It’s very ironic that last week’s episode we talked about the power of the pivot, well due to overwhelming and compelling feedback I’ve received from my community, it’s time to pivot, so pardon my mess.
Several of my listeners have given me very candid feedback about my podcast. The main point I’ve been hearing, is that you don’t know who I am or what I’m doing. Well, quite frankly, I don’t. As every growing podcaster before me, they too have pivoted, it’s just my turn!
When I first started my Podcast, I was encouraged to just jump in, and do it because my peers felt I was a good storyteller. I was also encouraged to read Chris Krimitsos’ book called Start Ugly. Basically, the book explains to just start Ugly no matter how ugly it is!
Chris is the originator of PodFest. PodFest is a conference where all styles and flavors of Podcasters go to share knowledge and experience. I’ll leave his link here in my show notes.
This year I was fortunate enough to attend my first PodFest that was hosted here in Tampa.
All I can say, is WOW! There’s a lot to learn and I walked away blown away by the content, the connections, the knowledge, and the opportunities within the Podcasting family. To say I was overwhelmed would be an understatement. After attending I knew I had to make a change, but I wasn’t quite sure what to do.
Then I discovered that I could attend a local Podcasting meeting, so being the shy person that I am – I went.
I didn’t know a soul and found myself surrounded with well-seasoned Podcasters. I didn’t care. When it came time to share my story, I put it out there. It went something like this, look, I’m 28 episodes in and I don’t know who I am, I don’t have a focus and doubt is setting in and I’m not sure I’m fit to be a podcaster. Here’s the good news, I have everything I need already setup. I’ve written a book, I have a website, I have a podcast – I just don’t know how to connect them all.
Clearly, I didn’t feel the love, but I enjoyed sharing my story of how I went from the farm to corporate and how I quit my JOB to be an entrepreneur. My turn was over, and it was on to the next person. I felt a little disappointed and then I engaged with others to hear about their journeys.
After the meeting, it was networking time! I met amazing people doing amazing things and I loved hearing others success stories.
I was getting ready to leave when I was approached by one of the speakers from PodFest. I learned the most from Bruce’s presentation. I learned top 20 ways to promote your podcast for free! His advice instantly gave me new energy and new focus and now he’s standing in front of me. I thought to myself, why on Earth would he want to be talking to me. I listened intently and with his soft-spoken voice, he said he really liked my story, and he was encouraging me to stick with it.
We talked a bit more and then he told me that he does coaching on the side. Mind you, Bruce Wawrzyniak already hosts 2 Podcasts – Now Hear This with over 400 episodes and Catholic Sports Radio over 150 episodes. I’ll leave the links to his shows in my show notes.
He told me that he’d be willing to coach me, and I asked, why me? He said, because I believe that you are a doer and there are several in this space that have great ideas, but they never act on them. I believe you follow up on action items and get things done! Spoken like a true Project Manager, I thought, and I said, oh yes, I’m a great student. I further explained. I have all the pieces I just need guidance on how to connect them all and make this a fine tune oiled machine. I accepted and we had our first in person meeting. Bruce was very diligent with his time, and we resolved a lot of my issues in my first 1-hour meeting. I was a good student and implemented all his changes – you all may not have noticed yet, but you will!
In my next meeting, I think he felt a little more comfortable with me and really drilled down and provided me with great feedback.
Today, I’m in the middle of making those changes and the most significant change will be a new tagline – a new thumbnail is coming soon and checkout my new website changes at fearlessinnovator.com
My new tagline will define who I am and what I do. So, pardon my mess as I work through my thoughts and fine tune what that will look like.
Have a great weekend everyone and I’ll see you back here next week on the Fearless Innovator podcast.
Chris Krimitsos – Start Ugly – Start Ugly
Bruce Wawrzyniak – Now Hear This Entertainment http://www.NHTE.net
Bruce Wawrzyniak – Catholic Sports Radio Catholic Sports Radio
