Podcasting for Business: Strategies and Myths Debunked with Jill Hart

Catharine O'Leary: Hello everyone, welcome back to kick start the conversation and I am here with Jill Hart, who is the coach's Alchemist and well, as well as the host of you world order showcase Podcast. I'm very happy to have Jill on we were just talking about how old we both are right now because it's freezing a bazillion as I've been complaining to everyone, but Jill is here to, to talk to us about leveraging podcasts as well as a whole host of other things. So Jill, just tell us a little bit more about yourself and who you serve, and how you do so.

Well, thank you so much, Catharine, for having me on your podcast as the quiz queen. And I love that title. I think I told you that when you were on mine, I have life health and transformational coaches Be the change they want to see in the world. I'm so inspired by what they're doing out there. And they all have something so unique to offer. It just it makes me it just lights me up, to be able to help them get their message out. Because I really think that what they're doing in the world is actually changing the world and the way that we interact in the world. And it's just kind of an amazing thing. I went from a point in my life where I just felt like the whole world was ending and there was nothing good and, and then I started meeting health and life and transformational coaches, and it was just like, oh, wow, maybe we will make it maybe these people are like the reason that we're gonna make it. So that's why I get so excited about it. And I like to tell them about podcasting and how to attract clients with podcasts, because it's a really powerful platform, that if you don't make the most of it, if you're believing the three myths that are really common out there, you're, you're not likely to get very far as far as attracting clients with podcasts. And

Catharine O'Leary: so so we'll get into the three myths in a second. But are you talking about podcasts? Like any kind of like, whether you're guessing or hosting? Or is it better to to do one or the other? Or like, just go for it and do all of it?

Well, I would suggest that if you're not really familiar with it, that you learn how to be a good guest first. And then then you kind of have an idea of the the give and take of a podcast and then become that start your own podcast. And honestly, I can help you do both. But the three myths are mostly around being a guest on podcasts.

Catharine O'Leary: I love it. Okay, so let's go through those a little bit.

Okay, so the first one is that it doesn't matter which podcast you get on. And that, you know, people love to be featured on podcasts, but they don't really give a lot of thought about who the people are that are listening to those podcasts. If they're even people listening to them, there are very few podcasts that actually get downloads and listens and and so that kind of takes me into the next myth, which is it doesn't matter what you say on the podcast. And it does matter what you say. Because if you don't come with stories and an agenda, then one movie provided for you

Catharine O'Leary: may not be the one you want to be living evergreen in the podcast verse.

Exactly, exactly. And they do live out there forever. And people find them, you know, years and years later. I can remember my first podcast episode, and I'll get back to the other one. It was it was terrible.

Catharine O'Leary: Oh, I know. It's still up. I know. i Yeah, I hear you. And, and so I know that we talked about the weather for example right now, probably that's not best practice to be to be honest. Because it is podcasting is meant to be evergreen. You never know when this episode is going to be listened to. It could be like the dog days of August or something like that. So you do just podcast guesting tip for those out there that I just broke, which is try to stay away from dates. Try to stay away from like actual, like next month, we're going to be in Orlando for XYZ, if you can keep it as evergreen as possible that makes sure your content lives. You know, in in this evergreen world.

I don't know about you, but I personally feel whenever you make content with another person, that content belongs to both of you. And you can use the video footage to top it up, make sure it's out of it. There's there's a software out there that I tell everybody about called Read ve d.io And it's not an affiliate link. I'm not affiliated with them in any way whatsoever. It's just that they're a super simple way to make shorts. without having to hire somebody to do it for you, even if they're not a techy person, and their their training is really short. So just throw that out there for your audience. Perfect.

Catharine O'Leary: That's leveraging leveraging technology.

so leveraging technology. Yeah. And you know, every time you can find some little hack out there that's working for you share it with everybody,

Catharine O'Leary: exactly, for sure.

Because it helps keep them in business for one thing, and yeah, they're doing something right, you really want to boost those people up. So the third myth that people believe is that you're just going to get clients automatically by going on podcast. And that's not true. And you can't depend on the podcast host to do all the marketing of the episode. It goes back to you know, it's our content. I'm responsible for sharing and making shorts and getting some excitement going around this episode that's coming out. So it not only helps you get found, but it also helps the podcast that you're going on get found. And a podcast, there's, you know, 5 million podcasts out there right now, maybe 10 to 20,000 of them get any kind of traction at all. And you can go on podcasts that aren't that popular. If you know how to market the podcast. And you can you're, you're helping contribute back into what that podcast host is doing. And their their message like you know, your podcast is about leveraging technology, leveraging relationships, leveraging lead magnets, which is what quizzes are. And that's another thing that it's really important when you go on a podcast, to have a next step you want the listeners to take. So for your listeners, I would like to invite them to go and download the article that I wrote about the three myths, keeping you from attracting clients with podcasts, where I go into great detail about what these are and what you can do in the steps you can take to keep from falling into that trap and what you should really believe instead. And you can do that. Do you care if I give the link? No, no, please. Okay. It's a podcast alchemy academy.com. And then you have to put forward slash join j o i n in there. Otherwise, you're going to end up on my landing page where you can join the podcast, Alchemy Academy, if you'd like. Those are the main three things that people believe that really do keep them from finding clients or attracting clients with podcasts.

Catharine O'Leary: And this is again this is we're talking about podcast guesting. So when you are on a show that you're a guest on, you want to make sure that you are aligned with the audience that they have, that you you know, you have your agenda and your talking points that you want to talk to you like you did with your three minutes, which is brilliant. And then you also want to have lead them somewhere because they're not going to look you up, right? Like they're the you know, they're driving, they're they're working out, they're like, you know, or it's audio, they're not necessarily sitting at their computer, where they can type www dot whatever. So having a link that is easy to remember, that is you know, something that they can kind of Oh, yeah, the like, I'll catch that later. But leading them somewhere. Because what a lot of podcasts do podcast guessing and hosts for that matter is that they have these, you know, these fans out there that are just like kind of faceless, nameless carpooling people or what you know, that you have no actual connection with, that you can, you know, Foster, hey, I've got an offer, hey, I've got you know, like, you should listen to Jill, she's got this great new community going or this great new offer going, like, if I don't have you on my email list, I don't have a really firm way to connect with you. Because, you know, and that's what you want. You want to turn your listeners into, you know, contacts that you can actually connect with, you know, later on. Because, like, they're listening to you, they, they, they want to, you know, connect with you. So, that's what I see a lot of podcasts guests do is that they say, I'll just go to my website, and it's like, oh, the website is not the place to go. And the reason why is that there are too many bells and whistles on your website. You can go to the About and the bio and the contact and the media and oh my gosh, whatever the Meet the website is great for information. But it's not great to collect information. So you want landing, but I believe until you can, you know, we can talk about this. Yep. But I think you need a landing page that actually collects people's information so that you can then send them what they've asked for. So send them the the three myths as you said, and then they're on your, then it's up to you to nurture them from that point forward, if you if you agree with that.

I agree. Totally Catharine. And the thing is that you want there's four pillars, in my mind, for attracting clients with podcasts. And the first pillar is that you need to set up certain things before you ever start applying for podcasts. And it's important that you have a lead magnet, which a quiz is great, because what what you're doing with the episode and with the lead magnet is that you're, you're tantalizing them with something, you're giving them a bit of information, and you're wanting them to ask, okay, I need more information about that. So I'm gonna take this next step. And a quiz is great, because a quiz is like, Hey, I wonder if I fall into that category or this category that they were talking about, I'll go over there and take it. And if you can have a short, a short URL, and, and mine is admittedly long, and you've got to do something else at the end of it, so that's not the best. But if you keep a short URL, and send people there, and then they're, they're inspired to really do something, take the next step with you. And then then they're in your sphere, you can develop a relationship with them, they're getting a little bit more information about who you are, and what you're doing and how you can help them. And then you nurture them through your list and you nurture them in your group, if you can get them in your group, and then you direct message them. I mean, these are people that are reaching out to you, and they want to hear from you, because they're listening to you. They're, they're consuming your content. How exciting would it be if you sent them a voice message as to hey, I noticed you were on my list, I noticed you signed up for the quiz. You want to chat about your results?

Catharine O'Leary: Yeah, I was gonna say no to that. And I think that we talked when I was on your podcast earlier that, you know, we're coming into an age where customization and personalization is really important. You know, kind of the cookie cutter, you know, dear first name, you know, you know, this idea of everyone gets the same message. I mean, that works for some things. But, you know, being able to really spice it up and customize on segments within your list, that communication, that messaging that's going to set you apart from from anyone else. So if you are able to do that through your quiz, or you know, at the back end through maybe it's not a lead generation quiz, maybe it's a quiz within your group, after the fact that's fine, too. But really being able to customize and talk directly to your clients. But oh, even wait, when you came in you were tech struggling? How you doing with that? Like, I mean, have you have you overcome that hurdle? Because maybe you need to be moved into like a different bucket and a different segment. Because you're, you know, you're good now and now you're moving on to content creation? Or are you moving on to getting over perfectionism? Or are you moving on to, you know, breaking that six figure, mark, or that seven, figure, mark, whatever, you know, whatever that is, you can actually keep the conversation going, which is really important in the days, you know, in the days to come,

I think it also helps deliverability rates when you segment your list, because you're sending information to people that really want the information instead of sending it just to everybody. And then you're only getting you know a few people opening your emails, that really impacts how many people see your emails in the place that you want to be seen, especially in Google. Because you know, they stick you in the dreaded spam folder or promotions.

Catharine O'Leary: And that's only going to get worse as Yeah, some some changes that are coming. You know, making sure that your emails are getting to the people that you want them. They signed up they're expecting to hear from you. They want to hear from you. So let's make it easy, right? Let's make it make

it easy. And make it easy for them to unsubscribe because you don't want them on your list. If they're done listening to you. Please leave my list. I don't want you on there a it costs more money to have more people that aren't. Aren't your people on your list? Because you pay by most places you pay by how many people you have on your list. And be it's, you know, they're, they're the people that are going to, say, your spam or whatever. I know people out there who have big, huge lists, and they call their lists. For every, like 30 days, some of them are even more harsh than that, if you haven't opened an email in 30 days, you're off the list.

Catharine O'Leary: Because those are the people that aren't opening. So your open rates go down, your click through rate late rates go down. And these are the things that Google does look at to see whether or not your emails going to spam. Right. Yeah, so I know, we started talking about podcasting, we're into email deliverability. Now, but, you know, like, an online business, like this is all you know, all important information, because it's only going to get tighter with the email deliverability. So it's people start actually reporting you as spam. You could get blocked, you could get shut down, completely get

blacklisted, and that ruins your domain. And it can ruin your IP address. And there's not a lot you can do about that.

Catharine O'Leary: No. So you really want to sit on that. I mean, I always say like, I love when people fall off my quiz, like if they don't complete the quiz, because they're not my people. Like, if you can't take 60 seconds to finish the quiz, you're probably not going to buy what I have to offer, because it's going to be quiz based. So brilliant. Don't finish the quiz, don't get on the list, right? off, you go, you're somebody else's best. Same thing for your email list. If you end up with a bunch of people on there that got on there for a gift giveaway or something along those lines, great to get them. But if they're not responding, they're not your folks. Like you're never going to get them to, like, you don't want to be in a place where you're trying to convince, right? Because that's not going to happen. So call them like, I would rather have a small list of engaged people than a massive list of unengaged, and I'm getting, you know, 10% delivered, like, you know, 10% engagement, but you know, that people opening, I mean, when I, when I cut my list, and people that hadn't been involved with me or hadn't opened anything for, I think it was long, like I think it was like 30 or sorry, three months, my open rate went from 25% to 50. Right like that, like, you know, like, I've just, you just don't have the white noise in there. So it's really important to to make sure that you are cleaning your list for sure.

Yeah. And there are tools out there for that. Yeah, you know, it's not, and they're not super depends on how big your list is to. Yeah.

Catharine O'Leary: And to add to your point, don't hide the unsubscribe in like teeny, tiny gray font, so that nobody can can see it and can't unsubscribe

arrows. Here, if you're not interested, I don't want

Catharine O'Leary: you to know exactly what to tell people that I don't know if you've done this before or not. But when I'm in the middle of a launch, like if I'm launching something myself, right at the very beginning in like a box, if you're not interested in this launch, like you're not opting out of the whole email list, you're just opting out of the launch emails, click here, if you don't want to hear about this launch anymore, because then they're not unsubscribing from your whole list. They just don't want to hear about this particular launch because they weren't done the course or, you know, like, it's not for them or whatever, that's fine. But then you can you save the integrity of your list. Yeah,

yeah. And telling people what you're doing, having real conversations with people instead of trying to think that you're developing this great sales letter that I've got to craft and can magically make them without their credit card and bye bye bye. are done.

Catharine O'Leary: Really relationships? Yeah, one of the one of the things my one of my coaches has always said is like, sit down with every, every email and think of it as like a love letter, right? Or your every sales page that you write, like, what's the love lead? Like what are you? What are you trying to convey here? In the most loving genuine, like, you know, I hope that you get this kind of of way, and that puts a different spin on it when you're thinking through it, I think. Yeah,

I think it really does. And it it is, it's like having your best friend if or your kid you know, this is the advice I give you from where I stand in life. And and that's the kind of vibe that you want to have. leave people with not the I just want your money vibe, because people are feeling that now and they're they're like

Catharine O'Leary: they're running away from that that's like blood in the water kind of thing like no don't want shark attack don't want you know, by now it's gonna go away in 12.2 seconds and I'll never come back until the next 12.2 Seconds like, no. Yeah, people are people are not. That's it, man. It just, there's feels heavy handed.

There's a difference between false scarcity, which is what that is. And real scarcity. I mean, if you only have three spots available or 10 spots available, or you only have x number of hours that you can devote to whatever it is that you're opening up. It's okay to say that. But you need to tell the truth. People want honesty in the world. Yeah. And honesty and integrity. And kindness goes so far,

Catharine O'Leary: so far. Yeah. We started the podcast, with email, email deliverability, which is great. I geek out on this stuff. So I love when, when like, the conversation just goes like in a completely different way. And we can geek out together. But back to your point about podcast guesting is really knowing your audience, make sure that the audience that you're talking to is right for you. So right fit audience, making sure you have something to say that's gonna, you know, tease them think about, you know, I always tried to think about it as a movie trailer, you know, like, when, when the big box office movies come out, they they spend a lot of money on those trailers to get Yeah, like, you know, get you hooked, you know, kind of think of it What's your trailer, you know, what's, what's the content that's going to bring them in? Quiz can do that really well for you. And if you would like to see what quiz might be good for your business, just go to quiz for my business.com. And you'll, you'll take my quiz. And then obviously, you know, you got to have a place for them to hit and land and be able to easily connect with you because they're not going to search for you. Right there. You know, no matter who you are, or how great you are, if you don't make it easy for people to find you. They're just going to move on to the next person. So don't be the best kept secret. Make sure that you're you know, you're making it easy for people to find you speaking of finding you, Jill, remind us how we can find the the three mistakes and find you.

You can find me and the three miss at podcast alchemy academy.com. And you have to do the forward slash in there and join j o i n. Perfect.

Catharine O'Leary: Thank you so much again, Jill, I appreciate your time and I hope that everyone out there, learn something new and different. I know I did. I didn't expect to be talking about what we did. And I'm excited that that happened. So thank you for playing Jill and everyone out there. Have a great rest of your day.