What I Wish I Knew Before Starting a Podcast: 10 Hard-Learned Lessons from Kelly Kennedy

What I Wish I Knew Before Starting a Podcast: 10 Hard-Learned Lessons from Kelly Kennedy

Kelly Kennedy: Welcome to episode 159 of the business development podcast. And if you've ever thought about starting your own podcast, well, this episode is for you.

Intro: The Great Mark Cuban once said, business happens over years and years. Value is measured in the total upside of a business relationship, not by how much you squeezed out in any one deal.

And we couldn't agree more. This is the business development podcast based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and broadcasting to the world. You'll get expert business development, advice, tips, and experiences. And you'll hear interviews with business owners. CEOs and business development reps, you'll get actionable advice on how to grow business.

Brought to you by Capital Business Development, CapitalBD.ca. Let's do it. Welcome to the Business Development Podcast, and now your expert host, Kelly Kennedy.

Kelly Kennedy: Hello, welcome to episode 159 of the business development podcast. And today I want to chat with you guys all about starting your podcast. My gosh, you know, I've been doing this for quite a while at this point, but I've had plenty of people reach out and ask for podcast advice.

People have asked, what should they consider? What should they think about? What do they need to get their podcast going? And so. I'm I'm, I'm working on it. I'm thinking about it behind the scenes here about potentially putting together a launch your own podcast series. But before I did, I wanted to just chat with you guys today, 10 things that I wish I would have known that were hard learned lessons in launching and running the business development podcast.

And I'm excited to share them with you today. If you are. Considering starting a show, this will be an excellent episode for you guys to listen to. But before we get started today, I wanted to start our show with a show update. So we are a little over 18 months of the Business Development Podcast. We are sitting at 208, 701 downloads.

We are pushing in real tight here on 2, 500 followers on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, which is amazing. I could not do it without you guys. We have a following of around 2, 100 on LinkedIn. So, That's growing quickly as well. So if you guys are looking to, you know, keep up with the business development podcast and the things that we have going on here, we would love it.

If you guys would either follow us on Apple podcasts and Spotify and not, or join us on LinkedIn, come, come over to our LinkedIn page. We always launch our upcoming guests for the, for the month ahead. So if you guys are trying to figure out who do we got coming on, we always launch our guest list on the first of the months.

You'll be able to see who we got coming on and what's going on on the BDP. But we would love to have you over there, join our community, join our conversations. It really means a lot to us. So come give us a follow on LinkedIn and feel free to follow me personally as well. Kelly Kennedy. Thanks to everybody who has been sending community questions.

It's amazing. We are going to have a community questions episode in August, which I am super, super excited for. If you still want to submit questions, you can shoot anything through to me on LinkedIn or Podcast@capitalbd.ca. That's Podcast@capitalbd.ca. You can send us whatever questions you guys have regarding entrepreneurship, business development, podcasting, and I would be happy to join you and share those for you.

Also, keep in mind, guys, they are anonymous unless stated otherwise. So don't be afraid of me tagging you or anything like that. We will not be doing that unless you explicitly say that it is okay to do so. You can follow us on LinkedIn, Apple podcast, Spotify, Instagram, YouTube. We are everywhere. And we do appreciate that support.

And for any of you who are looking to improve your business development game, set up a better business development process, learn a little bit more one on one. I do offer one on one personalized coaching, and you can book a discovery call at the Capitalbd.ca website, go over to coaching and follow the links.

And it'll take you to a spot where you can book a free discovery call. And I would be happy to do that with you. All right, let's just get into it. According to whatsthebigdata. com, as of 2024, there are over 5 million podcasts available worldwide, along with around 71 million episodes existing in podcast feeds.

That is unreal. Super cool. But there's an interesting statistic and only 17. 5 percent of podcasts are still publishing episodes. 82 percent of podcasts are considered inactive. And so that leaves less than a million active podcasts worldwide, guys, worldwide. There is a huge opportunity for podcasters.

And I think a lot of people have felt like it's too late to get started, but it is not too late. Honestly, guys, it is still just the beginning. By the end of 2024, the number of active podcast listeners is expected to reach 100 million active listeners. Guys, that's people who listen every day. Every single week, a hundred million to only a million active podcasts.

Think about that. And yeah, sure. A lot of people are finding podcasts that are inactive. They're still listening to the back catalog. Sure. That's where a lot of listening is happening. But think about that. There's only around a million active shows and a hundred million listeners for those shows. Over time, guys, all shows are going to grow.

There's no question about it. And so I've had a lot of people reach out and say, you know, Yeah. Should we start a show? Would this be a good idea? And the answer guys is Maybe we're going to get into that today. It's not always a good idea, but understand there is an opportunity here for the people who are willing to commit to it.

The market size of podcasting is expected to reach 30. 3 billion by the end of 2024, guys, a 30 billion market by the end of 2024, 22 percent of people tune into podcasts while driving. Smartphones are still the preferred podcast listening device worldwide. 66 percent of consumers now prefer listening to podcasts over watching TV.

Podcasting is clearly growing at an incredibly rapid pace. And many of you may be considering starting a podcast in 2025. And I wanted to share some advice that I've learned in 160 episodes of the Business Development Podcast. And so guys, this one today is for you to all of my listeners who have reached out and said, Kelly, how do I do this?

I love your show. I'm thinking about starting my own show. This one is for you. And guys, you know, it's been a journey. A lot of you have been on it with me since the very beginning. And my gosh, do I appreciate the heck out of you. This show could not have existed without the continuous support of the listeners of the business development podcast.

You guys really are my rock, my heroes. I appreciate each and every one of you. And for those of you who, you know, wrote to me and told me about how this show has impacted your life, guys, every time you do that, it impacts my life. Because I could have never seen the reach, the worldwide reach that the business development podcast would have.

And frankly, our guests, our sponsors are amazing listeners. You guys are all. Rockstars, you're all amazing and this show could not have gone as far as it has without you. And it truly cannot continue without your support. And so, as the podcasting world is growing, my gosh, do I appreciate when you guys recommend us to your friends, your family, your co workers, and to anybody who who this show would make a difference for.

Because that's how this grows, guys. It grows that way. You know, if you're paying for ads all the time, and you know, we do, we do our best. But the reach only goes so far. The real reach of this show is you. are amazing listeners. And so thank you to each and every one of you who have stepped up and really helped support this show because could not have gone this far without you.

And so, number one, you are good enough. And this one is really important, and that's why it's number one. And it's because you are good enough. If you have been working in any field for any length of time, you have a certain set of expertise. You have things that you can speak to, you have topics that you can speak to, you have things that you're passionate about, and there's no reason that you cannot be successful in podcasting as long as you put in the time and effort to learn it and get better at it.

And so understand, like, we all start here. You know, the story of the start of this show was I knew at the end of 2022 that I needed to do something outward face with regards to my company, with regards to capital. And what did I think about? I was like, well, what could I share with the world that would benefit the world?

Like what experience do I have that I could share with the world and hopefully have an impact with? And it was the fact that I understood business development. I understood how to do it effectively. I understood the importance of process. And I understood how to talk to people. And so I thought, you know what?

Sure. I have no experience in this, but I love podcasting. And so why don't I just try it? And guys, My podcast equipment sat in the corner of my room for over a month before my fiance was getting fed up with me and put me in the corner and said, do something with this gear, either sell it or do something with it, but it's got to go.

So I had the kick in the butt and I went downstairs that night. I set it all up and I recorded the trailer episode of the business development podcast. And you guys know, the rest is history. We're here talking to you today. You know, a full nearly year and three quarters later. So this show could not have existed without that little kick in the butt.

But understand, I was feeling the pressure. I was feeling the imposter syndrome. I was feeling the who am I to talk to this wall and talk to the world and to teach business development. But really, the question is, Why not? Why not you? And understand that if I'm talking to you right now and you're like, you've been on the fence about it, you've been on the fence about starting a podcast.

The answer is why not you? Why couldn't you be the next big leader in your field? Why couldn't you improve somebody's business, somebody's life with the knowledge that you have available? We live in this amazing time where information is just widely available. And if you have some on a certain level, aren't you obligated To share it with the world, aren't you obligated to share your gifts with the world?

And that's my true belief is that if you have a gift to share, you by default have an obligation to share that gift with the world. And I know it's scary. I know that launching your show is scary. I'm the first to tell you. I was scared shitless guys. Episode three almost never came out because by the time I released one episode, two episodes, three episodes, I was already having so much self doubt.

So much self doubt of who are you to do this? Why? Is anyone even going to listen? Does anyone even care? Right? Like this is, these were real things that I was struggling with. And the answer now guys is yeah, a lot of people cared. A lot of people cared. A lot of people needed this advice. But I couldn't have known that at the time.

And you don't know that right now. And you won't know that until you put out that information. But let me tell you, the first time that somebody reaches out and says, your episode has changed my life. This information has been a game changer. I got the job because of the information that I found on your show.

My God, there's almost nothing more rewarding than that feeling that you truly help someone guys. And that's what podcasting really is about. Yeah, is there monetary sides to it? Sure, but there's monetary sides to everything. But the real root of any podcast is to help the world in some way, to improve someone's day, to help them grow a better business than they could have grown before to change their life.

Maybe radically that is the impact of podcasting that is the true impact of podcasting There's so much purpose in it that that can be the true driver and we're gonna get into we're gonna get into longevity We're gonna get into driving because I've learned a lot along the way when I started this show Frankly, I didn't think it would be successful, but I didn't know right like you can't know but that's the thing.

That's the magic That's the amazing thing about a podcast is the content You can't know the impact you're going to have until you get out there and make it. So understand, first off, you are good enough. You are an expert at something. There's something that you know, that you could speak a hundred episodes to.

Trust me, think about that for a second. There is something that you are an expert in. You can learn. All the skills you need. So first off, understand guys, I was not a podcaster. I think most of you know that I had to learn everything, the audio equipment, what microphones do you know, what all the tools were available, audio software, how to edit my show, how to use plugins in order to get the best quality of audio.

There was a lot that I had to learn, but understand I learned it all. It was all available to me, mostly for free. There was a point at which I did hire a podcasting coach to come in and teach me audio editing to a level to essentially a stage two level. Okay. Like I understood the basics. There were some more things that I could see what was happening on the audio side, but I didn't understand why it was happening.

And so at that point, I did hire a coach. Guys, it was a cheap cost. I think it cost me about 300 bucks. It was not the end of the world to get that information. And that is about the extent that I have had to spend on coaching in order to help me through this. Most of this stuff, I have been able to self learn.

And you will also be able to self learn, okay? You will feel imposter syndrome and it's normal. Okay. Like we, like I said, I've been feeling imposter syndrome for quite a while. I still have moments, I think, where I struggle with imposter syndrome. It can be on a different level. It doesn't tend to be with the podcast anymore.

But, you know, there are still moments where I'm feeling like, Oh my gosh, am I good enough to do this? And you know what guys, the answer 9 times out of 10 is yes. Really, 9. 9 times out of 10 is yes, okay? Most of us are struggling because we're struggling against ourselves. Your biggest critic is you. And that is definitely my case.

And so, understand that like, imposter syndrome, you're gonna struggle with it. But trust me, the longer that you stick in it, The more times that you show imposter syndrome that, Hey, not only am I here, I'm showing up and I'm doing it like an expert. After a while, you can't be an imposter. It's something you're absolutely killing it at.

Can you people will love your show here? This, no matter what your show is, somebody. Will love your show. You will generate lifelong fans of your show. No matter what your topic is, no matter what you're talking about, no matter what it is, somebody is absolutely going to love the content that you put into the world.

And so understand that right now, when you're asking yourself, will anybody listen? The answer is yes. Not only will people listen, you will generate people who absolutely love and look forward to hearing your show week over week, month over month, year over year. So understand that, whatever you put out into the world, somebody will love it.

So right now, quell that thought, okay? Somebody will love your show. All right, second point. You don't have to do a podcast to be successful. I know there's a lot of people right now where you're thinking like, Oh man, I see so much going on and people are putting so much content out there. And it's like, I either need a YouTube channel or I need a podcast.

I need something to get me out there into the world. The answer is no, you actually don't. Is it beneficial? Sure. Of course. If you're an expert in something, of course, if you're sharing that information with the world, it's going to be beneficial, but it is not mandatory. And so right now, if you're feeling like I have to.

I absolutely have to. I have no choice. You do have a choice. You can become an expert in your field in a variety of ways. Sharing, you know, a weekly video on LinkedIn, like something that's like two minutes long, just some advice. putting up posts commenting on things, writing a book. If you're a true, like rockstar expert in something, you have that skill, write a book.

There are a thousand things that you can do that isn't podcasting, that isn't YouTube, that will make you an expert in your field. So understand. You do not need a podcast to be an expert. You do not need a YouTube channel. You do not need to do anything for the most part to be an expert in something other than learn that skill and become an expert in it.

And heck, you could be an expert for a niche of people that just know who you are. And that's okay. There's nothing wrong with that. Okay. So. You do not have to do a podcast to be successful. There are many, many ways to be successful that are not about being a content creator. Okay, you can succeed without a podcast.

You can share your expertise on other podcasts. And this is like for those of you who are like really mulling this idea where you are an expert in something, but you're looking for what else I can do. Like, how can I get this information out to the world? I have to start a podcast. The answer could be no.

You could reach out to a ton of podcasts and say, I would love to be a guest and share this information with the world to your audience. That is an option for you and a great option. And let me tell you why, because producing a podcast is hard. It's challenging. It's time consuming. You have to show up week over week, month over month, year over year.

You at some point have a commitment to your fans, to your sponsors, to the people who are stakeholders, who matter, right? Who are, who are looking forward to this. If you just show up on someone else's show from time to time, you can still have a huge impact without having that time dedication to doing your own show.

And so that's on the table for you, right? And that can be incredibly successful as well. And if you see a lot of authors, that's what they're doing. You can build your personal brand in other ways. Okay. Like we live in a time where personal branding, absolutely. It's going to become important. You don't have to have a podcast.

You don't have to have a YouTube channel. You can, you can share content on LinkedIn. You can comment on other people's LinkedIn. You can grow in other ways. This is what I'm getting at here. So understand that if you're like on the fence and you realize when you're going to get into this, we're going to talk about today, there's a time commitment to podcasting.

And you're like, you know what, Kelly, I, I want to do this, I think, but like the time commitment, I can't do it. Explore other ways. There are many other ways to become a leader in your field to build your personal brand that are not podcasting. So you're not tied to podcasting. There are other ways, okay, before we get into this.

All right, now let's get into it. If I haven't persuaded you, let's keep going. Number three, it has never, ever been easier to start a show. Guys, Even since I started podcasting, the amount of technology change is absolutely next level. The way that AI has advanced and become more accurate, and the data that it could spit out to you is absolutely next level.

It has never been easier. It has never been easier than to start a podcast today, okay? Platforms like Adobe Podcast, Descript, Riverside. fm make recording and editing easy. AI can help you with show notes and it's almost perfect. Transcripts can be created in a fraction of the time and almost perfectly accurate, guys.

Descript is so good at this point at doing your transcripts that I would say that it pretty much only goofs up. The occasional name and maybe place, but it is, it is absolutely amazing. Like the accuracy is next level. And it wasn't that when I started the accuracy of AI transcripts is probably about 80%.

So you were constantly reading through it, fixing all the words. It's gotten so good simply in the last two years. It's absolutely crazy. Your cover art, your intro, your outro music can all be outsourced very easily and done incredibly professionally for not an expensive cost. Creating beautiful materials for socials on programs such as Canva are a total breeze at this point, guys.

So like creating your own content for promotion, things like that, it's gotten so much easier to do. And so honestly, from like a show production point, it has never been easier. And so if you've been looking for like that kick in the butt, where it's like, Oh, you know, I want to do it, but it's like really hard to do.

It's really not that hard to do from a content standpoint, from like an AI standpoint, there's a lot of things that are working in your favor to make it easier than ever to get your content out to the world. So things that used to take much longer now take a much shorter period of time, making podcasting much more accessible.

to the average person. And I think that's what you're going to see. It's going to get easier and easier and easier over time to produce a high quality show and send it out to the world. So understand that if you've been on the fence about it, but you've been worried about the time commitment, yeah, it's still going to be a time commitment.

We're going to get into that today. But it's never been less of a time commitment to produce a show. Okay. Number four, commercial production equipment will run you under 2, 000 for a full high end setup, guys. And I mean like a broadcast level setup. We're talking under 2, 000, probably a one time investment for you.

And you're going to have a full production suite. available to you to create some of the highest quality audio like the audio you hear on this show. You're going to have a production suite available to you to do that for under 2, 000 guys. I can't really think of a lower barrier to entry for just about anything in business.

Almost everything costs a small fortune, 2, 000 or less. And I mean like, and I'm talking like the premium set of guys, you do not need to spend 2, 000. We are talking a premium, premium setup, a Rodecaster Pro 2 you know, an Electrovoice RE20. Or, you know, something along those lines. You don't need that.

It'll give you that, like, that, that radio voice that you may want to have. But, like, you can go way less than that. You could probably cut that in half and still get a really high end audio setup. So it's never been really cheaper to do a really high end podcast setup from home, guys. Cost wise, commercial production equipment, super affordable, super high end, gonna give you that premium sound that you guys are looking for.

Number five. Okay, we're gonna get into the hard stuff again. Even despite all of these advancements, even despite the AI, things like that, podcasting will become like a second part time job, okay? And I really do mean that, because Recording is really just the beginning. Even with all the tools available, two shows a week takes me about seven hours by the time you hear them.

And guys, this does not include the socials. This does not include the work that goes into promoting the show. Just creating the show, editing the show, making sure it's perfect, and getting it out to you guys with transcripts, and, and things like that. It's about seven hours a week that I dedicate to each week of podcasting and I, you know, it's a lot and a lot of that happens for me after hours.

A lot of that has went into sometimes weekends to make this work for you guys. And so understand that there is a time commitment to doing a podcast and to doing it well. I make sure that all my shows are edited very nicely for you so that you guys are getting a nice rounded out show. And that takes time.

And yeah, do I need to do that? Probably not, but it's me. I got, I got a little perfectionist in me and I like a perfect show whenever possible. And you know what? They're not all perfect. The reality is you guys find errors in these shows probably pretty regularly because I do as good as I can, but there are still moments where it's hard or I missed something.

But understand that like, these are, these are produced shows, right? Like I'm going through and I'm making sure that I'm cutting out You know, words I don't want to, I don't want to use or gaps and spaces and, and situations where I might cough or things like that. I do try to take those out for you because I don't want to listen to them.

So understand if you are going to put some care into your show and guys, if you guys are going to do a podcast, put some care into it, right? Like don't do anything that you wouldn't be totally proud of. And so from an editing standpoint, you're going to very likely put in the time. And I think you're going to find that the longer you go down this road.

the better you're going to get at editing, but what, what else that means is your criticality of yourself is going to go up too. And so honestly, it took me less time to produce this show in the beginning more so because I didn't understand certain things. And as I got better and better and better and learn more and more and more about podcasting and audio production and producing a high level And adding things in or taking things out, my production time actually went up, like it takes me actually a little bit more time now to produce a show than it did in the beginning, but more so because my expectations of myself have gone up.

My expectations for the show to give you the best quality show possible has gone up, and so understand that that will probably happen to you too. In the beginning, you might not be as critical, but over time, you might start to become more and more and more critical, which is not a bad thing, but understand that, you know, it's gonna take time.

It's going to take time, probably seven to eight hours a week if you're doing two shows. If you're only doing one, maybe you could cut that down to four. Understand that guest episodes take longer to produce than one on one episodes like this one. So it depends on what your show is or how you want to do it.

But ultimately, I would say probably on average, you guys are going to be spending about seven hours a week, you know, planning your show, recording your show, editing your show, hosting your show, getting it out to the world. And that might even be ahead of your promotion of the show, guys. So. There is time.

There is time that goes into podcasting to do it right and to do it well. And the longer you go down this path, unfortunately, it doesn't necessarily get easier. Your expectations of yourself, the way you want to market the show, the production level of the show that you expect of yourself over time will likely go up.

And so even though tools come out to hopefully make you a little more efficient, usually that time gets reinvested in just creating a better show. Not necessarily a time savings, okay? So understand, guys, the quality of the production with a podcast really matters. And why do I say this? Because if your show does not sound good, it doesn't matter what the content of the show is if nobody will listen to it.

And so, understand that the reason that I take so much time trying to produce a really high end show is because If I sound like crap, if my audio is coming through and it's hard to listen to, it's like hurting your ears. And like, I get it. Like, and there are episodes of this show where I bet you would hurt your ears because I needed to learn.

There were things I had to learn about hearing and about, about what sound resonances might be, you know, not beneficial to the show. And these are things that I learned over time. And you know what, I'll admit it, there probably are two or three shows at least that, that maybe the sound wasn't up to par, but.

Understand that the more shows that you can produce that are a high quality sound, it's almost more important than the content of the show. And while the content of the show, absolutely, especially once you get your sound figured out is absolutely critical and very important. It does not matter in the beginning.

If your sound quality is so poor that people find your show and they're like, Nope, can't even listen to this. Okay. So understand that the quality of the sound of your show in the beginning, at least is actually more important than the content you're putting out to the world. And so spending that little bit extra time.

Doing proper production, making sure that your sound is clean. You're not getting too much reverb. You're not getting too much background noise, and that you're just coming through nice and clear. That is almost more important in the beginning than the content you're putting out to the world. Get your sound figured out, and then kill it on the content.

But trust me, you do need both. You need a good sound, and you need good content, okay? High quality shows takes time and care. So takeaway here I want from number five. High quality shows for you. It takes time and care. There's no replacement for time and care. There's no replacement for double checking your work for listening through to your show a second time to make sure that you've caught all the errors.

That it does sound good. There's no chops and clicks and crunches in there. Right? When you start editing up a show, guys, you can get like bad transition sounds. And so it takes a little bit of time to like learn how to get it right. And you know, I'm not even perfect at this, guys. I've edited, yeah, at this point I've edited 160 shows.

And there are still times when I struggle with the edit, when the edit doesn't quite go to plan, when the guests sound, I just can't get it where I want it because the quality of the mic they use wasn't great. There are, there are episodes of this show, guys, that no matter what I did, I couldn't get that mic good.

I couldn't get that guest mic good. The show went out and, you know, it sucks because it wasn't to the par that I wish it was at, but sometimes you have to accept that good enough is better than nothing. And so there are certain guest episodes where that was the case with this show. Good enough was better than not releasing a show at all.

And so I went for good enough and there are going to be situations where good enough has to be just that good enough, but over time, you're going to get better and better and better at editing and being able to suggest and know like what would make a good mic sound. Now I'm at a point where I will tell a guest, look, The mic isn't coming through good.

I don't want to record this episode. Let's, let's, let's circle back when you get a better mic. Let's circle back when you're in a better location. It's better off now for me to do that, but I didn't know what I didn't know. And now I'm willing to talk to a guest and say, Hey, we're just not getting the sound I want.

You're not going to like this. My fans aren't going to like this. We need to, we need to go back and try this again. And you know what? You would be surprised. They're more accepting of this than you would think. I think in the beginning, I was really afraid because I was just thankful to have guests. But you will hit a point where you're like, okay, I know what I expect for my show.

I know the level of sound quality that I want to put out to the world. And I'm not going to get it if I go this path. So understand that it is okay to reschedule a guest. If you are really unhappy with the sound, if you think it's not going to produce a good show, It is important that at the end of the day, you are getting the sound quality that is going to be worth listening to because once again, the content can be amazing, but if you can't get the sound you want, it's not going to matter because nobody's going to listen.

Number six, if you can't afford a producer like 90 percent of us, you will have to produce your own show yourself, okay? AI can help. Guys, I've been self producing for, like, the whole show. Like, I've never outsourced the production of the show. I know it's a little hard to believe. I've had a lot of conversations about it.

I'm not saying that I will never outsource the production of the show, but outsourced production is very expensive. Very expensive. And so if you are not, you know, producing a large sum of money with your show, it's probably not going to be on the table for you, unless you can write it off as, like, an advertising expense or something like that for your business.

Production is amazing, but most of us are probably self producing. Guys, AI can help, but understand that I actually self produced this show on Adobe Audition. And you remember when I told you guys at the beginning of this that I needed some coaching and some training? I actually hired a rock star producer to coach me.

And she taught me everything on how to, on how to use audition. And guys, my gosh, was it a learning curve? Because I started off on a program called Hindenburg Journalist Pro. I would actually still recommend Hindenburg Journalist Pro. It's, it's a very amazing program. It's easy to understand and use for those of you who've never.

used an audio production software. It's actually designed for reporters. But you know, the reality is now I recommend Adobe audition, you know, for anybody who is going to be doing self production and you think that you're going to be committed to this, you're going to be into this thing for 50, a hundred episodes, guys, Adobe audition is a great place to learn.

It's got a higher learning curve. Don't get me wrong. Editing on audition. It's not as easy as editing on something like Hindenburg, but if you can learn the skills, it will carry you way into the future. If you decide to do bigger and better things with this show, the amount of things that integrate with audition, the amount of things you can do with audition, the level of edit that you can get with audition is pretty much impossible to get with anything else, including AI programs.

So for those of you who are going to produce your own show, you're not afraid to get down and dirty and learn a new tool. Adobe Audition is what I would recommend to you to not only record your episodes, but edit your episodes as well. Adobe Audition is absolutely amazing. So trust me on this. If you guys are going to be doing your own production, learn Audition.

It's amazing. All right. Number seven, your podcast should have a website. Okay. And I know a lot of you were like, okay, well, I've produced a show. I've put it out to the world on the hosting platform. Where are my listeners? You still need a home base. Something that you can kind of put people back to. And I actually recommend, well, it depends on what you go with.

So, you know, we're now running our hosting platform on Captivate. fm It is the leading podcast hosting platform. It's actually pretty good. Just edged out Buzzsprout. So for those of you who are going to be picking a hosting platform, I would highly, highly recommend Captivate. fm. It's really cool. It's got a lot of features to it.

And one of the features it has, I think, is it can, we're not using it at the moment. I use a different program. We're going to talk about that. But it does appear to have the ability to create a website on your behalf right from the hosting platform. And that's really cool because these automated hosting platform websites are getting really, really good.

And for 99 percent of us, it's all we need. I would highly recommend that you have a website with your podcast that you can send your fans to that you can refer people to that will like, it'll have a lot of your episodes on it. Easy to find place. You can share it on LinkedIn or wherever else you guys are sharing your podcast.

But I would also highly recommend that you use an available website builder that's designed for podcasts. And the one that I actually recommend guys is one called pod page. I've been with them now since I launched this show. It's amazing. They have like a thousand different designs and ways that you can integrate pod page into, you know, all sorts of things, monetization, sharing your podcast out there and they have a great guest intake form for those of you who are going to have guests on.

It's always nice to cover your butt and have a guest intake form. And so they can track all that for you all in one place. Pod page is great. I think it ends up being about 20 bucks a month, but it's worth every penny. You're going to need a webpage. You're going to need a webpage for your podcast. Let's just put it that way.

So. If you're going to need a podcast, don't bother hiring a company to build you a website for this. Just hire like podpage. com to do this for you. It is going to be a lifesaver. It's going to be easy. You're not going to have to upkeep it. It becomes auto upkeep from your RSS feed. Trust me on this. Just go that way when you're doing a podcast website, but you do need one along with your show.

All right. Number eight, guys, this might be one of the most important things about launching your podcast. You need a purpose. There has to be a goal bigger than money, bigger than you. You need a why. You need a why to keep this thing going, because you are gonna have many, many moments of doubt. Podcasting can be extremely, extremely lonely.

Understand that. It is an incredibly lonely place. Why? Well, you think, Kelly, you have a thousand fans. You have thousands of fans around the world. Sure. We probably do. But you know what? I probably hear from one to two a week, three a week, who reach out to me and say that we're doing great things and they appreciate it.

Most people will not reach out to you. And I'm not, I'm not knocking the fans. I'm not, because I'm a fan of many shows and I've never once reached out to them. So I'm not even for a second saying that, that, that that's the reason. But understand that you have lots of people out there. Who really appreciate you, who really value the work that you're putting out into the world, but they've never, they've never reached out to you, and they may ne they may never, okay?

And so from that standpoint, from like oh, I'm getting constantly filled up with all these amazing people reaching out to me. It's, it's probably not going to be the case guys. You're going to have a lot of silent fans. You're going to have a lot of people out there who are like, Oh man, like we sure appreciate the business development podcast, but you know, I'm maybe a little afraid to reach out to Kelly.

I don't know if I really want to like reach out. Cause I think that's a little scary. Like there's a lot of people that that's how they feel. And that's okay. That's absolutely okay. Like I said, I have, I have lots of shows that I'm a fan of. I've never once reached out to the hosts. It just is what it is, but.

From a standpoint of if you're hoping to have your cup filled up week over week from all of this amazing in mail, that's not typically what happens, right? It's not what happens. And so you need to like, you need to be thankful for the people who do do that for you. And it's amazing guys. And I, you know, I mean, I have amazing friends that I've built from this show.

Amazing individuals who have even like connected with and had coffee with and met in person and Heck, some of them have even sponsored this show, which has been absolutely amazing. But the point is, is that they are unique. They are like one in a million, literally the people that reach out to you are one in a million and they're amazing people, but they are one in a million.

You have a lot of people out there who appreciate what you're doing, who may never ever reach out to you. And like the Spotify wrapped is a cool thing that Spotify does once a year and they show you like how many people were a top fan of your show and it blows me away. It absolutely blew me away last year.

We were like a number one show for 7, 500 people in our very first year. But you know, I've probably heard from 50 to a hundred of them ever. Right. So like, understand there's a big, there's a big pile of people who listen to your show, love what you're doing, appreciate what you're doing, but they are not necessarily reaching out to you.

And so it can be challenging at times. It can feel like, Oh, why am I doing this? Is anybody even listening? But the reality is there's lots of people listening. There's lots of people listening. It's just rare for people to reach out. And so. Take that from the beginning. Understand that it's rare for people to reach out.

You're not going to have people knocking down your door. It's not like that. It's not like that. And so you have to think about what you're doing and why you're doing it and have a real purpose beyond money, beyond fans, beyond becoming, you know, an expert in a space. What is your why? And try to make that purpose about something bigger than you.

It will make a big difference. For us, I knew that with the business development podcast, that I had a set of skills. I had knowledge that could help millions of people. Regardless of whether they reached out to me or not, business development as a skill and knowing how to do it effectively, knowing how to do a process effectively, having that weekly encouragement helps millions of people over time.

And so educate and inspire. That's what we do at the BDP. We educate and we inspire. Right. One of our amazing sponsors once called me a hope dealer. And I was like, man, like, that's amazing. Cause that's what I want to do. I want to give people hope. I want to give people hope. I want to tell people that they can do it.

I want to give them encouragement and the tools and the knowledge on how to do it. And then I want them to do it. And so many people have, and that's been so rewarding for me. That really does keep me coming back week over week, knowing that we are making a difference in the world. Whether we make a million dollars.

Whether we become a million plus download show, it doesn't really matter because at the end of the day, it's not necessarily about that. It's about helping the world. It's about making a difference. It's about having an impact. And that's what I wanted to do with this show. And I think that has kept me going, even when the numbers are fluctuating, even when, you know, we're not getting that feedback into the in mail boxes.

We're not necessarily getting the emails or the, or the messages. I know that regardless, people are listening and it's having an impact in their world. And you know, how do I know this? We've been a top 100 show in like 31 countries around the world, which is unreal. It's absolutely unreal. We are consistently within a top 100 somewhere in the world, every day, somewhere.

And I know that it's due to the quality of the information we're putting out in the world. It's due to me sharing my expertise with the world. And that matters. That matters. And if we can go from that standpoint, whatever podcast you do, that you have a purpose behind it. That purpose will carry you through the times that you're struggling.

And you will struggle. You will. You will struggle. Longevity, longevity will require a steadfast why. There's no two ways about it. You will not succeed long term without a steadfast why. Without knowing that you're making an impact. If you can't see it, if you can't feel it, if you can't believe in it, staying in this, you're It's too much.

It's too much to ask. You will question yourself often. You need to have a good response. You need to be able to say, I know why I'm doing this, even when I'm not getting the numbers. Even when it's not making me the money I wish it was. Even when I'm busting my ass and I'm working late on a weekend, on an evening to make this come out.

You have to know why. You have to be able to tell yourself something. And that something has to be compelling enough to keep you in it. Number nine. This one is really important, guys. You will need financial support long term. There's no two ways about it, guys. It's too much to ask. It's too much work. Even with the why.

Even with the dream to help the world. The amount of time that a podcast takes from your life. Why do you guys think 82 percent of podcasts fail? I guarantee you just about that 82 percent of them didn't monetize. And if they don't monetize, it's a lot to ask of someone to show up and spend 7, 8, 10, 15 hours a week of their life on something that does not pay them back.

financially somehow that does not at least cover the cost of the show. At some point, you are going to need financial support. Now, that can be multiple ways that doesn't actually need to be per se, like a paying advertising sponsor, that could be somebody who just believes in your mission. That could be someone who's just like a nonprofit who's like, you know what, yeah, like what you're doing is amazing.

And we want to support this, find a way to at least cover your costs, okay, it is going to be almost impossible for you to maintain this long term. without at bare minimum covering your costs. And so if you understand this from the beginning, you can make your decisions based on how can I do this long term?

What is the number of shows that I'm going to be willing to start monetizing at? You can start to have these plans in place. Who are the right people to ask for support? Who are the right sponsors for this show? You can really start those discussions up front, and you can start to make those plans ahead of time.

Because long term. There's no way to compete against the Steve Bartlett's of the world, okay, without advertising. Without ways to grow your show that are literally financial costs, massive financial costs, guys, advertising, your podcast is incredibly expensive, incredibly, incredibly expensive, not only incredibly expensive, incredibly challenging to make sure that you're getting it in front of the right people, the right listeners, the right people for the show, it is hard to track results.

It's hard to gain a listener, right? There's no two ways about it. Financial costs of growing a show are prohibitive. They are prohibitive, which means you are going to need help. You are going to need sponsors in order to grow this following over time. Okay, so understand that you are at some point going to need financial support for your show.

Start planning that from the very beginning. If you start from the beginning, it's going to be much, much easier for you. Okay? Now, understand as you go down this journey and you realize that, Hey, I'm going to need to monetize this thing. The first thing that's going to come up is going to be something called a podcast network.

Okay. This is usually a company who then works with multiple other companies. And one of the cool things that they do for you is they will source sponsors for your show if you join their network. But there's a few things that you can lose when you do this. One of them is pretty big. It can literally be creative control of your show.

Some sponsors will say, Hey, we don't want topics on this, or this wouldn't resonate well with our sponsors, so you're not allowed to do a show like this. Another thing that you can actually lose is total ownership of your show. I've seen some podcast networks who then own your content. That is something else that you may risk.

And so we actually, chose not to go with a, with a podcast network. Okay. I am, I'm actually not completely against them. What I'm against with the podcast network is that there's usually not enough benefit in it for the individual show, unless you were like a multi million listener show. There's not a lot of great benefit in it.

The benefit really does become for the podcast network. And so be wary, read the contracts that they send you, and then make a decision on if that is worth it to you to lose certain rights to your show, to lose certain creativity to your show. If it is great, that's fine. A podcast network is great. And I'm not going to advocate against them.

I actually think that some of them are really beneficial. I've seen some that have been really great. And so. Just, just letting you know, they're not all created equal. They're not all created equal. So before you make a decision on a podcast network, if that's a route you want to go, compare it against all the others available to you, have conversations with all of them, ask them what rights you lose, what creative control you'll lose, what does the podcast network own?

Okay, because in my mind, if you create the content, the podcast network should own none of it. The podcast network should not own a dime of the content that you have worked hard and created. It should 100 percent belong to you, and you should retain the rights to leave the podcast network the moment that it does not make sense for you.

So, first off, just do your measurements. There are lots of podcast networks available. But not all of them are created equally. And so you need to check that out and make sure the other option you guys have, every single one of you has the option to monetize your show yourself. And actually, if you have the skillset to do this, this is the best way to monetize your show.

So don't be afraid to to take a look at ad packages from other competitors who have similar download numbers who have similar listener types and start to make your own packages and try to market those out yourself because there's nothing wrong with doing that. You're not paying a markup fee to any type of podcast network and you're able to create those relationships yourself.

It is probably the best way to monetize your show in my opinion, and I would highly, highly recommend that that is the route that you explore first before you go down the podcast network space. Okay, guys, and number 10. There is so much more than just the podcast. Okay, putting your podcast out to the world is just the beginning.

It really is. It's the very beginning of the work. Okay, once you get the podcast out to the world, you're going to have to learn. How do I advertise the show? How do I create a social platforms for it? How do I keep social platforms up to date? How do I make sure that I'm putting great content out of the world?

How do I use? Riverside FM to make clips. How do I use Opus Clips to make clips? How do I get the best spots? How do I create the best transcripts? My gosh, guys, it's just the beginning. And this is what I'm telling you. This is what I'm saying. It is a commitment. It is at bare minimum, a part time job on top of your full time job.

Okay. At bare minimum, it is a part time job on top of your full time job to do this effectively, to do this right. If you can outsource production, you're a big company. And that's on the table for you. Maybe that's fine. For most of us who are producing our own shows and working, what this means is It's a commitment.

It's a commitment. And you have to decide if you're willing to make that commitment, but understand success in podcasting is going to take a long term commitment. This is not something that you are going to release 10 episodes and be like raking in the dough, right? That is not how podcasting works.

Podcasting is a long term game. You got to be in this for a bare minimum, commit to one year at bare minimum, commit to one year of podcasting before you decide to pull the plug on it, because growing an audience takes time. It's slow and steady. It's like waiting for your stocks to mature, right? You might be in this for a while.

And so understand that unless you are willing to make that kind of time commitment, it is probably not going to be an avenue that's going to work well for you. And I'm not saying that you can't be successful. You might be very successful with a limited series. You might be. But understand that most of the time, podcasting is a long term endeavor.

If you want to succeed long term, look at the top shows. Look at the, look at your favorite shows. That you listen to. I bet you many of them have hundreds of episodes. If not approaching a thousand episodes for some of the longer term shows, guys, they've been in it, they've been in it, they're number one because they've been in it and they stuck in it and they released two, three shows a week for the, for, for the last five to six years.

Okay, that is why they are at the number one spaces. They're at the number one spaces because they stuck it out and they show up week over week, month over month, year over year, religiously, that is the key. To success in podcasting. It's sticking in it. It's committing to a release schedule. And this is it, guys.

Commit to your release schedule ahead of time. Are you going to do one show a week? Two shows a week? Whatever it is. And then you stick to it. And come hell or high water, come floods or tornadoes, you release that show. That is the secret. If you want long term success, release shows consistently, deliver valuable resources, deliver value in every episode, And you too can have success podcasting.

Podcasting is a long game. The longer you play, the higher your odds of success. It's been one of the most rewarding endeavors that I have ever had, guys. If not the most rewarding thing that I have ever been able to do in my life. It is amazing. It is amazing. The community is amazing. The people are amazing.

The guests are amazing. The journey is worth it. Understand that for any of you who are starting this show, it's your very first time and you're ready. It is worth it, but it is not going to be easy. It is going to be one of the most challenging things that you have ever embarked on in your entire life.

But guys. It is worth it. Mark my words. If I can do it, you can do it. And it's not too late. Podcasting is just getting started. Now, there's a few people that I have to just give a gigantic thank you to and shout out on here because without their support, I can tell you right now, this show would not be where it's at.

We would not be where we're at. Keeping it going would have been damn near impossible. And I have to just say thank you. to some specific people. I have to start out by saying, Colin Harms of Hypervac Technologies, dude, you are amazing. I could not have gotten this far without you. Your continued support, I can't tell you how much it means to me.

Really, your encouragement, your friendship has been everything in this endeavor. And dude, you came out of nowhere. But I sure appreciate you. Thank you so much for supporting the show. Rodney Lover. Rodney is an amazing, amazing person. He is the principal of atWork Office Furniture, long time listener, and is constantly pushing my boundaries, but in the best possible ways, Rodney, thank you for all you do.

Thank you for your support. Thank you for all the encouragement along the way. And thank you for just believing in us. And even after leaving as a sponsor, thank you for coming back and saying, you know what, I believe in what you're doing and I appreciate you and I'm in this. So dude could not do this without you.

Vince Phillips, Foresight for IT no longer a sponsor, but an absolutely amazing individual and showed up for as long as he could. And Vince, I appreciate you immensely. And dude you're welcome back anytime. We really appreciate Foresight for IT. I'd love to have you on the show. Feel free to to hopefully do that at some point.

McKinley Hyland, once again, our very first guest. McKinley Hyland of Maverick NDT. He was our very first guest on the Business Development Podcast. Took the biggest risk by being that first guest. And dude, I appreciate you. Was a sponsor for a short period of time. Appreciated that immensely. And honestly appreciate your friendship and everything that you've done to make this show a success.

Thank you so much, McKinley. And last but not least, Mr. Shawn Neels. Mr. Shawn Neels is the owner of Planes Equipment Rentals, has been a client, spent a little bit of time coaching, has done kind of the whole gamut was a sponsor, is an absolutely amazing individual. And dude, I appreciate you, we talk regularly, and I appreciate your friendship and your support of this show.

Like I said, could not do it without people like you, and so thank you so much for your commitment, thanks for showing up, and thanks for sponsoring us. I have had plenty of moments of doubt, guys. I have had plenty of moments of doubt with this show, and some recently, to be honest. Running a podcast is challenging.

Getting the support is challenging. There's not a lot that is easy about running a podcast. It is incredibly rewarding, but it is definitely not easy. And technology is changing, and trying to advance with it is critical to your success long term. And so, One of the things that I have to say is, it is support of people like I just, that I just mentioned.

The people of the community, the people who have not only been verbal advocates, but who have been financial advocates, are what make shows like this successful long term. You really need people in your corner. You cannot do a podcast by yourself and be successful long term. You need support. You need a support system.

You need amazing, amazing individuals who are willing to be in it with you. And the reality is each one of those people I just mentioned were in it with me. They not only listened to the show, they put their money where their mouth is, and they financially helped support this show. And so that is one of the ways, guys, that if you guys love a show, Understand your hosts, they need that support.

They need people in their corner. And so you too can be a person in their corner. Don't be afraid to let them know how they're doing. It really does go an incredibly, incredibly long way. Shout outs this week. Colin Harms, Rodney Lover, Vince Phillips, Shawn Neels, McKinley Hyland, Jory Evans, Susan Poseika, Vijayan Swaminathan, Zsolt Szmolinka, Jody Cannon, David Delvin, Curtis Craig, Justin LaRocque, Jayson Chakkalakal, Ken Gee, Amin Samji, Jamar Jones, Mike Mack, Nate Simpson, Matthew Wilson, Bill Black, Mindy Kay McRae Broadbent, Tara L'Hirondelle, and Rahim Velji. Until next time, this has been the business development podcast, and we will catch you on the flip side.

Outro: This has been the business development podcast with Kelly Kennedy. Kelly has 15 years in sales. Sales and business development experience within the Alberta oil and gas industry and founded his own business development firm in 2020.

His passion and his specialization is in customer relationship generation and business development. The show is brought to you by Capital Business Development, your business development specialists. For more, we invite you to the website at www.Capitalbd.ca See you next time on the business development podcast.