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SOP for Publishing my Daily, Mini Podcast

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I like to imagine that when Thomas Jefferson finished writing the Declaration of Independence, he sat back in the swivel chair he invented, smiled, and sighed a big sign of relieve.

The same thing goes for when Walter Cronkite finished his first TV broadcast, JK Rowling finished Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Simone Biles stuck the landing in her last Olympic gold medal performance.

Not that anything I’ve done is anywhere close to the same level of any of those things…but I’ve finally done it. I hit the proverbial “publish” button on my new daily podcast.

I’ve been sitting on it for a while, saying that it’s not as good as I’d like it to be. That I don’t have as many episodes banked as I’d like. That I don’t have a rock solid process in place.

All of those are poor excuses though. I so I finally hit publish.

It starts Monday, October 2nd, a week where I’ll be away at a conference called CaboPress.

…not that it matters much, because I have a whole process in place that I’m going to share with you — how I started, and where I’ll go from here.

I also have some announcements about the membership at the end!

This rest of this post is for members-only. Sign up here for access

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Using a Mac mini as an Automation Server

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A warm welcome to Sheryl and Scott, our newest members!

One of my biggest frustrations as an automator is reconciling iOS — my preferred mobile platform — with web apps. I wrote about it at the beginning of the month.

Since then, I learned that Pushcuts, an iOS/iPadOS app that deftly bridges this gap, but requires you to have an always on device, has a macOS version in beta…and I got access.

Hot Dog.

So I decided to make a new purchase: a refurbished, base model Mac mini for the low, low price of $500. It will be mostly headless (that is no peripherals attached to it), and act as a task server for me.

Here’s how I plan on making it work.

This rest of this post is for members-only. Sign up here

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What I’m Working on (September 2023)

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I thought I’d switch things up this week and tell you what I’m working on, since we’re at the halfway point of the month.

If you like this sort of format, let me know!

First up, it’s iPhone pre-order day! I got the iPhone 15 Pro Max in Titanium Blue, the Ocean Blue Ultra watch band, and…a Mac Mini! That’s a story for another newsletter.

This rest of this post is for members-only. I discuss the advice I got from Jay Clouse regarding the direction of my membership, a new podcast I’m working on, and how I’m integrating more storytelling into my content. Sign up here for just $10/mo

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Automating Lead Tracking with Calendly and Notion

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Since writing to you about me not using Notion, I’ve been using Notion.

A lot.

Something weird clicked for me a couple of weeks into using it, and I “get” how it works a little better (shout out to my friend Cat Mulvihill for her help there).

So I’ve been using it for Cashflow tracking, products, family stuff (where I invited my wife as a guest to that page/database), and my sales funnel.

I’ve never been much of CRM guy, so this feels like a game changer.

Here’s how it works.

This rest of this post is for members-only. I discuss my Notion-bases CRM, how I connect it to Calendly, and what’s next.. Sign up here for just $10/mo

Reconciling Beautiful iOS Tools with Automation

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Something I go back and forth on a lot is what apps I want to use.

A task manager is the perfect example.

I was all-in on Omnifocus for a while. Like all-in. In fact, just writing the word Omnifocus made me download the app again.

But then I started getting the itch to do better automations than just throw it into the inbox and process it later.

This rest of this post is for members-only. I discuss various apps and their automation support, primarily web automations (Zapier, Make) vs. Shortcuts. Sign up here for just $10/mo

Thinking About Podcast Process Audits

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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.

This rest of this post is for members-only. I discuss why the type of service I’m offering here, my goal for the podcaster, and potential pricing. Sign up here for just $10/mo

Using AI to Generate a Podcast Promotion Schedule, then Importing it to Notion

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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.

This rest of this post is for members-only. I give a full breakdown of the prompts I used to generate a production schedule, and how I converted it to a calendar in Notion. Sign up here for just $10/mo

Webinar Registrations: Simplifying Overcomplicated Automations

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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.

This rest of this post is for members-only. I discuss why I switched to Luma, how it works, and how I’m experimenting with webinars. Sign up here for just $10/mo

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A Moratorium on Business Books for 2023

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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?)

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:

This rest of this post is for members-only. I discuss why I’ve decided to stop reading business books, what I’m reading, and future plans for the membership. Sign up here for just $10/mo

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Why I Continue to Choose Airtable Over Notion

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I’ve been using Notion more thanks to a little in-person Mastermind I’m planning with friends; to be honest, it’s pretty nice.

I don’t really know my way around Notion, but the co-organizer who set it up absolutely does, and it looks really fantastic. In fact, this is the closest I’ve come to wanting to use it more.

This rest of this post is for members-only. I discuss my main reasons for choosing Airtable over Notion (and why all hope is not lost. Sign up here for just $10/mo