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The secrets to growing Goal Digger from an idea in the shower to the #1 Marketing podcast in the country… We’re spilling the deets!
Do you want to know: The systems that started the show? Our workflow that got us 4 months ahead? How to start your own podcast as part of your business? Kylie is back on the Goal Digger Podcast to talk about the topic we both know best — podcasting!
In this conversation, we explore the decisions, strategies, and methods we’ve employed to scale the show from zero to 60 million downloads.
Early Planning Stages
I’m not someone who took the slow route to launching a podcast — there was a very short runway from idea to launch. At the time, that’s just how I rolled and truth be told, that “start before your ready” mentality is probably one of the primary reasons why the show ever made it out into the world to begin with.
I was entering the slow season of wedding photography and I told my virtual assistant Caitlyn that I wanted to start a podcast. The idea came to me in the shower and I voice-texted her. She was super excited about the idea, too.
Within two weeks, we had The Goal Digger Podcast setup. Fun fact: The name came from an audience survey because I couldn’t decide what to call my show! How’s that for the power of asking the audience?
You might be a planner, and the thought of diving right into something new like a podcast might scare you, but let me leave you with this — don’t let the planning stage prevent you from actually “doing”. At some point, planning needs to lead to action!
Format versus Flow
At the beginning of the show, I really wanted to stick to the same format in every episode and interview. I asked very structured questions and each conversation felt slightly similar to the one before it. Consistency and sticking to a format was appealing to me at first, but now I’ve learned that having a “flow” is a better approach for the kinds of conversations I’m having on the Goal Digger Podcast.
If you’re starting an interview-based show, you might also want to begin with a repeatable structure for each conversation. This is actually a great approach at first, especially as you build your confidence and find your own flow as an interviewer (a skill I’m still developing to this day). However, don’t forget that your interviews are conversations, and the same structure might not fit for every single guest you speak to.
Podcasting Systems
Hands down one of the best things that’s developed over the last 500+ episodes of the Goal Digger Podcast is our system for booking interviews, scheduling content, and working ahead with batchworking.
For booking interviews, we’ve eliminated the long email chains and instead use a Google Form sent to guests that allows them to book a convenient interview time during one of our two-day sessions, upload a headshot and bio, and answer some questions that will help us prepare for the interview. It’s free to create a Google Form and I suggest using a form to collect any information from your guests — the fewer emails, the better!
We schedule our content around business goals, so if we know we’ll be launching a certain course or product, we’ll feature episodes of the podcast that support the business initiative.
As for working ahead, we just completed all episodes of the Goal Digger Podcast through February 2022 (that’s four months of shows!) so I can take a full maternity leave. The key is batching interview days and solo show recording days. Preparing for maternity leave meant 2 interview days per month with four 1-hour sessions each day, and 2 solo show days each month, recording as many episodes as possible until my voice disappeared.
More from this Episode
Podcasting for profit, outsourcing pieces of production, playing the long game, and why I decided to join a podcast network after all this time as an independent show — We’re talking about all of this and more, so hit play for a full discussion on the things I’ve learned scaling my podcast to 60 million downloads and 500+ episodes.
If you want more help starting, launching, and growing your own podcast, join me for a free training at freepodcastclass.com.
Thank you to our Goal Digger Sponsors
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