We are only in control of our actions. So setting goals around things like podcast downloads are pointless because we don’t have direct control over them. Let’s set the scene with a couple stories to illustrate the core challenge when setting goals.
A couple years ago a client of mine hired an outside marketing agency to run their whole marketing program. They came up with a social media strategy based on benchmarking and best practices, which is a corporate way of saying they’ll copy what other companies in the space are doing.
That led to this agency creating all these lovely Powerpoint slides with projections of how the client’s podcast would grow now that this agency would be doing all this marketing “stuff” alongside the podcast. It all looked great on Powerpoint and my clients got really excited cause they love numbers and metrics. And who doesn’t love a chart that just goes up and to the right?
Unfortunately, the agency had no direct control over any of those metrics and their brilliant strategy of copying what everyone else was doing in the space did nothing for the client. After over a year of spinning wheels and lots of presentations, the client ended up firing the agency.
I’ve seen that scenario play out enough over the years to see it coming, and it stems from the same root cause.
Now let’s look at a story that shows the other side of goal-setting.
I have a good friend and mentor in the executive recruiting space, which is like hand-to-hand combat sales. Lots of phone calls, lots of hand-holding, lots of babysitting deals and last-second negotiation to get these deals to close. It’s a very fascinating industry.
So my mentor, who is obsessed with metrics and goal-setting, was sharing with me his approach to coaching someone on goal-setting. In his view, there were 10 different elements of goal-setting and each required care and dedication to master.
I looked at that list and agreed that all those things were 100% correct, with one caveat. You had to be in an environment where the relationship between performance and result was a direct, straight line and all the numbers were already known. In other words, X number of phone calls produces X appointments which leads to X deals.
If you’re in an environment where those numbers are unknown or changing, you can’t set goals in the same way. That led to a discussion to produce the key insight I want to share here on the show. There is a difference between Outcome Goals and Performance Goals.
Outcome Goals are things we want to see happen, like more podcast downloads or more sales calls. But we can’t control those things directly.
No matter how much we focus our intention or energy, we can’t simply produce more podcast downloads or sales calls. And no amount of putting them down as goals on paper or creating slick-looking Powerpoint slides will change that fact.
That’s where Performance Goals come in.
Performance Goals are what we DO to produce the Outcome Goals we hope for.
Performance Goals are the actions we take.
Performance Goals are where we can focus our effort and energy to get better results.
And in uncertain environments, where things are unknown or ever-changing, that’s all we can focus on.
So rather than setting Outcome Goals for things like downloads, subscribers or email opt-ins, focus on setting Performance Goals.
What are the actions you believe will have a positive effect and lead to the outcomes you want?
How do those actions translate into new commitments?
And what kind of metric can you assign to those commitments?
That’s where you can focus on holding yourself accountable to the things you control rather than things you can’t control. For example, let’s say you want more podcast downloads this year.
There are a few actions that will have a positive effect.
1 is consistency with your own content. Don’t skip weeks.
2 is create the best content you can. Jump on strategy calls with us or your team, be more intentional about the guests you interview, plan out higher quality and more thoughtful solo episodes. Do the work.
3 is get interviewed on other podcasts regularly. If you don’t have someone pitching you to new podcasts, reach out to us, the FastTrack has all those materials and a complete training program for one of your team or a VA. So you’re consistently getting pitched and interviewed.
If you missed the episode from a few weeks ago when I talked about how Tim Ferris grew his podcast, then you probably don’t know that his most recommended podcast growth strategy is getting interviewed on other podcasts. That’s something you can set goals around.
Not to get on 50 podcasts this year, because that’s an Outcome Goal. You can’t control how many podcasters say Yes to you. But you can control the actions you and your team take. Like sending 10 pitch emails a week. That’s a Performance Goal.
So before going into this year, just ask yourself whether you have direct and complete control over the goals you’ve set. If not, take a step back. Ask what actions might produce the Outcome Goals you want. Put a number or metric to those actions and set that level of action as a Performance Goal.
X number of this every week or every day.
Then hold yourself accountable to that Performance Goal.
Let the Outcome be a natural product of choosing good Performance Goals