“How to Become the Center of Influence Through Community-Building Podcasting” with Mike Volpe of the Agile Operation Podcast
As part of my series of interviews about “How to Become the Center of Influence Through Podcasting”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mike Volpe. He is the CEO of Lola.com, the easiest way to book, manage, and report on corporate travel. He has spoken at numerous conferences, podcasts, and television segment on sales, marketing, and growth. He is the host of the Agile Operations Podcast.
Previously, Mike was CMO and part of the founding team at HubSpot, where he spent eight years growing the company from five people to over 1,000, $175m in revenue, and a successful IPO. He is well-known and active in the Boston SaaS and startup communities as a member of the board of directors of Validity and Privy, and as an angel investor in more than 30 startups.
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Can you tell us the “backstory” about why or how you got started as a podcaster?
While I was at HubSpot, I got involved in the creation of podcasts early in their lifecycle. I started “The Growth Show” in 2015 as a way to provide on-demand audio for people who aren’t necessarily in front of their computers for much of the day.
It became clear early on that the show and the format were striking a chord with our audience. I have been a big proponent of using podcasts as a marketing and community-building channel ever since. When I became CEO of Lola.com, one of the first things I wanted to get out the door was a podcast directed at Lola’s target audience: finance and operations folks.
Can you share a story about the most interesting thing that has happened to you since you started podcasting?
I was sitting on the subway in Boston and the guy across from me asked if I was Mike from The Growth Show podcast. And then at industry events a surprising number of people tell me they listen to the podcast. I have found that podcast stats are really unreliable. Even if your numbers seem small, you might have a loyal audience.
How long have you been podcasting and how many shows have you aired?
I’ve been podcasting since 2008 and have been responsible for launching eight different podcasts. And I’ve done a lot of microphone time myself, having hosted over 250 podcast episodes. In addition to launching multiple shows at HubSpot, Cybereason, and Lola.com, I’ve been a guest on dozens and dozens of podcasts from organizations like Drift, OpenView, DataBox, and a ton more.
What are the main takeaways or lessons you want your listeners to walk away with?
The takeaways totally depend on the podcast, so I’ll focus on the one I’m working on now: The Agile Operations Podcast. The show is aimed at people in the ‘back office’ — finance, operations, and people ops professionals. We want them to leave feeling like they listened in to a frank, casual conversation about topics that are very relevant to their day-to-days. There’s a lot of ways this can happen — tips, anecdotes, data, hard-earned lessons. But the main point should be that they’re not alone. There are people out there, really smart and experienced people, who are trying to solve the same operations problems that they are.
We try to find experts in the field who are dealing with these issues and who can talk in-depth and with great passion about these topics. If listeners feel like they were a fly on the wall for a really interesting, actionable conversation about efficient growth, rapid scaling, effective processes, and anything else operations-related, I feel like I’ve done my job.
Check out the full interview in Tracy Hazzard’s Authority Magazine article about Mike Volpe!
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Podcaster Influencer, Mike Volpe of the Agile Operation Podcast shares the best ways to:
1) Book Great Guests. Listen to your listeners. A great guest is only great in the eyes of your audience. Who do they want to hear from? What people get them excited? Ask your listeners what people and topics they want and then do your best to deliver. AND, this helps on the other side. Reach out to potential guests and tell them how much excitement you’ve heard about their potential episode. Centering your entire podcast creation process around your listeners is the surest way to get the right guests.
I’ve been fortunate to have some great guests on my podcast, like Hiten Shah and Dusty Davidson, who have really resonated with listeners. The feedback from these two episodes — and others — has helped me determine which types of guests and topics to schedule for upcoming seasons of the podcast. This helps me ensure that my show is improving over time. The tighter the feedback loop, the more quickly you can create a podcast that actually fills a gap for your audience.
2) Increase Listeners. Record intros at the end. This may seem like a very tactical answer to a really broad question, but it’s the truth. Nothing is more important to a movie’s success than its trailer, and nothing is more important to a podcast’s success than its intro. People are busy, and they want to know what they’re going to get before they commit. Plus, they need that framing to help them understand the ultimate value of the episode.
After you’ve done the interview, after you’ve edited it and cleaned it up, record the intro. What were the highlights of the conversation? What was the most memorable story? You only get one shot to grab your listeners’ attention. Give it your best shot with a tight, compelling, interest-piquing intro.
To help with this, we make sure to have a blog post for every episode that uses the intro as a way to entice listeners and increase shares. People want to know why they should listen to something before they actually listen. Highlighting the value up front is the surest way to grab attention and find new listeners.
3) Produce in a Professional Way. Hit record and edit later.It may sound counterintuitive, but the best way to get a professional-sounding podcast is to let the tape roll. Assuming you have all the technical basics under control (if not, then that’s your key to making it sound more professional), the next step is to get the raw clay you need for a compelling show.
All good podcast producers know that there’s often more left on the cutting room floor than actually ends up on the show. This is how it should be; editing is what makes the best podcasts so great.
4) Encourage Engagement. Seek disagreement.People engage most with content when it surprises them or makes them question something they thought they understood. Use your guests (or yourself) as a tool to generate interesting, counterintuitive conversations. When your guest says something interesting, dig in. Or, even better, approach the topic from the other side.
Conflict is the heart of any great story. It’s also the best way to get your audience to respond and react to the show.
5) Monetize. Sell ‘ads’ to yourself. If you’re trying to create a revenue stream from your podcast, it’s going to be frustrating. There are so many great podcasts out there, even really successful ones that have a hard time selling ads. If you’re competing on that playing field, you’re going to lose.
I recommend thinking differently about what it means to ‘monetize’ your podcast. You’re creating a podcast because you want to help your business grow, right? So ‘sell’ ads to yourself, and use the audience to promote your own product or service.
What makes your podcast binge-listenable? What do you think makes your podcast unique from the others in your category? What do you think is special about you as a host, your guests, or the content itself?
Check out the full interview in Tracy Hazzard’s Authority Magazine article about Mike Volpe!
