The Transcript

Jerod Morris You’re listening to The Showrunner, a podcast about podcasting that will teach you how to take your show from good to great. Ready?

Hello there, and welcome to The Showrunner. Thank you so much for lending me your ear. In this inaugural episode we are going to dive deep into the topic of why right now is such a good time to start a podcast. So if you have been thinking of starting a podcast, or if you already have a podcast and you simply want solid validation from a number of experts that you’re on the right track, you’ll want to listen to this episode all the way through.

But first, if you don’t mind, just as a way to introduce myself, I would like to tell you a quick story.

So after I’d done a first cut of this episode, the one you’re listening to right now, I let a few people whose opinions I value listen to it. I just wanted some feedback and wanted some validation that I was on the right track. And so I sent the file around to a few people, all of whom are fellow podcasters, but actually wanted someone who is not a podcaster to listen to it as well. And the person who is not a podcaster, whose opinion I solicited, is my fiancée Heather. And you’re actually going to get to meet her later in this episode.

Now, Heather does many, many things well. One thing that she does not do is create podcasts. She’s just not really techy in any way, which I think even she would admit. But she has become an avid podcast listener, so I very much value her opinion as someone representative of a normal audience member, as opposed to someone like myself, I guess, and the other people I sent this to, because sometimes those of us who create podcasts can be a little overly technical, I think, in our critiques and sometimes lose the big picture.

Well, the other night we’re at home, Heather and I, and we’re cooking dinner, and I played the first cut of this episode. And it started just like this episode started, with a song and an intro, and then went right into an ad read for The Rainmaker platform, which sponsors the show. And so about a minute goes by, and Heather looks up at me, and she says, “Who are you?” And I’m kind of taken aback. I didn’t quite know what she meant.

She said, “No, who ARE you? You haven’t introduced yourself yet! If this is the first episode, I want to know who you are!” And I was stunned. But in a good way, because I realized that I’d spent so much time trying to get the cuts right and the music cues right, and everything else, that I’d forgotten something as simple as just introducing myself to the audience, to you. And it made me laugh, because none of the other people that I sent this to offered that very simple, yet quite critical, piece of advice. But Heather did.

And so Heather, my love, you’re a genius. Thank you, and this next part is for you, and I guess for everybody else.

My name is Jerod Morris, and I am a VP at Copyblogger Media, and the reason why I am hosting this show is because, basically, I’m a guy who loves to podcast and who has gathered a whole lot of experience doing so over the last five years. I’ve done monologue podcasts, I’ve done live broadcasts that turned into podcasts, I’ve done interview shows. Speaking of interviews, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to interview people ranging from NFL legend Jerry Rice to acclaimed authors like Sally Hogshead and Dan Pink, just recently. So when it comes to podcasting, I’ve done a lot. In fact, right before I started recording this, I counted it up and I ve launched at least ten different shows over the past five years, and by launched, I mean created at least one episode. And yes, a few of them died right after that one episode, but others lasted much longer, and some are still alive, kicking, and thriving today, I am very happy to say.

Currently I host The Lede with Demian Farnworth. It’s a podcast all about content marketing, and has consistently been a top 20 podcast in the business section of iTunes for years now. I also host The Assembly Call and Podcast on the Brink, two shows that allow me to indulge in my passion for Indiana University basketball. And those are actually the two most widely listened to shows in that specific niche, but it is an incredibly passionate niche.

And now of course, I host this show: The Showrunner, which has a very simple goal of helping you take your show from good to great. And it won’t just be me. I will have a co-host. You’re actually going to meet him here in a bit as well, and I couldn’t be more ecstatic about everything I’m going to get to learn from him just by hosting the show with him.

So there you go. Now you know who I am, Jerod Morris. And now we can begin in earnest.

So since this is the very first episode of The Showrunner, I feel like it’s only fitting that we start from the beginning. And if you’re listening to this, clearly you are interested in podcasting. Maybe you have a show and you’re looking to take it to the next level. Maybe you’re still in the consideration phase, like I mentioned earlier, wondering if starting a podcast is the right decision for you. Well, if you’re in the first group I promise you this podcast is going to be for you. Subscribe, tune in consistently. We’re going to give you all of the advice and insight you need to run your show even better. And if you’re in the second group, if you’re still wondering whether you should start a show in the first place, well; this first episode is dedicated to you. Why should you start a podcast? We’re going to dive in, we’re going to answer that all-important question in this episode. Because as you’re going to hear, the time really is right now to start a podcast. And the potential benefits of doing so are myriad. There are so many of them. And there’s also the reality that maybe you shouldn’t start a podcast. Podcasting isn’t for everybody, and we’re going to get to that too. But the big picture is, many, many people are listening to podcasts these days, you included. And so I know just by listening that you’re a show listener. The question now is, are you a show runner? Keep listening and find out.

The Showrunner is brought to you by The Rainmaker platform, the complete website solution for content marketers and online entrepreneurs. And when I say “brought to you by,” I don’t just mean sponsored by. I mean that The Showrunner is literally built on The Rainmaker platform, which was built with podcasters like you and me in mind. I love everything about creating audio content. What I don’t love is having to jump through a bunch of complicated, technical hoops just to get the audio content out to you, and then even more complicated technical hoops to build an audience and maybe even a business around the shows I run. But with Rainmaker, I don’t have to. Rainmaker actually makes the technology part simple so I can focus on my content, and focus on you. Find out more and take a free 14-day test drive at rainmaker.fm/platform.

Let’s think big right off the bat, shall we? The most important reason to start a podcast is that it can literally change your life. And I know that kind of sounds like hyperbole, but it’s true, and I know this because it has for me. I have my current position at Copyblogger Media in large part because of podcasting. One of my favorite hobbies is a podcast I do on the side, and that community is growing so fast, and the audience is so into the show, that it’s pretty close to going from side project to side business. I wanted to launch The Showrunner because podcasting has changed my life, and I want to share what I’ve learned with you so that it might have the same positive impact on you. And the crazy thing is, I’m just one show runner with one story. There are so many others out there. In fact, I want to introduce you to one right now. His name is John Naster. And John is going to be my co-host here on The Showrunner, as well as my partner in developing The Showrunner Podcast Course, which I’ll tell you about later.

John was already a successful online entrepreneur when he launched Hack the Entrepreneur in September of 2014. And by February of 2015, a mere six months later, John was given an invite to join the launch of Rainmaker FM, which is crazy. It’s an astounding achievement. And it’s a testament to John’s dedication as a show runner and his impressive skills as an interviewer.

Now here’s the thing about John. He’s not just a successful entrepreneur. He’s built a really cool life for himself. He runs a high-six-figure business, he travels the world with his wife and daughter, and he still has time to play drums in his punk rock band. I was curious, so I asked John how podcasting has helped him create what sounds like a really fulfilling life. And here’s what he said.

Jon Nastor: Podcasting has given me the platform to reach people that I couldn’t reach in any other way and in any other thing that I was doing Meaning that I now get e-mails from people whose books I’ve read, and I’ve looked up to them, and they e-mail me and want to sponsor my show, or they want to be on my show. And within a span of four and five months, and it absolutely blows me away. So my business I ran before it, and still run, was passive in the sense that it was a business and it wasn’t me at the forefront of it.

Jerod: So John decided that he wanted to make the transition to being out there, to being more involved in the community, to being more well known for what he does. Because apparently the dream of sitting on the beach with your laptop isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Jon: It sounds great until you’ve done it for a couple of years, and then I really wanted to make a conscious decision to now build a platform and get known for what it is that I do. So I started podcasting. I really thought that it should take years to do. Within months, the stuff that was happening to me every day strictly because of the podcast I started, and now I’m actually known for podcasting, and known for the podcast more so than I’m known for anything else that I’ve done up until now, which is years of making money online. And that to me is astonishing, awesome, and super exciting because of what the future holds for it, and the fact that now five months after creating a podcast following what you guys teach at Copyblogger, and now I’m working directly with you guys with kind of no doing of my own except for doing the show and then being approached by Brian Clark himself and offered this. That, to me, is insane and amazing and kind of blows my mind, even just saying it now, again, and the fact that we’re doing this. And I don’t know any other way I could possibly do that. I feel like missing–say, building a blog 10 years ago–and you hear about people who had these instant crazy successes, but I feel like maybe I missed that. But you could do it so quickly. And now with podcasting it literally is there. That’s it. It’s right there, and I did it with no platform behind me, no anything except for what I think is the right way to do it, and some thought on the branding, and hitting the launch right. But other than that, it was just me, and it just completely went out of my control in an amazing way. And that, to me, is shocking, and beautiful, and awesome.

Jerod: Yes, it is. It is shocking, beautiful, awesome, and life changing. All of the positive adjectives we want to throw at it. But to be frank here, it’s also probably not the most representative example of what happens when you start a podcast. I mean, we all wish we could have the skyrocketing success that John has experienced, or launch the next serial that just goes bananas. But the reality is that unless you have a huge audience built already, building a podcast audience can take time. It requires hard work and patience, and stick-to-it-iveness. That hobby podcast I mentioned earlier? This is my fourth year of doing it, and I’ve thought about quitting many, many times. But my co-host and I have stuck with it, and it’s catching on. We’re seeing real numbers now. But there’s been no magic, and we’ve cut no corners. We’ve just kept on showing up, every episode, and we’ve grown our audience one listener at a time. And I love it. I’m so glad that we started it, and I’m proud of us for not quitting, and I’m humbled by the opportunity to serve this responsive, reliable audience. So the question to you, before I go in depth about all the benefits of podcasting and its bright future, which we’re about to get to, the question to you is: Are you willing to work hard? Are you willing to invest your time and your energy, and a few bucks even, into creating a podcast the right way, over the long term? If so, you should start a podcast. But if not, you may want to rethink it. Here’s how Robert Bruce, the program director at Rainmaker FM, sees it. And in this clip you’re about to hear, he’s responding to a question from Demian Farnworth, my co-host on The Lede, as well as the host of Rough Draft, another show on Rainmaker FM.

Demian Farnworth: And it’s sort of popular now, sort of convention. People say why you should start a podcast, why writers should start a...