Welcome to Podcast Suck, a podcast about starting a podcast, where we dive headfirst into the wild, wacky, and sometimes frustrating world of podcasting. If you've ever sat down with a microphone, hit record, and thought, what on earth am I doing? Or if you're just curious about the magic behind your favorite shows, then you're in the right place. Get ready for laughs, insights, and a whole lot of what not to do advice as we embark on this podcasting journey together. Let's dive in. What's happening, everybody? How we doing? Welcome back to another episode of podcast suck. If you don't have one, it's a podcast all about starting and growing a podcast. I'm trying to wrap my head around the topic that I wanted to talk about this week. Somebody sent me a message last week. That said, anyone else see what Hormozy recently said about podcasts? Whoa. And I had not seen that post. And then when I dug a little deeper, I realized that I had seen that post and it was pretty interesting to see the stats. And if you're looking at this post right now, I'm watching the replay on Facebook or YouTube or LinkedIn, you probably. see exactly, uh, what those stats of becoming a one top 1% podcaster are, which is the following. And I guess emojis don't work on my recording software. Cause there's a bunch of question marks instead of microphone emojis, but it said to be a top 1% podcaster. You have to upload 21 podcast. 90% don't get past one. 90% of people who start a podcast don't get past the first episode. That blows my mind. I have a good idea why, and I'm going to talk about that in a second. 9% don't get past 20 episodes. Got some more feedback on why that takes place too. And then 1% make it to 21 plus episodes. Alex Ramos, he said, the world belongs to those who can keep doing without seeing the immediate result. The longer you can wait, the more you can win. And the only thing I could start to think of is, sure, this is applicable to the world of podcasting, but how much more applicable is it to life? If we stop and think that anything worth having, anything worth doing is going to require a tremendous amount of work, blood, sweat, and tears, if you will, without seeing a result immediately. Sometimes life provides us with a season of extreme patience. The work's being put in, you're trying everything you have in your power to remain patient and in it and in the process and in the zone and focused on what you're doing, but it's very, very difficult. But soon, soon enough, could be a week, could be a year, could be two years, could be three years. You could very well put in the work and not see a result too. That could happen. That's part of the deal. But over the past decade, I've had the opportunity of working with individuals and helping them step into a completely different version of themselves because they started a podcast. Podcast is just the catalyst. They made a decision to say, I'm no longer going to be scared of speaking publicly or being in front of a camera or talking into a microphone. I want to grow my business. I want to build new relationships. I want to network with anyone. So I'm going to start a podcast. And there's been a lot of people who have started with us and stopped. There's been a lot of people who have started and done absolutely nothing. but there's also been a lot of people who have started and gone on to do really, really great things with their life and their business because of the podcast. So if you're listening to this right now, or you're watching this right now, or wherever you are hearing this message, first of all, thank you. I appreciate you taking time out of your day to hang out with me for just a few minutes here, but look at these numbers again. And I'm going to read them to you again, in case you're listening to the podcast and not just watching the replay somewhere on the internets to be a top 1% podcaster, you have to get past 21 podcast episodes, 21. If you're doing one a week, that's five months of, of podcasting doing two a week. Wow. That's two and a half months. Simple math here. 90% don't get past one episode. 9% don't get past 20. 1% make it to 21 plus episodes. Now, when I first started digging into the podcast game over a decade ago, most people didn't make it past like four or five episodes before they made it into the podcast graveyard or pod fade was a, was a phrase at one time. which means you started a podcast and well, it just kind of faded away. So with all this information that we have, who doesn't want to become a top 1% podcaster? I think that's a goal of everyone who sets out to start a podcast and go do some great things with it. But you have to remember, this isn't just about creating content. This is about who you get to become because you make a conscious decision to start a podcast. I have seen people radically change their lives and their mindset and their business because they decided to step in and lean in to a level of discomfort. Listen, life is uncomfortable. Life is full of seasons of discomfort, seasons of waiting with no result, nothing. day after day after day of putting in the work. Now, Alex Hermosi happens to be one of the most brilliant business minds and successful business minds out there right now. The guy just knows his stuff and his work speaks for itself. His company buys other companies and grows them. Acquisition.com. Check them out. This guy's a wealth of information, but he's the real deal and he gives a lot out to his community and out to the world. So it's no mystery why he's successful, but when I, and he doesn't have to create content, that's what blows my mind about Alex. He doesn't have to do any of this. He could just run his business, make money and be good. but he understands that it's his responsibility, as it is all of our responsibility. When we know more or we're doing more than most, it is our duty and responsibility to give back. I'm not talking about charity. I'm talking about being able to help people that will never be able to give you a nickel. So when we look at this whole idea around becoming a top 1% podcaster. There's not one person that I would talk to unless they just don't care about starting a podcast that would not want to be in that. But let's talk about why people don't even get past one episode. I firmly believe the reason people give up and quit is that they try to do it all on their own. They try to record the episodes, edit the episodes, upload the episodes, create content, find new guests, record, and then rinse and repeat. I'm exhausted just talking about that process, let alone doing it. And I've done it. I've spent many, many nights burning the midnight oil with GarageBand editing podcast episodes for both clients and myself. Until one day I woke up and I said, I hate this and I'm no longer doing it, but I'm going to find someone who actually loves doing this. And then delegation entered my world and everything started to change. So if you're watching this right now and you've started a podcast and you're really struggling, but, but, but, but a budget and I can't, I'm just getting, listen, what's the quote? You can, you can make excuses or you can make a way, but you can't do both. I just mangled that quote. but it's something that pertains to that. I'm here to tell you right now, the worst part about podcasting are these headphone cords right here. See these crazy Sebastian, just use wireless or Bluetooth. Yeah. Right. Cause Bluetooth works when you don't need it to work. That's when Bluetooth works. during podcast episodes. Not so much. Anyway, let's not get off track here. I want to stay focused on the topic at hand, which is becoming a top 1% podcaster. And these numbers that I've discussed and I've laid out here that Alex Ramos, he talked about most people are not getting there because they're trying to do all the work themselves. If you're building a house, are you doing all the work yourself? I mean, there may be some people that have actually built their house. but chances are you've got a contractor, you've got a electrician, you've got a plumber, you've got a D all of the above when it comes to putting all the components together of building a house. So if you're building a podcast, why in the world would you not want to source out every ounce of help that's possibly available. I'm telling you right now, you want to win in the podcast game, get every single thing that is not recording podcast episodes and finding a new guest to talk to next off of your plate. That's why people don't make it because the ones that are streamlined in the process, our clients don't run into any type of resistance when it comes to to the podcast production process. You know why? Because the only part of the production process that they're responsible for is recording episodes, uploading the raw content and moving on with their day. Another reason is that I don't think people are as committed as they say they are in the very big as they say they are in the very beginning. Why will the numbers you can lie to the numbers all day, but the numbers are never going to lie to you. It's extremely obvious that You started something and you didn't continue something. And that's the reason that thing is no longer a thing. Right now we're talking about a podcast. I always like to tell people, remember why you started in the first place. We get real granular with that in the very beginning of our process when we start creating a new strategy for clients. Why are you doing this? And remember why you're doing this and let that anchor that feeling in. Because when you just don't want to do it, you just don't feel like it. Go back to that reasoning on why you started. Why are you doing what you're doing? I say it a lot. Who's missing out? Cause you're not showing up. You are. Those people you get the opportunity to connect with are. We got one shot at this thing called life. And if you own a business, well, you're even in more of an advantage because you've got the freedom and flexibility to get out there, do things your way, grow, build the sky's the limit. And having a podcast allows you to bridge a gap, a gap between where you are and where you want to be a gap between who you don't know and who you want to know a gap between getting that prospect on the fence off the fence because you invited him to be on your podcast, trying to get in front of that individual that you've been trying to get a meeting with. Hell of a lot easier just to say, Hey, I'd love to get you on the podcast. You're going to spend 30, 45 minutes an hour with that individual. You're building rapport with them. You've got the opportunity to do great things with a podcast. So I think my biggest takeaway, with reading Alex's post and seeing this is why aren't people becoming the 1%? Why not? It's readily available and it's laid out. You've just got to stay in the race. You can't win the race unless you're in the race. You can't win the race unless you stay in the race. This works the same way with starting a podcast. So the goal of this episode is to encourage you. It's also to open your eyes to, wow, it's not that difficult to become a top 1% podcaster. If I just stay committed to saying, staying committed to my word, staying committed to doing what I said that I was going to do when I started this. Maybe you're thinking about starting a podcast. I hope this is fuel. for your thought process and really motivates you to take some action and get started yesterday. Time recording this episode, it's towards the end of September, 2024. We got about three months left. I think I read something this morning says a hundred days left in 2024. It's wild to even think. You could cultivate and create and start something now and hit the ground running January 1st with a podcast, growing relationships, improving your communication skills, increasing sales. The list goes on and on. You can also become a top 1% podcaster, 21 episodes. You could have 21 episodes in the bag easily by the end of the year. If you're willing to put in the work, but you gotta be willing to put in the work. You gotta be willing to say, you know what? I'm gonna put in the work and know that I may not see any results right away. Patience. Patience, grasshopper. And I am the most least patient human being you'll ever interact with. I want it yesterday. Everything. Yesterday. Doesn't work like that. I remember learning years ago that The more impatient we are with life, the more life provides us with opportunities to be patient. And when I really started to wrap my head around that, started to click. What we resist chases us. So having the patience to do the work, to stay in the race, to keep your head in the game, and knowing I'm not seeing any results right now, but I know if I just stay the course long enough, Some grades can happen. It's hard work works. I really appreciate you tuning in this episode here. If you've got thoughts, ideas, concerns about this episode, any episodes on the podcast, please reach out to me. Shoot me a DM over on Facebook or LinkedIn or Instagram, wherever else you hang out at podcast suck. Sebastian rusk over on LinkedIn. And, uh, if you're watching this on YouTube, drop a comment below, right? Wherever you're watching, drop a comment below, hit me up. I am here to help the goal of this show is to help you better understand what you don't know that you don't know about the world of podcasting to help you become the top 1% in the world of podcasting by simply doing the work. Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you next time. Thanks so much for tuning into this episode. We sure do appreciate it. If you haven't done so already, make sure you're subscribed to the show wherever you consume podcasts. That's the way we get updates as new episodes become available. If you feel so inclined, please leave us a review and share the show with someone you know should start a podcast or may already have one. And remember, podcasts suck if you don't have one. Until next time, friends.

Sebastian Rusk