The Proffitt Podcast
Are you thinking about starting a podcast? Launching a YouTube channel? Repurposing your old blog content into something fresh? Hi, I'm Krystal - host of "The Proffitt Podcast." And I'm happy to say you've come to the right place!
Business owners and content creators dream of building a platform where they can connect deeply with their audience, and marketing feels easy. But I also know what it's like to feel confused and overwhelmed.
Join us weekly as we strip down those processes and remove all the overwhelm with new tips, simple strategies, and great conversations with creators like you. Tune in to hear how I help creators start, launch, and market their content confidently. The motto here is, "We all have to start somewhere."
The Proffitt Podcast
Something is About to Happen with Podcasting (Are You Ready?)
Ready to transform your podcasting strategy for 2025? This episode promises to equip you with the insights and tools needed to navigate the ever-evolving podcasting landscape. Discover how the rise of video podcasts and niche-specific communities like Podcasters Connect are reshaping how we engage with audiences. You'll learn how to harness these trends to boost connection and explore the potential of interactive podcasts and AI to elevate your content game.
Imagine the freedom of diversified income streams in podcasting. We share our journey from relying solely on courses to embracing services, affiliates, sponsorships, and partnerships. This episode highlights the importance of a robust, multifaceted content strategy to reach wider audiences across multiple platforms. With the increasing competition fueled by AI and technology, the secret to standing out is showcasing your authentic voice and genuine expertise.
Balancing your podcasting dreams with your personal life is crucial, and we open up about planning intentional breaks to spend quality time with family. Learn how strategic batching and effective planning can keep your content flowing seamlessly. We encourage you to reflect on your aspirations for the future and invite you to join our community through feedback and shared dreams. Get ready to embark on a journey toward success, both personally and professionally, in the podcasting world.
We're rolling out our 2025 Annual Audience Survey, and we'd love your feedback! And, because I know your time is valuable, I'm throwing in a digital copy of my Amazon Best-Seller, Start a Binge-Worthy Podcast, for everyone who completes the survey. Go to krystalproffitt.com/survey2025 to fill out the two-minute survey.
Click the "Send Krystal a Text Message" link above to send us your questions, comments, and feedback on the show! (Pssst...we'll do giveaways in upcoming episodes so make sure you leave your name & podcast title.)
Something is about to happen with podcasting. Are you ready? Okay, so I know that was like kind of dramatic, like it's a little bit more dramatic than how I typically start my content, but I wanna give a shout out real fast to Creator Hooks Pro. They are not a sponsor, I'm not even an affiliate for them, so I'm just giving them an actual shout out, but they helped me come up with the title for today's episode and I was like ooh, I like how dramatic that is, and so what I did is I planned all of the content for today and then I was like I've got to get a really great grounding title and so something is about to happen with podcasting. Are you ready? Felt right, because when I'm recording this, we're at the end of the year for 2024. And so many of you are looking at 2025, like what do I want to do? What are some of my goals? Many of you have said to me like I want to add video to my podcast, or I want to show up more on social, or I'm finally going to build my email list, and I think all of these are fantastic, but I want to really dive into so this is one of the things that, of course, I had my handy dandy chat GPT help me plan this episode, and one of the things that I really thought about was what worked in 2024, what's going to continue to work in 2025, but what are we kind of leaving in the past, right, like what are we going to leave in 2024 that maybe isn't serving you or isn't really going to be the standard going forward with podcasting, and I have some very specific examples that we're going to walk through. But I just something is happening Like we're going into a new year and I mean, if anything, I think about the last few years and how much the landscape has changed for tools and processes and workflows, and what we do today is different than what it was just a few years ago. So we're going to dive into all of this in today's episode. So let's get right to it.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Profit Podcast, where we teach you how to start, launch and market your content with confidence. I'm your host, crystal Profit, and I'm so excited that you're here. Thanks for hanging out with me today, because if you've been trying to figure out the world of content creation, this is the show that will help be your time-saving shortcut. So let's get right to it. Shall we Welcome back to another episode of the Profit Podcast? I'm Crystal Profit, if we have not met, and I am so excited that you are here. So, whether you are brand new to podcasting content creation or you've been around here for a while, you're like yeah, grisdol, we know You're a podcast coach, content strategist, you're our content therapist, helping us work on our relationship with our content. These are all the things that I'm excited to do and own these titles and really share them with you, because it's what I'm most passionate about. And if you've been around here a while, you know you're like Crystal really gets excited about all things content, which is why I hope you keep coming back.
Speaker 1:But I kind of want to set the stage for what we're talking about here today, because we're going to reflect on this past year of podcasting for my content as well as your own. So I have some kind of prompts and questions. So if you're a journaler or you want to open up a Google Doc and take some notes, put some notes in your phone on your app. If you're out on a walk, like whatever, like, I want you to really use this episode as a reflection of what's happened in your content in the last year to kind of catapult you into 2025 and beyond. So when we're looking at this, I want to think about adapting to what's changing in our environment. I'll go over a few key things that I've noticed really shifting in the last few months and then so we're gonna talk about how podcasting is changing, what challenges I faced and you have faced as well that we maybe need to overcome or leave some of that baggage in 2024, and then practical steps to stay ahead of the curve of what I believe is happening in our industry. So sound good. Okay, so let's take a few minutes and reflect on 2024, right, this is segment one reflecting on 2024.
Speaker 1:And, just without even looking at my notes, like what has stood out to me this year is being so much more flexible, which I feel like I'm pretty flexible already when it comes to creating content, when I'm recording what I'm doing. If you've been around here, like, you know that I'll record when I don't have the best setup or maybe it's not like the best. You know aesthetics or whatever, but you can bet your bottom dollar. We stay consistent around here. Like that is one thing that I am known for, I'm very proud of, and so I'm just wanting to highlight that it's like man.
Speaker 1:I traveled to Boise this year. I traveled to New York this year. I had a few different trips where I was really out of pocket, and when I say out of pocket, like it wouldn't have even been able to or I wouldn't have been able to really record on my phone because it was chaos when I was at a town. So, either being flexible and recording on the go which I did a little bit of that in Boise or when I was in New York, I batched my little buns off before I went and made sure that we had content still delivered, and I'm so grateful that I did, because if I would have had to worry about any of that when I was chaperoning 140 kids yes, I've never really gone into too much detail about why I went to New York earlier this year, but I was chaperoning. I was chaperoning my son's orchestra field trip and it was pure chaos to have that many kids around. I didn't get a lot of sleep while we were there because I was chaperoning. We're going to bed at like 1130 and then getting up at 630. And I'm like y'all, I need my eight hours of like really good sleep and I usually don't sleep super well when I'm traveling anyway. So it was just like this whole. I'm so grateful I did not have to think about content once while I was in like New York, and then traveling any other time. So that's like a big standing out to me.
Speaker 1:But I encourage you to look back, like what were some of your really big wins this year. So what were some of your big wins? One of mine that I'll share I feel like we're like in a sharing circle now. Like so, let's, let's pretend like we're all sitting like crisscross applesauce and we're sitting in a little circle and it's like okay, you know, crystal, it's your turn, then we're going to go to Carrie, then we're going to go over to Jay and then we're going to go over to Leslie. Like we're all going to share, but I'm just sharing and I'm hoping that you're going to go and jot these down in your little notes.
Speaker 1:But one of my biggest wins I feel like I did really well with sponsorship revenue this year, like blown away by how many opportunities came my way, how many different partnerships I was able to secure. Some of them were one time like it was a one-off, like hey, we want you to do this for us and then we'll see. You know, and it didn't really lead to anything but, man, I learned so much, so so much about what I want to look for in future partnerships, but also what I really don't want, and that was really helpful. So, for those of you exploring monetization and sponsorships or even any kind of partnership that you may have, I encourage you to write down all of your lessons learned, even if they're not all great, like I think, some of us are hesitant to write down. You know, we had this terrible experience and you're just like, oh my gosh, I just want to move on.
Speaker 1:Write those things down, like, take note of what worked, what didn't work, because then in the future, when you have those spidey senses of something's not working out again, you can know immediately You're like, oh, I remember from this last partnership, like this is going to go south really fast and you can either get out of it or make it really short, succinct, and it's like, okay, let's do this thing and then move on. And so that was something that was a big win for me is having a lot more sponsorship experience this year. So it wasn't just about the revenue, of course, that was fantastic, right, like making more money for creating content for other people, like, yes, it's what I love to do, I love creating content and I made money. You know, win, win, win across the board. But I also learned so much, like now I'm much better at negotiating, now I know proper contracts, now I know just how to do this a lot easier, so now I can teach it to you, now I can tell other people about my own experience, and that just feels really good to have that experience now in my back pocket, whereas previously, the last few years, that was a huge question mark for me. So when people came to me and asked me about sponsorships, I was kind of like oh, I don't know, I don't know, you're going to have to go ask someone else. So that feels really good.
Speaker 1:What challenges did you face? So, for me personally, challenges that I had were, I would say, like trying to stay consistent, which I think this is everyone's problem, right, it's everyone's dilemma. But I think that I was trying to overcommit myself to consistency in a way that it ended up being too rigid and I wasn't allowing myself to be more flexible. So let me give you a great example I would set aside like a batching day. Then I would get to that batching day where I'm like I just don't really feel it, but I was like, no, you're going to stick to this, because you set aside this calendar day to do batching. Then I would force it and I'd watch that content back or listen to it back. I'm like, oh, I could tell. Like she felt forced. I'm talking about previous version of myself. I'm like that.
Speaker 1:That version of Crystal felt very forced and it didn't turn out to be the best piece of content, and so that was one of the things that I realized is like, oh, I still need to give myself grace and I need to give myself permission one to not have every piece of content like hold it in this, like high regard of, like everything's going to be, you know, a home run. Like I'm going to knock this out of the park every single time. You're not, and that's okay. Like that is okay. You don't have to have every single piece of content you ever create be this thing. That is like oh, my gosh, like that was a masterpiece. I don't ever feel that way about my content, like I'm always probably overly critical or really judgmental about like, oh, that could have been better.
Speaker 1:I could have said this thing or oh man, I didn't include this story. I wanted to include this story. This was the thing that would make it so incredible. But guess what? We get to show up again next week and then the week after that, and the week after that, then the month after that, then the year after that. So I have the long game strategy in mind and that's how I look at it.
Speaker 1:So, even though consistency or maybe trying to set aside like a rigid schedule and stick to it, it was a challenge, it was probably not the right goal for me to set for myself anyway. So kind of a double-edged sword on that one. But another challenge I did face and I mentioned this earlier is some of the sponsorship deals that I thought were going to be super lucrative fell absolutely flat. Like I got really excited about it. Maybe you've had this experience too, where you're like you're talking with them and you're like, oh my gosh, this is the partnership I've been waiting for, it's going to be incredible. And then crickets, it ended up. Just for whatever reason, we hit a dead end and it was almost like I had to grieve that because I thought it was going to be like this recurring revenue, like this easy revenue, that was going to be super simple for me to create the thing. It was going to be beneficial for them, beneficial for me, give us both lots of exposure. And then it didn't work and I think it's okay to sit here and say like, oh, you have to grieve that sometimes, so you know, just kind of sit in it for a second and say, man, that really sucks. And then move on and, like I said earlier, learn from those mistakes or learn from those, you know, the partnership gone wrong or whatever, and just say, all right, instead of just saying that was wasted time, money, energy and effort, I'm going to say, oh, I'm taking those lessons and moving them into the next partnerships or the next deals that we're going to have in the future.
Speaker 1:The other question is did you hit your goals or struggle with consistency? So we already kind of talked about consistency, but I like the just kind of frankness that I'm very, very clear and and gonna be very transparent with you about struggling with consistency, because it is the thing that I think everyone struggles with you struggle with consistency. I'm not just talking about podcasting either. I'm talking about putting out your newsletter. I've had multiple friends come to me like friends that I've known for a long time and they're just like y'all. I can't get my act together. I am trying to send my weekly newsletter and I just cannot do it. I don't know what it is. I haven't sent one in so long. I feel like I've ghosted my people and now I can't go back to them.
Speaker 1:And for those of you that are feeling this way right now, just know, start today. Right, like try again today. You know, make it be something that you're not holding this like guilt and shame and resentment of all these things that you didn't do in the past. It's like, well, what are you, what can you do today? What can you do today and really show up for yourself, show up for your audience in the way that's going to be more productive, and maybe that means not showing up how you used to show up.
Speaker 1:Right, we talked about this episode's gonna be about, like, what's happening with podcasting? What's changing? Like what? If you just made it simpler on yourself, I know this is where we're getting. Like we're in a therapy session If you didn't already know this like we are in a full-blown therapy session at this point where I'm gonna just offer to you like this, is your permission slip Make it easier, make it easier, make it easier, make your content shorter. If you need to make it shorter, make it less frequent. If you're doing two episodes a week right now, what would it look like to do one episode a week? What would it look like, right? Or if you're doing every week right now, what would it look like to do two episodes a month for a short term? I mean, I don't know. I don't know. I can't answer these questions for you, but I'm here to just ask those questions, like if you're struggling with consistency or meeting your goals, then what does it look like to change them up just a little bit? And number one increasing in video podcasting right, like we knew this was going to happen.
Speaker 1:One of my favorite podcasts that was just audio only for a long time I listened to Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard and Monica Padman. They were just audio. They are video now and I am here for it. I love it so much. I love that I have the option to watch them on YouTube. I love seeing them in their space and I really didn't think that I would watch them as much as I do, but I love it, I love watching them. So I just have to say, like I'm here for all the video podcasting and I hope that more of you kind of jump on the bandwagon, because it's a really cool way to connect with your audience and I think that it's still worth having that YouTube integration, whether it's just your podcast RSS feed, which we have content on that. Go watch that YouTube video that we put up recently about it. But we've been putting out a lot more content around video podcasting because I think it's super important.
Speaker 1:But the other one is the niche specific communities. So we did this right. We moved all our whole platform over to mighty networks because it's focused on community. We're actually having conversations and this is what's so incredible to me. So we moved over and created podcasters connect, which you can go to crystalprofitcom forward slash, join j-o-i-n to learn more about Podcasters Connect.
Speaker 1:But I created this space because I didn't want it to live on social, right. I wanted it to live off of social, off of these other platforms where there's a lot of distractions, where if you go there, that's the only thing you're going to see, right? You're not going to see cute baby pictures. You're not going to see. You know I mean, unless someone's content is about babies and their baby pictures. You know, like I mean, unless someone's content is about babies and their baby pictures, you know, like that's a different story. But it's not all these distractions. Like you go there with intention to this very specific community to get that thing from it. I've seen health and wellness communities pop up this way. Maury Forleo, like she created a platform on Mighty Networks, I think it's called the Dream Club, and this is a platform where you go there and that's what you get. Like you get business advice, helpful tips from her. You get, I think she does like meditations or some kind of mindfulness around mental health and what that looks like for entrepreneurs. So I'm just saying, like all these really niche specific communities are still booming and I think they're going to continue to rise in 2025.
Speaker 1:But interactive podcast and AI I mean this is do I even need to say that? Because you know, you know, if you know AI is here and you know that, oh my gosh, y'all I'm adjusting my chair like real time, real time, jay, leave that in. Sometimes he'll cut whenever there's things it's like oh Crystal, do you really want to show people that you're struggling with your chair. So I'm recording this before Christmas, so I'm adding that to my Santa list. Is mama's hoping she gets a new chair for Christmas because this one is awful, awful, awful, awful? But I want you to reflect on this right For this like reflecting on 2024, this is the question what was one strategy you relied on in 2024 that might need updating or rethinking for 2025?
Speaker 1:This one for me is I'm looking at a different way to grow my email list in 2025. And there's a few different ways. I think I'm like I'm a little nervous to share it because I haven't decided if I'm going to do it yet or not, but I'll go ahead and share it because I do think it's very lucrative and I think that it is something I'm going to explore seriously. But it is referral newsletters, so I'm a part of a few of these where it's like there's a platform built into ConvertKit. Excuse me, I just said ConvertKit, it is Kit. Now, ladies and gentlemen, that was my branding mistake, right, kit. It's built into Kit and it's called Sparkloop and what it is. It's a way for you to at the very bottom of the page and we'll put some visuals up here, but at the bottom of the page, someone will have the option to share your newsletter with someone else. So if you are a podcaster and you find my weekly newsletter, content Therapy, helpful, then you could share it and then you get rewards for sharing it and then if people subscribe. So it's a model that I've been toying around with, like I've been studying it, and I think that it could work really well. So TBD on that, but it's something that I'm looking at.
Speaker 1:You know what strategy you relied on 2024 that might need updating or rethinking. Y'all know I'm always talking about my email list. I can't shut up about email marketing, but I do want to rethink how it is, because, for me personally, I don't think that the lead magnet, like you know, download this. I have tons of lead magnets. I have podcast bootcamps, I have PDFs, I have, you know, free workshops. I have all these things, and I think that having something that is in it for the community members and in it for people that share could be really fun. So something I'm rethinking. So I'm sharing. We're in the circle share right, the sharing is caring, and I wanted to share that with you. So I hope that you're reflecting on your own version of this, though, and you write some of those notes down. Okay, promise, deal, okay.
Speaker 1:So the next segment is what's changing in podcasting for 2025? Trend number one more visual content. We've already talked about video podcasting, but it's just something that is going to stay right, like clips on YouTube, clips on TikTok, clips on Instagram, like all of these things are going to continue to grow and expand. And then, having audio first, creators need to have some sort of visual strategy. So if you've only been creating audio only content, what is your visual strategy? It could still stay audio only, and then you share clips on YouTube shorts, or you share clips on Instagram, or whatever, but I think that having a visual component is going to continue to be something very, very important.
Speaker 1:The second trend is monetization is evolving, and man, I have seen this myself. Right, like talk about the growing importance of memberships. We are talking about communities, then exclusive content and diversified income streams. So when I think about this, a few years ago I would say my business makes money through courses. And then it was my business makes money through courses and services, because then I offered coaching. Now y'all I mean it's courses, it's services, it's affiliates, it's sponsorships, it's partnerships, collaborations. I mean, it's like it's very like, I think of like the wheel, the spokes on a wheel. It's just still expanding and I think it's something that, if you only have one means of making money with your content today, explore. What could that look like? Ask ChatGPT, this is my market, these are my people, these are the demographics, blah, blah, blah. Just keep drilling down until you get some of those ideas on what you could do to make more money.
Speaker 1:But monetization is going to continue to evolve and I think that you should absolutely diversify what you're doing, because relying on one source of income would have really limited how much money I've been able to make in my business. So I'm very grateful that I didn't do that. And ad revenue is one of those things that I don't rely on it. I don't rely on specific podcast sponsorships where it's just audio only and I am reading a host read ad and I'm putting it out there. I don't rely on that, for sure, for sure. It's not something that has ever been like. Oh, that's the main part of my thing. That is the main part of your business right now is you're making, you have a very popular podcast and you're getting tens of thousands of downloads and if you have ad revenue coming. Just know that's likely gonna continue to change in the future and I would diversify the heck out of my portfolio if that's the only thing that you have going for you right now. So there's my little you know, sprinkling in little, little pieces of advice and tough love, but I think that you, you should absolutely consider that and consider how you can add another spoke to your you know monetization wheel for your content.
Speaker 1:Trend number three is content strategy will matter more than ever. And now when I think about content strategy, I zoom out and I look at where am I creating content like absolutely must have, must create on these specific platforms? And then how am I connecting those platforms together? So, for example, I told you earlier it's like oh, if you're interested in Podcasters, connect, go to crystalprofitcom. Forward, slash, join. I didn't just tell you about my membership, I also told you about my website. So I want and I want everybody to go to my website at some point in their journey head over to my website, because I want you to get on my email list. Now my email list is content therapy. So you should check out content therapy because in content therapy I give you helpful tools and resources, whether it's affiliate partnerships, it is sponsorships, sometimes it's podcasters connect spotlights, so we do member spotlights in there.
Speaker 1:I mean, I could keep going on and on and on about all these benefits, but did you see how I just like quickly ran through, like I'm fanning out the multiple opportunities for you to connect with me, and it's not just on this podcast, it's not just on YouTube, it is multiple different places, because I know not everyone learns the same. We have blog posts, right. We will link to the blog post that we have for this video if you're watching on YouTube, or this podcast episode If you're listening. There's going to be a link out to the blog because I want to have as much opportunity as possible for you to be able to consume this content in the way that makes the most sense to you. And I think that you should have that same strategy as well, as you sit down and you think like where are my people going to engage with me the most and how can I make this as easy for them to consume this content, but also for them to say yes and right. Have you heard this? Right? Like the improv, like okay, I need to do like a yes. And so you say yes, and I want to come join your membership yes, and I want to get on your email list yes, and I want to follow you on Instagram yes, and I mean we could just keep going on and on and on. Yes, and I want to buy your product yes, and I want to go buy your book on Amazon. Like I mean, we could just keep going. But that content strategy was set up very intentionally and I think that if you haven't done this before, you need to sit down and reflect on all the different pieces of where you create content, how you show up online and how you connect all these pieces together. Okay, so that was a long one, but it's a really important one.
Speaker 1:And then the fourth trend is AI and technology will transform podcasting. So there have been tools in the last 12 months that have popped up, that have editing right, podcast editing tools, podcast scripting, which again I had Chad GBT help me with today's episode, and it was like chef's kiss incredible. And then promotion right, but it's also gonna make everything more competitive because, at the same time, like, I can do this, you can do this and the 50 other people in your niche can do the same thing. So how do we stand out? How do we make it to where it's not just all whitewashed across all of you know content, where it's like everyone sounds the same, like it's just a blur of white noise. I don't even know who does this or who does that. Like, this person says they're an expert, but what real you know credit do they have? Like, where are their receipts? We need to see their receipts for what they have actually done, and so I have been speaking about this for a while, since the conversation of AI has been there.
Speaker 1:But storytelling is going to be your friend giving real stories, real examples, and having these pieces of your content that no one else can replicate. Like, what is your story If that's the only thing you get from today? If you're like I don't have a story, yes, you do, yes, you do. You need to go and write down what your story is, that way you can tell it over and over and over again so people actually get it and they understand it. So great example my story is I started my podcast in 2018.
Speaker 1:I had been a stay-at-home mom for a long time. We moved to Houston and I was like you know what I want to do, something that's just for me. I'd been writing for several years I always say blogging unsuccessfully and then I started my podcast. The podcast was called the Rookie Life and it was about female entrepreneurs and all these incredible women that were in my life. And then people started asking me about well, how are you creating this podcast? They didn't really care about the content I was creating. They were just like, oh my gosh, you started this podcast. How does that work? And I was like, well, I was having more fun on the side helping those people than I was actually creating my content. So that's when I made the switch and I said, oh, let me just start talking about creating content and what that can look like. And it's like we rode off into the sunset with that narrative.
Speaker 1:So since 2019, this content has been around podcasting start, launch, market your podcast, creating with confidence. And this is my story, right, this is my story and what I bring to the table. I've now created multiple podcasts. I think I've started at least five or six, and it's thousands and thousands and thousands of episodes later. We're here, right, we're here, and that's something that AI can't touch. It's my story. It's where I came from.
Speaker 1:So you go figure out what is your story If you're not telling it. You need to start telling it. You need to start telling it in your content. You need people to know online. You need people to know on your email list, in your content, what your story is, because that's why they will follow you, not because you gave them the 10 best recommendations for this and on that, like no, your story, they'll connect with you and how you deliver content. Okay, I'm gonna get off my soapbox for a second. Okay, here we go. I'm off my soapbox. Okay, step down, we're good to go.
Speaker 1:So the key takeaway for all of this is change is inevitable, but those who adapt will thrive. You will thrive in 2025 if you can adapt to what's happening. And we're gonna talk about some of the other major changes, but the creators who lean into these shifts will set themselves up. Share your story. You want to be set apart. Share your story, share your story. Share your story, share your story. That should be the title of today's episode, because it is the thing that I believe so passionately about. But let's prepare for the future.
Speaker 1:So the third and final segment right, preparing for the future looks like step number one audit your podcast, audit your content. What does that look like? Go listen to an episode. When was the last time you listened to an episode, not from Buzzsprout or your podcast host? Go to YouTube and watch a whole video of what you created, or go to, you know, apple Podcasts. Go to Spotify. Go to somewhere where you don't typically hang out and consume your own content like you were your audience, and you will find things. You will find things. You will find that you said, oh, go check out this episode. You know, link in the show notes. There's no link in the show notes or it's a broken link, like. This happened to me earlier this week. I was like, oh, you know, go check out the notes or the link in the show notes, and I went and clicked in the link and I was like, wait, that's, that's a 404 page. That's not the right link in the show notes. So other people have experienced this as well. So go do a full audit of your content.
Speaker 1:The second one is setting intentional goals for 2025. And I don't want your goals to be about downloads. Ooh, if you already set this goal, we might wanna scratch through it, erase it. I don't know, but don't let it just be about downloads. I'll say that, okay, because I know some of you have very intentional goals. You're like I want to get a sponsor, I want to do this, I got to get more downloads. Okay, that's fine, but don't let your only goal around your content be around watch time views, subscribers, people that follow me on Instagram, like all of these vanity metrics that may or may not contribute at all to the bottom line of your business and your content.
Speaker 1:I would rather you say you know what? I'm going to get 25 testimonials in the first quarter of the year. That's an impressive goal. That's a really impressive goal. You're going to have conversations with all these people, you're going to document it, you're going to record it like whatever. Like that is a very impressive goal to me. Or, the first half, the first quarter, seems like 25. I'm like that's a lot of people, but the first half of 2025, that would be incredible. 25 and 25, like. Make that your goal 25 reviews of your content or testimonials in 2025. I think that that's a pretty good goal. So if you don't have one, you can still mine. Just go forth with that one, but don't let it just be about content downloads, content metrics. Another one could be systemizing If you haven't done that, or working on your workflows. That could be really helpful to someone. If you feel things are very chaotic right now, I would lean into that as well.
Speaker 1:And then investing in community and resources. Of course, I've already talked about Podcasters Connect, but this is a plug for it and I'm gonna tell you, like y'all, there's a free version of the membership. Somebody wrote in the other day and they're like oh, I didn't realize that it's also there's a free version. Yes, there's three different tiers of joining Podcasters Connect. So we have a free version that allows you a few features in the community. Then we have a monthly subscription version where you can pay every single month. So if you just want to test drive it and see what we're all about, then come hang out with us. And then we have an annual version where you pay up front for the full year. Then you get the benefits of getting the discount on two months. Right, there's two months out of the year you don't have to pay for. Plus, you get other perks, like you get a sponsored newsletter, and we have other promotional features that are just available to our sponsored members, our sponsored members, our annual members in the membership. So crystalprofitcom forward slash, join, check out podcasters, connect and come join the free version, right? If you're like I don't know if I'm ready, come join the free version, come test drive us see what you think about it.
Speaker 1:But as a wrap up, the last question is is what's one change you're ready to make in your podcasting approach for the new year? What's that one change? Is it video? Is it recording shorter episodes? Is it planning ahead more? Like what is the thing that you can commit to as we're approaching the new year? Like what's something that you want to take into 2025, that you're like. I really, I really want to make this one change because I think it'll make all the difference For me.
Speaker 1:It's continuing to take months off out of the year. I want to say months, I didn't say days or weeks Months off in the year where I'm not creating at all and I'm spending intentional time with my family. I already do this a little bit, but I'm thinking I need to do it even more. Like January, february, those are okay. I think I'm going to take the whole month of March off. I'm gonna take the whole month of June off, not all of July, but a little bit of July and then, for sure, november and December next year. That's a lot like that's five months out of next year where I won't be creating any content. So what does that mean? That means I got to be batching. It means I got to be batching. It means I got to be planning, I got to be recording like I got to be. I got to have my ducks in a row in order to make that happen. So that's one change that I'm willing to make. It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make to have more intentional time with my family.
Speaker 1:But anyway, that's for you. I want you to go reflect, I want you to think about all of these things and, if you feel so moved to, I would love to hear some of your goals, some of your dreams, some of your wishes about 2025 and what you're doing with your content. So leave us a comment. If you're watching on YouTube, if you're listening on the audio only version, like, scroll all the way up to the top where it says send Crystal a text message and tell me send us a fan mail, we'll give you a fan mail. Shout out, make sure you include the name of your podcast or the name of your content as well as your name, because I love reading those and they're so special. But that's all I have for you today. So make sure you are following or subscribe wherever you're listening and watching today and, as always, remember, keep it up. We all have to start somewhere.
