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Transcript

How to Know Your Podcast is Actually Compounding · Your Mic

• 0:00
  James Dyson made 5,127 prototypes before he got his vacuum right.
• 0:05
  And that sounds inspiring until you realize people hear that story and use it as permission to make the same bad podcast episode for five years.
• 0:15
  Here's the value right up front.
• 0:17
  You just need three tests to know whether your work is compounding or whether you are just repeating yourself.
• 0:25
  They are the signal test, the asymmetry test, and the identity test.
• 0:30
  By the end of this episode, you will know exactly how to use those tests before you give another year of your life to a project that might need a pivot.
• 0:39
  So.
• 0:42
  Welcome back to your mic.
• 0:43
  My name is Freddy Cruz, founder of Speak Podcasting and the Speak Originals Network, home to shows like The House of Theft and Made in House Houston.
• 0:53
  Learn more about these podcasts at speakpodcasting.com slash speakoriginals.
• 0:59
  Now, today we're going to talk about the art of patience, persistence, billionaire origin stories, and the difference between staying in a worthwhile game and hiding behind the long game.
• 1:12
  Because changing course is scary.
• 1:15
  First,
• 1:16
  We're going to talk about the myth you need to drop.
• 1:19
  Her name is Sarah Blakely.
• 1:21
  She faced rejection while trying to get Spanx produced.
• 1:24
  Amazon absorbed years of criticism and losses.
• 1:28
  James Dyson, you remember that number of prototypes?
• 1:31
  Yeah, 5,127 in case you forgot.
• 1:33
  He made that many prototypes before his bagless vacuum succeeded.
• 1:35
  He made that many prototypes before his bagless vacuum succeeded.
• 1:40
  All are true enough, but the takeaway is not never quit.
• 1:44
  The takeaway is not if I just suffer longer than other people, success will eventually award me a trophy and a yacht.
• 1:53
  No.
• 1:54
  Those stories only become useful when you look at what happened inside the time.
• 2:00
  Testing, iteration, feedback, new info, a changing strategy.
• 2:06
  Dyson was not manufacturing the same failed prototype over and over and over and over and over again while whispering affirmations into the mirror.
• 2:16
  He was learning.
• 2:18
  That is the difference between persistence and self-delusion.
• 2:24
  Test number one.
• 2:25
  We talked about those three tests.
• 2:27
  Here's the first one.
• 2:28
  The signal test.
• 2:30
  Ask yourself, as the podcast host, am I getting evidence that I am moving closer to my goal?
• 2:37
  Not necessarily viral evidence or a first episode that reaches a thousand downloads or a 95% retention rate on Apple Podcasts.
• 2:48
  Not necessarily revenue, but what are your titles improving?
• 2:55
  Are better people replying to your outreach?
• 2:58
  Are you getting more specific feedback?
• 3:00
  Yeah.
• 3:01
  Are clients referencing actual episodes in conversations that you don't know about until after the fact?
• 3:09
  Are you getting better no's?
• 3:10
  No's from people or rooms you could not really get into a year ago.
• 3:15
  The signal test, it doesn't require instant success, but what it does require is movement.
• 3:21
  If literally nothing is changing, don't, do not, ever call that patience.
• 3:28
  Call it a diagnostic moment.
• 3:30
  You might just need a better format, sharper positioning, more distribution, different guests, or a completely different offer.
• 3:39
  Here's the second test, the asymmetry test.
• 3:42
  Ask yourself, if this works, is the upside worth the investment?
• 3:47
  And if it does not, can I afford the downside?
• 3:51
  You see, your podcast does not need to be a billion-dollar company.
• 3:57
  It can become an authority engine.
• 3:59
  It could be a relationship builder.
• 4:02
  It could be a trust asset, a body of work that opens doors.
• 4:05
  But be honest about the game you're playing from the get-go, preferably before you ever record your first episode.
• 4:12
  If you're investing 10 hours a week and your show cannot realistically serve an important business or creative goal, change the investment or change the goal.
• 4:23
  It's not me being cynical.
• 4:25
  I want you to have a podcast.
• 4:26
  I also want you to be successful.
• 4:31
  All right?
• 4:32
  So don't call your podcast a hobby or a unicorn.
• 4:37
  You don't call a hobby a unicorn.
• 4:39
  And you do not dismiss a meaningful hobby because it doesn't look like a unicorn.
• 4:44
  So know which one you have.
• 4:47
  The third test is the identity test.
• 4:50
  Ask yourself...
• 4:52
  Who am I becoming through this work?
• 4:54
  A project can be worth continuing even before the outside results arrive if it is making you better.
• 5:01
  Are you a more skilled interviewer?
• 5:03
  Are you a sharper communicator?
• 5:06
  Are you getting more comfortable on camera?
• 5:08
  Are you more connected to your industry?
• 5:10
  Are you famous in your industry?
• 5:12
  Are you more capable of finishing what you start?
• 5:16
  And these are all things that you don't necessarily see when you open up your bank statements.
• 5:19
  But if the process is turning you into someone who constantly posts quotes about patients because there is no actual progress to share, then, well, you've got a problem.
• 5:33
  And maybe you need to stop.
• 5:36
  Maybe you need to pivot.
• 5:38
  Maybe you need help.
• 5:41
  And none of those outcomes make you a quitter, no.
• 5:45
  They make you an adult with a dashboard.
• 5:48
  Now here's your action plan because we all need a plan, right?
• 5:51
  Do this before you leave this episode.
• 5:53
  Set a time horizon.
• 5:55
  12 months is a good starting point for any serious podcast experiment.
• 6:01
  Choose three signals you're going to watch.
• 6:04
  the one craft signal, an audience signal, one business relationship signal.
• 6:10
  Schedule monthly feedback with people who are going to tell you the truth.
• 6:13
  That means not your parents, not your spouse, not your boyfriend, your girlfriend, not anybody in your immediate family.
• 6:19
  Somebody with actual skin in the game.
• 6:22
  Somebody who's actually going to keep it real with you.
• 6:25
  Then what you want to do is at the end of the time horizon, decide.
• 6:28
  Do you double down, change the format, change the positioning, or, well, that was a fun podcast era.
• 6:36
  I'm out though.
• 6:38
  And that is patience with a plan.
• 6:42
  That's how you let time work for you instead of letting time disappear on you.
• 6:48
  Now remember, the goal is not to quit fast and it's not to suffer long.
• 6:52
  It's the goal of,
• 6:54
  It should always be to learn fast enough that staying becomes a smart decision.
• 7:02
  Share this episode with a founder, with a creator, with a podcast host in your life who needs permission to keep going but also needs permission to stop lying to themselves.
• 7:12
  Thanks so much for listening to this episode of Your Mic.