Alex Sanfilippo shares how a childhood marked by dyslexia and self-doubt evolved into a leadership platform spanning podcasting, public speaking, and entrepreneurship. As the founder of PodMatch, Alex has enabled thousands of leaders to get their voices heard, but his path started with personal healing and self-expression.

In this episode, Alex details how podcasting became his tool for leadership—helping him own his voice, refine his message, and grow his confidence. He makes the case for why CEOs and founders shouldn’t delegate guest appearances or hosting duties. Alex argues that being the voice of your company is irreplaceable when building connection and trust.

He also explains why podcasting isn’t just a marketing tool—it’s an engine for clarity, learning, and growth. Whether it’s guesting to articulate your message or hosting to expand your network, Alex views podcasting as one of the most strategic moves a leader can make.

Want to learn more about Alex Sanfilippo's work? Check out their website at https://podmatch.com/.

Connect with Alex Sanfilippo on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexsanfilippo/.

Key Points with Timestamps

• 00:01:00 – Alex introduced as founder of PodMatch and podcasting pioneer

• 00:02:10 – Childhood dyslexia and how it shaped Alex’s early self-image

• 00:05:00 – Discovering the power of voice through podcasting

• 00:06:45 – Speaking at a WordPress event shatters internal doubts

• 00:09:47 – Why leaders must learn to overcome internal critics

• 00:11:04 – How guesting on 30+ shows sharpened Craig’s message

• 00:12:28 – Podcasting as real-time leadership training

• 00:14:11 – Why podcast interviews should be conversations, not interrogations

• 00:16:19 – Joe Rogan’s 3-hour model and why long-form builds trust

• 00:18:04 – Hidden benefit of guesting: personal development

• 00:21:10 – Why leaders should not outsource their voice

• 00:25:36 – Hosting boosts SEO and builds deeper business relationships

• 00:28:04 – Podcasting teaches you how to draw out truth and ask better questions

• 00:29:17 – Podcasting is the new golf: build trust, build connections

• 00:30:45 – Home setups are often more effective than polished studios

• 00:32:13 – What PodMatch does and how it’s like a dating app

• 00:34:13 – Getting booked starts with knowing your unique hook

• 00:37:09 – Your story, not your service, is your differentiator

• 00:39:02 – Final thoughts: double down on who you are

Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;30;20
Craig Andrews
I was in a coma for six weeks while the doctors told my wife I was going to die. When I woke up, she told me the most fantastic story. My team kept running the business without me. Freelancers reached out to my team and said, we will do whatever it takes. As long as Craig's in the hospital. I consider that the greatest accomplishment in my career.

00;00;30;23 - 00;00;51;10
Craig Andrews
My name is Craig Andrews and this is the Leaders and Legacies podcast where we talk to leaders creating an impact beyond themselves. At the end of today's interview, I'll tell you how you can be the next leader featured on this show.

00;00;51;10 - 00;00;58;08
Craig Andrews
Today I want to welcome Alex Sanfilippo. And I got to tell you, this is a episode I've been looking forward to.

00;00;58;08 - 00;01;01;28
Craig Andrews
Alex is a pioneer in the podcasting space.

00;01;01;28 - 00;01;10;02
Craig Andrews
He's the founder of PodMatch, which is think of as a dating service to connect host with guests. And it's a,

00;01;10;02 - 00;01;13;10
Craig Andrews
And it's amazing. I've been using it for a number of years.

00;01;13;13 - 00;01;17;19
Craig Andrews
If you're in business, you should be on pod match. And we're going to talk about why.

00;01;17;19 - 00;01;18;07
Craig Andrews
But,

00;01;18;07 - 00;01;33;15
Craig Andrews
through PodMatch and his podcast, titled Podcast Podcasting Made Simple, Alex helps independent podcasters grow their influence and revenue so they can better serve listeners. Alex, welcome.

00;01;33;17 - 00;01;36;14
Alex Sanfilippo
Craig. Thank you so much for having me today. It's an honor to be here with you.

00;01;36;16 - 00;01;49;06
Craig Andrews
Well thank you. I've I've been so excited because, you know, you are you're one of those people that's really put your fingerprint on on an industry. That's,

00;01;49;06 - 00;01;51;05
Craig Andrews
that's big. And it's,

00;01;51;05 - 00;01;59;17
Craig Andrews
you know, it's interesting. PodMatch isn't the only dating service out there, but it's like the standard, and,

00;01;59;17 - 00;02;02;25
Craig Andrews
it's the one everybody talks about, and,

00;02;02;25 - 00;02;05;12
Craig Andrews
it's just an amazing,

00;02;06;22 - 00;02;11;02
Craig Andrews
But let's climb back up. How did you get into podcasting?

00;02;11;05 - 00;02;12;15
Alex Sanfilippo
Yeah. So podcasting,

00;02;12;15 - 00;02;15;17
Alex Sanfilippo
is something I never saw on my radar.

00;02;15;17 - 00;02;21;16
Alex Sanfilippo
Craig and I, you know, I should just say thank you for the kind words that pod match means a ton. And for listeners, we'll get into a bit more today, I'm sure.

00;02;21;16 - 00;02;24;16
Alex Sanfilippo
Without trying to sound salesy, like, so you can understand what it is, but,

00;02;24;16 - 00;02;27;14
Alex Sanfilippo
I never saw podcasting as something that I'd be doing.

00;02;27;16 - 00;02;31;29
Alex Sanfilippo
And as a matter of fact, if I can kind of go back to my childhood, if that's okay, Craig, to share a story.

00;02;31;29 - 00;02;34;29
Alex Sanfilippo
If that would be okay with you kind of doing the background here.

00;02;34;29 - 00;02;35;27
Alex Sanfilippo
Growing up,

00;02;35;27 - 00;02;44;25
Alex Sanfilippo
I really, really struggled to, to read into. Right. So much so I'm on finally was like, hey, we need to take this kid to a doctor to find out what's going on here.

00;02;44;27 - 00;02;50;15
Alex Sanfilippo
And turns out I was severely dyslexic, and that stuck with me. My childhood,

00;02;50;15 - 00;03;09;08
Alex Sanfilippo
really a lot. And I actually end up requiring me to be homeschooled. And to this day, I still think my mother, she's. She is a saint. And I'm very grateful for her sacrifice to be willing to do that, but I, I was 12, almost 13 years old before I actually started being able to to figure out how to read words on a page and writing to this day.

00;03;09;10 - 00;03;21;02
Alex Sanfilippo
Thank God for things like computers. But when I was it still to this day, if I handwrite something and someone watching me right, people will be like, will laugh and be like, why are you writing it like that? Like you're doing all your letters backwards. And to this day, it's just how it makes sense in my head.

00;03;21;02 - 00;03;30;00
Alex Sanfilippo
And I learned to kind of cope with what I needed to. And it was really it built some insecurities in me at a young age,

00;03;30;00 - 00;03;39;16
Alex Sanfilippo
of realizing, okay, like writing, reading like especially reading publicly. Right? Like speaking any of these type of things are not going to be my future. And I thankfully, I was like, good at math.

00;03;39;16 - 00;03;50;09
Alex Sanfilippo
So I just assumed I'd be like an analytical type and I'd be able to to to run with numbers really well. But when it came to again, reading, writing or anything associated with that, that wouldn't be the case. And I kind of held that there. And,

00;03;50;09 - 00;03;55;15
Alex Sanfilippo
my mom was always and dad, they were very supportive. They were always like, hey, you can do whatever you want, right?

00;03;55;15 - 00;03;58;08
Alex Sanfilippo
Like so I didn't have that from anybody,

00;03;58;08 - 00;04;12;17
Alex Sanfilippo
aside from my own grades in my home performance. So it was very internal. But man, I that really hindered me a lot and I'll never forget it. This was going back to 20. I think it was 2014. It was the first day I started,

00;04;12;17 - 00;04;19;03
Alex Sanfilippo
podcasting. I decided I wanted to to talk a little bit, and it's because when I was around people, they're like, hey, you've got like a really powerful message.

00;04;19;03 - 00;04;36;05
Alex Sanfilippo
And so I started like, writing it a little bit and sending to people. And I kept on hearing, like, this really resonates. This really resonates with me. Like, can can you share elaborate more? Ultimately led me to to starting a podcast. And I was I was terrified to do this, and I didn't want to share it with anybody unless I asked for it.

00;04;36;08 - 00;04;41;15
Alex Sanfilippo
So it was kind of like a podcast, Craig. But it was like private. It felt like I wasn't letting people see it or anything like that.

00;04;41;15 - 00;04;52;00
Alex Sanfilippo
Because I didn't I didn't want the public shame of people being like, you can't communicate well, like you don't speak clearly. You're writing is awful, right? Like, I just for some reason have this complex knowing that that's what would happen.

00;04;52;03 - 00;04;58;12
Alex Sanfilippo
That wasn't the case, it turns out, is the word starting out. And people would share it and people would spread, spread the word about it. And,

00;04;58;12 - 00;05;08;00
Alex Sanfilippo
it really resonated with people. And shortly after this, like, I'm, I'm making this story kind of condensed here for sake of time. But I got offered the opportunity to speak on stage in the same thing with my head.

00;05;08;00 - 00;05;12;29
Alex Sanfilippo
It's like, no, I'm not. That's not me. I can't do that. People are going to see it. People are going to be there.

00;05;12;29 - 00;05;23;21
Alex Sanfilippo
I kind of just did what I define is like the business owners role, which is to take courage. And courage means being afraid than doing what you have to do anyway. And I just felt it, you know, I need to take this opportunity.

00;05;23;21 - 00;05;32;05
Alex Sanfilippo
I need to do this. So I got on that stage and I loved it. That's ultimately not what it was about. But I end up being the top rated speaker at that conference.

00;05;32;07 - 00;05;34;11
Craig Andrews
And. And what was the conference?

00;05;34;11 - 00;05;49;00
Alex Sanfilippo
It was a it was a WordPress conference. So it was all like around WordPress and stuff. So I was at that point back in the day of podcasting, like I was using WordPress for the podcast and for all my written stuff, like those were like one of the few options out there. And so I spoke and, unbelievable.

00;05;49;00 - 00;06;04;15
Alex Sanfilippo
Like everyone wanted to talk to me, like, and I was I was so grateful. I was like, wow, really? And then, like, it kind of shattered all this stuff inside me of all these insecurities being like, hey, you can't do any of this. I'm like, okay, well, I started writing. I started speaking like through podcast, and I started speaking on stages in like, I'm getting really good feedback into actually helping people.

00;06;04;15 - 00;06;08;16
Alex Sanfilippo
Maybe I'm maybe I'm wrong about myself. And it's a long story there,

00;06;08;16 - 00;06;22;23
Alex Sanfilippo
Craig. But that's what got me into this podcasting thing. I fell in love with the medium at that point, even though it was just really part time. I had a corporate job at that point and stuff, but it was really my creative outlet. It was my way to share my message beyond what my work was about.

00;06;22;25 - 00;06;46;02
Craig Andrews
And you know, when you're telling your story, it reminded me of a frustration I had when I was waking up from my coma. I had a track and I couldn't talk, and they gave my wife the little letter card. And the idea was I would spell out words so she would understand. But everything was coming out as gibberish, and I was frustrated because I was trying to communicate needs.

00;06;46;05 - 00;06;56;05
Craig Andrews
She couldn't understand me. And I wonder is, did you feel any of that? You know, when you when when you were first struggling with dyslexia?

00;06;56;08 - 00;06;59;03
Alex Sanfilippo
Definitely. I mean, I think that frustration and

00;06;59;03 - 00;07;10;28
Alex Sanfilippo
I even as a kid I think I had some anger issues, nothing like diagnosed. I wasn't like punching walls or anything like that. But I feel like I got I was angry a lot, and I think the frustration purely came from the fact that I couldn't say what I wanted to say.

00;07;11;00 - 00;07;26;15
Alex Sanfilippo
And no matter how hard I tried in school growing up, I never got good grades. And so if you look back at my grades, I was a CD student. And the thing is, any teacher I had along the way, my mom being the primary like my that my mom homeschooled me, but the other teacher she brought in, they all said like, I feel so bad for this guy.

00;07;26;15 - 00;07;35;07
Alex Sanfilippo
Like he is trying harder than any other student. He just just can't get it. Like he's just not able to. And so like again, like that was a defeated feeling. So the frustration, the anger,

00;07;35;07 - 00;07;38;09
Alex Sanfilippo
it was there, you know, again, mostly internal. It very rarely,

00;07;38;09 - 00;07;44;10
Alex Sanfilippo
presented itself. I became like a big time introvert at that point, even though, like, naturally now I've stepped into like really who I am.

00;07;44;10 - 00;08;00;10
Alex Sanfilippo
I'm a I'm an extrovert. I'm energized by people. I love being out there. I love communicating, talking. But that point I just suppressed, I think, who I really was for so many years and I mean, you share that story just brings back like a trigger, just like me trying to communicate things I couldn't communicate. I can't imagine as an adult what that what that felt like,

00;08;00;10 - 00;08;01;25
Alex Sanfilippo
with you going through that.

00;08;01;27 - 00;08;03;25
Craig Andrews
Yeah. It just,

00;08;03;25 - 00;08;21;05
Craig Andrews
it's frustrating now. I, I was so weak at the time. I gave up quickly. I was just like. I mean, I couldn't lift my arms or legs at the time, but but, you know, I think a lot of, I think a lot of business owners are dyslexic, I'll tell you. When. Are you familiar with the business?

00;08;21;05 - 00;08;27;06
Craig Andrews
When. When 800 got junk. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So Brian Scudamore, who started that?

00;08;27;06 - 00;08;45;12
Craig Andrews
His dad was an attorney. I don't think he was as fortunate as you that, you know, be homeschooled. And what have you. He wasn't diagnosed. And so his dad sends him to college? Of course, once when to go to college, the guy drops out of college and starts, buys a beat up pickup for $1,600 and starts hauling junk.

00;08;45;15 - 00;08;49;29
Craig Andrews
I mean, can you imagine the disappointment that his dad was probably, you know, showering?

00;08;49;29 - 00;08;56;29
Alex Sanfilippo
Oh my goodness, I never thought about that. I cannot imagine what that dad felt like. Like, wait, wait, wait, you're taking out people's trash and I pay for your college, right?

00;08;57;02 - 00;09;15;09
Craig Andrews
Yeah, but, you know, like, he just couldn't process in the world of education. But obviously he's a brilliant. Guys. One 800 got junk. So almost billion dollar business. And so it's just about figuring out how he could operate in this world with his dyslexia.

00;09;15;11 - 00;09;17;06
Alex Sanfilippo
Yeah I think the same was for me.

00;09;17;06 - 00;09;28;01
Alex Sanfilippo
And at this point in my life, it's weird to say, but I feel like I feel like that's behind me. I'm healed from it. I mean, listen, if you want to, if you want to go spiritual, like, I feel like by God healed that at some point in my life.

00;09;28;01 - 00;09;34;07
Alex Sanfilippo
And I don't really struggle that way anymore. How? Why I can't explain or express. No, that's not what we're here for today.

00;09;34;07 - 00;09;47;05
Alex Sanfilippo
But learning to to play to your strengths and to not listen to maybe what society says about like, hey, based on you, this is how you should live, right? Like not listening to those voices or your own internal voice.

00;09;47;05 - 00;10;04;01
Alex Sanfilippo
It's that's negative or wrong over overcoming those things, I'm telling you. Like that is what makes a difference. And I know the business owners that listen to the to leaders and legacies like, like we get this. Like we understand that there's going to be some sort of opposition, some sort of opponent we have to overcome. And typically it starts with ourselves.

00;10;04;03 - 00;10;30;06
Craig Andrews
Yeah, yeah. So let's talk about podcasting. So you know, I I'll tell you how I first heard about Pod match was I was in a mastermind and somebody talked about how they were going out and getting on podcasts. And she had set some goal. And I said, well, how do you find, you know, find them? And she'd mention pod match.

00;10;30;08 - 00;11;03;27
Craig Andrews
And initially I thought, okay, I just want to be a guest. And I was a very reluctant host, you know, and somebody was trying to talk me into hosting. I'm like, no, no, no, no, I'm just going. Guest. But the. Let's start with guest first. You know, here's what I found is once I got 30 podcasts under my, under my belt, my message started becoming a lot more clear.

00;11;04;00 - 00;11;12;05
Craig Andrews
So what? I mean, you see, the whole world, you you deal with a lot of podcasters. You see this? What does that resonate?

00;11;12;07 - 00;11;14;18
Alex Sanfilippo
Absolutely. And you know what? Real quick for everybody listening,

00;11;14;18 - 00;11;18;04
Alex Sanfilippo
I'm going to call it a previous episode of your show. I listen to your show as well.

00;11;18;04 - 00;11;25;28
Alex Sanfilippo
I like to think I'm a leader and I want to leave a legacy. So this was a good show for me to listen to. But you recently had Michelle Griffin, Michelle Griffin on.

00;11;26;00 - 00;11;39;14
Alex Sanfilippo
And it was July 17th, 2025, and she talked about owning your lane. And one of her big points was just start speaking like start communicating your message. Start going out there and listen. I encourage everybody go back and listen to that episode after this one. Like cue that one up next, because I think it's a great evolved over time out here.

00;11;39;16 - 00;11;59;17
Alex Sanfilippo
But to quickly answer your your question, Greg, like that's how you become more well-spoken as you speak. I mean, you can read books till you're blue in the face, right? Like you can just read all day, all the perfect tactics. But until you do it, it doesn't really matter. This is kind of like an off topic example, but I think of Brandon Turner, which is one of the most successful real estate investors and flippers and authors of all time.

00;11;59;20 - 00;12;15;04
Alex Sanfilippo
And he even says in his books, like he's got five of the ten most successful real estate books. And he says, you will learn a lot from this book, but you will learn more from the first time you finally do it. And he does what his first flip. He learned more and that than all of his research and and education before that.

00;12;15;04 - 00;12;28;29
Alex Sanfilippo
And I think the same is true for us. Like we're going to learn more about ourselves as we use our voice, as we communicate, as we speak. And I think podcasting in my mind is the best way to do that, because really, Craig, I don't know what your next question is going to be. I don't and I got to learn to be on my feet.

00;12;28;29 - 00;12;42;19
Alex Sanfilippo
And same with you after 30 episodes, which, by the way, not many people ever get on 30 episodes of different like on shows as a guest. So congratulations on that. I imagine the fourth, fifth one, you're like, oh wow, I've never been asked this in my life or thought about it before, right?

00;12;42;21 - 00;13;02;27
Craig Andrews
Yeah, and that's exactly the thing. I mean, if you go on and you just do like regular stage speaking, you know, you control the script, you don't know if it was a success until you're done. I mean, you get a little bit of visual feedback from the audience. But I think one of the great things about podcasting is it's very dynamic.

00;13;02;29 - 00;13;06;24
Craig Andrews
And honestly, when I'm hosting a show, I have a rough outline in my head.

00;13;06;24 - 00;13;14;26
Craig Andrews
But I don't hold that too tightly. Somebody will say something. I'm like, well, that's interesting. Let's explore that.

00;13;14;29 - 00;13;18;26
Alex Sanfilippo
Yeah, I think that that's rare as a host, but I do. I actually really,

00;13;18;26 - 00;13;25;24
Alex Sanfilippo
really appreciate that because I think that more important than our agenda is a host is the actual narrative that's being created through the podcast.

00;13;25;24 - 00;13;33;21
Alex Sanfilippo
I'll never forget, I was on a podcast where the guy had, like, he had his plan for the episode, but we got right into it and immediately I said something that he could tell was that interesting.

00;13;33;21 - 00;13;48;21
Alex Sanfilippo
We went down his totally different path. He'd get to a single on those questions, and he's like, it was a great episode. It's perfect. I'm like, I respect that. And that. It was just a great conversation. I think that's really cool that you don't get so married to, like, these are the five questions we're going to ask. And if I can't ask them, we're not going to do this episode.

00;13;48;21 - 00;14;05;08
Alex Sanfilippo
Right. Like I think that that's that's just a really good thing to be able to do. On the flip side, sometimes when you're a guest, the host does want to ask you, hey, these are the questions I'm going to ask you for sure, which does require us as guests to get a bit creative with our message. Like, how do we still get some sort of story or narrative throughout this conversation?

00;14;05;08 - 00;14;05;26
Alex Sanfilippo
So,

00;14;05;26 - 00;14;11;04
Alex Sanfilippo
I love that you do that as a host, but also as a guest. I think that there's value in in both sides of it, really.

00;14;11;07 - 00;14;37;29
Craig Andrews
Well, I think it comes back to this. It's, you know, and you and I were talking about this in the green room. Podcasting is a conversational medium. It's not a presentational medium. It's a conversational medium. And and I could I don't you probably I, I'm interested in your take on this actually because I look at what works. I don't fully understand why, but I just know that what works tends to be more conversation.

00;14;37;29 - 00;14;39;25
Craig Andrews
Do you understand why?

00;14;39;27 - 00;14;58;16
Alex Sanfilippo
Yeah, I think that. So I we call it like even on pod match. We call it a podcast interview. But the reality is, is a podcast conversation that just doesn't really flow as well or as how people search for. But an interview feels like a bit of an interrogation. And there are some shows that do really well with like full on interviews.

00;14;58;16 - 00;15;13;25
Alex Sanfilippo
Here are the ten questions I'm gonna ask you a day. Craig. Right. Like they can do okay with that. But people who listen to podcasts, they want to be part of a conversation with people that know more than they do on a topic or just something they're curious about hearing. And that's why if you look at all the top podcasts, they're not strict.

00;15;13;25 - 00;15;30;20
Alex Sanfilippo
Like, this is an interview. They are conversational vibe. That's what people like to hear. I mean, here's the thing. Like, no one's ever wanted to eavesdrop in a in an interview, like a job interview. No one's been like, well, I'm I know what they're saying. And they're like, no one cares about that. But there's plenty of times where you hear about a conversation going on next to the table and you're like, kind of interested in what they're talking about, right?

00;15;30;20 - 00;15;41;28
Alex Sanfilippo
Like it's just our human nature. And so I think that the conversation in my mind is just it's a better way to to release an episode of a podcast because it's actually what people like to consume.

00;15;42;00 - 00;15;43;20
Craig Andrews
Yeah. I live,

00;15;43;20 - 00;15;46;15
Craig Andrews
I live 13 minutes from Joe Rogan.

00;15;46;18 - 00;15;47;01
Alex Sanfilippo
Okay.

00;15;47;01 - 00;15;53;03
Craig Andrews
I'm in 14 minutes. The van parked across the street could have the guy who's coming out to pull me off the gate.

00;15;53;03 - 00;16;19;17
Craig Andrews
And but what's really interesting, and I just saw a new headline, like, in the last 24 hours where he got dethroned from number one. There's somebody that just passed them. But what's really interesting is the guy just gets on there and has a conversation and he says, you know, the reason he runs a three hour episode is it takes him a while to get to kind of unravel the things and get the person relaxed.

00;16;19;19 - 00;16;22;29
Craig Andrews
I'm not yet bold enough to write a three hour episode, but.

00;16;23;02 - 00;16;28;24
Alex Sanfilippo
I'm not enough to be on a three hour episode yet, so I'm okay with that.

00;16;28;26 - 00;16;36;02
Craig Andrews
But I think, you know, and what you said was you don't know what questions are coming. I think that's really good, you know? And I think it's,

00;16;36;02 - 00;16;43;11
Craig Andrews
you know, it lets you stand in the line of fire, you know, and with somebody who's not there to make you look stupid.

00;16;43;11 - 00;16;44;00
Craig Andrews
Hopefully.

00;16;44;00 - 00;16;45;29
Craig Andrews
I think most of us.

00;16;45;29 - 00;16;47;23
Craig Andrews
Yeah, it's.

00;16;47;25 - 00;16;59;13
Alex Sanfilippo
I had that happen one time. Somebody showed up for that reason. It was my fault. That's what he does with all of his guests, I didn't I this is before I used to listen to shows before I go on them. And that's the reason I started listening, is because he was there to make people look and feel stupid.

00;16;59;13 - 00;17;09;15
Alex Sanfilippo
And that was the point of his show. So anyway, otherwise, if you want to be a guest on a podcast, make sure you listen first, because yeah, we'll let you know what you're getting yourself into. So there's a little side note.

00;17;09;17 - 00;17;14;16
Craig Andrews
Why that's so bizarre. Why did he think that was a winning formula?

00;17;14;19 - 00;17;25;20
Alex Sanfilippo
I to this day don't know Craig, but I can't get I can't even think about that. All I can think of is why did I put myself in that situation? Right? Like that's that's my fault for saying, yeah, sure, I'll do it.

00;17;25;22 - 00;17;26;08
Craig Andrews
Yeah.

00;17;26;08 - 00;17;28;18
Craig Andrews
That's so bizarre.

00;17;28;18 - 00;17;31;24
Craig Andrews
That's just bizarre. Wow.

00;17;31;26 - 00;17;48;14
Alex Sanfilippo
That's one experience that I've been on over 700 shows as a guest, and that was the only experience like that. The other 699 plus have been, you're right, the host wants to elevate what you do and leverage it in a way that's going to serve somebody else. And again, I think that is the absolute like at the core.

00;17;48;14 - 00;18;04;29
Alex Sanfilippo
That is the beauty of podcast guesting. The hidden value is the fact that I learn my own message better. I learned articulate better. I learned to share in a way that actually inspires in and informs somebody else. To me, that's the real power behind what we're doing. Like, listen, if it grows the business and stuff, fine. Like, sure.

00;18;05;02 - 00;18;09;05
Alex Sanfilippo
But the real power is what's happening to me internally.

00;18;09;08 - 00;18;13;10
Craig Andrews
When one of the first episodes I guested on,

00;18;13;10 - 00;18;30;17
Craig Andrews
the guy fired down the list of questions and it was just like question after question after question after question. And then it's like, all right, thank you. And then the zoom link dies. And I was like, oh my goodness, we got cut off. And so like I email him I'm like, hey, I'm sorry I don't know what happened.

00;18;30;17 - 00;18;37;04
Craig Andrews
We got cut off. He's like, no, that was the end of the episode. It was so, oh no.

00;18;37;06 - 00;18;52;10
Alex Sanfilippo
But hey, listen again, that is a weird experience and not my favorite. Probably a show that will never be too big. But as a guest, that's actually a good experience for you to to again, just be able to do that whole pointing thing like maybe a little bit weird, but still something that makes you better at what you do.

00;18;52;12 - 00;18;56;24
Alex Sanfilippo
But I have not had that one happen. That's a new one.

00;18;56;26 - 00;18;57;28
Craig Andrews
Yeah. So,

00;18;57;28 - 00;19;03;15
Craig Andrews
and I'll tell you, you know, there was something else you said you talked about. It's,

00;19;03;15 - 00;19;17;20
Craig Andrews
opportunity to learn. You know, I invite guests. One sometimes just because I don't know, I'm kind of interested in what they're doing. I want to understand it better. And I'll tell you, the the there was somebody that was that connected to me on pod match.

00;19;17;23 - 00;19;25;24
Craig Andrews
They're almost rejected because they didn't fit our ideal gas profile. And about 30s later, I was dope slapping myself.

00;19;25;24 - 00;19;26;29
Craig Andrews
It was John Hewitt, the

00;19;26;29 - 00;19;29;04
Craig Andrews
founder of Jackson Hewitt Tax Services.

00;19;29;07 - 00;19;30;04
Alex Sanfilippo
Wow. Okay.

00;19;30;04 - 00;19;49;18
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Who also founded Liberty Tech Services when the board ousted him from. And I sat there and I was like, Craig, you're stupid. Here's this. Just this amazingly successful guy. Why don't you get on talk to them? You might learn something. And he was an amazing guest.

00;19;49;18 - 00;19;55;29
Craig Andrews
And that's one of the other things I think's great about podcasting that you mention is it's an opportunity for you to learn things.

00;19;56;02 - 00;20;06;08
Craig Andrews
You can invite some of the brightest minds in the world about what they do, and they'll come tell you about it. And you'll learn as a host.

00;20;06;10 - 00;20;21;26
Alex Sanfilippo
As a host. I like to say that like I'm my first listener, as a host, like you really are. You're the first person to hear the episode, and so you're your own first listener, and it doesn't mean you just do it for yourself. Although you probably could if you. It's all about your own self-development. But for me, what I decided when I started,

00;20;21;26 - 00;20;26;10
Alex Sanfilippo
my my original show going back is it was for me to learn from other people.

00;20;26;13 - 00;20;41;17
Alex Sanfilippo
But my curiosity, I was going make sure I position that to also be good for other people that were listening. I'll tell you what, like I, I learned how to become an entrepreneur from from my own podcast. I learned it from the people I brought on. I was curious and sometimes, like you said, there's people that I'm like, not really a great fit.

00;20;41;17 - 00;20;51;29
Alex Sanfilippo
I'm like, but I'm very intrigued by this. And what I learn is my listeners, they like to learn things that Alex likes to learn, and they're hanging out because they enjoyed me as a host. So I'm right there with you. I've had some.

00;20;52;02 - 00;20;52;12
Craig Andrews
Off.

00;20;52;12 - 00;20;54;09
Alex Sanfilippo
Topic things, if you will, that,

00;20;54;09 - 00;21;05;19
Alex Sanfilippo
they don't necessarily fit the mold of what my shows have been about and stuff like that in the past. But man, people seem to enjoy it anyway because it's like, oh, wow, this I learned from this and it was really an interesting topic. And it's cool to know that Alex thinks about that too.

00;21;05;21 - 00;21;10;27
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Now there are people listening that think, okay,

00;21;10;27 - 00;21;23;00
Craig Andrews
yeah, my business should probably be doing podcasting. I should probably be guesting, but I don't want to. Guest I'm going to get I'm going to go find somebody else in the company to go do guesting. What would you say to them?

00;21;23;02 - 00;21;40;24
Alex Sanfilippo
It goes back to we just talked about Craig, but I think that you learning to articulate your message well is is just so important. If, if you have any leverage in your company or any influence, you're in that role where you're communicating internally as well, you being the one that is the guest is gonna help elevate that one.

00;21;40;24 - 00;21;56;20
Alex Sanfilippo
I imagine your staff, your employees, the people, maybe maybe even your clients, they're going to want to hear what you have to say. They're going to want to hear it through a podcast, but also in person. That builds so much more confidence for people to have in you, getting to hear you. It feels like they know you more and better.

00;21;56;20 - 00;22;06;12
Alex Sanfilippo
And so for me, like, yeah, it might not be what you feel like you want. Let's go back to my story. Being dyslexic, like, I certainly didn't want to be a guest the first time I got to ask you. I'm like, I'm having enough trouble with my own podcast. Right.

00;22;06;12 - 00;22;13;00
Alex Sanfilippo
But doing it built this greater sense of connection between me and the people that once again, was serving, whether it was in my company or not.

00;22;13;03 - 00;22;30;05
Alex Sanfilippo
And, listen, I, I can't tell people what to do, but I think it should be you. If you're in that role, you have that. You're that leader. You're willing to build the legacy. I wouldn't delegate this. This to me is that front line communication that is so important that us as leaders maintain and keep.

00;22;30;08 - 00;22;35;23
Craig Andrews
Yeah. You know, I had a guest once, a very dynamic fellow,

00;22;35;23 - 00;22;40;25
Craig Andrews
somebody who's personal friends with Dave Ramsey and,

00;22;40;25 - 00;22;42;26
Craig Andrews
and we recorded the interview and,

00;22;42;26 - 00;22;56;10
Craig Andrews
we stopped recording him, talking to him, and I'm like, hey, are you all right? All right? And he was like, yeah, I am fine. He said, you know, I'm what was was I think he's actually a little bit of an introvert.

00;22;56;12 - 00;23;07;01
Craig Andrews
And he when he shows up for the podcast, he pulls out that introvert, extroverted self. And when the episode's over, he's done. I mean, he's just like, wiped out.

00;23;07;01 - 00;23;09;04
Alex Sanfilippo
Depleted, right? That's it.

00;23;09;06 - 00;23;26;26
Craig Andrews
And that happens. I mean, and I would say if you're that type of person, it's okay. I mean, but still just figure out how to turn it on for 20 or 30 minutes, however long the episode is, and you'll be fine. But it's a great way. You know, as you keep saying, of getting your message out and refining your message.

00;23;26;29 - 00;23;40;29
Alex Sanfilippo
Yeah, and on top of that, you don't have to be somebody you're not. So don't feel like you have to be like, Craig, you and I, I think I'm a little louder than you, but we're both like, we talk fast, we talk loud, we get excited. We're very enthusiastic about what we talk about. And I think that's cool.

00;23;41;01 - 00;23;56;10
Alex Sanfilippo
If that's not you, don't be that. Because people that are going to resonate with you, they want to know the real you. And a perfect example, this is Pat Flynn. He's a legend in the podcasting space. He's done really smart, really well with his Smart Passive Income podcast and brand. And he's very open. Like, I'm an an introvert.

00;23;56;10 - 00;24;10;03
Alex Sanfilippo
I don't really enjoy talking like all these things. Right? He's very vocal about that and he shows up with the right amount of energy. Not too much. These tend to be someone he's not, but when you meet him in person, you feel like, oh, this is like having Pat on my podcast, right? So he's not going to laugh a whole lot.

00;24;10;03 - 00;24;28;12
Alex Sanfilippo
He's going to be they're not super serious or anything like that. You can have a good time, but you know what you get. And he's done this. I don't know how many thousands of times at this point. And so I would remind people like, be who you are. But to Craig's, Craig's wisdom, there is to also make sure that you turn it on enough that that it's going to have some sort of personality behind it.

00;24;28;15 - 00;24;34;08
Alex Sanfilippo
Those are really important points when it comes to either side, the microphone being a host or a guest. So he got to figure out how to turn it on a little bit.

00;24;34;10 - 00;24;41;05
Craig Andrews
So speaking of personality, what's your take on Lex? How's because Lex is like Mr. Monotone, like,

00;24;41;05 - 00;24;45;10
Craig Andrews
you know, Mr. Monotone, but he has an amazingly successful podcast.

00;24;45;12 - 00;24;47;08
Alex Sanfilippo
Lex Fridman. Right? Yeah.

00;24;47;08 - 00;24;59;08
Alex Sanfilippo
Okay. So it's not my style because of that. Like, it's not really. He asked some really good stuff. And so I think he leans really heavy on like, I'm going to ask the right thing, so it'll be worth it. I've listened a few times and it's it's good. Like I will say it's good.

00;24;59;11 - 00;25;14;26
Alex Sanfilippo
It's just not my pace. I like a little bit louder, a little bit more crazy, I guess. I don't know, it's more my flow. I think that's the beauty of it though. Like, if Lex heard this right now, he'd be like, cool. That's not my ideal listener. And he'd be perfectly fine with that, right? And just like someone else I do listen to would be like, wow, cool.

00;25;14;26 - 00;25;18;25
Alex Sanfilippo
I like that Alex listens. And that's the personality I'm going for. So,

00;25;18;25 - 00;25;22;19
Alex Sanfilippo
that's kind of the beauty of it. There's there's no one size fits all.

00;25;22;21 - 00;25;26;27
Craig Andrews
So let's talk about hosting. And I mentioned I was a reluctant host. Host,

00;25;26;27 - 00;25;36;10
Craig Andrews
been reluctant about a number of things I've done that ended up being good. I'm really glad I started hosting. Why should business owners host a podcast?

00;25;36;13 - 00;25;40;09
Alex Sanfilippo
So there I mean, there are so many reasons here, but I'm gonna mention maybe like the,

00;25;40;09 - 00;25;53;29
Alex Sanfilippo
I'll go back. I mentioned the hidden value like a podcast guesting. Right. Is your own self-discovery as a host? What I'll mention is that even if not one person ever listens, there is the SEO and now the large language model. I benefit of it.

00;25;54;01 - 00;26;16;27
Alex Sanfilippo
You are getting backlinks from Amazon, Apple, Google, YouTube, I mean thousands of places where your podcast ultimately gets posted and all of those go back to your domain as long as you're mentioning your domain within it somewhere, right? Like mentioning that, I mean, I always say like put it in the description for me too. Even in the The who hosts the podcast is Alex Sanfilippo and Pod Match.

00;26;16;29 - 00;26;29;19
Alex Sanfilippo
Yeah. So like you put it anywhere you can without word stuffing it too much. But the thing is, it will increase your website's visibility across the board, because now all these really high authority domains are saying, yeah, this person is legit. They have a podcast. So that's.

00;26;29;19 - 00;26;30;02
Craig Andrews
Like.

00;26;30;04 - 00;26;46;02
Alex Sanfilippo
Just just on the side there. Like that is one thing that it's going to do. It's going to help you be more discoverable online. I think that that is a to me, that's a really big benefit. Craig. I don't know if you have any thoughts here. What is it done for you as a podcaster? Because you finally obviously decided, okay, I'm starting leaders and legacies.

00;26;46;02 - 00;26;48;29
Alex Sanfilippo
Like what? What was one thing they did for you? If you don't mean asking?

00;26;49;02 - 00;26;50;13
Craig Andrews
Yeah. And so,

00;26;50;13 - 00;26;55;13
Craig Andrews
I forget where we are. I think this is episode 220 or so.

00;26;55;16 - 00;26;58;15
Alex Sanfilippo
You got a few under your belt at this point, Yeah.

00;26;58;18 - 00;27;02;19
Craig Andrews
And it's funny, I don't listen to the early episodes. It's it,

00;27;02;19 - 00;27;04;07
Craig Andrews
it's too cringey.

00;27;04;07 - 00;27;09;10
Alex Sanfilippo
I just I don't listen to mine either, by the way. Sorry, I don't mean to interject, but I had to share that.

00;27;09;13 - 00;27;13;16
Craig Andrews
I mean, for me, it's it's done a few things for me. It,

00;27;13;16 - 00;27;16;15
Craig Andrews
one, I think the networking,

00;27;16;15 - 00;27;30;03
Craig Andrews
aspect of it is huge. You know, you're, you're meeting with other thought leaders, you're meeting with different, different people. And there are so many people that would have never met. I would have never met John Hewitt,

00;27;30;03 - 00;27;37;01
Craig Andrews
you know, founder of the only two national changes, chains to compete against H&R block.

00;27;37;03 - 00;28;04;15
Craig Andrews
We've never met John. If it hadn't been for the podcast, so many other people that I would have never met. And so from the networking standpoint, I'd say it's awesome. But the other thing is, I think, I think for anybody to be good in business, you have to be able to talk to people and extract truths from them and figure out how to ask questions while keeping them comfortable.

00;28;04;18 - 00;28;12;06
Craig Andrews
And and it's it's I mean, I think that's done that for me in spades. Yeah.

00;28;12;08 - 00;28;26;16
Alex Sanfilippo
Someone recently asked me, like, Alex, if you wanted to go back and get a corporate job, do you think you'd still be good at interviewing since you've been an entrepreneur for so long? I'm like, so me being the interviewee, they're saying I'm like, yeah, I think I'd actually be really good at it now. Like just from podcasting. Like I've been on both sides of it.

00;28;26;16 - 00;28;44;12
Alex Sanfilippo
Right. And so from being a podcast host. So like you learn how to like ask questions and follow up with it like that puts you on either side of the interview process. Like really, really solid positioning. Right? Like so I think that from that regard, it's super healthy because somewhat like the the connections you build, the relationships that get formed.

00;28;44;15 - 00;28;45;05
Alex Sanfilippo
I have a friend,

00;28;45;05 - 00;28;58;07
Alex Sanfilippo
a different person who says that his podcast is his business card. He's like, just come to my show, we'll talk there and see how it goes. And he also refers to podcasting as the as the new golf. He's like, you know, it's how we have like we build the rapport, we build this relationship.

00;28;58;09 - 00;29;17;03
Alex Sanfilippo
It gives you access to people that you're never going have access to. You're gonna meet people that you never thought you'd be able to meet. You're going to meet people that you never knew you wanted or needed to meet. And all that stuff happens by having a podcast, by having the platform, you're telling people, hey, I've got a space for us to have a really high level conversation that is going to serve both of us and other people as well.

00;29;17;06 - 00;29;22;24
Alex Sanfilippo
I don't know if there's anything better than that, right? Like in my mind, I'm glad you brought that up. I don't know if there's anything that compares with that, though.

00;29;22;27 - 00;29;37;19
Craig Andrews
Yeah. So one of the things that we keep people from podcasting is they think, oh my goodness, I need to put together a big production studio, I need to do all this. And there are people that do what, what how would you respond to that?

00;29;37;21 - 00;29;52;01
Alex Sanfilippo
I felt that way when I got started, Craig. It was just my insecurities hold me back. But I've actually found that people that seem to do the best. So the people that are podcasting out of their home, whether you're a guest or host, like I don't mean have like a dirty background, right? Like keep, keep the place somewhat clean if you can.

00;29;52;01 - 00;30;08;04
Alex Sanfilippo
Right? But the reality is people resonate with seeing a living room with a kitchen. I have a friend and she she has like a mom lifestyle podcast and she podcast in her kitchen. I was like, what made you decide to do that kitchen? She goes, oh, that's where most of my listeners hang out. She's like, they're they're in the kitchen, they're homemakers.

00;30;08;04 - 00;30;28;03
Alex Sanfilippo
And I was like, oh, well, that's brilliant, right? Like imagine if she had like a $15,000 studio that no longer resonates with her ideal listener. I'm like brilliant, like meet them where they are. And I think that more than ever, people want the human element. Like, listen, I have a really simple setup. I've got like two LED lights hitting a gray wall and some other lighting and stuff just so I don't disappear into it.

00;30;28;05 - 00;30;45;00
Alex Sanfilippo
You're you're in an office, in your home. And again, I think that resonates with people more than having like the really fancy studio. Now, granted, if you're trying to be like a TikTok or Instagram or YouTube star, then sure, maybe you need all that. But the reality is, I don't know if that connects better with people or just gets you like quote unquote viral content.

00;30;45;02 - 00;31;00;25
Alex Sanfilippo
And those aren't the same thing usually. So for me, I just tell people, start with what you have, where you are. What matters most is the message no one who hears your message and resonates with it and it really impacts them is me. Like, oh, but I wish you didn't have that door closed behind them. Like no one's ever going to say that, right?

00;31;00;28 - 00;31;03;10
Craig Andrews
Well, in fairness, this is temporary. I,

00;31;03;10 - 00;31;04;11
Craig Andrews
I,

00;31;04;11 - 00;31;05;05
Craig Andrews
I typically,

00;31;05;05 - 00;31;08;11
Craig Andrews
have a blue curtain behind me, and I think I mentioned that,

00;31;08;11 - 00;31;17;21
Craig Andrews
we're selling the house, and the realtors hate anything that looks lived in right? And so they're like, yeah, get rid of the blue curtain.

00;31;17;21 - 00;31;20;23
Craig Andrews
Yeah. I had the desk 90 degrees and then what have you.

00;31;20;23 - 00;31;22;16
Craig Andrews
So this is kind of temporary, but.

00;31;22;23 - 00;31;26;03
Alex Sanfilippo
I like it, though. I'm just telling you, I personally, I like it. I think it looks good.

00;31;26;05 - 00;31;28;22
Craig Andrews
Yeah, well, thank you.

00;31;28;22 - 00;31;30;26
Craig Andrews
So let's talk about pod match.

00;31;30;26 - 00;31;35;14
Craig Andrews
And I describe it as it's kind of like a dating app.

00;31;35;14 - 00;31;41;18
Craig Andrews
You know, I don't know if you like that description or what, but that's kind of how it clicked in my head.

00;31;41;20 - 00;31;47;18
Alex Sanfilippo
Yeah, I think that that's how it clicked in most people's heads. Granted, I've been married too long to ever have used a dating app, Greg. But,

00;31;47;18 - 00;31;57;05
Alex Sanfilippo
yeah, I believe it. It works the same way. We kind of modeled off of multiple dating apps when we built it. So basically it's a service that connects podcast guests and hosts for interviews based on all the administrative stuff.

00;31;57;05 - 00;32;13;15
Alex Sanfilippo
So like the language you speak, your availability, how long you're available for, all that type of stuff. Right. So it's got all the administrative stuff, but also it's going to look at who you are as a person and who the podcast is. And it'll basically determine, okay, these two might be a good fit. Let's put them in front of each other, let the message back and forth and hash out themselves to figure out what's the right fit.

00;32;13;17 - 00;32;18;29
Alex Sanfilippo
Again, more or less a dating app, but that connects podcast guests and hosts for conversations more than anything else.

00;32;19;02 - 00;32;23;04
Craig Andrews
Yeah, well, and I'll tell you when I my first year,

00;32;23;04 - 00;32;26;22
Craig Andrews
when I decided to start guesting,

00;32;26;22 - 00;32;28;00
Craig Andrews
my, my wife,

00;32;28;00 - 00;32;46;25
Craig Andrews
wasn't working at the time, and so I turned her into my booking agent and we came up with a script and I think it was March. I think it was March of 22, 22 or 23. I forget which that,

00;32;46;25 - 00;32;51;20
Craig Andrews
I, we started and by the end of the year I was on 70 podcasts.

00;32;51;22 - 00;32;57;04
Alex Sanfilippo
Wow. She should do this professionally. That's a lot. Yeah, just just the numbers. We just looked at this,

00;32;57;04 - 00;33;13;24
Alex Sanfilippo
the average podcast guest gets on 1.2 shows per month the people that are actively pursuing it. So that's let's just say 13 or 14 a year total is what people can expect at a podcast guesting. So clearly your wife has done a good job with being a booking agent, better than probably a real professional booking agent.

00;33;13;24 - 00;33;14;29
Alex Sanfilippo
So good job to her.

00;33;15;02 - 00;33;19;29
Craig Andrews
Well, we thought about doing that. It was like, hey, maybe this could be a little sidecar for the business.

00;33;19;29 - 00;33;22;25
Craig Andrews
Because she did really well. But you know what we found?

00;33;22;25 - 00;33;36;01
Craig Andrews
I'll tell you the the script that we used, I'm trying to remember, actually, I think it was from some training that you provided. I'm reaching back a few years because I think I think you put together something about getting booked on podcasts.

00;33;36;01 - 00;33;51;09
Alex Sanfilippo
I definitely did, yeah. In 2022, I believe, is when I created that source and kind of had updated from time to time. But yeah, I have a very specific framework that I've used and it's worked really well for me, so maybe that was it. I would love to know that I helped a little bit. I mean, obviously your wife is still the expert, but I love to know that I helped a little bit.

00;33;51;12 - 00;33;59;22
Craig Andrews
I know the more I think about it, I think it was I think I think it was predominantly that we took a little bit that learn from Pete Vargas and,

00;33;59;22 - 00;34;03;24
Craig Andrews
but here's the thing on the script is,

00;34;03;24 - 00;34;13;02
Craig Andrews
if I would say that at least learning from our lessons, if you're trying to get booked on shows, it's about how you can make your how you can benefit your host.

00;34;13;02 - 00;34;16;12
Craig Andrews
I mean, I had I have one application come in podcast,

00;34;16;12 - 00;34;25;28
Craig Andrews
through pod match and, and the very first thing he said was, I love to talk like, and as I'm sitting there looking at this.

00;34;25;28 - 00;34;26;26
Alex Sanfilippo
And he's like, oh, no.

00;34;26;29 - 00;34;36;21
Craig Andrews
It was basically me. Me, me, me, me, me, I'm like, I'm going to get this guy on the show. He's going to he's going to get 40 minutes. I won't be able to get him to shut up. And,

00;34;36;21 - 00;34;41;05
Craig Andrews
I won't be able to getting questions in there. And so I never accepted him as a guest.

00;34;41;07 - 00;34;56;03
Alex Sanfilippo
Yeah, and you shouldn't. I think that there's actually a lesson here for everybody listening is like, okay, I'm gonna do this podcasting thing you've got to get. We just call it the business a pitch, which sounds really salesy. It's not. It's your inbound message to a podcast host. And if you want to be a guest on shows, you're going to have to reach out to host.

00;34;56;10 - 00;35;10;05
Alex Sanfilippo
So if you want to be a guest, you're gonna have to do the work and do the outreach. It's going to be good. Like, you can't say, I like to talk. You can't open with that. Like no host wants that. Like, I don't know anyone who was like, yeah, heck yeah. That's what I'm looking for, right? Like, that's not what we want.

00;35;10;05 - 00;35;14;26
Alex Sanfilippo
We want to see that, like what's in it for us, what's in it for our listeners. And then you can talk about yourself a little bit.

00;35;14;28 - 00;35;24;09
Craig Andrews
Yeah. But no, I, I think it was your, your script, you know, your, your training that we went through and we, we use that for the model, for the outreach.

00;35;24;11 - 00;35;31;02
Alex Sanfilippo
Very cool. Well, I'm honored to again play a small part 70 podcast is no small feat. So congratulations on that.

00;35;31;05 - 00;35;39;17
Craig Andrews
Well, and now I you know, of course I was still fairly fresh off coming back from the edge of death. And so that was kind of a hook.

00;35;39;19 - 00;35;40;10
Alex Sanfilippo
Right.

00;35;40;12 - 00;36;03;09
Craig Andrews
That was kind of a hook. And I would say that to anybody else that's trying to get booked on shows. I mean, if you're a business coach, if you're an executive coach, there's like 10,000 other people out there. They're all trying to get on podcast. Please come with something more than you're an executive coach. And at least at least for me, that's it.

00;36;03;09 - 00;36;13;06
Craig Andrews
And and the thing that I find is everybody has something interesting in their past that they've probably overlooked, that they could leverage to help them get booked on podcasts.

00;36;13;08 - 00;36;23;06
Alex Sanfilippo
Yeah. I think that that the hook is you said that's so important lead with that. Right. I think back to a movie. Do you ever see a movie 21. It was like a blackjack movie.

00;36;23;17 - 00;36;25;06
Craig Andrews
I don't remember. Yeah.

00;36;25;09 - 00;36;28;04
Alex Sanfilippo
Anyway, so like, it was all about the game blackjack. And,

00;36;28;04 - 00;36;37;05
Alex Sanfilippo
this guy was also like at Harvard or something like that, and he wanted to get accepted to a special program, and they pay for it because he couldn't afford it. And he's like, man, there are thousands of kids just as smart as you trying to do this when he came back.

00;36;37;05 - 00;36;49;27
Alex Sanfilippo
Because, like, you need something that makes you stand out. He did like how you gambled his way to make enough money to pay for himself because he wasn't getting that thing, but then lost it all. Then it ultimately ended up being like the hook that got him the scholarship. I know it's movie magic, but you got to have something like that for a host.

00;36;49;27 - 00;37;09;15
Alex Sanfilippo
You got to have something. It's like, okay, yeah, you're you're a business coach. Great. But tell me the story about how you almost died and came back, right? Like, tell me like that's the that's the hook. Like, because again, also your listeners, their listeners don't necessarily want to hear from another business coach unless there is some unique perspective in there, a story in there that can make them say, wow, this business coach is unique and they have something different.

00;37;09;18 - 00;37;24;22
Alex Sanfilippo
We all have that. Sometimes it's combining multiple experiences, right? Like, listen, I'm not the only person come on here Craig, and talk about podcasting. But I might be the only like severely dyslexic person growing up who thought I would never do this. Who decided to make it happen. Maybe. Maybe that's my hook. Right? So,

00;37;24;22 - 00;37;25;16
Alex Sanfilippo
everyone's got that.

00;37;25;16 - 00;37;28;01
Alex Sanfilippo
It's a matter of doing the internal work to find it.

00;37;28;03 - 00;37;51;05
Craig Andrews
Yeah, I was prepping one guy to get booked on podcasts and I kept asking him, like, all right, tell me what's happening in your life. He's like, look, I've really lived a boring life. And he was he was Mormon. So there's like, credibility. And he's, you know, lived a boring life. At one point. I just say you did your mission in Japan.

00;37;51;07 - 00;38;13;18
Craig Andrews
Anyway, it's lived in Japan. Had something happen that in Japan seems perfectly normal. But over here it's wild. He says, well, you know, there was the day that I had lunch with the Yakuza, and they propositioned me to run their prostitution ring. I'm like, dude, you've been sitting on that for the last 90 minutes, right? You found out you've lived a boring life.

00;38;13;26 - 00;38;20;24
Craig Andrews
You've had lunch with the Yakuza. You know how many people I've met that had lunch with the Yakuza? None.

00;38;20;27 - 00;38;24;29
Alex Sanfilippo
Right. So that's. There it is. Nice job drawing that out. Took 90 minutes,

00;38;25;01 - 00;38;29;11
Craig Andrews
Yeah. 90 minutes. But no, I think that's it. Yeah.

00;38;29;11 - 00;38;42;04
Craig Andrews
Everybody has something interesting and they really have to work that into your pitch. Otherwise you just you you. Well, it's a saying I use in my own business. And so I do marketing,

00;38;42;04 - 00;38;55;19
Craig Andrews
in commoditized spaces. And I say when you can't differentiate on what you do, your differentiation is you if you're a business coach, if you're an executive coach, don't come here and tell me that the way you do, it's different.

00;38;55;21 - 00;39;02;04
Craig Andrews
Maybe that's true, but guess what? Everybody else is saying the same thing.

00;39;02;06 - 00;39;03;00
Alex Sanfilippo
100%.

00;39;03;00 - 00;39;18;18
Alex Sanfilippo
I love that you just said that. Like what? You got to double down on you, right? And you can't just say it like, you actually have to have something. Listen, whether you're a podcast guest or host is actually good advice. Like figure out what makes you unique, figure out, like your story, figure out the hook that you have, because that's going to keep people listening.

00;39;18;23 - 00;39;33;18
Alex Sanfilippo
Craig, you do a great job at the beginning of your show talking about this like the first time I went listen to your show, I was hooked in 30s guess what? I ain't even here. I don't even know you had guests on yet. I didn't know that yet. All I did was hear your story and I was like, this dude is legit, right?

00;39;33;18 - 00;39;37;24
Alex Sanfilippo
Like, that's all I took. And then the rest of I'm like, cool. Whatever conversation he has, I'm in for.

00;39;37;26 - 00;39;39;03
Craig Andrews
Wow as a guest or host.

00;39;39;03 - 00;39;44;24
Alex Sanfilippo
You got to have that. And Craig, I think you did like just everyone start this podcast episode over and listen to like the beginning

00;39;44;24 - 00;39;50;03
Alex Sanfilippo
or go to another episode after this. But like, just hear what Craig says. That's probably why we're all here today.

00;39;50;06 - 00;39;52;25
Craig Andrews
Now. Well, Alex,

00;39;52;25 - 00;39;56;17
Craig Andrews
we we literally could talk for another hour. This has just been amazing.

00;39;56;17 - 00;40;01;05
Craig Andrews
I mean, let me just kind of plug pop, pop match my perspective. I'm a customer.

00;40;01;05 - 00;40;04;19
Craig Andrews
You know, I've been a customer. I am a customer. Pod match.

00;40;04;19 - 00;40;15;13
Craig Andrews
It is it is great. It's a it's an amazing platform. And whether you're a host or a guest, it's the place you one day,

00;40;15;13 - 00;40;17;03
Craig Andrews
you know, I can't recommend it enough.

00;40;17;03 - 00;40;27;27
Craig Andrews
It's. You know, initially I subscribed to the, you know, some of your competitors as well and ended up dropping those subscriptions. So I'm there. Our only subscription is Pod Match.

00;40;27;27 - 00;40;30;29
Craig Andrews
So how Alex, how can people reach you?

00;40;31;01 - 00;40;43;25
Alex Sanfilippo
Yeah. Correct. Thank you again for that. The best thing to do is go to pod match.com/free. I think it'll really further our conversation here today. And whether you're a podcast guest host or aspiring guest or host, like if you haven't even started yet, I have nine ideas for you.

00;40;43;25 - 00;40;45;11
Alex Sanfilippo
It'll kind of categorize them so you can find them.

00;40;45;11 - 00;40;55;15
Alex Sanfilippo
But that's pod match.com/free and I don't want your email address or anything like that is just on my way of saying thank you for hanging out with me and Craig today. So Craig, thank you again for the kind words though man seriously means a lot and it's an honor to be here today.

00;40;55;18 - 00;41;00;26
Craig Andrews
Alex. It's been a delight. Thanks for coming on for sure.

00;41;00;26 - 00;41;27;20
Craig Andrews
This is Craig Andrews. I want to thank you for listening to the Leaders and Legacies podcast. We're looking for leaders to share how they're making the impact beyond themselves. If that's you, please go to Ally's for me.com/guest and sign up there. If you got something out of this interview, we would love you to share this

00;41;27;20 - 00;41;29;15
Craig Andrews
episode on social media.

00;41;29;17 - 00;41;52;27
Craig Andrews
Just do a quick screenshot with your phone and text it to a friend, or posted on the socials. If you know someone who would be a great guest. Tag them on social media and let them know about the show, including the hashtag leaders and legacies. I love seeing your posts and suggestions. We are regularly putting out new episodes and content to make sure you don't miss anything.

00;41;52;29 - 00;42;01;06
Craig Andrews
Please go ahead and subscribe. Your thumbs up. Ratings and reviews go a long way to help promote the show. It means a lot to me.

00;42;01;06 - 00;44;03;11
Craig Andrews
It means a lot to my team. If you want to know more, please go to Ally's for me.com. Or follow me on LinkedIn. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time.