Interview experts sharing their strategies for solving problems that young adults will face throughout our twenties
"Stop overthinking and just start."
Today Justin Peters, the creator of The Struggle is Real with Justin Peters shares his story of self-improvement podcast.
► Tell us about you and your podcast
Hi, I'm Justin Peters. I'm the host of The Struggles Real, a podcast focused on adulting advice for young professionals. You know, those moments where you think, I wish I would've learned this in school. Those are the topics that we love to talk about. Each week I interview experts sharing their strategies for solving problems that us young adults will face throughout our twenties and thirties.
Some of the experts you'll hear from include a former top 20 poker player, a corporate executive turned Tik-Toker, and a friendship and connection coach. You'll find we enjoy bouncing around between a myriad of subjects, but my favorite categories are personal finance, interpersonal relationships, career advice, and healthy living tips.
If you need a recommendation on which episode to start with, check out one of our fan favorites, like episode 43, an inspiring story of the former inmate, Nate Dukes, who completely recreated his life. If you're looking for financial literacy, try episode 75 with Jesse Cramer titled, Is Investing Still a Smart Choice? Or, if you're looking to jump straight into the deep end, listen to our spicy conversation in episode 63 with sex expert Susan Bratton.
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
Of course, I listen to podcasts! I'm an audible learner, and podcasting is a great source for news, education, and entertainment.
I saw the problems my little brother was struggling with growing up, and wanted to help him, but didn't have all the answers. I started interviewing experts to share their adulting advice so we could grow and learn together.
I started my podcast three years ago as of next week. It wasn't meant to be a COVID project, but it sure turned into one. I had this grand goal to start a podcast the entire year prior. It wasn't until reviewing my New Year's resolutions that following year, that I realized I still hadn't started a podcast. I stopped overthinking it, and scheduled my first interview shortly after New Year's.
► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
We just started to release weekly episodes. I do a ton of guest research beforehand. Luckily, my brother produces everything on the back end, but we easily spend an entire workday getting the episode released for the week. Podcasting is a fun hobby so the time we spend creating it flies by. Luckily, we run a podcast agency so we're able to fund everything in house.
► What do you gain from podcasting?
We're aiming to go no month with fewer than 500 downloads, but hopefully start cracking 1,000 download months soon. We haven't monetized, we just want to help educate our network, so they find adulting to be a little easier.
If you’ve listened to podcasts you know what I’m talking about. There’s something about it that makes you feel very connected to the host. It almost feels like you know them, even if you’ve never met them. Podcasts are perfect for relationship building.
Podcasts are an extremely effective networking tool. You have an excuse to talk to industry leading experts. It’s perfect for client based business that requires you to make genuine, meaningful relationships.
Community forms around podcasts. Look no further for organic engagement with the target audience you’re building.
It’s easy to be yourself. Authenticity is valuable to be able to build trust with your audience and reassure them that they can buy your products or services.
While using podcasts for outreach can prove difficult, it’s the opposite when it comes to building affinity for your brand. Podcasting is a whole new pipeline for your company to regurgitate their core values and beliefs to garner long term credibility and exposure. If done correctly, it’s a way to separate from the rest of the industry and create a unique brand presence.
Podcasts are large back catalogs for your entire network. Onboarding a new client? Ask them to refer to episode x and reach out with any questions. Onboarding a new team member? Consider your catalog as a way for them to familiarize themselves with your processes and brand.
Podcasts are a cost-effective marketing channel that’ll advertise your business. Your business needs an affordable media outlet to grow its revenue.
Practice speaking educational content on your preferred subject matter. Is there any better way to learn than to talk with experts and teach others? Podcasts are built for information dispersion. Think about the impact you could have on your listenership.
► How does your podcasting process look like?
We find a ton of guests through cold pitching, but our network refers to a ton of interesting people.
We use tons of hardware and software. Yeti mics. Zencastr for recording. Calendly for scheduling. Google Drive for storage. Descript and FL Studio for editing. PodBean for hosting. The list goes on.
We've done in person interviews, but mainly web calls. Usually binge our guests' content before the interview, especially other podcasts.
► How do you market your show?
Target daily engagement through various online forums and word of mouth. Our growth strategy is podcast guesting, promo/feed swaps, newsletter and podcast service features. Listen Notes we'd love to be featured! We'll give you a shoutout in our podcast and newsletter.
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
Stop overthinking and just start. There are so many things to learn along the way. You can reach out to us in the meantime. We're at tsirpodcast.com
Listen to podcasts about podcasting though.
► Where can we learn more about you & your podcasts?
Everything can be found on our website tsirpodcast.com. Thanks guys (: