Today we are celebrating one full year of Clocking In with Haylee Gaffin! Over the last year of hosting my own show, I have learned more than I could have ever imagined. I am sharing the 6 most important lessons I learned in the last year. Listen in as I discuss the ways this podcast has taught me and helped me grow my business.
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6 Most Important Lessons I Learned in the Last Year
1. Consistency is So Important
This first lesson really is so important for your listeners and even some podcast players. This doesn’t mean that in order to have a podcast you have to be constantly recording and releasing episodes. But, it does mean that whatever frequency you set to release your podcast, you should commit to that. Listeners love consistency, so pick a frequency and stick to it.
Some players, like Apple, stop automatic downloads for your listeners if there are no new episodes after fourteen days. This is important to keep in mind when planning your frequency. For a more detailed rundown of this, check out the earlier blog post about Apple’s Automatic Downloads.
How Did I Learn This Lesson?
Last May, I was going through this weird time where things were just piling up and I got behind on batching. So, I decided to take a small break. This was unannounced to my listeners, I didn’t even mention it on social media. I decided to use this time as an experiment on my listenership.
I released episode 013 of Clocking In on May 10, then I did not release another episode for 21 days. On May 31, I released episode 014 which was a four-minute episode called “Overwhelmed? You Can Take a Break.” And I meant it. This episode was meant to say that life is important and you do what you gotta do.
I learned a huge lesson from this. My June episodes were getting half the downloads my April and May releases had gotten. It took so much podcast marketing to bring those numbers back up. In this break, I left my listeners hanging. I lost audience interest and players stopped automatically downloading.
I have learned to never make that mistake again. I try to implement batching into all of my content, and I encourage you to do the same. I push all of my clients to not make this mistake.
2. Listener and Subscriber Numbers are Not as Relevant as You Think
This lesson may make you scratch your head and may you question my expertise. But, hear me out. You can work with what you’ve got. I’m not bringing in thousands of downloads with Clocking In, not yet. But that’s okay. This has not kept my business or podcast from succeeding.
The goals I have for my business and podcast are not based on thousands of listeners a month. You can have a very dedicated small audience that can turn into paying customers. Your downloads don’t have to be high to convert listeners into clients. This doesn’t apply to monetization through ads, so let me explain how I’ve made my smaller audience work for my brand.
Quarterly, I map out my strategy and what I’ll be promoting. Everything I’ve launched over the last year has started with a promotion on the podcast- my course, my shop, my VIP days. With my VIP Days, I offered a beta round that sold solely through podcast listeners.
A small listenership still leads to beloved clients. These listeners tend to be committed and dedicated clients.
I don’t what you to see your podcast as just an opportunity to sell, sell, sell. Each and every episode shouldn’t do that, sprinkle in the selling with other things. Instead, you can create lead magnets for your brand.
My goal was to grow my email list when I started the podcast, so I created lead magnets. Out of my six lead magnets, five of them came directly from podcast content. I had an episode in mind where I wanted to educate something. I knew that the listeners would benefit from a corresponding worksheet or freebie, so I provided that. You can check all of those out at Gaffincreative.com/freebies.
3. You Can Repurpose Content and Resources Throughout Your Brand and Marketing
This ties into what we’ve started talking about with lead magnets. I have taken these lead magnets and repurposed them as standalone content, but I highlight the corresponding podcast episode on the resource. This guides the listener and builds a better connection.
How am I using and promoting these?
Let’s start with Pinterest. I really dove into Pinterest within the last year and it has helped grow my email list significantly. I also use these lead magnets when I am featured on other podcasts or speaking engagements, I even post them in Facebook groups I’m a part of. I am also repurposing them in blog content.
4. Be Dedicated to Your Podcast as a Host
This lesson is one that I am still learning myself. You have to be dedicated. Podcast creation can be a lot of work and causes a lot of hosts to experience podfade. This is when hosts will launch but will lose motivation and stop releasing. Now, this is something I don’t want for me, my clients, or you. I have set up some things in my business solely to avoid this. Additionally, creating weekly content makes it easy to fall behind on. I have shifted how I base client packages and communication to encourage content creation and batching.
I know batching is hard, I am preaching to the choir here. I fall behind often, it’s hard. My personal goal is to get a full month ahead on episodes within this year. Taking away this feeling of overwhelm is a huge goal of mine and for my clients.
5. Your Podcast Content Can Support Your SEO Strategy
This lesson was a huge validation for me. I have seen this majorly in my business, podcast episodes have led clients to my site and services. Producing weekly podcast episodes and podcast blogs has impacted where I show up in Google searches. I am able to strategize based on the keywords and traffic from Google.
Providing your listeners with resources that drive them back to your products or services can be a major part of your strategy.
6. Focus on What Matters, Outsource the Rest
My podcast is a really important part of my brand and marketing. But my time is better spent with my clients and growing my business, working on my show is not my biggest priority. So, you, as a business owner should be focusing on what matters in your podcast and outsource the rest.
I’m saying this as someone who does this. I outsource most of my podcast production, I handle the content and strategy but my team handles the rest. That’s what I want to be for my clients. If you’re in the weeds of your podcast and love creating content but don’t love the rest, we’re here to help. Gaffin Creative would love to work with you on these aspects of your podcast.
Thank you all so much for your support over the last year. Your listenership means the world to me. If you’re new around here, I encourage you to go back and listen to some of my most popular episodes. Based on the numbers, these are my most popular episodes:
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Time-stamps:
Consistency is So Important (2:25)
How to Get the Most Out Of Apple Podcast’s Automatic Downloads
Listener and Subscriber Numbers are Not as Relevant as You Think (4:56)
How to Make a Smaller Audience Work for Your Brand (6:10)
Lead Magnets (8:52)
You Can Repurpose Content and Resources Throughout Your Brand and Marketing (10:05)
How to Use Lead Magnets (11:10)
Strategy (11:50)
Be Dedicated to Your Podcast as a Host (12:40)
Your Podcast Content Can Support Your SEO Strategy (14:38)
Focus on What Matters, Outsource the Rest (16:41)
Mentioned in This Episode:
How to Get the Most Out Of Apple Podcast’s Automatic Downloads
Episode 048: Content Repurposing: Turning Your Podcast Episodes into Marketing Content
5 Simple Ways to Improve SEO for Your Podcast Show Notes
Review the Transcript:
One year ago I was releasing the first few episodes of Clocking In with Haylee Gaffin! While I’ve been a podcast producer since 2017, I’ll be the first to tell you that there is always something to learn in the podcasting world. Well, over the last year of hosting my show, I’ve learned more than I ever could have imagined.
Hey y’all welcome to the clocking in podcast the podcast for entrepreneurs and professionals making their way in the working world i’m your host Haylee Gaffin this podcast is produced and brought to you by Gaffin Creative a podcast production company for creative entrepreneurs learn more about our services at Gaffincreative.com plus you’ll also find resources show notes and more for the clocking in podcast so let’s clock in and get to work.
I think that in any profession, it’s important to know that there is always room to grow, and boy oh boy did I feel that over the last year! From putting myself in my client’s shoes all the way to realizing that the needs of each and every client will vary, the last 365 days have been such an amazing experience that impacted my own podcast production company. I’m actually really excited about this episode because there are so many valuable lessons for podcasters, but specifically if you’re wanting to start a podcast!
To kick things off, I want to highlight that this industry is ALWAYS changing. Over the last few years, I’ve seen the transformation of so many of my client’s podcasts and am blown away by how they’ve grown. I’m subscribed to at least 10 different daily podcasting newsletters to try to keep up with the latest in the industry! Being an expert in this field is HARD.
This means that over the last year, I’ve researched and tested out so many different tools and programs for clients and myself. I’ve tried new marketing strategies and even spent time looking at the data to determine what worked and didn’t work in my own podcast before recommending them to clients.
Being a podcast host isn’t all fun and games, it takes work, ideas, strategy, and creation. So let me share the 6 most important lessons I learned or validated in what I already thought I knew.
Consistency is so important for your listeners
The first lesson I learned over the last year was that Consistency is so important for your listeners and for some players. This doesn’t mean that in order to have a podcast you have to produce weekly episodes, but it does mean that whatever frequency you set your podcast to, you should commit to that.
Even some players, like Apple, will stop automatic downloads if someone hasn’t listened to your podcast or downloaded an episode in 14 days. I have a full blog post that further explains this over on the blog that I’ll link to in the show notes.
But how did I learn this lesson? In May of last year, I went through a weird time where work and life piled up on each other and I wasn’t batching content at the time so I decided to take a small break with no explanation and test what it would do to my podcast listenership. I released my 13th episode on May 10th, then didn’t release another episode for 21 days. On May 31st, I released episode 14, titled Overwhelmed? You can take a break. And I meant it. It was a four-minute episode meant to say, hey life’s important and sometimes you have to do what you have to do. My June episodes ended up getting HALF the downloads that my May episodes were getting upon release.
It took me marketing the podcast hard to get those numbers back up. In taking an unexpected break, I left my listeners hanging, set players up to stop automatically downloading episodes to my listeners phones, and lost the interest of my audience.
That mistake isn’t one that I make any more, as I’ve started batching (or at least trying to, but don’t hold me to it) and I push my clients not to do this either.
The number of listeners isn’t as relevant as you think
Now this next lesson is going to make you scratch your head and question if I know what the heck I’m talking about. But if you’re a business and service-based podcast, this is especially true for you. The number of listeners and subscribers you have isn’t as relevant as you think.
Now hear me out on this one. You can work with what you’ve got. At Clocking In, we aren’t bringing in thousands of downloads a month. Is that a goal? Sure it is! But we’re not right now.. yet that hasn’t kept my business from succeeding.
You can build a really loyal listenership that believes in what you do, trusts you, and eventually pays you for your expertise. Your downloads and subscribers don’t have to be high to make an impact and convert listeners into clients.
This isn’t the case with monetizing through ads though, so let me walk you through a couple of ways I’ve made a smaller audience work for my brand
On a quarterly basis, I’m mapping out my strategy for the podcast and what I’ll be promoting. This could be freebies, products, courses, services, or even affiliate links and programs.
For me, everything I’ve launched over the last year started with a promotion on the podcast. My shop, my VIP days, and my course were all first announced here. I even sold out my beta VIP days from the podcast!
I’ve been able to refer people back to past episodes if they’re trying to decide what works for them, but also for nonclients who are doing research for their podcast and aren’t sure if they want to bring someone on to help (quick hint, this usually pushes them to reconsider hiring someone).
This podcast has truly set me up as an expert in the industry because I’m sharing valuable podcast knowledge and strategies, but opening the doors to working with me for a hands-on experience.
To date, 50% of my ongoing clients have come from referrals and about 40% of my clients have made the decision to hire me after being convinced by a podcast episode. That’s important to know because those clients aren’t a one-and-done client. They’re committed and valuable clients that are providing me with a consistent income each month. This means that around 35-40% of my annual revenue originated from my client listening to my podcast. A small listenership still leads to beloved clients. If you’re one of those clients listening, please know just how much you’re valued at Gaffin Creative. I so love working with you!
Now I don’t want you to sell sell sell each and every episode, but I do want you to consider what lead magnets you could create for your brand or for your content. When I launched my podcast I decided that I’d try growing my email list from my show. So I created those lead magnets.
I’m going to let you in on a secret, I have 6 opt ins that I use for marketing. Five of those six came directly from creating podcast episode content. What I mean by that is that I had an episode in mind where a worksheet or guide would fit really well into the show! You can check those out at gaffincreative.com/freebies or head to the show notes!
You can repurpose your podcast content and resources throughout your brand
Now these lead magnets lead me into the third lesson I’ve learned over the last year of hosting my own show.. You can repurpose your podcast content and the resources your create for it throughout your marketing and brand. I talked a little bit about this a few episodes ago in my repurposing episode, but I want to dive specifically into the lead magnet strategy.
I’ve taken my lead magnets and used them as standalone lead magnets! For the ones that it’s important, I drive subscribers to listen to the particular episode right on the download! This helps guide them in using the resource, introduces them to my podcast, and builds a better connection between us.
How am I using those lead magnets though? I’m promoting them on Pinterest, which started about 6 months ago, and it has overwhelmingly grown my email list in ways that I didn’t see as possible. I’m also using them when I guest speak on a podcast or in a Facebook group, and I’m repurposing them in other blog content.
This strategy has really helped me with content creation in my business and is a high-level service that I’m excited to incorporate into my brand this year for some high-strategy clients!
A podcast host has to be dedicated to their podcast
The fourth lesson is one I am still learning myself, but it’s that you have to really be dedicated to your podcast as a host. Coming up with new topics and creating content consistently is a little more work than you may think.
There is a thing such as podfade, where hosts launch and then lose motivation. Additionally, creating weekly content makes it easy to fall behind on.
Because of this, I’ve shifted how I base my packages and my client requirements to encourage consistent content creation but also encourage batching.
I’m not perfect, I’ve been late on my own episodes, so I know life happens. In this upcoming year on the podcast, my goal is to get a full month ahead on episodes, which I’m so excited to achieve and encourage my clients to do the same!
Your podcast content can support your SEO strategy
Now the next lesson was really a validation of what I set out to do for clients and that is that your podcast content can support your SEO strategy.
I’ve now seen first hand in my own content where my episodes have contributed to new traffic on my website, which has led to podcast client inquiries.
This is something that my new strategy packages will help guide podcasters on and be able to track what our efforts are bringing in. Now I’ve worked on my SEO for years, but with the addition of my podcast episodes and blog posts each week, over time, I’ve shown up in more Google searches with keywords and phrases that drive traffic directly to my episodes blog posts.
You should focus on what matters in your podcast and outsource the rest.
Now the final lesson I learned is such a funny lesson to me.. Considering what I do. My podcast is a really important piece of my brand, but my time is better spent with clients and growing my business, not working on my show. You should focus on what matters in your podcast and outsource the rest…
Yes, I have a team member who handles my podcast production, show notes, and graphics. She even handles scheduling my Pinterest content and special projects.
While I’m managing the content and strategy, she is handling the rest for me! I was able to train her based on what I do and now she’s a vital member of the team.
I say this, because if you’re in the weeds of your podcast and love creating the episodes but not doing all of the backend work, my team is here to help. We can manage the pieces you don’t love, but we can also support you in the pieces you’re good at with strategy and content ideas!
Friends, I really hope this episode opened your eyes to what i think is really important for potential podcast hosts, but also just business owners in general. There is always room to grow, especially if you place yourselves in your clients shoes and experience processes first hand. I wanted to thank you all so much for your support over the last year, and if you’re new around here and just want to take a listen to some of the most popular episodes, I want to encourage you to go back and listen!
Based on the number, because we’re data focused over here, my most popular episodes over the last year were episode 1, 5 lessons my mom taught me about money, which is fitting considering an upcoming episode! Episode 4, defining your own success and cheering for other women, which is a personal favorite episode of mine. And the third most popular episode was episode 20, how we paid our house off in 5 years.. Which was an accomplishment we worked really hard for and I’m just so proud of us, but it does give you a behind the scenes look at exactly what that looked like for us from 2015 to 2020.
Thank you for joining me today in celebrating one full year of Clocking In with Haylee Gaffin! If you’re enjoying this show, make sure you head to your favorite podcast player and leave a rating or review! See you next week with a super special episode!
This has been another episode of The clocking in podcast. You can find the show notes for this episode and more at Gaffincreative.com. Thank you so much for your listenership and support. If you love this episode, I’d be so honored if you leave me a review in Apple podcast app. Until next time, I’m your host Haylee Gaffin, clocking out.
