How to Launch and Grow a Podcast: Intentional Content & Marketing with Josh Troche

Are you a small business owner thinking about launching a podcast — or wanting to make your existing show work harder for your brand? In this episode of Small Business Pivots, Michael Morrison sits down with Josh Troche, founder of Pedal Stomper Productions, to unpack how video and audio content with intention can amplify your marketing. Josh shares his journey from mowing lawns as a teen to creating million-view YouTube videos, launching a full-service video and podcast production business, and coaching entrepreneurs on content strategy. They dive into:

• Why most podcasts stall before episode 15 (and how to avoid the trap)
• How to define your “one person” audience, structure your podcast, and build a system
• When and why to outsource editing, production and social / short-form clips
• How to use email, social and guest‐collaboration to get your show discovered
• The mindset shift required for business owners: let go, delegate, grow

If you want actionable insights to use podcasting and video as a marketing engine for your business, this episode is for you.

Subscribe, leave a review and share this episode with a business owner who’s ready for growth!

Connect with Josh Troche

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtroche/
• Website: https://www.pedalstomperproductions.com/
• Blog: https://www.pedalstomperproductions.com/blog

Show Notes Summary (Bullet + Timesamps)

00:00 – Intro: Meet Josh Troche, founder of Pedal Stomper Productions
02:00 – Josh’s journey from trucking to video and podcasting
07:00 – Why most podcasts fail before episode 15
12:00 – How to define your audience and podcast purpose
17:00 – DIY vs professional podcast production
22:00 – Promotion: email lists, clips, guest collaboration
27:00 – Delegating and building a strong team
32:00 – AI’s role and the future of podcasting
36:00 – Final insight: “It’s always a moving target.” 

Small business owners: Discover how to use podcasting and video content to build trust, scale your brand and get found. In this episode of Small Business Pivots, Michael Morrison welcomes photo-video expert Josh Troche of Pedal Stomper Productions as they break down the mindset, strategy and actionable steps behind launching and growing a podcast for your business. 

Chapters

• 0:00 Meet Josh And Petal Snapper
• 2:42 Early Hustles And Video Origins
• 5:12 Discovering Trust Through Video
• 7:12 Pivots, Sales Gaps, And Lessons
• 9:01 First Podcast Client And Learning Curve
• 11:07 Why Most Podcasts Fail
• 13:18 Setting Purpose And Expectations
• 16:06 Define Your One Listener
• 18:47 Show Structure And Preparation
• 21:18 Monetization Beyond Vanity Metrics
• 23:27 Marketing Shifts And Content Clips
• 26:03 Common Mistakes And Adding Value
• 29:00 Studio Vs DIY And Buying Back Time
• 32:32 Distribution: Email, Clips, And Collabs
• 35:08 Scaling A Team And Letting Go
• 39:10 AI Tools, Human Touch, And Craft
• 42:35 Classes, Free Consult, And Community
• 44:36 Final Lesson: Business Is A Moving Target
• 46:00 Closing Credits And Sponsor

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

All right, welcome to another Small Business Pivots where we bring special guests from around the world. And today we have a really special one on a special topic that I don't believe we've really covered in depth. But if you've ever watched the show or listened to the episode before, you know that no one can introduce themselves or their business like the business owner. So, my friend, I'm gonna let you do that now. Tell us a little bit about you.

SPEAKER_00: 0:23

I am Josh Trokey. I'm the owner of Petal Snapper Productions. Um, we do uh photo, but mainly video, and then also video podcasts. Um, for us, it is all about generating that marketing content and making sure that we're doing it with intention. Um, the quick backstory on it is as I started a video business as a side hustle. Um, someone approached me and said, Hey, do you edit podcasts? And I'm like, Is there a check to it attached to it? He's like, Yeah. And I'm like, Yes, then we edit we edit podcasts. And uh that's how we got into doing some of the podcasting stuff about seven years ago, and I've absolutely loved it.

SPEAKER_01: 1:02

Fantastic. Well, how do you think we're gonna help our listeners best today with podcasts?

SPEAKER_00: 1:09

Uh, to me, it's my hope that if someone is thinking of starting one or looking at a way to improve theirs is they will have at least a couple of actionable items that they can look at, whether it's their plan for their podcast, maybe they don't have one, which they should have one, uh, either their plan for it or what they're currently doing, and saying, oh, okay, I can make these couple of little tweaks and it might help me out. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_01: 1:31

Well, Josh, I'm excited, and I know our listeners are too, but let's introduce the show first and we'll be right back. Welcome to Small Business Pivots, a podcast produced for small business owners. I'm your host, Michael Morrison, founder and CEO of Boss, where we make business ownership simplified for success. Our business is helping yours grow. Boss offers business loans with business coaching support. Apply in minutes and get approved and funded in as little as 24 to 48 hours at business ownership simplified.com. All right, welcome back to Small Business Pivots. Josh, before we begin on podcast, I know a lot of our listeners like to know a little bit of back-end history on our guests so we can relate to you and your story. Anything happened before you started adulting that because for business owners and entrepreneurs, many times we're we've we've had trials and tribulations, and our mindset blocks our future success. So tell us how you kind of got up to entrepreneurship.

SPEAKER_00: 2:42

Uh it all started when I was actually really young. Um, I was brought up in a rural area, but my parents were very much like, you're gonna make your own money. And my dad actually helped me, he would drive me to go mow some lawns. And so that started, I mean, early teen years as my that was my entrepreneurial journey. Um, but like many people, I mean, I'm late 40s. A lot of us were told you go to college, you get a job. Yeah. Um, that did not work for me. Um, I started in college, the college thing wasn't for me. Um, ended up, I have a background that goes from performance automotive to regular automotive repair. Um, I did a stint in agriculture. And then uh when I was working in trucking, is where my video career really took off. And uh I like I said, been kind of all over the place in terms of my career, but I've always had an interest in video. Um, like so many others that do videos that are of my age. If you look back to like our personal YouTube channels like 15, 18 years ago, there is some very embarrassing videos back there.

SPEAKER_01: 3:52

So I understand. I wrote a book in 2016 and I can't even look at it. I'm so embarrassed. Yeah, so yeah, you understand.

SPEAKER_00: 4:01

You're like, yeah, okay, ooh, that's that's me, huh? Yeah. Um, but really it was I I was working in a semi-truck dealership in sales, and I needed to find a way to help sell trucks, and I needed to find a way that could get me out of the sales territory lit a little bit because there were some political things within the company I was in to that made it difficult in some cases. And so I thought, well, I've always done some videos. So I did some videos, like just some photos first, and then I did some photos or some like videos with a voiceover, and then I'm like, screw it, I'll just get on camera. And from there, I it really took off. I had night when I left that company and uh went full time with the video business. I had 19,000 subscribers. Um, I had a couple of videos on YouTube with a million views just talking about semi-trucks. And uh the the moment that I got clarity in how video worked was actually I was sitting in my office, I was still a salesman at that point, and uh this gentleman comes walking in. You could tell he was an over-the-road trucker, had a couple of days' worth of potato chip grease on his shirt, and uh just comes in, sits down, he's like, Hey Josh, so glad to finally get the chance to sit down with you. He's like, I've watched all your videos. And it instantly was like it was intimidating to me because this guy was acting like he was my best friend. I had no idea who this guy was. I'm like, should should I should I be calling security? Right. Um so, but no, he's like, I've watched all your videos, man. He goes, he goes, You just love love hanging out with you. And I'm like, oh, I I've built that no like and trust through the I I gotta could have had lunch with this guy, like an old friend. Um, because he had watched me so many times, he had seen me through all those videos. That was when it clarified for me how powerful video was in terms of building those relationships.

SPEAKER_01: 5:58

So you went and just started a company, right? Like everybody does.

SPEAKER_00: 6:05

I have always um there's another podcast host out there, Scott Galloway. Um he says that he spent a lot of his early career um being right instead of being effective. And I have always had, I guess I would say, some of that problem. I'm like, no, no, no, numbers say this. And sometimes you need a little more nuance than that. Um, so especially in the corporate world. So I found that okay, yeah, entrepreneurship was the way to go. Um it has been one heck of an interesting journey, and I absolutely love it.

SPEAKER_01: 6:42

So, how long have you had been an entrepreneur now?

SPEAKER_00: 6:46

Um, in this business, I've had this, uh it was 2018, so a little over seven years now um is when I started the business. I went full-time in the business a little over three years ago.

SPEAKER_01: 6:58

So when you got into business, because the show is small business pivot. So we also talk about kind of some pivots you've made along the way. What were some things that you did back then looking back you wouldn't do again, or that you wish you would have done better?

SPEAKER_00: 7:13

Most things. Um start over. Right. All of it. All every last thing. No, it it's one of those things where I I wish I would have had the the confidence and gumption to go out and really do it. Um the I I stuck my toe in the water initially, and I I wish I wish I really would have done it. Um, the other thing is the the piece that so many of us miss is as entrepreneurs, and I mean working with a lot of them, um, in the marketing and that that we do, so many of us we do the things that we do very well. We don't do sales and we don't do marketing very well, especially the sales piece. And I wish I would have spent more time on that initially and built more of that into our processes. Um, because there's I I've even talked with and coached other businesses on there's the there's this ebb and the flow of, oh, business is a little bit slower. We're gonna spend a lot of time on sales. All of a sudden you're busier than a one-legged man in a butt kicking contest, and you're like, I don't have time for sales. Three months later, all you hear is crickets. Um, so it's building that sales piece in is the thing that so many of us, and I I I am very guilty of this, and I know so many others aren't are are also. It's building in that sales piece, and I would have made sure I spent more time doing that.

SPEAKER_01: 8:39

That's solid advice because there is nothing that equals founder sales. There's no one better than the founder, and yet that's the one thing most of us don't spend enough time on. So that's that's golden advice. So you got in the video production, and then how did podcasting come along in in all that?

SPEAKER_00: 9:01

Yeah, it was it's a great story with that, and uh one I love to always talk about. So I had uh I literally got a random phone call from someone that does some political campaigns. Um, and it was there was it was a connection of a connection of a connection that said, maybe go look this guy up. And uh they they had a small budget, which, okay, is a side hustle that I'm just trying to start out. I mean, I just barely started. I thought, well, let's give this a shot. And uh, so I I recorded a short um uh basically it was a local uh uh county government ad for uh someone that was running for, if I remember correctly, prosecutor. And the campaign manager has actually done campaigns for even he's been involved in presidential campaigns. And he called me up a few weeks later and he goes, Hey, he goes, um, guy that I used to work with, he goes, he ran for state treasury, ran for mayor of Cincinnati, he goes, he's got a podcast, and he's looking to get he doesn't want to edit it anymore. He's like, Can can you edit the podcast? And I'm like, Is is he paying? And he's like, Yeah, and I'm like, Yeah, then I can do the podcast. Checks the box, the only box. Correct, correct. There the there's money at the end of this, and I just started a business. Yes, yes, um hard, yes. So that's how I got into it, and it it was interesting because it was kind of a it was a weird entrance into it because he had some of the building blocks already, so we didn't start building things from ground up. We kind of came into the middle of something that was maybe not put together the best. So I had to kind of go back through and start to look and be like, okay, what is the right way to do this and what are we trying to do this with this and undo some of it and redo some of it, but we ended up with a pretty good result. Um, to this day, he doesn't do his podcast as consistent as most people should. Um, but he still gets on some great guests and he has some great conversations. And I still love the love it when uh he calls me up and he's like, Hey, got some more videos uploaded.

SPEAKER_01: 11:06

Awesome, awesome. Well, let's talk about podcasts and the power of podcast, what they can do for many people. They're trying to get more subscribers for other people, they're wondering why they don't get bit. I mean, it's just a plethora of questions that everybody has, and they're usually the same kind because most podcasts just aren't effective. And what is the percentage? I think it's 70 something percent, don't make it past five or twenty episodes, something like that.

SPEAKER_00: 11:35

Uh it's 86% of episodes don't make it past episode 15, according to the last numbers from Edison Edison Research. Wow. Um that's amazing. And it's so yeah, and I feel there's a there's a number of reasons for that. And one of which is first off, as you know, it's work. Um it's like it's yes, people see 15% of what happens in a podcast. It's you and I talking, there's 15% of it. The the the messages we've had back and forth, the the editing, the posting, the all those other things. That's work. That's time. That's that's investment. So a lot of people don't realize the time involved with it. The other thing is, is I I feel like the the most difficult part is expectation. Um, I can I I drove to work today, so therefore I'm probably a great race car driver, right? No, yeah. People see the Joe Rogan's, the Stephen Bartlett's, the the Mel Robbins, they see these millions of downloads and millions of video captures. And they're like, oh yeah, that they've got that, so I should be able to get that. And no, you you probably won't. And so people have this expectation of, oh, three million downloads, great. Well, I'm also gonna have Mark Cuban's wealth. Mark Cuban got wealthy overnight, right? It wasn't the 10 years of work he put in before it, it was the overnight, is what everyone saw. Um, so that is the most difficult piece for people to kind of wrap their head around. They're like, I'm gonna have 10 million subscribers. No, you're gonna have 10. Um, you had the number right, you had the decimal point wrong.

SPEAKER_01: 13:10

Is uh there the the numbers were in there somewhere, just in the wrong order. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 13:16

Right, right. Decimal point, all that other stuff. You were close. What I always the the thing that I always like to ask people, because everyone has their own story, everyone has their own take on thing. And by golly, it's worth hearing people's stories and it's worth hearing their information. What I always ask is if I told you there's a room next door over here, if there's eight people in that room that's were interested in what you what your story or what you had to talk about, would you walk over there and talk to them? Yes. Hell yeah, I would. I would walk, I would march right in there and be like, hi guys. Well, then why won't you upload the podcast that has eight downloads? It's not much different. Um, it's eight people that want to hear from you. Those eight people, maybe one or two of them tell one of their friends, then you're gonna have 10 people. Then maybe one of those people tells someone, okay, now you got 11. It it builds over time. And once again, it's it's an overnight success over the next 10 years. And that's the thing that people don't see about the successfulness of podcasts. What makes it tough for them with that is if they go in without a structure, like your show, you've got a structure. We we we talk for a couple of seconds, there's the intro, you come back, you say a few things, and off we go. Um, many people walk in without a structure to stuff and just expect it to work. Uh, the other thing that I always talk about is podcasting is very much like painting a room. And if you spend the time, if you walk into a room, you you tape everything off, you cut it in, you wash down the walls, you're gonna end up with a nice looking paint job. If you walk into a room, flop the lid of the can off, and just spin, it's probably not gonna be a great paint job. So it's all about that prep work is what goes into it. I mean, obviously you you've put the prep in on your end of stuff and it makes a difference.

SPEAKER_01: 15:10

Well, we try and we're all we're always trying to improve. I know one of the most popular questions. So so we use Buzz Sprout and they have a little form on Facebook, and probably the most asked question is I've only got 50 subscribers and I've been doing this for two years, but it's always about the number, and it's and most people that's seasoned podcasters will reply with, What are you trying to achieve? Who are you trying to reach? Are people calling you? Are you getting business from it? Because most of the time they'll they'll mention something like, I know people that get thousands, but they get no business, you know, it's just vanity numbers. And so can we go through the process? Would you mind sharing kind of some insights for someone that wants or thinks about doing a podcast? Like, what is the first thing they should be doing, thinking about, and kind of what those steps are so it can be effective and reach their target audience?

SPEAKER_00: 16:09

That's a phenomenal question. I love that. So it's and it's one of the things. So I teach a podcasting class and uh at a at a community college here in uh in the Cleveland area. And one of the main things that we talk about, like the first thing that we talk about after we define podcasting, is why are you doing this? What's the what's the point? What's the purpose? What I mean it if you have no purpose of doing this other than, hey, I just want to yammer into a microphone, um, you're you're not gonna go anywhere with it. If you just want to talk into a microphone, great. You can do that, and no one needs to listen. Um, so what's the goal? Is it to try and get people engaged? Is it to try and just raise brand awareness? We help people in a lot of cases, and what we find is one of the more effective things is building chunks of content. Um, so we'll sit here, we'll talk for a while, and out of half an hour, out of 45 minutes, maybe we get 10 or 15 really sharp things that we can then put to Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts. We can put them out on all those platforms. And once again, we've done the one big thing, which also can help grab some attention, but now we've got these other sharper things. The what I always like to say, the scrollable things that you're you're looking at while your partner's watching something on TV that you hate.

SPEAKER_01: 17:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 17:30

Um it's those types of things that that's what draws people in. That's what gets gets attention. Um, so it's it's it's really it's very much about the the most basic thing is why are you doing this? Um and figuring that out now. Then the second step that I always talk about is who is the one person this is for? And this is what always bites people because they're like, oh, I want to talk to men between the age of 25 and 60. Okay. Well, let me tell you what, I'm 47. I want to hear something very different now than I did when I was 25. And in the same sense, I'm when I'm 60, I'm probably not gonna want to hear the same stuff that I do now. Absolutely. So you have to tailor to your audience. And I have uh an analogy I love for this. If you go into a room, a big room of a hundred people, and you just try and talk to everyone, everyone's gonna look at you like you're an idiot and then they're gonna go about their way. But if you go up to one specific person and have a really good direct conversation with them, other people will start to listen in. It it's not directed specifically at them, but other people will start to fill in filter in because they like the topic, they like the information, maybe they like the way you present it. But you have to pick one specific person that you are trying to talk to. When you try and talk to everyone, you end up talking to no one. And that's when you get some of the podcasts that have four downloads after 60, 70 episodes. Um, it's because they haven't talked to, they haven't picked their person to talk to. So those are the big focus things that I look at because then that everything else builds off of that. The structure of your show, who you have on as guests, why you have them on, the topics that you talk about with them. All of those things are then built out of really answering those main two questions.

SPEAKER_01: 19:41

So you mentioned structure earlier and kind of a framework. I heard someone say I don't remember who it was, so I apologize if they're listening, but on the podcast, you're literally the outsiders are really only getting about 5% of the effort. You know, they're watching you and me on the show, but like you said before, they don't see all the backhand stuff, they don't see all the tagging that goes on involved, they don't see all the preparation, the reading of books, the researching of how to be a better podcast host and a guest and this, that. Uh, would you say that's fairly accurate? Oh do you have a different perspective?

SPEAKER_00: 20:20

No, 100%, because it's the like the exam I always refer to because everyone at some point in their life has been sick and watched an episode of The Price is Right. Um I use I use that as an example because the the thing, the piece with that is is that show was set up the same way every single time. It's it's consistent. Different guests, different prices, different projects, but it it people know exactly what they're getting every single time. But when someone shows up to a television studio and they see that there is 150 people working around in the background, they're overwhelmed. They're like, Oh my, how is this all there? And really, you're just focused on Drew Carey talking to the person and being like, Hey, how's it going? Are you we all remember Bob Barker telling people to spay a new to their cats? That's what you saw. Yeah, but when you realize all the stuff that had to be there in order to make it happen, it's no different. I mean, a wedding, any other type of event. There is a ton of stuff that goes on in the background to make it happen. We've all been to venues where someone shows up to speak, the audio system's crap, so you can't hear them. You realize this just fell apart, and it's because that production wasn't there.

SPEAKER_01: 21:39

Almost like Thanksgiving dinner. That's right around the corner, folks, from the time that we're recording this. It's kind of like all that prep work the day before, the weekend before, getting all the groceries, and then you sit at the table in 10 minutes, it's done.

SPEAKER_00: 21:52

One 100%. The the tablecloth is laid out, the the nice dishes are brought out, all that stuff is planned. There's there's a method to that. There's there's a there's a it's all it all has direction because that you know what you're trying to do is you're trying to create a warm environment for family to talk, hopefully not argue, and to have a great meal together. And so that that's the goal, and you're doing everything that you're doing for that is trying to achieve that goal. Podcast has got to be the same way.

SPEAKER_01: 22:25

So I'm fixing to say a word, and the first thing that will probably come to most people's mind is advertising. But when I say monetize their podcast, what when I say that, I'm like, how can I get customers? How can I get in front of my prospects? How can because we all keep hearing it's all about SEO keywords and the description and all that stuff, and it's like, what about those people that do have good content? They're just not being found and they're not they're not getting rewarded monetarily uh with money, if you will. So, how does one go about kind of getting that not about the numbers, you know, it's not about the subscribers, but how do we get in front of our target audience? What are some good ways to get the show out there?

SPEAKER_00: 23:10

It it's funny. I we do marketing anything is cheap.

SPEAKER_01: 23:15

You're listening to Small Business Pivots. This podcast is produced by my company, Boss. Our business is helping yours grow. Boss offers business loans with business coaching support. Apply in minutes and get approved and funded in as little as 24 to 48 hours at business ownership simplified.com. If you're enjoying this podcast, don't forget to hit the subscribe button and share it as well. Now let's get back to our special guest. How do we get in front of our target audience? What are some good ways to get the show out there?

SPEAKER_00: 23:51

It's funny. I we do marketing anything has changed in the past, I would say, especially about year, year and a half, especially with like AI answers and Chat GPT giving answers. Because I mean, I remember you like how long to make a baked potato, and you'd have to read through the story about how their Aunt Sally made the best baked potato, and you'd scroll for like an hour before you got to the fact that like 350 degrees for an hour. Okay, great. Um, so marketing has changed in terms of how you have to approach it. Like social media, you still need it, but social media isn't the attention grab. Podcasting isn't the attention grab, it is amazing, amazing, amazing supporting information. It is an amazing way to build other content streams. But it is not the if you're looking to become a star just by posting your podcast, it's just not gonna happen. It is it's about using your podcast to create content that will then show be shown to people on social media platforms. It's then using that to reach out to people via email to say, hey, a new podcast drop. And the the thing that you have to make sure that you're doing with all of this is adding value because there are so many things screaming for people's attention that if you aren't adding value to their day, they're just going someplace else. And don't get me wrong, that value can be entertainment. Um, it I I'm not discounting, don't think that every podcast has to be buttoned-downed, serious, and totally educational. No, it does not. It can be hilarious. That's adding a value to someone's day still. But it it's making sure that you have a holistic plan towards your marketing of this rather than just I posted um because build it and they will come, does not work.

SPEAKER_01: 25:52

No, it unfortunately does not. So we kind of mentioned the the why and the who of the podcast. What are some things that you consistently see podcasts doing wrong? And then we'll get to the things you see they're doing right. Let's start with the wrong first. So people can improve.

SPEAKER_00: 26:11

I I see all sorts, I mean the the the wrong that I see is is sometimes even tough to describe because some of it just goes so sideways. Um and it depends on the people's skill set. The the the biggest thing that I guess I would see wrong is people not improving. Um it is tough in so many cases to listen to your own podcast in a constructively criticism, construct constructively uh critical manner. Um it's so tough to listen to be like, okay, I said this, I said this, I said that four times over. And think about that when you come back in. The we all have a base skill set, and and I'm never gonna be an NBA star. Um I'm fairly athletic, but I just don't have that ability to get to that level. But I can always improve on those things. So it's figuring out what I can improve on and making sure that I'm doing that to constantly move forward. The second piece that I see is once again, I see a lot of podcasts that don't provide value. Um we're like in our conversation right now, you're looking to get value in terms of tips, in terms of suggestions, in terms of talking with people. How do you build this? How do you do this? How do you make this better? That's adding value. You get a lot of people that just go on that talk. And much of that goes in circles. We had a podcast guest, the the or podcast host in one studio uh at one point in time. She would invite experts in, and we ran an analysis later. The two episodes that she did with us, the first one she talked 71% of the time, the second one she talked 81% of the time. I'm like, why do you have an expert in? Right. I'm like, this the the you you had someone in to learn from them, and uh so make sure you do that because that person's gonna add value to the podcast. So it's it's looking at things of a once again, it's the how do I always get better? I there's so many podcasts that just aren't doing that. And then the other one is is the how do I make sure that I add value? Um, if you don't add value, you're your people just aren't gonna want to pay attention.

SPEAKER_01: 28:39

So you do in-house podcast, or do you do the video where everybody else videos their own and then you edit it?

SPEAKER_00: 28:48

We do it all. Um we it's funny, as we got into this, I started to realize that there are a number of different ways that we can do this and do this effectively for people because like I'm working with someone right now, it's a busy CEO. He's like, your studio is five minutes away. I don't have the time. Great, we'll set something up in your office. Um, and it'll it'll it won't look as good as it will be in the studio, but it gets them 90% of the way there. Um, so we found we've we've become adaptable in making sure that we're able to help people in what they want to do. And there's some times where we've got to say, look, not an area we work in, and uh let them go to someone else.

SPEAKER_01: 29:31

What is the difference between using a professional studio like yours and them doing themselves? And the reason I asked that is for instance, our target audience is small business owners. Most business owners that listen to this show now didn't ever listen to podcasts. So as long as we have good quality sound, good quality people, experts like yourself, they're very convinced. intent. So for us to spend the additional funds to use a professional studio, I understand the value in that, but it's not gonna get it's not gonna make a difference to them. We've pulled them, we surveyed them. So what would be the difference between using someone like yourself versus just doing it themselves?

SPEAKER_00: 30:22

There's two ways to answer that. And I'll try and cover them both here. So the studio uh we've got a number of people that like coming into the studio because A, it gets them out of the office and they're like, no one's knocking on my door. Um they just walk in the door, sit down and go. There's no setup, there's no nothing, there's no how's the lighting? They don't have to check anything. They don't have to worry about the audio. They don't have to worry about the camera. They don't have to they just come in and talk. That's one of the big advantages of being in the studio. Now in a in a setup like yours obviously it looks like you're in your office or conference room there and I do like the orange chairs is uh the the the uh you've got stuff color coordinated you've got stuff set up you've obviously put thought into this it didn't start that way on day one though I will say like you were talking about earlier always try to improve yeah it it usually doesn't start out looking great and that's okay because you know both people that watched your episode and both of them may even be your mother yes they did right so I I mean to me the those first couple episodes it it those I don't want to say they don't matter but it they don't carry the gravitas should you start out of the gate right yes because then you're gonna go up higher from there. From the production standpoint if someone's doing it like in their office or like their home studio or anything like that, what we offer is a the coaching standpoint from it because we'll take a look and we'll be like hey we noticed this we noticed this maybe you can ask this question a little bit different maybe you can do that. The other piece with that is too is what I always like to tell people we give you your time back. We do this all the time. This is like I don't know if you're editing your own podcast but the time that goes into some of that editing stuff is time consuming. We do it all the time. So we're like look we've got systems for it we've got processes for it where we can like bring this in, bring that in, okay, polish this up good. We'll probably get it done in less time than it would take you and it's once again it's you don't have to worry about it. You can move on to bigger and better things. You can be on to the next thing and uh not have to worry about those types of things. And part of the reason why we do it our pricing's all a la carte. So if someone says uh you I'll have you guys upload it but I want to do the description and I want to do the show notes but I want you to do the blog post for it, great. We'll do it that way because we realize that some some people like doing some of these things. They don't want to edit it but they sure want to write the show notes like oh we had a lot of fun doing this this great go ahead I mean we we want to make sure it's it's the it part of podcasting is making sure it stays fun because if it stays fun you're more likely to be engaged with it and you're more likely to continue with it.

SPEAKER_01: 33:13

Yeah on the growth side so now let's just say they've gone through your whole process it's been edited it's ready to upload now what? What should people be doing with it after that? You know what I mean? It doesn't just sit there and everybody finds it by themselves. What should people do to get it out there?

SPEAKER_00: 33:38

Um one of the the the first thing that I always tell people is you better be sending it to your email list. You can't control who sees it on Instagram on TikTok on YouTube on any of the other platforms but by golly your email list is yours start with that and tell them why it's valuable to them. If you just be like hey did a podcast once again the person that's going to watch is going to be your mom because she's like I'm proud of you congratulations and you keep doing the same stupid thing like Mr.

SPEAKER_01: 34:15

Wonderful on the shark says have you ever watched that show on Shark Tank and and uh somebody's got some ridiculous little widget or something and he's like who told you that was good well my family they're lying to you 100% 100% so yeah so it's the the uh first thing I always tell people is make make an email out of that thing.

SPEAKER_00: 34:39

Um and if you talked about 10 actionable things put one actionable thing in that email like hey look we talked about this here is how you do this if you want the other nine things go ahead and watch or listen or whatever. The next thing we typically tell people to is make some of the clips with it. The power of video and to use something we use Opus clip in a lot of cases there's also descript people record in Riverside Riverside will make the clips for them when you do stuff like that it gives you that better discoverability.

SPEAKER_01: 35:14

And once again when you've got a guest on tag them collaborate with them that will help to grow and build that audience for you um it really is it's about like working with people to help build the stuff so you are scaling your business with podcast and videos what advice would you give to entrepreneurs from the business perspective of now that you understand your product your services you're really good at it what are what are some insights that you can share with our audience that here's what I'm doing in my business to improve just like you mentioned improve your podcast how are you improving your business?

SPEAKER_00: 35:57

Get the hell out of your own way um is really the biggest one and it's it's something that I I I'm constantly like thinking about because I I started this from just me. I've got editors now I've got social media managers now we we need to make sure that these people are doing the things and what's funny is like I built this business like on some of my I've got some unique editing skills I've got some unique conversational skills um some unique graphic skills and I asked my editor the one time I'm like hey can you come up with a graphic for this new podcast we're working on she's like let me see what I can do. And I had something in my mind like okay we're gonna do this this and this and uh about two hours later I get an email hey here's the go take a look at this link and I was like oh gosh that's like 10 times better than what I was thinking. Um let your people do the things um hire people that are good at the things that you're building your business on and just let them do the things um because that's how you're gonna be able to grow and expand the business. So many businesses are are built on the backs of very few talented people and you need to find a way to build the talent in other people and that just I mean makes it take off from there. The the thing to me is it I it finally dawned on me. I mean we had the uh the the terrible wall art which you most people would call their core values is uh because that's what most core values are is they're just terrible wall art. Um it hit me about two years ago for us it this is what just works for us is success is a shared thing. And I do everything in my power to make sure that my people are successful. I do everything in my power to make sure my clients are successful. If I do everything in my power to make sure my people are successful they're gonna do everything that they can to make sure my clients are successful. They're gonna I mean it has just been such an unlock to be like look go do the things and whatever tools you need just let me know.

SPEAKER_01: 38:12

And it just goes how hard was it to let go and how did you do it? Because that is you said get out of your own way that's one of the reasons why most business owners can't because no one can do it as well as they can and sorry business owners you're probably the worst employee that's why you own a business but in in my opinion how did you get to that point of okay I'm I'm gonna let go was it a slow process did you figure out something that works for you oh it was just like for me it was it was a realization that I need to let go of some of this stuff.

SPEAKER_00: 38:51

And it was I literally stuck a toe in the water and it was that graphics thing it was that animation I'm like why don't you give this a shot and I thought okay I gave her two hours to do it. And I thought okay I'm out her salary for two hours worst case scenario if this just bombs and all of a sudden I mean when as soon as I saw that what she did was it's not what I had in mind but it looked amazing and all the principles were there. I'm like you idiot get out of her way um that and so now I I don't want to say I'm like hey she's doing everything um but it's like I it finally made me realize that hey I need to to finally do some stuff I had something the other day one of my social media managers sent me a message she's like hey I'm missing this video and I'm like okay and I mean there we've got our social media channel on our Google Google Meets which is similar to like a Slack and we've got our social media channel and we've got our um uh video or podcast editing channel in there and they're in separate channels and she's like hey I I get a message from her I'm of course in both of those and she's like we're missing this video and I'm like I'm gonna ask my editor and I'm like why the hell am I asking the editor we need a general group I need to get out I just get out of the way let them do the things and I as soon as I did that I see the I'm watching the communication between the two of them and I'm like just you idiots stop hindering them they're amazing people that's why you hired them let them do the things speaking of letting people do things we now have this thing called AI technology and I know we're at probably at this show I think we're at about 120 episodes and I know from the time we started the time through the whole process to what we do now is probably less than a third of the time we used to spend because of all the tools.

SPEAKER_01: 41:02

Where do you see podcasting going from here?

SPEAKER_00: 41:05

Um the it's something that I keep an eye on because I it's I don't want to say threatening but yeah it it it's it's a bit scary at times. To me it is making sure we we've found the same thing. I mean what used to take us hours now takes us quite a bit less time from a pure podcasting standpoint I see podcasting is going to stay strong it it's humans um you and I are talking I stutter I stammer I say far too many ums you hear me breathe in occasionally it it it's human that's people want to hear from people from the production standpoint it's something that we look at and like in many editing cases there's programs that'll edit your podcast but they still give what I like to call podcast whiplash. So if someone's we've all been on the podcast where you get the person that goes uh-huh yeah uh-huh yeah and it switches back and forth the camera like eight times and all of a sudden you're like okay in five seconds the camera is switched four times I'm hanging on to my desk so I don't fall off of it. Yeah it it it there there's certain things where we realize that's going to get better. So we need to stay ahead of that the visual side of it is something that is a number of years off yet in terms of coaching people on how to light their studio, how to set up their microphone. It's that feedback that people still like and that's why we're making sure that we are keeping personality in our business and that human touch because that's what podcasting is about people buy from those they know like and trust.

SPEAKER_01: 42:48

So if you can't see the person or get a little taste of the person then it's hard to you know do business with them. I know you've wet the ears of a lot of people a lot of listeners and you mentioned that you teach classes where can they find you how can they communicate with you to learn more the classes I teach are actually at uh Cuyahoga Community College.

SPEAKER_00: 43:11

It's part of the corporate college entrepreneurship series and uh we have a ton of fun in those classes I thoroughly enjoy it the one class uh I think it was 7200 steps and it's a three hour class I move yeah to to consult with us it's pedalstopperproductions dot com. I offer a 30 minute no pitch podcast consultation. I will sit down with anyone I'll look at their camera settings I'll look at their microphone setup we'll we'll watch part of an episode and I'll answer whatever questions people have about podcasting because we realize that if we elevate the community, it's once again it's that success is a shared thing. If we're elevating the community it's just it's going to find its way back to us.

SPEAKER_01: 43:59

I know from time to time I've been a guest on a podcast and I wish they would have asked me a specific question to go deep in. Is there anything that we didn't cover that you want to share with our listeners no I I mean I you you did a great job in terms of asking some of the right questions.

SPEAKER_00: 44:17

And the thing that I love is something else that just to touch on is what makes a great podcast host is genuine curiosity. If you show up and want to genuinely hear from other people you're gonna do great awesome well I end our shows with one final question.

SPEAKER_01: 44:36

It's easy if you're in front of an audience of small business owners different industries different seasons of business different sizes what is one thing that could be applicable to all of them and like I usually say it could be a quote a book just one last insight something you've learned I a business owner taught me a lesson uh about two years ago he just literally found out from his supplier that his supply was getting cut by 30% and this is a business that moves about$1.4 billion worth of product every year.

SPEAKER_00: 45:11

And he's looking at right and I hear him he gets off the phone he goes if that's all you can do and he just hangs up and he is a goodbye type of guy he doesn't hang up on anyone and I'm like that sounded rough and he goes yeah he goes with he gave me the numbers and I'm like that's like a 35% hit to business. Without hesitating he looks at me and goes that's a moving target and that moment just offered such clarity to me as a business owner it doesn't matter small business big business whatever it is it is a moving target. Nothing ever goes exactly as you hoped it's always a moving target. Just be willing to adapt.

SPEAKER_01: 45:46

That's a golden nugget right there. Josh I appreciate you today your time you've been a blessing to many and a wealth of information. I wish you continued success. Thank you you also it's been a pleasure thanks for having me. My pleasure thank you for listening to Small Business Pivots this podcast is created and produced by my company Boss our business is growing yours. Boss offers flexible business loans with business coaching support. Apply in minutes and get approved and funded in as little as 24 to 48 hours at business ownership simplified dot com. If you're enjoying this podcast don't forget to hit the subscribe button and share it as well. If you need help growing your business email me at Michael at michaeldmorrison.com we'll see you next time on Small Business Pivots