From Financial Advisor To Cash Flow Expert: How Podcasting Fueled A 90% Lead Engine with Chris Miles

Doubt creeps in around episode 20, when the mic feels heavy and the numbers feel small. That’s the moment Chris Miles would tell you to lean in. Our conversation traces how he went from disillusioned financial advisor to cash flow expert, retired twice, rebuilt after the recession, and then used a steady, values-driven podcast to power 90% of his business—without chasing vanity metrics.

We dig into the turning points: the kitchen-table talk that exposed the limits of “do everything right,” the real estate awakening that prioritized cash flow over hope, and the early radio reps that led to his first shows. Chris breaks down how Money Ripples found its voice, why naming his audience “ripplers” changed community engagement, and how one hallway encounter kept him from quitting. You’ll hear how consistent episodes became a living FAQ, how a single clear call to action unlocked inbound demand, and why borrowing audiences—like guesting on Entrepreneurs on Fire—can create spikes that actually convert.

If you’re a creator or entrepreneur wondering whether a niche show with modest downloads can move the needle, this is your proof. Chris explains how to launch with intent, build anticipation, and turn listeners into participants through masterclasses, private groups, and client-only events. Most of all, he makes the case for the long game: serve first, measure what matters, and let trust compound. The result isn’t just more leads; it’s a durable community of people who want freedom and impact—and who arrive ready to work with you.

Subscribe for more conversations on podcast strategy, community building, and business growth. If this resonated, share it with a friend and leave a quick review—it helps new listeners find the show and keeps these stories coming.

Chapters

• 0:00 Setting The Stage For Podcast Success
• 0:40 The Long Game And Early Drop-Offs
• 1:29 Meet Chris Miles And Money Ripples
• 3:36 Chris’s Unlikely Path To Finance
• 5:20 A Hard Truth About Retirement
• 7:12 Real Estate Awakening And Integrity Pivot
• 9:40 Early Retirement, Recession, And Resilience
• 11:46 Reframing Freedom And Money Myths
• 12:49 Why Podcasting Entered The Picture
• 15:15 From AM Radio To First Podcast
• 18:01 Almost Quitting And A Chance Encounter
• 20:00 When The Podcast Became The Best Funnel
• 22:02 Niche Over Numbers And Consistency
• 24:04 Building Identity And Community: Ripplers
• 26:04 Turning Listeners Into A Movement
• 28:01 Beyond The Show: Groups And Events
• 31:00 Masterminds, Less Ego, More Connection
• 33:22 The Compound Value Of A Podcast
• 35:02 Advice For New Podcasters

Transcript

Carl: 0:04

Welcome to Communication Connection Community, the Podcasters Podcast. This podcast takes a deep dive into modern-day communication strategies in the podcasting space. We chat with interesting people who make the podcasting and speaking spaces exciting and vibrant. We also dive into the podcasting community with news, updates, latest trends and topics from this ever-evolving space. Let's dive into today's episode. A number of people don't get into podcasting because they're not sure if they'll be able to make a go of it. Will it be successful? Will it not be successful? How long will it take to be successful? And to be quite honest, there's a number of people who will get to episode 10 or 15 and they'll quit. And that's really, really sad when you think about it because it's usually after that. As a matter of fact, I have a colleague who shared that it was somewhere around episode 50, was when things really started to gel and sizzle for him and his co-host back then. I think those numbers still stand, but you know what? It's a long game, not a short game. And also, there's a strategy or a structure to allow yourself to build the success or build your success rather by leveraging your podcast. So my guest today, I'll tell you something. He's a phenomenal individual. He has used his podcast to grow 90% of his business. Chris Miles, the cash flow expert and anti-financial advisor, is a leading authority teaching entrepreneurs and professionals how to get their money working for them today. He's an author, podcaster, host of the Money Ripples podcast. He's been featured in US News, CNN Money, Entrepreneurs on Fire, Bigger Pockets, and has a proven reputation with his company, Money Ripples, getting his clients fast financial results. In fact, his personal clients have increased their cash flow by $300 plus million dollars in the last 13 years. He's a podcaster, he loves podcasting. And we're going to dive right in and explore his journey into podcasting and how it's not only helped him be successful and it's helped him help his clients be successful. Chris, welcome to the podcast.

Chris: 2:28

It's a pleasure to be here, Carl. And even better, you got the same name and spelling as my middle name. Isn't that pretty cool? Isn't that phenomenal? None of this German K stuff.

Carl: 2:38

Oh, the German K? Oh, yes, yes. It's funny because when I looked up what Carl means, it's a combination of the English Charles and the German Karl. I had no idea. I just always thought that Carl was just Carl. So there you go. So let's talk about what you do professionally to begin with. And then let's talk about how you've been able to explode your business using a podcast. So talk about your professional path, your professional journey.

Chris: 3:06

Well, you know, like most people, not the path you picked initially, right? You know, that's kind of how it works out. I went to college, I was actually a sociology major with a triple minor in Psychology, Japanese, and ballroom dancing. You know, so kind of a renaissance man of sorts, you know. And uh my whole intention was actually to become a business consultant because I realized that people that were prosperous seemed to be having their own business or some kind of consulting practice. So I thought, I'm gonna go into business consulting. But you know, if I do that, I should probably have some real life business experience before I just go get an MBA. So I actually dropped out of college. You know, it was supposed to be just a little sabbatical for a year to go find some business to start. And then, you know, voila, go back and get my MBA and everything's rosy. Well, I did. And uh the first business that finally came up that was halfway intriguing to me was actually being a financial advisor, uh, not knowing they took anybody off the street, as long as you could pass a test and you didn't kill anybody, right? So, so I ended up going down that path, uh down the entrepreneur path. Now, I didn't know much about money. I mean, my dad, he was like the penny pitching saver. He was the kind of guy that bought everything on sale. Like we had to eat Cap and Crunch for an entire year, you know, as well as then we switched to Fruity Pebbles the next year. There was Cocoa Pebbles a year after that, right? I mean, it was just horrible. I mean, I still have scars in my mouth from the Cap and Crunch sucking on those things, and you know it's like it's horrible, right?

Carl: 4:24

I love Cap and Crunch to kick growing up too. It's funny you mentioned that one, but I don't know if I could consume it and only that for a year, but carry on, sir.

Chris: 4:31

Oh, no, that's why I can't even see that kind of stuff today, right? I can't even think about eating those things because again, it was on sale, so that's why we bought it. You know, my dad would grow up, you know, when I was growing up, he'd always say things like, Hey, we can't afford this. We think I am made of money, money doesn't grow on trees, you know. You know, all those popular things you probably grew up with as well, especially if you had any depression era type of parents. And so I vowed I'd never want to be like that. So when I saw the opportunity to become a financial advisor, I thought, well, you know, worst case, I learned about money. Best case, maybe I can even help him be able to have some sort of life because he actually believed that work would literally kill him from all the stress that he had because he had already had strokes and heart attacks by his 40s. So, you know, I wanted to create a new path for myself and possibly something for him. Well, four years later, uh, my dad reaches out and says, Well, when are you going to become my financial advisor? So I actually went to go talk to him. I was kind of shocked because, of course, this is the guy that changed my diapers, you know. So uh I was a little bit intimidated by this appointment. But you know, I go back to Oregon to sit down with him, and as I'm sitting at the kitchen table there, and we're talking, looking at his money, and I see that he spent stuff and money in his 401k like every good boy and little girl should. And and he also had paid off all of his debt, including his house, in 18 years. He was totally proud of his situation. He says, All right, Chris, I'm 61. I want to retire. How am I gonna do it? I said, Well, Dad, well, if you want to retire today, you better hope you die in about five or six years, because that's when you're gonna run out of money. He said, Well, okay, that's not what I want to hear. Give me something else. I said, I don't know. You did everything right from what I teach as a financial advisor. I don't I don't know what else to tell you. I can't put you in this stock market thing or this or that. I mean, Y2K wasn't friendly with you, which is why you gotta probably work longer, uh, which is what everybody tells you to do today, too. They're all like, yeah, just work till you're 70, you know, then you'll be able to retire, right? And so he was in that same boat. And that bothered me. Because I mean, remember, he was kind of that inspiration for me to get in that business in the first place. And not to mention, I drank the Kool-Aid. I thought it worked, and yet this guy did everything right and it still didn't work for him. So just a few weeks later, a friend of mine, I was calling to reach out to him and I just wanted to check up on him, see how he's doing. And I asked him about what was going on. He said, Oh man, my life is awesome right now. My dad and I have partnered on some real estate deals, and we've now doubled his income as a professor at the local university. I said, Well, come on, that's too good to be true. There's no way that's possible. Stocks are better than real estate. Real estate doesn't make that much money, it grows slowly, stocks are the best thing ever. And he finally just stops me. He's like, Chris, how many of your clients are really financially free where they don't worry about money, even the retired ones? I said, Well, they all worry about money. They all worry about running out of money even too soon or something like that. Okay, Chris, good job. Way to knock it out of the park there. How about this? How many of you guys, as financial advisors, are financially free, not off the commissions you're earning, but actually doing these same investments you've been recommending? And as I was really honest with myself, and I remember this is 2005, right? And I remember thinking, like, there's guys been working in this office since the 1970s, they can't retire either. I said, Well, maybe none. There's your problem. And so it got me down this kind of matrix path, right? I took the pill, you know, and and I started like really looking into the real estate investing and alternative investments and things like that, uh, to the point where a few months later, I had a choice. Either I stay as a financial advisor, put blinders on and say, you know what? Well, at least it helps somebody somehow. Or I keep my integrity intact and say, I can't do this anymore. I'm out. And so I chose the latter. I said, I'm never going to teach about money again. I'm done. I'll just teach ballroom dancing on the side and I'll, you know, be a stock coach and do some mortgages and things like that. And so that's what I was doing there in 2006 to the point where I eventually started learning about what they did with real estate. I was able to retire when I was 28 years old. And naturally, of course, when you retire at 28, people are like, Why are you homeless? I mean, not homeless, you know, jobless, so to speak, right? Unemployed. Why are you unemployed right now? Like, how are you able to do this? They all want to know, right? And so in 2007, I actually came out of retirement to teach people how I did what I did and help them do the same. Um, now, of course, recession kicked my butt. I actually went from millionaire to upside down millionaire, had to dig out that debt hole without filing for bankruptcy, but I was able to do that and then retire the second time uh at the end of 2016 when I was able to dig out that million-dollar debt hole. And so, really, I've been teaching people how to do what I had to do twice, right? Which is how do you become work optional? How do you work because you want to, not because you have to?

Carl: 8:46

I think that's the thing, too, is it's a different way of thinking. And we're so accustomed to what, as you indicated, like what our parents did, which clearly for a lot of our parents, my parents are retired now, they're in their early 70s. But even still, my dad and he penny pins and he had a really good job, and he made sure that he had a pension. But on top of his pension, he had other investments, and so he's actually doing quite well. But there are a lot of people out there, like you say, that are working till they're 70 only to find out that even that isn't enough. And if only they had looked at something like real estate, because it's something I've just started to look at. But you know, the real estate market, and there are different markets. We're not going to talk about that on this particular episode, but there's so many different things about real estate that people don't understand. And they only look at real estate in the sense of I have my house. In some cases, that's all they know about real estate. They don't look at multifamily or commercial or other aspects of it to realize that there are investments there that can do a heck of a lot better than what the stock market could ever do. It's just an education, and I'm certainly glad that you do what you do to help people, you know, get on that path and get on the road to true financial freedom, not the stuff that we're fed, shall we say, as we're kids and young adults growing up.

Chris: 10:05

Exactly. It's true. I mean, here in the States, I mean, uh, you mentioned pension for uh, you know, your family. And you know, my dad's 80. The whole pension thing was gone here in the United States, other than if you're a government worker, you know, and and man, that's the thing. I mean, I remember even meeting a guy that was a former financial advisor, retired, and I was doing a retirement class. And it's funny because I'd even mention to them, I was like, Yeah, I actually retired twice by the time I was 39 years old, you know, and this guy is in his 70s, and he's like, Yeah, I'm retired. And everybody's like, How'd you do it? I'm like, wait, they're asking the guy that's in his 70s how he did it. And what's fascinating, and this is during 2020 when the market was crashing, and people are like asking him, Well, what'd you do? He said, Well, I mean, honestly, I don't really don't need my mutual funds because I've got a pension from the from the military. I've got commissions that, you know, business streams of income coming in from my old business that I had as a financial advisor at one point. So he's getting paid commission still. And then he had like social security too, right? You know, so he had his government, you know, check come in that way. And so he's like, honestly, uh, yeah, I lost a lot of money in the market, but you know, I don't even need it. And of course you see everybody's face just fall because they're like, wait a minute, other than social security, I don't have any of those things you have. You know, I won't have any of those things. I'm relying just on that stock market. You know, that's the thing, is like, I think my overall message is how to bring hope, right? Like it's actually easier than you think it is.

Carl: 11:22

So, what was it as you're going on this journey about you're learning about money and you're expanding and you're getting into real estate and you're helping people? What was it that led you to the podcasting space?

Chris: 11:33

That's the fascinating thing. It was definitely not my intention to ever do a podcast. So when I came out of retirement, of course, I loved teaching, right? And that's kind of what it was. Like even during the time I was retired, I was still taking some of my personal friends and teaching them. I realized if I never charged them any money, they didn't do jack squat. So um, it's interesting that uh, you know, there's another business partner and I and some of us got together and created a company and we started charging, and people got results after they did that. But while I was working with that that new company we formed in 2007, uh, he was actually on AM Talk Radio. In fact, that's the first thing I started listening to in 2006 when I was starting to break away from the mold of being a financial advisor. My friend said, you know, he's like, Hey, listen, if you're really serious, and he's like, I don't think you really are, go get the book by Robert Kiyosaki called Who Took My Money? It's a lesser-known rich dad book, right? Basically says mutual funds are horrible. And then he's like, and go listen to this talk, this AM talk radio show by these two real estate investors. So I started my journey by listening to these guys on their radio show. A year later, as I'm starting that company with some of these guys, they have a radio show. I remember the first time he invited me on, it was actually during a holiday. And he's like, Hey, why don't you come on? I don't have a guest, I'll bring you on here. I was so nervous. Uh, I mean, not to mention, I mean, you're watching like all the dials and stuff in the station because you have the countdown of like seven-minute segments. So you got to get out your thought pretty fast, otherwise the music just cues over your talking, right? And so I went to that, and then of course, later that next year, he starts asking me to sub in for him. And so I would do a two-hour, you know, talk radio show. I eventually would not take calls because those people can get crazy, you know. But I would start doing the talk radio and trying to come up with my own content. And I liked it so much that at the end of 2008, there was this new thing I heard called Podcast, that the guy that was producing the FM radio or the AM talk radio show said, Hey, you can create a podcast and teach there and put it on the web, you know, and it's actually there for people to download on iTunes. I thought, well, that's kind of a cool thing. And I'll tell you, the only reason I actually did it is the thing that was going through my head was, what if I die? Because on that radio show, when I first listened to it, uh later that year, which actually inspired me to come out of retirement and do something, one of the guys on the radio show died in the plane wreck. You know, he was in a private plane accident, and him and his partner both died. And I remember going to his funeral, and it was actually at that funeral, I said, you know what? I want to do something like this. I don't know what it's like, but I feel like I should be passing on this torch. And so, of course, when I got my own, you know, podcast, and it was rough. I mean, obviously, but it was called Fire Your Financial Advisor. It was my very first podcast. Did that for four years um until uh eventually I broke out on my own then in 2012 and then stopped the podcast for a while. But then I got on a show called uh Entrepreneurs on Fire with John Lee Doumas. And I had so much fun on that show. I said, Why am I not doing this myself? I need to start a new podcast. And so, really, uh back in 2014, started another podcast, which is now the Money Ripples Podcast. We're about to go in 2025 into our 11th season, you know. So uh again, I only did it because one, I wanted to have something for my kids in case I die young, like that guy did. I wanted something for my kids to learn from. So pass on a legacy. But then two, it's also a great tool in business because if you have commonly asked questions, whether it's people you work with or not, they say, Hey, tell me about this. Instead of me repeating myself over and over, it's nice to say, you know what? I got a podcast on that. Here you go, listen to this for 15 or 20 minutes, and then I'll answer questions. And so I was because I was ambitiously lazy, that's part of the reason why I did a podcast.

Carl: 15:03

And the fact, too, that what a great story, though. I spent 25 years in radio broadcasting and between radio gigs, they say you haven't made it in radio professionally until you've been fired from at least one job. I was fired twice, so I guess that makes me a superstar. Anyhow, between radio jobs, I started a part-time business with the intention of taking a full-time doing speaker training. And I've often told the story about how well when I came to the podcasting space, I was introduced to podcasting around 2012 by a colleague who said, You should start a podcast. You're in this public speaking, speaker training space. Why not do a podcast? And I remember saying, I remember saying, What's a podcast? And again, I I have a radio brain, right? So I'm thinking it's like radio, right? It's like radio, but it's for what? Is it how's how's this like is it internet radio? Is it well not quite? It's like because that existed too, right? Is it internet radio? Well, no. So and I couldn't wrap my head around it. Okay, so why would I do a radio show on the internet helping people get on stages, speaking to them virtually? It did nothing clicked in my brain until 2019 or 2018 rather. And I was at an event in Toronto, and one of the uh side workshops was a guy by the name of you mentioned John Lee Dumas being on his show. The guy who I went and saw do a 90-minute seminar on starting a podcast was Sam Crowley, who's done podcasts and his podcasts were in diapers. And he basically said, Podcasting is easy, get started. So it was from that that my podcast was birthed. But man, what a journey, what a story that you've shared about, you know, not only your your business life, but then how you basically took that and said, I want to make sure that I have the right messaging out there for people. So if I do leave this earth way before my time, then at least my messaging is there. You need to be able to say that to every business person that isn't starting a podcast or isn't getting on podcasts because there's so much valuable information that's almost like people are not hiding it, but they're holding it too close to their chest where they should be putting it out there. And I think we're we're in a space where yes, people still read books, but people are really listening to podcasts now.

Chris: 17:20

That's right. It's true. It's funny because I never ever started it to be like a business tool, right? But I realized later on it kind of was. It's definitely something that's it really does allow your message to go beyond you. It creates that that automation in a sense, because yeah, I could do email campaigns and those do okay, you know, for certain people. But at the heart of it, I realized, you know, when I started in 2014, I started my podcast. You know, you hear a lot of people like most podcasters will quit after, you know, X number of episodes. I can't remember the number now, but it's like 20 or something like that. Yeah. So I probably had a good 20, 30 plus episodes, even in you know, later into 2014, because I started at the beginning of the year. And I remember thinking maybe I should just quit because you know how it is. If you're just on with yourself, you know, I would bring on a few guests, but I was just talking myself sometimes. You feel like you are literally talking to yourself because you are you're talking to a camera recording it. I was even just not even doing a camera back then, it was just microphone only, audio only, because that's all I knew how to do tech-wise, because I'm a tech idiot. And uh, so I was doing that. And I remember thinking, you know, this is like September of 2014, I thought, man, am I is this even worth it? Is anybody even listening? Am I just talking to myself? Because, you know, I would look at the stats, but you know, they weren't very accurate back then, anyways, you know, back in the day. And so I'm like, is this really worth it? I don't know anything that's really happening here. And I went to a convention, uh, like a network, a big if you ever know doTERRA, you know, that essential oils business, right? I got invited to go attend their their annual conference. And I'm actually out in the hallway and everybody gets released out for break or whatever it is. And I'm sitting there and I see this guy staring at me. It was a little awkward, right? And and I'm already kind of an awkward person, anyways. He's staring at me, and finally he gets the courage to come up and start talking to me. And he asked me, He's like, Are you Chris Miles? Yes. It's like, oh my gosh, we listen to your podcast all the time. In fact, my wife is a huge fan of you. In fact, our whole team in doTERRA actually listen to you. Really? You guys do? Yeah, yeah, it's great. I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. And so they came over, there's like, you know, six of them. I actually have a picture of myself I just put on my uh Money Ripple's Facebook page recently talking about it because I almost thought about quitting my entire business, not just the podcast. And here they are the same morning when I was getting discouraged and feeling like I was gonna quit. Here they are showing up. And I even told them, I said, honestly, I'll be up front with you. I was kind of doubting myself, you know, I was down if I should just shut this thing down. And they're all like, Don't like, don't, like it's good. Even if we don't say anything, we're listening, like it's good. And that stuck with me, and that kind of kept me going, you know, even through the years. And eventually I realized 20 2015, going to 2016, my actual best quote unquote marketing strategy in my business was actually my podcast. Could be because my wife kept saying I had a radio face. I don't know. Maybe that's it, but yeah, you know, whatever it is. Uh, but no, like I realized that I got more business from my podcast because people learned to get to know me and like me and trust me from that, uh, versus trying to do any kind of marketing campaign, speaking on live stages, which I had done a lot at that time, especially. And you know, I was going to networking groups for 10 hours a week and all that kind of stuff, right? I realized most of that stuff was just not worth it. You know, for me, the podcast was a thing that actually brought in the best people. And so I doubled down. I started really putting more intention behind it, trying to give people. And actually, funny enough, it took me a few years to actually start telling people, oh, by the way, if you actually want help, go to my website. Because I just wanted to give information. I didn't want to actually like send anybody my way. Then uh it was actually my wife that said, uh, maybe you should actually drive them somewhere so they have somewhere to go. And and then, of course, my business started exploding after I did that.

Carl: 21:01

And you've been able to ratchet up your business, or 90% of your business actually comes from your podcast. So you've been really successful at leveraging not just the podcast, but the power of the follow-through and and all of that stuff.

Chris: 21:16

That's right. Yeah, that was kind of the thing I learned for myself. And that's why I come on shows like yours, right? I mean, one I love to give and teach, anyways. I'll do that all day long. But what I've realized is that a lot of people still just the ones that resonate, you know, there's other people that think, oh, he's a jerk, you know, screw him, you know. But you know, those people they can kind of go on with their lives, and I'm cool with that. But there are some people that are like, you know what, I really like this guy. Let me learn more. And they'll go to my podcast, you know, and that's where it's been one of the best ways to very organically. It's not been fast. I've never had the the huge hockey stick growth that some of my friends post about, and they're like, Hey, I got top 10 on Apple Podcasts. I'm like, congrats. I think I barely made the top hundred sometimes, you know. But that's fine because I get consistency, I get that steady, stable growth that just keeps going and growing.

Carl: 22:02

I think that's the big thing, is it's a long game, not a short game. And sometimes we look at the success of our fellow podcasters and say, Well, they're way more successful than I am. How come I'm not getting those numbers? And it's tempting to quit because you're like, well, it's not working. It's like, well, no, it's a matter of staying the course and understanding that you don't need big numbers for a podcast for it to be successful. I have clients who are podcasters and they're barely cracking 50 listens per episode, but they're getting business from that every year. They'll get one or two clients from their podcast. And if a client is worth $50,000, is it worth you know the investment to have a production team putting it on, doing all the work for you? And she says yes every year, so which is good for me. But it's you know, we look at those big numbers because it's what we've been exposed to through television and radio, it's big numbers, it's millions of viewers or thousands or hundreds of thousands of listeners. The reality is you don't need a massive stage, a massive virtual stage to be successful. If you have big numbers, great. But a lot of the people getting big numbers, it's because they're already, they're already famous, they have celebrity status because of something that they've done, or they're a guru or thought leader. The average podcaster, they're not getting massive numbers, they're getting average. And if they're getting bigger numbers, it's because they've stayed the course and they've built it just like what you've done. You've taken the time to build it and build it strong.

Chris: 23:32

That's exactly it. That's the thing that's kind of cool is that you can have a niche, right? And that you could be the expert in your niche, and that podcast can help you be there, you know. And that's one way to create that reach, you know, to do that. And I agree, I don't care about having the whole world see my stuff. I care about the right people, right? The people that it's gonna bless their lives the most, those are the people I want to help, you know. And that's why, you know, I get a lot of like randomly, I get like chiropractors and dentists and pharmacists and even like IT managers for whatever reason, IT managers love us, you know, people from Minnesota. I don't know why, but I get a lot of people from Minnesota that just love our podcast, you know. And maybe it's just that that Oregonian moved to Utah and I just seem like a person from Minnesota. I don't know, but maybe it's because my mom was, you know, my grandparents from Minnesota. I don't know. But either way, like it's so cool to kind of see that you can kind of gradually create this audience, you know, and even my audience, I call them ripplers, right? I mean, we create a whole community around it now because I realize that they're there, not because they're just wanting to get rich, but they want to create a rich life because they want to, of course, create freedom for themselves and for their families. And they want to get unstuck from you know, just being, you know, stuck in a job or their business forever. But at the same time, they also want to do good with their money. They want to do something that creates a ripple effect through the lives of others too. And and as I started to really focus on that core value and message of our podcast, I realized that our podcast also not just grew, but it gained like more like stickiness, I guess you could say, right? Like like more people like really identified with it. And every once in a while I have people, you know, that I never expected listen to my podcast, say, hey, guess what? I'm a rippler. I'm like, oh, that's awesome. That's cool. And sometimes I actually don't even know how to respond to it because you know, it makes me kind of a little bit bashful, you know, when they say that. I'm like, oh, awesome, that's great. Glad you and my mom both listen to this podcast. That's awesome, you know. But uh it's true, it's really cool to see that there are people out there that want to do good and attract those people to your podcast versus the people that are just flashing the pan, just want to get rich people. I don't really resonate with those people and they don't resonate with me either.

Carl: 25:32

Are you building community or have you been able to build community from your podcast, or is the term rippler just what you're referring to as your audience? Or are you gathering your audience together on a regular basis through Facebook meetups or whatever?

Chris: 25:45

All the above, yeah. So, yes, we do have a like a some point, I can't remember why. I just it kind of came out of my mouth during one episode. I call them ripplers. I'm like, I like that. I think I'm gonna stick with it. And so I did. And even when my intro, when I do it, the intro is almost always the same, you know, telling them like what we're really about and the whole purpose of it. But yeah, even beyond that, right? I mean, a lot of those people will, you know, get on our email list and we'll give out content information there, or they go to the website and get lots of information there. We do have a Facebook group, like a Money Ripplers group, you know, that we have that people can join as well. Even like once or twice a month, I'm doing masterclasses. And so a lot of those people will actually end up joining the masterclasses and get me more live versus a pre-recorded version of me. And of course, we got our own VIP one-on-one clients that we have too, you know, that we actually work with and and you know, do things with them as well. And even have I'll even have an annual event that I do for just my clients. I don't even really invite the general public, it's just more for our paying clients to say, hey, once a year, let's actually get together and create that community. And man, I just had one last month, and I'll tell you, it was the best. I mean, it was so awesome. I actually learned from years of experience doing putting on workshops and whatnot that people actually get more value with me talking less, you know, um, which was hard on my ego at first. But I remember a mentor told me, don't fill your ego, fill your bank account, right? And um, it's kind of like the stats, the podcast stats goes with the same thing there too. It's like, who cares about the number? It's about what ultimately at the end of the day, you know, leads to and whose lives get changed. Like even when I got like as I started to realize that them talking with each other was what's really important and creating those bonds, I kind of got out of their way. And I stopped trying to do like two and a half or three day events where I had a few guest speakers and I was just going crazy and then I'd crash for a day or two on the weekend because I couldn't even, you know, move my body because I'd beat it up so much. Instead, I'm like, I'm gonna facilitate this, you know, I'm gonna let them mastermind talk to each other. Yeah, I'll help guide the conversation, I'll help create the experience. You know, I'll even teach a little bit here or there, but more as a contributor versus being the one that's just telling what to do. And then we spent a whole day, we go play, you know. So we like went up to like Sundance Ski Resort, you know, and went up there and like hiked to a waterfall. And then we had awesome, awesome lunch, you know, and then from there we took a ski lift and took pictures, especially those that you know live in something flat like Iowa. You know, they're like, this is amazing. Like there's mountains, there's actually like contours on this land, you know. So it was just a lot of fun. And those people still carry those bonds and still talk to each other to this day because of that experience. So I think that's when I start to realize this is much, much bigger than I am, right? This is something that could continue beyond me.

Carl: 28:18

And it's going beyond the show itself. It's the show is important, it starts with the show. But when you realize that the show is just one piece, and even your call to actions, your call to actions are, yeah, if you're positioning them right, you're going to drive people to your website or you're going to drive people to your resources to help them out. It's about the masterminds afterwards, or it's about the the green room conversations that that happen afterwards, or it's about the Facebook community or the LinkedIn group. It's going beyond the show because people eat that stuff up too, like it's candy. They really do. They do.

Chris: 28:54

Yeah, it's true. It's funny because even at that event, I can't tell you how many people even said, Yeah, I found Chris through his podcast, or I heard him on this podcast, and then started following his podcast, and then I reached out, right? And sometimes it took them years, years before they would reach out. And and I'm cool with that. I mean, whatever timing was perfect, it was perfect. And that's what I love. I tell people all the time, you know, I'm already at the point where I don't have to have my business. I could shut it down and be just fine because I have so much money coming in from real estate and other things. But the truth is that, you know, I have to ask myself, what do I want to do with my time? What do I do with this blessed ability, right? And these resources. And that's why I pump a lot of my resources back into this business, you know, to build and create a bigger megaphone. And the podcast is just a critical key part of it. That's the one thing that even if I got fired from every other aspect of my business, I would still continue doing my podcast.

Carl: 29:42

I love that. And that to me is a sounding board for individuals who are listening today, going, God, I don't know about this podcasting thing. Should I? Shouldn't I? There's some trepidation. And if they could just hear what you're saying, that if everything else shut down, you'd still stick with the podcast. That that to me speaks volumes about not just your dedication to the space, but also the power that that podcasting can bring and the impact it has.

Chris: 30:13

Definitely. Yeah, it really is. It's gotta be a part of you. You can't just be doing it. I think people can tell if you're just doing it for superficial purposes. If you're only doing just to build and promote yourself, you might as well just go and do a bunch of ads on Google or Facebook or something, right? But the truth is, like, you know, podcasts, it really is one of the best ways to give back to really create a relationship with someone. Even if you don't know who they are, they know who you are. And you got to really treat that, you know, almost as a sacred right, you know, that it's it's something that I'm I take very seriously, that uh my listeners, you know, those people, those ripplers, right? I'm there to help create a ripple effect through their lives so that they can create their own. Even if they never ever hire me or pay me a dime.

Carl: 30:54

You've been podcasting for several years. Let's go into a pretend world though. I'll give you two scenarios. You're either brand new and you want to start a podcast, what would you do? Or if you could do something differently now that you couldn't do then, what would it be?

Chris: 31:12

You know what I would do right off the bat. Um if I'm starting out brand new, and it wouldn't be much different than now. I mean, I'll tell you, definitely having a team helps a lot. But if I were to restart over again, I would definitely build up anticipation for starting my podcast online. You know, I build it up with my current followers, you know, Facebook, you know, Instagram followers, all those kind of people. I I would build it up. It definitely helps to get a big name person, even though it's not necessary, but it helps, you know. That might be a big draw. But build that up and then release it. And in the meantime, when you're doing that, get on other people's podcasts, even if it's before you've launched yours, depending on when they launched the date. You might even tell them, hey, don't launch this until X date, right? Just tell them, like, hey, I want to promote this podcast and start driving. That's what kind of woke me up. I mean, the first time I went on Entrepreneurs on Fire, I've actually been on four times now on that show. Um, the first time I went on is because we co-wrote a book together with Tim Ferris. And that time I drove to my website, I saw this big spike happen after that episode. I thought, man, I should probably have a podcast. So the second time I drove to my podcast, and then my stats spiked on my podcast, right? Because it brought new listeners as a result. And I'll tell you that that second podcast, I mean, I literally made it's still growing, that number's still growing, but it's over four million dollars from that one episode, you know, and again, driving it to my stuff. And then that got people following me and then reached out and hired us too. And so it not to mention key relationships, people that I met in business that wanted to promote us and things like that. That all came from podcasting. So, you know, if you're gonna do it, you know, do it, commit to it. And don't worry if you don't get all the accolades or whatever, it's not about your ego, just keep doing it. Like do it because you know it's what serves people and and they will notice, especially if you're in it for the long game.

Carl: 33:00

The name of the podcast is Money Ripples. That's the branding as well. Where can people find it? Where can people listen?

unknown: 33:08

Yep.

Chris: 33:08

Anywhere you listen to any platforms, whether you're on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, you know, we got the podcast everywhere, Spotify. Just go to moneyripples.com and you can also find the podcast there too.

Carl: 33:19

Ah, Chris Miles, this has been an amazing conversation. And it's great to talk to somebody who eats, sleeps, breathes, has lived podcasting, and gets it. It's been a phenomenal conversation. Thank you so much. Before I turn you loose, though, I'll give you the final thought.

Chris: 33:34

You know, final thought is I guess not much different than what I just kind of ended on, but I'll just expand on it. It's just, you know, don't give up hope. Keep moving forward. I think persistence is like the number one success factor in business. It really is. Like it doesn't matter how fast you sprint or come out of the gates. Yes, there'll be people that look like they're doing better than you, but they might be a flash in the pan and then they're gone again, right? If you just keep moving forward, you keep persevering, I tell you, it just success has to work at some point in your journey. And it could be, it could be like one of those journeys you hear if you ever read the book Three Feet from Gold, I recommend that by Greg Reading, Sharon Lecter, where so often those stories, people would say, it took me 10 years to become an overnight success, right? So, you know, if you're two years in, one year in, five years in, don't lose hope. You know, I've been in business for over 20 years and I'm feeling like finally now I'm getting it. So, and I'm 20 plus years in. So, you know, just uh be patient with yourself, you know, have some grace and keep moving forward.

Carl: 34:32

Chris, that's a great place to leave it. Thank you so much, Chris Miles, for being my guest today.

Chris: 34:36

Such an honor. Thanks, Carl.

Carl: 34:38

And hey, thank you for being a part of the show today. So glad you could join us. Believe it or not, I can't work this magic by myself. So thanks to my amazing team, our audio engineer Dom Carillo, our sonic writing genius Kenton Dobrowolski, and the person who works the arms, all of our arms actually, our project manager and my trusty assistant Julovell Tiongco, known to us here simply as July. If you like what you heard today, let us know. You can leave us a comment or review or even send us a voice note. And if you really liked it, we hope you'll share it with your friends and your colleagues. If you don't like what you heard today, well, please feel free to share with your enemies. And if you know someone who would make a great guest on the show, let us know about it. You can get in touch with us by going to our show notes where all of our connection points are there, including the link to our website, LinkedIn, and Facebook as well. And if you're ready to be a guest on podcasting or even start your own show, let's have a conversation. We'll show you the simplest way to get into the podcasting space and rock it. Because after all, we're podcast solutions made simple. Catch a game next time.