✊ Watch me roast (& rebuild) my co-host’s new show concept

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Hi Friends,

Last week my co-host, Justin, and I were about to wrap up our weekly call when he (a little nervously) asked me a favour.

“Could give me some feedback on a new show concept I’m working on?”

Now, as you might know, one of the shows Justin and I co-host, Roast My Podcast consists of us dissecting other podcasts to help them improve their packaging and concepts.

What’s more, Justin’s been involved in the podcast world for over a decade—as the host of multiple shows and the founder of hosting platform Transistor.fm—and is a super smart marketer who’s had a lot of success with his own channels and Transistor’s.

In short, when it comes to podcasting, he knows his stuff.

And yet, the show description he shared with me was… well, boring.

Bland.

Dull.

Not going cut it, in other words.

Especially given Justin and his co-host, Brian’s goal of creating a must-listen show for the bootstrapper/software developer/founder community.

Clearly, there was work to do.

Over the next 30 minutes, Justin and I worked through several iterations of the show concept, slowly circling in on the most interesting part of the initial idea and bringing it further to the fore.

By the end of the call, the show idea had morphed from a generic tech show that (in my opinion) didn't have a hope of standing out and building an audience to one that has a legitimate shot at becoming the must-listen Justin and Brian intend it to be.

As luck would have it, we captured the entire process on video.

And today, I wanted to share that video because it so clearly demonstrates:

1. The messy iterative process of taking a promising idea and developing it into an interesting show (and how those two things are not the same).
2. How even smart, experienced creators and marketers often struggle to identify, develop, and articulate the most interesting kernels hidden in their ideas.
3. How valuable it is to pressure test your ideas with friends and peers before launching (and even recording).

Whether you’re thinking of launching a new show or have a struggling show with a concept that could likely be refined (or overhauled), I hope this video gives you some inspiration on how to approach the process of developing the most attractive, most marketable show possible.

​Watch on YouTube.

Oh, and one more thing.

The day after we recorded this, Justin came back at me with an additional draft.

To which I responded with an additional revision of my own.

There are likely a few more revisions to the concept and corresponding description that could be done to get this to a really succinct, punchy place.

Those will likely come as Justin and Brian go through the Episode Engineering process and develop and define the unique blueprint that every episode of their show will adhere to.

That said—at least in my opinion—where they’ve ended up so far, is vastly more promising than where they started.

Not bad for a 30-min brainstorming session.

If you want my help creating a show concept with the potential to become one of the must-listen shows in your niche, hit reply with “Must listen” and I’ll send over all the info on how we can work together to make it a reality.

Stay Scrappy, 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 6 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 all of 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, reply with the words "Growth Engine" and I'll send over all the info on how the process works. Thanks for being a PMA Member! Jump into the community and let us know what you need help with... or if this issue sparked a question you'd love to discuss further! ​Visit the forum ↗​ ​Join an upcoming live event ↗​ ​Update your billing info ↗​ Reply anytime, I love hearing from you!

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