100: Reflections on How My Business Has Evolved Since Starting This Podcast
I can’t believe we’re at 100 episodes! When I first started this podcast three years ago, I focused primarily on the basics of podcasting – how to record, the launch process, and other technical things which reflected the focus of Wild Home Podcasting at the time.
But as we’ve shifted the focus of our production company further into strategy, we’ve been able to dive deeper into more nuanced topics like lead generation, content planning, and business growth on this podcast as well.
So today, I’m reflecting back on what I’ve learned in these last 100 episodes, the goals I have for this podcast and my business going forward, and some amazing client work that we’ve been able to do in the last year. Thanks for joining me for these last 100 episodes, and I can’t wait to share the next 100 with you!
What’s in this episode of Podcast Your Business:
[00:53] Looking back on how we’ve grown as a company in 100 episodes
[03:07] Why we’ve been transitioning further into strategy and how that’s affected this podcast
[04:47] How podcasting has helped me overcome imposter syndrome
[06:15] Big wins in our podcast business in this last year
[08:55] How we’ve already started on our goals of helping clients become more strategically aligned this year
[13:40] Examples of work that we did with just a few of our amazing clients last year
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Links:
Ep 88 with Dr. Alyssa Adams of Uncommon Couch
Ep 63 of Podcast Your Business on what I learned after outsourcing my podcast
Trillium Montessori Talks Podcast
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The Transcript for Podcast Your Business:
100: Reflections on How My Business Has Evolved Since Starting This Podcast
[00:00:00] Caroline Hull It's a medium that has brought so much to my life, and I know it's just a microphone and a computer. But it really has helped me find my voice and figure out who I am in this world and how I want to show up. And I'm just so grateful for that. Are you ready to start a strategic podcast for your business and share your message in a way that feels wildly authentic? This is the place.
[00:00:28] Welcome to Podcast Your Business, where each week I share the strategy behind having a podcast that helps grow your business. I'm Caroline Hull, podcast manager, strategist and consultant, and I've seen the power of podcasts can have for your business. Let's get started. Welcome to the hundredth episode of Podcast Your Business.
[00:00:53] I cannot believe it's been 100 episodes of talking about podcasting for your business. When we originally started this podcast, it was under the name of Wild Home Podcast, which is the name of my company that does podcast management launch and refresh services and strategy. And so when we rebranded, I didn't want to start counting again because we had already done that before. I actually had a podcast before this that was under my old business's name and decided to just I wanted to start over, start fresh, start something new. And so I started the Wild Home Podcast. It's kind of been an amazing journey, I would say, especially over the last 50 episodes or so. When I think about the business and the podcast and where it was and where we are now, it's kind of incredible to think about all the changes that have happened. You know, I talk a lot about evolving and how your podcast can evolve with you, and I think my podcast is probably a pretty good example of that.
[00:01:58] When I started this podcast, I really focused on surface level stuff, right? Like how to lunch, what to do if you're stuck. Very like again, surface level. That's I think that's the best thing I can think of to describe it. In fact, if you go back and look at the archives, Episode 51 was the first episode with new artwork and I have to give a special shout out to Alyssa on my team because she does all the artwork for my podcast, but she also designs all of the artwork for our launch and refresh clients who need new graphics and all of that good stuff. She does it really amazing job at capturing what our clients want and what our clients need As far as like when we think of a podcast and a first impression and all of those things. And so I just wanted to shout her out because I love my graphics so much now. I just love the colors and the variations and everything. I'm going to mention a couple podcasts today that we've worked on this year, and I definitely recommend you go check out their cover because she did a fantastic job.
[00:03:07] So we've really evolved. I knew after I would say like last year, I knew that one of the things I wanted to do was to really start focusing more on podcast strategy. As we've worked with our clients. One of the things we've really come to understand is that, you know, we can give you all the tools, but if you don't have a plan, none of it's going to work the way you want it to. That plan is so important. That plan, that strategy and understanding how everything works together is absolutely vital. And so as we started transitioning the business, the podcast also started transitioning. And I changed that the content quite a bit and really rethought my customer journey, the path that my listeners were taking. Like all of the things that we talk about with strategy, I wanted to take all of that and apply it, and the results have been really great. One of the things that has been key to me was, I mean, obviously I want downloads, we all want downloads, right? But I also really just wanted to focus on getting leads from the podcast or being able to direct people to the podcast if they wanted to get to know me more and then having them come and book our services. And that's absolutely what's been happening.
[00:04:23] And so having gone through that kind of transition myself and knowing like, okay, I'm shifting the direction of my business, I'm shifting the direction of my podcast, how can I make it all work together? And then seeing it work together has been just chef's kiss. Awesome. I love it. And honestly, because we've shifted the content, I am so much more excited to sit down and record. You know, I think one of the biggest things that I have gained from this podcast has been my confidence and ability to talk about the things that I want to be known as an expert in. You know, I have been working in podcasting for over five years. It's been like seven years at this point, maybe more, because I'm not doing the math correctly. But, you know, there are still moments where I doubt what I know and what I'm doing. And when I am able to sit down and, you know, say, I want to talk about a topic and realize how much I can actually talk about that topic, how much I actually know, and how much proof I actually have. It's really amazing. And it just it just feels so great. As somebody who is an introvert and gets afraid of speaking in public. And every time I get on a call with a client, I get nervous. Like, literally, I'm 38. I should be over all of it, but I'm not. That's really one of the biggest intangibles that I love about podcasting, is that it gives you the space to find and refine your voice. And I feel like I have gained so much confidence from this podcast and from these hundred episodes, and I'm so glad that I chose to do this. I definitely have taken some long breaks in my podcast and shifted the content and shifted how we do things. And I'm just I'm so glad that I stuck it out because it really has been a game changer for me and my business.
[00:06:15] There are a couple like really big wins that I wanted to just celebrate, not just as a podcaster, but as a company that helps other podcasters. You know, we have been really sitting down and thinking about like, how do we articulate what we do and how we help people. And it's kind of amazing to see the impact that we are having and the help that we are able to provide. We've done so much work behind the scenes this year to get our business to a place where we can really support sharing and walking our clients through strategy for their podcast, because our ultimate goal is obviously to be, you know, support them with their podcast, but to be partners with them in their podcast journey. And for them to understand that like we are just as invested in their podcast as you are, right? Like we want the same things you want. How can we support you in making those things happen? And so creating the systems to do that and the space to do that has been huge.
[00:07:13] You know, when you think about wins, like one of the biggest wins is just that we have saved our clients so much time. We always say the reason why you need a podcast manager is to save you time, because as a business owner and a busy podcaster, time is so valuable and it's so hard to get podcasts out every week when you are the one who is doing it. And I actually did a whole episode on this because I had not like outsourced everything. I was still doing pieces on my podcast was just hilarious. I think I was editing it and giving it to my showrunners writer. And finally I was like, You know, I probably should just offload this because what inevitably would end up happening is I would be up the night before it's fiscal life, you know, working hard, trying to get it out. And so that was like a huge thing for me this year with my podcast, I think handing it over 100%. I literally just record and my team takes care of everything. It's been lovely. It really has. It's given me so much space to focus on the things that I need to focus on. And the great thing is to is when I have a lot going on in my life, which I do right now, I know that if I record these episodes, like all I have to do is record them. If I can just sit down and get them recorded, I can hand them over to my team and they can take care of it. And so I'll be sure to link to that. That episode that I did when I finally handed off everything to my team, it really was a big change for me. And so time is a huge, huge win for not just us, but our clients as well.
[00:08:55] One of our big goals this year, like I've said, has been to incorporate some more strategy. And so that means that we have been really driving home like how to create a more aligned podcast and I want to make sure that I share. So I had Alyssa from Uncommon Couch on the podcast earlier in the year and she is a really great example of having a podcast that is incorporated into your marketing and is strategically aligned. And she did an episode with me, so we will definitely link to that so you can go listen to it. That's a really great example of like what it looks like when everything's working together. One of our other clients who came back after a break and has been just knocking it out of the park is Lisa with Leap Like Me. Now, what I love about Lisa's podcast, obviously the content is amazing, but we actually also do video for her, which is something that we're really working on adding to our repertoire. Because if you listen to my. Episode on Trends video is going to be huge. I think it's been huge. I think it's going to get even more huge. And so her podcast is a really great example of having video and audio and just amazing content and really like I think one of the biggest things that has been so important in this podcast and the work that we do is getting people to really reframe how they think about podcasts. It is not all about ads, it is not all about sponsors, it is not all about the storytelling. I just think podcasting is changing so much.
[00:10:38] And when you come at it from the perspective of a business owner, you really have to shift how you think about a podcast. And I've really tried to drive that home and the episodes on this podcast and in the work we do with our clients. And I think those are some of my most fun moments as a podcast strategist is when we are sitting in a call and they have that light bulb moment and they're like, Oh my gosh, this makes so much sense. And then the content ideas just start flowing and planning content for other podcasts has become one of my favorite things, and I am not an expert in every topic in the world, but what I am good at is listening to you talk about the purpose of your podcast, the mission of your podcast, what it is that you help clients with, and then pooling out podcast episode ideas and how to frame them so that way they drive people to your business. I love doing that and I fallen more in love with it as the year has gone on and is actually something that we're adding to our strategy calls, is that content planning? Because we want our clients to be able to say, Hey, I have the next two months of podcast topics picked out so I can sit down and record and that's no problem.
[00:11:50] So as I'm recording this episode, I just found out that I'm going to have hip surgery at the beginning of March and I knew it was coming, but I wasn't 100% sure when the day was or what that timing was going to look like. It's a little sooner than I thought it was for sure. So one of my main goals was like, I am not going to be pausing the podcast. This podcast is my top of funnel marketing piece. I talk about that a lot, right? And I am so proud of the podcast and the content that we've put out. And I knew that I didn't want to take a break because I'm probably still going to be working from the couch. So let's be honest, you can't keep a girl away from her computer. So this last week I sat down and we had kind of a topic bank of like things that we wanted to talk about more, I guess. And this is a really good exercise, actually, if you're thinking about your business and how to sell your services more sitting down and like writing about like, okay, what are the things that people are missing or they don't understand about what we do? And so we have this long list. And I was like, Oh, I'm going to go look on there. And I did a couple interviews and I was able to come up with episodes scheduled out through the end of March. I think we have one more interview we need to do before I take a break. But yeah, just knowing that, like I took the time to be strategic about my topic choices and they're there and they're ready, I'm so excited to get these recorded before I have my surgery. So that way, after my surgery, I can just be chill and not not do anything and just rest and not have to worry about content. Right. That's the ultimate goal right there. So that's kind of where we're at. When I think about scheduling and helping people come up with topics.
[00:13:40] We did some amazing work this year. We launched a couple of episodes and Body and CEO and Trillium Montessori are two podcasts that launched this year and are doing so well. I'm so proud of them, so proud of the work that they're doing with their podcasts. And then we've also done a lot of podcasts refreshes this year. And some recent ones that I want to celebrate is The Beam Life, which is just a really cool podcast by an amazing human being. And definitely go check it out. Her cover art is probably my favorite that Alyssa has done this year. She already had a style and a look, and Alissa just brought it all together. I absolutely love it. So go check it out. And then another recent refresh we did is Your Morning Basket. I love this podcast. It's another homeschooling podcast. And it was so fun to work on because we were presented with the problem of like, how can we make this work for our business and be easier for us to produce? And I just I absolutely loved going through that and figuring out what the solutions were and coming up with a plan.
[00:14:49] These are just a few of the podcasts that we've helped this year, and all of these are definitely more recent that we've worked on, but it has just been such a joy and privilege to be part of these podcasts and their journey. And it's something that we are so excited to continue over the next hundred episodes. And you know, I think about 100 episodes. The lessons I've learned I talked about like rebranding and all of that. But I think one of the things I want to leave you with is if you aren't out there sharing your message and sharing what you know and speaking to your ideal listener, they're not going to hear you, right. And so if you're thinking about launching a podcast or have a podcast and you want to figure out how to make it work better for your business, how to share about it in a more meaningful way. Let us know. We would love to help you. I really am on a mission to help launch even more podcasts this year and to share everything that I've learned and share just my love for podcasting because I love it so much. It's a medium that has brought so much to my life, and I know it's just a microphone and a computer, but it really has helped me find my voice and figure out who I am in this world and how I want to show up. And I'm just so grateful for that. And I hope that you will stick around for the next hundred episodes. And yeah, if you have any specific topics you would love for me to cover, please share them. I'm all scheduled through March, but who knows what we can talk about after that. And so just thank you so much for listening and for being here. And yeah, I can't wait for next week's episode. Thank you for listening to podcast Your business. For more podcasting tips, follow us on Instagram @WildHomePodcast. If you're ready to launch up level or grow your podcast, head to WildHomePodcasting.com To get started today.
