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We are going to be talking today about how important it is to consider adding podcasting, to your repertoire of reach your media, your way of engaging with your audience, building up some reputation for yourself, sharing your knowledge and expertise of the world. And of course, potentially making another income stream as well. 

If you are a coach or consultant, a course creator, and an expert building a business of any kind online, podcasting is one of the many ways that you can get out there, get seen, get found, get heard, and get clients. So today we have Mr. Michael Sharkey, who is an expert in all things podcasting.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Intro

So I spent 20 years talking on the radio and what I found so fascinating, this is before podcasts were a thing, is that we would have these big talk shows and we would spend hours and hours and hours, crafting these big segments and bits and that sort of thing.

But when people would come up to me, they would always say, Oh my gosh, that day, when you were talking about being stuck in traffic, that was the funniest thing. And I'm like, I don't even remember [music] saying that.

Hello. And welcome to another episode at this is going to be exciting. Now, this is going out on the course creators podcast, and it's a podcast about podcasting with a master podcaster. We are going to be talking today all about how important it is to consider, and I say, consider, um, consider thinking about adding podcasting to your repertoire of reach, your media, your way of engaging with your audience, building up some reputation for yourself, sharing your knowledge and expertise to the world. And of course, potentially making another income stream as well. If you are a coach, a consultant, a course creator, an expert, building a business of any kind online, podcasting is one of the many ways that you can get out there, get seen, get found, get heard, and get clients.

So today we have Mr. Michael Sharkey, who is the podcast host of "Your Podcast Coach". And he is an expert in all things podcasting. So great to have you here Michael.

Sarah, it's great to be with you. Thank you for allowing me to come on and talk about the thing that I love the most, which is the power of spoken word and creating a meaningful and unique podcast.

It's so good. And we are today going to be picking Michael's brain for a few tips on what should we consider when we set up a podcast? What kind of things should we think about before we make that decision? What do we do when we've decided to make the decision? Where do we even begin? And what kind of steps might a Course Creator go through.

If you are going right. I'm going to put this podcast together. I'm going to go live. How do I now feel this good stuff that's going to attract my target audience and give them great fun, good entertainment, good information as well? So it could be picking away at and be sharing all of that with you on this show.

Now, before we get there and Mike and I were just chatting before we came on today, uh, we, we've had to rearrange this appointment a couple of times because I've just moved 2,300 kilometers away from the North of Western Australia down to the South of Western Australia. And I was feeling a bit sorry for myself because it's been a tough move, but Michael then went and trumped me big time. So, Michael, you've done a pretty epic move yourself recently, hey.

I did. I moved from St. Petersburg, Florida, which is on the West coast of Florida, uh, down to the Southern part of Mexico in Oaxaca de Juárez. So we rented a house down here and we, my family basically said, look, "We're not going to take anything unless it fits in a suitcase or in our carry-on back."

So, you know, basically, it was a suitcase, a carry-on bag, and a few pets mind you that we actually made the trek with. But we figured it all out and it took some logistics, but we're here. And, uh, as I was commenting before we started, I think you're more set up than me because I didn't even get to move my furniture. So when we got here, it's been like, kind of a cool thing here in Mexico to buy authentic furniture. But that takes some time. So, you know, the backdrops a little different than normally I would have, but, you know, nonetheless, you're there and I'm here. So we made it.

How to start podcasting - It's really easy

Amazing. We have made it. We are here. Now, I'm excited. I started my podcast back in, I think it was early 2015. You know, and I, I was really excited, predominately my motivations were reaching more people with my message. You know, I, I, my personal goals are, I want to help as many people as I possibly can. And so I saw podcasting as a fantastic medium to do that.

So I got started, got the podcast together. One thing that surprised me. Well, actually not just surprise me, blew my mind was how easy it was to do. I, in my head that had this thing, that it was going to be a really complicated procedure. You were going to have to be super techie. Uh, I don't know, I don't know what kind of thing I created in my mind, what it was going to be like, but it was a lot simpler than I had imagined. And I also found it even more fun than I imagined, you know, I kind of thought I'd...

It's addicting...

Have to. I know, I honestly, I thought that it would be like preparing to deliver training. You know, that's my background, I'm an educator. I'm going to run a session. So in my head, I was like I got to plan a workshop. You know, you're going to have to find all this content and put, and it was just really easy.

I realized that my most popular ones were the ones where I was just sharing, giving information, but doing so in a, in a conversation, in a manner like you and I having a chat at the moment. And it was just so exciting. I love it. I had to put it on pause for a couple of years because I went and took a job as a director of a university, but I've come back to it very, very recently. Uh, and I cannot believe the momentum of how quickly it's getting downloads and subscribers to it, without me having yet even done any promotion whatsoever. I haven't had a chance. So I think there's a lot to be said for the fact that if it's there, you're going to get found. Um,

Oh, yeah, absolutely!

And that's, you know, Michael, what is it for you that is so powerful, so important, so exciting about podcasting. Why did you get into it and why have you dedicated your career to helping other entrepreneurs get on the podcasting platform?

Well, I think really what it comes down to is, you know, and you said it a minute ago, you know, w some of your best episodes are just when you're having a chat, just when you're, when you're being yourself. And I think, you know, what, what, what really gets me out of bed in the morning is the ability to help people break down some barriers so that they can be themselves. And then when they're, when they're truly themselves in the, in the space of a podcast. So that, that, you know, I always, I always tell people to sort of take it down to how the listener listens.

You know, headphones are on or that your buds are in that sort of thing. And when it's done, right, it's such an intimate experience. So when you have this, this moment where a person is, and again, I really, you know, Your Podcast Coach is really about coaching people to, to maybe sometimes be a little more vulnerable, go a little bit deeper with their content, because when you do that, And you connect with somebody, that is such a powerful medium.

I take nothing away from all the other media in the world. You know, I do a lot of stuff on YouTube and obviously, we're doing video and audio today, but when it, when it comes right down to the moment of audio, when, um, you know, and I, it's funny because I, I shared this story with you on email, when you told the story with the other woman about, you know, you said that no matter what, if I had to clean toilets, I would do it for my family and to, and to support my family. Um, that resonated with me one, because I feel the same way. But in that moment I had my AirPods in, I was, I think it was riding my bike through town and I just...

I had a moment. I don't even, I didn't even know you, but I had that moment. I connected with you and that's what makes podcasts so powerful is that when you connect with somebody, you're connecting on such an incredibly deep level. So that's why, when I like you, like what you said a moment ago is sort of that dedication to help people tell a story. To help people tell their story because that power of connectedness, that power of relatedness goes so deep. It goes, you know, and again, you can do great interviews, you can do those things, but it's that connectedness that relatedness, that I think really is the core of why podcasts are so popular right now.

The art of storytelling

I love that, you know, that, that, that whole storytelling. For me as an educator, it's something I've had to learn. I have really had to practice to get good at it because I'd come from a world where we're passing on facts, information, things like that. I know I used to sort of be really stuck in my ways when I went into becoming keynote speaker that I would come up and I would present rather than keynote, keynote speak.

You know what the keynote speak is, uh, far more about weaving a story and a journey into what it is that, the main lesson they're teaching. And I really struggled with that. I, and I think a lot of Course Creators, Educators that are listening to today's show, um, can probably relate. Um, but what I have found from my own experiences, very much the same thing, the more I've shared about me and about my real life, rather than just the information that people are coming to me for, the more connection I have had with my community and the more my community is turned into a community rather than just a group. Um, and the things have to be said for practicing, developing that storytelling skill, which doesn't have to be, you know, like this perfect hero's journey.

You know, you literally can just pay... I've moved house this week. It's been really sucky and I can't believe how many spiders are here, right. Compared to where I was living before. Sharing, sharing little snippets of my real life. I notice you've got a book on your favorites list, actually that, um, I very recently read only about two weeks ago.

Absolutely loved it. Um, on this topic, the Building a StoryBrand. Um, so that's, that's a fantastic book for anyone. I think he's new to, how do we market in a way that's not buy my stuff!? How do we market it in a way that makes people just want to jump in and, and go on an adventure with us?

Yeah, the Building, the Building a StoryBrand, uh, it's funny. Cause you, you, I heard you say a moment ago, the hero's journey and that's such the, sort of the typical storytelling and Donald Miller from StoryBrand, um, and a lot of entrepreneurs will use sort of that story concept, uh, for what they do. Um, but it's funny, I've noticed with, with a lot of P a lot of times with podcast is they say, well, I'm going to tell a great story, but then it's just like, how quickly can I sell you my course, or how quickly can I do that?

And I always try to remind people just to allow listeners to know who you are. Yes. You want to tell them all day what you do, but allow them to know who you are because when they know who you are, even like you said, I moved to a house and there's spiders everywhere. Or I live in a place that, you know, I come from the coast and now I'm living in a high desert and I'm dealing with allergies that I've never had in my life, you know, but those types of things allow a listener to have that connection. Like I talked to, you know, that relatedness, whatever it is, you know, so that's why one of the things that excited me about this conversation with you is the concept of the Edupreneur and these, you know, not just a course creator, but somebody that cares so much about something that they've dedicated their life to teaching it.

Well, that's the same passion that's inside. So it's just a matter of tapping into those passions, whether you use the hero's two journeys, or you just tell a story about what you had for breakfast. It's about that relatedness, that, that when you do it right, and when you really sort of practice that and have those vulnerable moments, uh, it just, it makes podcasts so amazing. It makes storytelling and it makes the relationships so much more powerful.

I love it. Today, it's actually really funny we're talking about this right now because having just moved to this brand new town. I just I've gone so far. I don't know a single person here at all, and I have to admit I've been so lonely this week.

Ridiculous. Sitting here feeling sorry for myself. I was picturing... Felt like a lost sock, who anyway... um, last night I've, may have had a glass of wine in hand. I'm feeling both myself and I thought, you know what I'm going to do. I'm going to go to my town's Facebook page. You know, all these, uh, all these towns have little Facebook groups now for...

Yeah.

Community news and views and things like that. And I know I'm going to be that crazy town person, and I'm just going to start posting, "Does anyone want to be my friend?" I don't know, I had to finish a couple of more wines before I was brave enough to do it. But I decided to just put some more into it to just try and avoid looking too desperate.

And I did actually did write kind of tell a little story. And I, and I put this meme of the, one of those minions with a crazy hat on. Uh, I just, why this is going to come across as the craziest lady post ever, but I'm lonelier than a lost sock. And I'm sure I can't be the only one. And then I just put like a weird dating profile about myself. Things like, I really like wine, too much. Point number two. Um, uh, my hubby works a lot. Uh, I will send you irrationally mad at him about something ridiculous. Uh, so, but you better be ready to come around with wine when that happens. We can swap lost socks. Yeah. And I can feel, I guess, trying to put all these scenarios, things that were ridiculous, but honestly, the amount, amount of messages I got back absolutely blew my mind. Because people are going, "Ha ha ha! I also get mad at my husband for no reason whatsoever. We should tote me up." You know. People connected with some of the things I said. Like, "Oh my gosh, you are so me." And now I've got a whole heap of girlfriends that I'm about to go and meet, which is going to be amazing. So it doesn't have to be hard. Does it? Yeah. Drop those little things that show people that you're as human as they are at home. We are connected...

Right. And it, and sometimes it is literally that simple, you know, I mean, as a husband, I will defend the husbands, but sometimes we say stupid things and sometimes we're idiots. And I realized that because my wife would probably have responded on that board going, "Let me tell you about my husband..." But it's funny because even just what you said a moment ago, I mean, here, we're leading very parallel lives. We've been, you know, kind of both in new towns. We don't know anybody. And I think last week for me, I was just like, you know, I have to get out of the house a lot, take walks, you know, go work, you know, try to go to my local coffee shop and things like that. And I'm in a new town and I'm like, "Oh, I don't know anybody." And I just like, for a couple of days, I just was like, Ugh, What did I do? Why am I here? You know, you sort of go through those moments of self-doubt. But it's funny. I only say that because you just shared a story that I immediately related to and you know, it makes me think about...

I think something that I may have said to you, um, you know, whenever I first emailed you, my background is actually broadcast radio. So I spent 20 years talking on the radio and what I found so fascinating, this is before podcasts were a thing, is that we would have these big talk shows and we would spend hours and hours and hours, you know, crafting these big, you know, uh, segments and bits and that sort of thing.

But when people would come up to me, they would always say, Oh my gosh, that day, when you were talking about being stuck in traffic, that was the funniest thing. And I'm like, I don't even remember saying that,

but that's the thing is that, that, that, that was one of those moments for me that I was like, okay, as podcasts really started and you know, 2013, 2014, 2015, when you started to see this thing rise, it sort of occurred to me that, the same thing holds true. It's that if you can tell a great story that is just simply relatable, it doesn't have to be a Charles Dickens story or whatever. It just has to be had that sense of relatedness. That people will connect with you. And then they'll feel something. They'll laugh. They'll, they'll carry on about their husband or their wife or what they had for breakfast or getting stuck in traffic. And it just brings it, it's literally brings a sense of connection.

First things first before you jump

Love it. So we obviously want to be comfortable with the fact that we can just share ourselves. We can share our stories. We can obviously, as entrepreneurs Course Creators also share our knowledge and our tips. So if I was to be starting from scratch, uh, anyone listening today, who's like, right. Um, I think I'm ready for this. What's one of the first things you kind of get them to think about before they make the decision for going all-in on the podcast?

I would, I always ask people why, you know, what is your reason like, is it, are you checking a box? And I get this a lot with clients who say, "Well, I just, um, I guess it's what I have to do." And I always back them up and say, okay, well, yeah, it's a great, it's like we discussed a few minutes ago. It's a great source for growing your audience and building your brand and all these things. But when you, you know, as you go go a couple of levels deeper. And if you're just kind of doing it and you're lukewarm about it, I actually recommend you don't do it at that point. Find a deeper reason to do it. And you know, I, I. I think if you ask yourself why, and you can't come up with a good enough answer, then just step away. Maybe spend some more time doing some Instagram stuff or some YouTube stuff. But when you're ready to really go deep into why you do what you do, why you teach, what you teach, why you love what you love.

That's where having a podcast comes in. It is very easy to do. It's very easy to get started. It's that sort of thing. It's addictive. Like we talked about a little while ago, but when you, when you do it, And again, I'm kind of like, this is my way of doing it, and this is the way I coach people to do it. And I want you to be, you know, the, the act of publishing a podcast episode has a sense of vulnerability to it and that sort of thing. But when you do that, when you ask yourself why, and you go, Hey, I really want to do this because this is how I can connect with people, you know, in a bigger way, in a deeper way. Well, Now you're onto something. So kind of that first thing is why, and just making sure you're doing it, you know, cause it's the right thing for you.

Sounding like a million bucks with $200 equipment

And then it's really about just, you know, I, I recommend equipment that costs about 200 US Dollars. And I always say to people, you can spend a couple of hundred dollars. You spend a little less, you can spend a lot more, but you can spend a little bit of money and sound as good as the biggest names in podcasting. You don't need to spend, you know, thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars. A couple of hundred dollars. You can get, you know, this microphone that I use is a $25 microphone.

What!

Yeah, it's a 20 it's. Well, I take that back. It's about a $35 microphone, but it's a high quality microphone. You know, it's plugged into a couple of pieces of equipment that go into my computer, you know. And it's just it's. But, but what I always tell people is like, yes, you can record. You can do a lot of things with your iPhone. You can do. I just listened to your podcast episode today with your guests, talking about shooting videos on I-phones. Great stuff, by the way.

But as I was thinking about, you know, you can record a podcast on an iPhone, but the problem that you run into, is that when people listen to podcasts, they tend to listen to one right after the other, after the other. So let's say they're listening to your podcast. Good quality, good sound. And then they listened to like a big name podcast. Good quality, good sound. But then you put something out there that is not so good. Well, the problem is, is that the listener then thinks, Oh, the quality is not so good. It's probably, you could have the greatest story in the world, but if a person can't hear it, physically hear it. Well, then you'll never be able to tell a story. So I always tell people, you can, you can literally sound as good as the biggest names in podcasting for $150 to $200.

Amazing. And I know that you've got a gift, a special gift for all of the listeners today as well. That includes the information on some of the equipment that you recommend. You get started on a budget. So make sure you stick around because Michael's going to be sharing that a freebie with us at the end of today's episode.

All right. So, uh, we can, uh, Think of our, why? No. Why are we doing this so that we have the passion to move forward? And then that's important for a lot of reasons, which I'm sure your show is here. One of the things that I found is, um, you know, just because you, there is a commitment to it, you've got to keep putting stuff out there.

Um, and of course it's not just the fun bit of jumping on here and having great chats with wonderful people. You, you've got it. You've got the editing to do, you've got the platform to, to manage and to put everything together. Um, it does take a little bit of time. It takes a bit of work. So, you know, you have to be absolutely certain, you want to jump in on this thing, right?

Yeah. You do. And what I try to encourage people. It, you know, because most of the people that I work with are business owners and entrepreneurs. There are a lot of services out there that will do most of the work for you. So if you're thinking, Oh my gosh, I don't know how to. I don't know how to edit audio, or I don't know how to use this software, that software, you know, really what it comes down to is you just need to be able to get, you know, a good microphone, something that sounds good.

As I said a little while ago so that you're at the same level as the biggest names in podcasting. And then something to record it into in your computer. And you could use, you know, QuickTime player or, uh, there's some free software and stuff that I'll tell you about at the end. Um, so it's really not that complicated. And then. You can either choose to do the editing and the publishing yourself, or you can pay somebody to do that. But I will tell you that honestly, once you... it's just like anything in life, once you do it, a couple of times, you're like, "Oh wow, this is actually very easy." Um, it's just, you want to make sure that you, you balance the time so that you do it.

Surviving the first 30 episodes - Planning

And the big thing I'll tell you. And this is the, uh, this is sort of the killer of all podcasts, is that if you don't plan... I always, I, every person I work with, I always say, think of your first 30 episodes. And they're like, wow, 30 episodes. I don't know, what am I going to talk about for 30 episodes? But if you sit down pen to paper, you don't, you're not putting it in stone, but you say, okay, well I could talk to this person, but then I could do an episode telling my origin story, or I could do an episode talking about why I got into this business in the first place or whatever those things are for you.

You get to that 30 episodes really quick. And when you remember, or when you realize that 45% of all podcasts in Apple podcasts and Spotify, haven't been updated in over a year. Which means somebody at really. 45% of all. And I know I can speak specifically to Apple podcasts because they're the biggest provider, but 45% have not been updated in over a year. And now some of those are podcasts. Like I have a podcast that I did from 2015 to 2017 that I still keep live. But a lot of those are people that were really gung-ho, "We're going to do this! It's going to be the best thing ever!" And they get on average six episodes in and they run out of steam. So, um, yeah, so I always tell people, like, if you can just really think about your first 30 episodes and if you can do that, I mean, like, think about that. If you, if you release every week, that's seven months, if you do seasons, that could be your first three seasons. So really thinking that, that gives you the roadmap that, that allows you to see sort of down the road with your podcast so that, you know, right out of the gate, you're going to have success with it. You're not going to be what they call a Podfader. Somebody that gets really, really excited and then five or six episodes in decides to move on to some other shiny object.

I love that making a clear plan. And you've mentioned a couple of things though, which I'll touch on. You mentioned the origin story. So for those listening, who've never heard of an origin story. And what, what is that? Um, I'd recommend checking out the book Expert Secrets by Russell Brunson. He talks a little bit about what the origin story is and how to craft one of your own. Um, we won't go into that. Maybe that's a, there's a, there's a topic for a future podcast episode building your origin story.

Um, but yeah, now I'm exactly the same. I find that, you know, when you've got a plan, you. You know where you're going and I'm somebody who I prefer to kind of batch my activities. So if I'm going to film online courses, for instance, I will have all of my course plan completely ready, and I will sit in the studio and I will film a film, film, film film until the whole lot is done in one, go and then send that all off to an editor and one go with my podcasting.

Very, very similar I'll plan out what it is that I'm going to do. I will batch out all of those, uh, sort of next five to 10 episodes in one sort of big hit either a day or two. Um, and then boom, I send that whole lot over to an editor and they edit and publish it all for me and schedule those episodes to auto release, um, onto the platforms. And for me...

It's the best way to do it.

What I, yeah. What I found works best for my time. I think when you focus on one activity, you're far more productive. Um, and also for me, I'm very protective of what I spend my time on as a business owner. I'm thinking, you know, of course I could very quickly and easily edit my episodes. Of course I could. It's it's not technically challenging to do. But as a business owner, I believe our time is better spent doing strategic activity. Um, you know, planning your, how are you going to make money or making money rather than doing things you could potentially outsource for, you know, a few bucks basically.

Absolutely. I agree.

What software to use

Yeah. So, um, with, you know, people have got their plan, they know what kind of emphasis they're going to start talking about. It could be teaching, sharing, tips and information, answering core questions from the audience. It could be doing interviews with experts like we're doing today. Um, it can be simply a bit of storytelling sharing experiences of your own, um, and lots of other things that you could be talking about in podcasts. So what would somebody do next? I mean, let's say, do we go straight down to software? And if there is, what kind of software out there, uh, would you recommend to a newbie?

Well, I think at this point, you know, kind of, as I think about the steps and, and one of the crucial steps that sort of gets lost in this and back to the, you know, sort of imagine the entrepreneur that's gung-ho and they, they go crazy and they're like, yeah, I'm going to do it. And then six episodes, they, they, they fade away, um, is just practice. Is once you get the, you know, the couple of hundred dollars and you get the really, really nice microphone and you're, you're set and ready to go. And you use, you know, to your, to your point about software. Um, I use the Adobe Suite, so I use Audition, uh, but there's free software called Audacity. Um, and again, you could record into like QuickTime on your Mac and things like that. So there's a GarageBand is another thing if you have, if you're a Mac user, you know, but once you get...

...to mine as well, when I'm. When I'm just doing audio-only. So any video editors listening or anyone doing Course Creating, if you have software that you're using to film and edit your online course videos, it also works for doing your audios for your podcast episodes as well.

Yeah. So that's the thing, is it really, I mean, you're not trying to, you know, you're not trying to, you know, find the newest flashiest software. Use what works. Cause you're really, all you're trying to do is get an MP3 file of you're not to get too in the weeds, but MP3 files are what we use to upload to get our podcasts on our iPhones and our Samsungs and our Androids all over the world.

So, I have everything set up, how do I start?

So really in that first crucial step once you kind of have, okay, I've got my equipment set up. Uh, I always just say practice. Take a couple of days and just get used to talking into a microphone. Get used to being, you know, as I say, sometimes being in a room by yourself, talking to yourself, talking through ideas, talk, and like have fun with it.

I, I give people scripts, but I always tell people just pretend like you're in the middle of an episode. Pretend like you're in the middle of a story and just start talking because what happens is... For all the, for all the stuff that we do on social media, with images and with videos and YouTube and everything, people have a little trouble with the sound of their own voice. And I've just found that if you just kind of get into a room and start recording and then listen to what you sound like and get over that first, like, "Ooh... Do I really sound like that?" Sort of, kind of have fun with it, get over it. Because all you're doing there is you're just getting comfortable because when the time then comes to start recording episodes, you're not, you've kind of got past the shyness and you've maybe taken a leap beyond being timid. And now you're in a place where you're ready to do it. Now, granted, I work with people who are like, let's go, I, I can talk all day, but I also respect the fact that not everyone is that way. And the easiest way to overcome some of those initial obstacles about, can I do this or overcoming some fear is just to sit with a microphone and a recorder and just start talking. And when you do that, you find that you get into a flow and you get into a rhythm. I'm sure very much like the courses that you've done over the years. I even heard you talking about it in your podcast episode is you have to kind of get warmed up a little bit and you get warmed up and then you get going. But once you get going. It feels great.

So really in sort of that, that next step is to just kind of get in there and practice and make a few mistakes. And I always say nobody's ever going to hear this audio, but it's actually fun to record everything and keep it. So that when you're like a big podcast superstar, these are your outtakes from whenever, before you ever published any episodes. So, but really kind of that next step is just to kind of get in there and get comfortable and have fun so that you can feel what it feels like to do a podcast.

The buzz

Amazing. And there's also nothing quite like that feeling of going into your backend dashboard and seeing that lots of people have subscribed and downloaded. That's just, it's such a buzz going. "The reason I started this is actually happening. You know, people are, I'm helping people, people are hearing information." This is it's so exciting when you get it's such a buzz.

Well, and I will tell, I will tell you this cause I've, I. I experienced this myself, but I've had multiple clients say this to me. Is they say, okay, well, I, you know, I just published my first five episodes and I'm seeing the downloads come in. This is fascinating. But then they look at their phone and they look on Apple or Spotify or Google Play and they see their podcast. And then they show their kids. I have two teenagers. So when my daughter saw that dad's on Spotify. Whoa, dad, you're really on Spotify. So now this is true story. I actually, not too long ago. I heard my daughter say, "Yeah! Dad's on Spotify." And I'm just like, yeah. Yeah! Life achieved at that point. Right? So...

Maximizing available, affordable resources

That is gold. Honestly. I know. That's so funny because you saying that I literally had that exact same moment. I'm like, Oh my gosh, that's me. My, I have a thing. It's very very exciting. Love it. And so, you know, there's a few other little kind of admin things that surprise me. Not surprised me, but you know, I kind of, I was like, I was that gung-ho one. I was like, I've got to do a podcast. I'm going to do it now. Raw like jumped straight in without planning whatsoever properly. And I kind of, I figured everything out along the way, rather than sort of mapped out. Right. What's the journey I'm going to go on. What are each of the steps I'm getting now. I'm just like, I'm in, I'm swimming.

Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.

And I was like, "Oh, yeah. Hang on a minute. I need an opening jingle. Oh, hang on a minute. I need the podcast cover image. Oh, hang on a minute. I need, you know, where do I host it or, um, Oh, do I want a separate website for my podcasts?" Like all these kinds of things came up and I, and I was real slapdash and I did actually waste a bit of money on the way. Cause I was like, yeah, I want a whole separate website just for my podcast. Well, that was a stupid idea. I don't know why I did that. And it was, I mean, it's not a stupid idea for everyone, of course, but you know, for me, I was just so excited about making a thing that I, I went in deeper than I needed to. And we later found out, you know, I got the jingle done on someone by someone on Fiverr, you know, five bucks. Somebody made my jingle for me on Fiverr. You know, I got some on my first podcast cover. Um, I got done on Fiverr. You know.

Those things I was smart about. I was like, just go with the minimum viable product for now. And, you know, I can change it later on. Um, but we don't have to be like all in on this stuff. It was just websites and stuff. Right.

No, no. And you know, it's funny, you mentioned Fiverr. That's a great resource. And what I would say to that though, is, you know, um, it's, I forget the percentage, but a high percentage of people discover podcasts through the artwork. And we don't really think about that. We think, okay, well, we got to create great content and we need to have good, you know, good quality and that sort of thing. But, you know, spending. You know, and again, you can do it for $5. You can do it for $10, but that thumbnail artwork that you create for your podcast will help with discoverability.

And I think a lot of times people are, you know, not so much now, I think, you know, if you rewind the tape a couple of years, you scan, you know, through podcasts and you see some pretty amateur looking thumbnails. And I think people are like, realize that you can go on Fiverr and get a really nice thumbnail for $5, but, you know, Go ahead and spend the time, just to make sure the artwork is good. I don't think you need an extra website. You know, a tab on your existing website is fine. And for some people they don't even do a website. It's just, you know, you can discover this podcast through Apple podcasts or however people listen. And then when the time is right, maybe you add a tab to your existing website for show notes and things like that. You know, not everybody has a huge team of people or they can't do editors at the time. So it's really about like, okay, what can you, you talked MVP a moment ago. What can you do to kick off your podcasts? With the absolute bare essentials, you know, don't go crazy.

Don't think you've got to have like everything all figured out, you know, get the right things, figured out, get your description, right. Get the artwork. Right. Make sure you get the publishing, which we can talk about, but really it's like, do you have the story to tell, do you have the roadmap set? Are you going to start your podcast? You know, you mentioned Russell Brunson a minute ago. I heard Russell Brunson talk about six months ago. And I've found the same thing is that for people that talk and people that just start the podcast, but they keep going. It's usually around the 30th episode that they kind of get a groove.

Like if you skip the practicing, if you don't take any of my advice, you just jump right in. But you keep going about episode 30, you're going to get into w you know, that really good flow. That really good groove. Now, you can get there a lot quicker by practicing and following the coaching that I'm doing, you know, but know that if you can kind of get into it and sort of, you know, uh, do the right things first. You're good.

Yeah, definitely. I, uh, I wish I hadn't jumped straight into doing a website, building everything at first time around. That's what I did. And honestly, like I said, I took that two year break to go work at the university. And when I came back to, to doing this podcast very recently, I was like, do you know what? I've just realized that all that matters are those episodes. You know, getting the audio out there is what's more important than all of the other stuff. Um, but this time around, I'm a bit more organized and I took things a bit with a bit more planning. And so, uh, I've been doing business doing this the smart way, because our time's limited and we need to have as much reach as possible if we're building a business behind everything that we're doing. Um, so I've found what's working for me is like you mentioned, I've put it, just put a tab on my own existing website saying podcast, which will redirect people there.

I also, um, video record all of my episodes. And have obviously have the audio recording. Audio recording goes up onto the various distribution channels. And I put the video with all of the show notes on my blog. So I'm actually using this content to fill my blog up, but I upload the video to YouTube and I embed the YouTube video into the blog post, meaning my website is now getting more traffic it's coming up in more search results of those episodes are being typed into Google. So more traffic for the site. Got more SEO for the site. Um, when people are then reading the blog, they're watching the YouTube video. So my YouTube video is getting more views. Which means that my YouTube channel is being boosted and of course, potentially getting more subscribers. So I've just found that you know, being a bit smart with how you use this content means that the time you're spending, you know, you and I sat here chatting today. Yeah. This is time from our businesses at the moment.

So it does have to, um, Work as hard for you as possible in return. And that's what I found. This organic content is invaluable for you in, in putting down lots and lots of roots all over the place in many, many ways that come back to you and your business, your products and your services. So I, this is another reason why I just love podcasting because it creates so much extra content for me, for SEO, for organic marketing purposes. It's just amazing.

That's the best model. Everything you just described. I wish. And, you know, and I will admit vulnerably that. Uh, I, over the last few months, I've let that slip a little bit in my world, but everything you just said that, you know, down to the YouTube videos and the way it can help with SEO. Um, transcribing your podcast, which creates all sorts of benefits for SEO. And, and all we're doing is we're taking this one moment. And repurposing it in all these different ways to help more eyes, more ears, more people come to your business. Absolutely. A hundred percent with everything you just said.

Making the critical decisions - content planning

It's so it's so powerful. Beautiful. Well, we're getting close to the end of this episode today. So, um, sort of what would be the next sort of, sort of final stages that, uh, our newbie podcasters would have to think about before they get going?

Well, yeah, I mean really kind of where we are is like, you've got the equipment you've been practicing. Well, really at that point. It's okay. Well, what do you want to do? Do you want to do every week? Do you want to do a season where you do 10 episodes and then take a couple of months off that sort of thing.

Do you want to do a lot of interviews? So you just kind of want to figure out what those episodes sound like. And again, you don't need, I mean, There's there are people out there that do two hour long podcast episodes. You know, I always tell people if you keep it around 25 minutes, 30 minutes, maybe some of your episodes are 17 minutes. Some of them can be 35 there's no, it has, it doesn't have to be exactly 30 minutes every time, you know, you can sort of break down those barriers, but just thinking about what those episodes are.

And just like we're doing today. We're having a conversation. That's a podcast interview. You know, it doesn't have to be over complicated. You can over edit it where almost doesn't even sound natural. So allow conversations to be what they are, but really for that newbie podcaster, thinking about what you want your episodes to sound like. And one of the things I'm going to, I'm going to give you at the very, very end is some episode templates that allow you to sort of plug and play. Okay, well, this is an interview style episode. Or this is going to be a solo episode or an, or I even have an origin story template in there.

But then really it's about, you know, deciding, okay. How much can I truly give to a podcast? And that's why most of the people that I work with do seasons. So they'll do one new episode a week for say eight to 10 weeks. And then they take a breather for a couple of months or sometimes 10 weeks on 10 weeks off. But that 10 weeks off sort of gives them breathing room, but also gives them time to start planning and preparing and recording interviews for the next season. Whereas if you can't do every week, then don't do every week, you know, or if you can't, if you can't, because it's really important to be consistent, it's so important to be consistent. It's so important to do what you say you're going to do to your listener. So, if you say we're going to do every week, then do every week. But if you can do seasons, which are oftentimes very manageable, then just do that. And then you've got a nice season one, a nice season two, a nice season three. But then once you sort of figure that out, then it's just doing the work.

It's recording the episodes, it's going out, getting the interviews, you know, finding the people to talk to. And that always. Takes a little bit of work a little bit of time. That's why I recommend, don't try to do a hundred percent interviews right out of the gate. Get that confidence to do some episodes where you tell your story, or you tell a story about what's happening in your business or your world. Because those are just so much easier to do. Because you could just go in and hit record and start talking about whatever it is that is your subject matter or your passion. And then once that's done, I think sort of the, the bow on all of this is that if you're a newbie and you're excited and you're at this point, set a launch date. Set that date in the future, whenever you will have probably already said it at this point, but then start promoting to that date.

You know, if it's March 1st or June 1st or whatever it is, and start leading up to that moment so that there's some pomp and circumstance around your actual podcast release. And that gets, that gets your name out there that gets people talking about it, you know, and there's a few tips in there that, you know, always release with more than one episode on launch day and things like that.

But really it's just, once you start recording and you get it, you know, a hosting platform, which will publish to all these other places. Which I don't wanna get too much in the weeds, but basically once you do that, you've got a podcast.

You do, and it's going to be so much fun. Amazing that this is, this has been incredible. I really hope, and I'm sure that this is going to inspire lots and lots of people. I know there's heaps of Course Creators out there who are considering repurposing, for instance, some of their course training videos. Just simply resaving those videos as MP3s. Um, you know, adding an opening, adding an ending. Boom. You know, there's a lot, of course, creators listening who actually already have more than enough content to immediately launch a podcast without having to do very much work. Um, it's, it's incredible how both your podcasting can help inform and add value to your courses and your courses can add content to your podcasts.

So, um, course creators, this is a really powerful tool and something that should. Comes very naturally to you as teachers and educators, anyway. So, um, we have a gift for you from my course a day for anyone who's thinking about podcasts, or maybe already has one that you want to kind of take to the next level.

Freebie!

Um, Michael how can people get hold of that gift that if you're reading this, there is a link in the description area. So for those listening?

Yeah, it's my website. If you just go to yourpodcastcoach.com, but then put forward-slash Sarah, your name, uh, S A R A H. Makes sure the H is on the end, yourpodcastcoach.com/sarah. What I've put on there is I've got a bunch of freebies. I've got a seven-day podcast workshop where you're going to get a new email every day answering. Big podcast questions. These are questions. Some of the stuff that we've talked about, but go a little bit deeper in like how your podcast shows up on Spotify and what software you can use.

And I've also got a studio checklist in there, which I break down the exact equipment that you need so that you too can have a professional sounding studio for a couple of hundred dollars, you know, depending on what microphone you buy. Again, I always tell you, you can spend a lot of money on it, but you don't have to. Um, I've got the episode templates in there, which make it very easy when you're at that stage where you want to build an episode, you just plug and play those in there. I've got a couple of webinars that I've done that were really sort of my biggest webinars that really talk about common mistakes people make.

So I'm going to give that to you for free. Um, and then one thing that I want to do just for your audience. Is it over the course of like the next 30 days or so, uh, as people register for this and grab this free material, I'm going to start taking down names. I'm going to pick five people and five people. I'm going to do a one-on-one coaching session with. So I will pick the names. I will contact you. And really what I find is people want to know, Hey, am I doing this right? Is my idea any good? What do I do here? What do I do there? So I find it's just. You know, I would, 90% of the work that I do is coaching.

So I decided, you know what? I actually had this decision today. It's like, let's just do five. I was going to do one, but I was like, let's just do five. So it'd be a 30-minute session. We jump on a Zoom call. You just go, Hey, my idea is this. Or my idea is that. We talk it through. And I find that that gives people that, you know, with the free resources. And if you get one of the coaching sessions, really at that point, you're unstoppable. At that point, you are good to go. So it's yourpodcastcoach.com/sarah.

Outro

Amazing., I am definitely going to be signing up to get myself into that as well. I believe truly we can never, ever stop learning things. Always change. Even when we think we know how to do something, I just, I'm an, I'm a learning junkie myself. So I'm going to totally sign up to that very generous, Michael. Thank you very much, indeed. Now, if you want more information on any of the things that were discussed today, all of the links and notes will be in the comments description area below.

And of course you can reach out to Michael or myself directly. And if you want to start your own online courses, create a profitable income stream for yourself. Reach more people. I do have a gift, so you can grab my free Course Creation Starter Kit, which takes you through the 10 steps of creating your very own profitable online course. It's completely free.

And you can grab that at sarahcordiner.com/starterkit. And I will take you through how to get your course out of your head and out into the world, helping people and making you money. Thank you very much for your time today, Michael. It's been amazing having you here and I look forward to seeing all of you guys. Next time. See you soon.