LAUNCH! Ep 3: When It’s Messy
Whenever you come up with a new idea, a mess will likely ensue. From my current home renovations to my years as a podcaster and entrepreneur, I know from experience that new projects tend to make things a little messy.
Messy is a good thing because it means you’re pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and going after something you’ve dreamed of, such as the launch of your podcast.
In this episode, I am sharing my experience with things “getting messy” and the 3 phases of launching. This episode is a reminder that you CAN launch your podcast no matter how messy or daunting it may seem.
What’s in this episode:
How launching your podcast can be messy
The 3 phases of launching
How I can support your podcast launch
Links:
The Launch Pod 90-Day Accelerator Waitlist
048: How to Make Your Podcast an Employee of Your Business
this is your year! it's time to launch your voice to the world and i'm ready to help you do it!
The 90 day Launch Pod provides accountability and coaching from a seasoned podcast strategist, resources, and much more all designed to help you do the thing and get launched.
During the 90 days, I coach you through three phases designed to help you get it done! Let's make it happen!
Welcome to the Wild Home Podcast, where we talk about podcasting life and all the wild in between. Join me, Caroline. Every week I share a peek into the world of podcasting and my wild life as well. Ready? Let's get into it.
Hello and welcome to the Wild Home Podcast, I am coming to you today and this special episode as part of the launch series in my living room with a microphone that I would not normally use or recommend that any of my clients use because I accidentally packed my microphones. And I'm just in that phase of packing when once the box is packed, it's packed like there's no going back, friends. So we are moving. And right now things are just super, super messy. My house is messy. I mean, it's like it's driving me bonkers. I just want to stop and clean. But then I clean and I don't pack. And what I need to be doing is packing because we're about to move in a few days and then we go to the new house. And it's totally messy over there because my husband and I have this amazing vision for this house. We're super excited about it. And of course, we are DIY-ers and we were like, "Hey, we can totally do this, we've already redone a house. Let's demo three bathrooms and redo them all in like a weekend." Sure. That makes sense. Let's repaint the entire house. And so it is just a mess over there. And it got me thinking a lot, you know, about business and the fact that it's messy. Right? The process is so messy.
When I come up with a new idea, it's just messy, messy, messy. It's so much trial and error. I was getting really frustrated with myself because while I'm in the middle of this move, I'm also in the middle of launching my program, the Launch Pod, which will be the second time that we run the Launch Pod. And I'm really excited to run it again. A lot of people have been asking me when it was going to happen again. And so I was like, I've got to make it happen now.
The problem is, is that there are all these improvements, things I want to do to it. And so in true messy, creative entrepreneur fashion, I have been trialing and erroring a lot this last few weeks and sometimes it can really feel like a waste of time, like I am spending so much time messing around with this new software or this new piece of equipment. And it definitely benefits my audience and it benefits my clients because I'm trying the things and solving the problems for them. Right? But it is frustrating when I spend my entire day doing something that I didn't necessarily need to be doing. But it's part of that messy, messy process. Right?
Launching a podcast can really feel the same way, it can be so messy, and I remember going back way back in the day when I was getting ready to launch our podcast, and I think it took us about three months. Granted, I had a co-host and she and I, we had a very detailed plan. And having two brains to do that is so much better than one. But it took us a lot of time and it wasn't like it just happened overnight. There was a lot of things. There was a lot of steps. There was a lot of, you know, our hands digging the new tech into new things, whatever. And it was really, really messy. The problem with the mess is, if it continues to be messy, you will either A) throw in the towel just completely. You'll say, I can't handle the mess, I'm going to walk away. Or B) sometimes you will say I'm going to find some new easier way to do it, whatever's quicker.
So a really good example, going back to the home renovations, we originally were going to get new carpets, but it was just too overwhelming. So we're not getting new carpet right now. OK, so I'm really upset about that because they really want a new carpet. But it's OK. We're getting the carpet cleaned. It's a cheaper solution to a problem that will probably have to solve later. But whatever. That's just where we're at right now. OK, so you'll either quit, you'll change it or you just keep shoving it off, right? So a year goes by and you don't do it. Another year goes by and you don't do it. But you keep saying, oh we're going to do it. I wonder how long it's going to take my carpet to get changed in my house. Oh, home renovations really are fun.
And one of the things that I have really learned is that part of the problem when you're in that messy phase and you're trying to decide where am I going to go from here is if you do not have some kind of road map, some kind of direction, maybe it's a plan, maybe it's an amazingly built spreadsheet with six tabs that is helping you organize your home renovation. Let's bring it back to podcasting. If you don't have a plan, if you don't have a path, are you going to actually launch your podcast? And more often than not, what I see happening is the answer is no to that question. Are we actually going to do all the things we want to do in our home renovation? I don't know. Maybe not right now, maybe later.
But the more we push it off the list, likely we are to do it. I have met podcasters that have been wanting to podcast for years, and not just because they just think they need to have a podcast is because they really feel passionate about sharing their message, as I know a lot of you do. You really want to share your message. On top of that, you're ready to streamline your marketing efforts. And a podcast is a really great way to do that, if it's done correctly. But if you don't have a path, if you don't have any kind of way of walking through it, it's going to be messy. It's going to feel messy, it's going to feel clunky. It's going to be hard. And you're going to wonder if you're doing the right things. And this is why it is so important to to have somebody on your side to have a resource, something they can help walk you through it. And this is why I created the Launch Pod, to take away that messy piece of it. Right? It doesn't need to be messy.
I have struggled and done the work for years and made messes upon messes, so that way you don't have to. And the way that we kind of get rid of the mess is by breaking things into three phases when you're launching. So the first phase is going to be laying the foundation. Listen, it doesn't matter if you have the fanciest microphone on the planet, if you don't know who your ideal listener is and your why is not clearly defined and your podcast name and description is not on point, none of that is going to matter. You can use whatever microphone you want, but if you do not have a clear foundation, you're not going to attract people who are the right people, who are going to want to listen to your podcast..
And as a business owner who has a podcast, we want to make sure that the right people that are listening to your podcasts are also the people who are going to want to be buying from you in the future. The other thing we tackle is all those techie pieces that can really overwhelm you. Right? And I'm talking about how does it look? How does it sound? And this is everything from your intro, outro, trailer, cover, art, RSS feed, all of those things that can take up a ton of Googling and research. And just I've been there. It's stuff that takes a long time to figure out.
And then the last phase is your actual strategy. So how are you going to launch? What is your plan for after the launch? How do you keep going? How do you keep that momentum going? How do you build momentum? Right. Having a really great launch strategy. And so we take the mess and we say, "OK, here is this messy but wonderful idea and we're going to clean it up and we're going to make it manageable."
And I have found that it's been really, really important in packing up my house, you know, is really looking at, OK, what can I do today and saying, "OK, this is what I'm going to do today," but I am calling in reinforcements. My mom is coming to help us pack and to move because I have a lot going on. I have three kids. One of them just turned one. She's a handful and a half and a beautiful way. We have three dogs, two chickens and a cat, and we're supposed to move. This whole household across town, its very overwhelming. And I keep like texting her, "I don't think I'm going to get this done. I don't think we're going to get packed. We're not going to get moved in time." And it is the same thing with podcasting. The parallels, I think, have just been just overwhelming to me, because this is what I do is I help people get through these moments. Clients email me all the time and they're like, I don't think this is going to happen. And I'm like, no, we're going to make it happen. This is how we make it happen.
But here's the thing. I mean, you do have to do work to pull yourself out of the mess. I can give you the tools. I can give you the path. But if you don't say, "OK, I'm not going to get overwhelmed by this today, I'm going to take it one step at a time and I'm going to actually do the work," then you will make it happen and you will launch something that you can be proud of and can help build authority and drive leads to your business, because that's what it's all about.
Having a podcast that is not only working as a podcast. Right? But is working for your business. I even have an episode all about that. How to be an Employee, how to make your podcast an employee of your business, which I will link in the show notes.
So the cool thing is about the Launch Ood this year or this time. I keep seeing this year, like I didn't just do it at the beginning of the year. Oh my gosh. Time is like in its own weird continuum, isn't it? The Launch Pod this time, what I've done is actually split it into two ways that you can go about this. And so one is the community aspect. And so you'll be walking yourself through the three phases. You have all the tools, everything you need. Plus there is a community to support you, a place where you can reach me for questions. And so that's one option. The other option is a VIP path in which you're going to have more one-on-one time. There will be Q&A calls each month on top of we will do your intro, outro and trailer for you, put those together, make them ready for publishing, and then you will also get a one on one call with me to make sure that your strategy is solid and that everything is working as it should to launch your podcast.
So we would love to have you. If you are interested in joining us, you can head to WildHomePodcasting.com/launchpod. And if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly. You can email me hello@wildhomepodcasting.com or you can DM me on Instagram at @WildHomePodcasting. I hope you have a wonderful day and stay tuned for more in this launch series.
Thank you so much for listening to the podcast. To stay in the know head to WildHomePodcasting.com. And be sure to connect with me on Instagram at @WildHomePodcasting in the next week.
