Making Media

A special announcement today. The Colossus Merchandise Shop is open for business. If you're listening to this, that means we avoided my biggest fear. We did not break the internet, but please head over to joincolossus.com where you will find a link to our shop.

Staying on that theme, Dom and I hosted Michael Williams from A Continuous Lean for a timely conversation on branding, merchandise, and how companies can differentiate themselves. Michael has been writing about heritage brands for over 15 years. In a world where every website looks the same and every gift guide has the same recommendations, Michael consistently presents original things. Enjoy the episode.

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.

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This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities.

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Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus

Show Notes

(00:04:00) - (First question) - The early days of launching A Continuous Lean and how it transitioned into the business he built around it

(00:06:19) - What led to ACL being featured in the New York Times

(00:08:29) - Deciding to branch out from ACL and creating his consulting agency

(00:10:43) - How he’s managed to stay true to his vision of staying small and in control

(00:12:34) - The best strategy and advice he could give brands today

(00:15:45) - Key characteristics of companies that are bad or good at marketing

(00:21:39) - Further case studies for brands that are seemingly timeless

(00:22:27) - His favorite aspects of the Master's Golf Tournament

(00:24:29) - Rolex: Timeless Excellence; The Walt Disney Company: An Entertainment Empire

(00:26:34) - When corporate merch became a thing what the point of it is

(00:30:14) - Whether or not the rules of consumer goods and quality apply to corporate merch

(00:32:08) - What made the Domino’s Rolex so desirable as a branded watch

(00:34:04) - The cult-ish appeal of the New Yorker tote bag

(00:34:54) - Ways to collaborate with celebrities to grow merch awareness

(00:35:55) - The process of building and launching the ACL merch store

(00:41:48) - Developing brand partnerships and his experience with them

(00:44:46) - Whether or not it’s worth it for a business like Colossus to launch a merch store

(00:46:14) - Having taste instinctually or if it can learned over time

(00:47:43) - Possible reasons why Apple doesn’t have a merch shop

(00:49:14) - Quality, exclusivity, and scarcity as factors in the success of merch

(00:50:47) - Debrief

What goes into a podcast launch, how does this launch compare to previous ones, and why is Jimmy Chin a bucket list guest? We go behind the scenes of launch week to share the chaos and reflect on the numbers after the first two episodes. Enjoy, subscribe, and get in touch.

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.

-----

This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities.

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Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @JoinColossus

Show Notes

[00:01:35] - [First question] - The chaos surrounding the recent launch experience

[00:07:02] - The inception of the Making Media concept

[00:10:14] - Touching on the launch experiences for previous Colossus shows

[00:11:01] - How Colossus sometimes decides to not run an episode based on content quality

[00:13:30] - The impact of a pre-launch beta audience including colleagues

[00:15:06] - How interview guests power the potential of Making Media

[00:16:08] - How organizing a podcast can influence one’s career trajectory

[00:17:46] - Transitioning from an investor mindset to that of a media operator

[00:19:46] - The dynamic nature of a new podcast that needs fine-tuning

[00:21:24] - Reflecting on what went well with the launch and comparing it to other launches

[00:26:40] - How future launches could be made bigger and better

[00:28:08] - When to implement paid promotion for a new podcast

[00:29:14] - Launch details and feelings about the first few episode releases

[00:30:32] - Using honest clickbait, snappy titles, and controversial ideas to build hype

[00:33:13] - Dealing with listener feedback and sourcing guests effectively

[00:34:12] - Comparing Making Media’s early listenership to stats from other Colossus shows

[00:37:48] - Growth strategy ideas for Making Media going forward

[00:39:20] - A score from one to ten for the launch and an explanation of the score

[00:40:20] - Securing sponsors for Making Media

[00:43:02] - Ideal guests and topics for the show in the coming three months

[00:45:23] - Closing thoughts on launch week and looking to the future of the show

We answer frequent questions sent to us over the past few weeks. Dom goes on the offensive over podcast show notes, Matt gets excited about episode artwork, and we debate the perfect length for an episode. Sprinkled between those topics, we discuss sponsorship and the end-to-end process for a show like Business Breakdowns.

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.

-----

This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities.

-----

Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus

Show Notes

(00:02:15) - [First question] - Thoughts on podcast episode length, the potential correlation between length and popularity, and our personal preferences

(00:10:34) - The problem with podcasts that don’t have show notes and fixing existing ones

(00:11:34) - Monetization, sponsorships, and the podcasting business model

(00:14:56) - Ways to identify and source potential podcast sponsors

(00:19:43) - The importance of having access to detailed data about your show

(00:19:48) - Sean Griffey - Big Bucks in Narrow Niches

(00:20:12) - Securing payment, setting up contracts, deposits, and accounts receivable

(00:22:20) - Whether or not show artwork helps with growth and thoughts on branding

(00:27:23) - Episode preparation, sourcing guests, and production turnaround time

(00:32:24) - Rerecording episodes and inserting secondary recordings

(00:35:14) - Potential platform changes and ways to tell guests their episodes won’t be used

If you make a podcast or like sports, you're gonna enjoy this episode. We've brought on someone I consider to be an audio genius. Spike Eskin runs all of programming at New York's WFAN, the original and biggest sports talk radio station, and he's only the second person to ever have that job. Now you're probably thinking, doesn't everyone just listen to podcasts now? Well, the answer to that is no, but don't worry, he's also got a podcast. A big one. And his podcast, The Rights to Ricky Sanchez is frequently ranked atop the basketball podcast charts. It's only focused on a single team, the 76ers, but it's been big enough to get a full chapter in a book, and several audience gatherings have been featured on Sports Center highlights.

So he is the coach and he is the talent. During our convo, we go through traits that Spike looks for in audio hosts, the benefits and challenges of having practitioners like athletes sitting in the hosting chair, strategies for getting audience feedback beyond maniacs on Twitter, while still keeping love for the maniacs on Twitter, and differences in sponsorship dynamics between radio and podcasting framework for good content. Lots of interesting lessons here, and once I wrap up with Spike, Dom and I will do our normal debrief on lessons from both the interview and the conversation more broadly about how we can apply this to the Colossus business. Enjoy this episode and conversation with Spike.

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.

-----

Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provide up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with the accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities.

-----

Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @JoinColossus

Show Notes

[00:03:09] - [First question] - Which traits he’d use to create the ideal audio host

[00:06:55] - Comparing podcasts to local radio and separating them into three categories

[00:08:43] - Tricks to help hosts generate and create chemistry

[00:14:48] - Something that new hosts and newcomers to audio in general struggle with

[00:17:00] - Effective ways to measure how the fans view your shows

[00:20:52] - Whether you should place any weight on your most engaged listeners

[00:25:01] - Differences in terms of a podcast covering a topic versus a local radio

[00:30:09] - The models and structure of the powerhouse that is radio advertising

[00:33:39] - Repeat advertising and his own sponsorship strategy

[00:39:19] - How much practitioner value comes into play about your show topic

[00:44:37] - The importance of non-consensus and controversial views

[00:49:57] - Whether or not official statements being made via social media is a passing trend or only the beginning

[00:53:51] - Coaching hosts when it comes to asking critical questions

[00:55:51] - Debrief

Welcome to Making Media, where Colossus colleagues Matt Reustle and Dom Cooke will talk to the best media operators, document their own media-building efforts, and dissect their favorite business content in preposterous detail. In this primer, Matt and Dom describe the show’s origin story, what you can expect on a weekly basis, and why it matters.

The first two episodes will launch on Monday, January 30.

Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode.