Finishing 2015 On A High Note
By Cheval John
Everyone is in planning mode on what they want to accomplish in 2016 for the better.
It is understandable because we are one day away from closing out 2015 and are excited about the possibilities that awaits us in 2016 for the better.
The problem is that we overlook the positive things that we can do to finish 2015 on a high note that can launch us into a thriving 2016.
Before, I would always plan out what I wanted to accomplish in the new year to make my life better.
This year is different because I am more focus on finishing 2015 on a high note because I want to know that I did everything I could to make the year successful for the better.
I can say that I finished the first half of my goal as I made an appearance on The Tonya Hofmann’s Fabulous TV Show to share about my company, Vallano Media, how businesses and sports organization can use social media to build a loyal community that will in turn help them to be profitable for the better and my favorite sports teams.
I also decided to provide my second book, “8 Lessons Every Podcaster Need To Learn” in its entirety below as a free gift to the audience of Mrs. Hofmann’s show and also the readers of this website.
In closing, I want to share that you must focus on finishing 2015 on a high note so that you can enter 2016 running for the better.
Hope you enjoy the free gift below.
Introduction
Podcasting has made a resurgence in the last 10 years.
It was a once forgotten medium because the technology was only available on computers.
After Apple created the iPod in 2005, many flocked back to podcasting because they believed that they could reach a wider audience.
There are signs that podcasting will continue to grow in the near future.
The reason is because Apple has led the way in innovation again with their new product, the Apple Carplay.
Carplay allows anyone to connect their iPhone to their cars.
It was released earlier this year on selected car models like Ferrari, Honda, and Hyundai and will be available on all newer models with the rest of the big name brands in 2015.
Even if you donāt have the cash to spend on these newer model cars, you will have the opportunity to still get Carplay because Pioneer Electronics were one of the premier aftermarket manufacturers to collaborate with their new Firmware For Pioneer NEX In-Dash Receiver.
The product was released late last year and is available for any model type of cars.
One might think, This is all great, but what does all this have to do with podcasting?
The answer is everything, because the iPhone has given people the capability to download their favorite podcasts and listen to them anywhere.
That means that if you are small business owner, freelance writer, or a college student who is trying to showcase your expertise in order to land a dream job, etc., starting a podcast will allow you to reach your target audience and establish your credibility.
And it gets even better with Carplay because podcasters are able to reach people who have to commute to work on a weekly basis.
So you might still wonder, Why I should journey into podcasting when the medium is the 11th social media platform used by 6% of marketers, according to the 2014 industry report by Social Media Examiner?
The reason is because that same report has indicated that 21% of marketers are going to create their own podcasts this year and 24% are thinking of the possibility of having a podcast.
So if you are convinced and are ready to have your very own podcast, I salute you.
As you are thinking about what platform will best fit your podcasting needs, the third chapter, “Start A Podcast” in my first book, 8 Things You Need To Do Before Quitting Your Job explains what platform will work for the newbie podcaster.
When you come to a decision on which platform you feel comfortable with in creating your podcast,
more questions will enter your mind like, How do I secure my first guest? Should I reach out to that A-Lister or should I start local with the people I know?
This book, 8 Lessons Every Podcaster Needs To Learn will be the step-by-step guide to grow your podcast the right way. It is based on the lessons I learned the hard way while hosting my very own online radio show/podcast, “What’s The Word?” on BlogTalkRadio. My hope is that you will avoid the same mistakes as a podcaster and that you will grow your personal brand and establish yourself as a thought leader, whether you are a business owner, freelance writer, college student or even an employee.
Let the lessons begin.
Websites:
Social Media Examiner :
www.socialmediaexaminer.com
AppleCarplay :
www.apple.com/ios/carplay/
Pioneer Electronics:
www.pioneerelectronics.com/CarPlay/
1st Lesson: Start Locally
When many people are first starting out, they are tempted to reach out to the most recognizable person out there.
The logic is that the recognizable guest will ādriveā many listeners to the show.
It is very reasonable if you want to start your podcasting journey on the right foot.
However, this is the wrong approach.
Many of these big name people will not even give you a second thought because you are not big enough, especially if you are just starting your podcast.
They will feel nervous because they do not know what to expect.
That is why it is important to start locally because your potential guest already knows you and trusts you.
If you built that relationship with the people who are prominent in your area, then it will be easier to approach them to be one of the āfirstā guests on your new show.
And once your podcast gains traction, it will be easier to reach out to the ābig nameā people because they will see your track record and, nine times out of ten, they will accept.
When I was in preparation to launch my show, “What’s The Word?” I reached out to a āprominentā person and she accepted the invitation.
Three days before the show was set to launch, she sent me a message saying that she was not able to do the show because she had to focus on her new clients and wished me luck.
Though I was bummed, it was a blessing in disguise because it allowed me to reach out to the people I already knew at my alma mater, Sam Houston State University.
The show launched a few weeks later and from that moment, I had many āwell-knownā guests on the show.
So if you want to have a great start to your podcast career, it is really important to start locally.
2nd Lesson: Choose Your Niche
You might be wondering if you should aim for a general audience or go for a niche market.
You would think that it is easier to go after a general audience because you want to show that you are well rounded and also want to cater to everyone.
In a lot of ways, it might work if you want to display your experiences to a potential employer, or in the case of a freelancer, a client.
However, that can cause you to lose your audience because you are trying to please everyone and are stretching yourself thin.
The best thing to do when you are starting a podcast is to go for a niche market.
Whether it is marketing, sports, self-help, etc., you are solving a specific need and, in the process, creating a loyal following.
Dori DeCarlo, a seasoned entrepreneur, first got into podcasting after launching the show, “The Three Wise Girls” with co-hosts Debbie Barth and Linda Alexander.
During one of the shows, Dori did a two part segment on Mompreneurs, women who are moms and also entrepreneurs.
In the process of that segment, Dori found her niche.
With the encouragement from her co-hosts, Dori launched her own show called “Word of Mom” which evolved into the network, “Word of Mom Radio.”
In the four years since launching, the network has received over 70,000 downloads in 2013 and is continuing to grow.
So if you want to grow your podcast, focus on a niche market because, in doing so, you will separate yourself from the crowd.
Website:
Word of Mom Radio:
www.wordofmomradio.com/
3rd Lesson: Research, Research, Research
So now you have landed your guest for your podcast and are counting down to the show.
One of the most important things you must do before the show is do your research.
You might say, “That is so obvious.”
The sad reality is many people don’t do their research on their guest.
The host might think they can āwing itā with the guest on the show, however your audience can tell right away if you are on top of your game.
When you do your research on the guest, you will find out interesting things you never knew before, and from this research you can create some talking points which will be a guide for you once the show begins.
And when you ask your guests specific quotes, they will feel very valued because of the research you did before the episode.
Once that happens, the guest will refer your show to their friends who are also influential.
In addition, you will gain greater credibility with your listeners because they know that you are very disciplined in preparation and also your audience knows you value them.
Jared Easley, co-creator of the Podcasting Movement and author of the Amazon best-selling book,Podcasting Good To Great: How To Grow Your Audience Through Collaboration, grew his podcast, āStarving The Doubtsā into a popular show.
His meticulous research on the guests before every show has made them feel at home.
As a result of his efforts, Jaredās podcast has been named the No.1 emerging podcast by both Entrepreneur.com and the Huffington Post.
So if you want to gain more credibility with your podcast, you must research, research, research because, like Mr. Easley, you will earn respect from your guest and your audience.
Websites:
Jared Easley: www.starvingthedoubts.com
Podcast Movement:
www.podcastmovement.com
Entrepreneur:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237966
4th Lesson: Send The Reminder A Day Before The Show
I had booked a guest who was coming out with a new book.
Everything was scheduled and we were counting down to the day of the show.
Once the show began, the guest did not call in and I had to improvise while I was waiting for the person to dial the number for the show.
The guest sent me a message and said, “Her assistant did not send her the number to call into the show.”
So I gave her the number and the show went on as usual.
I could have avoided the blunder if I had sent a reminder to the assistant the day before with the number to call.
You might think you do not need to send them or their representatives a reminder because they said they got it jot down in their calendar.
However, it is always important to send a reminder because it can determine if you will have a great show, a mediocre show or no show at all.
As in my case, the show was near perfect after the blunder.
So how do you send a reminder the day before the show begins without feeling like you are being rude?
Below is an example of how to send the reminder notice for your guest:
“Jane Doe, I hope you are having a great week and I can not wait for the show tomorrow. Just in case, here is the number to call five minutes before the show begins at 3 p.m. eastern, 2 p.m. central, 1 p.m. mountain, noon pacific: 1-888-888-8888.
Thank you again for taking the time out of your busy schedule to make an appearance on the show.
Have a great day.”
Cheval John
Host, “Name of Podcast”
So to recap, if you want to make sure that you and your guest or the representative of the guest are on the same page, send a reminder the day before the show because you will avoid the awkward moment when you are by yourself doing the show without a guest.
5th Lesson: Be Yourself
Even though it is very important to have talking points from your research, you should not stick to the script.
You should try and be as conversational as possible with your guest and show your personality because a audience loves a person who is very authentic and willing to be real.
That does not mean you should talk about yourself the majority of the time while you are doing the show because it will come across as self-promotion.
Your main job is to showcase the guest and lift them up to your audience, not in the way that you do not have some disagreements about a particular subject.
If your guest ask you about your work, then you can chat about yourself for a bit.
Always keep in mind the 80/20 rule.
80% of the show is focused on the guest while 20% is focused on you.
6th Lesson: Be A Good Listener
One of the most important things a person can do during a podcast is listening carefully to what their guest are saying.
Most of the time, the interviewer will ask a question and then focus on what they are going to ask next.
When a person only focus on what they are going to ask instead of listening to their guest, they miss out on an answer so insightful that can benefit the listener.
If you don’t listen, the guest will believe that you do not care about what they have to share with you and your audience.
When that happens, your podcast might suffer and it will be hard to build it back up again.
So if you want to gain insightful information during your podcast that will benefit your audience, be a good listener.
Your guest will appreciate it so much that they will give you praise when they are showcasing their appearance on your podcast.
7th Lesson: Send A Thank You E-mail
When you finish your show, the first thing you should do is send a thank you e-mail to either the guest or the representative of the guest who made it possible for your show to happen.
The reason is it shows proper etiquette to the person who worked behind the scenes to connect you to their client.
Another reason is the person might be connected to someone who you admire and want to have on the show.
Let’s say you don’t send the “thank you e-mail” or even a thank you note to the person, you might think you are not hurting anyone.
However, your guest will remember how you showed no appreciation for them taking the time out of their busy schedule to be on your show.
Secondly, the person will tell their friends about how you did not send them a thank you e-mail.
Once that happens, it will be hard for you to gain more guests because of the negative perception you have created because you did not send a thank you e-mail.
On the flip side, when you send the thank you note, your “guest” will speak well of you because they have seen you have taken the time to thank them for being on your show.
When you least expect it, the person will connect you to their clients that would make great guests for your show.
As a result, your podcast will go to the next level.
8th Lesson: Network With Other Podcasters
Networking is one of the most tried and true ways to get yourself out there and promote your show.
One way you can network is by commenting on your fellow podcasters shows.
If you do that on a consistent basis, they will take notice and it can lead to them promoting your podcast or even landing a guest appearance on their podcast.
One thing you must remember is that networking is about providing value to the other person and not just asking for something.
If you go to a networking event and only hand out promotional materials about your show, you are sending a message that you are not interested in building a friendship and that your work is more important than theirs.
You must go into any networking event with a giver’s mentality and really be genuine about your fellow podcaster’s work.
Once you establish the friendship, then they will be eager to help you to take your podcast to the next level.
The only question now is where do you meet your fellow podcasters?
The places you can network with your fellow podcasters is at conferences, online groups, etc.
One conference that comes to mind is the World Domination Summit (WDS), an annual conference held in Portland, Oregon.
WDS is the place where you can meet fellow bloggers and podcasters like Jaime Tardy, John Lee Dumas and Chris Ducker.
They have an established audience and always share what worked for them and how their strategies of growing an audience can work for you.
So if you want to grow your audience, network with your fellow podcasters because you will build your credibility as a thought leader and also lift up the people who are doing great things in the world.
Websites:
World Domination Summit:
www.worlddominationsummit.com
Additional Websites:
Podcasterās Hangout:
www.facebook.com/groups/podcastgroup/
Podcast South Florida:
www.facebook.com/groups/podcastsfl/
Conclusion
You have reached the conclusion of this book.
Hopefully, you will apply these lessons in order to be successful as a podcaster.
This book can be applied to whatever work you are doing.
Whether you are in public relations, journalism, etc., you must establish trust with your clients, readers or your viewers if you are going to succeed.
Podcasting may not be for everyone because what works for one person may not be a good fit for another person.
The only way that you can know if podcasting is right for you is if you try it out for yourself.
If you decide to go a different route, these same lessons will be beneficial for you to succeed in the long run.
Happy podcasting.
Enjoy Your Business Journey To Success
By Cheval John
You have ventured out on a new endeavor.
Whether it is launching a business or starting a podcast, etc., you want your endeavors to be a huge success.
You look at your competition and see that they are doing great.
You might even see that your competition is amassing a quick following within weeks and are profitable in the process.
Your first thought is “Why They Are More Successful Than Me?”
From that thought, you start comparing your endeavors to theirs.
You will be thinking along the way that you are not good enough to succeed.
When you fall for the comparison trap, you have already failed.
You have diluted your vision of what you want your business or podcast to be and are trying to copy your competition.
When that happens, you are only following the competition and not creating your unique voice for your business.
In addition, you are failing to provide value that would benefit the people who need it.
What you should do is not focus too much on the competition because you will end up creating their vision of your business and not yours.
Also, you should check out this awesome blog post, “How To Understand Your Competitors Without Falling Into The Jealousy Trap,” by Maria Ross, founder of Red Slice.
She explain the post in depth on my podcast, “What’s The Word?” last night about how she came up with the idea of the post and also falling for the comparison trap.
It is really valid because many of us always compare ourselves to other people who are seemingly more successful than us.
I have struggled with the comparison trap a lot of times.
Even though I have achieved a whole lot of goals like having my own podcast, running my own online media company, writing two books, spending an extended period of time in Mexico and Chile, or obtaining two college degrees, I still find myself at times comparing myself to others.
We have to remember that they will always be someone better than you in a skill like business, etc.
Also, you have to understand that they had to work extremely hard to earn their way to success.
That is really not a bad thing.
It is really awesome because you can always learn from them and see what they did to achieve their success.
I could right now compare myself to Maria because she is experiencing a whole lot of success as an entrepreneur while I am aiming to be successful as an entrepreneur.
I choose not to because I understand the journey that she has experienced to be where she is at today with her business.
So if you see a someone (example celebrities, etc.) who are seemingly achieving success very quickly in their new business or podcast ventures, just remember that they had to put in years of hard work and dedication to be where they are at and establishing their audience.
That alone should make you appreciate their journey and enjoy your own business or podcasting journey to success.
Like the old saying goes, “Rome Was Not Built In A Day.”
What Does Five Years Of Work Experience Means?
By Cheval John
Photo Courtesy of Stuart Miles
You have probably seen this in job descriptions when you are looking for work.
The description that the employer post says they are looking for a person who have five years or more of work experience.
And the most frustrating part of this is most of the descriptions are probably for entry-level positions.
You might be thinking, “What Does Five Or More Years of Work Experience Really Means?”
It is “understandable” that employers are very choosy on who they hire.
They are the ones who are spending the money and want to be careful on who the right person for the position will be.
They are also burdened with the coverage of their employees.
And in this day and age, they don’t want to go through months and months of training the new employee on how their systems work which comes with a cost.
So if they can find a person who meets their requirements, it will save them a whole lot of money.
Though it is good news in the short term, it is bad in the long term.
What they don’t realize is that they are hindering their progress of hiring the right person because they are looking for that so-called, “Rock Star.”
They feel that the so-called “Rock Star” will solve their problems and over deliver.
At the same time, they believe that they will not have to pay them the salary they deserve.
When companies have that type of thinking of looking for the “rock star,” they are missing the very people who are very talented in plain sight.
And when they miss the talent, it is actually costing them more money than if they had hired the employee.
They are also causing low moral in their company because they have put pressure on the current employees to deliver great work with less resources.
And then they wonder why they can’t find the right people to fill their company’s position.
And if you are the person who are trying to find your dream job and are hindered when you see the required “five years of experience,” here are a couple of suggestions:
1. Get a Part-Time Job. The reason is because it will allow you to have consistent cash flow while you are waiting to achieve your ideal workplace
2. Start A Side Business. If you trying to get work that fit your skills like writing, public relations, etc., then starting a company or even “freelancing” your service will give you a head start in gaining your dream work. You might eventually love your “freelancing” business to the point that you might forget about seeking employment.
3. Have a Strong Social Media Presence: Everybody is an influencer. If you can showcase how efficient you are on social media, then you have a great chance of wowing your potential employer.
And the chances of building trust with CEOs, Human Resource professionals, etc. on group chats on social media, will put you ahead of everyone else who are only putting out resumes and hoping for someone to see it among equally great resumes.
4. Start A Podcast: Podcasting is the lowest of competitions out there. You could possibly interview the owner of a company and ask them about how they decided to create their business and get your foot in the door. In addition to this article I wrote for Millennial CEO, here is another reason why you should podcast. Yesterday, Spotify, which has 70 million listeners, announced that they are adding video and podcasting to their music streaming service. That is a huge opportunity for podcasters to gain more listeners in addition to iTunes and Stitcher. If that does not convince you, then I don’t know what will.
When you make a concerted effort to create your own opportunities, you might end up attracting the right employer who will see your talent.
That in turn will allow you to show them what they were missing when they were searching for that “rock star” employee.
Hopefully, they will finally see that the “five years of work experience” in their job description is not really relevant anymore.
Creating More Options For Your Future
By Cheval John
Disclaimer: I am an Amazon Affiliate and I receive a commission based off of recommendations of books.
I remembered the day I “received” my first college degree.
The atmosphere was really cool on that May of 2008 evening.
Mind you, I had already graduated with my Associates Degree in December of 2007.
The community college system decided to hold one ceremony for people who had graduated the previous fall, about to graduate in the spring and summer time.
For four years, I was working towards obtaining the first degree which led to me receiving my Bachelor’s Degree in 2009.
I had started college late at the age where most was receiving their degrees.
I was so focused on getting the degree as quick as I could that I prolonged the process of earning the degree.
I had seen many people who was making the money at their dream job thanks to the degree that they held.
It was standard for anyone who had a degree to obtain the great job with a great salary.
I was so ready to get out of the quote and quote part time job and joining the workforce where I thought people were working at a “stable” job.
I was soaking it all in and realizing that I was one step closer to finally joining the workforce and being able to finally achieve financial independence.
As the graduation ceremony went on, the speaker, who was a professor at the community college system, spoke about the different reasons of having a college degree.
One of the reasons he gave was the fact that you had more “options.”
Now when I heard that, it hit me like a ton of bricks.
Sure I already knew the importance of a college degree.
I spent time looking at all of the statistics of the earning potential of those who held a college degree.
Like this one by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2008 report via the American Radio Works.com website which stated that a person who held an associate degree had a median earning of $42,000 while a person who held a bachelor’s degree had median earnings of $55,700 dollars.
The same report indicated that a person with a Master’s Degree had an earning of $91,000 and a doctorate degree holder would have a median earning of $100,000.
With those numbers, I had felt that I had finally achieved the goal of earning a college degree.
And according to the professor who had spoke about having more “options” because of the degree, I was thinking that I was very close to breaking out of the “unstable” part-time jobs.
Many did not foresee what was about to happen later in 2008.
Everyone was living the life because of the U.S. economy being stable.
The ones who were working in the stable jobs had the degrees and also seemingly had more options.
That statement of having more options with a college degree would not remain true thanks to the sudden “Great Recession” that took everyone by surprise.
The housing bubble burst.
Lehman Brothers went under and Fannie Mae was also under.
Stocks drop to a point that it caused panic in Wall Street.
The ones who were living the high life and were at their respective companies were suddenly out of work.
They did not see the sudden layoff coming.
The so-called “American Dream” of where people have the stable job and the white picket fence was over.
Even with the stock market rebounding, companies are still not hiring.
That is leaving many to wonder when the “middle class” was going to return so that everything will return back to normal.
What they don’t realize is that we are in the “New Normal.*”
They don’t understand that the jobs are permanently gone because companies are shipping most of the jobs overseas because it is saving them money.
I can say for certain that I saw this first hand when a newspaper shut down the sports reporter position after the original person left.
They saw it as an efficient way to save the paper more money.
What many should be doing right now is to create their own work and be in control of their destiny.
According to this article by Vivian Giang of Business Insider.com, 40% of the American workforce will be freelancers by 2020.
So if they are at the stable job and are making a living, they should create a side business so when they do get laid off, they will have something to supplement their income.
Nick Loper, who runs Side Hustle Nation.com, certainly has done a lot of side-hustle work over the years.
He has been an editor for authors, interviewed other people who have created side businesses that eventually led to their full time entrepreneurial journey on his Side Hustle Nation podcast, have written 6 books including repurposing his last two books from his podcast, “The Side Hustle Path Parts 1 and 2,” etc.
You must create your own work, whether it is on the side or full time.
The reason is you will have more options when the sudden layoff hits you.
Are you prepared for the New Normal? Have you created a side business? You can leave a comment below.
*Term New Normal was first said I believe by Hank Blank
Nothing In Life Is Free
By Cheval John
Lets say you send an top-leading expert in the business industry about the possibility of buying them coffee in order to learn how they overcame challenges to be successful in their business.
People like Mike Michalowicz, Author and Speaker
Or Felena Hanson, author of the new book, “The Flight Club and Owner of the Hera Hub.
Two likely scenarios will happen.
They will respectfully decline your offer to buy them coffee.
Or they will charge you a fee for about 30 minutes to an hour to learn about how they overcame the odds to become successful with their business for the better.
You might believe that the above is mean because you figure that they are nice people.
True, they are nice people.
But, you must understand that if they spend about 30 minutes to an hour of their time chatting with you about their business, they will be losing money in the process.
Because that same time they spent with you could have went into creating another business idea that would allow them to make money.
That is why the small percentage of the world are truly successful because they see their time as valuable.
They use their time wisely in order to keep themselves motivated to be successful in their business and aim to make the world a better place.
Now if you send these same entrepreneurs an e-mail invitation to spend 30 minutes to an hour as a guest on your podcast or “television” show, nine times out of ten, they will say yes.
The reason is because they will have an opportunity to share their story of how they achieved business success as a guest on your show.
They also know that they will not be losing money because they will attract a new (your) audience to their business.
That is why you see a lot of movie stars appearing on national television shows when they are promoting a new movie.
Or even music artists appearing on ESPN shows like “First Take” and “His and Hers” during the Super Bowl festivities when they are promoting a new album.
That in itself is why an entrepreneur or even a college student should host a podcast or a “television show.”
If you are just starting out, don’t send the invitation to a big name celebrity or rock star in the social media industry because you don’t have an audience yet.
Instead, start with the people you in your network who knows you and trust you because overtime, your podcast or television show will have a dedicated audience.
And a bonus that seems contradictory to the above advice, don’t waste your time chasing influencers because they are busy people and are receiving the same e-mail invitation from your fellow podcasters to be a guest on their show.
When you spend your time wisely and build your podcast/television show slowly, you will eventually gain respect from your audience that will eventually allow your business to be profitable for the better.
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