The Podcaster's Path

00:01 - Chris (Host)
Hello everyone, Welcome back to the Podcaster's Path. I am your host, Chris. Today we have very special guest, Glenn Houseman. We're going to talk about how podcasting has impacted his business. Now, believe it or not, he is in the hospitality industry, so think of hotels and travel and all of that good stuff. Glenn, welcome to the show.

00:21 - Glenn (Guest)
Hey man, Thanks so much for having me Really appreciate being able to share this. I love podcasting so much.

00:28 - Chris (Host)
So I mean that's a good place to start. What makes you love it? Because you are in hospitality, which, if I thought about like there couldn't be a more opposite industry from podcasting. It's so far apart.

00:40 - Glenn (Guest)
Man, I'm spreading the love of hospitality to all the people within the business of hotels. So I'm in this like really, really unique and special position where I get to talk to interesting, fascinating, smart a lot of times wealthy people that can share all sorts of different stories with me that help educate, empower and hopefully entertain my audience. And by doing that it's just I've created this nice virtuous circle where I've built myself a nice business behind it and I've forged great relationships.

01:10 - Chris (Host)
So what inspired you to get started? Because I love the relationship aspect too. That's probably my favorite part of podcasting, and when I started I didn't think that that would be my motivating factor 10 years later. So what was it for you when you got started?

01:25 - Glenn (Guest)
Yeah, so I've been playing with podcasting for about 12 years now. I was like a typical writer in trade industry magazines about hotel industry and I got tired of writing the same old stuff over and over and over again. Meanwhile I'd started really listening to podcasts and loving that and, in always looking for ways to reinvent myself and what I do and what I hopefully can bring to this universe, I decided to, uh, quit my job and start podcasting as a base for an entirely new way of trying to communicate in our industry man.

01:58 - Chris (Host)
that is so interesting because I find when people get kind of bored or stuck in their industry or they want something different, they don't think about content creation as like a way out or a way up. Right, you know, it's like, it's kind of like a it's not even on their list of options. You know, some people go back to school or they're going to get a bunch of degrees or they try a different job and you took the podcasting route. That is super interesting.

02:24 - Glenn (Guest)
It is, but listen, the one thing I do want to say is there are no shortcuts, and it's a lot of hard work because you need to make great, engaging content and that, as a basis, you're able to build all the other fundamentals of your business upon it.

02:38
Chris, I've created this like real virtuous circle of being able to leverage the podcast in a lot of different ways that others might not be able to do if you don't really think about it right. So I've leveraged the podcast into getting advertisers on my show. I've leveraged the podcast into creating an industry newsletter, to helping build my LinkedIn feed, which has created more visibility for me, which has led to a lot of speaking engagements where I host events, moderate panel discussions, do keynote speeches, do all of that, and all of that has led to me getting better guests on the show, which has then led to me start to be able to consult with companies. So for me, that podcast has been a springboard for endless creativity throughout my career over the last decade, and it's been immeasurable what I'm able to do because of it.

03:34 - Chris (Host)
Yeah, and I think the opportunities you have when you like have your show, you set it up, you do everything right, you're professional man. It's just endless opportunity and connections. And when you're showing hospitality, who is a target listener? You know when you, when you sit down to do an interview or you're making solo content, when you're making this stuff, who's the person you're like. I would love if they listen to the show uh yeah, I'm not all.

03:59 - Glenn (Guest)
I'm not about consumers. Everybody's chasing that consumer audience and a lot of people are doing it really well. I have a niche that I am in and I want to try to be the biggest fish in that small pond, trying to make a living, trying to save for retirement, trying to do all of that kind of stuff. I'm not trying to be a super, super, mega star. I'm too old for that stuff, right?

04:20
So I don't need to worry about that. What I need to worry about is how to educate, empower and entertain people in the business of hotels. So my audience are people that are coming up in that industry. They are the people that are the owners, the operators, the investors in the hospitality business and there are so many stakeholders in that. I have a massive audience, but it's just within a very narrow category. So I've been able to achieve great numbers and connections and notoriety, but not having to compete against the giant folks that go global on the consumer scale. I love that.

04:59 - Chris (Host)
It's so much better when you go with a more focused and narrow approach, because you can tailor all the content to a very specific person. All the guests is somebody that they may not be a list celebrity in Hollywood, but in your industry they're a list celebrity. That's the perfect thing, man it sure is.

05:17 - Glenn (Guest)
And, chris, I'll tell you like I could get on a CEO from a hotel management company, Right? A lot of people don't realize how many layers this business has, but if you see a Hilton Garden Inn on the door, that doesn't mean Hilton owns it. It's a franchise property. Some investor owns it and good chances that they've hired a company to operate that property on their behalf, right? So I'll get a CEO from a company that is a rock star company in my industry and that's huge. That's like Conan O'Brien having on the big guest to pitch their next movie. So in my world it's the same kind of equivalent are setting up their show.

06:08 - Chris (Host)
I try to tell people is the quantity in terms of the number of people listening, it's really doesn't matter because it's, I won't say impossible but very, very difficult to reach Like. It's so much better when you focus on the right people because you're going to have a larger impact.

06:20 - Glenn (Guest)
It is, but the problem with the monetization when it comes to that, and I've been able to get around it. But this is a warning to people out there. Everyone's going to talk to you. The cost per thousand, cost per thousand. You've got to get beyond that conversation. I could have 500,000 listeners, but 490,000 of my listeners are completely irrelevant to you marketing person. Irrelevant to you, marketing person. I have the relationships and ears of the top few thousand decision makers that everybody is trying to go to and get to. So that's the story that people have to be able to tell when selling ads behind stuff.

07:01 - Chris (Host)
Yes, yes. That's why the quality is so important, man. The quality of your listener. So what's been your biggest milestone or success with the show so far? Like, what's that thing you're excited to tell people? I've done this because of the podcast?

07:18 - Glenn (Guest)
I got to tell you. I've got A story that I couldn't believe. I know, in March 2020, the whole hospitality universe fell apart. Right, everybody locked down and there was no people staying in hotels. You're looking at a guy that makes his living from speaking gigs. You know podcast advertising that. You know a newsletter advertising, all that kind of stuff. Every single thing for me went away overnight. Same thing with so many people in my business. All these hotels had to close their door. Thousands and millions of people got laid off. I'm not saying I'm anything special. I'm just saying that this is the reality of the situation I faced in March 2020. Right, so I'm sitting at home. What the hell am I going to do? You know, I'm worried. We're all worried about how we can make that next mortgage payment and stuff.

08:04
And I had access to LinkedIn live and I just went on one day and then I went on again live the next day and I started to get people to talk to me and the podcast, which was a weekly audio show, turned into a daily video podcast.

08:19
That was getting I couldn't believe it 10,000 people a day watching in the thick of it, because everyone was at home.

08:27
None of these hospitality people are usually home and nobody knew what to do, and I was in the middle of lightning in a bottle where all of these people were the most honest they've ever been in their entire careers and they shared that through me with the industry. So that, to me, is probably the greatest thing that I've ever been a part of, because it helped so many people find light in the darkest days that our industry has ever had. And then the universe thanked me and I've been able to have a lot of great opportunities I would never have thought possible because of this. You know doing events standing in front of 5, 5 000 people, with them listening to what I have to say, uh, you know getting to do, um, really, uh, really cool things. I got to see my favorite band at sphere in las vegas as, uh, guests of the venetian as a thank you for what I did. I mean, come on, you know, I just felt I'm just so blessed to be able to do what I do.

09:25 - Chris (Host)
That's the timing of it, man. That's a big deal Crazy. It was crazy. I talked to somebody who was in Airbnb and stuff at the time and their description of it was the same as yours, where it was like the entire industry within a couple of weeks just was dead in the water and people were terrified. So I love how you captured people at that time because I think a lot of people tried to. I remember that time because I'm in podcasting, so my industry blew up as well. Right, there were certain people who tried to capture the market during that time, but I don't think that they did a great job with the vulnerability of that audience and it was kind of like I'm to try to take as much from you and I don't think that was the way to go. I think the way you did it with conversation was great.

10:10 - Glenn (Guest)
Right, chris. That brings us to another lesson for your listeners out there. The more I will be me, the more I want to be the authentic me, the actual me, not the persona G, but the actual me the better I connect with the audience and the more people liked me and liked what I was doing. So many people put up this veneer. Yeah, sure, I speak a little bit more exaggerated and it's a little bit persona, but the more you could be yourself and be honest with everything. That's how you make those emotional connections with listeners. That gets them to come back time and time again.

10:46 - Chris (Host)
Yes, yes, I agree 100%. So you talked about a lot how you monetize. Before we get to that, I want to get into the marketing. So how are you currently promoting?

10:58 - Glenn (Guest)
your episodes. What's been effective for you so far? Since I'm a business to business podcast, I live and breathe in the LinkedIn universe and that's where I do nearly everything. So again, don't look at my YouTube views. You're going to go. This guy's a joker. But in the LinkedIn universe I'm hitting all the right people at all the right time, because all of the folks that are in my age group that are making the investments, that's where they are. I've been told time and time again why aren't you on the TikTok and all that kind of stuff? Because nobody in my world gives an F about TikTok, right? So I don't need to be in TikTok. A lot of you out there. That might be an amazing strategy, not for me, not for my audience. It'll be a waste of time. So everything I do, chris, is in that LinkedIn universe, with a little here, a little there, a little Facebook stuff, but it's really just trying to connect with people there.

11:53 - Chris (Host)
Yeah, I agree, I agree. I think we kind of took what Gary Vee said about TikTok and jump on there and some people took it so serious that they put all their focus on that platform, not realizing that you know Gary Vee is going to tell you that because he makes money from all of this stuff in some way, shape or form. But if you know your entire market is on one platform, I don't think it's logical to not focus on that.

12:17 - Glenn (Guest)
A majority, 80% of your time, right, and you also right, 80% is a good number, because you have to figure out other ways, just in case. Right, I'm scared S-less every day. I mean, I think with LinkedIn it's okay, but one day I could wake up, it could all just be gone and then I have no way to connect with people anymore. Right, I don't think that's a problem with LinkedIn, but I think, if you put all your eggs in the YouTube basket or some of the other sites, Facebook has been giving me a lot of trouble. I do a Friday night happy hour show and I keep getting copyright strikes on it for a service I'm paying for to make sure that doesn't happen, because I got the rights to the sound right. So one little thing can happen. It can destroy your whole business model. So you have to get beyond being dependent on these giant tech companies that are going to be winners no matter what.

13:07 - Chris (Host)
One thing I think that you did really, really well on LinkedIn that most podcasters that are on LinkedIn don't do is create a page for your show. Can you talk about that process a little bit?

13:18 - Glenn (Guest)
Yeah, and I struggle with it too, because my personal audience, which I started with years before the show page, is much more successful. So I'm always trying to balance it. But the way that LinkedIn works is they really want you to use those business pages as well. So it's very important to figure out a content strategy behind that and continue to publish as much as you can on that Regular cadence tag. People got to spend a couple of extra minutes.

13:46
I know it's sometimes a pain in the ass, but if you promote, somebody say hey, could you share this? I'm getting into the habit of every single podcast I put up, whomever's on it sending me a note hey, thought you might want to share this. Some don't, some do. All of these little things help. I'd like you all out there to not think about it as one giant mission, but just doing one more thing at a time, that one little thing over and over and over and over again. That's going to get you to your goals that are out there. So try not to get overwhelmed. Just get out there, start doing great content, comment on other people's stories, be a personality online through your business, and you'll make it work. I've created a great relationship with a lot of folks, chris, because they content and participate online on a daily basis.

14:33 - Chris (Host)
Daily basis. I think that engagement is probably the best growth strategy. It's just talking to people and just literally taking a time out. I think it's hard to find who to talk to, but once you find those people you have like your core group. I think your focus should be on getting more of those people instead of talking to everybody, because when you focus in, you get, you get better results right yeah, yeah.

14:58 - Glenn (Guest)
The more that you can tap into a a real fervent group of people, the more success I think you're going to have, because you've fermented this great base.

15:08 - Chris (Host)
So let's talk a little bit about your monetization. I know you mentioned the newsletter, the podcast. How long has your show been monetized? How long did it take for you to get to that point? That's a question I get all the time.

15:20 - Glenn (Guest)
That's a question I get all the time. Yeah, of course you do, but it's a slow ramp up period. When I first started in 2017, I didn't have any ads, but I wanted to seem like I was a badass, so I gave Best Western. I gave them a call because they had hired me for a speaking gig. At one point I said, hey, why don't you throw some ads in there? I won't charge you a form, just so I could have the perception that I was able to do something. Again, it was all just about creating that perception and acting as if until I actually got people to start promoting it. I've been able to do monetization in a variety of different ways. There's just regular advertising and regular sponsorships that are on there. You could buy out segments. You could buy out the whole episode. I could create all sorts of special content with you. So there's a lot of different ways in order to monetize the content portion of it, for sure.

16:22 - Chris (Host)
Oh man, that is genius. I think when I first talked to podcasters, they're always focused on getting that first big sponsorship deal and making sure there's as much money as possible and right. My biggest challenge is trying to explain to podcasters that that first deal might be really small, but it's the one that gets you in the door like how you did it for free.

16:42 - Glenn (Guest)
I think that's genius yeah, man, it just is what it is.

16:46
You have to understand what the realities of situation are, unless you're a big name and, like every freaking comedian and every tv host and personality has their own podcast right now, so they're scoop up all the attention they can get in there. You have the responsibility to go out there and be amazing and create a base of people that give an F about what you do, and then you can start worrying about advertising. If you go into this thinking you're going to make money, you're a damn fool. You need to go into this thinking that you want to say something and you want to be heard and be respected by your peer group. That is what leads to you then making money. Just a weird switch that you got to flip with attitude. But I really fundamentally believe if you go into it with an open heart and a lot of hard work and you got to be really good at what you do, then the universe is going to provide for you, as opposed to you chasing the dollars and getting one shot and then not being able to have longevity and sustainability.

17:49 - Chris (Host)
Yeah, I agree. That's why I get worried when I get asked that question at an event and I'm speaking and some podcasters are like hey, how can I monetize my show? Then my next question is always well, how many episodes have you put out? How long have you?

18:01 - Glenn (Guest)
had the show. I mean come on, Come on.

18:05 - Chris (Host)
We aren't there just yet. We aren't in the conversation of that. I tell people it's good to have a vision for what you want, but it shouldn't be the main priority. You need to have systems in place, have your workflow ready, marketing process you follow for every single episode. All of these things need to be in place before you focus on monetizing. So, with where you are with your show right now, where's the biggest challenge for you? Is it managing the show and the day-to-day process of booking interviews and editing the content? Is it the growth factor or is it the money part?

18:38 - Glenn (Guest)
Yeah, there's a little bit of everything all of the above, because I'm getting older and I've been doing it for a while and I'm getting tired of the repetition of it. I mean, I've literally done thousands of pieces of content right, and it starts to take a toll after a while. Most of what I do I try to do live. That cuts down on a lot of the work, you know. Or I do it live to tape. So when I'm at conferences and events, I shoot a lot of interviews that I usually get sponsorships behind and I'm able to monetize those. And then it's easy enough to, you know, just throw on a couple of graphics and you're good to go. So shortcut. Number one again know your stuff, be awesome, so you don't have to edit. That saves a lot of time. So many people think about the editing thing. That saves a lot of time. So many people think about the editing thing. You should really think about just being awesome and having something to say, so you don't have to edit, right? So that's number one. Number two the other challenge is doing it day after day after day after day. It never ends. There is no ending time. When you went to school, the class would let out in May or June, you'd be done for the summer. You don't get that anymore.

19:52
I know a lot of people that break up shows and podcasting. I'm a glutton for punishment. I never take off, ever. I took off a week in summer 2022, but I had content that I pre-recorded to keep putting up right, because I'm very afraid that if I'm not there I'll be forgotten. So you have to have this sustainability with your ability to do it. Too many people think I'll do 10 episodes and that'll be fine. They don't realize how freaking hard it is to sustain it. So you have to figure out shortcuts and systems, like you said, chris, in order to minimize the effort that it takes, because it can become monotonous over time. So that's the biggest issue.

20:35
As far as the monetization goes for me, I've been very blessed. I've been able to do well, so it's a matter of maximizing the amount of money that I can make per hour that I'm awake. So I'm starting to think a little bit more differently about I could sell this ad for X amount of dollars, or I could put in the time it takes to sell that ad to try to get on an advisory board now and then get points in a company and then maybe at some point that'll be a bigger payday, and I'm always trying to think about maximizing it. You got to know your worth. This is a lesson that was really hard for me. You need to learn how to say I'm going to come and host your event, I deserve X amount of dollars because I'm a freaking pro. So always ask for what you're worth. You can always come down, but always ask for what you're worth and don't be afraid to lose jobs, because chances are, the jobs that you're going to lose are the people that weren't really super serious about hiring you anyway. They just wanted to get in on the cheap for whatever it is. So that's really important, I think, to understand as well.

21:47
Then I think, finally, you got to think of all the different ways you could do that monetization, chris, and I mentioned already. I could do social media posts right. I could do custom content. I have a newsletter you could advertise in. You could advertise on my website. I could do a LinkedIn special live event with you. I could do interviews in your trade show booth, and when I do that, I can introduce you to the person you wanted to know, who you would not get in your trade show booth because I have that relationship I could do right. So, chris, I'm always out there thinking of different angles to make money. So you're not just a podcaster, you're a podcaster who's got this big business all built around the podcasting as a base. So podcasting is not your income. Podcasting is allowing you to make a lot more income elsewhere if you open your mind to the possibilities to make a lot more income elsewhere if you open your mind to the possibilities, I think.

22:47 - Chris (Host)
for me, podcasting I see it as a tool that you can use to accomplish pretty much whatever you want. At this point it's kind of like the segue to creating a better life. You can use it whichever way you want to, but just use it as a tool. It's a resource, right. So with you, you said you said the show is monotonous. You're doing a lot of the stuff and but you're getting results. You're making a lot of relationships, a lot of opportunities. Where do you see the show in a year? You know what's that vision for the show right now.

23:14 - Glenn (Guest)
Well I'm. I'm trying hard to find new ways to change the way I'm doing content. There's plenty of people out there that are starting to do what I was doing five, seven years ago, so I try to stay ahead of the trends. So I'm doing different things. Now. I'm doing more like walk and talk videos as opposed to just being online. So I got some fun videos with me walking around the casino resort with the president of Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, and I'm going to do Rio Rio in a couple of weeks. For example, we just did an interview last week, which will run in December, with the president of a hard rock hotel in Atlantic city. So I'm doing more fun getting out there and showing people more, as opposed to talking about it and doing those kinds of videos, because people that are doing what I'm attempting to do are not doing that, if that makes sense.

24:10 - Chris (Host)
That makes sense. I love it, man. I love it. So I have a ton of crazy listeners. You never know who might tune into the show or who might check you out, so let people know where they can find you.

24:19 - Glenn (Guest)
Yeah, hey, go to my website, novacancynew newscom, or find the no vacancy podcast page on LinkedIn. And why not just friend me on LinkedIn, glenn Hausman, happy to help you guys find your podcasting dream. I figured out all the hard stuff. So, hey, if you're a young guy, young lady, I'm here to help and mentor you. And I say that, chris, and it's sad, but people never call me People never let me help them.

24:46
I meet kids. I meet college kids all the time that say they're going to call, they don't. So I'd say I hope your audience is different. You know, reach out to me.

24:53 - Chris (Host)
I hope so. I hope so. Well, Glenn, thank you for being such an amazing guest.

24:57 - Glenn (Guest)
Thanks, chris, I really appreciate.