How an Army vet podcaster pulls in over $2 million by chatting with ‘vetpreneurs’
SUMMARY
John Lee Dumas is a former Army officer and Iraq War veteran. One day, he was driving his car, in his normal morning routine when the last podcast on his iPod ended. He realized in that moment the car was like the prison of his life. Luckily, he also realized what would be his escape from that prison.
"I saw podcasting as an opportunity where an amateur like myself could make connections, learn a lot, and improve my public speaking and interview skills along the way," he said in an interview with Forbes. "I always saw the value in podcasting as it was a form of media that could be consumed while doing something else like driving a car, exercising, folding laundry."
His show, Entrepreneur On Fire, is a show for the aspiring business owner, serial entrepreneur, or side-entrepreneur. To date, there are more than a thousand episodes of EOF, each featuring an inspirational interview with a budding business founder.
Dumas's business relies on two streams of income which generate over seven figures in annual revenue, his Podcast Sponsorships and Podcasters' Paradise. He even posts those figures on his website, EoFire.com. Part of this success is due to his epic production schedule. His show,puts out a new podcast every single day.
"After eight years as an Army officer, I learned at an early age the benefit of 'batching' your work," Dumas says. "In order to run a 7-day a week podcast without getting burned out, I schedule eight interviews every Tuesday. This allows me to put my game face on for one day a week and execute 8 interviews at the highest level I am capable of. This batching ensures that I make the most efficient use of my 'studio time' so I can focus on other areas of my business the remaining six days in the week."
Dumas is also the author of a how-to podcasting book, Podcast Launch, which give a 15-step tutorial in launching one's own successful podcast, in his own words, using his own theories on growing an audience and monetizing it. He is currently working on a new book, The Freedom Journal: Accomplish Your Goal in 100 Days, a day-by-day companion to setting goals and planning how to reach them.
"My audience has grown to know, like, and trust the fact that every day, a fresh episode of EntrepreneurOnFire awaits. Another is that every day, my guest shares their interview that just went live with their audience, driving massive numbers of people to EntrepreneurOnFire who have never heard of the show before, and a certain proportion of which will subscribe and become listeners. With this happening seven days a week, the snowball effect is amazing."
Listen to episodes of Entrepreneur on Fire here.
