The Output #7: Why I Killed a Show That Was Working
The show that was finally growing needed to end. Well, transform is probably a better word. Two questions helped me reach this decision.
The Creators that Crush podcast wasn't a bad podcast. In fact, it was the first platform I was able to gain consistent growth with each month.
The idea of that show was both too narrow and broad. It was so narrow that I felt like I kept circling the same few topics each week. It was too broad in that the topics I did talk about didn't speak to anyone in particular.
More importantly, it was a huge lift every week to come up with an idea, produce the pod, then release a boring visual version on Youtube. The audio version being the stripped audio from the talking head video I did. On a good day, an interesting guest would make it more compelling. But it started to feel more like an audio version of a bad youtube channel. Because it was.
So I did something dangerous. I asked the (first) question.
"What would an easier to produce and publish show look like?"
That started my quest to figure out what makes a show great. And a great show, it turns out, has a strong premise. Creators that Crush had a weak premise.
I discovered this after I hired a coach and had to explain it to him. It wasn't quick or easily defendable. My coach quickly clocked that was probably why I was struggling with producing the show. With the second question...
"Who do you want your ideal listener to be?"
I couldn't answer this concisely for Creators that Crush. So I started by analyzing my podcast journey. And I started to laugh with a little bit of reflection. I had been shifting away from things I spent years learning. Systems. Technology. My best guests, episodes, and clients from the last three years talked about, drum roll.... Systems, tech, and creativity. This is funny to me because it's exactly what I help my clients figure out, when they are avoiding something right under their nose. You got me, coach!
I got to work. As I refined what the new show premise and listener could be, I noticed my back catalog had fragments of the new idea. Like most creators, there are clues in the things we make. The trick is to notice patterns and focus on what we want to talk about. It's a pattern I followed in my podcasting journey.
Creators that Crush was way more focused than my first show, The Meaningful Revolution. The Meaningful Revolution was super open ended, never said no to a guest request, and had the same narrow/wide issue as my second show. Additionally, there was no big organizing premise to argue for or against. Which was the big lesson, have a premise. Any premise.
Creators that Crush had a weak premise. The big learnings from it were to have a specific person in mind, have a strong premise, and create a repeatable format that doesn't revolve around the same three questions.
The synthesizing, reflecting, and thinking has been the work of the last six months.
The last month has been testing out this new idea.
The premise of the new show: YOU are the ultimate input in your creative business. Most creators think they need a new system, when really they need more of THEM in their systems. When you realize you are the common thread in your teams, tools, and workflows, then your personal growth means better outcomes. The content you make helps you grow.
That's why it's called Input/Output: The Creator System For Experts.
Check it out here if you want to hear more: You Are the Only Input That Matters . I share more about the future of the show there.
