“How to Become the Center of Influence Through Investing in Podcasting” with Matthew Baltzell of the Real Estate Journeys Podcast
As part of my series of interviews about “How to Become the Center of Influence Through Podcasting”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Matthew Baltzell. He is a real-estate investor and hosts the podcast Real Estate Journeys which focuses on helping investors scale to 100 units and become location-independent. He currently lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where he and his wife are expecting their first child in January 2020.
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Can you tell us the “backstory” about why or how you got started as a podcaster?
I started my podcast because I realized how hard it was to break into both multi-family and real-estate investing. This was even more difficult for me since I was living abroad. Yet, I didn’t let that stop me. I knew technology was my best bet in order to make this happen. So, I started a digital real-estate meet-up, which lead me to my current position working and investing with Boardwalk Wealth, a private-equity real-estate company based out of Dallas, Texas.
While working for Boardwalk Wealth, I realized other people, myself included, were looking to become real-estate investors or wanted to invest in larger, multi-family apartment deals — But, I didn’t know how anyone would go about it.
Once I myself figured out how to break into the industry living half-way around the world, I decided to share my journey and help others.
Thus, I decided to create Real Estate Journeys to help investors learn from my experience and learn how to live an independent lifestyle.
Can you share a story about the most interesting thing that has happened to you since you started podcasting?
When I started my podcast, I knew very little about the process. It was kind of a “ready, fire, aim” kind of strategy. I had limiting beliefs and often thought to myself: “What the hell am I doing? Who’s really going to be on my show?” Living abroad in Thailand and starting a podcast about real-estate investing in America is crazy. However, I knew I could do it and had to continue to push forward. I challenged my disbeliefs through the process and proved to myself that I could do it.
Can you share a story about the biggest or funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
My worst mistake is classic. I can’t believe I did this. I wanted a guest on my show with a generic name. We will call him ‘John Smith.’ Well, my VA reached out to ‘John Smith’ and booked him on the show. In the meantime, I was provided his bio and all the things that I thought I would apparently need for the show. Fast forward to the scheduled recording date, and ‘John Smith’ and I have a nice little pre-chat and then jump into the podcast. And as soon as I start reading his bio he stops me with: “You Have the WRONG ‘John Smith’.” Ummm yah, my heart dropped, and I felt like a dummy. He seemed okay with it, but I was a little embarrassed! Needless to say, I don’t tell many people about this experience.
The lesson I learned about this was to do with acceptance: I wanted to blame the VA for what happened, but I had to put the emphasis and blame on myself. I didn’t do a good enough job giving instructions or doing the proper due diligence on my part. I could have done more to prevent this issue from happening.
How long have you been podcasting and how many shows have you aired?
I’ve been podcasting for 6 months and I’ve released 55+ episodes.
What are the main takeaways or lessons you want your listeners to walk away with?
Main Takeaway: Real-estate investing can help you reach your ultimate goal in life, which I believe is freedom, and if I can learn how to break into the real-estate industry in Thailand and live abroad, so can you!
Check out the full interview in Tracy Hazzard’s Authority Magazine article about Matthew Baltzell!
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Matthew Baltzell of the Real Estate Journeys Podcast shares the best ways to:
1) Book Great Guests. The best ways to reach out to a guest are through email and Instagram. Both are highly effective. But the key to the strategy is to first sound like a real person and not a spammer. Secondly, you need to follow up. It’s all about the follow up. Guest’s get busy and if you’re not following up, they probably won’t take you seriously.
2) Increase Listeners. The best way to increase listeners is to go to where they are — which is on podcasts. You also need to go on other podcasts to increase listener exposure and awareness around your brand.
3) Produce in a Professional Way. You will need to outsource some aspects of your podcast. For me show notes and editing take up the most time. I outsource these to a qualified team, which I’ve pieced together on Upwork.
4) Encourage Engagement. Making it easy for guests to share your podcast is a great way for them to share your podcast.
5) Monetize. N/A. I’ve yet to do this. However, I’ve heard through coaching that offering your services is the best strategy.
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 Matthew Baltzell!
