I’ve always considered podcasting painting audio.

Rick Rubin on Joe Rogan Podcast

One of the most influential figures in the creative industry is Rick Rubin. Rubin has been a music producer for over 30 years and has worked with some of the most iconic artists of our time, including Johnny Cash, Beastie Boys, and Jay-Z. He’s known for his unconventional approach to producing albums. He has won multiple Grammy Awards. In his book, "Creative Quest," he explores the creative process and shares his insights on how to unlock your creativity.

He is known for his unique approach to music production, which involves stripping away excess layers and focusing on the essential elements of a song. His philosophy is that less is more, and he encourages artists to explore their creativity and authenticity.

His influence on creativity can be seen in the way he has transformed the careers of many artists. He has helped them to break out of their comfort zones and create music that is true to themselves. This has resulted in some of the most memorable albums of all time.

One of the most notable examples of Rubin's influence is the album "American Recordings" by Johnny Cash. Rubin convinced Cash to strip away the layers of production that had become associated with his music and to record a series of stripped-down, acoustic performances. The result was a raw and authentic album that reinvigorated Cash's career and won critical acclaim.

In his book “"The Creative Process: Reflections on Invention in the Arts and Sciences," he explores the nature of creativity and how it can be cultivated in various fields. The book features interviews with a diverse range of artists, writers, and scientists, including David Lynch, Brian Eno, and Richard Dawkins.

I bring up Rick Rubin because it wasn’t until I came across this video interview below on the Joe Rogan podcast about his take on creativity that I felt understood as an artist.

His philosophy of authenticity and what it means to be an artist really resonates with me. Sometimes I feel so outside the social norm that I don’t know how to “just be” day to day in a way that “makes sense” to society. But maybe I don’t ever need to make sense…

Twitter tweet

The media saying podcasting is “over” is just silly. It’s like saying YouTube or Tiktok is not worth doing anymore.

Out of all revenue lines YouTuber Mr Beast (one of the top creators) highest income earner is Beast Burger, his restaurant chain. Why - his audience.

What is podcasting - an intimate trustworthy relationship with your audience.

So what is over are attempts to “just launch a podcast” thinking an audience will miraculously appear. Nope. You gotta put in the work to consistently build an audience over time.

I suggest following podcast The Diary Of A CEO on YouTube for an example of what it looks like to have a successful podcast.

Podcast host, investor and highly successful entrepreneur Steven Bartlett says consistency is 95% of success, smarts is only 5%.

The beauty of podcasting is you can’t “buy” an audience like some major platforms tried to do. We have wonderful relationships with our listeners. Our listeners can’t be bought. Trust is earned.

So my bet is all the inconsistent creators, not building genuine audiences… are over in podcasting but podcasts itself are here to stay and in a major way.

Curious, for the podcasters reading this - what’s your relationship like with your listeners?

Here’s 14 Benefits of Podcasting 🎙️ for companies and execs; (that don’t rely on podcast audience size)

Even a podcast with zero listeners has A LOT of value…

1. Podcast episodes are amazing for SEO on website blogs.

2. Great way to connect with people otherwise inaccessible.

3. Opportunity to have thoughtful present conversation which is very fulfilling.

4. Repurpose content. Accelerate content creation for other platforms by repurposing podcast episodes.

5. Public Relaitons. Use clips of podcasts to pitch your company or team for media opportunities.

6. Sales. Use your podcast to build trust with potential clients after sales calls.

7. Practice being interviewed. As thoughtleaders knowing how to handle an interview is essential.

8. Practice the elevator pitch. On podcasts you have to share what you do so it’s an effective way to work out the wording for your pitch.

9. Document your journey. Podcasting is a time capsule.

10. Learn media creation. Producing content is hard. Podcasting can be a low cost way to dabble in content creation to discover costs, timelines, music, production style, format, editing, scripting, long or short form, tasks you like and don’t like, etc.

11. Creative expression. Sometimes it’s just nice to create solely to be playful.

12. Train yourself how to interview guests. This comes in handy to lead your company well, inspire your team and create dynamic company culture.

13. Network with other podcasters. The podcasting community is super friendly and connective. (Arielle Nissenblatt is a great first point resource to connect with other podcasters.)

14. Make unexpected contacts that lead to speaking opportunities globally.

Which ones am I missing?
What are some more benefits of podcasting that come to mind for you...

Espree Devora and Richard Branson at Haste and Hustle

I’ve officially been a podcaster since 2014 when my first audio show aired on Apple, reaching #1 on the charts just weeks later.

I’m writing this as I sit in my car as nature refreshes itself with the rain, listening to my favorite musician “Ren” while my Mom shops for her groceries. I relish the time alone.

Thought I'd take this time to share the story how I formed the deep connection to why my podcasts exist.

I’ve been creating media since elementary school. My Dad gifted me a video camera for my 6th grade graduation and later an IBM Thinkpad laptop being the early tech adopter he was. He must have gone deep on the credit card. He was never one to be responsible with money, however I’m grateful he extended himself in that instance to see my creativity flourish. It catapulted me in ways I could have never imagined.

I would have probably never built the first action sports social network if it weren’t for that rare IBM Thinkpad and clunky Sony video camera. I discovered chat groups, html, video production and possibilities. I discovered a way to express myself through technology that wasn’t reliant on the pen and paper I was used to writing poems and drawing art.

Years later I launched a startup that my heart was madly in love with. This was before startups were a thing, I was pretty much out of my mind to be pursuing such an unbelievable dream. I wanted to build the Google of action sports. I ended up meeting Zuck (who I simply called Mark) at an SF event that I snuck into when MySpace was still dominating so he wasn't the icon he is today. I built an enthusiastic team using Craigslist and hustle without knowing anything I was doing or how to lead. I chatted with Gary Vaynerchuk about life when he was just growing Wine Library TV. I even pitched Sequoia Capital without any contacts and took chances which led to raising money from heart driven investors. Luckily I serendipitously connected to my future mentor, Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, who became a dear friend (I terribly miss). Since those early days I have since been featured in the biggest media publications. All these experiences eventually led to starting an audio podcast in 2013, well I conceived of it in 2012 while working with a company and pitched them the idea. They turned it down and I decided to start my own. I thought the podcasting industry would follow in the steps of YouTube and I wanted to be there for the rise. My hunch was right. It's now a billion dollar advertising opportunity and I'm lucky to be a part of the mix.

It’s because of my podcast I’m keynoting with Richard Branson later this year at Haste and Hustle. It’s because of my podcast the Swiss government contracted me to meet with startup founders all across Eastern Europe. It’s from my podcast I’ve formed relationships with extraordinary guests, some guests have even become my closest friends. It's because of my podcast I have unimaginable opportunities and access.

What's most important to me is what my podcasts do for others. Thanks to my podcasts, guests have raised money and listeners have found their dream job by listening to companies that inspired them. My podcasts WeAreLATech, Women in Tech, Hello Customer (the latter is no longer in production) have been so empowering in peoples lives.

My podcasts aren’t about me having thought leadership, even though I did gain that by consequence. My podcasts are about sincerity. My podcasts are about living a life of purpose. The episodes are about being an auditory mentor for listeners and a place for guests working so diligently to pursue the impossible to be championed.

I’ve been to over 100 countries celebrating people in tech from Bosnia to across the US. My favorite places to source guests are in the corners where no one is looking. The beautifully talented inspiring person who has yet to share their voice publicly.

One of my favorite podcast guests is the very founder of this platform I’m messaging you through. This newsletter platform is called Beehiiv. The founder, Tyler Denk, reminds me of everything I admire and respect about when I first started up, before it was “cool” to be a founder. He’s so intensely passionate about building. He gives his whole self to this company. Sacrifices so much to focus on engineering the most impactful newsletter platform so creatives can thrive with ease.

I no longer believe in not being healthy and hustle hustle hustle ramen ramen ramen. I’m definitely now in a chapter where I prioritize breathing, rest and veggies. However, a true founder - true founders give our absolute all at least once. And let me tell you, it’s so worth the ride.

I would do every painful sleep deprived deep in debt moment again because that’s how enriching it is to be a founder when you’re building with dedication and passion. Even the nights I was too tired to drive home from the office and would pull over to sleep in my car I'd do again. The nights I cried out of exhaustion not knowing how to lead I would do again. The stressful days I didn't know how I was going to make revenue in time to exist another hour... I'd do again.

Being a self sacrificing all in founder was worth it because of the days that we were the only indie media tech company approved to shoot action sports legends Ryan Sheckler, Shaun White, Nyjah Huston and Tony Hawk. It was worth it to become featured speakers at the mecca of tech conference South by Southwest getting credited for being social media innovators. It was worth it to sit at that park with Mark Zuckerberg (even though I told him he'd never surpass MySpace opps) before he became a future icon, and get to know Ev Williams at an after party, a founder I am deeply moved by.

My action sports videos were art I’d watch again and again so proud of what my team produced, our content led to partnerships with YouTube and became some of the first viral videos, my web design iterations were magnetic, my company culture was my everything.

Being a founder is a life of mystery and adventure. We create our realities. It may not be easy, but it's an absolute privilege to be a founder.

My podcasts are there to support all these courageous dreamers in our tech world; engineers, founders, designers to product people.

So how’s this help you in your pursuit to elevate your business podcast… It’s my Why that makes my shows stands apart from the rest. People feel that unspoken energy.

Have you thought about how your podcast deeply serves others on a human level?

Would love to hear about your show and how it moves people. If you have a moment reply to this email and do share.

An Aside: This newsletter is written by me, a human, not an AI. I am writing this newsletter because my dream since I was a little girl has been to be an impactful respected author one day. This newsletter is an opportunity for me to practice my writing style. If you gain value and enjoy what you've read please consider sharing with someone who you think would like it too. Someday, with enough support from the community, my writing may be on a Bestseller list... ✍️ 📖

You're part of the founding 100 🙌 We're at 58 subscribers right now on this new exciting journey creating this newsletter "Get Podcast Listeners" for all of us to get the most out of podcasting for business.

Last subscriber at 10:50am today was Rison Simon which is pretty perfect since Rison built OnlyPod, a suite of podcast marketing tools such as Podcast Cover Preview (which is free) to make it quick and easy to see how your podcast cover art looks compared to all the others in Apple Podcasts. It's incredibly important to do this step when creating your podcast cover art. When I first started I had to have a friend create me a mock up of the Apple Podcasts Library image in photoshop to get my cover art right. 

Each Sunday I plan to profile a different business podcast so you can see how they operate. This will help you get the best return on your business podcast. But first, today, let's talk about how to be a podcast guest.

The Best Ways to be a Guest on Business Podcasts

Podcast Junkies

Create a Podcast Guesting Tour Content CalendarSet up a content calendar for the podcasts you'd like to be featured on. 

1. Pick the ongoing day/s of week and time duration you'll block out to guest on shows (i.e. Every Thursday from 12-4pm is for podcast guesting)

2. Use Notion or any other contact management program

3. Jot down the shows you'd like to be interviewed on in your CRM

4. Create a CTA (call to action) in the interview for listeners to connect with you (this can be a PDF they can download, your email or mentioning your social profile)

5. Reach out to those show producers/hosts (outreach template and tactics below)

6. When you schedule choose only the allotted time you've already decided to block off

7. If the show doesn't have that time available, ask if a time is possible within that range

8. Add the date the interview is happening to your CRM

9. Do the interview (remember to share your call to action)

10. Note the expected air date in your CRM (if you have an air date)

11. Once you have the episode link download the episode media file if possible

12. Add the media file and interview URL to your CRM

13. Transcribe the episode (options; EditEddy.com (free), TypeStudio.co, Lately.ai)

14. When the episode airs post it on social media using lines from the transcription

15. Repurpose the transcriptions using ChatGPT ai writer (free)

16. Utilize the transcription in your company newsletter and/or blog posts

What podcasts are "worth it" to be featured on...

I'm willing to be a guest on any show, with even 0 listeners. I do this because I am genuinely elated to be a part of someone else's journey. You may want to be more selective. If that's the case the two things to think about are SEO (search engine optimization) and Apple Podcast show ratings. Ratings: A show that has at least 30 ratings on Apple Podcasts is a show that's serious and has solid listenership. SEO: Podcasts that have a website with strong SEO in a market related to your potential customers is incredibly valuable to increase leads for your company. Run their website URL through SEMrush or another keyword research tool to check what keywords their site is being found for. If those keywords relate to the audience you want to attract for your company then you know it's worth your time regardless of how many listeners that show has.

Outreach template to guest on business podcasts

DIY or Outsource podcast bookings

DIY Podcast Guest Booking Solutions

• Linkedin (use Gem.com or Hunter.io to source email addresses)

• PodcastHawk.com

• Guestio.com

• Rephonic.comAgency Podcast Guest Booking Solutions

• Lemonpie.fm

• Guestio.com (they have a private booking service different than DIY)

That's all for tonight as I sit here in my living room getting ready for the week ahead. This was written by me, yours truly, not an AI. 😊 It took me about 2.5 hours to write and over 10 years of experience in podcasting. I appreciate your being a part of my journey and allowing me to be a part of yours.

Hope this helped! Espree"the girl who gets it done"P.S. Curious, what was the most useful for you? LMK by replying to this message.

When I was a kid I recorded the full audio of the film "Pump Up The Volume", not the sound track, but literally the full movie. I would listen to it again and again mesmerized by Christian Slater and his pirate radio station.

Maybe it was then that planted to the seeds to become a podcaster one day. Or maybe it was my father gifting me a video camera in the 6th grade. He was always an early adopter and I followed suit, curious about tech and digital creativity.

In 2014 I launched the WeAreLATech podcast. It wasn't underground and cool like Slater's basement podcast, but it was before podcasting turned main stream. It was before everyone and their distant uncle wanted to launched a podcast.

When I aired my first episode it was before Gimlet's podcast Startup existed and before Gimlet Media was even conceived. No one then would believe that just a few short years later Gimlet would be acquired by Spotify for $200 million. I knew though... I had a hunch podcasting would follow in the footsteps of YouTube and one day soon become an auditory Goliath like Audible is for books. Call me a trend spotter, as we all know now... it's the reason you're reading this newsletter - having a podcast for your brand is just as essential as having a website for your company.

Question we all want answered is... just how important is it to have a podcast.

• What will having a podcast really do for us?

• How can we use podcasting to attract customers for our business?

• In what ways will podcasting catapult our noterity?

• What are the processes to repurpose our podcast to create other content?

This newsletter is an experiment. It's an experiment to answer those questions.It's also an experiment to;

1. see if interviewing the people behind business podcasts help us

2. find out if I even like doing the work it takes to put this together for all of us

Let's start with Play... and I'll see if the other two follow suit.

To kick things off, which podcast would you like to hear more about?

• Danny Miranda is a full time podcaster with a small podcast who regularly secures A List guests in business like Derek Sivers and Sahil Bloom. His show quickly became a top 1% podcast

• Creative Elements is by community builder Jay Clouse, who makes a full time 6 figure living with his community and just got slotted as a featured show on the HubSpot podcast network

• Between Two Mics by the co founders of Squadcast, a remote recording startup, utilizes podcasting to increase their brand awareness. Squadcast is the go to recording platform for ESPN, The Tim Ferriss Show, Google, Spotify and more.

On the poll below go ahead and click on who you'd like to hear from first 🎙

See you in the next episode (eh hmmm, newsletter issue)

the girl who gets it done,Espree

Podcasting is my art form. I started podcasting in 2014. Interviewing founders and people working in tech was my way to celebrate community, share incredible stories about amazing builders, risk takers. It was a way to relate to people like me living life outside the norm. 

At this point I’ve produced and hosted over 1,000 podcast episodes - mostly in person. Then the pandemic hit and I was 💯 remote. After two years of virtual interviews I am ready for a change… but I wasn’t eager to be back in studio again. So… my friend Abhi asked me “what do you want most out of life right now…” and I responded “to be in nature”. When Abhi and I were talking, I was walking. Then it occurred to me, why not podcast in nature, get to know Los Angeles, the city I was born and raised in but always traveled away from. There is so much beauty here to see. 

I soon met Tyler Denk serendipitously thanks to Abhi, and I asked him if he’d be open to be on the WeAreLATech podcast for his LA startup Beehiiv and when he agreed I followed up with if he’d be down to meet out and about to record the interview. I don’t think he knew what he was getting himself into. Haha. 

I google mapped a local park in his area with epic views and at 5pm just days later we met. I felt like I was in touch with my curious artistic self that inspired me to podcast day 1 back in 2014. It was an amazing full of life adventurous experience taking chances. I look forward to doing many more WeAreLATech podcasts in the park, reinvigorating my spirit and leaning back into exploration and experimentation. 

Thanks Abhi for being an amazing supportive friend and to Tyler for going along with the unexpected. 

Danielle Farage asked for the podcast tech stack I used today - here it goes…

My 'on the go' podcast tech stack 🎙 

⏺ Zoom Podtrack P4 digital recorder 

📹 Mevo video camera 

📹 Neo Air Selfie selfie drone

🎧Monster headphones

🎤 Peavey mics

⚡️Charmast charger

🔋 Energizer batteries 

🦍 Gorilla tripod 

🎤 XLR cables multiple lengths 

📱 iPhone 

🔌 Charging cords 

🎒 Backpack