Q&A: Re-launching, Monetizing, Batching, Charging for Guests

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BONUS! Live Q&A! Re-launching, Monetizing, Batching, Charging for Guests on Your Podcast?! Oh-My!

Join in on these bi-weekly LIVE trainings over in the Mompreneur Mastermind Group on FB.

FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION:

(00:13)
Who wants to do some Q&A today? So if you guys are joining me here, live for sure. Say hi. If you’re watching the replay comment, replay below so that I can come back and say hi to you. Hi Susan, how are you? Finding our questions here, guys. And we’ve got a lot of juicy questions to answer today, so I hope you guys love this.

(01:22)
Hey Kim, I know I miss you. Susan. Susan was in my last mastermind. So everybody becomes family when they’re in a mastermind with you. All right, let’s get into some of these juicy questions you guys. And if you’re joining a live, just pretend you’re on the replay. Just pretend you’re on live because it’s so much more fun to follow along as if the first question is from Melissa Stewart.

(01:49)
I love interviewing others about their path, their experience, how they came to the place where they realize their purpose, their story, et cetera. Is there a way to monetize that part? Because it lights me up so much, actually, Melissa, there is.

So some podcasts actually charge for interviews. I don’t know if I’m allowed to talk about that, like which ones, so I’ll just not go into details, but I will tell you guys that some of the notable podcasts that you’ve come to know and love, they actually are not free podcasting platforms.

(02:30)
They are paid. So some of the shows that we’ve pitched, they’re like, sure, come on, come be on the show, but it’s $500 a guest spot. So that is absolutely something that you guys can do is you can monetize your podcast by growing your podcast to the level at which other people want to come be on your show for publicity and you actually charge for those guest spots. Isn’t that crazy?

(02:58)
So the answer is yes, Melissa, you can do that. Hey Ryanne. Hey Janet. Hi everybody. If you’re joining, say what’s up. All right, next question. Lindsay Sutherland, can you speak about launching courses? How do you market, do you have a strategy? Do you do many courses and then sell into a larger course? Any tips you have relating to building a course and marketing, it would be helpful. Okay.

(03:24)
So when you guys are thinking about launching a course and you believe that it’s time to launch your product, I actually believe it’s better to wait until you know, that you have demand for a certain solution and create the thing. And instead of creating many things that you think maybe could be in demand, you do maybe private coaching for a while to get that market research going.

(03:53)
Once you guys have identified what the actual demand and need really truly is because you’ve been meeting with people on your podcast, because you’ve been doing some private coaching, then go ahead and create the course. If I could do anything over, it would have been not to create so many different mini courses in the beginning, solving so many different problems, but to have actually started by coaching so that I could get to know people in my business a little bit better.

(04:22)
Ultimately launched the thing which is Podcast Pro University, right? And then the mastermind comes next, which is taking people from the signature course and moving them into the third tier, which is of course an immersion experience. It’s a much higher price point. So that’s the thing as far as launching it. I believe that when you have over a thousand super fans, you can do a launch, a soft launch, like a webinar, a free class, something where people get to trust you and learn with you.

(04:55)
That then leads them into the course. That’s a great way to just ease people into a course with you. And you can do that as often as you, like, I typically do it once a quarter and promote something just to make it more fun for people to buy. Because while my stuff is evergreen and y’all can buy it at any time, sometimes we need an excuse to buy, or any of you like me, you’re like, but where’s my coupon code or my free shipping.

(05:24)
You know? So it’s that buyer psychology of launching just simply means giving people a reason to buy. And my favorite is just a super fun, easy training or webinar that’s free. That then leads into the course. Next question. Hi everybody. Hey Kelsey, if you guys are just joining, say hi, let me know where you’re watching from. Megan Whiteside, I would love to learn more of how to start monetizing a podcast.

(05:51)
What’s the best way to start? And at what price point my podcast audience is growing and I’m getting a ton of positive feedback. I want to use that momentum for good also what are some creative ways to grow our email list other than a free document? Okay. So the first part of this question is how to start monetizing a podcast. You guys, the easiest way to monetize a podcast is to offer coaching.

(06:17)
Initially when your super fan number is really small and those of you that are new around here, if you’re like, what’s a super fan, go listen to episode 199 of my podcast. Okay, it’ll talk you through that entire concept. But basically when you don’t have a lot of super fans, it’s easier to sell things at a higher price point, like coaching to get market research. Okay? The other thing you can do is you can affiliate for someone else.

(06:45)
You can affiliate for a product that’s already out in the marketplace that somebody’s already created instead of creating your own thing. When you really don’t know what’s in demand yet when you guys are new. So those are my favorite ways. The next step is once you do have some market research to create a pop up passive, e-course, that’s a hundred percent yours.

(07:07)
Why? Because you make a lot more profit margin that way you just have to know what your demographic, what your Lola really, really, really needs. And the only way I figured figured that out, you guys was doing coaching and having people ask me, how do I grow an audience? How would, how do I grow an evergreen audience? How do I create passive revenue?

(07:28)
When I realize it’s podcasting with e-courses, which is why that’s what I do. I have the podcasting course and the coaching that helps people map out the course. So those are my favorite ways to monetize. Getting sponsorships is a long game, and you really have to have a pretty big podcast. I’m not a fan of small dollar offers like membership groups. I’m not a fan of that.

(07:51)
You have to show up 24/7. I’m not a fan of small mini offers like $27 products. In my opinion, they just don’t bring in enough revenue when your audience is small, right? When y’all are Jasmine Star, you can have a membership group. You feel me? All right, let’s keep going. Next question from Jane Chan, how do I navigate the right balance between relationships with fellow influencers and podcasters?

(08:22)
What not to ask or say that could give the wrong impression? I’m not a hundred percent sure that I understand this question, but I’ll do my best. So when it comes to relationships with other podcasters and influencers, I think you really have to come from a place of value and service. Have you guys are trying to network with other people that are in your demographic, just start with, how can I serve you?

(08:51)
Can I teach something on your show? Would you like to come be on my show, kind of just starting to grow a relationship and a rapport with people and letting it naturally progress. Maybe that’s not what you meant by that question, but if not, let me know in the comments and we’ll dig in. Hi. Hi. Uilani. How are you? Okay, let’s keep going. Next question from Megan King. What about relaunching?

(09:16)
I had a podcast launch in June and because lots of personal changes personally started happening. I had to take a short break to focus on other priorities. Relaunched last week with a new episode, but I’ve lost the momentum from before. How do I get them excited to come back without badgering them?

(09:35)
Yeah. So Megan, just treat it like it’s new, treat it like it’s new. Be super excited. I would probably literally treat it like it’s new. Like I’m relaunching. Treat it just like you did when your very first episode came out. Can you leave reviews? Can you support it for me? Or share it on Instagram stories for me? How excited were you when your show came out?

(10:01)
That’s where you want to get to again, when you guys do a relaunch and you’re really following the same launch strategy for relaunch. The other thing to remember is that life happens and we need to have a backup plan for life happening to make sure that our podcast momentum doesn’t die. So what I do for this ladies is I have a batch number of episodes in my pocket at any given time between roughly 5 and 10 episodes.

(10:36)
So if life happens, if I just don’t feel like it, I can go into my batched episodes that are ready, but not numbered. Pull one up and publish that one. So I would highly recommend when you guys find yourself with maybe a Sunday afternoon or like it’s just a relaxing day and you get inspired, hop on that microphone and record three, four or five mini episodes that you could pull from in this event, because there is something to be said about momentum building on top of momentum.

(11:13)
I could let any other thing go in my business, like the Facebook group, whatever, even Pinterest, but the podcast? That is one thing that for the past two years, I’ve never once missed an episode. And it’s not because I didn’t miss an episode. It’s because I had a backup plan to when I had to miss one. Does that make sense? Drop me a one. If that makes sense. Okay.

(11:41)
Next question, Sarah Ann, I asked this earlier in the group, but would love your answer. How far ahead do you record and do you batch? Well, there you go. We just talked about this. So I have a batch bucket of episodes. You guys between 5 and 10 extra episodes. I’m constantly staying on top of, but they’re not structured in a certain slot because some weeks I’m on fire. I’m like, I’m going. And I’m like, I’m coming up with all these ideas. I’ve got bonus episodes. Here I go.

(12:16)
I don’t want to be forced to publish my batch episode that I’m not feeling excited about, but maybe next week, your girl needs a minute. Well then next week I’m going to pull from my batch episodes and plug them in. So my secret, my aunt, my not a secret secret to share with you guys is that you need to have episodes in your pocket, ideally five at all times. Cool.

(12:43)
Hi Tracy. Hi Sarah. Okay. Let’s keep going. Michelle McCoy asks, should you launch your podcast even if you don’t have a program or something to offer them other than a free opt-in, I’d rather wait to have what I need in the critical time of building than to have crickets, but am I overthinking it? What do you guys think I’m going to say to this answer?

(13:09)
Should you wait to launch your podcast to first have a program to first have an email list to first have a freebie? What do you guys think this answer is? Drop it in the comments. I’ll wait. No, that’s right. No, no, no. Never, never, never, never, never. Wait. You guys, how do you grow the audience? The podcast. How do you get the people who are going to buy the course? The podcast.

(13:47)
How do you get people who are going to get your freebie and opt in the course? How do you get people into your Facebook groups? Not the course, the podcast. How do you guys get people in your Facebook group? The podcast. You’ve got to shift your thinking from the end result. How do I make the money?

(14:06)
How do I sell the courses? How do I get the clients to, how do I show up on this podcast and serve for free every single week, consistently week over week, over week, no matter what, because that is the entry point to your funnel. The podcast is the thing that drives the rest. The podcast is the corner piece of the puzzle. That without it, you don’t have a completed puzzle.

(14:34)
Nothing else can happen without the corner. You feel me? So the answer is no, do not wait. I don’t care if you have nothing else. No socials, no email list, no strategy, no course. Get the podcast going. If the one thing I wish I had done earlier, it’s that. Great question. Next question is from Kelsey Joy Rinker, I’m curious on your push versus pull method. You say only do one written content for all social platforms, but you also post tons of other stuff in the group daily.

(15:10)
Does that mean it’s okay to post daily stuff? As long as it’s not long written stuff, don’t do copy type posts? I would love more clarity on this. Okay. Great question, Kelsey. So what I mean when I say that I do one written piece of content. That’s repurposed everywhere. Some of you are writing like mini-blogs for Instagram, literally many blogging on Instagram, like the worst place to grow an audience, in my opinion.

(15:43)
Because of the algorithm, because it only lives for 24 hours because you can’t control who sees it because it’s paid to play all the things you’re spending an hour on a post over there, then you’re coming up with another post for Facebook. And then you’re like, there’s too many things going on that all lead to the same place. So one piece of written content that leads directly to what?

(16:08)
The very top of your funnel, which is your podcast episodes, right? Then all the other stuff can be for fun. Your stories. If you feel like it, happen on Instagram. And let me share a little secret with you guys. A lot of the stories that I share on Instagram are actually from the day before.

(16:30)
And most often I post them all in the morning and they live on for 24 hours. So you guys don’t actually know that I’m not even on Instagram half the time, but my stories make it look like I am. Play the game, play the system. That’s what I do. Okay. Then in my Facebook group, I’m not actually posting anything. I have a Facebook manager who does all of that.

(16:57)
However, if you guys don’t have help in your business yet, you need to get resourceful. And what you can do here is just post engagement memes, copy paste them from the internet. Schedule them in Facebook has a free scheduler and have it drip every other day, done, solved. And all you’re doing is posting in your episode description. Every time you have a podcast episode that brings people back to the podcast. The only other thing I’m actively doing in the group is these trainings.

(17:25)
Why? Because I want a business where the only thing I do is show up and teach and train and speak. I have zero interest in writing emails, zero interest in writing the blogs. I don’t like to write and have zero interest in that stuff. So as soon as you can, and as soon as I could, I outsourced all of that. And I got really resourceful on making one great mini piece of content that I was going to use everywhere.

(17:54)
Then you have your VA do it. As soon as you guys have help in your business or your intern. I have a client right now who has an intern who does all of this for free. Seriously. All right, next question, Christine Henrik. I hope I said that right, asks, I’m curious about your thoughts on building a brand under your name versus the name of your show.

(18:18)
Also, how important is where you record your episodes. Do you need a small quiet space? Have you recorded outside and did that make editing a lot more difficult? Okay. Christine, you’re so cute. And you’re totally new here because I record everywhere. I record in the noise, outside, while my kids are in the bath right next to me.

(18:41)
If you listen to today’s episode, you guys laughed because you could hear the kids come out screaming of the bath right when I was ending the episode, it was like, it couldn’t be more perfect. Do those episodes have some background noise? Yes. Does it matter? No. I don’t think any of you care. Actually drop me a two. If you guys don’t care that there’s background noise in my episodes and you appreciate that I have bonus episodes and have episodes that are full of great content.

(19:11)
Drop me a big X emoji if you’re like, I hate that you have background noise and I’d rather go without bonus episodes, Stefanie. Be honest with me. I want to hear it and I can take it. I can take it. Okay. Now, in my opinion, I would rather hear my favorite podcaster, honestly, recording, because I want to honestly record.

(19:36)
Now, there is a couple of things. You get a couple of things that we do when we edit those episodes out. Sometimes I don’t edit them at all, but if, if they are edited, you can do noise reduction in Audacity and take out the background noise really easily. And that’s really the only editing that happens to those episodes. So go for it. Live your life, ladies. Live your life, record your episodes. Wherever you see fit, wherever you feel led be you and just communicate.

(20:01)
I’m in my car. I’m recording this. You’ve been warned. Like, it’s not about perfection. It’s about the content. And honestly, some of my most downloaded episodes are the ones that are super vulnerable and real. People appreciate rawness now more than they appreciate production and editing. Editing, and having super over-produced stuff is five years ago. You know, today we want people who are just here for it. Okay. All right. Those were such great questions.

(22:06)
Mama, real quick before you go. If you found value in today’s podcast and you learn something new, take a screenshot for me, post it up in your Instagram stories and be sure to tag me because together we can empower, educate and shift the way that mamas look at life because sister friend, we actually can have it all. Let’s claim it.