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Will You Die for Your Podcast? · Your Mic

• 0:00
  Valentine's Day. It's cute until you remember it's named after a guy who got beaten with clubs and beheaded.
• 0:06
  Not for forgetting to buy flowers, but for refusing to shut up about what he believed in.
• 0:14
  Welcome back to your mic. The show where your little brand safe, let's keep a positive podcast comes to die.
• 0:21
  Today, it's St. Valentine and the uncomfortable question. How much do you actually care?
• 0:30
  Picture this. Third century Rome. Emperor Claudius II, also known as Claudius Gothicus.
• 0:40
  He's the guy running the show. Depending on which version you read, there's a priest or a bishop named
• 0:45
  Valentine who keeps ministering to persecute Christians and secretly performing marriages after
• 0:51
  the emperor bans them. Who the heck bans marriages? Anyway, Claudius doesn't like this, Valentine gets
• 0:59
  arrested. There are legends that he even tries to convert the emperor, which spoiler alert
• 1:04
  does not end well. He's ordered to renounce his faith or face the consequences, and because he's a real
• 1:10
  one, Valentine refuses. So Claudius' guys beat him up with clubs, and then they cut his head off.
• 1:18
  Luckily, this happened around February 14th and the year 269 are there about. South side, the
• 1:24
  Flamying Gate near Rome. Your date night inspiration is literally a guy who looked the empire in
• 1:32
  the face and said, Nabra, I'm good. Now, this is not Sunday school. This is about your show,
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  because a lot of people say they love their podcast. But what they really mean is I love what my
• 1:50
  podcast might do for my business and career if I never make anybody mad. Listen, Saint Valentine
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  marries people in secret even though there's an imperial decree saying not to do it. You won't even
• 2:02
  post the spicy clip from your own interview because you're worried your old boss might see it on
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  LinkedIn. Saint Valentine, again, he's a real one. He looks at persecuted believers and says,
• 2:14
  I know this will get me imprisoned, but I'm still going to serve them. You look at your
• 2:20
  industry and say, I know there are unethical practices here, but if I talk about it, I might lose
• 2:26
  access, so I'll just hint. Now, let's ask the question that matters, okay? Do you love your podcast
• 2:34
  enough to get metaphorically beheaded for it? Or are you just in it for heart-shaped chocolates?
• 2:41
  Here's what martyrdom looks like in podcasting. It's losing guests because you told the truth
• 2:47
  about how their industry really works. It's getting uninvited from conferences because you called
• 2:53
  someone out on their BS. It's watching your follower count drop after an episode where you finally
• 2:59
  said what you actually think. If every take you have fits comfortably on a corporate HR poster,
• 3:05
  you are not a host, you are a brochure. Look at how the legend frames Valentine.
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  Emperor bans marriages. Valentine, on the other hand, keeps doing weddings in secret because he believes
• 3:18
  love and vows matter more than the Emperor's recruitment strategy. Authorities say,
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  renounce this or die, Valentine refuses and takes the L, the execution.
• 3:34
  Now, translate. Industry says, we don't talk about fake download numbers, shady ad metrics,
• 3:42
  and ghost-listening of Valentine-level hosts says, cool, I'll do an entire series on it.
• 3:48
  Sponsors say, we prefer you to keep the show upbeat and avoid controversial topics. A Valentine
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  level host says, then you are not the right sponsor. You can always tell how much someone cares by
• 4:02
  what they're willing to lose, so let's get uncomfortably specific. Would you risk a big name
• 4:09
  guest relationship by asking the question nobody else has the intestinal fortitude to ask?
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  Would you tell your audience that a popular quote-unquote expert in your space is full of it knowing
• 4:21
  it might cost you a future collab? Would you publish an episode that might make a few loyal listeners
• 4:28
  walk because you finally took a stand? If your answer is no across the board, cool. At least admit it,
• 4:36
  say, I don't run a mission, I run a marketing channel, and then act accordingly. But as something inside
• 4:43
  you is like, no, I actually believe something about this space. And Saint Valentine is here to
• 4:49
  haunt your content strategy. Now this does not mean you go full edge lord. No, no, no, no, no,
• 4:55
  no, that's not what I'm telling you. I'm saying, picking fights just to watch the comments burn.
• 4:59
  You're not going to want to do that. That is not martyrdom, it's not smart, that's cloud chasing
• 5:04
  in the leather jacket, and there are plenty of those on LinkedIn. So what is the one belief about
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  your niche that you would still talk about if it never got you another follower, another sponsor,
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  another client? Maybe it's most of the thought leaders in my industry are regurgitating the same
• 5:21
  10 ideas from 2009. Maybe it's this entire business model is exploitative and we all know it.
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  Maybe it's the people we ignore entry-level staff, frontline workers, small creators,
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  actually no more than people on stages. That belief, that's your altar. That is where your show
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  belongs. So here's a framework since your brain loves frameworks. Step one, name your emperor,
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  name Claudius, your version at least. Who or what are you afraid of upsetting? Is it a specific
• 6:01
  company, a sponsor, a guild, an association or community? Is it a vague blob called the industry
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  that you worship like Claudius with better branding? Write it down, no euphemisms. Step two,
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  name your couples. Who are the people you're secretly trying to serve? Are you trying to serve
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  underpaid creatives, burnt out founders? People who actually do the work while everybody else
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  collects speaking fees. Valentine didn't marry couples for the emperor. He did it for the couple.
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  So who are your couples? Step three, decide your beheading. Figuratively, not literally,
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  what are you willing to lose? If your answer is nothing, fine. But stop calling your podcast bold.
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  It's an overused word anyway. If your answer is, I'm willing to lose convenience, comfort,
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  and maybe a few gigs. Okay, now we're talking. Then what you do is build an episode around that.
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  For example, topic. Why most numbers and XYZ industry are fake? What you stand to lose,
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  potential sponsors who don't want their games exposed? What you stand to gain? The trust of
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  every listener who's been gaslit by those numbers for years. Example, topic. I'm done pretending
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  this model is ethical. What you stand to lose? People who benefit from the model? What you stand
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  to gain? People who have been harmed by it and are desperate to not feel crazy. Valentine dies
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  once. Your martyrdom is way softer. Awkward networking events, angry DMs, and maybe maybe one
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  nasty quote tweet. If that sounds unbearable, cool. But maybe the problem isn't podcasting. Maybe
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  the problem is that you're trying to be loved by an empire. You should be resisting. So here's
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  your challenge. Write down one belief about your industry. You've been sanding the edges off of.
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  Outline one episode where you present that belief unwattered with receipts. Decide in advance
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  what you're willing to lose when you hit publish. Then ask yourself out loud. Do I love this show
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  enough to bleed for it a little? Look, Saint Valentine did not die so you could record another
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  episode of top five tips to maximize your network in Q3. No, he didn't. Now, you don't have to die.
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  Literally, I mean, we all do, but right now for your podcast, no, that's not what I'm talking about.
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  But if nothing in your life ever hurts because of this podcast, be honest with yourself. Please
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  maybe you don't love it as much as you say you do or maybe this episode is not about you.
• 8:41
  Maybe it's about your friend. Send it to them and tell them not to worry about thinking me.
• 8:47
  I'd rather thank you and them for listening and standing for something.