✊ The odds are stacked against you... (but there's a way to change that)
Published 4 months ago • 3 min read
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Hi friends,
The odds are stacked against you.
You don’t have to look far to find stats to prove it.
Here are a few when it comes to podcasting:
75% of podcasts don’t make it to episode 10… and half of the ones that do don’t make it to episode 20
The median podcast gets 30 dl/ep… and even a top 1% show only gets ~2,000 dl/ep
Rough estimates suggest that perhaps just 1–3% of indie shows even break even on their production costs, let alone make significant income
The stats in other creative fields aren’t much better:
85–90% of YouTube channels stop publishing within a year
Most blogs only publish 1–5 posts before becoming inactive
One in ten label-released albums makes its money back… with the same being true for movies and venture-backed startups.
And then there’s the world of business, where:
20% of businesses fail in the first year
50% fail by year 5
And 65% fail within 10 years
Hmm...
No doubt about it, making a living from creative work is a daunting task.
But here’s the thing.
The stats are lying.
Or at least, they’re not telling the whole story.
Because while it’s clear that the shows that break through are the exceptions to the rule…
And that they are often made by creators who are exceptional themselves in several distinct and important ways…
Many of those exceptional qualities—of both the shows and the people—can be learned, adopted, and refined by anyone.
Which is when the odds of success begin to tip from one-in-a-million… almost to the point of inevitability.
In this season-finale episode of Podcast Marketing Trends Explained, we break down and explore the traits of the truly exceptional shows—and more importantly—the creators behind them that we can all apply to stack the decks in our favour.
To all you exceptional readers and listeners, thanks for following along this season.
It's been an enlightening one for me personally, and I hope it has been for you as well.
If you're feeling generous, hit reply and let me know something this season of the show has got you thinking about.
Stay Scrappy,
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If you're a founder that feels like you've got all the pieces in place (offer, podcast, email marketing)... but they aren't working together in a cohesive system, I've got 5 slots left for 2025 in my 1:1 Podcast Growth Engine Program.
In the program, we'll do a full assessment of your show, marketing, sales system, and offer, and then design a strategy and system to bring them into alignment, to help you sell more and grow faster with less effort.
It's not an overnight process, but if you've already got the pieces in place, it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect to add $100k in revenue over the next year.
Here's who nails the bull's eye:
You're a coach, consultant, service provider, or online educator with a high-ticket offer ($5k+) that already sells consistently.
You have a stable business that pays you a solid, predictable salary (ie. you're not in "need cash now mode") and are in mid-to-long-term planning mode, looking to build out the systems and strategy to take your business to the next level over the next 2-5 years.
You've got your core business assets already established—offer, sales process, email marketing, podcast, operations—but while all of them are performing OK, none of them are really optimized... and you know you're leaving money on the table and working harder than you need to to generate revenue.
You can see all the pieces and know you've built something of real value... but don't know how to connect them all in a cohesive way.
You understand business and marketing, but could really use some outside perspective from someone who deeply understands their work (creatively, strategically, and tactically) and what they're trying to do to bounce ideas off of, challenge their assumptions, and guide them.
If that's you (or close enough), reply with the words "Growth Engine" and I'll send over all the info on how the process works.
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