Hockey Stick Growth with Scott Aaron

Josh (00:00:03) - All right. We got five minutes on the clock. What is your name and what is your podcast show?

Scott (00:00:07) - My name is Scott Aaron, and my podcast is called Networking and Marketing Made simple.

Josh (00:00:13) - Nice. Now you have hit some massive milestones with your podcast. Why don't you give us an overview and then how did you do it?

Scott (00:00:20) - So I've had my podcast going on five years now at the basically right now I'm at my five year anniversary, launched it in 2019. So about, you know, maybe four plus years, whatever it is. And currently I stand at around 650,000 total listeners, almost 800 plus ratings and reviews. And it's been a game changer for building the know, like and trust with my audience. That's global, but also really positioning myself as a go to expert and a person of value for people that are looking to to network better and to market themselves better online, for sure.

Josh (00:01:05) - I interviewed you probably four years ago on one of my podcast shows, and since then I've built maybe five or so.

Josh (00:01:11) - I've shut down a few, but you've stuck with the same the same game, the same brand. And because of that, you have 650,000 downloads or listens, and then you also have 800 something reviews. Yeah. What what do you what do you what do you equate your stick to witness. Like where did that come from for you.

Scott (00:01:31) - So I would say that it's the compound effect. You can't expect anything to happen overnight. It's it's the I call it the the marathon version of growing a business, not the sprint version. So a lot of people you can't you can't hit the numbers that you want to hit without achieving the ones before it. So you got to get to a thousand lessons and 10,000 lessons and so on and so on. And things ramped up. You know, it wasn't like crawling along, but it's only been probably in the last two years that, you know, I went from anywhere I would say from 8 to 12,000 listens per month to now 30 to 50,000 listens per month.

Scott (00:02:10) - But it took three years to kind of get to that. You know, we call it the hockey stick, right? So when you look at the hockey stick, it's a straight line. And then all of a sudden it starts curving and it goes straight up. And you know, pod fade is is an epidemic within the podcasting community where people get really excited, they start their podcast, they drop a bunch of episodes and they're like, where's all the people? We're all the listeners. Where's all the ratings and reviews? But you have to get over that hump of your first 25 episodes, your first 50 episodes, your first 100 and so on and so on. And you don't focus on the vanity metrics. The numbers show up when the value is there. And I think a lot of people, they have these carrots dangled in front of them, and they think they're going to be a quote unquote, top one percenter on iTunes. And it just takes time. I don't care about all the vanity stuff.

Scott (00:03:04) - What I care most about is making sure that every single episode that I drop and there's two a week, there's an interview and a solo episode, I make sure every single one is jam packed with value, whether it's leaving people better than when they found it and when they first started listening to it.

Josh (00:03:20) - Yeah.

Josh (00:03:21) - Where during this time, describe a time where you about to hit Pod Fade and you're so glad you didn't, like, explain that process and why you push through.

Scott (00:03:30) - Well, I would say in the in the earlier stages, I made a commitment to myself to to do 50 solo episodes and then move into the interview process where I would do an interview and a solo episode, and I questioned myself, like, can I keep up with two episodes a week? But when you really start to master your craft and you quote unquote, as they say in podcasting world, get a bunch of episodes in the can where you end up being for eight, 12 weeks ahead, which I always am. That sets you up for success.

Scott (00:04:06) - The people that end up in Pod fade, if those are the ones that are doing things too much in real time, where you're like, I don't know what to talk about this week and like, oh, I'll just wait till next week and upload it. And then two weeks goes by, two months goes by and then it disappears. Yeah.

Josh (00:04:21) - How can you prevent. So you help people launch podcast shows, help them become experts. How could you help coach them on staying away from the vanity metrics? Because we all get caught in that.

Scott (00:04:31) - Yeah, pretend they don't exist because everyone has a first episode, everyone has a day one, and it's the long game that you're playing. So if you want your business to be in business for as long as you want it to be, you have to understand that there is a ladder that needs to be climbed. Arnold Schwarzenegger said it best. He said you can't climb the ladder of success with both hands in your pockets. So that's the thing that I always come back to.

Scott (00:04:56) - And I tell people, it's not about where you are right now, it's where you're going. So you know whether it's one.

Josh (00:05:03) - Time's up, brother. If people want more of you. What's the name of your podcast show and where could they go to get it?

Scott (00:05:09) - Yep, networking and marketing made simple on all major platforms iHeartRadio, iTunes, Spotify, Google podcast. Just search it, find it, listen to it, and I hope you enjoy it.

Josh (00:05:19) - Awesome man. We'll see you all on the next episode.