it not being
what it is today?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
dude, it was super hard.
Like it's difficult now fordifferent reasons, but back then
there weren't all like theyoutube videos and online
courses and all the coaches andeverything.
I just knew I listened topodcasts.
I'm like I think I could impactpeople in this medium.
Let's try out.
And I figured out how to recordstuff just on GarageBand on my
(06:46):
Mac, my MacBook Air, my 2000,whatever MacBook Air just a war
horse of a machine.
That thing lasted me almost 20years.
I'm like this is a greatcomputer, but anyway, I recorded
like seven episodes onGarageBand.
I'm like, okay, I got this part.
I had no idea how to make it goon Apple Podcasts.
That was the only thing thatexisted.
There wasn't like Spotify,wasn't even around or anything.
(07:07):
So I had heard that there wasan insurance agent in my
hometown that had a podcast andI was like I got to find this
guy.
So I scheduled an appointment.
He thinks he's going to sell meinsurance and all I want to do
is hit him up about how to makemy audio go on Apple podcast and
he showed me.
I eventually bought someinsurance from him down the road
for my fitness business.
But that was like the hardestthing ever like trying to figure
(07:29):
out how do I make my words gointo Apple podcast.
And once I figured that out,you know I just got into the
cadence of all.
Right now we just need to getweekly episodes going and I
tried some different stuff veryinterview heavy, some solo
episodes.
But to sum up, my first threeyears like 2015, 16 and 17, I
(07:50):
tried a lot of stuff.
Nothing really worked.
Hardly anybody was listening,like the growth wasn't happening
and I had earned a total of $37in the first three years and
that was from a four sigmaticmushroom coffee affiliate link.
Um, I made 37 total dollars.
So I was like I was thinking,like most podcasters do they get
in and they they do what theirpodcasting heroes do.
(08:14):
Like I was listening to certainshows, like tim ferris show.
I'm like, oh, he talks aboutfour sigmatic, I'm gonna talk
about four sigmatic.
I don't make so much money.
Athletic greens let me get someof that.
Cash.
Me undies, let me get some.
My piggy bank Like.
None of that worked for mebecause I was starting at a
completely different brand level.
Tim Ferriss has a huge brand,huge email list, huge social
media following, bestsellingauthor, all these high level
(08:36):
connections.
I was starting from a pointthat I call a triple zero, zero
social media following a zero,zero subscribers to my show and
zero email list.
That's a different brandpositioning level and we have to
monetize and grow in adifferent way, and I eventually
figured that out and thingsstarted taking off after those
initial three years.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
So I mean, that's where people don't realize that
there's a threshold in a lot ofthings and you didn't just burn
the bridges and burn the boatsand dive into podcasting.
I mean, you just mentionedright now like you were
podcasting and you, you knowfrom you learned from the
insurance guy you boughtinsurance for, from your, for
your gym, meaning that you stillhad your gym, you're still
(09:17):
operating that while you werekind of playing around with this
new thing, right.
So what was that transition,you know, made you want to stop
with the gym and go full intopodcasting.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
So I think the more I got into podcasting, the more I
saw like, all right, a fewpeople are starting to listen.
I see the potential really inin 2018,.
I tried an experiment.
I was like, all right, theaffiliate link sponsorship thing
not really working, let's try apaid online, a paid challenge.
(09:52):
And so I'm like I'm going to doa three-day fitness-based
challenge that's free and thenI'm going to sell a $37, 28-day
extension of that challenge.
Let's see what happens.
So I promoted the three-day freething on my show to my meager
social media following and myvery meager email list.
And I promoted the three-dayfree thing on my show to my
meager social media followingand my very meager email list
and I was like, okay, I'm gonnado this free fitness challenge.
I'm gonna show up live onFacebook live.
(10:13):
This is but the one advantage Ihave.
This is like the beginning ofFacebook live.
Think about like how long agothat was.
And I was doing.
I had no fear of just throwingmy phone in my face, going live
and let's see what happens.
And I was doing.
I had no fear of just throwingmy phone in my face, going live
and let's see what happens.
And everyone's like, oh, it'sso nerve wracking I'm like hell,
no, I can do this.
So I would go live.
People were into it.
And then the last day I go hey,if you want to keep doing this
(10:35):
for 28 more days, it's 37 bucks.
And I had, um, I ended upselling like almost a hundred of
those.
I was almost $4,000.
I was like, okay, first threeyears I made $37.
And the reason I priced it $37,course, was because I've made a
total of $37.
Let's charge $37 and see if Ican double my income that I've
(10:56):
made in the first three years.
So I sold about a hundred ofthem, made $3,700, something.
I was like, all right, thatworked and people liked it and
they started going.
Well, what's next?
Like how can we keep workingwith you?
So I developed a membership.
I was like now I can keepcoaching you, keep inspiring you
, mentoring you.
For I think I charged like $47a month.
Eventually that membershipended up being about $97 a month
(11:19):
.
Then I started doing thesechallenges and the next one I
did I go same program, sameprotocol, let's charge 97
instead.
And I sold 140 something.
I made 14 000 in three days.
On that one I was like, okay,this is something is happening
here so that and at the sametime, still have my gym doing
everything 35 employees, 500clients, blah blah.
(11:41):
So I had two kind of full-timejobs is what I was doing,
basically.
But one of the smartest moves Imade was I started putting like
an electric fence around myschedule for podcast time and
online business time.
It wasn't just like meltedNeapolitan ice cream of just
everything all mixed together.
It was like really definedtimes and flavors there and as
(12:02):
that online business started tomake more money, I started to
fence off more of my time towhere.
Starting off, it was like threehours on every Tuesday and then
became half a day on Tuesday.
Then it became every Tuesday,then it became Tuesday and
Thursday and I started to seethe light of leverage and I was
like I think, if I caneventually go full time in the
(12:23):
online space, I was putting inso many hours, man, and you know
how it is with fitness.
Like we work when other peopledon't work, so I'm getting up at
3 am to set up boot campclasses at my gym for the 530 am
class and then I got to bearound making sure the 7 pm
class is going off without ahitch and doing all these boot
camp things going off without ahitch and doing all these
(12:47):
bootcamp things.
So I was like I think I canwork like and like way less than
40 hours, just do an onlinebusiness.
And that was very attractive tome.
With two young children, I waslike I want to be around for
them.
So that why started to develop,uh, to the point where I'm like
, all right, this is now thegoal.
Like I want to replace myincome, get to a point where I
feel secure.
Sell the business, sell thefitness business, go full-time
(13:08):
into podcasting and that came tofruition at the end of 2019,
right before the pandemic hitand all the gyms went crazy
anyway, so good timing there,but yeah, that's when it
actually happened.
I sold my gym in 2019.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Oh, I mean that's awesome.
And I mean like 20, you got tothink so.
Timeline 2013,.
You know, listen to podcast2015,.
You know, really starting todive into and really you know
making it a thing.
Four years of recording andtrying things out and testing
things out.
People think that a pivothappens and you know the next
(13:41):
day you're already on the pathto success.
It's like it takes time.
You know, in any, in any areaof life, it takes effort, it
takes, you know, kind of pushingthrough that barrier of
discomfort and of essentially nogrowth.
Sometimes you know making 37,you're just like, oh, wow, like
I didn't really make much rightand it's like, but then it's
(14:04):
like, okay, well, I didn't makemuch doing that.
What else can I tweak, alter,modify, add to?
You know, start to actuallymake this a thing.
And that's when you test stuffout and play with stuff.
I still think that the one hardthing with podcasting is unlike
social media even though Iguess it kind of is social media
but unlike traditional socialmedia you can't just like boost
(14:27):
an episode right, and that's theone thing is like to grow an
audience like you have to bekind of strategic, you have to
put yourself out there.
So the first part of myquestion to you is I know you
said it wasn't an issue for youright, going live, right.
But that first podcast episode,episode when you're going to
record your voice and you knowpeople are going to hear it you
(14:49):
don't know how many people aregoing to hear it what went
through your mind in thatinitial recording or planning of
recording?
Speaker 2 (14:57):
I think one of the key things was my mindset.
Um, I don't know why.
I mean, this was like one ofthe smartest things that I ever
thought.
I did a lot dumb things, I dida lot of things wrong when I
launched, but this was a greatmindset to have.
I was like, okay, this firstepisode, this is the least
amount of people that will everhear me, so I'm not going to
stress out about this one LikeI'm more worried about episode
(15:19):
500 or 300, because thenhopefully lots of people are
listening in.
So I just went in.
I'm like, okay, I'm going tobring energy and education.
It was a solo episode.
I just kind of taught, told mystory.
At that time I had my storypretty well dialed in.
I was like you know, I used toweigh 327 pounds.
I went on a journey.
I lost over a hundred pounds.
(15:39):
Then I started my bootcampprogram where I've helped over
you know however many peoplelose 100 pounds in my hometown
community lost 35,000 pounds infive years.
Like this whole thing, likethis whole transformation story.
Now I'm helping other people,now it's your turn.
Here's what we're talking abouton this show.
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
So I just kind of did that andI was used to talking in front
of people because I always wouldour bootcamp, graduations and
(16:00):
stuff.
I do a big ceremony thing likea high school graduation and
everybody's crying and all thisstuff.
Uh, so I was.
I had some public speakingexperience, but I think so many
podcasters stress out about thatfirst episode I call it
podcastination, like they.
They sit and they likeeverything's gotta be perfect
and they look for an excuse tonot launch their show.
(16:22):
And people hire me to launchtheir shows and I see this
almost every single time.
People are so dialed in like wegot the launch, four episodes
ready to go, and then you knowall these topics, we've got
expert positioning, we've gottheir marketing plan up and
ready to rock social mediaassets and they're like wait, I
think we need to tweak the artof the show 12 more times and
(16:44):
start finding reasons to stall.
Maybe that audio on that firstone may just I said um, a couple
of times on there, whatever, sothat's that starts to creep in,
that imposter syndrome, thatpodcastination, like I said, and
podcasting is ready fire, aim.
It's not ready aim fire,because if you take ready aim
(17:05):
fire, I see podcasters go readyaim, aim, aim into infinity, to
the point where devin, I legit Ihad a dude approach me and he's
like I've got 47 episodesrecorded, haven't launched yet.
I was like, dude, you got a yearof content that's a year,
almost, you know, of weeklycontent.
And it was because his artwasn't perfect yet.
And it's just like you can'tlet good get in the way of
(17:28):
perfect because nobody's gonnabe listening to those first few
episodes anyway.
So let's get it out there yourfirst year of podcasting.
Is you figuring out how in theworld to be a podcast, or what
your voice is, what your messageis going to be, and you're
going to have all these little1% micro pivots along the way,
like I did where I started offin health.
(17:48):
Now I'm full-time in onlinebusiness, podcasting.
I mean, it's going to be ajourney.
You just got to get the dangjourney started, and a podcast
that is launched is always waymore effective than the podcast
that is an idea for another yearin your head and sits there
effective than the podcast.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
That is an idea for another year in your head and
sits there oh, a hundred percent.
I mean it's funny.
This podcast was actuallystarted off in the fitness and
health space more.
It would mean we had to take abrand transition right Because
it was so tied to my gym and thebrand of that that getting any
guests on related to fitness itwas like impossible because it
was called the Strive Tribe.
So even if you on related tofitness, it was like impossible
because it was called the strivetribe.
(18:27):
So even if you scroll back toepisode I think it's like 20 and
below it was the strive tribeand it was like I'm running out
of stuff to talk about.
Like I'm talking about fitnessall day long.
Then I'm getting onto thepodcast and it was like no one
wants to come on because theyhave their own fitness brands
and they don't want to promotemy gym and it's like, oh, fine.
And then my former businesspartner wanted to kind of step
(18:48):
away from the podcasting and hewas like just do your thing with
it, like that's, that's you.
And I said, well, I'm doingthis for kind of our business.
But I, okay, fine.
And we transitioned to themindset cafe and it was, like
you know, it opened up so manydoors and it was one of those
things where, again, you canpivot, you can change at any
point and you never know whatyou're going to click with.
(19:09):
I mean, some of the earlyartwork.
Like I'm not not gonna lie,looking back I'm like dang, I
thought that was a good idea touse that artwork, like you know,
but it at the same time, likeit was still darker at the time.
Now it's, you know, evolved in.
It in probably will evolveagain, and that's just something
.
That that's minimal.
People aren't listening to yourshow because of the artwork.
(19:30):
They might click it for thefirst time because the artwork,
but if you typically have apodcast and people are listening
, it's because someone else sentthem an episode.
Someone else you know said, hey, you should listen to this, and
so it's like that's what getsthem out, that the artwork is
just, you know, secondary innature.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
It it's like that's what gets them out, that the
artwork is just, you know,secondary in nature, it's more
of your flavor.
You know that you want to putthat last cherry on top.
In my opinion at least, wellsaid, well said.
It's.
People get in their head aboutall the details and it's just
like if you can delivereducation and energy and if you
can do it in a relatable way,you will win over your audience.
You can become the people'schampion of your, of your niche.
I used to joke all the time withmy health show.
I was like there are all thesepeople out there that are, like
(20:14):
you know, male models and stufflike that.
They have all these shows andthey have all these listeners
because they're famous, sothey're extremely, you know,
giant instagram followingsbecause they're extremely good
looking and all this stuff.
And I'm like extremely giantInstagram followings because
they're extremely good lookingand all this stuff.
And I'm like I'm not like that,like I will deliver that If you
listen to this show, it's notbecause I'm a male model, it's
because I deliver the education.
And I became the people'schampion.
(20:37):
My niece, like I relate to thisperson and you know, even back
in the with the gym, with thegym space, I was like you can
hire me, you can hire someoneelse, but look at our websites
and if the only testimonialsthat you see are pictures of
themselves, like how goodlooking I am, and I'm like you
(20:58):
walk into my gym it's an 8,000square foot studio and we've got
it wallpapered withtransformation 30 pound plus
transformations you had to be 30pounds or more weight loss
transformation to get on thewall 8,000 square feet I'm like
walk into that.
That's what you want to be apart of and that's the attitude
I brought to my show, whether itwas my weight loss show, which
(21:18):
I ended up selling in 2021, butum, and it's still going strong.
It's got almost 2 milliondownloads now, which I'm very
proud of.
But now with podcastingbusiness school same deal.
It's like it's more about thejourney of the listener.
That I've been through thejourney now and I've achieved a
lot of cool things in thepodcasting online business space
, but to me, it's more aboutimpacting the listener and reach
(21:41):
.
It's like doing one of thosetough mutters and you're on that
nine foot muddy wall and you'rejust at the top, reaching, and
I'm just pulling people over.
At this point I'm like come on,here's my hand, I'm pulling you
over now.
Next one pull you over andthat's our job as online content
creators is to we're five stepsahead of somebody else.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
We just got to get them caught them up, you know,
caught up to us no, definitely,and I think I mean what was
crazy is at least this was myhurdle not in podcasting,
podcasting, for some reason,especially the first episodes
that I didn't do a videorecording.
So maybe that was the comfortlevel.
It was just like me and mybusiness partner talking and it
(22:17):
was like you know, talking aboutstuff we always talk about.
But I was almost more nervousin the beginning, trying to
create a personal brand and bemore of like the brand face for
the gym and having to recordyourself like saying a
motivational quote or whatever.
And it's like now you havegoing through your head not just
what you're saying, but how doyou look on camera all these
kinds of things?
(22:37):
And it's like it was justrepetition, like the way you get
over it is repetition.
At first you start to thinkabout everyone.
What are people going to thinkabout me?
What are people going to thinkabout what I say?
You know, because you know yourfriends, your family, that
normally don't see that side ofyou.
They're going to you know, inyour head you think that they're
going to judge you and it'slike, honestly, it within a
(23:00):
month, within two months, all ofa, that's what they do.
You know.
That's, that's them Right, andso it's it's.
You have this spotlight theorythat you know everyone is
looking at you, you have aspotlight on you and in reality
everyone has their ownspotlights on them and they're
not paying that much attentionto the minuscule, like mistakes,
that you make.
They just look at the successes.
So just because your firstcouple episodes aren't good, you
(23:22):
know that's going to mean verylittle in the long scope of
things when all of a sudden youhave a podcast that is bringing
in downloads that people arelistening to, that are sharing
with their friends and so forthyeah, yeah, first time you work
out you get really sore and youfeel terrible.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Right same thing.
I mean, it's just reps.
It gets better.
You just gotta keep walkingthrough the door of the gym and
with with a podcast, you justgotta focus on two things hit
button, hit the publish button.
And you do that every singleweek.
Get those reps in.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Things get better that you would tell a person
wanting to get into podcastingthat they need to have around,
launch their podcast toessentially get leads and get
(24:10):
clients up, because just talkingis one thing, but if you're
talking with the intention ofgetting clients or leads, I feel
like there's a differentmindset, different way to
communicate.
What is your kind of, I guess,firsthand advice that you'd give
someone that's maybecontemplating starting a podcast
but you're like look, you don'tneed to just start a podcast,
this could essentially generateyou leads, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
So like with my brand podcasting business school,
with that show, with that brand.
That is my goal.
It's to get leads for mybusiness and that's also what I
happen to teach people how to do.
And the reason I made the jumpfrom weight loss into this is
with my weight loss show.
When I'd have guests on, theywould hear me talking about my
membership, my, my onlinebootcamps, like.
(24:54):
They heard me like saying thathe's making money online and
they would go, hey, can I hireyou to teach me how to do this?
And I was like, why?
Yes, you can.
I quickly found out that peoplepay you a lot more money to
show them how to make money.
Then they will pay you for,like weight loss bootcamps and
things like that, which isunfortunate, saving people's
lives a certain amount of money,but like almost infinite amount
of money higher if you canteach them how to make money.
(25:17):
So that became what I was knownfor in that space.
That's how I made the jump topodcasting business school.
But if somebody wants to launcha show and get clients from it,
the first thing they need tothink about is what is that end
result offer that you want yourlisteners to jump into and what
are you?
What problem are you helpingthem solve with that end result
offer?
(25:37):
So if you are like, if you'vegot like a really killer like
intermittent fasting program andyou're like this is like what
I'm known for, I get people intothis.
It works every time, it'sreally great.
I think you should really starta podcast based around
intermittent fasting that wouldbe really wise.
(26:00):
And or if you are like a socialmedia agency and you help
people grow on Instagram, thatneeds to be a focus point for
your podcast and using thosekeywords.
So we get the pain point thatwe want to solve first.
Then we use strategic naming ofthe show and we leverage
keywords like the name of yourshow will be the number one
reason why or why not your idealpotential clients find you.
(26:20):
So I've got a simple namingstrategy.
I call it my perfect podcastnaming formula.
There's three checks on thecheck boxes when you create the
name of your show.
Number one when I read it, Iwant to know exactly what it's
about.
Number two, I want to knowexactly who it's for.
And number three, I need to seeat least two keywords that not
(26:42):
basic web keywords like YouTubekeywords I'm talking about.
Somebody goes on Spotify.
What are they putting intoSpotify search bar or the Apple
search bar, which is usuallydifferent?
Spoiler alert Chad, gbt and AIsucks at coming up with podcast
keywords like really bad.
They'll come up with creativethings, but you have to be very
specific.
So, for example, my showpodcasting business school the
number one search term for myideal listener, my ideal client,
(27:06):
is podcasting or podcastingtips.
So the fact that the first wordin the name of my show is
podcasting, that is huge fororganic discoverability.
This is why my ideal listenersand clients and why my discovery
call calendar is full everysingle week.
People are searching podcastingtips while I sleep and then
they binge listen on my episodes.
I got 566 episodes as of today.
(27:28):
They binge listen backwards andthey hear me positioning myself
as an expert doing a lot ofcoaching on the show.
So naming it first pain point.
Then we name it to attract thepeople that want to solve that
pain point.
Then, with your content this isa very, very important part of
this I've got what I call mytwo-thirds content rule.
I want two-thirds of yourcontent to position you as the
(27:51):
expert.
So we're talking solo episodesand what I call coaching or
consulting or case studyepisodes Two-thirds of your
content.
Because if you only dointerviews, your audience will
view you as the person thatinterviews experts and not the
expert, and that's a problem.
When you're going to sell yourwhatever it is that you want to
sell they won't buy from you,they'll want to buy from the
(28:12):
other person.
So, solo episodes 10, 15 minutesolos Mine tend to be a little
longer because I've been doingthem forever and I just talk a
lot, I teach a lot, devin, butI'm telling you these, these
coaching or case study episodesthis is the magic deal, this is
the magic bullet where I invitelisteners on, I coach them for
(28:33):
free, as if they're paying me 30minutes.
I just show off what I do.
It's a and it's a great episode.
Case study episodes I bringsomebody on that's a client hey,
what were you dealing with whenyou hired me?
Okay, how do we solve that?
What's your next goal?
Let's do a little bit of lifecoaching and let's show off
there.
It's just like a built intestimonial, and so having that
as my primary content formula ishuge.
(28:56):
And then you still have onethird of your content that I
call strategic interviews, whereevery person that you bring on
for an interview.
A they're going to delivergreat content for your audience.
But B you have to ask themwhat's in it for me and what's
in it for my brand.
Is this a person I want to beconnected with?
Do I want to hopefully be aguest on their show?
(29:17):
Do an email list, collabpromotion, social media, live
streams together?
Do I want them?
Do I want to go into businesswith them potentially or look as
an affiliate link for eachother?
Referrals, like there has to bethat what's in it for me factor
.
That's a strategic interview.
I think once podcasters getgoing, the biggest mistake they
make is we get hit up by thesepodcasting PR agencies and we
(29:37):
just say yes to all of them andmost of them are really terrible
, like I used to always say yesand they're like there's guys
with like their gardenersrunning their weed whacker in
the background of the of theaudio, or like they don't have
headphones or it's.
I mean they don't share it,it's.
It's pretty terrible.
That's just a one of the darkspaces in podcasting, I think,
(29:58):
with the whole paid promotionand PR services.
But anyway, if you follow ittwo thirds and one thirds
principle, it's really going todeliver with your content.
Now we've got a flywheel.
People find the show because ofthe naming and the keywords.
They binge on your content.
You have a very specific callto action.
Usually I like to do discoverycalls.
My discovery call calendarfills up.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
I get lots of clients .
Speaker 2 (30:19):
That's how it works.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
No, I mean, that's huge.
I know, when we had talked andyou told me about the keywords
and I was like man, that's crazy.
I never thought about keywordslike that, because I think I
have seen Chachapiti give mesome ideas and I was like I
don't think this is going to be,I don't think this is the move.
But, as even I was creating themindset that I had to shift was
(30:46):
when you're like for podcast,business school podcast, tips
and podcasting, how to podcast,and it's like man, sometimes, if
you just simplify it, how wouldwould someone type this into
Google?
Or how does someone type thisinto a search bar?
It's like that's your keywordsand I was like, dang, I need to
(31:07):
go back and redo my keywords,you know, um, but I think that
is so awesome.
I love the mindset shift of.
I'm not just starting thishoping that I get leads Like
you're intentionally creatingyour podcasting mindset around.
I'm being intentional of whatI'm going to talk about, what am
I going to pitch, why am Idoing this?
Why would I have this guest on?
What is, what is in it for me?
(31:27):
Because, even though we allhave I mean you and I, not we
all, but you and I have, likeone of our core values that was
aligned was having a positiveimpact.
Like there is still somethingthat you get in return right.
One it's connection, one it'snetworking, whether it's, you
know, future or present but thenthere has to be something that
is a deliverable, otherwise, whyare we spending the most
(31:48):
precious thing that we have,which is our limited time, right
?
So it's like there has to bethat in it, and it's not wrong
to think that, because I thinkthat's where people get mixed up
is they realize or they thinkthat I just need to give back
and I can't ask for anything.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
It's like you can and you should, and you should yeah
, I wholeheartedly agree andlike, just looking at this
relationship, like now, devininvited me to come on his show,
which is always, uh, an honorfor for anybody to invite me to
come on his show, which isalways an honor for anybody to
invite me to come on their showand now you're connected, you
got your podcasting.
Big bro, adam, over here, all Iam is connected to thousands of
(32:25):
podcasters and if I thinksomebody needs to know you or
you need to know somebody else,I'm making that connection 100%.
Whether, oh, you're going tohave Devin on your show here's
what he talks about oh, devin'sdoing this really well, you need
to go talk to him because hemay be able to consult and help
you out with your business orwhatever.
Like that's locked in andthat's how podcasting works.
We collaborate, we make friendsand we develop relationships
(32:46):
100%.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
I mean that's one of the best parts of it.
And for those of you guys thatare in that podcast
procrastination, you phaserealize that you can get
connected with people inbusiness that are above you just
by having a podcast, right, andI mean you got to have some
episodes on your belt, becauseeven when I get asked to come on
(33:07):
a podcast and it's like oneepisode, I'm like sorry, like
you know, it's not.
You got to grow a little bit.
But when you want to getconnected with someone that has
an influence and that has afollowing or has the connections
that you want to make, and youhave a podcast and you're going
to let them share their messagefor free, they're going to
reciprocate by now allowing youinto their network to a degree,
(33:29):
right.
So it's like now you can makethat connection, now you get to
meet that person, talk to thatperson, ask them the questions
that you want answered to, right.
And so you have to realize thatthere's so many benefits on the
upside that if you're stuck inthe well, I have 47 episodes
downloaded.
It's like yo publish it, justpublish it, throw it, like you
know, full send.
So I love that and it is sotrue, and I love what you, what
(33:52):
you got going on, cause I thinkit is so crucial.
Even though it has definitelygotten easier than 2013, 2015,.
It still is difficult,especially getting over that
slump, especially getting intothat mindset of becoming a
podcaster.
Um, so I love what you gotgoing on, that's why I wanted to
, you know, bring you on, causeI haven't had someone that's
done this yet in on the show andcreating that podcast mindset.
(34:15):
But as we, as we wrap up, Iwant to ask you one final
question.
Right, and this is the legacywall question.
Now, I will say it's not atombstone, right?
So I'll preface it by sayingthat so it's the legacy wall of
Adam.
What is the one message thatyou would leave for the up and
coming generations that you'velearned along your life's
(34:36):
journey?
Speaker 2 (34:47):
My life's journey.
Oh my gosh, I think for me it'sget really good at helping
other people solve theirproblems, like that's what I've
always done, that's how I'vemonetized since I was six years
old, you know, like if you canget really, really figuring out
what problems are and analyzingyour own unique solution and
then helping lots and lots ofpeople solve problems, whether
it's with your gym and weightloss or whether it's with making
money online, that's the deal.
(35:11):
That's how you make a bunch ofmoney, and you do that by making
a really positive impact.
And I think the error peoplemake is like we're trying to
solve our own problem of notmaking enough money and that's
the focus points.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Like I'm not making enough money.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
I got to go sell something to make more money.
But no, no, no, no.
What problem are you solvingfor somebody else and that will
solve your own problem?
I'm not not not having yourLambo with the podcast or
license plate yet, or whateveryou want to.
Whatever you want to do, youknow.
So that's, uh, that's what I'vegotten really good at, and I'm
big on the mantra of less butbetter.
I'm big on simplification, soif I had to simplify it down,
(35:45):
that's what it would be.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
No, and I love that Cause.
I mean, that's where I thinkpeople do get mixed up, not just
in podcasting, but in life ingeneral and business in general
is it's you know general andbusiness in general is it's you
know profit first and it's likeit's people first.
Right, think about the impactthat you're having on your team.
Think about the impact thatyou're the problems that you're
solving for your customers, yourclients.
The profit comes when you focuson the people that you're
(36:07):
trying to solve the problem forfirst.
So I love that.
Where can people connect withyou at?
Speaker 2 (36:12):
Yeah, I mean, I would love for you all to dive into
my no-transcript.
(36:40):
There's a lot of strategiesthere and it really will help.
A lot of people don't realizethis, devin, but there've been
over four and a half millionpodcasts that have been launched
and only 10% of those so aboutless than half a million have
more than 10 episodes and havereleased any content in the last
90 days.
(37:00):
So opportunity friends, youlook at YouTube channels, you
look at blogs, social mediahandles.
There's lots and lots and lots,but podcasting is still fresh
and fertile ground.
There's a lot of podcasts thathave been launched.
There are not a lot ofpodcasters actively podcasting.
That's the trick.
So, yeah, I think that hang out.
(37:23):
Podcasting business school byepisode five 60.
I'm podcasting business schooleverywhere, online podcasting
businessschool.
So come and say hey no, I lovethat.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
And, guys, if you guys know someone or even
yourself, you you're debating onlaunching a podcast, go check
that episode out 560.
But if you know someone thathas been talking about launching
their own podcast, make sureyou guys share in this episode
and let them get off that humpof.
I'm going to do it one day.
It's going to happen.
This is my New Year'sresolution.
Five years in a row.
Send this to happen.
You know this is my new year'sresolution, five years in a row.
(37:55):
Right, you know, send this tothem.
But with that being said, guys,make sure you guys leave that
review.
You know we love you guys.
We appreciate you.
And Adam, thank you so much fortaking the time out of your day
to hop on the mindset cafe.
(38:16):
My mind on the prize.
I can't be distracted.
I stay on my grind.
No time to be slackin'.
I hustle harder.
I go against the current Cause.
I know my mind is rich to becollected.
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