Notes from Chris

Episode 1739

When Noah Tetzner started his podcast at the age of 17, he wasn’t expecting it to become the start of a career. This was 2018, and back then he was just someone who was interested in history—and it just so happened that vikings were all the rage. The History Channel was running its hit series Vikings, and author Neil Gaiman [gay-men] published a book on Norse mythology. Noah wanted to be part of the conversation, but how?

Following his interest, he decided that podcasting was the path. At that point, he didn’t have much knowledge on vikings, and so he began by hosting interviews with recognised experts in the field. Launching his podcast, History of Vikings, he reached out to world class academics about topics seldom discussed outside of the classroom—topics such as the role of women during the viking age, and how vikings and Muslims of that period interacted.

This turned out to have a wider audience than Noah could have anticipated. By having experts on his show, the History of Vikings podcast started to gain credibility, especially since Noah also secured distribution partnerships with other content creators where he would promote their platform and vice-versa. Reaching 50,000 downloads/month within five months, Noah soon discovered he was being approached with offers of sponsorship, media coverage, and even a book deal!

Towards the end of the year, Noah decided to take his newly-acquired knowledge of podcasting and offer it as a service. Dipping his toes into the world of consulting, he approached companies in the homeschool industry. Why them? Well, he was a homeschool graduate himself, and he knew that homeschooling companies often lacked marketing prowess.

Amid all the others offering services for $10 to $20 an hour, Noah doubled down and referred to himself as “the person who grows podcasts to 50,000 downloads/month and sells lucrative sponsorships.” This wasn’t easy because it was the opposite of what everyone was doing, but in just two months he achieved Top Rated Status on the platform. It meant that he was in the top 3% of all freelancers with earnings of over $2,000/week.

But, interestingly, as Noah’s reputation started to grow, he found that he no longer needed to rely on a platform like Upwork. Word of mouth had brought him several client referrals, and he had no time to handle requests coming from the platform. With an established reputation, he could now strike out on his own.

It took a while for Noah to establish some clear boundaries. He set reminders to read and exercise, and he made sure to spend time with his family every day. Looking back, he says that he should have set a schedule before he even started since it becomes so much harder once you’re constantly working.

These days, he’s working on a new podcast—not with vikings—but one dedicated to helping business owners generate revenue through the power of podcasting.

 

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  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Learn more about Noah and check out his website at, ProfitWithPodcasting.com.

SEE ALSO:

• From Landscaper to Podcast Producer Earning $4k/Month: A Canadian landscaper lands on the side hustle trifecta: passion, skill, and opportunity. He eventually uses his new income to quit his job and travel to 10 countries.
• Hollywood Film Editor Optimizes Life Through Self-Care Side Hustle: Inspired by his own work/life imbalance, a film and TV editor starts a project to help his industry learn how to live more by staying present.
• Songwriter Makes Extra Money Giving Podcasts a Beat: When a friend needs help writing music for his podcast, this full-time music producer tunes up his side hustle strings.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

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