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Hey coach, are you playing the long game in your professional life?

What I mean by that is, are you thinking long-term or short-term?

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One of the things that often sinks professional aspirations fast is the realisation that things nearly always take longer than we think they will. Sometimes, much longer. Your beautiful vision of success can rapidly come undone when faced with real-world challenges. This is perhaps one reason why so many people don’t ever get past the idea stage and even if they do, they often fall at the first hurdle when trying to bring their plans to fruition.

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There genuinely are people who think that if the stars don’t fully align and their path to their goal isn’t simple and stress-free then it wasn’t meant to be. I know this to be true as I’ve encountered this mindset many times in my years of coaching and I also know I used to think that way too. It’s a poor justification for quitting that excuses us from needing to make any real effort.

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Perhaps I shouldn’t be too hard on myself and others about this, after all, we’ve been conditioned to want instant gratification; to get what we want when we want it. Most of us no longer consider patience to be a virtue and yet, I would say that so much of life is about teaching us lessons of patience. I like the way my friend and mentor Harv Eker puts it,

This is the last of my 7 Deadly Sins of podcasting series. #7 is impatience.

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1. Gluttony/Self-indulgence
2. Selfishness
3. Ignorance/lack of awareness
4. Vanity
5. Inconsistency/Unreliability
6. Unpreparedness
7. Impatience

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Falling at the first hurdle

Impatience in podcasting is a fast road to quitting. It’s just not an industry for the impatient. I can remember when I first got started, back when it was a project for me rather than a part of my business, I heard Tim Ferris mention that anyone who gets into podcasting to make money is getting into it for the wrong reasons and probably won't last.

(I do think there are exceptions to this but for the most part, it’s true. The exceptions are too few and far between to be worth spending time on.)​
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After spending about 8 months talking daily with many aspiring, new and experienced podcasters, I can tell you that the vast majority of podcasters are struggling to get listeners. Even after 2-3 years of output. Many new podcasters unrealistically think they will go from zero to Joe Rogan overnight. You probably have better odds of success from buying a lottery ticket.

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Shows with corporate or political funding can certainly grow quickly, especially those that pander to populism. Shows with celebrities can grow very quickly too but… that said, they still need to be good if they are to have any chance of long-term listener retention and long-term success.

Charting is no guarantee

Getting onto the Apple Podcasts New & Noteworthy list does not guarantee podcast success and people like Neal Veglio have shown, it’s a system that can be, and often is, easily gamed. (Neal will be on Podfluence soon.) My personal preference is toward indy podcasting and podcasters but I do still enjoy some entertainment shows with celebrities, such as French & Saunders’ Titting About podcast.

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Podcast guesting doesn't produce instantaneous results either. It doesn’t work like an ad campaign where you would expect to see an almost instantaneous flow of traffic or sales once your ad is launched. It’s often a slow burn with a few initial spikes.

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Many people in their haste to create success and become known through podcasting take the route of trying to get on as many shows as possible to be able to evangelise their own agenda. This is not the best way to do it.

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Even the quantity-over-quality approach would take time to have any effect but in my experience, it doesn't do much. The only shows that have ever really moved the needle for me personally, in terms of getting people registering for my lead magnet and increasing my list, have been those who have their target audience dialled in and are already serving them well. It doesn't need to be a massive audience.

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If you go on 100 or more of the wrong shows with the wrong audiences, with podcasters who don’t really know what they’re doing and are not effectively promoting their show, what kind of results should you expect to get? The concept of getting more benefit by going on fewer podcasts seems paradoxical but it isn’t at all once you add the element of strategic podcast pitching.
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Going on one decent show, with the right kind of audience, the right related themes and a well-established host that you like and get along with will do much more for you professionally than going on 100 random shows. It still won’t transform your business overnight and if you don’t have all your business elements dialled in correctly, it’s not going to help you much at all.

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​Manage Your Expectations

A few years back there was a well-known speaker and podcaster who heard me speaking at an event and loved what I said and my whole presentation style so much that she reached out directly to me as soon as I was done speaking. She offered me an appearance on her podcast and even a job with her company. Amazing, right?

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As you can imagine, this was super exciting for me at a time when I was looking for exactly those kinds of opportunities. I hate to say it, and I won’t name the ‘celebrity’ but not one of those things came to pass, even after multiple attempts to follow up. She eventually threw me a bone with free access to one of her courses but…

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I share this story because these kinds of things happen in podcasting too. People think their show will take off because a famous guest agrees to come on. Shows agree to have you on as a guest but then never broadcast the episode. If you’re not prepared for setbacks and letdowns, you’re going to lose heart and eventually quit. However, I don’t want you to quit just because things are sometimes harder than you’d like them to be.

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The long game of professional promotions through podcasts will only pay off for those who are prepared to keep pushing on when it’s taking too long, to keep trying to get on bigger shows and who keep working on improving their personal presentation skills as they do so.

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I’ve been working on something a bit special recently and I’m pretty sure it’s ready to share. It’s called The Complete Superstar Podcast Guest Framework and it contains all the elements you need at every stage of your podcast guesting career to maximise your influence, impact and income. You’ll even find all the personal presentation qualities you need to work on to become a superstar guest and a few download bonuses. If you want to be among the first to check it out, click the link: The Complete Podcast Guest Superstar Framework​

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I’m going to start releasing some bonus episodes of the show that were recorded before I decided to rebrand and niche down the scope of the show. I think they’re still valuable chats for those who are interested. The next official episode of Podfluence with be with podcasting coach and agent provocateur Neal Veglio, which was so much fun to record and a very cool chat about the world of podcasting and the professional value of being in podcasting. It’s definitely worth tuning in for that.

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That’s all from me for this week so wherever you’re going, whatever you’re doing, have an amazing rest of your day. Go and make good things happen.

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Just a quick message from me before we start the show. At the end of this month, I’ll be speaking at Podfest Global. I’m going to be on a panel about how you can grow your audience and there will be many great speakers and topics that could help you as a podcast guest and most certainly as a podcast creator. I’d like to invite you to join me for free as my guest. The whole event is online, so no need to travel or pay for accommodation and you’ll still get plenty of opportunities for networking too. You can find all the information in the show notes and if you decide to join us, let me know and I’d love to connect with you there. Use my code "Ball49" for a ticket to join us; https://podfestglobal.online/​

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