I launched Kate’s Take in August 2014 with sweat dripping down my brow and a lump in my throat. You see, at the time, I didn’t feel like I had much to share with an audience.
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Around this time I was going through some major personal development stuff. I had recently wrapped up a transformational training series where I learned some pretty deep truths about myself.
Mainly, that I was walking through life invisible.
I walked away from that training with a major declaration: I would never walk through life invisible again.
I also had some big goals lined up for myself in 2015, including speaking on stage 5 times. Now that was a pretty lofty goal for me because at the time I had spoken on exactly zero stages.
As you can imagine, launching a podcast and setting a goal of speaking on stage 5 times were both WAY OUTSIDE of my comfort zone.
The beginning of a new journey
But I knew I had a message to share, and I knew that if I was that scared about launching my podcast, chances were I wasn’t alone.
What if me launching my podcast inspired someone else to launch theirs?
What if through sharing my story of walking through life invisible encouraged someone else to make the same declaration I did: that they’d never walk through life invisible again?
And so I launched – scared to death, but ready for a change.
The evolution of a podcast
Kate’s Take has evolved a lot since launch. Not only has my content evolved, (and improved in my humble opinion), but things like my format and frequency have shifted as well.
- I started out publishing episodes two times per week.
And I continued with that publishing schedule for nearly one and a half years.
When I wasn’t able to reach my goal in 2015 of hitting 30,000 downloads per month on the podcast, I decided to change things up.
I wasn’t ready to let the podcast go, but I knew I needed to shift – something wasn’t working.
- So I started publishing in Seasons on the podcast.
The idea was that I would be able to create multiple pieces of content all related to the same topic – in sequential order – and collectively that would make them easier to find and consume.
I launched Season 1 of Kate’s Take in January 2016, and since I’ve published a total of 7 Seasons: 1 each quarter up until October 2017.
In October of 2017, I noticed something happening: not only was Season 7 my least downloaded Season out of all of them, but my call to action for my listeners to help me decide on a topic for Season 8 fell flat.
Sticking to my guns (I told my audience I would only go ahead with Season 8 if I got a certain number of people to reach out to me with their feedback for a topic), I stopped recording in Seasons.
But I still wasn’t ready to let the podcast go…
- So I went to a once per week publishing schedule
In November 2017 I published an episode letting my audience know that I was going to commit to a once per week show: every Monday I will publish an episode that systems-focused and that will show you behind the scenes of a 7-figure business.
Hopefully you can see from this that a podcast isn’t a set thing that works out exactly how you had envisioned from the very beginning.
I’ve learned over and over that being flexible, and your ability to pivot as an entrepreneur, is critical to your success.
The best of Kate’s Take
I’ve learned more than I ever could have imagined through producing this podcast, and I’m so happy and grateful for every one of those lessons.
Kate’s Take has…
- Helped me create an amazing one-on-one connection with my listeners.
- Allowed me to have a better understanding of what our audience wants and needs.
- Helped me become more confident and a better speaker (I did land those 5 stages back in 2015, by the way); and it has
- Helped me become a better – and more intentional – creator.
And so while the best of Kate’s Take may not be determined by massive downloads or huge revenue streams, this podcast has changed my life, and I hope that through tuning in it’s helping you change yours, too.
Top 5 episodes from Kate’s Take
Here are the top 5 episodes I’ve published to date (in no particular order).
1. How to Set and Accomplish your biggest goals
When we launched The Freedom Journal in January 2016 I had an idea: to create an entire season on the podcast around setting and accomplishing goals.
We had an entire promotional calendar filled with guest posts, guest appearances on other podcasts, press releases, our Kickstarter launch – why not also promote on Kate’s Take and add massive value in the process?
To day, this is my most downloaded episode – by thousands! And for good reason: setting and accomplishing your biggest goals isn’t easy. But there is a step-by-step process you can follow to make it happen.
In this episode, and throughout Season 1, I cover every one of these steps.
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2. Why creating systems in your business is so important
In January 2015 I was sitting on a balcony in Puerto Vallarta with John and our great friends Jill & Josh Stanton from Screw the Nine to Five.
We were having a little balcony mastermind session, and when it came to me I shared a struggle: I didn’t feel focused or like I was putting my best foot forward in the business.
After some brainstorming and back and forth, it was discovered – the thing that I’m best at.
Systems.
Since that day I’ve focused all of my energy in the business on putting my best foot forward. Whether it’s creating new systems, improving already existing ones, or learning about new strategies I can then share with you, it’s been all about systems for me.
Which is why when Season 2 came around on the podcast I knew exactly what I wanted to cover: How to Create Systems in Your Business.
This episode is the first in Season 2, where I talk about the importance of creating systems in your business. This episode lays the foundation for what could save you a ton of time and frustration, and what could also help you scale and grow your business.
3. Top 7 Strategies: How to grow your podcast audience
Podcasting is a pretty big topic here at Entrepreneurs On Fire. In fact, we created an entire online training and community around it in October 2013 called Podcasters’ Paradise.
Today, Paradise has over 3,200 members and is the most thriving online community I’ve ever been a part of.
It has not only helped me become a better leader, but it has taught me about some of the biggest struggles that podcasters face – especially when they’re first starting out.
One of those struggles? How to grow an audience.
So, just as we teach, I listened to that struggle come up over and over again, and then decided to create a solution for it: this post and episode.
To date it’s one of the most highly trafficked posts on our site.
4. How to Make This Your Most Productive Year Ever
Productivity is a pretty hot word in the online world today.
Everyone wants to know how to become more productive.
And I know from personal experience that when you commit to productivity, BIG things happen.
Suddenly, you feel a weight lifted off your shoulders.
When you commit to being productive, you actually get to check more off your to-do list than you put on it.
Focusing on productivity has helped me get more done before 12pm than I used to get done all day – literally.
And so I thought it a crime to not share the exact steps one can take to become more productive TODAY with our audience. I do just that in this post and episode.
5. Kate’s Take: The Audio Blog
This post was created back in 2014, right along with the launch of Kate’s Take.
Episode 0, as we like to call it, isn’t my most popular episode, nor is it anywhere near the most downloaded, but it continues to be one of the most popular “back linked” posts on our site (meaning, a lot of other people link to it on their site).
In this post I share a detailed journey of the things I did before I become an entrepreneur, and how each and every one of those things has inspired me to share my lessons here on the blog, and on the podcast.
Thank you Kate’s Take listeners!
Thank you for helping Kate’s Take become what it is today. I truly appreciate every single individual who tunes into this podcast, and as always, I’d love to hear from you!
Reach out to me any time with episode requests, to say a quick ‘hello’, or to provide feedback!