Every week, we bring you quality content from quality guests who have gone out and proven success in their lives. There are many people talking about success and hoping for success, but we want to hear from the people who have taken action and have stories to tell that can inspire us and give us the steps to follow suit. Proverbs 19:8 tells us that “those who acquire wisdom love themselves, and those who go after understanding will have abundance.” There's a differentiation between wisdom and understanding. Understanding is the point where the wisdom we are receiving is truly impacting our lives and we begin to walk it out to see life-changing results. 

I want to share some wisdom I have gained from one of my dear friends, Jenna Kutcher. My wife and I absolutely love Jenna because she is committed to getting life-changing results. She gets life-changing results in her marriage, with her kids, and in her business.

Jenna is an online marketing expert, author, podcaster, and educator. Her podcast sits at the #1 Marketing Podcast with a hundred million downloads.

Today we are going to share how Jenna has become a master at creating her own stages that allow her to live the life that she desires and fulfill what she feels she’s called to do without compromising her values. Jenna has been able to master four stages and I want to share those four stages with you today. 

DIGITAL STAGES

Jenna started as a wedding photographer in Minnesota, which had her away from home every weekend. When she and her husband decided to start their family, she realized that she no longer wanted to build something that she had to physically show up for to get paid. Jenna beautifully defines success as being able to be there when her kids wake up and be there to put them to bed at night. She used digital stages to build that time currency to spend with her family. 

#1. Pinterest
She has created systems where she outsources about one hour of work and gains millions of views every single month. It's the number one organic traffic driver to her website.

#2. Instagram 
She uses Instagram to collect email addresses to ultimately pull people off Instagram and into stronger engagement through email (rather than just through likes and comments on posts).

#3. Email 
Email is KING. Jenna shares that your email list gives you the greatest return on investment and gives you the ability to give people real experience without worrying about the algorithm robbing them.

#4. Podcasting 
Podcasting is a place where you can make an impact, serve people for free, let your audience get to know you, build trust, and create a powerful resource library for those who look to you as a true mentor and a leader in your field.

Jenna shares that each one of these stages is incredibly powerful, but the real power comes when you create systems where they all work together..

PODCASTING

Podcasts build your library of content. Even this blog you’re reading right now is written with content we’ve gathered from our live-recorded podcast. Think of all the top-notch content we’ve been able to bring our audience. We’ve interviewed the best of the best and have been uniquely challenged by each one. Our podcast is the stage that has allowed us to gather this content and share it with you every week.

Just recently we had the amazing Amy Porterfield on our podcast. Jenna shares the story of how Amy profoundly affected her life. She was watching Amy’s podcasts for several years and really looked up to her as an online mentor and business coach. Jenna had the realization that Amy had so profoundly affected her life through her podcast just by simply sitting down and recording some things she had learned along the way. Jenna realized how Amy was reaching the masses every single week. She was inspired and determined that she, too, would start a podcast and decided it would be within the next thirty days.

She hopped online that day and posted “I'm going to start a podcast. It's coming soon.”

Jenna shares that she looked at it as an experiment. “I think that this is something that not enough people do in today's era. We want things to be a success or we consider them a failure. We're not willing to try things. We're not willing to be beginners. We're not willing to show up and say, ‘I don't have all the answers, but I'm going to do it anyway.’”

She quickly figured out how to launch a podcast, and recorded her first ten episodes in her parked car in her garage with nothing more than an iPhone and headphones.
“Simply start imperfectly. imperfect action makes things happen.”

Jenna’s podcast has grown into the number-one marketing podcast in the country. They have over a hundred million downloads and over 700 episodes.
“It's just been the most incredible asset in my business that started in a very humble, humble way.”

Here are some reasons why Jenna is such a fan of podcasts:

Podcasts Create New Opportunities and Relationships
Podcasts open conversations and create opportunities to make connections. They put you in rooms with other people and you never know what can evolve from every conversation. Even a tiny inkling to start a podcast, do 1 season with 10 episodes! See what power gets unlocked from just that small action step. The more you share your message, the more confident and passionate you become, and you share that passion with others! Connections with new people create new opportunities for growth and expansion.

Podcasts Help You Grow In Confidence 
There’s power in your voice! Jenna shares the story of her first podcast, which she recorded on her iPhone while sitting in her parked car. At the time, she said it was because she didn't want her dogs to bark and interrupt the recording. But as she began getting honest, she realized she was afraid of others hearing her speak. She fought all the same insecurities we all face when we dare to step out into new places. So, she sat in her car, in her cold garage with pillows on the dashboard to muffle the sound.
“So many of us have ourselves on mute, not just on Zoom, but in real life. I think that it's a beautiful opportunity to honor your voice in your story, even when your voice is shaky, or you feel scared.”
It’s important to recognize that we have a choice to succumb to those voices, or we can choose to move forward with the motivation to want to help and serve others with the message that we carry.

Podcasts Help Build Your Credibility  
To really become an expert at selling something or sharing your message, you want to create space for people to get to know and trust you. The curated snapshot and caption on your social media aren’t as effective as you think. You can only say so much with a picture and a caption, but a podcast gives you the chance to tell the story behind the picture. You get to share your passion for your product and let your audience hear about your experiences and get to know you personally.

Podcasting puts the consumer in control. In an age where we are constantly bombarded by media and marketing, podcasting lets the consumer choose when and where they're tuning in, and that means that they are inviting you into a sacred space of their life. People are listening while they're washing dishes, commuting, or while they're bringing their kids to school. There's power in that intersection of someone's life and your voice and message.

Podcasts Allow You to Build Your Email List
You can use your podcast to substantially grow your email list. You have an opportunity on every show to offer free resources by connecting through email. You can use that email list to engage with potential customers in ways that you couldn’t do when they were just scrolling your social media or listening to your podcast. Once they give you their email, you can have a new horizon of opportunities to serve your audience. Email allows you to bring your audience into a more controllable platform than social media, where you can then offer them resources and personally sell your product.

Podcasts Can Make You Money
There are so many creative ways that you can monetize a podcast, from having sponsors to doing affiliate partnerships to getting people onto your email list and selling your products, to outwardly selling your products. Businesses love sponsoring podcasts because it can bring so much attention to their brand.

Podcasts Are No-Fuss and Take Minimal Investment
You don’t have to have a perfect plan or top-of-the-line equipment. Start with 10 episodes and call it Season One! When you’re first getting started, there can be a layer of overwhelm by all the decisions you think you need to make, but the need for perfection will always lead to procrastination. You can turn the camera off. You can use a closet in your house. Just get going with what you have.

Jenna shares that when she first got going, she worried about running out of episodes, but over 700 episodes later, she says she can’t shut up! Once you get going, you can take your audience along with you on the journey. Your listeners don’t expect you to have everything figured out. If they love listening, they will want to go with you as you. People are not looking for perfect and polished. They appreciate vulnerability and authenticity.

Podcasts are keyword-sensitive with Built-in Search Engines
You can be strategic in naming your show, crafting your descriptions, and titling your episodes, and people will come across your podcast as they search various topics and subject matters.  This means that you don't have to have this massive audience to start gaining traction.

Whether you’re just getting started or you are well-seasoned in business, podcasts provide a digital stage that could take you further than you ever imagined. We’ve given you plenty of reasons to take action today. Simply go to jennakutcher.com/pete to register for Jenna’s Podcasting 101, where you’ll learn straight from Jenna, 3 Easy Steps to Launching Your Show.

Remember, Your Message Matters!
— Pete Vargas, III