508. Why Going Viral Won’t Save Your Podcast

Marc Ronick  0:00  
Foreign

Marc Ronick  0:05  
Good morning podcasters. Today is Friday, May the first 2026 and today, what if the breakthrough you're waiting for is actually the thing distracting you? We're talking about viral moments, slow progress and the quiet improvements that may be building something bigger than you realize. So if you're listening live on clubhouse, hit the share button top right hand side of the screen and share it however clubhouse lets you. And if you're catching us via podcast, YouTube, etc, please share this episode with a fellow podcaster. And now give us about 30 seconds, we'll get things rolling. Thanks for being here. The podcasting morning chat is powered by ironic media helping podcasters launch polish and grow great shows, and by content creators. Accountant helping creators build real business behind their content. Good morning again. Podcasting morning chat. Thank you so much for being here. I am your host, Mark Ronick and currently on stage with me. My co hosts. We have DR Fay, Ralph Estep, Sid Meadows, Alex Ballish, also from the audience, Tide aka Knikki, is on stage with us this morning. I think we will see more of the cast and crew. Momentarily want to first dig into something important if you want to catch us live on Monday, our new time is 8am Eastern. And I wanted to also tell you that the best way to connect with us on Monday might be for you to first go to at, let's say 758 in the morning, and you're ready to join us. Go to podcasting morning show.com/join, US, and that'll give you the options. And the reason why I'm urging you to do it that way is just in case you subscribe to my YouTube channel, because we're moving the morning show from my current YouTube channel to my old YouTube channel, which we've rebranded podcasting morning show. So and if you want a little sneak peek at that again, you can go to podcasting morning show.com/join, us or youtube.com/at. Podcasting morning show, and you can get a little sneak peek at the new layout, the new logo, etc. So, yeah, that's happening, and we're doing that because we think it's going to help us get more guests. It's going to help get more eyes and ears on this show. And we're really excited about it. The one, the one downside, really, is that, although he's not here at the moment is that Nick Nalbach won't be able to join us as frequently as he used to, because, as some of you know who've been listening for a while, Nick is usually on the phone with us as he's commuting into the office between or during that seven to 8am hour. So he'll be at work at 8am when we get started. So he said he's gonna certainly join and listen. He's gonna also join the stage when he can, but it's gonna be a little more challenging for him, and he's not going away because we're gonna be doing some other projects with the podcasting Morning Show involving Nick but it just means we won't hear his voice as much here in the mornings. But yeah,

DR  3:41  
and also my eggs will have already been made.

Marc Ronick  3:43  
That's right, we can no longer say. Dr, has taken a break to go cook some eggs. Yeah, we're gonna have to find something else for you. Dr, another thing to rest our hats on with you. All right, no problem. Change is good. I'm trying to remind myself that change is good. All right. Well, we got more to share with you down the road here today, but we have a full show for you, including wins from this past week, which we'll do toward the end of the show today, we're talking about the idea that most podcasters are waiting for the wrong kind of breakthrough. A lot of creators hope for one viral clip, right? Or maybe it's one perfect guest, or it's one huge episode, or maybe it's that algorithm moment that suddenly changes everything, but shows that last are really built through consistent improvement, in my opinion, you know, getting a little clearer, a little sharper, a little more confident, a little more connected over time. So before we get into the wins, we're going to talk about what real progress actually looks like, how to recognize it, and maybe why the small improvements may matter. More than the big moment that everyone, well, I say everyone, but that a lot of us keeps hoping for. So I'll start with a question, what does going viral even mean when we're talking about podcasters and podcasting? What does going viral really mean? Because we throw that term around a lot, and I really feel like, in my opinion, most of the time, that's really being applied to social media. But as podcasters, I've heard people talk about wanting to go viral, or even maybe in more podcaster terms, they want to get more downloads, lots of downloads. I want that moment where I get lots of downloads. But what does it mean to you going viral for a podcast specifically? Would anybody be willing to chime in? Ralph,

Ralph Estep Jr.  5:47  
sure. I'll jump in. Good morning, everybody. So for me, you're right. I think in a lot of ways, we kind of have this misnomer that this is a social media thing, and for the podcasting it's a little more complicated. I think I'll tell you, when I felt like I went viral on my YouTube channel was when I had a particular short that hit 5 million views. To me, that was the definition of going viral, because it was something to just kind of took off, and it just seemed like it just exploded. So I guess if we want to talk about virility, you know, that's the thing. Like you get that sickness all of a sudden, it just hits you. You know, it's kind of a negative way to look at it. You know, the problem is Mark I and I'll tie this back in the money. I think sometimes people, I think, use the word going viral to be like, Cha Ching, Cha Ching, cha ching. And I worry sometimes that's what they think is the only way to make money. And so there are many other ways to make money with your show, but sometimes, for me, I hear the word viral, and initially I see dollar signs, because I think a lot of people associate those two things together.

Marc Ronick  6:47  
I think you hit the nail on the head. At least, in my opinion, I agree with you. I think that that's a big reason why people hope they're going to go viral. Is for the money aspect of it, yeah, and I know Dr and BC both want to chime in, and I'm going to our guest on the stage. First, Nikki, I saw you had put something in the chat and wanted you to chime in out loud here on stage. Are you free to do that?

Knikki  7:12  
Oh yeah, no. Thank you. I appreciate it. I was just putting it in the chat because I didn't want to. I wanted to make sure everybody else got a chance to share. But I was just going to say that for me going viral. Of course, we all know that the meaning of that refers to content that has just achieved some level of explosive growth, and that's awesome. So maybe a video or something you put out that you least expected had some sort of magic to it, and people really latched onto it, and they loved it, and then all of a sudden, you go to bed one night and you wake up and you wake up and you got 100,000 followers and stuff. So, I mean, it can, it can really mean all of that. But for me, going viral has always meant just being consistent. So when an opportunity arrives, you're prepared, because it's better to not have an opportunity and be prepared than to have an opportunity and not be prepared, if that makes sense. Yeah,

Marc Ronick  8:02  
I think it makes a lot of sense. And I think even myself included, I don't think I'm prepared for a viral moment, and maybe we should get into that in a moment as well. But I really think there is a mentality involved if you're going to go viral, there's there's a mindset you need, I believe, if you're going to go viral, because a lot can happen. So we'll maybe we'll dig into that a little bit too. First, I wanted to read John's comment about what it means to go viral in the realm of podcasting. John says it's when you get a rocket ship spike from when your episode is shared by a group of people sure that in podcasting terms, makes sense to me, let's go to Dr. Because Dr was flashing that hot pepper to get my attention multiple times here on stage. Go for

Marc Ronick  8:51  
it.

DR  8:52  
So when it comes to a podcast, not withstanding Ralph's story about all the views that he got, I think it really comes down to the guest saying something unexpected explosive, because when you're a host, you're pretty consistent. I mean, you're consistent for your audience. Your audience knows you. They feel comfortable with you. Everything is a little bit predictable when it comes to you hosting the show, but when it's a viral moment that's really on the guest to say something unexpected, outlandish, and maybe even it has something to do with your reaction to what that guest says,

Marc Ronick  9:35  
and so that so you're saying basically That because of whatever that controversial moment was, or that really insightful moment you're saying that then could lead to the viral moment is what you're saying. Yeah,

DR  9:50  
right, and this also is a good reason to take those improv lessons as well, because it's going to help you handle those unexpected. Good moment,

Marc Ronick  10:00  
sure. Yeah, no doubt I appreciate that. And you know, I was thinking about John's comment too, and I'm wondering, you know, I think a lot of us, this is just a little sidebar, if you will. But you know, we talk about going viral, but to some of us, that might just mean going viral with our own content. In other words, it might not mean you're getting 1000s or millions of downloads or views, but it might mean you got a personal spike right, like, maybe you get 100 downloads and then all of a sudden, one episode gets 2000 right? That, I think that sometimes we'll throw around that terminology, say, oh, that episode went viral. But, you know, I think in true definition, viral really means universally, you know, 1000s or millions of views and downloads.

Marc Ronick  10:51  
Yeah,

Marc Ronick  10:52  
I'm just throwing that out there. It was just a thought I had, and BC you wanted to chime in, go for it,

BC Babbles  10:57  
yeah, and I really appreciate the caveat that Ralph brought in earlier, good morning everyone. And so I thought of like, you know, Brittany broski, you know, she, for the first time, went quote, viral because of a funny reaction she had to eating kombucha for the first time back in 2019 but she took the trajectory that initial moment gave her. She launched her first podcast, the broski report, and then she's now got building that up now to have the Royal Court, which has crazy numbers. It's got, like, viral quote numbers, but now on a consistent basis. So I think it's a real awesome opportunity, if you have the mindset to harness what kind of momentum you get from that first hit.

Marc Ronick  11:41  
Yeah, fair enough. BC, thank you. I appreciate that, and I'm gonna go to Billy. Billy joined us on stage. Billy, did you want to add to this, or did you want to answer the question, what is going viral even mean for a podcast?

Billi  11:53  
Oh, for a podcast, that'd be hard to answer. I don't know if I've really I'll say this, I guess. Let me click my thoughts here. None of this stuff, if you really look into it, and kind of to BCS point, most of the stuff is planned. It's all produced. Like, I listen to Theo von's podcast and watch it on YouTube on occasion, and I always just thought, like, Man, this guy's brain. He's just zinging these jokes out. And, I mean, he's just a really witty dude. And then I watched another podcast where it was like, about a podcast studio, and they're like, Oh yeah, he came in and he had his guests and all this. But he was like, back in the back, like, pre writing all these jokes, and then through the conversation, it was interesting to see these jokes come out in the show, and how he would, like, guide the conversation to that. And so sure, I've had a video go viral about a product. It was an 18 pound coffee mug, got millions of views and but it wasn't the people I wanted. It's like, I'm never engaged with that audience ever again, because I'm like, it was a bunch of meat heads that were just making fun of how little my arms were and how my dog was breathing and all kinds of stuff. And I think we forget the work that goes behind virality, and what we call virality, so we'll see stuff to PC's point, kind of popping off over and over again. And maybe that first one was accidental, but the odds of that just being an accidental viral moment, that's pretty slim, if you get behind the if you get behind the curtain a lot, and especially these bigger shows, all this stuff is planned. They got producers, they got conversations, they get talking points. And it is just like any other TV production or movie production, and it's the people like me who go, Oh, my God, this person's so smart, and then you didn't realize he's got 10 people behind the scenes, you know, making this thing happen.

Marc Ronick  13:42  
Yep, yep. It's definitely an advantage. Having a team. It can certainly make you look and sound a lot more polished, a lot smarter. I agree with you there, Billy, thank you. And I saw a lot of people were agreeing with you here as well. And tide put here in the chat, I think of it sort of like the word fertility. If you're fertile, you have the capacity to achieve pregnancy. If you're viral you have the capacity to achieve virality. It's more of a state of being. For me. Says, tide, yeah, I like that. That analogy, that works for me. So yeah, I appreciate what Billy was saying, because I think maybe that this is a good place to dig in to some of this idea of, you know, it's, it's kind of like the hard work behind what you're doing. That's where I think we really can shine, where we really improve, and really, I think that's where we should be focusing on. So keep that in mind. I'm going to go to Alex first and then Sid, because I know Alex wanted to chime in on some of this conversation that we've been having. Go ahead, Alex,

Alex  14:47  
Hey, good morning. Two things, you know, Billy makes a great point. And the point is, you have to create the environment if you know your guest, if you know your situation, we I try. To do this with my what is from podcast? You know, we're gonna we're gonna have a celebrity guest. We want to ask them the right question, to get the right moment and and that's when you hope it works. It's just funny, because it's so frustrating the algorithms. I know this is Instagram. It's not really podcast related, but I'll do a post on Instagram with one of Lucy's things for lacrosse. And it's like a day to day thing. I tag one person. It's like 2000 views. I don't tag her. It's like 400 or 200 and it's just so frustrating. And if there's no rhyme or reason to it, but it just it is what it is. But you have to create those moments. You have to pre, you know, you have to set it up so that it will happen. I think that's the most important thing.

Marc Ronick  15:47  
Yeah, thank you, Alex. And yeah, you know, look, the logical way to look at that is, yeah, of course, it's going to improve your views on Instagram if you add a collaborator, because you're now getting in front of their audience as well. So that and look, that can be a strategy. You know, I think that's a good strategy. Love that whenever I post content on this show, I like involving other people and other voices and then tagging them on social media or adding them as a collaborator. Because, because of that strategy, I think it works well. So it's not necessarily a bad thing. But yes, I agree, it's frustrating.

Alex  16:22  
Yeah, no, because, I mean, I literally had something that was posted on USA lacrosse, 67,000 views, whatever it was, a great I have the same post on my Instagram, and it's got, like, a couple, not even 1000 and it's the same exact video. So, I mean, I know that's why people go pretty but I know Sid had something to chime

Marc Ronick  16:43  
in. Yeah, go ahead. Sid, good morning.

Sid Meadows  16:45  
Morning, everybody. So to answer the question, I think going viral is a spike in numbers. Listens, download, views, whatever it is you're posting. It's a spike. It's a big spike. And on the surface, I think that spike feels good. Oh, wow. This hit. This is exciting. I got 10 million views, whatever, right? And I think it's exciting. I don't think it leads to anything. In fact, I think if going viral is your strategy, you need to rethink your strategy, because it's nearly not a strategy. And for me, I don't want to go viral. I could care less about it. I do not post my podcast. I don't produce my podcast. I don't post on LinkedIn or Instagram, even with the minuscule thought of going viral, I post and I create content with the intent to help one person, so one person in their life or in their business, and that's my goal. And if I keep doing that, I will be viral in my own world, but I'm not looking for confirmation from 10 million people that they like my content or they read my content, because that's not who I am and that's not what I'm after. So I would just say to you, if your goal is to go viral and that's your strategy, I think you really need to rethink what you're what you're doing and why you're doing it,

Marc Ronick  17:59  
fair points, and I'm curious. Sid, so what would happen if you did go viral,

Alex  18:05  
like become Billy,

Sid Meadows  18:06  
God help us

Marc Ronick  18:08  
all.

Sid Meadows  18:08  
So you could say I kind of went viral on Tiktok, on book talk, when I had like, almost 50,000 views of a book review that I

Marc Ronick  18:15  
did.

Sid Meadows  18:15  
I mean, that was just me sharing content about a book that I read. That book has nothing to do with my business, has nothing to do with my other content has nothing content has nothing to do with my podcast. So, I mean, I guess you could say it went viral. I don't know if that qualifies as viral, but, I mean, what would happen if I went viral? Okay, I had something that popped off. That's great. It popped off. The goal would be to try to figure out how to repeat that content. Like, what was it that got people to really engage or really like that content, and how do I repeat that content so that I get more listeners? Because the end of the day, I don't want to go viral. I want more people listening to my show. I want more followers of my show. I want more people. I want my consumption rate to go through the roof on every episode. That's what I want, because that helps my show, that helps my mission, that helps my message, that helps my sponsors, when more people are consuming my content, rather than consuming one piece of my content. So for me, Mark, I honestly, other than looking at what made that go viral, that I would do anything or that anything would actually happen.

Marc Ronick  19:16  
Okay, fair enough. Ralph, I think wanted to comment with maybe a little contrasting point of view.

Ralph Estep Jr.  19:21  
Yeah, so I can speak to personal experience with this. When I had that clip go viral, it actually worked great for me, because it put me in front of audiences that didn't know who I was, and it's grown my youtube channel to over 350,000 subscribers. So I think in that case, it actually works because it exposes people that otherwise would not have gotten exposed to you. Because if you think about the algorithm behind that, when something is getting a lot of play, they're going to serve it to more people, because they're trying to keep people on platform. Well, if you get yourself in front of other people, there's a more there's a bigger chance that you're somebody else is going to see you to subscribe to. You and all of those sort of things. So I don't mean to be, you know, sort of counter intuitive here, but there is an opportunity there, if you recognize what to do with it when it happens. And that's what I was able to do.

Marc Ronick  20:12  
Ralph, wasn't that particular clip you're referring to that went viral? Wasn't that, though, more in line with the content that you talk about, like because I think that's what Sid was saying, is that his viral moment had nothing to do with, really, his business, his podcast, or anything like that. So, and I'm curious, was that

Ralph Estep Jr.  20:32  
different? No, absolutely. It was definitely in line with what I talk about. So, but that, and that's the cool thing, is why it worked for me, because it was in line with who I am, my beliefs and all that sort of thing. So when people saw that, they're like, Oh, I got to listen to this guy, because he feels the same way I do. And that's where I think virality works, is if it lines up with who you are and where you're trying to drive the bus of content, then it works. I think if it's something ancillary to that, then I agree with Sid, it doesn't work, and it's just noise.

Marc Ronick  21:01  
Thank you, Ralph, yeah, go ahead. Sid,

Sid Meadows  21:04  
actually, I agree with Ralph, right? The fact that you had content that is core to your message and core to your platform and core to your show, that popped off and it brought people into your ecosystem, that's a really great result of going viral. That's not what happens when most people go viral? Most people go viral for these idiotic things, right? We've all seen the hot to a lady and whoever was mentioned earlier, right? I mean, I mean, but, but for me again, it's, it's not my strategy. My strategy is not to go viral. And I think that's where people want to go viral, because there's this, there's this mindset that going viral means immediate success, and that's not true. You got to put in the reps. You got to do the work, right, and you got to do the work, and it's gonna take Ralph, how many episodes did you post where you had that one viral moment, and then even after that, how much extra work did you have to do to be sure that you're being consistent? To keep those people, because they came, they liked, they followed. Now you got to keep them, right? So you

Marc Ronick  21:59  
got to cater to them.

Sid Meadows  22:00  
Yeah, you got it. You got to keep them. So there's a lot of work that goes along with this. So I think if your goal and your strategy is to go viral, you need to rethink that. That's my message. Mark,

Ralph Estep Jr.  22:10  
well, and I'll counter that a little bit. Sid, you're right. It takes a lot of work, but I think there is an intentionality in going viral. I just hired a publicist with that intention. The intention is to put me in in front of as many people as I can get in front of. So if you have an intention of, that's where you're trying to go, and all your content backs that up, that's fine, but I agree with you. Sid, at the same point, if you're just trying to, you know, strike a match real quick and something blows up, I think that's a very bad way to do content. But if your content engine is here's what I want to do. I want to get in front of more people. Then I think there is a lot of validity in trying to go viral. I don't think it's a bad strategy, as long as you understand you're going to have to keep fueling the pump for that, because it's a 15 minutes of fame and you're done. All

Sid Meadows  22:57  
right, I want to ask you a question, and then Mark, I'll shut up. Getting hiring a publicist is a great idea. I've been interviewing them myself and have for a couple of months. Actually,

Marc Ronick  23:06  
we're going to have one join us here. Great in a couple of weeks.

Sid Meadows  23:09  
Getting in front of more people is not necessarily correlated to going viral. The two are different. Now. They can happen together. But my goal to get in front of more people, to be on more stages, to, you know, get in on more podcasts, to be on other people's show. Getting that access right by hiring a public publicist is great. That doesn't necessarily mean you're going to go viral,

Ralph Estep Jr.  23:34  
yeah. But Sid, when I say viral, think about it like the coronavirus. One person got it and then another person got it, and then another person got it, and it spread from there. So if you want to define virality as like this, overnight success, I would agree with you. But if you want to define virality is your message is being exposed to more people, one by one, and then that person talks to two people, and those two people talk to two people, that's what I mean when I say defining virality. And I think that's healthy virality. I think the problem is we believe in this. Oh, I got 10 million views on this one thing, and that's viral. My option, my thing is, look at it a different way. Sid, I think you and I are very much on the same page, by the way. Sid, is that growing one by one? But I think there's a virality in that. Okay,

Sid Meadows  24:17  
your definition, I'm sorry, I'm gonna shut up now. Mark, your definition of viral is different than what I believe most people think what going viral actually means

Alex  24:27  
absolutely Sid, you're I'm with you 1,000%

Marc Ronick  24:30  
okay.

Ralph Estep Jr.  24:31  
And that's kind of the whole point. Actually is because if we change the definition of what it is, then the independent podcaster can think of virality and say, Oh, I can live in virality. I can get there, if I look at it, a one by one growth listener that goes and spreads the message to somebody else and somebody else. That's kind of the whole point of today's discussion. I think Mark right is that we want to look at a win, that it doesn't mean that you have this overnight success with 10 million views. Means is your message reaching more and more people. And I think if we divine virality like that, then we, we really all can get to that.

Marc Ronick  25:07  
Thank you, Ralph, and thank you, Sid, yeah, you know, look, I think, well, first of all, I know Rocky was here in the audience, and I'm trying to bring you up on stage. Rocky. Let me try it again. I know Rocky. Okay, yes, there's Rocky. Rocky was joining us from the audience, and I'll just to give everybody a little catch up. Here is rocky put in the chat, among other things that have been really helpful. One of the things rocky put in the chat was, doesn't matter why you go viral, if it leads to a link and audience growth to perfect okay, well, I think what Rocky's trying to say there is it doesn't matter, because it can still help you, regardless if they're the quote, unquote right people. And I disagreed with that because, look, I can't disagree with it from experience, because I haven't really had, I mean, I've had several videos that go 10s of 1000s, but that's been far and few between from the people I know that have had big viral moments a lot of times when it's an accidental viral moment, right? Like SIDS with the book thing that has nothing to do with what he's doing. What a lot of people have told me is, is, yeah, you get this little bump and it lasts for a short period of time, but then people start leaving because you're they came for the content that was viral, and then they're seeing that the rest of your content has nothing to do with them or their or their interests, so they go away, or they don't care about your content, they don't watch your content. And then the algorithm says up, this person's making crappy content, so we're not pushing it out anymore. So it can have its drawbacks, too. So with all that said, Rocky has joined us on stage. Rocky, good morning. Welcome to the stage. And what did you want to add to this?

Rocky  26:54  
Yes, good morning. Great morning. I love the back and forth, amazing, amazing points. So for some context, I've been a social media manager for 12 years, and I've seen it always with virality. I love the points that Sid made. It has to be something with intentional. I've had clients that have went viral and then they're like, now what? Because they're not set up. But I've also had a client go viral with 5.5 million views, and it greatly grew her business because we had the intention behind it. It grew her newsletter. It grew her ability to start working internationally. Now the point that I made in the chat about how increasing going viral, it doesn't matter what you post. There's so many different factors. There's businesses, there's content creators, there's it depends on the platform. So the example I was using was, I have a full business, but I also consider myself to be a content creator. So if I go viral on Tiktok, and I have a Tiktok shop along with my marketing agency that I promote there, when I go viral off of, you know, Tiktok is one of those platforms where you don't even have to have, like, a specific niche. The fact that I go viral all the time, it does help to increase my income and increase my discoverability, as well as my audience. And I am real big on universal marketing and then niching down. So if you go viral and you hit, say, 5 million followers, I guarantee at least maybe 3000 3 million, we'll say 3 million. Or the percentage is going to keep shrinking down to where you can find that niche, versus you going to, you know, only getting 200 views and pulling two or three people out of it. So I'm just a huge believer in that virality. There's somebody in there that will resonate with you. There's no way that you're going to go that viral. And no one in that bucket resonates with you, your business or your audience. Now you keep up with that is very, very hard. However, your people are there, and when you go viral, it just gives you a bigger opportunity to be connected to those people. But you have to be consistent, and you have to have a strategy and intention behind it. So that's my point. And back to you,

Marc Ronick  28:52  
Hey, Rocky, thank you. I really appreciate that take. And by the way, just added you as a friend here on clubhouse. Yeah, I appreciate what you're saying there, and I think really, the message that I'm getting from everything you're sharing is if, whether or not we're even trying to go viral, there's a chance that we can, and therefore being properly prepared for that viral moment makes a lot of sense. In other words, like you said, you had a Tiktok shop already running and ready to go, and that's where you could take in this situation, you could take advantage of that viral moment. Maybe somebody else is an Amazon influencer, Hi, Billy. You know, it's those kinds of things that, yeah, we prepare for now, and maybe, maybe they're not doing much for us now, but when we have that moment, then all of a sudden that Tiktok shop, in Rocky's case, is going to be a lot more advantageous. It's going to be a lot more lucrative. So yeah, I appreciate that rocky being prepared for those viral moments is also really important. And what I wanted to share about this actually, I have something I really want to share, and it's really about the opposite of being prepared. It's more. About how it can really be a distraction. I'll start with that, but I'm going to bite my tongue for a second, because I do want to remind everybody that we do a Spotlight Series. This is something brand new that we've started just this week, and we're going to go public with it next week, but we've wanted to just keep this for the community here this first week of the announcement. So if you want your podcast featured on the podcasting morning show as of Monday, you can submit a 62nd clip about your show, something that gives people a real feel for what the podcast is all about. And then if we select it, we'll play your clip. It can be audio or video on a future episode of this show. We'll share what stood out to us. We'll introduce your show to our community of podcasters and content creators. So submit your clip now at podcasting morning show, dot spotlight or podcasting morning chat.com/spotlight, either one should work, by the way, this was Ralph's little brain child that I'm really excited about. I like to give him credit where credit is due. So thank you for coming up with this idea. Really a great community builder. I think so. Again, podcasting for now, podcasting, morning chat, comm slash spotlight. Okay, so what I wanted to talk about real quick, and then we do have to leave a little time to share our wins from this past week, because it is Friday, but I wanted to talk about where I think wanting to go viral has hurt me, and I gotta say, it's not necessarily that when I put out my content, I'm hoping millions of people view it like I'm not going for that kind of viral moment. But over the really past few years, as I've gotten into content creation on social media, I think I've gotten almost obsessed with it, quietly obsessed, and to the point where I think it's hurt me, it's hurt my business, because I've gotten so focused on, how do I get more views on this video, and what I end up what's and then the downside of that is then I start creating content more about getting the views than I do about serving right? And I do want to say all the content I always try to put out. I do have it in mind that I want it to be valuable. But the problem is, is that okay? I find that valuable moment, but then I am spending too much time trying to tweak it so that the right people find it, or the right people stay on my video. Oh, that hook sucks. I got to try something else, and then I'm banging my head against the wall trying to figure out how to make it work better. Quote, unquote. And now I've gotten better about it being a distraction, but really not until, let's say, maybe last year did I really create that awareness around it and start caring less about all of the little tips and tricks around how to make a viral moment. But again, it really hurt me, and now I'm climbing out of a hole because of it. I mean, sure, there are probably other things. There are other things too that's put me in this hole, but that is a big one. You know, sometimes I was at the point where it's like I may not have accomplished anything else that day for my business, but spent a few hours on trying to make a viral piece of content that maybe ended up only getting me a couple 100 views. So I think there we have to be careful, because social media, yeah, we hear it all the time that it's addictive for the users of social media, but it's addictive as content creators, and they make us play these games, and if we're not careful, we fall into that trap, and that game becomes an obsession. I

Ralph Estep Jr.  33:50  
agree with you, Mark. I just want to chime in there, because I was working with a content creator the other day on the money side of this, and they were bragging about they had this many subscribers and this many downloads. And I said, Yeah, but you're still broke. And I don't mean to be ignorant about that, but the truth is, if you're doing this for money, I don't care how viral you go. If you're not cashing in with that, if it's not putting money in the bank, if it's not generating recurring revenue, you are chasing virality at the cost of your sanity. Because if it's not putting any money in your bank, if you're struggling, if you're broke, you got to start thinking about intentionality in who you're trying to reach. What is it you're trying to get them to do, instead of chasing after the stupid algorithm to see how many people you can get to follow you, or how many, because you have a million followers. But if they're not, if they're not sending you any bread, as they say, you're not getting anywhere fast.

Marc Ronick  34:40  
Yeah. Thank you, Ralph. And if you guys look at my older content versus my more recent content, you're going to see that difference that I'm describing, that you know, that shift that I've had about not caring so much about my social media content. You'll see it because I was heavily producing my older stuff. And you'll see probably more of the you. Common strategies that you see online, or you may learn from somebody that knows their stuff, like Rocky right? And now I've pulled back from a lot of it, and I'm just okay with it, because you know what, just like Sid had that moment with a piece of content that he didn't even expect it to do anything, and it had nothing to do with it, with his content. So why can't the content that I'm actually putting out there, that I'm hoping will make a difference? Why can't it actually also go viral just because of what it is, and not because I'm doing all the tips and tricks? Yes. Sid, go ahead.

Sid Meadows  35:33  
Actually, I think Alex had put his hand up.

Marc Ronick  35:35  
Oh, yes, he did. Thank you. Go ahead, Alex.

Alex  35:37  
Well, you know the old saying, death is easy, comedy is hard, and I understand your frustration, but I think Sid made a great point earlier that maybe we all didn't hear or we need to hear again if you don't have the content before, there's no such thing as a one hit wonder. These people have been grinding it out for years. It's just they finally resonated with enough people that one moment resonated. I mean, we've had plenty of people in this room. Amanda, you know, the bear versus a man,

Marc Ronick  36:10  
yep. I

Alex  36:11  
mean, that was her, and she's not living on easy street right now, because so many people have gone quote, unquote viral with it. But to Rocky's point, and to what Billy said, These moments are planned, but they're not planned the way we think they are. They're planned if something happens, we have content. One of the biggest coming back to podcasting, one of the biggest things that somebody told me was you never have your really best guest when you're first starting your podcast on number one. You want to have them on three or four or five, because what are people going to do? They're going to listen to that podcast episode, and then they're going to want to go back and they want to see what else you have. It's the same type of thing. So just create great content. And when it does go, like Rocky said, you have your tick tock shop, you have all this other stuff. But if you're chasing, if you're chasing that, then you're it's like chasing whales. You're never going to get it. I don't know. Maybe I'm

Marc Ronick  37:06  
wrong. No, thank you, Alex. I appreciate what you're saying, and I do want to say about my content. One other thing is that, look, I can't say that I'm not applying strategies to my social media content, right? I am thinking about certain things as I'm making it like I'm not being completely I'm not just throwing spaghetti against the wall. Okay, like I do. I have adopted some habits that I've learned that work well, and I continue those, but you're gonna see, like I said, a difference between what I've been putting out more recently versus, say, a year or two from a year or two ago from now. All right. Sid, coming to you.

Sid Meadows  37:43  
So I appreciate the share very much. So right, in the fact that you've realized what you needed to do, what you need to do differently, that's always important, right, reflecting and trying to figure out what you need to what you need to do differently. So what I would say is you lost sight of the one thing, and that one thing was a new customer, yep, and that's what going viral, or the want, the desire to go viral, does it makes you lose sight of what your real message is, what's your real goal is, and your real goal, just like mine and creating content, is to bring a potential customer into my ecosystem, to have somebody follow me because they like what my message. They like what I heard, or excuse me, they like what they heard, and then they follow me, and then they consume my content. Maybe they comment on it, but the goal is to get that one person on a discovery call so that they become a client. And if we stay focused on that's why I said help one person. That's what my goal is, to help one person. I can have millions of views, or I can only have 10 views, but out of those 10 views have helped one person, then I feel like I'm doing my job, but that's bringing one person into my ecosystem, right? And staying focused on that one person, and helping that one person, I believe, is going to pay more dividends to you, bring more customers to you, to all of us, than trying to get 10 million views on one piece of content,

Marc Ronick  39:01  
yeah, thank you. Sid, I feel like, yeah, and I saw Ralph put in the chat. Amen to you. Sid, so I think that's a really good place for us. I'm going to give Yvonne, I guess, the final word, Yvonne, unless you're up here for wins, of course. Either way, Yvonne, let me give you the mic. Go for it.

Yvonne  39:19  
Thank you, Mark. Well, my real question is, are you ready for a viral moment? Anyway, if you get a million views, 10 whatever it is, whatever viral is, do you have systems in place to handle it? Do you really? Really want to go viral? Because if you do, and you're not ready for it. If you don't have systems in place to manage it, what Who are you going to turn off when you do go viral?

Alex  39:47  
Favorite person, the hot tui girl,

Marc Ronick  39:49  
that's right, because

Alex  39:51  
we have to bring her up at least once.

Marc Ronick  39:53  
Yeah, every once a quarter I would say she comes up. Yeah, you know what I was thinking about, that? But to Yvonne, are we ready for those moments? Because you there's also, you know, you get a lot of hate when you go viral, too. You know, my stepson, for example, I've shared with you guys, Matthew B cooks on Instagram. Go check him out. But he's been going viral. He's been putting out videos that are getting, in some cases, six figure views and tons of shares and comments and reposts, and he gets he has to deal with weird, hateful people sometimes, just because the kid is cooking right, and people are getting angry at him about maybe a piece of equipment he's using or he didn't do this, or he should have done that, and people get nasty, right? So we have to be ready. We have to have that thick skin, for sure, because it just comes with that territory people. There are people out there that don't want to see others succeed, and there are other people out there that just want to get a rise out of you. So I think if you want to go viral, I think it's important for you to prepare yourself with that thick skin. All right. I know this has been such a juicy conversation again. Today, we've been having some good ones this week, and I'm trying my best to leave a little time for wins from the week, but our good friend Tim has joined us on stage, and I want to hear from Tim as well. Tim, good morning. To you, hope all is vital, the

Alex  41:23  
viral icon that he is, that's right, that's

Marc Ronick  41:26  
right, Tim, the icon that he is. Tim, good morning. What did you want to add to

Marc Ronick  41:30  
this?

Tim  41:31  
I think one thing that you just said was, Are you prepared to be viral? And I know for me, I'm not, because I've got too many skeletons in the closet. So I don't want to be viral. I'd rather somebody said earlier, help that one person. I have a picture of my avatar, the one person I'm trying to reach. Unfortunately, he passed away many years ago, but I have that picture right next to my computer. And every time I do an episode that I'm either producing or hosting or whatnot, I take a look at him and I'm like, am I serving that one person? And if I can say yes, I am successful.

Marc Ronick  42:13  
Yeah. Love that. Tim, thank you. Yeah. And I agree. Like, I ask myself that all the time, am I really prepared for that moment, and I don't think I am, I really don't, because I do look I work on this all the time, and when I see hateful comments like towards my me and my content, it does get a rise out of me. It does push my buttons, and I'm working on it, but I don't feel like I'm prepared if one of my videos today were to go completely viral. Ralph, real quick, before we get into wins from the week. Will you tell us about Money Monday, coming up May the Fourth, for our first podcasting morning show at 8am Eastern

Ralph Estep Jr.  42:52  
Yeah. And I'm going to be more well rested because we're starting a little later, yeah. But on Monday, I want to, I want everybody to answer this question, if I just keep creating content, great content, the money will come. That's we're going to talk about on Monday. If you just continue creating great content, the money will come. So that's we're going to talk about

Marc Ronick  43:12  
awesome. Love it. So come join us at podcasting morning, chat, Comm, slash, join us. Or, yeah, that's all I'll say about that. Okay, so with that, I think that we've had a good conversation here around going viral. What it means? Are we prepared? Does it matter? So I think this is a good place to jump into our Friday segment. Traditional segment wins from the week. This is where we share what's been going on in our world over this past week, something worth celebrating, and it doesn't matter. We don't judge. We don't care if you think it's too big, too small, if it doesn't compare to the last person's win who shared that all is off the table. All we care about is whatever you want to celebrate. So if that's getting out of bed every day this morning because it's been a crappy week, then we will celebrate that with you that you managed to get through this crappy week. So I will set the tone here and share a couple of my wins. First, I finally got all the details sorted out with the hotel for empowered podcasting three coming in August, and I'm signing that agreement today. Just a little side note, we it wasn't like we were in heavy negotiations and then everything was in limbo. It's just a matter of getting the fine details ironed out, and we did it finally this week, as of yesterday, and I'll sign it today. And also, my other win is that we're in such a better position with empowered podcasting three today than either of our previous years. We actually have a lot of sponsors this year. We've got more tickets sold at this point in time compared to the previous years. And we've got new ideas in the works. We've got new speakers that I'm really excited about. So it's not going to be all the same speakers. We're going. Have a mix of the speakers we've had in years past and new ones this year. So two wins that I am very excited about, very proud about, and I share with all, with all of you, I'm going to go to our guests on stage first to share their wins from this past week. And I'm going to you first tied, tied. Also, I know you were trying to chime in earlier, so please, if you'd like, please feel free to share here. When you're sharing your wins, go for it.

Marc Ronick  45:29  
Oh, wow.

Knikki  45:31  
Yeah, no. Thank you so much. I had put my win in the chat, and it was just that I had a pre interview with a lady yesterday. Did you know it was she was like, Oh my gosh. Like, I'm so excited to talk to you. And I was like, really? And she goes, I downloaded several episodes of your podcast. I've listened to them. The conversations are just so meaningful. And then that, what made that took me down the rabbit hole of, you know, all the other things that you're doing, and it was the first time I meant my blog sent to my podcast that had never happened before. So that was significant. And you know, to for somebody to use the word, words mean a lot to me. So if somebody uses the word adore, like, if they say, I adore you, you know, it makes you feel really, really, really good. And she was like, I just adore your podcast. And I was like, Oh my God. Like, that is so nice. So she was really excited to come on the show, and I'm excited to have her. But what I was going to say earlier about the virality and things, you guys pretty much covered it all. For me, the virality aspect of it can also be a slow drip, is what I was going to say. But you guys covered that, that it doesn't have to be this instantaneous, sudden burst of momentum. I mean, it can be, but if you think of like a basketball game, right, when a team goes on a run, okay, they don't score 20 points in one second. You know what I'm saying? They score two points, right? And then they go back and play defense, and then they get another bucket, then there's a fast break, and then there's this, and then there's that. And so they're building that momentum. So for me, morality is about that. It's about momentum.

Marc Ronick  46:55  
I love that. Thank you, Nikki. And what's so funny, as you were sharing the basketball analogy, I think you are our resident and analog is there a word? Analogist? I'm going to make it a word if it's not, yeah. So thank you, Nikki. Appreciate that. And let's go to Yvonne, which I think I know your win Yvonne, because I think I encourage you to come share it this morning. But go for it.

Yvonne  47:19  
Thank you, Mark. Yeah, it's weird. I'm a cover girl, so I got invited to be on the cover of a magazine called The brave tour magazine, which is hosted by or put together by Karen Ray, and her big goal is to celebrate a million women, which is huge. And so the whole magazine is filled with amazing resources from all these other women, and it's really cool to be part of it. I have to say, though, that the other win that I had this week was that I got to moderate a Q and A for a documentary film that was made by somebody I really respect about a guy, Alan Klein, who calls himself the jollytologist. And he his whole mission has been he's 88 years old. His whole mission has been to bring humor in hard times. And he's worked in hospice for years, and so being part of that Q and A as a moderator, was really a high point for me this past week. And I just want to say to everybody that tomorrow is national play outside day. So get outside and play.

Marc Ronick  48:33  
Of course, tomorrow here in western North Carolina, it's supposed to be cooler than it has been lately. I think we're going to have a wet and cool day on Saturday, but I will make it a point to go out anyway, because we have a deck that's partially covered. So I'll go outside and play under the under the deck. Thank you, Yvonne. Appreciate that, and congratulations on both of those awesome wins. Really exciting to hear and to see. And by the way, if you go to Instagram, empowered podcasting, you'll find our most recent post with Yvonne live from EPC two, empowered podcasting conference two, sharing all of the fun that she was having while she was at the conference. So go check that out as well. Tim, coming to you, please share a win with us. I'm waiting Tim. There he is

Tim  49:24  
okay. Here I am. So since October of last year, it has been rough for me with the shutdown and everything like that. Yesterday, shutdown is done. Stint is removed for my for my viral kidney stone adventure, yay, I launched possibly my podcast that'll make me go viral that I'm not ready for. So I'll have to call up Ralph and be like, Ralph, you're my accountant guy. But yeah, a lot of things came off my shoulders yesterday that I didn't want. And one thing. Money is on my shoulder that I do want. So I'm just very grateful for this community being there for me while I'm going through all this. So thank you all very much.

Marc Ronick  50:12  
You're welcome, and thank you for sharing your wins. Congratulations. I am particularly excited for you regarding the government shutdown being finished and now you can start getting paid again. So, yeah, yeah. Amen, Tim, thank you for sharing. All right, I'm coming to you. Dr, please share a win with us.

DR  50:32  
Yeah. So this is Friday, and traditionally, in our household, Friday means twisted Jeopardy. So we're going to play twisted Jeopardy tonight, when the hubby comes home from work, and also this going to be a busy weekend for me, because I met with Ralph this past week, and he gave us some potential good news, saying that maybe we Can unring the bell of me paying so much money to the IRS, there's a possibility, and so I just have to get all my deductions going for last year. And he taught me how to do that with my software that I have. So yeah, it's going to be a busy weekend for me. But first, you know, twisted Jeopardy,

Marc Ronick  51:21  
of course, yes, twisted Jeopardy. That's Dr and her husband's drinking games as they watch Jeopardy,

DR  51:29  
the full week's worth of jeopardy, where we yell at the screen and we throw stuff at the screen and we drink and, yeah, it's we think we're hilarious. I'm ready to book us in the Catskills. But you know,

Marc Ronick  51:42  
I love it. Congratulations on your wins. Dr, Ralph, how about you?

Ralph Estep Jr.  51:48  
So thank you. Dr, for that kind comment. By the way, I'm looking forward to working with you. My win of the week is two days ago, I got noticed that I am of the top 50 us podcast for Christian finance. I am number five.

Marc Ronick  52:01  
Nice

Ralph Estep Jr.  52:01  
and behind Dave Ramsey, who, if anybody understands finance, is like the guru, he's number four. I'm number five. So to me, that was a huge thing. For me, amazing thing. And I just want to remind everybody, I'm launching my new live show today.

Marc Ronick  52:15  
Yeah,

Ralph Estep Jr.  52:15  
it's on clubhouse today at 1pm you can go to the house called financially confident Christian. The whole point of that show is to help people with their finances. And if you've got a financial question, if you're going through a struggle or something like that, come on join me. We'll talk about it. I'll give you some guidance, but I'm gonna give it to you in a way that's a loving way, and that's why that's the whole point of my heart, of where I take that is it's got a faith feel to it, but I'm not going to hammer you over the head with faith, either I'm going to give you practical advice. So if you can join me, that'd be great. Thank you, Mark,

Marc Ronick  52:45  
yeah, I'm certainly not a Christian man, although I do have Christian blood, my half my family are Christian. And I'm going to be there anyway, because sure, I'm sure I'll learn a thing or two and b i want to support somebody in this community. So if you are free at 1pm Eastern. Come back here to clubhouse. If you are here right now on clubhouse, come back and let's join Ralph and show him a little support in the morning. Doesn't mean you have to participate. Let's just go there and show up and be there for Ralph. So yeah, check that out. Just follow Ralph on clubhouse. You can find his house there, or find the financially confident Christian house here on clubhouse. Sid coming to you. Please share a win with us.

Sid Meadows  53:28  
Thank you, Mark. So on Wednesday of this week, we held a panel discussion a new series we've started called the collaborative Spark, where we spark conversations in our industry. And this week's title was small brands, big impact, the rise of the independent manufacturer. And we had 102 people register. We had 52 people show up, which is about the average. They tell you about 50% will show up. So we had 52 people show up. I had four amazing panelists join me, and it went really well, Janae, to have to call you, because we did have a little tech list even after we tested it. That's another win for me. Janae helped me test the tech earlier this week, but we went for an hour and 10 minutes, and we had about 40 people stay all the way to the end, because the Q and A took us over. But our first time out the gate, it worked. We got some new followers into our ecosystem, so people now are learning more about what we do at the collaborative network and while we're doing it, and it was a really, really great event, so I'm really proud of that, and that's my win for the week, is sharing conversation that I believe is important to our industry, that's going to hopefully impact a lot of people.

Marc Ronick  54:36  
Amazing. Congratulations. Sid, congratulations to everybody. Thank you all for sharing your wins with us. I celebrate them with you. We all celebrate them together, and it's just let me stop and just say, We do this because it's important, especially as content creators, for us to stop and smell the roses once in a while, right? If we don't, then this all just becomes a grind. And I. I think it's important that you stop, whether it's with us or even on your own, to recognize what you did over the past week or over the past day, whatever that looks like for you. Celebrate. Recognize that the hard work pays off sometimes, and I'm being a little sarcastic, it does pay off. So if you need a place to come celebrate. Come here every Friday morning, and we'll do that with you, if not just find some time every night, maybe before you go into bed, feel a little grateful for what you're doing and how hard you're working the great way to go to sleep that night, I promise. All right, so we are back Monday with the all new podcasting morning show. Nothing really changes other than the name and the time at 8am Eastern. If you want to join us live, come join us at podcasting. Morning chat.com/join. Us. Soon to be podcasting morning show.com/join, us. So until Monday, make it a great weekend. Everybody. Take care.

Marc Ronick  55:57  
Bye.