You know him, you love him, you’ve heard him here before… today’s podcast guest is A DEAR friend and a legend by any measure. It’s the one and only, Mr. Tim Ferriss! Author of five #1 New York Times best sellers, including his most recent Tribe of Mentors, star of his own TV show The Tim Ferriss Experiment, and host of one of the most popular podcasts in the world, The Tim Ferriss Show which has over 300 million downloads to date.
In today’s episode, we focus on Tim’s shift from writing as a central pillar of creation to a world where his podcast is central to most of the other media he creates (books, videos, blog posts etc). To say that this episode is “rich” with insight would be a dramatic understatement. In this episode we tear into…
– WHO are his epic guests, how does he choose and land them?
– WHY is he focused on his podcast? There’s some really good reasons…
– HOW he does it…exactly what’s his workflow and key equipment
– WHEN / where and all the rest of it 😉
Tim also has mastered the ability to set a goal and break it down into small actions that make insanely huge goals seem reasonable. So we get tactical on goals he sets for himself around the show…and his life. We see a rarely before POV heard from Tim (I think he went deep here because we’ve been homies for about a decade) about his overarching life perspective about doing the things that bring you joy, and doing it in a way that’s easy. So whether you’re a classic “Tim” fan, interested in starting or growing your own podcast, OR just simply looking to do more of the things you love, this show is a must.
Enjoy!
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Some Questions I Asked:
- What’s the longest interview you’ve done? [7:05]
- How many downloads have you gotten on your podcast? [7:35]
- Why and how did you start your podcast? [9:00]
- How did you go from doing nothing to doing something? [13:35]
- What was your setup in the very beginning? [16:30]
- Where do you fall in preferring to do video for your podcasts vs strictly audio? [18:40]
- What do you currently use and how long did it take you to edit in the beginning? [22:00]
- What’s the rest of the process after you record it and pass it off to your team? [25:50]
- What were failures that you had in the beginning? [28:12]
- Question from audience: Is Stoic Coffeebreak too pigeonholed of a title? [36:36]
- What’s the arc of your podcast? [40:30]
- Question from audience: How much time do you dedicate to podcasting? [44:05]
- What is your process for curating guests? [55:30]
- How did you get your first sponsors? [56:00]
- How much time do you spend preparing for each interview? [56:40]
- Are there any other tricks that you’ve collected while making yourself a better interviewer? [58:06]
- Is there anything else that you want to share? [59:59]
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
- Tim says the ideal length of his own podcasts is between 1.5-2.5 hours. [7:15]
- How Tim realized that talk shows didn’t help him sell books, but being on Joe Rogan Experience, WTF with Marc Maron, and The Nerdist did. [9:15]
- Why Tim originally only committed to doing 6 episodes of his podcast. [12:00]
- Who says you have to publish your first few recordings? Do some dress rehearsals. [14:06]
- “If I only did the job I was qualified for, I’d be pushing a broom somewhere.” – Naval [15:35]
- Tim’s first gear set up was an Audio-Technica ATR2100 recording to Ecam Call Recorder. Total cost ~$100. [16:40]
- Why you should start podcasting via the phone or over Skype rather than in person. [17:20]
- Out of the 550,000 podcasts on iTunes, there are fewer than 500 that have 100,000 or more downloads per episode. [20:20]
- If you overcomplicate your podcast in the beginning, you’re likely to quit. [20:50]
- Tim’s recording and editing process, step by step. [22:24]
- “Once you get fancy, fancy gets broken.” – Morgan Spurlock [27:22]
- Pro tip: while recording, turn off any application that may autoupdate or offer notifications. [28:45]
- Tim’s live recording setup: Shure SM58>XLR cable>Zoom H6 recorder. [29:40]
- The most important piece of the podcast puzzle is to be different, not better. [30:54]
- Check out Kevin Kelly’s essay called “1,000 True Fans” and the book Blue Ocean Strategy for perspective on competition and your niche. [32:57]
- The best SEO is good content. [33:50]
- Check out an audience member’s podcast called Stoic Coffeebreak. [37:40]
- Check out Seth Godin’s new book, This is Marketing to learn how to think small. [41:50]
- How and why Tim batch records all of his podcasts. [46:15]
- Send your podcast guests a podcast prep document so they know what to expect and what you expect from them. [48:00]
- If you want to interview actors and celebrities, check out their movie release schedule on IMDB Pro and ask them to do media when they are already scheduled to do media. [51:50]
- Why and how you need to frame requests to potential podcast guests. Be in service to them. [53:12]
- How to start with a network of one. [54:30]
- Interview research hack; dig into Wikipedia citation links on your guest to find personal interests to talk about. [57:25]
- Cal Fussman’s advice to Tim on interviewing was “let the silence do the work.” [59:05]
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