Podcasting, Business, and Fun: Ask me ANYTHING! [ep. 76]
Click play to hear your podcasting and business questions answered:
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Here’s what to expect from this episode:
We're only a few days away from Christmas! And, if all has gone well, I am unplugged and enjoying my holiday break (and I hope you are, too!).
So I thought I would keep things light today with an ask me anything! You all submitted some GREAT questions, and in this episode, I do my absolute best to answer them in rapid-fire style to get through them all (but there were some really good ones that I wanted to expand on and couldn't help myself!).
Tune in to hear my answers to your questions about podcasting, business, and a fun personal round. And if you celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas!
TOPICS COVERED:
Ways to batch episodes (and what to do first)
My dream podcast guest
My #1 tip to scale your show (and suggestions for getting started)
Best tips for pitching yourself to be a guest on other podcasts
What drew me to podcasting and what I'm most proud of
Where I see my business in 5 years and things I wish I would have done sooner
And a fun round of personal questions (from hidden talents and weird habits to how I knew it was time to leave the classroom)
Resources mentioned:
Connect with Sara:
Related episodes:
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Sara Whittaker 0:01
Your Podcast is a powerful tool that serves your audience and your business. But how do you manage it all bring in new listeners, and convert those listeners into customers. That's what this show is all about. Welcome to podcasting for educators. I'm Sara Whitaker, classroom teacher turn podcast manager. And I'm here to help you get the most out of your show, all while making an impact on other educators. Hey there, welcome back to another episode of podcasting for educators. At the time that this episode goes live, we are only a few days away from Christmas. So if you celebrate Merry Christmas, if all goes well, on my end, I am at this time unplugged off of social media away from my computer taking a break from work. And I hope that you're able to do the same and just kind of step away and really get some relaxing time in and enjoy this season with your family. Because it is just a few days away from Christmas, I thought that I would keep things light and do a fun Ask Me Anything episode, I've had some clients who have done these types of episodes. And I realized that I've never done one before. So I thought that it would be fun, something a little bit different and just good for this time of year. So I put a question sticker up on Instagram and asked you all to submit your questions to me, I said that it could be related to podcasting. It could be personal questions, business questions, whatever you wanted. And you all submitted some really great questions. So I'm gonna go through them today. I'm going to do this kind of like rapid fire style so that I can get through them all but still keep this episode fairly short. So I've categorized the questions that I got into three categories podcasting, business, and personal. We are going to start with your podcasting question. So number one is how do you batch episodes? And what prep do you do for that? This is a great question. There are several different ways that you can batch out your podcast episodes. And I'll go through those in just a second. But before you do any kind of battery cording, my first recommendation is that you sit down and take like 20 minutes, at least once a month, so that you're always planned at least a month ahead of time, and plan out your episode topics. And if you do keyword research, do your keyword research at this time as well so that you have your topic and ideally even the title for the episode, before you ever even sit down to record. So that's kind of step number one is map at a time, once a month, or once every three months, whatever you want to do. But sit down and get those topics down so that when you actually do sit down to do your batch recording, you already know what you're going to be talking about. Now, when it comes to batch recording, I have done this a few different ways. And I have clients who do it a few different ways. So I'll give you some options here. Number one is that you can do batch recording. So batch recording is when you sit down and you record several episodes in one sitting now several episodes looks different to people, it could be two or three episodes at a time, it could be three months worth of content at a time. So kind of decide like how far in advance you want to be, I will say there is something really great about not being too far ahead. I think one to two months is like an ideal place to be. That gives you like plenty of buffer room. But you're not so far ahead that you don't have any whitespace in there to like be able to squeeze in a different topic if something more timely comes to you if that makes sense. So you can sit down, and you could batch record a month worth of content. And then this could look a few different ways. Some people will take like, one day during the last week of every month, and they'll batch out their episodes for the upcoming month. So that's one way to do it. I was just talking to somebody the other day who's plan in 2023 is to actually batch quarterly. So what that's going to look like for her is she's going to take an entire week. And that's going to be her focus for the entire week. So she's going to batch record her episodes, solo and guest episodes, all during that week for the entire quarter. And I thought this was a really cool idea. Because just you know, get it all out of the way at once. It does take some intentional planning in terms of contacting your guests and scheduling with them ahead of time, but I think it's so worth it. So I'm excited to see how that plays out for her. So that's kind of two different ways that you could batch record. And then another way to batch is to batch your tasks. So again, let's take that example of you could Take the last week of the month to batch everything for your show for the upcoming month. And what that could look like is maybe you record on the Monday of that week. So on Monday, you sit down and you record all of your episodes for the upcoming month. And then maybe on Tuesday, the next day, you sit down and you batch all your show notes. And then on Wednesday, or whatever day obviously, you can structure this however you want. But another day, that week, you would sit down and do all the graphics and the scheduling for those episodes. So within three days, you have all of your things done for the upcoming month. Obviously, how you structure your batching is going to depend on whether or not you are doing everything by yourself. Or if you have a VA or a podcast manager to help you. But if you're doing everything by yourself, I think this idea of batching tasks is a really cool way to go. Okay, number two, this is like kind of personal slash podcasting. But I put it in the podcasting category, who is your dream guest to have on your show. And for me, it would be the one and only Paul Rudd I just I love him so much. He is my celebrity crush, I could watch this is 40 on repeat and laugh hysterically every time I just think he is a good human. He is hilarious. And I think it would just be a really great feel good conversation. Next up, what is your number one tip for someone who really wants to scale their show? This is such a great question. And it's hard to think of like just one tip. But here's what I'm thinking. I think my number one tip for scaling your show is to create valuable content that is right for who you market your show to everything else you do all of the other growth strategies whether it's guesting on podcast, which you probably know is like one of my favorite growth strategies, SEO, a Facebook ads, like anything you're doing to get your show in front of more people, it all comes back to having the right content, it can take some time to gain traction with your podcast. But in the end, the content that you are creating is what's going to retain your listeners and bring in new ones because then those loyal listeners are going to be the people who are sharing your show and telling their friends about it. And it just leads into this organic growth. So if you don't have the content that your audience is looking for, and that they feel is valuable, then there's really no point of having a podcast. So I think that's why it's so so important to get feedback from your listeners when you can. Okay, next question, what is your biggest disappointment? Since launching a podcast? I thought that this was a really interesting question. And to be 100% honest with you, I do not feel a disappointment in my podcasts whatsoever. Are there months when my downloads aren't looking that great, and I wish that they were higher? Absolutely. But I wouldn't say that I feel disappointed in my show. I feel very, very proud of being able to consistently put out content for you guys, week after week. And I feel like my show has had a huge impact on my business on building relationships with people, bringing in people to my online course bringing in new one on one clients. Like I definitely see that impact. And so like I said, if there was anything that I might be like, quote unquote, disappointed in, there have been some months Yes, where I wish I will would have seen more growth with downloads. But I I know that there are so many other things to measure than downloads. And so I definitely wouldn't categorize that as a disappointment. Okay, next question. I love being a guest on podcast, what suggestions do you have for starting your own? My advice here would be to first make sure that you are very clear on who you are talking to who you're creating this podcast for. Then I want you to set some content pillars for your podcast. So come up with like three to five key content pillars, or overarching topics that you're going to focus on in your podcast because that's going to help you keep your messaging on track. And then most importantly, you need to make sure that you are building space in your schedule before you do anything with your podcast before you start your show. So that you can make sure that you're staying on track and really being able to keep up with your show long term.
Sara Whittaker 9:48
And of course shameless plug. My number one recommendation if you want to make sure that you're getting your podcast started off on the right foot would be to join my course the podcast Sitting for educators prep school because I walk you through step by step by step, everything you need to do. Last question in this category is what are your best tips for pitching yourself for a podcast? If you've listened to this show, then you probably know what a fan I am of guessing on other podcasts. I think it is a super smart strategy, and something that we should all be doing to grow our podcast listenership. And there's definitely a right way and a wrong way to pitch yourself to other podcast hosts. And if you're not familiar with that term pitching, that's basically how you approach a podcast host to ask if you could be a guest on their show. I don't have to tell this to you guys, because you know how much work goes into podcasting. And so when somebody or when you or when anybody approaches a podcast host asking to be on their show, that's a big ask, especially if you are reaching out to this person cold, like you have no relationship with them prior to this conversation. And so my best tip for pitching yourself as a guest is to take control of the situation. And I'll tell you what I mean by that in just a second and do your research. My biggest, biggest, biggest pet peeve, and I've actually had it to me happen a few times recently, is when people reach out to me, and they say something like, Hey, and it's usually on Instagram, which is fine. But they'll say something like, Hey, I would love to collaborate with you. Let me know if you would like me to come on as a guest on your podcast. And this is like the first time that I've ever talked to this person. They're not even using my name. They're not using my podcast name. And most importantly, this is the biggest thing for me. Most importantly, they are not even giving topic ideas. So they're just asking to come on to my podcasts, but they're not giving me any ideas of like, what we would talk about or like what value they could provide to my listeners. And I've seen this happen to people who pitch my clients as well. And I just think it is the most important thing. And it's so simple. Like this is not rocket science, this is taking a little bit of time and doing your research on the person show and approaching them by leading with value and coming from a place of service. And coming from perspective of I would love to come on your show, because I really think I could help your audience with XY and Z. So anytime that you are pitching yourself to a podcast host, please use their name first of all, like, give them like a nice, friendly greeting before just jumping into Hey, I've never talked to you before, but I want to come on to your podcast. And make it clear that like you've done a little bit of research, maybe you're not you haven't listened to every single one of their episodes, but you've skimmed through, and you know what topics they they have covered, what topics they haven't covered, who their listeners are, what those listeners need, and provide some like, like 123 possible topics that you could talk on. So let them know, I think it'd be really helpful for your audience to hear about X, Y, and Z here is what I could talk about during our interview. If you're interested in doing an interview, let me know. And I can send over some more information via email, something like that. But let them know that you have done some research and you want to come on their show to support them and support their audience. I have a whole mini course on this very subject of how to how to become a great podcast guest how to do your research for good fit shows how to approach podcast hosts, I have like a swipe copy for you. So you can actually like plug and play. I have media sheet templates, everything that you need to like, do this process the right way and the respectful way. So that's my opinion there. I could go on all day about that topic. Alright, I said that this was going to be rapid fire and I feel like I'm getting lengthy in my answers. So let me try and rein it back in. Alright, we're moving to the second category, which is business number one, what drew you to podcasting? Okay, so first and foremost, I really missed teaching. So I was working with one on one clients in podcasting. I was producing their podcast episodes, which I still do, and I absolutely love that. But I am a former elementary school teacher and I did miss that feeling of teaching. And I felt really, really passionate about building awareness in the education space around podcasting because I knew what an incredible medium that it can be for teachers. And I also knew that podcasting was the best way to reach the most people and to share my expertise quickly. I also love the idea of being able to record an episode and then you use that content for my social media and for email every week before I started my podcast, I wasn't like super active on social media. And so my podcast is really what kind of like wrapped everything up in my business really nicely for me, it is easily my most favorite tool in my business. All right, podcasters that you know how many details come with producing just a single episode and using the right tools is the key to creating high quality episodes in the most efficient way possible. One of my absolute favorite tools I use is Zen caster. I have tried so many different platforms for recording my guests interviews and Zen caster is the one I've stuck with for so many reasons, it always gives me the highest quality audio because there is nothing worse than recording an episode that you can't use because of bad quality. It's so easy for you and your guests, even the not so tech savvy ones, all they have to do is click a link and we start recording boom done. Plus, the video is crystal clear. So you can repurpose your solo and your guest episodes on social media, and on YouTube. Oh, and it gives you a transcript of your episodes, you can go to Zen caster.com/pricing and use my code educators, you'll get 30% off your first three months of Zen caster professional, I want you to have the same easy experiences I do for all of my podcasting and content needs, it's time to share your story. So go to Zen caster.com/pricing, that ZENC a s t r.com/pricing. And use my code educators for 30% off. That's educators all lowercase letters, the link will also be in the show notes.
Sara Whittaker 16:51
Next question, What business slash podcasting are you most proud of? Okay, this is a really fun question. And my answer definitely has to be that the thing I'm most proud of is that I really do feel like through my business, and through my podcast, I have helped to expand the podcast space in education, whether it's through my one on one clients, or people in my prep school course, or people who just listened to the podcast, and you've used my free resources, I have heard from so many of you that you have been able to start your show. And I am very proud that I've been able to create this space for you. And I'm super proud of you for taking the steps in actually getting your show started. So I just think it's been so cool to see how many new podcasts have been created in the last year to two years. Next question, where do you see your business in the next five years? Okay, in full disclosure, this is something that I have really struggled with for the past year, because there are just a lot of different directions that I could go in. So if you've listened to this podcast, I mean, even if you've listened to this episode so far, then you know that I have an online course the prep school. But then here at podcasting for educators, we also provide one on one services to our clients. I have a small boutique podcasting agency that is made up of six absolutely incredible team members at this point. And we do full service podcast production for our clients. So we add it we write show notes, we schedule, we do graphics, all of that good stuff. And I obviously have help with a lot of these tasks. But I am the person who is doing the communication with my clients answering questions, whenever they have questions, talking through strategy, brainstorming ideas for episodes, things like that. And I really love both of these pieces. I love working with our clients and really feeling like a part of their podcasts and being able to get to know them. Like I am not kidding you when I tell you that I feel so lucky to work with the absolute best people ever. I hear a lot of service providers like with horror stories of people that they work with. And I do not have that experience at all. I work with the best people ever. But then I also really love the core side of things because I love being able to provide information to people so that they can start their shows. Like I mentioned before, I love teaching. I really love the strategy side of things like I also do some one on one strategy sessions with people I'm like I just said I'm always like talking strategy with clients as well. And I also have some other exciting things in the works that I'll mention at the end of this episode. But basically I'm kind of at a crossroads right now trying to determine if I want to continue growing my one to one podcast production side of things or kind of keep our client number where It is and stop taking on new clients, stay where we are there and put more of my focus on scaling my course community. So stay tuned, I have lots of ideas. Like I said, there's lots of different directions that my business could go in, which is exciting. So I'm just taking it one day at a time at this point. Last question in this category are things you wish you would have done sooner in your business? Okay, I number one would be my email list. I didn't start my email list until I started my podcast, which was October to when you're 21. I don't know what my deal was, like I had this. Had this like push back to email. I don't know why. It was like something that like I felt there was like a lot of hype about, but I didn't really think I needed it. And so I put it off. And I think part of that is because I was a cert, I was only not only but I was a service provider before, whereas now I've kind of expanded my offerings. And so I didn't really see the need for an email list earlier in my business. But now that I have one, heck yeah, I wish I started it sooner because it takes time to grow your email list. So that would be one thing. And then the other thing is, I would probably have started my podcast sooner as well. But at the same time, I'm kind of glad I started it when I did because when I started my show, that's when I had gotten really, really clear on the fact that I wanted to specifically work with educators whereas before I was working with like several different types of online business owners. And so I think the timing actually worked out well then so I think my email list would be like the number one thing I wish I had done sooner. All right, last category and probably the most fun are personal just for fun questions number one mountains or beach and why? I am sure that this probably is the opposite of most of your opinions. But I am a mountain girl all the way I always have been. I love the idea of the beach, but man, I'm I'm pretty fair skinned, so I'm always getting sunburned. I'm always having to reapply my suntan lotion. Having kids adds a whole nother element of going to the beach packing everything up sand everywhere. I don't know that might sound a little ridiculous, but I love the mountains like that is ultimate cozy vibes. Like that is my happy place. And if we want to get really specific fall in the mountains, oh my gosh. Chef's kiss like that is heaven on earth. For me. Asheville, North Carolina is one of our very favorite places to go. We try to go at least once a year. I just love it. I love the hiking. I love the scenery. I love the crisp air. I love just you know, sitting in a nice cabin and reading a book My parents just moved to a place called leet Lake Keowee, South Carolina which is in the middle of nowhere. Pretty much I think I've only talked to like one or two people who actually know where it is. But it's this beautiful hidden gem in the mountains of South Carolina. And I am not kidding you when I say that it is just perfection and even during the summer you know in the mountains it's it's still just like a little cooler than everywhere else is in the summer. The they live on the lake. So like Lake plus mountains. Oh my gosh, it's just the best. So very long answer when it could have been short, but it's mountains for me. Okay, next one. This one's funny. Favorite thing you hate to love or love to hate about your spouse. Oh man. I feel like there's several. There's several things I could say for this one. I think that it would probably be that he has absolutely no chill. Like he cannot just like hang out around the house. He is somebody who pops out of bed in the morning like he doesn't sleep he goes to bed at like midnight and wakes up at like for 15 for work and never complains about being tired. It's the craziest thing. But he pops up every morning and he is like ready to go. Even if it's a Saturday and we don't have any plans like something has to be happening. We have to do something or he will be like pacing around the house. And it drives me crazy. But at the same time I think it's a good thing because I am very much a homebody and I am perfectly content hanging out at home in my leggings. But he gets us out of the house and gets us doing things his friends he has this like really close group of friends from college they all went to school together. And his nickname is the news because he always has to be in the know about everything he always had. Just to be doing something like he is Go, go, go, go go. So, hate it, but also love it. Okay, this next one, I almost didn't include it because I really could not think of an answer for it. And shout out to Megan, because I know you submitted this one. Do you have any hidden talents? This is like that question that I would always wish nobody asked during like icebreaker activities because I really don't have any hidden is that sad to say, I wish I did. I wish I had I could like play some musical instrument or something. I mean, you guys already know this. But I guess to like the everyday person if I said, I know how to edit podcasts. I mean, that would probably sound pretty cool. It usually does sound cool to people when I tell them so I'm gonna say that that's my hidden talent, not to you all but to the outside world. Least favorite house chore, okay, I don't know if this is considered a chore. But I do not like cooking at all. It stresses me out to have all the different pots and pans out and all of that I'll do dishes all day. But cooking, I'm not into it. My husband loves to cook. A lot of you will probably be very jealous when I say this, but he cooks us dinner every night. It's amazing. I know. And I'm very grateful for it. But I hate to cook. If that's not considered a chore then I think my other least favorite thing would be not actually doing the laundry and folding the laundry. But putting the laundry away that I just it's that thing that I always put off we our guest room has become like our designated graveyard for our folded laundry that hasn't been put away yet. Okay, this is a fun one a habit that you have that feels normal to you, but might be weird to someone else. Okay.
Sara Whittaker 26:51
The first thing that popped into my mind because my husband, I feel like this might be a girl thing, though. My husband is always like, what are you doing. But if I'm getting ready to go somewhere, like we are like actually going out of the house, and I'm like actually getting myself ready. I take a shower, and then I have to put like lounge clothes back on to get ready, I cannot get dressed. And then like do my hair and makeup I need to be in my lounge clothes. And getting dressed is the last part of the process. And I feel like that's very normal. But my husband always makes comments about it. So let me know if that's normal for you as well or not. How did you know it was time to leave the classroom? Okay, so for those of you who don't know, I used to teach, I was a first grade classroom teacher, a second grade classroom teacher. And then my last year I was I had gotten my my ESL certificate, and I was an ESL teacher, which I absolutely love. I worked in a title one school. And the last two years that I was a classroom teacher, the behaviors in the school, were just getting really out of control. And I did what I could at a classroom level, okay, but I mean, we're talking rooms being destroyed, and no real support and like solutions to make anything better for these children and for the teachers. And a lot of these children came from very difficult backgrounds, and they didn't have the support at home. And then take away the behavior problems. I would say probably 90% of my class was El and I had el support come into my classroom for maybe like, at best 25 minutes, a few days a week. And these are like level one ELL students like they are brand new to the country. And they need support. And it was just me. And it was one thing before I had my daughter but after I had my daughter, I was just so so burnt out. And I mean, I know so many of you can relate to this. And I just desperately like I needed a break. And I desperately wanted to be able to have the flexibility to stay home when my daughter was sick and not have to drag her out of bed at six o'clock in the morning in order to make it to the doorstep of daycare and to school all before seven o'clock. You know like I know you know what I'm talking about here. And so I had this pocket of time I we had sold our home and it sold really really quickly and we were building a new house and so we moved into my parents house actually in the in the in between. And so I said this is my this is my chance to do something and my original and was actually to open up an in home daycare. I mean, I love children. And it's what I've always done is work with children. And I couldn't fathom doing anything else. But I wanted to be able to do something where I could also have my daughter with me. So I was going to open a daycare. And my plan was, I'm going to work on like, getting everything set. And then I'm going to work on my marketing while we're living with my parents. And then by the time we move into our new house, I'm going to open this daycare. And I knew I had to make it work because we needed my income back by the time we moved into our new house. Anyway, I ended up finding about the online space, like, a couple of weeks after I had stopped teaching, and I first became a virtual assistant before I entered the world of podcast management. But I mean, within a couple of months, I had established my business, I had gained clients, I had matched my teaching salary, it all happened very very, very quickly. But that's kind of Yeah, how I knew it was time. And in case you're wondering, like, Will I ever go back, I think about it all the time. And it wasn't until this year that I really, I really started thinking about like, maybe I will go back, because I definitely miss it. There are a lot of pieces that I miss about it. But as we all know, there are a lot of things wrong in education right now. And I mean, there always has been, but they're just being brought to light a little bit more recently. So we'll see again, stay tuned. The last question is your favorite dessert. Now I am a salty, over sweet person for sure. Like my guilty pleasure is like some Doritos, some delicious chips. But if I ever am in like the rare sweet mood, I would say my very favorite dessert is just like a classic chocolate chip cookie like a warm chocolate chip cookie with some vanilla ice cream on top is the best. All right, well, that was fun. And I hope that you guys enjoyed hearing those answers to those questions. Thanks so much for submitting if you are somebody who submitted one of these questions. And before I wrap up here, I just I had told you that I'm going to just share a couple things of what's to come here at podcasting for educators in 2023. So I am very excited to say that I have plans in the works for a really awesome resource for podcasters, who have an established show already. And they are looking for support in really taking it to the next level, and really making it the center of your business. So I have this podcast where I share growth strategies all the time, I have my prep school where I help, I help you get your podcast started and put systems in place. And that also includes growth strategies that you can use long term. But this resource is really going to be for those of you who you've already gotten your show off the ground, you've had it for, you know, six months to a year or more. And you're really ready to like level this thing up and really like measure the ROI of your show a little bit better. And yeah, just make it the center of of everything that you do. So be on the lookout for more information about that. And then the other thing, and this would really just be for anybody who listens, who maybe hasn't started their show yet. And maybe you are somebody who's been thinking about working with me to launch your podcast, I have decided that in 2023, I am only going to be taking on like three to four launches during the entire year. I will not be doing any launches during the summer months. And then I'm also not going to be doing any launches during November or December because I've just found that that's a really, really busy time on our client work side where we're kind of getting everything ready and worked ahead for the holidays. So I really am working on like having more whitespace in my schedule. So that is that. I hope that you enjoyed this special episode today and I hope that you have the best holiday season. And I will be back here next week with a new episode. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. To keep this conversation going connect with me on Instagram at podcasting for educators. I'm always looking for an excuse to talk about podcasting. If you're looking for support and launching, managing or growing your podcast, check out my online course the podcasting for educators prep school at podcasting for educators.com/prep school. I'll see you here next time.
More about Podcasting for Educators:
Podcasting for Educators is the podcast for TpT authors and other online educators. It's a show that will help you get your podcast in front of those who need it most - teachers, counselors, literacy specialists, SLPs, parents, and more! Each week, Sara Whittaker and her guests will share top tips and actionable strategies that you will need in order to launch, manage, and grow your podcast. You’ll learn how to leverage your show to build long-lasting relationships with your audience and promote your TpT resources, courses, and memberships, all while providing valuable and accessible content!
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