Success Unscrambled Podcast

Are you looking for a way to record a podcast on a Mac computer?

If you are new to podcasting or just looking for other options to record a podcast quickly and efficiently I feel your pain.

It's been over 3 years since I started my podcast and at the time there weren't many resources available.

When it comes to podcasting you'll realise there's so much to learn.

To be frank, there are many layers to consider in the podcasting realm.

Here's a short run down for you.

What topic will you choose for your next episode?

Will it be in a solo format or interview or group discussion?

Do you have the best tools to do the recording?

Where will you record the episode?

If you are not doing a solo show, do your guests have the right software, equipment and broadband connection?

As you can see there are so many things to consider when you need to produce a podcast show.

In this post, you'll learn what software you can use to record a podcast on Apple computers as well as what else you need to consider for a good quality audio recording.

Podcast Equipment Statistics

Before diving into the information about recording your show, it would make sense to look at podcasting equipment statistics.

In other words, what other podcasters in the industry are using when it comes to creating, editing and publishing their show.

Doing this will help you gain insights into which equipment is popular.

While there are a lot of statistics available about podcast listeners.

Very few seem to be interested in surveying the podcasters.

Let's first look at the top microphone brands according to the folks at The Podcast Host.

* Rode - 19%* Blue - 17%* Shure - 12%* Audio Technica - 11%* Samson - 7%* Zoom - 5%

What was interesting about the survey they did is the number of people using recording software.

Of the people surveyed, 67% used software, 25% used a digital recorder and another 4% fell into the category of other.

On the topic of microphone types, there were 3 in the results. A dynamic mic at 35%, a condenser mic at 29% and a USB mic at 33%.

Do you record podcasts with headphones on? Now, I believe that the results are a bit skewed here.

Because 74% said yes and 26% said no. The reason why I believe it is not accurate is that I record mine with ear pods.

I do it not to hear my voice but to record into the Apple ear pod mic.

Podcasting Equipment for Good Quality Sound

Now that you know what other people in the industry are using let's look at the layers of necessary equipment.

I'll try to cover everything for recording and not for post-production.

Some of the equipment used in the recording stage can also be used during podcast production.

Here's a list of what you may need.

* Clear voice* Microphone or EarPods* Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)* Storage for audio clips* Stable broadband connection* Pop filter* A quiet room* Topic for recording* Uninterrupted recording time* DAW for multitrack recording (if not solo)* A plan

So, you are at that stage where you are looking at a blog vs podcast strategy to implement for your small business marketing needs.

You know that blogging has been around for many years and it is possible that this method is saturated.

Podcasting on the other hand continues to be the new kid on the block.

It appears to be getting more popular and seems to offer more versatility.

However, you're not sure which one is easier to produce.

At this point, you would like answers to the following questions.

Between the two mediums which one is easier to get started?

What is the cost to start a podcast compared to a blog?

Is there an established methodology to go from 0 to 1,000 visitors a month on a blog compared to getting 1,000 listeners on a podcast?

How to get the 10-20 blog posts written compared to podcast episodes recorded and which one will take longer?

Which option would be more suitable for your target market?

In this post, you'll learn how to choose between a blog vs podcast for your business. The process involved in getting started and how to get your listeners to your podcast and readers to your blog.

Disclosure: Please note that this post may contain affiliate links which means that if you buy one of my recommended products I get paid a commission for sharing the link at no additional cost to you.  I only recommend products that I have tried myself and have experienced success.

The Definitions

In order to help you choose between these two mediums let's first look at what they are in their presentation.

Both blogs and podcasts can be used as inbound marketing channels as they are in a digital format which is great news for small businesses.

A blog is a written form of content that ranges from 300 to 10,000 words in length.

The reason why there's such a wide range in the length of a blog post is that it depends on the type of post as well as the reason it was written.

Blogs are normally used to build authority and grow a following. When it comes to blog content it is normally educational and/or entertaining in nature.

Looking at the definition of a podcast, it is a form of audio content ranging in length from 7 minutes up to 2 hours.

Again, the reason why there's such a wide range is that some podcast episodes are full-on performances.

If you want to know the average length then it is between 30-60 minutes.

Podcasts can also be used to build authority and grow an audience. The way each one is consumed can be very different.

One major reason why people listen to podcasts is to learn something new.

Podcast vs Blog: The Statistics

A key way to figure out which content marketing medium is right for your business is to first look at the statistics behind each one.

It would make sense for me to spend time looking at the statistics of each one individually to help you gain a frame of reference.

Podcast Statistics

At the time of writing this blog post, there are over 48 million podcast episodes in existence. These came from over 2,000,000 podcast shows.

In case you don't understand the difference, a podcast show can have several episodes.

Two years ago, there were only 525,

Congratulations on deciding to become a blogger! Do you need to write your first blog post but you don't know what to write?

You've probably never classified yourself as a writer at all.

To put it bluntly, you don't see why anyone would ever be interested in your content.

The English Literature class at school was super boring for you.

Writing English compositions and similar essays were the least pleasurable homework assignments during high school.

If only you had a pet dog that ate your homework it would've been a good idea and the perfect excuse.

Tell me if you can also relate to these.

Despite your checkered past when it comes to writing long form essays, you want to give blog writing your best shot.

There's so much information out there about what to write that it has left you confused.

Technical blogging terminology sounds too scary to understand and you feel a little lost.

You just need a way to start your blog off right to avoid future regrets.

In this post, you'll learn everything you need so that you can write your first blog post confidently and get your first 1,000 blog readers as well.

Latest Blogging Statistics

Before diving into this first blog post guide let's spend some time looking at the statistics when it comes to blogging.

It's important to look at blogging statistics because it will give you a frame of reference.

So, you already know that there are close to 8 billion people on planet earth at the moment.

However, you may not know that there are over 1.7 billion websites and about 600 million of them are blogs.

That's about 13 people for each and every blog.

In terms of active bloggers in the US alone there are about 32 million. If you will be blogging for the USA, don't let that number worry you because blogging categories are endless.

The current rate of newly created blog posts stands at 70 million new posts a month.

While that may all sound overwhelming you also need to be aware that there are close to 90,000 searches conducted on Google every second.

Those searches include people looking for content that you have not even written yet.

Bloggers who spend 6 hours or more on a blog post report a 31% increase in results.

If you can't see yourself spending that much time on a blog post yet don't worry right now.

Here's a strange statistic, 73% of people prefer reading articles less than 1,000 words long.

On the flip side of that, blogs earning $50,000 or more a year have blog posts averaging 2,500 in length.

To summarise these statistics in a lump, profitable bloggers are those who spend 6 hours or more crafting blog posts that are 2500 words long as they attract some of those 90,000 searches per second.

This will all make sense in a bit so stick with me until the end.

Types of Blogs

If you have been doing some research you'll notice that there are all different types of blogs that you can create.

In fact, when I first started blogging over 10 years ago these blog types wer...

Are you wondering how to use TweetDeck to manage or get the most out of Twitter?

One of the ways to stay abreast of what's happening in the world is to use a social network like Twitter.

If you're like me and you dislike being fed items that have been selected by someone else to broadcast on the airwaves then stay tuned for alternatives.

While this article is not a rant on who's taking sides when it comes to what the media publishes daily.

It is an educational piece to help guide you into choosing the options best suited to your needs.

Tell me if these sound relatable.

You're sick and tired of wading through a ton of content every day that is irrelevant to your needs and interests.

Nearly every time you switch on the television or radio station you lose the ability to be selective about your news choices.

Even when you decide to use platforms like Facebook or Instagram there's still the challenge of finding something interesting to digest.

If only there was a way to set up your own selective news channels so that you get a real choice.

In this post, you'll learn how to use TweetDeck to get very selective about the choice and sentiment of the content in your own private feeds.

What is TweetDeck

If you've never heard of TweetDeck before or you've been meaning to take it for a spin this is your 2-minute description of this fabulous customisable tool.

TweetDeck is a social media dashboard application with functionality for managing Twitter accounts in real-time.

Think of a single interface to stream tweets across different types of columns and still access your home feed.

It was first released back in 2008 by Iain Dodsworth and was later acquired by Twitter in May 2011. This makes TweetDeck one of the only native Twitter apps where you'll get the latest tweets in a standalone setting.

You can think of TweetDeck with desktop client functionality to give you a bird's eye view of the things that you would like to see on Twitter.

Essentially, it gives you the ability to streamline the things you would like to see and eliminate the ones you don't want to see.

A great way to visualise this dashboard is seeing it as a tool to reduce the overwhelm associated with the Twitter platform.

There are at least 5 things that you can do on TweetDeck that's not available as standard directly on the Twitter platform.

Let's spend some time looking at some Twitter statistics so that you can see why using TweetDeck can be a game-changer for you.

Twitter Statistics

If I asked you how many people use Twitter daily you probably wouldn't know because it is not as popular as Facebook and Instagram.

On a daily basis, there are over 187 million people using Twitter regularly. According to this report by Hootsuite.

The average age range is 25 to 34 and in terms of gender 70% of the users are male.

Over 59% of people using Twitter use it as their source of daily news which is truly eye-opening.

5.8% of the world's population over 13 can be reached using Twitter Ads.

In terms of the predicted growth rate, Twitter is forecasted to grow by 2.4% this year.

If you run a serviced based business and you're wondering what to use among ClickUp vs Trello vs Asana then this project management software comparison is for you.

In many service-led businesses, there is a growing requirement to modernise the way projects are managed.

This is especially when true when there are external contractors or subcontractors.

Whether you are an interior designer, run a marketing agency or are a business coach.

You'll be very familiar with the daily struggle of being able to streamline subcontractors and projects to enhance business efficiency.

Let me know if this sounds relatable.

There are multiple clients on your books at different stages of the project cycle.

Some clients go for your full-service package while others may go only for one of the smaller packages.

However, you need to manage all these clients using the same resources as contractors or set up a similar workflow.

You are hoping for a way to automate or semi-automate the processing of all the work and milestones.

In this post, you'll learn the similarities and differences when it comes to using ClickUp, Trello and Asana to manage projects and clients.

Disclosure: Please note that this post may contain affiliate links which means that if you buy one of my recommended products I get paid a commission for sharing the link at no additional cost to you.  I only recommend products that I have tried myself and have experienced success.

What Does Good Project Management Software Look Like?

In case you've never used any kind of project management software let me spend some time looking at what makes them good.

As the name implies, any software with the name project management on the badge should at least help you manage projects.

The reality is it should help you to manage many projects and resources at the same time.

When it comes to agency work the rule of thumb is that you should have one project manager for every 7 clients.

So if you have 28 clients you should have 4 project managers accessing the software to manage those clients seamlessly.

What do I mean by managing projects? Well, at a very high level, handling clients and subcontractors should look something like this.

* Processing client intake forms* Assessing client needs* Managing payments and contracts* Onboarding new clients* Assigning tasks to contractors or subcontractors* Completing their work* Getting approvals and sign-offs* Off-boarding clients

As you will realise there is a lot more that goes into managing client projects but I've decided to keep it brief.

Is it possible to do all these tasks in ClickUp, Trello and Asana? Let's take a look and see.

ClickUp - Everything Revealed

ClickUp started in 2017 by co-founders Alex Yurkowski and Zeb Evans. Based in San Diego, California, their legal name is Mango Technologies Inc.

Did you know that my favourite fruits of all time are mangoes? Well, as I child growing up I use to collect buckets of them as there were tons of mango trees everywhere.

Anyway, I digress, they have received a total of $137 million in funding to develop a good project management tool.

The ClickUp tag line is "one app to replace them all". Is it possible that you can use one tool to manage all your projects?

If you are facing a decision on whether to go with Canva pro vs free but need a detailed comparison to help you choose one then this review is for you.

So, like me, you have been using Canva for a number of years and you are constantly prompted to upgrade to the Pro version via a free 30-day trial.

Each time you are tempted to give it a go for that 30-day period just to see what it is like.

However, the timing is never right or you are just not at that place in your business to justify that additional expense.

The truth is that you had a few occasions where you've experienced one of these.

You wrote the perfect Instagram caption and you found the perfect complimentary image on Canva but it's not free.

While creating your Pinterest images you found a cool image that you can use but you aren't excited about the background.

It would be nice to easily organise your product offers or printable items into specific folders.

There must be a better way to get the most out of Canva but how to justify upgrading to the pro version is something you really need.

In this blog post, you will learn the similarities and differences between Canva pro and the free version as well as when the time is right for you to upgrade to Canva pro.

What is Online Graphic Design Software?

If you are new to online marketing or you never thought of creating your own images before let me pause here and explain further.

Whenever you want to promote a business, wedding, party, sale, engagement, an event or send a card you would use software to create the announcement.

Depending on your experience or affinity you might have used Microsoft Publisher to create flyers, business cards, logos, party invitations, thank you cards and banners.

However, since many services are now available online there is a plethora of applications available to create these items on the Internet.

The reason for this is because there is a huge need to collaborate with others in your team or group.

When you are planning a big event there are so many other people involved in creating content and graphics.

Online graphic design software (aka online design tools) gives you the ability to seamlessly create your design from scratch.

If you are like me and graphic design is not in your wheelhouse you will probably customise an existing template instead.

Another obvious reason is that for many small business owners, hiring a graphic designer to create your brand graphics from scratch can set you back at least $1,000.

About Canva

Canva was founded in 2012 in Sydney, Australia by Melanie Perkins, Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams.

What many people are not aware of is that Canva acquired Pexels, Pixabay and Zeetings over the years.

They also have partnerships with Office Depot, FedEx and they are valued at $6 billion as of 2020.

Canva Pricing

There is a forever free version of Canva available for small business owners and their pro plan will set you back at $12/month for up to 5 users.

You are probably wondering why would anyone upgrade to the pro plan if they are getting so much value for free.

Taking a closer look at the features at the pro level will help you understand the amazing time saving features.

You've created some awesome video content but you are now wondering how to burn subtitles for Instagram videos.

The excitement of using video content to promote a small business has continued to increase over the last number of years.

If you are an introvert, doing talking head videos is one of the last things you want to do for your business.

Coupled with the fact that shooting and editing videos can take a lot of time. So adding captions to your videos just feels like an added burden.

If you can relate to this you are in good company. Here's why...

Creating video content for your small business can be seen as a separate full-time job.

First, there is the need to come up with content ideas and if you are publishing to YouTube these ideas need keyword research.

Don't get me started on the right equipment and lighting to get the most out of your video production.

To make matters worse, as a woman, you now need to find the best outfit as well as get your hair and make up done.

Finally, there is the burden of knowing exactly what you will say when you hit the record button.

Does creating and publishing video content need to be so stressful and overwhelming or is there a better way?

In this post, you will learn about the simple ways to burn captions into your video during and after production.

So that you can get your videos published in a much shorter timeframe and in a very organised fashion.

Is Using Video to Promote Your Small Business Worth It?

If you are still sitting on the fence hoping that video marketing will become a thing of the past then check out these insights.

Did you know that this year alone the average US consumer will have 9.5 video streaming apps installed on their smartphone?

I don't know about you but I have over 100 apps, maybe closer to 200, and I can confirm that many of them are video apps.

Also, users arriving to an e-commerce site via a user-generated video are 184% more likely to make a purchase.

E-learning grew by 36% during 2020 and it is predicted to grow even more in coming years.

Here's is a shocking statistic that you probably weren't expecting.

89% of video marketers say that they get a good return on investment from videos.

Check out this one trend I noticed, 7 out of 10 event organisers moved their in-person event online during 2020, that's 70%.

96% of current video marketers plan to increase or maintain their spend in the area of video marketing.

Interestingly, 69% of marketers who haven't been using video are saying that they plan to use video going forward.

Finally, online viewers claim that they retain 96% of a message that they obtain from videos.

So you've always wanted to start a service business online but you don't know how to get started.

You've watched a ton of YouTube videos and listened to several podcast episodes of entrepreneurs who've done it.

However, they make the process seem so easy and they all appear to be experts in their field.

Your steps to getting there seem more like this.

Despite the fact that you've watched a ton of content and taken loads of notes.

You're not sure if you should get a website to promote your services.

Finding your first client seems like a pretty daunting task since you're not really sure what to offer.

The fact that you don't have any testimonials is a huge obstacle that you need to overcome.

If only there was a way to get all your ducks in a row so that you can start your serviced business in a matter of months.

Enabling you to leave your corporate, 9-5 job in 1-2 years.

In this post, you will learn the steps involved in finding your strengths, pin-pointing your skills.

How to get testimonials and finally land your first client, especially for women.

Disclosure: Please note that this post may contain affiliate links which means that if you buy one of my recommended products I get paid a commission for sharing the link at no additional cost to you.  I only recommend products that I have tried myself and have experienced success.

Why Start a Service Business Online this Year

Before diving into the granular details of how to get started with your online service-based business.

Here are some statistics you need to keep in mind.

66% of small businesses will outsource their services to other small businesses.

It only takes 6 days to start a business in the US.

54% of all small businesses are actually home-based businesses.

The main challenge to start up success is generating new business or finding new clients.

Did you know that 1 in 3 people start their business with less than $5,000?

Another interesting statistic is that 40-year-olds make up 3% of startups compared to 1.7% of 25-year-olds.

Tech-driven opportunities offer better pay compared to other industries as they offer a rate of $102,000 compared to the average of $48,000.

So what does this all mean?

Using editing apps for Instagram Stories is one of the quickest ways to create content for your IG profile.

You know that creating stories featuring a more casual version of you and your business is needed.

Another strategy is taking your existing content and repurposing it to fit the required IG size of 9:16 or 1080x1920.

However, it all seems as if it is a lot easier to say it compared to actually getting it done.

Let me know if this is relatable.

As a small business owner, you create content every week consistently which you then promote once to social media.

Creating a blog post, video or podcast episode 50-52 weeks a year is not an issue for you at all.

The real struggle comes when it is time to take that existing content and turn it into a different format.

If only there was a way to take your existing video, podcast episode or blog post and turn it into an Instagram Story easily.

In this post, you'll learn about the 7 apps that you can use to seamlessly create IG Stories in a matter of minutes.

Why Publish to IG Stories

Did you know that over 500 million people use IG Stories every day according to statistics from Hootsuite?

What's even more surprising is that 81% of people use IG to research products and services.

The fact that over 130 million people tap on shopping posts every month is nothing short of jaw dropping.

After seeing a product or service 50% of people will visit a website to make a purchase.

Are you tapping into these 500 million potential users to get your slice of the IG Stories pie?

The number one reason why Instagram continues to be a difficult platform for entrepreneurs and small business owners may surprise you.

Engagement is the one thing needed for your IG feed content to reach the explore page.

However, engagement takes a lot of time because it is a manual process that needs to be done daily.

When it comes to Stories more time is spent creating it and engagement isn't necessarily needed to promote it.

7 Examples of IG Stories from Entrepreneurs

Instead of giving you Instagram Story ideas from my personal experience I wanted to show you real life examples.

Here are 7 examples I found on IG Stories over the weekend.

1. Nussbaumlife

First up is a post from a mother who is also an entrepreneur and you would be surprised the kind of content you'll find.

As you can see, there is nothing super professional about this image but what the children are doing is very interesting.

2. 6amsuccess

As with everything you'll find a mix of fun and philosophical content in IG Stories.

There is an element of curiosity associated with this Story. You'll need to swipe up to learn more.

3. Holliclarke

As you can imagine it is the weekend and people do fun things around the house or in the garden depending on the weather.

Whatever you do I am not advising you to record your entire weekend and post it on IG Stories.

Okay, you have done your research on IG schedulers but a Planoly vs Plann comparison can really help you make a decision.

Instagram is a beast of a platform with so many ways to display a brand to potential clients.

Publishing regularly on IG Stories is one of the secrets to getting in front of your ideal audience 24 hours a day.

Daily users of the platform spend 80% of their time binge-watching IG Stories.

Before giving up or ignoring the platform altogether let me know if you can relate to any of this.

Pushing out content 5 days a week can potentially be exhausting.

No matter how many resources are available you still seem to suffer with a feeling of indecision.

It would really help you if publishing content by themes was easily available.

If only there was a way to effectively plan your IG content in such a way that would match your content pillars.

In this post, you will learn the similarities and differences between Planoly vs Plann as well as why you should use one compared to the other.

Why Use IG Stories for Business

Before looking at Planoly and Plann it is important to bear a few important facts about IG Stories.

The number one reason why Instagram continues to be a difficult platform for entrepreneurs and small business owners may surprise you.

Engagement is the one thing needed for your content to reach the explore page.

However, engagement takes a lot of time because it is a manual process that needs to be done daily.

Did you know that over 500 million people use IG Stories every day according to statistics from Hootsuite?

What's even more surprising is that 81% of people use IG to research products and services.

The fact that over 130 million people tap on shopping posts every month is nothing short of jaw dropping.

After seeing a product or service 50% of people visit a website to make a purchase.

Are you tapping into these 500 million potential users to get your slice of the IG Stories pie?

Why Publishing to Stories is a Struggle

You are probably thinking in your head that there's no way you are going to be able to keep up with publishing to IG Stories.

Simply because the effort involved in planning, creating and publishing to IG Stories is a real struggle.

In fact, did you know that branded Stories have an 86% completion rate compared to other types?

So, if there is a way to plan, create and publish IG Stories easier would you be interested.

When it comes to planning and creating IG Stories I will leave that aspect to the upcoming Planoly vs Plann comparison.

However, if you want an easier way to publish your Stories consistently then I have great news for you.

I wrote a comprehensive resource outlining 5 applications that you can use to publish stories to IG automatically.

Yes, auto-publishing to Instagram Stories is now possible so take a look at how you can do it.