Balance, Motivation & Mastering the Podcasting Hustle (A Trip to Into the Podverse)

Hi, I'm the host of the sales for the Nigerian Business Person podcast and you're listening to Into the Pod first with Tony Doe. We are both professional colleagues. We're part of the same Nigerian podcasting space and I promised Tony that I'd answer a few questions on my podcasting experience so far. And so that is what this episode is about. Now First off, my inspiration for the show, it was because of I realized that there's lots of time wasted by the average Nigerian person that could be used for business inspiration or for learning on the go.

And what was responsible for that was spending countless hours on the fuel queues. That was back in the Good Luck Jonathan dispensation. And I must admit that it's still a disturbing, a concerning issue for me that it seems it seems to be a perennial issue. So I constantly find myself stuck on a fuel queue and I have to keep asking myself, like, again, seriously, I started this thing off years ago in these circumstances and here I am again in the same circumstances.

Apart from that, I was also motivated to share the gospel of business that I believe, which is that businesses don't die because of poor branding or because of an inability to raise capital. They die because of their inability to drive sales. So these two factors are my primary inspirations for why I started the show. Now, moments of frustration, actually, I have none because I recognize that podcasting is a young medium in Nigeria, so it's going to need time to grow.

So some of us should regard ourselves as pioneers of the trade or pioneers of the art. I mean, there are other people who have been podcasting for maybe 4-5 years. So for those of us who are relatively new to the game, podcasting for 2-3 years, I think we are still pioneers. So I have no frustrations because I recognize that it's a young medium and so it's going to take time to catch on in Nigeria. I also recognize that the podcasts that have the gist format are always going to trump podcasts in the business category.

So I never lose faith or I never get discouraged when gossip based podcast or gist based podcasts seem to be popular. And then podcasts like mine that are devoted to business don't seem to be getting any popularity or traction. It's just the reality of the situation and so for me, there's no cause for frustration there. Then the emotions that I've been going through in my podcasting journey, I would say none really. I'll say my podcasting journey has been relatively flat.

That's if you're going to regard my emotions, but I have to admit that they have been periods where I feel particularly elated because my thesis for the podcast is being validated. And I've seen that the longer I podcast, the easier it is for me to secure the business consultation gigs and speaking gigs. So my emotions have been steady. But yes, I must admit that I do get happy or happier when I find it easier to secure professional gigs.

Then the question on how to balance the demands of podcasting life. Well, this is actually a very simple one and my process for that actually is to keep it simple. I record with my phone only. I don't do any editing. I also don't do any retakes and I keep my scripting simple. I have a sheet of paper and I have questions only. And because of this, it allows me to record literally anywhere. And that's the reason why today I have over 850 episodes of my show because I recognize that I

do have a busy life, lots of demands. I'm married, I've got two kids, I'm self-employed. And so that means that like if mom sees in town, I'm going to be the designated driver. If something happens that is an is an emergency, I'm going to be the default fall guy. So I just have to keep my recording process very simple to take into account all of these things. So because of this, I can record my podcast episodes in the car,

in the bathroom, when I'm travelling out of state, if I'm waiting at the hospital, where else I've recorded in all kinds of places, even in the market. And that's because I keep my recording process simple. And that is how I balance the demands of podcasting with my everyday personal and professional life. Then how do I keep podcasting? Well, what keeps me going is the desire to educate folks. So that keeps me going. And also what keeps me going and motivated is that I realize that executing on the podcast seems to be improving my plan for thought leadership.

And it also helps me to leverage business opportunities. So those are the things that keep me going. I want to keep educating people. And the more I podcast, I see that the more thought leadership I'm putting out there and it's allowing me to leverage those opportunities for business growth. Now, memorable interactions with fans. Every single person who connects with me either on WhatsApp or LinkedIn, to say that they find the show of valuable creates a memorable event for me.

Even the one person who got in touch and disagreed with my thoughts around selling on LinkedIn, I mean, even that turned out to be a memorable event for me because I appreciate all the interaction that I get, whether it's people saying hi or people saying I love the show or people saying I disagree with one or two things that you have said on said episode. Then how do I stay motivated when podcasting? Oh yeah. How do I stay motivated when my podcast isn't gaining traction?

Well, for me, it's easier to stay motivated because I have seen and I because of that I have seen and it's made an impression that the amount of traction that your show is going to get follows from the amount of distribution that you do to promote the podcast. So whenever I see that my traction is down, I just remember to promote the podcast more. I promote especially over LinkedIn because I produce primarily business content and so that lends itself well to a LinkedIn audience.

So how do I stay motivated when my show isn't gaining traction? I just remember that traction flows from distribution. So if your podcasts are listening to the show and you are in a funk because you're not getting the numbers that you would like to get, just remember that traction flows from distribution. Then are there any moments when I doubted that podcasting wasn't the right path for me? I'm fortunate. I have never doubted that podcasting wasn't the right path because my thesis is simple.

There is no consistent resource for business education in the pod verse. So when it comes to business education in the podcasting universe, there is no consistent resource there. Few people who come up, put a few dozen episodes and then they disappear. Nobody's been doing it consistently. So there is no one catering to business education for Nigerians and who has been doing it for the long haul. So, the only time that I am going to doubt that podcasting is the right thing for me is if I wake up and then all of a sudden I find out that the market is saturated and there are too many business podcasts and I know that that's not going to happen.

So by that, I know that I will never be demotivated and I never will doubt that I am on the right path because this is not a journey that people are willing to put in the work to continue on. Now, lessons that I've learned from my podcasting journey, what I have learned is that all activities yield results, no matter how big or small. So that's the chief thing that I've learned from the podcast. So back in the days when I would make podcast episodes and I

wouldn't promote, I noticed that I was still getting some sort of results. Now, the best results have come when I promote my podcast the most. I pay attention to the distribution channels. That is where I get the best results. But I've learned that no matter the results, sorry, no matter the activities you do, there will be some results, no matter how big or small, and whether you like it or you or you don't, Podcasting has taught me that there's no such thing as wasted effort.

Now, how do I define success in podcasting? Well, obviously I look at my subscriber base. I also pay attention to the number of monthly enquiries that I get for business consulting or for public speaking. So that is how I define part success in podcasting. Well, I've noticed that hanging around my colleagues in the podcasting space and people who are voice artists, it looks like people judge my success also by the longevity that I've had because I have over 850 episodes up on the podcast for now.

But for me it's primarily subscribers and then monthly enquiries that I get from business consulting. In other words, if the number of subscribers doesn't seem to rise every month, but I but the number of enquiries that I get for business consulting seems to rise, then you know, I would say I'm good. Let's see. OK. I think those are the questions from Tony so far that I think I could that relate to me and that I could provide an answer.

So if you love what you hear so far, then please connect with me on LinkedIn. My name is Tavishima Ayede, I am the host of the show. That's the sales for the Nigerian business person. If you'd like to connect with me, you can confirm the spelling of my name from the show notes from this particular episode. And once again, I'm the host of the sales for the Nigerian Business Person podcast. And you're listening to Into the Pod verse with Tony Doe.

If you're a listener to my show, but you're not subscribed to Tony's, give it a listen. Who knows, you might find something else there that you enjoy. So thanks for your time and attention.