Kurt Nelson is one of the hosts of the Behavioral Grooves podcast, a podcast that focuses on behavioral science. They’ve interviewed subject matter experts from all over the world, which is one of Kurt’s favorite things about the podcast – the opportunity to talk to and learn from all kinds of people that probably wouldn’t be available for a chat without the podcast.

The logistics of interviewing people can be challenging. Because Kurt’s guests are global, there are often scheduling conflicts to be worked out between different time zones, and it’s important to be flexible. As for getting interviewees to come on in the first place, Kurt finds it useful to talk about the specific research of the person he’s inviting on the show and to offer social proof, such as awards they’ve won or other guests they’ve booked. However, Kurt also says that just asking nicely is surprisingly effective.

If he were asked for advice from new podcasters, he points out that the content won’t have the same impact on listeners if they feel the host is just trying to sell them something. He advises that podcasters choose a subject they have passion for, and that genuine interest will spark interest in others.

Links:

Kurt Nelson

Behavioral Grooves

Behavioral Grooves on Twitter

Michael Stein is the host of the podcast Longshot Leaders, which is all about entrepreneurship, personal development, and the stories of people who went from a low point in their lives to a high point. Michael explains that he’s interested in finding the algorithm for this trajectory – what commonalities exist that allow people to go from low points to high points?

Longshot Leaders is only one of Michael’s endeavors, however, He’s getting ready to start two new podcasts. The first, SteinTime, is more of an entertainment podcast. Standup is something that Michael has been doing since the age of 19, and this is a way to reengage with the standup world. The other new podcast, Bulletor, will be a more branded podcast for his product line and will feature outdoor influencers and their adventures.

Michael says that he would tell his younger self to calm down and take his time if he had the chance. His advice to new podcasters is to prepare, backdate, know when you’re going to start, have banked episodes stored up, don’t skip a day, don’t deviate from your niche, and lastly, keep it super simple. One of his mentors, John Lee Dumas, made the how-to of doing a podcast simple and helped him focus on getting past the fluff to the meat of the matter.

Links:

Michael Stein

Longshot Leaders

Mike Konrad’s podcast is an independent show, free of ads and sponsors. He’s not trying to sell anyone anything – in fact, his business model is all about giving and education. He believes that ads and sponsors affect both the content of a show and the way the listeners experience the show.

Mike thinks of himself as a sales guy, and he started with a much more hardcore sales strategy, then realized that this tactic wasn’t really achieving what he wanted. He had to transition from a sales business model to one that was education based. He explains that he has 120 episodes published now, and it took a year to get to 1000 downloads, but now he’s at about 6000. His is a niche show, so the audience isn’t likely to overtake Joe Rogan, but it is growing and his business is flourishing.

What makes Mike a good podcast host? He likes to talk to other people, he’s curious, and he likes to learn. Those are all important qualities for a podcast host. Mike believes that creating a quality podcast is easier to do than you might think if you’ve never tried it. The barrier to entry is low, and creating decent production values is very doable. With good production values and quality content, a podcaster will see success over time.

Links:

Mike Konrad

Reliability Matters