Review: Podcast producer spreads the word as a digital nomad

The podcast Entrepreneur on Fire earns podcaster John Lee Dumas up to $200,000 a month. So is it any good? Well, it sounds professional, is an easy listen and is ideal length for a morning commute.

John Lee Dumas started his podcast by scanning entrepreneur conferences for speakers who would be willing to talk with him. Now he says he gets more than 300 requests a month to be on the show. Courtesy Jen Wojcik Photography
Powered by automated translation

John Lee Dumas has created 1,500 half-hour episodes of the podcast Entrepreneur on Fire since 2012.

He interviews whizz kids like marketer Seth Godin, e-commerce king Tim Ferriss and the motivational speaker Tony Robbins.

A former soldier and law student, it was the long drives he made as an estate agent that made Mr Dumas a podcast fan himself, but he could not find any that ran daily and decided to have a go at filling the gap.

His interviews follow a set format that pries out the best nuggets from each entrepreneur’s journey: their worst mom­ent, their “aha” moment, lessons they’ve learnt and a lightning round of six questions.

It’s professionally put toge­ther, unlike many podcasts, which can sound raw. Plus it’s an easy listen with some great stories and at 30 minutes each, it’s a good length for a morning commute.

Mr Dumas’s followers, which he calls the “Fire Nation”, have downloaded 38 million podcasts to date, earning him US$2 million this year from sponsorship, affiliate advertising and webinars and his own products. He publishes his revenue on his site each month.

Today Mr Dumas lives a “digital nomad” life with his partner Kate Erickson, based in Puerto Rico but travelling and working for four months a year.

They have spun off two other podcasts – Quotes on Fire, the greatest quotes from his­tory’s entrepreneurs, and Kate’s Take, on actionable advice from the interviews. They run courses and workshops on podcasting, manage a subscription podcast community and just launched The Freedom Journal, a guide to setting and reaching goals over 100 days, on Kickstarter.

Mr Dumas started by looking at entrepreneur conference sites and requesting interviews with the speakers. “Chances are, if they were willing to fly to a conference to speak, they would be willing to jump on a 25-minute Skype call,” he says.

Now the tables have turned – 300 entrepreneurs a month ask for an interview slot. When he received a request from Tony Robbins, he says it was “such an ‘I’ve made it’ moment”.

Mr Dumas says he is often asked about his guests’ “silver bullet”. “Successful entrepreneurs set and accomplish goals,” he says. “Unsuccessful entrepreneurs struggle with goals.”

Entrepreneur on Fire can be downloaded free from iTunes or his website, eonfire.com.

Q&A: John Lee Dumas

How did you start out – and what equipment did you use?

I decided to fill a void I saw in the marketplace, as a consumer of podcasts. I decided to follow Ghandi’s advice and “be the change you wish to see in the world”. All I had was a com­puter, an Audio-Technica ATR2100 mic and Adobe Audition software to record and edit my interviews.

Why do you always follow the same podcast format?

I love that my listeners can press the play button and know exactly what content they are going to get. Even though the format is the same, because it’s about the stories of moments in the lives of my guests, each interview is 100 per cent unique.

How do you find time to record seven 30-minute podcasts a week?

It’s all about batching. I spend two days a month recording 30 interviews. They are long days, but I talk to inspiring entrepreneurs so I love it. I create daily content for email newsletters, social media channels, host a weekly master class on podcasting and normally also have one large project on my plate – the Mastery Journal now.

Why do you publish your income?

I wanted my brand to be one of transparency and education. It was my goal to show other podcasters exactly how they could generate revenue. We’ve just published our 27th consecutive one. Our revenue is pretty consistent at $150,000 to 200,000 a month gross – the only times we have fluctuations well out of that norm are when we do launches, like the Freedom Journal, which made $453,000 on Kickstarter in January and February.

business@thenational.ae

Follow The National's Business section on Twitter