0092: Profiting from Guest Podcasting with Author, Speaker, & CEO of Interview Valet Tom Schwab

Intro [0:00]

EA Interviews Episode 93. Inspiration, transformation, success stories, and the Imperfect Action Round seven days a week. Join Mario Fachini for today’s Expert Authority Effect Interview. 

Mario Fachini [0:13]

Have you ever wanted to profit from podcasting? Have you wanted to start your own show and get your message out there? Inspire millions of people. Make the world a better place. I know I have. And that’s why I started the Expert Authority Effect Interviews. And at the time, it was just I knew I had so much to give. And I wanted to make a bigger dent in the world. And my mission for the show is to exponentially elevate the identity of humanity. I had no idea where to start. I had no idea where I was going to get guests. I had no idea what I was going to do. And this is a very exciting episode for me because I have Tom Schwab here, CEO of Interview Valet. And I remember knowing about his company and hearing about it and all good things. And now I can personally attest that I have had his guest on the show. And now I have him on the show and he’s going to be going over and in detail how to profit from podcasting and why. If you don’t have your own show you should be interviewed on shows. And if you have your own show, we both know that there’s some booking involved in a few – maybe just a few – behind the scenes things. I’m beyond excited to have him up right after we thank our sponsor. 

SPONSOR Business Book Checklist [1:34]

Why every business needs a book including yours? Would you like to save five plus hours with every prospect, generate more leads, and profit in your business now? Visit BusinessBookChecklist.com and learn how you can implement this in your business today. 

Mario Fachini [1:49]

Ladies and gentlemen, here he is, Mr. Tom Schwab. Tom, how are you doing today? 

Tom Schwab [1:54]

Mario, I am thrilled to be here talking from one side of Michigan to the other and seen by the entire world. 

Mario Fachini [2:01]

Isn’t it amazing what we can do with our own shows now and getting our message out there? Yeah, we’re both in Michigan. I’m on the east side, you’re on the west side. But we both have clients globally. What is your take on that? Why? Why do you think we have this opportunity now? And it wasn’t available years ago? 

Tom Schwab [2:18]

Oh, I mean, the world has changed. You know, there’s a lot of problems in the world today. But there is no better time to be alive. If you think about the technology that we have, the President United States didn’t have two decades ago. And now any entrepreneur can do that. And I think it’s really changed. We live in a world of abundance, abundant choices, abundant calories, and abundant customers. It used to be that if you didn’t live within ten miles of someone, they weren’t your customers. And now it’s opened up to the entire world. And it’s an amazing time for both the consumer and the provider. And I’m excited to talk about how you can use podcasting and, specifically, podcast interviews to really leverage that. 

Mario Fachini [3:07]

One of the things I heard about was a guest podcasting. And like I said in the intro, if you don’t have a show – I personally think you should create one. It’s one of the coolest things I’ve done -but you can still be on shows. How did how did you first start getting on shows? 

Tom Schwab [3:25]

Well, really my background is inbound marketing. Using content to attract, engage, and delight customers. And one of the hacks we used over a dozen years ago was guest blogging. So instead of me writing a blog, putting it on my website, and having it seen by three people. One of them probably being my mother. You take that blog and you put it on an established site, Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, something like that to get in front of the audience. And then to get them to move back that know, like and trust. And I hypothesized back in 2014, that you could use podcast interviews, just like we used to use guest blogs. So I started to test it. I tested on myself and a few other people. And were just amazed by it. At first I thought, “Oh, it’s a niche. It’s a personality”. But the more we tested it, the more we realized that it is a provable system. And I always say that it’s the same system my grandfather used before the internet. How did he meet customers? Well, he’d go and was introduced by a respected authority. It could have been at the country club. And he would get in on the conversation they were have being introduced and tapping into the audience that way. And that’s what we’re doing today. While he might not have understood the technology we’re using, he’d be like, “Oh, yeah. That’s the strategy we’ve always used. 

Mario Fachini [4:53]

How many people would you say are doing interview style shows now? Where they need guests versus topic based or they already have a cohost, and it’s just them talking like a Variety Hour. 

Tom Schwab [5:05]

Yeah, great question. Now, the studies say there’s about 700,000 podcasts. Of those, about 250 have been live within the last 30 days. So with that, of that, you’re talking about a third of them are interview based. So if you look at that, and say, 250,000, there’s probably 80,000 that are interview based. And people look at that, and say, “Well, how many do you actually need?” If you know what your audiences and who you need to talk to, it’s more of a targeted game than a shotgun. But there’s all kinds of opportunity out there. And people are looking for content. They’re looking for experts. They’re looking for authorities. So a it’s an easy way to do it. It’s a fun way to do it. We’ve had clients before, I would tell them, “Would you drive across town to talk to ten ideal customers? And they’re like, “Yeah.” Like, “Would you drive across state to talk to 100? Would you get in an airplane to talk to 1,000?” And you can see the introverts just start their face goes funny. And it’s like, “No. I don’t want to get up on stage.” And I’m like, “Don’t worry about it. You don’t have to. You can sit in your office or your home and talk to these people, just like we’re doing now.” 

Mario Fachini [6:21]

What are the biggest benefits you’ve seen from being on other shows? 

Tom Schwab [6:27]

To me, I think its exposure brings opportunity. Our biggest problem we have today is obscurity. There’s thousands of people, millions of people, you could help with your current product or service. There’s only one problem, they don’t know you exist. So the question is like, how do you break into that? And so to me, exposure brings opportunity. And we’ve seen people use podcast interviews to fill their funnel, to get the traffic, to get the leads, to get the customers. We’ve seen people use it as a virtual book tour. Instead of going to Barnes and Noble to Barnes and Noble, just get on a podcast and talk about your book. Other ones are using it to do a product launch, where they’ll just record all the interviews and have them all launch right around the time of the of the product launch. We’ve got some clients that are just doing it for the SEO value. Think about it, when you’re in a podcast, they’re sending a backlink to your website. That is a clean signal from their website to your website that this is a good site, and please rank that higher. And you think about it, we’ve got some clients that are doing it just for the SEO value. And if you said, “Do you want to go on Tim Ferriss’s podcast? Or do you want to go on a undergraduate podcast from Harvard University?” Harvard University currently has 34 podcasts. They would look and say, “I’ll take the one from undergrad at Harvard.” Wouldn’t you like a backlink that says Harvard.edu? One of the easiest ways to do that is provide value to one of their podcasts by being a guest. 

Mario Fachini [8:11]

That is phenomenal. I love how you were inspired to start your company with what you were already doing with the blogging. So you transitioned that into Interview Valet. When abouts did you start this? 

Tom Schwab [8:26]

So, you know, I wish I could say it was this great plan that I had thought out the entire way. In 2014, I started to test it. I was in a Mastermind with a few friends and was helping them with their digital marketing models between companies on my sabbatical. And it was working really well. And somebody said, “Well, you should start an agency to do this.” And I’m like, I know what it takes to get into an agency. And I’m like, I’m going to write a book. Well, I wrote the book. It still sells really well. I give more way than I sell. And then I wrote a course. And you know, Mario, I never took the course on a beta. It sold really well. But people weren’t getting the results with it. And when I actually talked with them, they said, “You know, I want to be the guest. You take care of all the rest.” I just want to perform. I think one client said, “Sinatra only sang.” He said, “That’s what he did.” I want to be Sinatra, you take care of everything else. So based on that feedback, in the end of 2015, we started to beta test what became Interview Valet. We beta tested it for about two quarters. And when it was working so well, in the spring of 2016, we launched it. Now, it’s grown to a team of 16 ultra graphically diverse. Not everybody wants to live in Kalamazoo, Michigan. And we serve about 100 clients. 

Mario Fachini [9:56]

That is fantastic. And I remember when you were telling me about some of these. It’s just phenomenal to see. And we both know that podcasting is just getting started. I heard some recent stats recently that it’s still – I heard some stats recently that it’s still in its infancy. Where do you see it going over the next five to ten, 15 years? 

Tom Schwab [10:20]

Well, last year at Harvard, they did their first ever podcast conference, which is amazing. Because you think about it a few years ago, if you said podcast, most people wouldn’t know what you were talking about. And the thing that came to mind for most people was Wayne’s World, right? A podcast, there was a couple guys in their mom’s basement. And now it’s gone to Harvard University. And they did a keynote there that I thought was so telling. And they call this the Golden Age Of Podcasting. And they did corollaries to what the golden age of radio looked like, what the golden age of television looked like. So I think we are definitely still at its infancy. We’re still trying to figure out everything that goes with it. And the pace is going so much faster. The adoption is faster. I think what’s going to be funny in five years from now, when we look back on this is, is that will go, “Why were we calling it a podcast still?” Because we’ve got video on now. Is this a podcast? Or is it a video? Well, if you’re watching it on video, it’s a vlog. It’s a it’s a show. It’s TV. If you’re listening to it on your radio, is it radio? If you’re listening to it on your smartphone, is it a podcast? My two youngest daughters about a year ago, I asked them, What does pod stand for in podcast?” They looked at me and rolled her eyes and said, “I don’t know dad, what’s the pod stand for in podcast.” And the thing is, Mario, they’re 21 and 23. They don’t remember the iPod. They never grew up with that. So the idea of calling it a podcast, I don’t know, it’s on demand content. And what I love about it is that we can create in the way that’s easiest for us. And then repurpose in the way that’s easiest for our customer. So if you like audio, listen to us as just a pure podcast. If you like video, then watch the video. Somebody asked me one time, “When do you think podcasts will get to be 100%?” And like radio and television never got to be 100%. In the US, 10% of the population is hearing impaired. They will not listen to podcasts. But if you transcribe this, which Google is starting to transcribe all of the audio out there, well, they can still read that audio. So to me, the idea of podcast, I think, it’s going to morph. We’re going to, within five years, just call it content. 

Mario Fachini [12:53]

What’s the new name going to be? 

Tom Schwab [12:58]

If I knew what it was, I’d be buying that website and trademarking the name. 

Mario Fachini [13:03]

You brought up a good point because ever since I started I’ve always filmed every episode. And there was a few that when I was getting started due to technical issues weren’t able to be live. But now everything is live. So I loved it when you said it, is it a podcast? And I even put a post out one day, I was like, “I don’t know if you’re listening on audio or watching the video but just enjoy the show.” 

Tom Schwab [13:32]

If you think about – it’s one of the few mediums that jumps time too. Studies show that 70% of podcast listeners listen sped up. So with that, you know, I always joke that I listened at one-and-a-half times speed as I run it half X speed. What other medium – I mean video is starting to do that now where you can change the speed on it. But it’s a very rare medium that I can listen to it at the speed I want, when I want. I have to say, I listened to the podcast. So when I talk to you live when we meet up at Podcast Movement or even now, it sounds so different. Because I’m used to listening to it like 2X speed. 

Mario Fachini [14:16]

Well, I’m not going to say who but there’s some people, I’ve done the same thing with listening at different speeds. And sometimes you want to go slower because they’re talking so fast. But some people, they should just record everything in one-and-a-half time speed because they could use a little energy boost. So we’re not going to say anything about that. But it’s so amazing what you’re saying. Because we really can consume the information. We can apply it to our businesses. And so many people, I think, don’t realize what’s really at our fingertips. So speaking to your ideal clients, who are you finding is being attracted to Interview Valet? And why do you think that is? 

Tom Schwab [15:04]

With podcasting expanding, we get a lot of people that come to us. And we work with authors, coaches, speakers, and brands. Or we bring any of them on. We want to make sure that they get great results. And one of the things that we have seen is that the results from this come from three things. And they all multiply on each other. It’s message, market, and machine. If one of those is weak, the entire result will be weak. And we do an audit with everybody to tell them what we expect the results to be. And so the message is, do you have stories to tell and not just a product to sell? Are you interested in being interesting? Podcasts are awful place to sell. But they are a great way, a great place to tell a story, a great place to get that know, like, and trust. So that’s the first thing we look at. The next one is the message – I’m sorry. So that’s the message. The next one is the market. The market is, do you know who you want to talk to? And do you have something that can help them? The final one is the machine. The machine is, when I hear you on a podcast, I am going to go to your website and I am going to check out on social media. I don’t care how great the interview was. If your website looks like it was built in Y2K, it’s going to kill the transactions. If your social media looks like you’re in the witness protection plan, it’s not going to work out. And I always say that as we’re talking to people. Those are the things we’re listening for. And I’ll tell you, the people that get the best results, Mario, from both podcast interviews and I think podcast hosts, are those people that are focused on relationship selling, people that are focused on the lifetime value of a customer. I think today it’s never been easier to sell something online. All you have to be as a penny cheaper on Amazon and you’ll sell it. The problem is that, the next day somebody else is going to be a penny cheaper. So don’t kid yourself that you’re building a business. That’s chasing the transaction. And I think it’s never been harder to build a business online because there is so much noise. And that people have to know, like and trust you. And for those people that are willing to put in the effort to be a podcast guest, to be a podcast host, to put the videos out there, to stand out, to build that relationship, I think there’s no better time to be alive. Ten, 20 years ago, you could have done what you’re doing now right around Eastern Michigan. Now, you can do it around the world. 

Mario Fachini [17:46]

That’s huge. How many people do you think see their business as globally nowadays when the opportunity is there? 

Tom Schwab [17:59]

I wish it was 100%? No. Because I honestly believe it’s 100%. But I fear that a lot of people don’t. Even if you’ve got a local regional business – like today, I was talking with a consultant that does business consulting and he focuses in South Eastern England. And as we were talking with them about podcasts, I’m like, “Well, why couldn’t you come to the states and do that?” “I guess I could if I could find customers there. I would love to come over there.” “Okay. How come you couldn’t do an online program and do that?” So I think we need to really change our view of what our market is, who our market is. One of the things that we have found on podcast interviews is that people with accents seem to convert better. So if you come on with an Australian accent on an American podcast, people slow down and listen to it because it’s different and vice versa. If I go on an Australian podcast, it’s an accent, it’s different. And people slow down to listen to that. So sometimes your best markets are overseas, especially with currency fluctuations. Right now people in Australia would much rather be paid in American dollars than they would in in local currency. And I’m sure at some point that’s going to switch. And all of a sudden, Americans are going to try and get Australian dollars. Why wouldn’t you? We’ve got the access to it. It’s so easy to connect with clients anywhere. So right now, what percentage think of themselves as global? Less than 100%. And that’s a shame because it should be 100. 

Mario Fachini [19:44]

Well, you’re sharing some great insights there and you got piqued my interest. Because I’ve had people on the show from Australia and I’m thinking, “Have I been on any Australian podcast?” And now I want to be on a couple. So thank you for that for me. But it is so true because you can access anyone around the world. When people say, “How do I get more clients?” I go, “These are not websites anymore. They’re not just websites. We have online databases the government didn’t even have 20 years ago.” And we’re volunteering the information, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter. You can find anything on any one if you have the patience for about a-minute-and-a-half to just run a search and use a little common sense.

Tom Schwab [20:32]

And I would argue if somebody says, “How can I find more clients?” It’s the wrong question to ask. The question to ask today is, “How can I find better clients?” Because how many clients can we all take care of? How many can we serve? We are not Google. We’ve got a finite amount. So the thing is not buying or finding more clients. It’s finding better clients. Because those clients that love you and that you have the ideal product for, they’ll pay more for it because that’s better value. They’ll stay with you longer. So they’ll be less churn more lifetime value. They’ll become your advocates. They’ll find other people for you. So I think in this day and age, it’s really not more, it’s better. 

Mario Fachini [21:23]

I love that you brought that up. Because I want to talk about your clients and what you were talking about on Harvard with the SEO. Because I was actually going to ask you about that with the dot edu extension. For anyone who doesn’t know, it’s great to have authority links and universities, edus, government. Those are all from an SEO standpoint ranked higher than just dot com or just John Q. Public access emails. How many of your clients come on and say, “I want to get on those type of things” versus you educating them? 

Tom Schwab [21:58]

I think the vast majority of them is an education issue. And you’re right because the power of a backlink at times can be tied to either the popularity of the website, the authority, which is called a MOS score typically. Or also the domain. So dot org, dot com, dot net, those are all lower ranking ones. But if you got one that’s like dot edu or dot gov, that is so powerful. So it doesn’t even have to be Harvard.edu. If I was on Kalamazoo Valley Community Colleges podcast – and they don’t have one yet – that backlink there, that KVCC.edu would probably be more valuable than one from – you know, you name the biggest podcaster out there. 

Mario Fachini [22:50]

And those are the things when you’re talking about leverage. It’s not just, do you want to do a hundred interviews? It’s about what you’re saying, doing those ten interviews that are the right ones. Now, I would suggest and I think you would, too, and correct me if I’m wrong, but do a hundred interviews of the right one but make sure they are the right ones. 

Tom Schwab [23:12]

I have done over 1,200 podcast interviews. And people are amazed by that. They’re amazed and I’m a little bit embarrassed. When we first started on this, we were learning the system, what worked, what didn’t. And I would say of those 1,200, half of them or maybe less than half really moved the needle. And right now there’s 700,000 podcasts. You don’t have the time to go on all of those. You just need to find the ones that are going to make a difference. And our algorithm really looks at four things as we pick podcast. We look at the podcast itself. We look at the website for those backlinks. We look for the reach, which is their social media and their email. And then we’ll look at experience with previous guests. Now, that’s not something that everybody has exposure to. But I’ll give you a hint or an insight that we’ve seen podcasts like this where it’s a true discussion, it’s an engaging conversation, those always convert better than the podcasts that ask the same five or six questions. Because those are really hard, really, for people to get to know, like, and trust you. 

Mario Fachini [24:25]

Well, I appreciate you for telling me that because that’s a good reminder for me. And also, just the questions – before I was designing, like I said early on, I had no idea what I was doing. I just know I want to impact millions of lives and you just kind of figure it out. That’s kind of my style. But it’s so much more fun. If you just break this down, like we’re in person and talking to someone you want to actually build a relationship with and be friends with a know for the next ten or 20 years, what would you be asking them versus “Oh, this is someone I have to talk to. How much longer before it’s over? Those are two different mindsets. Let me ask you, how do you train your guests to be – I would venture to say a lot of them already are. But I know you’re doing extra stuff because I’ve noticed it. I’ve noticed it. And it’s phenomenal. I love what you’re doing. How do you train them even if they’re already good to make them great when they come on the show? 

Tom Schwab [25:25]

Well, all of our clients come to us are already great. They know their content. But they don’t know this medium. And so the way I explain it, a good podcast is like going to a Denny’s. And I gave that example one time and somebody from Australia stopped me. And he goes, “What’s a Denny’s?”0 I’m like, “Oh, that’s right. Nevermind.” Go to a coffee shop. A good podcast is like going to a coffee shop and there’s two interesting people sitting behind you and they’re having to discussion. And it would be rude to turn around and just jump into the conversation. It would be rude to turn around and start looking at them. So you just sit there and you listen. That’s what a podcast should be. Some podcasts, that coffee shop, is at 8:00 a.m. Other times the podcast could be 2:00 a.m. after the bars closed. Depending what the podcast is. But it should be a lively conversation, a back and forth. Don’t just stick to your talking points. The other thing is that it is discussion. It is longer form. We’ve had some clients that are on national television. I can think of one who’s a cyber security expert. And if you turned on Fox News, probably most nights, you’d see Morgan Wright. And he’d be on there for two or three minutes talking about cyber security. Well, when he first started to go on podcast, we had to work with him on that. Because he was so used to television where he would give short answers. And it was perfect. That’s really, really hard to do. And he just mastered it. But if you get on a 30 or 45 minute podcast, you can’t give a 30 second answer. And he loved the medium because it allowed him to go deeper and to really have a conversation with it. And he loved it too, because most of the time, it’s an hour to the studio, an hour in the green room, three minutes onstage on the set. And of that, you may get two minutes where you get to talk. The other minute is when the reporter is talking. And then it’s another hour home. So all of a sudden it’s four hours to get two minutes of airtime. Whereas, he loved it. He could do the podcast interviews from anywhere. And in 30 or 45 minutes get it done. But really, it’s educating them on the medium, what works best. And the other thing we do is we always listen to our clients first few podcast just to give them feedback on it. You know, the good, the bad, the ugly. I remember one time being asked, “What was the last podcast you listened to?” And I had to laugh and I said, “It was Adoption Now.” And there was dead silence. And I said, it’s like, “A 53 year old man, are you looking to adopt?” I’m like, “No. One of our clients was on this podcast Adoption Now. It was amazing.” I could learn all kinds of new things. 

Mario Fachini [28:31]

I would have never thought about that. That’s a great story. And I love the process you take them through. Thank you for sharing the behind the scenes with it. Tell me about the biggest transformation one of your clients has had from using Interview Valet? 

Tom Schwab [28:46]

I would have to say there’s a lot of them. But to me, the ones that are most impactful are the ones where you meet this person and it’s like, “How come I didn’t know about them before?” They’re so insightful. And then for them to come back afterwards. I can think of one who’s a consultant – a professional consultant. And he came back and is just telling us how it’s changed his business. That he wasn’t able to keep up with the demand. I can remember he was doing a couple interviews a month and then we ramped it up. And then he called me up and he says, “We got to stop this for a while.” And I was like, heartbroken. He’s like, “No. I have sold out of all of my inventory. I’ve got to hire some more people.” So we put it on pause for a couple of months. And then he called back and he goes, “We got to get going again. Because I’ve ramped up and we’re going to do this.” And the exposure brings opportunity. And I don’t have permission to share his story so I’m not going to put the name with it. But all of a sudden, he started speaking on different events because people heard him speaking here. With that, his business grew, his notoriety grew on that. And he was happier. All of a sudden he went from having just local clients. And that was one of his concerns always, because in 2008, when the economy tanked, it hit his region really hard. And he wanted to diversify from there. So he’s got clients now around the United States. And he’s loving it. I crossed paths with them, probably, two or three times a year at different conferences. And to me, that’s where I get the most enjoyment from, is seeing the impact we’re having on other people’s business. Our mission is to personally inspire – or to personally introduce inspiring thought leaders to millions of ideal customers they could serve for the betterment of all. And when I hear stories like that, it’s like, “Yeah. That’s what we do.” It’s got nothing to do about podcast or podcasts interviews but it’s about personally introducing people for the betterment of all. I mentioned my book before and it’s not a tease, I’ll give anybody who’s listening a copy of the book. But when I first wrote it, my mom wanted a copy. So I gave her a copy of it. And she gave it back to me. And she said, “You didn’t sign it.” So I signed and I gave it to her. And she came back and she said, “Honey, I don’t understand it but I’m proud of you.” And I said, “Mom, well, what we do is we introduce people that should know each other.” And to me, seeing those impacts that’s the huge thing in the lives of podcast hosts, our guests, and the people that listen. 

Mario Fachini [31:43]

Well, I’m glad you’re doing what you’re doing and we met because I know we’re going to be doing this the next ten years helping each other out. And it just resonates with me so much. It’s about making that impact. Speaking of the impact, if someone wants to get booked on interviews on guest podcasting, obviously, use Interview Valet. But how many episodes would you say – how many shows would you say they should realistically expect to have to go on to start seeing the needle move? Is it one episode, ten, 20, 100? 

Tom Schwab [32:17]

You know, people say how many interviews does it take? Well, just one. How many TV shows do you have to be on to make it big? Well, if it’s just Oprah -and I know she’s not on anymore – if Oprah is the only one you’re ever on, then the answer is one. Chances are though, you’re going to have to do more than that. And one of the things that we have found with our clients is that if you try doing just one or two of anything, it’ll never work. If you tried one or two episodes of your podcast, it never would have gotten the traction it has. You never would have gotten as proficient as you have. So from that standpoint, I look at that and say, give it a good test. Get good with it. Get comfortable with it. Even a Broadway play works its way up to Broadway. And if you’re just starting out, look at doing that. We, when we work with clients, our typical minimum engagement is a dozen interviews. Because that’s what we find that it really takes for them to get comfortable with it. Sometimes it’s just testing markets. This is a very targeted focused industry. And I can think of one client we had, Craig Cody. He talked about this from the stage at Podfest last year, so I can repeat this one openly. He was on various podcasts. And he’s a fractional CFO. So part time CFO. And after – I don’t know – about a dozen podcasts, we went back and looked at the data and said, “You do really well on dental podcasts.” And he’s like, “I love dentists.” And for the next six months, he was just on dental podcasts.  And it was like, for him, they were smaller podcasts but it was like fish in a barrel. So from that standpoint, I would say, continue to do it, get comfortable with it. For some people, that means doing a couple interviews a month. For other people, they want to really ramp it up and they’ll be doing an interview a week. Other people that if they’ve got a launch, they may say, “Hey, I want to do 24 or 30 interviews. I’m going to get them done now. And when my book launches in four or five months, I want them all to go right there.” We call it a lightning strike. So that everybody hears about it at the same time and buys the book and gets them on a chart. 

Mario Fachini [34:39]

That’s a great way to do it. And I wanted to ask you, do you tell the host of the show, “Hey, we’re going to have them on your show but don’t release it until, let’s say, 90 days out.” 

Tom Schwab [34:55]

The host is serving us. The host, this their platform. I never tell the host anything because I honor you and your platform. This is your platform, we do ask. So before we even do that, we could say, “Hey, this is launching on this date. Could you launch that right around that time?” And if you plan out enough in head, they can do that. If you start too far – if you don’t start in time, you’re going to have problems. I often say that podcasts are like restaurants and doctors offices. If there’s not a waiting list, there’s probably a reason. And a reason you don’t want to be there. So like with authors, we’re telling them start three, four, or five months ahead of time. And really, it’s wonderful because they can time shift to that. When that book launches, there’s a lot of things to do. But if you already recorded the interview two months before that or three months before that, man, that’s one less thing on your plate. But we always ask the host and we work really well together with the host. But I push back on that to tell the host. 

Mario Fachini [36:07]

Well, I appreciate the – well, I appreciate the sincerity. Because you’re right, it is the other person’s show and everything. I was curious how you do coordinate it? Because it is a great thing to do. I’ve told my clients when we’re helping them publish books, “When you have your launch team, when you have other people helping you promote it, just coordinate it.  All it is is a question.” And again, this is, I guess, new to me even though I’m pushing a hundred plus episodes. However, it’s some of the common sense stuff, like you just said, just ask them and you can coordinate. And I literally asked you that because I was like, “Oh my gosh. I should do that for one of my next books. I wonder how he’s doing this.” 

Tom Schwab [36:52]

People want to help you. One of the things I love about the podcasting industry right now is that, we’re all in this together. We’re working together. Cliff Ravenscraft, who was known as the podcast answer man. He’s one of the godfathers of podcasting. I remember what he said a few years ago, he said, “This industry, we’re all working together. The competition of those people that don’t know what a podcast is. When we get as saturated as radio and television then we can put the guns on each other. But until that we’re all on the same team. We’re all in this together.” And that’s one of the things I love about podcasting is it’s a very friendly, helpful industry where everybody wants everybody else to win. 

Mario Fachini [37:45]

I agree. And I’ve noticed it’s one of the most generous communities that I’ve been a part of. And it’s been a lot of fun. So if you haven’t thought about starting  show, I will personally tell you, you should. And if you have and your not using Interview Valet, you definitely should because they have their stuff together. And this is a true blessing for me to even have Tom on the show. And like I said, I’ve had his clients on the show in the past also. And I can’t wait to have more. So you’ve mentioned a lot about books and authors and coaches. And I want to ask you, how has your book helped your business? 

Tom Schwab [38:24]

To me, even if I never sold a copy of the book or printed the book, it was so beneficial for me to think through it and write it out. So it made it clear in my head. So if it would have stopped right there, it was worth every painful minute to take it to that place. That being said, to be able to have a book, and to reference it, to give it to people, it’s one of the best referral tools. I can’t be there every time to tell people what I do. I’ll give friends the book and say, “If you can bless anybody with this, share it with them.” And it’s amazing how they get circulated around, how it gets quoted. There’s a study out there that says, “A published author is more respected than a PhD.” Well, as tough as it was to write the book because I’m not a natural writer. I’m an engineer by heart. I always say, “English is my second language. I’m not sure what my first one is. But it has such an impact.” And it was much easier than going back and getting a PhD. And the thing is, is that nobody reads your PhD dissertation. People will read your book. I was just speaking at an authors convention down in Nashville. And it was wonderful in order to speak about doing a virtual book tour and then be able to give them my book. At the end of the day, I’m not really as excited or as concerned about how many books I sell. It’s about how many books I get out there, how many ideas I spread. And some people told me when I first put the book out that I was an idiot. Now, I don’t disagree with them. But they’re like, “Why would you take your entire system that you use and put it in a book and give it to somebody?” And I’m like, “Well, you look at the best chefs out there, they’ve got cookbooks. They’ve got videos that show you exactly how to do it. But at the end of the day, I don’t want to be a chef. I’ll go to that chef. because I know who they are. It looks good in the book and I understand the work that goes into that.” And I think that’s been a blessing for us where a lot of people come and will read the book and they’ll understand, “Wow, there’s a lot of parts to this.” And some people will come back and say, “Do I have to do all those parts?” And I’m like, “You’re a grown person. You’re a grown man. You’re a grown woman. You don’t have to do anything. But I tell you what, it’s a recipe. And I know if you follow the recipe, that you’ll get the results.” It’s like baking a cake. If you leave out the baking soda or baking powder, whatever it is, it’s not going to turn out right. So a lot of times people will read that book. They’ll appreciate what we do and all that goes into it. And then they’ll come back and say, “I want to be the guest. You take care of all the rest.” So the book has been huge. And we’re just coming out with the second version of that because I wanted to keep it fresh. I wanted to keep it updated. And more than anything, I wanted to add, not my story, but customer stories to it. So that every time we talk about a principle, we can talk about somebody that used that principle and the impact it had on them. 

Mario Fachini [41:45]

Well, when is that coming out because I want to check that one out. 

Tom Schwab [41:49]

Well, we’re talking right now in 2019. It will be out by 2020. We’re shooting for a December release on that. 

Mario Fachini [41:59]

That is fantastic. I’ve gone through your materials. And if you get something new coming out, I definitely want to get a copy of that. Speaking of different materials, we’ve talked a lot about the podcast and publishing. But why are you not afraid of video? Why not just hide behind the camera? We don’t need to be on camera. We can just be talking to this dude right here and just keep it simple and no big deal. Why do you choose to do video with almost everything I’ve seen of yours? 

Tom Schwab [42:31]

You said, why aren’t I afraid of it? I was afraid of it at the beginning. And I also didn’t like my voice on podcast interviews at the beginning. And somebody pointed out, “You just need to get over yourself.” No one likes the sound of their own voice. It sounds different when you first hear it. It’s just the way we’re built. But you get used to it after a while. With video too. I just look at it and it’s a great way to share emotion. It’s a great way to capture something with someone and to share it with them. And for me, I’ve written a lot of blogs in my life, Mario. Each one of them was like a homework assignment. For me, it’s really easy to jump on a quick video and to capture an idea or a thought. To get on a podcast interview here and have a discussion and talk about things there. So to me it’s rich, it’s easy. Today, it’s so easy to do all these things that we really don’t have any excuse anymore. You can do a lot of technical things with it. I’m always amazed when I see what you’re doing. You inspire me. But even for the people that don’t want to do that, if you got an internet connection and a microphone, you can do a podcast. If you’ve got a built in camera, you can do a webcam with it. The camera we’ve got on smartphones today is just amazing. That was like a $1,000 camera just ten years ago. So to me, it’s just so much easier to do it. And it’s so much more impactful. And I think also, we’re seeing how people are creating and how they’re consuming. And when I see the engagement on a post on social media, where it’s, 50 words compared to a two minute video, it’s like those 50 words are going to take me longer to do than the two minute video. So why wouldn’t I do that? And the other thing, too, is I have never had a spelling error or a typing error in any one of my videos. I cannot say that about any of my other content. 

Mario Fachini [44:52]

I love that. I failed English seven times. And it’s a miracle I got my first book out, let alone other ones. And I agree, no spelling errors here. 

Tom Schwab [45:04]

No video has ever been – did people make fun of your video because you used the wrong there, their, or they’re. 

Mario Fachini [45:12]

One of my favorite things to share with those type of people are it’s going to be okay there, their, they’re. And then you have different variations of all three of them. 

Tom Schwab [45:22]

Pick one. 

Mario Fachini [45:25]

With all the resources and abundance we have at our fingertips – and this is kind of what I’m alluding to with the people who nitpick the different things. I mean, you admitted we can go on camera, we can go on video, we can do a book we can do a blog, we can do all these different things. Why do you think most people don’t? 

Tom Schwab [45:50]

I want to be honest and real on this one. Because it’s not like I just turned on the video and was comfortable the very first time. The first time I got on a podcast interview, I was not comfortable. First time I got on stage. All of those first times, you almost want to get sick beforehand, you’re worried, and it’s going to be the worst one you ever do. But you know what? You got to get over that. You’ve got to learn. You’ve got to put it out there. And so I think for a lot of people, it’s that initial uncomfortableness. And then I think a lot of people get over that initial uncomfortableness. And then they don’t see the results right away. The sad fact is that most podcasts that die, die within the first ten episodes. It’s called podfade. And we’ve got such a culture today that says, it should be instantaneous. “What do you mean? I did two podcasts interviews. How come I’m not famous.” Or, I’ve done two podcasts. I actually put one Facebook video up. And I’m not famous yet.” And I think there’s something about planting. If you look in nature here, you plant a seed at one time. And you’ve got to keep taking care of it with the faith that you’re doing the right things in the right things will come from it. And when that starts to come to harvest, you’ll just be amazed how much fruit and how much comes out of that. So I think that’s why a lot of people either don’t get started or don’t continue with it. And the funny part is, is that a lot of times people will look and say, “Wow, I wish I was an overnight success like Mario.” But there’s a hundred podcast interviews that went in there. It’s almost like wishing that you could play football on Sunday afternoon. Well, I’d like to play for two hours and get paid millions of dollars. You don’t appreciate all the work that went into that. And so I think with that, it’s one of the reasons that I tell people, “You should have a podcast. But that’s a big commitment.” Maybe starting with podcast interviews is the first step. And then doing your own podcast. I don’t think it’s an either/or. I really think it works out best as an and. The encouragement that I always give to people though is, what you know could help people. No matter where you are in life, you have learned lessons. What’s ordinary to you is amazing to other people. It’s never been easier to share what you’ve learned. And maybe that’s to build a business. Maybe that’s to become an authority. Maybe it’s just to help other people. But to me, 20 years, we all had an excuse, right? I can’t help the world because I live in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I can’t help the world because I’m not a good writer or a well writer. I don’t know, either way. But now it’s so easy, video, audio, blogs, whatever it is. What you know could help other people. And that’s why I always encourage people, share what you know. 

Mario Fachini [49:17]

That is some deep wisdom. And you’re so right with it. Because the limit nowadays, I personally believe, is us. It’s not the tech. It’s not, can we? It’s, do I want to. And if so, how? I will personally say – and it’s on the intro, whatever 000 episode I’m basically just sitting there crying because I had no idea what I was doing but I hit the vision. And I just knew the end result I wanted to produce and help millions of people. And you’re right straight up, there’s a commitment to this. You need to know you’re going to be doing it. It’s not going to do one or two episodes. I was fascinated with the people fade off it. Is it really only ten episodes? 

Tom Schwab [50:10]

Yes. The majority of podcasts that die, die within the first ten episodes. So right around the average podcast does like seven – seven decimal something episodes. 

Mario Fachini [50:25]

Shoot. I cranked that up the first week. I’m glad I’m still here. I didn’t think it was that low. Do you have any stats on the, like, 50, 100, 500,000? 

Tom Schwab [50:35]

I’ve never seen it broken up in there. And even the people that say they’ve done 100 or 200. That’s great. And I mean, to hit 100, that is amazing. But there’s people out there, JB Glossinger from Morning Coach. Great podcaster. He’s right now up to about, I think, it’s 4000 daily episodes. And he’s a legend in his community. And to think about it, they’ve been listening to him every day. Some people have been listening to every day for over ten years. That’s the kind of raving fan base that you can get from this. 

Mario Fachini [51:17]

Say his name one more time. I want to make sure I get that right for the show notes. 

Tom Schwab [51:21]

Sure. JB Glossinger from the Morning Coach. 

Mario Fachini [51:27]

I have not heard of him and I’m definitely going to look him up. Because that is – you know, our mutual friend, John Lee Dumas, I know he’s done 2,000 or probably 2,500 plus by now. But you’re saying 4,000 plus. 

Tom Schwab [51:43]

Four thousand plus. 

Mario Fachini [51:45]

Wow. That’s inspiring, to say the least. Well, I think this was a good part to thank our sponsor. We’re going to come back with the Imperfect Action Round. And I sincerely cannot wait to hear more. 

SPONSOR Business Book Checklist [51:58]

Why every business needs a book including yours? Would you like to save five plus hours with every prospect, generate more leads, and profit in your business now? Visit BusinessBookChecklist.com and learn how you can implement this in your business today. 

Mario Fachini [52:14]

All right. Tom, we are back with the Imperfect Action Round. Are you ready to take imperfect action? 

Tom Schwab [52:18]

I am. 

Mario Fachini [52:20]

First question, what is the fastest path to the cash? 

Tom Schwab [52:25]

Action. You’ve got to go towards it. So from that, like I said before, your biggest problem is obscurity. So find a way to get your message out there. Whatever it is, if it’s telling your friends, telling your family, getting on a podcast, being on a podcast. You don’t want to be the best kept secret. And the product you have right now, no matter what it is, product or service, it could help someone. It might not help everybody. It may not be perfect. But there’s someone tonight praying that your product exists or service. 

Mario Fachini [53:00]

Excellent. Number two, what is the biggest problem you see your prospects making and the fastest way they can fix it? 

Tom Schwab [53:06]

With that, the biggest problem is thinking they need to talk to everyone. Not everyone needs to know about you. There’s billions of people right now. You cannot serve billions of people. What we talked about before, don’t look at getting more clients. Look at getting better clients. That will grow your business. 

Mario Fachini [53:27]

Number three, what is the best way to maximize customer lifetime value? 

Tom Schwab [53:32]

Well, you know what I’m going to say on this, right? Get them to know, like, and trust you. With that, they have to know the heart and soul behind the company. What’s your mission? Why do you do it? What’s your vision? People will buy into that. If you don’t do that, you’re going to be selling a commodity. And like I said before, commodities is a race to the bottom. You want people that buy into your mission, your vision, where you’re going. They’re with you for the long term. That will get you lifetime value. 

Mario Fachini [54:04]

Leaders are readers, what is a good book you could recommend? 

Tom Schwab [54:09]

The one that I just finished that blew my mind was, When by Daniel Pink. He talks about time and what an impact it has on how we work, how we perform. And really, as I looked at that, it’s such an artificial thing that we’ve just created. But yet, it controls our entire life. So if you have time – and none of us have any time – we’ve all got the same amount of time, check out When by Daniel Pink. 

Mario Fachini [54:38]

Excellent. Well, I’m enjoying this. I would love to do a half day training with you and help tens of thousands and millions of people. I know we did great though. It was a pleasure having you on here. Where can we learn more at? 

Tom Schwab [54:53]

So I always make this as easy as possible. Our testing has already shown this. The easiest place to go is just InterviewValet.com/ExpertAuthority. So everything that Mario and I talked about will be there. I’ve mentioned the book, the free copy of the book is right there, podcast guests, profits, how to grow your business with a targeted interview strategy. I’ll put the checklist that I used for every podcast interview. Checklists are written in blood. Make sure it’s somebody else’s blood. don’t learn from your own mistakes. It’s painful. Learn from somebody else’s mistakes. And then finally, Mario, I’ll put all my social media, my email there, and a calendar scheduling stuff. I can be of any service to anybody, just go to InterviewValet.com/ExpertAuthority. 

Mario Fachini [55:47]

I got to say, for anyone that’s listening this, watching this, if you ever want to be on my show or any others, you need to follow what Tom’s doing. I’m smiling ear to ear because you nailed it. And thank you for making it easier for me and my team. I will make sure it is on the show notes. I can’t wait to get more of your guests because you guys are awesome, like, sincerely. 

Tom Schwab [56:11]

Mario, the only way this could have been better is if we were both sitting in the same studio doing it live. And I hope that will happen very soon that our paths will cross. And anything that we can do to support you. I love what you’re doing. And can I just give a quick shout out for you. Anybody that says doing a podcast is easy, has never done it or never done it well. Now throw in video on there, too, and that’s even tougher. So if you’re listening to this, if you’re watching this, show your love, show your appreciation, leave a rating and review. And the reason for that is not just to show Mario, “Hey, I like it.” But it’s to let other people know. The search engines work where that’s a big signal. And what you say matters and that’s going to help other people be blessed by this. So take a few minutes, leave a rating and review. 

Mario Fachini [57:01]

I sincerely appreciate that. It means a lot. And as far as the in studio, you just alluded to my phase five for the show. I definitely plan on having the top guests back in studio. And we’ll make it happen. I definitely would love to have you there. 

Tom Schwab [57:20]

Thank you. 

Mario Fachini [57:21]

All right. Expert Authority World, we have another great episode. I look forward to seeing you on tomorrow’s. Have a great day and God bless. 

SPONSOR Business Book Checklist [57:28]

Why every business needs a book including yours? Would you like to save five plus hours with every prospect, generate more leads, and profit in your business now? Visit BusinessBookChecklist.com and learn how you can implement this in your business today. 

www.EAInterviews.com [57:42]

Hey, thanks for listening to today’s episode. I hope you got a lot out of it. I know I sure did. If you haven’t done so already, I invite you to subscribe to the show. And also be sure to check out EAInterviews.com for complete show notes, the full interview video experience, links to the resources we mentioned, and more. Have a blessed day and I’ll see you tomorrow.