Inside Silverstone Podcast
7 lessons I learned producing 100 episodes
Chris Broome – Chartered Financial Planner
100 episodes.
When I say that out loud I smile.
How on earth did I manage to record 100 episodes?!
It’s been 2 years since we launched the podcast, with guests ranging from pioneering women in motorsport and technology, to business leaders across the Silverstone Technology Cluster, through to YouTube stars and the most amazing chocolate brownie Urban Artisan Bakery.
By the end of this short article you’ll have learned the 7 most important lessons I learned getting to our 100th recording.
The lessons I share closely replicate those within my recent ‘Niche’ conference talk, aired during the NextGen Planners 2021 global conference.
My hope is that this insight will encourage you to produce your own podcast show, should you wish to join the growing cohort of content media producers.
Lesson # 1 – Passion
Before we went live with Inside Silverstone I realised that the first crucial element would be to have a genuine and authentic interest in the subject matter.
Common sense right?!
You need to have real, real passion.
I love technology, I have the latest Apple Watch, the latest iPhone, the latest PlayStation. I love cars and I love driving them even more.
Yes I’m passionate but I’ll also be really honest with you. From time to time I’ll attend a technology event at Silverstone, listen to an engineer, and I’ve got no idea what they are talking about, the subject matter is way over my head.
But that doesn’t matter.
It doesn’t matter because I’m in the room with them every month, learning from them, increasing my knowledge which increases my passion. And with hope they see that, they see I’m part of their world and as passionate as they are.
Lesson Number 2 – Strategy
Launching a podcast is not easy, irrespective of what others may say. The way to make it easier is to ensure you’ve got a reasonably solid strategy in place.
- What’s your podcast about?
- Who’s your target audience?
- Who’s your target interviewee?
- What do you want the outcome of the podcast to be?
- How will you record interviews – Zoom or F2F in person?
- Your office or theirs?
- Who’s your production team?
- What’s the process from start to finish for each interview produced?
- Social media management?
- Website(s)?
- Cross promotion expectations and how do you frame that?
- Equipment and costs?
These are just some of the things you need to work out.
What I can say is that once you’ve got on top of the strategy, and then the actual implementation of it, things become a lot more relaxed. I found that it became systematized and using a Silverstone based concept – robotic.
This outcome would then provide me with the confidence and mental freedom to focus on the interviewee and the eventual PR/social media promotion.
The net outcome of this approach has resulted in 100 episodes produced within 2 years, tens of thousands of downloads across all mediums, and a whole bunch of new friends, professional connections, and Longhurst clients.
Lesson Number 3 – Noise
Or more importantly – how to ignore the noise.
I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that at times I detest social media and how some people occasionally behave on it.
Don’t believe everything you read or see.
What I soon learned (certainly within the financial services space) is that just because someone says their podcast gets tens of thousands of downloads, doesn’t mean they run a successful business.
Imposter syndrome is at times a result of what we listen to and so my counsel to you all is this – it’s all rubbish.
Inside Silverstone is by no means the most downloaded podcast in the country.
And yet we’re referred to dozens of new potential guests each month.
We’ve established ourselves as the #1 business podcast in the county.
Our business, Longhurst, has secured lots of new clients as well as enhancing strategic partnerships in the region.
And I have (dare I say) become a reasonably well-known figure in our community.
Ignore the noise, ignore it and you will prosper.
Lesson Number 4 – Patience
My late mother once said to me that a waterfall starts with a drop of rain, so let it rain Chris.
It takes time to build anything worth having, in the early years you will question if you are on the right path, you’ll even consider quitting and changing tact.
When those moments happen and they will, stop. Pause. And remember the waterfall analogy.
We’re 3 years into our Silverstone project, we’ve only just begun, we’ve had success yes but we’ve also had a lot of failure and wasted money, but it’ll be worth it in the end, I know.
Be patient, let it rain, build your waterfall.
Lesson Number 5 – Fluff
Yes, you’ve heard me right, fluff.
Once upon a time an ex-business associate once mocked me because I wanted to focus some time and energy into ensuring our content marketing was on point, to ensure our brand and our message aligned with our objectives.
He said it wasn’t important and he called it fluff.
For me, fluff is one of the most important things you need to master if you want your podcast to be successful.
Creating a brand, a narrative behind why you’ve launched it, a website, blogs, videos, articles, events, even hosting socials during Covid (as I did with the quiz – which is still going!).
If you truly embrace this fluff you will not only increase the chances of success you will have also created the biggest paradigm shift that I personally experienced.
That you’ll stop being the one knocking on people’s doors, and instead they’ll be knocking on your door, the new door that you’ve created.
Create your own door, embrace your fluff.
Lesson Number 6 – The Crowd
I think that this point is perhaps the most important of the six I have already shared with you.
Today I feel truly part of my tech community, a real member of it. I’m told by others (namely Pim et al) that I’m a really important member of it.
It is a result of me realising that for the podcast (and indeed my niche in tech) to be truly successful I have to make it all about the community and not about me.
To make sure that I’m not striving to be the guy addressing the crowd but instead striving to be the crowd. And using the podcast as the platform to showcase their stories.
Don’t make it about you, be the crowd.
Lesson Number 7 – Enjoy yourself!!
It’s that simple.
Smile.
Enjoy meeting your guest.
Delve into their world and embrace their story.
Be honest and as authentic as you can possibly be.
The result will be a more natural recording, a happy interviewee, and the knowledge you’ve done your best.
What’s next for the Inside Silverstone Podcast?
We’re not done, not quite yet!
We’re aiming to reach 200 episodes …. That’s right, 200.
To help me get to this astronomical feat I have enlisted the help of a previous (and much loved and respected) guest on the show.
Together, we’ll share the interviews, as either solo or co-hosted shows. This will, I hope, provide greater diversity and witty humour in our interview techniques.
More news to follow on my new co-host and the All-New show, however in the meantime we are looking for our next batch of victims (sorry, guests!).
Please get in contact if you’d like to appear on the show, to promote your business, or a new project, or to just have a good old natter.
We’d love to share your story with our community.
Contact me at chris@longhurst.co.uk.
