Craft Unique Experiences for Your Audience: Lessons from Disney World with Lou Mongello
Matt Levine talks to Lou Mongello, a former attorney who left the practice of law to follow his passion for Disney.
They discuss the business side of running a podcast, ways to consistently create unique experiences for your audience, and lessons from Disney World that you can apply to your business immediately.
- Lou is a passionate keynote speaker, mentor, and host of WDW Radio, a podcast, live video, site, events, books, and tours dedicated to celebrating the magic of Walt Disney World, the Disney Parks, Disney Cruise Line, Marvel, and Star Wars.
- Lou starts the conversation by sharing why he switched from practicing law to building a Disney-inspired business.
- Lou talks about writing and publishing a book today versus twenty years ago.
- The best part about writing a book today is that there are no more gatekeepers. There are many platforms that will help you get the idea from your mind and onto paper.
- Lou shares what it was like getting 47 rejections from book publishers and what he did to persevere.
- According to Lou, the key to overcoming rejection is to never take rejection personally and never question the validity of your concept.
- Matt and Lou talk about the dos and don'ts of starting a business and whether it’s advisable to go all in or have a safety net for when things don’t go as planned.
- For Matt, it makes sense to always have a safety net when starting a new business, especially if you have a family to provide for. But once you decide to do something, give it 100%.
- Matt explains why Being different is better than being better. You should never convince somebody that you're better than your competition. You’re better off explaining why you're different.
- Lou shares his thoughts on niching down and why even in your own niche, you can’t expect to resonate with everyone.
- Love and enjoy what you do every day. The day it stops being fun is the day you stop doing it.
- Lou covers the benefits of doing a live podcast recording versus uploading an edited podcast.
- For Lou, the most rewarding part of running a coaching business is seeing people learn, do the work, and come out different on the other side.
- Matt explains why he believes ideas today are worthless--especially if you don’t execute them.
- Having a plan and talking about what you will do is all great. But nothing beats going out and doing the work. For Matt, inspiration is for amateurs, professionals show up and do the work.
- Lou is a big fan of creating your best content because you never know who's listening and you never know the type of impact you’ll make in the world.
- Lou talks about The Dream Team Project--an initiative dedicated to bringing joy to seriously ill children and their families by making their dream of visiting Walt Disney World come true.
- Lou covers the theme of everything he does--it's not about doing things at scale. It's about connecting with one person and having a positive impact on their lives.
- Most creators are obsessed with vanity metrics and growing the size of their audience.
- According to Lou, instead of focusing on getting as many followers as possible, creators should focus on the people who are already part of the community. Take care of them and not only will they be loyal to you, they will also become your most vocal evangelists.
- Matt and Lou break down the evolution of podcasting--where we are right now, what the future holds, and whether it makes sense to start a podcast today.
- AI will not put podcasters out of business, but it's going to put podcasters who don't use AI out of business.
- For Lou, AI is a tool, it's not a replacement. Let it make you more efficient, let it make you more effective, but what you create still has to be authentically you.
- Matt and Lou close the discussion by talking about all the hot, new attractions in Disneyland and what it takes to create an immersive experience for both kids and adults.
Mentioned in This Episode:
102 Ways to Save Money For and At Walt Disney World by Lou Mongello
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