Podcast Launchpad with Angela Kelly Smith

Podcasting is an excellent way to grow your audience. But still your most valuable asset as an entrepreneur is your email list. My guest today, Tracy Beavers, is sharing some of her top organic strategies for growing your email list.

“Your email list is your number one thing you need for business success. So I would rather you focus on using social media to build your list rather than your follower count.” -Tracy Beavers

Too many business owners are fixated on social-media follower counts. And we podcasters are naturally monitoring listener counts. But Facebook and Instagrams have gone offline before. And heaven forbid Apple Podcasts or Spotify should glitch one day! We simply have no control over these third-party platforms. (I do trust podcast platforms more than I do social media!)

Our email lists are the one thing that we own. Even if our email service provider goes offline for a day, we can have a downloaded copy of the emails our people give us. We can reach our community outside of social media and our podcasts.

That’s why it’s so essential to build a strong email list. 

In this episode, Tracy shares:

• How to use social media to grow your list
• How to grow your email list without knocking yourself out creating new lead magnets
• How to create lead magnets from content your already have
• When to avoid paid ads to build your list

Tracy also shares:

• How to make real connections using DMs without ever being slimy
• How to set up your Facebook cover photo to get more visibility and leads

About Tracy:

Tracy Beavers is the CEO and Founder of Tracy Beavers Coaching. She has 20 years experience in marketing, sales, and business growth and has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs with everything from overcoming the fear of sales to growing their business visibility through organic marketing strategies.

Be sure to sign up for Tracy’s free masterclass at

https://tracybeavers.com/masterclass

Connect with Tracy:

Join Tracy’s free Facebook group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/beaconfidententrepreneur

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This week I’m chatting with Jennifer Senn, a certified life and loss coach and the host of Navigating Baby Loss, about how she uses her podcast to create a community of support for parents who are experiencing the grief of stillbirth. 

Just like the work she does, Jen has a very unique and niched podcast. When I have talked in other episodes about making sure that your brand matches your content and your audience’s needs, Jen’s show is the perfect example of what I mean. In fact, I’ve mentioned her podcast before. 

Jen has a very wam and comforting presence, which is exactly what her listeners need. And yet she is also future-focused and provides hope. 

Being a bereaved mother of stillborn twin girls, Jen has been where her listeners are now. She knows her audience and what they need. And delivers it to them perfectly.

Even if you don’t “need” to listen to Jen’s show for the content, I highly recommend that you check it out for podcasting homework.

Highlights from the episode:

• Jen’s recommendations for what to and not to say when someone is grieving a loss—particularly baby loss
• Why Jen decided to become a baby loss coach
• How Jen uses her podcast to develop a community of support
• What Jen suggests you do to plan your podcast to avoid podfade
• Why Jen decided to start interviewing guests on her show

About Jen:

Jennifer Senn is a certified life and loss coach. After spending 10 years suffering from the grief of losing her twin girls at 32 weeks, Jen finally got the help and healing she needed through a coach. That led her down a path of becoming a coach herself to help other parents avoid years of pain and to find a path toward healing. Jen is also the host of the podcast Navigating Baby Loss.

Connect with Jen:

https://www.jennifersenn.com

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Ready to make money with your podcast? My guest today, Sarah St. John, is sharing seven ways you can monetize your podcast.

You’ll learn about:

• Sponsorships
• Ads
• Partnerships
• Promoting your own stuff
• Affiliate sales
• Donations
• Subscriptions

Sarah and I also discuss:

• How podcasting is not dead or oversaturated
• How to make your podcast more findable on Google
• Why you should consider video if you aren’t already doing it

Sarah St. John is an entrepreneur, author, the host of Frugalpreneur, and the host of Lesbi-Honest. She helps people launch and manage an online business on a budget.

Connect with Sarah:

https://thesarahstjohn.com

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I had so many questions for my guest Mark Asquith that we just weren’t able to stick to one topic! We had planned on talking about how to choose a podcast hosting provider—which we do discuss. But Mark is so knowledgable about the podcast industry, that we had to chat about other aspects of podcasting. Plus, I knew you’d want to hear about monetizing your show!

“I would rather you start your podcast somewhere than not start it.” -Mark Asquith

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• What to look for when choosing a podcast hosting provider
• Insider tips on podcast ads and sponsorships
• Ideas for monetizing from day 1
• What website to use for your podcast (depending on whether it’s standalone vs part of your business)
• Why you should start a podcast even if you think the industry is saturated

“So I think the point that I'm getting at is diversity monetization is really, really, really important. And it's not something many people think about because they often do think they need big numbers to make any money. And it's not, you need big numbers to make a certain type of money, but you can make a lot of other types of money without that.” -Mark Asquith

Mark Asquith is the CEO and co-founder Captivate.FM, the podcast hosting provider that I use for all of my podcasts. He is the host of The Podcast Accelerator and has been  a keynote speaker at TED X, Harvard University, Entrepreneur, and major podcast conferences.

Connect with Mark:

Twitter.com/MrAsquith

https://mark.live

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Your podcast is a compelling way to bring new clients to your business. You can also use podcasting to create an evergreen funnel for high-ticket sales—whether you already have a podcast or not.

“You don't actually even need to be an active podcaster to have a funnel, the podcast funnel. This can be something separate that you do once and it's there forever.” -Sinead Acevedo

A podcast funnel is more unique and engaging than PDF lead magnets. It provides information in a form (audio) that more people are spending time with. And it gives you the opportunity to handle listeners’ objections to working with you over the course of several bingeable episodes.

“Your content is made for a purpose: to promote your service and overcome objections.” -Sinead Acevedo

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How a podcast funnel works and how to create one
• Why you don’t need your own full podcast in order to create a podcast funnel
• How a podcast funnel helps convert subscribers to high-ticket sales

Sinéad Acevedo is the founder of Flamingo PR. With her expertise and modern PR approach, she has been helping brands transform their narratives from untold to unforgettable.

Connect with Sinéad:

FlamingoPR.com

@FlamingoPR

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Being a guest on podcasts is a powerful way to amplify your brand, increase your fanbase, and make more sales. But so many guests mess it up by writing terrible pitches. Sending a well-crafted, customized pitch will make it much easier to get a “yes” from the host.

As a podcast host, I reject more than 90% of the pitches I receive. They tend to be that bad. It’s sad because I’m sure that many of the people behind the pitches would make good guests. But we hosts don’t have the time to do all the work that the potential guest should have done for us before they pitched us.

In this episode, I share:

• Some of the benefits of being a podcast guests
• Examples of typical (bad) pitches I receive from guests
• The top 3 mistakes potential guests make when pitching hosts
• How you can fix these mistakes so you can make it easier for a host to say “yes” to having you on their show

Resources:

PodMatch

PodRep.Pro: Podcast booking agency for guests and hosts

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When you plan your content calendar, it shouldn’t be like throwing darts at a board. You can’t just wing it with when you’re going to publish what episode. As my guest Kristin Chadwick notes, you have to have a plan.

Sneak peek: “I want you to think about where do you want to take your podcast. What is the end goal? Do you want to create community? Do you want to create income? Do you want to create some sort of value? And then you’re going to work backward from there.” -Kristin Chadwick

Kristin walks you through the steps of how to plan a strategic content calendar for your podcast—whether you’re just starting out or you’re well-established in your podcast.

She also discusses the three biggest mistakes podcasters make when planning their episodes. The first one will really surprise you!

Kristin has been in the podcasting industry since 2016—helping coaches, authors, and influencers launch and grow their podcast and expand their business. She uses a unique, personalized approach that helps bring alignment, purpose, and intention to her clients’ podcasts.

Kristin also hosts two of her own podcasts—Wholistic Podcasting and Wholistic Hearts, a podcast to help people encounter the heart of Jesus through the art of using our imagination.

Connect with Kristin

https://kristinfieldschadwick.com

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One of my main goals with this podcast is to get other women into podcasting, especially fellow moms. There just aren’t enough of us in the podcasting space. And… you have a unique voice and something important to say that your audience wants to hear.

I am so thrilled to be chatting with today’s guest, Angela Masciulli, about mompreneurs in podcasting. (You’re going to love her!)

Angela is on a mission to help other moms get into entrepreneurship to have more freedom and to bust the myth that you can’t be a successful entrepreneur and a mother. In fact, Angela says that being an entrepreneur can help you be a better mom. (I loved talking to her about this because, wow, did I struggle with those feelings when my kids were little!)

We discuss imposter syndrome with starting a business and with starting a podcast. Angela says:

“It's essentially what the podcast is. You're building your own table, and you have this incredible opportunity to ask other people to sit at it with you.”

Isn't that awesome?!

Be sure to check out Angela’s podcast, The Good Enough Mompreneur Podcast (link below).

Connect with Angela Masciulli

https://mombusinesscoach.com

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In this week’s news, we’re discussing a fabulous update in Apple Podcasts, a nasty AI future being put into place right now, and a bit about the writers and actors strikes—including how they relate to podcasting.

References:

Acast survey

Cristela Alonzo tweets

“Snowpiercer’s Lena Hall Slams Body Scan Tech Ahead of Season 4”

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Who am I to have my own podcast? Who would want to listen to what I have to say? Have you ever had these thoughts? Most podcasters have. And they can be stopping you from starting a podcast or from achieving greater success in your podcast.

Imposter thinking is so normal—especially amongst entrepreneurs and podcasters. We’re really putting ourselves out there in a big and public way. It makes sense that we’d sometimes feel like a “fraud.”

Even though it’s normal, it doesn’t mean you have to give into imposter thinking! This episode will help you change your thinking so you can have a more successful podcast.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why experience is more important than countless certifications and degrees
• When comparison can actually help you out of imposter thinking and how to do it
• Why you should break the myth that “everyone has a podcast, and no one will want to listen to mine”
• Why you need a host avatar and how to create one

Related episodes:

13: How Do I Identify an Ideal Listener for My Podcast?

45: How to Set the Right Goals for Your Podcast

49: Tips for a Stress-Less Podcast with KonMari Consultant Caroline Thor

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