Podcast Editor's Growth

 I recently shared my podcast editing business journey, and today I am going to share with you possibly the most crucial thing that I did to get my business on track.So, as I’ve shared on this podcast before, I really started getting serious about my business in late 2021. Things were going well, but in the summer of 2022, I reached a whole new level. I got super motivated in my business, and had tons of new ideas. One of those ideas was this podcast!Here is what changed everything: reading books that stretch my entrepreneurial mind. That’s it. But it wasn’t just reading these books that grew my mind, it was what I did with this knowledge from these books. I like to think that there are three levels of growing yourself through books. Level one is just reading these books. While a lot of the information might just be going in one ear and out the other, you are still feeding your mind with business-healthy food. This alone will grow you so much!Level two is reading these books, but while reading them, take notes on everything that stands out to you. Writing things down significantly increases the amount you will remember from any given book. So now, you are not just feeding your mind business-healthy food, but you are retaining a lot more by just taking notes on it!Level three is the big one. It takes guts to do, and can really get you out of your comfort zone, but the benefits can be unparalleled. Here it is. Do everything in level one and level two. Basically making a point to read smart entrepreneurial books, and also taking notes on them. Then, once you have finished the book, go back to your notes and choose one key takeaway from the book. Now, apply it to your business. That can be hard, but it is totally worth it! You will have astronomical results!By building consistency in this habit, you begin to incrementally level up your business to a place that you never thought it could go! So I encourage you, find some solid books teaching business mindset, and start reading today! It will be worth it.

 Starting a podcast editing business might seem like a lot, but if you really take a look at what you need, it is not actually that much!To start a podcast editing business, you need three things. First you need a way to get customers. A business is not a business without them! Second, you need a DAW, or a digital audio workstation. This is your editing software that enables you to make the edits you need to make. Finally, you need editing skill. This takes time to develop, but it is what your entire business is based upon.Let’s start with the first thing, getting customers. Getting customers and building your customer base can be divided into two parts. You might have heard of them. They are called marketing and sales. Nowadays, a lot of people are throwing these terms around, without really knowing what they mean. Simply put, marketing is sending your message to your ideal clients. This can be done by just reaching out on social media, or through advertisements. Marketing is very important, because to get more customers, potential customers have to know that you exist! The next part is sales. Sales is turning those people who are interested in what you do, into clients. This might involve getting on a Zoom call with them, or even meeting with them in person to discuss what you do. If you don't do sales or marketing, it will be very hard to get new customers.Here is how I get new customers. First, I find an ideal client that I would want to work for. Then I reach out to them, either through Facebook or Email, and send them an audit of their podcast. What I do for these audits is simple. I take a two to three minute clip of their podcast, and I record myself showing what edits I would make, and what it sounds like afterwards. That is how I get myself out there to my ideal clients. Then, if the podcaster in interested, I get on a Zoom call with them to discuss what my services are, and how much I charge. It up to them to decide if they want to work with me. That’s it!Now the second thing, your DAW. I shouldn’t have to explain why you need editing software. It’s impossible to edit without it! There are a lot of options out there, but here are a few that might work for you. Audacity is a free option (It’s also what I use). It has plenty of features, and right now is all that I need for editing. Another is Hindenburg. It is a solid DAW, but it’s not free. It costs $400 for a one time purchase, or $10/month. And there is also Premier Pro. Premier is like the top of all DAWs, but might not be worth the $20/month to use it. Choosing a DAW is really up to you, and I highly recommend that you do your research on them.Moving on to the last thing, editing skill. Being able to edit a podcast is a skill that develops over time. It takes time, effort, and a lot of practice. Here is what I recommend: Spend some time in YouTube academy. Watch other people do their thing, and try it for yourself. Get some practice audio clips and do your best to edit them. Once you feel like you can do some editing, offer to edit a friend’s podcast for free, and then ask for their feedback. This is a huge way to get better. Here’s the thing though. You won’t ever feel like you are a good editor, and that is alright. Never stop learning and practicing, and when you feel confident enough, find a client and start working for them! Then find another and another, and you will find that you have a legit podcast editing business!

 There is a story in a book called Acres of Diamonds by Russell Conwell. It is only a small story, but within it lies a huge lesson. Here is the story:There is a small convenience store in Philadelphia that is being run by a young clerk. This store seemed to have everything in stock that was under the sun. One day, a man came into the store and asked the clerk, “Do you have jackknives?” The clerk answered that he did not have any jackknives. He then bid the gentleman a good day. Not long after, another man entered the store and inquired to see if there were any jackknives in stock. The clerk again answered that he had none, and sent the man away. A third time a man entered the store looking for jackknives, and again the clerk turned him away, saying, “I am very sorry, but we do not sell jackknives.”This is a very simple story. The clerk did not do anything wrong in not having jackknives in stock, but imagine if he would have had a little more business sense. In this scenario, two men would come to his store looking for jackknives, both on the same day. The clerk would have then thought, “If two people today have already asked for jackknives, maybe I should get them in stock!” Next, the young clerk would have gone out, and got jackknives for the store. Now, when the third man comes, the store does indeed sell jackknives! This third man would buy the jackknife, and go on his way. It might seem like a lot to go out and get jackknives for your business, but think about this. The clerk made a small profit on that one jackknife he sold. If three people came looking for jackknives on a single day, imagine how many jackknives would sell in a year! And don’t just look at the potential profit this could make, but think about all the new, happy customers that will now come to your business because you had the thing that they were looking for!Looking back, just taking that action to get jackknives in stock would have created lots of profit, along with many new customers!Like I said, it is a small story, with a big lesson.An example of this in my business, is that multiple people have asked me if I do video editing along with my podcast editing business. I had to answer that I did not, but now I see that there is a need for this in my market. If I supply this need of video editing, I have the potential to make lots more profit, and many more new customers!So what is your jackknife? What is something that people are consistently asking you to do, that you cannot supply yet. Take that action, and sell your jackknife!

 What would you rather have?A million dollars right now, or a single penny doubled for a month?I think that most people would just take their million and run with it, but they do this without taking a look at the small penny. Sure, it is almost worthless at first, but every single day it doubles. If you were to take the penny in this question, on the first day you would have a grand total of $0.01. And on the next day, you would still only have $0.02. A week passes, and you still only have $0.64. Another week passes, and while the person that took the million is spending it on all sorts of awesome things, you only have $81.92. A far cry from the million. Even after three weeks you only have $10,485.76, compared to the one million dollars. As you near the end of the last week of the month, you have $671,088.64. With only four days left, you realize you could have chosen to get a million dollars, instead of just getting close to that. And it took a whole month too! It’s in the last couple of days that the magic really happens. In those four days, your penny goes from $671,088.64 to $10,737,418.24!It now makes sense to choose the penny doubled. You look back to see that the seemingly insignificant pennies that multiplied in the first week, turned into ten million in a month. It was the small consistent action over a long time that created the HUGE results!It is like this in life too. The small actions that you choose to take on a daily basis, will create huge results! For example, if you want to really get in shape, you don't work out five hours a day for a week. That will just leave you tired, and still not in shape. To really make a difference, work out for a short time every day for a year. There WILL be results. Continue this for five years and ten years, and you are somewhere that you could have never dreamed to be.Apply this to every area of your life. What big results do you need in your life? Instead of trying to do something enormous and end up burning yourself you, find the small consistent actions that you can do to create that result. 

 I am the oldest of five children in my family. I grew up in a Christian, entrepreneurial home, and I have both of those values ingrained in my life. I have had businesses from a young age. The first of these was a trash can business that I started at 11. There I took people's trash cans to the curb and back weekly. From there I tried multiple other businesses, like computer repair and ecommerce, until I found podcast editing.I started as my dad’s podcast editor in late 2019 when he first started his podcast. I never thought it would amount to anything more than just another job from dad. I was very wrong. In late 2020, I finally became serious about this business and brought on two clients in quick succession. I was still on the fence a bit about the commitment though, and both clients quit their podcasts, and therefore ended my services. This all happened within 12 months. After this, I doubted if I really wanted to continue in this business, but in 2021, I fully committed. I was not able to find any new clients right away, but I wanted to. In early 2022, I brought on my new  first new client since I became committed. Everything went great, and just a few months later I brought on two more clients. I now had a grand total of four clients. This was amazing! I also started attending podcasting conferences to hone in on developing my skills. This past may, I went to Podfest in Orlando, Florida. It was an incredible conference, and I will share all about it in a future episode. Also, I just got back from Podcast Movement in Dallas, Texas. It was so much fun!I have some BIG goals too. In the next five years, I want to go from a small, solo podcast editing business to a fully delegated podcast editing company making a comfortable living income for myself. I want to use all of this money made through the business to buy a real estate property to rent it out for passive income. This will be the first of many properties too, because I have a passion for real estate!So far this has been an amazing business journey, and I am so excited to bring you along with me for everything yet to come!

Welcome to the Podcast Editors Growth Show!My name is Kenny Carfagno. I am a teenage podcast editor, and I am going into my last year of High School. I have been running a podcast editing business called Outsource Your Podcast for almost three years, and I have learned a lot through that process.Although I have been editing for a while now, this whole podcasting thing is new for me. I wanted to create a show for young podcast editors, like me. I want to share all the knowledge and mindset that I have gained with you, and I want to teach you the lessons I have learned through my own podcast editing business. Also, while running this business, I have had many pitfalls and distractions along the way, and I want to help you stay clear of them. My goal is for YOUR success!My plan right now is to have one episode every Wednesday, so that there is something new that you can learn every week!I cannot wait to see where this podcasting journey leads us!