Microphone Money

Our guest today is a 4th generation farmer, and he is trying to reclaim a farming operation that was lost in his family so that the operation can go into the 5th and 6th generations and beyond.

Corey Strothman has an interesting story of growing up on his families farm and then his father having to stop farming independently and lease out their ground when Corey was ten years of age.  For about 22 years Corey's father actually farmed the family ground for another farmer who was leasing it from them.  Then, around the time that Corey was in his early 30's the opportunity arose for he and father to partner and start farming independently again.

This was not as simple as it sounds.  The land was there, but the equipment was not.  So, a lot of outside income was going to be required to get things up and running and return the operation to the productivity that it once had.  This required Corey to produce off-farm income.  Today, Corey's wife works in town, he is a John Deere mechanic full-time, and he is an independent distributor of agricultural and automotive products for a company called Conklin

There are a lot of reasons "why" your future clients should have a podcast to share their message.  In this episode of Microphone Money we will talk about what questions to answer for them, and the best ways to do this.  

I will also explain why this is the final episode.

A new podcast is not going to grow on its own.  Creating the show and publishing it is only about 10% of the work.  To get maximum growth, somebody is going to have to promote and market. 

Who is that person going to be - you or your custom podcasting client?  In this episode we will talk about how and when to deal with this issue.  

There are some small details that I failed to recognize in my first couple of custom podcasting contracts.  In today's episode I want to tell you what they were, and advise you on how to structure these details in your custom podcasting contracts.  

When you are negotiating a contract for a custom podcast with a client, the length of that contract is going to mean a lot to you.  With such a rapidly evolving business coupled with a lack of understand of how podcasting works, you need to really worry about this part of the contract to keep this a win/win situation.

The world's response to Covid-19 is unprecedented.  When it comes to how downturns are going to impact you in your future custom podcasting business, I am the canary in the coal mine for you.  

Today, I'll give you another status update on the business and help you to know what to expect when you are out on your own.

Sometimes clients are going to want you to be 100% exclusive with them, and other times there will be degrees of exclusivity that are either expressed or implied.  

In this episode we will talk about identifying those, what opportunities they could cause you to miss and how to charge clients for this opportunity cost.

I've had this topic on my list for a while, and considering our current circumstances with the coronavirus and what is happening with our economy, I thought now would be a good time to cover this.

Becoming a full-time podcaster is a crazy idea, and it is very unconventional.  And if this is what you are striving for, your spouse might have a lot of reservations.  And, considering our current circumstances, they might be right.  I have been speaking with advertising agencies as well as public relations firms since this crisis first began, and not one person has told me that marketing budgets get increased at times like these.

With that said, we are probably in a moment of producing content while we wait to see what is going to happen with the economy.  When the economy improves, we will be poised to really grow our businesses and go full-time.

I have always had contingency plans for my podcasting business because I have always known that clients will come and go, and that an economic downturn could really impact this business.  

While I haven't had any clients pull out yet, I am preparing for the worse during this Coronavirus outbreak.  Regardless of your opinion of our nation's response to this, the response is going to negatively impact our economy.  So, what can be done?  I'll explain to you what I am preparing for in this episode.

I know that you are probably in a hurry to get your custom podcasting business up and running and to change your lifestyle.  I don't blame you one bit.  However, there is an area of this business development where we need to slow down and play the long game. That is developing relationships with potential clients.

In this episode I want to tell you why it is so much more valuable to have a potential client on your show as a guest rather than just sending them a proposal.  I will break down the many positives aspects of this method.