What I've Learned in Over 100K Downloads

What are the lessons and insights that we have learned at The Ops Authority since starting a podcast?

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We began this journey almost three years ago at The Ops Authority, and I am excited to celebrate 100,000 downloads! It is a number I never really shot for, but when I saw that we were close a few weeks ago, my mind was blown.

The Journey to 100K

Today, I’m going to share with you what I have learned throughout my podcasting journey.

The Data

We started our very first episode on July 31, 2019 and lots has happened since then. Our first year, we had about 18,000 downloads, our second was about 32,500, and in this third year, we have had close to 56,000 downloads.

About 65% of our downloads come from Apple podcasts, 25% come through Spotify, and 10% from a variety of other podcast platforms.

Our listeners come from 100 different countries. The top five are The United States, Canada, Australia, UK, and New Zealand.

“Look at the breadth of what podcasting is able to do, and the people in different countries that we are able to get in front of.”

I also like to track the top episodes:

History

I had been in business for four years as a service provider prior to starting The Ops Authority. I also ran a group coaching program, and was speaking on many stages up until 2019. I was becoming organically visible.

“I love getting in front of people and building real relationships on a one-to-one level.”

I have shifted, navigated, and pivoted over the last 3 years, and I was nervous to get started, but was pushed by my marketing director, Esther Littlefield. She could see something that I didn’t see, and today our podcast has resulted in 100,000 downloads!

“This [podcasting] has shown to be able to have a greater effect than the thing that was comfortable for me.”

Benefits of Podcasting

1. It has made me improve my messaging

I’m very methodical and analytical but the marketing side of the business does not come easy to me. Succinct messaging has always been a struggle because I love to talk! By using the mechanism of podcasting, it has forced me to improve my messaging. When you come to the mic, it is way easier if you are talking to one audience and I had to get really specific about who I was going to be working with.

2. Helped me continue to build personal connections

I didn’t think podcasting would allow me to do this in the same way as I used to, but the reach can be so easy to achieve when you show up consistently. This gives me a platform to tell stories and connect with people that resonate with what I am doing.

3. Simplified the marketing

In the early days of my business, I had focused on all the things, and I believe the podcast helped me to simplify this. In fact, it has become the top of our funnel. We are purposeful in what we publish here so that it will lead the listener to the next thing that they need.

4. This podcast has become a sales system

Anyone who expresses interest in becoming a Director of Operations (DOO) is sent here to the podcast. They get to know me, the way I teach, my style, my heart, my past… it helps them to know if I am someone they can see themselves learning from.

A lot of people will binge episodes, become regular listeners, and then join the Facebook group and join in the conversation.

5. Helps us have an authority

This platform has given me the opportunity to share my views, and the trends I’m seeing. It is a safe place to test out my new ideas. Because we can attract so many people, we can start a conversation that continues over in the Facebook group.

It also gives me a great medium to get my thoughts together and share them with my audience and receive feedback.

6. An Untraditional CEO

I am meant to be the COO of a business, but find myself in a CEO role at The Ops Authority. I want to continue to build a strong business, and this podcast has given me the opportunity to share free content. I want to help so many people and this has been on my heart since I started seven years ago. Although I have evolved in my business, one thing that has stayed the same for me is the desire to help as many people as possible through free content.

I am really proud that over this three year commitment I have never missed an episode!

The Other Side

There are also a few things that challenging for me when it comes to podcasting:

I am an operator with a lot of experience, therefore a perfectionist. Using a medium like this has really stretched me.
There is also a cost to doing this. We have an entire podcast production team to get all of the things done. I don’t have the time, skill or ability to do all of the things.
The time and the planning take me about 4-8 hours per week to come up with the content, script it, and record it. I want it to be very intentional from a marketing perspective, but also from a relational perspective.

Thank you so much for showing up every single week. I am grateful for your listenership and support as we have grown The Ops Authority. Hooray for 100K!