Latest / Imperfect Marketing / 258: Turn Podcast Guesting into Business Growth with Nicole Grinnell

Transcript

258: Turn Podcast Guesting into Business Growth with Nicole Grinnell · Imperfect Marketing

• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to another episode of Imperfect Marketing.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, kendra Korman, and today I'm really excited to be talking about a topic that I'm really passionate about because I believe it truly can make a difference in a lot of people's business and in how you market your business and yourself.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: So today I welcome Nicole oh, I didn't ask before we got online, of course, nicole Grinnell.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: You got it first time, first time, good job.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: Oh, I didn't ask before we got online, of course.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Um, nicole Grinnell, you got it.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Oh yay, perfect, yay.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Um.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: So, nicole, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into podcast guesting?
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: Well, thank you so much, First of all, kendra, for having me excited to be here and be with your audience.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: Um yeah, so I kind of fell into it totally like backwards, blindsided, all the things, was not planning on it.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: My primary role and my primary company is actually in staffing and we served a lot of small business owners and I'm kind of a problem solver, fix it, find a solution person by nature, and I was hearing from so many business owners, even as we were working with them with recruiting their teams, like hey, do you know, like how do I get my message out?
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: I can't like, do you know a marketing company?
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: Do you know of this?
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: And they didn't know even where to start, right, like it's a very intimidating world for business owners because most of us, unless you own a marketing company, don't have that in your background, right, and so it's like I don't have that in your background, right, and so it's like I don't know where to start.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: But I know I need to be out there.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: And I actually had one client say you know, I've done a podcast, I really liked it, do you know how to get me on more shows?
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: And so we sort of organically started helping him and then started using it ourself and we found that it was just this amazing service of both content, networking, exposure, all of these things.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: And for me and my small business background, I was like, okay, this feels like a really great kind of one-stop shop.
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: You still need supplementary marketing items, right, but it was a great way to really begin that process for business owners.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: And so, long story short, we did that for about eight years and about two years ago decided to launch kind of a sister company that truly focused on that and helping business owners coaches, authors, thought leaders get on shows and really see the value that that was for their company.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: I love that story because I think finding problems and then finding solutions to that problem is one of the best ways to start a business.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: So because you already know that there's demand, because people are asking for it, I think that that is just brilliant.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: So well done.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: But let's go ahead and talk about the results from podcast guesting, right?
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: Do you want to put the effort into it or not?
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: You say that there was a podcast interview that turned one connection and doubled your business.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it turned into multi six figure pipelines.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: So you know, I'm sure, like you, probably have way more qualified marketing people to come on than me.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: I don't speak the vernacular, it is not.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: I'm not a creative, I'm truly like a logistics, number, organized type of person.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: But what I found was it was really hard, like if I sat down with a potential client.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: It was a really easy conversion rate.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: I understood their problem, I knew we had the solution I could bring them, in this case, their talent and we developed a great relationship.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: I couldn't figure out how to do that in traditional print marketing or in traditional ads, and I certainly at that time did not have the budget for that right, I mean any company I was going to.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: It was like, well, if you want to play the game, you're $10,000, $20,000 in ads to even be in the ball field, right.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: So it was like, okay, there has to be a better way.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: And so, for me, what I found with podcasts is I was tasked as a business owner to network, to build pipelines, to produce content, to have exposure of my company, and this was kind of like one-stop shop.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: So what I did was I took my same kind of sales experiences and said, okay, well, I'm going to use this to connect with the hosts, I'm going to use this to connect with audiences.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: I'm going to use this content to work in my sales cycle.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: So simple things like hey, bob, I know you said you were really struggling with delegating your team.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: Listen to this show.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: That I did.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: That was top 10 ways to delegate to your team.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: Right, so it started giving me credibility, helped shorten my sales cycle.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: Obviously, the listeners had already bought in.
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: People want to know who they're doing business with, right, and so it's one of those things.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: Like I said, I fell into it blindsided or blindfolded, because I just kind of looked around like why is everyone not doing this?
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: Like this is amazing, and so, taking those same principles and that's really what we teach our clients on that, what was creating these sales pipelines?
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: Because I was talking to people that were already serving maybe my customer base in a different capacity, or new people, and it began those referral relationships and those pipelines.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: I like that.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Have you ever noticed that when you talk to somebody that maybe saw you on a podcast, they feel like they know you?
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's what I mean by that.
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: Sales cycle was shortened right.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: Like I'm not trying to like convince you of who I am or what I can do.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: You've already heard in my own words.
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: You've bought in, you liked my story and now it's just more.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: Let's get down to what the needs are for you and your company and how can I serve that.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: So that kind of cycle of getting to know you, that trust building, was already there.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: I think podcasting really does give that trust factor because you know, hopefully the people listening and watching, wherever you're at you know, they know that I'm looking for quality people on my podcast that are going to add value, and so that's a recommendation from me too.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: So that's a recommendation from me too, that you have good enough information to you know for me to share your message Absolutely and that and that's.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: It was kind of like a credibility factor, right?
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: So instead of me just saying again to use that other example, like well, bob, let me tell you what you need to do.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: It's like, hey, listen to this, because now you're going to hear from the host perspective their questions.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: Get to know about your audience as the host, right?
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: So I see Kendra's got some really great shows that are relevant to me.
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: That's probably why she had Nicole on.
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, it's a whole cycle of credibility there.
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: So let's talk about getting into podcast.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: What are some things that you think hold business owners.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: What are some things that you think hold business owners coaches, consultants, whoever it happens to be from guesting?
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: Oh, number one hands down.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: Like what do I have to say?
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: Well, I don't.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: Who am I like that?
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: And I get it, Cause I was there I mean my first shows I'm literally like a deer in the headlights.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: What am I supposed to say here?
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: I'm imposter syndrome to the max, right, but I think really what you have to hone in on is like if you've started a business or you're a coach or you're running kind of like a one man show, even if you have a team, right, but it's something that you're passionate about and you have the experience that you brought to this business and that's why you are excellent at what you do.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: That's why you have a passion for what you do.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: That's what people wanna hear.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: We wanna know your story, and everyone has a story.
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: How did you get here?
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: What are the skillsets you bring?
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: Who do you serve?
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: Why do you serve them well?
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: And so, kind of getting past I mean I feel like this is a general theory just in life but kind of get over yourself.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: Like, don't have an ego, Don't sit there and worry about what if I mess up the word, no one cares about that.
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: Talk about the message that you want to convey to an audience, even just an education right, and bringing that value.
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: And then it becomes really easy because it's not about you, right?
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: You're not focused on how am I going to look and present no one cares, right?
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: You're not focused on how am I going to look and present no one cares.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: Talk about what you're passionate about and what you're bringing to the table and why people should be interested in working with you.
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: Okay, I want to hone in on something.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: No one cares.
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: No one cares.
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: It doesn't matter if you're having a bad hair day, if you don't like the way you sound, it doesn't matter If you stumble over your words.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: They're like, oh yeah, they don't even notice.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: It's you know.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: They're looking for the message, they're listening to the message.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: They don't notice any of the stuff.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: We are so tough on ourselves.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: I think it's just you know, it's been ingrained in us to be tough on ourselves to an extent.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you have to be who you are and just embrace it.
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: Well, I think it's one thing that really does help, especially as business owners, because we typically aren't the like polished sales marketing, professionally, classically trained people, Right, but like we're really passionate about what we do and we do want to explain that.
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: And this was such a cool venue and avenue to use for that.
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: Because if you wanted me to go on like full network, you know, lights, camera, action thing, I probably would bomb that.
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: That is not my forte, right, but podcasting was a venue to truly just be authentic to who you are and connect with your audience that way.
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: So I think that's where some of that intimidation comes is.
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: We think it's going to be this, you know, almost like TV stage production and like what am I supposed to talk?
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: It's like just be you, be you and talk about what you're bringing to the table and be authentic, and that's what's going to resonate.
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: It will resonate with all no, but the people that you want to attract to your business.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: That's who it's going to resonate with and that's who you want to bring in.
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: And when we're talking about reach, I mean there are podcasts that have greater reach than the news channels.
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: You might not start there, which is fine, but again they'll reach more people and reach more people in your audience who you want to reach, which I think is really important and it's evergreen, right.
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: So I'll have people contact me and they're like oh, I heard you on the show and I'm like that was three years ago, so it's evergreen, everlasting out there and you never know when someone's going to hit that download or see that online and connect via that way.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: So let's talk about getting started, right.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: So, all right, I'm going to suck it up, I'm going to be myself, I'm going to be authentic and I'm going to own it, right?
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: So how do I start getting on podcasts?
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: So there it is a whole other kind of animal right.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: As far as the booking things, there are great DIYs, I'm not going to lie.
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: You can definitely kind of reach out to shows, represent yourself.
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: I always say it's kind of like a time is money thing right.
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: So wherever you are in your business, if budget is more of the concern, try going that route.
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: You may have time that is really going to allow you to that and we can coach people on that as well.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: If you're to the space where you're like I just want to be booked using a booking agent, like what we do, is a great way because you have someone kind of representing you.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: So as far as the logistics of booking, those are two kind of different options.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: But before you even get there, really think through.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: Like you know, we say this a lot.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: It is not a commercial, it's a connection.
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: So think about what value and education you want to bring first to that audience.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: So don't come in like the ShamWow guy and be like for $19.99, you can call and get my widget right, but talk about, okay, what are the problems that I see consistently in my customer base, what do I think people need to be educated on?
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: And let me come in and lead with that and really start to put together your we call it our pitch kit, right, but really kind of your one sheet of who you are, what your experience, what makes you credible to speak on this and then what the value you want to bring to that listening audience.
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: So kind of getting that formulated, especially if you're going to kind of do it yourself.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: And then from there there's a lot of great ways to kind of Google and be able to figure out.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: You know hosts, but again it's kind of a time is money and where you're at.
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: But there's lots of podcast agencies that can help people get on shows and can certainly help curate those that pitch media kit, et cetera.
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: I mean it really is like you have a PR agent.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: I mean that truly is how it feels.
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: Well, and I mean I know a lot of PR agencies, that's what they do, I mean that's one of the big ways that they get people coverage is getting them on podcasts.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: Local, national, you name it.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: So it is.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: I mean it is a part of PR.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: It does get you out there.
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: So let's let's talk about the podcasts that charge you to be on as a guest.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: What are your thoughts about those?
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: So you know, the way the clients that we're trying to attract and work with really are more of that small to medium sized business owner.
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: I don't think that you need to be to that scale Now.
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: If it's an amazing opportunity and you really feel like, hey, the bang is worth a buck or maybe it leads to an in-person speaking, we always present those options to our clients.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: Do I think you have to have that to be successful?
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: Absolutely not.
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: I think you have to have that to be successful?
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: Absolutely not.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: I think you know, sometimes we'll get clients that'll be like, oh, I don't know, that show seems small.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: Or you know, and it's like I'm telling you right now, those are the shows you want to connect with, because those people are willing to give referrals, they want to connect with people, they're looking to build their networks.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: So you know they're not too big for their britches and they're more than happy to connect you.
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: So we really try to encourage people to look at this as truly a networking and a value and education giving process, less like, okay, how many clients are you going to bring me Right?
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: Like that's not how we go into anything.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: So of course, we'll present those options to our clients, and there's good ones.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: We've done some in the past, um, but you absolutely.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: If somebody is trying to sell you that you have to pay for every experience, you need to look elsewhere.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: That is not true.
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: You will see equal, if not more, results in just working with the podcast community as a whole.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: Yep, I agree with that.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: So let's, let's talk about hiring a booking agency, right?
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: So I, as a podcast host, I get a lot of inquiries from people.
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: I don't really respond to all of them.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: Back in the beginning I responded and I had a lot of no shows.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: Um, on the guest side, and I don't know if it's because they booked it and didn't review it with the client and they didn't decided not to be there, or how that went about.
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: But if you're looking to hire an agency that's going to book you on podcasts, what are a couple of things that you should be looking for or asking?
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: That's a great question and it's it's twofold right.
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: It's the host side and the guest side.
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: So you know, we have been really successful because we really value relationships and everything.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: We do so with our hosts we want to respect them and also with our guests, and we're really trying to make sure that both sides are behaving as they should, right.
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: So from the hosting side, if I'm looking to use an agency, I want to make sure is this host actively engaged?
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: Are they producing consistent shows?
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: Do they promote those shows?
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: Right?
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: So we'll have people, we'll have hosts reach out to us looking for guests, but they maybe do a show once every six months and they really don't do any production from it.
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: That's not a great fit for our client base, right?
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: So making sure that the value and the quality of those shows is up to par.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: And then also making sure and this is a big important process in our process is that you are in an audience that makes sense for you.
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: So there's a lot of agencies that will be like yeah, we'll get you on 50 shows a month, which, first of all, I think that's too many.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: I think you get tired of hearing yourself talk, so you need to be very cautious with that.
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: But let's pretend you love to talk and you want to talk two days, two times a day, right?
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: You need to make sure that those shows actually make sense for your audience and for your brand, right?
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: So if I'm in staffing and I'm on Golden Retrievers monthly, I don't know what that's going to convert to and I don't really know what those topics are going to be that are going to be educated for their audience as well, right?
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: So making sure that that list is curated and then, from the guest side, we also really hold our guests accountable, like we don't want to send over people that are no showing.
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: We don't want to send over people that are not bringing value or trying to make it about themselves.
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: So we do a lot of coaching on that, and so, even if you're not sure what that looks like, your podcast agent is going to help you with that.
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: Hey Bob, I listened to that.
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: I felt like we came off a little too salesy.
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: Here's some tips I would give you for your next show, right?
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: And so we want to really make sure that we're honoring both sides of those relationships to be a good match, and ultimately, what we see is hosts are coming to us now going hey, I know you guys bring quality people, just like you said, kendra, right, we vet these people.
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: So it's not just any LinkedIn message I'm getting, but it's truly been vetted and I know it'll be a quality guest.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that that's that's really good and I think that there's a lot, of, a lot of value to asking some questions about that.
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: You know how do you work with the hosts?
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: How do you hold me accountable?
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: What if something changes?
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: You know, again, asking those questions of someone who's going to be booking you is going to go a long way, a long way For your reputation and finding the right places.
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: Again, I think that's really important because you want to make sure it doesn't matter if it's small, right?
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: No, like you said, some of those places are the best places to be because it might be small, but if it's 99%, exactly who you're trying to target?
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: How else are you going to reach them?
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: You know there's a lot of people that aren't on social media.
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: There are a lot of people that aren't on social media.
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: There are a lot of people that check their social media not quite as often enough, but if they are passionate podcast listeners, they listen to their podcasts every week or every day, depending on who they are and what they're following, and I think that's really important.
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: I couldn't agree more.
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: So I am loving our conversation.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: So if someone's on the fence about whether or not they should start podcast casting and they're thinking, oh, it's going to take too much time, or I really don't know what I'm going to say, or I can't afford a podcast booker, I mean, there's a million excuses we can come up with, right now.
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: What would you tell them to get them off the fence and onto our side with podcasting?
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: So I think, from the business owner's perspective, so much is about time right and really being spread too thin.
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: And that was really what I loved about this is that my agent is working with your show, other shows, right.
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: They know my schedule.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: You're putting it on there.
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: All I'm really doing is getting prepped the day before to understand.
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: So I got all the questions that you were going to ask, I got the link, so they're kind of doing all the legwork for me and really I'm giving 30 minutes to an hour commitment a week, so very nominal, and then it was hitting much, like I said earlier, just on all those factors that we face.
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: I've got to get out there and network.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: I need content for my social media.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: I'm trying to drive SEO to my website, right.
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: This accomplishes all of that Like.
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: It literally accomplishes everything that we struggle with as business owners in one place, and so if you don't have a strong marketing or social media plan or budget right now, it's a great way to start building that, and I still have a social media assistant, but the content is really coming and being driven by the podcast that I'm on, right, so it's just a great way to get a lot of that content over, build that plan.
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: And, honestly, kendra, like I'm I'm a horrible salesperson in this and that I just won't do anything that I wouldn't pay for myself.
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: And so we really wanted to design price points that said, okay, every business owner when they are looking at the stage of, like, I now need to go to that next level, can afford this price and it's going to accomplish a lot for them.
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: And so that's really how we designed our packages as well.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: So you know, we're all facing that for next year, right?
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: Like, okay, what's going to be my next strategy?
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: How am I going to time block?
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: How am I going to get my name out there?
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: And I just highly recommend at least looking into it and educating yourself.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: So if you're listening and you're thinking about podcast guesting, all right.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: So if you're listening and you're thinking about podcast guesting, this is your science.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: Right, get started, get looking into it.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: Of course, we're going to have a link to Nicole and her company's website in the show notes, which is always important.
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: Again, seo lead generation Absolutely.
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: But again, don't assume it's too expensive.
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: Don't assume that you don't know enough information.
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: This is a fantastic opportunity for you to get your business to the next level.
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: The reason I have a podcast is for content.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: It makes my social media calendar so much easier.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: I think 80 to 90% of my social media is coming from my podcast episodes.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: It saves me so much time and, even though it's not all pushing the podcast per se, it still talks about things that we talked about and things like that.
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: So, in the end, podcast casting podcasting overall, it's a time saver and if you don't want to start your own or you're not sure you want to start your own, casting is a great way to find out if you want to be your own host, and I think that there's a lot of value there.
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: So thank you, nicole, for these awesome tips, and I hope a few people get off the fence and start considering podcast guesting.
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: Before I let you go, though, there is a question that I ask all of my guests and just so you know, as like a logistics and process person like I'm jealous of you and I love people that are your style because I lack some of that sometimes in my we need all talents yeah.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: Exactly so.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: But again the show is called Imperfect Marketing, because marketing is anything but a perfect science.
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: What has been your biggest marketing lesson learned?
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: So I would say, to just be authentic and I think that's probably what I like about the podcast too is that you have that chance.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: I mean, when we first started the company, I mean we've done story brand, we had marketing consultants.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: We had everybody coming in and kind of like pushing, like, well, you need to do this, this and this, it didn't feel like me, it was not who I was, I didn't really think it was reflective of the company and you can get really sucked into that world and then all of a sudden you look up and you're like, but I don't want to do that, that's not who I am, that's not targeting, you know so and that's not to say that you should look at those types of avenues but even within that, make sure that it is authentic to you, because you're not going to be motivated to do it honestly and you're going to kind of resent it.
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: So make sure that whatever marketing effort you have, it's authentic to you, it's authentic to your brand and to who you're serving.
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: People can see through things that are not authentic.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: So being authentic is really important.
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: Um, because, again, if it's not authentic to you, then people see through that, and I think that that's a really fantastic lesson learned.
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: And, um, I have story brand back here somewhere.
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: It's not saying that those are bad tools or doing it, it just the way they were executing.
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: It wasn't for you.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: There's nothing wrong with that.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: There's nothing wrong with that.
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: There's nothing wrong with saying you don't want to spend 20k a month in advertising, because for a lot of us, that's just ridiculous, right?
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: Um, I mean, that's part of why I started my, my full service agency was because I was tired of getting nickeled and dimed and being told I needed to spend this.
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: And giving the ad agency an idea for a print ad, more or less drawing it out and being like okay, the creative ideation is $15,000.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: Well, that's yeah.
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: And now, and you know when we went through a lot of it because I do, I love StoryBrand, I think Donald Miller's great.
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: I've done a lot of different marketing things, but they were kind of pushing in a direction of like okay, and then you need to pump out these kinds of videos and it's like, that's not.
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: I'm never going to be that person.
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: Like, it's just not right.
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: And so that's where some of that breakdown is.
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: Now, having been older and wiser and more experienced, I would have probably said, hey, that's never going to be me, so let's look at avenues that we could implement this process, but in a way that's actually going to be reasonable for me.
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: And so I think now, having done it, I probably would have said, hey, let's utilize podcasts more, cause I feel comfortable in that arena.
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: I don't feel comfortable to be a TikTok influencer and pretend that I'm this thing right, like again.
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: Like you said, people see through that, and so just being authentic, whatever avenue it is, um is going to lead to way more results.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: Nicole and I are going to be dancing on.
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: Exactly that's what I'm saying.
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: It's like I have no rhythm.
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: I'm sorry that will not be happening Me neither.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: Thank you again.
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: That's so much, nicole, for joining me.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: I really appreciate it.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: Again if you're on the fence of the world of podcast guesting, get off the fence and take a look to see what kind of opportunities that it can give you.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: I strongly recommend trying these 12 to 15 podcasts before you decide whether or not it's a good fit for you.
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: Again, nicole's story about how she ramped up and got more comfortable that does matter, and you start getting more targeted and finding places that are even better for you.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: So thank you so much, nicole, and thank you everybody for tuning in.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: We hope to see you on another episode of Imperfect Marketing.
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: Until next time, have a great rest of your day.