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How to Reclaim Your Time as a Podcaster and Grow Your Business · Abbey the Podcast Lady

• 0:05
  Hello and welcome to another episode of Abbey
• 0:07
  the Podcast Lady. Today we are talking with one
• 0:11
  of my clients. Mark, you are actually the first
• 0:14
  client that I've had on my show and I've been
• 0:16
  doing this for about a year now. I'd say this
• 0:19
  is long overdue. I always like to lead the way,
• 0:21
  so I'm glad to be the first. You're a natural
• 0:24
  leader. So I really wanted to have Mark as a
• 0:28
  guest on the show because we have been working
• 0:29
  together for about a year and a half now. We
• 0:31
  met at PodFest, which is a big podcasting conference
• 0:35
  in Orlando, Florida. And Mark, you had had your
• 0:38
  podcast before we met, but you were just needing
• 0:40
  help with the production side of things. So let's
• 0:42
  kind of start there. Talk about what your podcasting
• 0:45
  journey was like before you brought on a producer.
• 0:48
  Well, it was just Flying blind, I was just making
• 0:53
  it up as I went along, Googling how to do things,
• 0:56
  you know, reading articles here and there, trial
• 0:59
  and error, and spending a lot of time, a tremendous
• 1:02
  amount of time to produce, you know, a show that
• 1:05
  had some good thoughts, I thought, in there,
• 1:07
  but not a high level of production. And so it
• 1:10
  was just learning the hard way. And you know
• 1:12
  what? A lot of people start that way. I'd say
• 1:14
  99 % of podcasters start in that boat just like
• 1:18
  Googling and trying to figure it out as you go
• 1:20
  because that's what we all do when we try new
• 1:22
  endeavors. We don't always have a budget item
• 1:25
  for hiring help for this kind of thing. But I
• 1:28
  always like to say that you got to find the who
• 1:30
  in your life, not the how. Like there's someone
• 1:32
  out there who knows a little bit more than you
• 1:35
  might on a specific thing. And if you can find
• 1:37
  that right person, it can be a lot of help. Well,
• 1:39
  absolutely. I mean, I was spending the time I
• 1:41
  was spending hours a week, not only because I
• 1:44
  didn't know the technical side, but just as somebody
• 1:46
  that didn't really know, I hadn't found my voice
• 1:49
  yet. Didn't really have a lot of confidence.
• 1:51
  So I'm doing a lot of editing and second guessing
• 1:53
  myself. And when you're sitting in a room by
• 1:56
  yourself recording and then listening back, it's
• 1:59
  easy to be your own worst critic. And so it was
• 2:02
  very difficult to get the final product. I was
• 2:06
  spending hours sometimes just getting the final
• 2:09
  editing done and not being happy with this or
• 2:12
  that and trying to redo things. And it was maddening.
• 2:14
  It was very frustrating. And so, yeah, when I
• 2:17
  started working with you, it was ridiculously
• 2:19
  easy. I went from recording one podcast a week
• 2:24
  to we would do three and have done for the year
• 2:28
  and a half that we worked together three in one
• 2:30
  session. Yep. Most of my podcasts are about 20
• 2:33
  minutes, give or take. And yeah, we were doing
• 2:35
  them in an hour and a half. We were getting three
• 2:38
  done and just, it's going from one that I was
• 2:41
  taking hours to do to spending an hour to hour
• 2:43
  and a half once a month, basically. It's just
• 2:46
  a dramatic difference. And so, you know, I've
• 2:49
  been able to put that time into other things.
• 2:50
  You know, that's the key to it. It's like, it's
• 2:52
  not just about the podcast. It's the other things
• 2:55
  that I'm doing in my business. And so once I
• 2:57
  had you doing that. I was able to put time into
• 2:59
  so many other things. And speaking of those other
• 3:01
  things, let's just plug a couple of the cool
• 3:03
  things that you do. So in the time that we have
• 3:05
  been working together, you have published a book
• 3:07
  through Morgan James Publishing and started a
• 3:09
  nonprofit. Yes, I have published my first book
• 3:12
  with Morgan James Publishing came out in June
• 3:15
  of 25. I've now finished the draft of my second
• 3:19
  book and that is with the editor. And hopefully
• 3:22
  that will be picked up by Morgan James as well,
• 3:24
  which will probably come out sometime in 27 if
• 3:27
  all goes well. So that's in the works. And yeah,
• 3:30
  I launched a nonprofit. My book is called Learning
• 3:32
  Love. I teach love and relationships and how
• 3:34
  to build healthy relationships in every area
• 3:37
  of life at home, at work, because we know if
• 3:39
  go to work and love what we do and enjoy what
• 3:42
  we do and the people we are working with. And
• 3:44
  we go home to a happy home life. It's a pretty
• 3:46
  darn good life. And so that's what we're trying
• 3:48
  to accomplish. And I launched the learning love
• 3:50
  foundation where I do workshops, speaking engagements,
• 3:53
  and we work both with companies, nonprofits to
• 3:56
  help prevent burnout and develop a healthy work
• 4:00
  environment. Also working with other nonprofits
• 4:03
  to collaborate, working with families and helping
• 4:05
  them with all of that. And we're going to be
• 4:07
  just this week. I'm going to be. doing some classes
• 4:09
  to become certified in child advocacy and be
• 4:12
  doing some classes to help people recognize child
• 4:15
  abuse and how to report that. And so really trying
• 4:18
  to work with every area from child advocacy to
• 4:22
  home life to work life to help people build healthy,
• 4:26
  happy lives that I think we all deserve. So yeah,
• 4:28
  it's been busy. Yeah. Mark is a busy guy, but
• 4:31
  he's a really cool guy doing some really cool
• 4:32
  things and really making a big impact on the
• 4:34
  world. So let's just throw this out there right
• 4:36
  now. Just go follow Mark everywhere right now.
• 4:38
  stop listening, just go follow Mark and then
• 4:40
  come back to this. But yeah, it's been a real
• 4:42
  treat to get to work with you on your show because
• 4:44
  we took it from you editing in, you're using
• 4:47
  iMovie, correct? To like make the podcast. So
• 4:49
  we went from that to then instead of you having
• 4:52
  to sit down and record it yourself into this
• 4:56
  software that isn't necessarily built for podcasting.
• 4:59
  What we do is we bring Mark into my Riverside
• 5:02
  online recording studio because this is what
• 5:05
  I do for a living. I have all these software
• 5:07
  subscriptions that are specifically built for
• 5:08
  podcasting. So once a month, we set up a Riverside
• 5:11
  recording session and you just patch right in,
• 5:13
  which is super slick. It's really easy. Yeah,
• 5:16
  there's just nothing to it. And I even had your
• 5:19
  input on what microphone to buy and all the technical
• 5:23
  side that that I'm doing on my end. since we
• 5:25
  are working remotely, but you know, I'm not doing
• 5:28
  that alone. When I was doing that by myself,
• 5:31
  you know, I was kind of guessing at what microphone,
• 5:34
  you know, what could I afford? What did I, what
• 5:36
  kind of money that I want to put into it? And
• 5:38
  then, you know, just looking at some online reviews
• 5:40
  and things like that of what might be a good
• 5:42
  microphone. But when I was ready to upgrade and
• 5:44
  invest more money in it, you know, I just. sent
• 5:47
  you a message and said, what should I buy? And
• 5:50
  it's that kind of thing that makes it so easy.
• 5:52
  It's like, I have it set up with you consulting
• 5:55
  and we're just ready to go. Yeah. And honestly,
• 5:58
  if you're listening to this and you've never
• 5:59
  contacted me before, the best way to break the
• 6:01
  ice with me is, Hey, what kind of microphone
• 6:03
  should I buy? Because that is my favorite text
• 6:07
  to get because I'm like, oh, I know exactly what
• 6:09
  you need for exactly what you're doing. And if
• 6:10
  I sound good now, it's because I have that particular
• 6:13
  mic. But you didn't sound bad before, but the
• 6:16
  nice thing about working with a producer and
• 6:18
  someone who, again, is paying for all these subscriptions
• 6:20
  and knows all these tricks and tools is I have
• 6:23
  editing skills, a decade of them. plus hundreds
• 6:26
  of dollars in subscriptions a month to make you
• 6:29
  sound as best as you can. My goal is always for
• 6:32
  my clients to sound as best as they can. I want
• 6:35
  them in the most professional light. I want them
• 6:38
  sounding good, looking good, being the authority
• 6:41
  and being taken seriously with what they're doing.
• 6:43
  Yeah, I think that's the key to it is the professionalism.
• 6:45
  I always had things to say, but putting it out
• 6:48
  there in a way that sounds professional is a
• 6:51
  big difference. Lots of people have things to
• 6:52
  say, have things on their mind, but can you out
• 6:55
  there and say it in a professional manner. And
• 6:58
  it's a different skill set very often. If you're
• 7:00
  working particularly like I am in the fields
• 7:02
  of psychology and counseling and family dynamics
• 7:05
  and all of those types of things, that's a different
• 7:07
  skill set than technology. It's not that you
• 7:10
  can't do both. It usually doesn't come naturally.
• 7:12
  It has to be something that you learn. If you're
• 7:14
  more of a natural person that works with spirituality
• 7:17
  or counseling or people kind of skills, it's
• 7:20
  very different to sit down with software and
• 7:23
  work with that. It's just a different things.
• 7:25
  So like I said, you can do both. It's not that
• 7:27
  those are completely opposed to one another,
• 7:29
  but it's just one may become natural on the other
• 7:31
  when you have to really work at it. Yeah, that's
• 7:33
  for sure. And along those same lines comes kind
• 7:36
  of the social media aspect of it too. Part of
• 7:39
  your package includes some social media creation.
• 7:42
  We do a couple of reels or short form vertical
• 7:44
  videos. We do Pinterest pins, carousel posts,
• 7:47
  static graphics, all that kind of stuff. What
• 7:49
  was your approach to that before you met me and
• 7:52
  what is it now? No, I didn't say that. I tried
• 7:56
  to post some things, but yeah, it wasn't very
• 7:59
  good. I was mostly just putting a post up to
• 8:02
  link my latest show, you know, on Facebook or
• 8:05
  something. And there was no real social media
• 8:09
  strategy at all. Definitely would say that's
• 8:11
  not my... my greatest skill set with the social
• 8:14
  media. And so yeah, once you started sending
• 8:15
  me that packet, it's all right there. It's all
• 8:17
  I have to do is post it. You know, I have my
• 8:19
  accounts on Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn,
• 8:22
  like everyone does. but it's a matter of what
• 8:25
  am I going to put on there. So yeah, when you
• 8:27
  get a folder each week and there's just stuff
• 8:29
  there, it's really easy just to post it, nothing
• 8:32
  to it. You just got to grab it and write the
• 8:33
  caption. And if honestly, if you would have said,
• 8:35
  Abby, can you write the caption for me too? I
• 8:37
  probably would have just done it because I'm
• 8:39
  already there, but I have a lot of fun with that.
• 8:41
  And I think obviously I'm going to say this because.
• 8:43
  this is my job and this is what I do for people,
• 8:45
  but it just makes more sense to have the person
• 8:47
  who's already elbows deep in editing the show,
• 8:50
  making the social media to go hand in hand with
• 8:52
  it. I already am, as I'm editing, identifying
• 8:55
  things like, oh, that's a standout moment that
• 8:57
  would make a great clip or that is a great pull
• 8:59
  quote to turn into a graphic or this is a really
• 9:02
  great concept to turn into a carousel. Like I'm
• 9:04
  already in that mindset. So I might as well just
• 9:07
  be the one doing it. Yeah, it makes a lot of
• 9:09
  sense. And it's interesting to me to actually
• 9:12
  read those and see what stood out to you as the
• 9:16
  listener and to see people responding to that
• 9:18
  online. Because as I'm speaking, as I'm writing
• 9:22
  the show, I'm seeing the whole thing. I'm seeing
• 9:24
  it from a large viewpoint of the whole package
• 9:27
  of everything I want to say. But That's not how
• 9:30
  people listen. People hear the tidbits, that
• 9:34
  particular moment that really struck them. And
• 9:36
  so it's great for me to see that and to be able
• 9:38
  to put that out there and see the people respond
• 9:40
  to it. Yeah. And actually, I like to say I'm
• 9:42
  a digital hoarder. everything that I make that
• 9:45
  is configured remotely for Pinterest, I like
• 9:48
  to put onto my own personal business Pinterest
• 9:51
  page just so I have like a place where everything
• 9:53
  lives where I can just kind of go and glance
• 9:55
  and see what I've done for clients in the past.
• 9:58
  And funny enough, my Mark Hicks stuff does the
• 10:01
  best on Pinterest. So you get to wear the crown
• 10:04
  for that one. I love that. But I think it's because
• 10:07
  what you have to say and what people are kind
• 10:09
  of searching for on Pinterest are really aligned
• 10:10
  right now. So it's just another like Hey, throw
• 10:14
  it up there and get some traction. Why not? Yeah,
• 10:16
  it is a way to get that traction of getting the
• 10:19
  message out there because, you know, in so many
• 10:21
  of these things, when you write a book or you
• 10:24
  start a podcast, you can put it online, but it
• 10:27
  doesn't necessarily go anywhere just because
• 10:29
  you have something posted. It has to have some
• 10:31
  flair behind it. It has to have something going
• 10:33
  on. And, you know, I heard a guy say one time
• 10:36
  that he wrote a book and he was so glad to finish
• 10:39
  his book, but then he felt like he was standing.
• 10:41
  in a room by himself saying, hey, I wrote a book.
• 10:44
  And that's how I think a lot of people feel when
• 10:46
  they're writing, when they're podcasting, when
• 10:48
  they have a message. It just kind of feels like
• 10:50
  you're just. talking in an empty room by yourself.
• 10:53
  But once you get that professionalism, you get
• 10:56
  the social media aspect, you get it out there
• 10:59
  where it can be consumed in a professional way
• 11:01
  by listeners and by readers. And you have that
• 11:04
  professionalism behind you. It makes a huge difference.
• 11:07
  It really does. And I also really want to circle
• 11:09
  back to writing a book and having a podcast that
• 11:12
  are aligned in the same thing. This is something
• 11:14
  that you're not the first client I've been able
• 11:17
  to help with this. I actually have another podcast
• 11:19
  client through Morgan James. who wrote a book
• 11:21
  who has a podcast that's aligned with the book.
• 11:24
  So let's just touch on that. Like it's kind of
• 11:26
  a chicken or the egg, which came first, the podcast
• 11:28
  or the book? Well, I think it can be either one.
• 11:30
  I don't think there's a formula to that. I think
• 11:33
  what comes is the idea, the passion, the genre
• 11:37
  that you want to be in and what you want to say.
• 11:39
  I think once you have that, Then you look for
• 11:41
  those avenues. And I think it can be the book.
• 11:44
  In my case, I wrote the book first and self -published
• 11:47
  it, then started the podcast because no one knew
• 11:50
  I wrote a book. So I was trying to get out there
• 11:52
  and try to build an audience. Well, then Morgan
• 11:54
  James picked up the book and then I met you at
• 11:56
  Podfest and took the podcast to a new level.
• 11:59
  And so I think you just kind of get out there.
• 12:02
  If you have a message, get out there, do what
• 12:04
  you can. And then you start meeting people. You
• 12:07
  learn as you go and you start meeting the people
• 12:09
  that can help you. little biased, but I really
• 12:11
  think a podcast is a great way to promote a book
• 12:14
  coming out because you own this platform. You're
• 12:17
  not begging to be on anyone else's thing. Like
• 12:19
  you get to essentially do whatever you want.
• 12:22
  Yeah, I mean, it's, it's, it's my show, you know,
• 12:25
  that's the thing. You, there's a, so many times,
• 12:28
  I mean, I've been a guest on many, many podcasts,
• 12:31
  but you know, you're always going to be kind
• 12:35
  of conforming to what that host wants, what their
• 12:38
  objectives are. And many good hosts have the
• 12:41
  idea, well, I want my guests to have a forum.
• 12:43
  And so they're very good about that. Most of
• 12:45
  them are at least the ones I've been on. But
• 12:48
  when you have your own show, there's literally
• 12:49
  the sky's the limit. You can talk about whatever
• 12:51
  you want. You can get your message out there
• 12:54
  that is designed by you. And when you have people
• 12:57
  like you that are professionals, they just give
• 13:00
  you that extra element. I still get to write
• 13:02
  my own show. I'm doing my own thing, but you
• 13:05
  take it and run with it and make it. I always
• 13:08
  like to say I like to have my clients have what
• 13:10
  the ideal vision of being a podcaster is because
• 13:13
  I think everyone starts their podcast and they're
• 13:15
  like, I'm going to sit here with a green screen
• 13:17
  and a cute little microphone and a fun pair of
• 13:20
  headphones. I'm just going to talk and then it's
• 13:22
  just going to magically happen and it's going
• 13:23
  to be great. I want you guys to have that experience.
• 13:27
  Let me handle the hours behind the scenes, making
• 13:29
  all the content, cutting all the ums and the
• 13:32
  uhs and the spaces out of it. That's where I
• 13:35
  really thrive. If I can get into that work zone,
• 13:37
  I'm just like, this is what I'm meant for. And
• 13:39
  you guys are meant for the hosting side of it.
• 13:41
  So I like letting people just kind of operate
• 13:44
  within their zone of genius. Yeah, that's exactly
• 13:46
  right. I mean, when you have a message, if you
• 13:49
  have something you want to say, it comes pretty
• 13:51
  natural. just to say it, but it is that technical
• 13:54
  side. It's the editing. It's the, how do we make
• 13:56
  this sound professional? How do we do the social
• 13:58
  media? All those things, like I said, are a little
• 14:00
  different skill set. You can learn them, but
• 14:02
  it's a different skill set than just sitting
• 14:03
  down on a microphone and just pouring out from
• 14:06
  your heart and mind what you want to say to the
• 14:08
  world. Yeah, for sure. And something that I really
• 14:10
  want to touch on is what I think is cool about
• 14:13
  the two of us is that we have recorded your show
• 14:16
  from multiple different places. Cause you do
• 14:19
  quite a bit of traveling. I do quite a bit of
• 14:21
  traveling. And what's nice is as long as we have
• 14:23
  internet connection, we can kind of hook up and
• 14:25
  do this anywhere. Yeah, that's all you need.
• 14:27
  I've been all over the country and we've never
• 14:29
  missed an appointment, never had any trouble
• 14:31
  as long as we had an internet. So I have my laptop
• 14:34
  and my microphone. I take it everywhere I go.
• 14:36
  I have some lighting that's real easy. It's nothing
• 14:39
  elaborate. but it's pretty portable. So I take
• 14:42
  those things. I have a screen that I can put
• 14:45
  up anywhere, which was pretty cheap. I ordered
• 14:48
  it on Amazon. And so just those basic things,
• 14:51
  those basic tools have something behind you.
• 14:53
  So you're not showing a hotel room or something
• 14:55
  that you might not want to show off. Have the
• 14:57
  screen, have a little bit of lighting and a microphone
• 14:59
  and a laptop and that's it. And it's not terribly
• 15:02
  expensive. The laptop, you know, is a little
• 15:04
  bit pricey, but the lighting and the screen and
• 15:07
  things that I bought are really pretty cheap.
• 15:09
  and easy to travel. I put it in a duffel bag.
• 15:13
  It's so easy. It's easy to do. You don't have
• 15:15
  to have a producer in a studio. I know some people
• 15:17
  do that, and that's great. If you have a professional
• 15:20
  studio, that can be fun, I'm sure. But with my
• 15:23
  lifestyle, there is no way that even if I hired
• 15:26
  a person locally to my hometown, I would be gone
• 15:30
  so many times. It'd be so hard to get on any
• 15:33
  kind of schedule. But doing it remotely, we live
• 15:36
  in different states. It made no difference. If
• 15:39
  I was on the road, I just from the hotel room
• 15:41
  or wherever I was, we would just record. It's
• 15:43
  really easy. And it's always kind of fun, like,
• 15:45
  where's Mark in the world? Yeah. But it was really
• 15:49
  fun too. We did have the privilege of recording
• 15:51
  a couple episodes in person when we were down
• 15:53
  at PodFest at the same time. So like you do meet
• 15:56
  up every now and then with these remote people
• 15:58
  and it's like, oh, it's like, it's like a little
• 15:59
  reunion. It's really fun. It's a true treat to
• 16:02
  work with you on this kind of stuff. Thank you.
• 16:04
  That was really fun. Yeah. When we were at PodFest
• 16:06
  and recording live, that was a whole different
• 16:08
  experience and it was, it was really, really
• 16:10
  fun. So yeah, I think we kind of have the best
• 16:12
  of both worlds. meeting up every now and then
• 16:14
  at these conventions and things like that and
• 16:16
  taking that opportunity to record, but you don't
• 16:19
  have to have that. You can do it on the road.
• 16:21
  The magic of the internet. I absolutely love
• 16:23
  it. Well, Mark, this has been so great. Thank
• 16:25
  you so much for carving out time to talk about
• 16:27
  this. Like I said, this is, it's so much fun.
• 16:30
  Like I just, I love what you have to say. I love
• 16:32
  working with you and I am so excited for everything
• 16:35
  you have going on. I will be the first one to
• 16:38
  pre -order that new book when it's available.
• 16:40
  Thank you. And I just think it's great. So to
• 16:43
  kind of wrap this up, I always ask all my guests,
• 16:45
  what podcast have you been listening to lately
• 16:47
  that isn't yours that you've been liking? Okay.
• 16:51
  Oh, wow. I listened to a few You know, I am just
• 16:55
  such a fan in my, my genre. When I work with
• 16:59
  the families, work with mental health, I think
• 17:01
  Brene Brown is brilliant. And I know she's been
• 17:03
  out there for a while and said a lot of stuff.
• 17:04
  And she said a lot of brilliant stuff and just
• 17:06
  a nice fun podcast. And I cannot remember the
• 17:09
  name of it right now. It's left me. I'm wrecking
• 17:12
  my brain. I'm thinking what is the name of her
• 17:14
  podcast? I don't remember, but it'll show up.
• 17:18
  But yeah, you put her name in, it'll show up.
• 17:19
  It's really easy. But I think she's fantastic
• 17:21
  and I've learned a lot from her. It's just a
• 17:23
  fun thing to listen to. Wonderful. And then tell
• 17:26
  everyone where they can find you, where they
• 17:28
  can support the nonprofit, where they can get
• 17:30
  your book, all the good stuff. If you go to learninglovefoundation
• 17:34
  .com, you can find everything. You can find links
• 17:37
  to purchase my book. You can find the latest
• 17:38
  episode of the Learning Love podcast and all
• 17:41
  the services that we're providing through the
• 17:43
  Learning Love Foundation. So learninglovefoundation
• 17:45
  .com. Wonderful. Thank you, Mark. My pleasure.