On a recent Russell Brunson webinar, I started reading the chat. I would not normally do this, but Russell, the Co-Founder of ClickFunnels, was telling a story I had already heard, and the chat was going ballistic about it.
Essentially, many of those who chose to chat were complaining (or spamming) instead of listening. In a world where they are attending webinars, apparently because they are desperate to learn how to generate leads, they were complaining about the teaching approach from a man generating a $100 million dollars a year and counting…up!
This was teaching being offered for free to help aspiring entrepreneurs get where they want to go.
The Zoom call was left open after the presentation and I was able to read the entire chat feed. I had never seen this type of negative commentary on a webinar before, and I was stunned.
What’s happening to everyone?
Is Entrepreneurship Exclusive…?
Entrepreneurship is the critical engine needed for our progress and prosperity. Entrepreneurs are people who solve problems and deliver solutions.
But for the first time, I noticed that a segment of those who are interested enough in starting a business to sign up for a webinar on how to generate leads, appear to be no longer patient enough to grasp the information they need to be successful.
Yet they fail to recognize the irony.
They are the ones who are broke, hate their jobs, and stuck in a pattern of life they cannot stand. They are the ones who want out.
Yet they also apparently want the path to be cleared for them, decorated as they see fit, and playing their music.
Our society is in for a world of hurt if the people who want to be entrepreneurs no longer have the drive, perseverance, courage, and commitment necessary to make business work in the 21st century.
If they too are looking for a shortcut.
I would hate to think we are stuck with the companies, organizations and ideas, we have now because the likes of future Russell Brunsons no longer know how to listen.
In fact, if that’s what’s happening…that attention spans have really dropped to zero…then we are doomed.
…Or is Being an Entrepreneur Critical?
While many people may be angry about 2020 and the disruption to their plans, others assessed the situation and thrived. And many of those people who were able to make the most of a pandemic year are online entrepreneurs.
The pandemic actually allowed the already growing force of technology and access to the global market to become ‘normal,’ and solidified a future economy based on Internet practices.
Whether that terrifies or excites people is not the point, it has happened, and it’s here to stay.
For anyone…literally anyone…who has ever thought about getting a business started, you are living in the best time in history to jump right in.
The Internet is young enough that it can still be molded and shaped by individual actions; but it’s old enough to have an endless stack of free resources that allow you to learn anything you need to know about how to get started.
When I first started in the game just four years ago, I had no idea how to move forward.
Now an aspiring entrepreneur has no excuse.
Fear, Excuse or Something Else?
Except for the ones so often used…to avoid actually doing the work.
That excuse is typically coated in sympathy expected language like: ‘I don’t have enough time,’ or ‘I don’t have enough money’ or ‘I don’t understand technology’ or ‘I don’t want to be a sleazy salesman’ or ‘There’s too much competition,’ or ‘Everything’s already been done.’
To be fair, one of the challenges for aspiring entrepreneurs is that too many people, including the famous gurus, often claim the path is ‘easy’ especially if you buy their course and do exactly what they do.
The problem is no one can do exactly what they did. The technical or foundational work may be the same, but there is always something else – especially when it comes to the actual business idea.
An aspiring entrepreneur needs to adapt their idea to the current environment. And when the adaptation does not work, they have to try again some other way, and again, and again, and again, and again…and that takes work. That’s the part so many people miss, and few ever talk about.
With millions posting images every day of an Instagram lifestyle of luxury and comfort generated by online riches, many aspiring entrepreneurs want to jump straight in to that scene, and fail to acknowledge the part about actually creating a business.
Even if the business is taking beautiful pictures of yourself and consistently posting them on Instagram…that’s still more work than the typical person who is trying to decide what to watch next on Netflix.
But if you are looking at that lifestyle, and you have business ideas in your head, or you have always wanted to be an entrepreneur, you have to make a move forward.
Just coveting the lifestyle without actually doing the work will not help you achieve success.
Decide to Be Successful
I can already guess that the process Russell teaches in his webinar challenge will work. I create and buy from sales funnels all the time.
But if you don’t know anything about the process, and you sign up for the webinar, you should listen and learn.
If you are an aspiring entrepreneur because you want the professional satisfaction, financial security and lifestyle freedom that comes with being you own boss then, guess what…the only way you are going to be successful is to do the work.
Doing the work is the only common denominator among the world’s successful entrepreneurs.
Nothing else matters. Not background, circumstances, gender, ethnicity, location, education, experience…nothing. All they have in common is that they did the work.
They learned what needed to be done…often from those who have done it before, and applied those learnings to their own ideas and situation. That’s the path. It has not changed.
Aspiring entrepreneurs who do not want to listen, and do not want to do the work will not be successful. The word ‘aspiring’ will never fall off their bio page. And their lot in life will not change.
The only way to reverse this inevitability is to actually pay attention, model and refine what works, adapt your idea to your audience and situation, and get the job done.
If you are ready to move forward, join our Dominate 2021 Mastermind group for FREE and get your online business started in 90 days! Starts January 16, 2021, register here: http://dominatetheyear.com/
If you are trying to get organized to become an online entrepreneur, read Recast: The Aspiring Entrepreneur’s Practical Guide to Getting Started With An Online Business. Click here to download at Amazon.com.
Links to the 5 Day Lead Challenge, ClickFunnels and Amazon.com are affiliate links. I earn for eligible purchases at no additional cost to you.
How to Become a Guest on a Podcast
by Case Lane
The Podcast Discoveries Research Series
On the surface, the standard advice is correct. If you want to interview on a podcast, you must send a compelling pitch to the podcast host, and trust your message resonates with their goals, fits in their schedule, and appears appealing to their audience.
Sounds great…except, how do you find the hosts and shows that you can pitch to in the first place?
Statistics say there are now probably about one million podcasts, which should make for a massive opportunity for potential guests to showcase their skills. After all, at that number, you are bound to find hundreds, if not thousands, of podcasters in your genre, talking to people about your topic, and looking for more.
Unfortunately that expectation comes up against a harsh reality.
Domination by the Popular
Podcasting is a rising information and entertainment platform with no formal structures or established reference resources. Podcast shows are hosted by dozens of providers, and listed in dozens more directories.
Each show self-defines through a name, description and category.
But most podcast directories, the sources for finding podcasts, limit search results to the most ‘relevant’ podcast names, which means a directory search for a keyword like ‘entrepreneur’ will not return every podcast that claims to discuss this topic.
Instead the top, meaning most popular, podcasts are provided unlimited search result real estate, and all the rest are lost behind algorithms designed to ignore them.
The problem reaches far beyond Pareto’s 80/20 principles. In the land of podcasts, a solid 99.9% of podcasts are battling just to be discovered, let alone heard. And for those who want a chance to interview and share their message, this group is even more critically important.
A targeted podcast with a dedicated group of listeners is valuable to both potential guests, and potential listeners in that niche.
Searching for compelling shows to appear on, an author or entrepreneur with a book, course, product or service to discuss and promote; a future thought-leader with startling unheard information; or a rising influencer with extraordinary processes to impart, will keep seeing the same podcast names over and over again in search results.
And by definition, those same names are overwhelmed with requests, interview each other, and work behind sophisticated PR teams designed to keep them from becoming the targets of less-established players.
Since the podcast search engines only list the Top 100, sometimes 200, ‘relevant’ search results, potential guests must find another approach for discovering podcasters who may say ‘yes’ to an interview request.
You need the shows more likely ranked somewhere from numbers 201 to 1,000,000.
So how do you find them, and obtain their interest to interview you?
The Long Road to an Interview
When I began reaching out to podcasters for my virtual book tour, I had no idea the months long quest to find relevant shows would uncover ignored realities about the podcast industry we thought we knew.
What we think is competition may not exist….
…and what we think is opportunity, may be stunningly more real than we could ever have imagined.
In this blog series, I will tell you what I learned from my inadvertent deep research quest into what’s really going on in the podcast industry.
Beginning with this Part One, where I’ll explain, based on the results I have achieved so far, how to successfully earn a guest interview.
The Method
For background, this inadvertent project began when I set a goal to be interviewed on 50 podcasts as part of a virtual promotional tour for my new book Recast.
What I did not know then is that I would have to research more than 1,000 podcasts to find the 50 who have said ‘yes’ or ‘maybe’ so far.
On purpose, 100% of the podcasters I approached, I had never heard of before. The podcasters I have heard of are some of the biggest names in the business. I immediately put them on my dream list to be approached one day in the future.
I considered my most realistic opportunity to be interviewed would be with rising podcasters who were speaking to the audience I wanted to reach.
This approach also does not include using any paid services like PR firms or other ‘matching’ programs. This process involves direct research only.
But before I explain the details of how I found them, here is the high level summary of my results:
I researched 1,117 podcasts (research is defined below)
About two-thirds were not relevant to my topic (as defined by me, see below for details)
319 were sent an interview request (either an e-mail or communication through their own form).
Of those who were sent an interview request, 25 % replied – that’s double the rate quoted in most how-to articles.
The other three-quarters never responded.
Of those who replied:
Nearly half, 46%, said Yes and those interviews have taken place, been scheduled, or are pending another issue like scheduling.
30% said Maybe, usually due to scheduling.
The rest gave an outright ‘No.’
How to Find Podcasters to Interview You
Based on my learnings from the above, here is how you line up an interview:
- Have Something to Say
- Create Your Customizable Pitch
- Select Your Categories and Keywords for Your Topic (Pitch)
- Establish Your Parameters for Selecting Relevant (to your pitch) Podcasts
- Search Podcast Names
- Find Relevant (to you and your pitch) Podcasts
- Find Host Contact Information
- Customize Your Pitch
- Send Your Pitch to the Host
- Follow-up as Appropriate
1. Have Something to Say
Podcasting is an audio product. People talk. And for podcast hosts, the value in the talking comes from the information you are offering to their audience.
In all circumstances, whether you meet a podcast host in person, send an e-mail, or leave a voice message (yes, that’s a thing), you have to have something to say.
You must know why you want to be interviewed.
What is the value you have to offer their audience?
Are you promoting a book, course, software, product or service that their listeners will find useful?
Are you promoting yourself because you have an inspirational or compelling story?
Maybe you want to publicize your own blog, podcast or YouTube channel, and grow your audience by reaching a compatible audience.
Begin the process of requesting an interview AFTER you have developed your message.
You don’t have to have a canned speech or slick press release, in fact, it’s better if you don’t. What you need is a compelling reason why you want someone to have a chat with you for 30 minutes or more.
A well-developed message also keeps you focused on the same topic and context for your pitch, interview applications, pre-interview conversations, and ultimately, the interview.
For example, my work encompasses many potential topics, but I focused on promoting the message of my book Recast, which prepares aspiring entrepreneurs to start online businesses. The information I have for the listeners encourages people to start their own businesses, and includes strategies that can help them move forward. That message formed the main content of my pitch.
2. Create Your Customizable Pitch
Once you know what you want to say, you must craft a compelling pitch a – reason why you would be a valuable guest – message to the podcast hosts.
One note: Some podcasts are run by teams, and have an assistant or producer to vet potential guests. Unless otherwise stated (which it never was), always address your pitch to the host. However, be prepared to send a request to one person, and receive a response from another.
To get the host’s attention, you must write a pitch that captures your value in succinct and obvious sentences. Some people claim this means short e-mails, but that is not necessarily true.
You have to include information any host would need to know about who you are, and what you want to talk about. They rarely need your whole bio, unless your pitch is about an extraordinary life story. But you should have a one paragraph explanation of your message, product or service, and how it relates to their audience.
Within your standard pitch, make sure you leave room for customization. As you will see below, researching the podcast provides an opportunity to learn where you may have common interests with your host. You can mention these interests in your pitch.
Also when you customize your pitch, you will be relating your overall discussion concept to their specific audience. This is a practice, not only to gain their interest, but also for you to ensure you are not wasting time.
If you look at the podcast, and the episode topics do not seem relevant to your topic, then don’t bother sending the pitch.
You also customize your suggested discussion topics. Advice about writing good pitch letters usually always mentions ensuring you suggest discussion topics. Surprisingly in my experience, few hosts referred to this information. However, by including it, you are demonstrating that you have looked at their show, and know how they prefer to present topics.
In #7, I cover how to communicate to the hosts. Some hosts have specific guest request requirements, and you will not be able to send your pitch as an e-mail. But you will still need the same information that is already captured in your pitch to answer questions on a specific guest appearance request form, or in any other format..
3. Select Your Categories and Keywords
Before you begin to research potential podcasts, you must know the podcast category or keywords that you want to search.
This process is wide-open for questions, but you must start somewhere. If you are uncertain where your topic falls, look at the category listings in Apple Podcasts, and select the one that is closest to your idea.
Apple Podcasts is considered the most reliable podcast directory in terms of both popularity, and ease of use. However this may change in the future, as podcasters begin to obtain exclusive programming deals.
The various podcast directories use different words for their categories, but the general concepts are the same. If possible, select more than category. As you will see below, your topic may cover more than one area.
You also need to select keywords because many podcasts put detailed information in their description, and many directories also search by description. You want the directory search engine to return any podcast that mentions your keyword.
In my case, I searched: ‘entrepreneur,’ ‘entrepreneurship,’ ‘business,’ and ‘success.’ However because of some of the results I found, I also ended up being led to search: ‘startup,’ ‘side hustle,’ ‘action,’ ‘boss,’ and all variations of ‘boss lady.’
Do not try and come up with every possible category for every type of podcast your topic may be lurking in. Search results begat search results, and you will find more than enough options as you keep going.
Select two or three categories or keywords, and move on. But you may find you need your own personalized selection criteria before you can decide.
4. Establish Your Parameters
Podcasters select their categories and name their own keywords. There is no standard definition or meaning for the same words. To weed out those podcasts that you do not think are right for you, you have to decide what you think the words mean. This action occurs simultaneously with #5, but some of you will already know where you stand on these terms.
When you look at categories, you may become quickly overwhelmed by the possibilities. Establish the parameters for topics you do or do not want to cover. You do not have to speak to everyone. Nor do you have to feel that if you skip some podcasts, you are leaving an opportunity behind.
For example, you may not be able to decipher the exact tone of the podcast content with words like spiritual, inspirational, political, or religious in the description.
The question you have to ask is: would the podcast host want to talk about my topic within one of these contexts, or leave the discussion more open? If you cannot determine which way the show goes, skip the show.
You may not know for certain if you are wrong or misread a podcaster’s intentions. But you will know whether you want the additional concern of a potential conflict, or inability to speak on a subject as the podcast’s listeners expect.
If you like the potential of the show, but you are not certain about the content, you can also always listen to a few episodes. But you may have to listen to several before you understand the content. In that case, you have to decide whether or not you have time to listen to every possible show (see #7).
If there are topics you want to avoid, and the podcast description, episode titles or previous guests indicate those subjects may come up, skip the podcast.
As you are about to discover, this search process has many roads. Set the parameters within which you are most comfortable.
Note for podcast hosts: The Welcome Host post in this blog series covers how to make your descriptions more transparent for potential guests.
5. Search Podcast Names
Okay now you are ready to find some podcasts.
To find podcast names, you will be searching two primary sources – Google and podcast directories.
Through this research, I discovered there are at least 50 directories where a podcast can be listed. And I’m sure there are many more. The directories include every podcast platform like Apple Podcasts, along with other apps, hosting services, and other places where podcasts are listed.
Search Google and directories for podcast names that sound ‘relevant’ to your pitch topic.
Based on search results, I narrowed directory searches to the ones listed below. I created a list of podcast names to research in source and category batches, and listed them in a spreadsheet, before going through the process in #6.
Of course, you can do a massive search up front for every podcast name of interest, and then get into details. I found searching in batches helped me understand trends.
In all cases, I was looking for a podcast that appeared to be relevant – based on the name – and I would continue the search into the details of the podcast through the method beginning in #6.
I searched each of the sources below for the keywords – entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, business and success – followed by the word ‘podcast.’
Podcast names were mostly discovered in Google and specific directories. The percentage next to the source represents the total share of podcast names researched that came from that source.
In descending order of weight, results for all podcasts searched went like this:
Google Search – 25% of all searches (including podcasts I was not searching for)
Searched for [your keyword] + the word ‘podcast.’
Google search was the best place to start because you are going to have to come back to Google to find the detailed information about each podcast you are interested in.
I put the keyword (ie. entrepreneur) plus podcast in the search bar, and a long list of results came up. An even better list appeared when I accidentally hit ‘Google Images’ (who knew!).
Many podcasts have similar names, and Google returned multiple podcasts for a particular search. This is great for the searcher, and either valuable for a podcaster being associated with another, hopefully more popular name, or horrible because your podcast can become lost or confused with another.
TuneIn – 17%
Searched for [keyword], but search ended after several pages, so you can assume it is limited.
Searching directories did not begin with the most popular, Apple Podcasts, because they only display the Top 100 that they consider ‘most relevant’ for a search term.
Apple Podcasts instructions are to use more specific keywords. However, if you search by a specific podcast name, for example ‘the ready entrepreneur podcast.’ Apple displays other podcasts that use the word ‘ready’ in the description before showing the podcast of that name.
By definition, this project was searching for the awesome podcasters ranked #101 to #1,000,000, and required directories with deeper dives into their listings.
So far Castbox, ListenNotes and TuneIn were the most reliable for this process. But Apple Podcasts remained the standard for researching a podcast’s active status and description.
Castbox – 14%
Searched for [keyword], but search ended after several pages. Castbox does not state how many results it displays
Google Images – 13%
Searched for [keyword] podcast
Google Images displayed rows and rows of podcast art with the keyword searched. This proved to be an unexpected gold mine, but as noted in #6, a first page Google search result does not equal an active podcast.
Player FM – 9%
Often in this process, a search in one direction would lead in another direction. A blog post led to two keyword searches in Player FM, specifically ‘be your own boss’ and ‘taking action’ that resulted in a long list of names.
There are many angles where you can search for podcast names. These names most likely would have turned up in another directory search depending on the order that you conduct the search.
Listen Notes – 8% including recommendations
Searched for [keyword] podcast ,but free search ended at page 5 or 6 of 10,000+ results.
Listen Notes and TuneIn were both extremely important to the research process for the same reason…the sites also display the podcast e-mail address. This was huge! But became precarious, as I’ll explain in #7.
None of the other 54 directories that I’m aware of provide the podcast e-mail address on the podcast show page.
Apple Podcasts Listeners also subscribed to – 7%
Every podcast name search included checking the Apple Podcasts page. When searching, related podcast suggestions appeared at the bottom of the page, and provided another avenue for names.
Other sources:
Social Media
The challenge with social media as noted in other parts of this post is you do not get all the information you need for determining if the podcast is relevant to your pitch. You inevitability return to Google and the directories to find more information. But social can yield some results.
Host was Guest on another show
When researching a host, the website may show other podcasts that the host has appeared on, which could be related to your topic. If a show looked relevant, it was added to my list.
Show within a network
Some shows are part of podcast networks of multiple shows. When the website led to a network, I researched other relevant shows.
Referrals
Once you begin talking to podcasters, they will likely have other names you can try to contact.
6. Find Relevant Podcasts
For each podcast name found through the researching in #5, the next step is to determine if the podcast is relevant for the topic you want to discuss.
a. Search each podcast by name in Google search.
Make sure you include the word ‘podcast’ with the podcast name, or you may just receive unrelated blog posts.
If the podcast name is generic put the name in quotations “[podcast name]” so Google knows to search for the entire phrase.
Look at the results. I rarely went beyond the first page of search results to look for a podcast, unless the podcast name generated multiple results for different, but similarly named podcasts, then I checked page 2 to see if there were more.
If no podcast of that name or similar shows up on page one, the show is probably dead (more on that later). Move on to the next name on your list.
If you are certain the show exists, you can continue to search deeper into the results.
b. Find the podcast’s Apple Podcasts page.
You can actually look at the podcast show page in any directory, but Apple Podcasts has some advantages. The page displays the podcast description, AND the first three lines of the description for each episode. This is helpful in trying to determine if the show actually has interviews, and the types of topics that are under discussion.
If there is no Apple Podcasts page, the podcast may be dead. But you can check for any podcast directory that shows up on the first page of Google search results.
c. Open Apple Podcast directory listing
Before moving on, check the last episode posting date!
This was absolutely crucial as I found out the hard way. As noted above, over 2/3 of the searched podcast names were not relevant, and within that number the number one reason was because there had been no new episodes for the past six months.
I made up the six months threshold as my own criteria. You will have to decide how long you believe makes sense for your category. If your work is seasonal, six months might be too short. But I decided if there were no new episodes, the podcast was over.
As I note in another post, this is an interesting question around how many active podcasts really exist, and when or if, a podcast is really over. A podcaster may just be on a multi-year break!
If the podcast did not appear in Apple Podcasts, pick the first directory to appear in the search results, and follow the same process. However, many directories do not provide the episode description which makes it difficult to determine if a show is applicable to your topic. Even if the overall description is long and detailed, you may still not have enough information to make a decision.
d. Read the description
The podcast description gives you an idea of the relevancy to your topic. But the description is whatever the host says it is, which may not be transparent as previously above.
However the description is usually more applicable than the category, because the description should be an indication of the host’s intentions, and may even state if they welcome guests or intend to have guests interviews.
e. Check for interviews
Many podcasts are comments, discussions between hosts or observations, and do not actually have interviews. On the Apple Podcasts page, if you think the description is a perfect fit, but there are no recent interviews, click to see more episodes, just in case. However, if there are none, sadly you must move on.
You can also note immediately if every episode is 5 or 10 minutes long, there are probably no interviews.
f. Eliminate the non-relevant
If all the checks above point to a good fit, the next step is to contact the host, which begins in #7.
Unfortunately, more than 2/3 of the podcast names discovered in #5 turned out to be irrelevant for my purposes.
Here are some of the reasons why, your own reasoning will be based on your criteria.
The percentage is the share of podcast names that were considered not relevant for my purposes, for the following reasons:
Last episode more than six months ago – 28%
This was the biggest surprise in the research. Hundreds, probably thousands of podcasts, continue to appear at the top of search results even though the last episode could have been years ago.
Because podcasts live forever (assuming someone is paying for hosting), the search results reflect this permanency, not date-specific relevancy.
For potential guests, this result is a nightmare. Dead podcasts do not do interviews. Because of this reality, the number one rule in relevancy research is to check the last episode air date.
The six months cutoff time is arbitrary, and does not necessarily mean the podcast is dead. You can determine any criteria you want, and use it as a cut-off for whether or not you will continue researching the show.
No interviews – 15%
As noted above, make sure the show actually has interviews. You are not going to research a show that has a history of only doing one-person short, commentaries.
Narrow topic – 31%
This issue is topic specific, and really dependent on the content and tone of your pitch. Based on your pitch, some podcasts may be too far niched down to fit your subject. For example, if you want to discuss starting an online business, podcasts aimed at a specific industry, corporate life, or stories of personal struggle, are not a good fit.
Also some podcasts are created for a specific population, ie. a business school that only interviews people within their community.
Other Reasons included:
Language
Podcasters may have a title and descriptions displayed in English, but a show that is primarily spoken in another language. In Listen Notes, you can see the podcast language on the show page, but I usually did not discover this issue until I was looking the host or show website.
Could Not Find Podcast
This outcome was the most mysterious. As noted in #5, the podcast names comes from a search result – so where did the podcast go? Even if a large percentage of podcasts are dead, the search result vibrantly lives on in Google or a podcast directory.
However, if a podcast does not show up on page one of search results for its own name, chances are, even if the episodes are still around, more information is buried deep.
In some cases, only the name of the podcast, and the graphic, still exist in a podcast directory, and all other traces have disappeared from the obvious sources.
But again, if you really want to find a show, you can keep searching.
No Contact Information
This outcome is included here because shows with no contact information actually took longer to research, and of course did not end up being contacted. This was often disappointing, as I explain in #7. Many podcasts that look awesome have no contact information available.
One note: Some of these shows may have social media contact information, but as noted below social media is not ideal for this process unless you are intent of reaching a specific host.
Potential podcast hosts can see information about how to rectify the ‘no contact information outcome’ in Welcome Host post for this series.
7. Find Host Contact Information
Once you have identified your relevant podcasts, you must communicate your interview request to the host. To do that, you must find contact information. With the exception of 7.a, the contact information you are looking for is the show or host e-mail address.
Look for contact information in the following order:
a. Search for a website
Open a second Google search tab.
Keep the Apple Podcast page open so you can refer back to it for #8. Search the podcast name again, and look for a website.
If no website, move on to #7.b.
If the show or host have a website, look for one of the contact options below. Also, if available, look at the podcast page and about page for information that will allow you to customize your pitch as in #8.
Podcast Guest Interview Request Form
If the website has a specific podcast guest interview request form, you must use it. When researching, this result is typically the best and worst option. It’s the best because a specific form indicates that the host clearly wants to interview people, and has put thought into the process. That’s admired and appreciated.
But a specific form is the worst because you have to abandon your carefully crafted pitch, and re-write your thoughts and ideas into a structure the host has created. Re-setting your pitch to their questions may take a significant amount of time. But you have to decide if you want to make the effort.
Standard Website Contact Form that specifically mentions podcast guests
Check the website contact page. If the host specifically states that podcast guests must use their website contact form – use their website form.
However, if the standard form does not mention podcast guests, try the other methods below to find an actual e-mail address before coming back to a generic contact form.
Website e-mail address
Any e-mail address that does not specifically say what it’s for, ie. do not use the one that says ‘coaching clients contact me here.’ But do use the info@ or support@ or hello@, if that is the displayed e-mail. You can only assume the request will go to the host’s team.
b. Listen Notes e-mail address
Listen Notes displays an e-mail button on the podcast page. Usually, there is an e-mail available. However, after an unknown number of uses, ListenNotes cut me off, and kept prompting me to sign-up for their premium service. You may receive the same prompt or one to login.
c. TuneIn email address
As of this writing, TuneIn still provided open access to the podcast e-mail address, if available. If the podcast’s TuneIn directory listing did not come up in search, search again specifically listing it like this: [podcast name] TuneIn.
If it still does not come up, the podcast is probably not listed in TuneIn.
d. RSS feed
Some directories provide access to the RSS feed, not the URL, the actual code. If you look closely enough, you will find an email in the code.
This information is actually in Listen Notes’ own instructions (that’s how I found out about it), so it’s available to see, but who knows how long this option will be available.
One note about Anchor podcasts: Anchor is a free podcast hosting service. In the beginning of the research, if a podcast only displayed an anchor e-mail, I tried it. But after never receiving a response, and also seeing some podcasts had a generic Soundcloud email (feeds@soundcloud.com), I concluded that some of these hosting services create a generic e-mail that does not go to a human.
If you are a podcast host using Anchor, check out my blog for hosts for tips about how to put contact information where a potential guest can find it.
e. Website Generic contact form
If no email can be found, but the website has a generic contact form page, then fill that out with your pitch in the Comments or similar box..
f. None of the above
If none of the methods work, and you do not want to go down the social media route, label the podcast with your ‘no contact information’ designation, and move on.
g. A Note about Social Media
The list of contact methods above does not include social media. Some podcasters encourage website visitors to reach out on social media, but it is not clear if they expect to hear from potential podcast guests through their social feeds.
You can absolutely reach out on social if you think it’s appropriate. This is a personal decision. If you spend a lot of time on social media, you can put social media at the top of your communication approach, seek out podcasters to connect with, build a rapport, and then make the interview request.
But this is a longer process that may limit your ability to clearly pitch your idea.
For researching through social media consider:
1) Time: For the typical person hoping for a guest spot, the additional work (and potential for distraction) in wading through social media feeds would be worth the effort for those podcasts where you are absolutely set on making an appearance. This may be true for your topic, and worth the time.
2) Limitations: You will have to determine if communicating through social will adequately support your pitch. Typically, you are word constrained, and the back and forth severely limits how you can present your message. For some potential guests, social may be preferred to emails, to others it would be a strain.
8. Customize your Pitch
Remember the website reading you did in 7.a, and the Apple Podcasts page you left open so you could see the descriptions…now is the time to put that information to use.
Change and customize your pitch to include any information that may make an interview with you more appealing to the host.
Check the host’s background, where they’re from or previous work – do you have anything in common?
If the podcast has a specific theme, point out how your pitch aligns with the theme.
For the suggested topics, use a specific gender if applicable, and tailor your suggested talking points to the podcast. For example, if the podcast has a lot of how-to episodes, try to see if you can make your pitch how-tos also.
Starting with an e-mail pitch template is absolutely valid, but customizing each request to the specific show is the practice you need to confirm your relevancy research.
9. Send Your Pitch
Remember how you left the Apple Podcast page open? Make sure you write the podcast name and host name exactly as you see them listed in the directory. If you want to avoid making a mistake, copy and paste from the directory page to your e-mail.
10. Follow-up Immediately
If the host replies with interest, follow-up immediately with your questions, answers, comments, interview date confirmation, or other relevant details.
If the reply is a ‘maybe,’ follow-up with the criteria that could make it a ‘yes’ – ie, I’ll reach out again in 6 months to see if your calendar has freed up.
If it’s an outright ‘no,’ send a thank you for replying.
If you receive no response, there’s no need to send a follow-up unless you desperately want to interview with that host. Many podcasters know exactly what they want and who they’re looking for, and have no time to respond to every request. Also some podcasters may take months to go through their e-mail, and you should give them time to respond.
Keep track of the shows you contact, the date contacted, and the contact information, and create a system for following up as necessary.
Conclusion
This method for landing a guest interview on a podcast could be described as ‘brute-force.’ Researching and reviewing all the details before you even send an e-mail takes time and patience.
But by approaching the process this way, you gain incredible insight into the activity in your field, and realize where there is opportunity for more and varied voices in the podcast space.
Finding the podcasters at #101 to #1,000,000 introduces you to a broader audience, with diverse voices, experiences and knowledge. You, your audience, the host and the host’s audience all benefit from valuable messages shared with more people. Seeking out the 99.99% is worth the effort, to strengthen and expand your message.
More Information
The best part about researching 1,117 podcasts was being accepted as a guest on so many awesome shows! You can find links to all of those fabulous podcasts here.
The second best part was my new found insight into the podcast industry.
This research was so eye-opening that this post is one of five about what I learned about the podcast industry from researching 1,117 podcasts.
Here are the links to all of the posts in the Podcast Discoveries Series:
Introduction to the Podcast Discoveries Series
How to Become A Guest on a Podcast
How to be a Welcoming Podcast Interview Host: The Best and Worst Practices
How to be a Valued Podcast Interview Guest: The Best and Worst Practices
Maximize Your Podcast Listening: Use Interviews to learn from Virtual Mentors
Additional Resources
Research Checklist: Podcast Guests: If you would like a free checklist for how to research and find the right podcast for you. Click here to download.
Podcast Directories: If you would like to get your own copy of the podcast directory listing and instructions based on my research click here (coming soon)
Podcast Guest Interview Blueprint Package (the ultimate course for podcast guests): Podcast Guests: If you would like the comprehensive guide to finding and contacting podcasts that are right for you, including as bonuses the Interview Checklist and the Directories List. Click here for this special offer.
Podcast Discoveries Book: Readers: If you would like the entire story of this epic research journey to discover and contact podcasts for guest interviews. Click here to download at Amazon.com. NOTE: the book is also available at Apple Bookstore, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and other popular sites where ebooks are sold.
Research Report: To purchase, the entire research report click here (coming soon)
Podcast Discoveries on the Ready Entrepreneur Podcast: This information will be explained in upcoming episodes of The Ready Entrepreneur Podcast. Subscribe at Apple Podcasts to stay up to date.
Podcast Discoveries on YouTube: To watch videos explaining the Podcast Discoveries process for finding your new favorite podcasts, click here (coming soon)
Disclosure: Links to Amazon.com and related companies are affiliate links that earn for eligible purchases at no additional cost to you.
Podcast Discoveries: Introduction to The Podcast Research Series from Ready Entrepreneur
Want the Information Now? Link to a Specific Post
How to Become a Guest on a Podcast
More for Hosts: How to be a Welcoming Podcast Interview Host: The Best and Worst Practices
More for Guests: How to be a Valued Podcast Interview Guest: The Best and Worst Practices
For Listeners: Maximizing the Real Value in Listening to Podcast Interviews by learning from Virtual Mentors
The Introduction to the Series: How I Launched This Inadvertent Podcast Research Project
Into a time when the trust in the viability of our systems, communication, media, governance and civil society is teetering, come a wave of talkers commandeering the airwaves on their own terms…podcasters.
Tens of thousands of vocal on-air talents who have turned on microphones, and launched discussions, commentaries, dramatizations, recreations and jokes, on every subject imaginable, in an effort to deliver more knowledge, and entertainment, to more people than ever before.
And a significant part of their effort includes engaging with guest speakers who can illuminate issues, clarify points, and heighten the conversation.
But after the ‘big’ names and their marquee guests rotate amongst themselves in a Top 100 popularity bubble, an estimated 1,000,000 or so lesser known names seek to be recognized in the conversation with the insights and ideas they have to offer.
Given the wide-open field, and domination of the .01% at the top of the charts, how does a host looking for content; a potential guest with something to say, and a potential listener desperate for diverse voices, find the ‘rest’ of the podcasts within the podcast world?
From occupying all sides of the microphone – as a host, guest and listener – I began an effort to find among the 99.9% of podcasters those who are speaking about entrepreneurship, online business, and success.
The plan was to find podcasters who were interested in the message of my latest book Recast: The Aspiring Entrepreneur’s Practical Guide to Getting Started with an Online Business. To find these hosts, I researched deep into the public podcast directories, Google search, and recommendations to learn who was out there, how they could be contacted, and whether they were willing to have a conversation about my message..
The result exceeded my expectations.
Not only did I earn the opportunity to guest on dozens of awesome podcasts, but also I learned more than I could have known about the current state of the podcast industry.
I have attended podcast conferences, and spoken to many podcasters, but I have never heard the facts I learned when I ended up researching 1,117 podcasts in search of an interview.
And given the details collected in my inadvertent research project, I decided to tell the entire story in this multi-part series.
If you are interested in the entire industry, I recommend reading all the blogs which provide the information from different angles. But you can begin wherever you want to learn more about this fast-rising and ever-changing medium.
Comment or reach out with your questions and let me know where you stand, and how you feel, about the real story behind podcasting today.
The Blog Posts
The details of the research findings can be found in this series of blog posts
How to Become a Guest on a Podcast
More for Hosts: How to be a Welcoming Podcast Interview Host: The Best and Worst Practices
More for Guests: How to be a Valued Podcast Interview Guest: The Best and Worst Practices
For Listeners: Maximize Your Podcast Listening: Learn from Virtual Mentors
The Videos
You can watch the accompanying videos for the blogs on the Case Lane Channel on You Tube (coming soon)
How to Become a Guest on a Podcast
The Report
Podcast Discoveries: The Report: A Guide for Hosts, Guests and Listeners (coming soon)
The Book
Podcast Discoveries: For Hosts, Guests and Listeners: How to Sift Through One Million Podcasts to Find the One That’s Right For You
Readers: If you would like the entire story of this epic research journey to discover and contact podcasts for guest interviews. Click here to download at Amazon.com. NOTE: the book is also available at Apple Bookstore, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and other popular sites where ebooks are sold.
Additional Resources
Research Checklist: Podcast Guests: If you would like a free checklist for how to research and find the right podcast for you. Click here to download.
Podcast Directories: If you would like to get your own copy of the podcast directory listing and instructions based on my research click here (coming soon)
Podcast Guest Interview Blueprint Package (the ultimate course for podcast guests): Podcast Guests: If you would like the comprehensive guide to finding and contacting podcasts that are right for you, including as bonuses the Interview Checklist and the Directories List. Click here for this special offer.
Podcast Discoveries on the Ready Entrepreneur Podcast: This information will be explained in upcoming episodes of The Ready Entrepreneur Podcast. Subscribe at Apple Podcasts to stay up to date.
Disclosure: Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links that earn for eligible purchases at no additional cost to you.
How to Be An Entrepreneur
by Case Lane
Entrepreneurs can begin rich or poor, college-educated or not, and working for others or self-employed or unemployed. They encompass every background, every demographic, every twist in every type of story.
But the question often comes about whether or not, there is a ‘type.’
Does entrepreneurship rest in the hands of the few who are called or self-proclaimed to pursue a life outside the usual status quo, and just be so differently focused?
What does it all mean if your idea of a good time is to create a business from scratch?
The Entrepreneur Image
When aspiring entrepreneurs want to know how to manifest as an entrepreneur, the question can be answered on 3 levels – literal, functional and practical.
The Literal ‘Pop Culture’ Definition
Literal is the pop culture version of entrepreneurship. The entrepreneur you see and celebrate is the larger-than-life billionaire who founded a business on his, usually his own, and transformed it into a global corporation.
Some of the familiar entrepreneurs were alive decades ago, but their businesses still exist today. Some of them look like they are still in high school.
But all vary in personality type and style. And any one of them can define – how to be an entrepreneur?
Mark Zuckerberg wears the grey t-shirt and jeans to face the world. Warren Buffett wears a suit. Sir Richard Branson goes skydiving…Sara Blakely is an inventor…Howard Schultz a reinventor…JayZ an empresario…
Since none of the famous names behave in exactly the same way, the pop culture definition is not helpful in determining ‘how to be’ for an aspiring entrepreneur.
The Functional ‘Philosophical’ Definition
A good example of the functional definition of an entrepreneur is from UNCTAD – the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, which says: an Entrepreneur is an individual who identifies opportunities in the marketplace, allocates resources, and creates value.
If you are a person who can identify a marketplace opportunity, allocate resources to it, and create value for people who want or need what you have to offer…you’re an entrepreneur.
However, upon closer inspection the definition does have gaps. A typical entrepreneur must function beyond those three goals. When identifying opportunities, you have to determine whether the opportunity is viable.
To make your opportunity viable, you may need to use more resources than you have available. You may have a great idea and be personally willing to work day and night on it, but you will not get very far if the long term cost of making it work is beyond your means to pay.
When it comes to creating value, you have to deliver to the people who want or need the product or service you have to offer. As an entrepreneur you have to be able to go beyond allocating resources to actually understand how and where to allocate. If you have the greatest product in the world, but poor distribution or mediocre marketing, your business is unlikely to be successful.
If you’re a great marketer, but your product falls apart quickly, you will not have a consumer base for long.
Although an entrepreneur must be able to see an opportunity, allocate resources and deliver value, it you do not fill the gaps between those words, your opportunity will be lost, your resources wasted and your value never realized.
The Practical ‘Work’ Definition
If the pop culture model, and a philosophical foundation are lacking in providing a complete picture of the entrepreneur, the definition may be grounded in practical attributes.
The entrepreneur is the one who does the work.
The explanation may sound roundabout, but that’s the only common thread existing among all entrepreneurs is a history of doing the work to get the business moving.
Once you have a business idea, you do the work to make it a reality.
You allocate resources either you own or those you hire. You expend some resources to determine how to turn your idea in to a business.
If you have no idea how business works, your first task will going to be to do research to determine how to move forward. You can study other people to see what they have done, or you can take courses or learn from books.
Few famous entrepreneurs learned their current trade when they were young. Some did, especially those who might have worked in a family business, or had a specific skill that they developed, but the rest learned on the job.
They learned by doing.
The practical application is to take your idea, spend a bit of time learning how to turn it into a business, and then to start.
Incrementally building the business, developing a prototype for your project, and testing the market is the best way to limit your risk and prove your idea if viable.
To be successful, you have to keep iterating – trying different approaches until one sticks. You may find you have to go through hundreds of different ideas to get close to the one that will give you lifestyle freedom. But that’s all part of how you can be an entrepreneur.
Summary: How to Be an Entrepreneur
To be an Entrepreneur:
- On a pop culture level, you can pick your favorite billionaire and model their behavior. Although it’s best to be original, there is also significant information written about how the most successful people made money.
- On a philosophical level, you can be the person who identifies opportunities, allocates resources and creates value. You have to cover all the steps in-between also, but knowing your core mission puts you one step ahead.
- On a practical level, you just have to do the work. An entrepreneur is the person who takes a business idea and turns it into a business by focusing night and day on making it happen. This is the connection among all entrepreneurs – doing the work – until it’s done and then…starting again
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by Case Lane
In the delightful comedy W1A about management life at the BBC, one of the characters has the useless corporate title, Director of Better.
No one, least of all the holder of the title, knows exactly what the title means nor what the role is supposed to do. The show is a continuous standup play on the triumph of bureaucracy in maintaining employment for well-meaning, educated professionals who essentially do…nothing.
But as uncomfortably true as the antics may be, the laughs will not last.
Even before a global pandemic, those who keep an eye on the economy were already documenting how technology and access to the global market were changing the future of work, and the expectations of society.
The value of every mythological line in the American dream was under scrutiny, and lifelong ideas about the ‘right’ thing to do with one’s life were being unmercifully contested.
In the midst of this, the often questionable journey for the entrepreneur continued to expand online, and created not only a new category of businesses, but an entirely renewed way to view the entire profession.
No longer the dominant road only for status-quo-defying risk-takers, online entrepreneurship opened up to anyone who was willing to do the work, to transform their speculative idea into a product or service for the global marketplace.
The result has been an up-leveled opportunity for anyone to take their place in the global economy through electronic means. This realization changes the game for all those who thought there was no room for them on the Internet money train.
For these reasons you should become an online entrepreneur:
- The Need for Solutions
- The Opportunity to Deliver Value
- You Can Have Any Idea
- You Can Operate in Any Niche
- You Do Not Have to Be an Expert
- You Do Have to Do the Work
- The Reality May Not Meet Your Expectations
- There is Money to Be Made
- There Are People Making Money
The Need
Surfing the Internet is another way to say searching the Internet. People are online looking for…everything…to satisfy their desires across a range of wants related to the most demanded, and most obscure, human needs.
This endless searching has allowed the major internet companies to gather data on consumer desires. And this data is for sale.
While business people have always attempted to ‘know their customer,’ now they can extract that information based on the customer’s own requests demonstrated by their typing, clicking, searching, reading, listening and viewing all day.
This demand-driven activity has not stopped entrepreneurs from considering the innovations people did not think to ask for. But they can just as easily assess demand by creating introductory products, service instructions, or even spin-offs of existing products or services for those who can never find exactly what they seem to want.
In fact, the online entrepreneur does not have to create anything new at all. A promotional video, deftly worded advertisement, or ten minute podcast generates enough data to understand consumer demand for a directed product or service designed to meet the expected need.
And the bottom line is…there is an endless stream of unmet needs across all consumer demographics all over the world.
The Opportunity
Anyone watching internet surfers continuously looking to be fulfilled, can see an opening that presents an opportunity to deliver a product or service to these desperate consumers.
An aspiring entrepreneur can target potential customers through the search engines like Google, social media platforms like Facebook, or their own proprietary e-mail lists, with advertisements, promotions, stories, images, audio and videos designed to encourage a connection.
Any Idea
A person who recognizes gaps in the economy…and fills it…is the entrepreneur. And more often than not the gap is related to an unserved demographic frustrated with never finding products or services that are aimed at them.
The ability to deliver products or services to this specific niche is the cornerstone of the online entrepreneurship opportunity.
The ‘mass’ market is on the decline. Consumers are searching for products or services designed specifically for their exact desires. They want a business that hears their voice, and meets their needs. And the intrepid entrepreneur is often one of the potential customers who has grown tired of waiting for someone else to invent the product or service they keep searching for.
All Niches
Decades of marketing practices aimed at the ‘mass’ market has left a wide-open field for entrepreneurs who are willing to deliver for those who do not currently receive.
An aspiring entrepreneur can immediately be the automatic leader in their field by delivering a product or service from their unique perspective, and using their singular approach.
The nutrition, diet and fitness market presents the typical example of how this works. Until everyone on earth finds a food plan they enjoy, and a health routine they can maintain, for the ideal look they aspire to…there is an opportunity for an entrepreneur to deliver a new nutrition, diet or fitness product.
The entrepreneur only needs to determine how best to deliver the product or service to those potential customers who will become their pampered community.
Not the Talent
For any idea the entrepreneur wants to develop there is an opportunity to approach almost anyone in the world who may be interested. In the most successful scenarios, the entrepreneur builds a community around their product or service, and continues to nurture and cultivate their fans.
But the entrepreneur has to first find these fans, ideally, through the online platform where they are most comfortable.
If you prefer writing, you can become a blogger, and seek to attract your audience by delivering value in the form of interesting articles.
If you prefer to talk, you can start a podcast and organize your value in a discussion or interview, which showcases the product or service you want to deliver.
Similar options exist for using images or being on video.
And if you do not like any of those options, and you just want to be an executive or manager, you can outsource the work to a content creation team based anywhere in the world.
Not an expert
Online entrepreneurs are creators, writers, instructors, influencers, marketers, store owners, coaches, consultants, developers, artists, speakers, photographers, organizers, and some…are experts in a particular field.
As noted in the next paragraph, to be successful, the only expertise one needs is the amount that is generated relative to the work the entrepreneur is willing to do.
The online entrepreneurship field is one devoid of formal credentials. The magic is in understanding the target consumers’ needs and, literally, speaking their language, then working persistently to deliver such sufficient value that these dream customers tell all their friends.
The Work
To create an online business, the aspiring entrepreneur picks an idea, a niche and a platform, and then delivers lasting value. The challenge is…how?
The number of entrepreneurs who have created one product, and took it to immediate success in the market without any changes is probably zero. By default, the entrepreneur must be prepared to adapt and change to consumer demand. The ‘big’ idea typically needs to be refined and molded until consumers respond.
The same is true for the distribution or marketing. A great idea poorly delivered will not find its intended base.
A good product poorly marketed will not find its audience.
A typical entrepreneur is likely to try dozens, perhaps hundreds, of iterations changing one segment after another of the product or service to find the ‘hit’ lurking just over the horizon.
This is where the statistics about entrepreneurship success and failure begin to play out. Those that actually make it are the ones who have the resources to keep trying until one version of their idea survives.
Those who can no longer hang on…fall by the wayside.
The Reality
Entrepreneurship is no walk in the park. Not because the work is particularly difficult, not because the potential consumers are missing, not because the idea is bad…but because the aspiring entrepreneur has no idea what is going to work.
The online entrepreneur has to be prepared to try and try again. From changing a headline on a landing page, to adding just one more email, to responding to every comment on social, to posting a question they never thought to ask before…the key to the game is perseverance.
Many successful entrepreneurs will tell you about the ideas that flopped. But each one led the entrepreneur to try something new, to watch for any signs from the market that the idea was resonating, and to scale rapidly when the most recent fix appeared to be a hit.
The question is: will you be successful before your energy or money runs out?
For those who keep their 9-to-5 while working on their side hustle, the question becomes: will you be successful before you really can’t stand your regular job anymore?
Either way, the only successful players are the ones who are persistent, and do not give up.
The Monetization
Where does online money come from…here’s a short list:
- Advertising and affiliate links on websites
- Private Coaching
- Private Consulting
- Advertising and sponsorships on podcasts and videos
- Direct digital product sales of books, videos, audio, courses and software
- Percentage of affiliate sales from joint ventures selling other people’s products
- Speaker fees
- Physical product sales of t-shirts, coffee mugs, pens, books and more
- Masterminds and conferences
How is the money made from these products?
By marketing to potential customers, and convincing them that the product or service you have to offer, in the form you offer it, will meet their needs.
This is the part where many aspiring entrepreneurs fall short. After locating a potential customer base, and confirming they are searching for the product or service you have to offer, you still have to be able to close the sale.
You have to get them to buy.
So aspiring entrepreneurs must create an incentive for potential customers to look at what they have to offer, make a purchase, spread the word, and come back for more.
The options for encouraging this path are as equally endless as the money spigots…
- Build a social media following by consistently posting online
- Start a blog, podcast or YouTube channel full of interesting content
- Create a website loaded with compelling content, and allow ads and affiliate banners
- Align with existing entrepreneurs in a joint venture (if you have something to offer them)
- Write and promote a book, course or app
- Create and promote other digital products
- Apply as a paid speaker, after volunteering to speak for free and building a reputation
- Set-up an online store and use social media to promote the products
- Tell everyone who will listen what you are doing, and convince them, even if they’re not interested, to tell others…
The Survivors
The Internet is littered with millionaires who are not afraid to tell you about their success. Many webinars begin before breathing to recount the host’s great successes from zero-to-million-dollar paydays, to zero to million follower social feeds, to total domination by learning the ‘one true way’ to do…whatever they purport to do.
They can deliver dozens of testimonials, endless words of public praise, and smiling and delighted successes at every turn. The presentations are slick, beautiful, and hyped for mind-control returns.
These are the successes.
The people behind these numbers are often exactly who they say they are, whether or not the ‘one true method’ they teach is repeatable and can work for others. And any way you slice their story – they have managed to at least get to the point where they can display a life of bling, and get you to listen to them talk about it.
Something went right.
In many cases, the successes did one thing legitimately and consistently correct…they did the work.
They posted every day, talked to everyone they knew, pushed through imposter syndrome, overcame fears, chanted affirmations, read every book, took every course, and continuously applied their learnings until their message clicked.
Keeping in mind all of the above, the aspiring entrepreneur can select any one of those models to emulate, or try to forge a new road. Either way, the fundamentals will not change.
If you have an idea that fills a gap, delivering a product or service to a niche consumer base that wants or needs what you have to offer; through an approach they can find; and you are willing to keep working until your dream customers find you and respond…you will have your business.
You just have to get started.
Case Lane’s latest book Recast: The Aspiring Entrepreneur’s Practical Guide to Getting Started with an Online Business is available now at Amazon.com
The book details the first ten actions to take when getting started online.
Disclosure: Links. to Amazon.com are affiliate links which earn for eligible purchases at no additional cost to you.
The Creative Actions for Starting an Online Business
by Case Lane
This is Part Two of Two posts about my new book Recast: The Aspiring Entrepreneur’s Practical Guide to Getting Started with an Online Business.
The book is ten practical actions for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start a business online, live with purpose and achieve their dreams
In this second post, I’m covering the Creative Actions, where aspiring entrepreneurs must understand the options for moving forward with a business idea
Part Two: Recast
When you Recast Yourself as an Entrepreneur, you are deciding to change the way you think, work and act so that you can bring forward – usually from scratch – the vision of a product or service that provides a solution for people who want or need it from you.
You are doing something exciting and terrifying.
You are aimed against the tide, and this whole societal idea of what you should and should not be doing.
Maybe it’s a little crazy?
And maybe it’s the entire idea of progress.
But how exactly do you do it?
Recast for Success
The role of Marty McFly in the fabulous Back to the Future movies was originally played by Eric Stoltz. They had already started filming when the production decided Stoltz was not right for the part. They wanted Michael J. Fox, who at the time was the star of a hit comedy series called Family Ties.
Now this is Hollywood, and Hollywood does not exactly share talent. The problem is like having a professional athlete who wants to play two sports. Like Bo Jackson, who played professional baseball and football at the same time. Both teams are freaked out that the athlete will be injured in the other sport – and then deny the other team their star. This might explain why you rarely get the two-sport professional anymore.
When Back to the Future was recast, the production had a problem. How do you get Michael J Fox in two places at once? Legend says they worked out a deal where a car service, and an assistant took him back and forth between the Back to the Future set and the Family Ties set, and made sure he was where he was supposed to be.
Both sets had to work out a schedule, plan their shooting for when he was available, and the transport had to get him back and forth as required.
Presumably, Michael J Fox could catch up on his sleep in the car.
Both Back to the Future and Family Ties were iconic mega hits, so history can assume everybody was happy.
But the opportunity for came from working through the logistical and schedule details.
The Creative Actions
For an aspiring entrepreneur who wants to get started with an online business, which requires navigating between an old life, and a new dream, you have to focus on the Creative Actions that bring the dream to fruition.
The five creative actions you need to move forward, follow the five foundational actions discussed in a previous post. As in the book Recast which covers all ten actions together, the count for the creative actions begins at…
6. Identify your Idea
7. Research
8. Connect
9. Create an Action Plan
10. Do Activity #1
6. Identify Your Business Idea
Your business idea is the core value you want to deliver as an entrepreneur. What is the product or service you believe is wanted or needed by people in your soon-to-be-defined community in the world?
Identify your interests and skills, your passions within those interests and skills, and extract your business idea from that information.
Even if you are not sure about the idea, pick one so you can move forward. You can always change it later as thousands of entrepreneurs have done before you.
7. Research
Once you have your idea, you begin researching. This research is specifically about how to get started and set-up a business around your idea. For example, if you want an online store, you begin investigating how to set-up an online store.
Your research can include taking an online course, reading books, listening to podcasts, watching videos – taking notes. Whatever is the best way you like to approach learning.
Take notes about key points so you go alone. For example, if someone outlines a step-by-step, take notes include where there are gaps in your understanding. Your next research will be to fill in the gaps.
Put together a picture of the work you have to do next.
8. Connect
Part of your research is also action #8 – connecting. You want to talk to people who have done what you want to do. If you cannot find like-minded people – you can continue to research specific people by listening to their podcasts, or watching videos and reading their books.
If you can talk to specific people, use the information you gathered in your initial research phase to ask questions that continue to fill in the blanks.
Ask what the gurus leave out! That’s the most valuable question: What are people not saying about a particular product, service or industry?
9. Create Your Business Action Plan
As you are gathering research, you are creating an action plan. Make a blueprint for the activities you need to do to start your business.
Your blueprint can include activities such as buying your domain name or options for product manufacturing. Each activity will likely have additional activities attached to it. As you create your action plan, account for any area where there are still questions.
In your Action Plan, include how long an activity is estimated to take, who is needed to do it, and how much it could cost.
With any cost that looks prohibitive, identify alternatives, or create another action to identify the money.
Keep going through this process until you’ve given yourself a complete overview of all activities you would need to do to get your business up and running.
But do not keep adding ideas and activities forever.
The key to the entire process is to take Action. You create a plan only as far as you need to begin creating your business.
10. Complete the First Activity in Your Action Plan
Your final get started action is to complete activity in your action Plan. Finishing the activity will lead you to the next one. Completing your first action gives you momentum – and feedback. You can begin to see results and get more ideas.
Your Action Plan is a living document. One that adapts and changes as you take action. You keep it going with each new move you make.
Summary: Your Creative Actions
When you Recast as an Entrepreneur, you are setting yourself up for a life of – professional satisfaction, financial security and lifestyle freedom – on your terms.
But you have to be prepared to be an entrepreneur.
And you have to get started.
Your Creative Actions for Your Entrepreneurial Dream are to:
- Identify your Business Idea
- Research
- Connect
- Create your Action Plan
- Complete your First Activity
Every action you take towards building your business gives you the confidence and momentum to keep going forward. And if you keep going forward, you avoid falling away to the fears and obstacles that stop many aspiring entrepreneurs from achieving their lifestyle dream.
Disclosure: Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links which earn for eligible purchases at no additional cost to you.
ARE YOU FOLLOWING THE RECAST PATH?
CLICK TO GO TO THE GETTING STARTED FACTOR YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND NEXT:
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The Foundational Actions for Starting An Online Business
by Case Lane
This is Part One of Two posts about my new book Recast: The Aspiring Entrepreneur’s Practical Guide for Getting Started With an Online Business. The book is ten practical actions for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start a business online, live with purpose, and achieve their dreams
In this first post, I’m covering the Foundational Actions, that are often overlooked by aspiring entrepreneurs who just jump right in to the online business arena.
Part One: Recast
When you make a decision to stop doing everything you were supposed to do – college, work, mortgage in the suburbs – and start doing everything you have always wanted to do – you throw off years, maybe decades of indoctrination and start again – as someone else.
An extraordinary moment for an extraordinary person?
Or just the right-of-passage for every entrepreneur?
Historically, most people were dependent on their tribe or community, and could not just walk away. Now you can be individually free, and that’s both liberating and terrifying.
In a steel mill, to recast means melting the steel down and reshaping it into a new form.
In Hollywood and on Broadway, recasting means replacing the original performer with some new.
What does it mean to Recast Yourself as an entrepreneur?
The Consequences of Recasting
In the DVD extras for the movie The French Connection, director William Friedkin talks about the actor who played the movie’s memorable villain. Friedkin had told someone to go to Europe and get the actor he wanted to play a rich French drug dealer named Alain Charnier.
When the actor showed up on set, Friedkin took one look at him and said something like: ‘you’re not the guy I wanted.’
The actor said something like: ‘I didn’t think so. And I’m Spanish not French.’
That bit of mistaken recasting created one of the most memorable roles in one of the greatest movies ever made. Spanish actor Fernando Rey would play Charnier in both the original movie, which won five Oscars including Best Picture, and in the sequel The French Connection II.
Recasting is a Hollywood, and Broadway, reality that is loaded with disasters and successes. But at it’s core, recasting means giving the part to a different actor. On the screen, a new person comes in, and makes the role their own.
When I set out to write a book about getting started as an entrepreneur, I wanted to capture the essence of how you should adapt to your new role – and I called the book Recast.
When you decide to become an entrepreneur, you are recasting the role of your life, from playing perhaps an obedient adherent to the status quo, to someone who lives the life you have designed for meaning and purpose.
And you come out on the other side thinking of yourself differently.
Start Your Recast With Yourself
Start your recast as an entrepreneur in a completely different place than most people…start with you.
Many aspiring entrepreneurs remain ‘aspiring’ because you are trying to jump right in to starting a business without any preparation. Then when you get derailed by relevant details, you stay derailed and do not get back on track.
The Five Foundational Actions
When Recasting, begin with the foundational actions you need to take to BEFORE you launch into your business details. Your five foundational actions are followed by five creative actions.
The five foundational actions are to:
1. Take a deep breath
2. Establish your workspace
3. Gather your tools
4. Remove distractions
5. Set your schedule
1. Take a Deep Breath
Taking a deep breath is shorthand for saying make sure you are mentally, and physically prepared to dedicate your time and effort to your business.
Entrepreneurship is a marathon of endless sprints. You have to be prepared to constantly adapt and change to circumstances, to shift when something is not working, and to double-down when it is.
You want to be able to move forward with confidence and security, and the only way you can do that is to make yourself prepared for the long-haul. So once you have convinced yourself that is what you’re going to do, you need a good place to work.
2. Establish Your Workspace
If you do not already know for sure where you’re going to work, take a moment to walk around the house or neighborhood, and identify your spot. This may sound mundane until you realize that you’ll want your own corner for maybe hours at a time to do business related activities.
Don’t skip this action, and then come back a day later and say you did not do any work because you could not find a good quiet spot to focus.
Take a whole day if needed. Identify several locations that you want to test, but select one to start that’s realistic and suitable for your work.
3. Gather Your Tools
After picking the place to work, avoid sitting down, and getting up five minutes later because you forgot coffee or a pen or the lighting does not work.
Make sure you have around you all the tools you like to use when you’re working.
When you go to work in a corporate job, on the first day HR takes you around and shows you your desk, the break room, the supply room, and so on. Do the same for yourself.
Identify your coffee or water. Get the supplies you like. Even if you’re 100% digital, make sure the electrical outlet is accessible. And you’re not in a wi-fi deadzone.
Although, these actions may sound trivial, these are exactly the setbacks that provide obstacles…and excuses for aspiring entrepreneurs who end up delaying their business…sometimes for years.
4. Remove Distractions
When establishing your workspace, be aware of potential distractions. If you are sharing space, make sure you can work without being interrupted. And interruptions do not only come from your household. You could have external disruptions such as a school bell or trash pick-up that interfere with your video calls.
Also if people know you’re working from home, they will inevitability think you can be on the phone or sign for packages or run an errand – when you’re trying to get your work done.
Removing distractions means letting everyone know you are working on your business, not having a vacation. And you have to be serious and dedicated to this particular action.
5. Set Your Schedule
To finalize your foundational actions, you will create your new schedule. In corporate life, you have a set time to go to work. In online life, you want freedom and flexibility. But you also have to do the work, or delegate to others and supervise.
The most common factor among successful entrepreneurs is the fact that they actually did the work. They created a business, and kept moving forward with their plans.
Create a schedule where you put time aside every day to do the work. You may only have a limited amount to do, or a lot, but establish the time you need to complete your daily tasks.
Account for conflicts with your household or location. You do not want to be scheduling your calls at the same time your child is having a piano lesson.
You want to have a picture of your entire day, and then identify the times within the day that work best for your work.
Summary: The Foundational Actions
Setting up a solid foundation for your business will support you going forward, and make the next part – the creative phase that much easier.
To Create a Solid Foundation for Your Entrepreneurial Dream:
- Take a deep breath and get mentally and physically prepared to focus on your business
- Find a dedicated workspace
- Gather the tools you will need to do the work
- Remove all distractions from people to devices
- Create your schedule that fits your selections
If you take these actions first, before you dive in to your business, you will feel more confident and secure before moving forward.
For the next article: Click Here for the Creative Actions: Part 2 of 2: Recast: Ten Practical Actions for Aspiring Entrepreneurs Who Want to Start a Business Online, Live with Purpose and Achieve their Dreams
Disclosure: Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links which earn for eligible purchases at no additional cost to you.
ENJOY LIVE CLASSES?
Case Lane is delivering a FREE WEBINAR: How to Start an Online Business With An Idea You Champion!
Thursday 10 am PST via Zoom
WANT TO READ THE BOOK?
You can Download Recast at Amazon.com
Get all the details about how to Recast your life, and become an online entrepreneur in this exciting new book!
Disclosure: Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links, which earn for eligible purchases at no additional cost to you
How to Get Out of Your Corporate Mindset When Starting Your Own Business
by Case Lane
Many corporate management-level employees are often hired ‘at will,’ meaning the employee can be let go for any legal reason, and an employee can also leave for any reason – and neither side incurs legal liability.
Yet despite those facts, society insists on referring to those jobs as ‘secure.’
When aspiring entrepreneurs talk about leaving a company job to start a business, they are often admonished to stay in their ‘secure’ job.
Security has come to mean – a place to go every day, a regular paycheck, maybe benefits like subsidized health care, insurance, matching 401(k) funds, and if you work at a Hollywood studio – a free movie every week!
But for many, the ‘security’ comes with a nagging sensation that you are not as secure as you think. When an aspiring entrepreneur walks away, the sensation does not disappear, it remains as a lingering tug determined to pull you back.
The Trappings of Corporate
Back at corporate some time ago, there was this executive, let’s say X, who was upset one day after lunch. X had lunch with Y, and Y had paid with the platinum corporate American Express card. A fact that moved X almost to tears.
Confused?
At this company, the platinum corporate card meant Y had been promoted. Regular management level people had the green corporate American Express card. But the platinum card told X louder than a press release, that Y had been given the recognition demonstrated by the card.
X could not have an intelligent adult discussion about the vagaries of the promotion system, or what was on the lunch menu, because X’s self-esteem and worth were tied to the color of the corporate card.
When you make the decision to walk away, you are not only leaving a job, but also all the Trappings, with a capital ‘T’ that the corporate life provide. Whether you have them now, or can expect to be rewarded in a couple of years, those perks are enticing.
And the best way to get rid of the ideas from your head is to replace them.
Assess What You’re Losing
This may sound counter-intuitive if you are looking for encouragement to quit your 9-to-5, but you have to understand the perks you are giving up by analyzing everything you are about to lose.
Money
The number one benefit is a steady paycheck. Your first hint of panic will come when you realize the money is no longer going to come in from that reliable source.
If you started your business before leaving your job, and already have your second income, you can make this transition easier. You at least have an understanding about what you can expect.
But if you can’t stand your job, and just walked away, then the one thing you have to focus on is replacing your income. Use the need to replace that income as the motivating factor when working on your business.
You may have other financial benefits to replace including health insurance or disability. Over time, you will want to use your new income to cover these potential losses also.
And as for the corporate card, Amex has plenty of business cards you can apply for.
Workspace
Your workspace is about to change. If you had a great office with a view, you may be missing that immediately. In my new book Recast, I write about how setting up your new place to work is one of the foundational steps for getting started with an online business.
You become your own HR, and re-establish a comfortable workspace for yourself. You might not get the view. But you should get the advantage of being where you want to be.
Socializing
Outside of the office there will be no more idle conversations, water-cooler talk, and busy time. As an entrepreneur with your own business, you will be continuously busy, especially in the beginning, and should have little time to miss the easy days of having an office job.
But the other side of office life – exchanging ideas, having meetings, meeting new interesting people – this might be difficult to adjust to. You have to prepare yourself for a life of isolation, solitary decisions and meetings of one.
You can get around these feelings by seeking those who are like-minded to form masterminds, or other groups who may be interested in doing what you’re doing. Try and find an accountability partner who can help you stay on track and focused on your Action Plan.
The key in the entire process is you have to replace the parts of corporate life you like the most with similar support in the online business world. Over time, as you focus more on your business, you will find the memories of your former life fade fast, and your new one becomes more omnipresent and relevant in your every day.
Summary: How to Get Rid of Your Corporate Mindset
You have to slowly replace the Trappings of corporate life with your solopreneur alternatives:
- Salary and other financial benefits come from continuously focusing on the work required to replace the money as soon as possible
- Your comfortable workspace can be established wherever you decide to work
- You can be happy to be rid of idle office time, but desperate to reconnect with people – do that by joining group masterminds or finding accountability partner
You get corporate out of your head by creating a new focus – the value you want to deliver – the product or service that your soon-to-be-discovered community wants or needs.
And once you have changed your focus, you are well on your way to being a recast entrepreneur for the long-term
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Thursday 10 am PST via Zoom
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How to Dominate Your Niche of Niches Online
Part 4 of 4: Be the Automatic Leader in the Niche of Your Choice
by Case Lane
As an aspiring entrepreneur, you may have spent years, maybe four or 8 or 10, continuing your education, putting in hours or days on your chosen skill, or maybe even researching a subject of interest every day.
With the activities you enjoy, and wherever your interests lie, you have more information about the subject than someone who is looking for the product or service you have to offer.
Yet when it comes to thinking about delivering your message online, you may feel uncomfortable. You squirm a little at the idea that you could be someone who could deliver value to others – for money.
Maybe even at your work, there are probably people who are paid more than you; in education thousands of others have your diploma; and in your hobby…it’s a hobby, for a reason. Your daily reality may make you question how you could be a leader on online.
You Can Provide Solutions
Once in the Duty Free store at Los Angeles International Airport, I overheard a discussion between a store clerk and a passenger. The clerk was trying to explain to the passenger that she could not take the bag of stuff she had just bought – alcohol, perfume – with her.
That policy can be confusing for infrequent travelers. Duty Free Stores are promoted as free from taxes. You can purchase products when you are leaving the country. But the store must send the items to your flight, and you pick them up literally as you are walking on to the plane.
The passenger obviously had not bought duty free before so she was confused, and was trying to understand the rules in a language that was not her own.
But I could understand both. Or make myself understood. I had an approach – unique and singular – based on my education, knowledge and experience. No one else can deliver in exactly the same way (no one else was around), the moment was mine to seize.
I could provide a solution.
Of course, there is a risk in providing unsolicited advice. Some people might consider you rude, presumptuous or…not an expert. You may not be their idea of a solution provider, your approach may not suit their sensibilities, or they may not respect the experience you have.
There are many possibilities….
But at the same time, when people are struggling, and they’ve tried other solutions and nothing worked, they still need help.
In my case, I was in a position to deliver a solution.
Where will you be when your future customers come looking online for you, and your potential product or service?
If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, your role is to deliver value to those who want or need the product or service you want to offer. If you have something to offer, the only way your community can learn about it is if you offer your knowledge.
You may find it awkward to offer people your help in a way they are not expecting. But at the same time, if you have the knowledge and a way to deliver it, you can support another person’s goals, and be a great assistance to them.
In the beginning, you may feel imposter syndrome because your position is new and untried. But it’s valid. You have a solution – someone else does not. It’s your opportunity, some would say, responsibility as an entrepreneur, to offer the value you have to deliver.
Summary: How You Dominate Your Niche
1. If you have gone in to business, it’s because you believe you have value to offer. You have business ideas in your head or a solution for someone else’s problem. That value needs to be expressed.
2. Your approach to the product or service is different from others, and it’s an approach you should not feel afraid to deliver. Because your experience, education, expertise – that’s all unique to you, and that uniqueness is what is going to differentiate you and make you the automatic leader.
3. There were automobiles before Henry Ford, furniture before Ikea, makeup before Mary Kay, mobile phones before Steve Jobs, movies before Walt Disney. And you probably do not need to be told why those products became unique when those individuals decided to deliver them.
As an aspiring entrepreneur, you do not have to be creating a global corporation, but you do have to use your uniqueness to attract the customer base that you have created the product or service for.
Online people can be accusatory and critical – but there is a way to ensure those ones are not relevant to you.
You deliver to the people who appreciate your uniqueness, and you ignore everyone who does not.
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Thursday 10 am PST via Zoom
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How to Decide on an Online Platform
Part 3 of 4: Choose to Be Comfortable
by Case Lane
When choosing to launch an online business, you do not want to be phony.
In fact, you are told must be authentic.
Except there’s the conflict. You are being told you MUST be authentic, under the assumption that everyone knows what authentic is.
At the same time that people claim you must be authentic, they also claim you should make videos, or send email, or start a podcast or dance on Tik-Tok.
Aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start a business, and attract an audience, but are turned off by the so-called ‘authentic’ things everyone is saying to do, need an alternative for appearing on an online platform.
The best bet is to pick the space where you are most comfortable.
What is an Online Platform?
Your online platform is the Internet space where you have your online presence – the basis for your business.
Bloggers have a website, podcasters appear in directories, vloggers post YouTube videos. Social media influencers dominate on Facebook or Instagram or Twitter.
You decide which one works best for you by deciding first which form of public expression suits your preferences.
A Presence You Own and Defend
A while back, in Hollywood, one of my colleagues once told me about this incredible idea one of the senior executives had that would change the industry.
My colleague was prone to exaggeration about a senior executive’s idea…especially if it could lead to career advancement. But the executive in question was more qualified than most, and had a solid reputation.
The idea could have been great…
….but, it was terrible.
And to my surprise I told my colleague exactly what I thought of the idea. I reacted against character because I felt passionate about the subject, and had a strong opinion of its viability.
The decision whether the idea would be implemented was not mine to make, but the opinion was definitely mine to express.
The defense of your own approach is even more pronounced online.
Model Your Own Instincts
When you see people online in your target industry acting all the same – being cutesy, dancing, giving shoutouts, swearing and hollering….
You might think that’s how you have to behave to win over people in your potential community.
Many aspiring entrepreneurs imitate successful people because they believe the success can be directly copied.
But that approach rarely works.
There is already a successful person being the original version of who you want to be, so a fake version has a limited chance.
Often a new entrepreneur does not want to behave like the successful person. But does it under the mistaken belief that the community will only respond to the questionable behavior.
However, since you are passionate about your product and service, and turned off by the presentation of the existing leaders in your field, then you may have an opportunity with other members of the community who feel as you do.
No doubt your niche has specific approaches to ensure you are seen by your community, and are communicating your message effectively, but you can modify your approach to ensure you are comfortable, and therefore authentic in your presentation.
If you see a successful person in your industry who is a blogger, but you hate writing, you can either do something else, or outsource the writing to someone else.
Remember, online your marketplace is the entire world. There is likely a community that would appreciate receiving your product or service in a form that it is not currently presented.
For example, today almost every book is released in digital, print and audio formats. Not to mention those that may eventually be made into a movie or show.
The reason you can keep releasing the same story in different forms is because different people want to absorb the same story in the format they prefer.
Select Your Platform Preference
You can deliver your product or service offering on exactly the platform that you prefer.
You have to decide where you add value, and how you want to contribute based on your expertise and skills.
You can also look at your niche the same way. Test the approaches you prefer, and measure your community’s response.
For example, professional NFL football has one community of beer-drinking, screaming, face painters…and another of statistics and analysis geeks from analytics professors and statisticians to college students and the curious who discuss the probabilities of certain plays, moves and scores in every scenario.
The business of data is data tables, analysis apps, fantasy football instruction manuals, courses on how to understand the game, blog, podcast, affiliate for clothes, gear, and food…and more.
You can approach your own passion in your niche in any direction you choose, and find your community wherever they may be hiding.
You can write, talk, film, teach, dance or holler…
Practically everyone is on the Internet, and everyone is looking for their preferred approach to education, information and entertainment.
There is no competition and all fields are wide open because people are constantly searching for their preferences.
When you go online with your business idea. You can deliver as you see fit.
That’s the incredible opportunity that exists in the online space today. And you have the opportunity of a lifetime to take advantage of it.
For the next article: Click Here for Part 4 of 4: How Dominate Your Niche of Niches
ENJOY LIVE CLASSES?
Case Lane is delivering a FREE WEBINAR: How to Start an Online Business With An Idea You Champion!
Thursday 10 am PST via Zoom
WANT TO READ THE BOOK?
Get a FREE Summary of Case Lane’ new book Recast: The Aspiring Entrepreneur’s Prep Guide to Starting An Online Business
Click this link to get your summary and early bird notice of the book’s release.
