309 - How to Handle Co-host Frustrations and Content Overload in Podcasting

0:05 Good morning podcasting morning Chat. Today is Thursday, May 22nd, 2025, and today we're digging into our mailbag from knowing when to walk away from a show to navigating AI in production and managing a backlog of amazing guest interviews. So if you're listening live on Clubhouse, hit the share button, bottom left hand side of the screen and share it. However, Clubhouse lets you. And if you're listening via podcast, please share this episode with a fellow podcaster. And now give us about 30 seconds and we'll get things rolling. Thanks for being here.

1:20 Good morning again, podcasting, Morning Chat. Thank you for being here. I am your host, Mark Ronick, and here on stage with me we have Dr. Faye, Alex Baelish, Nick Nalback and Sid Meadows. And yes, as I said at the top of the show, we are going to dig into the mailbag. We have a lot of different types of questions, most of them collected. We didn't, these aren't actual questions that somebody quote UN quote mailed into US, although they're I think are a couple. But some of these we found on Reddit, on Facebook, etcetera. And we felt like these were very relevant questions for podcasters.

2:00 And we, we know we've got a great team here that can help answer those questions, including some of you in the audience. So feel free to come up and participate if you would like. And a little programming note, just to give you a heads up Monday, we will not be doing a show for Memorial Day weekend here in the US. So add that to your calendar if you so choose. And with that, I want to just dig in if that's cool with you. And mainly because sometimes at this point in the show, we'll do an ice breaker question. But being that we have so many questions here to share, I figure why not?

2:41 Let's just dig right in. So this one is from Reddit and the user is protection late 4769 and he asks or she or they. When do you admit it's not working? He said or they said I started a podcast because I felt like I had a lot to offer but I feel like my Co host and I have not hit our groove. We have nearly 20 episodes but we get barely any plays and it's been several months. It's a ton of work on my end editing and I'm questioning if it's worth it when no one seems to be hearing what we're saying.

3:27 To be honest, my husband thinks my Co host is boring and doesn't come off authentically. I feel like I'm now having to pull the weight of both of our social media presence and the podcast so I can really relate to this one. Not to say that my former Co host Lowell of the Mark and Lowell show wasn't pulling his weight because I believe Lowell, one of his superpowers on our old show was he. He has a great way of carrying the show. He's not boring on the show, he's funny. He adds a lot to it. But I relate in the sense that when we were doing it, I was really doing all the behind the scenes stuff, the editing, the social media, etcetera and it, it definitely weighed on me. Now, we didn't give up because our show probably went on for 8:00 or so years and I certainly think one of the reasons why it stopped was because I got burnt out. Not on the show content itself, but like I said, all the other things involved because it was all on my shoulders. And coincidentally, if you're following me on social media, you may have seen I posted a picture of Lola and I at lunch yesterday discussing the show and the future and it coming back.

4:53 I know I've been talking about that for a while, but being that I've, I'm in town in Maryland, he lives in Maryland. We met up about halfway and had a lunch talking about what the show will look like moving forward. So yes, we are bringing it back. And part of the conversation was about pulling weight and really treating this thing like a business and as business partners. I think a big thing is having to have that conversation and I think that this this person, I'll start. I think that this person needs to have that conversation with the Co host. I don't know if they need to dig into the part about the husband thinking that the Co host is boring, but I do think setting boundaries and expectations is really important. 20 episodes in, there's a lot of growing that you, your Co host and the show still has in front of you.

5:50 And I think that this is an opportunity for you to, to, to really build up and build on what you've started. So that's where I'm coming from here. And I'm curious if anybody else has any thoughts for this Reddit user. Yeah, Dr. go ahead. Good morning. You and I are in the same wavelength. Because as soon as I read that she or he was doing all the editing, I thought, oh man, that's why. That's why you're completely burned out as the editing. But aside from that, you know, most people when they take on a Co host, it's with a very, very good friend. And I occasionally see those posts that say looking for a Co host, you know, for like a complete stranger getting together.

6:39 But for the most part, it's usually a good friend. And Gordon Firemark has has a contract even between like the best of friends, you should have a contract to lay out, document who's doing what. What if someone gets sick and has to bow out for several months? Does the show quit? Do you go on? Do you have a substitute walk in just for that? I mean, there's so many different variables that can go on that could really cause friction. And you just have to ask yourself, is it worth losing a friend over? And if everything is written out, when and if you're, if it's hard sometimes to approach that subject, should we, you know, we don't need a contract.

7:26 We're best friends. We've been friends for 20 years. It's kind of like a it's. Kind of like a prenup situation, right? There's people. Are. Afraid to do that? Yeah, and that's why I say rely on your producer. Let me be the bad man and bring it up and insist that you that the two of you have a contract. So let me be the bad man. Yeah, and a lot of times when people are just starting out, even 20 episodes and they don't have a producer yet to help them do that, but they there is a a, a Gordon fire mark out there, right? He's the podcast lawyer. And like you said, he has that contract there ready and you could approach it at to your Co host as hey, you know, I was on the Internet. I stumbled on this guy on social media who's a podcast lawyer and he suggests that we as Co hosts need a contract. Let's look at it and talk about it, right? You could try to broach it that way. Yeah, where it doesn't feel like it's an attack. Agreed.

8:25 Yeah, and I saw Sid has his had his hand up and so does Nick. So let's go to Sid first. Good morning to you, Sid. Good morning, everybody. It's great to be here with you. So I heard the question a little bit differently, but I do agree with all the points that you just made. And is somebody that just started a business with four, with three other friends. I can tell you that getting through the legalese, setting up a business, they're not always easy. But I think what this person needs to do is look at who their audience is. Look at what's their content, what are they talking about? Are they just two people sitting there talking about nonsense?

9:07 She mentioned that she had a lot to share. Like, what is it that you're sharing? Is your content on point? I think I would remember that people come for the content. They stay for the host. And I would take a dive into my audience. Who's the person, One person I'm trying to talk to. What is it I'm trying to say? And then does the show live up to that promise? Or if you will, I mean, think again, think of this as a business. What's the problem that you're trying to solve here for the person that is that your agile listener? And really dive into that and see if you can get the content worked out where it's going to really attract people and keep people in the show. And then maybe work on the legalese and stuff like that. But you got to know who you're talking to, what you're talking about, the problem that you saw for them. And then I would also take a deep dive into the marketing. How are you marketing this to get the podcast out to the world?

9:59 We all know how difficult it is to get a new show out there and get people listening in. Yeah, I'm with you, Sid. I appreciate you bringing up that angle because this to me seems deeper than it's a problem with the Co host. Although that is a problem in the sense that this person is apparently doing all the heavy lifting. But there is something to be said about what else are you doing to to grow your show, to get the word out there to to build up that discoverability. I I'm I suspect, without really any other information here, I suspect that they're not doing enough to help promote and grow the show.

10:41 I would. Actually say to that before you go to Nick is that I think that most of us are guilty of that right there, Mark of not doing enough to actually spread the word about our show. We get caught up in our businesses, we get caught up with light. And I think most of us would fall into that, to that category, and we're not doing enough to get our show the reach that it actually needs. Yeah, or sometimes even we're doing the same thing over and over again. That's not really working. And just crossing our fingers and hoping that it's going to eventually deliver the the results we're looking for. And I'm guilty of that too. I've done that and probably still doing that in certain areas because once you've gotten into that rhythm, you feel like, OK, I know what I'm doing, I'm just going to keep doing it.

11:27 It's going to work. But if it's not working, you got to try to something else at some point. Nick, good morning. What say you, Sir? Well, first of all, I really want to start a podcast business called the Podcast Pre Knob where I become kind of a mediator for Co hosts to set up those. Oh yeah, I think. That would be awesome. Yeah. I mean, it's a thing. You probably could get some business out of that. But to the the situation I, as you guys were continuing to talk, that's kind of the direction I was going is I, I'm willing to bet that they're not promoting nearly as much as they should be, and probably because all the work is landing on one person. But even taking a step back even further than that, I'd be really curious as to what their purpose of the show is. Do they have a purpose?

12:24 Do they have a why that they're using to kind of guide the show or are they just doing it because they're like, oh, we want to start a podcast and we think we can get a lot of subscribers and followers and things like that. I that's typically, I feel like we're a lot of podcasters that have fallen off as they don't really have that why. They just think, oh, they see all these other people doing the podcast and getting a lot of attention with it. I'm going to do the same thing. I'll shoot. Why am I not getting any attention with the podcast? That's a waste of time. I'm going to stop. So I would probably that maybe be a decent way to open up the conversation with this Co host is having to sit down and talk about, OK, what is our goal with this show? What are we trying to accomplish with it?

13:05 And that could kind of open the door to, OK, if we're going to do this, here's what I'm going to do, here's my part that's going to be in it. Here's what your part in the the process is going to be and kind of navigate it that way. So I think right now it just from that post, it seems like there's not a lot of direction as far as like overall vision and goal of the show and what I get. Yeah, I'm with you there. And for whatever reason that reminded me, I was thinking about one of the other things that was said here in this person's post about the husband saying that the Co host is boring. And I think that that can when things aren't going well with your podcast, it's easy to be influenced by others opinions.

13:51 And I think it's important for this person and maybe somebody else listening right now, it's important to remember that it's one person's opinion. And yeah, maybe some people think that Co host is boring, but I believe that there are some people out there that are going to gravitate to that Co host. And maybe that Co host is boring because of something that you're saying, Nick, Maybe it is that they're they haven't really formulated what this show is about, who this show is really for. And so that Co host might be struggling a little bit to find their footing. So I think it is important to go back and revisit what are our goals here with this podcast?

14:35 I think that's really important. Mike had a, a really good comment in the, the chat as well. He said the member is Roberto Blake or MKVHD. But one set is first 100 videos refers first 100 subscribers. Same thing can be true for podcasts. And I, I like that. I, I do agree with that. I, I think that there is something to be said about the, the work upfront. Your 1st 20 episodes, you're, you're not an expert by any means in podcasting, storytelling, all of that. And even after 100 episodes, I don't think you're an expert at podcast you necessarily it, but it, it does take reps to kind of find that groove and connect with that audience. So I I just wanted to highlight that comment that. Yeah.

15:26 And Michael, if you're free, would love to have you come up on stage because I have some questions about that statement just in the sense I'm not sure I, I quite follow it. I mean, I think it's what Nick is saying that, yeah, you're really, those first hundred are your reps they're for, you know, those first 100 people that find you. Is that really, is that what we're getting at here? I'm curious. I guess Mike Michael can't jump up on stage. Maybe he'll answer in the chat. But I think that's what he's oh, here, here he comes. Oh, this is Janae coming up. And actually, Janae, the next question is going to be, I think, a great one for you to answer. But Janae, did you want to comment on this? Good morning, good morning.

16:08 Great to be here in the early hours of the chat. First of all, they've done 20 episodes. Brutus to them it's almost and depending on if it's weekly or monthly, you're like asking a 20 week old baby to perform miracles. You haven't put in it, put enough time into it. And, and I'm not fully agreeing what Alex and Nicholas is saying, right? You've got to have your wife figured out Who's your audience said saying, who's your audience? You got to make sure. And if there's two people talking, they're already got the audience that they're looking to inspire, right? When one person is talking, then people like, OK, who is he talking to?

16:55 Do I really need to go in? And we've seen some of the people that we follow, they started as a solo podcaster or they shared very specific information about something that's totally dialed in. So they need to, you know, go back and go back to the drawing bar, figure out what is it that you're really looking to and maybe set a timeline. Hey, we're going to do 30 episodes and we're going to give it all. And then if that doesn't work and like, OK, well, that was a good run, Let's do something else. I love that. Thank you, Janaid. I appreciate that. And I want to pause for a second because it just hit me that I'd love to hear a little bit more from Janaid, not about the next question, but Janaid, I happened to, he told me this privately and publicly. He posted, Janaid got to interview a person that we often bring up here on the podcasting morning chat. Pat Flynn got to interview Pat Flynn yesterday. And I'm curious, Janae, tell us a little bit about that. How did it go?

18:01 Was there any big take away that you wouldn't mind sharing with us regarding that interview? Would love to hear all about it. Oh, man, you put me on the spot. It's too early. What was amazing is first of all, you know, I've, I've built this rapport with him. We I by this first course in 2018, and I mentioned all of these things in the podcast is, you know, following that journey, following him buying his course, being part of the community, getting asked to, you know, be interviewed and you've been interviewed on his show as well. And then he's just he's just very genuine person, right? He's like today, this we've seen a lot of each other this year, how it feeling and he's like, I like it. And that's because when we keep showing up in the places, like all of the all of the Co hosts here, all the people up here on the stage, Dr. Alex Nicholas said. You know everybody when we see each other in places and when we meet in person, it's safe feeling like you known each other for for for all of your life, which is really powerful. So it kind of felt like that I was a little bit nervous in the beginning and he's like, and, but then we got the flow and we got talking and it was just really good. And, and some of these things that he shared is applied to this, right?

19:22 He, he started his shorts channel and that was all around Pokémon. And he's talked about this in other places maybe, but he gave himself 60 days. He's like, I'm going to do a short video for 60 days. It's going to be the same DAC formula for those videos and a 30 day mark to know he's like getting 100 views, 200 views and he's feeling a little discouraged. But then he's like, no, I gave myself 60 days. I got to keep going. The other thing that happened is was initially he was spending 45 minutes maybe edited, editing that video. By the end of that 60th video, took him 13 minutes. Because repetition of doing something over and over and over, you just get better at it.

20:09 And then he started seeing the videos fly. One video I think hit 757,000 views and two date in three under 300 days. He was able to get to 1.4 million subscribers for that Channel and it's not connected to the main channel. And on top of that, he's made 5 figure income from YouTube alone for the four months that's that he's been on there. Wow. Kind of mind blowing. Yeah. How long ago was that, that he went on that 60 day 60 video journey? Is that 3? 100 days ago. OK, 300 days ago. Wow. Yeah, and then he was also on Gary Vee's live stream yesterday because when we were talking, he's like, guess what? I'm going tomorrow.

20:55 Like where? So I'm going to see Gary Vee because I mentioned that I learned about him in Gary Vee's book Crushing It. Wow, Yeah, I saw, I saw Pat Flynn's stories and I saw him sitting there doing doing some Pokémon ING. That's a term with Gary Vee. Yeah. Really cool. Really cool. And so cool that, you know, you've made such a strong connection with him. And you're right. It's because I, I believe he is such a genuine person and he really does care about what he's building and the people that he's building it for. So it's cool to see how see that in motion and see how you know you have gotten so much from him and hopefully I'm sure he's gotten a lot from you as well. I can't wait.

21:40 When is that interview going to come out? So the interviews dropping on the June the 3rd, basically the same day his episode is his book is launching. Yeah, good idea. And I'm like, it's the best gift anybody can ask for because it's my birthday the next day. Yeah, nice. So thanks, Yeah, thank you, Janae. And we're going to probably come back to you here, but we'll give you a minute if you need to catch your breath. I saw Alex had his hand up about this initial one. Oh, thank you, Nick. Appreciate it. All right, we'll go to Dave's question from the Buzz Sprout community in just a moment. Alex, did you want to add anything to the conversation? Yeah. Sure.

22:21 I mean, I think that you just scrap the whole thing and I'm not trying to be funny because yes, you can work it out and you should work it out. But the fact is, if your partner or husband is going to give you crap about it, it's only going to cause more problems. And it's only been 20 episodes. I mean, you don't even know what you have. I know I'm talking on both sides of my mouth when I say this. I mean, it's 20 episodes doesn't mean anything. You still have time to kind of grow and figure out what the show is. But the same time, if it's not clicking, it's not clicking. That's the real question. Is it clicking between to hosts? If it's not, then either they have to change it a little bit or just scrap it.

23:01 I maybe I'm just a little jaded from the view that I have, but you know, at the same time, you know, make it work or don't make it work. You know, I don't know. It's, it's something I'm struggling with. I guess that's why it's a little inner. Yeah, I I hear that. And I think ultimately, well, first of all, I want to not contradict, but I want to push back a little bit in the sense that 20 episodes is something and then clearly they're putting in the reps and they are learning from this. So it's not for nothing having those 20 episodes in. And I think that it does really come down to the chemistry, really taking a look at yourself and your Co host, is there a really good chemistry here or are we forcing it? And ultimately, like we were saying earlier, it comes down to what are you doing to get more eyes and ears on your content? And if it's not working, what can you do differently? If if the chemistry's there, then I think the focus needs to be on the content and how you're going to promote that content. And I think you're right.

24:06 I think your people are very quick to point figures. And at the end of the day, yeah, it's about promotion, but it's also about do you want to do this and do you have what it takes to do what needs to be done? But I think there's a lot of dynamics to this. I don't think it's just as black and white as he's not doing this and you're not doing that. There might be some other stuff going on if he's bringing up his his partner or her partner. Very possible. We only have a little a little snippet of what's going on there, and I think we've done a good job of doing our best to give this person some direction here. So let's move on to Dave's question from the Buzz Sprout community on Facebook. Dave says. And listen up, Janae, because I think you can relate to this. Dave says I'm not having any problem finding excellent guests for my show.

24:55 In fact, that's part of my enjoyment in podcasting. I'm meeting some incredible folks. My question is, I'm six weeks ahead with completed episodes. How many ahead is enough? I like being ahead but don't want my guests waiting too long for the episodes to go live. So ultimately the question here is, is how far in advance to do I need to record? Is there a magic number? And is there such a thing as being too far ahead? So I'm, I'm, I keep calling out Janae because I happen to know and I think Janae has shared once or twice in this forum, I think he's shared that he's very far ahead. So Janae, I want to go to you first.

25:37 What advice would you give to Dave here? He's six weeks ahead. How far should he go? Isn't that an amazing question and a good problem to have to being that many episodes ahead? So what I've the question is, does he continue on to have new connections? Because I just recorded 5 episodes? Yes, you know, this week and which is going to push everybody much forward. So there's a few different things that you can do. And what I've done is like, OK, I'm just going to pause recording. Like for a few months I didn't even record anything because I'm so far ahead. But what I was missing is the connections, right? I still wanted to connect with new people and help where I can in their journey of, of getting to be better guests on podcast. If that's something that are still here, People are telling me that, Oh my God, nobody ever told me that I can use a phone for a camera or nobody ever told me that I need to have a microphone being your guest on the show. So I feel like that education these guests still need to have. So besides that, what did I, what am I doing to solve the problem?

26:48 Well, I'm increasing, I'm increasing the number of episodes that are dropping on the podcast. So instead of going from 2 episodes to three episodes of 4 episodes a week so that we can catch up, we can get a little further ahead. And the other thing that I've implemented as I'm now doing weekly live streams with new potential guests. So these people, these are people I've never met before, but they want to come and be a guest on the show. Initially I was doing one-on-one calls and that was taking too long. So then I implemented group calls last week, sorry, last year, which enabled me to talk to 5610 people at the same time who want to come be guests. And so I was like, OK, that's still putting pressure into the publication department.

27:37 What can I do to relieve and the guests feeling like, Hey, I have something online which and eight. So I'm, I started this live stream last week where I'm bringing a new guest and doing this live stream and introducing them to the world and then going back and, you know, giving them a chance to speak even deeply. So last week I spoke with Aisha, David and Charlie. And this week I recorded a full episode with David so that he can, you know, share all the things that they're going to. So that's something that I've done. I've actually written an article on my LinkedIn that goes deeper into my solution and how to get over the backlog issue. Thanks.

28:20 Yeah. Thank you, Janae. So yeah, what I'm hearing is, yeah, if if you want to continue on and be even further ahead than six weeks, one solution may be to add more shows that you're delivering to your audience per week. So if this guy in particular, Dave, and in the Buzzprout group, if he's doing once a week, well, maybe then he wants to do 2 shows a week to, to, to get, you know, to stay ahead and to still deliver content in a timely fashion so that the guest isn't waiting weeks or months for that episode to come out. Because sometimes the timing is pretty crucial. You know, like Janae pointed out earlier, he had Pat Flynn on and he's going to release the episode when Pat Flynn's new book comes out.

29:08 That's a great strategy and one that I think a guest would really appreciate. And I really like the idea of doing the live stream version of your show. If you are really partially in this for connection and you want to have these interviews and you want to conduct them and you are so far ahead that you want to make sure that this contents out there, yeah, maybe you do a live stream interview. My question to you Janae, is do those live streams ever come out as podcast episodes or do you just keep them solely as a live stream or live stream content? I had dabbled on this to see if I should, you know, record a live on Thursday and then publish it on Friday. But then I was like, it's kind of it's going to confuse the people who are just regularly listening to the podcast. So I didn't.

29:57 I'm just keeping them as live streams on three platforms, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube. Love it. OK, cool. And Sid, I saw your hand was up. Did you want to follow up or ask a question? Yeah, Thank you. Mark, I would actually a little bit disagree with what you just said, OK, about putting in like if you're ahead, then congratulate yourself for being ahead and continue to work to stay ahead Because when you get behind, it's a pain in the butt, right? Because you got to catch up and you got to find this person, you got to do that, blah, blah, blah, right? And then because everybody on your team under pressure to get things done in time. So if you're six weeks ahead, get 12 weeks ahead. I would not disrupt the cadence of my show by say, oh, I'm way ahead.

30:41 I'm just going to start adding more episode drops and do two a month or four a month rather than two a month, right? Because I just think that disrupting the cadence disrupts the audience's expectations of what you're doing, right? Because your regular listeners begin to expect that, you know, for me, every other Monday, I drop an episode. If I start dropping an episode every Monday because I'm, you know, ahead, I think that might actually deter people. That's just my thought process, right? But I mean, today is the 22nd of May and my show for this season will end the the first week in November. And I only have two spots to fill. I've either recorded or have recording scheduled for through through the end of the year. And I feel really, really great about that. Even though they're not all recorded, I am ahead of the game.

31:31 I know who's going to be on my show when it's going to air, when I'm recording it. And I only have two spots to fill. And it makes me feel really good to be in that position as we head into the summer. So I wouldn't, I would not add more episodes just because you have the content already done. I would keep banking it and then it makes it easier to produce and get the content out there. I appreciate that. And to that strategy, what I would say is make sure you're connecting with your guests and find out if they're, if there's a timing thing involved here, you know, if they have that book coming out or if they have some project that they're hoping to promote to your audience. Make sure of the timing and restructure your schedule, bump them up so that their content, their interview can get out there in line with whatever it is that they are promoting.

32:23 I think that's really important. And yeah, I mean, I see both sides to this coin. I get it. What Sid is saying. It's like, yeah, just keep going, stay ahead of schedule, don't disrupt the flow of things, and the content will get out there when it's supposed to get out there. I see that. And I also just I think I see it more through the through Dave's eyes where I would feel eager to get the content out. And the more I'm banking, the more I feel like I don't know, I just feel a little overwhelmed with it. So the question goes again to is there a magic number it do you know, is 6 weeks ahead enough or 12 weeks or whatever that looks like? I'm curious and if those of you listening here live, what are your thoughts?

33:10 Put it in the chat. Is 6 weeks enough? Do they keep going like Sid is suggesting? Just keep going? And I mean look, Janae just keeps going and I Janae. If you don't mind, how many episodes do you have banked currently? About 80. 80 He's got over a year's worth of weekly. Content. It's crazy and I do like what I said also said, right, I agree. I agree to said that, you know, we should be celebrating. We should be saying, hey, this is pretty awesome and to to rebuttal that I'm in I'm in both boats actually. So I've got I've got 80 episodes with guest interviews, but then I also want to fill in some of my although episodes, right? So something that I've introduced in season 7 is like, you know, every every even number episode is going to be a solo episode of me talking and every even number is me. And then every odd number is the guest episode. So my episodes drop every week.

34:17 Guest episodes drop maybe two or three times a week. So that's something that I'm experimenting with now. It all comes down to, hey, if you've banked this many episodes with guest interviews and if they have a special announcement that they want to make and you can make meet the time work, then you know, work with them. But if not, then you know, then you are free to do how you do because I remember Jeff, who's up on stage. He said he recently published an episode that he recorded in 2021 and 2025. S Back to you, Mark. Yeah. And yeah, Jeff is on stage with us.

34:58 And yeah, I know that about Jeff too. He has quite a bit of episodes banked and years worth, I suppose. So, Jeff, yeah. You want to chime in on this? Good morning. I am team Janae there. The magic number is there is no number the so like my my show is a pop culture podcast, right? So I talked to celebrities, I guess, right. So people who were famous when they were famous, like, but so like when the strike happened, right? You guys remember, like there was a writers strike last year that went for months. No one would talk to me because they weren't allowed to talk. So had I not had a bank, then I would have kind of been, you know, up a Creek.

35:43 And then when the LA fires happened, guess what? A lot of the people I talked to live in California and in LA. And even if the fires hadn't impacted them, they knew 10 people that it did. So they were in no mood to talk about, you know, stuff. And so there's, there's reasons, you know, like, like, Mark, what if like you did this show by yourself, right? And then you went away for two weeks, right? So if you had banked it, if you had a show already made, you could run it on the holiday too. I mean, there's a live show. So that doesn't make sense. But you know what I mean, No? Well, and I do, you know, I have banked interviews that I've done in the past that haven't been aired here on the podcasting morning chat that we've edited and now are ready to play in case of an emergency, for lack of a better term. Right.

36:27 And then to me, like, the idea of banking is that you can then control the narrative of the show. You know, let's say Janae hypothetically, you know, interviewed his 80 people and 10 of them were similar topics, maybe different takes on it, but similar topics, right? And then if he only had those 10, he'd have to run 10 episodes that are going to feel similar. But if he has it banked, he can then control. All right, every fifth episode, I'm going to put one of these out and they'll kind of build on that topic without burning people out of that specific topic. So you can kind of like, I'll interview people and I'll put a comic. You know, I won't run 10 comics in a row.

37:08 You know, I also think if someone's willing to talk to you, record it, you know, don't, don't wait. And then plus you never want to be in a position where it's like, OK, I got put the show out on Monday, I'm recording the previous Monday and they cancel on me, right? And I have nothing in the bank. So, you know, to me it's like, I get that. If I also agree with what everyone was said, like if you, if somebody has a book like Pat's book, then absolutely you rearrange it and kind of put it so that you can coordinate and be a friend to that person as well. But you know, I think it's, it's our show. They're not paying to be on the show. So, you know, so whether they wait X amount or not, I've been on a show where I had to wait six months for it to air. They told me, but you know, I'm like, all right. And guess what?

37:55 Six months later, it exists for the rest of my life. So. Yeah. Thank you, Jeff. And one thing that you said that just it made me think of another idea too. If we've got multiple guests at speaking on similar topics, yes, this is going to be a little more work, but you could create one episode with multiple guests and play, you know, different questions and those different answers. If it's all under the same umbrella, the same theme, that actually I think creates a way more dynamic and engaging episode than playing one episode with the same person going back and forth. Just a creative way. If you want to get some content out there, if you're 80 episodes ahead, like Janae, that could be another way of, of presenting the content that you've recorded.

38:42 So I love that. And by the way, Jeff, your mic is unmuted. There you go. Just 'cause I get distracted hearing background noise and, and I see we have some other people here on stage. So let me say hello to Kate first since she was on stage before Julie, and then we'll check in with Julie. Hello, Kate. Did you want to add anything to this? Good morning. You know what I did, but I feel like I would just be repeating what everyone said at this point, so. That's fair. But because I feel like I, I was agreeing with Sid and I have quite a few episodes banked and I almost feel that when I feel that way of like, oh, I have these episode banks. It's that's so awesome. And then all of a sudden life will get super busy and then like 3 months later I'm like, oh, I'm so glad I had those because now I don't have them. So I kind of like, for me it kind of flows. But it's interesting hearing like Janae say he has so many and that makes him feel good.

39:35 And Mark, you were like, well, I don't like having them all. I want to get them out. So I really do feel like it's a personal preference. Like it's how everybody works. So if you feel better about not having that many bank because you want to get all of them out when in real time, that I think that's the way to go if that's how you work and that's how you do your best work. And so I think it's kind of like everyone has to do what makes them feel comfortable and good about their show. Yeah. And the best part is you can always adjust. I think that a lot of us feel like we we're locked into a certain way that we do it and then we can't change it. But that's not the case. Yeah, if it's working for you, go for it. And then if it's not, then start looking into some changes. So yeah, I'm with you.

40:15 Yeah. I have a question but it's not really around this topic so I'll I can like wait till till later if we want to finish up. I like I like real time questions. Go for it. Oh, well, I've been, I actually had reached out to Jonathan after last week or the week before, I don't really remember, but when we were talking about like branding and stuff. So I've been kind of trying to, I've been restructuring my show a little bit. So I don't normally have like specific questions, but I actually have been putting together a list of questions to almost guide the conversation. Obviously there were big enough questions that the show would be very different, but just to kind of like help with the like, what is this show about and who it's for?

40:55 I want people to feel very much like, oh, this show is for me. I also have been trying to figure out like, what is the like, who is the show for? Like who is that Avatar? Like if I said my show is for this kind of person, that that person was like, oh, I'm into that. Like I wanted, I want to listen to that show cuz those are the shows that I love. When you hear it and you're like, yeah, that's for me. So I wanted to share it and get people's opinions on it. No, go for it. Yeah, if it's clear. OK. So I came up with ambitious professionals with a creative soul. And then the tagline would be Make something it matters. Say it once more, I want to. Let it Ambitious, ambitious professionals with a creative soul. Yeah, I, I mean, that speaks to me when I hear it. And I think, I think that's, I, I would fit under that category and I would that would get me interested, although I've already had an interest in your show. But yeah, hypothetically I would be interested in a show that presents that way.

41:54 Yeah, I like that. Sid, did you want to comment? Yeah. I mean, Kate, I think it's on point. Ambitious professional. I think a lot of people even can identify with that and the creative soul. I mean, that's also a very telling thing. You could be an ambitious professional and not be creative, right? So I think you're doing a great job with that then trying to really identify who your audience is. I had somebody ask us in an interview, we got our new business, we got interviewed, bought for a magazine feature that's going to come out in a few weeks. And he asked us who is this for? And very similar to what Kate just said, I said this is for growth minded business leaders. If you are not a growth minded business leader, we're not for you. And I think those descriptors, you want to eliminate people just as you want to attract people. And I think leaning into those adjectives, if you will, that really define your avatar is a great thing to do when we also do more of it.

42:47 Agreed, and I'm curious Kate does professional. Well, I should say it this way. Would you getting even more specific than professional? Would that work for you? And I'm not suggesting it, it would. This is a genuine question. Is that still could that be too broad? Would would entrepreneur work better? Would something, I forget what Sid used in his example, but something more like Sid used? Or do you feel like professional speaks well to what you're doing? I feel like saying entrepreneur. So a lot of the people that listen to the show, they're not entrepreneurs. They like have they have a job like they work for someone like a lot of our clients are.

43:29 They listen to the show and they're like a leader, a manager. So I think a lot of, although, you know, I think a lot of people still identify with entrepreneur if they are entrepreneurial, I think they do identify with entrepreneur as well, even if they aren't 1. So I think it could, it could work. But I think for me it's like the professional side, just because I talk so much to people around, yes, I have my job and I and I like it. I'm not, I'm not trying to have a podcast as a business, but I do love podcasting or I do love storytelling and movies or, or cooking and gardening and kind of getting into a creative pursuit. So. But I don't know, like, This is why I'm trying to workshop it, you know?

44:10 Yeah. And I'm not trying to confuse you or make it more difficult. I'm just thinking sometimes it works to get more specific, other times it doesn't. And I'm, I'm hearing you and I think still now professional does feel more appropriate. And I see Janae has a question. It might be the one he just put in the chat. But go for it, Janae, let's hear it. Kate, awesome title for the podcast. I agree with it being more specific. And I've told that for two other people who come to ask me, Well, I want to ask, you know, what's the goal for the show that you're trying to get those listeners to do? Because there's some transition or transformation that you're that you want your listeners to do.

44:51 Or maybe you're sharing these questions, are answering these questions that people are asking you. Again, what's the what's that thing that you want them to do after listening to your episode? So the whole concept of the show is around, so it's called Create for no reason and it's all about the joy and frustration of the creative process and building a body of work. So the show is basically, I'm talking to people that are creating anything, a newsletter, podcast, videos, anything. And they're going through their creative process and practice of, you know, what are they doing to stay on track with their newsletter? How do they deal with imposter syndrome? How do they get, how do they get through something? But it's all around like they're sharing the tools and what they're doing to actually create their work so that the end of every episode, the goal is that not that, oh, that was really fun show. I'm so happy I listen.

45:42 It's like, oh, I'm actually going to try this. Like somebody mentioned how, oh, they're doing this newsletter and now they started a newsletter on LinkedIn. I didn't even know LinkedIn had a newsletter feature. Now I'm going to go and maybe test it out and try it for my own newsletter. So it really is around getting people to share their their creative process in a way that is getting so detailed. So it sparks someone to think, oh, I can try that. I can do that. I'm going to implement that in my creative pursuit. OK, Janae, so with that, where do you go from here? I love that because you're basically highlighting the fact that you've got to put in the reps and how are these people putting in the reps to stay creative, to stay motivated, to create a body of work that is making them proud?

46:30 Am I accurate in that? Yes, absolutely. OK. Mike had said maybe something like frustrated creators as an option versus professional, and we're frustrated professionals maybe. But what I like about Mike's suggestion is it's more specific and it hits a pain point, which we talk a lot about when we're creating podcasting is, you know, are we solving a pain point or pain points for our target audience? And that really, in my opinion, speaks to it. So I'm Kate, what do you think about something like that? And again, not saying that's what you should do. I'm saying that that that's something that I gravitate to and I'm curious what you think about it.

47:12 Yeah, No, I like that. I I do like that. My only reason for always going back to some kind of professional is that I'm, I'm trying to, I'm trying to like even that subtitle of my book is a guide to living your creative life without leaving your job. Like I'm really trying to get people that are professionals that like, they might not even see themselves as a creator. They don't even know that they, they don't even know the joy that they're missing out on because they're like, well, I have a job. I can't start a podcast. I have a job. I no one cares about a newsletter that I would write, but like, or I have a job. I don't have time to, you know, take jiu jitsu. I really want people to get inspired to like recognize like I can do this.

47:56 So I think both options work. I think they could both work and I like them both. So this is where I'm like, I don't know, I just have to choose the one and go with it. But there's something that I'm tied to around this professional only because a lot of the people we coach, they are, they're more traditional professions. And they when, when they start getting back into like baking and doing things that they like playing guitar, like they just, they lost it that they, they, they didn't even, they didn't even think that that would bring them so much joy because, you know, they did it as a kid. They don't think they can do it now. OK, that's fair. And maybe maybe frustrated professional versus creator might sink in better.

48:38 I, I, I respect that you are gravitating to that word professional. It speaks more in your opinion, to your audience. So, yeah, much like you're saying, I, I think pick it and stick with it and see how it goes for a while. And if it's working, great. If not, you can always adjust. I saw several people wanted to comment. I'm going to be limited with who I go to only because I still want to hear from Julie. So DRI, think I saw your hand up first. Go for it. Well, also utilize a subtitle, you know. And I'm sorry, what was the title of your show? Again, title, by the way. I think this is more of her clearly trying to define her, her audience. Yeah.

49:19 So go ahead, Kate. OK, well the the subtitle will help you define that audience as well and will help the audience find you so. Yeah, 'cause Kate's show. Kate, this is for create for no reason, right? Yes, OK, so create for no reason conversations about the joy of hobbies or you know, something like that something conversations tips for advice for conversations about use that as like a subtitle and that can also help you and put some SEO words in there. Yeah, that, that can always help. Let's see.

50:00 I'm going to go to Sid and then we're going to check in with Julie. Go ahead, Sid. Sorry to meet that. OK. One of the things that I'm doing right now is I'm in the process of interviewing my listeners and I did a dynamic ad at the beginning of my show. And I know who listeners are because they reach out to me and I've reached out to them and asked them to let me interview them one O 1 on Zoom and I asked them five questions. It ends up being about a 30 minute conversation. And I am learning so much from this process. I'm doing this to prepare for how I want to revamp the show in season 7, which will kick off in late January. But I'm learning so much about my audience, about what they like about the show, about what their needs are because one of the questions that I asked them is what are you struggling with right now?

50:50 And that's it. Two things A that informs me for content that I can bring that can help them. The second thing it does is it informs my business about solutions that my business might be able to offer to, to to my podcast listeners, right? So you might want to reach out and do a one-on-one interviews with them to learn from them. That might help you with some of this workshopping that you're trying to do around truly identify who these people are. Thank you, Sid. And yes, you know what I have been doing because you said you were doing that. That's exactly what I have been doing, which is why I decided to structure my show with the new questions. So thank you. Very cool.

51:33 Thank you, Sid. Thank you, Kate. Appreciate you coming up on stage and asking your questions. You're always welcome to do that and anybody is welcome to do that at any point during the show. If you've got something that you want answered, come bring it and we'll be happy to answer it. And let's check in with Julie. Julie, good morning. Welcome back to the stage. Did you want to add to the conversation? Did you have your own question? The floor is yours. Thank you and thanks for having me. I love the conversation. There's so many. I learned something new every time I come in this room. I'm totally going to ask the question that Sid just ask like what? What problems do you have? But I do have a quick question and I'm coming up on 100 episodes of my podcast. I can't believe I've done 100 episodes. It's awesome.

52:18 Yeah. So I want to celebrate that, but I also want to start. I, just, after we went to podcast, I, I went into all those, you know, monetization rooms and, and I've been doing a little bit better with being the sponsor of my own podcast. And I'm also thinking about, I actually pitched my first sponsorship to a company this week. And the second thing I'm thinking about is charging for people to be on my podcast and offering a package where I coach them on, you know, what they're going to say a little bit because I do Ingredients for Success. And now I'm interviewing small business owners. So what I'm doing is I'm offering them a platform to get their business in front of our local audience here and in South Florida.

53:06 I've, I've pivoted a little bit to having a local podcast. And So what I'm doing is I'm giving them a platform to be able to share their business with a lot of different kinds of people and then getting into a lot of different newsletters locally. So I'm thinking about charging for the episode and a little bit of coaching and some shorts and some like shout outs. And so I just wanted to know what you guys thought about that and maybe some tips or pointers on how I should do that. Great question and I'm going to post here a link to an episode we did, I don't know, couple months back. This this one is all about charging your guests to be on your show.

53:52 And Victoria was our guest and she really broke it down well how she does it and how she does it successfully. And I think that you'll get a ton of great information there if you listen to that episode. So that is episode 256. It's called Why and how this host charges guests to be on her show with Victoria Meyer. I think if you go there and take about an hour to listen, I think you'll get a ton of those questions answered. So that's that's going to be what I'm going to leave you with right now. Awesome. Thank you so much. Yeah, you're welcome. You're welcome. And we are at the top of the hour. So this is a good place to say we'll be back again tomorrow, 7:00 AM Eastern, as we are most Mondays through Fridays, except when there might be vacations or holidays.

54:39 So come join us tomorrow morning again, 7:00 AM Eastern, live here on Clubhouse. That information's in the show notes if you're listening via podcast. Otherwise, if you're here live, you know exactly what to do. So we'll be back and until then, make it a great day. Everybody take care.