My Guest Experts are teaching me already!

June 23, 2008 by Ryan

Today was an interesting day. I was scheduled to conduct my very first phone interview that would become a Prosperity Radio podcast. But I didn’t get my “release form” to the guest until the last minute. Once they read the release form, they felt very uncomfortable proceeding with the interview because of the legalese, so it didn’t happen. I was very surprised, as this is not what I had expected as an outcome. In hindsight, I should have read it more closely and tried to see it from my guest’s perspective.

Instead, what happened was that I had to go back and really think through the core values of Prosperity Radio, to come up with a value proposition that would work for the listeners/subscribers, the guests, and myself. Although I was upset at first that the interview didn’t happen, I reminded myself that all things happen for a reason, and that I needed to set aside my agenda for a moment and check in with myself to see where my motives were.

This guest is a person of very high integrity, and if they were uncomfortable proceeding, then there must be very good reason, and I was blind to it until they pointed it out. We actually ended up saying a short prayer, and then I meditated on it for a bit, and moved forward. I had to remind myself that if the business didn’t create a win/win/win situation, then I didn’t want to be in the business.

So, 1 step back, 2 steps forward! I will draft and send a new release form, vastly different from the original, and hopefully they will agree to appear on the “show” in the near future. This version of the release form is much more about values, creating value, and focusing on what is in it for them (the guests) instead of being about me and my desire to have complete freedom to market and resell podcasts as I see fit. I think my listeners will be the real winners in this new arrangement. Stay tuned!

-ryan

P.S: Today I sold my first book! Even though the book wont be finished and printed until August, I decided to offer site visitors a way to purchase the book through Paypal, and a kind soul took me up on my offer! Hmmm… now I just have to write a real book! Darnit!