Podcast Powertrain – Build A Dominant Brand

Join four of Elite Alpha Network’s finest podcasters as they share their journeys.  From shaky beginnings, struggling with imposter syndrome and self doubt, all four men remember their first 30 days after launching a podcast.  One thing they can all agree on is that having a community behind you makes all the difference.  Being able to turn to people who have been there and done it is invaluable. A lot of successful podcasters simply take their mess and turn it into their message.  From childhood trauma to addiction, once you’ve overcome an obstacle, you’re in a unique position to help others by sharing your story.  Being crystal clear on your message is one of the first things you’ll really want to dial in on.  There’s plenty of other things that go into a successful podcast, but Elite Alpha Network can show you all of the methods to get there. What You’ll Learn: What you can expect during your first 30 days of podcasting. How a powerful ‘why’ behind your podcast can keep you on track. Why investing in yourself is always worth it. Tips and tricks to make your first 30 days as successful as possible. Favorite Quote: “It’s a powerful thing when you recreate yourself, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.” -Tim Holloway

We’ve all heard of cancel culture; it’s a modern form of ostracism.  Joe Rogan and Whoopi Goldberg have been in the hot seat recently for things they’ve said.  With calls for their cancellation, Tim and Paul stand firm in their belief that both should be entitled to free speech.  Even though both men disagree with Whoopi’s statements, and feel she shouldn’t be free from criticism, they would defend her right to speak her opinion. In today’s society, there is an influence away from free thought.  People don’t know how to have differing opinions without hating each other for it.  Freedom of speech is being threatened, and we must do everything we can to save it.  Podcasting is so important right now because it’s one of the few places people can still have real conversations about controversial things.  It’s where you can hear all sides of an issue, not just the socially acceptable one. What You’ll Learn: Why we’ll start to see more blockchain, free-speech platforms. Why podcasting is so powerful in today’s society. How free thought and freedom of religion are being imposed upon. How being firm in your beliefs can keep you tolerant of people’s differing opinions. Favorite Quote: “We were once a culture that allowed free speech, even if we disagreed.” - Tim Holloway

Join the alpha podcasters community now! Are feeling doubts about creating your podcast business? Have you thought about putting yourself out there, but you seem to be procrastinating and nothing gets done? This is probably a sign that there are some limiting beliefs taking place. Follow along in this episode and learn what to do with that fear. This podcast is all about podcasts! Learn A-Z podcasting: everything from podcast equipment, to apps, to funnel-building software programs that help you monetize your platform, and a lot more. Your hosts Paul and Tim launch, monetize, and manage podcasts for a living, and they have built a toolbox that you can now access… On this show, you can learn how to take up the torch of podcasting and begin to share your message with the world. Tune in today to start your podcasting journey now. Go to podcastpowertrain.com to learn how to work with the team to grow your online show.

Join the alpha podcasters community now! Are feeling doubts about creating your podcast business? Have you thought about putting yourself out there, but you seem to be procrastinating and nothing gets done? This is probably a sign that there are some limiting beliefs taking place. Follow along in this episode and learn what to do with that fear.   This podcast is all about podcasts! Learn A-Z podcasting: everything from podcast equipment, to apps, to funnel-building software programs that help you monetize your platform, and a lot more. Your hosts Paul and Tim launch, monetize, and manage podcasts for a living, and they have built a toolbox that you can now access… On this show, you can learn how to take up the torch of podcasting and begin to share your message with the world. Tune in today to start your podcasting journey now. Go to podcastpowertrain.com to learn how to work with the team to grow your online show.

Join the alpha podcasters community now! Callye Keen is the host of the End Hype podcast, which aims to help entrepreneurs launch and grow successful product brands.  As a natural introvert that would much rather spend his time coding and designing behind a computer, Callye decided to challenge himself and get into public speaking.  After some local success, he went on to do some national speaking gigs, and that’s when he started thinking about podcasting. Callye will be the first to admit that he had no idea what he was doing, but he jumped in any way.  In addition to improving his public speaking, Callye was passionate about helping people through podcasting.  He’d seen an increase in internet coaching scams and fake gurus, and he wanted to put out good content that not only could truly help people but could build their trust in him in case they required further assistance.  Having been in the product development and consulting business for 15 years, Callye says he’s not the cheapest, so it’s important to gain potential clients' trust before he expects them to be a paying client. A time came when Callye decided to start taking podcasting more seriously and stop trying to figure it all out on his own.  That’s when he decided to become a client of Podcast Powertrain.  This decision allowed him to reach out to people he wanted to have conversations with.  He’s now a firm believer that podcasting is better than any business card.  Through it, his business relationships have grown, as well as his audience.  When you use podcasting as a networking tool, it can bring so much value, especially when you’re first starting out. Callye stresses that you should never focus on the money, instead focus on the relationships and the money will come.  In the last 13 or 14 years, Callye has only spent about $1,000 on ads.  While he does get some traffic from SEO and organically, a vast majority of his revenue comes from word of mouth through relationships.  These relationships stem from either peers, authorities, or leaders.  Callye’s first focus is on peers, on getting to know everyone within his entrepreneur groups.  Then he wants to know people who hold some weight, authorities because by having conversations with them, he becomes an authority as well.  Then he can approach leaders in the space. These relationships begin with content, whether that’s collaborating on content, or liking and sharing.  Next they branch into joint ventures. Callye says he’s made much of his money like this.  He’s been a part of 6-figure presale launches where they sold the world’s most expensive fidget spinner from an Instagram post.  The price was 50x that of its competitors, but it sold out because the person they collaborated with owned the list of the right contacts.  You can’t just knock on the door of Google and ask them to be a customer, you have to go through someone who already has them as a customer. Giving more in value than you ever take in payment may seem counterintuitive, but it’s truly the secret to success.  Engage with others' content, buy their product, have them on your podcast to promote themselves, and next thing you know they’ll be coming to you and promoting your product.  You can literally lay out all the information needed for success for free, and people will recognize you as the expert and then pay you big bucks to hold their hand through the process.  Callye says starting a podcast was truly the vehicle that fast tracked his relationships.

Join the alpha podcasters community now! We’re speaking with the host of the Winner’s Paradigm podcast, Alundas Havens.  Having just launched his podcast a month ago, Alundas has already seen great success.  On his podcast, Alundas dives deep into the psychology of all the things that make us who we are.  With a childhood of trauma, Alundas noticed he had a hard time grasping certain concepts in life.  Recognizing incidents from his childhood as being responsible for these difficulties, Alundas began to hone in on self-improvement.  He decided a podcast would be a great way to detail where he came from, what contributed to whom he became, and how he overcame and rewired his mind. With a father and grandfather that had been in the military, Alundas saw joining as just another way to prove himself.  Not to mention, it was a promising route for an 18-year-old that had been kicked out of their house.  Alundas knew he could stay in the situation he was in, or he could get out and start a new life.  He says when he first joined, they were still in the old mentality of everything being black or white.  While Alundas was happy to see this mentality change, he credits learning this mindset with changing his whole perspective on life and business.  Furthermore, he says being responsible for others in a leadership position taught him about taking ownership. When he found himself dialing in his strategy for his podcast, Alundas said the mindset of complete ownership was an asset.  Having a family and going to school full time, Alundas had to ask himself if this was something he could really take on.  He says it all came down to being intentional with allotting time.  So, long as he gave it the time it deserved, the podcast took off. Alundas says the toughest part of starting was just fighting that fear of whether you really have what it takes.  He found himself combatting this insecurity by reaching out to people that know about business and starting a podcast.  This included joining Power Moves Academy and picking Paul and Tim’s brains.  Alundas honed in on what he was doing and got resourceful.  Joining a mastermind group has equipped Alundas with knowledge and resources, but it’s also allowed him to network with others that are doing what he wants to be doing.  This helped Alundas to go from waiting for this or that, to making it happen.  He says the group gives him inspiration as well as accountability. When it comes to his vision for 5 years down the road, Alundas hopes to still be podcasting with a larger outreach and higher level of guests.  Beyond the podcast, Alundas wants to help businesses rebuild and to do one on one calls with people.  He also hopes to find a place in public speaking.  All in all, Alundas wants to make an impact on his community.  His new year's resolution for 2022 is to develop a strategic business plan that will not only help him to accomplish those things, but will steer him towards investing in stocks and real estate. Tim reminds Alundas to look at his gifts as superpowers because that’s where flow and momentum come from.  He encourages Alundas to always be real with his audience, to show that he doesn’t have it all figured out.  Allow the podcast to document your progress of becoming an expert over time.   Tim would bet that over 50% of potential podcasters think about starting and then drop out.  So, what’s to keep Alundas from the same fate?  He says he simply thinks about what he wants, what his values are, and then he asks himself if he’s living up to it.

Join the alpha podcasters community now! What do you know about lead magnets?  Let’s take a look at how to get people to subscribe to your email list.  We’re going over some high-converting landing pages and talking about what makes them so good and how we can model it for ourselves.  Decide which is the easiest for you to implement and get started. One thing we know about human behavior is that simple is key.  You don’t need something extravagant or some 400 word sales copy.  Tim says It’s a real turn-off to come across a sleazy click tunnel, where someone who obviously isn’t genuine feeds you a lengthy story about themselves.  At the end of the day, you’re going to have to try multiple ways to get an email subscriber. One thing that works well is a free newsletter of value.  Tim Ferris, one of the best podcasters around, is someone who does this.  He has a simple landing page and offers a free weekly newsletter.  You could offer anything, though.  Podcast Powertrain offers a free roadmap to starting a podcast in exchange for an email address.  All it takes is a quick headline about why whatever you’re offering will be valuable to them.  Neither of our examples even mentioned themselves on their landing page.  Instead, they talked about everything that person was there for.  Tim says to try to have your content front and center without a need for scrolling.  Make it a one click and done process. If we really look at the psychology behind what's on a good landing page, we know that people want to know what they’re going to get.  They want to know what’s in it for them.  Tim Ferris’ landing page clearly states, “you’re going to get…”.  It’s important to clearly communicate what they’re going to get for entering their email address. Another successful podcast is Bigger Pockets, a hit in the real estate world.  They offer subscribers a free weekly webinar where they break down the basics of how to get your next deal.  It’s something you could record once and continue to offer to new subscribers as they come.  A good webinar is as easy as 20 minutes of information followed by an offer. Another offering that Podcast Powertrain does is a free list of the most significant podcast directories.  It really can be anything, as long as Its something somebody wants.  It could be a 10-minute video with 5 tips for something.  When it comes to deciding what your lead magnet is going to be, consider which of these ideas you can implement first?  Which one do you have the time, ability, and resources for?  Start with that one.

Join the alpha podcasters community now! What do you have to offer to your community of listeners?  Ask yourself, what do you have of the most value to offer?  There are so many ways to build out a marketing funnel. Try using your podcast to build a relationship with your audience, then use it to sell your product or offering.  Give your audience a direct call to action that leads to your offering. It simply comes down to talking to the right person and having the right offer for that person.  If you keep getting people that can’t afford your services, chances are you’re talking to people that can’t afford your services.  Make sure you’re really talking to the person that you actually want to draw in.  It’s important to get crystal clear on who your ideal listener is.  At Podcast Powertrain, we often talk to clients about how people on social media aren’t necessarily your demographic.  Social media users have about a 7-second attention span when scrolling, while podcast listeners that start an episode will almost always follow it through to completion.  Podcast listeners also tend to be wealthier than social media users. Not only do you have to hone in on your listeners, but you have to constantly remind yourself who you’re talking to.  It’s easy to slip away and talk to somebody else.  When it comes to your offering, you have to know what your listeners want with their lives.  What are their dreams? What do they fear? Get in the mind of the people you’re trying to help.  Tell them how you can legitimately improve their lives.  Speak about the problem you're solving first, and then tell them what you’re giving them to solve it. You should also know and understand how your clients spend money.  Say you’re looking for the person who has a successful business, whose time is very valuable.  They’re the type that spends money on elite coaching and mastermind courses.  Then ask yourself what do they need?  Show them how you’re the bridge from where they are to where they want to be.  Show them how your service is the thing they need. Another trick is to throw in social proof right around the checkout area.  Post positive reviews and testimonials.  It will further show people that there are real people like them implementing this successfully. So, again, come up with your high ticket offer first.  For us, at Podcast Powertrain, it’s us managing and producing your whole podcast for you.  Now that we’ve mastered what we’re offering, we can turn it into courses to sell to the average Joe. -- Learn how to use podcasting to build a dominant brand and share your voice with the world. Do you want to learn how to start a podcast? Tune in every week to new episodes about the art of being a podcast host. Why should you start a podcast? Podcasting is one of the most authentic forms of media in the world today.  On a podcast, you can have real conversations with real people, and you don’t need to worry about being censored by the mainstream media and social media platforms.  Do you have a powerful message to share with the world? There has never been a better time to join the podcasting movement than right now as we move into 2022. You’re probably wondering where to start creating a podcast, right? You’re in the right place… Subscribe to Podcast Powertrain now and learn how to build your dominant brand by launching a top-rated podcast to the world. Tune in today to start your podcasting journey now. Go to podcastpowertrain.com to learn how to work with the team to grow your online show.

Join the alpha podcasters community now! Paul and Nick are sharing their podcasting stories from the very beginning.  They’ll share what got them interested in podcasting, how their very first episode went, and more. Nick was drawn to podcasting as a way to create more content.  He saw it as a way to create the top of a funnel and allow people to get to know him.  His main goal was to generate leads for his business.  Before podcasting, webinars were all the rage, but Nick felt you could give the same value and content by hopping on a podcast.  Not to mention, it’s simply more authentic.  Paul was drawn in by the ease of getting started.  While in the military, he started thinking about what he wanted to do when he got out.  He realized he knew how to use a mic and talk.  At the time he was passionate about jiu jitsu, so he decided to go with that, and he started the Mat Tricks podcast. As a digital marketer and sales coach, Nick wanted to create a platform for his business, but he didn’t know the first thing about podcasting.  He started dabbling with the experts and realized he was overcomplicating things.  As Paul mentioned, it was easy to get started, you just get started.  All you had to do was have a conversation and be yourself.  He realized you don’t have to be an expert.  One thing he had to overcome was the negative self-talk that told him he had to be someone of importance for people to want to listen to him. While still in the military, Paul was on a 7-hour drive from Poland to Germany when he decided to record his first podcast episode on his phone.  He says it was terrible, and the quality was garbage.  It took him 3 more tries before he recorded something he allowed to stay online. He ended up doing the podcast for a year and a half before he transitioned to the podcast he hosts now, Beyond Homo Sapien. Nick launched a little over a year ago, but paused because he got too busy.  Working with other podcasters lately has reignited his passion, and he’s preparing a new podcast now called Drop Kings.  He shares that podcasting is a lot like sales, where 90% is mindset and only 10% is product knowledge.  If you can talk to anyone and build a relationship, you’ll do just fine.  Paul agrees that building a network is key.  He says you can often get people to talk to you in an interview that might not talk to you otherwise.  If you’re able to speak in a way where people are interested in listening to you, and you know how to ask questions, Paul says you’ll do well. A little trick, if you have trouble coming up with questions for your guests, is to ask friends and family what they would ask.  Even better, if the guest has been on other podcasts, listen to those interviews and find the questions that they haven’t been asked before.

Join the alpha podcasters community now! So, we’ve got a niche and a name, what do we do now?  Tim and Paul are talking about podcasting logistics to get your first episode out there. Let’s start with the show format, have you given it any thought? Will it be interview-based, is there more than one host, is it fact or fiction?  Paul recommends going solo to get started.  Not only will it build your confidence on the mic, it will help the audience get to know you.  If you ever want to monetize the show with a product offering or something, having your audience know you first is key.  Starting solo also means there are no excuses holding you back.  Too many people get stuck on trying to find guests or coordinate with a co-host.  Just get started.  There are apps you can download and get going today. Try a short, coming soon, trailer episode to get your feet wet. Tim’s offering up tips and tricks on how to do it all yourself, right down to which apps to download.  For starters, you’re going to want Canva.  This app is wonderful and can do so much, including making your cover art.  People do judge a book by its cover.  When they’re scrolling through podcasts, they’re only going to see your cover art. Make sure it pulls them in.  Tim says if you’re going to be the fact of your company, you should be on the cover art.  He also says if you’re going to be on the cover art, you need to be looking at your audience, and you need to own the page. What about equipment?  Well, it doesn’t take much, but you should invest in a good microphone, especially if you’re using your phone.  Tim’s first podcast was done on just his phone, and he got a lot of negative feedback about the audio quality.  There are microphones that plug right into your phone for all price ranges.  Do what you can to show up with the best possible sound. To show up anywhere, you need a hosting platform.  There are several out there, and they all have their pros and cons.  One popular one is AnchorFM.  For pros, it’s simple to use, the stats are accurate, and they help you to distribute easily.  One major con though is that they own your podcast.  Libsyn is the platform that Paul uses.  It’s a little more difficult to set up, but it’s the most professional.  If you’d like to try it out, use code ‘Underdog’ to get the first month free. Simplecast is another easy one, and it’s the platform that Tim uses.  He says it has really great stats as well.  Soundcloud has numerous people on its platform, but it’s still more tailored for music.  No matter where you decide to host, make sure you’re submitting to all the streaming platforms.  Make sure you’re everywhere. It’s finally time for your first episode.  Don’t panic, Tim recommends doing some simple and short clips for your first couple of episodes.  Try releasing a ‘coming soon’ episode first, and then invite everyone you know to check it out.  Most people will listen to it all the way through, and with Apple’s algorithm, your podcast could shoot to the top.  Use that episode to really hook people in.  Your second episode could be all about you; introduce yourself and share your story.  Tim recommends thinking of the standard hero's journey narrative when telling your story.  You know, the classic underdog circumstances, not knowing who you are, going through something major that causes you to discover who you are, getting equipped and overcoming challenges storyline.  Just remember, when you share your journey, it empowers other people. The bottom line is, just get it done.  Don’t get caught up in all the little in’s and out’s.  You can literally download Audacity for free and start recording now.