Diversified content formats - Writing for Podcasts

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PODCAST CONCEPT AND SNIPPET FROM A PILOT SCRIPT 

Written by Bassem Elghawaby

MASTER ENTREPRENEUR PODCAST - A show that diagnoses what’s ailing your business and prescribes solutions that work

EPISODE 2: Getting paid what you’re worth

Welcome back to another episode of the Master Entrepreneur podcast, this is Bassem Elghawaby, joined by *Chris Castillo - founder of Master Entrepreneur Inc.

*(Chris is a real entrepreneur I know and have worked with - but the script is my own based on what I know about his businesses) 

Bassem: Chris - today I wanted to talk with you about lessons you’ve learned in 20 plus years being a serial entrepreneur that can help out those entrepreneurs who’ve only begun their journey recently. Specifically how do you get paid what you’re worth while keeping your costs down.

Chris: If I had to use one word, I would say resourcefulness.

Bassem: Resourcefulness?

Chris: Yes, sometimes a cup of coffee and some curiosity can go a long way. When I was just starting out and had the chance to get into the restaurant business in Vancouver, I didn’t know much about it, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. So I went to my local library, and asked the librarian if I could buy her a coffee and see if she could provide me with some of the answers I was looking for or point me in the right direction. I credit a simple strategy like that for getting me up to speed quickly and helping answer those questions around price and costs as well!

Bassem: Yes, you’ve mentioned that story to me before, and that concept rings true with most fellow entrepreneurs I speak with - be curious and willing to ask for help. Gathering that type of information can really help in knowing about the market, what your competition is doing, the cost of your supply chain, how to position your company and what you charge. 

That brings to mind your Mobile Mechanic business you started, what was it, 10 or 11 years ago?

Chris: Close, we just marked our 12th anniversary in June.

Bassem: Wow, great milestone! I know you’ve come a long way since those early days of one pioneering van with equipment and supplies, and Ottawa city regulations that didn’t know what to do with you. (Laughs)

Chris: (Laughs) Yes, that’s a great practical example for our opening question. Because it was a new category almost that we were creating, and convenience was the major selling point, we determined that setting a price slightly above average of regular mechanic shops would likely work best for us. We were also able to have much lower costs as a startup with a mobile vehicle and supplies, versus a full garage paying monthly rent, and heavy equipment expenditures. 

Bassem: I think that’s a classic definition of entrepreneurial resourcefulness!

Chris: Yes, that has paid off over the years as we grew to have several mobile vans, and a fixed mechanic shop as well.

So, Bassem, what about your experience in the five years since you started Grassroots Multimedia?

Bassem: Good question! Well, I think your Mobile Mechanic example was especially helpful to our listeners in terms of how lowering costs compared to the competition can offer you a competitive advantage. I’d like to talk a bit more about the question of pricing, and what I learned from both doing my homework and trial and error. In my space, reputation building, joint ventures, and the right type of exposure are all things that can help you charge a price that you can feel reflects your worth and offers a great value to your clients or customers, because you’ve done the heavy lifting to be in that position.

How I would put this episode together: 

For most episode formats the steps would include doing a pre-interview, writing a backgrounder, and writing a set of questions for each guest. Then I would need to run a sheet of the program, and figure out where each segment is, musical segues, and ads if any. Furthermore:

• Develop the theme for the episode, making sure that it is aligned with the podcast’s mission of ‘A show that diagnoses what’s ailing your business and prescribes solutions that work’
• I would have a conversation with my co-host Chris about the show theme and get his feedback and ideas on this episode’s direction and input on how he’d like me to script out an outline.
• Once I’ve scripted out an outline, I would share that with Chris and ask him to prepare anecdote and story options that fit with the different segments that he may draw on during the taping of the podcast.
• I would examine the script to see if it passed ‘the so what factor’ that we’ve mapped out for our audience persona. Does this show speak to them or would they say ‘so what’? If it’s still not where it needs to be, I would adjust.