Is starting a podcast a marketing strategy worth considering? Have you thought about podcasting before, but didn’t know a great place to start? Our guest today, Jeremy Slate, shares with us why podcasting should be part of your marketing strategy.
Jeremy Slate is the founder of the Create Your Own Life Podcast, which studies the highest performers in the world. Some of his past guests include: Seth Godin, Grant Cardone, Danica Patrick, and General David Petraeus. He recently released his new book called, “Unremarkable to Extraordinary” and he co-founded Command Your Brand which is a podcasting company to help people start a podcast and be guests on podcasts. He has also been a #1 ranked podcast in iTunes New and has been a top100 podcast on iTunes.
LINKS FROM THE EPISODE:
- https://www.jeremyryanslate.com/
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- https://www.instagram.com/jeremyryanslate/
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-ryan-slate-bb7b284a/
- https://www.youtube.com/c/Jeremyryanslatebiz
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ABOUT OUR GUEST:
Jeremy Slate is the founder of the Create Your Own Life Podcast, which studies the highest performers in the world. He studied literature at Oxford University, Specializes in using podcasting and new media to create celebrity, and was ranked #1 in iTunes New and #78 in the iTunes top 100. He was named the #1 Podcast to Listen to by INC Magazine in 2019, as well as being named a Top Influencer by Forbes. After his success in podcasting, Jeremy Slate and his wife, Brielle Slate, founded Command Your Brand to help entrepreneurs get their message out by appearing as guests on podcasts.
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TRANSCRIPTION:
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (00:00):
Welcome to the Multiply Your Success Podcast, where each week we help growth minded entrepreneurs and franchise leaders take the next step in their expansion journey. I’m your host, Tom DuFore, CEO of Big Sky Franchise Team. And is starting a podcast a marketing strategy worth considering? Have you thought about podcasting before and maybe didn’t know a great place to start? Well, our guest today is Jeremy Slate and he shares with us why podcasting should be part of your marketing strategy.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (00:34):
Now, Jeremy is the founder of the Create Your Own Life Podcast, which studies the high performers in the world. And some of his past guests include Seth Godin, Grant Cardone, Danica Patrick, and General David Petraeus. And he recently released his new book called Unremarkable to Extraordinary, and he and his wife co-founded Command Your Brand, which is a podcasting company to help people start a podcast and be guests on podcasts as well. By the way, in terms of just podcasting, his own podcast has been ranked number one in podcasts in iTunes New and has been a top 100 podcast in iTunes as well. So he’s not only just teaching and coaching and training, but he’s also done it. So let’s go ahead and jump into my interview with Jeremy.
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (01:19):
Yeah, so I’m Jeremy Slate. I run a company called Command Your Brand. We help founders and CEOs to tell their story directly to their perfect audience using the power of podcasting. I’ve also had a podcast since 2015, wee just hit 1000 episodes of, called the Create Your Own Life show. And, yeah, I’m a former professional power lifter and stuff like that and I just have a lot of fun in my life, man.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (01:43):
That’s so great. That’s so great. Yeah, you have a very interesting background. You’ve done a lot.
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (01:48):
It’s a lot of things that don’t fit, right?
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (01:52):
But certainly gaining perspective, I’m sure, along the way.
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (01:55):
No, absolutely.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (01:57):
Great. Well, one of the things that I wanted to just jump into quickly, and I know you have a new book out, so we’ll make sure we talk about that here. One of the things that comes up often, but with clients we work with or successful entrepreneurs is they think about should I start my own podcast? How can I use podcasting to grow my brand, my company? And you have the Brand Growth Podcast Blueprint. You’ve got lots of different things that you do. This is your specialty. So just curious, your point of view and vantage point for maybe a business leader, that’s thinking of getting involved, what that might look like?
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (02:33):
So I know you’ll appreciate that being somebody that’s that has a show and has had one for a bit. I think a lot of people have this false idea around podcasts around they start this thing, all of a sudden they get famous, and they can’t even go to the bathroom without people recognizing them and they’re making hundreds of thousands of dollars a week in advertising. And I don’t want to blow up their spot, but that’s not going to happen at all. I’ve been recognized once in my life. And I’ve been doing this a long time, not say I’m famous or anything, but the point is the reason you do this is to promote something else you’re already doing. You have a podcast as kind of this vehicle to communicate to the people that need to hear you so you can become the problem solving for them, and enhance that, that factor that people know you, like you, and trust you so it makes them want to take the next step with you.
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (03:21):
But another really big thing, you talked about the Brand Growth Blueprint. I see podcasts as being something that can really grow your brand through creating that trust factor but also there’s this thing in the branding world and the marketing world called positioning. When you’re seen against something or in favor of something people already recognize, you grab that position in their brain. There’s a book called Positioning The Battle For Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout, it was written in the 70s. So the one I hate the most, but people use all the time so they’re going to get this is they say, “Well, our company is the Uber of blank.” Terrible, because everybody says it, but they’re taking something people are familiar with. “Oh, okay. I know what Uber does. So I kind of get what you guys do.”
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (04:01):
So you’re using something people are familiar with. Now you’re using positioning as a podcast host or a guest is you’re being seen with people continually again and again and again that people are already familiar with and already have influence. So that allows you to grow your brand and grow your impact to people that others already recognize.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (04:19):
Hmm. I see. I see. And so would you suggest someone maybe starting their own show? Would they be just maybe going on as a guest? I’ve seen people do both very successfully. Do you have an opinion on that one way or another?
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (04:36):
So here’s the thing I would say. And once again, I think you’ll appreciate this since you have your own show, but if you’re not doing something different, then you probably shouldn’t start a podcast. A lot of people start the exact same show where they ask every guest the exact same 10 questions and it feels a little bit rote. People are coming to podcast because they want to get a very unique perspective, they want to learn something very particular and you’re the person to be able to give that to them. So if you can differentiate from those in your field, great. If you can’t, you’re only going to promote other people that do what you do. So you need to be very different from others in doing that.
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (05:12):
Now I really think everybody should be going on shows, but I think if you’re going to have your own show going on them and having one is a two-pronged approach. Because the best way for people to find out about your podcast is by checking out other podcasts. Other than taking somebody that doesn’t know what a podcast is and then trying to explain them what it is, how do they find it, how do they subscribe to it, how do they listen to it. We’ve all been there. It can be kind of hard, like, “So there’s this thing called the podcast.” “Wait, I need an iPod??” “No, no. You get it on your phone.” So there’s this whole kind of long way of explaining, so you’re already going to people that have a podcast. That makes a ton of sense. But I think if you don’t want to run a show, at the same time, you can create some great exposure by having experiences in other shows as a guest where you really show up and offer value as well.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (05:57):
Yeah. Well, and just by way of this shameless plug, this is a perfect way to showcase this. You’re on my podcast. So what’s your podcast for someone who wants to connect with you in that way?
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (06:07):
So it’s called the Create Your Own Life Show. And we interview world class performers. We’ve had the former CIA director, we’ve had four time Indy 500 champion, bestselling authors. We’ve got a chance to talk to a lot of cool people. So if you’re looking to find out how to be the best at what you do, that’s the Create Your Own Life Show.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (06:24):
Yeah. Well, and as I understand, we had a chance to chat briefly before.
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (06:28):
Yeah.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (06:28):
We hit record here. Because of that show and all of the different guests you’ve had, you’ve gathered and learned a lot of information. And now you’re sharing this in a book. Let’s talk about your new book that you have coming out here. Or that recently came out, I should say.
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (06:43):
Yeah, it came out on June 21st. It’s called Unremarkable To Extraordinary because, honestly, Tom, I think we’re all born unremarkable, but it’s the things we do and what we achieve that makes us extraordinary. And I think so many times, I’m going to use a football analogy here so I hope you’re a football fan at least slightly. But you look at somebody who’s a first round draft pick, a first overall draft pick. And so many of them just bomb. They’re just terrible players. And because their whole life people have told them, they’re great and they’ve been the best at what they do, but when you get to the top level of a sport, everybody’s really good. So it’s what you have in your heart and in your head that make you the best.
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (07:23):
So when you’re looking at what makes someone extraordinary, it’s how they carry themselves, how they work, how they show up every day. And I’ve went through a lot of this stuff from people that have created tremendous success and they realized they started life unremarkable, but they’re willing to do what it takes to be extraordinary. And we put that together because I want to show people from the life experience of those I’ve had a chance to speak to how they can achieve that as well.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (07:50):
Great. Well, would you mind sharing an example or a story or two that you talk about in the book as just a little highlight here?
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (07:57):
I’m sorry. Can you repeat the question? I didn’t hear it for some reason.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (08:00):
Yeah, sure. No problem. Just from the book itself, would you mind sharing maybe an example.
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (08:07):
Yeah.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (08:07):
Of people you talk about who shares that or maybe a story that you talk about just as a highlight from the book?
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (08:13):
Absolutely. So one that really comes to mind, and it’s sadly the only story in the book of somebody I haven’t interviewed but it’s when I’ve read a lot of books about, and that’s Tom Brady, who I really admire. And you look at Tom Brady, barely started in high school, barely started in college, gets drafted in the sixth round of the NFL draft, so barely gets drafted, because there’s seven rounds so he barely made that. Only starts because Drew Bledsoe literally almost dies on the field after Mo Lewis, Jet’s linebacker, hits him. Tom Brady gets on the field and he is the Patriots starter and later the Tampa Bay Buccaneer starter for the rest of his career because he was somebody that, hey, doesn’t have the biggest arm. Yeah, he’s six foot four. I’m not six foot four. So that’s a big deal. But didn’t have the biggest arm, slow as anything. Everybody shows those draft images of him with a little beer belly on him. So he wasn’t in shape.
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (09:01):
But he was somebody that he watched more film than anybody else had seen. He’d thrown thousands of passes practicing. And he showed up and watched film every day, did extra practice, did everything he had to do to be the best. And that’s actually how you get there. I think a lot of times people look at adversity and they either shy away from it or they kind of look at it as something they don’t want to deal with, where people like Tom Brady, they look at it as, “This is something I can grow from. So, I had to play really hard to start there. Okay, cool. What can I get out of this? I had to work really hard to be the best here. What can I get out of this?” I think when you can take adversity and channel it like that and learn how to use it to transform, that’s a big deal. So adversity’s a really big one.
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (09:41):
Another really big one as well is the idea of learning how to lead people on an individual basis. I had a chance to speak with Four Star General and former CIA Director David Petraeus about this idea. And because he said when you talk to people in the military, number one, he doesn’t know how they fit all the medals they have on their chest, on their chest. They should almost have like two chests there to fit them for some of the guys. And he says so you deal with a lot of egos. You deal with a lot of people that are how important am I and blah, blah, blah so they have trouble leading other people because they come at them with, “Because I said so, that’s why.” It’s like a bad parent. Because I’m dad, you know what I mean?
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (10:19):
So he realized that there’s different ways to speak to different people and people need to be led in different ways and their rewards and penalties need to be different too. So when he learned how to lead people on an individual level, that’s when he really became successful. Leadership can’t just be this blanket thing of because I said so. So when you can learn to do things like that, man, you can really become extraordinary.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (10:41):
Those are great examples. And certainly as I’m thinking about this and just kind of circling back your message to our audience, often are they’re thinking about maybe franchising their business, or they are franchising. They’re a successful entrepreneur. They’re a successful leader doing this. And now they’re taking this concept of, I like that, how you describe that, leading individuals. That’s what they’re doing in this franchise space. They’re leading these individual owners on their own quest, their own journey.
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (11:10):
Yeah.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (11:10):
To discovery.
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (11:12):
Yeah. It’s kind of interesting, man, because I think, especially the franchise spaces when you look at it, you’re looking at how can I make other people successful, rather than how can I compete with them? And I think when you can do that and you can really empower other people, that’s a beautiful thing, man.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (11:28):
Yeah. Yeah. It’s one of my favorite things about the franchise models, helping these, maybe would be entrepreneurs, but they’re not quite ready to take the step on their own, but they’re willing to give it a go in a franchise model.
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (11:42):
Well, you know what’s interesting about that too is when I’m talking about building a business, I think so many people have the burn the boats mentality, which I’m actually not a big fan of. My current business, I started seven years ago, I started right alongside having a full-time job. And that’s why I like franchising, because you have to basically have income to be able to buy into a franchise, which means you should be working because you need a good credit score and stuff like that to keep this thing going. And I think the great thing about it is when you’re trying to build a business where you’re going to live or die right now, because it’s the only thing paying your bills, you make some really bad decisions. When you have your bills paid so you can build something solid, like you can with a franchise, you’re going to make some much better decisions about the future of what you’re trying to create.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (12:26):
Yeah. That’s a great point. And if you have some kind of an income stream to cover some of those monthly living expenses, you’re definitely avoid that back against wall, this has to work, otherwise I’m in dire straits here.
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (12:44):
Yeah, absolutely.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (12:46):
Well, Jeremy, this is a great time just to make a transition. We like to ask every guest, we are going to do a quasi formula here that we like to ask every guest four questions before they go, but we get such a great variety of responses here. And the first question is, have you had a miss or two in your career, in your journey, and something you’ve learned from it?
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (13:10):
It’s interesting because I think when I look at my journey, every single thing I’ve been through, I’ve learned something from, and I think a lot of times people would look at the things that I failed at because I failed at a lot of different businesses, man, and been like, “Oh, he’s a failure.” But each one of those things that didn’t go right for me taught me something. So I think that’s kind of a huge business lesson for me.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (13:27):
Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And how about on the other side, a make or two that kind of stands out as a highlight for you?
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (13:38):
I think when I made the decision to change companies. The first version of the company that I have now was called Get Featured Media. We had another co-founder and we really just wanted different things out of the business. And at that point in time, that was one of the single hardest decisions I ever had to make, because I basically had to decide to cut off my income without a plan. And if I didn’t do that, I would never have the company I have today, which is way different than that other company in terms of like the size of it and what we were producing and how we were producing it. The concepts are the same, the core concepts stayed the same, but I would never have what I do today had I not made a very difficult decision to basically cut off my income.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (14:14):
Yeah. Well, and certainly I’m sure very, in the moment, very concerning, right?
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (14:21):
That’s one of the single hardest decisions you can make, man, because it’s like, “All right, so I’m deciding to not eat. Good. Okay. Let’s go.”
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (14:29):
Yeah. I can relate. I had a similar situation at a point in my career where I had to make a similar choice.
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (14:36):
Yeah.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (14:36):
So I understand. Well, what about a multiplier? The show is Multiply Your Success. What kind of a multiplier have you used in growing the business, growing yourself?
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (14:48):
Frankly for me, it’s how we hire and train. Because if you’re looking to grow a company, it’s the people with you. You can only do so much by yourself. And that was a really big roadblock for me for a long time, because I thought nobody could do it as well as I can. Like, “Hey, I don’t know how to hire.” And here’s the thing. Nobody really knows how to hire when they start hiring. So you read a few books, you talk to a few people that kind of know what they’re doing, you get better as you do it. And you start to develop a sense of what you’re looking for in a person and you kind of develop that over time.
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (15:16):
But the other thing is once you hire somebody, I think one of the difficult things people have is they say, “Okay, you’re the salesperson. Go sell stuff now.” They’re like, “Wait, what am I selling? And how do I sell it?” Because one of the biggest things people walk into, and this kind of comes back to franchising again, because franchises are actually good at this, because this is exactly how you do it. But a lot of businesses should be setting themselves up internally like a franchise. Okay, this is exactly what this position does. This is exactly what this position produces. Because here’s the thing. If somebody doesn’t know all the things they do, they come back to you to answer all their questions. So I think when you can get good at that, man, it’s a game changer.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (15:50):
Yeah. Yeah. Great advice and I wholeheartedly agree being an advocate for franchising. Whether they franchise or not having those systems, processes, in place, certainly. Well, Jeremy, the final question we like to ask every guest is what does success mean to you?
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (16:08):
It means to me being able to share the time I want to share with who I want to share it and when I want to share it, if that makes sense. I think so many times people tie it to money and all those other things, but those things are good and they’re important. You need them to be successful. But if you have the freedom to be able to do what you want to do with who you want to do it and when you want to do it, I think to me, that’s what success looks like.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (16:27):
Yeah. Yeah, totally. I like that. And well, Jeremy, as we bring this to a conclusion here, is there anything you were maybe hoping to share or get across or that you’d like to say before we end?
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (16:42):
I would say, hard work to me is your greatest teacher. And I think if you can learn to be patient and you can learn to work hard and you can learn to keep your head down and keep going, that’s where you’re really going to find success. I think internet marketing has kind of ruined our viewpoint on what success looks like, because they think they see one webinar or they try one thing or they do this one thing different, they’re going to make all this money. But like, man, it’s ugly. It’s hard. It takes a lot of work, sweat, and blood and you’ll get there one day if you keep doing it, man.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (17:11):
Yeah. Yeah. Great advice. And as a final plug here, what’s the best place for someone to go to get your book, to get connected with you? How can they do that?
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (17:21):
Yeah. So if they want to, if they want to grab the book that’s over at getextraordinarybook.com or if they want to check out our company, which is Command Your Brand, they can head over to commandyourbrand.com.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (17:34):
Great. And you’ll be able to help them through, maybe they’re interested in getting started on podcasting or connecting with you to support them with that, those are the services you’d be able to help them with?
Jeremy Slate, Command Your Brand (17:44):
Yeah. If they’re looking to get on podcast, our agency will actually help them do directly. If they’re looking to start their own show, we’re very happy to help with that as well. So we have a series of some really great training courses that will help them to basically take everything that’s in my brain and put it into their brain, hopefully.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (17:59):
Jeremy, thank you so much for a fantastic interview. And let’s go ahead and jump into today’s three key takeaways.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (18:06):
So takeaway number one is when Jeremy talked about how a podcast is used to help promote something else that you do so that you can begin to develop a relationship maybe with current or prospective customers to help them get to know you, to like you, to trust you. And that was a key piece of what he talked about.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (18:26):
Take away number two, if you’re not doing something different on your podcast, well, you need to differentiate, do something different. And if you’re talking as from our first takeaway, by the way, when he mentioned doing something to promote your business by promoting maybe a service or an expertise or a knowledge that you have, well, that’s differentiating, that’s doing something unique and different there.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (18:53):
Takeaway number three is when Jeremy shared in his closing remarks and his closing thoughts that he thinks hard work is the greatest teacher. I tend to agree with that. I think that’s a great comment.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (19:06):
And now it’s time for today’s win-win.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (19:12):
Today’s win-win is focused on podcasting, and that when you create a podcast and by either being a guest as on a podcast, starting your own podcast, that you’re positioning yourself. It’s called positioning in marketing. And people are going to see you with your guests or as a guest, with others that have recognition, credibility, expertise, and you are now associated with that. So you’re growing your network of associations.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (19:45):
And so that’s the episode today, folks. Please make sure you subscribe to the podcast and give us a review. And remember if you or anyone you know might be ready to franchise their business or take their franchise company to the next level, please connect with us at bigskyfranchiseteam.com. Thanks for tuning in and we look forward to having you back next week.