5 Years and 50M+ Views Later

Five years ago I launched the Win the Day podcast ??

But I wasn’t just a reluctant podcaster; I was an oblivious one.?

Up to that point, I’d focused on written content. However, audio content was an unstoppable force, and I could see how quickly the media landscape was consolidating.

Yet, my solution wasn’t to launch a podcast, since I didn’t even know what that entailed. Instead, my solution was to simply record an audio file of what I’d written and include that in the newsletter.

And that’s what I did. So, in March 2019, my newsletter went out with a link to listen to the audio file.

I hit ‘Send’.

Then it occurred to me…

I had created a podcast without even realizing it ??

For the next newsletter, I slapped together an intro and an outro, injected some music, and the Win the Day podcast was born.

I felt late to the party. Not fashionably late, but awkwardly late. Podcasters were already racking up millions of views, and for me to join the party at that stage felt like it would be a giant waste of time, money, and effort.

But I persisted.

Along the way, three questions swirled through my mind:

? How can I meet inspiring and influential people more often?

? How can I become friends with them?

? How can I build my own brand in the process?

The answer to all three was crystal clear. For the first time – one year after launching – I began to interview guests on my podcast.

In almost every instance, the people who appeared on the show were either great friends already or who have since become great friends. They are billion-dollar founders, #1 NY Times bestselling authors, Olympic gold medalists, special forces operators, medical experts, and more.

Podcasting has been the most effective, organic, and enjoyable networking experience I could possibly have imagined.

With every episode, I’ve focused on three things:

? How can I produce episodes faster?

? How can I improve the experience for the listener?

? How can I understand what my guest values, and then provide that value?

I started with zero preparation. Yet, I’ve outlasted many of the people who were dominating well before I got there – and my life has changed immeasurably as a result.

By now, hopefully the lessons are obvious…

Start.

Persist.

Elevate.

Give.

With that focus, anything is possible.

Five years, 178 episodes, and 50M+ views in, THANK YOU to everyone who has supported the Win the Day podcast. In many ways this is just the beginning...

Onward,

James

PS - If you'd like to exponentially increase your influence, join me this September at the 2024 Win the Day Mastermind in Los Angeles, California. Our first lineup of speakers has just been announced. Strictly limited to 40 people.