Podcasting Badass: Podcast Tips & Mindset Tricks For Success & Monetization

#17 Turning Audio Into a Podcast and Branding Your Business ft. Brianna

• Steve Bennet-Martin • Season 1 • Episode 17

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In this episode of Podcasting Badass, Sober Steve and guest Brianna from Hummingbody delve into the essentials of turning a business into a podcast. They break down the process of identifying your ideal listeners and choosing between an ongoing show or a limited series. Steve shares practical steps on converting your audio recordings into a polished, downloadable podcast episode available on all major platforms. Brianna discusses her interest in using podcasting to share insights on trauma and boundary coaching, making this episode a must-listen for anyone looking to extend their business reach through podcasting.

- Turning Your Business into a Podcast: How to start sharing your expertise in a new format.
- Audience Identification: Tips for finding and connecting with your ideal listeners.
- Ongoing Shows vs. Limited Series: Deciding the best format for your content.
- From Record to Publish: A step-by-step guide to creating a downloadable podcast episode.
- Using Podcasting for Business Growth: Insights from Brianna on expanding her practice through podcasting.

For a free consultation on how to launch or grow your podcast, visit [www.sobersteve.com].

Check out Brianna's work over at Hummingbody here. 

Steve:

Hey there are you podcasting? Bad-ass is it's your host sober Steve, the podcast guy here with another excellent episode of podcasting bad-ass this week, we are going back to the basics. As I talk Brianna through a broad overview of podcasting from start to finish in this week's brainstorm episode. I talk her through what it's like to finding your ideal listeners for your show, the pros and cons of deciding between an ongoing show and a limited series. And let me back up and demystify what happens from the moment you hit record to the moment the world does downloading your amazing content for those who might not have been podcasting already and are confused over what happens when you stop recording. You're that first episode or that trailer. So this is a great episode, whether you're new or old podcaster There's lots of great tidbits to help you become a podcasting bad-ass before we head on over to the interview, though, I want to make sure you remember to hit follow on your screen wherever you're listening, so you can get new episodes each and every Monday. If you have a podcast you'd like to start or grow and monetize, reach out to me@sobersteve.com. S O B E R S T E V e.com for free one-on-one chance to be on podcasting bad-ass for a brainstorming or a tune-up episode of your own. Until then enjoy the episode. Hey there, podcasting badasses. It's your host, Sober Steve here with Brianna, owner of Hummingbody. Welcome to the show, Brianna. Hey, thanks for having me. And tell me a little bit more about what Hummingbody is, because I'm sure that will come into play with your podcasting goals.

Brianna:

Yes. So it is a new startup business just this year and I'm an integrative Somatic practitioner, also licensed social worker. I do some trauma coaching, some boundary coaching, and then I do biodynamic breathwork, meditation, mindfulness. And it's usually for people that are chronically stressed, find themselves in chronic toxic relationships in a state of overwhelm burnout, and so usually a lot of that has to do with either some kind of past trauma or boundaries that we're not keeping and withholding. And it's mostly virtual and I'm very excited. I've had a few clients so far and I love it.

Steve:

Excellent. I love the idea of being able to help heal people. I'm huge into that and having people who know what they're talking about is great as well as being able to reach people online, because that breaks down so many barriers to connect with people that like have the uniquely qualified experience that you normally might not be able to find in small rural areas. That's great. And I can list and talk all day long about the reasons why anyone should start a podcast, but what inspired you or has you interested in podcasting?

Brianna:

I've been listening to podcasts here and there. I'm not a huge listener, but some of the more casual ones, like I want to say, maybe like really simple ones. I'm like, I could do that. And I have a lot to say about this and this topic from experience and also professional or educational realms as well. It would just be fun. You can do them like 15 minutes. But yeah, I really have to try. I want to spread the word on some things.

Steve:

Yeah. I love that you are the second interview that I've done today that mentioned two hour long interviews or no, it was a client earlier, but they mentioned like they couldn't have that. And I was like, where are these podcasts with two hour long interviews? I know one or two exists, but most are relatively short. So I love that. With that. podcasting. Who would you say knowing that your ideal listener for the podcast is ultimately going to be your ideal client for your business? What is your ideal client look like to you right now?

Brianna:

Right now it's mostly women ages 30 to 45. Some men are in traumatic relationships and overwhelmed too, but mostly geared toward women. But I also minored in women and gender studies. so I work with everyone and then also some kids as well elementary school age. Okay. So that would be most, most of the audience.

Steve:

Like knowing that then having the business that can then go in one of those three different directions, or sometimes I'm sure that there is overlap at times as well, but if you were to choose one of those as your primary focus for the podcast, it is very helpful when speaking to listeners to be knowing who it is you're speaking to, or like to speaking to one more as specific as you feel comfortable getting.

Brianna:

Yeah. So you're asking. Which one of those audiences I would want to cater to

Steve:

does one like speak to you as not necessarily that it has to be the women only podcast where we're only going to talk about women issues versus

Brianna:

children,

Steve:

but yes, something like that or using like more maybe female verbiage, but make it more inclusive where it could be for men as well. But it's very hard podcast that's for everyone about a very large topic because when we're looking for a podcast, we want to find one that like speaks to us directly. And so It's your niche because it's great when you can when even for me, it's. Not necessarily anyone who wants to start a podcast, but like a certain approach that I call it the badass approach, but it's, not every single person is going to be right for every single podcast. That's why there's so many podcasts about overcoming and healing trauma, and there's so many podcasts about podcasting, and there's so many pockets out there. But the difference is that most of them fail within 8 episodes because the people give up because they didn't manage their expectations or didn't know what they were doing. my biggest kind of tip for anyone starting a podcast is you want to know exactly who it is that you're podcasting for, like the who, what, when, where, and why of what your show is for, who it is that you're speaking to.

Brianna:

So it's mainly for women. However, I'm just getting the idea now that like, how are there even many podcasts for kids?

Steve:

Yeah.

Brianna:

really my idea right now is for the women. But my mission is all based on childhood sexual abuse prevention. It would be more like coping and life skills and how to breathe and cope in your family and, stuff like that, make boundaries. What's body safety. What's consent. So all those kinds of things, that'd be so fun really would, but I'm going to try to do that with all the women that didn't learn it when they were kids.

Steve:

Yeah. And it would be awesome to frame it like that. That would be a very specific niche where, you know, exactly who it is that you're talking about and does that.

Brianna:

Like a series on da kind of thing, right?

Steve:

Correct. So if you were to write it out as like a limited series where, going into it when you're recording episode one, Hey, it's going to be these 12 episodes or these 24 episodes and have a story arc of, this is the message that I want to tell for me to Z you. It's great for businesses, especially as you're getting started up because what you then have is like a lead magnet that almost is like an orientation. for your future clients so that people who are starting to do research into overcoming or if someone's researching and trying to find Advice for overcoming childhood sexual abuse for women. And they find your podcast and it is like a 12 episode series of everything you need to know about overcoming sexual abuse and trauma for women. And then have people who are looking for that help find it. They listen to this free 12 part series. You're plugging your business at the beginning and end of it. And at the end, they can either get the free value and be a big friend who will follow you on social media and love everything you do forever, but we'll never pay a penny because they're just free pull. And that has nothing to do with you, but you'll also find your clients too. You'll also find your clients who will. Be willing to invest in learning more and connecting with you and saying, Hey, now that I'm familiar with these 12 concepts that you live by tell me how I can apply them to my life because I want to meet with you one on one to talk about what I'm struggling now. And that's what I'll get from you after listening to the episodes is the episodes as I'm learning the education, but then the healing happens with you. How I might consider doing it if you were to try and do it, because a lot of times as well, having it be knowing that you're going to have a start, middle and end helps people as well. If you're worried about the how, feeling like you don't have to commit to doing it forever. And then you just use that as your lead magnet.

Brianna:

What if say you wanted to do like a series, say like you said, for example, 12 or whatever. But then you wanted to do another series. But that would still be your podcast. It would just be how do you speak to that? Say you want to have a series for women and like series for men,

Steve:

If you were to do that, I would want that to go back a couple of steps and we'll get there, I promise. But so when you make the podcast, you put it, so let's say you start your show, you record your trailer and your episodes, I'll put it out to Apple, Spotify, YouTube, everywhere people listen to podcasts and they can listen to the trailer as well as your episodes. That is tied generally from an RSS feed that's tied to that one specific show. So if you were to do a limited series designed specifically towards women overcoming childhood sexual abuse and then six months later or a year later or even a week later but you want to do a different. show about something else. It would be better to make a new limited series for that specific thing. If it's a different thing, because you're not going to find people that will listen to both shows generally if it's two different audiences. But when you have more than one podcast and you're putting your name and your branding as this is the host and this is the company, humming body. Then when you click on those things in the apps, it does show you all the other person's shows that they do. So people can find you and find like from one show to the other. They can click for over from one to the next and you can recommend your own show as recommended so they can be tied together as a network. At that point, like a group of shows, but I would definitely recommend having them have separate RSS feeds. There was a comedian that like, I love to death Nicole Byer, but she did like this, like awesome series on like Marvel movies that I was like totally obsessed with, but then she did a completely different set of movies for later on seasons, so that's something that I wasn't so hot for and it was just frustrating seeing these things that I like. I didn't like, and so I unfollowed the show and I don't know what she went and did later down the road for other seasons, because I unfollowed at that point and left altogether because releasing content in my stream. So you wouldn't want to mix your two shows or do a season for women and then do a season for men and then do a season for teens, like in one feed, because it would get very confusing for the listeners because they would get the mixed messages. And depending on where they tuned in I still have someone like finding my show to listen to all the episodes. So they'll go back. And if things are changing, it's confusing.

Brianna:

Makes sense.

Steve:

All right. And then with podcasting, whether you do a limited series or you're doing it week after week when you get into that routine, the way that routine looks like is you can record the episodes altogether in one sitting. Sometimes I know professionals who will sit in their studio once a month for an hour and record a month's worth of content and then send it over to their podcast guy. And then that podcast person does all the editing and slicing and puts it into the four different episodes, uploads it, gets all the social media clips and everything prepared and scheduled for them. So all they really listically going. Once they have everything set up the way that they like to, it'll only be like that one hour a month of them doing their creativity. And then they leave it up to their editor and producer. You also have some people that rather than wanting to pay someone or invest in that time, like that financially, they'll rather invest in it with their time and their energy learning how to do the editing. Learning how to do the social media. And the branding, learning how to do the posting and the show notes and the tags and everything. So I always tell people in terms of the podcasting, there's, the shortcuts that you can get for people that are wanting to get their sooner. I spent two years before I got traction, but my first year I did everything wrong. And it's because I was doing research. I was listening to eight different podcasts. So I was getting conflicting information and different advice, looking at all the different resources that I can get while trying to spend as little as possible. And then I ended up spending way more than I would have spent if I'd. Just hired an expert at first because I kept on buying these things that I didn't need or the software that didn't work or this hardware that went wonky just after the exchange policy, But at the end of it, I learned how to do it and it started gaining traction,

Brianna:

right.

Steve:

So that's an overview of the broadest strokes of it's, you hit record, you record your episode, you edit the episode, you upload it, you post it and then you promote it.

Brianna:

So if I wanted to just say, I wanted to make a podcast this afternoon what would I do and just hit record? And then even if I saved it just for myself, like, how would I do that? And how do you just, start it?

Steve:

For it to turn into a podcast, after you record the audio file, you'll want to then put it into an RSS feed, which is what a podcast goes into that Makes it a podcast. So the one that I will always recommend, and again, have from the beginning is BUZZ sprout. It's affordable with no sort of hidden tricks, has great customer service, has sent me to podcasting conventions on their dime just to help me grow my show. I've loved Buzzsprout forever. They are great. but there are other ones, there are ones that are known for they'll start off free when you have no listeners, but then when your show gets successful, next thing you know, you're paying five times what you would pay if you just were paying the 12 a month. And from there in that, you put what your show name is, what your cover art is, what your description of the show is, the keywords and tags that people will search to be able to find it. You do have to set all of that up so that people can know what you're looking for. And then you upload your content, your episodes once they're edited. You then post it, but what I recommend most, is have the first episode be your trailer as your preview to get you listed because getting listed in a lot of the apps takes about a week. You can't just all of a sudden say today, Hey, I'm going to be on Apple podcast by the time I go to bed tonight. Once you get buzzsprout set up, then you have to push it to Apple saying, Hey, please start looking for my stuff as I release it. And you have to do that for Spotify. And there's a whole backend setup system you have to do. Or again, hire someone to do it for you, but you get that taken care of, you set it all up and so that it's linked and posted with your email address and user IDs and accounts for all of these different websites and apps that it will be connected to and go out to that way. It goes everywhere because if you only. Do it on Spotify because you don't want to spend the two or three hours setting it up everywhere else. Then you're only going to be getting one fraction of the listeners you can get if you post it everywhere. So I always tell people post it everywhere. It does take time, but it's worth it in the end because that's where people will find your content. So why not put it everywhere so people can find it everywhere. Once it gets approved, then as you are releasing these episodes and scheduling them and pushing them out, they'll release within an hour or so window of when you request. So if you say, I want my episode to come out Thursdays at 3 and you schedule it for the next three weeks, it'll show up between 3. 30 in most people's podcasting apps. And then you post about it.

Brianna:

Yeah, right.

Steve:

So what would you say out of this conversation of podcasting, A to Z, what's your biggest takeaway?

Brianna:

I just thought it was helpful to be able to talk it through with someone.

Steve:

Yeah, for sure. Consistency is definitely the key with podcasting. But once you find your flow, it becomes part of your routine. All right. It's been a pleasure, Brianna. Thank you so much.

Brianna:

you too.

Steve:

Yeah. thanks listeners for tuning in to another episode of podcasting badass. I will see you next Monday for another episode. Until then, keep on podcasting.