027: Tactic Tuesdays: Launching the Podcast - Behind the Scenes

Speaker 1:
0:00

Welcome to the brand Fortress HQ podcast. This is another Amazon tactics Tuesday and actually we're gonna do something a little bit different today. Rather than talking about Amazon e-commerce, we're actually gonna take you behind the scenes to talk about the launch of our podcast. So I've got Matt with me, I've got Mike with me and I guess let's start off. You know I'll start with you guys and just, we've been talking about this for a while before we actually launched it. Um, what interest did you guys the most in launching a podcast?

Speaker 2:
0:32

You're a star man, so if we, if, yeah, if we go back even farther than that, how this whole thing started to begin with. If you remember, john, we you and I met at I was working for an agency and you were come. You came as a prospect and that turned into we got along really well. We had some conversations. Those conversations got more regular After a year.

Speaker 2:
0:54

Later we brought ended up inviting Mike to the conversations and I mean we've been having these conversations for over two years now and you know when I don't remember if it was you or Mike which one of you said, hey, we should probably record some of these because we talk about some pretty high level stuff. And I mean it really hasn't changed. To be honest, like it really still feels like you and I, us three getting together and nerding out on our businesses. To me, the fact that we're actually recording it for a podcast is it's cool, but like it started out just as an organic conversation between a bunch of buddies and I think that's why I enjoy the whole process of this podcast so much is because it it basically is now a Better produced convo with some of my some of my really good friends.

Speaker 3:
1:41

Yeah, no, I would. I, I agree, I mean it's, it's nice and I, and I think you know, from the standpoint of people listening, you know obviously, if that's not already happening, you know that that maybe doesn't help you much. Um, and also I think there's probably the aspect of, for most individuals who are listening, who are likely amazon sellers, that you know a podcast For you unless you intend on maybe getting into consulting or things of that nature you know in in the space, um, that it's more likely that a podcast that's surrounded by the topics that would be of interest to your customers Would be the thing that would be most valuable, you know, in terms of promoting your business and getting more exposure for your brand and that sort of thing. So it's a little bit different animal than what, than what we're doing, but by the same token, there's probably something to learn from that, in the sense that you know there's probably value In you finding some individuals that operate in your space not necessarily product sellers, although it could be but you know like, for instance, you know we sell pool tools For me to just have regular conversations, you know could make some connections with individuals who are pool pros that have been doing this for a long time and just have regular conversations with them, you know, like every couple of weeks or every week or something right, get comfortable, you know, find somebody that you're comfortable having those conversations with and that you can have Some relatively kind of high level conversations about that topic.

Speaker 3:
3:07

You know, so, like in our case, pool maintenance, and you know things of that nature, right, like they understand the space in a much different way than I understand the space. But not only would those conversations help me to understand the space better, but if I'm, you know, if we get good at that conversation, then that can easily just turn naturally into a podcast. That's a benefit to both of you, right, because then you can serve customers in that space. You already kind of know how to have those conversations. It would be, as Matt said, much more organic and it would Probably give you a lot more confidence to step into that opportunity of actually doing a podcast. If you've been having those conversations all along and now you're just deciding to record them, right, there would be a very low it's a low hanging fruit option, right See, if you can connect somebody with somebody else in the space, that you can just have some of those higher level conversations with.

Speaker 1:
4:00

Yeah, and I would say you know, even going from there for, and kind of what spurred this on was being on other people's podcasts. You know all three of us have been on different podcasts involved in amazon and just you know, for the most part, the people that you have those podcasts with, I feel like at least there's usually a lot of fun as far as the conversation and and you know, no matter, you know Whether you're selling a product on amazon or you know you're running an agency or doing, you know, providing some other type of service. Um, getting on a podcast really is a great way to have you know, uh, a way to tell your story and you get a couple of different things out of it. I mean the first thing is is that you know obviously you've got the recorded conversation. I feel like everybody, or a lot of people now, you know podcasts are great because it's kind of a passive way of Um getting information, where you know you listen to your car when you're driving into work or whatever it happens to be. Um, but then also you know in the content aspect there's that long form. But also you know you can take a lot of these Assets that you get from a podcast because most of them like um, the platform that we're using right now is Riverside, so it records video as well. And then you know, you get some, some video aspect of it and then you can chop that up into clips that then can be posted. You know social media and all that type of stuff, so from a content perspective, it's absolutely fantastic. And then you know again, on top of it, I think in this whole process, as you know, we've launched this podcast of hosting a podcast has definitely been, first of all, it's been a lot of fun, um.

Speaker 1:
5:32

Secondly, you know, I think that if somebody is like hey, I want to get you know, see what that looks like to get my feet wet. You know, being on a podcast, um, something in your category, your industry, whatever it happens to be, uh, in fact, we have something that we're going to have coming out here in a few weeks where we're going to um start bringing on some brand builders, uh, as an example, so that way you can kind of hear their stories and their journeys and learn from um what they've been doing. And I think that that's a great place to start, because there's so much value in that content. And then if you're like hey, I really enjoy this.

Speaker 1:
6:07

Um, starting your own podcast is definitely something to consider. Not going to be perfect for everybody in every industry, but there's definitely a lot of. It's an easy way to connect with people in. Well, I'm not going to say an easy cause, it's not super easy, but I would say it's a good way to connect. I can see for those that can't don't see the video right now Matt I'm Mike's got a big smile on his face because I'm glad that John took the reins on this and put it all the way up Because if it had to be me, we would not be in the position right now.

Speaker 1:
6:38

So, yeah, I mean it's a great way to generate content, is really the, the short answer, um, whether it's, you know, being just being on a podcast, um, and then, of course, it's a whole new level when you decide that you want to host your own podcast.

Speaker 3:
6:55

Yeah, well, and, and just from the nuts and bolts of it right, I mean being on any podcast, or say, hopefully, multiple podcasts, before you start your own you know the nuts and bolts of what that process could look like. You know, in terms of you know what sort of questions might you ask on a questionnaire or for somebody that you might interview for your podcast. You know what. What should those questions look like? How should that process work? Should you do a pre interview?

Speaker 3:
7:21

You know, like, should you all of those things you know if, if you're getting interviewed on podcasts that have been established and have done, maybe, say, you know, at least 50 or a hundred episodes, maybe, right, they probably have streamlined their process enough that it would be useful, you know, to see how do they do it, like, what is the process, how do they run through it, so that you at least have a high level view of what that looks like, because if you've never done it and you've never been on a podcast, you literally have no idea.

Speaker 3:
7:54

You know what that looks like and it would be extremely intimidating, you know, to walk into that and never experienced it at all from either side of the mic, you know. So, yeah, I absolutely agree. The best thing to do would be just be on some podcast, you know, see if you can be interviewed as an expert or a brand builder or whatever you know, find something that you think you could talk about effectively for you know 20 or 30 or 40 minutes, and see who might interview you about that, you know.

Speaker 2:
8:23

Well, if you're a brand builder and you're looking at and you're looking at what, how does this relate to me?

Speaker 2:
8:29

And even if it's just you finding a podcast to be on that is in your target market, even if you use that as kind of being a reporter and asking questions to someone that purchases your product? Like Mike, you don't even own a pool and you sell pool cleaning tools. So if you're having a conversation with a pool cleaning technician or someone that owns a shop that sells these kind of stuff like you'll learn a lot just by asking him questions or by answering. You know him asking you questions about your business and your products. Like you would learn so much more about your target market, which then you can use in so many other ways, even if it's just using that knowledge to understand how to speak to your consumer a little bit better. So I mean there's so many different benefits to it, but like learning who your target market is and what's important to them, that's one of the biggest. If you're just a brand builder and you're not looking to build content for any other reason, just by understanding them a little bit better.

Speaker 2:
9:27

Yeah for sure.

Speaker 1:
9:29

Yeah, I think the other thing is that I think is important, at least in this process, or at least for me, was that, first of all, these are conversations that we were already having at a high level, and what I like about having the podcast now is that it really just provides, I think, a better platform for us to be able to get that content whether it be an audio form, video form, whatever you know out to sellers that are looking at fortifying their brand and looking at how do I continue to grow on Amazon and beyond, in a way that you know other mediums or other strategies or approaches may not be as easy in order to share. So, for me at least, that was one of the big reasons why I was excited about doing the podcast is because I think it's just such a good medium to have, quite frankly, the conversations that we were already having.

Speaker 3:
10:22

Well, and there's such great tools out there, right, like I mean, you know we use Riverside, but there's a number of other tools out there for doing a podcast that essentially accomplish many of the same goals. You know, like they help with the audio and they do things like that. But honestly, like you said, in terms of content, you know, in terms of you know the shorts that it generates and the scripts and transcripts and things like that that you can use in so many different ways. You know, like even us, you know, I mean, essentially, we really have just started this podcast. I mean it didn't launch that long ago and, you know, even though it takes some time, you know, to get some traction.

Speaker 3:
10:57

You know, if you look at the YouTube shorts that we're publishing, you know already, you know we've got, you know, I don't know what a couple of thousands views or something like that, if you add it all up. You know, and so you know, if you think about that, depending on what it is you're trying to accomplish, you know that's actually fairly impressive. You know the number of people that we've already reached in a very short period of time. We didn't know anything about this process. We didn't really, you know, had not any one of us really used YouTube shorts or TikTok or anything like that in any large capacity.

Speaker 3:
11:31

You know previously to understand well what that process looks like. You know we're learning as we go but we've already generated some traffic and some exposure and you don't ever know. You know those videos like you might publish on one platform, so you publish it on YouTube. You know you get 10 views, but the very same video published to TikTok might get 15,000 or 20,000 or 100,000 reviews. So if you're taking that content and you're dispersing it and repurposing it on multiple platforms, the chance that you're going to get some decent exposure from certain ones of those videos on certain platforms is actually very good and the content's already there. You know, like these services, like Riverside, they already create the content for you. It makes it fairly simple and if you just repurpose it, that alone is going to get you far more exposure than you can get without it.

Speaker 1:
12:27

Yeah, absolutely. I think the other thing that's important for folks to know too is that as we we started talking about this probably like last August, so it was probably a total of six months from the time that we had talked about, said, yeah, we were interested in doing a podcast until we actually launched it. Now, I think a part of that is because all three of us have our own other projects and businesses and that type of thing that we do outside of BrandFortress HQ, which is fantastic from the standpoint of the different perspective and information that we're able to bring to the table when we have these tactics, Tuesday talks and everything else that we do. But with that also, I think it's important for people to know that we did bring in somebody that actually I was on their podcast. I emailed probably about 10 people that I knew ran fairly successful podcasts and just asked them for advice, and I think it's within the Amazon community.

Speaker 1:
13:35

I think we're fortunate enough to have a pretty open community where people are willing to help each other, and I think the same thing is true for the podcast community, where you reach out and ask for hey, we're looking at launching a new podcast, what are your recommendations for finding guests and what's involved in the launch process and that type of stuff, and there was a lot of valuable advice from that and also from that. We found somebody that he runs I think he's Brian's got what four or five different podcasts but then he also consults for launching podcasts and so he really helped us understand just like there's a logarithm on Amazon, Apple has their own logarithm for podcasts and how that ranking works and all those types of things and kind of helped us understand what's involved in that process and speaking that language. So that way, as we strategize launching our podcast, we could think about how do we want to launch the podcast for her to be as effective as possible?

Speaker 2:
14:43

I mean imagine how much farther along he got us by his knowledge, his experience doing something that we wanted to do. He'd already done it 1000 times. And I mean we launched and I mean we were in the top 200 rankings in the first week. So I mean, like I don't know that we would have been able to do that ourselves if we fumbled around. I mean sure we would have gotten recorded, we might have landed on a on a program like Riverside, but I don't know that we would have been as successful right out of the gate. So I mean that speaks to the importance of coaches and consultants and people that have been there before to help get you there a lot faster and with a lot less mistakes. You know, yeah, sure, I mean you know we made it.

Speaker 3:
15:27

I mean you say within the top 200. I mean literally, and this is a little bit a little frustrating because we were so close, but we hit like 103. Like we were, we were number 103, briefly right 102. And I was a little frustrated I was.

Speaker 1:
15:44

you know, it's one of those things where I'm really happy. I love the progress that we've made with the podcast, but that is the, you know, one of the things that I look back and when I say, okay, what could we have done differently? I wish we would have put a little bit, and we put a lot of effort in launch and we can, you know, talk about that in a minute but I wish we would have been able to just get to that tipping point, to get in the top 100, because we were so close in the US. We hit 102.

Speaker 3:
16:12

That's such a big thing, right, like I mean, you hit that top 100, then, of course, then you get featured and then you'd be like we were just like this, you know, like we were that close. So it's possible, I think it's. You know, I think the big thing, the big takeaway from that, you know, for me is and for anybody listening, number one it's possible. You know, like there's a process that you could use, that we used, that will get you there, Like you could do it. We didn't quite make it, but a lot of other podcasts might have. You know, and you know, like Matt said, having the benefit of that person who's gone before you a thousand times, right, and they know what that looks like. I mean that truly is invaluable.

Speaker 3:
16:52

And I will say this much that I Really just Started, you know, kind of attending conferences and networking with other Amazon sellers and other e-commerce individuals and whatnot, literally like a year and a half ago. I mean it's, it's in in that amount of time. You know, previous to that I was strictly lone wolf. I didn't talk to anybody. I barely even knew, like I knew technically, that there were other Amazon sellers out there. Obviously, I didn't know a single one, you know, up until that point, and I've been selling on Amazon for what? Eight years at that point, the amount of benefit there has been to my business In that year and a half, in terms of the number of people that I've met, you know the things that I've learned, the context that I've made, the networking and how they're able to put me in touch with people. They've already walked through a certain process that I'm about to walk through and so I need, you know, assistance. I Can't even describe the amount of benefit that there has been to me from that process, this being one of those things like if I, if I hadn't gone to that one conference, I wouldn't have met Matt, you know, I wouldn't have been brought into your guys's little mastermind, I wouldn't hit me like none of this would have happened.

Speaker 3:
18:06

Right, so that one contact, you know, that one conference that I went, and so on, the same, you know, along that same vein, you can orchestrate that you can pay For that right to have access to those individuals who have gone before you, who know what you're about to do, who know the pitfalls, who know the things to do right, you know, and the things that matter and the things that don't matter. The question is are you willing to spend the money To gain that expertise without having to go through all of the headaches that they went through? Like that's worth Thousands of dollars easily. The question is, you know, are you willing to pay that price? We chose to do so, you know. Take advantage of that opportunity and I think it's propelled us forward to a much greater degree than we would have otherwise.

Speaker 2:
18:56

So that was BDSS in Austin that you and I met. Was that your first conference that you went to, mike?

Speaker 3:
19:04

Yes so.

Speaker 2:
19:06

I went.

Speaker 1:
19:07

I went to a verse.

Speaker 3:
19:08

I had a virtual BDSS before that, but I had never been to a physical, you know event.

Speaker 2:
19:13

So for that, for the cost of that ticket, do you think that you could put a month, a number, a monetary Number on how much that that one trip has benefited your business, since, because of all the different dominoes that has happened since then, a Thousand X.

Speaker 3:
19:32

Yeah and that's not an exaggeration, like I mean literally. Yeah, I mean because I spent what you know, like I don't know five grand, you know, whatever it was you know, I mean it was pricey.

Speaker 3:
19:42

I mean it, at the time I was like I don't know, you know, but yeah, I had spent I don't know thousand bucks or whatever it was on the virtual event and there was a lot of good content and I'm, you know, and I met some people.

Speaker 3:
19:54

I mean, a virtual event is tough, you know, like you're not really meeting face-to-face and zoom, you know whatever, but it did meet Some people through that and it wasn't just the content that caused me to decide to go to the in-person event. Part of it was people that I met, but most of it was the content. Honestly, you know, like there was just really good content. But once I attended that physical event and Met all of the amazing individuals that I met there, you know, then it became clear to me that the content was valuable, but the networking and the individuals that I met Way more valuable. And and I can literally say that five grand or whatever it was that I spent on BDSS Absolutely a thousand X I have gained more than than what I put in, because I know where I'm gonna be a year from now or so, based on the things that I've learned and the people that I've connected with and the stuff that I've, you know, been able to do that I didn't do before, that I had no question that that's true.

Speaker 1:
20:51

Yeah, and I think, coming back to the podcast, that's what One of the things that really excited of me about it initially, and one of the things that I really enjoy about it is you know you talk about contacts.

Speaker 1:
21:06

I mean, we've already had Some incredible, you know, heavyweights in the Amazon space that are fantastic At moving brands forward and really know at a deep level what's happening on Amazon and helping brands grow, and we're gonna have more of those guests. We're gonna have more people that are, you know, those brand builders and that type of stuff, and the podcast just really gives, I think, a great Platform in order to have a, you know, 45 minute or an hour conversation with them, where Everybody wins. You know I learned a ton from those guests. You know we get them some exposure with our podcast and, at the same time, you know you, the listeners, also get, essentially, you know, a one-on-one session with them of what's happening in the Amazon space and what they're seeing in order to move, you know, brands Forward and, you know, your business forward on Amazon and beyond. So there, I think there's just an incredible amount of Value that's gained through that entire process.

Speaker 3:
22:21

Go ahead, Mike. I was just going to say All right, Matt, you're first.

Speaker 2:
22:30

Putting the brand builder hat on again for our brand builders that are listening how to apply this to your business.

Speaker 2:
22:37

I sell in the barbecue accessory space and we have a pretty big Facebook group and weekly we used to have interviews where we would have a video interview with one of the members of the group and they would be in their backyard at the grill telling us what they were cooking up.

Speaker 2:
22:53

And that was one of the things that created so much engagement in that group. But it gave us the opportunity. Who we? You know I do love the barbecue, but I'm not a competition pitmaster that travels the country in these competitions, but yet we were able to have conversations with them. So we learned we got in front of our target audience, who were drawn to us because we were interviewing these people that they go to competitions and see and know because they were on TV shows, but like, that was also content for us in our brand that we were able to use on all different types of of advertisement, like our listing and our Facebook page and that kind of stuff. So that's how there's like that there's so many benefits of being able just being the reporter in your category of products that you sell products in and have that, as you know, as stuff that you can use for all of your advertisements is another really really good application for something like this.

Speaker 3:
23:47

Well, and that's also so cool because you know, if you think about that, like there are a lot of different ways to run a podcast. Right, it doesn't have to be a formal interview kind of a situation where, okay, you're interviewing the expert, you know whatever. It doesn't have to be that. You know it can be that a lot of podcasts are that, but certainly there's plenty of podcasts. That that's not. You know the structure of how it works.

Speaker 3:
24:12

You could literally be like Guy on the Street kind of a thing, you know talking to individuals. You know in your, you know like you were talking about that. You know like that whole idea of just going and being there, you know, while the pit master is cooking up this stuff, you know a competition or whatever. Like that could be your podcast, like literally you could do that and have that could be a podcast. You could still record it, you can still cut it up into shorts and still, you know, create a little 20 minute thing. You know like there's so many creative ways that you can do that.

Speaker 3:
24:41

And again, as long as you're providing value in the space, and let's, you know, let's loop that back to a brand owner who maybe is trying to sell a product you know or something on Amazon, right there's.

Speaker 3:
24:52

You know who your customer is, you know the things that would potentially be of value to them, the information that they would appreciate or that they would think was humorous or they would enjoy. Like it doesn't just have to be information, like people appreciate good information and useful information. But plenty of people just go to a comedy show because they just want to be entertained, right. They scroll through TikTok because they want to be entertained, right. So your podcast could just simply be entertaining in that space. As long as you're entertaining people that you're trying to connect with, it still gives you more exposure in that space. So, you know, be creative with that. And in terms of you know, like John was talking about the fact that we've had that opportunity to bring some pretty heavy hitters in the Amazon space onto our podcast, even though realistically, our podcast was pretty new, didn't really have much in the way of viewership yet, right, we didn't?

Speaker 1:
25:47

well, I mean, as a part of the launch, we record 10 episodes before we even launch. So like we are asking these people you know to to spend an hour with us. You know, being very upfront, that like, hey, we don't have, you know, technically, anybody yet. Right, because we recorded 10 episodes before we launched.

Speaker 3:
26:07

So there was no assurance to them that they were actually going to receive any significant return on their investment of that time, right, and yet they were still willing to do so. Now, many of the people that we reached out to were people that we knew, or, you know, we had some sort of connection with not all of them, but many of them. So that's a little bit different story. You know, like people that you know are going to be willing you know a little more willing to something that you don't. But I do think that most of the individuals listening to this would be surprised at the number of experts in your space. That one would be flattered that you even asked them to do an interview. Two would be certainly happy to do so for the possibility of some increase in exposure, right, because you don't know, any podcast could blow up. You don't know what podcasts are going to blow up and what podcasts aren't going to blow up, right. So being interviewed on a particular podcast, you really don't know, as the expert, like, maybe this is going to get me a million exposures, maybe it's going to get me zero, right.

Speaker 3:
27:10

But the other thing that was interesting is I spoke to another guy who runs a very, you know, popular podcast. I'm not going to give out the name, necessarily, but you know he made a very good point to me and that is that he chooses to be on virtually any podcast that somebody asks him to be on. Small or large doesn't matter, doesn't matter how big their audience is, whatever as long as it's in a field that makes sense. You know, for what he's trying to accomplish, he will accept every single podcast, you know, every single offer and will actually even sometimes seek out opportunities to be on a podcast. And he said something very profound, which, what he said was because you don't know what's going to happen with that podcast.

Speaker 3:
27:55

Most podcasts, even if they only have done, you know, say, 10 or 15 or 20 episodes right, they have a certain number of listeners that are already paying attention and they will likely have more. Many of them will give up. Many of them will throw up their hands and say you know what I've done. I've done 40 episodes, I'm done right, or 30, you know, or whatever it is 40, they didn't even get that far.

Speaker 1:
28:17

I think the chasm for podcasts is something like 90. Some percent of podcasts don't make it to the 90 day mark.

Speaker 3:
28:26

Okay, so let's think about that.

Speaker 3:
28:28

And this is what he said, though he said if you've done an interview on that podcast and there is somebody who was listening to that podcast and found it interesting right, they probably listened to your episode. Now this podcast doesn't exist anymore. Well, what happens? The person who was listening to that podcast now has a half hour or an hour slot in their day that they used to fill with that podcast and now they don't have anything to fill it with, right? What are they gonna do? They're gonna look for another podcast to fill that space with. What's the easiest way for them to do that?

Speaker 3:
28:59

Go through the people that were interviewed that they thought were interesting, that maybe have a podcast and they probably heard the episode. They heard that he has a podcast. He has an opportunity to actually increase the listenership of his podcast just simply by having been on podcasts that fall away and don't have anymore. You know like those viewers have to have some place to go. So he was just like no, I'm gonna take every opportunity I can. If I've got the time, I'm gonna be on the podcast. So if you think you can't get people you know to interview and to be on your podcast, you're probably wrong.

Speaker 1:
29:28

I think you could, yeah and I want to double down on that because I'm pretty sure the person you're referring to, mike, is not the same person that I'm thinking of, and I've had at least a couple of people say that to me that you know, essentially any, almost any podcast offer that they get, they say yes to because it's just a, it's such an easy win for everybody involved in the process.

Speaker 1:
29:50

And I think the other important piece you know, just double click on what you said there, which is you know you roll the dice every time you you have an episode where something could really just take off but it may never take off and that's okay in the sense of you know, if you keep hitting base hits, you're still gonna get plenty of points across the plate.

Speaker 1:
30:12

And you know that's kind of how I view it in the sense of you know I'm we've already had some episodes that have been, you know, essentially home runs maybe not the massive home runs of being, you know, joe Rogan or something like that, but really have been fantastic information that I know that listeners are gonna get a lot of value out of and that compounds over time. So you know I don't even think listen, I'll definitely take something that you know an episode that really takes off and gets a bunch of listeners and gets people's attention, but at the same time you don't even necessarily need to be massive as far as you know your podcast, your listeners, if you're really focused on serving a particular community.

Speaker 3:
31:01

Yeah, agreed. Something else too that just came to mind, and that is, you know, like going back to that idea of just you know, being on other people's podcasts, and the benefit of that, you know of that practice is you also don't ever know who's gonna listen to that episode, and if the right person hears that episode, that person might make a connection with you that they never would have made you know previous because they hadn't heard of you they didn't know who you were, but maybe they find whatever it was that you said interesting and useful and they decide they wanna have you on their podcast.

Speaker 3:
31:36

And maybe they have a million listeners or they wanna be on your podcast, you know, because of you know the content that you're producing or that you know. So you just don't know what connection you're going to make. And again, every one of those you know podcast interviews, whether you're being interviewed or whether you're having somebody on, and making that connection with somebody is another opportunity to network with that person and connect with potentially all of the people that they're connected with. Why would you not take advantage of that? You're gonna learn something anyways, you're like. So you take an hour of your time. Even if none of those other things happen, chances are you still learn something through that interview and through that opportunity. Whether you were being interviewed or whether you were interviewing somebody, I would take that every day of the week.

Speaker 2:
32:22

Or you added one other layer in your network which could be just as valuable.

Speaker 3:
32:27

Yeah.

Speaker 1:
32:29

Yeah, Well, I think also just to me, it's so interesting how much parallels there has been with launching this podcast to you know, any other, to launching a product on Amazon or you know, really, any of the e-commerce platforms. When we talk about our logarithm, where, you know, we were fortunate enough and did some good outreach, where we were featured by Kevin King and we were featured by John Durkitz, you know, in their newsletter, so we were able to get some traction there and then we had a pretty good process. You know we did a giveaway and that type of stuff in order to really get people excited about the podcast and I think all those things together, I mean, I think the first, you know, a couple of weeks, we had, like you know, 500 downloads, so you know that's 500 episodes that people listen to, which is pretty incredible.

Speaker 3:
33:23

Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 3:
33:24

And I think you know, let's face it. You know, if you're it's just like with anything else. You know we talk about this all the time, but if you're gonna sell a product, sell a good one. You know, if make sure it's something that actually helps people, that makes their lives better, like why bother selling a product? If that's, you know, I mean, if all you're about is money, if that's the only thing that you're about, then you're not gonna make very much of it. Just, I mean straight up, you know like it's just not gonna happen. You know I mean people, people will figure you out. They will figure out that you have no interest in helping them, that you're not out to make their lives better. You're just out to take their dollar and put it into your pocket and they will stop buying from you. So you know, if you're gonna produce a product, produce a good one and help people, well, same thing here.

Speaker 3:
34:08

You know like, if you're, if you're gonna produce a podcast, don't do it just because it's gonna get you something in return, whether that's more product sales or more exposure or whatever. You know, think about it as you should, which is it's an opportunity for me to contribute something to other people out there that will make their lives better. They'll learn something, or they'll laugh, you know, or that you know they'll improve their day in some way. Right. So, whether it's you interviewing somebody else and giving them the opportunity to say important things to the people who listen to your you know podcast, or you're being on another podcast, hopefully you're presenting useful information or something that somebody's going to want or need or that's gonna make their life better. And if you pursue it in that way, like I really just don't feel like you can lose. I mean, at the end of the day, even if you don't make any more money, even if you don't sell anything more, you still gave out some good information and somebody probably benefited from it. So, you know, take it as a win.

Speaker 1:
35:08

Yeah, I could just say it any better. I think you know that's a really good way to, I think, kind of wrap up. This episode is just focused on thinking about how you can serve your customers and your community. Anything else you wanna add, Matt, before we wrap?

Speaker 2:
35:29

No, I mean, when we started having these conversations, I never thought in the million years that it would turn into a podcast. But it's a lot of fun and I, like I said, I don't think there's any scenario with you as a brand builder. I think that, regardless of if you think so or not, a podcast is probably a good idea for your niche and to help get the word out about your brand. So I would think about it.

Speaker 3:
35:54

And it's not easy, but it's probably easier than you think.

Speaker 1:
35:59

Yeah.

Speaker 3:
35:59

You know like it certainly is not easy, but if you do it right and you connect with the right people who know what they're doing so they can give you a roadmap, I think the process is probably way easier than you think it is, or at least it can be, if you do it right and as long as you stick with it. And I mean we learned this in this process, like we learned the stats, like if you managed to just get past 90 days, like you're like in the top 1% of podcasters ever to exist. So you know the bar is actually fairly low. If you just stick with it for a little while, you know you can be in the 1%. You know.

Speaker 1:
36:37

All right. Well with that, gents, I truly enjoy doing this podcast with you. I'm looking forward to continuing to doing a lot more episodes and also want to thank everybody who's you know been listening and been a part of this journey with us so far. You know we're really just getting started in this process and getting better every day at putting out content for you guys to really help you fortify your brand on Amazon and beyond. So stay tuned, there's going to be a lot more exciting things to come.