The Content Experiment Podcast

I love a good celebration and if 200 weekly+ episodes of the podcast isn't a call to celebrate, I don't know what is! I'm so incredibly grateful to have this platform to celebrate and connect with you, the listeners.

I never intended to start a podcast but I'm so glad I did. And on today's episode, I'm sharing what I personally have gotten out of the process…and I how I feel about publishing an episode every week.

A podcast is such a good learning experience and I've grown so much from doing it. If you've been putting off starting your podcast or are frustrated with where it is right now, listen in this week. You're not alone.

Mentioned in This Episode

• Episode 60: What a Year of Podcasting Does to a Business Owner
• Episode 84: Why Content is Really One Big Experiment
• Episode 100: The Content Experiment
• Episode 146: Takeaways and Learnings from 2 Years of Podcasting

Creating and selling courses is just one way to scale or grow your business. But the whole goal is for students to do the work and be successful. It’s hard to do that when only about 10% of buyers actually go through the coursework.

Eman Zabi is trying to shift that narrative through a unique course platform designed specifically to support business owners in starting and growing their businesses. And this week on the podcast, she’s sharing what she’s learned about creating courses and making them easy to consume.

Eman and I discuss breaking down the barriers neurodivergent people have around the current online learning structure, particularly around business courses, what accessibility could look like, why preselling is so important, and where to find the support you need around completing a course and taking action.

Eman Zabi is the founder of The Scribesmith - a launch copywriting agency that specializes in research-based strategy and conversion copy for digital products. Through her work at the Scribesmith, Eman realized that there were some fundamental flaws in online learning: she created Terrain to help entrepreneurs stop hoarding courses and start building momentum in their businesses.

Eman graduated with a degree in International Politics from Georgetown University (which explains her love for the nerdy stuff) and has been writing for as long as she can remember. When not working, she can be found drinking copious amounts of tea, playing with her cat, Cat, and cooking up new ideas for the Scribesmith team to take on.

• Join the Inner Circle
• Terrain
• Follow Terrain on Instagram
• Follow Terrain on TikTok
• Follow Eman on Twitter

• [3:08] - Who is Eman Zabi
• [4:32] - How Eman got into this work
• [5:24] - The course industry is deeply flawed
• [7:10] - You can love your clients and still not feel challenged
• [8:47] - If there’s financial pressure, it’s hard to be creative and innovative because we have to make money to pay our bills
• [11:15] - Less than 10% of people complete the courses they sign up for
• [14:23] - Figure out a system to hand off a VA to implement
• [16:54] - Creating an ecosystem that grows with you that doesn’t compromise your revenue
• [21:40] - Block out your calendar to build what you want
• [23:24] - Helpful (and unhelpful) course creation
• [24:35] - Getting the list done is too overwhelming
• [25:55] - It’s simple but it feels like you’re climbing Everest
• [26:24] - Building in a reward system to get people engaged
• [29:34] - UI and UX really does matter when it comes to neurodivergent students
• [35:05] - How to grow your business sustainably
• [37:41] - What kind of courses you’ll find at Terrain

How do you define "success"? Money? Fame? Rockin' abs? The look and feel of success is different for everyone, as it should be. But if you're feeling frustrated because your podcast isn't "successful," I'd recommend looking at it from a different angle.

The success of your podcast isn't about vanity metrics…how many downloads you're getting for each episode or the number of people who subscribe to your list because of a freebie you mention. Sure, those might be important, but they aren't what determines the success of what you're doing.

What does demonstrate success? Well, it depends. And you're going to have to tune in this week to find out!

And no matter how you measure success, you have to do the work to get each episode out there first. And sometimes it's a challenge to carve that time out of your schedule. Let me help you with that!

In Podcast Ease Membership, you'll spend 90 minutes a week in coworking time and 60 minutes a week asking me all your questions. We get started September 27 and you can join right here for just $99 a month with no time commitment.

Mentioned in This Episode

• Join Podcast Ease
• Episode 177: Leveraging Other People's Audiences & Putting it All Together
• Episode 191: Before You Get Started Podcasting…

I think we've all bootstrapped parts of our business at some point. It makes sense to learn to do the thing yourself (and save some dough) before hiring someone to do it for you.

When it comes to podcasting, there's a huge time commitment. That means if you decide to hire it out, there's also a big financial investment.

But it's not just about time and money. There are other factors to consider when deciding to self-produce your podcast or pay a podcast manager to do some of the heavy lifting for you.

This week on the podcast, I'm sharing the pros and cons of both sides to help you make the decision.

And no matter which end you land on, you still need to do the work to outline or script your episodes, research guests, prep for interviews, and so on. And sometimes it's challenge to carve that time out of your schedule. Let me help you with that!

In Podcast Ease Membership, you'll spend 90 minutes a week in coworking time and 60 minutes a week asking me all your questions. We get started September 27 and you can join right here for just $99 a month with no time commitment.

Mentioned in This Episode

• Join Podcast Ease

This might come as a surprise to you, but people won't likely find your podcast without some work on your part to promote it. Long gone are the days when great SEO alone will drive people to your content.

That said, there are a lot of things you can do to make sure people are listening in. And when you set aside time to do multiple promotional activities, you'll get to steadily see your download numbers rise.

As always, today's podcast includes a non-exhaustive list of some of the top ways to promote your podcast. Of course there are other ways to promote your podcast. There will always be more ways. It takes work and time but like anything, putting in the work is essential for success.

Mentioned in This Episode

• Podcast Ease Q&A Sessions
• Need help with promotion? Let's talk!

You want to start hosting guests on your podcast but you're worried about finding the right guests for the right interviews. It's a valid concern, especially if you're relying on people who are pitching you.

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with pitching to be on a podcast or accepting pitches as guests. But you have to look for quality. You owe it to your listeners.

This week on the podcast, I'm sharing some secrets to finding the best guests for your podcast--what to look for and how to determine if they're a good fit. (A big audience does NOT make a good guest.) And I'm also sharing how to make sure you make the process as easy as possible for yourself and your guests.

If you're feeling nervous about what happens once the interview starts, I've got tips for you there too!

Mentioned in This Episode

• Podcast Ease Q&A Sessions
• Episode 181: How to Be a Better Podcast Host

You want to start a podcast, but what will you talk about on it? That's an important question to answer before you get started! Otherwise you're just throwing spaghetti on the wall and creating content that your audience may or may not need and that may or may not help your business.

We've talked about content strategy on the podcast before, but we're going to do it again. It's that important.

On this episode, I'm sharing how to determine exactly what to talk about on your podcast, why you might need to let go of the idea of having the perfect flow, and how to figure out what order to have each topic appear on your podcast.

Of course, I also share the ultimate answer to the question, "What will I podcast about?" but you have to listen in to hear that! Tune in now.

Mentioned in This Episode

• Podcast Ease Q&A Sessions
• Ask Your Audience challenge
• Episode 7: How to Develop Your Content Ideas
• Episode 8: How to Create a 90-Day Content Plan
• Episode 31: The 4 Most Important Parts of Your Content Strategy
• Episode 54: How You're Doing Visibility Wrong
• Episode 78: Plan Out Your Content for 2021…Sort Of
• Episode 134: They Ask, You Answer with Marcus Sheridan
• Episode 144: 6 Reasons You Need to Ask Your Audience

Have a podcast in your head that you want to launch? It takes a lot of work to get a podcast up and running, and if you don't have the right support system you're figuring out what you need on the fly. And that never feels good!

Last week on the podcast, I talked about some of the tools that you need to set your podcast up for success. This week, I'm sharing some of the other things you'll need right from the beginning. Things like your podcast description and an intro for each episode.

While this episode doesn't give you a complete, step-by-step list, the 10 things you need to have ready before you launch your podcast will get you started in the right direction for sure.

And if you want more support than this podcast episode provides? We should definitely talk!

Mentioned in This Episode

• Join the Podcast Ease Q&A sessions
• Episode 193: Tools You Need for Your Podcast
• Book at free Quick Chat

Starting or creating ease around a podcast feels like a lot. It's something new to you so it's hard to know exactly what you need…and don't need.

Before you spend a ton of money on all the audio equipment, listen in to this episode. I'm sharing what you actually need, without the big price tag.

Producing a quality podcast isn't free, but it doesn't have to cost big bucks either.

Mentioned in This Episode

• They Ask, You Answer by Marcus Sheridan
• VIP session
• Maono Plug & Play microphone (newer version)
• Acoustic Panels
• FeltRight
• Sephia Earbuds
• Libsyn
• Zoom
• Zencastr
• Squadcast
• Audacity
• Pat Flynn Audacity tutorial
• Acuity Scheduling
• Airtable

Starting a podcast can feel challenging because of all the things that have to happen. But the biggest hurdle is often getting over your own negative thoughts about what to say, how to say it, and what to do next.

I've found that the sheer overwhelm of trying to figure out what to podcast about and all the other pieces is the biggest part of that negative self-talk. So this week on the podcast I'm walking you through how to find your voice so you can finally get it out there to your audience.

You DO have something to say and there IS space for you to say it. It's time to do just that.

Mentioned in This Episode

• Podcast Ease Q&A Sessions