Travis (18:01)
But he's not wrong. Like, yeah, prep as much as you can. But you know, like, you can't worry about that when you're pursuing the opportunity. I guess is, is really the takeaway there. But I think, I think bottom line, I think people undermine or undervalue what credibility really means for their brand. And then they put themselves in this position and we dealt with this all the time and when we were booking people for podcasts is that people had this vision of themselves and had little to no self awareness around how the space actually works. And so they would think that they were worth, they were worthy of getting booked on the top podcasts that are out there when they're just not realizing that there is a huge discrepancy between you and the other types of people that are getting booked on these types of podcasts. And you're just going to have to start smaller, you know, and, and, and start building that credibility platform up so that you can get the invites for the other ones. But they wanted just to skip all the way to the top. And it's like, okay, well then, so then we would be like, okay, well, we can help you skip to the top if you want to. You're just gonna have to pay money to, you know, land a couple of these big shows and sponsor their shows so you can get booked on the show as a guest and then we can get you on these other shows. And they're like, well, I don't want to have to pay for it because I'm good enough. That you know, because of the value that I'm going to add to their audience, I shouldn't have to pay. And it's like, okay, but that's you, and that's a thousand other people that are also trying to book this one spot. It's not a matter of, like, it's not. It's not like you suck. It's not what I'm trying to say. I'm saying that, like, it's just a matter of numbers. They literally don't have the physical capacity to be able to bring on everybody who's got a good story. So yours has to be crazy unique, or you have to already have a large existing brand so that there's additional value for the host to bring you on their show. You know, like, you, you. If you don't have these credibility arms built out, then it can definitely be worth your time to actually have to come out of pocket, to put yourself in a position to be able to land that thing so that it can make it possible to get the next thing, rather than thinking that you just deserve everything because of your resume. It's like, well, probably is not going to happen, so start with something or be willing to come out of pocket. Like, it's sort of the whole, like, it's going to take time or money most of the time a combination of the two of them. You know what I mean? And some people are just like, you know, that that was the biggest. The thing that frustrated me was the value discrepancies. Like, you, you're way overvaluing the content that you're going to bring to this person's audience, when in reality you're thinking of it, what you're thinking about it from a what's in it for me perspective rather than a what's in it for them. Because the bottom line, especially as it relates to getting on podcasts in terms of like, quote, unquote, stages. If you're looking at podcasts, the thing that you have to understand is that the total number of active podcasts has not grown significantly over the last five or six years. But the total volume of people who are. Who have recognized that being booked on podcasts is a good thing for their brand is so high now that the competition to get booked on those same shows is so much greater than it was five or six years ago. So you're gonna have to bring something to the table other than I have a cool story. It's like, yeah, but like I said, if you're. Especially if you're targeting. Targeting the top 200 podcasts in existence. All of them have access to people with crazy stories. So you got to bring something else to the table. Like just exiting that company probably isn't enough. Just running a marathon probably isn't enough. Just having a bestseller probably isn't enough. You know what I mean? Like, there's, there's got to be something else that you're going to bring to the table here most of the time. Like, if you're thinking of what's going to benefit the host, the host wants more audience, they want more listeners, they want more eyeballs, they want more views, they want more attention on the final product, which, which is why the majority of podcasters are interviewing other people who have audiences already, because they're going to bring some of their existing audience to that host. So if you don't have any of that, then your story has to be crazy interesting or unique to make it past all the people who also have a crazy story and they have an audience of a million people that they're going to bring to the table. You know what I mean? So I guess just have a little bit of self awareness and understand the value discrepancy there and be willing just to, when you're getting started in this space, be willing to put the time in and start from the bottom in this new area, because it is a new area, and that's okay. It doesn't mean that you're less than, or that your story sucks or that your accomplishments are bad. It just means that in this new realm, you're starting from the bottom. So build the proper foundation. Sometimes be willing to come out of pocket if it means that. If it means that this, this event wants you to come speak, but they can't afford to pay for your travel or they can't afford your speaking fee, it's like, well, you can sit there and be like, well, I deserve my speaking fee. And it's like, okay, fine, that's, that's fine. If you want that, just understand you're probably not going to get a bunch of speaking gigs. You know what I mean? Like, we gotta, we gotta get you to be part of the circuit first. You got to get behind these closed doors, meet these event hosts, and start getting to know the other people who are speaking on all the stages that you want to speak at, you know, so get your foot in the door. However, you can say yes to the opportunity, and then eventually you'll be able to start getting enough inbound opportunities where then you can say no to ones that don't match. You know your, your, your criteria for saying yes, but at the beginning, just go do it even if it costs you a little bit of money because the credibility that you gain is definitely worth it.
