10 biz lessons I've learned from putting out 100 podcast episodes
Gosh, you learn a LOT about yourself as a small business owner, don’t you? So much more than you would ever be pushed (forced?) to learn while working for someone else.
When writing my book in 2019, I wrote:
Starting and growing a small business is akin to undertaking a series of intense therapy sessions … with yourself as both the psychologist and the client.
The longer you’re running your small business, the more likely you are to be forced to look at who you really are, what makes you happy, what leaves you feeling depleted and what impact you most want to have on the world around you.
I completely stand by this concept. Running a small business makes you confront a whole lot about yourself — your privileges, your limiting beliefs, your ideas about what’s right / wrong, fair /unfair, hard / easy etc.
This week my podcast hit the 100-episode milestone. There are more than 2 million podcasts (with 48 million episodes between them) running at the moment and a lot of them stop after a few months, when people run out of gas or decide the medium isn’t for them. On average the number of episodes for any podcast is less than 30, so for me to get to 100 feels pretty awesome. It has also come with a WHOLE lot of learning — about podcasting, about business, about connecting with people and about myself. In these 100 episodes I've shared parts of myself that I perhaps haven't (or haven't to such a degree) in other marketing and connection channels. I've laughed, I've cried and I've even sung on some episodes.
So, today I thought I'd share ten lessons I've learned after 100 podcasts episodes. Now, these are as much for life as they are for business and can apply to you, no matter if podcasting is something you'll never do.
1 Just start
This one is pretty easy to understand. Just have a go. Stop letting your ego tell you ALL the reasons something won't work. Flip the script and imagine that it does. What might that add to your business? To your life? What's the best that can happen? If you're reading this, thinking you want to start a podcast or hire your first person or put your name out there or enter an award or just show up more on Instagram Reels, my advice is just start. Now, today, this week. Everything gets easier once you start. Quite often it's the anticipation and the anxiety around starting that is worse than actually just starting and seeing how you go. It's kind of like going to the gym or having that awkward, but necessary, conversation with a staff member or a friend. Once you're in it, it's fine. It's just the mind stuff that goes on before you actually get going.
2 Things don't need to be perfect
Following on from lesson 1, is this. You can have the best studio set up, the most professional artwork, and yet the podcast content may not be that great. You can have the most polished videography team for your YouTube channel, but you're failing to humanise the content, so it falls short. Waiting for things to be "perfect" often means you're simply procrastinating and/or that you don't trust yourself to be good enough. For years, I hid behind not having the right recording environment (I was convinced I'd have to build a soundproof area in our home) or not having a perfect voice (whatever that means) and yet both of those things were just excuses. Also, I was told by others I'd have to write, word for word, every episode which just isn't true. Sure, at the start I'd write down some stuff, but now 95% of what I record is just me riffing, with a few one-word bullet points to go on. It didn't need to be done the way others did it and there is no one, perfect way. Figure out what works for you, your lifestyle and your needs, and go from there.
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3 Everything gets easier with time
Lesson three can be applied to just about anything in life and business. With any type of marketing that you're doing or even any type of system and process that you're setting up in your business, it's going to be harder at the start. You're not used to it, yet. It's something new. And just like anything else in life that's new, it's going to be awkward; you're going to fumble, you're going to learn, you're going to make mistakes that you (hopefully) learn from. The more you do something and gain an understanding for it, the more you can identify ahead of time the possible obstacles or hurdles. And with that knowledge the pleasure factor goes up, so that you not only understand things more but you usually enjoy it more too.
4 Marketing can be FUN
I LOVE podcasting, I honestly do. I use time blocking a lot in my business and Mondays are my days to podcast. I can honestly say I SOOO look forward to recording them, both the solo episodes and the interviews with guests. Maybe it's because it's like playing radio, maybe it's because you have sooo many chances to connect with people or maybe it's because podcasting is such a low barrier to entry (I can be sitting in my PJs with greasy hair batch recording away). All of this has been a big reminder that marketing can, and should be (at least, in part) FUN. I work with soooo many small business owners who haven't found marketing to be enjoyable until we start working together and they see that it's not all about spending 24/7 on social media or throwing tens of thousands of dollars at an element they don't quite understand such as SEO or FB ads. At its base level marketing is about building brand loyalty and connecting your business with people who will most benefit from it. How fun is your marketing? Take a minute and review what you like / don't like about it and then consider, how could we make it more enjoyable?
5 Business challenges are universal
I am super proud to see that my podcast has been downloaded in six of the seven continents and that I've been able to connect with business owners in so many countries: Australia, US, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, NZ, Malaysia, India, Japan, UAE, Egypt, Angola, Tanzania, Scotland, Morocco, Thailand, China, Hong Kong, Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Singapore and so many more. What I've learned from the messages, emails and DMs, is that sooo many of our business challenges are universal. The idea of not being good enough, worrying about what others think, having to learn new ways to market and connect, trying to run a business during a pandemic (and obviously there are varying degrees to this), dealing with racism, combating sexism, working to be more inclusive, pitching for work, manufacturing issues and so many other business elements unite us.
6 It's your podcast. You can do what you like
Just like it's YOUR business and you get to decide and control, to a large degree, how it runs, so too has this been the same with podcasting. When I started a friend had warned me that she would take a whole day per podcast episode to edit, re-record and write up episode scripts. I just don't have that time to spend on this medium. I have two young children, work during school hours and don't work Wednesdays or Fridays. In some podcasting groups I'm part of, I read as people discussed how each episode took them on average 10 hours to edit —again, time I just don't have. So I considered how I could make this work for me and my lifestyle requirements. I hired a great podcast editor, worked with my VA on templates for graphics and show notes, and figured out a process that would help me hit the goal of two episodes a week in a way that worked for me. I have also started with three episode types in my podcast but that's not set in concrete and if I decide things need to change, I can do that. Too often in business we can get sidetracked by how others do things or having to do things in a certain way because, "that's how it's always been" rather than remind ourselves it is OUR business and we can change it any way we like, whenever we like.
7 Don't be scared of technology
Now, I don't see myself as someone who's not good at tech. The bulk of my career has been working at online and eCommerce companies, as well as digital agencies and SAAS brands. That said, I had let the idea of all this tech equipment get to me when starting my podcast. I looked at others and saw these giant tech set-ups and figured I'd need to spend months and months learning everything, becoming an expert at it, before I could even begin. This was just BS I was telling myself as a way of procrastinating. In the end, I figured out the basics I'd need — Garageband, a hosting platform, Canva and Zoom (tools I already mostly used) — watched some YouTube tutorials and was good to go. Don't let technology get in the way of taking action. There are always online tutorials, platform forums and, like lesson 3 states above, it all gets easier with time.
8 Keep it simple and template where you can
Before I started my podcast, I sat down and mapped out a process. Now, I know I'm somebody who loves systems and processes; it's a big part of what I work with people on, but don't let the idea of a "process" scare you. It can be as simple as drawing a line across a page from left to right and figuring out the steps from idea to implementation (if you're digital, you could use Notes on your iPad or you could use a tool like Mindmeister or Canva). I started by thinking that a good place would be to list out my initial ideas for a podcast, who I'd like to interview, different episode topic ideas etc. From that I knew I'd need some sort of tracker to list those ideas out and a template for podcast interview questions, graphics for social media and a template of emails to liaise with guests. Again, I know this can sound like a LOT but starting out with a process really helps us be able to get two podcasts out a week and reduces ineffectiveness with communication. Everyone is aware of what is needed and they have templates and tools to help them get the job done.
9 When you show up consistently, you're going to be seen
This is a BIG one and I've seen it become the #1 reason people don't show up in their businesses especially with marketing. Yes, if you turn up week after week after week you WILL be seen and with that, comes potential judgement, vulnerability, shame and ego-bruising. But it also opens up the opportunity for deeper connection and self-awareness. By having this podcast I know that I'm showing more of my personality (which people may love or loathe), that my own limiting beliefs are surfacing and that I will stumble - publicly - when asking questions that are necessary but can feel awkward. I have cried on this podcast, I have felt my voice shake when I'm discussing personal events, I have laughed and snorted, I have randomly broken into songs or raps, I have fumbled over wording and I have discussed super challenging moments in a way that perhaps I haven't in other marketing channels. When you show up consistently you are going to be SEEN and that can be hard, because the act of showing up forces you to question things about yourself, your privileges and your own limiting beliefs. But what is the long-term cost of not showing up?
10 There are lessons everywhere.
My dad always told my siblings and I that everyone and everything in life can be your teacher, if you are open to access the lessons. This podcast has proven that point to me again and again again. From random passages in books I'm reading, through to a conversation with my eldest son, a documentary seen in passing on TV, a question posed on the morning news or an experience with a stranger at the supermarket — all of it can be educational and all of it can, in a weird way and once it's been digested, become ideas for podcast content. Now, that's not to say that I'm always thinking about the podcast or turning every conversation into content, but I think having a podcast has opened me up a little more to ALL the lessons we get, in all different ways, as we go out about our lives. One of my fave parts of having this podcast has been the opportunity for me to share those lessons with others.
So, that's it, the 10 lessons I've learned from 100 episodes of my podcast. Thank you to every single person who has shared it, contacted me as a result of listening, left a review, posted about it on social or sent a DM. It is so very, very appreciated. It's always scary to try something new and open yourself up to judgement, but I am so glad I did. Thanks for being a part of this journey.