In the pantheon of classic commercials, very few have had the staying power to be quoted years after it aired. There was Budwiser’s “Wasssuuppp” commercial. Old Navy’s Performance Fleece. Where’s the Beef?! But for my wife and me, nothing has been more quotable than Old El Paso’s Why not both? commercial. It’s so applicable in…
I spent last weekend (Sat-Mon) in Scranton for an in-person mastermind with some friends and it was great.
One of the exercises we did was a Customer Journey Map, where we mapped out a customer’s pain points.
We’d get feedback, make sure we have the pain points right, and then come up with new products to address those pain points. It was really well done.
I think the most helpful part for me (aside from actually seeing on paper I have a good understanding of my customer’s journey) was the feedback we got on those new products.
It confirmed that I should have a Podcast Process Audit to go along with my Podcast Growth Audit.
The process audit falls much more in line with my coaching services, and the places where I can help my customers most.
So here’s what I’m thinking about, approaching this as a process.
The main goal of the audit is to get podcasters to see their process written down.
In my observations, many don’t. Instead they keep it in their head, or do it weekly so it’s always fresh.
Because of that, I’d want a process that asks a lot of questions, eliciting answers that make the podcaster think about how they produce their show.
So the first thing I might offer is a quiz that gives people some pre-written tips based on their answers. I’d design the quiz to ask lots of questions, like:
…and lots more. It would be ideal for them to spend 10-15 minutes really thinking about these answers to get the best results.
As an aside, I’ll probably test this with members first, so stay tuned.
I’d charge a nominal fee for this ($9-29) and they’d get a real asset to move forward.
For some, that will be good enough. They likely already have an idea of where they can improve, and this asset (likely a PDF) will confirm for them the steps they need to talk.
But there will be some where this only creates more questions — they now know where they need to improve, but they’re not sure how.
This is where I’d offer async feedback like I do with my growth audit. I’d recommend they take the quiz if they haven’t (and give quiz takers a quiz-priced discount on the async feedback), then send them a Loom video where I offer personalized advice based on their results.
The price of this would be more in-line with my growth audit, and provide a TON more value.
Then, there will always be the option for a single live call, a bit higher than the async feedback, and including everything (quiz, loom video). The idea here is this would give the podcaster the opportunity to ask me specific questions and get immediate answers.
From an implementation standpoint, there are lots of tools that likely allow for this. I have 2-3 quiz platforms I can try. The hardest part will be coming up with the right questions and testing this theory.
I suspect I’ll probably post about it on social media soon, asking for some low-price beta testers. And of-course, you’ll have the opportunity to try the quiz for free.
I’d love your feedback too! I’m trying to build in public more, and the content first and foremost goes to you — the members — as a benefit of your membership.
One of the forcing functions for me to try new and interesting things is the fact that I’m a LinkedIn Learning instructor.
For example, I just finished writing the scripts for my next course all about generative AI for podcasters. We’re covering a wide range of use cases for podcasters to leverage AI to make their lives easier.
Earlier this week, I wrote about using Chat GPT to create listener avatars. But yesterday, I did something incredibly cool using Chat-GPT and my former nemesis, Notion.
I’ll admit I’ve been lukewarm on “ideal customer avatars.” I mean, without research, you’re basically just making it up, right? But I also believe that in order to have a successful podcast, you need to know exactly who you’re talking to. Something I’ve been experimenting with is using Chat GPT-4 to craft listener avatars –…
Descript made a big splash on Tuesday by announcing they acquired the popular remote recording service, SquadCast.
Something I couldn’t stop thinking about after Riverside, SquadCast’s biggest competitor, launched edit via transcripts is how it felt like they’re trying to eat Descript’s lunch.
After all, Descript has made a name for itself as the easiest way to edit your podcast. Before that app, for most podcasters editing was a tedious fever dream of scrubbing wave files and hoping for the best.
Then Descript came along and made editing audio as easy as editing a Google Doc.
Brilliant.
Riverside made its name as being an incredibly reliable, usually easy, way to record the highest-level quality audio possible…but they wanted to be a one stop shop.
Meanwhile, it was starting to feel like Descript lost the thread. Studio Sound is a revelation, but then they redesigned the app to be more video focused. They started adding more AI features…like Eye Contact.
What are they doing?
So when they announced this acquisition yesterday, I was happy to see a great return to form.
Descript + SquadCast looks like it’s going to be an incredible tool for podcasters to greatly improve their process. Record in SquadCast, automatically get those files in Descript, and use a familiar interface to edit AND publish…as seamlessly as possible.
The best part is that SquadCast is included in Descript’s plans (at least for now). That makes it a very competitive, very compelling offer.
Riverside is one of the few services I pay for annually, so I have until November.
But I have a hard time seeing myself staying with Riverside. SquadCast being part of Descript effectively cuts my costs in half.
There are very few people who can go by just one name. Prince. Madonna. Wednesday. If you Google any of these folks, the person you’re thinking of right now will show up first in the results. That won’t work for everyone. Heck, the current U.S. President has a name so common, people are called, “Average…
Back in May, I shared with you how I decided to roll my own webinar registration software that allows me to “easily” integrate with ConvertKit, use Zoom Meetings, and more.
Something else you should know about me: automating too much is my toxic trait.
I think that it’s fun to see what I can automate in order to leverage the tools I already use, instead of adding another tool to my toolkit.
But there’s a reason most webinar software is so expensive; there’s a lot to think about.
As such, I’ve done a 180 on trying to roll my own webinar software. It’s too complicated and introduces a poor user experience for webinar registrants, many of whom are interacting with me for the first time.
That’s why I’ve decided to use Luma.
First, I want to give a shoutout to my friend Ren, who told me about Luma.
I was skeptical at first — why add another tool — but then I saw it in action.
It’s super simple, and has a very generous free plan.
You sign up, connect your Zoom account, and create your event…that’s it!
When you create the event, you have the option to associate it with an existing event, or create a new one.
People who sign up will be automatically invited to the Zoom meeting.
Amazing.
You get your own page, as well as an embeddable form. Each page is just customizable enough.
You can also set an attendee limit, which is cool…especially depending on your Zoom plan.
One original blocker for me was that there’s no direct integration with ConvertKit, and the Zapier/API integration is part of the $60/mo plan.
But then I realized…this is actually a gift.
One of my biggest issues with my current webinar setup is making sure I consistently exclude webinar registrants from all other emails. If they weren’t on my list already, I want this webinar to be how they learn to know, like, and trust me.
But I’d somehow mess that up…either they’d get too many emails, or I’d exclude too many people from a broadcast.
It may be that they signed up for multiple forms and confused the automations/sequences.
That problem doesn’t exist if they aren’t in my ESP. So now, after the webinar, I can import them (or have my VA import them) and add them to a custom sequence.
And I’ll know that I’ll always have the option to automate this if I think Luma is worth paying for in the future.
The other problem is that I’d have to remember to send reminder and follow-up emails.
Luma handles that, and they are easy to copy from one event to another. Check one more thing off my list.
I think this solution is probably the best in an evolution that saw my webinar registration process move from “I’ll just do it on YouTube” to “Zoom is the way to go.”
I also want to make clear that it’s not about cheaping out on proper webinar software.
But this is one of the areas where I can hold off and make sure the investment is worth it.
So far, my webinars haven’t consistently been money generators for me. So I’m tweaking and experimenting without having to pay $50-100/mo.
One of the big places I’m experiment is with my offer. I don’t think Podcast Mastery was the best play for my webinars (or even my main offering). But I think my podcast audits are a great candidate for webinar upsell.
In other words, I think the experimenting is going to pay off very soon…I’ll keep you posted on that.
As I wrote this article, I was on vacation at the serene Bethany Beach in Delaware. My mind clear and thinking about big picture stuff as my kids napped, I thought about how I’m consuming content.
In preparation for this trip, I made a decision: that I was going to stop reading business books for the rest of the year. Here’s the Tweet (Xeet?)
I read too many business books.
— Joe Casabona ?? ?? (@jcasabona) July 17, 2023
I’m going to put a ban on them for the rest of the year.
Make your best fiction / non-fiction non-business books here ?
Why?
Well, they’re basically all I read. I’m pretty terrible at reading fiction books, and most of my non-fiction content I get from podcasts.
But after my conversation with Tim Stoddart on the podcast, I felt I should expand my horizons a little.
There are three other reasons:
Kind of like the scene in the Matrix where Neo realizes his powers and can see the very code making up the Matrix, after reading dozens of business books, it’s easy to see where they’re going.
Plus, any homogenous reading defeats the purpose of reading: to introduce new ideas.
Thankfully, my request for recommendations was fruitful and I have plenty to get through now.
At the beach, I read Upgrade by Blake Crouch. I loved Recursion, and read both of them super quickly. I couldn’t put them down.
Now I’m reading Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, then The General and the Genius — a story about Oppenheimer that was selected for a book club I’m a part of.
I’m excited to see what kind of new ideas reading non-business books sparks; I’ve made a promise to not read anymore until at least January.
What are you reading? Let me know!
Get the exact framework I used to go from burnt out to taking 6 weeks off to spend with family in less than 12 months Join my mailing list: