Joe is known specifically as a “podcast coach”, but he has a broad wealth of experience and expertise.
He has helped companies and individuals with brand building, marketing, monetization, workflow automation and web design.
We talked about starting a podcast, building a solopreneur, creator business, and balancing all of this with life and family.
We also discussed the value of learning and understanding your own curse of knowledge that can get in the way of teaching.
Joe shares the change in mindset that he went through once he became a parent.
We also talked about forging a habit that allows our hobbies to be simply for fun, not productivity, success, or outcomes.
And the lifestyle of having flexibility to hang with his family that drives him to succeed as an entrepreneur.
Find Your Balance Of Niche vs Broad As A Creator
You have to find a way to appeal to a broad audience to make your creator life sustainable.
You want to be human. Because people want to network with and buy from people they can relate to.
So that means you should share your stories as a parent, with your pets, or about your favorite sports teams.
Don’t hold back, just be a person first.
But when it comes to the professional elements of your brand, be sure to find your niche.
For things like sales, marketing, building a community around the solutions you provide, you need to niche down.
What problem do you solve? Who do you solve it for? And how do you solve it?
Once you figure this out, then people will understand why they should work with you
Steps To Succeeding As A One Person Creator Business
The first question you need to ask yourself is “how will you support yourself”?
And that’s a tough reality check for many of us.
We need to be real with ourselves.
Literally, how will you support yourself? How will you support your family if you have one?
How much money do you need to live? What is your freedom number so to speak.
Once you know this, then you need to decide what will bring in revenue?
Drawing from personal experience, the entrepreneurial journey often begins early with a profit making service. In the beginning take a very pragmatic approach.
It’s likely going to be a side hustle.
But it can definitely gradually expand through strategic use of social media and networking.
But it’s most important to align your business with your lifestyle goals rather than just chasing money.
You need to establish your balance between work and personal life. Set your non-negotiables such as family time, or fitness.
And devise strategies for revenue, eventually passive income that are in alignment with your values.
Also, understand that it won’t be an overnight thing. This will take a lot of trial and error. But it will be well worth it.
The Biggest Mistake Podcasters Make
The number one thing Joe says gets in the way for clients is not knowing why the show exists, or who it’s for.
When you start a podcast, you need to know what your mission is.
This is the number one thing podcast creators get wrong.
And it’s easy to define. So define it!
“I Create [Podcast Name] to help [Audience] With [Problem Solved] By [Delivery Method]”
The Second Biggest Mistake Podcasters Make
This was an amazing part of the episode.
You need to know how much time you spend on each step of an episode.
The answers will lead to the creating capacity you have and also set goals for making things more efficient.
When it comes to workflow, Joe asks every client the same first question:
“What is the checklist of every single step you take to create an episode?”
If the client doesn’t have a checklist clearly defined, then that’s the starting point.
Make your checklist.
Podcasting Automation And Workflow
Joe is an automation genius.
But a word of caution, he shares that it probably is a toxic trait because he tried to automate absolutely everything.
Either way, we can learn a ton from Joe when he says “if I will need to continue to do something a few times, then I need to find robots to take care of it.”
The best way to figure this out for you, as a podcaster, or a business owner in general, is listing out your workflow.
What is everything you do to run different elements of your work?
O.K. Now that you know all of the things, start setting up the dominoes to knock each other over.
Don’t just fly randomly by the seat of your pants.
What can you automate?
This might look different for everyone. The details will change and evolve. But a couple things are universal.
Have a calendar set up. Have an episode tracker that defines each stage the episode is as it moves along from an idea to published.
What can you outsource?
You won’t be able to outsource maybe even anything at first. But, you should have goalposts to work towards.
Your workflow checklist will get more efficient over time. This will include hiring to buy back some of your time.
If your goal is to work more and more in your zone of genius, aka being the creator, the podcaster, then it all starts with hiring for the first thing.
Maybe it’s someone to edit. For most people that’s where we can buy
5 Strategies To Make Money With A Podcast
Joe was super generous in the way that he dove into the framework that he teaches clients.
He explained each piece of his 5 part framework to make money on your show.
He calls it the SMASH Framework.
- Sponsorship: The most common way people think of to monetize their podcast because it’s the most visible. You get a company to give you money in order to advertise on your show.
- Membership: Another commonly known way to monetize. Instead of asking potential sponsors, you ask your listeners to directly support the show, usually in exchange for some members-only benefits.
- Affiliate Links: This is the lowest barrier to entry, but may take time to get a decent income. You sign up for affiliate programs of products you commonly recommend, and you get a cut of each sale from people who click your link.
- Selling (Products or Services): I feel is the least-used way to monetize a podcast. You, using the podcast to prove your expertise, sell directly to your audience.
- Helping (Coaching, Consulting, Courses): Similar to Selling, you use you podcast to land consulting clients, coaching clients, or sell your online courses. This could be a little easier than selling since you can have a podcast that does exactly what your “helping” service does.
Memorable Quotes
“The only person who will remember that you worked late is your children, because you weren’t there.”
“The biggest mistake new podcasters make is not knowing their mission. Who do you create for, and what problem does your show help them solve?”
“You need to be selective about who you work with. And then once you have expectations managed, you need the right systems in place.”
“Take all business advice with a grain of salt.”
Guest Bio
Joe Casabona humbly brags on his website that he will help you win back 12+ hours per week.
He does this with podcast automation and workflow coaching.
Joe helps busy solopreneurs take back their time by streamlining their process.
His strategies come from many years of experience as a teacher, web developer and podcaster.
He’s also a podcaster himself, a husband, dad, author and baseball fan.
Follow Joe
Website – Casabona.Org
LinkedIn – @Jcasabona
Twitter X – @jcasabona