And welcome to another episode of Stacking My Mind podcast. I am your host, w I z e. I'm very excited. My next guest is an is entrepreneur with over 2 decades of experience, a remarkable journey through the world of business ownership. Welcome to the show, Evans Evans Putman. Alright. Thank you. Thank you, Wise. I appreciate it, man. This is gonna be fun. I look forward to, The conversation. Oh, man. I'm excited. I'm excited. So let let's just jump
right into it, Evans. Can you tell us Let's do it. Can you tell us about your your entrepreneur journey? What were the major milestones, challenges, and lessons you experienced along the way? Wow. Yeah. So it's funny. You mentioned 20 plus years. You know? I just I that was reminded to me In a podcast interview of all things, I'd forgotten how long it was until somebody brought it up. I started sharing my story, and I
went back and looked and was like, wow. It's been Over 20 years, we're talking back in the day of dial up, you know, big I I used to have a ecommerce type Store at a big old giant heavy credit card machine in my house. You know, none of this cool stuff that we have now. So I think the 1st part of the journey was sort of making the decision. Right? Deciding I wanted to do things differently.
I I was I used to be a personal trainer. And as a personal trainer, I wanted to, find ways to make more money, and my time was limited. So since my time is limited, I had to figure out how to do it and actually stumbled on to one of the 1st online fitness Opportunities out there. And there was this thing called fitness generator where you could put together these little cartoon people drawings and turn them into workouts. And so as I got into that, I was like, I sorta like this online
space, but you know what? I think I like the marketing more than the doing. So I shifted from personal training and got more into the marketing side of things, and that led me through many iterations of Creating a couple different businesses, learning everything I could, selling those businesses. And then, eventually, it came to the point where I was doing marketing strategy and consulting and found myself in the podcast space of all places. It wasn't intentional at all. So
so what inspired you to you you mentioned a podcast in space. What inspired you into what inspired you to explore the world of podcasting, how did you come up with your unique podcast sales funnel method? Yeah. So thanks for asking. And it's it didn't there was no ins. Okay. Well, there was an inspiration. The inspiration was I lost all my clients, through various things that had happened, my marketing clients, I ran across this guy. I started I sort of beat myself up for a little while.
And I'm like, okay. I gotta gotta make some more money because my wife had just Come home thing. We were doing great, so she came home to spend more time with our daughter. And all of a sudden, my 3 big whale clients, For multiple reasons, had to leave and left me with nothing. You know? Basically, just a a couple little small contracts. And I found this guy after a day of beating myself up. I got back up like we all have to. Right? We gotta be responsible For our own success,
pick ourselves up, move forward. So I did that. Saw this looking for somebody to help with show notes for a podcast. And I'm like, okay. That's, like, something I might have done 10 years earlier when I was just getting into, like, writing, but it was a little below my pay grade. But I kept coming back to this. For some reason, it was stuck in my mind, so I ended up reaching out to the guy And, discovered we lived in the same town, which was quite interesting because most of the time most
of my clients were I'd never met them in person before. So we ended up I said, well, you know, we live in I'm in Charleston, South Carolina. He lived on, Folly Beach, which isn't too far from me. It's on the other side of Charleston. So we met, and, like, like, I'd I would I would suggest to any good marketing consultant or entrepreneur do do a little digging because usually there's a little bit more underneath there than on the surface. Right?
So as we started talking, I discovered he didn't just need show notes. The reason he posted that is because his wife was helping him with the notes, and she pretty much said, I'm done. You you're gonna do them yourself or somebody else is gonna do them. But I started asking him questions, like, you know, well, He because he had a podcast. I'm like, well, what's your big your, you know, your big aspirational
vision for what you wanna do with this? Is it just the podcast? Do you wanna You have a business, and it turns out he wanted to build an entire business around real estate sales training. He came from that background. He was a really, really successful Real estate agent who had retired sold over 1,000,000,000 with a b dollars in real estate. He knew what he was doing, knew what he was talking about, but he had a unique method, right, which is really
important for those listening. It's like, you know, Create your unique method. Create something that's unique to you in the way that you do things that showcases your talent, your experiences, You know, your expertise, and that's what he had done. And what he had done wise was he had gone from working basically All day long every day, not making money, not seeing his kids grow up to figuring out how to work three and a half days a week and make immensely much
more. I mean, he ended up retiring as one of the most successful agents out there, so we were teaching others how to do that as well. So there was this mission behind it. So once I'd learned all of this from him, I said, give me the weekend. I'll go build out a strategy. We'll see if it's a good fit. And that started the journey into podcasting because at that point, He was like, I love this. And he's like, now we're gonna be able to grow my podcast audience. Right? And I'm like, absolutely.
Then I go home. I'm like, how the heck am I gonna grow this podcast audience? We figured it out along the way, and that's sort of that through that business Where which we grew to a 100 and in in the 1st 12 months, we grew to a 150,000 monthly listeners organically, each month, about an average. It took us about 6 months to hit around 60 to 70,000, then we jumped up to a 150, and we sort of Fluctuated between a 150 and a 190, and it was all organic. No
paid traffic. And Within that, we figured out a system that was able to get us a lot of leads. We went from getting no leads from our show to Getting, 78.6% opt in rate for those of you that aren't in the marketing space. That's crazy. Right? And I know that number by heart because it is crazy. And from there, we were able the 1st 12 months to get a half a 1000000 in sales through our real Sales training from our podcast. So that was the beginning of the podcast
sales funnel system. And Now when I look back on it and I teach other people the same system, it looks I cheer all the time. I'm like, it looks like, you know, You're having a birthday or, let's say, Christmas or whatever. All the packages are all wrapped and all perfect and pretty underneath the tree or on the table for the birthday celebration, but there's that room where all the rapping took place and it's chaos, stuff everywhere. You know? Papers, Tape not I mean,
it's just chaos. So it was chaos through this whole process. It looks really nice and neat now, But, it was one of those things where we just tried things. And the more we tried things and the more we fell down, we just got up and tried something else. And, eventually, We were able to piece the pieces together that created this really cool system around this podcast that basically made the podcast The engine that drove that business. We didn't do any other marketing. No paid ads.
Nothing else. It was just through that podcast that we built that entire business, and, I ended up going on and leaving to teach other people how to do this. I went from contractor to partner and ended up leaving the business Just because I felt called to to help others. I was like, if I can help other entrepreneurs with big positive messages, admissions like Pat, then I can create a bigger impact. So how do I do that? I can't do it while I'm here, so I gotta leave. Even though we're successful,
I gotta go do it somewhere else. And within about probably less than a year, he ended up selling the business. So the podcast is still out there, but we basically took what was nothing, Just a podcast and a vision and a dream turned it into a a sellable business with the podcast that drove that That engine, and that's that's where the whole podcast ATM business model, podcast sales funnel, because I think a lot of times we call it a podcast Sales funnel,
people can visualize sort of what it might look like. Right? But I like to call it I call it the podcast ATM model, because those were Pat's words, and they stuck with me where he was like, you know, Evans, it was like it's like you created this, you turn my podcast into an ATM where I can just show up, share my message, do what I like to do, talk on the microphone, And the podcast is delivering clients and sales and leads on a regular basis in the
background. Wow. Well, that that you asked my next question. Yeah. Yeah. That was a I mean, I thought it was a turning point, but you just gave me the answer. So well, I can share I'll share deeper on that because here's the thing I'd share wise is that it was it was we went to a marketing event,
and I'm sitting there and I'm watching. I had never been to this kind of event before, bunch Entrepreneurs, I'm thinking they're gonna all show up on stage, talk about, you know, their big wins and how, you know, like, I made all This money doing this got me a big house and it but instead, they kept coming up there talking about all
the people's lives that they were changing. They were sharing stories of the people that worked with them and how their lives had changed, and I literally it was like I had this voice in my ear that was like, you know, this is what you're meant to do. And when I sort of heard that, it sort of stuck with me for a while because I stayed in the business because I I was, Like, I'm a partner in this business. We're being successful. We're on this kind of trajectory going
up. Don't wanna get off this Rocket ship right now because we're we're doing really, really well. We went well beyond 7 figures, but it was that That was the turning point was that one moment. And about 7 months later, I was just like, I I I felt this nagging. Even though I was in we had a successful business, I didn't feel fulfilled, and it was stress levels. I wasn't happy, you know, Outside of work, it was all because I wasn't following the what I was
meant to do is what I figured out. So sometimes, as you know, it's the the success and the money. If they don't fulfill you, you gotta follow your passion and your purpose and find another path. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I'm I'm work I'm feel I'm working on that. I I feel like this is what I'm supposed to be doing is is full time just going in and creating content to inspire and help people. And and listen, I I got a I got a good paying job, but Like you
said, that doesn't satisfy me. Doing this here, being able to create this content, being able to have these conversations, speak to people like yourself, and and help other people improve their lives and help improve make it I just wanna make an impact. And I feel that my podcast gives me that that opportunity. And I'm I when I started, I didn't know what it was gonna turn out to be, and It's it's grown in the last year. Like, I've been doing it 3 year three and a half years now or so.
And this this year alone, this last year, it's grown. And I'm like, I'm not surprised because I I I put in a lot of work, and and I Mhmm. And I and I try to create the best content I can. I'm just improving with each episode. Each episode, I feel like I'm improving, and so But I just love to do it. I just I just love being able to come on here, share my message, have my guest share their message and and share because everyone has a unique story. Mhmm. And Absolutely.
And so to be able to share that with people, They might not have the same story I have, but something I say might resonate with them, something you might say might resonate with them and make an impact, and be like, Man, I didn't look at it that way. Maybe if I tried it that way, it might work. So to be able to to do this and And like you said, just once I started once I finally built up the courage to To release the episode because I've I've
deleted so much stuff that I didn't know. I was so I hear you. I was so afraid of failing. Right? I was so afraid of what people were gonna say. And when I finally got the courage to to press record and upload it, I didn't know anything about podcasting. I didn't know about SEOs. I didn't know anything. I didn't know about descriptions, titles. I just wanted to get it up out there. So finally, when I faced that fear and got the courage and and
released it, it was just like, okay. I got this, and it went from 77 minute interview, 7 minute podcast to and it just Grew. Like, each episode grew, like, 5 minutes, 10 minutes here, 15 minutes here to the point where I'm I'm able to do 35, 45 minutes to an hour show. Yeah. You just took action. Right? Sometimes it's like, you you just have to do it. Like, I mean, when it's the same thing when I was asked When he asked me, like, how are you gonna are you gonna be able
to grow the podcast? I just said yes, then figured it out. It's like, okay. I got no other choice. I've already put myself Beat in the fire. Do this now. So it's it's good. Yeah. It's like taking that first step, you know, not not being in that there's a good lesson that you shared for the listeners that are
listening and viewers that are watching is that it was the same with us. And this is something that I had to learn, And I learned a lot of it from Pat, my partner, who was the voice of real estate rock stars, which you can actually still hear that show. It's out there now. His name just isn't on it anymore, so we built something that's still surviving, which is really cool, but he gave me a
lot of permission to fail. Right. And I hate to even use the word fail, but I know what people understand when you say the word fail, because to me, it's just a it's just a data point. Yeah. To us, yeah, to us is just a lesson. It's something we just learned. Yeah. Like, okay. We don't look at it as failure. I understand. I I feel you. Yes. I understand. Yeah. I was actually on a podcast one time with this really cool dude.
His name's Anton. And we were having this discussion, and he brought up he was like, You just have to make failure fun. Right? It's like and you just shift your mindset. You think about, like it's just You know, it's be grateful that you have the opportunity to Yeah. To not get it right. Right? But that was the thing about Pat that, like, really taught me a lot because he gave me permission. He was like, just we'd have crazy
ideas. Right? We were follow we were doing things, like, when I shared that we had a 78.6% opt in rate. The reason we were able to do that is because we quit listening to what everybody else was telling us what to do, And we actually had a, you know, one of those come to Jesus moments where we got together and we're like, this just isn't working. We gotta figure something out. Let's just not let's just you and I get together.
Let's figure it out. So we just we we shut out the outside noise and just Gave ourselves permission to try something that felt intuitively right to us. And What was funny is is when I went to that marketing conference and when I was sharing that 78.6% opt in rate, They were just, like, blown away, and we're talking about people that have been really super, super successful, made a lot of money, grew businesses in the space. To them, 28%,
30% is, like, exceptional. So when they were hearing our story, They were blown away, but then here's the funny thing about all that. I remember one of them was like, well, That's amazing. It's like, seriously, you're getting, like, 8 out of 10 people? Yeah. Yeah. And so we showed them the known the numbers and everything. They're like, What are you selling on the thank you page? Are you giving them an opportunity to buy? And we're like, what do you mean?
Like, you got 8 people saying yes that they're showing. He's like, those are people that have raised their hand. They're interested. You gotta give them a chance to buy something. So That's how it was. We were just learning as we went along. We were learning these strategies. We were just we're much like you. We were just taking the next step, Figuring it out, if it worked, okay, now what's the next step after
that? So, that to me was a big learning process because even up till that point, which is about another, like, 10 years earlier in the entrepreneurial space, I was one of these people that constantly as soon as I've made the decision that I'm gonna take the step, I'd start thinking, well, what if this happens, or what if that happens? Right? So I'd sort
of paralyze, and I know a lot of people go through this. So what I would like to just give people permission that are listening and watching is just, you know, just treat it like you said, like a lesson, like a data point. And Just you know? If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. You do the next thing. Right? Like, if you would've accidentally, You know, forgot to put the description in your podcast the 1st time. It wouldn't have prevented you from the victory of actually getting one out
and continuing to go forward. You could Said, oh, I can't believe I forgot that. I won't forget it next time. Right? So, it's just a lesson. So I love that. That's a good good term for it. I went back, like, once I really started learning about thumbnails, and and descriptions, and titles, and proper titles, and and and optimizing titles and all that. I I went back, and I retitled episodes. I put thumbnails on the episodes. I put better descriptions in them.
It was just I had learned, and I was like, okay. Let me just correct these correct the correct the Yeah. Just like with the With the with the artwork for this this show, I have everything else. I have your last name spelled correctly and everything else except the artwork. And when you sent the message, I went and corrected it. Well, yeah. No worries, though. That you're not the 1st person that Spelled my last name with an n first. So, but, yeah, thank you for thank you for going back and
changing it. So that's pretty awesome. Oh, yeah. It's, But it it it was funny because I was just gonna say I love the fact that you gave yourself permission just to to do things and then learn as you go, and then you can. You can go back if you want to and make some changes, or you could just go forward. Either way, it's, You know, it's like you just do you and continue to follow your path, and it'll work out.
Yeah. So so as the expert podcast growth and monetization expert, what are the the key key principles that Entrepreneurs and podcasters should keep in mind to achieve success. Gosh. Well, the 1, what I would say, and it's funny because this is probably one that they're not expect well, you might expect a little bit of it. We had this in a Group coaching call that I was hosting today with my students that you know, don't forget
that your audience, they're not just download numbers. They're not just listeners. They're not data points. Right? They're they're human beings, and human beings like to be seen, acknowledged, heard. So one thing that we did that I fully believe was really responsible for a lot of our growth, even though it wasn't Maybe a growth strategy. It was more of a retainment
strategy. Right? Like, if you retain your good listeners and create loyal listeners, then you don't have to worry about constantly finding so many new ones all the time. They'll do the promoting for you as well, but A lot of it is is to remember that they're humans that they like to, you know, they like to be seen and heard and ask them questions. Read the reviews on your Podcasts. Read their questions and answer them on your podcast. Ask for feedback. Always mention their names and talk about
them. People love that stuff. Right? Even the negative, we would get negative feedback, and we would read it And we would read these negative emails, and then we talk about it. And we would say, you know what? You were right. We were wrong. We're gonna make a change, because we're doing this for you, not for our own egos. This is for you. We're here to impact your life. So to me, that's one key. And the other key, the biggest mistake
that I see. And this is once again, it may seem a little weird when it comes to growth, but it is to create, especially if you're an on like, I work with a lot of, Mostly with coaches, consultants, you know, business owners, agencies, people that have a business, And so their podcast is more than just a communication tool. It's like a we need to get clients. But what they often forget about is is that your listeners need to become a lead before they
become a client. So for me, it's always focusing on, and I see people missing this piece Even as a podcast guest, if you're just doing guest appearances or if you have your own podcast, they miss the lead generation piece that's really, really important. And creating the kind of lead generation that is not transactional, but also but creates a relationship With those people. Right? It really over delivers, and so it's more than just like, hey. Here's our
PDF checklist. We'll, ignore you for the next 11 months, then we'll bombard you on Black Friday with 8,000,000 emails. Right? It's like treat treat it like a relationship, like a real human communicate with them. Give give give give give, and then maybe ask. And, that to me, those are those are really powerful things to remember, and it all revolves around your listeners. Right? Treating them like people. How would you like to be treated? See and wait. And You answered that next question.
It was it was like, how do you view your relationships between podcasting and revenue generation? And it's and It is your audience. It's it's treating them like humans. It's it's acknowledging them. I have someone from some day ones that I'm always shout shouting out, Always always thanking them for for stopping by, leaving comments, especially now that I'm live for the past year or so.
So being a that's 1 thing I really do enjoy about going live is to be able to acknowledge people when they come on, and they leave a comment during the show. Because now it makes them a part of the show. And then it it makes them like, oh, man. He said my name or whatever, but it makes it their show now as well. Because now Mhmm. They get to comment. They get their comments shown on the screen. And and so that's why I enjoy the live so much. And you can and it it saves me on editing.
Mhmm. Yeah. There you go. I don't really have to edit now because now I'm doing live, And it's out there, so so I I have a I have a great time doing it live. Yeah. So It's not and it's it's nice that you, acknowledge people that way because you're right. Because guess who guess who's out there helping grow your show now as those people that feel like they're a part of it because they feel like it's a part they're a part of it too, right, which, that's really important. So that's a good
a good point. So so how do, alright, well, can you tell us more about your podcast, Profit School, and the infinite impact method? And how do these programs help help individuals in the podcasting world? Sure. So I'll talk about infinite impact method first. Infinite impact method is more of, like, the principles behind how I work with people. Like, when I left the previous business, and the first thing I did was I didn't just
jump into the next thing. I actually took some time to focus on me because at the time, Like I said, I was really stressed. I was overworked a little bit. I wasn't focusing on the right things, and I was having a lot of anger and, you know, issues, which if you met me now, you'd be like, what? Do you actually yell? But I would. I would yell a lot, get upset. Very reactionary. Right? Reactionary instead of responsive. So I took a lot of time. Part of that was creating a morning routine.
Part of that was meditating, you know, doing some reading, taking some time to sort of Work on myself physically, mentally, spiritually. And during that patient one time. It was, like, the most profound experience where it felt like I was sitting on my front porch, which is directly in front of me, And it was as if I got downloaded these words, and I sort of ran inside the house, came into my whiteboard, started writing out This, like, system, but I was teaching it to the blinds.
But as I'm doing it, It felt like I was on stage in front of, like, 10,000 people doing this. I mean, it felt like I was in a whole different space. It was like being in the the most I can describe it as I used to play basketball. I coached basketball, but being in flow in that moment where it's just like everything else is not even there. It's just you in that moment of time. And that's where the infinite impact
method sort of came through me. And, those what came to me were the words, well, the words and phrases is rise into your highest authentic self, which is pillar 1. Pillar 2 is shine to attract and affect. Pillar 3 is simplify to take quantum leaps, and pillar 4 is serve to change lives. So everything in my business models from there forward has had that as the foundation. Right? It's like, okay. What's the piece that's gonna help people rise into their
highest self? And, generally, that's some sort of part of my offer that'll have around belief or mindset. Right? And then what's part of it that's gonna help them shine their message and mission out into the world to attract people that are they're meant to attract and then affect them in a positive way. And to me, it's like Podcasting. It just makes sense. Right? So that's these are like the foundational principles underneath
the frameworks that I teach. So whether it's the, podcast ATM model, whether it's, you know, anything to do with that. I have this, cash infusion day virtual event model that I teach that ties into the podcast. They all have the foundation of those 4 words, those 4 pillars, rise, shine, simplify, and serve. So that's the infinite impact method, and that came from that. And so part of that led me to the next step
was the Podcast Profit School. And Podcast Profit School came to me because and part of my business model as I was sharing earlier, I teach people how to grow their audience, move people from, basically, I teach them frameworks in their content to shift beliefs and shift identities in their listeners so that it helps transform them, not just inform them. And what that does is you're actually creating It's like you you've got this clay and you're molding them into the perfect dream client to
work with you. So then we teach people how to move them from listener to lead and then lead to client. And, generally, that lead to client leap is come to this Virtual event we're doing, we do these little short, I call mini events. They're like one day, just a few hours. They're you don't have to have a bunch of complicated tech. You just do it. They're cash infusion days where you enroll a bunch of people want at once in your
program. But the thing that's so powerful is it takes people from a one way conversation, which is the podcast. You're speaking to them to a two way conversation where now these are very interactive, these virtual events. They're on Zoom, but it's not a webinar. It's not slides. It's just you and them and the energy of the 2 of you having conversations and helping them and serving them. So they
get a ton of value. So That's a huge shift because it takes people who have been listening to you, and they feel like they know you already, but you haven't seen them or really talked to them. Then now you get be in the room together virtually. Right? Yeah. So what I did was I realized that a lot of my programs doing these Cash infusion days, my one of my programs was, like, 15,000 to join,
so it was a really higher ticket program, more Expensive. A lot of people just weren't ready for that, but I wanted to keep serving them. So it came to me once again, just this intuitive thought Was like, why don't you start this thing, podcast profit school? So I immediately get up. I go to look up, see if the URL's available by by the web address. It is. I'm like, okay. It must be meant to be because that seems like
that would be one that was already purchased, but Audit. So I created it's a it's a lower, it's a membership program. So you can join monthly. You can join annually. We just launched it. Just sold out the founder's,
level, so now we're doing early bird. And it basically, You get to have group coaching with me 3 times a month on how to follow this framework that I've created to be successful with your podcast, turn it into the engine that drives your business, but the investment is, like, really, really, really low. So it gives me the, it gives me the capability to serve more people, to lift them up, and then maybe they'll wanna join
My next level program, when I bring that back. So I've sort of shelved that to focus all my energy on Podcast Profit School and then cash infusion days, which I teach people as well that join my podcast, Profit School. But it's been really rewarding. I mean, I love These people, they just totally appreciate it. They show up. We're learning together. I'm bringing in guest x. Well, you know, it's like doing a podcast. You meet so many cool people. Yeah. Like, I tell them, I'm like, I
don't know everything. You know, you might think I know everything. I don't know everything. That's I'm I'm bringing in, like, a podcast guesting expert. I'm bringing in a guy who's good at setting up studios. I'm bringing in People that can teach you how to, grow your audience on YouTube. So I'm bringing in my whole network to teach
too. And Today, one of the students is, like, really good at using AI to generate a bunch of content based on their podcast episodes, Whether it's video content, written content, but that 1 episode and turn it into multiple promotion pieces by using AI. And I was like, will you come teach this to everybody? Even though you're in the program, you gotta come teach this because, you know, we don't need so Even the students are teaching and sharing their
expertise. So it's been really fun and rewarding, and I'm excited to keep growing that and focusing on it. Oh, no. There's something I've been learning recently was AI. I've I've delved into Chat gbt. I use Cast Magic for my audio podcast, and it's me wanting to grow and develop, Because these are things that interest me. Like, my friend introduced me to ChatTBT in November when it came out last year, and
I was amazed by it. And I started using it for my podcast, and and it's helped so much with the growth of my podcast, with give helping me get more structure on my podcast. So that's why I've had the leap in numbers that I've had in the past year is because I really start like, I really started diving into it, really learning how to really produce a show, How to really put a show together. Because my 1st 2 2 years, I was still learning, still green. I'm still learning to to this day. Mhmm.
But now that I've started adapting these tools and and and surrounding myself with people That know things that I don't own, just like how you mentioned that. You don't know everything. Mhmm. So I've been attracting people to help me Move going to the next level. Shout out to my man, Phil Better. He's helped me automate my my a podcast now. I have a weekly Newsletter going out. Mhmm. With everything that I've with all the content I produced for that
week, And that was something and that was something I didn't do. I I added that. It's helped grow my my email list. Mhmm. My my friend, Jeff Rilla, shout out to him. We did, an event for international international podcasting day. I was I I hosted the event with my friend over here, Daniels, and I got to learn how to how to put together an event. And and
he's always teaching me stuff. So these relationships that I'm building because of the podcast Has helped me grow my podcast and and take it to 1 to 1 to 1 level, and and it's just gonna just keep growing because I am making this all this this past month alone, I've had some phenomenal guests that I've learned so much from. Just having the conversations and being able to speak to them as and and get a get a little idea of what what they're doing, and It's
helped me. Like, I'm, like, I'm so excited for what's what's ahead. Yeah. And that's a That's one of the big benefits that a lot of people don't realize. You know? I've worked with a lot of, entrepreneurs, and a lot of them do mostly solo shows. But, I'm like,
that's good. If you if you're an expert and you need to share your expertise, it's always it's good to do solo shows, but I'm like, you need to guest on other shows Because it's the relationships you build through podcasting and meeting these other people, and it's a very collaborative space. It feels less. It's not competitive
as much as it is collaborative. Right? It's like Mhmm. It's unlike any other sort of space I know in the marketing world where people just love to help each other, and they hear what they may hear you mention something. You know? Maybe you mentioned, like, you know, I've I've been trying this, and it hadn't been working. And then as soon as it shows over, they might be like, you know what? I know this person. I need to connect you with them. They could help you out with x, y, z. So it
is. Relationships, you hit that nail on the head. Relationships are really powerful in the podcast space. No. It is, man. It it really is, and that's one thing I I I I harp on is is networking and and attending podcasting events. And, finally, if there's a local event near you, check it out because you that's that's one thing. In order for you to really grow your audience, You need to appear another podcast because that's completely different audiences that you can reach them. And Yep.
And so that's one thing I I've been I've been recently doing is Collaborating with a lot of fellow podcasters that I know and going on their show today. I actually I'm a guest today at 7 PM. I'm a be I'm I'm doing a show. So it's and she was actually a guest a couple of weeks ago on my
show. So but it it it's these relationships, Man, it's these relationships that I get I cherish and I love because it's helping me grow As a man, as a husband, as a father, because just building these relationships, and and and some of these, My friend Cole Johnson. I love this dude. I've been we haven't met physically. We linked up through a mutual friend, And I
consider, I consider Cole a mentor. He is one of my true truly best friends in life because We've sat down and had some deep conversations, and I've learned so I learned so much about editing and creating intros and outros. But it it's the personal relationship I've been able to build with him that's also made me a better person. Mhmm. And and I and I love that aspect
of it. I really, truly this is why I love doing the podcast. I I love being able to come on and record and and and connect with people, and and and it's like and I'm not taking this leap, where would I be at now? Like, would I be able Yep. Be what kind of person would I be? Would I be this person that I am now? Because I've grown in these 3 years from doing my podcast. So, that's I look at it as a blessing, and I'm I'm having a
great time. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. It's funny because, when I look back at it, you know, my first business partnership came from a podcast. Then when I went out into the world and started teaching what I had learned in the business that we had built, I had so many people that came to me that were like, well, can you help me launch a show, launch a podcast? I was like, well, I don't really do that. I I can help you grow it and make money from it,
turn it into the the fuel that drives your business. Right? And so I ended up meeting someone Who did that? We ended up forming, and we met on a podcast. Right? She did I can't went on her podcast. We met. We hit it off. So we formed, like, a business relationship that helped both of us grow to new levels just like you're talking about. And then, right before I did this show, I was doing a I was teaching a group of entrepreneurs a new, We call it
we call it of course, we're marketers. Right? The secret Zoom interview strategy that attracts The perfect dream clients on autopilot, which it is. It's like this new is it but it's a basically, it's a podcast interview It follows a certain framework where the the interview, the conversation is the sales funnel. It leads people through it. So and it's such a different experience than, like, showing up to webinars and
things like that. But That person who is doing this with me that is my partner in this, he runs a marketing agency and has his own funnel building company, and We met on a podcast. Right? It's like to me, it's such a great it it it your world, and you do. You meet so many cool people, so many people that will gladly help you grow your business, gladly support you, and gladly promote you, and I think that's the really cool thing about this space. Yeah. No. It is. It is.
The people I've connected with in in in the podcasting world, and especially independent podcasters, Because we know the struggle that we go through to to produce our shows. So we have that connection. Like, we know what it is that we're going through with having to edit, having to create show notes, having to create, because that's what a lot of independent independent pod a lot of independent podcasters, they
don't have a big team behind them. They're not like the celebrities where they have Or they just gotta come up and and show up and record because they have a big team behind them. A lot of us, we we're We're we're we're it. We're the, like, we're the last Mhmm. We're the competitive marketing, everything. So that kinda bonds us together because we know the struggles that we go through. So we're, like, we're more willing to help each other, uplift each other because, again,
we don't have the machine behind us. We have all we have is each other. So being able to connect with each other and and build each other up, That's why I feel like this is one of the best spaces you can be a part of is the podcasting community. Yeah. Yeah. I agree 100%. So what what's the serverpreneur blueprint? This is something that I'm in the process. I actually have the trademark for it.
I'm in the middle of it's getting I did. I'm gonna be launching a podcast called the servepreneur blueprint, but it's really it came to me once again, this came more through doing than just well, it was more of, like, being first than doing. Right? The way I showed up To so many people as I always and this is this is, like, got me in the room with some really amazing people, but serving first. Very serving. Right? Like, I'm always
looking for ways to help others. And to me, that label was sort of given to me, And it became known that, you know, like, hey. If you jump on a call with him about your podcast, he's not gonna just sit there and take you through a sales pitch. He's gonna actually probably give you, like, 2 or 3 strategies that are gonna make you a bunch of money or help grow your audience or something and not expect anything in return.
So to me, it was always like leading by service. Right? And so through that process, once again, I'm building out a framework around what I call the servepreneur blueprint, and I'm actually creating, because I I've seen this too in the market as well with a lot of other coaches because I'm I talk like, you talk to a lot of podcasts. I talk to a lot of coaches, a lot of consultants in the space who got into what they're doing because they
wanted to change lives. They wanted to create positive impact, And they become very, they find that that space can be a little disingenuous. Right? Like, the whole mark online marketing and coaching space doesn't feel aligned with what they wanna do, and I'm noticing that there's a lot of people out there that really want to serve. They wanna change lives. They wanna do things differently that don't feel sort of
like the old way. I won't call them, like, really throw too many stones at them, but the old way of doing things that just don't feel as energetically
aligned. So we've actually started, Creating well, I'm gonna be creating what I call the servepreneur movement, which is gonna be more folks like myself that are Really looking to get out there and follow their unique path, their unique gifts, step into their purpose, and get out there and sort of help Create positive impact and change lives in a way that we can still do marketing and sales, but through that lens of service first. So, yeah, it's just it's just sort of a new shift in the
direction that I've been going. And You can see I've got on the the shirt because my daughter told me my daughter actually told me she's 12 going on 13 now, but I think she was just a few years ago, she's like, Why are you always wearing everybody else's shirts? You need to get your own shirt. The wisdom of a child. Right? Very smart. No. Very smart. And that that's absolutely correct. That's absolutely correct. And that's something that I'm working
on. I I have I gotta I'm gonna I had to give me some I had to give me a couple of caps and some shirts, and and I have to wear them online because right now, the New York I love I'm a big Yankee fan. Love the New York Yankees. But right now, they're getting free promotion from me. So Exactly. Right? That's like we always tell. I have so many people, you know, because I I understand there's different, spaces in the podcasting world.
Right? You have some shows that are created to entertain, they're looking for sponsors and things like that. And then the people I work with are mostly experts or coaches consultants, and they'll often ask me, like, you know, well, how do I get sponsors? I'm like, well, just start sponsoring yourself. Right? It's your business. You need to sponsor yourself. Right? You don't need to
Yeah. Because for 1, you're not gonna have the kind of numbers that are gonna make you a lot of money because I I can tell you even when we were we were at a 150,000 monthly listeners, we had hit that sort of mark. Even a little below that, We had people reaching out to us, to wanting to sponsor. Right? Like, we'll buy we'll just cut you a check Guaranteed for, like, the next 3 months, 6 months, whatever, to
run a spot for us. And, we're like, no. Because we can make Ten times that in a couple weeks by sponsoring ourselves, right, by showcasing our own services and products. So To me, that's what the sort of the side that I come from. But, yeah, I agree with you 100%. You sponsor yourself, showcase yourself, and Get those words out there. Get your branding out there. Let people, you know, even buy your stuff if they want to. Who knows? You might have other people out there promoting you as well.
No. And and so my my my boy Cole calls me mister big up because I'm always shouting people out. Just like even earlier when I shouted out Phil and I shouted because I I I just feel like I did I always say this is, how do I expect anyone to support me and promote me Mhmm. If I don't do the same, if I'm not always sharing enough, not always promoting my friends and sharing their content, how do I expect them to do that for me. Mhmm. And and and it shows because
they're always sharing my content. They're always somebody's always sharing something that I put out there. And it's because that's how I am. I see if I see someone selling a house or whatever it is, I'm sharing it Because Yeah. I wanna help I'm a have to send you a serve I'm a have to send you a servepreneur T shirt now. So because that's the epitome of it. Right? Like Yeah. Thinking about how can you create wins. It's it's creating the
cycle Full of abundance if you think about it. Right? It's it's by by giving and serving others, you're you're putting abundance Out there in the world not living from that competitive place of scarcity. So you see the big picture, and that's important. Right? And I think that's the That goes back to what we were talking about about the podcast space. So many of them are
from more of like, hey. How can I I can support you and help you because, that's how you you bring it back around to yourself eventually? Absolutely. Yeah. Definitely. So so in the dynamic for the podcasting, how do you stay updated and continuously evolve your strategies? For me, it's like learning from others. Right? Like, from my students, from the people in Podcast Profit School, from, Teaching and sharing is funny because it's funny how much you learn when you
actually teach. Right? So I I keep my I and I and I get I make sure to invest and get in the rooms of people that are doing things that are maybe if you'd look at I don't like to measure success with other people's, you know, definitions, but you can see there's people that, you know, have been in it longer than you that are doing things on a different level and you start to connect with
them. So always investing to get in those spaces and then always finding ways to, Like I mentioned earlier, you know, like, if you serve others, if you start reaching out to these people that you may think you can learn from. If you lead with the place of service, you're more likely to, get access to them as well. So it's always to me, The the biggest learning I get is just
teaching. Like, when I when I start discovering things and then I start teaching others and I'm watching them get success and I learned from sharing with them. It's so funny how things become more clear as you share with others. Right? So so many things that, Like, I had big ahas when I remember one time I'm teaching and teaching and teaching about our you know, the 78.6% opt Ten rate. I know I keep bringing up that number, but, I mean, it's
etched in my mind because it still blows me away. But I started thinking about it, and as as I kept teaching people How to get more leads from their podcast, it hit me one day. I was like, now I've realized why we were Able to get such a good number
on opt ins. It had nothing to do with our call to action, had nothing to do with our headlines, it had nothing to do with our Landing page had a little to do with what we offer because we did something like like, by the time I left, we were giving away a resource area that had over 200 free things in Talk about serving. Right? But what I discovered was and this is when I actually had the opportunity to to, I created a mastermind, and Les Brown was actually a member of the
speaker. Les Brown, the legend, was in my mastermind. Wow. So he's in my mastermind, and he shared this with me one time. I remember hearing him say something about you gotta make them thirsty. Right? You get to get him to take the drink over here, you gotta make
him thirsty. Now he's talking about, like, when he's speaking On stage, and if you want them to go, like, do that thing where they buy if you pitch at the end of your presentation, You gotta make them thirsty, and the the drink is sitting over there waiting on them. But that's when it hit me. I was like, that's why we were able to get so many more leads because we created desire. It wasn't us necessarily. It was actually the guest. The guest was so good at sharing their strategy and
what they were successful with. They created desire for the next step. And so when we offered people the next step, they took it because we made them thirsty. I was like, I finally figured all this out. But the way I was able to Figure it out was by teaching and teaching and teaching and watching others implement, having their questions addressed to me, And it kept lifting up my knowledge the more I gave to
others, and I was like, oh, I get it now. Finally, you would think after Being the one that created it, you'd know all along. But, no, that's not the way it works sometimes. Sometimes you just get you think you just get lucky, and it's like, hey. We did something right. Now if I can just figure out how we did it so I can duplicate it. So yeah. So you asked the question of how How I stay on top of things, and a lot of times it is. It's just through discovery, through teaching, and through
sharing with others. So so this is what I'm talking about right here. I don't know who Facebook user is. Thank you though for leaving a comment, really. This is this is why I do it. It's for the it's for this reason here. It's for people Mhmm. Yeah. To get to get this. And and when when when you can Make an impact like that where someone feels like what we're talking about is important and there's some powerful stuff. Like, this is why I love to go this is one of the reasons I transitioned
to live. Even though my my numbers were better when I was doing prerecorded, I don't care about that. That wasn't that, to me, wasn't important. It was the fact that I was able to connect with people in per in live, like, right live now, and and and that's what that to me is much more fulfilling. Yeah. I'd love to know too is, like, what did you find so powerful? What what was the one specific thing if you'd share it with us? Since we're live, you know, why not? Let's
keep keep it going. And I would love to know because it really as you know, if you can get 1 if you can shift 1 person, then it you've it's been worth it, no matter what that is. And And that's why that's why I'm actually I'm gonna end up having you on my new podcast. I didn't even ask. I just assumed. Right? But, Oh, listen. You ain't gotta ask. Brother, you ain't gotta ask, brother. I'll be there. Just tell me the day and the time, and I
will be there. Here's the thing is that it fits in perfectly with what you're talking about because, that was my inspiration for But I'm interviewing podcasters so that they would share their story of how being in the podcast space Change their life personally,
professionally, whatever it is. Maybe they got an email from somebody that they heard them talk and it shifted their life, But it's to have moments like that where you you maybe give that 1 person a spark of inspiration to start their own show, Right. To get their message and mission out there, because you and I know because I heard you mention, kids or at least 1 kid. I can't remember. But you, You can tell people all
day long what they should do. But, generally, a lot of times, if they hear their Story in someone else's story that gives them that little nudge Mhmm. And the permission to take the next step. So that's why I'm actually doing it. So hearing stories like yourself even and being able to share that with others will inspire others to potentially step out from behind the shadows and, you know, jump behind the mic and start their own podcast. Oh, man. I have I have
I have a story for you. Believe me. I have a story for you, which just happened recently with with it happened within the last 2 months, like, last month or so. It was We will dive into that. Yeah. I'll save it for I'll save it because the audience my audience has has already heard heard the story because I Oh, okay. I thought I was getting an exclusive. No. No. No. But it's an impactful story. It really
is an impactful story. It really I love it. Just the fact that, yeah, the The message that I got from this person was, amazing. And so, yeah, I definitely I'm I'm excited now. I'm excited to be a be a guest of your show. Yeah. I look forward to it. I hadn't even launched it yet. I've just basically, this week, I started doing, like, little short 15 minute interviews with people just to Get an idea of their story so I could tell it better
when we got on the the call together. So, yeah, so I'm excited. So it'll be coming pretty soon. We expect a Expect a outreach from me pretty soon to get a time to to schedule an interview. Okay. No doubt. Definitely. But, I would love to continue this conversation, but we've almost reached an hour. Yep. I I know I was a little late. Sorry, folks, who've been here the whole time. Listen. It it's fine, man. You you've made more than made
up for it. You've more than made up for it. Thank you. Thank you. This has been fun. I've enjoyed it. I've had a blast, man. I have I've had a great time. But now you get the solo screen. You get to promote, Plug in a way, land on everybody. Because we didn't even get to talk about a lot of this stuff. Like, we didn't get to talk about no. Seriously, we didn't get to talk about you being an author. We need to get talked about we need to get talked about your your your licensing agreement with
Russell Brunson. It's it's this is this is some big stuff. Maybe we might have to have you back on. There you go. Yeah. Yeah. And then, it all because of a podcast. It all happened. Right? So Encouragement for folks to start a podcast for sure. Definitely. But here you go. The solo screen is you. Oh, I appreciate it. So, well, first of all, grateful for those of you that are watching, that are listening, for the opportunity to
serve as well. But what I would say is, if if you have a podcast and you are not growing your audience the way you want to, it's not Fueling your business, it's not growing your business, then I'd love to have you come over and join us in Podcast Profit School. It is it's an amazing place, amazing group of folks. You know, you can join monthly. You can join annually. Right now, we're in the early bird Stages, so we have amazing bonuses, amazing discounts. The time to get in is now. So that's
the one thing I would say. That's the place that you're gonna grow The most, and not just from me, from my knowledge in teaching, but from the people in the room that show up every day, very collaborative group of folks, And, we're we're growing a really cool community. So Podcast Profit School is where I'd say to come, you just go to www.podcastprofitschool,
and, come join the fun. So, yeah, I appreciate it. Thank you, Wise, for having me, And I look forward to reciprocating by having you on my upcoming show. I can't hear you. Yeah. I'm muting myself, but I'm I'm excited. I am so excited to be a guest on your show, man. This is that's gonna be fun. I'm, Like, I'm definitely I love when it comes to podcasting You've encouraged me now.
You've inspired me to do I'm an actually I've I've got a new group that I've created called get clients from podcasts, which is sort of my free community. So we're gonna do we're gonna start doing these interviews live to that group to give them value to have a live audience Oh. And then we'll put them out too. So, see, you've even inspired me during this time. I've been thinking about it, but You gave me the the sort of nudge to get me down the get me rolling
down the hill. So that's what we're doing. I'm I'm I'm proclaiming it now. Awesome. Awesome. I'm glad that I went. I'm proclaiming it live, and it's recorded, so I can't back out. Right? You can't. Nope. It's it's live. You can you can catch the replay on on on the the channel. Yeah. I I will be sending the link and every and yeah. So, yes, It is live, so we'll hold them to it. I love it. I love it. Well, this has been fun, man. I'm I'm I appreciate the opportunity. No. Thank you, man. Thank
you for, for being a part of this, man. I I I greatly appreciate it. This has been a lot of fun, but don't leave just yet. Let me close out the show. We'll chat if you have a little Can we give a shout out real quick to somebody else before we do Go ahead. Because you and I, There's somebody in the space that I'm sure we're both mutually know about. He's amazing. It's why we connected. It's Alex San Filipino, I think. Yeah. Sam Paul Lipo. There you go. Alex, that's oh, Alex is my guest.
Alex has been a guest on my show. Yeah. Yeah. Alex. On my show, And I've actually got to have lunch with Alex. I've been to the last 2 Podfest. I've gotten to hang out with Alex and build a relationship with Alex. Actually, this past the podcast that just passed, I went because Alex Bless me with 2 tickets. Oh my goodness. Yeah. That's the kind of person he is. And and because of PodMatch as well because of Listen.
Pod match has made an impact because he has given back to you independent podcasters. I've signed up for Pod Match. It's $6 a month. It is the best investment I've made. I've been able to connect with some fantastic guests. Like, Evans here. This was this was a beautiful interview, and and there's certain people when you when you interview certain people, I'm not gonna lie. I don't no. I don't charge to be a guest on my show, but the people I connect with on Pod Match, there's certain levels,
tiers that people sign up for. And if you interview certain tiers, you you earn a commission. In the last I've been doing it for a year and a few months now. $6 a month. I've probably made 4 or $500 because of Alex. Nice. So it it it is it is It's very impactful what he's doing. Everything he's he has a a thing coming up very soon. I'm I'm I'm excited for what he has planned, and and just being able to share a space with him and and be able Sit down
and speak to him and pick his brain. Yes. But, yes, shout out to Alex Sample. He definitely He didn't know we're gonna make like that. We're gonna make half the about him. So he he he's very humble, though, but what a great he is a great guy. So He is. He is very humble. He is and people that, oh, he's no. That's Alex. That truly is who he is, and I got nothing but love for him. And
and I I I got nothing to say. I got nothing positive to I got nothing but positive things to say about Pod Match and the Pod pros community. He is doing some great things. So thank yeah. Yeah. Thank you for bringing Alex up. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you, Al. If you're watching or if you watch, thank you. Thank you for all your I'll tag him. I'll definitely tag him so you know. We we will discuss him. But, thank you so
much. But, again, don't leave just yet. Let me close out the show. I wish I had a little bit. Alright, man. That was a wonderful show. Thank you to everybody who tuned in. Facebook user for leaving your comment. I greatly appreciate it. I'll go once Facebook in a little bit and check out who it was and send you a thank you. Shout out to my RealWise fam, Papa j, Brandy j, love you guys. Shout out to the boss lady who's away from work, Away for 10 days.
Gonna miss you. Love you, baby. Shout out to Evans Putman for for coming through it and and, oh, man, having a wonderful conversation, man. I'm these are the conversations I love. Like, I'm so energized right now. I could probably, I'm so excited for my interview coming up in a in about 50 minutes. So, man. And, as always, a big, big shout out all the essential workers out there. God bless y'all. Be safe. Now your boy wise does it. Peace out.