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An Exciting New Podcast Direction! · The Daily Writer

• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to episode 119 of the Born to Create Podcast.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Ken Sanders, and this is the show where we explore the mindset, habits, and skills to help you make a bigger impact in your creative work.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you probably saw that this episode is titled An Exciting New Podcast Direction, and you're probably wondering what in the world is that all about.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I thought I would take a few minutes here on this episode and share with you how this podcast will be pivoting and what you can expect from the new format and the new topic.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: So let me just give it to you straight up front, and then I'll dive into this topic in more detail.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: The short story is that I'm transitioning this podcast away from Born to Create to a new show called Smart Business Writing.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm niching down this topic because I'm going to be focusing on ghostwriting for clients in my business, and I want the podcast to reflect that focus on writing.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: So, in effect, my two main business activities will be ghostwriting for clients and doing some other types of freelance writing and content marketing that's related to ghostwriting, but also teaching about writing.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: And the podcast is going to be my main outlet in regards to teaching.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: I love the podcast format.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: If you listen to this show any length of time at all, you probably sense my passion and my love for this format of just talking and putting that out there and being able to connect with people in this way.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I love writing, but I also love podcasting.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: And it may seem kind of weird that I love podcasting so much because that by definition is kind of like not writing.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: You know, podcasting is audio while writing is, you know, books and articles and things like that.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: But the reality of it is that it all goes together really, really well.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's all creating content.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I love podcasting because you can develop an intimate connection with people.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: You can connect with people in a way that you don't get to through ebooks, through printed books, through stuff you read online and those kinds of things.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I love podcasting for a whole bunch of reasons, and I'm really excited about this new, more specific direction that I'm going to be taking with the podcast.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now, let's talk about where I'm going with the show and kind of some behind-the-scenes things related to why I'm doing this.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: The new Smart Business Writing Show will be on the same podcast feed as this show, so if you're listening to this, you don't need to do anything different.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: What you'll see in your podcast app or in your podcast feed, depending on how you're listening to this or subscribing to the show, you're going to see a different title and different artwork, but it will be on the same stream or the same podcast feed, depending on what terminology you use.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Basically, however you're listening to it, it's not going to change.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's going to be on the same sort of channel that's broadcasting.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's sort of like how a TV show might change its title and some of the characters, but it's still going to be the same basic emphasis in the same basic format.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: So if you've listened to my show for any length of time, you know that I've had a lot of episodes on the Born to Create podcast that have been writing focused, and a lot of my guests have talked about their writing and their books.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: So this new smart business writing show is really just me talking about creativity as it takes place in business writing.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Now, let me take a minute to share what this new show is going to entail, and then I want to talk about some things that led up to this decision because I think it's important for you, or at the very least, it's important for me to talk about it.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: It may not be important for you to hear about it, but I do think it's going to be helpful for you to hear what my thought process was leading up to this decision to pivot the podcast, because there is some very intentional thinking that's behind this.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: This has not been a random thing where I've said, well, let me just try some other random topic or something.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, this has been a very strategic and very intentional pivot for the podcast.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I've really wrestled with this for the last two or three months.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: So let me kind of walk you through my thought process behind all this.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: So the new Smart Writing Business Show is going to be focused on how to use writing to grow your business.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to talk about topics that lie at the intersection of business and writing.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to be talking about how business leaders and entrepreneurs can use writing to grow their business, but we're also going to be talking about how writers can think more like a business person.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: So it's really coming from two different angles.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's business people and helping the business community to write more effectively, but it's also for writers who want to treat their writing more like a business.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I think both those things overlap a lot.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to be coming at it from both of those angles here in the show.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Some of the topics that we're going to be talking about include productivity, creativity, self-publishing, email marketing, blogging, writing apps and writing resources, business principles, storytelling, writing and business resources, and so much more.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: We're also going to be doing weekly interviews with writers, creatives, and business leaders.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: As far as the format goes, I'm going to be starting off not with one, but actually three episodes per week.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Now, yes, you heard that right.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's three episodes per week.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: I've not gone crazy.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: I've not gone insane.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: Well, at least not that I'm aware of.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, insane people don't really realize they're insane, I guess.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't think I've gone insane.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: But the reason I'm doing this is because on Mondays and Wednesdays, I'm going to be doing short teaching episodes, and then on Fridays, I'll be doing an interview episode.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: So as you can see, I'll be putting a lot of time and effort into this revamped show.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason is because I, again, I believe in the power of podcasting to connect with an audience, and I love this format of communicating and teaching.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of a summary of what the new show, Smart Business Writing, is going to be about.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I want to take a few minutes to give you a peek into my thinking process as to why I'm making this decision.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: And to do that, let me start out by sharing two quotes that will help guide what I want to share about all this.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: And these are both from spiritual writers who I have admired for a long time.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: The first is from Frederick Biekner, who said something really profound on his little book called Wishful Thinking.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: And in that book, Frederick Biekner defined the word vocation as the place where your deep gladness meets the world's deep need.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: The other quote I want to share is from Parker Palmer's book called Let Your Life Speak.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's also a great little book, and as you can see, I like little books, maybe because I can get through them fast and I don't have a long attention span.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: But his book is called Let Your Life Speak.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: It came out about 20 years ago, I think.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: And in that book, he said there is as much guidance in what does not and cannot happen in my life as there is in what can and does, maybe more.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: So there are two important principles at work here, and I think I we can take those two quotes and those two principles and we can frame them as four questions that we need to pay attention to in our lives.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Now, just kind of hang with me.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm getting to the point here as to how this relates to the podcast, but just hang with me because I'm explaining what has led to this decision to pivot my podcast.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Because it actually connects with me on a very deep level.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: So there are four questions we need to pay attention to in our lives.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, what makes me happy?
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, what is a deep need the world has?
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: Number three, what has not been happening in my life that I have wanted?
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: And number four, what good things have been happening in my life?
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I think another way of saying that question is where has my success come from?
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: So over the last year or so, a lot of interesting things have happened that have helped to point me in the direction of ghostwriting.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, things like doing writing-related work for clients, producing more of my own writing, connecting with business people, and so forth.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: So let me go through the four questions I just mentioned and kind of walk through those briefly, and that'll give you a sense of why I'm wanting to pivot this podcast.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: So the first question I mentioned is what makes me happy?
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: And to put it simply, writing is what really makes me happy.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: I enjoy writing for other people because it not only helps pay the bills, of course, but it also helps me to learn.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: Just in the last three months or so, I've done writing for, and I'm talking about ghost writing and freelance writing.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: I've done writing for attorneys, uh, done some writing for an HR consultant.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: I've done writing for speakers, a uh woman who owns a floral business, for business leaders and other people that I'm probably forgetting about.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: And each one of those clients teach me something.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: I learn something not just about the topic that I'm writing about for them, but I also learn about business.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: I also learn about the connections that they have.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: I learn about what their priorities are, and there's all kinds of things that you learn from people whenever you work with them, and it's not always the things that you think are so obvious.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I have really come to appreciate the idea of writing for clients because it's not just a thing where they're giving me money and I'm giving them some sort of product.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's really an exchange that's much more valuable than that.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's an exchange where I learn something from each one of those uh from each one of those interactions and each one of those assignments from them.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: But it's not just about writing for clients.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: I also love writing for myself.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: Now, to be perfectly honest, I haven't written very much of my own material for a good chunk of the last year.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: And that probably explains in some way why I felt like I've had kind of like a low-grade crankiness the past six or eight months.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I really think it's because I just haven't been creating for myself that much lately.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: I've been so focused on working for clients that I haven't done a lot of writing for myself.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: I've got a couple of books that are in the pipeline.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't made as much progress the past year as I want to on those, and that's a whole story for another time.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: But to answer the question, what makes me happy?
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: Writing is what makes me happy, whether it's writing for others or writing for myself.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I think our happiness in life, that, you know, sometimes we, especially in the Christian community, sometimes we we really sort of poo-poo or we downplay the idea of happiness.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like, well, we shouldn't use our happiness to as a guide for, you know, things that we should do in life or what our priorities should be.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I understand that impulse, but I also think there's something to be said for paying attention to what brings you joy in life.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: We shouldn't neglect or ignore those things.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: If something brings you deep happiness, and here I'm talking about, you know, not just going to McDonald's and wolfing down a large order of fries, because that does make us happy.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: That does that does taste good in the moment, but it doesn't actually bring us joy.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a difference between happiness and joy.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: So what brings us joy vocationally?
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: What kind of work brings you joy?
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: What brings you a sense of fulfillment and happiness and just something that you like doing?
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's really important to pay attention to that.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: And it could be, as it has been for me, that maybe you're, as Parker Palmer, Parker Palmer says in his book, Let Your Life Speak That, maybe your life is trying to tell you something and you're not listening.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: So listen for what brings you joy and happiness.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, sometimes we can make things way too complicated in life.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: So that's an important question to pay attention to.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: What makes me happy?
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: In my case, writing and creating is what makes me happy.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: Let me go to the second question here.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: What is a deep need the world has?
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: In business terms, a lot of people need writing done for them.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: And ghostwriting is a quickly growing field because a lot of people need content, but many of them either don't have the time or they don't have the desire or the talent to write their own material.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where I come in.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: So just on a very basic level, a deep need that people have is in the business community, people have a need for written content.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: Whether that's books or articles or other kinds of stuff, maybe it's emails or figuring out their content marketing plan and those kinds of things.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: But there's there's just a need for that, and that's a need I can fill.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: And doing that makes me happy, it makes me joyful, and it's a talent and a gift that I have.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: But the other part of that, as far as a deep need the world has, a deep need is for people to learn about writing.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: People have a need, and a need and a desire to learn about better writing practices.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: They they have a need to learn about how email marketing works, they have a need to learn how the self-publishing process works, they have a need to learn better habits of writing.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a need that I can meet as well.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why I'm taking this two-pronged approach in my business, which is writing for clients, but also teaching writing.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I love both of those things.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: Question number three, what has not been happening in my life that I have wanted?
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think life has a way of guiding us, as I mentioned, if we just pay attention to it.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it takes a number of doors slamming shut in our face for us to get the hints that life is trying to to communicate to us.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: Over the summer and into this fall, I had a number of disappointments in terms of business opportunities that I really thought were going to pan out.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: None of them did, and it was each of those was really disappointing at a time.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I could tick off three or four things just off the top of my head.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: But looking back on those experiences, although I think each of those opportunities could have gone well and some good things could have come from them, they weren't what I really needed to be focusing on.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: I was pursuing those things more out of a sense of desperation, probably than a sense of fulfillment or thinking that I was really doing something that I needed to be doing.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: And each one of those opportunities, if I would have gotten involved with those, they would have distracted me from what authors Gary Keller and Jay Popassan refer to as my one thing, and I'm I'm taking that concept based on their excellent book called The One Thing.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: So my one thing is writing, pure and simple.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: It has been for many years, and I'm kind of embarrassed to admit, honestly, that it's only in the past few years that I've really kind of come to embrace that.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: For some reason I've always sort of um not always, but for a long, long time in my adult life, I sort of ran away from that a little bit, and it's only more recently in my life, in the last few years, probably turning 40, had something to do with this, that I really just took a look at myself and thought, okay, I I really need to embrace this and stop sort of running away from this.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: So my one thing is writing and creating, and that leads me to my last point here.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: This is question number four, which is what good things have been happening in my life?
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: So, question number three is what has not been happening in my life that I have wanted, and how can that point me in the right direction?
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: Question number four is what good things have been happening in my life, and what is that trying to tell me?
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: As I mentioned earlier, another way of asking this question is where has my success come from?
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: And if I'm honest, the vast majority of any success that I've enjoyed in business has come from writing.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: And that could be writing I've done for clients or writing that I've done that's impacted others, like, you know, podcasts, uh, books, articles, things like that.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: And by the way, when I say writing, as I mentioned before, it refers to any content I create.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know, podcasting is a form of content creation, and therefore I consider podcasting a form of writing because you're you're creating content.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we're afraid to admit to ourselves what our real gifts are.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, this is a part of the reason I've been doing a podcast focusing on the broad topic of creativity for the past couple years, as opposed to the topic of writing.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: I have been struggling in a big way with imposter syndrome, and I've been afraid to really put myself out there as a writing teacher, as a um as a writer who can help you create content and being a ghostwriter and all those kinds of things.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: But in the past few months, I've with some help from a lot of people, I've come to embrace that and to stop holding back on that, and that's a big reason why I've decided to pivot this podcast is because I want to focus on writing and put myself out there as somebody who can help other people, and also to learn myself.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: You know, podcasting isn't just about talking about what you know.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: For me, podcasting is about learning, and in fact, that's why I have guests on.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I love how every week, moving forward, I'm gonna have the opportunity to not just be a teacher, but also be a student.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm sitting right there alongside you in the classroom of life, learning from the guests that we'll have on the show.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I love that opportunity to have people on the show so we can we can all learn from them and take from their wisdom and improve our lives and our businesses as well.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: So as I look through the questions I just went through and how I responded to each of those things, it's pretty clear that I need to make writing my focus.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: I need to make writing my one thing.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: So there you have it.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's the story of why I'm pivoting the podcast and my thinking behind it.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: I don't see this as an ending of anything, but I see it as a beginning.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to stop talking about the topic of creativity.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's just that it's going to be focused on this one area of business writing.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to leave all the previous episodes of the podcast in this feed so you can still access those.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: All of those episodes have content that is still relevant to business writing, even if sometimes they're talking about things that are not specific to writing, but they're talking about creativity in general.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: And if you've been listening to this show now for a while and you've made it this far here in this episode where I've just kind of rambled on, I want you to know that I'm so grateful for your support.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: It really means a lot.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I know people sometimes say that on a podcast or in other areas of life, but but I truly do mean it.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: Every single download represents a person out there who's listening and who's hopefully being impacted by what I'm saying.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: So I really hope you're going to join me for this new adventure in a rebranded smart business writing podcast.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: I think you're going to truly enjoy it.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: And by the way, let me say this as well before I kind of do my final wrap-up on this episode.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: Some of you who are listening are in the business community and you're probably going to automatically be interested in this show, Smart Business Writing.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: But some of you are not, you wouldn't consider yourself a business person.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: However, I'm going to challenge you on that notion, and this is something I'm going to talk about a lot more on the Smart Business Writing podcast, is that if you are creating something, if you're creating books, articles, content, if you are creating videos or podcasts, if you are creating content or ideas and you want to get that out to people, and you want to somehow be receiving money from people, whether that's through book sales, maybe it's through selling courses, maybe it's putting stuff up on social media and you want to build your music business or your write uh writing business or an art business or whatever it is.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to make a living with your creativity and you want to create content, you are in business.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: You are a business person.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I have a big part of my community comes from the church world because that's my background, and I still teach at a Christian college, and I love what I do there and really appreciate the opportunity to teach and to be engaged there, and I really love it.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of times people from the the church world, they they look at the business community and go, well, that's not really something I want to do, or that's not a direction I want to go.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: I just want to do what I do as a ministry.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I really want to challenge you on that concept.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: I think you you can have a ministry, and a ministry is great.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: But there's lots of ways to minister to people and to serve people.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: And if you want to make an income from your thoughts and your ideas and your content, you absolutely can do that.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: And this Smart Business Writing podcast is definitely going to be for you.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: Because whatever business you're in, you are going to need content.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: You're going to have to write, whether it's books, blog posts, articles, social media content, email newsletters, marketing stuff, you're going to have to use content and words to sell what you're doing and to market and promote it.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I love that process.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's really, really fun.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: So cannot wait for us to dive into the Smart Business Writing Podcast.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I think that's it for this episode.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to be back on January the 1st with the very first episode of the Smart Business Writing Podcast.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: And once again, you don't need to do anything to receive it, just keep this podcast feed active, and it will automatically switch over with a new title and artwork, and all the previous episodes in the archive will still be there.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: Well, hey, those are my thoughts, but I'd love to hear what you think about this episode.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: You can do that by heading over to Apple Podcast and leaving a rating and a review, or by leaving a comment on this episode at KentSanders.net slash 119.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's for episode 119.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, remember that you were born to create and designed to make a difference.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you in the next episode.