Top 10 Lessons Learned, From 3 Years Of Podcasting
3 years, 157 episodes, 18 countries, 120K+ downloads, 500+ hours of podcast production, and here we are! The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast™ is turning 3!
We are so grateful to you for tuning in and doing business-life with us for 1095 days.
Launching this podcast was one of the best business decisions I ever made. It’s a true extension of my why which is “to inspire and equip women to design their life through entrepreneurship”. Producing the podcast is hard work, but because it aligns with my core purpose, it’s the good kind of hard.
Thank you for those who’ve tuned in, shared our show and continued to trust us to help you grow a profitable lifestyle business.
I often get asked questions about how I produce the show with 2 busy companies and three teenage boys with massive travel. It’s definitely not easy! This week in the show Britany Felix (our faithful podcast producer) and I are totally uncovering behind the scenes, the good, the bad and the ugly of what it’s taken to produce this show every week for 3 years straight.
I also thought I’d share the top ten lessons I learned from producing this show for 3 years.
#1 Know my listeners
When I first launched the show, almost all of my listeners were in startup, but as the show has grown, so have the businesses of my listeners. I’ve learned it’s important to produce trainings that businesses in all phases need in order to meet the needs of our podcast community. This has pushed me as a business coach to always be sure my finger is always on the pulse of trends, issues and the most important topics for both new and established business owners.
#2 Be picky about guests
I’ve had some not-so great guests who’s shows I’ve never published. Honestly, they’re usually the guys that come on and just want to sell their shit! Ugh! So, I’ve learned to be really picky about who speaks to our audience and not waste my time recording shows I’ll never air. We do a lot of prescreening so I don’t waste my time trying to smile and be nice through another dude who just cares about pimping his products and pumping his ego (if you’ve ever applied to be a guest, this is why our app is so thorough).
#3 Don’t worry about hurting people’s feelings
This actually wasn’t hard. I’m not inherently a sensitive person so being brutally honest about business was okay for me. However, I think I’ve lost some listeners who aren’t looking for the raw truth; they want a little more sugar coating, and that’s okay, it’s just not me.
#4 Systems are king
I can’t remember the things I’m doing while in the midst, so without systems, I’d be completely lost. Britany, our producer, set us up with an awesome production spreadsheet and I’ve never turned back. It’s how this show comes together. Now… If I could only be so organized in all other areas of my life and business.
#5 It’s never going to be perfect
This one is hard. I want everything to be the very best it can be! But some times I’ve had to record shows when I’m totally not ready, or I’m sick, or I’ve lost my research, or I hate the topic. It just is… Did you notice?
#6 Some people won’t like you
I’ve never been the most popular girl in the room. In fact, as a teen, I was the naughty one that other girls’ parents did let them hang out with. This is totally cool with me and doesn’t bother me at all. However, I can’t say that the 2 podcast reviews I’ve received under 3 stars don’t bother me. So… maybe I do care?
#7 Your hardest work may go unnoticed
This actually sucks really bad. There have been a few shows that I was so excited about, worked my booty off to build free extended courses to accompany them, go live to answer questions, and 6 people take action. This is the hardest when I know the topic is really important to their business and how much it would help.
#8 Trust your team
I’m not a natural delegator. I like to just do things and then allow people to implement the safety plan after I’ve jumped off the cliff. This is totally “entrepreneur” and not a great way to keep people happy. But, I’ve had to learn to trust my podcast production team and learn to slow down to discuss before taking crazy action.
#9 Plan ahead
I’ve learned to be strategic when I sharing certain training to be sure they align with business support opportunities for our listeners. This has taught me the power of planning almost a year in advance. I was never a natural planner, but I definitely am learning how!
#10 Don’t be afraid to sell
Not to contradict #3.
When the show first launched in early 2017, I went overboard to never sell any of my business development programs from an episode. I wanted to show that this podcast was a love-offering, not a sales pitch. For the first year, I rarely gave people an opportunity to work with me personally. In 2018 a listener wrote to me asking if there was any way she could hire me to help her business grow. She had no idea the extensive coaching programs I had available because I had never mentioned them on the show. I realized I was doing my listeners a disservice by not making it clear that I could help well beyond each episode. Today, I mention advanced business coaching opportunities as they arise, but still never made sales a primary show talking point.
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