84. Set Yourself Up to Be a Stellar Podcast Guest

"Being a guest on other people's shows–it just builds this great relationship with members of our community that then go and inspire." Listen in to some of the stop strategies for podcasting with our esteemed co-host, Alex Sanfilippo, founder of PodMatch.com and 2023 People's Choice Podcast Award for Podcasting Influencer of the Year. 

Alex's insider knowledge unwraps the step by step strategies for enriching both your business and your personal life in podcasting. We delve into the art of making the most out of podcast guesting opportunities, discussing the surprising impact of storytelling on SEO and the lasting legacy of our shared wisdom. We share valuable tips and strategies for engaging your audience, crafting a powerful call to action, and preparing for meaningful interviews. 

Key Takeaways:

• Alex's extreme approach to taming his workaholic tendencies
• Why is podcast guesting important for building a brand and business? 
• Should you be a guest or start your own podcast first? 
• How to set yourself to be the best podcast guest

For podcasters and aspiring guests alike, we introduce PodMatch as a resource to help you connect with like-minded professionals, particularly in the Christian business community. So join our conversation, apply the insights, and watch as both your business and personal life flourish.

Connect with Alex Sanfilippo:
Podmatch.com/free
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexsanfilippo/

Iron Sharpens Iron Community: https://go.viewfromthetop.com/community
LinkedIn Group: https://www.viewfromthetop.com/group
Local Roundtable Events: https://go.viewfromthetop.com/isiroundtable

Connect with Big A and Wally:
View From The Top Website: https://www.viewfromthetop.com/
The Climb Newsletter: https://www.viewfromthetop.com/climb
Big A’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronwalkerviewfromthetop/
Wally’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinwallenbeck/

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey everybody, welcome back to View From the Top podcast, where we help growth-minded men who desire momentum in their business, their family and their finances get through the valleys and up the mountains into their very own view from the top. As I said, welcome back. Glad you're here today. We have an awesome co-host with us. I could call him a guest co-host, whatever you want to call him, but he's joining the conversation with us today and it's around the idea of podcasting and being a guest. But even more than that, especially at the beginning, the first half of our conversation today Alex Sanfilippo, we dive into actually some challenges and some things he's excited about in his business, and so you guys are here to listen and learn, and you saw the title of the podcast today related to podcast guesting. This is on the back end, is all of that, and it's awesome. All the why is packed into the front.

Speaker 1: 0:56

So listen through this episode with Alex Sanfilippo and we can all learn. I'm going to listen to it again myself, maybe multiple times, and really be able to understand why podcast guesting can be so valuable to our businesses. There's some awesome nuggets in here. So get your pen paper out, get your foot, your notes on your phone out and get ready to go. Um man, we're going to get him in here soon, but before we do, let's get big a, the host with the most big a, aaron Walker, in the house in the studio. Welcome Big A. Come on, wally, how's it going? Hey, it's a great day here in Tennessee.

Speaker 2: 1:32

You know it was a great night for me last night. My granddaughter's in just finishing up college for the year and I don't know that I've said this, but I'm going to make it public because she wouldn't mind. But I get the distinct privilege of walking her down the aisle here.

Speaker 1: 1:48

just in a few weeks, she's getting married.

Speaker 2: 1:50

I can't imagine that I've got a granddaughter getting married. That just blows my mind when I think of it. Wally, do I look that old? I mean, that sounds like you need to be an old man, I plead the fifth.

Speaker 1: 2:01

Is that a?

Speaker 2: 2:01

Oh, okay. Well, you better say I look good and you look way younger.

Speaker 1: 2:04

I didn't say you don't look good, I just didn't comment on how old you look.

Speaker 2: 2:07

Hey, it's going to be pretty cool, man. You know she made an assumption that I just knew that and I'm like. I was with her and she said Big A, have you got your suit yet? I said, well're going to choose what I'm wearing to the wedding. She said you're in the wedding and I said what? And she goes big A, don't look at me like that. You know you're going to walk me down the aisle and I'm like man, what? And one of the biggest honors of my life was having my granddaughter ask me to do that. Tell you.

Speaker 1: 2:40

Yeah, she told me, she didn't ask me, that's Abby. If you know Abby, though, that's exactly Abby, right there.

Speaker 2: 2:47

Yeah, yeah, this is going to be fun. Man, I'm pretty fired up. But you know, we were talking about we're going to go down a little bit early and kind of hang out with Brooke and Bill and the family, and we were talking about where we're going to stay and different people are staying in different places. This is out of state. The wedding, it is out of state. It's out of state, yeah. And so, yeah, we're going to another state. So I wanted to ask you a question like do you have a rule of thumb of like where you stay, or like who stays with you? Like do you mind staying with people in their homes? I don't know who's going to go first, me or you.

Speaker 1: 3:23

I don't know who's going to go first me or you but I want to share.

Speaker 2: 3:25

Do you want me to?

Speaker 1: 3:27

go first.

Speaker 2: 3:28

Yeah, I'll go first, Like do you care where you stay? Do you stay anywhere? Do you stay with friends? No, we're not talking about family Family is like a given but just friends, how do you deal with?

Speaker 1: 3:38

that I like to. I like to stay with other people when we travel, honestly, I mean honestly, frankly. I'm always honest, so frankly, it is awkward Sometimes. I'm not going to lie Like you don't, you don't really know what to expect sometimes and, and you know, we've had people that invited us to stay with them before friends of ours, and you know we, we get there and they're, they want to give us their bedroom. I'm like so, so sometimes we choose. If we know them well, we'll be like, hey, can we stay? We're actually going to uh, we're going to uh, out of state as well. We're going to visit some friends, actually some isi brothers right while we're down there.

Speaker 1: 4:24

uh, no one's asked me to stay with them yet and I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna, uh, gonna gonna ask either, just because I don't want that. I want our time together like to be special and meaningful. I don't over, you know. I don't want them to feel obligated or whatever. If somebody asks, then great, um and we'll. I'll talk it through now more than I used to Like, hey, what's the sleeping situation? What's your schedules? You know that kind of stuff. But strangers, no, I'm not going to like, you know. I mean, I don't do the Airbnb stay in somebody's room in their house. I know people do that all the time and that's not me either. Yeah, how about you?

Speaker 2: 5:00

No man, I'm not doing it, I'm just not. You know, I get an opportunity to fly around the country a little bit because I have clients that I do one-on-one coaching with and they've asked me to stay with him multiple times and and I don't for for numbers of reasons, but one is I'm just not comfortable. Like like, what do you mean?

Speaker 1: 5:22

Like you're afraid of something. It's like awkward, like what It's're afraid of something it's like awkward like what?

Speaker 2: 5:25

it's awkward to me. It's like I'm in their home and you know I'm spending the night and now I've put them in an awkward position of are they going to do their normal routine?

Speaker 1: 5:36

they're going to get up when they want to go to bed, yes, like can I go to bed.

Speaker 2: 5:40

If I want to go to bed, if I want to lay around, you know, in pajamas or something like, I can't do that. And I want to get to bed if I want to lay around, you know, in pajamas or something like, I can't do that. And I want to get up in the middle of the night and get something to eat, I can't do that. I can't go, you know, down the hall to the bathroom. It's like I gotta get dressed and then, like, am I going to get up tomorrow and what? What are we going to talk about? Cause I like to be quiet for an hour, hour and a half in the mornings, and so you know, the funny thing is and we didn't talk about this on your side of it, you can come back and answer this, but we don't really invite people to stay here either.

Speaker 2: 6:12

Like you know, we've been in this present location. We've got a cabin back in the woods and we really, really enjoy it, but there's only like two people outside of family that's ever stayed with us over the past 10 years, because I don't want them to feel awkward and this is kind of our space and I don't mean to be selfish? That's not it. I'm not a selfish person at all, but there's just an uneasiness about it. I don't know. I just don't feel comfortable. And so Bob Warren, my mentor, stayed with us on a regular basis. But Bob and I were very close for 20 years and we'd sit up late and talk, we'd get up early, we're both morning guys and we would have great conversations. So outside of that there's only a few people that's really ever stayed with us. Not that I'm trying to be hard to get along with. It's just weird to me. We did an episode a few weeks ago. It's like don't talk to me in the bathroom either. It's like you know I don't do that, and so yeah, I was just curious.

Speaker 2: 7:13

I like having people come stay with us and my wife goes to you yeah, sonia does too for the most part Good, I'll send all my guests over there from now.

Speaker 1: 7:19

Uh, we are very. So here's what we've learned. We're typically, on the front end, very clear about what it's like when you stay here, like have your own room for us, you have your own bathroom, right? Uh, we do. We're going to do our mornings Like we always do them, like we're just going to do our routines and we get up at this time. We usually go to bed about this time. You're welcome to come be a guest and do whatever you want while you're here, like if you want to go to bed early, like you want to leave and come back, we just it actually helped us when we started to have adult children, honestly, because with adult children, they would come and stay with you and they'd have their own things going on with friends from the area or whatever. And so stay with you and you know they have their own things going on with friends from the area, whatever, and.

Speaker 3: 8:07

And so you expect them to like be there for dinners and like do that, sure, and it's like it.

Speaker 1: 8:09

And so we started doing it, with them being like hey, just, we're not asking you for anything, just let us know, like, like, what's going on with you, so we can, we can.

Speaker 2: 8:17

That's cool yeah, and I worked out. I couldn't do my morning routine either, because I get in the hot tub every morning I I'm not going to go out there and get in the hot tub.

Speaker 1: 8:24

I'm going to stay with you.

Speaker 2: 8:26

Hey man, I'm fired up. Today We've got Alex with us. Man the pod match master. This guy is such a great young man. He's done such a great job with his business.

Speaker 1: 8:38

It's been fun to follow him over time.

Speaker 2: 8:40

Oh yeah, I didn't know been watching his journey.

Speaker 1: 8:42

You said the other day. He's like yeah, alex Sanfilippo. I'm like Alex Sanfilippo is coming on. I'm like he's one of those like because we're into podcasting, so he's one of those like podcasting icon guys. Yeah, he is.

Speaker 2: 8:54

The guy's done just a great job. You know, 10 years ago Dan Miller, one of my Mastermind members, invited me to look into being a podcast guest and I, kind of timid, went to him and I said, damn, we got to talk about that. He goes. Okay, what is it? Like it was nothing. And I said, first of all, I don't even know what a podcast is. He's like what?

Speaker 1: 9:16

Like what's he doing?

Speaker 2: 9:26

And I'm like I don't even know what a podcast is. And he said, well, let me explain to you. And he did, and I got an opportunity to be on a show and really enjoyed it Like I was scared to death but I really enjoyed it. And, ironically, that has been the tool that we've used to kind of grow Iron Sharpens, iron Mastermind, done a number of shows now and have really enjoyed it, trying to just share openly kind of our story. And so it's a tool that, honestly, we probably use as much, if not more, than any other tool. And so, man, when I was thinking through this, I thought, man, there is a guy that comes to my mind that we've got to get on, kind of be a co-host with us today.

Speaker 2: 10:01

Alex and I have had a good relationship for numbers of years gone to dinner together, eating lunch together, him talking through, starting PodMatch, and it's been really fun to watch what he's done. So, man, let's get him in here and let's discuss podcasting. All right, let's get him in here, alex. Man, it is so good to have you on the show today. Thank you for being here.

Speaker 3: 10:25

Yeah, Big A and Wally, I appreciate you both Truly. I was saying this before we got into this actual recording in the green room. If you will, this is just like a full circle thing for me. One of the first people that really reached out to me in podcasting was Big A, at a conference actually, and this is like a dream come true to be here, so I'm really thrilled to be part of this conversation with you guys today.

Speaker 2: 10:44

Well, you know what's pretty cool, though, and we've got to say this I know you're not going to say it about yourself, but you recently won a pretty big award. You won the 2023 People's Choice Podcast Award for being the podcasting influencer of the year. Now, I don't know if there's any bigger award in this space than that, but, man kudos to you, congratulations.

Speaker 3: 11:06

Thanks, man. I mean I got it in the mail and I was just like looking at it. I told Alicia I'm like how am I supposed to respond to this? I'm like I'm so beyond thankful, like just so thankful. It's a great community that is podcasting and yeah. So thank you for that. It's just truly an honor. I you for that. It's just truly an honor. I'm still kind of speechless about it.

Speaker 2: 11:23

You know, when I look at what you've developed and fortunately I've been on the very beginning stages of watching you like we've met, had dinner and talked through and had lunch and saw each other at you know numbers of events, and look at you going from there to having coordinated 85,000 podcast interviews, got over 10,000 people in your community now, man, that's something to be congratulated, so well done.

Speaker 3: 11:51

Thanks, man, I appreciate it. Earlier you mentioned that you've been on a few shows. By the way, I think you're like 4,000 of those shows.

Speaker 2: 11:56

Well, I don't know, but anyway it's been fun being a guest on those shows. But a lot of folks in our community are really interested in being a guest on shows. Some of them are even thinking about starting their own podcast. Many, many people in our community have their own podcast and so I just thought it'd be fun man to hang out and yeah, listen, we've already introduced you, but go back and fill in the gaps a little bit, give us a little more insight to Alex and Filippo.

Speaker 3: 12:24

Yeah, sure, and thank you again for having me here, guys. So podcasting is 100% what I do with my time. I run a software called podmatchcom that Big A was talking about, and that's just basically a connecting tool for podcast guests and hosts. I've been married far too long to use a dating app, but I'm told it works very similar to how a dating app works. It connects instead of a date, though it's got you for an interview, and my, my whole focus is really pouring into that community and doing best to educate, uh, especially independent podcasters, on either side of the mic, as a guest or as a host, and this is what I absolutely love doing. I'm thrilled.

Speaker 3: 12:54

And outside of that, uh, my wife Alicia and I, we we love being outdoors. It's funny, we work in software but we love being outside, so we love riding bikes, we love going to the beach. We live in Jacksonville, florida, just minutes away from the ocean, and that's kind of like our sweet spot to be there with friends. And we also both play soccer at a fairly competitive level and we both like to volunteer at our church and just enjoy life, if you will, outside of software alone, if that makes sense.

Speaker 2: 13:16

Yeah, some of the pre-interview chat that we were having and even some things that we were discussing we wanted to talk about today. You said that you're really at a really good spot right now from a work-life balance. Yeah, tell the listeners how you got there. This will apply regardless of the industry that you're in. But, yeah, how did you?

Speaker 3: 13:35

get to this sweet spot. Well, first off, Big A, I have learned a lot from you over the years and we've had phone calls where I'm like what on earth do I, do you?

Speaker 1: 13:42

know, like.

Speaker 3: 13:42

So I appreciate you for helping push me the right way. What it came down to ultimately was drawing a line in the sand, which maybe sounds a little weird, but basically I just had to realize that the work will never be done and that what I do is really never urgent. No one's going to, thankfully, die as a result of what I do. I don't work in any sort of healthcare or anything like that, right, and I'm not saying I'm not doing important work, but no one is going to, like perish because of what I do or don't do, if that makes sense. So when I kind of had that realization of like you know what, like I have to stop allowing my, I guess. I guess just who I am, the way I'm wired, naturally, to be a bit of a workaholic, to no longer control me, I have to put a line in the sand.

Speaker 3: 14:21

So the simplest way I've been able to do that is Alicia actually has a passcode on my computer. I am basically like a kid on my own computer, so I use an Apple device. It's called screen time. At 5 30 PM every day, my computer locks me out of it and without her password I can't get back in. I don't know her password and she's at the gym at that time of the day. So I have no option but to say, well, I guess that's my work for the day. And I've just grown to realize that I can really appreciate that hard end because it gives me a reason to prioritize work more versus just saying you know what, tonight I can just stay up late and finish all this stuff. That's no longer an option in my life. So really the biggest thing was drawing maybe a bit of an extreme line in the sand and just saying you know what I want to live life, not just work life. And really coming to that conclusion has been very helpful for me.

Speaker 2: 15:08

You know, what I really like about that story is that you're willing to go to all measures to make it happen. And Wally and I are very similar in nature. We love to work. We have to do some drastic things as well to make sure that we have some semblance of balance in our lives.

Speaker 1: 15:23

I do not have that on my phone, I'm just saying I don't have it either.

Speaker 2: 15:26

I hope Robin doesn't listen to this. I hope my wife doesn't listen to this episode. I'd be like oh man, actually maybe she should.

Speaker 1: 15:31

I need that accountability, but that's good. How long, like how long has it been since you've done that, alex? Like a couple of questions in there. Long has it been? And then we talk about work-life balance. I'm doing that in air quotes because, like, there's seasons, we talked about that many times, right, but you mentioned specifically work-life balance, like so how long you've been doing the phone thing? And then what is actually work-life balance like? Mean to look like to you Like what's a daily? Obviously the 5.30 it shuts off. What else is there for you with a work-life balance?

Speaker 3: 16:05

Yeah, real quick. I should clarify so that screen time is on my computer and on my phone. I actually have no access to the internet or anything like that. I do use an iPhone, but same thing. There's a screen time password and I'm only allowed to actually access my phone, my text, my GPS and my music, and past that I don't have any other options to even access something as simple as a calculator. It's all been blocked, which again sounds super extreme.

Speaker 3: 16:27

But I just realized the temptation to work and the reality of it, for me at least, a temptation for many other things I don't wanna get involved in with social media on a phone, specifically because typically I'm at my worst when I'm using my phone. Right, I'm sitting down like I'm not saying like in a bad place, I'm just tired, so it's very easy to slip into work or other things I just have chosen not to have in my life. So there's no digital device that I can use to access anything, if that makes sense after a certain point. And I just say that that kind of like when this started, I really went on this journey about a year ago. I'm all for having those seasons of when you really have to hustle and things like that. So when I started the software side of things Podmatch, I knew I was committing to a couple of years of probably working more hours than I should or want to, and there are some really smart founders and smart entrepreneurs that have figured out how to do it with less. I was working a lot and every quarter I would re-evaluate my time and just cut off an hour of my day. So I probably started at 12 and worked my way down to about eight. Now is what I do per day, and then about six months ago I put in these hard I guess these hard stops that really forced me to stop, knowing that's the only way I'd ever really be able to get to that point, and I don't have any desire to do less.

Speaker 3: 17:33

I like the amount of time I work, I love the work that I do, and sometimes that can be a problem, right, much like if you really love ice cream and cookies and stuff like that. You still have to have a balance there, right? You can't just go for it 24, seven cause you enjoy it. And so the hard line the sand again was cutting it off, saying okay, I've reached the point now where I think this is really good balance, and beyond that, you have to do something with your time, I believe. So I can't just like shut off work and then not have anything else going on, right, there's gotta be something to replace it with.

Speaker 3: 17:57

So for me, as soon as I'm done with work, I'll kind of transition out, let myself decompress a little bit. Typically, I do some some prayer and stuff like that, and I do that in the morning as well, Part of my morning routine, before I start work, and then at the end I, alicia and I, always try to find something to do with friends. We try to find a way to serve, we try to find a way to just go on dates together and really enjoy life, and so it's just a matter of Alex, if you will.

Speaker 1: 18:26

You're both extroverts. That's awesome.

Speaker 3: 18:29

It's extreme, I guess right. Typically opposites attract and we're opposites in many ways, but we both love being out and around people. Let's put it that way.

Speaker 2: 18:37

Alex, I want to dig into this just a little bit deeper. This really is not related to our topic, but it's helpful for me and for Wally and for everyone that's listening out there right now. Hopefully you just didn't come to that one day and go. You know what. I'm just going to put this on there and this is what we're going to do. What led up to that Like, was it a major challenge where it was causing a division in your relationship? Was it something that you just really didn't have control over?

Speaker 3: 19:05

How did you get to that point? Yeah, I would say it was a kind of a combination of things, but the main driving factor was the first time in my life having stress and anxiety. I didn't even really not that I've lived like a stress-free life, I think I've just always been able to manage or not even know what that was. But when I started feeling the effects of and the symptoms of anxiety and feeling stressed, at first I didn't know what it was, and so I was like talking to Alicia. I'll never forget we were outside kicking the soccer ball around, practicing, and sometimes when she's done, she'll just kick the ball in a circle, I'll just run around her really far. And so it's like I'm burnt out trying to talk and she's like that's called anxiety, she goes. You know, I struggled through that and I didn't realize it. And the problem was is I just never stopped my mind, I just never turned it off. So even though I was working less hours, I was still checking it on my phone. I'd be like ah, I need 10 minutes. I just had an idea I need to go back to the computer and kind of do this, and I was never allowing myself to actually truly relax and because of that, or disconnect from work, as it were, I was always kind of thinking it, disconnect from work, as it were. I was always kind of thinking it and that's when I realized, okay, I need a way that I'm forced to stop. And if I'm forced to stop, I think I would actually not have these things.

Speaker 3: 20:11

And, sure enough, as soon as I drew that line in the sand, right, and then I also implemented a true Sabbath. So there is a period Saturday is the day for me. So from Friday night until Sunday morning I don't even touch my phone or my computer at all, like I just leave them alone. Let's, of course, ride a town or there's some reason to use it, but in general I'm just kind of doing a tech detox, if you will, and those things have really helped me a lot. But yeah, the moment was feeling that stress, anxiety for the first time and not even be able to put a word around it. And the thing is, the company was doing really well and it was weird because that was around the same time the company started growing, with or without me, and so I still don't know if it was maybe me feeling not needed, having to let go of control. I don't really know exactly what it was. I just know that when I made those changes, that went away, and I'm actually doing a much better job leading now.

Speaker 1: 23:04

Wow, I do think that a lot of guys listening to this, like most people, speed up their volume. You know the speed at which people talk, right, speed it up. I can already tell they're going to have to slow it down for you, man. Yeah, because there's so many good, can you even slow it down? I don't even know. There's so many good things in there, right, man, that you're talking about. I encourage everybody to just listen to what he said. We need to go back and listen to that again. Like, just hit that back 30 seconds or whatever, a few times. And, man, what you just said is gold the fact that you were growing a company like you were, and that you tied that to leadership, your ability to lead better and you drew that hard line in the sand. Man, that is so hard for so many of us.

Speaker 1: 23:47

So, hard Alex.

Speaker 2: 23:49

I think it would be even more difficult for you with a new company that's growing so rapidly because it's like man, just another hour or two, I could even make it grow faster, and so it's in the podcast space. And the other thing that's interesting for you that could be a help is like it's international, what you do, Like at any time of the day or night, you could be on a podcast. You could be listening to a podcast helping your clients, and so that takes even more discipline, and so kudos to you, man. You're a young guy and you've got it figured out at an early age. Let us all learn from that.

Speaker 3: 24:25

So thank you, way to go.

Speaker 2: 24:27

Way to go. Hey, you were talking about something that was a real challenge for you. Right now, One of your largest challenges is building a volunteer type community. Let's dive into that for a second. What does that look like in the podcast space a volunteer type community?

Speaker 3: 24:44

Yeah. So for me, I really love community driven type of things. As a matter of fact, our community I'll just call it the pod match community, that's what we have kind of coined it they know that Alicia and I have some work life balance. We've actually made that known, that like, hey, these are kind of the hours we work and we're in Florida, it's like our time zone, we'll make sure we get back to you and all that. So we've made that very known and our whole team kind of works those. Yeah, I guess we're. Maybe we have some people that make me up to two hours time different than us, but like in general, we're all about in the same time zone and so we've just made that known. The community. Because of that, we've also just told the community hey, if you're enjoying this, can you help us spread the word?

Speaker 3: 25:22

And the interesting thing is I said that big A and Wally, like I was like hey, this is like kind of something. Maybe everyone says Right, but I said it and people did something and I was shocked. I was like oh, wow, like people were emailing and saying hey, thanks so much for like, let me be part of your growth. I invited like 10 of my friends and like three of them joined and it's like Whoa, I had no idea that everything existed, and so I immediately tried to wrap my head around okay, how can we thank these people? One, but how can we make this part of our culture, of our community? How can I lead in a way that people want to share it?

Speaker 3: 25:52

And the reality is, I really don't do it for the monetary growth. I do it because I firmly believe in podcasting, as a guest or as a host. Like the power of what podcasting is and the freedom that these messages provide is incredible. Like, if you want to learn something new I don't know about you guys I go straight to podcasts. That's the first place I go. I type it in. I want to find somebody sharing their raw experience with this, no filter. Like give it to me straight, you know.

Speaker 3: 26:14

Like I actually want to learn and grow from that, and so for me, I'm very much so driven by my passion for helping independent voices get elevated and heard, and I believe that podcasting is the best way to do that, and I want to build a community of people that see that vision and want to bring others into it as well, and so for me it's been a little bit of like a struggle to figure out, like how exactly do you do that Right? And I'll say one of the best ways I've been able to do that is through podcast guesting. Yes, I have my own show, which is my platform, and there's really no second to that in my mind. But beyond that, being a guest on other people's shows, it just builds this great relationship with members of our community that then go and inspire and bring people back to what we're doing to grow our community and the culture even stronger.

Speaker 2: 26:53

Let's dive into that just a little bit further. Like when you say you don't think there's any better platform to share your product or service out. There is podcasting for any and everybody. I mean, does it matter what the product is? Does it matter what the product is? Does it matter what the service is? Or is there a better kind of situation for being a guest or having your own show? What are you seeing in that space?

Speaker 3: 27:16

Yeah, I don't think anything's ever for anybody. I mean, the podcaster wants to say, yes, it's for everybody, right, like you guys both know that. But like the reality is that's probably not the case. And for some people, if you have like a very visual type product, I mean YouTube is going to be better, right. And for other people, some big advertising is probably going to be better, like, if I don't know if you're, if you're Coca-Cola, pepsi, right. Like, sponsoring a football field or a stadium is probably better for you than having a podcast, like that's the reality of what it is, because that makes people thirsty and they're there and they're willing to spend $8 on a drink or whatever it costs at a sporting event, right, uh. But in general, if you're maybe a um, a smaller business or a lifestyle business or an individual, a coach, that sort of thing, the main thing you're trying to get there do is develop no like and trust. In my mind, there's just nothing more powerful than getting to hear somebody share their life, their opinion in a very unscripted way, to see if you can develop that know, like and trust with them.

Speaker 3: 28:11

A great example of this is a couple of years ago I wanted to get into SMS marketing, just basically text message marketing. Right, I wanted to see if I could reach out to our community in that way Again, kind of going through this whole thing trying to figure out how to connect people. Really well, and when I did that, when I went to go do that, I found some companies, but then I went straight to podcast. I'm like, is anybody talking about how to do this? Well, I found one podcast and one person talking about it. It was the CMO at one of those companies and I'll tell you what I started listening.

Speaker 3: 28:35

This person was just throwing knowledge out like so good, and honestly, I really liked the person as well. I'm like this is a cool guy, that one. And as a fun test after this, I told Alicia this as well. I went back to see where they fell on the pricing point and they were the most expensive of the three. Granted, their core offering was about the same, but I didn't have any buyer's remorse because I'm like, well, no, I really liked him and I think he's doing cool guy, so they don't even get to meet him, right, and that's kind of what made me decide. I think that that, to me, is, in the essence, the power of podcasting.

Speaker 1: 29:11

Definitely. That's so cool, that's so good. Thank you for sharing that.

Speaker 2: 29:15

If you could summarize why guesting is important, what would your summary be? There's countless reasons, but what would a good summary be for you as to why being a guest is important?

Speaker 3: 29:29

There's a lot, but I'd say it's establishing your leadership and your mark. I can expand on that if that's helpful as well.

Speaker 3: 29:36

Yeah, go ahead, so expanding on your leadership and your mark. Basically, first off, like there's the unspoken benefit of being a podcast guest, which is the SEO boost, search engine optimization. I mean you're getting links to your website from podcast which come from Apple, google, amazon, youtube and Spotify and hundreds, if not thousands, of other places that are posting this content and all those links go back to you. That tells search engines, hey, this person's probably legit. Apple says that they are right. Google says that they are. All these places are telling them that, hey, this is a legit individual or business and that, right, there is huge.

Speaker 3: 30:12

When we launched our company, I worked with an SEO guy because I wanted to see hey, we're doing things right. He said, hey, you're doing a ton of things wrong. Side note right. But he said, but one thing you're doing right and he goes I don't actually launched in just three months. He's like I've literally never seen this before. Like what did you do? How are you doing this? And I just told him like, oh, I've been going on a bunch of podcasts and he was able to validate that the reason my website started ranking so high in different searches because, again, all the link backs from these other places. So when I say leaving a mark, it's very quickly showing you, putting, putting you on the map, right.

Speaker 3: 30:45

But beyond that, it's also kind of like legacy perspective, of like leaving a mark, like you're getting to share your story. I mean, a couple of years ago, my grandfather passed away, love the Lord. He lived a very, very long life and it was his time and he left us a CD where he sang his favorite like 12 or 15 songs, which I thought was a really cool, beautiful thing. He, which I thought was a really cool, beautiful thing he was a singer. He actually played the harmonica in some of them as well, which was really cool, and we love that. In my mind, I'm like man. I wish that he could have been on a few podcasts where he'd go back and listen to some things just about his life, but that wasn't an option then. But now that is right. So the legacy for your business, for you as an individual, that's just a really powerful thing.

Speaker 3: 31:25

And then establishing your own leadership. Let's put it this way when I got started, I wasn't really the best speaker. I was stuttering a lot, I was fumbling over my words, a lot Like it. Just it took me a while.

Speaker 3: 31:38

But now when I meet people or I get asked something random in front of a group, I can articulate what I'm trying to say very well, and people regularly comment me like on my words, my ability to speak really well, and I people are like how'd you learn how to do that? Like I don't have any formal training necessarily of how to speak or coach before, but the main reason is being on podcast, I get asked questions that I need to come up with an answer for. I need to try to answer it shorter. I'm always working on that. I need to talk a little slower as well, right, but these are things I'm learning along the way. So for me again, it's establishing my ability to communicate well, which in many ways, is our ability to lead others, and so those, to me, are a few of the things that really establish and the kind of. The rest of it is growing a business, growing a brand, getting your reputation, like your thought leadership, known, if you will.

Speaker 1: 32:19

So one of the questions on my mind and I know it's on a lot of our guests mind is I hear you and that sounds really good, but this takes time and energy and effort and money. It all translates into money. Like I'm just probably average listeners thinking how is this? Like, where's my ROI on this? Like, can you, can you speak into, like, some of the things that you've seen? I'm not talking about people who are playing right, cause there's lots of people that'll, that'll play right, they'll try one or two.

Speaker 1: 32:50

Oh, it didn't work. I'm not talking about. I'm talking people doing the work, right, right, so the, the, the people doing the work in guesting. What are some examples? And, yeah, there may be. Like, if you have more average examples, I'd be great, cause gives us all something to aspire to. But but are there some like realistic, average person examples that you can provide or that you've seen or experienced or observed that that are like, yeah, like this really works? And here's, here's the value beyond. Leadership is important, legacy is important, leaving a mark on the world is important. I agree with those. Now, I'm not taking any value away from that. At the end of the day, I have so much time, so much energy, so much money. I want to be able to put that in the places that's going to give the most value in all areas, right? So what do you say to that?

Speaker 3: 33:38

Yeah, I mean big A. I actually want to hear your answer to this. Do you mind if I pass it as well, but I'd love to hear your thoughts. Just give some context. I've probably done like one fifth of the number of podcasts you have, or maybe 10% of them, so I'd love to hear even your experience, if that's okay.

Speaker 2: 33:53

Yeah, yeah. So it's a very good question. I was anxious to hear your answer as well, alex, and we'll circle back, but I'll make a pass at it just for a second. I think I did some things right, but looking back now I question it and it was like if you could fog a mirror and you had a microphone, I would be your guest, right, it didn't matter. I mean, if you had a podcast and you had three downloads a month.

Speaker 1: 34:15

If you could fog a mirror. I've never heard you say that one before. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know where you come up with this stuff.

Speaker 2: 34:20

I don't know it had a microphone be your guest, I would get on there and spend an hour. I would spend an hour of pre-work. I would promote the show. I do think there was some benefit in that and getting some name recognition. Other people then just like, hey, I'd listen to this show and this show and this show you were there.

Speaker 2: 34:40

In hindsight, I look back and I'm like I probably talked to a lot of people. That is not our avatar right At all, not even our customer. Hopefully I gave them some good advice and they made it applicable to their life and it was beneficial. That's my prayer. But from an ROI standpoint, we get members to join our coaching program or to join the summit that we do, or to join Iron Sharpens, iron Mastermind, you know, I'm not sure.

Speaker 2: 35:06

So I think that it probably took me a lot more time, simply because, if you remember, 10 years ago I didn't know what a podcast was going to, being a guest on podcasts. So I think, as far as the amount of time, I did do a lot of interviews and I probably spent more time than I should. I think if I had it to go over, I would have been a little more particular. I would have done a little more research to see. If they were our avatar, I probably would have done two or three guesting a week instead of 10 or 20, at which I did for numbers of months and years, and so I think I would have built a better. I really hit the wall at some point. Too right, it burns you out.

Speaker 1: 35:50

It did burn you out, for sure it burnt you out.

Speaker 2: 35:52

Yeah, it did, and so yeah, at that pace I was going for years and years and years it did. And if you haven't listened to that episode, I talk about it in length where I took two months off. Right, I did hit the wall and so just word of caution there. I do think it is worth the time. I do think it's worth the energy if it's structured better. Quite honestly, alex, I was a little envious of how you've already got it figured out and putting the guardrails up. I should have figured that out a little earlier myself.

Speaker 2: 36:26

There's minimal cost associated with it for the ROI, right, it doesn't cost that much. We've got better equipment now, obviously, when I started, we didn't, you know, for maybe $500 to $1,000, you could get set up and you could do. But, yeah, so, determining the ROI, we have 150 members now, uh, from a number of different countries, uh, that pay us a monthly recurring uh, you know fee to be in our mastermind, and they've done that for 10 years, and so there's a huge ROI and it's certainly been beneficial for us. So that's my pass at it, alex. What about you?

Speaker 3: 37:05

It was good. I think that was great. Um, you know there's a lot of things I kind of want to piggyback off of, but I love that we're now talking about, like the actual dollar for dollar, monetary, I guess benefit of guesting right Is what we're really getting into. There's a lot of best practices, for sure, but the one thing that Big A really mentioned I think about I think it's really important is finding your niche that you go into, and that all starts from you to kind of discovering your why. And if you already know your why, how does it translate into podcasting? Who should the listener be? We just call that an avatar in the space. But really figuring that out, and when you start with why, you also want to think about, okay, how is this going to have an ROI?

Speaker 3: 37:43

I have some people that are like, hey, podcasting hasn't turned into anything profitable for me. I'm like, okay, well, what's your product or service? Well, I don't have one yet. I'm like I don't. You know, this is typically someone new, I'm not trying to pick on, but I'm like I don't know how you're going to make money if you don't have something to make money with. Right, and I get that question a lot. But if somebody, you have to think about it. What is the likelihood that someone's going to buy that? Are you already selling it Right? And if you've proven it and it's picking up momentum outside of podcasting as a guest, then I think that works really well.

Speaker 3: 38:13

And big A, it's funny, like the gear I probably spent out the same as you, but it's gotten a lot more affordable. Like I just met somebody the other day, they have a camera that cost half as much as mine, a mic that cost a few hundred dollars. I mean you can be a truly standout guest, a host can be like I want that on my show and that really does separate you a lot. So if you're willing to make that small investment, that's huge. And so I think that a few things are important Again. Start with why think about the niche that you actually serve, like who could actually buy from you. And then think about the avatar, the ideal listener, and don't go on shows that don't fit that. I mean, here's the thing If you like golf, but your product is, I'm just, I'm a Jacksonville Florida, guy. So if it's a surfboard, maybe don't go on a golf podcast, even though it might be fun to talk about. Unless you just purely want to do it for fun, great, but you do risk eventually burning yourself out.

Speaker 3: 39:00

And when I found the most successful guest, they have a cadence, a rhythm, so they can keep this a long-term part of their life. On either side of the mic, whether you're a guest or host, it's all about longevity. In this space I know a lot of people that really hustle to get on 30 podcasts in 30 days and the thing is 30 days later they're like I am totally burnt out and I don't know if it did anything, but they didn't really have time to develop the relationship with the host. People. A much better strategy go on 12 a year and for a month straight, do your best to really get that in front of everybody you know. So that host says this is the best guest I've ever had on my show, because many of them will.

Speaker 3: 39:33

If you spent that much devotion to getting it out there, to spreading the word about, to giving that much prep into it, that lives on forever and that show could take off in two or three years. It could grow. And so I tell people like, stick with more of like a cadence that you can do for a long-term part of your life instead of just trying to sprint and getting on every show. You possibly can really have that focus, and I always like to just kind of like to bring this full circle begin with the end in mind. What is the end result? What is the goal you're looking for? Remember, the unspecific goals yield unspecific results. If you don't specifically know the value you're going to add and what the conversion may look like in your call to action, you might get unspecific results and if you get that, there's probably not going to be a true ROI on it, and I kind of shared a lot of theory there. I hope it's helpful.

Speaker 2: 40:17

I do want to go back.

Speaker 1: 40:18

Yeah, it's not.

Speaker 2: 40:20

Alex, I do want to go back just a little bit. There is one little caveat that I would say If you haven't had any formal training or teaching and speaking to your point earlier, you've gotten much better articulating yourself as a result. So I think, before I went on the real path to be on the shows of your avatar maybe 30, 60, 90 days do do what I did early to practice right, go on even the shows that are. They get three downloads right and so you can say your message, you can articulate what it is you're trying, because you don't want to get an opportunity to go on Pat Flynn or Jordan Harbinger or John Lee Dumas and it's your first time ever. You know what's the irony of this. My very first interview was John Lee Dumas on Entrepreneur on Fire.

Speaker 3: 41:07

If I'm not mistaken, it's one of his most popular episodes too, isn't it? I think it's one of his most popular of all time.

Speaker 2: 41:11

I don't know, I don't know, but anyway, I had notes everywhere, like if you looked at my office, there was notes on top of notes. I was scared to death and I laid in the floor when that episode went live and I said, robin, please tell me, that's not me. Like, listen, how country and Southern this guy is. And she said, no, baby, that's you, that's you. And I was like, oh my gosh, if I had it to go over, I would have done a dozen shows before that and I would have practiced. And so it's the only caveat to what you're saying right, do the 12 shows, if that's what's good, but get some reps in first. Right, you want to kind of get the nervousness away, so important.

Speaker 3: 41:51

Big A. Like you, my first show I didn't even know my first time guesting was a big show as well, and I'm told I did okay, but I didn't have a clear call to action. So at the end I'm getting people texting me because I gave my phone number out on it. I'm having people email me. He made up all the social platforms and I had a product at that point but I never even mentioned where the product was. So I was like, oh man, big missed opportunity from my first one.

Speaker 3: 42:11

So, like you, I actually think that's really great advice. Go out there and have fun. Go on the golf podcast If you like golf right, if they'll have you get out there and get the reps in so you really get the hang of it. When that's going to take off About two years I guess it was actually four years ago now time flies. About four years ago now I was on a podcast that for some reason just started taking off and people who were listening to me on that show four years ago are starting to reach out to me and it's like what? Like that's just wild. The show is done really well now and people are going back and listening to that catalog. So keep that in mind as well. Although I might have three people listening now, at some point that might be 300 or 3,000.

Speaker 2: 42:48

You know it's funny. We had a guy join Iron Sharpens Iron Mastermind a couple of weeks ago and he said he's been following us and listening to my interviews for 10 years, when I was like, well, I didn't do something right, it took you 10 years to get old. But my point was, is the timing wasn't right for him until now, but he had been hearing us and following us for that long. The other thing that I love what you said pragmatically I want to talk about some things as we kind of go forward is that they're evergreen. Those interviews never go away.

Speaker 2: 43:21

The ones that I did 10 years ago are still out there, fortunately, and unfortunately some of them are still out there. But the thing is is you've already pointed out some of the SEO value in that. Let's talk about pragmatically, like if someone today is listening to this and they're like, hey, they've piqued my interest and like I could be talked into maybe being a guest first, or should they start their own show first? Like have you seen something that's proven to work? Well, start your own, be a guest first. What does Alex say?

Speaker 3: 43:53

Nothing's better than having your own platform. So being a host, I think, is kind of like the top. I mean, it's your platform and still to this day, I think it holds the most clout. Like, if I say I have a YouTube channel, most people are like, yeah, so does my 12 year old nephew, right. When you say you have a podcast that has hundreds of episodes, people are like, really, that's, that's interesting, what's it about? Right? And so I think it holds a lot of value.

Speaker 3: 44:11

With that said, it's a lot more work on that side of the mic and if you don't know if you like it, I don't suggest starting with a podcast. I suggest being a guest on a handful of shows. And if you come back and you say Alex Wally, big A, I hate this and guess what, don't start a podcast, right, then just go that route. So I always tell people start on the guesting side, see if you like it. And the thing is again, if you build those relationships with hosts, you just possibly found your first guests as well if you decide to launch. And so I think the better side to start on is truly the guest side and, I think, to figure out if you enjoy it.

Speaker 2: 44:44

Or let's say that Bobby's out there today, he's got a coaching program and he's got a unique story. He wants to get down and tell his story. He wants to add value and I always say go at it with and kudos to you too, alex, because when you and I talked about you being a co-host on our show, I was even mentioning some of the things that we were going to talk about and I love what you said. You said Big A listen, I just want to add value to your audience. It was taking the focus off of yourself and so many people get that backwards. They're like I want to get on and tell about my book that's launching and I want to tell about this new product and my coaching. It's like, no, that's not a good place to start. The best place to start is to add value, like what is it that I can talk about that can add value to this community and that natural reciprocity? It's going to come back 10x right? Talk about your experience with that.

Speaker 3: 45:35

Yeah, I'm again all about that side of things, like leading with value. Laying it all out there, if you possibly can, is the way to go. The data actually shows that podcast listeners are extremely smart. They're, on average, they make more money than most people and they also are far more educated. A lot of them can tell if you're trying to be sleazy, and so I always tell people pretend like everyone listening is smarter than you and so you're trying to trick a much smarter person than you.

Speaker 3: 45:59

So for me, I'm just like you know what. I'm going to put it all out there and just see what sticks. I don't do it to like try to trick anybody or anything like that. Like I really am here to serve, like I really again believe in the power of podcasting, and so I think that if you show up in a way saying I'm going to give everything I possibly can, I'm not going to save chapter four for those who buy the book right.

Speaker 3: 46:16

Instead, I'm just going to really to take action, and to me, a very important element of that is having one clear call to action, because what I find can be really tough is if you don't have any sort of call to action. So it's just like you add all this value and then you didn't tell anybody about you. They're just like oh, that guy was really cool, wish I could find him. You need to be basically like hey, if you are interested in more, this is where I'm at. I'll add even more value there and try to serve you the best I can. And doing something like that is really how you start to get that conversion.

Speaker 1: 46:46

When we hear so in the marketing world a long time. So when I hear the word call to action and probably most people hearing the word call to action, one of the first things their mind is drawn to is, oh, I got to give away a PDF, like I bet I'm. I'd love to take a poll right now if we could on this podcast, like how many people that's what they thought, like call to action, give away a PDF, walk us. I'm not saying that's good or bad. I'm just saying like that's what we think and so that's conventionally what's been done historically. You just gave a very simple, different answer. What are some of the things that you've seen? When we say give a call to action, you're adding value because you're telling the real story, you're not holding anything back, sharing your experiences and your observation and experiences of others and this goes to anybody guesting right. There comes a point where it's like okay, I need to have a call to action. What are some examples of appropriate calls to actions for, like, different types of businesses that you've experienced?

Speaker 3: 47:43

Yeah, wally, I love this. This is like such important thing I think so many of us decide to skip. First and foremost, there's no one size fits all. I wish there was like a silver bullet, right, and it's just like if you do this, you're going to crush it easier. But if you do have like a book and a book's what you're talking about a great way to do it is give away the first chapter, hey, go to viewfromthetopcom, slash chapter one or free or something like that, right, and then people can go there, they can download the first chapter If they like it. From there, they can go buy the book. That's a great thing. So that might be a good PDF, if you will, type of thing. Or for me I was talking about work-life balance right, if you had a PDF, one sheet of like the five ways I've been able to save to get an extra four hours out of my day, I would probably be very interested in listening, like reading that, right. So it makes sense in some cases.

Speaker 3: 48:27

Other times, something I really love I've been seeing people doing this. Actually, what I do now is having some sort of quiz. So, basically, I'm like hey, if you think that you enjoy this and you want to get into podcasting, there's a quiz you can go through and it'll kind of tell you where you might fall short or some of the strengths you might have, some of the things you might need. It's completely free. Go enjoy that.

Speaker 3: 48:48

I think if I was really serious about launching a show or being a guest and there was that thing right, I might be like, ooh, that's gonna be tailored to me. I would be very interested in that. That type of thing works really well. I've seen some people get away with doing even just texting, and they have a number where they say hey, this number is like if you want to chat with me, this is this number. Is a Google voice one set up for that? Drop me a text at this number. There's all like all kinds of things. What matters is figuring out what works for you, and some people that even just offer a discount on their product, right, like, and sometimes that works for people, uh, and I don't know you're, you've been a marketing lender and is that, uh, that PDF? They give away that, that book or that information.

Speaker 1: 49:27

whatever it is that content that you're going to give away is going to be helpful to somebody? Does I don't want to ask this, does is it? Is it important that that's aligned with the avatar? We talked about the word avatar before. Like that should be directed specifically to your person that you're trying to. Otherwise you could have a bunch of people I've seen this happen right when someone gives away something that sounds fun and they just get them in their, their, their lead flow, their funnel, and you got people following up with people that are, like, what are you talking about? Like I'm not, I'm not that person, you know. So should that is there? Is there a relationship there? Like, if you're going to focus on something, is that, is that important?

Speaker 3: 50:09

Oh, yeah, for sure. Again, I think you only have one call to action. I think it's gotta be one Cause. Think about when most people are listening to podcasts they're in the car, they're cooking, they're cleaning, they're working out.

Speaker 3: 50:18

It's gotta be rememberable that they can just quickly jot down a note or remember it clearly to go to it. A great example is, like Tom, I use surfing as an example. Earlier, if I have a surfing podcast and your thing about buying your first board, if I had a quiz that you could take to tell you how big the board should be, it'll help you pick a brand that matches your budget. And then it takes you afterwards, takes you to a landing page where my affiliated boards are all listed. This is a bit of a weird example. Sorry, guys, I'm again. I'm a beach guy, so, but but follow me there right Like now. I just gave you, hey, this board based on your budget, your size, your weight and your ability to surf, or inability. If you're new, this is probably your best option, and now I'm very likely to convert that.

Speaker 3: 50:56

But again, if I went on a golf podcast, I'm like by the way, if you're thinking about surfing, go check it out. Golfers are like I don't like surfing. That's why I play golf, right? So, yeah, I think it has to be really clear and let that even be your compass on if you should be on a show or not. Right, like that. That's a great idea. It's like oh, oh, you know what? There's no one who's listening to this. It probably is interested in what I offer, so maybe it's just not the best show for me. You again think about the avatar and who you really serve, based off the service that you can provide them.

Speaker 2: 51:27

That's good, alex, I want to give a few things that we do behind the scenes to help people that are thinking about guesting. And then Wally, you and because I know, wally, you've been on a number of podcasts as well as a guest and then Alex, you can add a few things to that. I know we've already talked a little bit about doing the reps early. If you're brand new, right Just to break the ice, to get familiar. But I think once you're past that, you really need to know the audience. You need to do your research, you need to dive in and listen to some of the episodes, kind of know who the guest is. So think through that. So we do the research. On the podcast, is this, you know, like I'm not on any explicit podcast. That's just doesn't align with our brand and so I'm not on that. So our member of our team will listen to those.

Speaker 2: 52:16

I think it's really important too that you're prepared, and a lot of people get on. It's like I don't know what to say. I think you need to have some talking points and even put them on your computers Like hey, this is kind of a structure. I don't want to chase rabbits and so just be prepared. The guest, I mean the podcast host, is going to ask you questions. But you can kind of have some semblance of order, some talking points. I think the equipment is important. We touched on that a little bit earlier. Guys that are doing podcast interviews from their car. You know that's not going to go well. You need to be in an environment where you don't hear. You know the baby in the background crying. They want a professional setting sound. The sound is. Video is not as important. If you've got good video, that's great, but I think the sound is really important.

Speaker 1: 53:02

We get that here. Sometimes We've had guests come on. We have like what are you doing? What's?

Speaker 2: 53:08

going on. We didn't prepare them well enough.

Speaker 3: 53:11

I don't know, we can't do that real quick. If I can just mention something equipment, because that's for me that was the most intimidating part. Although I'm like a software guy, like the equipment always freaks me out. I have a usb plugged straight into my laptop, a webcam and a USB microphone and I really think, if you find a Logitech 4k webcam is what I use, I use. I don't even recommend this mic.

Speaker 3: 53:30

Just go to a camera, go go to a go to a website like Amazon type of thing and type in dynamic microphone. Dynamic means if I take four steps away from this mic, you can't hear me anymore. That gets rhythm Don't do it in your car still but it gets rhythm, the majority of the sound. My wife can be hanging out with people in the other room and you can't hear them right. There can be someone mowing my lawn outside. You can't hear that because I'm using what's called a dynamic microphone. Again, a couple hundred dollars is what you'll spend and if you decide you hate podcasting I actually learned this when I sold my old gear you can basically, so it's a very little bit of an investment. But the other thing you said Big A is just listen to two or three episodes of a show. I am shocked at when I do that. How many podcast hosts go wow, you actually listened to the show. I'm like did no one else? Like, am I the first one to do that? You're 300 episodes in. What do you mean?

Speaker 2: 54:18

And it makes a huge difference because you understand what you're stepping into. Your conversation is much different because you can mention a family member or an activity or sport that they're familiar with or they like, and now we've got a real conversation and I think it's important going along those lines of really being interested in the other person, not just there to highlight yourself, because, like you said, people can smell that out a mile away. The other thing is get there early, right, don't be late. Don't be late to these interviews, these people, their time is important, your time is important. Engage, you know, with the conversation and I'll tell you, alex, you're way better at this than I am. I'm way too long-winded, like you know.

Speaker 1: 54:56

I talk way too long, like isn't this long list of nine things you're telling us right now?

Speaker 2: 55:00

Yeah, and so I'm just saying these are things important. Wally, you listen for a minute, you may learn something.

Speaker 1: 55:05

Well, there's 10. I'm sorry, there is 10.

Speaker 2: 55:08

Yeah, there is 10. I've got just a couple more and I'll be through. You've got to promote the episode. We always do that Show a lot of gratitude. And then the last thing I do is I always ask the podcast host listen, if I did a good job, would you recommend me to another podcast host, would you make an introduction? And, quite honestly, over the past five years, that is the way that I've gotten on most shows. And then, the last thing, I didn't have it even on my own notes, but we created a press kit that has served value beyond anything that we've done, because it gives every link, every question that we've done, because it gives every link, every question, everything about me, all of our social media platforms. The least work the podcast host has to do the better, and if you send them a press kit, it's going to almost assure you to be on their show. So, alex, what have I missed? What have I left?

Speaker 3: 55:59

out. I want to highlight the press kit, media One Sheets I know how to say it something you can send the host, and the reason that matters is, if you give the host no direction, you're giving them permission to go any direction. So if you happen to go to jail or prison 20 years ago, they may bring that up when they find that in a web search Right, and if that's not what you want to talk about, you better give them some direction. Having a press kit says here's the context of what it is that I want to speak about and what I can speak about. You're now telling the host go, do your research, but do it within this container, right, and some of them will have very unique questions that you've probably never been asked before, even with that container, if you will. But that is so important and for me, I used to not have that, and when I didn't, I was talking about aerospace a lot because that was my background. I got out of that corporate life. I loved it, but that's not what I want to talk about anymore. I want to talk about podcasting and without setting the expectation up front, your host may, even though it's right in front of them, right, they may still go a wrong direction to try to make it really unique. So, yeah, that press gets really important beyond that. The last thing I'll mention I love the idea of, like people were probably asking like, how do I get on a show? Talk to somebody you know, talk to Wally, talk to big A and ask them hey, is there a show you recommend for me? Here's what I talk about. They, they I don't want to put you guys in the spot and make you guys booking agencies but, like in general, they might know someone that you have good synergy with, if you're in their mastermind, if they know you that they can probably recommend it might be someone else in the mastermind even. And the last thing I'll mention is make sure you do a pitch, which maybe sounds a little weird, but basically your initial outreach to a host.

Speaker 3: 57:24

Host hear from a lot of potential guests, a lot. You're not the only person reaching out, even that on that given day there might be others. So do something to show that you really put in a little bit of time and effort. I always say lead with value, even with that. So if I'm going to ask to be on a guest on a podcast, I always first leave a review of the show after I listened to it. I might only listen to one episode while I'm working out, or something like that, but I'm going to go leave them an Apple review and attach that Right there. I have their attention guaranteed. No host is not thankful for you actually leaving them a review and at that point now I can make a really meaningful request saying, hey, I'd like to be on your show. So always think about also that initial outreach. And aside from that, everything Big A said is pure gold. I mean, that's, that's how it works.

Speaker 2: 58:02

Alex, final comments or thoughts. And then I want you to end with tell us a little bit more about PodMatch, a little bit more about how it works pragmatically and how the audience can contact you.

Speaker 3: 58:15

Yeah, and thank you again, for I mean, it's an honor to be here. It's kind of a final thought. I always want to remind everybody that, that we should be doing this to serve the one person who needs us most. Again, the beauty of podcasting is the fact that somebody's hearing on the other side that is looking for what it is that you're offering, and even if you're like a comedian, they might be looking to laugh and you might be the only person who makes them laugh that day. So just remember the power of serving that one person. And I always tell people like, regardless of the numbers of a podcast, be there and show up for the one person who really needs you. That's the way I do my best to always show up that there's one, there's one iron sharpens, iron mastermind number that needed to hear what we're sharing today and that's why I'm very happy to be here. And if you can have that mindset, I can. I find that you do very well as a podcast guest.

Speaker 3: 58:57

Um, beyond that, pod matches, which, if you go to podmatchcom forward slash free, it'll kind of lead you into all the different things that I do and how I can serve and help and things like that. Nothing. There has a paywall or anything like that. Once you're on Podmatch, there is a fee associated with helping you get booked as a guest or looking for guests for your podcast, and we do a lot of automations along the way to really help streamline that process. And the whole goal of PodMatch is just can we get more time to focus on what we love, which is the actual interview, and less time on exchanging the emails, sending calendar, invites and all the other things that go along with it? Right, can we just find a way to streamline that so we can get the conversation out to really serve that one person? And so, yeah, podmatchcom forward slash free is where you can find everything I do.

Speaker 2: 59:37

Yeah, man, what a great guy. Alex man, I so love what you're doing. I love your energy. I love you as a person. You're just a great guy. You've been a great friend for a number of years. So, man, thank you for being with us today.

Speaker 2: 59:54

Listen, I can't even begin to tell you how nervous I was when I became a podcast guest. I want to encourage you, the listener. Right now, no one else can tell your story but you, and I want to encourage you to go out there. There's a lot of experts maybe in your space, but nobody has got the story that you do. Follow the fundamental framework that we gave you today, but I want you to tailor it to make it your own. Don't go do ours, don't do Wally's, don't do Alex's. You go do your own. But just kind of follow this fundamental framework and if you believe in your message, I want you to hone your skills. I want you to practice your delivery so that you, too, can be an amazing podcast guest. Listen, I can't wait to see you making your rounds on this circuit, so that you, too, can have your very own view from the top.

Speaker 1: 1:00:42

Hey, I just want to let everybody know the best way to connect with us. People ask us hey, how can I connect with you guys? One of the easiest ways if you go to viewfromthetopcom slash group that's viewfromthetopcom slash group you'll be redirected over to a LinkedIn, a private LinkedIn group just for Christian business owners, entrepreneurs and professionals, and we love to connect with you there. We carry on some of the conversations we're having in here, dive a little deeper and also it's a great place. I think there's well over I don't know if we're pushing 300 or whatever but there's a number of guys in there that you would align with. So I'd encourage you to go over there, get connected. That's vfromthetopcom slash group and you can just apply to join in there and we'll let you in as long as you pass the sniff test and can carry on some of these conversations. So we hope to see you there and we'll see you next week.