John Corcoran is a recovering attorney, an author, and a former White House writer and speechwriter to the Governor of California. Throughout his career, John has worked in Hollywood, the heart of Silicon Valley, and ran his boutique law firm in the San Francisco Bay Area, catering to small business owners and entrepreneurs.
Since 2012, John has been the host of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, where he has interviewed hundreds of CEOs, founders, authors, and entrepreneurs, including Peter Diamandis, Adam Grant, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Marie Forleo.
John is also the Co-founder of Rise25, a company that connects B2B businesses with their ideal clients, referral partners, and strategic partners. They help their clients generate ROI through their done-for-you podcast service.
Here’s a Glimpse of What You’ll Hear:
- [2:01] John Corcoran discusses his interest in investment and venture capital podcasts
- [3:51] Using ChatGPT projects to create personalized coaching experiences
- [6:42] The potential of AI tools to revolutionize video production
- [8:51] How to manage multiple AI tools and subscriptions
- [9:40] Networking with Ed O’Keefe and leveraging podcasting as a tool for collaboration
- [11:36] Tactics to increase YouTube views and engagement through targeted ads
- [14:09] How repurposing content through podcasts can benefit clients
In this episode…
It’s easier than ever to create content, but standing out and building meaningful relationships remains a major challenge. How can B2B leaders and entrepreneurs use podcasting and AI tools to drive growth, deepen connections, and establish thought leadership in today’s noisy landscape?
John Corcoran tackles this challenge by sharing specific tools and strategies that have proven effective. He explains how ChatGPT can be transformed into personalized AI coaches across multiple life areas, using uploaded documents and tailored prompts to enhance its utility. John also outlines how podcasting can serve as a relationship-building mechanism, whether reconnecting with past contacts like Ed O’Keefe or converting existing content into multi-platform episodes. Additionally, he shares a simple yet powerful method for boosting YouTube engagement through paid views and follow-up emails, which helps elevate guest exposure and strengthens ongoing partnerships.
Tune in to this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast as Chad Franzen interviews John Corcoran, Co-founder of Rise25, about leveraging AI and podcasting for business growth. John dives into AI productivity hacks, how to repurpose content effectively, and why guest interviews build lasting credibility. He also touches on using podcasting to rekindle professional relationships, the benefits of tools like Gemini and Veo 3, and his top podcast recommendations in the investment and wellness spaces.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- John Corcoran on LinkedIn
- Rise25
- Chad Franzen on LinkedIn
- The a16z Podcast
- Oh My Fraud
- Living Medicine podcast
- Veo 3
- Offer Wingman
Special Mention(s):
Related episode(s):
- “Monetizing Your Expertise: A Conversation With Kathy Weidner”
- “What it is Like Raising Seven Kids and Building a Business with Ed O’keefe of Wake Up Foods” on InspiredInsider
Quotable Moments:
- “You can create ChatGPT projects as custom coaches for any area of your life.”
- “Even though ChatGPT is everywhere, there’s always a new way to use it.”
- “Podcasting is the perfect excuse to reconnect and build relationships.”
- “We send polite emails showing how video views are growing, and that gets attention.”
- “Authenticity will matter more than ever in a world flooded with fake content.”
Action Steps:
- Create personalized AI coaches using ChatGPT projects: Use different instructions and tone settings to simulate custom coaches for health, business, or relationships. This makes AI a more practical and interactive support tool for personal development.
- Expand podcast exposure via YouTube ad campaigns: Invest in small ad spending to boost views on strategic podcast videos. This builds credibility and strengthens relationships with featured guests.
- Use your podcast to revive dormant relationships: Reconnect with partners, clients, or friends by inviting them to your show. It’s a natural way to create content and open doors for future collaboration.
- Repurpose existing content into podcast episodes: If you’re already sharing content on social media or in newsletters, consider converting it into audio. It broadens your reach without extra effort.
- Send sequenced updates to highlight engagement metrics: Let guests know how their episodes are performing through email follow-ups. This builds trust and makes them more likely to share or engage further.
Sponsor: Rise25
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Episode Transcript
John Corcoran : 00:00
All right. Today we’re doing a thought leadership episode where I’m going to be interviewed, and we’re talking about podcasts that I recommend. Personally, I’ve been telling everyone about these podcasts, tools that we are using in our company that I would recommend you use as well. Someone in my network who I want you to know about, a thought leader who is an expert, and then finally an issue that is affecting our industry. My guest today is Chad. He’s actually going to be interviewing me, so stay tuned.
Intro: 00:28
Welcome to the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, where we feature top entrepreneurs, business leaders, and thought leaders and ask them how they built key relationships to get where they are today. Now let’s get started with the show.
John Corcoran: 00:45
All right. Welcome, everyone. John Corcoran here. I’m the host of this show. And you, every week we have smart CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs from all kinds of companies.
And we’ve had Netflix, Grubhub, Redfin, Gusto Kinkos, lots of great episodes in the archives for you to check out. And before we get into this, this episode is brought to you by Rise25, where we help businesses to give to and connect to their dream relationships and partnerships. How do we do that? We do that by helping you to run your podcast. We are the easy button for any company to launch and run a podcast.
We do three things: strategy, accountability, and full execution. In fact, we invented what some are calling the Wix of B2B podcasting. It’s our platform, Podcast Copilot. So if you want to learn more about it, go to our website Rise25.com, where you can also email our team at [email protected]. And with that, I will turn it over to Chad, who will guide us through this episode.
Chad Franzen: 01:38
Sounds good. John, thanks so much for having me. Hey, we’re going to talk about 4 or 5 things that you’ve been struck by lately. I’m going to fire each topic off at you, and you can kind of give me your thoughts and your response. The first one is maybe a podcast or a few podcasts that you’ve listened to recently that have been, you know, that you’ve that have caught your attention.
John Corcoran: 02:00
Okay, let’s talk about these. So one, I’ve been kind of on a kick listening to different investment podcasts and venture capital podcasts, which is a huge trend. There’s lots of venture capital companies that have started podcasts going back a number of years now. One that I’ve been listening to lately is the a16z podcast. I was just listening to an episode with Justine and Olivia, where they are actually identical twin sisters who are partners at a16z, which is Andreessen Horowitz, one of the biggest venture capital firms in Silicon Valley.
And they were doing an update on the latest news in generative AI and LLM, AI tools that are coming out there. And so I was just really enjoying that episode recently. So definitely go check out that one. Another one I would recommend is Oh My Fraud. This was recommended to me by my friend Peter Lindy, who is not an accountant or a CPA, but this is a podcast that is about accountants and CPAs talking about different frauds that have occurred.
So think like Ponzi schemes, things like that. And it’s to, you know, just kind of talking through the situation. Really cool format for a podcast. Not the usual type of format that I of a podcast that I listen to. And then the next one is Living Medicine with Doctor Sandy Newes of Living Medicine Institute.
She’s a friend of ours, a client. We’ve helped her with that podcast. She does psychedelic-assisted therapy and has been doing it for a number of years now. And so and also does training for therapists who want to get into psychedelic-assisted therapy. And she’s interviewed some real luminaries in the field. And a really interesting podcast for you to check out there.
Chad Franzen: 03:42
Okay. Sounds good. Be sure to check all those out. The next thing I’m going to throw at you is a tool that you use. What’s something that maybe might be beneficial to anybody who’s listening.
John Corcoran: 03:51
Yeah. So I was looking over past tools that I’ve recommended on this show, and amazingly, I’ve never mentioned ChatGPT because it feels like ChatGPT is just like, well, everyone knows about it already, so why shine a light on that? But I will share a new way of using it. Excuse me. So my friend Zephyr Bree of X Movement recently shared with a small group of us a new way of using it, and that’s creating ChatGPT projects.
And she actually has a way of creating these custom coaches in different areas of your life. So you could have a fitness coach, you could have a health coach, you could have a romance coach, you could have a family coach, you could have a personal coach, different types of coaches. And then you can give it different instructions. So, for example, if you’re going to create a health coach, let’s say you want to get better at health and fitness. You could give it certain instructions and say, I want you to behave, you know, be very, very tough with me and very abrupt and straight into for to the purpose.
And then you can have a different coach with a different set of instructions. You know, that’s maybe your relationship coach or something like that. And you want them to communicate with you in a different way. And then you could also upload documents. So if it’s your health coach, you could upload your lab work, you could upload your fitness results or something like that so that it has that basis of knowledge when it is working with you.
And then you can go and, you know, consult it at any time. If you wake up at three in the morning and you decide you need an hour and a half worth of talking through a particular issue, unlike a real coach, you are not you. There aren’t many coaches. You can wake up at three in the morning and say, I want to talk for an hour. So you can use it at any time using that. So that’s a really cool tool. It’s using projects inside of ChatGPT.
Chad Franzen: 05:38
Well that is awesome. You know, it seems like there’s always something new. Even though ChatGPT is on everybody’s mind, it seems like there’s always something new that you could do with it every day that you hear about. Do you ever feel like you’re running behind on ChatGPT?
John Corcoran: 05:50
Oh, I always feel like I’m running behind. Less so ChatGPT and more just all the different tools that are out there because there are so many different ones and there are different ways of using it. You know, another one that I just discovered was that you can manipulate numbers in a table inside of ChatGPT or other tools as well. And so I shared in a group and I said, oh guys, I just discovered you can upload a bunch of numbers, you can upload bank statements, you can have it spit out these numbers, you can have it do math on it. It’s not perfect.
But then someone said, well try doing that in Gemini because then if you do it in Gemini. Gemini is a Google product. It works directly with Google Sheets, so you can export it directly into Google Sheets. So yeah, I hadn’t thought about that. I tried it, and it turns out it did work a little bit better using that.
So for me it’s more the challenge of different tools that are out there, you know, and then there are new things that come out like Veo 3 is a new one, which is a video production platform, people creating some mind-blowing new, you know, new videos. I get excited about that because the last 30 years, you know, 30 years ago, when I was in high school, I was interested in becoming an animator. And this was back in the age of hand-drawn animation. And, you know, very quickly it turned to computer animation, you know, and at the time, the hand-drawn animation studios were fearful that this was going to decimate their industry. Well, now, flash forward 30 years later, there’s way more animated movies, animated TV shows, and animated content that’s produced than there was before the dawn of computer-assisted animation.
I think that’s going to happen with, you know, television production. You know, my brother actually works in television production, and it’s very, very, very expensive and time-consuming to create television content. You know, you have to hire lots of people. You have to rent big spaces, and you have to rent equipment. You know, we may get to a point where there, you know, you can create television.
You can create what looks like real TV on a much less expensive scale, not needing to hire as many people. But what ends up happening is then it produces a lot more content, a lot more specific content, a lot more narrow niche type of content to meet everyone’s different needs. So the same way that 25 years ago. We had a handful of media, you know, sources out there. We had CBS, NBC, ABC, we had Fox News.
We had those kinds of big sources. And now we have many, many more sources to meet every different kind of interest out there. So a similar thing, I think could happen with video production. That’s just kind of a side on that.
Chad Franzen: 08:26
Yeah. You know, with, with AI, you know, on my phone, if I, if I hit Google on my phone, it comes up basically like the Google feed is basically a sports article and then some, then some sort of new AI that I could benefit from sports article, some sort of new AI that I could benefit from, and they all look great. But then you have to pay for every single one. So it’s like streaming services. Which ones, which ones do I pay for and which ones do I just ignore?
John Corcoran: 08:50
Well, that’s a great point, right? I mean, we don’t no one wants to enter a world where all of a sudden we have to pay for ten different streaming services, or, and we have to pay for ten different AI tools out there. So I think people will be selective about it. And to a certain extent. You know, it might be similar to cable, like cable television, right?
Where, you know, there’s some kind of diversification, where there’s a lot of different channels, there’s a lot of different networks. And then people get sick of that. And so then there’s some kind of consolidation and maybe ChatGPT buys other tools or Google buys other tools. And so they all become part of one subscription together. That’ll definitely shake out, I think, over the next, you know, five, ten years or so.
Chad Franzen: 09:34
Yeah, I could see that. Okay. Next topic. Someone in your network who has influenced you recently?
John Corcoran: 09:40
I had a great conversation, an interview with Ed O’Keefe. Ed is someone who’s been a friend of Rise25. He and Jeremy both live in Chicago, so they know each other really well. He’s been a client, and this is a perfect example of why I recommend people do podcasts all the time, because he’s someone that I, you know, he’s busy. I’m busy.
He has seven kids. I have four kids. We’re not going to like, just, you know, drop everything and hop on a call and catch up. But when you use a podcast for it, it’s a great excuse to catch up with one another and you record it, you upload it, you, you turn it into an episode, you are highlighting someone. So I’m telling others about Ed and the work that he does.
He’s got a guy who has just done so many different things. He started supplement companies. He’s been a motivational speaker, loves speaking on stage. He has, you know, something called Offer Wingman, where he partners with companies that are doing masterminds and selling into communities, and he helps them with improving their offers. And so it was just such a great excuse to catch up with someone.
And then, of course, what ends up happening, this happens all the time. Then after the conversation is over it is like, hey, how can we keep this going? Like, how can we work together in the future? And so we have another call scheduled where we’re going to talk about ways in which we can collaborate. And so that, you know, is an ideal scenario when you are interviewing someone that you haven’t had a chance to catch up with in a while, there’s a lot of potential synergies between your company and and their company and ways in which you can explore other ways to, you know, do more work together.
Chad Franzen: 11:13
Yeah, it sounds good. Well, he does all that stuff. And seven kids, did he mention that he sleeps at all?
John Corcoran: 11:19
I don’t think he sleeps at all. But he comes from 13 kids and his wife comes from eight, so? So they’re clearly the slackers of the family.
Chad Franzen: 11:28
I can tell. Yeah. All right. Next one. Maybe an issue in your industry that you find yourself having to deal with.
John Corcoran: 11:36
Yeah, an interesting one we’ve been experimenting with internally is how to get more views to YouTube videos. Now, YouTube is the number two search engine out there. And so people go directly to YouTube and they search for content. They also search on Google. And what do you know?
One of the top results is YouTube videos. So one way or the other, people are ending up on YouTube. And if it’s a ghost town, if you’ve got seven views in some video, it doesn’t convey a lot of credibility. And so we’ve developed a process where One, we get more views to certain YouTube videos where it’s a priority. We spend some money on real, you know, English speaking, speaking viewers ads to English speaking viewers where they will view these videos, and then so then your view count goes up so you get more exposure that way.
But then also in addition you are telling your guest about it. So you would do this with a key referral partner like an Ed O’Keefe like I mentioned earlier, or strategic partner or someone that you interview that you know, it’s a really important relationship for you. And then, you know, you got to take this off your plate because everyone’s busy and they don’t have time to do this, but you send a series of polite messages to that person letting them know, hey, we’re getting we’re we’re driving some traffic to this video to get some more exposure for it and then send them an email a week later says, hey, guess what? It’s up. Our view counts over 1000 views.
Send an email a week after that. Hey, guess what? The view count is over 3000 views. Send an email two weeks after that. Hey, guess what the view counts over?
You know, 10,000 views, you know. And these things are all achievable. And in today’s busy world, I mean, I can’t keep up with all the push notifications and stuff and LinkedIn and, you know, and Instagram and all that kind of stuff. But if someone sends me an email and says, hey, remember that email we did three weeks ago, there’s now 5000 views. Oh, and send me an email a week later that says, oh, there’s now 10,000 views.
I mean, that’s really I’m paying attention to that. And also I value that person who is going and spending their own hard earned dollars to get views on that video. And so for you as a guest on other podcasts, it provides real value. And so that’s something that we’ve done. And we’re now beta testing it with clients, giving them the ability to do that as well.
Chad Franzen: 13:56
Last question for you, it’s kind of about maybe client work or clients or challenges that you see people facing, maybe who are clients or people that you’ve worked with. Is there a recent story that you have for us?
John Corcoran: 14:09
Yeah. So I was having a conversation with Kathy Weidner. KMC University is the name of her company. She is someone who is an expert in the chiropractic space, so she helps serve chiropractors. That’s her community.
And this is something that I see commonly that people are already putting out content. And they’re asking us, how do we get more exposure for the content we’re already creating? So they’re doing stuff on Facebook groups, they’re doing stuff on YouTube channels. And a lot of times it’s not getting a lot of exposure. So I say to people all the time, take this further and use a podcast to get more exposure for it.
You’re already putting in the effort. You’re already putting in the energy. So take it even further. And so that’s something that I, I say to people, I recommend to people, maybe you’re putting content on LinkedIn and you can take this and you can repurpose it, make it into an audio. You could even use AI voices these days to create it into an audio, you know, or maybe you’re sharing some content in a Facebook group or something like that.
And a lot of times, if you’re already creating this stuff, a company like ours can go and grab that and can turn it into podcast content without you having to lift a finger and you’re just getting more mileage out of it.
Chad Franzen: 15:23
So it just puts it on multiple different platforms that it’s not already on.
John Corcoran: 15:27
Exactly. And the thing that people don’t realize about podcasting is that you send it out once on one feed, and it goes multiple different places. So it goes to Spotify, it goes to Amazon Music, it goes to Pandora, it goes to, you know, all these different places and more are being added. And so you’re just getting all this additional exposure from it. So it’s a great thing to do if you’re already creating content.
Chad Franzen: 15:48
Okay. Good stuff. Any final thoughts on any of this stuff?