Latest / MaxValue Podcast / Hit record: the truth about marketing content creation Ft. Anna Graham

Transcript

Hit record: the truth about marketing content creation Ft. Anna Graham · MaxValue Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: At the end of the day, it's just an MP3 file.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Please create a five-slide carousel from this transcript within probably five seconds.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: I would have something that be ready to post.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: Those are the magic words that that fixed.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Can you clone me?
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: That would be really helpful.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: Is that illegal?
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: I am not a reader.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a listener.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: My whole entire world has changed my mindset.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's like the most fascinating.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody's gonna care as much as me do.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Max Value, the show for business owners and their professional advisors who are on a mission to maximize their value with content strategy, personal branding, and maybe the courage to finally hit record.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Ben Town.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: And today I've got Anna Graham.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: She's the founder of Anagram Creates, a content and podcasting consulting firm.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: And she works out of Madrid, Spain, working with professional service providers uh around the globe, advisory practices, specialized businesses, and she helps them create content and presence that actually will drive the business.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: Before starting Anagram Creates, Anna spent years in marketing and content strategy across industries, ranging from financial services to divorce consulting to most recently a fine arts studio in Texas, uh, where she cold called, uh, messaged them uh and landed them as an eight-year client so she knows what she's doing.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: And it is also not coincidentally, the person who helped me launch this actual podcast.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: She's a friend of the show in every single uh sense of the word, and one of the big reasons why the show exists.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: So this episode really has been a long time incoming.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: The topic today we're gonna go over is every professional service owner should be paying attention to content, how you can leverage your marketing efforts most effectively.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: Or in other words, how a single podcast episode like this one becomes a week's worth of content, and how that content quietly builds business value over time.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: We're going to be talking about the waterfall, the fear, the AI angle, and what it what it actually takes to get started.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome, Anna.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, Ben.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: That was a lovely bio.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it was.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: All righty.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: Well, before we get to uh the strategy part, uh, let's start at the start.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: You know, how did you get here?
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, you you didn't, you know, come out of the podcasting division of a marketing agency or anything.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: So how did how did you go from where you used to be to where you are now?
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, okay, I'll give you the short version because we don't have all day.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: But um essentially, I after graduating university, had a marketing degree, I chose the path less traveled and went to teach English abroad.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: And then that led me to living abroad and wanting to stay here as long as I could.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: And then I was connected with a woman who had a business valuation company and she also had two podcasts.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: Shout out Melissa Craig, if you're watching.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I was fortunate enough to just be able to handle those podcasts, handle websites, handle social media, and really just be able to test my knowledge, A, B test things, see what works.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: And um yeah, she just let me like really dive deep into podcasting.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I love listening to podcasts.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: So it was this perfect like spark moment when I realized, okay, I can understand what I like as the listener, and then also figure out the technical aspects of a podcast and eventually turn that into kind of a whole like content funnel because you and I both know it's not just the podcast, it's really everything that comes after.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: So that's the summarized version.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: And then I was able to be fortunate enough to start my own company and I really like to still focus on podcasting because it's just it's a great way for business owners to directly speak to their clients and get out there in the world.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just for celebrities or motivational speakers anymore, it's for everyone.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we'll talk about those barriers to entry uh a little bit later.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: But uh, you're talking about business valuation people.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, double shout out to uh Melissa.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: She was one of the first podcasts I was a guest on, or her podcast.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: So that was great.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: And that's how actually how I met you uh originally.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but talking about business valuators, uh, you were invited recently to talk to uh NACFA, the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts, which is why we all call it NACFA and not that whole long thing.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and so you were speaking to a room full of BV professionals, you know, really credentialed people, very accomplished people, um, but not really necessarily the people you think about first when you think about, you know, getting their professional branding out there in on LinkedIn or social media or anywhere else.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe you can tell us a little bit about that story and what, you know, kind of what happened.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I was invited to be one of the guest speakers on a NACFA webinar, and the topic for that session was personal branding.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I think a lot of times people are thinking, okay, it's either way too clickbaity and all over LinkedIn, you're thinking, what does this even mean?
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Or you've never had to think about it because you've never been in the position where you needed a personal brand.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so I was invited to this webinar, and I essentially was just saying the importance of why you need a personal brand, because a lot of the times these business professionals will work in big firms for years and years and years, and they've never had to even think about the marketing that goes on.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: And then the day they decide to go out on their own, start their own thing, or maybe they just want to get out there because they have insights that they want to share.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: This is the point that personal branding comes in.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, this podcast isn't about personal branding, but essentially needing to get content out there that has their personality, their perspective, their own essence to it.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so this again is my bread and butter.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: I can talk about it all day long.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I was trying to keep my webinar like quite basic, but also really framing it on why it is so important and how simple it can be.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't have to be this very overwhelming topic that you're diving into.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: But I had a great, like, I had great feedback from it because some of these people never thought about it, never put themselves in the position of, oh, maybe, maybe I do need that.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's not just for influencers or celebrities or people we know like Kylie Jenner or go Joe Rogan, you know, any of these type of out there type of people.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: They have a huge personal brand.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: And that doesn't just have to be for them anymore.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: It can be for anyone, especially when you have your own business and you're trying to get out there and explain why you're a little bit different than your competitors.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: So it was, it really just opened, I think, the audience's eyes and also my eyes, that there is a lack of understanding between the marketing world and other professional services that have never really had to consider everything that goes into marketing, whether it's organic content, paid content, video, audio, written, you know, I mean, the list goes on and on and on.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: Well, isn't that funny?
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: Because in that that particular room, and why one of the reasons why I like that story so much is that the they're they're valuation people just like me, and they're supposed to be thinking about you know all the assets of a business, and uh just a lot of times we don't think about our own darn businesses because guess what?
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: They already have a personal and professional brand.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um I like to think of it as professional brand, but whatever, uh attached to their to their uh individuality.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: Because I mean they have their reputation, they have you know all the things that they really do think about, you know, uh they have a reputation out there, and there's a reason why their clients do buy from them uh and hire them for for services, and that's their brand, uh, just because they don't think about that word, and I totally understand why, because it it it it can feel icky uh if you're if you're not you know, if you're not thinking about it uh in the in the right framing, but they already have one, they might as well solidify it and and utilize it in the way that uh is gonna be most effective for their business operations because guess what?
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: They're a business too.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: Just because they're you know a professional services business doesn't mean they're not a business.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why it really impacts the business value for a uh for a company like that.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, you got to leverage what you've got already.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I think, you know, I might put you on the spot a little bit with this, but I think it's something relevant to bring up is that, you know, because I know enough about business valuation from working in the industry enough.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of times, I think the mindset of, well, I don't want to make the business too much about me because how am I going to sell that one day?
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: If the business is attached to me, is that still going to be a profitable business?
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: But I think you have to think about it in kind of two different ways.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so, I mean, I don't know if you had any kind of like comments about that, but I think it is important that you can have a business that still is profitable and has its own, it can be sellable.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: And at the same time, allowing your personality and your professional skills to be showcased by the content you're putting out there.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: I well, thanks.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: I I love it when guests ask me questions too.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but but basically, at the beginning, when you're a solo, uh, and that's not everybody's situation, but when you have a very small firm, you're you are inseparable from the business.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: And you don't have a business that you can really, you know, sell.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if you're if it's professional services and all based on your reputation, that's just reality at that point.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: So you have to go with what the reality is at that time.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: And over time, you can diversify away from that and build value in the firm in the business that is external to you.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: But as it's turned out for me, the value that I'm creating around my own professional brand doesn't hurt the branding or doesn't hurt the intangible value of town advisory, the the firm.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it actually just adds to it.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: And the fact that we, you know, we have a uh a process and a system and and and and a uh uh a way to uh distribute content is is actually something that's built behind the scenes.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: That's not the not the thing that's visible, but it is one of the things that helps bring this value out to out to the public.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: So for example, if uh Alan Yang, my partner, I wish you would, would do a you know, would do this podcast or do do a podcast, excuse me, of his own, we know how to do it and we can get it done.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you've you've been part of you know how we've learned it, how how to get that done.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: So those are pieces of value that we've grown that accrue to the value of the business, even though in this case the podcast is a vehicle and the uh and I'm you know the host of the podcast, and so there people get to see me a lot.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I'm kind of the vehicle of that value at at some point.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: So it can graduate over time.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: But what people need to realize is that you can't go from step A to step Z right off the bat.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe maybe you can, but that takes a lot of lot more money than I think most of us and a lot of time solo.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: So well now let's talk about the strategy.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: We touched on it uh just a bit here.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we you know, we we talk about like content waterfall, um you know, what happens after we hit record?
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I I do absolutely think of it in the same way where you know basically you have you create this thing and the the content flows downhill, you know, from the single source.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: But what why don't you walk us through it?
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, how does that waterfall work and what actually does flow out of this like this podcast episode right now?
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: What what are we what are we all gonna do with it such that we can leverage it?
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Which is the most important and like crucial piece of this whole thing.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I guess why like the personal branding is tied in is because this is the best way, for example, like Ben, you can be on here and express your personality.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: And like that is personal branding, right?
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: But I digress.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, back to the waterfall.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: So when we think about traditional podcast, let's just pause on the video right now.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Let's just only think of a podcast as in it's in your ears, you're in the car, you're cooking, you're walking, you're listening to something.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: So, on top of just that MP3 audio file, you are now able to put that audio file into some type of transcription service.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: Or if you're using StreamYard, which we're using, or Riverside, or some of these other platforms, if you pay for the subscription, you automatically get the transcript, which is a huge reason why I'm even paying for some of the subscription services so I can get the transcript.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: Then at like a snap of fingers, you can then get the whole 50 minutes, 30 minutes, 20 minutes transcript pulled for you.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: Then, because you're most likely, hopefully, using some type of AI, and you can create a project in your AI of choice that is dedicated for your podcast.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: So, with the help of AI, then you can transform that whole entire transcript, or so you can either take the full thing or chunk it up, like how Ben and I were having this conversation about every four to five minutes, we're changing topics.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: So, within that full transcript, I'm going to have chunks of different topics that I can pull individually as well.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to put that into AI and then I'm going to prompt AI.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: Do I want to create newsletters for LinkedIn?
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: Do I want to create blogs for my website?
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: Do I want to create a carousel post on Instagram from even just this segment, what I'm talking about?
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: Because I could.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: I could pull once Ben sends me the transcript from this episode, I could go in at time like 14 minutes or whatever it is, and pull just that snippet, put it into AI, and say, please create a five-slide carousel from this transcript that I did in a podcast on the waterfall effect of podcasting.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: And again, within probably five seconds, boom, I would have something that I could at least adjust slightly and be ready to post, right?
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: So let me.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: So then you could do Instagram posts.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: You can also then create scripts if you're wanting to do voiceovers or if you're wanting to head into YouTube, which again, still haven't even touched on the video.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: We're still just on the audio file and the transcription.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, and then even Ben, he could pull this, he could then run it through AI and ask for additional episode ideas if he wanted to bring me on for like a part two, part three, or something in the future.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: The options are endless, but you're just starting with that first audio file.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's look into video.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: So a lot of people are probably curious like, why is every podcast right now in video?
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: Well, because how many hours are we spending every day scrolling Instagram reels, scrolling TikTok, scrolling YouTube Shorts, or just on YouTube, right?
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: So now too many.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not happy about it, but it's the reality.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: We can then snip up the video into 30 second, 60 second segments, and then put that on our platforms to promote ourselves, our podcast, our business, whatever.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: So, and then again, you can like put the whole podcast on YouTube, then you can chunk it up into five minutes, 10 minutes, then you can go in and to make the little shorts.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: So the whole video realm of podcasting is like semi-new.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's not the newest thing ever, but I think um most podcasts that I'm seeing are transitioning to video because they've realized if we want to promote this thing, we need that video aspect to put it out on all of our platforms.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: So um, did I miss anything that you've utilized of your content waterfall?
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, let's see.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: No, not really.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the yeah, I mean, the turning it into blogs, turning it into um just any kind of of written content.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, we we turn it into an uh email newsletter now.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um love that.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um really, I mean, we're you know, we're we're we're learning how to do this, and you're you're the you're the pro.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um but I think you hit on, you know, obviously all the important things.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: You know, one of the one of the ways, for example, that uh we use AI is similar to what you're talking about, where I think it's important to note that it's not coming up with any of the content itself.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's reshaping it, it's extracting it, it's doing doing all the work, um but it's not coming up with the ideas and and and the and the thinking.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like, for example, the the way we do this podcast uh at least these days is we'll have a brainstorming session.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: So you and I talked some weeks ago uh about what we wanted to talk about, and so we we pulled that all together and I used AI to help pull a script together, which needed a little help.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: But in any case, you know, it gave it gave the structure, even though we were the ones who came up with everything, and we're you know, and we're talking about it, you know, live right now.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: So uh I think that's a a really great way to leverage a tool where it's still about us, the the humans, the people, and you know, we can talk about our you know, our personal professional branding and uh have it still be you know very authentic to to us.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: Uh now it's just easier to do.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and thinking about that that AI angle or searching angle, you know, do you have any thoughts around optimization, AI optimization?
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh because that's something that a lot of people don't think about as well.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I think I just wanted to kind of piggyback off of what you were gonna say prior of all of the all of the content that you can create from a 50-minute episode.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: I think even if the goal isn't to have like a top 10 Spotify podcast trending, that doesn't have to be your goal at all.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: We're saying get on a podcast because look at all the things you can create after the podcast.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: We're not saying be a podcaster because you want to outrank Smartless with Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes, right?
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like if you want to do that, that is great.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: And there are reasons to do that as well.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: But to have a podcast is really just a way to get a lot of good content.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: But to go to your next question about the AI optimization, I mean, we were talking so much about this in our like our pre-show meeting that we had a few weeks ago, is this would not be really possible.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, it is everything's possible, but this would not be as easy as it is today without the help of AI.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: And what I mean by that is to just even come up with some of the questions, to come up with some of the workflow of the whole podcast, to then even create the dis well in the editing world, it helps so much because then we can pull that transcript and we can run it through AI and say, give me the timestamps, give me the description, give me the highlights, give me anything you want to prompt AI to.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: It makes the editing process so much easier.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: And there are even AI editing tools that you can run the whole video through and snip up the videos.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: They put the captions on it.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: You need a human.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: I always advocate you need a human there too.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: AI's not replacing us, okay?
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: The human needs to be there to make sure everything is accurate and looks good.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: But the whole workflow behind it, and even, I mean, I have a I have, like I mentioned, I use a few different AIs for different things, but I have projects created specifically for my podcast workflow.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: So it knows exactly what I need.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: I just have to prompt it a few times and then the rest, the whole process is triggered.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: I get the email that needs to be sent out to the client.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: I get the email that um has like all the information post-podcast.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: I have because now I work a lot in the editing side of things.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: Ben, what are you using?
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how do you think your process has been doable using AI?
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what are you guys using the most right now for this max value podcast?
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: Gotcha.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and and one of the one of the other secrets uh has been using global talent as well.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's another hot topic that I that I love to talk about.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, uh, you know, we have Geraldine uh in Columbia and and Ian um who who handle you know a lot of the distribution and a lot of the the video editing as well.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I know they they use uh uh some AI video editors uh and uh in the exact same ways that you know you've advised us to do to do, frankly.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I think that that really touches on you know the next topic we were gonna talk about, which is you know how how this is totally accessible to smaller and smaller firms now, um because of the leverage of either you know international talent and or AI or whatever.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: Because again, you can do you you could have always done all these things.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: I could have always done all of these things.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's Just that it would have been hard and taken a lot of time or money or both.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: And now it's taking less of all of that just because we can we can leverage.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um so you know, even five years ago to have a a somewhat semi-professional running, you know, podcast, it would have been a big ask.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: And oh, by the way, I think the awesome authenticity angle is so much more leaned on now and so much more emphasized now that you know you can you and I can just have this conversation and you know, well, hopefully nobody notices any edits, but really there won't be a significant amount of edits because it'll just be us talking.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: And we don't everybody knows I'm not an actor.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm just actually really excited and hyped for you to be here.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: There, there's no there's no acting going on about that.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: And there's no um, and this isn't, you know, this isn't tightly scripted, uh, except the intro.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_01: The intro is a little bit tightly scripted, but other than that, um, we're you know, we're we're just we're just talking about topics that we've agreed to talk about.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it and it and it works works really well that way.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you know, it just kind of that's more of a comment than a than a question, really.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: But I mean, can you think of any other things?
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: So I mean, you're because you're talking about accessibility, and there is a whole range of podcasts, right?
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: There's like full production podcast studio, you rent for a day, like a thousand dollars a day.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'm sure some of these studios are very expensive, but you get that high-quality camera, those top of the market microphones, like the boom, all of that.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: You can do it that way.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I've seen not just average people, but I've seen people do that and it works out really well.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you look at the views and they're under a hundred, it's like, what's the payoff there?
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: But then if you can go to the other end of the spectrum, and if we're talking about podcasts, remember at the end of the day, it's just an MP3 file.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: So you have a phone with the voice recording application.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: So that's free because you already have the iPhone.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so then you would just need to figure out how to upload it to something like Cap Cut or I mean, or you could just take the raw audio file with no edits and upload it directly to one of the services that we use, which is called Buzzprout.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: But you really have all of the options, and then there's like an infinity of ways to do it in between, depending on what type of editing software you're using.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to get microphones, if you want to get, if you choose to do video, then you have to have, you know, a decent setup.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like Ben, I love that you even have your own little sign there.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it really is just like depending on, I think your money and time investment is going to really depend on where you kind of fall on the spectrum because you can start today and you can have probably a pretty decent podcast.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it wouldn't be great, but you can put it out there and like just use AI to say, give me a title and description for this.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: Boom, you posted it to BuzzSprout, and now it's on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Amazon, you know, all the different locations.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: But um, I think a big barrier to entry before was thinking that you needed like the huge production, you needed to spend hours and so much time and money on the editing process.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: But in this day and age, I mean, I think everyone almost like wants to have a podcast or does have a podcast or a YouTube channel, one of the two.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, a quick word from me, your host.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: If you like the show and find some value in it, in part, you have Anna Gram to thank for it.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: And thank us with a like and a subscribe.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: And heck, if you didn't like it, then there's no chance you've made it to this interlude anyway.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: Anna's message today has been to just hit record because creativity compounds, so does business value.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: What you build toward today also compounds and creates value both this year and every year until you decide to exit.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: That's what my firm's exit builder program is for.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: It finds what drives value, what holds it back, and builds a plan while there's still time to take advantage of that compounding.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_01: Come to townadvisory.com or reach out to me directly.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: No podcasting required.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: All right, back to Anna.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I know uh I know my kids uh devote a significant amount of time to watching YouTube.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: So um, I mean, obviously, you know, some of those things, you know, are are heavily, heavily, heavily produced, but some stuff not so much.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, and that's that's totally, totally great.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I, you know, I think especially the more the more you're you're interested in a particular topic, the the less you're interested in the production value in a certain sense.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um so it's kind of a fiction versus non-fiction, maybe even.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, do I need bells and whistles because I want to learn about how to sharpen an axe or something?
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: No, I don't.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know, those those are things that uh, you know, I I want the actu, you know, the actual knowledge there.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um okay.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I think the I think the one secret, I I maybe jumping ahead a little bit, but I think one secret is, you know, especially during COVID, everybody was on video for hours and hours and hours every day.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I still am.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: That has become a huge part of my job.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and fortunately or unfortunately, I'm very used to being on video with other people and talking with them.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, in instead of, you know, uh on StreamYard, it's usually on Zoom.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: But it, you know, it just it just occurred to me, especially when we would record some of those sessions, given that, you know, we're for notes, note-taking purposes, or or whatever, just ended up being that I realized a lot of the good conversations I was having, either with a client, which is confidential, or you know, but with you or you know, an uh a networking associate or whatever, a lot of good stuff would come out of that.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and gosh, maybe that's the kind of thing I wanted to share with people.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so it it almost yeah, almost just slid into it into having the max value podcast, because these are all the thoughts that I was sharing anyway.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_01: Why don't we just actually push record and publish, you know, even just pieces of it um out to the public?
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: So it it was it, I don't know.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: I I think it was a natural outgrowth.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think people are a lot closer to if they if they want to use this as a tool uh to leverage marketing, which they don't have to, and it's not the only one, but it's a really good one.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_01: And people are very close to already doing it, if you know, if if they thought about it.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I think it adds this aspect.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like such a process person, and if it's in my calendar, I really stick to it.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I think if Ben, you just would have said, Oh, well, I could have just recorded these conversations and put out a snip here or there, well, probably what would have happened is that your schedule would have gotten booked, you'd have been like, oh, okay, I'll do that next week.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then next week happens and you're thinking, oh, I'll do that next week.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: But a podcast makes it so there's a whole production behind it.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: There are people being invited to have a conversation with you.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's in the calendar.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's like official in a way.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that that's if you are a person that really needs things like concrete in a process in a calendar, uh, this is another great way to do it.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: Even if you don't even make the podcast live, at least to have someone on there with you and holding you accountable.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think that that's like not necessarily a spoken benefit to podcasting, but I think it's one of the biggest things for me.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I will always show up if there is something in my calendar.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_01: You're absolutely right.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: You're absolutely right.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_01: And and actually that's uh our producer, Geraldine's, you know, uh I will say the the quietest, uh, but one of the most valuable things is you know, keeping everything rolling and just being the the lead person to make sure that you know that you have the invite to show up.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_01: But just all all of the things that you know, I thankfully don't have to uh don't have to do.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, she does and she makes it happen, like any any good producer.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_01: That's you know, what when you say, hey, what does a producer do?
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_01: You're I I've heard oftentimes, you know, whether that's movie, TV, you know, podcast, whatever, uh, the producer just makes it all happen.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_01: They there's no other good description.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, well, okay, yeah.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't understand that until we, you know, we we had a Geraldine doing whatever needs doing.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_01: Shout out, Geraldine.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: Always, always and forever.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_01: So, okay, our next segment is called Value Vitamins.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's where we get a little clinical about what specifically moves the value needle.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_01: And it's you know, no, no fluffy stuff, just just prescription.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: So let's say somebody in the audience, maybe a CPA, a business valuation specialist, uh MA attorney, whatever, um, somebody's been thinking about starting a podcast or a content creation program, however you want to think about it, and they've been thinking about it for a while, but never actually done it.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: So, what is something that they could do that's actionable right now?
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: You alluded to it.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: Well, number one, marketing 101 is who are you talking to?
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: So if that's not clear, spend spend the next day or two or week figuring out like who directly you're trying to sell to.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: If it's a specific person, literally create that person in your head.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_00: Or if it's a person you already know exists, imagine that person.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: Or if you're trying to sell to other businesses, what does the other business look like?
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like just get very, very, very clear on who you are speaking to.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you're thinking about just speaking to the general public, the message gets lost and I think overwhelm sets in.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: So just think of that one precise person or thing, right?
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: Then I literally want you to get out your phone.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: If you have an iPhone, which I assume most of us do, you have an application that's already downloaded on your iPhone called voice recording or voice memo.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's like the Apple application where you can record voice notes.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: You're going to open that up and you're going to think about one of the most frequently asked questions you get on the daily, on the weekly, or the one specific pain point that people are coming to you to solve.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I just want you to click record, maybe go on a walk.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's better if you're like doing some movement, right?
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_00: Go on a walk, cook, do something, and just get the words out and just see how it feels.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: No one's what this does not have to go anywhere.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: No one's watching you, no one's listening to you.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: Just imagine you're speaking to that one person about that question they asked you or the pain point that you're trying to solve.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_00: And hey, guess what?
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's kind of like your first mini podcast.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: But then the next step that I would do after that, just getting comfortable every day, do that.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_00: If you're like for me, when I get ready in the morning, when I'm doing my hair, my makeup, or whatever it is, I just put my voice notes on and I just start talking because that helps me create blogs for my website.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_00: It helps me get my content out for my social media, et cetera.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: But it's a really good habit just to get into.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_00: And all of those will cumulate into probably the topics of your future podcast episodes.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_00: Then something you could also do today is text, email, call someone you trust, whether it's someone in your industry or a past client or someone that, you know, some type of mentor or mentee or something, invite them to just do like a mock podcast episode.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_00: You can do it on Zoom, you can do it on Google Meet.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_00: You don't even need to have a subscription to something.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_00: Just get on video and say, hey, Ben, today I want to just kind of go through and pretend we're gonna do a podcast and I want the topic to be on online calculators for business valuation.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I just and just Well, that's the worst one.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_01: I you put yourself on the spot and then you flop that one.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_01: No, uh sorry.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_00: Oops, I was like, okay, what should I talk about?
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um and just it's oh like I think people need the permission to feel a little bit unprepared or to feel a little bit silly or to feel like it's oh like that it doesn't have to be published.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_00: Even this, if we flopped so hard, it doesn't have to go live ever.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: It could live in an archive somewhere.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_00: That's the beauty of podcasting, right?
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_00: Everything can be edited.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: So those two are like, regardless if it's podcasting or content in general, just really get clear on who you're talking to and think of question, pain point, and get that voice memo recording app out and just talk.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_00: And then a lot of times you can just pull the transcript directly from the app, which is amazing.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I love that.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's it's the small steps are are really what kind of inch you up to the line, and then then it's not such a big leap to get over the line.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_01: The uh doing it on voice only first does help because a lot of people are very uncomfortable seeing themselves on video, and I totally understand that.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um doing uh, you know, actually for max value, we had the very first podcast was a movie review with a friend of mine.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: Love it, and uh be even though it wasn't gonna be anywhere near what we were gonna be talking about for you know, forever.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it was a little bit near, it was about forensic accounting and that kind of thing, but um, it was just to have fun and to make it fun for myself.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_01: I was only doing it for myself or people, you know, people like me or whatever.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it was a hell of a lot of fun.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, you know what?
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_01: I can do this because it was fun, it was good.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_01: We still had actually some pretty good professional conversation around forensic accounting.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_01: We were watching the accountant too, uh, with Ben Affleck.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you know, it it served the purpose, absolutely served the purpose to take take that step and you know, get something out there.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_01: And the get something out there was just super important.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I don't think anybody watched it, it doesn't matter.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_00: Doesn't matter, doesn't matter, and I would say doing it by yourself is going to feel a lot more uncomfortable and unnatural than getting that other person on.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like it is okay at first if it's your friends in the industry, if it's even like just pull someone on so you can feel how it is to have that back-to-back conversation.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_00: And like strategically, it is better to have a guest, especially if you're doing kind of like educational type podcasts or industry-based, because you can start bringing on guests that aren't in your specific niche, but the surrounding niches.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_00: So then when you publish the content, the podcast, the whatever it is, you're gonna tag them and then their network is going to see.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_00: So strategically wise, having a guest is very helpful.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_00: And just from like a normal human standpoint, having a guest feels a lot more comfortable.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_01: Totally agree.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, is that that that kind of leads into you know the whole freeze-up feeling that people often get about coming on to especially video, but definitely even even on audio, you know, the you know, I I look stupid or I sound stupid or both.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, how do how what are some techniques or ways that people get over that over time?
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, first let me ask you a personal question.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_00: When you re-watch videos of yourself, what is the one thing that you're nitpicky on on your own appearance?
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I just hate all of it.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, I'll tell you.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I've heard it.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_00: No, I was just gonna say, most of my female clients, the number one thing is the darn hair.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's always either I see a gray, my roots need to be dyed, I have like frizzies sticking up, it's not curled, right?
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like every single woman is so fixated on their appearance, specifically the hair.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like when I'm watching a video of another woman, I'm never paying attention to the hair.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm just listening to what they're saying and just like picking up on their whole energy, not just like one.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_00: But, anyways, I digress.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_00: To kind of get over that, it takes a while.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_00: I will say that it is an evolution.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just one day you click record and it's like, oh, this is so comfortable and natural.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_00: There are some people that feel that way.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_00: Good for you guys.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's taken me years.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I again, I really think when you hit record, just imagine you're talking to one person.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_00: So, like today, it's I'm just speaking to you, Ben.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not even thinking that this is going to be posted for strangers to watch.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think if you go into a recording thinking, oh my God, this is gonna be on the internet, like, oof, then you start having like this self-consciousness feeling, and oh my God, what are other people gonna think of me?
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_00: Just pretend you're just talking to one person.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm pretending this is a meeting and no one else is going to see that.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll keep it that way, I'm sure.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't even know.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'll watch it back, some clips, but I don't even think I'll watch the whole thing, to be so honest with you.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_01: Another thing, just and we're the most interested parties, right?
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, anybody else is going to be somewhat less interested than you and I are specifically.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_01: So, to that extent, nobody nobody's gonna care as much as we care.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and like that, it's a lot of mindset work.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's going through really putting your business at the forefront of this.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_00: If this episode could even get me a connection on LinkedIn, or if even just like a potential email that said, Hey, I watched your episode, this was interesting, or a down if someone downloaded my download that will be offered today.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_00: That is worth every second, every moment of maybe uncomfortableness, in my opinion, because I'm putting my business in the forefront of my mind.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_00: This has nothing to do with me, it has everything to do with Anagram Creeds.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I think if you need to frame it that way, it's all just about mindset reframes of stop thinking that everything's about you, okay, and put the darn camera on and click record, because this is going to at least help your business or help someone out there who's searching for the service that you're offering.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I really do like a tangible thing, is just even if you need to have like a gosh, what are those things?
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe your boys have them in their room.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_00: Fat heads, those posters.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a life size.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_00: Even you need a fat head of someone in the background, pretend you're just talking to that person.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_00: And that's really alleviated a lot of stress or anxiety around getting on camera.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_00: And again, it's just the more you do it, the easier it comes.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_01: Totally know what you're talking about.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I I have I do have such a hard time thinking about if if I'm doing something, I want to be the best at it.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm kind of competitive from that standpoint.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, even the reframing of you're not trying, Ben, you're not trying to be, you know, the a top 10 Apple podcast or anything like that.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_01: You're that's not the goal, and that's not the win condition.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_01: Therefore, okay.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_01: The I I I can now reframe the win so that I can achieve that win.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_01: Because of course I'm never gonna be, you know, at the top of the list, and that's totally okay because that's not what I'm trying to do.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_01: And what I'm trying to do, it I I even hold it, everybody has to have their own thought process around it and the way the way they they think about it.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um mine, you know, really is partly about business, certainly.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_01: But at the same time, it's about I I have to enjoy it, and I do.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if I didn't, then we wouldn't we wouldn't be here.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_01: But I generally am talking to people that I already know and like, you know, some some new friends too, but mostly people I already know and like about something that interests both of us, and who I'm creating it for is either frankly, you know, uh myself or a person, you know, I'm my own archetype of uh of the consumer, or somebody who also I know and like, you know, who's uh you know in the same industry or who has uh uh who is a client of mine that I you know I want to help.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um and you know, there's that client I haven't met yet, uh who I also want to help.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, there this is of course, I guess that's that leads into the mindset around, you know, networking and selling, you know, writ large.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_01: But at the same time, if if you don't have a mind frame around all of that that works for you, then it's gonna be a lot harder to, you know, again, take that final step.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm sorry, did you have something you wanted to add?
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_00: No, I think I was just gonna add, and since you opened it, I'll add it.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_00: I think it just depends.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_00: Us, I think a lot of people maybe in the financial realm and the valuation realm are very data driven.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe the mindset is, well, why would I go through all of this if I'm only going to get X amount of views and it's going to take all this time and all this effort?
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I think that's already a mindset that you have to kind of check because if that's you have to think of like, what is the purpose of it?
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_00: Is the purpose to get views?
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_00: Is the purpose to get a ton of content that we just went through?
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_00: Or, you know, I think it's just really like identifying why do we want to get started on this and then figure out how to just like trigger your brain to doing it because it's probably not going to be for the views.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's going to be hard for a non-entertainment person to break a threshold of trending, right?
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's just what it at the end of the day.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_00: But even I've heard um, you know, some podcasters do it so they can ultimately write a book so that every podcast is almost a chapter in a future book.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_00: So if that's your end goal, do the podcast so you can get content for your book, right?
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's just really dependent on um what you're trying to achieve.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, absolutely.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_01: The um one one of the ways that, you know, getting over that that uh starting line uh in addition to you know really framing what is it that I'm I'm trying to do is preparation.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I've gone back and forth all over the place about you know researching about the guest uh and scripting out what we want to say, basically.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, that that's that's something I mean this is uh this is pretty fluid.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um but what have you seen out there in terms of scripting an episode and you know what what's what do you find that you know is effective?
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_01: What is you know a landmine?
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_01: What have you seen?
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I personally am a big advocate, again, of like authenticity.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's so obvious if people are scripting things, it sounds almost robotic, it sounds almost as if there's like an AI voiceover, and I'm just being blunt.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_00: I do think using scripts to kind of keep you on track and to script out the questions and to script out the outline is very helpful because especially in the beginning, again, it's not necessarily the most natural thing to do, and we're on a time limit.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_00: So we need to make sure we're kind of hitting benchmarks.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like if we're still talking about topic one at 10 minutes, like maybe the script would help you kind of say, like, okay, we need to go here, or here's a follow-up question.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_00: Because, you know, sometimes we assume that people are maybe talking too much about a topic, but maybe there's a guest and they have nothing to say.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then all of a sudden you've gone through all of the questions you wanted to ask.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_00: So then maybe having a script, having follow-up questions, having at least a flow to follow, like your SOS um, you know, backup, I guess, in case the podcast is not going as planned.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_00: But I really would stray away from scripting the whole thing because then at that point, if you're gonna script, it could just be like it could just be a webinar that you're posting to YouTube or posting out there.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_00: I think the purpose of a podcast is to get conversation, it's to get laughs, it's to get like the true way that I would speak.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_00: And if I just read off of a script from AI, it would sound very not Anna.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_00: So that I mean, that's what I've seen.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know how you feel about it, but I mean, you're like you're a very process-oriented person as well.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so it was nice that you sent me an outline to say, like, hey, here are the things that we're gonna talk about.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_00: This is kind of what I'm going to lean into.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_00: But at no point it was like, this is your script, this is what you're going to read.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's not reading.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, and I and I do read a little bit just to make sure that I'm on.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, for sure.
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_01: But but at the same time, uh, let like you said, uh uh, maybe leaning a little bit more into scripting at the beginning when you're uncomfortable, more uncomfortable, and it doesn't the the script is not actually hurting you at that point, uh, which is what I did.
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know, much more scripting, probably that, you know, well, second episode after we were messing around with the movie.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, very highly scripted, too scripted.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I've tried uh a lot of things over over time because we've got a couple of dozen uh episodes out now.
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and there's been a couple where I'm like, nah, you know what?
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_01: Let's just let's just do it, let's just go.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_01: And being unprepared does at best makes it less tight than it could have been.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I found that that doesn't quite work.
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that's not optimal either.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_01: This you know, I where you know we have a script, but oh it's it's script.
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, in a in a uh uh in quotes because yeah, it's it's a loose, yeah, it's a loose script.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's got you know this the segments, it reminds me that, you know, oh our you know, we have we have a segment, it's called value of items, is how I describe it, you know, that kind of thing.
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_01: But other than that, yeah, I mean, and I don't I don't necessarily know what you're gonna say in response.
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, that back and forth is is something that um is it is live, it's real.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you know, I know in the some of our prior conversations, you've used the the term fluency about a topic because you're an expert in what you do, and I'm an expert in what I do.
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so we have that mastery and fluency in our own language, in our own topic area, so that there's there's no question about business valuation that you could pose me that I wouldn't at least have a reasonable answer about.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 48:27
  SPEAKER_01: Right vice versa on podcasting and market.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_01: The kind of transitioning away from now the strategy and getting into into the personal, um, you know, uh putting you on the spot now and something that came out in our in our prep call.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um you want to do your your own podcast and and you haven't done it yet, so tell us.
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_00: No, I haven't.
• 48:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I have so many ideas, and it was funny actually, Ben, because we had this conversation and you were like, okay, so do you want to do a podcast?
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I kind of told you my thoughts and ideas, and then not exaggerating, probably one week later, I had a girl at my co-working come up to me and she didn't know about our conversation.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_00: She barely knew really like what my business was.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_00: And she said, Have you ever thought about starting a podcast?
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_00: I think you'd be really good at it.
• 49:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Okay, if this isn't a sign, I don't know what is.
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so, but what was interesting is I didn't tell her the type of podcast that I wanted to create.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_00: I just said, Okay, if I did one, how would you see me creating a podcast?
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_00: And her topic was completely different than what I wanted.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_00: So then I started going into a spiral and I'm like, okay, shoot, I don't know.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_00: So, like what I was saying is that really like solidifying who your target market would be, this is where I'm stuck.
• 49:53
  SPEAKER_00: Because to answer your question, my original idea, because I've lived in um a few different countries and I've navigated the visa process, speaking different languages, like the cultural everything that I wanted to start a podcast about navigating cultural differences when you're living abroad.
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then I would have people come on, maybe friends who've gotten married internationally, friends who've had to privately ship their golden retriever over, um, you know, like all of these aspects that are not widely talked about.
• 50:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought when I've researched different countries and certain aspects, you know, you tend to get the blog with the the beautiful flowers and like a beach picture with like a pina collada.
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_00: And that doesn't necessarily give you, or it's like a very um like line-by-line blog giving such specifics about the visa process where it's like I can't that my head hurts.
• 50:53
  SPEAKER_00: So I wanted to kind of be that middle person of like actually walking through my experience dealing with these things, like keeping it very grounded, like just need-to-know basis type of thing.
• 51:05
  SPEAKER_00: Have guests come on, talk about their experiences.
• 51:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so I still love that concept, but my friend, she brought up a good point.
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_00: She was like, But most of your energy right now is spent building your business and spent helping other, like younger females building their business, helping older females like with their marketing.
• 51:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so she was like, but why don't you do something with that?
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, So now, Ben, I'm stuck at a crossroads.
• 51:31
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what to do.
• 51:31
  SPEAKER_00: And podcast, I still would love to.
• 51:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then from like a marketing strategy from a business development, I'm like, but I should probably do YouTube.
• 51:40
  SPEAKER_00: But then now I'm like, yeah, I'll just do the podcast video.
• 51:43
  SPEAKER_00: I see, this is I'm being so open right now.
• 51:46
  SPEAKER_00: This is my mind all the time.
• 51:48
  SPEAKER_00: Give me, hey Ben, if you give me an extra week of nothing to do, no client calls, the podcast will be made.
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_01: I I I feel like that's the well, that's the barrier that keeps us away from a lot of things.
• 52:02
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of a lot of big things that we could and should be doing right now.
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, is that you know, when when when I when I have an extra week with nothing to do, then that I will do that.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, which to me for my own self is a total lie, because if I had an extra week without anything to do, I would be taking a nap from like 90% of that, I'm pretty sure.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um maybe doing some woodwork in the middle, but that's that's it.
• 52:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um in any case, the uh yeah, you need to do a podcast.
• 52:30
  SPEAKER_01: But I totally get what you're saying.
• 52:32
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, it took it took us a lot of a lot of building the plane on the way down, uh with max value.
• 52:42
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the I don't even know if the with the first episode we even had the name.
• 52:48
  SPEAKER_01: We must have had the name.
• 52:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um but really it wasn't totally the con you know, the the full concept wasn't wasn't fleshed out.
• 52:55
  SPEAKER_01: Like what does that actually mean?
• 52:56
  SPEAKER_01: What's the theme?
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_01: How are we gonna do it?
• 52:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um but I will say, you know, going through at least mentally the the ikigai process, basically, you know, the what you're good at, what people want, you know, what is the universe demanding, and what what can you get paid for, you know, d does does help.
• 53:15
  SPEAKER_01: So I mean I'll just throw that out there for for anybody else.
• 53:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like you know, make sure make sure that it's whatever you consider payment.
• 53:23
  SPEAKER_01: Make sure you can get that out of it.
• 53:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, maybe payment is just you love the hell out of it, and that's gonna be enough for you.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, great.
• 53:32
  SPEAKER_01: It does, you know, it doesn't have to be business, but it could be.
• 53:37
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I think you know, maybe possibly in you know, in your situation, that's that's exactly what we should be talking about.
• 53:42
  SPEAKER_01: But it doesn't matter.
• 53:43
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate you sharing.
• 53:48
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and and that, you know, and and and I will invoke the secret words of we can always fix it in post, right?
• 53:54
  SPEAKER_01: Those are those are the magic words that that fix everything.
• 53:57
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 54:02
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so uh I know we've we've already gone a little bit long here, but just a couple last ones uh to to get to know you a little bit, the getting to know you segment.
• 54:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um tell us something that's not on your website, LinkedIn, whatever.
• 54:18
  SPEAKER_01: Kind of a something interesting um just about you.
• 54:23
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 54:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna do kind of a one-two to always bring it back to podcasting.
• 54:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I'm very involved with the special needs community, whether that was in the United States or here in Spain, I volunteer for best buddies, and it's just something that I've always been very drawn to, something that I love and working with a few clients that are also in that world.
• 54:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's something that um I don't necessarily showcase.
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think that that's something that I need to like shout from the mountaintop.
• 54:54
  SPEAKER_00: But to like dovetail into that, the podcast, the telepathy tapes is something that it's about um how individuals with a proxy or uh nonverbal autism use telepathy a lot of the times to communicate.
• 55:10
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just this like deep dive into a world that isn't necessarily talked about and it's very misunderstood.
• 55:17
  SPEAKER_00: And it like combined my passion with also another passion, which is podcasting.
• 55:24
  SPEAKER_00: And it like has changed my mind, like my whole entire world.
• 55:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's changed my mindset.
• 55:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's like the most fascinating.
• 55:30
  SPEAKER_00: And they go into more topics about, you know, if you're into woo-woo stuff, check it out.
• 55:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, like remote viewing and uh maybe, you know, life after death, all these things that we kind of I don't you can probably read between the lines, but I think like that's just something that um when my like two worlds collided with me.
• 55:51
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I would love to talk about more that, but I don't know how that fits onto my LinkedIn, you know.
• 55:57
  SPEAKER_01: It it's yeah, it would be hard to encapsulate on on uh your subject line or whatever.
• 56:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's interesting though.
• 56:05
  SPEAKER_01: My uh my my mom was a special ed teacher for elementary school kids for for, I don't know, well, for for a career, um, and recently retired.
• 56:15
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, her um it's uh it takes it takes a special person truly to absolutely work through that.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_01: And and I've always I've always really honored her for being able to do that.
• 56:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um okay.
• 56:30
  SPEAKER_01: Uh what pivoting a little bit, what what are you reading these days?
• 56:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um is it a sin to say nothing?
• 56:36
  SPEAKER_00: I am not a reader.
• 56:38
  SPEAKER_00: I am I'm a listener.
• 56:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 56:41
  SPEAKER_00: So um okay, I am listening to, I kind of like I can go through my maybe podcasts, because I'm listened to a lot of different podcasts.
• 56:51
  SPEAKER_00: So I listened to telepathy tapes.
• 56:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's my morning podcast.
• 56:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'm loving Good Hang with Amy Polar.
• 56:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's a really good while I'm cooking dinner podcast.
• 57:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um I listen to the, oh gosh, it's so bad.
• 57:05
  SPEAKER_00: I don't even know how to, the like uh a court of thorns and roses audiobook.
• 57:10
  SPEAKER_00: So that's like when I'm cleaning, that's like a cleaning podcast or audiobook.
• 57:19
  SPEAKER_00: And then I of course I love Diary of a CEO.
• 57:22
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's some interesting conversations that are happening on that podcast.
• 57:26
  SPEAKER_00: But I really like those are my that's my rotation.
• 57:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it keeps me on, you know, all of the different levels.
• 57:34
  SPEAKER_00: If I need to go super, super spiritual, super uh just entertainment, or more kind of like what's going on in the world and who's leading it and all those things.
• 57:45
  SPEAKER_00: So that's that's my balance right there.
• 57:48
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and and have to have to take it back a little bit about the you know, uh absolutely a sin.
• 57:54
  SPEAKER_01: Because I mean you you just said, I mean, you do you do read, you do you read audio books in the in this case, and yeah, you too.
• 58:00
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, most of my actual quote unquote reading of books is is audio because there's so much to do in the day that's being able to sit down is a luxury.
• 58:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, unfortunately.
• 58:12
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 58:13
  SPEAKER_01: So I understand that you're uh putting together or have put together already a uh a free resource.
• 58:20
  SPEAKER_01: Is that right?
• 58:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
• 58:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I wanted to put together a resource kind of all about podcasting and how to make it, you know, doable for you, regardless of where you're at, whether you think that you want that full production, or if you're just starting out and you're thinking about it and you just need that extra step.
• 58:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I'm gonna give you kind of walk through like tangibly how to do these things, links to the things you need, microphone, ring lights, even if you need an external camera, things like that.
• 58:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then I'm gonna get into more of the nitty-gritty of because we talked a lot about how you can create the content post-podcast, but I wanted to do like a deeper dive of like prompts that you can plug into AI, like actual workflow of what some of those things look like, and um just kind of like your DIY kit.
• 59:08
  SPEAKER_00: So then if you're really serious about it, use this, or if you need a more like human assistant, let me know.
• 59:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm happy to help.
• 59:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think it just takes again like that accountability.
• 59:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and AI is really helpful.
• 59:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I whenever I make a downloadable, I want to add more value than just something that you could get off of AI.
• 59:27
  SPEAKER_00: So use AI all the time to help, but um, people are still here in business to give a little bit more of tangible help on that.
• 59:35
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I'll give uh Geraldine all that information so she can put it in the description and all of my contact info, LinkedIn, Instagram, all of that will be in there too.
• 59:45
  SPEAKER_01: Excellent.
• 59:45
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, well, because that was the last question is how can people reach you if you want to be reached?
• 59:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so that's maybe by the time this goes live, I'll have a podcast.
• 59:53
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 59:55
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 59:56
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I mean, we can we can be uh we can delay the okay.
• 1:00:00
  SPEAKER_01: No, I really, I really, really hope so.
• 1:00:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I I I I echo your friend.
• 1:00:05
  SPEAKER_01: You'll be you would be excellent at it.
• 1:00:07
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, you know, all the all the mechanical details are are no no issue for you.
• 1:00:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um but if there's anything I can I can do to uh to support you on that, let me know.
• 1:00:17
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, I will.
• 1:00:18
  SPEAKER_00: Can you clone me?
• 1:00:18
  SPEAKER_00: That would be really helpful.
• 1:00:20
  SPEAKER_01: Not yet.
• 1:00:21
  SPEAKER_01: That's is that illegal?
• 1:00:22
  SPEAKER_01: I think cloning's illegal.
• 1:00:24
  SPEAKER_01: Cloning humans, sheep, maybe.
• 1:00:28
  SPEAKER_01: Anyhow, um, well, Anna, awesome.
• 1:00:31
  SPEAKER_01: This was really great.
• 1:00:32
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so glad that you joined us.
• 1:00:33
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and this, I think this is gonna be a great episode.
• 1:00:36
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you very much.
• 1:00:36
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Ben.
• 1:00:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's my pleasure.
• 1:00:38
  SPEAKER_00: It was so great.
• 1:00:39
  SPEAKER_01: That's a wrap.
• 1:00:40
  SPEAKER_01: You've been listening to Max Value Podcast.
• 1:00:41
  SPEAKER_01: And if this episode provided any interesting information, hit that subscribe button, smash like, and drop a comment below.
• 1:00:48
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Ben Town with Town Advisory, and I'll catch you next time.