Podcasts on Instagram: the Power of the 'Spider Web Effect' & Optimizing Your Content Strategy

I'll get questions in our free Facebook group , and today I'm actually sharing something super special and that is a special note from someone in our community that had a huge win and she shared with me privately . And then I said , oh my gosh , we have to talk about this . Can I share it on the podcast ? Can I put it on the YouTube channel ?

And she said yes , and I'm so grateful . So let's get right to it .

So normally whenever I announce or talk about the podcast , you know I'm faced a camera and say , hey , shit , you know , chef Sean Burke here and I'm just talking like so this week we're talking about and I just go into it , especially if it's a guest or someone like that . So the week that I had that I had actually did this blessing and curse .

The lady had kind of cut me , pinch me when she wax my eyebrows and then you know they pluck a little bit but she had kind of plucked me too hard and I kind of didn't like it and it looked really red and I'm already , like you know , light skin for a black person anyways , but any who . So I didn't get on camera .

I just found some like B roll that I had of desserts and then I kind of advertised the podcast this way , glad I did , pretty cool .

So not only did this post go viral , but people actually listen and that episode has more listens than other episodes and I was like , wow , so that caused me to you know just kind of change like the whole episode , make sure I have a lead magnet link to it . But I was like going for it by having these solo episodes . I might do this .

Sometimes we always face the camera when we're talking about the podcast , but I just may post it . You know like how I did here . So the podcast was sharing two ways . I double my home bakery sales and this is why I was in the middle of a promotion , and the two ways are Google and then corporate clients , which I shared .

But any who people read the caption , they saved and they shared the post and they actually listened to the podcast because the numbers are way , way awesome . So it's just maybe another way to share . If you recognize that voice , then you know that is chef Amanda Schaunberg .

us to concentrate on today , because I love it when there's a lessons learned and whenever we can take a break from it .

We can take a break from it and I want to share with you guys that I'm going to be sharing with you guys today , because I love it when there's a lessons learned and whenever we can take real life examples and apply them to what other podcasters can do , what other people that are trying to grow social channels or trying to grow a platform .

So many of these things kind of interweave together and I want to highlight them . So number one right , I said we're going to cover three things today .

I want you to focus on how you can connect all of your platforms together , or what I call the spider web effect , and what this looks like is how can you talk about your Instagram on your podcast , or how can you talk about your podcast on your Instagram , or how can you connect your YouTube channel to your newsletter or your free Facebook group , or how can

you get people over to your website to look at your blog posts and your show notes or start following you on threads ? You can kind of see how all of these platforms , while they may serve different purposes in your business and in your content , they're not disconnected .

They shouldn't be in a silo of oh , this is Instagram , I only talk about Instagram stuff and that is one specific audience , and this is my email newsletter , and they are different . No , they're not . It's likely that someone follows you , so I could give you a personal example for me . I mean , I've talked about Amy Porterfield on here .

I follow her on Instagram , I'm subscribed to her podcast , I am in some of her communities and I consume content from her in multiple different ways . Now , am I listening and watching and seeing every single thing that she's posting ? Probably not .

I don't have that much time , but I do think it's important that I love the approach that they take in putting content out into the world and making it all connect together seamlessly .

So that should be the goal for what you are trying to do as well , because that is what I am trying to do and I actually have a YouTube video that I want you to go watch . That is all about how to create a content strategy funnel .

So it's really looking at all of your free content you know , your podcast , your YouTube channel , your blog , all the things that you're putting out where no one is actually paying you for and how you can really have those connected into your paid products , whether it's a low ticket offer or an ebook , something that's , you know , in the lower price point range .

And then it goes into your programs . Like I have a program called profit podcasting . It's all about teaching podcasters how to start , launch and market their shows using my prep them method . So prep them .

I've talked about this a few times , but prep them is P is for plan , r is for record , e is for edit , p is for publish and five M is marketing and monetization . So I break all of that down inside the structure of my program . So I use all of these different free mechanisms to reach people .

That may be a good fit for my programs or my coaching , but I think it's really important that you don't just rely on one platform and one platform only . Like Amanda said , she used this strategy of you know , and she actually has a large following on Instagram , so it was very smart of her to utilize that platform .

That way she could get people over to her podcast , because with Instagram , the algorithm and I'm going to link to the reel specifically that she used because she was like , eh , it kind of went viral , which is super cool . That doesn't really happen on podcasts . Podcasts aren't really known for their virality , like someone listed .

So it's like , oh my gosh , it goes viral . It's .

It doesn't have that setup of an algorithm , which is a good thing and a bad thing , right , but it's something that happened for her , where she shared it on Instagram and because so much of her organic audience had a response to it whether they're liking it or they're sharing it or they're making comments on it , adding it to their stories Instagram's algorithm

kicked in and was like oh , we need to pay attention to this and push it out to some other people . So , like you heard her , she had more downloads on that podcast episode and she had other fun things happening behind the scenes , just because she talked about her podcast in her Instagram reel .

So don't think of all of your platforms as independent from each other and they're not connected . You should absolutely look at a strategy to see how you can connect all of them together . And if you're like well , crystal , that sounds overwhelming . I don't even know where to get started . How do you even go about thinking how to connect your platforms together ?

This is your first step . This is step number one , to get all of this connected together . Write down all the platforms you have . What are the platforms ? Where are you online ? And don't put stuff on there just because , like Pinterest .

Okay , pinterest is one of those I keep saying I'm going to get better at , I'm going to start posting and putting stuff out there . I really haven't . There's no real strategy for Pinterest maybe one day but it's one of those where I wouldn't include that in my list of . Okay , here we go . Okay , here's this one , this one , this one .

For me personally , it's my podcast , where I'm publishing consistent content . There is my YouTube channel , there's my newsletter , there's Instagram , there's my blog , which is my podcast episodes . So these are really the five top places where I'm consistently publishing content .

So when I think about what am I going to say in my email newsletter , I want to connect the different content that's in there , back to my podcast , back to my YouTube channel , maybe referencing my Instagram every once in a while .

It is something that you don't want to just mention every single time , because people will ask me this , okay , and you may be guilty of this , okay , and if you are like , you can raise your hand and be like hmm , crystal , I've done that , that's me , you're calling me out .

But people will say shouldn't I put all the links to everything and all the places where I am in my podcast description ? And I don't think that you should . And by description I mean your individual episode descriptions .

And here's why Do you ever , as a consumer , as a listener of other people's podcast , do you ever run to their episode descriptions to get so excited that all the places to connect with them are right there ? Maybe , maybe not . It's one thing that I've asked several people this and they're like not really .

I would just go to their website , or I would go to the platform that I like to use and that's how I'll find them . Or you could set up a link tree and then have all the things there , or have a dedicated page , like . There's so many different ways that you can do it . But whenever I'm saying connecting all of your platforms together .

I'm not saying just throw all the links at every single person that visits your website and every person that goes to YouTube and every but like . I don't think that that's a great strategy . But on your podcast , you should be talking about other platforms . My go to is my email list .

Right , I'm trying to grow my email list and so I will talk about my email list on my podcast , on my YouTube channel , in my Facebook group , like all the places where I am , because that is one of my goals for my business and the content that I'm creating .

So write down all the places where you are consistently publishing content not the one that you abandoned several years ago because you're just like I got overwhelmed , I couldn't do it anymore All the ones that today you're publishing consistent content .

And then I want you , the next time you're sitting down to plan your next podcast episode , email , whatever it is that you're planning . Say , how can I mention one of my other channels in this piece of content where it feels organic and natural ? Okay , the second thing we need to talk about today .

The second point , is what Amanda did so well , is she led with value and generosity ? Now , if you go and watch it , I'm actually going to link to it , to the Instagram reel that she shared . It was actually called let me look up the name of it two ways .

I doubled my home bakery sales and what I love about this is she didn't give this like get rich quick , you know , like one of these let's SEO optimize , we're going to throw it out there . We're going to help a bunch of people do it . No , she told real stories about what she did to get results and success .

She was leading with generosity and value , and it's one of those principles . I talk about value all the time . You can't go wrong . You can't go wrong if you are starting with offering value to your audience , and this is regardless of what type of content you're creating . It's a podcast episode lead with value . It's a YouTube video lead with value .

It's your email , it's a blog post , it's an Instagram post Whatever it is , lead with value and generosity and it is one of those things . I know karma is one of those weird things , you know . You can call it woo , woo or whatever , but I'm just a firm believer in adding value , adding generosity to my community , because it has come back to me tenfold .

Whenever I have started with value , I've started with generosity , people will come to me and say I've been listening to you for years and take my money , like , take my money , like I'm ready . Maybe they were on the fence about starting a podcast , or like himming and hauling . I don't know if it's right for me , maybe it's right for me , I don't really know .

And then when they make that decision , they're immediately like you've added so much value to me that it was a no brainer decision . So when you're thinking about the pieces of content that you're creating , be like Amanda .

I feel like that's what we should call today's content is be like Amanda and start with sharing generously and adding value in every single thing that you create . All right . And the third thing that we need to talk about today is don't let the need in your head to sound or look perfect Hold you back from creating content .

And now I love Amanda's honesty about like hey , something happened and I really did not want to be on video and it is just not what was going to work out for me that day , so I decided to do this instead and , like I said , you have to go watch this Instagram Realms . It's really beautifully shot

, like really well done , but I love that she shared . I really didn't want to be on video , but did that stop her from posting anything ? Have you had this thought ? Have you been really wanting and willing to start posting videos on Instagram or going live or doing stories or whatever ?

It is some sort of video where it's showing your face and you had this thought of oh , I don't really look great today , or you know the , I've got a big pimple , or I have a sunburn , or you know there could be a thousand different reasons . What you're having a bad hair day . Okay , let's , let's like full transparency .

If you are watching this , then of course you're seeing this , but if you're listening to the episode on the podcast , I have a hat on . Today , I have on roughly no makeup . I literally just swiped on some mascara before we started this . But I wasn't really excited about recording video today .

It wasn't something that I had planned , but I looked at my content calendar and I was like you know what ? I really need to record this video today in order for it to go out whenever it is scheduled to go out . This goes back to my you know principle of consistency and having content regularly published and so I said , okay , what can I do ?

This is how I get myself a pep talk , because I'm like I really don't want to do this , like I really do not want to be on video today . What can I do to make it where I feel a little bit more confident and I can still show up for my audience and add that value and generosity that we were talking about ?

And for me today it was putting a hat on and swiping some mascara over my eyelashes and that's it . Like what you see is what you get today , and one of the other things that I've often told people is don't think about it , as you're only going to have five videos out on the internet and those will forever be the five videos that you are judged by .

Like , oh , she looked great in four of those videos , but then there's one of them where she looked like she was struggling , like struggle bus , all day , every day . And the reason why I can say this is because , at this point , I have created close to 500 YouTube videos . Yes , I said 500 YouTube videos . I have recorded ones where the lighting was terrible .

I've recorded ones in my van . I've recorded ones while I'm walking . I've recorded in my closet , I've recorded in my office , I've recorded like on my phone , on my nice like expensive camera , like I have done all of these different types of recording and I can tell you that the bad hair days , the no makeup days , like it doesn't matter , it really doesn't .

Now bear with me because I know some of you are like you're talking crazy to me right now , crystal . It doesn't , because in that number of 500 videos there's probably four or five where I'm like , oh , I really didn't look great , like can we just let's disable those , let's put those as private or delete them all together ?

But it's all of the other ones that I look at and I say , well , those really don't even matter because , again , I was leading with value and generosity . So Amanda is a absolute great example of she just didn't want to be on video and that's cool and that happens . But what did she do ? She found a creative way to still show up for her audience .

She was able to record some audio and have it go up . She was able to mention her podcast , where she knew that she could add some value . And this goes back to the very first two points of connecting your platforms together , adding value and being generous , and you can't do that if you don't show up .

We need to have you show up , we need what you are wanting to create .

And so the other piece that I wanted to mention , because I hear this all the time this is specifically for those of you that have not started a podcast , you haven't started a YouTube channel , you haven't shown your face on social , you haven't done anything because you think that you have to have this big , grand budget .

Yes , I'm calling you out , the people that are saying like I just have a pretty restricted budget , I can't , I can't do anything Like I really wish I could have . I have my eye on this fancy camera , this really special microphone . It's been sitting in my Amazon cart for the day . Whenever I can finally afford it .

I would love for you and I hate saying this because it always makes me nervous that you're actually going to do it , because I want you to do it , but I really don't want you to do it Go back and watch some of my very first YouTube videos that I shot on my phone .

I shot probably a good like a solid hundred videos on my phone , and that is not an exaggeration , because I did not have the fancy camera that I have today . I didn't let this mentality of I have to have this thing that's 4K , I have to have this microphone that sounds perfect .

I didn't let those things hold me back because I knew that the message inside of me that I needed to share was way more important than the mechanism that allowed me to do that .

So if you have been telling yourself I'll do this when , or I can't do this until then , I am here to challenge you to say what do I have today , what tools , what resources Kind of the same as me showing up here as like I really didn't wanna do this , I didn't wanna come on video today , but I asked myself what can I do ?

What can I do to still show up , to still add value , to really bring something to this platform that is going to help one person today ? I'm not saying you have to help a million people with what you're creating . What can

you do today to help one person ? Because it's when you focus on that that you are able to reach people , you are able to have an impact , because you are committed to showing up . You are committed to showing up no matter what it takes , no matter what you look like , no matter what you sound like .

You could go back and listen to episodes of my podcast where it was edited poorly because I didn't have my fancy microphone . I had to record on my AirPods or I recorded with my webcam mic , my laptop mic . I recorded in my minivan when I was waiting for my son for the orthodontist appointment .

He was in , like I am in it for the long game and these little things that I think in the beginning which is why I'm talking to you that are just getting started in the beginning , it bears all this weight of someone's gonna see me I'm not gonna have makeup on . Someone's gonna see me and realize I had a bad hair day .

Someone's gonna see me and realize I have this huge pimple that I'm trying to hide and I'm putting all the makeup on it and it's actually looking worse because it looks like there's a growth on my face because how many layers I put on it . Like I see you , I have been there . You can go back . There are videos of me . I got pimples on my face .

There's videos of me with crazy hair . There is audio of me where I am sick , I'm under the weather a little bit , and there are ones where I'm hoarse . There's ones with roosters in the background . If you listen to the potty report , this is my daily show you're very familiar with .

Y'all love it whenever I record at my parents' farm and the roosters are in the background . But what I'm really trying to get at today is I want you to show up in a way that helps you feel confident . I want you to be like Amanda , where you are the next person sending me a DM saying Crystal , I did this thing , I tried this thing and it worked .

And it's because she's showing up , it's because she is trying things and it is because she is committed to sharing her message that she has . So I highly encourage you today . So this is your homework , right ? If you're taking notes , then this is what you need to do today .

After this , you need to write down all of the places where you are consistently creating content . That's step number one . Step number two in your planning process . I want you to ask the question am I adding value in this piece of content , no matter what it is email , podcast , instagram , posts , whatever am I adding value to this piece of content ?

And then the third thing I want you to do is don't let perfectionism hold you back , please don't . You are someone that has a really special message to share , and there are people out in the world right now that need to hear you , they need to see you , they need the message that you have to share , and you are the only one that can give that to them .

So I know I got a little cheerleader-y , like preachy at the end , but it was something that was just on my heart to share with you today , and I hope that it really resonated with you , and I would love to know what you thought about today's episode . So , if you are watching on the YouTube channel , please comment below .

Let me know what you thought about today or what questions you have about showing up with more confidence , because maybe you could be the inspiration for our next piece of content . But that's all I have for you today .

So make sure you are subscribed wherever you're watching or listening to this today , and check out all the other content that we have on our YouTube channel , if you haven't headed over there yet , and subscribe whenever you visit . But that's all I have for you today . So , as always , remember , keep it up . We all have to start somewhere .