Celebrating 4 Years: Podcast Milestones, Growth, and Future Plans

We got a special show lined up for tonight . Special show , right ? Anthony's in the house , hey , anthony . So you know we always start off every episode with what are you drinking ? Chuck is drinking water , water . I'm not even doing Zevia soda right now . Put in the chat box what are you drinking . What are you drinking ?

You might be wondering , chuck , why are you drinking water ? Because I started the carnivore diet this week . Carnivore diet , nothing but meat . And that's easy because I live on my own farm so we grow a lot of our own meat . So look at that . Shotzi's in the house , check this . Shots rcdd tech , love it , love it .

Yes , shotsy , you know , I was wondering why you didn't update your linkedin profile to say rcdd . So there you go . Yeah , after hours you can drink anything you want , but I'm drinking water , um , because this is what I like to drink and I'm and I'm doing carnivore , carnivore , carnivore .

So let's do the acronym challenge next , because we've got to get these two things out of the way . So the acronym challenge this week has something to do with tonight's show . It does the acronym for tonight's show . Now , some cable guys might not get this one . The acronym is RSS , rss . What does that mean ? What does that acronym , rss ?

It's not necessarily a cable acronym , but it has subject for tonight's show Going . Okay , give everybody five seconds to type in their answers . Let me see anybody typing them in . Okay , nobody's typing none there . That acronym stands for Really Simple Syndication . Really Simple Syndication . What is that ?

It's a tool that I use to keep people updated on new content from my podcast and my website . And when you see , when you subscribe to an RSS feed , it automatically sends the latest episodes and articles to one spot . So I don't have to do that individually .

It's already set up to do that , right , and what it does is it keeps me from having to check my site continuously all the time . Do that with all my stuff . So RSS , it's a podcast term . Now you might be wondering why am I talking about a podcast term on the live stream tonight ? Because , oops , wrong one , go away .

There we go , because tonight's show , today's a very special day . It's a very , very special day . It's a very , very special day because on this day on August 28th 2020 , I published the first episode to the podcast the very first . So the podcast is officially four years old today . Happy birthday , happy birthday podcast . Yes , it is four years old .

You know , most podcasters don't make it past six episodes . I'm well beyond six episodes . And you know funny thing , I tell people all the time because when people ask me questions about podcasting and the secrets of podcasting and stuff , I tell them pick a subject that you are passionate about .

Pick a subject that you are passionate about , because if you're in it just for the money , you will burn out long before you even make it anywhere . So yeah , four years ago the podcast started . So what can you expect for the next show ? I'm going to do a little recap , some milestones that we hit on the podcast .

I'm going to give you some highlights on some of the most popular episodes . I'm going to talk about some future episodes and then some special announcements coming up for that . So tonight's show is all about the birthday for the podcast . It truly is . But first , before we get too much for long , even though I'm passionate about this .

I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you , the audience . You know I probably , even though I'm passionate about cabling , I probably still would have burned out a long time ago , because just sitting there talking to a computer is just it's draining , draining . And that's what I do . When I'm doing a podcast , I'm talking to a computer .

Right , it's absolutely draining . But when I get messages from you guys like how I improved your life , like Shotzi , right , shotzi's been a longtime follower of this show and because he's been following the show , he got his RCDD , that is wind beneath my wings .

Anthony says he learns something new every episode and that's exactly why I do this , because I'm impacting people's lives . That's exactly why I'm trying to do it . So the first show aired August 28 , 2020 . That's four years to the day , to the day it aired and it's called Podcast Introduction . It was only about 18 minutes long .

I'd play some of it for you now , but I cringe when I listen to that episode . I truly do . Um , I've improved a lot since that first episode four years ago . Can I still improve ? Absolutely , I can still improve , um , but you know , four years ago , that's when I published . I'll tell you something else .

I don't tell people too often that first show , that first episode , I recorded in my closet because that was the best soundproof room that I had . So I was in my room with my laptop on my computer , with my notes in front of me and my microphone my audio mixer sitting on the shelf in there , holding the microphone in a closet .

So now here I am in this podcast studio and I'm working to move up to the new podcast studio , which we'll talk about a little later . So let's talk about some key statistics . There are a couple of things , right . So , like , if you look at just the audio part of the podcast , over the four years we put out 265 episodes . 265 episodes .

I started off doing just weekly on Mondays , but now I do Mondays and then I put the audio out for the live stream . So there's two episodes coming out every week , 265 episodes . And since the beginning , just on the audio stuff , I've had 48,000 downloads . 48,000 downloads . Again , that's just one platform , one platform , right .

So just to kind of give you an example , let me pull up this graphic , because I have a graphic for tonight's show design and then graphic . Where are you ? Graphic , is that ? Yeah , that's it . Right there , I'm not only just audio podcast , right , I am in all kinds of things , all different kinds of platforms , right ?

So just looking at , I just got bad news , my girlfriend got braces . My kids are now behind bars , okay , all right . Whatever , I don't understand that . So that's just one . So when you look at some of my others example , let's say , look at TikTok . Tiktok last month I hit 67,000 views TikTok alone and gained 130 , 129 subs .

Youtube in the last 28 days , I had 8,100 views and gained 65 subs . Linkedin LinkedIn you know , linkedin is a lot of people are shy away from it . If you are a technician , you are an installer or whatever , you need to get your profile on LinkedIn . We just talked about that in the last episode .

I did an episode on how to get past the recruiter when you're submitting a resume , and one of the things we talked about was you really need to be on LinkedIn . You absolutely need to be on LinkedIn . So , linkedin I had 80 , no , sorry , there's 32,000 views , all right , and I gained 58 subscribers . Instagram 8,600 .

X I don't really push X too much , but I do post to it 102 views . Facebook 233 views . Clapper that's the newest platform that I added 4,500 views . 4,500 views so , but you know these numbers are . It's kind of funny . It's like a snowball .

For the first six , eight months , maybe first year , maybe even , there was very little , very little movement and now it seems to be like a snowball rolling downhill , gaining more and more and more , more people subscribing and listening to the show .

When you look at , when I look at my YouTube lifetime numbers and again I am by no means viral like some of the real famous TikTokers , I'm not just niche , I'm super niche , okay , super niche . So since a lifetime on YouTube , I've had 1.5 million impressions .

1.5 million impressions with a 3.3% click-through rate , which means of that 1.5 million , 3.3% actually click through the thumbnail to watch the video . And when they watch my video , the average view time is seven minutes . Seven minutes I think . The average right now for most YouTube channels is three , I think , or last time I looked at it was three .

But the reason I think that number is really good you can probably think most of my episodes are 30 minutes , so that's not very good , but it actually is good because I also put out a lot of YouTube shorts . So it's averaging the YouTube shorts with the long-form content and it's still at seven minutes and so it's just . The podcast is growing .

I calculate and this is only an estimate right now I am at probably about 15,000 followers across all the platforms 15,000 followers . So what were some of the best shows ? Hey , if you've been listening to the podcast for a while , put in the comments .

Put in the comments what was your most favorite show over the last four years , and I'll give you a shout out . Um , so it depends on which platform you you talked talk about on buzzsprout , my , the audio podcast platform , the . The best , most listened to episode is an episode called Certifications . Are they worth the time and money ? Worth the time and money ?

That was the most popular one On YouTube . The most popular one was a video I did called Milwaukee packout versus um . Milwaukee park versus Klein my box . That you know . I got to finish that episode . It's supposed to be a challenge between Klein my box and packouts . I did the first episode .

Milwaukee won't come on the show and interview me or won't come on the show . Let me interview them , but I will still do the video where I'm going to run them through the paces and compare them and give you my thoughts . Anthony says his favorite episode had to be the one that I invited him on Wired , for Egglands is back in the house , right .

And then on LinkedIn , the best post I've had so far , and it happened just recently . I did a video on what kind of technician are you . I did a video on what kind of technician are you , what kind of a technician are you . That post last time I looked at it it was like 60,000 views , just that one post .

Just to kind of give you a comparison last month you just saw the graphics . So last month I had 123,000 views across all platforms . Last month , views across all platforms last month . This month , linkedin alone I'm at 130,000 views , not counting all the other platforms . So it's going to spike up for this month's report .

I have a feeling it's going to drop the next month , but hey , it is , it truly is . Now . Those are my favorite shows . Now , what about my favorite guests ? Favorite guests ? Well , obviously , anthony . Anthony would be one of them , right , Anthony ? I think what we talked about was dressing Cable , right , how to dress a Cable .

I think that was the one that you and I did , but there are some other ones too . Kalen's in the house . Thomas Pate yes , he's the house . Thomas Pates yes , uh , he's been on twice , I think twice . So , um , but um , it's a notable guest , I think the one that I like the most . It hasn't been published yet .

Hasn't been published yet but uh , it was with Chris Hobbs from B bixie and we did a tour through the bixie training uh rooms and stuff . It's gonna come out in a few weeks , but it's it's . It's gonna be one of my favorite and uh live events . I love doing the live events . I really want to do more of these . Um , the problem is time .

You know I'm already . I already got a full-time job and the podcast and the farm and my wife and I we like to go camping . It's kind of hard to do all that kind of stuff , but maybe what I might start doing Tell me if you'd be interested in this Start doing lives at lunchtime . Lives at lunchtime .

Let me know in the chat box if that's something you would watch if I did a live stream at lunchtime . I got asked on TikTok do a live at the fall conference . I got invited to go to the fall conference .

I can't do it because of scheduling conflicts , unfortunately , but I've already made sure that I will not book anything for the winter conference and I might do a live there . I might do a live there . I would love to do that , absolutely love to do that , and I'm looking for suggestions and people who want to come on the podcast .

So if you've got something that you think the industry needs to hear , shoot me a message , get on , let's talk about it . Here's how the process works , just so everybody knows when I , when , when they come on the show unless you're a repeat person or somebody , I know you already .

If I don't know you , I'll bring you on first and what I call the , the pre-show call , the pre-show call we get on . We and I'm doing a couple of things on that call . First I'm checking your audio , your video and your internet .

Once I'm satisfied with all that , then we'll start talking about the subject , whether I came with the subject or if you have a subject , and we'll just have a regular conversation and then we'll pick a date to actually do the recording .

A lot of people when I ask them to come on the show I've only had one person tell me no when I've invited them to come on the show . I've only had one person tell me no when I've invited him to come on the podcast .

Most everybody says yes , I've had a lot of people hesitant because they're afraid oh my God , I don't want to come on the podcast , I can't talk , I can't do public speaking . Here's the thing If I bring you on the show , 99% of the time I'm recording it and then I'm going to edit it , polish it and I'll put it out later .

If you've ever done a Zoom meeting call , you can do a podcast call with me , because it's the same thing . Actually , it might be a little more entertaining because you're on live with me , right ? So that's how that works . I'm always looking for collaborations . You're on live with me , right ? So that's how that works . I'm always looking for collaborations .

I'm always looking for , you know , series and episodes to do Like right now . In a couple of weeks the live stream won't be live . It'll actually be a recording , but it's going to be . It's going to be a show on residential installers versus commercial installers who is better ? Can't wait for that one to come out .

I'm going to be recording that one week and then it'll come out on that live stream for that week . Can't do the live stream live on that .

It's in two weeks , on that particular week , because I'm going to be at corporate and I'm going to be three-time and I can't get off at three o'clock to go do a live stream because my day job and my podcast are two separate things and I keep them in separate things . That's why I do this after hours , after hours .

So what are some upcoming commercial ? Oh man , I don't know about that TJ . We might have to have a conversation about that one . So what are some upcoming ? I already told you about the residential versus commercial TGI . We might have to have a conversation about that one . So what are some of my upcoming ?

I already told you about the residential versus commercial and I got another idea for another one . It's going to be commercial versus security installer . I just got to talk to the guests and see if they're interested in doing it and if they are , that's going to be one . That's going to be one . So what are my plans for growing the podcast on ?

Are on new social media platforms . I'm already on the major ones , right , I'm already on all of them . The only one I'm really not doing well is twitter or x , and I'm not well , number one . I can't go , I can't do live on Twitter unless I pay them a monthly fee .

I'm sorry , I'm not going to do that , not going to do that , and my platform that I use to put out my social media posts , which is Publer . I can't put out posts that are substantially similar . If you're on LinkedIn and you see my posts , you see there's a theme and it doesn't like that . So that's what I'm lacking on , I'm not sure .

Hey , in the chat box , is there a social media platform that you think I should be on ? If it is , let me know . Let's talk about some upcoming shows . I got an interview set up with Bree Murphy . Bree Murphy works for Oberon . She's going to come on . We're going to do two episodes . One of them is going to be actually they'll both be on wireless .

We're going to go through all that . I already told you about . The other one coming up , christopher Hobbs , where we do the tour through the Bixie Training Rooms Another episode coming up , and these couple here are already recorded . Another one with Jeff Silvera . We're going to talk about how are standards created . How are standards created ? And this episode .

I think this episode is going to do really well too . I just got to finish recording it . It's called Going Beyond 100 Meters . Going Beyond 100 Meters we're going to talk about the copper options . We'll talk about game changer cable how do you test that game changer cable , right ? And then we're going to talk about the hybrid fiber options .

So we're going to cover all three of those . I just got to record the last session and then that'll come . So that'll be a good show too , because I see that a lot of times . One of the biggest arguments that you'll see on the internet in low voltage forums is people say well , yeah , yeah , yeah , use fiber .

Fiber is great , don't get me wrong , but it's not the answer to every single question , the beard of knowledge . We're not . Am I following you on Instagram ? Because I'm already there ? I'm already there . So Kaylin recommends Rumble R-U-M-B-L . Hmm , I'll have to look into that one . I'll have to look into that one .

So one of my big initiatives that I planned out in the beginning of this year and I got to admit I haven't really done much work on it , but I've made it one of my goals to get it done by the end of this year . So I only have like a couple months . I'm going to launch a training platform , a training platform . Dave is in the house .

The training platform is going to have several classes . The first class that I'm going to record , and it's going to be free . The first class that I'm going to record , and it's going to be free , it's going to be how to become an RCDD , because that's that's the most common question that I get .

I'm going to talk about the benefits of being an RCDD no-transcript , the three ways you can qualify to sit for the RCDD . I'm going to talk about study techniques . I'm going to talk about resources . I'm going to talk about what happens after you get your RCDD , and that one will be free .

I do have three classes recognized for CECs fire stopping , copper clad , aluminum cabling and codes versus standards , versus best practices . I will record those and I will put those on teachables . Those will be paid classes . Okay , now , I know you're used to my platform always giving away information , but here's why I'm doing this .

I got to get money into the podcast . I got invited to go do several things and I can't do it because there's no money in the podcast right now . I'm still pretty much almost footing this out of my wallet . So I got to get money coming in the podcast to do that . Right , and this guy is not certified . Oh , I'm certified , I'm certified .

You can guarantee that , buddy . Matter of fact , here I'll show you . I love when people challenge me so yeah , not certified . So here's my my RCDD certification . Rcdd certification I can put this thing back on the wall now . And here's my Bixie technician certification . So , yes , I am certified and I'm also certifiable as well too . So it's funny , that's funny .

Yeah , no , it's not expired . Nice try , nice try . Trust me , I don't let those things expire at all . Don't let them expire . So , going back to the Teachables platform , so there's going to be one free class and then there's three other classes and I'm not going to charge much for them , probably like 29 bucks , and that's going to help pay for the podcast .

So I can start doing things Like , if I get invited to go be , I got invited to go to Vegas to speak at a private event and I told the people I will do it if you pay the travel expenses and pay a speaker fee , so I can get out there and do it right . Oh , thank you , caitlin , for reminding me about that . That's another episode coming up .

I got several episodes coming up on anti-static flooring . Anti-static flooring what is it ? What are the different types ? How do you bond it to a ground ? I'm even going to do an episode on how to install it , because I've got it sitting up in the podcast studio right now . And somebody said I think it was wire for excellence .

He said uh , I know you've done a conduit . How to's have you considered doing wire molding ? Oh , ooh , I like that one . I'm going to reach out to , uh , a manufacturer see if they'll donate some stuff so I can do a how-to for wire mold . That's a great . Oh , I got you know me . If I don't write it down doesn't happen , right .

So wire mold episode excellent . This is why I love you guys . You guys come up with the great . People ask me all the time how do I come up with ideas for content ? It's you guys , it is you guys . So there's lots of great stuff going on and but .

But again , I just want to make sure that you guys know that I'm extremely grateful , extremely humbled , that you guys spend time out of your day and even listen to my podcast , and the fact that my podcast helps you helps you become better . That's just icing on the cake , although I'm doing carnivore , so I can't have cake right now .

But here's my call to action for you guys , because we're running down on time . Call to action . So people who come on the show regularly , like the beard of knowledge , wire for actions , kaylin shotzi , you guys are my regulars .

I encourage , I encourage you guys , subscribe , leave reviews , put this out on your social media , share it with on your your favorite episodes and moments . Help me get this message out there , because the more people I can get exposure to and help , the better it is . Now , last final thoughts before I close out the show .

This show is probably not going to go past 30 minutes , but final thoughts here for tonight's show is you know , this has been a great journey , don't get me wrong . It's been a lot of work , a lot of work . People . People think that , uh , jonathan mcdonald's in the house , uh , people think , seem to think that podcasting is easy . It's not .

It's not having to come up with stuff all the time and be consistent and you know it's , it's , it's not . But the beautiful thing is is is I love what I do . I love the fact that I'm helping improve people's lives and that's what this whole show is about . I know I'm towards the end of my career . I don't plan on retiring .

If I were to win the lottery well , I guess you got to play to win the lottery . But you know , if someone were to give me $10 million , I would retire from my day job . I would not retire from the podcast , because I'm a people person I love , I'm like , I'm like Jonathan McDonald here in the house . Jonathan McDonald , he's a he's a people person .

He loves meeting people , he loves talking to people , he loves networking . I'm the same way . I'm absolutely the same way . So I will still keep doing the podcast even after I retire , when I retire , if I ever retire . That's the key , if I ever retire . So , happy birthday to the podcast .

Four years old today , 1.5 million impressions , I think , for a low voltage , you know , structured cabling podcast . I think that's amazing . I think that's absolutely amazing . I will never be a who's . That guy's going to fight Mike Tyson , jake Paul Is that his name ? Jake Paul . I'll never be those kinds of numbers , never , never .

But you know what , when people come up to me at Bixie conferences this happened just in the winter conference I had a husband and wife team come up to me and they said because of my podcast , their son , who was in low voltage , got back into low voltage because he's listening to my podcast and he wants to get his RCDD Dude . That's what this is about .

This is not about me . This is about you and making it , making your life better , helping you to be more efficient , better technician , better rcdd , without having to go through making the mistakes like I did . Learn from my mistakes . That's why I do this show . I absolutely do this show . So until next time , everybody I appreciate everybody being here .

Knowledge is power .