Lessons Learned from Launching a Podcast for Athlete-Creators

That went by fast!

Thank you all for supporting this journey from 0 to 1 on Season 1 of New Game Labs.

There are 4 big lessons that I learned and want to share with athletes that want to get into podcasting.

So, let’s get straight into it:

Lesson 1: Finished Product vs. Conveyer Belt

The content-creator career path is relatively new, so for the short time it’s existed we’ve really seen one way of doing it: publish, publish, publish until you can’t anymore.

While it has led to a lot of creators reaching unimaginable audience heights, it has also led to creator burnout and creators having the career-longevity as short as a professional athlete.

I’ve always thought that we’ve had unrealistic production levels placed upon us. However, a benefit of the career path being so new means that there’s a lot of room for change.

To test new things, going into the New Game Labs podcast I set a goal to build a finished product of content instead of a conveyer belt of content.

A finished product in this setting just meant that I was doing a season based podcast, i.e. a set amount of episodes over a set period of time.

The conveyer belt was what I did with my first podcast, Court to Corporate. I started with the goal of producing weekly until an undefined end goal (spoiler alert: after crossing the 40 mark, it led to burnout).

This move has helped in so many ways.

I’ve been able to...

• Think about content more strategically and plan for where the brand is going instead of always planning for the next post.
• Establish healthier boundaries and relationship with my content.
• Spend?much more time on other priorities in my business, which is key in going from content-creator to content-entrepreneur.

So, do you want to build a finished product or conveyer belt? There’s no right answer, but just know you have options! Try asking yourself the question before you get into podcasting.

Lesson 2: New Podcast Models

Podcasts were one-dimensional for a long time, then short-form video came along. The format changed priorities for audiences, creators, and social media platforms.

This had a huge impact on podcasters and created a new formula for production: record with video, publish the audio on streaming platforms and video on YouTube,?then create a bunch of short-form video clips with the most important parts of the podcast to distribute across social media platforms.

This just made sense. It was a way to get more out of the content that you were already creating while also aligning with platform priorities. This was a no brainer to me too, and it's the formula I followed for Season 1.

While publishing, I realized something:?there was a new wave of creators and consumers that only interacted with podcasts short-form video first. They didn’t even publish/listen to a full episode. And honestly, they didn’t?need?to.

While there will always be a place for long form content in order to deepen a relationship with your audience, I think the shift to short-form is exciting for athletes that want to test podcasting.

If you're excited to get into podcasting, but not sure if you have the bandwidth to do so - explore solo podcasts, 60-second interviews, and other emerging short-form formats test the podcasting waters.

Lesson 3: Podcast With a Purpose

Today podcasts are common part of the brand roadmap for creators, athletes, and other talent.

Every one wants to launch podcast, but then everyone comes to learn that do it well and right — podcasts take a lot of work.

There’s so much more to it than recording an interview, downloading the video and clipping it. In between there are a lot of logistics, guest coordination, content management, interview preparation and more.

This isn’t to scare off new podcasters, it’s simply to re-emphasize the importance of?podcasting with a purpose.

The thing that I learned is that podcasting can serve different purposes for athletes depending on where they are in their creator journey. A few that come to mind are: driving brand awareness, driving product sales, networking, increasing revenue through brand sponsorships, and many more.

Going season 1 of New Game Labs, there was one purpose: brand awareness.

Keeping this purpose in mind, helped me stay focused on the execution path and make the work that went into well worth it .

And now for when season 2 comes, I already have a different purpose in mind now that the first box has been checked.

If you’re thinking about adding a podcast to your roadmap as a athlete, figure out what the purpose is and keep it?in scope as you go.

Lesson 4: Personal Brand to Media Brand

Podcasts are the best way to elevate your personal brand into a media brand.

It’s how you move from me to we.

For example, as a athlete you’re already publishing content about a passion, skillset, interest on your personal social media channels from your perspective.

Interview based podcast allow you to take this concept and expand it?by bringing in other perspectives. You get to build with other athletes or creators that share a passion, skillset, or interest and grow an audience that is bigger in yourself.

I’ve done this two ways — I’ve published content about athletes in business then started a podcast Court to Corporate to interview 40 others. I’ve also published insights and trends about athletes as creators then turned New Game Labs into a podcast and interview the people that were doing it.

Between each, there’s been so much power in bringing people together around a brand.

A common desire that athletes have is to turn their?passion into a platform. We all want to make something that we care about, bigger — into an outlet, a forum, or a brand. Podcasting is a great first step to accomplishing this.

That’s a wrap!

See you next week.

Kirby