How to Grow: Wisdom From 6 Years of Podcasting

In this special edition of the Social Media Marketing podcast, I reveal four lessons I have picked up from 6 years of podcasting (and growing Social Media Examiner).

The topics I'll cover include how to grow anything, how to succeed via omission, how to achieve thought leadership, and my view on competition.

I'll also share the original story of this podcast and much more.
More About This Show
The Social Media Marketing podcast is designed to help busy marketers, business owners, and creators discover what works with social media marketing.

In this episode, I share stories from the podcast that illustrate how to grow your business.

I explain how finding help and understanding your audience can help your business succeed.

You'll also find tips for becoming a good thought leader and collaborating with others in your industry.

Share your feedback, read the show notes, and get the links mentioned in this episode below.
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Here are some of the things you'll discover in this show:
How to Grow
How The Social Media Marketing Podcast Started

In the summer of 2012, I knew we were launching Social Media Marketing World in 2013. While many people knew about Social Media Examiner, they didn't necessarily know who I was. I was looking for a creative way to get in front of my audience.

At the same time, I noticed that many of my peers were moving toward podcasting. I reached out to Cliff Ravenscraft and hired him to teach me everything I needed to know about podcasting.

A couple of months later, on August 10, 2012 I went live with our first episode. In those early days, I used to the show to introduce people to myself and the guests who would speak at Social Media Marketing World. The existing Social Media Examiner audience contributed to the initial success of the show, and that year 1100 people attended the conference. And I had discovered a true passion.

In 6 years, we have broadcast 314 weekly episodes. The show has just shy of 15 million downloads and continues to be ranked in the top 100 podcasts in Apple's Business category. While the show has, for the most part, remained unchanged, we did update a few things in 2018. We have a new voice and new music for the intro and outro, and we updated the cover art

Listen to the show to hear Mike reminisce about some of his early show topics.

How to Grow by Getting Help

I'm good at what I do because I've perfected it over the years. However, my perfectionism is also perhaps my biggest weakness. The process for producing this podcast is a great example of how my perfectionism can get in my way.

When I started this podcast, I did everything. I recruited and scheduled each guest, and recorded and edited the podcast audio. Then my team turned it into a blog post and scheduled it. With this process, I spent 3 to 4 hours working on each episode. However, as Social Media Examiner continued to grow, I started to feel the squeeze of my other responsibilities and wondered if I could hand off parts of the podcast process.

Today, my assistant completes a detailed analysis of all of the people that I'm considering for the show. Her analysis includes examples of their speaking and audio, thought leadership, and focus. She also gives me her gut reaction. If her gut reaction says a prospective guest isn't a good fit, I don't even read the rest of the email. I say that I agree and we move along.

In 2018, I finally gave up editing the podcast. Although I enjoy editing in Adobe Audition, I found someone better than me, and the cost is worth it. Now, I spend 90 minutes producing the podcast. First, I do a 30-minute pre-call where I get to know the guest so we sound as if we've been buds forever during the interview. We also use this time to discuss the topics so there are no surprises during the hour-long interview.

I didn't know what the impact of saving a few hours per week would be. But it's been huge for me.