Let's talk about tenacity. Perseverance. Grit.
Also known as "not quitting."
Most of the things I've tried have failed, BUT... when I've succeeded I won big. I just lasted longer than the failures.
My latest dud was The Monetize podcast.
The irony of a guy who invested into a podcast production company flopping with his own podcast is not lost on me. It's humbling, but also lit a fire in me.
You see, I practice what I preach. I tell you to make content even if you suck at it because the only way to get better is to do it. You don't get better at swimming by watching the Olympics. You've got to get in the water.
I've been doing a post-mortem with my cohost, Pedro, about all the mistakes I've made getting back into podcasting.
I'm going to share with you my top 5 mistakes and how I'm fixing them. You get to learn how to avoid screwing up like me. Oh, you'll screw up, we all do, but you'll ace these...
Mistake #1: Not being a student of the game
My ego got in the way. I relied on old experience instead of learning what was needed to succeed in today's competitive environment. Things I did in my original podcast no longer work now that the amazing shows exist.
I needed to study the market to see what new skills I needed to be able to compete. I know how Youtube works, but didn't craft the show for it. I did zero research on how to succeed on podcast platforms. I just did what worked on iTunes... 12 years ago. <-- how could I have made this mistake? Such a "duh" moment.
Mistake #2: Not knowing who I'm talking to
I had this vague audience profile in mind when I started. It included people (mostly young men) who follow me for agency advice, online business skills, and those who want to sell their thinking.
So each episode I was trying to talk to all of them and spoke to none.
Mistake #3: Created content I was interested in
Instead of asking, "What does my audience need that I can provide?" I decided to tell my audience what I thought they should know.
Mistake #4: No hook
The era of chatting at the beginning and getting to the good bits later has been dead for a decade.
Even if the content I decided to talk about was interesting to my audience, I didn't tell them what it was in the first 30 seconds of the show. No one wants to waste their time hoping the rest of the show will get good.
Mistake #5: No depth or actionability
Because I wasn't speaking directly to a target audience, I couldn't give depth that mattered to them. My content was too broad and generalized.
Something I know about me is that I'm not sufficiently talented at entertainment to build a big audience off my personality so I need to be useful.
There's some really good ideas in every episode that got lost because it the listeners couldn't directly apply it.
Season One was a bust.
There will be a total of 20 episodes (Ep 18 is out now) published over a 26 week period. That's 6 months...gone.
However, I needed the practice. I needed to get in the water and splash around until I learned to swim in this market.
Season Two is being rebuilt -- reengineered with the hard lessons I've learned.
It's niched down deep.
If you're a freelancer, consultant or running an agency - an expert providing a B2B service - The Monetize will be 100% focused on how to market your expertise. To attract an audience who wants to pay for your knowledge and not just your deliverables.
The one thing I've done well to become a high-paid coach and consultant was to create content to sell my thinking.
The Monetize will focus on content creation that gets clients. Period.
Putting out actionable content has made me millions and I know I can help you do the same.
Tim "winners never quit" Conley
PS. Episode 18: The Exact Method To Go From Small Clients To Big Profits is out right now.
It's got some good lessons hidden inside. Honestly, you should skip the first 5 minutes.
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