Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Deitsch.
Andrew, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
It all started when I was a freshman at Georgia College & State University. Why I was there? I didn’t really know. My friends all went off to college, and my parents wanted me to go of course, so there I was. Going with the flow and soaking it all in. Trying to have as much fun as I could without letting my grades suffer too much.
Towards the middle of my first semester, my friend Blake shared a concept with me that transformed my life. He introduced me to the idea of passive income, and we became heavily involved in a Network Marketing company.
Through some mentors within this company I was encouraged to start reading books like “The 4 Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferriss & “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki. My mind was blown. I realized that college wasn’t for me, and I decided to chase my dreams and drop out of college in the spring of 2013. All my friends probably thought I was crazy, but I think most of them admired me for going off the beaten path.
It took OVER A YEAR for me to actually turn a profit in that company, but I wouldn’t trade that year for the world. I learned so much about sales, recruiting, confidence, public speaking, self-development, getting out of my comfort zone, and FAILING. It was an uncomfortable year. Many people thought I was crazy and maybe I was.
Towards the end of my time in this company I was inspired to get out of my comfort zone even more and travel the world. My friend Brooke had become an Au Pair (basically a nanny working for, and living as part of a host family) in Italy. While talking to her one night, I decided that I was going to pursue this route as well.
I was able to spend that summer in Italy living with a family in Milan looking after their two boys and speaking with them in English. This was the first time I had been overseas, and my first time solo traveling. It was the best experience I could have asked for. Stepping out of my comfort zone into an environment where I didn’t speak the language, didn’t know my way around, and didn’t have any connections was so liberating. Every simple task became an adventure.
When I got back home, life seemed so mundane and predictable. I knew that I wanted to repeat this experience again. So the next summer I became an Au Pair for a family with three boys in Madrid, Spain. This time I spent more time visiting other countries in the surrounding areas. During that summer I took 18 international flights and visited 8 new countries. I became addicted to new experiences, new places, and new people.
During my solo-travels I became an avid podcast consumer. Podcasts became a way of life for me. I had my headphones in all the time. I loved being a fly on the wall, able to learn from amazing people and hear fascinating stories. The best part of listening to podcasts is that I could listen while doing other things like cooking, cleaning, driving, working out, etc. I was hooked. I toyed with the idea of starting my own podcast during these two years, but never pulled the trigger.
In March of 2017, my friend Graham invited me to be a guest on his new podcast. I had a blast. I knew that as soon as we finished I had to start one of my own. Through my unorthodox experiences over the past few years I had made lots of connections that would turn out to be very valuable for my show.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Many obstacles along the way in creating my podcast were overcome by good planning. I knew that THE LAUNCH IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART. If you launch a podcast that isn’t very good or professional, people are going to be very hesitant to give you second chance. YOU HAVE TO MAKE A GREAT FIRST IMPRESSION.
I knew what I liked about my favorite shows, and I did a lot of research on how to launch a successful podcast. I narrowed it down to three major things:
1: Good Content – If your podcast sucks, no one is going to listen to it. It must feel authentic and natural. If it feels fake or awkward, people will turn it off in a heartbeat and never come back.
2: Appearance of Longevity – I knew from my own experience that if a podcast looked like it wasn’t going to last very many episodes I wouldn’t listen to it. People do not want to get attached to a show that isn’t going to stick around. You have to be in it for the long game.
3: Good Promotion – If you can’t entice people enough to give your show a chance, you have already lost. I needed to create compelling promotional material around my show.
Using the skills that I had acquired over the years, I was able to create my website, logo, record, mix, and master the show, create buzz and interest with compelling artwork and videos, and launch with 8 episodes on iTunes, Google Play, etc. within a month of recording my first episode.
I launched the podcast on my 23rd birthday, May 28th. I had no idea what the response would be, but I was floored. Within the first week I was averaging about 700 listeners per day. I knew I was onto something. I was more motivated than ever to keep it going.
The biggest obstacle I face now that the show is up and running is my time management. I have high goals of uploading multiple episodes per week. In order to fulfill those goals, I have to make sacrifices. I don’t hang out with my old friends as much. I don’t go out and party. I don’t sleep much. I don’t watch Netflix. People don’t understand me, and that’s okay.
I knew that in order to be extraordinary, I can’t engage in ordinary activities. I had to “Level Up.” This is challenging because the “Old Me” wants to stay stagnant, content with where I was. The “New Me” had to emerge, but it didn’t come easily. Most of it is mindset.
Please tell us about Andrew Deitsch Podcast.
I am most proud of my personal brand, The Andrew Deitsch Podcast. My show is all about having transparent and vulnerable conversations with the most fascinating people I know. I have thousands of people all over the world patiently waiting for me to drop the next episode. That responsibility is incredible, and I don’t take it lightly. It never fails to blow my mind.
Through this process I realized that I had a skill set that people needed. I had launched and maintained an amazing show. I had hit all three of the major points of a successful launch and had sustained a growing audience ever since. People began to start reaching out to me in regards to launching their own shows and projects. I was flattered at first, but I realized that the learning curve is far too steep for most people to launch a podcast that has high quality content, sustainability, and good promotion.
I soon began to take on clients at many levels, helping them with what they need to launch their own projects. While I can coach people on being a better host, most of my clients are pretty talented in that regard already. Most of them need help with the technical and promotional side, website design, linking to iTunes, and creating custom artwork and videos to promote their episodes on social media.
Of course there are plenty of other companies that will help you launch your podcast and handle the technical side of things. What sets me apart from these other companies, is most of these people are failed podcast hosts themselves. They know the technical side, but most of the time they have never even launched a successful podcast. Sure, they can help you, but when you have issues with scaling or creating compelling promo, they fall short. They have no idea how to do this.
It’s so easy to make your podcast better than 99% of what’s out there. You just need a compelling vision, and partner with the right people to make it happen.
Mark my words. You will see more and more major players jumping into the podcast space in 2018. Some of them will fizzle out, some of them will fall short, and some of them will become wildly successful household names in the podcast world.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I would have trusted my gut instinct to start the podcast years ago. The podcast market is much more saturated now. I had the same vision in my head then, but I never trusted myself enough to follow through with everything.
I had too many limiting beliefs: I’m too young. I don’t have anything worth saying. Who would care about my stupid show anyways? What if I fail? What if I make a fool of myself?
If I had started then, I can only imagine where I would be now. Of course hindsight is 20/20. I don’t beat myself up about it, it’s part of my story, and I can share that with others now to inspire them to create their own projects.
Are you going to join them? What do you have to lose?
Contact Info:
- Website: https://andrewdeitsch.com/
- Email: podcast@andrewdeitsch.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adpodcast/
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