Podcast Answer Man

This episode of Podcast Answer Man is sponsored by Interview Valet. My guest is Tom Schwab, founder of Interview Valet and someone I’ve known for well over a decade. Tom and I originally planned to talk about why podcast guesting still works in an algorithm-driven world. But in the conversations leading up to this recording, we found ourselves drawn toward a much bigger idea. Authentic Human Authority in an age of synthetic content. AI has made content easier and cheaper to create than at any point in history. We can generate articles, emails, videos, voices, scripts, and marketing messages at extraordinary scale. But as content becomes increasingly abundant, Tom believes something else is becoming increasingly scarce. Trust. In this conversation, we explore what happens when people begin questioning whether the person behind the content is even real, whether the ideas actually came from them, and whether the apparent expertise we’re seeing has been earned or manufactured. Tom describes long-form podcast conversations as a kind of “proof of life.” When you listen to someone think in real time, you hear the pauses, corrections, imperfections, stories, opinions, and experiences that are difficult to reproduce through polished synthetic content. That led us into a conversation about something I’ve personally experienced. There was a period when I became fascinated with using AI to help write scripts for my podcast episodes. The writing sounded polished, intelligent, and impressive. Then listeners started telling me something I didn’t expect. They missed me. They missed the imperfect Cliff who occasionally says the wrong word, gets the math wrong, corrects himself, wanders into an unexpected story, and thinks out loud behind the microphone. That experience changed the way I think about AI and content creation. Tom and I also talk about: Why content is becoming infinite while trust is becoming scarce. The difference between using AI as a tool and using it to manufacture false authority. AI-generated outreach that pretends someone personally listened to your podcast. Services that can make it appear that someone was interviewed on a major podcast when the interview never happened. Why doing something simply because it works does not necessarily mean you should do it. Why Tom rejects the idea that podcast marketing is simply a numbers game. Why better interviews can matter far more than doing more interviews. The concept of a “trust portfolio.” How founders, teams, and even solopreneurs can build trust across multiple platforms and mediums. How I’m using AI to rediscover stories and ideas from more than 5,000 episodes of my own podcast archive without asking AI to manufacture experiences I never had. Why people may increasingly distinguish between people they can actually hear thinking and everyone else. Why polished content can sometimes work against the very trust we are trying to create. Tom’s belief that relationships are the ultimate currency. The growing problem of automated podcast guest pitches and what Tom calls “guest pollution.” Why relationships between podcast hosts, guests, and listeners still matter even as the technology around us changes dramatically. Near the end of the conversation, I asked Tom to explain how Interview Valet approaches podcast interview marketing. Rather than simply booking clients on as many podcasts as possible, their focus is on finding the right audiences, preparing clients for meaningful conversations, helping them improve their interview skills, and getting more value from each appearance. Tom also shared the three questions Interview Valet asks before deciding whether someone is a good fit to work with: Do we know your audience? Have we worked with someone similar and produced strong results? Is this a message we are proud and excited to amplify? I appreciate that philosophy because it reflects something that came up repeatedly throughout our conversation. More is not necessarily better. In the AI world that we live in today, the thing that stands out most is simply another human being willing to show up, have a real conversation, express what they genuinely believe, and allow people to hear them think. Learn More About Tom Schwab and Interview Valet Tom created a page specifically for Podcast Answer Man listeners with additional resources, information about Interview Valet, and a way to connect with him at https://interviewvalet.com/cliff Thanks again to Interview Valet for sponsoring this conversation. And thank you, Tom, for being the first person willing to participate in this new sponsored-conversation model for Podcast Answer Man.

In this episode, I'm sharing some of the ways I'm currently using artificial intelligence in my content creation process. I've been watching several members of my Green Room Mastermind experiment with AI to automate much of their video production workflow. Seeing what they've been able to accomplish inspired me to explore what might be possible with audio. That led to an experiment where I took a 33-minute episode of The Cliff Ravenscraft Show and used AI to turn it into a 10-minute narrative documentary, complete with a synthetic narrator, music, sound effects, and excerpts from my original recording. I actually play the finished documentary for you in this episode so you can hear the results for yourself. I also share how I've been using AI to transcribe thousands of episodes from my podcast archives and turn stories from nearly 21 years of content creation into new written articles. Here are some of the things I cover: What Pat Flynn, Leslie Samuel, Michael Stelzner, Ray Edwards, and Mark Mason have been experimenting with when it comes to AI-assisted video production. How AI can handle editing tasks without relying on traditional video editing software. Why I'm still primarily focused on audio production, even after attending VidSummit. How I used OpenAI Codex to turn an existing podcast episode into a narrative documentary called The Evidence of a Mile. How I used AI to create my own Narrative Podcast Studio software for reviewing audio and requesting precise revisions. What I learned from the audience response to an earlier narrative experiment on Building a Life and Business Together. Why I'm reconsidering my need for some of the traditional audio editing software I've used for years. How I used AI to create transcripts for thousands of episodes from my podcast archives. How my automated Content Ideas workflow searches those archives for stories worth sharing and creates first drafts in my writing style. How that process led to my recent article about the advice Dan Miller gave me when I wanted to create a $10,000-per-month mastermind program. I'm having a lot of fun exploring these possibilities, and I'm excited about what they could mean for the future of content creation. Links and Resources Mentioned Building a Life and Business Together, Episode 065: Making Room for the Work and Life We Want This is the episode where Stephanie and I experimented with placing an AI-produced narrative at the beginning of our regular conversation. Click Here To Listen My Mentor Called My $10,000-a-Month Mastermind Plan a Terrible Idea This is the Substack article I mentioned near the end of the episode. The idea came from my automated Content Ideas process, which searches my podcast archives for stories that might be worth revisiting and sharing. Click Here To Read The Cliff Ravenscraft Show, Episode 833: Experience Creates Confidence: What a 1,000-Mile U-Haul Trip Taught Me This is the original 33-minute podcast episode that I used to create the narrative documentary featured in today's episode. Click Here To Listen Let's Connect I'd love to hear how you're using AI in your own content creation process. If you've been experimenting with something interesting, or if this episode sparks an idea for you, feel free to reach out. You can email me at [email protected]. I'm also a Master Business Strategy & Mindset Coach. I work with accomplished founders, business owners, creators, and leaders who have already built something significant and are navigating important decisions about what comes next. If you could benefit from having an experienced strategic thinking partner in your corner, I'd love to hear from you. Until next time, I encourage you to take everything you do to the next level!

The phrase “creator economy” gets used everywhere these days. But what does it actually mean to be a creator? Is a creator someone who earns money directly from YouTube views, sponsorships, Patreon supporters, advertising, or brand deals? What about the entrepreneur who creates content for an audience of only a few hundred or a few thousand people, but uses that content to build relationships that lead to clients, customers, products, services, speaking opportunities, or other forms of business? And what about the person who simply has something meaningful to say and feels compelled to put it into the world? In this episode of Podcast Answer Man, I’m joined by my longtime friend Matt Mundt for a wide-ranging conversation about what it means to create today. Matt has spent more than 20 years working in Christian radio, music, digital marketing, and content creation. More recently, he has been creating on his own behalf, experimenting with YouTube, building projects with his son, and helping cultivate a growing community of creators in the Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee area. We start by talking about how Matt defines the creator economy and why people choose the creator path in the first place. From there, the conversation opens up into a much bigger discussion. We talk about the difference between creating content that becomes the business itself and creating content that supports a business you already have. I share why some of the most financially successful creators I have known over the past 20 years never needed massive audiences. In some cases, a relatively small audience of exactly the right people can create an extraordinary business. Matt and I also explore what happens when someone starts creating simply because they love it, suddenly begins making significant money, and then has to figure out how to think like a business owner. We get into outsourcing, teams, managers, agencies, sponsorships, platform revenue, products, services, and the psychological transition from “I make things” to “I am running a business.” Matt also shares the story of his own YouTube experimentation and why changing formats helped him discover the kind of content that actually made him come alive. One of my favorite parts of our conversation is the story of Kid Intern, the YouTube project Matt is creating with his 11-year-old son. Together, they are exploring different careers while his son learns communication, storytelling, editing, working with adults, and what it means to create something for an audience. We also talk about something both Matt and I have experienced repeatedly over the years: The greatest value of a creator conference often isn't what happens on the stage. It is what happens in the conversations between the sessions. That leads us into two upcoming creator events. VidSummit Matt and I are both heading to VidSummit, an event focused heavily on YouTube, video creation, audience development, and the business of online video. If you're an audio-first podcaster who has no interest in video, Matt makes a good case that VidSummit probably isn't the first event you need to attend. But if you're already experimenting with video, or you're serious about understanding that world, there is a tremendous amount to learn there. GodMade Conference Matt is also one of the people behind the GodMade Conference in Franklin, Tennessee. GodMade grew out of a local community of Christian creators who began gathering regularly to share ideas, encourage one another, and help each other grow. The conference is designed for creators who want to develop their craft, connect with other creators, and think about their work through the lens of purpose and faith. Stephanie and I are planning to attend, and one of the things that interests me most is the relatively intimate size of the gathering. Even if every session isn't directly related to the type of content you currently create, being in a room with other thoughtful creators can open doors to ideas, relationships, and possibilities that you would never encounter sitting behind a microphone or a computer by yourself. Toward the end of our conversation, I ask Matt what encouragement he would give to the creator who has been doing the work but may be discouraged by the numbers. His answer is worth remembering. Stay curious. Keep developing your craft. Don't allow vanity metrics to determine the value of what you're creating. If 50 people are listening, imagine 50 actual human beings sitting in a room. If 1,000 people are listening, imagine standing in front of 1,000 people. We live in a time when an individual person can create something and reach another human being on the other side of the world without asking anyone for permission. That's an extraordinary opportunity. Ask yourself this question. What am I here to create, who is it for, and what could become possible if I keep showing up? Resources Mentioned VidSummit 2026 September 29 through October 1, 2026 in the Dallas, Texas area. https://vidsummit.com GodMade Conference 2026 A gathering for YouTubers, podcasters, video creators, musicians, creative entrepreneurs, and others who see their creative work as connected to a greater calling. October 22nd and 23rd in Franklin, Tennessee. https://godmadecreators.com

Podcasting can be a surprisingly lonely activity. You can spend hours sitting alone behind a microphone, creating something that reaches hundreds or thousands of people, while having very few people in your everyday life who actually understand what you do. I remember what that felt like during the early years of podcasting. Before there were large industry conferences, some of my favorite experiences were the smaller PodCamp events happening in cities around the country. You could drive a few hours, walk into a room filled with people who understood podcasting, and immediately feel like you had found your people. I miss that. In this episode, I talk with my friend Brad Miller about podcasting, community, and the value of bringing people together in smaller, more intimate environments. Brad has been podcasting since 2012, but his first show had a very personal purpose. His son was playing on a new high school lacrosse team, and Brad started a podcast where he interviewed the players and coaches. It gave him a way to become more involved in something that mattered to his son while building relationships throughout the team. That theme of connection has continued throughout Brad's podcasting journey. We talk about his background in radio and ministry, the different podcasts he has created over the years, how podcasting helped expand his relationships far beyond his existing circles, and why attending podcasting conferences became so important to him. Eventually, those experiences led Brad to create PodINDY, a one-day regional podcasting event in the Indianapolis area. Brad saw enormous value in major events such as Podcast Movement and Podfest, but he also saw room for something smaller, affordable, accessible, and intentionally relational. That led us into a conversation about something I believe is easy to overlook. Podcasters need community. There is something different about sitting across the table from another creator, sharing what you're working on, hearing what they're learning, and spending enough time together that real relationships can develop. Brad talks about the people who return to PodINDY year after year because they want to reconnect with the community that has formed there. We also talk about the sense of belonging that can happen much more naturally in a room of 25, 50, or 100 people than in an event with several thousand attendees. That conversation brought back a lot of memories for me from the early PodCamp days. I'll be speaking at PodINDY this year on Saturday, November 7, 2026. Stephanie will also be speaking, and Dave Jackson will be there as well. John Lee Dumas is contributing a video presentation. If you're within reasonable driving or flying distance of Indianapolis and you've never experienced a smaller podcast-focused event, this could be a great opportunity to experience one. Links Mentioned PodINDY - https://podindy.com Use promo code CLIFF for $5 off your PodINDY ticket. Brad Miller's Cancer and Comedy Podcast - https://cancerandcomedy.com Brad's Daily Bible Refresh Podcast. - https://voiceofgoddaily.com Contact Brad Miller - [email protected]

At the beginning of 2026, I committed to publishing a new episode of Podcast Answer Man every Friday morning at 12:01 a.m. I kept that commitment for months. Recently, I decided to let it go. In this episode, I want to take you deeper into the thinking behind that decision because this has become about much more than how frequently I publish a podcast. I've been asking myself a larger question. What forms of creation deserve my life energy now? Audio podcasting has been one of the most important creative mediums of my life. I've produced more than 5,000 podcast episodes across more than 55 shows over the past 20 years. I'm certainly not walking away from audio. But I no longer want an arbitrary weekly publishing schedule determining where several hours of my creative energy go every week. Going forward, my commitment to Podcast Answer Man is that there will be at least one new episode every calendar month. There may be many more when I'm inspired. I'm giving myself the freedom to create those episodes when there is something I genuinely want to communicate. One major reason for this change is that I've rediscovered my identity as a writer. Before podcasting entered my life in 2005, I had spent years writing online. I recently rebuilt an archive containing hundreds of my old blog posts, and going through that material reminded me how much I used to enjoy writing. For years, one of the biggest disadvantages of written content was simply the amount of time it required. A long-form article or newsletter could consume anywhere from two to eight hours of my time. AI has dramatically changed that equation for me. Today I can begin by talking through an idea, transcribe those thoughts, use ChatGPT to help me organize what I've said, explore relevant stories from my archives, develop an outline and then work with that material until the final writing genuinely sounds like me. A piece that once might have consumed most of a working day can now often be created in roughly the same amount of time I would spend producing a podcast episode. There is also a significant difference in potential reach. I have thousands of people on my email list, nearly a thousand subscribers to my LinkedIn newsletter, a much larger network across LinkedIn and Facebook, and I'm now intentionally building on Substack. Meanwhile, I have more than 5,000 podcast episodes in my archives, many containing evergreen ideas that thousands of people heard when those episodes were originally released, but tens of thousands of people in my current network have never encountered. I'm very interested in what happens when some of those ideas become written-first content. I also talk about something I'm experimenting with in this very episode. This single recording was created simultaneously as an episode of Podcast Answer Man, an episode of The Cliff Ravenscraft Show and a long-form YouTube video. I'm continuing to think about each medium differently. Audio should work as audio. Video should work as video. Written content deserves to be intentionally crafted as written content. My video strategy is still being figured out, which is one of the reasons I'm heading to VidSummit soon. Toward the end of the episode, I share a story involving my PLAUD Note Pro that illustrates another principle that has become central to the way I approach problems. When something happens that I don't prefer, I eventually ask myself, "What is my desired outcome?" Then I start looking for the available paths toward that outcome. In this particular case, that process somehow resulted in three brand new PLAUD Note Pro devices. Relevant Links Next Level Mastermind: Momentum: https://www.cliffravenscraft.com/momentum Substack: https://cliffravenscraft.substack.com LinkedIn Newsletter: The Entrepreneur’s Journey : https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-entrepreneur’s-journey-7275950143143604225 PLAUD Note Pro Affiliate Link: http://plaudus.sjv.io/en2jd6 Affiliate disclosure: If you purchase a PLAUD product through my affiliate link, I may receive a commission.