Before starting this business full-time, I always said I could never be an educator. It wasn’t something I enjoyed—but when I started this podcast I quickly realized that I was lying to myself and I wanted to create resources for hopeful podcasters. While I still don’t see myself getting up on a stage anytime soon, I do LOVE offering education through podcasting, courses, shop products, and freebies! So, today, I am sharing the tools that I use in the educational branch of my brand that help me provide valuable resources to my audience.
Clocking In with Haylee Gaffin 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.
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Mic Check Society
Today’s episode is brought to you by Mic Check Society, a community for podcasters. Each month, I’m dropping an exclusive training, hosting a monthly hot-seat call and coworking sessions, plus you’ll get access to our Facebook group to connect with and network with other podcasters!
Tools I Use in the Educational Brand of My Business
Today I am sharing the tools that I use in my business as a podcast strategist and educator to help provide value and resources to my audience. I have affiliate links for some of these programs, so be sure to use my link to save a little bit of money!
Asana
The first program I recommend is Asana. I talk about Asana pretty frequently, because I love it! I use Asana to manage all of my projects, content, products, and even my team inside Asana. We can plan big launches or even just build out the weekly tasks for my content. Asana has become an integral part of every facet of my business. My team and I can stay on track in every way through the program.
Acast
Obviously, podcasting is a HUGE component of the educational branch of my business. So, Acast is the tool I use that distributes my podcast to all of the podcast players. There are a variety of other tools we use to record and produce our show, but I have plenty of educational content on that throughout my site and inside Podcast Launch Kit, my DIY course for podcasters.
Flodesk
I love dropping the content and resources that we put out each week to my email list, so I use Flodesk to do that! Flodesk also allows me to host all of my freebies and opt-in forms within the program.
WordPress
I have all of my website living on WordPress. I know it’s not as common in the creative industry, but I minored in digital media in college where I learned the ins and outs of WordPress. So, it comes the most naturally to me. With that, I release weekly podcast show notes and blog posts on my blog, which has helped with my SEO strategy for my business and provides resources for free for my potential audience.
NameCheap
Namecheap – Additionally, I do host my WordPress site on Namecheap, but there are plenty of options out there as well.
Woocommerce
Since I’m on WordPress, my digital product shop is also hosted on Woocommerce. It’s not the easiest thing to set up, but I definitely wanted to build it directly within my site without using a different program or domain. It works for me and my business.
Teachable
Now my course and Mic Check Society, which I mentioned earlier, are hosted in teachable. I started on teachable because I was familiar with it and the price point was right for me. Teachable allows me to provide course-style content that is easily accessible to my audience. Subscribers of my course and Mic Check Society are able to log in and access the content whenever they want!
Zapier
Since I am using different tools for different things, it’s important to use Zapier to communicate and connect the tools. Specifically, I am using it for my email list and tagging users based on what they enroll in or purchase.
HoneyBook
I also offer coaching in my business. It’s not something I put a ton of effort into marketing because I like to reserve it for certain times of the year when it’s time to reset your goals and strategy OR for people who inquire about my services but may not be ready to take on a producer for their podcast. For those coaching clients, I use Honeybook for contracts and invoicing. Additionally, I use it in my business for production clients as well.
Canva
Now, we all have to market with graphics right? I LOVE Canva for this. I even have my marketing team members making the majority of the graphics within Canva for social media!
Plann
Speaking of social media and how I’m marketing these services, I recently made the switch to Plann to schedule all of our marketing efforts. Right now, I’m using Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn in our strategy. We’re currently testing them all out after a pretty big hiatus on Facebook and Linkedin. I know for my audience, Instagram and Pinterest are driving forces for inquiries and connection, but it’s important to continue to test over time.
Now, these are simply just the tools I’m using on the educational side of my business that have made it easier to expand in this way.
Join Mic Check Society
Now, if you’re using a podcast for your business and are looking for a resource to help you continue to grow your podcast in a way that serves your business, make sure you check out Mic Check Society. We have a community of podcasters sharing their questions, concerns, successes, and more in one Facebook group.
Members of Mic Check Society also have access to monthly training from industry experts, hot-seat calls with those experts, silent coworking sessions, and resources to help your podcast succeed.
Links Mentioned In Today’s Episode:
Episode 69
Mic Check Society
Honeybook
Namecheap
Flodesk
Plann
Catch The Show Notes:
Mic Check Society (1:15)
Tools I Use in My Business as an Educator (2:00)
Asana (2:30)
Acast (3:28)
Flodesk (4:05)
WordPress (4:45)
Name Cheap (5:16)
Woo Commerce (5:38)
Teachable (6:05)
Zapier (6:47)
HoneyBook (8:15)
Canva (8:35)
Plann (8:50)
Review the Transcript:
Today we’re talking about tools that I use in the educational branch of my business. And it’s so funny that I’m recording this episode because before I started this business full time, I always said I would never be an educator. It wasn’t something I thought I would enjoy. But when I started this podcast, I quickly realized that I was lying to myself and I wanted to create resources for hopeful podcasters. And while I still don’t see myself getting up on a stage anytime soon, I do love offering education, true podcasting courses, shop products and freebies. So we are going to dive into what tools I’m using to make this easy inside my business and streamlined so that I have a more sustainable business for myself.
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 Gaffin creative.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.
Hey, y’all, before we dive into this episode, I wanted to let you know that it is brought to you by MIC CHECK society. What’s this? Well, it’s my new community for podcasters. But it’s not quite live to the public yet. I’m still in my first round with my first group of members, where each month I’m dropping an exclusive training hosting a monthly hotseat call and co working sessions. Plus, you’ll get access to our members only Slack channel to connect with and network with other podcasters. Plus, you’ll get exclusive podcasting discounts. So make sure you head to the shownotes for today’s episode to get your name on the waitlist and be the first to know when we’ve launched to the public. I can’t wait to see you inside of MIC CHECK society. Okay, now in today’s episode, I want to share some tools that I use in my business as a podcast strategist, and educator to help provide value and resources to my audience. So strictly talking about the educational brand of my business where I’m educating people on podcasting. Now, some of these products, I do have affiliate links and codes for so I will drop those in the show notes. And you can find those at Gaffin creative.com. Forward slash clocking in or clocking in podcast.com. Now, the first one that I use, I’ve talked about a lot is Asana is a project management tool. And if you don’t have a project management tool that you’re already using, I do recommend Asana, but whichever you’re using is perfect. I manage all of my internal projects, my content, product ideas, everything inside of Asana, so it does manage those big launches, where I’m like, Oh, here’s every little thing I need to do. Plus, it also manages my weekly tasks for the content, I do produce in my business. So blog posts, podcast, episodes, all of those things. Everything is inside of a summit. So that is one piece that has kind of helped me maintain what educational content I’m producing, from the blogs and the podcast, to freebies and to shop products and courses and programs that I’m doing, I highly recommend that you use some sort of tool in your business that manages all of your projects. Now, the second one is a caste. And obviously podcasting is a huge component to the educational branch of my business. If you want to use a podcast in your business, a cast is a tool that distributes it to all of your podcast players. So there are a variety of other tools that you can use to record and produce your show. And I’ve talked about this and plenty of all the other educational content that I’ve created throughout my site and inside of my course for podcasters who want to take the DIY approach podcast Launch Kit, so you can find those there. If you’re like Okay, I’m ready to start a podcast. I also have quite a few episodes on this as well. Now the next tool that I use is flow desk and I love dropping all of the content and the resources that we put out each week to my email list. And I use Flow desk to do that flow desk is super simple and easy to use. It has beautiful designs and that’s one of the main reasons I use it. It’s also really good all in one tool because I also host all of my freebies and my opt in forms within flow desk. So yes, they are living on my site, but I use the forms within flow desk to build that out. And then I also have like welcome sequences that I drop everyone that downloads certain products or certain freebies into flow desk. Additionally, I use WordPress. So I have all of my website living on WordPress, and I know that it’s not as common in the creative industry anymore. But when I was in college, I minored in digital media and I took web design classes so
So I learned WordPress when I did that, and it just comes more naturally to me than any of the other programs out there. But with that, I released weekly podcast, show notes and blog posts on my blog, which has helped with my SEO strategy. And I do all of that inside of WordPress. Now, the next thing to consider too, if you’re like, Okay, well, it’s on WordPress. But where are you hosting, I host on Namecheap. So I think I’ve talked about this in the past episode as well. But Name Cheap is just a hosting platform, there are plenty of options out there. I will link to each of these tools that I’ve already mentioned, including Name Cheap as well, but it’s just a hosting platform. Now, I wanted to create a digital product shop. So since I am on WordPress, I decided to go with WooCommerce. And it’s not the most beautiful or easiest thing to set up. But I wanted it to be tied directly within my site without using a different program are different domains. So I do use WooCommerce to host all of my digital downloads. So templates, workbooks, all of those things are inside of WooCommerce. And I also offer a course called podcast Launch Kit. And I have my new community MIC CHECK society, which I mentioned earlier, and those two are hosted inside of teachable and I did this because teachable allows for you to have like people be able to log in and sign in and get their content within a program. So I did it for a few reasons. One was I had worked in it with other clients in the past and the price point was right for me. But there are a lot of options out there as well. So if you are interested in learning more about Mike check society, make sure that you sign up for the waitlist and today’s show notes because it will be opening to the public soon. Now because I’m using a couple of different tools inside my business. I want them all to connect and communicate because I want to drive anyone who buys a product from me enrolls in a course downloads a freebie, I want everyone to end up on my newsletter list which is inside flow desk. So to do that, I use Zapier and Zapier will connect WooCommerce and teachable and all the things pretty much anything that you need, it pretty much does. But those are the two I really use it for and they connect to flow desk and tag each person. So like I know, if someone enrolls in a course, or in a membership, it’s tagging them inside of flow desk with that so that I can communicate easily to those people or exclude them if I’m trying to sell that thing again or all of those things. So I really do like Zapier for that. And it is one of the more expensive monthly payments that I have, because I do have unlimited zaps and things like that just especially for when I’m enrolled in a bundle, and have a lot of people coming in, I have to have that unlimited now you can change it based on your needs month to month, but I’m using it currently for those things. And then I also offer coaching for podcasting in my business. And it’s not something I put a ton of effort into marketing, because I do like to reserve it for certain times of the year, like when it’s time to reset your goals and strategy or for people who inquire about my services, but may not be ready to take on a producer for their podcast or hire it out. So I use HoneyBook for contracts and invoicing. And then I also do use that on the business side for like production, as well. So all of my production clients are inside of HoneyBook. And they’ve signed contracts and our invoice through there as well. And now we all have to market these things that we’re doing right. So I use Canva. And I have definitely talked about Canva before. I love it for creating templates and graphics and having team members take over all of that for social media. Now speaking of social media, and how I’m marketing these services, I recently made the switch to plan. And I’m still testing it out. So I can’t like 100% say that it’s the right tool. But right now I’m trying out plan for Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and LinkedIn because that’s our four primary channels that we are driving traffic to for the business. And we did take a pretty big hiatus from Facebook and LinkedIn for a while. But that’s because I know my audience is on Instagram and Pinterest. And those are the driving forces for inquiries and connection. But I do want to continue to test things out over time. And this is part of my reset that I talked about earlier this month back in episode 69. So I decided to revamp and reset my marketing strategies for the next six months. And that includes taking my content and repurposing it on more channels and more platforms with the help of my team members. Now these are simply just the tools I’m using on the educational side of my business that have made it easier to expand in this way. So I’ve been able to take what works
has pretty much always been a service based business and expand into the educational market for podcasting. So, if you’re using a podcast for your business, and you’re looking for a resource to help you continue to grow your podcast in a way that serves you, make sure you jump on that waitlist for Mike check society in today’s show notes because I will be doing a lot more in there for the educational side of things. So I’m teaching, I’m scaling. I’m helping you grow your podcast in a way that works best for you. But also, there’s so many other benefits that are coming and I cannot wait for this to go live and launch to the public officially in just a few weeks. So I will see you guys next week on another episode of clocking in and I hope you’ve had a wonderful month of July, and I’ll see you soon.
This has been another episode of The clocking in podcast. You can find the show notes for this episode and more at Gaffin creative.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 the Apple podcast app. Until next time, I’m your host Haylee Gaffin clocking out.
