Get to know Sober Steve, the Podcast Guy, what to expect from Podcasting Badass, and learn the four reasons why you should be podcasting right now in the first of many episodes of Podcasting Badass!
Podcasting coach specializing in launching and growing podcasts, turning coaching trends into topic episodes while showing you my coaching firsthand with Tune-Ups and Brainstorm episodes
Why Podcast Right Now?
Podcasts are trending everywhere, but most that exist aren't even active!
People are waiting for you- both your listeners as well as guests!
You don't have to fail- you have resources like this podcast to help avoid Podfade!
Badasses are most likely to succeed- you are already *at least* 75% of the way to being a Podcasting Badass for listening to this entire episode- so what are you waiting for?
Check out www.SoberSteve.com to access your Podcasting Circle of Success or sign up for a free Tune-Up or Brainstorm session!
Follow us on Instagram @PodcastingBadass for exclusive bonus content!
Get to know Sober Steve, the Podcast Guy, what to expect from Podcasting Badass, and learn the four reasons why you should be podcasting right now in the first of many episodes of Podcasting Badass!
Podcasting coach specializing in launching and growing podcasts, turning coaching trends into topic episodes while showing you my coaching firsthand with Tune-Ups and Brainstorm episodes
Why Podcast Right Now?
Podcasts are trending everywhere, but most that exist aren't even active!
People are waiting for you- both your listeners as well as guests!
You don't have to fail- you have resources like this podcast to help avoid Podfade!
Badasses are most likely to succeed- you are already *at least* 75% of the way to being a Podcasting Badass for listening to this entire episode- so what are you waiting for?
Check out www.SoberSteve.com to access your Podcasting Circle of Success or sign up for a free Tune-Up or Brainstorm session!
Follow us on Instagram @PodcastingBadass for exclusive bonus content!
Hey there, podcasting badasses. It's your buddy, Adam from podcasting business school. It's a podcast where I teach service providers how to leverage a podcast. So they can build their online business and get more clients. Be sure to check out episode number 445 where I talk about my podcasting success timeline. You are listening to podcasting, badass podcasting tips and mindset tricks for success and monetization. Here's your host, my pod pal, sober Steve, the podcast guy.
Steve:
Hey there. Podcasting bad-ass is it's your host sober Steve, the podcast guy, and welcome to the very first episode of podcasting. Bad-ass. By day, I go by Steve Bennet-Martin and my business is sober. Steve, the podcast guy is my chance to help others start their podcasting journey in a way that sets them up for success, both with growing their podcasts in terms of downloads, as well as monetizing it And welcome to the show. I have been podcasting for over four years. So I figured I will start with telling you a little bit about my journey before we dive into why you want to start a podcast today. If you haven't already. And if you are podcasting right now, why right now is the perfect time to be podcasting and leveling up your existing podcast and growing it. So with that I have on my, this is my fourth podcast. I am launching personally, it all started back in 2020 with a lifetime of happiness, which was my podcast of. Everything that I was interested in. And I learned real quickly that the riches are in the niches, as they say, and that it was about too much into broad. But it was a fun hobby that eventually transitioned into being a podcast that I did with my husband about the movies and TV shows that we love and it kept us. Together closer during COVID and gave us something fun to do. Meanwhile for business. I started the senior living on the Suncoast podcasts. So while I was working in senior living, it was my geo local podcast about industry in the Sarasota Bradenton area. And I used it to successfully get deposits and people to move into the community that I was working for at the time. And that was when I really learned how you can grow your podcast in a business sense and how different that looks than if you're doing it for a hobby show, like a lifetime. I'm of happiness. And then things really changed for me with my podcasting journey between going to pod Fest, as well as getting sober. I started gay the queer sober hero show. So if you know me from any other podcasts, it is probably that one, because that one is the one that has been the most successful. It is something I started when I got sober and found out that there weren't a lot of other queer sober related podcasts out there at the time. So I decided to make one, since I already knew how to do it, and it's helped me stay sober. And so across these different podcasts, there is a trend of, I know that I can be successful at doing it for business. I've had the proven success when I was working at my senior living community. I joke that the easiest deposit, as well as the hardest ever was a woman who walked in off the street and basically handed me a$10,000 check. To deposit on the community that I was working for right now, but it wasn't as easy as it seemed to because it was all the work from the podcasts that she had listened to every single episode that I had done and was sold. From listening to me and building that relationship Hara socially through the microphone, as a listener, before she stepped foot into my sales office. And I learned how powerful that can be as well as learning in recovery, how powerful it can be having a podcast to connect with more people and build a community. Truly. And so. In the past six months, I've transitioned to being able to help others launch monetize and maintain their successful podcasts on their own. And I am looking to bring the key lessons and takeaways that I'm working with. All of my clients on here for you. And the biggest lesson for me at least, was that success took time. Year one was a nightmare. I spent way too much money, trying to spend as little as possible. I was determined to be the podcaster on a budget, but in trying to buy so much do it yourself, stuff that I wasn't prepared to do myself or having to upgrade to make it easier. Or upgrade again, I, again, just, and buying things that I ended up not needing, or that were redundant or even subscriptions that kind of overlapped what they were capable of doing together, because I was trying to do it all on my own. And with all of that, I spent probably hundreds, if not thousands, more dollars than I actually needed to spend when it came to podcasting, because I was. Trying to just find all the answers on Google and not ask any professionals are not going to be sort of help or advice. And as my podcasting journey continued, it was just a matter of finding the right area. For me, that felt comfortable where I was able to show up authentically. It was one thing at first where I was just so excited to start a podcast that I try to make it about everything. And at the end of the day, it ended up being about nothing because it was about too much and too broad about just what makes people happy. And so I've learned since then. That. Your podcast needs to be something that you can be passionate about and also show up authentically about. And so this podcast is going to be just as much about how you can show up authentically because I've seen my listeners react very differently when I'm able to hit record and just talk from my heart and not be using a script and having things come out that I didn't plan to come out, but being real and honest and vulnerable with them. Rather than trying to be someone who pretends, they always have all the answers about everything and have everything be sober Hearst that they can almost tell, or it feels like at times that I'm reading from a script, even when I wasn't. And so. I will try and make sure that I'm able to show up authentically for all of you, as I talk about how to podcast like a bad ass, because that's what part of podcasting bad-ass is all about, is being able to show up as your authentic self, whatever that looks like, because you are a bad ass. If you are being brave enough to be podcasting out there, that takes guts and it takes courage. And it's something that I think them, a lot of people, I talk to our podcast conscious they're in. Interested in starting one or launching one, but they always have butts or insecurities holding them back. And this is really just to show everyone out there that now is the right time to be podcasting. It's a great chance to amplify your voice and your brand, whether that be for a hobby or for a business or for a passion or for whatever it is. That you're interested in podcasting. I really think that as long as it's done well, and you don't pod fade or disappear, and there are tips and tricks that will help you with so that you don't have to worry about that. There's no reason not to podcasts right now. I mean, in terms of getting into the idea of when I'm talking about this, we are just heading from April into may. Of 20 24. And so I won't try and dive into the specific numbers because they change every single month. And there's a lot of great places where you can get a lot of these specifics, but. I've been monitoring these trends for years. And so I will give you my four key takeaways of why now is the perfect time to start a podcast. The first being that the numbers don't lie. No matter what website you're looking at to tell you the trends podcasts are trending on search engines. More people are talking about podcasts. Pod news recently reported at podcast evolutions. How much people love and admire podcasters. Oftentimes a lot of the feedback I hear about people who are interested in starting podcasts, as they're almost worried about other people will think about them, or they think that it won't be taken seriously, but the people. Out there right now. Know what podcasts are. Almost. Everyone knows what a podcast is, whether you've listened to one or not. And most people have listened to a podcast at this point in view, people who podcast is pretty impressive people. It's not that silly, insecure, even like nerdy. Basement dweller type of stereotype that you might've expected, or it might've been years ago, it's really grown to be podcasters or just people that have something to say, because it is very accessible that you can get it started, but it also is very hard to be done, right? When you are able to have a successful podcast that is monetized or has a large audience, it really shows that you can reach and make a difference, no matter where you are, you don't have to be part of a major studio to be able to get your voice in your. Message out there. You can be just in your own office, behind a microphone and change lives. So people are waiting for you as well. Not only is listenership high people in the millions of like a half a billion people right now in 2024, listened to podcasts. And people want to be on podcasts. There's not. Like of shortage of people wanting to guest on podcasts. If anything, there are more people wanting to be on podcasts than there are podcasts that are looking for guests. I know that I can tell you that if anyone has an interview based podcast, that you're going to be getting, once you hit a certain point with your following and people are able to find you. That you'll be getting multiple emails a day of people saying, I want to be on your podcast. Can I be on your podcast? It's something along the lines of. 29 people are reaching out every day to active podcast service to try and be on their podcasts. And that's just how much people respect this medium and how they want to get involved. And it is also a great chance to get to interview people that you would normally never have interviewed. If you're looking for your business to grow, we're looking to make connections with your role models, reaching out to them and saying that you have a podcast that brings a level of authority that you'll be able to connect with people you normally never would have been able to connect to. I know that I would never would have had the opportunity to interview Mark Jacobs last summer about his sobriety. If I wasn't. Interviewing people every single week about their sobriety journeys. So you'd be surprised what doors your podcasts can open for you. And you don't have to fail right now of the only 13.4% of total podcasts that are active. There's millions of podcasts. There's over 3 million podcasts right now in early 20 24, yet there's less than half a million that are active. So yes, you heard that there's half less than half a million active podcasts that's podcasts that are actually releasing episodes. Even though there's over 3 million podcasts in your podcasting platforms. If you are listening to podcasts, you know what the happened? Do you have searched for podcasts or something podcasting related before you find a show and it hasn't had episodes for months or even years? And that is what pod fate is. So that's an industry term that you'll hear me mention on the podcast and probably in the industry at large, because it happens so frequently that there's a term for it, pod fade. And that's what happens when your podcast fades away into existence. So it's a little different than if you were to show up and say, Hey, I know that I'm going to do this eight episode mini series on this eight episode TV show. And so each episode is going to be related to an episode of this show and when it's done and that's going. To be just my one and done show, or if you're doing it for your business and you know that you're going to be doing a 12 episode series of the 12 reasons why you need to work with you instead of your, the competitors. That would be a start to finish show where it's has a start and ending point. So when you finish those shows, those are complete. Those are encountered for pod fade, but pod fade is when you say I'm going to keep on going for hundreds and hundreds of episodes. And then by episode six, for whatever reason, whether it be part of their routine, a part of their psychological mindset, that they're not able to overcome, whatever the reason more than half the podcasts don't make it past episode eight and roughly 10% make it to episode 50, which is wild. When studies show that the podcasters who do reach past a hundred episodes say that that's when their life really began to change. I can testify to that. Having had two podcasts had over a hundred episodes now. As a, both of them really gained their stride and started to really feel good and be making an impact. The way that I wanted to, or had dreamed of them making an impact around that. Triple digit mark. And so the fact that most people don't make it there as heartbreaking. Something needs to change with the way that we podcast. And that's what this podcast is all about. Is because it is just those podcasts that fail or pod fade away into existence and just disappear in the middle without finishing their stories or saying goodbye to their audiences. It's not because they were bad it's because they didn't have the right mindset required to succeed or didn't have the right systems or support in place. And didn't know how to ask for help or didn't have the interest in. Getting that help that could have helped them because they were really never that dedicated to being a podcaster to begin with. And so those people are not the people like you, who are listening to a podcast about podcasting. So clearly whether you already are podcasting or are getting ready to start it, you are taking it more seriously than most of these people that are likely part of the pod fates statistics, because you are ready to show up. And I admire that about you. And that is why. Take away four is that bad-ass is, are more likely to succeed. The word bad-ass when you look at it in the dictionary and you take the good parts that I like to focus on is. Things associated with being a bad-ass or being a formidable strength and scale. That helps with podcasting. You need the strength to be able to keep going. The endurance to be able to show up every single week. The regularity of being able to show up for your listeners and build that routine and keep going and growing and trying new things while. Being awesome. And having that skill associated with it where you know what you're doing, because that's that mixture between the strength and the endurance of keeping it up and that skill of having it grow, that's going to help you be a successful podcaster. Bad-ass as are also impressive people. We are tough. We are intimidating in a good way. And skillful and impressive podcasting. Isn't impressive. It is something that is so impressive. If you are able to launch a podcast and keep it going and keep it growing. You're unstoppable the way that you'll be able to change, not only the lives of the people, listening to your podcasts by your own life as well. And the way that other people will be able to look at you as a podcast, or when you're able to say it proudly. It's so exciting and I am so excited that you are on this journey with me. To really embrace what it's like to be a podcasting bad-ass. And so there are going to be a couple of ways that you can get involved with this show. As this show is getting started and going and growing. The first of which is to make sure that you're following us wherever you're listening right now. So you can get these new episodes whenever they come out. At the very least you'll be getting new episodes every single Monday, but I would love as we grow to be able to release some more content. That has more variety because in addition to these solo episodes, I'm also giving people that, that are thinking of podcasting, the chance to come on the podcast. For podcasts, brainstorming sessions. So if you don't have a podcast yet, but would like to, or you think you might like to, you can reach out to me on my website, sober steve.com and sign up to do a free brainstorming session, which can be used for a future episode of this podcast. As well as a chance for you to see what it's like working with me and brainstorming what your podcasts can look like. And then you can take that information and go forward. However, you would like. And also if you are a current podcaster and you maybe are not as bad-ass as you would like to be, and you're ready for a tune-up to really make sure that you can level up your podcast and that it's working at peak optimization. You can sign up for a podcasting tune-up over@sobersteve.com as well. You where you can share with me what your podcast is. I'll check it out. And we'll do a zoom where we can talk about how you can improve and grow your show and new ideas and thoughts that you can then take with you as well. So these are ways for you to help. Get exposure for your brand and your podcast. While also helping me get a chance to show my listeners here at podcasting. Bad-ass what being a podcasting bad-ass looks like on both sides. Not only in the studio, on my own right here with me thinking to myself and talking at the wall, but also when I'm working with people, getting to see me in my element. I think will be really impactful for everyone involved. So if you are interested in getting involved in either way, head on over to www dot sober, Steve. Dot com. So you can sign up for your podcasting tuneup, if you're an existing podcaster or for a podcasting brainstorm session, if you are in aspiring or potential podcaster. And definitely tune into. Our next episodes, as I showcase a little bit more about what my coaching is like until our next solo episode next Monday, where I will dive into the podcasting circle of success and what that looks like. So until next time, this is sober. Steve, the podcast guy, and keep on being a bad-ass.