The Engineering Entrepreneur: Exploring the Business of Product Design, with Scott Tarcy

What's it like to run a top 3% engineering podcast?

Join us as we explore the podcasting journey of Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com and host of The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast. Scott shares why and how he started his podcast, the challenges he's faced, and what's on the horizon. In this episode, you'll learn:

• Scott’s journey of starting a podcast to fill a gap in content for technical entrepreneurs.
• How to efficiently manage a podcast workload with a part-time commitment.
• The unexpected challenges and opportunities in attracting podcast sponsorships.
• Effective strategies for handling guest booking and maintaining high-quality audio.
• The impact of integrating podcasting into your business for SEO and marketing success.

Connect with Scott on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-tarcy-a52b138/
Visit Scott's website: https://caddesignhelp.com/

This episode was produced by Red Cedar Marketing. Need help launching and running a business podcast that actually produces results? Visit www.redcedarmarketing.com.

Transcript

0:05

Hello, business podcasters and welcome to another episode of podcasting and professional services. I am John Tyerman. And today I have Scott Tarsi of the engineering entrepreneur as my guest. And he was calling in from his car as he was driving from his office. So we don't have video from Scott, but we do have some great audio. He shares his perspective running his show, which he launched in 2016. He's got over 150 episodes, episodes published. It's a very niche show. And so I think he had some really great perspective and some really colorful perspective on what it's like to run a podcast in the engineering industry. So I'm really happy how that conversation turned out. But before we get into my conversation with Scott, imagine you're able to build more trust with your buyers and generate more content and accelerate your network. Well, that's the power of a business podcast. And if you're looking to start a podcast for your business. I'm offering a complimentary consultation for professional services, firms in the accounting, financial services, architecture, engineering, consulting, construction industries. So if that fits your mold, if you're looking to launch a podcast, check out redcedarmarketing. com connect with me on LinkedIn to learn more. All right. And uh, now for my conversation. With Scott Tarsi.

John Tyreman: 1:34

All right, today I'm joined by Scott Tarsi, freelance engineer and president of caddesignhelp. com, where he helps inventors and entrepreneurs launch their ideas by creating CAD files and prototypes. Scott is also the host of the engineering entrepreneur podcast, where he interviews engineers, designers, and inventors who have created businesses around their inventions and products. Welcome to the show, Scott.

Scott Tarcy: 2:00

Uh,

John Tyreman: 2:01

I'd love to talk about your podcast, the engine, the engineering entrepreneur. And in the show description, it says you were trying to find. In the early days, you were trying to find a podcast about engineering and the technical side of entrepreneurship, but you couldn't find one. So you decided to launch the engineering entrepreneur circa 2016. Can you go back and kind of walk me through that decision to launch your podcast? What were some of your goals when you did that?

Scott Tarcy: 2:32

sure. Yeah. Well, there wasn't, I have found very few people, even after all this time, I haven't found very many people like me who went to school for engineering, but started their own business. Like almost every single person just got a corporate job, which is what I did. And so, you know, when I wanted to find other people and I couldn't, and I couldn't, then I started the podcast and it started around that, I mean, I've expanded some topics because, you know, you just, sometimes you run out of People in one very, very small niche, but it's still like related to entrepreneurship on the technical side. You know, that's, that's basically the goal of the podcast. And I started it, you know, cause I couldn't find one. And also I think it just, it's one of those things where it's like, you know, you want to get your name, like you, whatever niche you're in, you want to be an expert in it. You want credibility. That's one way to do it is to have your own show. And so, you know, doing it for eight years now, You know, I think I've achieved that.

John Tyreman: 3:28

Yeah, I'd love that. You know, one of the big Objections that I get from entrepreneurs who want to start a podcast is they just don't have enough time. It looks like you publish an episode about once a month. Sometimes it's a little bit more frequently. Sometimes it's a little bit less frequent frequently.

Scott Tarcy: 3:47

That's about right. Yeah, that's about

John Tyreman: 3:48

Yeah. So how have you found that like publishing cadence to work with, with your schedule

Scott Tarcy: 3:54

I mean, it's not that hard. Like, it's like anything else. The very beginning, yeah, it's really slow. Like, there's so much to figure out. But like, once you get your show set up, and it's doing it I mean, think about it. The episode recording process is 30 minutes to an hour. Like, that's how long it is, right? Like, editing, pretty easy. I don't really go back and change anything. I'm just gonna cut off the very beginning and the ending stuff. Just make it coherent. And then you just add like some intro music. It's you just, I just do everything in Camtasia. And then I got a virtual assistant that I'll, that I trained and he'll just do the upload. I'll give him all the audio and I'll, I'll create the audio clip myself and the text, and then he'll upload it. So. It's not that it's really not that hard. I mean, if you can, I mean, I don't think anybody could find an hour a week to do this or a couple hours a month

John Tyreman: 4:43

a couple hours a month? That's, that's truly all it is. And you know, there, there are some, you know, obviously the more frequently you publish, the more time you need to put in per.

Scott Tarcy: 4:52

for sure. For sure. Yeah.

John Tyreman: 4:53

And so that's, that's where I, I, I like that you've settled into a monthly cadence and, you know, have kind of looked at it as like a long term Experiment. Like you said, you've been doing it for eight years, over eight years now. So that's really cool.

Scott Tarcy: 5:09

I mean, I like to be on like a normal schedule, but it's not the number one priority of my business. It's maybe number three or four. So making it happen once a month is not a problem, but committing to like every week I think would be. Challenge like I think it's, it's a, it's a goal like the target. Like, and I don't think it ever hurts you. Like, let's say your target is to go once a month and you find time to do two. It's never going to hurt you to do more. I just think, I just think at some point, if you only posting twice a year, that might not be enough. And again, it comes down to what your goals are. Like I would love to monetize it. I have in the past with sponsors. I don't know. It seems like lately it's been challenging. The sponsors I've had almost all reached out to me now. I've been trying to reach out to other people and I had not gotten any answers. So I'm not sure where to go from, from there, but I'm still going to do the show regardless. It still helps my SEO. It still makes sense to do it. You know, but, but being that I'm a top 3 percent podcast, it's kind of, it's a little frustrating and confusing to me that. I'm not having sponsors reach out. Like I would love to know why, honestly. So I'm like, I can't answer that question. I'm all ears.

John Tyreman: 6:15

Well, so you mentioned that it, that it impacts your SEO. You mentioned that it's a top three priority for your business. So, obviously the, the show has had an impact on marketing for your business. Can you expand upon that? How has the podcast impacted your SEO?

Scott Tarcy: 6:33

Well, I have people reach out to me that came to me because of it. So, I mean, that's, that's how it affects it.

John Tyreman: 6:39

Gotcha. Okay.

Scott Tarcy: 6:40

The otherwise, otherwise, how would I know? I mean, I don't think there's a way to know other than that,

John Tyreman: 6:46

Yeah. Yeah. Discovering a podcast is interesting. I was doing some research on this and word of mouth is, is, is like the number one way that podcast listeners find a new show. So it's like they hear a reference from a friend or a peer or a colleague. If we're talking about business podcasts the next few. Like top discoverability channels are search, like you mentioned, but it's really like search has become like people are starting to search on Spotify. They're starting to use the search bar on Spotify on Apple to find shows YouTube is becoming a major player in the search world owned by Google. But now that podcasts have become kind of have risen in popularity, and now that there's more video shows out there. YouTube has become a major factor in search. In, in what other ways outside of search engine optimization, would you say that the podcast has impacted your business

Scott Tarcy: 7:39

on that topics about YouTube. Yeah, I am posting there now, but. Making it into a video, like I just usually use a couple, I just like to record audio. Like I do a lot of this in my car while I'm driving. That's when I have time to do it. So I just call people, you know what I mean? Just, it's just more efficient. Like I can't do anything else. Let me get this out of the way. Then I get home. I have other stuff I got to do. So if I got home and then I had to sit there and do it, then I don't have enough time. Right. So I'm not trying to do a video. I mean, what does it matter if you're looking at my face while I'm driving a car or not? Like it doesn't really make sense, but I'll put like on YouTube, you have to have some type of image. So I just use my logo and like. The guest picture typically but the file is huge I mean, I have enough space on my computer, but it's crazy how big that is How long it takes to upload and do everything like this exporting it from cantasia takes like so long I I try to do it like overnight or something because it takes like hours of processing to do this I'm, like, I don't understand why this is so large. But it does seem important to have it on youtube It just seems like it's it's It really makes you grow a lot faster.

John Tyreman: 8:40

the YouTube, the organic reach on YouTube right now is, is pretty incredible, especially with their shorts features, I manage a few different shows on YouTube and those like, like the vertical video shorts that you can derive from podcast content that generates sometimes upwards of like 3000 video views on YouTube. And it drives, you know, it, it, it,

Scott Tarcy: 9:04

How have you found that conversion? So I have a couple of YouTubes. Like I also do some golf stuff. And so like I have a golf YouTube and I have my, my podcast one too for engineering. And I've done some shorts. My previous virtual assistant, she was great. I wish she hadn't quit because she was taking my long form and she was figuring out how to cut it. And it's like, I'm sure I can figure it out too, but I'd never done it where you just cut a little snippet and you make it into a short. But how is that like for you converting to the people actually listening to the show because I'm not sure how much like are you getting subscribers or are you actually getting subscribers YouTube and your podcast on like on a podcast app from the shorts or are they just watching a 15 second clip and then moving on because I think that's what people are

John Tyreman: 9:48

Yeah. So I think if you, to answer that question, I kind of have to step back and look at kind of the broader consumption trends of YouTube. And what I'm noticing is folks are using YouTube as a primary way to listen to podcasts. Sure, there's a video component to it, but most people who use YouTube that I've talked to queue up their favorite podcasts on their mobile device on YouTube and they'll plug it into their car and they'll listen while they're driving. Yeah. You know, I don't, I don't think they're watching their screens while they're driving. I certainly hope not. Most podcast consumption in my, across the, my portfolio is about 80 percent is on a mobile device. And so that,

Scott Tarcy: 10:30

Right,

John Tyreman: 10:31

yeah. And so in, in terms of conversion percentage though I, I run a show called the ground transportation podcast, and I would say that about 15 percent of the subscribers come from those video shorts. So if that gives you any indicator,

Scott Tarcy: 10:46

So it's very, so it's very low percentage coming

John Tyreman: 10:49

it might be a low percentage, but I would say that, that it, it's a it's a new kind of discovery channel. Like we mentioned, like I mentioned earlier, like word of mouth and, and kind of referrals are the biggest one in search,

Scott Tarcy: 11:01

Well, you know, I agree. Like, I think everybody listens to podcasts using their phone. Like, why would I get out my laptop and have to do that? But I don't, like, I don't know why they're watching on, they're, they're listening to it on YouTube. Because on my phone, I have an, I have a Apple iPhone 13, but if I, If I listen on YouTube, I have to leave that app open. If I, if I minimize that to get it out of the way to like use Google maps or something, it turns off. So I hate that. I can't, like, there's no way to keep playing it in the background.

John Tyreman: 11:33

unless you have YouTube

Scott Tarcy: 11:34

how YouTube, Oh, so that's why they do it on purpose. You have to buy it, upgrade. Yeah, well, I'm not going to do that. I'm just going to use the free Apple podcast player. Like who's going to go pay for something that they can get for free. It doesn't make any sense. That's why, that's why I don't, I don't even use Spotify. I mean, I could use Spotify, it's probably the same, but the Apple podcast app is built into my phone. It's already there. So it's like, I've just always used that one. Like, there's never been a show I wanted to listen to.

John Tyreman: 12:00

there. They've been a lead. Apple has been a leader in podcasts. I mean, they were, they put that podcast app on their iOS platform. I think it was like Oh six or Oh seven,

Scott Tarcy: 12:10

Right. Long time ago. Right. Yeah.

John Tyreman: 12:12

A long time ago. So they have been very forward

Scott Tarcy: 12:15

still, that's still probably the top one. I'm assuming other than people that don't have iPhones, like that's probably the top app to use.

John Tyreman: 12:21

Yeah, I will. I would, I would say that the, if you, if you were to look at the stats of your podcast, I mean, the, the apps that folks use is likely a product of where you've been directing traffic to. So, you know, if you're promoting your podcast on any specific platform, you know, that'll probably be the big dog in terms of the, the, the share of

Scott Tarcy: 12:43

Oh, you mean doing paid ads

John Tyreman: 12:45

sure. If you're doing paid ads or if you like, if you're posting on LinkedIn or Twitter or Facebook or wherever, and you post a link,

Scott Tarcy: 12:52

Oh, whatever link you, okay. Right. I always use the iTunes link just cause that's where I started, but I, I use Libsyn as my host and I publish to all the different, whatever, like the full list of whatever they have, because why wouldn't I like, you know what I mean? It's just logical to. Well,

John Tyreman: 13:08

totally. Totally a hundred percent. And then again, you know, SEO and searching on platforms is a big form of discoverability. So folks are going to find you on different platforms than just the one that you promote. Well, Scott, I want to shift gears a little bit and you run an interview based show and managing guests can be kind of a challenge sometimes. Sometimes there's technical challenges, audio quality, building rapport with, with guests from your perspective, what's What are some of those, can you like elaborate on some of those challenges? Like what challenges have you faced with guests on your show and how have you kind of overcome those?

Scott Tarcy: 13:45

maybe not the answer you want, but I don't feel like I've had a lot of those. I mean, yeah, there's been a few times where the connection's bad and we'll just reschedule. But like, we're talking about 155 episodes, we're talking like three times that's happened. Like 95 percent of the time, everything's good. And as far as like rapport with guests, I mean, No one's been like a jerk or anything. I mean, everyone's been fine. I think sometimes, you know, depending on the subject, we kind of just run out of material, but I don't run a very long show. It's not like I'm trying to talk to somebody for two hours. So, you

John Tyreman: 14:16

don't follow the Joe Rogan format?

Scott Tarcy: 14:20

I mean, no one probably listens to two hours of that anyways, unless it's like on and like truly listening. You know what I mean? Like, it's just like background noise. Like a lot of times I'm at home working. I put something on TV or the radio. It's just to have something over silence. I just don't like working in silence. Like I'm really not paying attention to what's going on now. Imagine that's, what's going on with his show. Like, I don't know why he's doing two hours if he wants to, I guess, but, or maybe he makes more money on, on views or something, or there's some kind of something in the algorithm that motivates them to make two hour shows. Because to me, That doesn't make a lot of sense to go for that long

John Tyreman: 14:53

Yeah, he definitely goes really, really deep into the topics that he talks about. And you know, it's I'm with you, Scott. I'm, I prefer podcasts that are shorter. I don't prefer the really long form podcasts. But hey, you know what? To each their own. There's a bunch of different kinds of podcast listeners out there.

Scott Tarcy: 15:11

I mean, there's definitely been some shows i've listened to like I was like, okay I really really want to know about this subject right and I will like intensely listen to Every minute of it right? It's usually like on a very long drive somewhere And it's kind of nice because if i'm that focused it feels like the drive is not even that long because i'm Listening so carefully, but like that's rare right most of the time If it's a show over 30 minutes, I don't, I just stop after 30 minutes. I don't care anymore. Like I'm moving on to something else. So I don't know, you know, I think that's kind of one of those things. It'd be like, if you have a really long interview like that, the number of people who are making it to the end is going to be very

John Tyreman: 15:46

Yeah. Yeah. Fair point. Fair point.

Scott Tarcy: 15:49

just like YouTube videos. Like there's plenty of like long form YouTube videos where if it's an hour, like the number of people making it to the end, unless they're just scrolling to the end, just to see how it ends. It's got to be really low.

John Tyreman: 16:02

Yeah. Yep. I've seen it. I've seen some, some of the podcast episodes that I produce that have like the average around like a 75 percent consumption rate in that. And I would say that they average about 45 minutes an episode.

Scott Tarcy: 16:16

do you, how do you find that out? Because I don't find anywhere in my stats that shows me, it just shows me like downloads and like some demographics of where they're from, but it doesn't, it doesn't give you any information on like how long they played it for.

John Tyreman: 16:28

For me, when I, to find those numbers, I go to the specific platforms. So like, podcast or creators. spotify. com and then for Spotify and then Apple podcast connect is for the Apple

Scott Tarcy: 16:43

Oh, okay. So there's additional apps. Okay. I didn't know about those. I, I always just look at Libsyn

John Tyreman: 16:48

that's more of like a high level, general analytics.

Scott Tarcy: 16:52

Okay. Interesting. I don't, I always wondered how this data all gets. Like, how does it get accumulated and, and how are they figuring it all out and who has it? I guess it's like, you just need, it'd be nice if there was one app that had everything, right? Like, this is all like very scattered to get all this information. Like you have to go use a lot of different stuff.

John Tyreman: 17:10

the Libsyn and Buzzsprout, those kinds of hosting platforms, they aggregate the data from the individual channels. So they'll aggregate data from Podbean and Spotify and Apple. And then they'll like tally up all like the like metrics. And they're all slightly different per platform. So if you really want to get a good read you'd have to dig into like the, each of the channels specifically. So yeah, it's, it's a worthwhile exercise, especially like at the end of the year, or, you know, when you have a break, if you're like a really, if you have like a downtime in like a seasonal business, that's a good time to take a look at those kinds of analytics.

Scott Tarcy: 17:47

So how do you use those analytics, I guess, to improve your shows, to, to get ranked higher, et cetera?

John Tyreman: 17:54

yeah, I, I think the consumption rate example is, is a good one because what that tells you is, you know, is the topic are the topics that we're publishing resonating with our audience? Right. And so if you have episodes that have like a 75, 80 percent consumption rate, then that tells you folks are listening through most of

Scott Tarcy: 18:15

Oh, I see. Okay. Okay. So yeah, so you might have different types of guests or, or shows. And then, you know, if you see a certain trend, okay, I'm going to focus on this because this seems to be what people want to listen to more because they're listening longer or more people are listening. Okay. That actually makes, that makes a lot of

John Tyreman: 18:33

and on the flip side, you might find that there's like one, like, for example, I run a show called breaking biz dev and there was, we did like a one year recap of the show and like, we were like, okay, here are the top episodes and here, you know, we'll want to give listener thank yous and everything that only had like a 30% Listen rate while we're averaging like 75. So it's like, okay, folks like what we have to say, but they don't really care about how the sausage is made.

Scott Tarcy: 18:56

Oh, interesting. Cause like, I always thought I would always think that these kind of lists like, Hey, here's the top five, whatever. There's the top. 10 places to go eat, like whatever it is. Like those are the ones that people want to listen to because they're like, Oh, this, this is like a summary, but with your audience, they must've already listened and they don't want to hear a rehash and the same thing. Like they want new stuff.

John Tyreman: 19:17

And that's, what's so cool about podcasts is like on demand niche radio. So like the topics you talk about you know, there's so many different niche topics and the people that actually tune into your, your podcasts, they tune in because you're talking about such niche topics.

Scott Tarcy: 19:33

Right. And that's why it should be, if I'm ranking my podcast ranking as high as it is, it shouldn't be hard to find sponsors who are really in that specific niche because yes, while it may not be the largest audience, it is a very targeted audience. It's like, these are the people. Who are going to use your thing because they're interested in what I'm talking about. We're all in the same industry. Like perfect example, you know, I'm doing prototyping, 3d printing design, like a company like Xeometry that does prototypics, prototype parts has been a sponsor in the past. I think it was them or a similar. Similar competitors to them because the people that are listening to the show are the inventors and the manufacturers, the engineers who are used, like they're going to use that company when they have a design that part they need made. And so it's like, why wouldn't you sponsor the show? Because now you're going to get your name out there in front of these people who are the exact people you need to get in front of. And it's cheaper than Google ads for sure. And it's more targeted.

John Tyreman: 20:32

And so have you reached out to, to them or their competitors since?

Scott Tarcy: 20:38

Yeah, I have. It's just, I, you know, maybe I don't have the right email address Maybe I need to make phone calls instead. I'm not sure, but I have exactly. That's who I, I put my virtual assistant in charge. A lot of this stuff, again, like I'm one person, right? I can't do everything on my own. I think it's an important part of it as an entrepreneur. That's something that I hear all the time. It's something from my own experience that you've got to delegate. You got to find, you got to make, get a team or you got to get people that can help you. And he's done a good job and he's reached out to the right companies. It's just, we're not hearing back. And I don't, I don't know. I mean, I know it's a numbers game, but. I mean, we sent out a good number of emails and have heard nothing. So it's been a little

John Tyreman: 21:14

Yeah, it can be a numbers game. It can be also a relationships game too. So one, one way to maybe think about it is if there's like industry trade shows that you go to, or maybe industry trade shows where you want to set up a booth other folks at those trade shows or other folks that are setting up booths, you know, that are like trying to sell to that same audience. Those might be likely good partners to kind of cozy up to, or build relationships with, and, you know, eventually pitch a sponsorship.

Scott Tarcy: 21:45

True. I did go to a trade show but I was more trying to sell my services than sell podcast sponsorships. Although I should have thought about that when I was there. I didn't get a booth. I mean, those are very

John Tyreman: 21:56

they can

Scott Tarcy: 21:56

tens of thousands of dollars. It's too much. I mean, I don't think I'd ever get the ROI back on that. But yeah, going there and like talking to people. Yeah. That's, that's not a bad idea. It's not one of those things that's easy. It's like, if it's not in your hometown, then again, it's going to be extremely expensive to to go, to go to one. That's always a challenge to me. It's like, it's like, I understand you need to invest in your business, but you've got to be really careful how you do it. Otherwise you can just waste a lot of money and just put yourself in a hole.

John Tyreman: 22:23

true. That is so true. Well, Scott, I want to get back to, I want to get back to your podcast. And you know, you mentioned that you didn't have a whole lot of technical challenges with your guests, which is, which is just amazing. I love that. I've heard some horror stories with technical challenges and just being really frustrated. So,

Scott Tarcy: 22:40

Yeah, I mean, I have, I mean, I've done dumb stuff. Like I forgot that the record button on zoom, I mean, zoom seems to work really good for me. Like. You know, it, it just seems to always be reliable. So that's kind of what I've used for a while. I can't remember. I use something else before I've tried a couple different things and that one's just, you know, once I find something that works consistently, like why would I switch? Like I just keep using it.

John Tyreman: 23:02

Well, for the one, for the guests that you do have on your show I'm curious, do they seek you out or do you seek them out? Has that,

Scott Tarcy: 23:12

Yeah, at this point at the beginning. Yeah, of course I had no one really knew me. Here's what's interesting, right? I get probably a hundred requests a week to be on my show. Like it's crazy number of people reaching out to me on it. It's too much. Like I don't even respond all the time anymore. Like I'm overwhelmed. I've got a good back. I've got a good queue of like podcasts that I've already recorded. I've got other ones set up. Like it's, it's like out of control. Right. I don't understand why that side of it is like it, but the podcast that the sponsorship side isn't. I'm like. Obviously people are finding it. They want to come on. I'm fine with it. And I mean, as long as you're somewhat relevant to my topic, I mean, you're an expert in industry culture. Come on the show. I'm not going to, I don't really say no to a lot of people. I don't think there's a reason to, even if it's not exactly what I'm doing, like it's still relevant, you know? And so it's, but at the same time, like why, why are sponsors not reaching out? Like, it's just people that want to come on the show. So I don't know. It's a, it's a weird thing, but it's like, yeah, I have zero issues finding guests. Like I. Just an unlimited number of people who are reaching out to me about it.

John Tyreman: 24:18

So would you, would you say that like the folks that are reaching out to you, does that put you in a position where you're, you can be more selective with the guests that come on your show?

Scott Tarcy: 24:27

Yeah, I mean, I am a little bit selective. Maybe I'm too much of a nice guy that I say yes too often, but I don't know. Like I had a a guest recently that hasn't, it hasn't posted yet, but she did something with meditation, but I was like, well, this could be relevant. I mean, entrepreneurs, they need to be able to focus. Meditation can help you, or I didn't know much about the topic. So. That was kind of on the edge maybe of what would be relevant. But I think after talking with her, it did seem relevant. I'm like, okay, people get super distracted with their devices and all this stuff. How can meditation you keep you focused? How can you use that practice? So you can walk in and not get distracted and get more done. And it was actually pretty

John Tyreman: 25:07

Especially engineers too, you know, whose minds are always working about, you know, how does this work? Right.

Scott Tarcy: 25:14

for sure.

John Tyreman: 25:15

So to calm that, calm that down, I can see how that can be really beneficial to, you know, someone who does have an engineering mind, but they also have a business that they're trying to grow. That's, that's really great. So your, your show, Scott has some, also some really great ratings and reviews. I'm curious. Did you proactively reach out to folks to try to solicit ratings or reviews, or what are some of the ways that you've been able to generate those ratings and reviews?

Scott Tarcy: 25:44

Yeah, I, I have reached out the past guests. And I mean, obviously the guests would love to leave a review. So that always helps. I asked people every time on my show to do it. I haven't checked in a while if I've got any new ones, but at the beginning, I was like, just asking everybody. I knew it was just like, Hey, can you just do me a favor? And I would send them the link. You know, they would leave me because I know that's important at the very beginning to push you up the charts over time I don't think that matters as much especially like imagine if you have a hundred reviews and they're good or you know, like like Comments there. It's like it's 105 gonna matters 110 gonna matters 200 like, you know I mean you reach a certain point where it's like each additional one is so marginal It of course doesn't hurt But it's not like it was at the beginning when you have like one if you have one review and then you have 10 Well, that's it Percentage wise much different, right? You know, obviously that's the equivalent from going from a hundred to a thousand and that's a way bigger number to keep adding in. It'd take a lot longer to get there. So I think you get up to a good number and then you're kind of like, you're kind of set for a while.

John Tyreman: 26:48

I really liked that perspective, especially relatively in terms of like the percentage growth of reviews and ratings at the beginning, you should over index on them because. Each one is worth more. That's, that's a, that's a really great that's really great. So if thinking about how you've run the podcast in the past and, you know, the monthly cadence, maybe a little bit more each month what's next for the engineering entrepreneur? Do you have visions for how you want to change the show going forward?

Scott Tarcy: 27:19

I mean, I haven't really thought about it. I mean, do you think I would be good for me to change it? I, I, I've never had any complaints of like the way I do it. I don't know how. I mean, I guess I could do, I could do like a monologue show. I did it like once or twice. But really like I, I'm, I'm running the show so I can learn stuff too. Like if I just talk about things I'm doing, I, I'm not going to learn anything. I mean, I'm, I'm just telling other people what's going on. So I don't, I don't know how interesting that is for me. Maybe the, maybe the, maybe the audience would like that. I'm not really sure.

John Tyreman: 27:51

Yeah. Well, I mean, it sounds like sponsorships are something that is. a challenge for you. And maybe that's something a goal of yours this year is to attract a sponsor or to, you know, find a sponsorship opportunity.

Scott Tarcy: 28:05

I would love to, I just, I don't know what I need to do to make that happen.

John Tyreman: 28:08

well, maybe we can talk about some proactive ways that we can, we can attract sponsors for your show. So, Scott, I I like to close out. conversations with one last question. If an aspiring engineering entrepreneur said to you that they wanted to launch their own podcast, what's the biggest piece of advice that you would give to them?

Scott Tarcy: 28:30

I think you just, you just can't give up too early. I mean, that's how all of these shows like, it's like they call it the podcast graveyard. I've heard that term. It's like the number of shows that people do like one, two, maybe three episodes. And they're like, they just stop. And it's one of those things where you just have to just keep, cause like, if you just make it to 10, you are now like in the top, like 10 percent all time. Like, it's crazy how, like, if you just make it to like, it's not even that big of a number. It's like, it's like kind of like going to the gym, like someone will like say, new year's resolution. I'm going to go. And they go like three times and they quit. It's like, if you just get over that hurdle, it's like, you just got to get over that first hill. And then you're like so far ahead. And so I mean obviously you have to if you really hate doing something I I don't think you should do it But if you start it and you sort of enjoy it at least and you have the time to do it then Then do it. I mean I decided I wanted to do it and I didn't hate doing it I would say I love doing it, but I don't hate doing it and You know, I mean look where i'm at like top whatever top three percent, you know eight years later

John Tyreman: 29:37

amazing. That's amazing. And you stuck with it for, for this long. And I think that's a testament to, you know, what it takes to build a top 3 percent podcast in in the business genre. Well, Scott, this has been a great conversation. Folks that are listening to this, go check out his show, the engineering entrepreneur, wherever you get your podcast, leave him a rating and review on Apple podcasts. Scott, if folks that are listening to this right now, and they want to connect with you, where should they go?

Scott Tarcy: 30:05

Go check out my website caddesignhelp.

John Tyreman: 30:07

caddesignhelp. com.

Scott Tarcy: 30:09

Yeah, I've got my I got my podcast links in there. I had the podcast Posted on there in the podcast tab. So you can listen, even listen right there. I wonder how many people do that. I guess there's no way to check that, those statistics, but yeah, that's all my business stuff. I got the podcast up there. I got a blog up there. I do do social media as well, but it's pretty much the same thing that you'll see there. Like anytime I post a show or a blog update, I'm just, I'm basically rehashing what I got there. That that's going to have the full detail.

John Tyreman: 30:37

Excellent. All right. We'll check out Scott's podcast, the engineering entrepreneur at caddesignhelp. com links are in the show notes, Scott. Thank you so much for being on the show.

Scott Tarcy: 30:48

All right. Thank you.

30:48

All right. Thank you so much for listening to my conversation with Scott Tarsi, host of the engineering entrepreneur. If you found this podcast episode insightful, please leave a rating and a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps grow the show and subscribe to the YouTube channel. We've got a YouTube channel and uh, that's it. Happy podcasting.