Latest / Abbey the Podcast Lady / 1,000 Podcasts in 12 Months: Inside One Coach's Guesting Strategy
Transcript
- 0:04Hello and welcome to another episode of Abby
- 0:07the Podcast Lady. I am so excited that I got
- 0:10matched up with today's guest on Podmatch. I
- 0:13think that this conversation is just going to
- 0:16be something that you are really going to resonate
- 0:19with and benefit from. So please welcome Peter
- 0:21Boulka to the show. Welcome, Peter. Thank you,
- 0:24Abby. I'm so looking forward to today. So when
- 0:27I saw your pitch come through on Podmatch, I'm
- 0:30like immediately, yes, this is totally aligned
- 0:33to so much. many conversations that i have been
- 0:35having outside of podcasting lately i recently
- 0:38actually just last week opened up my studio i
- 0:41have in the downtown area that i live i opened
- 0:44it up to the public for the first time during
- 0:46an art crawl and i had people kind of coming
- 0:48through and we were having these conversations
- 0:50about how podcasting can help grow their personal
- 0:52brand and their business and help with storytelling
- 0:54but a lot of them were like well i don't really
- 0:57want to have a podcast but i would love to be
- 0:59a guest on a podcast sometime i think that would
- 1:02be really helpful so when i saw your pitch come
- 1:04through talking about how you've been using podcast
- 1:06guesting to grow your brand and build your business
- 1:09I'm like yes immediately yes let's talk about
- 1:12how you're doing this so give us a 10 ,000 foot
- 1:15overview of who you are what you do and we'll
- 1:18go from there for 21 years I've been a business
- 1:20coach so coaching others all around the world
- 1:23prior to that worked in corporate and more recently
- 1:27became an author however one thing I did used
- 1:30to have I still got a podcast channel that I
- 1:33was running between 217 and 224. So I'd been
- 1:36where you are. For so many years. And I thought,
- 1:41you know what? This was the right time for me
- 1:43to be on the other side of the fence. Yes, for
- 1:45sure. So you have been in my shoes. You've made
- 1:48your own podcast. You know what the grind is
- 1:51day in, day out, trying to make sure that you're
- 1:53making the show, promoting the show, booking
- 1:56guests, if that's something that you're doing
- 1:57for it. There's a lot that goes into it. What
- 2:00do you think is easier, making a podcast or just
- 2:02being a guest on someone else's? Being a guest.
- 2:05It's kind of a loaded question. I just wanted
- 2:07that clip for social media. I explain this to
- 2:10my clients as well who have podcasts. I'm always
- 2:12encouraging them to guest on other people's shows,
- 2:15too, because you are an expert at what you do
- 2:18and what you know. Like you said, you've been
- 2:20coaching for so long. So you know that world
- 2:23inside and out and just being able to share your
- 2:25expertise. That's major. It is. But, you know,
- 2:28podcasting, I think, has evolved over the last
- 2:3010 years. I mean, back when I first started,
- 2:32show notes and transcripts just didn't. exist
- 2:35there was a period of time where perhaps podcasts
- 2:37started to take a dip that was just natural i
- 2:40think people sort of went off a podcast for a
- 2:42while but then there seems to be over the last
- 2:44couple of years that interest again in a podcast
- 2:46it seems to be that form for information where
- 2:49people are quite happy to start consuming it
- 2:51and of course podcast platforms have evolved
- 2:53i mean you look at spotify now you look at apple
- 2:56podcasts they now do video so they're now competing
- 2:58directly with youtube so i think consumers have
- 3:01got far more choice on where they consume their
- 3:03content Whatever platforms you're poison, really.
- 3:06Yeah, that's so true. It has changed. Even I
- 3:08was looking at it last week. I host my show through
- 3:12rss .com and they just announced video integration
- 3:15with rss .com. And I'm like, if you would have
- 3:17told me this four years ago when I started my
- 3:20very first show on rss .com, it looks wildly
- 3:23different to how I started using that platform
- 3:26to how I'm using it now. It's insane how fast
- 3:29this world is evolving. 100%. And it's in one
- 3:32way it's becoming the same world. And I think
- 3:34it's the same world, different. distribution
- 3:36channels i think what they've learned to do is
- 3:38actually cater for people's channel of preference
- 3:40especially when it comes to podcasting i mean
- 3:42both apple and spotify make it super simple now
- 3:45so tell me A little bit more about your coaching
- 3:48background, because I always find this fascinating.
- 3:50I love working with the coaches that I have on
- 3:53my own client roster. I think that this world,
- 3:55there's just so much opportunity for success
- 3:58and growth and just really reaching people on
- 4:01a different level. So how did you get into coaching
- 4:03and doing what you're doing? Yeah, and I'd love
- 4:06to say to you, oh, it was a burning desire and
- 4:08it was a call in my purpose, but I would just
- 4:10be talking bullshit, to be honest with you. I
- 4:13mean, the reality was I'd left my corporate job,
- 4:15bought a restaurant, fell out with my business
- 4:17partner, sold my heart for the restaurant, and
- 4:19then was looking for my next gig. I was going
- 4:21to go back into corporate again because that's
- 4:23what I knew. And then I was approached by a franchise
- 4:25action coach, and they said, would you be interested
- 4:28in looking at it? And I wasn't really interested,
- 4:30but I thought, okay, let me be curious. I was
- 4:32going through the due diligence, speaking to
- 4:34franchise partners, and I really wasn't impressed.
- 4:36And I thought, okay, now this is not going to
- 4:37happen. And then I met my final meeting was with
- 4:40a guy called Ray Moore, and he was exactly what
- 4:42I knew. needed at the time. You know, like sometimes
- 4:43things happen for a reason that happened for
- 4:45a reason. And like they say, the rest is history.
- 4:47And 21 years later, here I still am. But actually
- 4:49now I do love being a business coach and it is
- 4:51more of a calling, but it wasn't when I first
- 4:53started. You know, sometimes the best things
- 4:55happen on accident. And you just said something
- 4:57there that really stood out to me. It's let me
- 4:59be curious. Like when things come across your
- 5:02plate and you're like, well, I'm not immediately
- 5:05interested in it, but let me be curious about
- 5:08it. I love that sentence. Well, you've got to
- 5:10be curious, haven't you? Well, you don't have
- 5:12to be. But you know what they say. I mean, they
- 5:14said curiosity kills the cat. I think lack of
- 5:16curiosity kills the cat. I fell into what I'm
- 5:19doing last night. I was at a networking event
- 5:21and they're like, so you produce podcasts for
- 5:23people. How and why? And I'm like, well, it kind
- 5:27of happened on accident. And I think the best
- 5:29things do kind of happen on accident when you're
- 5:31curious about things and you try things. And
- 5:33sometimes it's going to be a nope, I'm out. That's
- 5:36not for me. And sometimes it's going to be like,
- 5:37oh, yeah, I'm actually a really natural fit for
- 5:40this. That's amazing. It is fascinating. I suppose
- 5:43when something sort of comes your way, I could
- 5:46have said no. I've been on a totally different
- 5:47pathway. But I suppose at the time I was open
- 5:50to take the opportunity and see where it went.
- 5:53That's incredible. So what does coaching look
- 5:55like for your clients when they come to you and
- 5:57they want to work with you? How does that process
- 5:59look when working with you? Because I know for
- 6:01every coach, it's different. Yeah, for me, it's
- 6:03very different these days. I mean, I mainly focus
- 6:05on one -to -one CEO coaching and then strategic
- 6:08planning days with the exec team. tends to be
- 6:10my bag these days and people that come to me
- 6:12normally want to be looking at okay i want to
- 6:14exit my business over the next five years can
- 6:16we get it ready for sale That's a huge step.
- 6:19And it's something that I think people don't
- 6:21think about until it's almost too late sometimes.
- 6:23And I guess it's never too late, but it's always
- 6:25beneficial to start that process early. I always
- 6:29say that if you're going to sell your business,
- 6:30start three to five years out because you only
- 6:32get a chance to sell your business at once. If
- 6:34you're going to sell your business, you want
- 6:35to sell it for maximum valuation. I actually
- 6:37sold a business myself, but it was a dog bandana
- 6:40business. I was hand sewing dog bandanas in my
- 6:43basement during the pandemic. And I didn't have
- 6:46a plan. ever sell that business i was just doing
- 6:49craft fairs and selling online but someone approached
- 6:51me randomly they called me and they're like hey
- 6:53we want to buy your business from you and i wish
- 6:56i would have had some sort of coach because i
- 6:57sold that company for 700 and i probably could
- 7:01have got a heck of a lot more for it but you
- 7:03know what's interesting but at least you got
- 7:05to sell it right you'll be surprised how many
- 7:06businesses never get sold they just get closed
- 7:08down right and you think about it lifetime of
- 7:10working to then close something down that has
- 7:12no value that i mean that's heartbreaking yeah
- 7:14because you do you pour your heart and your soul
- 7:16and blood, sweat and tears into this thing that
- 7:19you're so passionate about, doors to just be
- 7:21shuttered. That's like, I can't imagine a bigger
- 7:24heartbreak. No, but people are living that heartbreak
- 7:26day in, day out. That's the unfortunate part
- 7:28of it. Yeah. So how are you helping with them?
- 7:31You said strategic sessions and one -on -one
- 7:33meetings. Is that kind of your method there?
- 7:35That is my method because at the end of the day,
- 7:37I've only got so much time. So that's like on
- 7:39the coaching side. And to be fair, over a period
- 7:41of time, I have been transitioning out of coaching
- 7:44more into sort of the... keynote speaking. Ooh,
- 7:47that's exciting. Tell me more about that. Well,
- 7:49look, with one -on -one coaching, you can only
- 7:51impact so many. When you're on a stage in front
- 7:53of hundreds of thousands of people, you change
- 7:55your impact level. And I think that was more
- 7:57so prevalent when I sort of finally released
- 7:59my book. So it was the writing of the book that
- 8:01kind of said, okay, now's the right time. Hence
- 8:03why I am on podcast channels, like just grinding
- 8:06it out, podcast after podcast with a specific
- 8:09outcome in mind. Okay, so let's rewind here.
- 8:12I want to get to that outcome, but let's start
- 8:14at the, you wrote a book. Yeah. Tell me about
- 8:17what was the kind of impetus for writing that
- 8:20book and walk me through that process, because
- 8:22I think that is so fascinating. Well, the book
- 8:24itself was a 20 year research project. So one
- 8:27of my favorite authors happens to be Jim Collins.
- 8:29And I love this piece of work, Good to Great,
- 8:31because that was a research project. That wasn't
- 8:33one of those little fancy schmancy, or let me
- 8:36just write a book for the sake of writing a book,
- 8:37put some nice little acronyms in there, and you
- 8:39go and be happy. It actually worked out what
- 8:41worked, what successful businesses looked like.
- 8:43And I was quite reticent to write a book. until
- 8:46I had my 20 years behind me. Only because I've
- 8:48seen people that really have written books after
- 8:50a couple of years of being a coach. And really,
- 8:52I mean, it's a bit like toilet paper, really.
- 8:54It's the only use for it because it has no substance
- 8:57and I didn't want to be that person. They're
- 8:58mass produced toilet paper. Charmin's got that
- 9:01under control. They have actually. So who am
- 9:04I to compete with them, right? So no, it was
- 9:07one of those I felt the time was right. And I
- 9:09really wanted to write a book that could help
- 9:11the many, not the few. So you have 20 years of
- 9:13research behind this book. What's kind of the
- 9:15premise of it? What are the many getting from
- 9:18this book? Well, okay. So here's an interesting
- 9:20thing. You started your business when you were
- 9:22in lockdown. You were a solopreneur. You only
- 9:25ever made money when you were grafting. When
- 9:27the bandanas weren't happening or you weren't
- 9:29selling or marketing, the revenue wasn't coming
- 9:31in, right? Correct. Well, that's the majority
- 9:33of business owners, to be honest with you. Even
- 9:35when you earn... in more money can be surprised
- 9:37how many businesses are centered around the founder
- 9:39and the founder is responsible for like 90 of
- 9:42revenue generation which means at any given stage
- 9:44they can't step away from it because as soon
- 9:46as they step away from it the revenue drops and
- 9:48especially as they become more successful over
- 9:50time they've got overheads they need to cover
- 9:52if they can't cover those overheads they're in
- 9:54trouble well it's a new case also in the u .s
- 9:5680 of businesses fell within the first five years
- 9:58only 20 actually get through it and how sad is
- 10:01that it's when you start a business most people
- 10:03start a business because they did like their
- 10:05dickhead boss. They wanted more freedom. They
- 10:07wanted to create wealth for themselves. They
- 10:09wanted a better life. I mean, business is meant
- 10:11to give you more life, not take it away. And
- 10:13the premise of the book is build a business without
- 10:15destroying your life. Because most entrepreneurs,
- 10:17they build a business while destroying their
- 10:18lives. I actually have been taking the month
- 10:21of August to kind of step back a little bit and
- 10:24reevaluate like, what am I doing with my life
- 10:27and my free time? Because I am a solopreneur
- 10:29with my podcast production business. It is all
- 10:32hinging on me working with my clients. chasing
- 10:34down leads. It's all on me. So I'm trying to
- 10:37figure out how do I not do that and have some
- 10:40more free time and have a life again? Because
- 10:42for the past four years, this has been it. I've
- 10:44been day in, day out, Abby, the podcast lady.
- 10:47And it's like, where do I draw the line at that?
- 10:50You got to learn. Look, you can only buy back
- 10:52time. So to buy back time, you need to hire,
- 10:54you need to have team members on board. But you
- 10:55actually got to learn business. The thing is,
- 10:57most people start a business. And when you started
- 10:59your sort of dog bandana business, how much study
- 11:01did you do around business? Absolutely. nothing.
- 11:03I knew how to sew a triangle and that was it.
- 11:06But business is far more complex than that. And
- 11:08that's why 80 % fail. So you've got to start
- 11:10learning the language of business is an interesting
- 11:12fact for you. Especially when you look at the
- 11:13economy, the economy doesn't care what gender
- 11:15you are, what race you are, what's your skin
- 11:17color, or none of that stuff. Religion doesn't
- 11:20care. It only understands two things. Are you
- 11:22competent or incompetent at business? If you're
- 11:24competent, you get rewarded. If you're incompetent,
- 11:26you get punished. Doesn't matter. And for you,
- 11:28you've just got to start looking at your business
- 11:30and thinking to yourself, okay, where are my
- 11:32constraints? and what must I learn to fix them?
- 11:34And I use that word very carefully because it's
- 11:37about what can I learn? It's not what can I do?
- 11:38It's what can I learn? I love that. That is a
- 11:40golden nugget moment right there. If you take
- 11:42anything away from this podcast, let it be that
- 11:45sentence. Back it up 15 seconds, listen to it
- 11:48again and do it over and over and over again
- 11:49because that is so important. What can I learn?
- 11:52Not what can I do? And this is a painful thing
- 11:55that people struggle with. And one of my favorite
- 11:58sayings happens to be God created man in his
- 12:00image. Well, if that is... to be true that every
- 12:03single founder has created the business, their
- 12:05business in their image, the good, the bad and
- 12:09the fugly. I love that this podcast chills like
- 12:13that is fantastic information right there. So
- 12:16okay, let's take a jump here. You wrote the book
- 12:18and then you said that led to keynote speaking.
- 12:20Take me on that journey. Yeah, look, I'm in a
- 12:22process of doing that. So one of the reasons
- 12:24I'm doing the podcast is because I've created
- 12:26two new spaces. So your business sucks is a new
- 12:29space. I am a new author. that is fact the hamster
- 12:32wheel trap is a new framework that also didn't
- 12:35exist anywhere eight weeks ago so i now have
- 12:38to get the message out and podcasting is a fantastic
- 12:40way of training both the google algorithm and
- 12:44the ai algorithms people will say to me oh but
- 12:46what's the value in the podcast the damn transcript
- 12:48the show notes boom the more places you show
- 12:52up with a single consistent message the more
- 12:55you start to dominate a space i could not agree
- 12:57with you more i feel like a broken record preaching
- 13:01that out into the world because it's facts. It
- 13:03works. And now with the chatbots latching on
- 13:07to transcripts and show notes, it is more important
- 13:11than ever to be showing up. And like you said,
- 13:14with a consistent message. Yeah. And look, if
- 13:16I look on Google, I dominate quite a lot of the
- 13:18top spaces for your business sucks. I'm one that's
- 13:20dominated most of the first page while doing
- 13:22the UK anyway. And your hamster wheel trap, not
- 13:24quite yet as much because I'm up against that
- 13:27stupid damn contraption that's been around for
- 13:29a hundred years. It actually kills rodents, but
- 13:31I'll take it as well. So give me a little surface
- 13:35level. I don't want you to give away your entire
- 13:37keynote, obviously. That's your keynote, but
- 13:39give me a little bit of the hamster wheel trap.
- 13:41What can people expect when they see you speaking
- 13:43on that? Well, I was going to talk about how
- 13:45we get founders to reclaim their life back and
- 13:48get rid of founder dependency. And that's a journey
- 13:50more than anything else. But most people do not
- 13:52realize they're in a trap. And people say to
- 13:54me, well, how can I tell if I'm in the trap?
- 13:57Well, it's quite simple. You can spot any business
- 13:59owner that's in the trap and i'm sure you've
- 14:01seen it before where you've been on vacation
- 14:02and there's that entrepreneur that's always on
- 14:05the phone yeah the family are trying to chill
- 14:07but they're without their spouse because their
- 14:09spouse is dealing with every single fire and
- 14:11when they're not on the phone they're on the
- 14:13laptop yeah when if you can relate to that you're
- 14:15screwed you're in the trap yep i'm in the trap
- 14:17oh no so i'm guessing you go you walk through
- 14:21that you give that visual you hit people in the
- 14:23chest where they're feeling it and then you give
- 14:25them advice for not necessarily jumping off and
- 14:28abandoning ship. But how do you get off in a
- 14:30way that's going to be beneficial long -term?
- 14:32Which is going to be that you've got to learn
- 14:33to get off of it. And people think all of a sudden
- 14:35they're falling into the trap. No one falls into
- 14:38the hamster wheel trap. They create it. So you
- 14:40think about it. When you start your business
- 14:42on day one, head of sales, head of marketing,
- 14:44head of operations, head of finance, head of
- 14:47HR, when you need to have a word with yourself
- 14:49and so forth. From the very second you start
- 14:51your business, your training, your business depend
- 14:52on you. You've laid the trap already. And every
- 14:55year that goes on, you're just making that trap.
- 14:57bigger and bigger and bigger. Well, I think that
- 14:59I need to pick up a copy of your book. That's
- 15:01step number one. And really dive into this because
- 15:05I think what you have to share is so valuable.
- 15:07You have two plus decades of experience working
- 15:10with people, helping them through this. So I
- 15:12think there's no better person to guide on this
- 15:14journey than you, Peter. So that is fantastic.
- 15:17Before we totally wrap up here, I would love
- 15:18to hear how you have been going about becoming
- 15:21a podcast guest, because I think that's a question
- 15:23a lot of people ask themselves when they want
- 15:25to do something like this. They're like, well,
- 15:27I would love to guest on podcasts. I'd love to
- 15:29share what I have to know. I'd love to share
- 15:31my brand and my ideas. How are you going about
- 15:33being a guest on podcasts? So I'm doing it on
- 15:36Podmatch right now. I'm now on episode number
- 15:3886, you are. Wow. Look, my goal is to do a thousand
- 15:42episodes, thousand guests on a thousand podcasts
- 15:44in 12 months. Oh my goodness. That's ambitious.
- 15:47How many are you shooting for a day? Well, today
- 15:50I've got eight. Oh my gosh. That is a full day.
- 15:53That's amazing. So I'll talk about the day job.
- 15:56Oh my God. When do you sleep, Peter? When do
- 15:59you sleep? For a couple of hours a night now,
- 16:01but it's really important to go for this message.
- 16:04I want to dominate the space. It's the only way
- 16:05to do it. I love that. And Podmatch, I am a huge
- 16:08fan of the Podmatch system because it connects
- 16:11me with amazing people like you. And I've actually
- 16:13like met people from across the country and across
- 16:16the world who've now I consider to be friends
- 16:18and acquaintances. And it really does such a
- 16:20wonderful job of filtering people who are good
- 16:23fits for your show. It's very rare that. I am
- 16:26not matching with someone who comes through.
- 16:29With a really good pitch because it just lines
- 16:31up perfectly. It is a fantastic system. Like
- 16:34today, you didn't know quite what you were going
- 16:35to get. And here we are. Having a fantastic conversation.
- 16:38And you've changed my thinking. And I know you're
- 16:41going to be changing my guests' thinking as well.
- 16:43So I really appreciate that. That's the other
- 16:44reason I do it as well. Perhaps to help people
- 16:47think about being in business differently. Well,
- 16:49mission accomplished on that one today. Hopefully
- 16:52the other seven that you're doing today, you
- 16:53get to do the same thing. So Peter, as we wrap
- 16:56up here, where can people get your book? How
- 16:58can they work with you? Tell them how they can
- 17:00get involved with you and your brand. Look, the
- 17:02best way is, and I'm not even selling coaching
- 17:04services, go on Amazon, buy the book. That's
- 17:07it. Buy the book on Amazon. It's 99 cents on
- 17:10the Kindle. And if you do not have the Kindle,
- 17:12you just need to download the app. It's fine.
- 17:14And then you've got the other formats. You've
- 17:15got audio, paperback, and hardback. And if you
- 17:17want to follow me and connect, just type in my
- 17:19name into Google, Peter Bulker. That's all you
- 17:21need to do. In fact, most of the time, if you
- 17:23just type in Bulker, it works. And you'll find
- 17:25my website. You'll find my LinkedIn. Find my
- 17:27Instagram. my TikTok, Facebook, YouTube channel,
- 17:31podcast channel, and so forth, so forth, so forth.
- 17:33Choose your poison. I love it. As a certified
- 17:36Kindle girly, I'll be picking that up because
- 17:38I need a new book to read on my Kindle. 99 cents.
- 17:42And by the way, if you will buy the book, leave
- 17:44me a review afterwards, please. Thank you for
- 17:46mentioning that. I have a couple of clients on
- 17:48my roster who've written books and I feel like
- 17:50we forget to push how important it is to leave
- 17:53a review for a book. Like it takes less than
- 17:55a minute to leave a five -star rating and write
- 17:57a sentence about how fantastic it was or how
- 17:59it changed your life or your perspective in some
- 18:01way. So always leave a review. important. But
- 18:05that's the same also for podcasts. If you like
- 18:07the show, leave a review. It's like a free tip
- 18:09bucket. You're not even putting money into the
- 18:11tip bucket. You're just helping without having
- 18:13to pay a dime. Exactly. And it pushes you up
- 18:16the algorithms as well. Yes. So more people get
- 18:19to be exposed to your show. Win -win. Well, Peter,
- 18:21this has been so much fun. Thank you for being
- 18:24on my show. Thank you for pitching me on Podmatch.
- 18:27What a great connection. And I wish you luck
- 18:29in your seven other podcast interviews you have
- 18:31today. Awesome. Thank you so much. And by the
- 18:33way, five are down four more to go but yeah no
- 18:35three more to go now so awesome wonderful