How One Podcast Turned Into 60+ Shows and Multiple Revenue Streams

Speaker A: Hello and welcome to the Marketing Inc. Podcast. I'm your host, Allie Bloyd, your favorite local marketing expert, agency owner, speaker, educator and 2 comma Club Award winner. I've helped local business owners and marketers all over the world master social marketing and improve return on investment. Each week you'll hear from myself, world class marketers and other industry experts ready to help you grow your local business in this digital era. Each episode you'll learn how to make more, keep more social media, serve more, and enjoy your life just a little bit more. So put on your thinking caps and get ready to grow your business with Marketing Inc. Hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of Marketing Inc. I have an amazing guest with me today, Mr. Tom Fox. Welcome to the show, Allie.

Speaker B: I'm absolutely thrilled to be here with you today.

Speaker A: Awesome. So I like to ask every guest that I have to, uh, bring me up to speed on who you are, what you do and how you got to this point in your life and business. So I know that's kind of a mouthful. You can go as deep or as shallow as you like, but just kind of bring our listeners or our viewers, um, just into your world a little bit and help them understand what you're currently doing and why.

Speaker B: So I'm a lawyer by professional training. Started, uh, my own practice in 2010 in the area of anti bribery and anti corruption compliance. It's titillating and scintillating. I know when I started I was recovering from a bad accident and I couldn't leave my house except to go to physical therapy. So I started exploring social media and that included blogging. The blogging led to podcasting in 2012 and that led to founding of, uh, my first podcast network, the Compliance podcast network, in 2017. I did that for a few years and then I, um, uh, decided, uh, I should fully commit to the network or move it to hobby status. So that was 2019, and I, uh, quit practicing law. Bought all the cool toys. You see some of them here. I built this huge network, huge infrastructure, and at the end of the year I'd made about $10,000. And I thought, well, that was interesting. I guess I have to go back to practicing law. And so I, um, did that in Q1 of 2020 until on March 15th when the country got shut down. And I, um, was trying to figure out what I was going to do. And starting about May 15, I got a call from every product provider in the compliance space. And the question was the following. How long to get access to your network? Because up until that time, all marketing had been done in person. Trade shows, conferences for surroundtables, lunches, dinners, events. And at that point, of course, the country was shut down. So I found myself in the anomalous situation of having people to, who had money to spend and nowhere to spend it.

Speaker A: Very interesting.

Speaker B: And at that point I had the largest social media following in compliance, and I had the only network. So my little world blew up and I went from about 110,000 downloads a month in June of 2020 to 250 in August. And so I just decided to jump on top of the tiger and ride it as long as I could. And I did that. And then I, um, tried to institutionalize, uh, the, ah, growth I had had. And since that time I've continued to do that. I subsequently moved from Houston to a ranch in West Texas and decided to start another podcast network which was regionally focused, which is called the Texas Hill Country Podcast Network, which I founded with a couple of other guys. So I have two podcast networks, one a massive B2B. Uh, the first one, the Compliance Podcast Network. And the second one is, like I said, rural Focus, where I'm trying to bring storytelling, uh, and social media marketing concepts to a town of 20,000 people and a county of 40,000 people. So that's super down and dirty.

Speaker A: Yeah. So can you explain to me, and I've got a lot of questions, but can you explain to me, uh, what the podcast network really means? So of course both of yours are referenced as podcast networks. Is that just the language that you use, or is there a structural difference between having a podcast and having a podcast network?

Speaker B: Well, the Compliance Podcast Network, my vision was that I would create this one stop shop resource for all things compliance in the audio format of podcasts. And so in 2017, when I founded it, I went, there were three major players, big groups, two profit or one profit for profit, one, two non for profit. And I went to them and said, look, let's put a joint venture together. We will put all of our podcasts in this. It will not take away from anything that you're doing. You will own everything. We'll be the one that one stop shop. And not that I would ever suggest anything at a competitive, but will corner the market on all advertising. And the answer was either what's a podcast? Or duh. And so that's when I said, bleep it, I'll do it myself. So that's what led to that. The Hill Country Podcast network was, unfortunately, I can't take the vision for this because it was my two partners who, uh, thought it would be good to have a, a local podcast network in the Hill Country. Somehow they got connected with me as a subject matter expert and running networks. So we founded the Texas Hill Country Podcast Network. And it's much more human interest, um, authors, artists, songwriters, business leaders, um, plumbers, haircutters, all of those things. And I live in a near a town of 20,000 people, but 38% are over the age of 65 and they're all on Facebook.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: So what I've been trying to do is convince businesses where, why not advertise where your audience is? Uh, we do not have a television station, we do not have a terrestrial radio. We have a three day a week newspaper. We have two once a week newspapers. So there's a void in that, um, media of audio. And so once again I went, going around to business and say, this is not going to take away from any advertising you're doing. You're already in the newspaper, you're already doing this and doing that, but why not use the audio format to tell audiences about yourself? So that's how it sort of breaks down.

Speaker A: I love that. So the Compliance Podcast network is specifically compliance related to those that have a podcast, is that correct?

Speaker B: Well, let me see if I can rephrase that. Um, it's related to compliance topics. Okay. And there's about 60 shows on it, 50 of which are mine. And the reason that there's so many shows was in 2017, when I founded it, the magic number for, um, getting advertising sponsors was 30,000 IB certified downloads. And I knew I was never going to have 30,000 downloads on a compliance podcast. But I thought, well, maybe if I have 10, I'll get 3,000 each. Well, I did that. Then it turned out that number wasn't, uh, what I thought it was. But when you pair that with my adult add, which is when I get an idea, I can't stop. I have to start a new podcast. So Shakespeare in Compliance. Star Trek in Compliance. Winnie the Pooh in Compliance, Roundtable Compliance. Great. Women in Compliance, Compliance Daily News, Innovation in Compliance, Star wars in Compliance, Star Trek in Compliance. Sports in Compliance, MCU in Compliance. Um, James Joyce, Ulysses in Compliance. Uh, every time I get a new idea, I just start a new podcast. And I think I had, oh, it's a new month, so I can't say that for. I started for new podcasts last month.

Speaker A: Okay. So I definitely have questions on this. You mentioned a lot of, you know, movies, things like Star Trek and Winnie the Pooh and things of that nature.

Speaker B: Huh?

Speaker A: What, what is the content of those podcasts and how did you land on those as titles of compliance podcasts in particular?

Speaker B: I, uh, look at things through the lens of legal and regulatory compliance and, and I can see that in anything, uh, Winnie the Pooh is a great one. You may not think of Winnie the Pooh as related to compliance, but guess what? Who's your chief compliance officer? Christopher Robin. And, um, what's Winnie the Pooh's role? What's Tigger's role? What is Eeyore's role? What is Piglet's role? And so I explore all of those things and I love storytelling. And I have two metrics for a successful podcast and two metrics only. Number one, how much did I learn? Number two, how much fun did I have? My podcast network, I can talk about anything I want, and I do, I love it.

Speaker A: So, compliance in a business sense, or can you really just dive into the specific areas of compliance as a whole that you're focused on in these podcasts?

Speaker B: Anti bribery, anti corruption, anti money laundering, trade sanctions, data, uh, privacy, data protection, uh, are the primary topics, but it also includes, uh, business leadership, business ethics, risk management, and several other topics.

Speaker A: Okay, so your audience is primarily a business person, is that correct?

Speaker B: My audience is about 40% corporate compliance officers. It's about 40% other business executives, CISO, CEO, COO, HR, internal audit, et cetera, and about 20% legal. Legal types, both in house and those in private practice.

Speaker A: Interesting. So the, uh, way that you make money from these podcasts is primarily through deals with other businesses who want to advertise on the podcast, is that correct?

Speaker B: I have a 5 or 6 revenue streams. Uh, that's one of the revenue streams. You can sponsor a podcast, you can pay an affairance fee to come on a podcast, you can sponsor the network, you can, uh. I do branded podcasts for companies and law firms where I take their brand, I talk to who they want me to talk to, all always from the compliance angle. And my most successful work is around content creation in the compliance world. Almost all of the businesses servicing that industry are product providers and their software providers. Okay, 50 to $100 million company. So relatively small, large enough to have a CMO, but uh, not large enough to have a content creator. So I can take a podcast and I can give you 15 pieces of evergreen social media marketing content from that podcast. And uh, my, uh, top service offering is a five part series where we talk about, uh, five separate podcasts, but one general topic. And so you get 15 different pieces plus a blog, plus a white paper. Then that can take you through six months of your social media marketing. So companies will come to me once a quarter, couple of times a year to do that five part series and they've got their content laid out, uh, going forward. So, uh, content creation for the compliance industry is my top and now I've added books on top of that. I just published, um, my latest book yesterday was How Sherlock Holmes informs the 2026 compliance professional and compliance profession. And a company sponsored that book. And we're going to go out on a roadshow tour promoting the book, but looking at the, their compliance solutions through the lens of Sherlock Holmes, the novels.

Speaker A: Very, very interesting. So it's an interesting concept because I think there are several different layers to this that people just don't see. You know, when they say, oh, the compliance podcast network. At the end of the day it sounds like you were essentially a social media agency, a content creation agency. But the way in which you facilitate this is through podcasts. The way in which you get a lot of these clients is actually through the podcast. Um, what were, what were your original goals? I know you talked a little bit about why you started it early on. Did you already have these ideas in mind in terms of how you wanted to monetize this or did a lot of these just come through, what businesses were asking you for or areas of opportunity that you spotted along the way?

Speaker B: All of the above. Uh, it was all organic growth. I had no vision. I, other than I wanted to have a network and I wanted to talk about Star Trek and compliance. So I have, uh, I do a series every summer, start June 1st, where I review every, uh, episode from Star Trek the original series. And I mine it for compliance lessons, leadership lessons, ethics lessons. And as my wife says, this is really just an excuse for you to rewatch every episode and call it work, isn't it? And I'm like, well, yeah, you can

Speaker A: have a business where you are able to do your favorite things and still have it be a part of your business. I can't imagine any, anything better. Um, so obviously you are the guy in compliance businesses. People who are in corporate. What are some of the biggest changes that you have seen from a compliance standpoint since you started this podcast in 2020?

Speaker B: Was it you said 2012 was my first one. The network in 2017.

Speaker A: Okay, gotcha. So a lot of things have changed, especially on the digital front in that time period. Um, what, what are some of those big changes or insights compliance wise that you tend to talk about quite frequently.

Speaker B: Well, uh, let me break it down into a couple of different parts. One is on the content creation part because that it continues to evolve, uh, podcasts, they now say you should go video. I record as we're recording video and I use Riverside. That goes up on my YouTube channel. And uh, although my YouTube numbers are minuscule compared to my audio podcast numbers, but I can create video, uh, videograms for social media sharing. And I've really come around to figuring out that the podcast itself is only about 50% of the value I bring to a customer. It's a creation of social media marketing content in terms of the marketing side, in terms of the specific content and podcast. And uh, there's nothing new in compliance. There's no trade secrets. Everyone has known for 25 years what the steps are and you just repackage that in a different way to tell a different story, using current events, uh, to uh, bring kind of bring it all to life. Or in my case, Sherlock Holmes.

Speaker A: Yeah, I love it. So you mentioned that everybody kind of knows what the, what the rules are within compliance. The question is, does everybody really know? Because I do think compliance is actually not something that's discussed as much as it should be, particularly within the digital marketing space. So just kind of give our, our viewers or our listeners an overview of what are the core areas of compliance that maybe they've been around forever, but some people may have ignored or just not be well informed on.

Speaker B: There are eight things that every compliance, uh, program has to have. Start all starts with tone at the top. Top management has to commit to it and communicate that commitment. You have to have written policies and procedures and internal controls around your. That's the backbone of your program. You have to have a person designated to be the chief compliance officer who has the authority to actually implement that and then enforce it. You have to assess your, uh, risk assessment, which is assessing the risks of your business, whatever that business is, and then managing that risk. You have to train your employees and communicate with them the requirements and you have to implement those requirements and you have to monitor the results. You have to have, um, incentives for people to comply with your compliance program. The converse of that is, uh, discipline. If they violate it, they are terminated, or, you know, some other. And then, um, after your ongoing monitoring is continuous improvement. And those are the eight basic steps.

Speaker A: So when you say compliance, are you specifically talking about legal compliance or compliance as in getting people to follow the rules, follow the path, comply with the organization and their standards, or is it A mixture of both.

Speaker B: It's both.

Speaker A: What do you feel most businesses are struggling with? Is it the legal side of compliance? Simply understanding what, what they need to comply with in order to not get sued or open themselves up for liability? Or is it that they're mainly struggling just to keep order within the organization and ensure that everyone knows the rules, why they exist, and is consistently following those?

Speaker B: It's about culture. Do you have a culture that is dedicated to doing business ethically and in compliance? Are you communicating that? Is top management communicating that? Are, uh, they not simply talking the talk, but are, uh, they actually walking the walk? Are you incentivizing people to do business ethically in compliance? And by that I mean compensation is part of their discretionary annual bonus based upon, uh, that they've done, uh, work ethically and in compliance throughout the year. If there are new rules and regulations, you certainly have to communicate that to, uh, your employee base. You have to keep them thinking about, hey, let's do this the right way. And whether you do that through Winnie the Pooh or whether you do that through an email, hey, let's do the right thing, continue to, uh, do that, monitor. And then if you find a problem, um, there are three things a compliance officer does. You prevent, detect and remediate. So you try to prevent, so you don't have a violation, but you have detection systems and steps in place if someone does make a misstep and then fix the problem once you find out about it.

Speaker A: So what, what do you see currently are some of the biggest risks that companies have within the compliance space? Um, are there certain digital compliance laws that businesses are at a higher risk of getting sued for? Um, are these things that most businesses are up to date on in terms of their specific industry? What the rules are for legal compliance.

Speaker B: So it, uh, the rules are going to vary from industry to industry within the framework I discussed. So one, a compliance officer has to keep up with the rules for their industry. You have to communicate those. But the biggest risk is, really has come around to being reputational risk.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And uh, because in this age of, um, instantaneous social media, your company can make a misstep, lose business immediately. And let me kind of go back to the. You recall the Coldplay concert last year where the CEO and friend were caught canoodling at a Coldplay concert? Ah, well, uh, that went up that day and, uh, the name of the company escapes me right now, but they had to figure out, how are we going to get around this? Well, it turned out that, uh, they were able to take a spin on it. And, um, I think it was Gwyneth Pathra Pathral, uh, who did a commercial, uh, saying, you know, well, we weren't real well known. Now we're real well known. Well, we actually do this work. And so something like that, try to step in and, uh, really do it. Or my new favorite is KitKat. Uh, there was a huge theft of KitKat bars in Europe. Literally hundreds of thousands of KitKat bars were stolen while they were being transported from Italy to Poland. And KitKat stepped in and said, wow, they must really like their Kit Kats. That's how popular we are. Or, um, to take something that you might not think is compliance. The president of McDonald's was trying to introduce a new, essentially a Quarter Pounder, but they didn't call it that, a bigger hamburger. And he ate a bite. And the way he nibbled at it and then ate it made it appear that he really wasn't enjoying this. And I think it was two days later the president of Burger King came out, Whopper in one hand, Coke in the other, and said, I love Whoppers, and devoured the Whopper. And so his what was, uh, you know, commercial for McDonald's turned into a, uh, negative because of the way it was portrayed. And then Burger King said, I love Whoppers, I'll eat them all day. And it actually, you know, help Burger King out. So it can be something that you would not think is really legal or regulatory compliance because it's reputational.

Speaker A: Yeah, well, I think that makes sense. And so, you know, the biggest thread that I've heard from you based on the compliance podcast network, um, what you're doing with the, the Texas Hill Country Podcast network and the way that you are actually selling to these businesses, storytelling is that common thread that ties it all together. Um, you definitely seem to be weaving storytelling into what some would probably call a relatively stuffy or dry industry or area, which is compliance. Why do you feel. And then the things you just mentioned, um, with KitKat, with Coldplay, with McDonald's and Burger King, those are all storytelling spins. The content that you are providing to these companies that are hiring you to do the five part series and the social media content, it's all about storytelling in a way that people can understand, but that also promotes the business in a positive way or promotes that business owner or that town. So when did you discover the power of storytelling? I mean, that's not typically a skill most trained lawyers necessarily have. Or I could be wrong. I mean, there definitely is narrative building within the legal space, for sure. Um, but you don't find creative storytelling very frequently within that industry, based on what I've observed. So is this something that you've always done, always been aware of, or did you stumble upon the power of storytelling as a tool throughout your life?

Speaker B: I think it really stumbled upon it. After I started podcasting and I was blogging it, I blogged. I've blogged every day in compliance since 2010. And I did a little bit of it there, and it just sort of naturally evolved and gave, uh, me, like I said, an excuse to watch every Star Trek or I read the 52 Sherlock Holmes short stories and the four novels, uh, things like that and Endlessly Curious I'm developing now. I decided to look at the ancient Greek and Roman philosophers underpinnings of a modern ethics and compliance program. So that'll be a new podcast I'll start this month, uh, around philosophical underpinnings of modern day compliance.

Speaker A: I love it. So the, uh, the storytelling side, is that something that you feel is just your personal preference in the way you do things, or do you think that this is a powerful tool for getting people to understand what you're talking about, to increase the downloads of the podcast, increase the, um, efficacy of the content that you're producing for these clients? Um, so is, is that something that you believe actually drives a different type

Speaker B: of result, the storytelling? Definitely. And I think that's well recognized. There's one other point to the podcast that is unique to the podcast, and it's the audio format. Uh-huh. And somehow I knew something was going on because people used to tell me, oh, I recognize your voice. Oh, you're in my head. Because I do a daily News show at 7am and I listened to it on the way to work, and at first I thought, well, that's kind of creepy. But then I thought they weren't saying it in a creepy way. Well, it turns out the science of the way the brain reacts to audio stimuli is different than video stimuli. It's different than the written stimuli, and it's the front right section of the brain where serotonin is and, uh, hypothyroid and or, uh, hypothalamus. And it actually is a pleasurable experience, audio as opposed to any of those other formats. And for that reason, I think people tend to trust audio a little bit more. And I know I didn't do a very good job of discussing the science, but I've heard presentations on this and I really think there's something to that, so the audio nature of this, and if you have a good audio and if you're engaged like you and I are, people, uh, they enjoy that, they enjoy hearing that.

Speaker A: I think you're absolutely right. And I have seen studies on this as well there. This is the only format, uh, that you can be consuming while actively participating in other areas of your life. So I think that makes it extremely unique. With video and with the written word, your eyes have to be focused on what you're doing. But when people are listening to a podcast, they're walking their dog, they're going to work, they're, you know, just going about their daily business, doing their chores, things like that. And I think because of it, it does help some of the information soak in in a different way. Um, I think because everything that's coming in, you know, through the audio is just being processed differently. Exactly like you mentioned. So I've gotten the same responses from people over the years about this podcast, and we have consistently found that people who come to us as a lead from the podcast, they are very well qualified by the time they actually speak to someone within the organization. Um, the same thing is true for people who consume a lot of YouTube videos. But this is something where people can use it to find you originally or, or once they find you, you know, from that first touch point, they can dive so much deeper into everything that you're doing. And because it doesn't require you to sit in front of a screen or have a book wide open, I think people can actually consume a lot more of the podcast format in a shorter time period because it doesn't require them to be sitting down watching or reading. Um, and so just the volume of content that someone can consume, that connection to your voice and feeling like you are with them during personal times of their actual life, I think is just a really unique feature as well. So when you started the Texas Hill country podcast, I know you mentioned that part of this was to bring a different format of media into this town. What is the ultimate goal of that podcast? Is it to allow the businesses to essentially advertise on the podcast, but in a way that is far more personal and storytelling based than any other format? Um, is it to simply build awareness of this area of Texas for potential tourism? Um, what were your primary goals? I know you said that this was something that you were, you know, interested in doing and passionate about, it sounds like. But from a business perspective, um, what were you hoping to accomplish from this?

Speaker B: The, uh, my original goal was to try to get businesses to understand this could be a completely ad, ah, adjunctive side to their marketing and to tell their story. And I wanted to tell the stories of the people, places and things that I think make this the greatest part of Texas to live in. And. But it's evolved.

Speaker A: Mhm.

Speaker B: And it's evolved for the following reasons. Um, NPR lost their funding. They may or may not get it back. Other sort of public radio stations have lost funding. Now they still exist, but that loss of funding, uh, so the closest big town I lived to, San Antonio, San Antonio NPR station, would come out here two or three times a year and do what we would call a human interest story on somebody in the hill Country. Well, they're not doing that anymore. They're doing that in San Antonio. Um, and they're doing that very well. That has left a void in rural areas across America for this type of storytelling. And I want to pair that with this other concept I stumbled on when writing a book recently. Um, local journalism is part of the civic infrastructure of small towns. Whether it's a three day a week newspaper. So the town, closest town I live in, we have one three day a week, we have two weeklies, and we have one guy that does a digital news show every day on Facebook. So we have four sources of journalism. They are part of the civic infrastructure of the town. It's called Kerrville. Well, I see either a need or an opportunity for podcasting to join that civic infrastructure. Because of the storytelling. We can take the place of. I don't know if you remember on the Road with Charles Kuralt on CBS News. It's exactly that. No different. We're telling the stories of the people who live here and literally have an artist podcast. I have an author's podcast, I have a songwriter's podcast, I have a, we have a vibrant film scene here. So I have a movie director's podcast. And it's all focused on local people. And I see the opportunity to step in and fill that void, create something and still working on the business part of it. Um, so I don't have that fleshed out. But then being a part of the civic institution, I can tell longer form stories that supplement all of those other media in a way that they can't right now. Uh, so I'm going to do a cold case podcast of a town of 20,000 people because they've agreed to let me look at their cold cases. So, um, yeah, and so I see this opportunity to take the place of and fill that void. So that's my next big passion. Around the Texas Hill country podcast, but it's really any rural focus.

Speaker A: Well, I think it's such an interesting concept because I, uh, work in the digital marketing space. I work with a lot of individuals who want to start a marketing agency, content creation agency, things of that nature. A lot of times they don't necessarily know the best way to connect with these local businesses within the areas that they want to start serving. What better way to position yourself with the businesses in the area that you live in than to do these human interest pieces, than to invite someone as a guest on your podcast, not to sell them something directly, but to let their story and their business be amplified. They're going to be grateful for that opportunity. They're going to get a taste of that content that can be created, you know, through this storytelling opportunity. And I think there is a lot to be said through deals, being able to be closed through those relationships. Whether it's a direct pitch at the end of the podcast, depending on what it is you're talking about or what you do, or simply the ability to establish a really strong network where people simply know what you do and how you can help others. You're getting your name to them just like they're getting their name to anyone who's listening. Um, and because podcast can be recorded through video with the audio, like you've already said, you can take that content and repurpose it in every possible way. Long form video, audio, short form video, um, written content from the transcripts. There are endless opportunities for you to use that as your own promotional piece. But also in the same way that you've been selling these spots on the compliance podcast network, the ability to actually make the podcast itself the product that people are buying, they're able to get a different message that would never really resonate in any other form format a lot of times, um, without having to do it all themselves. And it doesn't look like a self promotional piece. It is something that, you know, feels like a real interview because it is a real interview and that storytelling component. I think a lot of times businesses do not realize how powerful their stories actually are. They keep things more product focused, service focused, you know, client centric. But people buy from individuals and businesses that they share values with that align with who they are and how they do things. And I think there is, um, definitely something to be said for this format, allowing those things to come out in a way that others would really struggle with. So if you're listening to this podcast right now and you are thinking, how can I Get my services. If these are services for local businesses, especially on the marketing side, um, this could be a very cost effective, easy opportunity for you to start attracting potential clients, deliver real value to these businesses and your community as a whole, and get great content for you as an individual to be able to really start putting things out socially. Because a lot of newer entrepreneurs also really struggle with what they should personally be talking about on social media. So I think this is, this is something that really is a format that can be used in rural towns all over the country. Um, most of the people I end up working with, they're not, they're not in a major metropolitan area. Sometimes they might be, but as you said, there are other alternatives within those larger cities. But that doesn't mean you still can't do it there. You know, it can be something that is different than what's out there, but particularly if you are in a smaller city or a smaller town and there is no real human interest, um, investigation or journalism that's happening. All you have to do is invite people and know how to ask the right questions. And podcasting can be extremely educational as well because you get to learn so much about different people in different businesses, different industries. So that's always been one of my favorite things about having a podcast is simply learning from the guests things that I would not be exposed to otherwise. So what have you found through this journey of podcasting compliance, really, the podcasting networks and becoming a content creation agency in a lot of ways, because those products that you are selling essentially puts you in that category. What would you say has been the biggest aha moment for you or the thing that you didn't necessarily expect to love or something you didn't expect to work? That has been really fulfilling thus far.

Speaker B: What I didn't expect was doing the podcast would take me to the very top of my profession. I'm not the smartest guy, but I talk to the smartest people and yes, I can read what they have to say. But the podcast format is so much more powerful than me, uh, because I talk to everyone, literally, uh, I can put it all together, what the power I get out of that is. I can see around corners. I didn't, I don't have that kind of X ray vision, but I talk to people that have X ray vision. And I have the top handbook in legal and regulatory compliance at the top of my profession. And, um, I didn't expect to be there largely from podcasting. So, um, that's probably the biggest aha moment. The second is I love to write. I love writing books. That's my most passion, is writing books. Well, what I realized, uh, um, after blogging one year, I emailed the guy who was the first blogger in compliance. Uh, and I said, well, I blogged every day for a year. And the email I got back was, that's great, Tom. When's your book coming out? I'm like, what are you talking about? He goes, you have a year of blogs. Turn it into a book. And so I realized the blogs can become a book. Well, everything I do now is geared towards a book. And the podcast is just one data point in that process. So I have a thousand page handbook that I update annually. And that's because I either blog or podcast on a topic. Uh, save them up. In December 15th, I sit down, pick out what I want. Well, it's already written, I got to edit it a little and I then I crank out an update. Uh, so it's all the way. I'm able to write four books a year and have done that for 15 years now, is. It's just part of the process and it's all aimed towards the book at the end of the day.

Speaker A: Well, I think those are both extremely valuable insights for the people that are listening. I know there's a lot of people out there who have thought about starting a podcast, but they don't believe that they have the credentials or the criteria to be the person with the podcast. But the truth is you don't need anything other than curiosity and the desire to actually do it. Exactly. Like you said, this has taken you to the top of your industry in a way you didn't expect, simply because you are interviewing the people who are at the top of their game in these different areas, which gives you that unique insight. But also from a networking perspective and a trust perspective, it's really hard to beat that. Um, I think that the content distribution network essentially that you've created through this is also something that everyone listening should really be thinking through. Because every piece of media that we create gives us the opportunity to repurpose it for something else. And if you are someone who loves to write or wants to write a book, what better way than to take this content? We have AI that can help us sift through the content, pull out the things that are the most valuable or unique, turn those into blogs, or turn those into books. There are full books written that are collections of interviews and insights from different people in an industry. So you can, you don't even have to do the interviews yourself. Take your guest episodes and put together a guide that focuses on the industry's, you know, top 30 experts, top 50 experts, something that pulls content from every single one of those podcasts. And you are not starting from scratch. So I think this is a really kind of unique thing to land on, um, you know, through this podcast itself. But I think that's super interesting and I thank you so much for sharing all of this with the audience. Tom, if people want to learn more about you or your many books or your podcast networks, where can they go to find you?

Speaker B: Uh, uh, the best place is the big network Compliance Podcast Network, which is www.compliancepodcastnetwork.net. you can reach me through that, you can email me@tfoxfoxlaw.com and you can visit the Texas Hill Country Podcast network. Texas, uh, hillcountrypodcastnetwork.com I love it.

Speaker A: Well, thank you so much. I hope you guys enjoyed this episode today and I will see you on the next one. Bye Bye. Thank you so much for listening today and I hope you loved the episode. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a five star review if this podcast is really helping you grow or start your local business. If you want to connect in between episodes and talk marketing, you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube Ali Bloyd Media. And if you'd like to learn about the options that we offer for local businesses, visit AliBloyd Media.com until next time. I'm thrilled to be a part of your journey and long live local.