Latest / Abbey the Podcast Lady / Why Every Podcaster Needs a Planning Journal (Not Just a Notebook)

Transcript

Why Every Podcaster Needs a Planning Journal (Not Just a Notebook) · Abbey the Podcast Lady

• 0:04
  You know, they'll just let anyone do anything
• 0:06
  these days. And I am proof of that because I
• 0:09
  published a book. Hello and welcome to another
• 0:11
  episode of Abby the Podcast Lady. And I am super
• 0:15
  excited for today's episode. It's probably going
• 0:17
  to be a short one because I just want to chit
• 0:18
  chat about what I've done lately on Amazon. And
• 0:22
  I'm pretty... pretty stoked about it. I wrote
• 0:24
  a book. It's not technically a book. It is legally
• 0:27
  a book. It is a journal. So it is a book that
• 0:30
  you get to help write. So this is the podcast
• 0:33
  planning journal. Plan it, record it, and publish
• 0:36
  it. I am very excited about this. I have been
• 0:40
  a notebook girly for a long time. This has been
• 0:43
  my notebook of 2026 with all of my ideas and
• 0:47
  musings in it, but it's just lined paper. It
• 0:50
  is a notebook I got at my client's store that
• 0:52
  She happened to have and I needed a notebook.
• 0:54
  So I bought that notebook. And is it good for
• 0:56
  getting ideas down? Yes, I think it is very functional.
• 1:00
  It's a notebook. They've been around for years
• 1:02
  and eons and millennia abound for idea. Not the
• 1:05
  main thing. Anyway, I've been writing all my
• 1:07
  thoughts and podcast ideas down in that. But
• 1:10
  the problem in it for me is that it is so scattered.
• 1:13
  Like that notebook I got right before I went
• 1:15
  to Podfest this year. So the first few pages
• 1:17
  are notes from Podfest. And then it goes into
• 1:19
  some like business coaching calls that I had.
• 1:22
  There's some chicken scratch in there from tax
• 1:24
  season. Like it is all across the board of just
• 1:26
  random notes from throughout the year. There's
• 1:28
  no organization to it. And I've been trying to
• 1:31
  like write down my ideas for podcast ideas, like
• 1:34
  podcast topics in that notebook as well. But
• 1:36
  they're just getting lost into the ether of the
• 1:39
  pages. And so I'm like, there's got to be a better
• 1:41
  way. And I didn't want to like tab all that up.
• 1:43
  And I didn't know how many pages to like set
• 1:45
  aside for the ideas. And even then it wasn't
• 1:47
  sorted ideas. It was just like one sentence or
• 1:50
  one statistic. Like there was no guts to it.
• 1:52
  So instead I designed my own podcast notebook
• 1:56
  because this is so much easier for me. So in
• 1:59
  this book I have, I'm going to have to clip my
• 2:01
  microphone to my shirt. Before you come at me
• 2:03
  in the comments of like, why do all the influencers
• 2:05
  hold their microphones? It's because the sound
• 2:07
  quality is better when it's right here and down
• 2:10
  here. So you know what? Let's not bully the influencers
• 2:12
  for that. Anyway, here is my notebook that I
• 2:15
  created. So you open it up and in it I have the
• 2:18
  how to use the podcast. podcast planning journal.
• 2:21
  And then I even have like, if you're starting
• 2:24
  from scratch, like we can get into the bones
• 2:26
  of what the show is about. So podcast name, who's
• 2:29
  the show for, what's the thing that you want
• 2:31
  the listeners to take away or feel when they're
• 2:33
  listening to the show? How often are you going
• 2:35
  to publish episodes? What day and time are you
• 2:38
  releasing it each week? So like we get into like
• 2:41
  literally what I work with my clients on of like
• 2:43
  when they're first starting their show, like
• 2:45
  what do we need to really nail down before we
• 2:47
  get into actually publishing and making this.
• 2:49
  episode. I even have like some vision and goal
• 2:51
  planning in here. So like what do you want the
• 2:53
  show to look like three months from now? What
• 2:55
  does success look like a year from now? I even
• 2:57
  put in a pre -recording checklist because there's
• 3:00
  so many times that my clients will record on
• 3:02
  their own and something is going askew in some
• 3:05
  way shape or form. So there is a pre -recording
• 3:08
  checklist that you can check every time making
• 3:10
  sure like the door is closed, the kids are entertained,
• 3:13
  the dog is put away, you got a glass of water
• 3:15
  next to you, your microphone is plugged in, your
• 3:17
  headphones are plugged in. You got some backup
• 3:19
  recording going, like all that kind of stuff.
• 3:22
  And then we get into the episode planning pages.
• 3:24
  And these are really what I was seeking when
• 3:28
  I made this because these are not episode planning
• 3:30
  pages. These are just lined pieces of paper.
• 3:33
  These are planning pages. So I have what episode
• 3:36
  number it is, the working title. Do you have
• 3:38
  a guest coming on to the show? The hook of the
• 3:41
  show, like why does someone need to know what
• 3:44
  you're talking about? I even have like, you can
• 3:46
  outline your talking points. This is really what
• 3:49
  I wanted to get into because I have a notebook
• 3:52
  full of talking points, but nowhere to organize
• 3:54
  them. So there are places to put your talking
• 3:56
  points. You have a call to action at the bottom.
• 3:58
  What do you want the next step for the listener
• 4:00
  to be? Do you want it for them to buy your planning
• 4:02
  journal? Do you want it for them to go and purchase
• 4:05
  your online course? Do you have a freebie funnel
• 4:07
  you want them to go track down? Do you want to
• 4:09
  book a call with you? What is your call to action
• 4:11
  for them? What date are you recording it? What
• 4:13
  date are you publishing it? And how long do you
• 4:15
  want it to be? What are you shooting? and for
• 4:17
  here? Is it a 30 minute episode? Is it a 10 minute
• 4:20
  episode? If it's a guest, do you want to keep
• 4:21
  it under an hour? Like what are you kind of planning
• 4:24
  for that? So it is not a place to script out
• 4:27
  the entire show, but it is a place to just kind
• 4:29
  of have the general outline because I am not
• 4:31
  a scripter of shows. I try to get my clients
• 4:34
  not to be total scripters as well. Some are,
• 4:36
  some aren't. It all depends. Everyone's style
• 4:38
  is so different. Everyone's show is so different,
• 4:40
  but I just like having an outline of what I'm
• 4:42
  doing. So this is that. And then we get to the
• 4:45
  post -recording. reflection. And this is something
• 4:47
  that I really, really wanted to add in this book
• 4:51
  because I feel very strongly about it. So in
• 4:53
  this post recording reflection, you can write
• 4:55
  down the episode number, talk about what went
• 4:57
  well in it. What would you like to change next
• 4:59
  time? And what was the best moments from the
• 5:02
  episode? Because I think if we reflect on what
• 5:04
  went well, like right now, what's going well
• 5:06
  for me, I have the book in hand and I'm showing
• 5:09
  you on camera. I think that's pretty dang helpful
• 5:11
  because if I was talking about this book and
• 5:13
  not showing it to you in the video version of
• 5:15
  this, podcast that just it doesn't work so i
• 5:17
  think that went really well what would you change
• 5:19
  next time maybe set up in a spot where the sun
• 5:22
  isn't peeking around a tree right now but i'm
• 5:24
  at the lake and that's just where i'm recording
• 5:26
  so i would change my location next time when
• 5:29
  i record and then what are some of the best moments
• 5:31
  make note of the moments that are happening that
• 5:33
  are good or what went well that you can pull
• 5:35
  out make into an instagram reel make into a youtube
• 5:38
  short pull a quote and make a static graphic
• 5:41
  what can go on the pinterest pin like start planning
• 5:43
  some of that out because it's going to make your
• 5:45
  content repurposing so much easier. I have 52,
• 5:48
  I think, actually, I think I might've even did
• 5:50
  60 episode planning pages. So you have enough
• 5:53
  for a full year in this one book. And then what
• 5:55
  I thought was going to be really helpful is I've
• 5:57
  been trying to have more guests on my own show,
• 5:59
  and I have a guest tracking log in the notebook.
• 6:04
  So you can write down your guest name, when you
• 6:06
  contacted them, what's the status, have they
• 6:08
  confirmed, have they declined, and then what
• 6:10
  date have you followed up with them to try to
• 6:12
  get them on your show. This is like a really
• 6:14
  good way to also kind of manifest like who would
• 6:17
  be your ideal guests or your dream guests to
• 6:20
  have on your show. Like shoot big here. No one
• 6:23
  needs to see this notebook except for you. So
• 6:25
  use it to like manifest what you want for your
• 6:27
  show. Because I know that my own manifesting,
• 6:30
  I find it very helpful to write things down and
• 6:33
  to have a specific place to reflect back on it
• 6:35
  and see it regularly to be like, oh yeah, I did
• 6:38
  do that. Or, oh, you know what? I would, I should
• 6:40
  just shoot them a DM on Instagram and see if
• 6:42
  they say yes. Be delusional. No one needs to
• 6:45
  see this notebook except for you. So I have enough
• 6:47
  guest tracking in here for a full year as well.
• 6:49
  And then what I thought was really crucial is
• 6:52
  monthly reviews. So every month you can start
• 6:55
  this, like it's August right now, month of August.
• 6:57
  What was the number of episodes I published this
• 7:00
  month? What was my biggest win for the month?
• 7:03
  What were some challenges? Maybe I was having
• 7:05
  a really hard time scheduling guests this month,
• 7:08
  or maybe I was having a really hard time like
• 7:09
  blocking out time to actually record the show.
• 7:12
  Write that down in the challenges because when
• 7:14
  we recognize those problems, we can start to
• 7:16
  fix them. Like the first step to solving anything
• 7:19
  is recognizing there is a problem and then taking
• 7:22
  little tiny actions to fix the problem in the
• 7:24
  long run. So I have that. And then I also have
• 7:27
  some goal setting at the bottom of like, what's
• 7:29
  one thing you want to change next month? Now,
• 7:32
  this isn't like, what's the total overhaul we're
• 7:34
  going to do next month on the podcast? No, what's
• 7:36
  just one thing? What's one thing you can fix
• 7:38
  and make better for next time so we can all increase
• 7:41
  it? get better. We don't need to be perfect overnight.
• 7:44
  We don't need to build a whole set and redesign
• 7:46
  the whole set for the podcast every month. Just
• 7:48
  maybe it's one little thing you want to do differently
• 7:50
  is I want to share it on Facebook. Maybe you
• 7:52
  didn't share your podcast anywhere this month.
• 7:54
  And you're like, I just need to share it one
• 7:56
  place, share one episode on Facebook. That's
• 7:58
  a great goal to have. So I have enough in there
• 8:00
  for 12 months of reviews. So a full year as well.
• 8:03
  And then I did put extra notes at the back of
• 8:06
  it, just so you have like a place for the scratch
• 8:08
  ideas, because I know they come. a scratch idea
• 8:11
  person myself I have three -fourths of a notebook
• 8:14
  full of scratch ideas from this year so I wanted
• 8:16
  a place to contain all the scratch podcast ideas
• 8:19
  as well but this is it this is the podcast planning
• 8:22
  journal and I am very excited that this is available
• 8:26
  even if I am the only person who ends up using
• 8:29
  this I don't care because I built exactly what
• 8:31
  I wanted for my own podcasting purposes and I
• 8:35
  thought that there might be some other people
• 8:36
  in the world who would want to use it as well
• 8:38
  so it is available for you on Amazon. The link
• 8:41
  is in the show notes below. This also makes a
• 8:43
  great gift if you ever hear your friends say,
• 8:45
  you know, I've always thought about starting
• 8:47
  a podcast, but I don't really know what to do,
• 8:49
  how to do it. Order them this book, ship it right
• 8:52
  to their door, and then just say, hey, I am impressed
• 8:55
  by you. I am proud of you for even expressing
• 8:58
  this idea out loud to me, and I want to encourage
• 9:00
  you. to do it and go for it. This is a great
• 9:04
  notebook. Like I said, no one needs to see what
• 9:07
  is in this. This is your ideas, your thoughts,
• 9:09
  your planning. No one needs to see it. Even if
• 9:12
  you don't record anything, which like that's
• 9:14
  kind of a bummer. I think that's kind of a bummer
• 9:16
  if you don't do anything with your ideas. But
• 9:17
  hey, at least putting pen to paper and like flushing
• 9:19
  them out could be really therapeutic and really
• 9:22
  helpful. And who knows, you might be inspired
• 9:24
  to take some action with it. So the podcast planning
• 9:27
  journal from Abby Graves Productions and Abby
• 9:29
  the podcast lady is now available on amazon you
• 9:32
  can get your copy in link in the show notes below
• 9:35
  and yeah i can't wait to see what ideas come
• 9:37
  from it if you end up getting this and using
• 9:39
  it and making a show with it obviously send it
• 9:42
  to me i want to see it i would love to listen
• 9:44
  to the show and i'd love to stay in touch with
• 9:46
  that so thank you have a great day i will catch
• 9:48
  you guys next week on another episode of abby
• 9:50
  the podcast lady in the meantime i got some journaling
• 9:53
  to do