Powerful Women Rising - A Business Podcast for Female Entrepreneurs

Beyond Downloads: What It Really Takes to Succeed in Podcasting w/Alex Sanfillipo

• Melissa Snow - Powerful Women Rising, LLC • Episode 106

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It’s not about going viral. It’s about going deeper.

In this powerful episode, I’m joined by my new business bestie, Alex Sanfilippo, founder of PodMatch - a platform that connects podcast hosts and guests, to talk about what it really takes to build a podcast that grows your business and your influence - without burning out or giving up.

Alex shares the truth that so many of us have learned the hard way - the best podcasts aren’t always the ones with the most downloads. They’re the ones that create real connection with the right people.

We also discuss:

  • The most important questions to ask before starting a podcast
  • The truth about vanity metrics - and how to grow without "going viral"
  • How podcast hosts can create unique, one-on-one relationships with listeners that feel surprisingly personal despite being one-sided.
  • How to simplify your workflow using the "automate, delegate, eliminate" rule

Whether you’re just starting out or feeling overwhelmed by all the “shoulds,” this conversation will help you simplify your approach and stay focused on what actually matters.

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Melissa Snow is a Business Relationship Strategist dedicated to empowering women in entrepreneurship. She founded the Powerful Women Rising Community, which provides female business owners with essential support and resources for business growth.

Melissa's other mission is to revolutionize networking, promoting authenticity and genuine connections over sleazy sales tactics. She runs an incredible monthly Virtual Speed Networking Event which you can attend once at no cost using the code FIRSTTIME

She lives in Colorado Springs with two girl dogs, two boy cats and any number of foster kittens. She loves iced coffee, Taylor Swift, and Threads.

Melissa:

Hello Alex, Welcome to the Powerful Women Rising podcast.

Alex:

Melissa, thank you so much for having me. It's an honor to be here. Given what your podcast is and who it's for, it seriously means so much to me. I really, really appreciate you.

Melissa:

Yeah, I'm super excited to have you as a guest. We've done, I think, over 90 episodes and you're only the second man to be on the podcast.

Alex:

Again, I'm honored. Thank you, I really appreciate it.

Melissa:

Yes, I'm super excited to talk to you today. So, before we dive in, tell everybody a little bit about you and about what you do.

Alex:

Yeah, sure Again. My name is Alex Sanfilippo and I've been a podcaster since 2014. It took me a minute. Those numbers start running together right. So I've been in this space for a long time. I went full-time with it in 2020 when I launched a software called Podmatch, and Podmatchcom is simply put. It's a service that connects podcasts, guests and hosts for interviews, and the whole idea is to kind of streamline the process for both sides of the puzzle while also bringing the right people together, for lack of a better term. It works similar to a dating app I'm told I've never used one, a dating app but instead of catching people for dates, it connects them for podcast interviews, and that was sort of my introduction to going from a hobbyist in the podcasting space to full time and to this day. I mean, it is my passion, I feel like it's my purpose. I just love being in this space and giving back any chance I get.

Melissa:

Yeah, I actually don't know this answer to this question, but I'm going to ask you when you started out podcasting, what was your podcast about?

Alex:

I started, my first one was like a faith-based podcast. So I happen to be a follower of Jesus and so like I just kind of dove into my faith a little bit. The funny thing is it was a 15 minute episode one time per month and I was literally talking into my iPhone and at that like going back to 2014,. The iPhones weren't what they are now, so like to give everyone a little thought here. But I just fell in love with the medium. Like I really enjoyed writing, but it gave me the opportunity to speak out what I was writing and it just kind of flowed very naturally. But yeah, it was a monthly podcast and that was kind of my introduction to the space.

Melissa:

That's awesome. I never knew that part of the story, and so you have a podcast now also.

Alex:

I do Podcasting Made Simple, correct.

Melissa:

Love that show and I will give you a little plug for Podmatch, because I had a goal this year to do 20 podcast interviews and I just met with one of my business strategists. That kind of like keeps me in line with my goals and like where are we at with this and stuff? And she's like you've already done five and I was like I know she's like it's only January. I'm like I know Podmatch, I he's like it's only January. I'm like I know.

Alex:

Odd match. Oh, I love hearing that. That just makes my day to hear. Thank you so much. I appreciate you sharing that.

Melissa:

Yeah, it's awesome, your coach is going to think, though.

Alex:

They're going to start thinking that you're selling yourself short, so you look like a hero, aren't they? They're going to make you increase your goals.

Melissa:

I know exactly. Yeah, it's really really great for people on both ends people who are podcast guests and podcast hosts. So I want to talk to you today specifically about people who are podcast hosts, and I love podcast guesting. I think, even if you have no desire to have your own podcast, being a podcast guest is an amazing way to grow your network, to get in front of other people's audiences, to maybe start taking yourself a little more seriously as an expert. I feel like there's a lot of times that I go on someone else's show and they ask me a question and I answer it and I'm like wow did you hear that?

Melissa:

That was really?

Alex:

really good, right. Can I get a recording? I'm so smart, I have been there.

Melissa:

But I want to focus on people who have their own podcast or are considering starting a podcast, and I want to start first just by asking you why you are so passionate about podcasting. What is it that you love about it?

Alex:

Yeah, if I can go back to that early date of podcasting, I'll never forget this. Somebody emailed me that I didn't know it was probably six months into doing that podcast in 2014. And they just talked about how impactful it was. And I don't bring that up to be like, oh, look at Alex, right, but I actually didn't know. There was people all around the world that were listening. Going back that time, the data and the analytics that we could see were even more fuzzy than they are now. They're still not great, but they were really bad. And so I just really didn't realize.

Alex:

I kind of thought it was just for me sharing that and I tried to make it valuable in case anyone ever heard it. But I kind of figured friends and family and they'd just be like great job, alex, thumbs up, right. But somebody emailed me and told me that it was it was heavily impactful in making a really serious decision in their life and it kind of changed things for them. And at that point I was like, wait, there's something really special about this medium and at that point I'd also gone all in as a podcast listener as well and a little bit of ADD and stuff like that, and I've always, even as a kid, my mom learned real quick. If she wanted me to focus on something, she'd throw Legos in front of me and she'd teach me.

Alex:

While I just retain better through podcasting when I'm on a walk, when I'm in the gym, when I'm cleaning anything that I might be doing, I just retain it better, and so for me it's become a very intimate medium. You listen when there's no one else around and you kind of listen it's just you. There's something so powerful about it and that's the reason I have become so passionate about podcasting is I'm seeing the impact that it has on listeners' lives. And yes, I talked about my show being a faith-based show, but I know people that have comedy shows and for some people who listen to that, that is the only laughter they're getting in their life right now is these comedy shows. So I always tell people don't sell yourself short on the category or the focus or the topic of your show. It can still really add a lot of value to people who get to listen to it and for that reason I'm like I just believe that is the most powerful form of media that we have right now when it comes to an intimate relationship with someone who's listening.

Melissa:

I love that you say that about it being an intimate relationship, because I think before you start doing it, and sometimes for a while after you've started doing it, it feels very one-sided, like I just I just got an email from somebody today and I'm like you, like I still think, 90 episodes later, my mom's the only one who's listening. And I get an email from somebody that I don't even know and she's like your podcast makes me laugh every time. And I'm like okay, but this is not a comedy podcast, but she's like I also love your content. She said something about like I love how you ask like rhetorical questions that we can't actually answer. Like sometimes I'm like hi, how is everybody? Like no one can actually answer me but I like that.

Alex:

I don't mean to cut you off, I like that. And when I listened to the show I remember the first episode of your show I listened to I laughed almost immediately. And yeah, it's not, it's not supposed to be a comedy podcast, but I laugh because you bring your personality to it and I immediately knew I'm like I like Melissa, like I know we would hang out and we'd get along really well, right, like, yeah, I actually liked the rhetorical stuff, like you bring listeners into it. So I didn't mean to cut you off, I just think it's a. You do a really great job with this show.

Melissa:

Thank you, and I think that's part of how you create that intimate feeling. Is like we've all listened to the podcast, where people are just reading off of their script right, even the solo episodes. It's like I wrote this ahead of time and now I'm going to read it to you. I'm like you can just email it to me and I'll read it myself. I would actually probably enjoy that better, and so to be able to bring that part and it's definitely practice, I think I'm much more myself in these interviews than I was in the beginning. I listened to some of my early interviews. I'm like, oh girl, what were you doing there? But I think that's part of how you create that intimate relationship with your listeners, even though it is a one-sided conversation is by not thinking of it as a one-sided conversation and really just showing up to it like you would a conversation with your friend.

Alex:

Yeah, to me again. I think that that's what makes it powerful. People wanna connect with humans To your point. Just email it to me If it's going to sound robotic, if it's going to not feel human. People want to connect with a personality. I'll never forget, melissa.

Alex:

The first time I discovered this was way later than you. I think I was over 100 episodes in and it was during COVID. I interviewed somebody and I brought her on and she's like listen, alex, the whole world shut down. I have a newborn baby. I have no help. She's going to cry while we're recording and I was like it's all right, we can edit out and post. Well, guess what, melissa? I couldn't edit out and post. I mean, it was like I told my wife I'm like man, this podcast is just like not it's so good the content, so I'm going to post it, but I'm like nervous about it.

Alex:

I got more compliments, comments, messages, everything about that episode than anything else, because people said it felt so human. Oh, I'm right there too, my kid's at home crying. I couldn't even tell which kid it was anymore, and so it was one of those things. I was like oh wait, people like the humanity of it and I think it's important for us to bring that up really, really fast here, just because don't have this perfectionist mindset. If it's got to be the highest production value, highest quality, like, yes, have some pride in what you do, but don't forget your humanity in it. If we want to be perfect, we'll get a robot or an AI to do it. At this point, right, people like the personality that you have, and I think that's part of the beautiful things of podcasting.

Melissa:

Totally agree. Yeah, there's a lot of stuff that I would have edited out in the early days and now I'm just like, oh, and my dogs are barking and I live in a circus.

Alex:

So anyway, blah, blah, blah.

Melissa:

So let's talk about starting a podcast, because I you know, you mentioned ADD and I think that is very common among entrepreneurs and even if we don't actually have ADD, we I find that entrepreneurs are usually people who have like a hundred great ideas a minute and inevitably one of those great ideas is I should start a podcast. And usually it's inspired by someone else who has a podcast. That makes it look super easy and they have like 10,000 downloads and that is going to be great for us. So, when people are asking themselves if they should launch their own podcast, what are some of the things that they should consider?

Alex:

Yeah, the first thing to think about is that it actually is a commitment, and at this point I named my podcast Podcasting Made Simple for a reason. I actually believe podcasting is simple, but it's not easy. Like the path has been laid out, but it's sticking with it that matters. And there are so many I mean literally millions of podcasts that have one episode, and it's not because it was supposed to be one episode. It's because people are like oh, this was actually work. And it's not because it was supposed to be one episode. It's because people are like oh, this was actually work. And I always say to that, like, what in life isn't work that's worth doing? Right, it's going to take some effort. And so for me, step one is just to acknowledge the fact that, yeah, someone like Melissa might make it look really easy, but you know what it's going to take a commitment, it's going to take some effort, and because of that, that foundational knowledge then has to be built upon, and I think the best place to start is to start with why. I know that's become a very popular term, right, Like we start with why, but really I think that you need to be able to have a deep purpose and meaning behind a podcast.

Alex:

The people that I meet that, oh, I started a podcast just to start one. They're typically gone pretty quick and it's not because they're quitters or anything like that. They just realize like, oh, I don't, like I don't, why am I doing this? This is painful, I'm out of here, Right. And I always, like I always thought why I use the word purpose. And if you go back to the original Greek, the word purpose actually means or sorry, the word passion, so that thing about passion. So purpose and passion, but passion actually means suffering and not that you're going to suffer. But I always like to tell people like, hey, listen, if you're passionate about this and you have a purpose behind it, you're going to be willing to say you know what. I might have a late night or two to keep this going, but I know why I'm doing it. So I always tell people again acknowledge the work, but then immediately go make a why for it, Like what is the real reason?

Alex:

And then the last thing I'll share in that point, Melissa, is to also create an avatar, which just means a fictitious, ideal listener. So in your mind, who is it that's going to be listening to this show and create a story for that person. It can be fictitious. For me, I have an avatar I've been using since the beginning and his name is Adam. I know how old Adam is, I know where he works, I know what he does because it ties directly back to my why.

Alex:

But it gives me like a person to think about, and so I asked myself is Adam going to miss my episode tomorrow if I can't finish it? Yeah, he is. He relies on this, I know that. And so those things, I think are the very first thing at the foundational level we need to do. And if someone who's hearing this says I don't know if I have all that, then maybe give yourself the freedom not to start a podcast. Maybe start as a guest if you just want to explore it a little bit. But I think we got to do this before we do anything else.

Melissa:

Yeah, that's great advice. I do think the podcast guesting is a good place to start because I think you can get a feel for what actually goes into it. Obviously, you're not going to see all the behind the scenes, but you're at least going to get an idea of how it feels to show up and talk and talk and talk every week or every other week or whatever you want to do. I think something, too, that was important for me that got me to actually start the podcast. I had a podcast with my first business. I was a dating and relationship coach. I had a podcast called love starts here and I did about 85 episodes of that one.

Melissa:

And when I was trying to decide if I wanted to have a podcast for this business, I wanted to do I was only doing interviews first of all, because that's what I like to do.

Melissa:

And then I hired a podcast coach and she was like okay, stop doing only interviews, you've got to do some solo episodes, like people want to hear you. And I was so caught up on this, like I don't have 20, 30 minutes worth of stuff to talk about every week, how am I going to come up with 30 minutes worth of stuff to talk about all by myself, and then, all of a sudden I was like who said it had to be 30 minutes? I don't know where I got this from. Like, sometimes I just show up and I talk for seven minutes. Sometimes I show up and I think I'm going to talk for seven minutes and I talk for 25 minutes. Like you really can make it what you want to make it and it doesn't have to be. I think sometimes, too, we think it has to be about something that is going to be of interest to a ton of people. Right, were you the one that told me the story about the woman with the birdwatching?

Alex:

Yes, yeah, yeah, share that, please. I don't.

Melissa:

I'll probably completely screw it up, cause I think I heard it like five years ago, but I remember you telling a story about a woman who wanted to start a podcast that was about like birdwatching in the Western hemisphere, birdwatching in the Midwest, or something there are not. People like that is so specific that there's not going to be enough people out there that want to listen to it. But what she actually discovered correct me if I'm telling this story somewhat wrong is that it was so specific that the people who did want to know about that stuff found her podcast and it was like exactly what they were looking for and it actually had the opposite effect. She created this very loyal following and this very intimate community of people who were all interested in this specific thing. So it doesn't have to be a topic that is like we're going to talk about skin because everyone has it right. It can be, and sometimes it's better if it's something very specific like that.

Alex:

I think it almost always is, and you shared that story exactly right. And I've got a new one that I just recently heard. I met a guy and he sells insurance for truckers and his podcast is an insurance for truckers podcast and I knew that it was doing well without even talking to him. I'm like, as soon as he said, I'm like I know this podcast is doing exceptionally well and people are like wait, does anyone even listen to that? He's like a few hundred people. I'm like you're making high six figures of a few hundred people are listening. He's like, yeah, I do. And guess why? Because everyone who's looking for insurance is a trucker. They're on the road and they're listening to his podcast. I'm like that's who I'm going to hire to get my next insurance.

Alex:

And people are like how are you making money doing? I'm of the niche right, like actually really standing for something. And I think again, when you go back to that, why in that avatar everyone is really specific. There's something that they're really struggling with that you know you can help them with. Here's the thing I actually like going to the gym and working out. But my podcast isn't about podcasting and working out because I know I can't really offer the best of me for you through that right. I know that podcasting is where I can really really help, so I just focus on that one thing and I think many of us are like well, I really like fitness podcasting, sports and this. So it's a fitness sports podcast about podcasting and getting fit right.

Alex:

Like we just go so broad that people can't even see themselves anymore, because that's not the pain point that they would look to you to be able to solve.

Melissa:

Yeah, absolutely, that's brilliant.

Alex:

So one of the things that I've heard you say too is that it's important if you have a podcast to. I think that too many of us we look for the silver bullet to downloads and people want that quick fix. Like how do I make the next viral post on on any of the social media platforms? Right, I know you and I both we both have a mutual love for for threads. Right now it seems to be like a really, like you said, a positive place and I like that and uh, so, on threads like how do I make that next big viral post, it gets seen by tens of thousands of people. So my podcast grows. And the real reality is that happens for some of us sometimes I should actually say for very few of us occasionally is what that will happen for, and so many people are holding on to that moment that they kind of do away with any sort of day-to-day rhythm to build their podcast. Instead, they just keep on saying what can I do? That's going to go viral. So my show grows and I'll share some stats here real quick. I'm actually going to pull these up on my screen. I'm not doing like a screen share or anything like that. So if you're hearing this, don't worry, you're not missing anything, but I does want to see what I'm sharing. Podmatchcom forward slash report is where we do a monthly industry report, and I'm pulling this up for a specific reason, and here's why. If you have 28 people listening to your podcast in the first seven days of a new episode so first week new episode comes out, 28 people listening you're in the top half of all podcasts. If you want to be in the top 25% of all podcasts, it's 111 people listening that first seven days, and so I'll just use that number as an example Top 25 percentile, 111 days.

Alex:

When I say do things that don't scale every day, a suggestion I make to podcasters is to find somebody who's searching for your podcast but doesn't know it exists yet. Go to a website like Threads and if someone's like hey, I'm really having trouble, go to a website like Threads and if someone's like, hey, I'm really having trouble, I'm having trouble losing my baby weight, I just had my third kid, right, join that conversation. Don't say episode alert, this is going to help you. Say hey, listen, I was there once. Or my guest was there once, like I talked to someone. I think this would be really valuable for you. Would you mind if I share something with you? That a conversation I had with somebody? Most people are going to say, yes, and here's the thing Now you've built a fan, that person's going to listen to your podcast. They're probably going to stay with it because they're going to be like you know what the host reached out to me directly about this episode. They're going to really be appreciative.

Alex:

If you do that for 111 days straight or take weekends off, whatever it is right Puts you in the top 25 percentile of all podcasts. Not many people are willing to that, though. They even hear they hear me say that and they're like oh, I'd rather just try for the viral posts, right, right, I don't know if those days ever come and that's one of the things that I believe in doing that it doesn't really scale right. You can't do more than that. But every day go out there looking for the person that you most serve. Two things happen. Your show does grow, but two you get better at understanding what the person you serve is actually looking for because you're putting yourself on the front lines of it, and that's how you actually make a better show over time as well.

Melissa:

That's brilliant and that's why another one of many reasons you and I are gonna be best friends because that's one of the things that I talk about a lot when it comes to networking too is, like it's not that sexy to sell, like networking is a long game. You're not gonna show up to the networking event and meet 10 people and get their business cards and now they're all your like best power partners and you're referring to each other and you're making all this money together and collaborate. Like it's not going to happen. And we love the online business coach. That's like for $5,000, I'll tell you how I made $9 million in 90 seconds. And like, of course, that's appealing. Like I've paid her $5,000.

Melissa:

I want to know how to make $9 million in 90 seconds and if I can make $9 million in 90 seconds versus this other lady, that's like I can teach you how to network and you can grow your business in one to five years. Like, okay, I'm going to go with the 90 second lady, but I love what you're saying because that really is the recipe for sustainable growth, right? It's like I know several people who have gone viral and then it's like and then what happened? Right, but if you're doing it. The way that you're talking about you are actually. You actually are networking right, because you're connecting with other humans. You're building those genuine relationships, you're providing value to people. That's what networking is and that's how it's going to become sustainable and continue to like multiply on itself, as opposed to like overnight you got a hundred thousand views and then nothing else happened after that.

Alex:

Yeah, I think that would. I've never had that happen and I think I'd actually find that pretty defeating if it couldn't be a repeatable process. Right, if it just was every day for the rest of my life, great. But repeating that process, I think I'd feel like I've hit my prime and now I'm past it, and I don't know.

Melissa:

It's all downhill from here.

Alex:

Yeah, it's all downhill. I don't know if I. I just don't know if I would like that personally. Yeah.

Melissa:

Yeah, that's great advice. So if somebody is working on their own and I've done it both ways I've had a podcast editor, I've been my own editor way more times than I've had a podcast editor. But what do you recommend for people who maybe are already in podcasting and it is feeling very overwhelming to keep up with coming up with episodes, editing their episodes, uploading their episodes, writing their show notes, doing all of the things without a team to help them?

Alex:

Yeah, if a team's not an option and you're like I've got to do this alone right now, I respect that. That was me for the first five years, or maybe four years, of my podcast, something like that, and it's a grind. But I'll tell you what I respect those individuals who do it because they're again. They're the ones showing that like, hey, yes, this is simple, but it's not easy, but I'm sticking with it, and they're typically the ones that have some big purpose or passion behind their podcast or a combination. So I liked it. We're talking about this and I think the first thing we have to look at is what. What I had to do, and it was this.

Alex:

I hit this point, melissa, where I felt like I was looking at some of the greats in podcasting, seeing everything they do with their podcast. Their production value was top tier, every social media post was top tier, beautiful transcript, all these different things right, like every element you could ever imagine, and I was comparing myself to that. And the problem with doing that is it's us comparing our day one to someone else's year 20. If you scroll back to when some of these individuals got started and look at what they're doing Amy Porterfield is a great example. I love Amy Porterfield. They do an incredible job. When I go back to how she started and look at it, it was just random posts with typos in it, right Like. But I don't look at that. I look at where that individual is now, and so for us, I think we first and foremost need to give ourselves permission to not be perfect, to just say this is the best I can do today at a high level, instead of spreading ourselves thin and just being okay at a bunch of different things. The fact about podcasting is the only thing that's required to be a podcaster is to consistently release value-adding episodes for your listeners to listen to.

Alex:

You don't have to do anything else. You don't have to have a website. You don't have to have social media. You don't have to have any of that. I'm not telling you not to. I'm just saying the best thing you might be able to do is these three things.

Alex:

This is like the core of what I decided Automate, delegate, eliminate, automate. Is there any way that I can put this on autopilot where I can let my hosting provider schedule it? I happen to use Buzzsprout and Buzzsprout allows me to schedule in advance. I don't have to go back and touch it once it's done. Right, I was able to automate that process. Delegate. Is there any way I can move this onto a team member? Can a spouse help me? Is there anything I can do? And if both these things are no and this is usually the right answer is to eliminate.

Alex:

The example I'll give is Instagram is where I was wasting wasting all of my time at that point. Instagram has never been my favorite platform, but I felt like I had to make these really high polished pictures of my guests with these like elaborate stories, and they were getting no traction at all. And I remember telling my wife I'm like what if we just stop? And she's like I don't know, will people still listen? I'm like I don't know. So we stopped and guess what More people were listening to the podcast after that, weirdly enough, because I was focused in places that actually were moving the needle and I freed up an hour of my time every week by doing that one thing. If you're podcasting by yourself, you have to make really hard decisions to do the things that move the needle most, not what you think you have to do because of everyone else that you've looked at.

Melissa:

Such good advice. Yeah, yeah, and I think we want to do all the things, especially when we see everyone else doing all of the things, and I like what you said, too, about like it really takes very little to get started, and I think that's true with so many things in entrepreneurship and we get so in our head for so many reasons. We find great reasons to stall, Like I can't do that because I don't have a website, and I can't do that because I don't have a call to action yet I don't have anything to sell them and I don't have this. And you, most of the time, don't need any of the things that you think that you need. You just need to get started.

Alex:

Yeah, yeah. The more human you are in that process, the more people want to connect. I mean, I mean, listen, the the powerful and rising community that you have is is beautifully done at this point. I'm sure it started with you and a couple of people just meeting and being like, wow, maybe we should open this up, right? It wasn't like hold on now, don't tell anyone. We got to build out all this stuff first, like and I don't know the full story, melissa, but I imagine at some point something organic happened that kind of sparked that.

Alex:

Instead of sitting back like so many of us saying, okay, these are the 35 things I have to have before I can press go, I think it's just better to be human, just go and say you know what? Do you want to do this more regularly? How about if I add an extra day to my podcast? Does everyone really like it? Let's try it and see what happens. I think being curious and just being willing to allow the journey to happen is where the real beauty and the real joy is actually found, and it's what resonates with other people.

Melissa:

Yeah, and that's really the only way that you make progress. I mean, I've told this story a couple of times on the podcast, I think but when I launched the Powerful Women Rising community, I did like a founding member launch. I had like 36 members, I think, and they all paid for six months in advance. And at the end of the six months, three of them signed on to continue and I was like something has happened. Why are three of 36 wanting to keep going?

Melissa:

And I really had to like I took a couple months off just to kind of like regroup. I went through all their feedback, I figured out what was working, what wasn't working. Why did these three decide to stay? Why did the other 33 decide not to stay? And I almost completely revamped what was involved in the Powerful Women Rising community, what was part of the offering, what wasn't part of the offering anymore and relaunched it in October, 10 months after I had done the founding member launch. And I like to share that story because I think, like you said, we look at people's, we compare our day one to other people's day 20. Like, I have a very successful membership community now and I get people all the time that are like teach me how do I have a membership community? I'm like you start one and it's terrible, and then you change some things, Like that's just how you do it, and I think that's part of entrepreneurship that we probably don't talk about enough.

Alex:

But I think it's important, I agree, and in podcasting it's the same thing. The show that I thought I was creating when I launched there was a show between my first one and the one I have now called Creating a Brand, and what I thought it was going to be was completely wrong. I mean, it was like it was in entrepreneurship, so it wasn't completely wrong. But like I was way off and, uh, I didn't know until I started it, and I think a lot of people want to say, oh, that was all a waste of time. No, I would have never been able to hit the right target if I didn't know where it was. I discovered it by getting started and trying something. The key, though, most of what you just said, it's the same thing with our, with with podcasting. Talk to the people that you're serving.

Alex:

Find out why I think a lot of people in that scenario we're only three converted. They'd be like, okay, well then, I need 3000 people in the next round, so they all convert more, and that's conventional wisdom. It's like, oh, you just need more then. But the better way to do that is to get on a call and say, why Not, because I want you to be there, but what could we do? What needs to change? And now, like you said, you have a very like. It is thriving. The community that you built, the entire brand that you've built, is incredible, but it's because you've talked to the people, that it's for Right and you've learned what they actually want, instead of just continuously guessing and trying to build more and more and more.

Melissa:

Yeah, yeah, absolutely Okay, I'm going to do a little rapid fire with you. I never do this with anyone, but I just decided that I'm going to do it and I don't even really know what I'm going to ask you. Okay, finish the sentence. The best thing about podcasting is connection with listeners. If there was one thing I could get podcast hosts to stop doing, it would be long-winded intros.

Alex:

one thing I could get podcast hosts to stop doing. It would be Long-winded intros.

Melissa:

That is hilarious, because you and I both know Emily Aborn and she recorded my intro. She's like the voice and everything and she kept doing it and I kept being like it's too long, dude, it's too long. We got it to 30 seconds exactly, so that if anyone wants to push that 30 second button and just skip over it, they can do that, okay. One thing that I wish more podcast hosts would do Focus on adding value instead of trying to sell.

Melissa:

Okay, last one. If you are a guest on a podcast, please do not ever leave some leave something in the hidden, in the background.

Alex:

Like don't leave something and say, well, if you have to buy my book, if you want to know about that. Like don't do that. Lay it all on the table is what you should do. What you shouldn't do is try to hide something and tell people they need to follow you to learn more.

Melissa:

Yes, okay, that was good. I'm glad I did that.

Alex:

That was fun, thank you. I've never done that before.

Melissa:

Yeah, you're welcome. It was tricky. And now, when you're laying in bed at three o'clock this morning, tomorrow morning, you're going to be like you know what I should have said.

Alex:

It's already going to happen. As soon as I this isn, it's going to be in like 15 minutes from now and be like you know what.

Melissa:

No, your answers were great. So, okay, before we wrap up, I want to make sure that people know the best ways to connect with you, the best ways to learn more about what you do. Obviously, if they are a podcast guest, they're a podcast host. They want to be a guest or a host. Podmatchcom is the best place to go. You have a resource there. That is, I think, it's like five ideas to help you grow and improve your podcast, or something like that, right?

Alex:

Yeah, it's actually podmatchcom forward slash free, and whether you're a guest host, aspiring guest or host, it'll give you some ideas very quickly. It doesn't want your email address or anything like that. That will help you know kind of your next right steps. And again, whether you're a podcaster now or want to be on either side of the mic, there'll be a different link for you to click. But it's podmatchcom slash free has all that information.

Melissa:

I will put that link in the show notes. I will link to your podcast in the show notes because it's great and I would love everyone to listen to that. Definitely go to podmatchcom if you're interested in learning more about being a guest or being a host, or being a better guest or host. If they want to connect with you personally, should they find you on threads. Is that what we're doing? These?

Alex:

days. Hey, listen, you can that slash podmatchcom. Slash free link has a way to connect with me as well, though, so, really, any way you reach out, you're going to get me. I don't have any virtual assistants or anybody checking any of the frontline communication. I love to talk to people, so it's me. If you reach out on threads or wherever you reach out, you're going to get me, and that's one of the things I really like to do.

Melissa:

Awesome. Thank you again so much for coming on the podcast. This was really really good information and I always love talking to you because you're my new bestie now.

Alex:

Same Well, I really appreciate it. Thank you again for having me Truly an honor to be on this podcast You've created.

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Melissa Snow

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