¶ Podcasting
This is Tools of the Podcast Trade , where you can learn about the tools and resources you can use to start and grow your podcast Tune in this week , as we talk about the help you need to remove the mystery from podcasting so you can become a successful podcaster that can reach your audience where they are .
Today I'm speaking with Kelly Smith , founder of Potteryp Pro , host of Podcast Launchpad and co-hosts of Geek Girls Sooth .
Welcome , Kelly . Thank you , Jen . I'm so happy to be here . Thank you for having me .
All right , I appreciate you . All right . So before we get into our conversation , we kind of had a little bit of back and forth about what we're going to talk about . I appreciate the heads up , but tell us who is Kelly Smith . Oh gosh .
I've been podcasting for almost 12 years now . Yes started with Geek Girls Sooth . I've had a few other podcasts in the past 11 plus years , and most recently I am active with Podcast Launchpad , which helps entrepreneurs use their own podcast as a marketing tool to grow their business .
I am a professional artist on the side , which I've been doing sort of my whole life , but professionally since 1999 . And I have been . I was an assistant editor on a documentary film just a couple of years ago called Introducing Brian Broome , so I've had my fingers in a little bit of everything I see .
You know , sometimes it's sort of hard to choose one thing , isn't it ?
Yeah , don't ? We have that issue sometimes . Yes , yeah , yes , okay , all right . So what got you into podcasting ? I know you you doubled in some stuff , but what really got you into podcasting ? Cause you seem like you're really in tune with it .
Yes . So when I started with Geek Girls Sooth , honestly I had never listened to a podcast before . I had a couple of buddies who had started Geek Girls Sooth , really challenging themselves to get their voices out there . They had been listening to other podcasts .
We talk about movies and TV shows and diversity , equity and inclusion in the film and TV industry , and they just they're pretty shy and they just decided that if all these other people are sharing their opinions on pop culture , why can't we share ours ? And they brought me in two months later to talk about video games .
I'm not a big gamer , but I had been playing a few things at the time and from that point on I stuck around and became a regular co-host and I just fell in love with it , started to listen to a few podcasts and then started wanting to support my business at that time and over the years just got more and more into it .
And then , about a year and a half ago , people were asking me more and more about how do I start my own podcast ? Can you recommend a course ? When they found out how long I'd been doing it , I'm like I can't recommend a course . I just started doing it .
I learned by doing , and so I started my own course , switched over to being a podcast consultant and just love doing it . Love helping people podcast on their own , you know , start their own and now get into podcast guesting .
Yes , Okay , yeah , that's . It's a really fun media . I mean , I've never been any other media , but this is really fun .
It really is . It's a great way to get your voice out there .
Yes , thank you . So we're going to talk about guesting , we're going to get into the meat of podcast guesting and guest management , but I also want to ask you about why do you think it's important for businesses to have a podcast .
It is such a powerful way to share your message , to boost your authority and to reach a new audience . People spend just seconds scanning a blog or online article . They kind of know what they're looking for , and they don't read the blog or article word for word , they're just scanning . You know , do you find yourself doing that ? You know , I certainly do .
I love reading , but I'm not reading it word for word . And with online videos , they may fast forward through it again to find what they're looking for , especially if the video has captions or subtitles . Podcasting is currently the only long form of media online that people are consuming .
It turns out that more than 80% of podcast listeners are listening to the entire episode that they start listening to , and that is amazing . So whatever message that you are getting out there in your episode , 80% of the people who hit play are listening to the whole thing , so you have time to really get your message out there .
And then , as a business owner , when you are wanting people to buy from you right Now , your episodes can't be infomercials , but you are getting your listeners to know , like and trust you . And when you are sharing a call to action at the end or in the show notes .
As your listeners get to know like and trust you , they are going to be more ready to buy from you after they've listened to you for a little while .
Yes , definitely , all right . So we're leading up to this guessing thing , and I keep repeating it because that's what we're going to talk about for real . But since we talk about business owners wanting to start podcasts the other day I touched on the best way for a business to build its brand was through podcasting , right ? Yes , and being a guest on podcasts .
Can you expand on that ?
Yes . So even if a business owner doesn't want to start their own podcast because it really does take a lot of time , and if you don't have time to put into having your own podcast and you don't want to outsource it to a podcast production company to do it for you , at least start out with being a guest on podcasts .
There are so many benefits to being a guest on other podcasts . You get to reach new audiences because you're borrowing the hosts listeners . So these are people who may have never heard of you before and the host is essentially endorsing you by having you on their show . They're like saying , hey , I picked this person to be on my show .
I'm essentially vouching for them , so listen to what they have to say . So you are reaching all of these people who now are getting to know , like and trust you . And when the host shares their episode to their audience , you're getting access to those people . You are boosting your reputation and your authority .
When you're on that episode sharing in a powerful way , you are really showing that you know your stuff .
And that is so powerful because reaching this new audience , or these new audiences , because you need to go on more than one podcast , you need to do like a little podcast tour and go on a bunch of podcasts , then you are showing that you are a go-to expert in your field and doing a podcast tour is a great way to promote a launch , a book , your brand ,
especially if you have just rebranded or if you're new in your field . Then you do this little podcast tour . You know , like when authors do a book tour and they usually do it in person , right , so you go on the podcast tour and that's a great way to reach these new audiences .
Or when actors do a movie tour , you know a movie junket to promote their movie and that's why , like right now with the writers and actor strikes , some movies are being pushed back months and months . They aren't being released in the fall because the actors won't be able to promote the movies .
So you see how powerful they think the movie tours are , and so you should really consider a podcast tour when you have something to promote . Again , you're not selling on the episode , but the listeners are getting to know , like and trust you , and you're usually able to share something at the very end , even if it's just your website link . Yes , definitely .
I love the way you said it . You phrase it that the host is endorsing you . He's saying look here's my friend and listen to them , right ? So I like that . I like how you phrase that and I do agree with you saying that it's one of the best ways to get your brand out there . So serve someone else's audience . Yes .
And it's all about creating value for the host's audience . It can't be all about me , me , me . It's always about creating value for the host's listeners . That's priority number one .
Yes , Okay , all right , thank you . So I have two podcasts and in both of them I interview guests . So at one point I kind of just assumed everybody wanted to interview guests , but there are a lot of podcasters who do solo episodes . Yes , now can you talk to podcasters about the value in having guests on their show ?
Absolutely , so real quick .
The value , first , of doing solo episodes is that you're establishing and maintaining your authority and expertise in your field , and so there's kind of a risk of having guests on your show when you're an entrepreneur and your podcast is a marketing tool to grow your business right , because you want to maintain your authority in order to use your podcast to drive
clients and customers to your business . And when you have guests on , they become the expert and authority during that episode . So I'm acknowledging that there's a risk to that , but there are ways that you can handle that when you have guests on . So there are benefits to having guests on your show .
Obviously , or we wouldn't be having guests on and I have guests . About half of my episodes at Podcast Launchpad are guest episodes . So there are four big benefits of having guests on your show . One is you get diverse perspectives and topics .
So when you do diverse perspectives and topics on your episodes or on your show , you are exposing your listeners to these things that otherwise they'd be going to other podcasts to find . Now they're doing that anyway , but they really appreciate getting these diverse opinions and episodes on your show .
They appreciate you for doing that and they're getting a more compelling and interesting show from that . And , oh my gosh , guests help with content generation . Right , it gets tough coming up with new content all the time the longer our podcast goes on . That is one of the reasons a big reason that podcasters quit their shows called PodFade .
So when we have guests on their show , they help us come up with new content for our episodes A big benefit of having guests . A third benefit is the networking that comes from having guests on our show . They can make referrals for other great guests . They can refer clients to us and vice versa .
I've referred clients to my guests and they've referred clients to me . They can refer us to get speaking gigs and we can do collaborations with guests , friends that we really hit it off with and where there's a synergy there and we can just become friends with guests . That's nice too and finally , we can reach new audiences . They're our guests .
That's one of the big reasons that we have guests on right , because we expect them to share their episodes and of course , they don't always , unfortunately , or they may share minimally , which is really sad and disappointing . But there are things that we can do to help with that .
I don't know if you want me to share that now or if you want to ask about that later .
Well , we can talk about it . But also one of the things that I heard is complained is that you know , I guess we'll say to me you know , I've been on these shows and nobody's ever shared a link with me or asked me to share it with someone . So there is that .
Yes , yeah there is that too . So , yeah , I have had that problem too when I've been a guest on shows recently and I was telling you about this beforehand I was a guest on a show and the host did not tell me that they had published the episode . I asked if they had any assets for social media that I could share .
They said no and didn't send me the link or anything . And the only way I found out that they had published the episode already is because I had a weird feeling , and so I went to Apple Podcasts to check it out and there it was .
Very disappointing .
So how am I supposed ?
to share .
And I cannot share in Instagram without social media assets . You know you can't share a link in Instagram .
Yeah .
Yeah , so we hosts can make it really easy for our guests to share when we tell them ahead of time that you know when the episode is going to be published , Because some guests plan their social media calendar well in advance and if they have some launch that they're going to be promoting , they likely are not going to promote our episode during that time , so
you may want to find out from them ahead of time . Hey , is this going to be a good time for me to share publish your episode ? And then we need to tell them hey , it just launched . We need to give them the link to share . It's really great if we can create an episode specific cover art with their photo on it .
It's not absolutely necessary , but guests really like to share that . And , finally , if we can create clips from the episode , ideally with video , and make them really pretty and send those to the guest for them to share .
Oh , that's a good idea . Now I create , I do all the things you mentioned , but I don't usually think about sharing it with my guests , Because sometimes it feels pushy to me .
So I'll send them a link and if they ask for more I'll give it , but yeah , just go ahead and put it all in a Google folder or send them with we transfer dot com or Dropbox or whatever . I usually put them in a Google folder and just send that over to them and it . You know it's optional , but it shows that I love for them to share .
And if you don't do that , then otherwise , and you share real on Instagram , then the most they can do is share your real as a story and that's fine , but it's not nearly as good as sharing a real as an original post .
Yes , that really makes sense . So the point is sorry , sorry , I was just going to say so the point is give your guests as much as possible with just a link to say here it is , and let them decide how much of it they want to share . Yeah , exactly exactly .
Give them as much as you can for them to share and just and then they have the option to do it . Be sure to follow them on social media and tag them when you share .
Yes , definitely All right . Thank you , I like that . Thank you very much . Absolutely , yeah , for sure , all right .
¶ Maximizing ROI With Guest Management
So let's talk about ROI , of having guests on your part on your show . I think you kind of touched on some , but if you could specifically address that , yes .
So we , yeah , especially like the sharing is big when we want to see results from having guests on our show . That big one is going to be when the guest shares our episode , but there are some others . So one big one is having the episodes found by search engines . So a lot of people are finding podcast episodes or the whole show in Google .
So we need to make sure that our SEO , search engine optimization , is really good . So one way to do that or here are a few ways I should say you need to put the guest name in the episode title , and most people do that . I would suggest not putting it at the beginning unless the guest's name is really big .
So , for example , I don't know what you're going to title this episode , but my suggestion is to put with Kelly Smith at the end of the title . Now , if it's a big name , let's say , like Amy Porterfield , I put her name at the beginning .
So , for example , amy Porterfield shares five secrets to digital course success , because in that case her name is so big , she's so well known that it's not a waste of like title real estate to put her name at the beginning . So that makes sense for SEO .
You definitely want to put the guest's name in the show notes and on the episode page on your website and , of course , in the SEO settings on your website . When you go in to the settings and WordPress , wix or Squarespace or whatever , then add their name there as well too .
Then , also in the episode page on your website and in the SEO settings on your website , include other details about the guest and things related to the episode , of course , but like the guest's company name . If they have a book , put the book name . If they have a podcast , put the name of the podcast and anything else related to them .
So that way when people are searching the guest and anything related to the guest , then your episode has a better chance of showing up .
So with me , for example and Kelly Smith is a common name , so or not an unusual name so if you put podcast launchpad , geek Girl Soup I have a book called the podcast launch playbook , you know , putting those little things in the SEO and possibly in a little bio on the episode page on your website , that will help the episode be found .
If people are searching any of those things . I have some episodes that will show up in Google when someone searches related search terms for a guest . They're not looking for my episode , they're looking for the guest and I'll show up high in Google just because of that .
Yeah , I've had a couple of incidents right back too . Yeah , yeah , yeah , it's pretty cool .
Then having the interview go really , really well is another thing that helps you maximize your ROI , because to get great guests on your show , you need to have a great episode , or not a great episode , but lots of great episodes . So you need to go into every interview like it's going to be the best ever .
So a few ways to do that are to learn as much as you can without going overboard about the guest's topic , so you can make intelligent comments during the discussion . It's not going to be like a bullet point style Q&A , of course . It's going to be more of a discussion and you need to hold your own .
This is one of the things I was referring to earlier about a risk of having guests on your show . They're going to be the authority , but you can maintain your authority by making good comments about what they're talking about . Also , when you're preparing your questions for them , you can try to come up with questions that are unique or unusual .
So one time I think twice maybe I had a host . Instead of saying like tell me how you got started as an entrepreneur , they said tell me about the time that you tried to sell your artwork at the end of your driveway when you were seven , I was like , oh my gosh , that's awesome , because they had to dig deep to find that .
They found it on my artist website . It's like , wow , good job doing your homework and another way to have a really great interview . Of course , keep it as conversational as possible and make it as fluid as you can . If you're as friendly as possible , like if you can come across like old friends , that's really great .
And when potential guests go to check out your podcast to decide if they want to be on the show , that'll make a really good impression and make them go . Yes , I want to be on that show yeah .
in other words , don't make you the grill in making a conversation .
Exactly , exactly , yeah , okay , all right , okay , thank you , and that's something that I found when I was listening to this show and deciding to come on . You just sounded so friendly with your guests and it just felt so natural and I was like , yes , I definitely want to come on the show .
Thank you . Thank you for saying that , because sometimes I'm as nervous as X .
Oh , absolutely Me too . It's like every interview . It's like how is it going to go ? Am I going to fumble over my words ? And it always happens , and all we can do is practice and we get better as we go . So , no matter how long you've been doing this , you still get nervous .
Yes , I think it gets easier , especially if you're talking about podcasting and it's something you really love , like if it's a topic you really love and passionate about , it's not as difficult .
But I get it Definitely yes , okay .
So I've made some errors over the course of the last six years in podcasting , especially with guesting , guest management because I tried to do everything myself , yeah , and there are times when I miss my guests , yeah , because I different things like different reasons . So can you give us some best practices for managing guest ?
Oh , yes , okay . So I have an application on my website for people who want to be a guest and it's pretty lengthy . I also use it as like . It can double as an onboarding form . So I ask a lot of questions on it because it helps me do my homework to vet the guest , so that's one way people can ask to be a guest on my show .
When I reach out to people asking them to be a guest , I make it a concierge service . If you will , like , I'll do all the work . The only thing I ask them for is a photo . I put a bio together for them based on like . If I'm using Podmatch , then they have a bio right there , so I'll use that and just tweak it .
If I'm reaching out to them by hand , which is what I do a lot of the time , then I will cobble together a little bio for how I introduced them at the beginning , based on their website and based on their LinkedIn , and my guests tend to be really impressed by that because I've made something unique for my show .
Instead of asking them hey , send me your official bio that I can just shorten and read verbatim . I do ask for official bios from people who request to be on my show , and then I will change it up and make it work for me and shorten it a lot . But with people I invite on my show , it's really great to make it a concierge service . What else ?
Oh , a calendar system , of course , where they can schedule themselves . Everyone does that now . So Ta fif , fiet , that's you know , no brainer , that's easy . A spreadsheet or Project management system . I like basic spreadsheets . I use a Google sheet to keep track of your guests .
It's great to know who's already been on your show , when they were on their show , a link to their episode on your website , any notes you want to make about them , their email address , and , and that way you know if you're thinking about guests in the future . You may forget who was on your show .
So it's easy just to refer to your list on that spreadsheet and if you want someone back in the future , then you can look back and say , oh , it's been over a year , you know , or it's been a few years , so it's time for them to come back . As opposed to , oh , I feel like it's been forever , but it's been only six months , right , okay .
So all of that makes it much easier and I like to write down a workflow , so a standard operating procedure for getting guests on the show and for what I need to do for the guests , and one key part of that is the end of the episode . So what I was talking about earlier sending the guy or letting the guests know when I'll be publishing the episode .
Sometimes I know that , often I know it at the time of the interview and so I'll try to tell them that I don't always know and I may shuffle things around , but when I know , I tell them at the end of the interview and then , of course , the prompt or the reminder to Send them all of the assets and give a reminder on the day that it publishes , or a
few days before , when possible .
Oh , all right , Thank you . That's a lot there , but it's Makes sense . You know it makes sense and I'm sure it will help you know us to Put proper perspective on what we're doing , because we get excited with the guests and then we forget all the steps . It is a lot .
It really is a lot . It's yeah , it's not easy , but we can simplify it and I really do like standard operating procedures for that . I I have my steps written down Because it's too easy to forget things . It really is . We have a lot Just producing solo episodes .
You know that's tough enough and when you add guests into the mix , we get better and better at it the more we do it . But those extra steps of scheduling the guests and then doing the follow-up and sending them the assets , it's a lot to remember . So write it all down as a checklist and again a spreadsheet or a Project management system .
Those make it much easier to do .
Yes , it is . I'm just starting to learn to use PodSop . That's the .
One-to-Pod match . Yeah , it's great , love it . That's what I used to mm-hmm . Yeah , yes .
All right . Thank you , kelly Smith , for coming and speaking to us today . I really appreciate you . We have a lot as you know there are a lot of questions in podcasting from podcasters and aspiring podcasters . My question for you right now is what is Kelly grateful for today ?
Oh my gosh , I am grateful for you for having me on the show . I Am grateful for the podcasting community . It is such an open and generous community , one of the best I have ever been involved with over the past more than 11 years .
I just love it , and going to podcasting conferences is so wonderful , getting to meet people in person , and I tell you , podcasting was really my saving grace . During COVID or during the lockdown , my buddies at Geek Girl Soup and I we were record virtually so we would get together every Sunday . That's when we got really serious about recording weekly .
Haven't missed a week since then , since lockdown , and you know , to be able to do that , get together and have that consistency Really saved us mentally .
Yeah , pretty awesome . Yeah , you're not the first guess I hear say that either .
What are you grateful for ?
I'm grateful for this , for to be able to connect with Individuals I would not normally connect with , and I travel a lot , right , yeah , I speak with guests in Australia , singapore , south Africa , all over the place without podcasting I wouldn't . I wouldn't be able to do that , so that's something I'm grateful for today . Oh that's wonderful Thank you .
Yeah , sure , All right . So can you give two tips to aspiring podcasters who want to start a podcast or maybe in the middle of trying one ?
Yes . So first go easy on yourself . It is hard , it's hard to stick with , but you can Do it . So when you feel like you can't Give yourself a break I don't mean take time off from it , I mean give yourself grace and Keep doing it . So that's the first tip . Second tip Be committed to it , because that is how you will get through . Find a little course .
There are a Free courses , there are inexpensive courses , there are podcasts that you can listen to . That'll help you . Find something that will help you stick with podcasting and be committed to doing it . And I'm going to challenge you to be committed for at least one year . It takes time to see the results you're looking for . It really does .
You can listen to other podcasters who say it even took them two or three years to see the results they wanted . So don't give up . Don't give it just a few months . Give it at least one year . You can do it . Go with Grace .
Thank you . Thank you for sharing that , and I'm going to give you the opportunity now to tell us how we can get in touch with you , your online presence anywhere , anything to share with us .
Absolutely so . You can find me at podreppro . That is my main website . There is a link to my podcast right there and a link to a little private podcast I have , which is a mini series called a bingeable five episode mini series called podcast guesting insider tips . So you have access to everything right there
¶ Podcasting Coaching and Networking
.
Okay , and did you provide some type of coaching to podcasters or to business owners ?
Yes , so hosts and guests . It is . Podreppro is a podcast booking agency which connects guests and hosts so they all gain more visibility , more fans and more sales . So I help both guests and hosts . All right .
Thank you for sharing that and we'll put the links in the show notes . I really appreciate you , kelly Smith . You shared a lot of value with us and I thank you for that .
Thank you so much , Janet . It was a pleasure being on the show .
Got questions about podcasting . Do you find yourself struggling with the tools and strategies that you know will help you launch and grow your show ? Why not join the newest podcasters club where you can get your questions answered by me or one of our guest expert ?
The link to our next meeting is below Sign up today and don't let confusion about podcasting stop you from owning your genius . Whether you're an individual or a nonprofit , the newest podcasters club is where podcasters come for answers and hello for our next meeting .