I’m not a fan of social media. I don’t watch the news. It’s rare I watch anything on the telly (well, except the footie of course), but I do like to listen to audiobooks and podcasts. 

As a business owner (or just a human being!) we should never stop learning. We should always be looking for ways to improve ourselves and our businesses. But I am fussy. I’m not wasting my time listening to content that’s just regurgitated crap or a whole 4-hour book that could have been summarised in a 10-minute blog post. It’s got to be good. It’s got to be worth my time. For me, I like variety. Something where each episode is totally different, with an “Expert” on something sharing not only their life and business lessons, but their personal stories and experiences too. From entrepreneurs and top-level executives to biohackers, sports stars and psychologists. Real people with incredible stories, in a stripped bare, shares all kinda way. 

It’s not just me that likes a good podcast. Since their invention in 2003, podcasts have just grown in popularity, with over 464.7 million global listeners and over 96 billion hours listened to every year. But podcasts are just like anything else. Some are super successful, while others are left unlistened and unloved. 

So it got me thinking, what makes a podcast popular? Is it the guests? The format? The topics? Maybe it’s the deep and personal interview style or the snazzy editing? Perhaps there’s an element of luck? It only takes one episode to go viral these days and all of a sudden your channel is thrust into the feeds of millions of people. 

The truth is, it’s all of the above. With another magic ingredient added in. Strategy. The best podcasters in the world know that it’s not easy. You have to work hard testing content, tweaking things and optimising based on the results. They don’t leave it up to the algorithms to “pick them”, nor do they just upload their content and see what happens. The top podcasters do what all good business owners should do. They set a goal, then take the actions necessary to get where they want it to go, testing things, listening to what the data tells them and adjusting their approach as they go along. Strategy, not luck. 

So my real question is, when it comes to achieving your goals in business, are you taking daily, strategic actions that are certain to get you where you want to go? Or are you leaving it a little bit up to luck? Just something to think about… And let me know your thoughts? I do love to hear your ideas…