Ep. 377 — John Corcoran: Why Your Podcast Should Be Measured in Deals, Not Downloads

4 min read

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Episode Summary

You’ve thought about starting a podcast. Maybe you have one already and you’re not sure it’s working. You’re staring at the download count, wondering if the time would be better spent on cold outreach, and you can’t tell if this is a marketing channel or just an expensive hobby. John Corcoran has been at this for 12+ years and over 1,000 interviews. He started as a lawyer who realized mid-interview that the conversation itself was the relationship vehicle, not the content. He’s interviewed Elon Musk before anyone knew Elon Musk, the CEOs of LendingTree, OpenTable, Activision, and built Rise25 into a done-for-you agency that helps B2B owners turn podcasting into a sales and marketing flywheel. I brought John on because this has been the single biggest leverage point in my own business: relationships I never could have built, deals I never could have closed, a network I never could have accessed any other way. We got into who should actually sit behind the mic, why the follow-up is worth more than the recording, what to honestly expect in year one (hint: not a million downloads), and how to tie all of this back to the valuation math so you know what return justifies the time you’re putting in.

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## Top 10 Takeaways
  1. Measure your podcast by deals closed and relationships built. Downloads are the wrong scoreboard.
  2. The interview is the excuse. The relationship is the product.
  3. People who would never take your sales call will say yes to a 45-minute interview.
  4. The host has to be the person who needs the relationships, usually the CEO or owner.
  5. The follow-up is where the deal lives. The recording is just the opener.
  6. Year one is not a million downloads. Year one is the network you could not have built otherwise.
  7. Don’t quit because the audience feels small. Your guests are the audience that matters.
  8. Repurpose every conversation into clips, shorts, posts, and warm-touch sequences before you record the next one.
  9. The alternative is hiring sales reps for two years and hoping they don’t tarnish your brand on the way out.
  10. Tie this back to your valuation goal so you know what return justifies the time you’re spending in the chair.

Sound Bites

“I’m not in the business of podcasting. I’m just doing it for my business.” (@TBD) — Ryan Tansom

“It’s like a mini flywheel on your sales and marketing is how I view it.” (@TBD) — Ryan Tansom

“What’s your alternative? Hiring actual salespeople one to two years to figure out whether they work and them tarnishing your reputation?” (@TBD) — John Corcoran

“Just because someone else has a Salesforce doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a Salesforce. Just because someone has a website doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a website.” (@TBD) — John Corcoran

About This Episode

John Corcoran is the co-founder of Rise25, a done-for-you podcasting agency that helps B2B service businesses turn podcasting into a sales, marketing, and relationship-building system. A former White House writer and small business attorney, John started podcasting in 2010 and has conducted over 1,000 interviews with founders, CEOs, and operators, including early conversations with Elon Musk and the CEOs of LendingTree, OpenTable, and Activision. He brings the operator’s view of podcasting as a deal channel, not a content channel, which is exactly the lens iBD owners need when deciding where to put their sales and marketing dollars.

Resources Mentioned

  • Rise25 — John’s done-for-you podcasting agency for B2B service businesses. — rise25.com
  • John Corcoran’s Forbes article — Referenced as the backstory on how he got into podcasting through a client interview.
  • Tom Granis — Mutual connection referenced as the introduction point between Ryan and John.

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