Do I NEED a Podcast Coach?

So I'm going to drive across the country.

Should I use a gps?

Yeah, we're going to talk about this today because someone asked me a question in Reddit and I was like, oh, boy, here we go.

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So I hang out at Reddit primarily to see what people are talking about because that gives me insight into my audience and I can then talk about what they want to talk about.

And so today, E Reader Pro is the username, and it's a long message, but basically he ended it with, I'm not trying to knock anyone's hustle, but I do think the message should be loud and clear.

You don't need a course or a coach to start a podcast.

Just start, learn by doing, and improve.

And to this, I would say, being a podcast coach for 20 years, now, I'm going to drive across the country.

Do I need a gps?

No.

Turns out I don't.

I could get my car and kind of guess which way is west and head in that direction.

Now the GPS is going to save you time, it's going to save you gas.

I just drove from Ohio, I live in Akron, and I drove to Chicago, and I use the WAVES app on my phone.

Brilliant.

A. I've never.

Since I started using that app, I've never got a speeding ticket because it lets me know, I would say, about 95% of the time when there are police in the future, on occasion, one will sneak through.

So there's that.

And I was driving there and it was like, hey, based on traffic, if we change our course, we can save four minutes.

Do you want to save four minutes?

And I go, yeah.

And so we did.

And so this is where having a coach can really come into play.

And if it's something like pride, that's kind of a weird thing.

Think about it.

Because what a podcast coach does.

And again, do I need one?

No.

But you're much more likely to trip over the same common issues, such as buying the wrong equipment, using the wrong media host, this one, setting unrealistic goals that then lead you to burn out.

And, you know, I've seen some websites that are so ugly they burn the corneas of your eyes.

And that's just, you know, thinking off the top of my head here.

But Eric Schmidt, the former Google CEO, he had A coach.

Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, had a coach.

Michael Phelps, one of the most decorated Olympians in history.

Remember him?

The swimmer?

Yep.

He had a coach.

Oprah Winfrey has been coached for 25 years by Martha Beck, Hugh Jackman, you know him.

He's the Wolverine.

Well, he's worked with a coach for physical preparation and a performance mindset.

And I get it, you might say, well, this is just a hobby.

You know, I'm just doing it for fun, so who cares?

And you know what?

That's not a bad point.

But the other thing is, when I'm in Reddit, what I see about 50 times a day is, how do I grow my audience?

Well, if you don't care about it, then why are you asking?

Yeah.

Now, I do feel that charging someone $8,000 to launch their show, that's a bit much.

But on the other hand, if you can get it, I guess, yay, capitalism.

I will say, don't hire a coach if you're not gonna follow their advice.

I had a client asked me to listen to their episode, and there were some things that needed polished.

And this wasn't an opinion thing.

It was like, you did this here, you did this here, you did this here, and you could go back and listen.

Now, on the other hand, there were some very good things they were doing.

I don't just rip your podcast to shreds, but I was like, hey, did you know this?

And when I explained that, hey, there's these things right here and here and here, and here's why, and here's what a coach does, and here's why this doesn't tie into your goals.

But their answer was, well, my friend said it was great, okay?

And I get it.

Maybe I'm not your target audience, but I'll give you another example here.

I've been running the school of podcasting for 20 years, and this year, I hired a business coach.

And really, all they did was they held up a giant mirror and they pointed out things that I should be doing but wasn't.

And then, like, one was, they said, well, do you have a welcome sequence in your email?

And I'm like, what's a welcome sequence?

That kind of stuff, which I now have.

And they explained, here's what it is.

Here's what you should talk about.

And I got to tell you, I started doing it, and lo and behold, it's working.

And so what's going on when you hire a coach, at least for me, they pointed me at tools to make things easier.

I'm paying for their insight.

I'm paying for their experience.

And more importantly, I'm paying for their accountability.

Often it's like, hey, see if you can.

Can you get this done by the end of the weekend?

And I'll be like, yeah.

And so, for me, a podcast coach helps you identify the things that need improved, but also they can be a cheerleader, pointing out those things when you're doing them right.

But for me, not having a coach or somebody who will tell you the truth, if you don't want to pay for a coach, you need that person.

I had.

I just.

I said, I spoke in Chicago this past week at a podcast convention for higher education, and I had a friend there, and at the end, he came up to me.

He goes, I don't know if you know this or not.

And I go, what?

He goes, you had a slide in there with a typo.

And I instantly knew what slide it was because I had practiced this presentation.

I met some of the attendees and was like, ooh, I should talk about this subject.

Or while I'm here.

And I added a slide very late at night.

And sure enough, that was the slide with the typo.

So that's not criticism.

That was a fact.

And then you look at it, obviously you go back and fix the typo.

I'm kind of weird in that I don't do the same presentation exactly ever again.

I always make new slides.

I always look for new insights.

But that was one where I was like, okay, there's a lesson there.

And the lesson is never add slides late at night when you're just about ready to go to bed, because my focus wasn't there.

And then I didn't review the slides because I had already reviewed them 8 million times.

So having a coach can save you time.

It can save you a headache.

It can save you money from doing the wrong things and spending money on Facebook ads.

Not Facebook ads.

Boosting a post.

Facebook ads are a different thing.

But when you boost a post, everyone I know that has ever done that said, you might as well as light your money on fire.

So that's what you're getting when you hire a coach is someone like a gps, to guide you through the journey.

And the main thing, if you don't hire me, go over with them what your goals are and how you're going to track them.

Because that's the whole point of a coach, is to help you achieve your goals.

And if they don't know what your goals are and they're not asking about them, then you need a different coach.

So with that I will say, if you are looking for a podcast coach, go over to schoolofpodcasting.com use the coupon code listener and that will get you access to unlimited coaching with me.

Plus, if that's not enough, my step by step tutorials and an amazing community.

And if you're a little worried about it, it comes with a 30 day money back guarantee.

I'm Dave Jackson.

I help podcasters.

It's what I do.

And I can't wait to see what we're gonna do together because I want to be your podcast consultant.