November 30, 2022 • 31 mins
If you liked today's show - please let Laura know by either contacting her at laura@fisherpodcast.com or give her a great review. Also, if you know of someone who would be an inspiring guests, let her know… even if it's you. Until then… "You better be Up to something!"
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Laura Fisher (00:02):
Welcome to small business insights where back
office conversations give usinsight to what's really going
on. Is it grit, or luck? Thatgives a small business owner an
advantage? Let's find out. I'myour host, Laura Fisher. All
right. Today we have BrettShoemaker in the studio. And he
(00:25):
has his own podcast is calleddirect primary care benefits.
And Brett and I are going totalk about drumroll, please.
Thank you very much how to doyour own podcast? Yeah. All
right. So we are both youngpodcasters figuring out this
world on our own. So I thoughtour listeners would like to
(00:47):
know, how do you even do apodcast?
Brett Shoemaker (00:49):
Like where do you even start, right? Like,
what even happens? Number one,step number two step all of
that, right? Yeah. Like,
Laura Fisher (00:56):
why would you even want to do a podcast?
Brett Shoemaker (00:58):
Yeah, for real?
So Laura, let me ask you this.
What was your first step in yourmind when you started this
podcast journey? What was yourfirst step?
Laura Fisher (01:07):
Well, for me, gosh, I didn't, I didn't start
out thinking I wanted to be apodcaster. But what I found out
when I got the studio here atthe Imperial podcast studio,
nobody knew how to use theequipment. And I'm a hands on
person. So I started to learnhow to use it, and demonstrate
it. And I always askedquestions, and I would interview
(01:28):
people I'd put haven't put theheadphones on so they could kind
of experience it. And I'd say sotell me more about you gotta had
a knack at it.
Brett Shoemaker (01:35):
So basically, you started a podcast, because
you from a business perspective,realize that having a podcast
studio that somebody could rentout might be a good idea. Yes.
And then you started doing andyou said, well, heck, why don't
I just do a podcast? Well,
Laura Fisher (01:49):
how can I sell a product and I didn't know how to
use it,
Brett Shoemaker (01:52):
the fact that you had a podcast, and the fact
that you had a podcast studio isexactly why I'm a client of the
podcast. So great job, there,you are a product of the
product. It sounded amazing. Andit does sound great as we're on
these great mics here.
Laura Fisher (02:09):
So Brett, you come in here and you use the studio?
Yes. And we have a rode castersystem. Tell me how complicated
is it to come in here. Andrecord?
Brett Shoemaker (02:19):
it's pretty simple, to be honest. And that
is what I love, because I'm avery plug and play systems type
of guy. And so I mean, there wasa little bit of learning, right?
Nothing to you know, extreme,but you came in, showed me how
to use it. And now every singletime I just come in here, plug
my SD card in there, hook up myBluetooth, because I don't
(02:39):
typically do interviews inperson, they're mostly over the
phone. And so I've got thatwhole process now. And when I
actually have people in thestudio, that's when I always
need your help, because I don'tdo that as often. So I'll learn
that too. Tell us what yourpodcast is about. So my podcast
is about healthcare. And what webasically talk about is non
insurance solutions to healthcare, which is essentially
(03:01):
concierge level benefits, right?
Where they have direct access tothe doctor cell phone, video
call, text message, all thatgood stuff. On the podcast, we
explain essentially, thedifferent components of what
makes our direct care modelspecial.
Laura Fisher (03:19):
Why did you think using the format of a podcast
was going to work for you?
Brett Shoemaker (03:23):
you know what, I'm the type of person that I
like to think big, right? And soI want to syndicate and put the
message out everywhere canpossibly go and I feel like
podcasting. Just I mean, I'vebeen in an involved in and
around podcasting since 2013
Laura Fisher (03:41):
As a consumer just listening to podcast?
Brett Shoemaker (03:45):
As a consumer and going to different business
consulting type of events thatpeople are using podcasts as a
you know, tool, just like youknow, you and myself. And so
I've been kind of aware of themodality from a marketing
standpoint of podcasting forseveral years, but I just never
(04:05):
really latched on and said, Hey,this is what I want to do. And
this is what I want to do itabout right because I wanted to
make sure that it was going tobe something that I could do
long term and that I couldreally stick my flag in there.
Right. And so healthcare wouldjust was just it
Laura Fisher (04:20):
a podcast, if you're listening, you already
know what it is on demand radioshow pretty much would you say?
That's about right.
Brett Shoemaker (04:27):
It's a on demand radio show. I mean, it
really is it's almost like aDave Ramsey's. That's kind of
how he started. I mean, I reallyfeel like it's a radio show.
Like you can essentially startyour own show from scratch and
have the ability to syndicateall over the place. So you know,
I'm still learning things andand whatnot, but your podcast
(04:48):
studio makes me sound veryprofessional, which I love. It
does. How often do you do yourpodcast? You do it once a week,
right?
Laura Fisher (04:54):
Yes, I have a new show that drops every week. But
what I'll do is instead of beingin the Studio once a week, I
tried to record three or fourwithin a week, get them all
done, get them scheduled, andthen do another week of it, you
know, four or five weeks later.
Brett Shoemaker (05:11):
Yeah, absolutely. And you named your
podcast, Small BusinessInsights, which I think is
brilliant, by the way. And youyou basically interview folks
that are somewhat local to thearea, right, for the most part.
Yeah. Which is also smart.
Because you're kind ofpositioning yourself I mean,
just from a business standpointof what you do, right. You're a
co working business space,entrepreneur. And so I think
(05:33):
that it does a great deal ofthings for you all at once,
right? You're showing peoplewhat podcasting is you're
interviewing them, giving them alittle bit of heads up or giving
them a little bit of marketingengine, if you will, behind
them, and you're marketing yourbusiness at the same time. It's
brilliant.
Laura Fisher (05:49):
You know, I think simple ideas are pretty
brilliant. Usually, what I foundout was I'm surrounded by
entrepreneurs, and I like theirstories. And I have narrowed it
down that I like owneroperators. That's who I like to
interview. Because if Iinterview someone from a large
corporation, they just don'thave the boots on the ground
like an owner operator does.
Yeah, that roller coaster. That,yeah, I worked in this corporate
(06:12):
job until I got my real dreamjob, you know. And then when I
got my real dream jobs, like,oh, my gosh, it's a nightmare
sometimes. Yeah. I like thosekind of stories.
Brett Shoemaker (06:23):
Yeah, those stories are good. That mess to
success stories, as I like tocall them. No,
Laura Fisher (06:26):
that's a good one.
Brett Shoemaker (06:27):
Yeah, the mess to success. Yeah.
Laura Fisher (06:29):
So let's talk about how we figured out our
shows. So I know for me, I livehere in Houston. So my commute,
I listened to podcasts in thecar, and my commutes about 25
minutes. Okay, so I noticed thatif I had listened to a podcast,
that was like an hour, I didn'tfinish it. Yeah, it's listening
on demand. So I have it on whenI got there, on my way to work,
(06:53):
and maybe I listened to on theway home, but maybe on the way
home, I may feel like listen tomusic, or the local radio
station to hear what's going onthe news. And so I thought,
well, I want my show to be about30 minutes. Yep. How long is
your show?
Brett Shoemaker (07:04):
My show is about 20 to 30 minutes as well.
Laura Fisher (07:07):
I think it's a sweet spot. So I figured out how
long, you know, I wanted theshow. And I thought if I want to
maintain it, how can I maintainit? So it doesn't eat up your
life? Eat up my life, eat up mymoney. If I'm not making money
making a podcast, then should Ibe working on it? And if I am,
what hours of the day? I had tofigure that out, too, because
(07:29):
I'm making money during the day.
So just managing my time. Do youhave the same challenges? Yeah,
I
Brett Shoemaker (07:36):
think when I first started, I was wondering
the exact same thing. My biggestthing was the time commitment
was I going to be able to doonce a week was my biggest
concern.
Laura Fisher (07:47):
And the recording part. This is the easiest part.
You and me talking. Yeah,talking
Brett Shoemaker (07:51):
and doing the interviews is is the easiest
part. And it's honestly whatkeeps it fun, especially if
you're talking about somethingthat you want to talk about,
which I think is key, right. Soyou know, being that I'm in
healthcare, and I like talkingabout health care and doing all
that. It's great, right? But Ithink what you said you just hit
the nail on the head. And that'skind of where I'm at and where
you're at is in that. How do wemake this thing make money type
(08:11):
of challenge, if
Laura Fisher (08:12):
you will, right?
Yeah, I kind of look at it as amarketing expense right now.
Yeah, it is a
Brett Shoemaker (08:17):
marketing expense. However, I want it to
be a marketing revenue stream.
Yeah, me too. I think it's alsovery important that you think
about the S E O valueAbsolutely. Search Engine
Optimization. Yeah,
Laura Fisher (08:31):
cuz if you call it like Buttercup, or whatever, no
one's gonna be looking for that.
Brett Shoemaker (08:35):
Nobody's gonna be looking for Buttercup. And so
so I could have named mypodcast, a lot of things. It
could have been healthcareconsulting podcast, it could
have been a bunch of differentthings. But what I know people
are searching right now isdirect primary care. That is the
business that I'm in. And so youknow, as people are searching
(08:57):
that, and that's thefoundational component of our
health plans, right as directprimary care. So you know,
that's kind of why I named itthat right. There's
Laura Fisher (09:05):
a lot you didn't name it. Brett Shoemaker. Yeah,
I
Brett Shoemaker (09:07):
didn't name it Brett Shoemaker. Because I mean,
even if people are searching meup, they're not thinking of me
yet. You know, a lot of peopleare now knowing that I do
healthcare and been inhealthcare now for, you know,
1218 months, but people thatdon't know me are not looking
for me doing healthcare, they'relooking for direct primary care.
And
Laura Fisher (09:25):
if somebody does a Google search for direct primary
care, they're gonna havewebsites, and hopefully your
podcast will show up and
Brett Shoemaker (09:35):
they'll have Buzzsprout, they'll have the
website, they'll have myInstagram, they'll have all
types of things. And that'sexactly the goal. Let's talk
Laura Fisher (09:42):
That's how we got started. So we both had a
similar journey where we had anidea. We knew we had the
personalities to do it. Yeah,the resources to find content,
because that's important. Youknow, I knew I knew for me, I
wanted to interview people. Ididn't feel like I wanted to
(10:02):
spend half an hour each weektelling you my thoughts and
opinions and all that stuff. SoI'd, so I wanted to do an
interview. Well, yeah, yeah. AndI knew that I was around a bunch
of entrepreneurs every day, andI meet them regularly. So I
thought I could do that. And youknow, your content. But let's
talk about how we got started.
Brett Shoemaker (10:20):
My biggest thing was, for me, I'm a very
reverse engineer, like see thefinished picture before I paint
it type of a person. And so mybiggest thing was just
understanding technology,understanding SEO and
understanding all these things,which you don't need to know to
start a podcast. But Iunderstood the value of it. So I
already knew going into it, whatthe importance of what to name
(10:42):
it, right, because of the searchengine optimization and titling
that in your show notes and allthat jazz. But I think where my
biggest challenge was in thebeginning was what syndication
hosting platform do I use writebecause I know that there's
Buzzsprout, I know that there'sRSS feed, I know that there was
Laura Fisher (11:01):
let's talk about that. So we you have an audio
file, and you've got to post itsomewhere in the world wide web.
Yeah. So that search engines canpick it up. And all the
listening platforms can pick itup, and they pick it up with an
RSS feed file. Yeah. So Brettand I both had to find a host
(11:23):
for our audio files that you'retalking about. You and I both
used Buzzsprout. Okay, great.
It's not a commercial for bedsprout. It just it seems like a
good deal. It works. It's like12
Brett Shoemaker (11:35):
Buzzsprout, you can pay business, small business
insights and direct primary carebenefits if you want to do some
advertising.
Laura Fisher (11:42):
Absolutely. If you don't have a whole lot of
volume, it's like $12 a month.
Yeah. So that's nice.
Brett Shoemaker (11:48):
But even and I think initially, it's free. And
I think you can even thinkinitially it's free. And then
you have like a certain amountthat's free or something maybe I
don't remember, but I know I'mpaying. I think I'm paying like
12 or 15 bucks a month,something like
Laura Fisher (12:01):
that. Yeah, I think it's based on how many
hours you plan you plan toupload. Yeah. I know the hardest
thing for me to get started wasjust doing it, you know, you
have an idea. There's not aperfect time, you just gotta
jump in.
Brett Shoemaker (12:14):
The next thing that a lot of people think about
is, well, the microphone and theediting and this and that. And
so I looked into that. Andthat's why when you said you had
a podcast studio, and frankly,that was a, I guess a hurdle for
me. But I mean, I call it a Godthing. Because like,
legitimately, as I was lookingfor and figuring out what the
(12:37):
next steps were before Iwouldn't bought another
snowball, which I sold it onFacebook, the one that I did
have, which that's a wholenother story. But I met you at a
networking event. Yeah. And whatbend chamber event Forbin
chamber event, and youbrilliantly had your podcast
card. Yeah, which I emulated andcopied that and podcast card now
(12:57):
as well. And it does work.
Laura Fisher (12:59):
Actually, I have it on my desk, I'm gonna hang it
up in the studio, for sure. I
Brett Shoemaker (13:03):
saw that. And so that became another step that
I needed to do is create somegraphics and create some
artwork. But that's notimportant for people. I think I
think the most important thingis figuring out if you can rent
a studio, like for the pricethat you guys charge here is
pretty fair might think that ifyou can have a studio, you have
a studio that you can leverage.
I mean, that makes it so mucheasier. Because that's one less
thing that you have to worryabout, right? You You just have
(13:25):
to worry about doing the show.
Laura Fisher (13:28):
I like this studio, not because you know, I
get to sit in it. But I like Ilike it sounds so nice, because
I've heard other people'spodcast. And I'm like they have
so many more years experience,but they don't sound as good.
Brett Shoemaker (13:40):
I personally have gotten several compliments.
I will say several compliments.
And when I say several, I'mthinking of at least three
people that were like, bro, yourpodcast sounds so professional.
And I'm just like, Thank you.
Thank you very much. That'sbecause Laura Fisher's podcast
platform. Actually, I don't saythat I just say, Well, I tell
them that I actually tell mybuddies that I have a friend but
(14:02):
everybody else is like, mypodcast studio, right?
Laura Fisher (14:04):
Like it's yours when you're here. Absolutely.
Brett Shoemaker (14:08):
I'm paying for right? That's right. I'm renting
this space.
Laura Fisher (14:11):
We're gonna take a quick break. And when we come
back, we're going to talk aboutwhat it costs to actually
maintain and take care of yourpodcast so we'll be right back.
Sponsor (14:22):
Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking.
Today's episode is brought toyou by Imperial podcast studio.
interested in being a podcasterthe Imperial podcast studio will
help you get started. Your hostLaura Fisher records her show
weekly at the state of the artstudio located in Sugarland
Bogut and sound like a pro. Nowback to Laura, and thanks again
(14:43):
for listening to small businessinsights.
Laura Fisher (14:45):
So let's talk about how much it costs. So you
can do it on a shoestringbudget, you can actually record
something in your closet withpillows all around, right? You
could
Brett Shoemaker (14:55):
do that right?
You definitely could do that. Ihad a snowball for the long It's
time and I'm pretty suresnowballs are pretty reasonably
simple to use. I just never what
Laura Fisher (15:05):
is a snowball?
What are you talking about?
Okay, so
Brett Shoemaker (15:07):
a snowball, a yeti snowball, you can buy a
yeti snowball, at Best Buy atOffice Max Office Depot. And
it's literally just a mic, rightthat cost 50 bucks. And you can
USB connected to pretty much anylaptop or computer. And that
would be your microphone. And itsounds pretty good. To be
(15:28):
honest, it's not, it doesn'thave this nice professional
little echo. You know, itdoesn't sound quite as good as
this. But I mean, it works for50 bucks, you can get started.
Yeah, you can get started for 50bucks, and it sounds good. So
the pillows in the closet foreverybody that's wondering is
because in a closet, the soundis absorbed. And it's not like
echoing off of the walls andthings like that. So it doesn't
(15:50):
sound like you're in like a roomwith wooden floor with no carpet
that doesn't have any furnitureand it sounds like your pets in
the background, or whatever.
Exactly are a bunch ofbackground noise. Exactly. So
but yeah, so 50 bucks, you'd geta snowball, but I just like the
fact that I can just come to thestudio and plug in the stuff and
then also have a place if I dohave other people and I don't
have to I don't have to unwindthe chords wine, the chords,
(16:12):
place it put it somewhere. Imean, yeah, it's just way easier
for me. I don't know, I mean,but it is an extra expense,
right? Because it's 65 bucksevery time you want to come in
and do that. So if you're doingit once a week, you know you got
65 bucks expense every time. Forme, I have a gentleman who
worked out a really good deal.
(16:33):
And whether I do a video orwhether I do an in person
interview. In other words,where's my interviewing person
is here or not, he will editdown the audio and actually
videoed as well for 75 bucks,which is super cheap. That is
Laura Fisher (16:48):
good deal. Yeah, I figure for me, it's about $100
An episode. Yeah, when it comesdown to all this stuff. So 420
Brett Shoemaker (16:56):
Yeah, I started doing an episode. So it's not
not not too bad.
Laura Fisher (17:01):
I mean, I don't have to rent the studio. But I
know I'm busy. And I didn't wantto learn how to edit. I mean, I
know I could figure it out.
Yeah, but you don't want to doit. It's brutal. It is. So I
hired somebody, I went onFiverr. And I found Ed bishop,
and he's in Dallas, we just hitit off on the phone, because I
thought this is my product. Iwant to make sure somebody's
gonna care about it as much as Ido. And I don't know that he
(17:22):
cares about as much as I do. Buthe makes me feel like he's
listening. And he's gonna makeme sound good. Yeah.
Brett Shoemaker (17:29):
And he does. I mean, he's definitely done a
great job with the way yousound. So I think it's
definitely worth it. And at theend of the day, I think like, I
don't get caught up. Like rightnow. Like, there's a couple
things like on some of theepisodes that I could change or
fix, and maybe the audio couldbe a little louder, be a little
quieter, because maybe theperson calling in maybe it's my
(17:50):
phone, right? I don't know whatit is, but but the reality is,
is that I just don't care atthis point. Like, as long as i
The biggest thing is like theconsistency keeping on creating
episodes, making sure that theshows are good, making sure that
the questions that I have aregood, and which is a challenge
sometimes, right? Because you'retrying to figure out my biggest
thing is like mixing it up,right? Keeping the shows kind of
(18:11):
fun, and making sure that wehave something cool to talk
about. And so I just find like,if I'm out there in the
trenches, and doing like, ifyou're doing what you're doing
as a living, or for a living,you're gonna find content to put
out there. I feel like I mean,look, when you had your card,
right, you had your card, who Ifelt like I was in real estate,
you know, back in the day, whenI had my real estate cards, my
(18:31):
pretty little mug on there. Andwhen I saw your card, it was
super professional had your faceon there. And that's why when
you said you want to take yourface, I'm like, I wouldn't do
that. But I like I like Laura'sFisher face on the car.
Laura Fisher (18:44):
I think I'm gonna keep it, maybe change it. Get a
new picture on there.
Brett Shoemaker (18:47):
I actually think you're a pretty good
networkers who you are really, Iwould know that you weren't as
solid networking, like you'vetold me because you yourself had
a strong presence the day that Imet you. That's why I was like,
Man, this lady. I haven't toldyou I said, this lady either
definitely knows what she'sdoing or she's a really good
faker.
Laura Fisher (19:06):
Let me tell our listeners, there's something
called pod fade. So a pod fade.
So what you'll do is you'llnotice that if you're a new
podcaster, it's about podcastnumber seven, that they get
doubt. They go like nobody'slistening. I'm not sure it's
worth it. And so people willstart off strong, but about
(19:28):
episode number seven or eight,they drop off, you know, when
the next drop off is 100? No,it's 50. Really? Yes. So I'm
about at 50, which is about ayear and I went to that podcast
that that momentum doesn'thappen as fast as you want it to
happen ever. And so you're like,gee, if I don't have the show,
(19:49):
would anybody notice? Well, Ihope so. Right? But it really
it's about then that you get thedoubt. And then somebody told
me, don't stop. And I'm like,Okay, I'll do another year, you
know?
Brett Shoemaker (20:04):
Oh, stop. Yeah, sorry. I'm not a singer,
clearly, but I sounded betterthan Mike, though,
Laura Fisher (20:12):
it sounded pretty good.
Brett Shoemaker (20:13):
I just want to hurry up and get more so that I
can start charging foradvertising. And it's really
just to obviously pay foritself. If I can make a little
bit of money doing it, that'd begreat. But
Laura Fisher (20:23):
what kind of advertisers will you look for?
Brett Shoemaker (20:25):
I mean, I'm going to look for advertisers
that want to speak to myaudience, right? Like, the type
of audience that I have isbrokers and other business
owners. And so that's theaudience that I want to be
listening to the podcast. And solike going to different folks
that would traditionalinsurance. Yeah, maybe
(20:45):
traditional insurance companies,maybe whoever would do like
commercial lines, like maybeAlliant, Alliant, or like
Gallagher, or the big insurancecompanies the problem that I
have those like, I would almostrather have nobody give me money
and me be able to control what'sgoing on. And not even that they
control what's going on, becausethey don't right. But I'm really
particular about giving peopleaccess to my audience. I know
Laura Fisher (21:10):
we got our own little, little thing going. So
we're called independentpodcasters case, you didn't know
that. Like the folks like DaveRamsey, and the big people.
They're like, sponsored, youhave Spotify that has their
podcasters that they promote.
Ted Cruz used to be aindependent podcaster you can
hear the production difference.
But recently, I Heart Radiopicked them up. So now they have
(21:33):
that whole network that's goingto promote
Brett Shoemaker (21:35):
if somebody wants to sponsor or advertise,
that's one thing, but if theywant to put it in their network,
and then I mean, basically, it'slike owning a website. Right? I
think having a website isimportant. Because I mean, you
don't need to do it initially.
But you need to start thinkingabout
Laura Fisher (21:48):
that. Right? Yeah, for a lot for long term. It
depends on what your what yourgoals are.
Brett Shoemaker (21:52):
I think the biggest thing is you need to
know, I mean, when you'relooking at it, right, so what
else do you need? You need youthe equipment, right? Which you
have the studio for that, right?
You really got to have thestructure. I mean, let's just
talk about that. Right, like theintros and outros, like, you
gotta have an intro like,welcome to the podcast done it.
Laura Fisher (22:11):
Right, the easy part is coming in here and
recording it. So after this,I'll take the SD card out, I'll
listen to the show, I'll writedown timestamps of what I want
to keep, what I want to take outwhere the break is, I need to
decide who my sponsor is, whothe ad is. And then I take the
file, I upload it to a Dropboxaccount. And then I send an
(22:36):
email to the editor, and I say,here are all my notes. And then
he keeps it for about three tofive days. I get it back. The
next part is I took a picture ofyou while you're here, you know
and do some kind of showgraphics. So you know when when
your shows up. It'll be BrettShoemaker. And we talked about
(22:57):
this headline, and that's for mysocial media. And then I have to
upload it on Buzzsprout. Andthen I want to do a transcript.
So now I have I send it off to athing called otter.ai. Oh,
that's how you have to get thetranscript. Yeah, I still have
to listen to it and verify it,it gets most of it, right. But
there's still a lot of editing.
And then the day of when it'slive, I get on my computer and I
(23:21):
and I or my texts, and I sayHey, Bret, here's the show, make
sure you share with all yourfriends and family. I also link
it to LinkedIn, Facebook, yeah,it's a lot. But I have to pick
the right time because I don'twant to eat up my working hours.
So yeah, to do it at a slowtime, maybe during the day or in
the evening,
Brett Shoemaker (23:42):
I post every week on Wednesday. So that's
kind of like my algorithm, ifyou will. But mine's on
Wednesday, too. I'm having funwith it. It keeps me on purpose
with like figuring out newinnovative things in healthcare,
right. So I feel like it's it'sdefinitely helping on that
front. But I'm really going tobe excited when it gets to be
more listeners and more viewsout there. Because there's so
(24:02):
many people looking andsearching for what we're doing
and what we're saying. And nowthat I have the podcast, which
is the worldwide podcastsyndication Epicenter right now,
I need the world wide webportion to be out.
Laura Fisher (24:18):
I like it. I have a good time. And you're right,
as far as it keeps you brightand smart. Because when I meet
people, I'm always listening.
Would they be a good guest?
Yeah, what is the tone of theirvoice? You know, what can I have
them talk about having a showmakes you I don't know for me,
like like you to keeps you awarealert of your community.
Brett Shoemaker (24:38):
I just think it keeps you going down. Whatever
vein you're in, right? Like ifyou're in health care, you're
gonna keep going after healthcare. If you're in small
business insights, you're gonnaconstantly be looking for small
business owners that you caninterview. I haven't
Laura Fisher (24:49):
bought some equipment. I haven't done it
yet. So I could go out in thefield and interview. So like I
was thinking I would go to Well,there was some kind of big fair
in Fort Bend. And I thought oh,All those little booths are
small businesses and to talk tohim about the challenges because
a lot of those that's theirhobby, or that's their weekend,
(25:09):
weekend gig. Yeah, can be art orsomething.
Brett Shoemaker (25:12):
I think we should totally start helping
people podcast. Like, I thinkthat's I think there's a need
out there. I think people reallywant to know what to do how to
do it. And I don't know aboutyou, but I'm all about systems
and you I'm all about systemsbecause copying is fine. You
know, if you want to be acopycat, just make sure you're
copying the Right cat, copy,copy the best Yeah, copy the
(25:34):
best cat. And so I think weshould definitely have some type
of resource out there that says,hey, you know, if you want to
learn podcasting, you know, pay,I don't know, a few $100. I did
hire somebody. And you know, Iwon't say that I didn't get the
value that I paid, and theservice, but at the end of the
day, like there was some simplethings that I needed. And I
(25:58):
think that those resourcesaren't out there for people. But
of course, you can always go andlook online and get, you know,
Laura Fisher (26:05):
sometimes you need your handheld, just just for
just for
Brett Shoemaker (26:09):
a minute, right? Like, just hold my hand
for a minute. If you're not anentrepreneur to some degree, I
don't think he should be doing apodcast. That's my opinion. But
I know people would sayotherwise. But like, what's the
point of doing it? Right? Like,you got to have a point to do
it. You got to get your messageout there. That's why
Laura Fisher (26:23):
I bought Fisher podcast.com. Yeah, because I
thought I may do more than one.
I'd like to get my husband to doone. And that way they could all
lead there. And
Brett Shoemaker (26:34):
create your own podcast network.
Laura Fisher (26:35):
There you go.
Yeah. You never know. Right?
sign you up. Right.
Brett Shoemaker (26:38):
I'd be a part of the show. Well, I
Laura Fisher (26:40):
think your voice sounds great. I'm sure my
listeners are gonna agree. Get anatural voice for it. Yeah, you
know, people have said that,like I said about me too. And
like I listen to it every night.
Brett Shoemaker (26:51):
I think it's good to you do have a good
voice. You're like, you're likewhole intro that I love your
intro. Your intro is like thebomb.com. And you're like, you
know, and so what are you up to?
You better be able to re up tosomething that is so cute.
Laura Fisher (27:05):
Well, you have picked that song at the
beginning was it is like one ofmy favorite Stevie Ray Vaughan
songs, which is very obscuresong that they have. It's like
Martians and something. It'sjust it's a total instrumental
during doing that. Yeah. But youcan't use somebody else's music.
You had to buy it. So a made upsong. Yeah. And that reflected
the most because I thought thatI liked the way it kind of has a
(27:28):
swagger to it. Yeah, no,
Brett Shoemaker (27:31):
it does. I love it. I love I love your intro.
But you know, I like the wholelike, until next time, you
better be up to something like Ithink that's super cool.
Laura Fisher (27:38):
Let me get back to saying that I couldn't name the
show. You better be up tosomething. But that would not be
good. It's not
Brett Shoemaker (27:45):
SEO friendly.
Number one, and it doesn't tellabout I mean, you better be up
to something. I mean, it tellsabout something. Right. But I
mean, like what small businessinsights? I love that Small
Business Insights is like theperfect title. Right? Because
it's, it's you're not focused onbig corporations. But I mean,
small business can be like asuper small onesie, you know,
one off onesie. twosie. Rightshop or, you know, 50 to 100
(28:07):
employees. Yeah, stillconsidered a small business.
What is the cut off? That'sconsidered small business. I can
Laura Fisher (28:15):
be numbers of people or revenue. Yeah, that's
interesting. How do you like, beme calling you a podcaster?
People react? Like, oh, yeah,yeah. I don't know what it is.
Brett Shoemaker (28:25):
Yeah, it's funny, because some people are
like, Oh, wow, you have yourown. Wow, you have your own
podcast. And it's like, I guessthat's the biggest thing I got
started in podcasting, because Iwanted to syndicate my message.
I wanted to broadcast themessage out to as many people as
possible with the largestlistening listener base as
possible. So what I have learnedis that when you have a podcast,
(28:48):
people think you're reallyimportant, which I really didn't
think about. I mean, I knew, Iguess, in the back of my mind
that that would be relevant. Butit's kind of funny, because I
really didn't do it for that Icould care less but if it builds
to my overall influence andvalue than Hey, so
Laura Fisher (29:04):
bottom line, bottom line, that's what's you
know, yeah, nothing wrong withthat. Yeah. Excellent. Exactly.
Yeah. I think it leads a littlecredibility, like because you're
doing something you're doingsomething about it. Yeah. And
you're actually indicating
Brett Shoemaker (29:17):
you're actually and you actually meet so just
podcasting. Another thing isI've met some people that have
some pretty cool passionprojects of their own and so
you're meeting meet people likeI went to that event that they
just had here in pod Houston orwhatever it was for pod fest.
Oh, and by the way, I found outthat the pod fest unlike pod
(29:38):
movement, right? Pod fest ismore focused on the podcaster
and growing your podcast andfundamentally what to do that's
the one you really wanted to goto Yeah, cuz that a positive
that was that was an industry sothat one's apparently like an
industry pod movement is like anindustry event, but this is more
about the people andrelationships are you I think
(30:00):
you're probably I'm going youare going, I'm going. Just
because like, it's in Florida.
It's just Yeah, it's in Florida.
And it's going to be in Orlandoand it's in, I don't know, just
be a good reason to go. Yeah,I'm gonna go just because I
actually kind of got sucked intothe whole, like, podcaster
networking aspect of it. Plus, Ithink like, when people know you
(30:21):
and whatever, they're gonna govisit your podcast more, you
know? Well, I
Laura Fisher (30:24):
think it'd be a great guest on a lot of people's
podcast, healthcare. Oh, and
Brett Shoemaker (30:27):
that's the other thing that they had. So
they were talking about theheavy industry. So they have
segments of industries, whetherthey're, and so you can go and
meet other people in healthcareand blah, blah, blah, blah,
Laura Fisher (30:35):
blah, making they have that pod match that you can
Yeah, I think a lot of peopletry to grow their show by being
guests. I wish I
Brett Shoemaker (30:42):
had a little more time to read. So there's a
you have a business, you'regrowing and you're doing a great
job, I just want to say you haveshe has a great business. Some
employees, like, I don't knowhow many, but I mean, she has
people that are helping her runher business. So that is hugely
important for you to be able towork on your business, not in
your business every day. So whatsucks for me is I'm like in it
(31:04):
and constantly moving all thetime. So it kind of sucks for me
right now. I'm a little add. SoI kind of like to be moving
around all the time. But Ireally would like to spend more
time just working on it. Not init so much.
Laura Fisher (31:15):
We'll get there.
We'll get there. All right,Brett, do you want to close out
the show with my line? Okay,until next time,
Brett Shoemaker (31:21):
you better be up to something right. Here you
go.
Laura Fisher (31:25):
Thanks for joining us this week on Small Business
Insights, make sure you visitour website at Fisher
podcast.com where you can followthe podcast on iTunes or your
favorite podcast platform soyou'll never miss a show. If you
enjoyed and found value intoday's episode, we'd appreciate
a rating and review on iTunes orsimply share it with a friend
(31:47):
that would help us out to makesure you tune in next week for
our next episode. Until then,you better be up to something
Welcome to small business insights where back
office conversations give usinsight to what's really going
on. Is it grit, or luck? Thatgives a small business owner an
advantage? Let's find out. I'myour host, Laura Fisher. All
right. Today we have BrettShoemaker in the studio. And he
(00:25):
has his own podcast is calleddirect primary care benefits.
And Brett and I are going totalk about drumroll, please.
Thank you very much how to doyour own podcast? Yeah. All
right. So we are both youngpodcasters figuring out this
world on our own. So I thoughtour listeners would like to
(00:47):
know, how do you even do apodcast?
Brett Shoemaker (00:49):
Like where do you even start, right? Like,
what even happens? Number one,step number two step all of
that, right? Yeah. Like,
Laura Fisher (00:56):
why would you even want to do a podcast?
Brett Shoemaker (00:58):
Yeah, for real?
So Laura, let me ask you this.
What was your first step in yourmind when you started this
podcast journey? What was yourfirst step?
Laura Fisher (01:07):
Well, for me, gosh, I didn't, I didn't start
out thinking I wanted to be apodcaster. But what I found out
when I got the studio here atthe Imperial podcast studio,
nobody knew how to use theequipment. And I'm a hands on
person. So I started to learnhow to use it, and demonstrate
it. And I always askedquestions, and I would interview
(01:28):
people I'd put haven't put theheadphones on so they could kind
of experience it. And I'd say sotell me more about you gotta had
a knack at it.
Brett Shoemaker (01:35):
So basically, you started a podcast, because
you from a business perspective,realize that having a podcast
studio that somebody could rentout might be a good idea. Yes.
And then you started doing andyou said, well, heck, why don't
I just do a podcast? Well,
Laura Fisher (01:49):
how can I sell a product and I didn't know how to
use it,
Brett Shoemaker (01:52):
the fact that you had a podcast, and the fact
that you had a podcast studio isexactly why I'm a client of the
podcast. So great job, there,you are a product of the
product. It sounded amazing. Andit does sound great as we're on
these great mics here.
Laura Fisher (02:09):
So Brett, you come in here and you use the studio?
Yes. And we have a rode castersystem. Tell me how complicated
is it to come in here. Andrecord?
Brett Shoemaker (02:19):
it's pretty simple, to be honest. And that
is what I love, because I'm avery plug and play systems type
of guy. And so I mean, there wasa little bit of learning, right?
Nothing to you know, extreme,but you came in, showed me how
to use it. And now every singletime I just come in here, plug
my SD card in there, hook up myBluetooth, because I don't
(02:39):
typically do interviews inperson, they're mostly over the
phone. And so I've got thatwhole process now. And when I
actually have people in thestudio, that's when I always
need your help, because I don'tdo that as often. So I'll learn
that too. Tell us what yourpodcast is about. So my podcast
is about healthcare. And what webasically talk about is non
insurance solutions to healthcare, which is essentially
(03:01):
concierge level benefits, right?
Where they have direct access tothe doctor cell phone, video
call, text message, all thatgood stuff. On the podcast, we
explain essentially, thedifferent components of what
makes our direct care modelspecial.
Laura Fisher (03:19):
Why did you think using the format of a podcast
was going to work for you?
Brett Shoemaker (03:23):
you know what, I'm the type of person that I
like to think big, right? And soI want to syndicate and put the
message out everywhere canpossibly go and I feel like
podcasting. Just I mean, I'vebeen in an involved in and
around podcasting since 2013
Laura Fisher (03:41):
As a consumer just listening to podcast?
Brett Shoemaker (03:45):
As a consumer and going to different business
consulting type of events thatpeople are using podcasts as a
you know, tool, just like youknow, you and myself. And so
I've been kind of aware of themodality from a marketing
standpoint of podcasting forseveral years, but I just never
(04:05):
really latched on and said, Hey,this is what I want to do. And
this is what I want to do itabout right because I wanted to
make sure that it was going tobe something that I could do
long term and that I couldreally stick my flag in there.
Right. And so healthcare wouldjust was just it
Laura Fisher (04:20):
a podcast, if you're listening, you already
know what it is on demand radioshow pretty much would you say?
That's about right.
Brett Shoemaker (04:27):
It's a on demand radio show. I mean, it
really is it's almost like aDave Ramsey's. That's kind of
how he started. I mean, I reallyfeel like it's a radio show.
Like you can essentially startyour own show from scratch and
have the ability to syndicateall over the place. So you know,
I'm still learning things andand whatnot, but your podcast
(04:48):
studio makes me sound veryprofessional, which I love. It
does. How often do you do yourpodcast? You do it once a week,
right?
Laura Fisher (04:54):
Yes, I have a new show that drops every week. But
what I'll do is instead of beingin the Studio once a week, I
tried to record three or fourwithin a week, get them all
done, get them scheduled, andthen do another week of it, you
know, four or five weeks later.
Brett Shoemaker (05:11):
Yeah, absolutely. And you named your
podcast, Small BusinessInsights, which I think is
brilliant, by the way. And youyou basically interview folks
that are somewhat local to thearea, right, for the most part.
Yeah. Which is also smart.
Because you're kind ofpositioning yourself I mean,
just from a business standpointof what you do, right. You're a
co working business space,entrepreneur. And so I think
(05:33):
that it does a great deal ofthings for you all at once,
right? You're showing peoplewhat podcasting is you're
interviewing them, giving them alittle bit of heads up or giving
them a little bit of marketingengine, if you will, behind
them, and you're marketing yourbusiness at the same time. It's
brilliant.
Laura Fisher (05:49):
You know, I think simple ideas are pretty
brilliant. Usually, what I foundout was I'm surrounded by
entrepreneurs, and I like theirstories. And I have narrowed it
down that I like owneroperators. That's who I like to
interview. Because if Iinterview someone from a large
corporation, they just don'thave the boots on the ground
like an owner operator does.
Yeah, that roller coaster. That,yeah, I worked in this corporate
(06:12):
job until I got my real dreamjob, you know. And then when I
got my real dream jobs, like,oh, my gosh, it's a nightmare
sometimes. Yeah. I like thosekind of stories.
Brett Shoemaker (06:23):
Yeah, those stories are good. That mess to
success stories, as I like tocall them. No,
Laura Fisher (06:26):
that's a good one.
Brett Shoemaker (06:27):
Yeah, the mess to success. Yeah.
Laura Fisher (06:29):
So let's talk about how we figured out our
shows. So I know for me, I livehere in Houston. So my commute,
I listened to podcasts in thecar, and my commutes about 25
minutes. Okay, so I noticed thatif I had listened to a podcast,
that was like an hour, I didn'tfinish it. Yeah, it's listening
on demand. So I have it on whenI got there, on my way to work,
(06:53):
and maybe I listened to on theway home, but maybe on the way
home, I may feel like listen tomusic, or the local radio
station to hear what's going onthe news. And so I thought,
well, I want my show to be about30 minutes. Yep. How long is
your show?
Brett Shoemaker (07:04):
My show is about 20 to 30 minutes as well.
Laura Fisher (07:07):
I think it's a sweet spot. So I figured out how
long, you know, I wanted theshow. And I thought if I want to
maintain it, how can I maintainit? So it doesn't eat up your
life? Eat up my life, eat up mymoney. If I'm not making money
making a podcast, then should Ibe working on it? And if I am,
what hours of the day? I had tofigure that out, too, because
(07:29):
I'm making money during the day.
So just managing my time. Do youhave the same challenges? Yeah,
I
Brett Shoemaker (07:36):
think when I first started, I was wondering
the exact same thing. My biggestthing was the time commitment
was I going to be able to doonce a week was my biggest
concern.
Laura Fisher (07:47):
And the recording part. This is the easiest part.
You and me talking. Yeah,talking
Brett Shoemaker (07:51):
and doing the interviews is is the easiest
part. And it's honestly whatkeeps it fun, especially if
you're talking about somethingthat you want to talk about,
which I think is key, right. Soyou know, being that I'm in
healthcare, and I like talkingabout health care and doing all
that. It's great, right? But Ithink what you said you just hit
the nail on the head. And that'skind of where I'm at and where
you're at is in that. How do wemake this thing make money type
(08:11):
of challenge, if
Laura Fisher (08:12):
you will, right?
Yeah, I kind of look at it as amarketing expense right now.
Yeah, it is a
Brett Shoemaker (08:17):
marketing expense. However, I want it to
be a marketing revenue stream.
Yeah, me too. I think it's alsovery important that you think
about the S E O valueAbsolutely. Search Engine
Optimization. Yeah,
Laura Fisher (08:31):
cuz if you call it like Buttercup, or whatever, no
one's gonna be looking for that.
Brett Shoemaker (08:35):
Nobody's gonna be looking for Buttercup. And so
so I could have named mypodcast, a lot of things. It
could have been healthcareconsulting podcast, it could
have been a bunch of differentthings. But what I know people
are searching right now isdirect primary care. That is the
business that I'm in. And so youknow, as people are searching
(08:57):
that, and that's thefoundational component of our
health plans, right as directprimary care. So you know,
that's kind of why I named itthat right. There's
Laura Fisher (09:05):
a lot you didn't name it. Brett Shoemaker. Yeah,
I
Brett Shoemaker (09:07):
didn't name it Brett Shoemaker. Because I mean,
even if people are searching meup, they're not thinking of me
yet. You know, a lot of peopleare now knowing that I do
healthcare and been inhealthcare now for, you know,
1218 months, but people thatdon't know me are not looking
for me doing healthcare, they'relooking for direct primary care.
And
Laura Fisher (09:25):
if somebody does a Google search for direct primary
care, they're gonna havewebsites, and hopefully your
podcast will show up and
Brett Shoemaker (09:35):
they'll have Buzzsprout, they'll have the
website, they'll have myInstagram, they'll have all
types of things. And that'sexactly the goal. Let's talk
Laura Fisher (09:42):
That's how we got started. So we both had a
similar journey where we had anidea. We knew we had the
personalities to do it. Yeah,the resources to find content,
because that's important. Youknow, I knew I knew for me, I
wanted to interview people. Ididn't feel like I wanted to
(10:02):
spend half an hour each weektelling you my thoughts and
opinions and all that stuff. SoI'd, so I wanted to do an
interview. Well, yeah, yeah. AndI knew that I was around a bunch
of entrepreneurs every day, andI meet them regularly. So I
thought I could do that. And youknow, your content. But let's
talk about how we got started.
Brett Shoemaker (10:20):
My biggest thing was, for me, I'm a very
reverse engineer, like see thefinished picture before I paint
it type of a person. And so mybiggest thing was just
understanding technology,understanding SEO and
understanding all these things,which you don't need to know to
start a podcast. But Iunderstood the value of it. So I
already knew going into it, whatthe importance of what to name
(10:42):
it, right, because of the searchengine optimization and titling
that in your show notes and allthat jazz. But I think where my
biggest challenge was in thebeginning was what syndication
hosting platform do I use writebecause I know that there's
Buzzsprout, I know that there'sRSS feed, I know that there was
Laura Fisher (11:01):
let's talk about that. So we you have an audio
file, and you've got to post itsomewhere in the world wide web.
Yeah. So that search engines canpick it up. And all the
listening platforms can pick itup, and they pick it up with an
RSS feed file. Yeah. So Brettand I both had to find a host
(11:23):
for our audio files that you'retalking about. You and I both
used Buzzsprout. Okay, great.
It's not a commercial for bedsprout. It just it seems like a
good deal. It works. It's like12
Brett Shoemaker (11:35):
Buzzsprout, you can pay business, small business
insights and direct primary carebenefits if you want to do some
advertising.
Laura Fisher (11:42):
Absolutely. If you don't have a whole lot of
volume, it's like $12 a month.
Yeah. So that's nice.
Brett Shoemaker (11:48):
But even and I think initially, it's free. And
I think you can even thinkinitially it's free. And then
you have like a certain amountthat's free or something maybe I
don't remember, but I know I'mpaying. I think I'm paying like
12 or 15 bucks a month,something like
Laura Fisher (12:01):
that. Yeah, I think it's based on how many
hours you plan you plan toupload. Yeah. I know the hardest
thing for me to get started wasjust doing it, you know, you
have an idea. There's not aperfect time, you just gotta
jump in.
Brett Shoemaker (12:14):
The next thing that a lot of people think about
is, well, the microphone and theediting and this and that. And
so I looked into that. Andthat's why when you said you had
a podcast studio, and frankly,that was a, I guess a hurdle for
me. But I mean, I call it a Godthing. Because like,
legitimately, as I was lookingfor and figuring out what the
(12:37):
next steps were before Iwouldn't bought another
snowball, which I sold it onFacebook, the one that I did
have, which that's a wholenother story. But I met you at a
networking event. Yeah. And whatbend chamber event Forbin
chamber event, and youbrilliantly had your podcast
card. Yeah, which I emulated andcopied that and podcast card now
(12:57):
as well. And it does work.
Laura Fisher (12:59):
Actually, I have it on my desk, I'm gonna hang it
up in the studio, for sure. I
Brett Shoemaker (13:03):
saw that. And so that became another step that
I needed to do is create somegraphics and create some
artwork. But that's notimportant for people. I think I
think the most important thingis figuring out if you can rent
a studio, like for the pricethat you guys charge here is
pretty fair might think that ifyou can have a studio, you have
a studio that you can leverage.
I mean, that makes it so mucheasier. Because that's one less
thing that you have to worryabout, right? You You just have
(13:25):
to worry about doing the show.
Laura Fisher (13:28):
I like this studio, not because you know, I
get to sit in it. But I like Ilike it sounds so nice, because
I've heard other people'spodcast. And I'm like they have
so many more years experience,but they don't sound as good.
Brett Shoemaker (13:40):
I personally have gotten several compliments.
I will say several compliments.
And when I say several, I'mthinking of at least three
people that were like, bro, yourpodcast sounds so professional.
And I'm just like, Thank you.
Thank you very much. That'sbecause Laura Fisher's podcast
platform. Actually, I don't saythat I just say, Well, I tell
them that I actually tell mybuddies that I have a friend but
(14:02):
everybody else is like, mypodcast studio, right?
Laura Fisher (14:04):
Like it's yours when you're here. Absolutely.
Brett Shoemaker (14:08):
I'm paying for right? That's right. I'm renting
this space.
Laura Fisher (14:11):
We're gonna take a quick break. And when we come
back, we're going to talk aboutwhat it costs to actually
maintain and take care of yourpodcast so we'll be right back.
Sponsor (14:22):
Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking.
Today's episode is brought toyou by Imperial podcast studio.
interested in being a podcasterthe Imperial podcast studio will
help you get started. Your hostLaura Fisher records her show
weekly at the state of the artstudio located in Sugarland
Bogut and sound like a pro. Nowback to Laura, and thanks again
(14:43):
for listening to small businessinsights.
Laura Fisher (14:45):
So let's talk about how much it costs. So you
can do it on a shoestringbudget, you can actually record
something in your closet withpillows all around, right? You
could
Brett Shoemaker (14:55):
do that right?
You definitely could do that. Ihad a snowball for the long It's
time and I'm pretty suresnowballs are pretty reasonably
simple to use. I just never what
Laura Fisher (15:05):
is a snowball?
What are you talking about?
Okay, so
Brett Shoemaker (15:07):
a snowball, a yeti snowball, you can buy a
yeti snowball, at Best Buy atOffice Max Office Depot. And
it's literally just a mic, rightthat cost 50 bucks. And you can
USB connected to pretty much anylaptop or computer. And that
would be your microphone. And itsounds pretty good. To be
(15:28):
honest, it's not, it doesn'thave this nice professional
little echo. You know, itdoesn't sound quite as good as
this. But I mean, it works for50 bucks, you can get started.
Yeah, you can get started for 50bucks, and it sounds good. So
the pillows in the closet foreverybody that's wondering is
because in a closet, the soundis absorbed. And it's not like
echoing off of the walls andthings like that. So it doesn't
(15:50):
sound like you're in like a roomwith wooden floor with no carpet
that doesn't have any furnitureand it sounds like your pets in
the background, or whatever.
Exactly are a bunch ofbackground noise. Exactly. So
but yeah, so 50 bucks, you'd geta snowball, but I just like the
fact that I can just come to thestudio and plug in the stuff and
then also have a place if I dohave other people and I don't
have to I don't have to unwindthe chords wine, the chords,
(16:12):
place it put it somewhere. Imean, yeah, it's just way easier
for me. I don't know, I mean,but it is an extra expense,
right? Because it's 65 bucksevery time you want to come in
and do that. So if you're doingit once a week, you know you got
65 bucks expense every time. Forme, I have a gentleman who
worked out a really good deal.
(16:33):
And whether I do a video orwhether I do an in person
interview. In other words,where's my interviewing person
is here or not, he will editdown the audio and actually
videoed as well for 75 bucks,which is super cheap. That is
Laura Fisher (16:48):
good deal. Yeah, I figure for me, it's about $100
An episode. Yeah, when it comesdown to all this stuff. So 420
Brett Shoemaker (16:56):
Yeah, I started doing an episode. So it's not
not not too bad.
Laura Fisher (17:01):
I mean, I don't have to rent the studio. But I
know I'm busy. And I didn't wantto learn how to edit. I mean, I
know I could figure it out.
Yeah, but you don't want to doit. It's brutal. It is. So I
hired somebody, I went onFiverr. And I found Ed bishop,
and he's in Dallas, we just hitit off on the phone, because I
thought this is my product. Iwant to make sure somebody's
gonna care about it as much as Ido. And I don't know that he
(17:22):
cares about as much as I do. Buthe makes me feel like he's
listening. And he's gonna makeme sound good. Yeah.
Brett Shoemaker (17:29):
And he does. I mean, he's definitely done a
great job with the way yousound. So I think it's
definitely worth it. And at theend of the day, I think like, I
don't get caught up. Like rightnow. Like, there's a couple
things like on some of theepisodes that I could change or
fix, and maybe the audio couldbe a little louder, be a little
quieter, because maybe theperson calling in maybe it's my
(17:50):
phone, right? I don't know whatit is, but but the reality is,
is that I just don't care atthis point. Like, as long as i
The biggest thing is like theconsistency keeping on creating
episodes, making sure that theshows are good, making sure that
the questions that I have aregood, and which is a challenge
sometimes, right? Because you'retrying to figure out my biggest
thing is like mixing it up,right? Keeping the shows kind of
(18:11):
fun, and making sure that wehave something cool to talk
about. And so I just find like,if I'm out there in the
trenches, and doing like, ifyou're doing what you're doing
as a living, or for a living,you're gonna find content to put
out there. I feel like I mean,look, when you had your card,
right, you had your card, who Ifelt like I was in real estate,
you know, back in the day, whenI had my real estate cards, my
(18:31):
pretty little mug on there. Andwhen I saw your card, it was
super professional had your faceon there. And that's why when
you said you want to take yourface, I'm like, I wouldn't do
that. But I like I like Laura'sFisher face on the car.
Laura Fisher (18:44):
I think I'm gonna keep it, maybe change it. Get a
new picture on there.
Brett Shoemaker (18:47):
I actually think you're a pretty good
networkers who you are really, Iwould know that you weren't as
solid networking, like you'vetold me because you yourself had
a strong presence the day that Imet you. That's why I was like,
Man, this lady. I haven't toldyou I said, this lady either
definitely knows what she'sdoing or she's a really good
faker.
Laura Fisher (19:06):
Let me tell our listeners, there's something
called pod fade. So a pod fade.
So what you'll do is you'llnotice that if you're a new
podcaster, it's about podcastnumber seven, that they get
doubt. They go like nobody'slistening. I'm not sure it's
worth it. And so people willstart off strong, but about
(19:28):
episode number seven or eight,they drop off, you know, when
the next drop off is 100? No,it's 50. Really? Yes. So I'm
about at 50, which is about ayear and I went to that podcast
that that momentum doesn'thappen as fast as you want it to
happen ever. And so you're like,gee, if I don't have the show,
(19:49):
would anybody notice? Well, Ihope so. Right? But it really
it's about then that you get thedoubt. And then somebody told
me, don't stop. And I'm like,Okay, I'll do another year, you
know?
Brett Shoemaker (20:04):
Oh, stop. Yeah, sorry. I'm not a singer,
clearly, but I sounded betterthan Mike, though,
Laura Fisher (20:12):
it sounded pretty good.
Brett Shoemaker (20:13):
I just want to hurry up and get more so that I
can start charging foradvertising. And it's really
just to obviously pay foritself. If I can make a little
bit of money doing it, that'd begreat. But
Laura Fisher (20:23):
what kind of advertisers will you look for?
Brett Shoemaker (20:25):
I mean, I'm going to look for advertisers
that want to speak to myaudience, right? Like, the type
of audience that I have isbrokers and other business
owners. And so that's theaudience that I want to be
listening to the podcast. And solike going to different folks
that would traditionalinsurance. Yeah, maybe
(20:45):
traditional insurance companies,maybe whoever would do like
commercial lines, like maybeAlliant, Alliant, or like
Gallagher, or the big insurancecompanies the problem that I
have those like, I would almostrather have nobody give me money
and me be able to control what'sgoing on. And not even that they
control what's going on, becausethey don't right. But I'm really
particular about giving peopleaccess to my audience. I know
Laura Fisher (21:10):
we got our own little, little thing going. So
we're called independentpodcasters case, you didn't know
that. Like the folks like DaveRamsey, and the big people.
They're like, sponsored, youhave Spotify that has their
podcasters that they promote.
Ted Cruz used to be aindependent podcaster you can
hear the production difference.
But recently, I Heart Radiopicked them up. So now they have
(21:33):
that whole network that's goingto promote
Brett Shoemaker (21:35):
if somebody wants to sponsor or advertise,
that's one thing, but if theywant to put it in their network,
and then I mean, basically, it'slike owning a website. Right? I
think having a website isimportant. Because I mean, you
don't need to do it initially.
But you need to start thinkingabout
Laura Fisher (21:48):
that. Right? Yeah, for a lot for long term. It
depends on what your what yourgoals are.
Brett Shoemaker (21:52):
I think the biggest thing is you need to
know, I mean, when you'relooking at it, right, so what
else do you need? You need youthe equipment, right? Which you
have the studio for that, right?
You really got to have thestructure. I mean, let's just
talk about that. Right, like theintros and outros, like, you
gotta have an intro like,welcome to the podcast done it.
Laura Fisher (22:11):
Right, the easy part is coming in here and
recording it. So after this,I'll take the SD card out, I'll
listen to the show, I'll writedown timestamps of what I want
to keep, what I want to take outwhere the break is, I need to
decide who my sponsor is, whothe ad is. And then I take the
file, I upload it to a Dropboxaccount. And then I send an
(22:36):
email to the editor, and I say,here are all my notes. And then
he keeps it for about three tofive days. I get it back. The
next part is I took a picture ofyou while you're here, you know
and do some kind of showgraphics. So you know when when
your shows up. It'll be BrettShoemaker. And we talked about
(22:57):
this headline, and that's for mysocial media. And then I have to
upload it on Buzzsprout. Andthen I want to do a transcript.
So now I have I send it off to athing called otter.ai. Oh,
that's how you have to get thetranscript. Yeah, I still have
to listen to it and verify it,it gets most of it, right. But
there's still a lot of editing.
And then the day of when it'slive, I get on my computer and I
(23:21):
and I or my texts, and I sayHey, Bret, here's the show, make
sure you share with all yourfriends and family. I also link
it to LinkedIn, Facebook, yeah,it's a lot. But I have to pick
the right time because I don'twant to eat up my working hours.
So yeah, to do it at a slowtime, maybe during the day or in
the evening,
Brett Shoemaker (23:42):
I post every week on Wednesday. So that's
kind of like my algorithm, ifyou will. But mine's on
Wednesday, too. I'm having funwith it. It keeps me on purpose
with like figuring out newinnovative things in healthcare,
right. So I feel like it's it'sdefinitely helping on that
front. But I'm really going tobe excited when it gets to be
more listeners and more viewsout there. Because there's so
(24:02):
many people looking andsearching for what we're doing
and what we're saying. And nowthat I have the podcast, which
is the worldwide podcastsyndication Epicenter right now,
I need the world wide webportion to be out.
Laura Fisher (24:18):
I like it. I have a good time. And you're right,
as far as it keeps you brightand smart. Because when I meet
people, I'm always listening.
Would they be a good guest?
Yeah, what is the tone of theirvoice? You know, what can I have
them talk about having a showmakes you I don't know for me,
like like you to keeps you awarealert of your community.
Brett Shoemaker (24:38):
I just think it keeps you going down. Whatever
vein you're in, right? Like ifyou're in health care, you're
gonna keep going after healthcare. If you're in small
business insights, you're gonnaconstantly be looking for small
business owners that you caninterview. I haven't
Laura Fisher (24:49):
bought some equipment. I haven't done it
yet. So I could go out in thefield and interview. So like I
was thinking I would go to Well,there was some kind of big fair
in Fort Bend. And I thought oh,All those little booths are
small businesses and to talk tohim about the challenges because
a lot of those that's theirhobby, or that's their weekend,
(25:09):
weekend gig. Yeah, can be art orsomething.
Brett Shoemaker (25:12):
I think we should totally start helping
people podcast. Like, I thinkthat's I think there's a need
out there. I think people reallywant to know what to do how to
do it. And I don't know aboutyou, but I'm all about systems
and you I'm all about systemsbecause copying is fine. You
know, if you want to be acopycat, just make sure you're
copying the Right cat, copy,copy the best Yeah, copy the
(25:34):
best cat. And so I think weshould definitely have some type
of resource out there that says,hey, you know, if you want to
learn podcasting, you know, pay,I don't know, a few $100. I did
hire somebody. And you know, Iwon't say that I didn't get the
value that I paid, and theservice, but at the end of the
day, like there was some simplethings that I needed. And I
(25:58):
think that those resourcesaren't out there for people. But
of course, you can always go andlook online and get, you know,
Laura Fisher (26:05):
sometimes you need your handheld, just just for
just for
Brett Shoemaker (26:09):
a minute, right? Like, just hold my hand
for a minute. If you're not anentrepreneur to some degree, I
don't think he should be doing apodcast. That's my opinion. But
I know people would sayotherwise. But like, what's the
point of doing it? Right? Like,you got to have a point to do
it. You got to get your messageout there. That's why
Laura Fisher (26:23):
I bought Fisher podcast.com. Yeah, because I
thought I may do more than one.
I'd like to get my husband to doone. And that way they could all
lead there. And
Brett Shoemaker (26:34):
create your own podcast network.
Laura Fisher (26:35):
There you go.
Yeah. You never know. Right?
sign you up. Right.
Brett Shoemaker (26:38):
I'd be a part of the show. Well, I
Laura Fisher (26:40):
think your voice sounds great. I'm sure my
listeners are gonna agree. Get anatural voice for it. Yeah, you
know, people have said that,like I said about me too. And
like I listen to it every night.
Brett Shoemaker (26:51):
I think it's good to you do have a good
voice. You're like, you're likewhole intro that I love your
intro. Your intro is like thebomb.com. And you're like, you
know, and so what are you up to?
You better be able to re up tosomething that is so cute.
Laura Fisher (27:05):
Well, you have picked that song at the
beginning was it is like one ofmy favorite Stevie Ray Vaughan
songs, which is very obscuresong that they have. It's like
Martians and something. It'sjust it's a total instrumental
during doing that. Yeah. But youcan't use somebody else's music.
You had to buy it. So a made upsong. Yeah. And that reflected
the most because I thought thatI liked the way it kind of has a
(27:28):
swagger to it. Yeah, no,
Brett Shoemaker (27:31):
it does. I love it. I love I love your intro.
But you know, I like the wholelike, until next time, you
better be up to something like Ithink that's super cool.
Laura Fisher (27:38):
Let me get back to saying that I couldn't name the
show. You better be up tosomething. But that would not be
good. It's not
Brett Shoemaker (27:45):
SEO friendly.
Number one, and it doesn't tellabout I mean, you better be up
to something. I mean, it tellsabout something. Right. But I
mean, like what small businessinsights? I love that Small
Business Insights is like theperfect title. Right? Because
it's, it's you're not focused onbig corporations. But I mean,
small business can be like asuper small onesie, you know,
one off onesie. twosie. Rightshop or, you know, 50 to 100
(28:07):
employees. Yeah, stillconsidered a small business.
What is the cut off? That'sconsidered small business. I can
Laura Fisher (28:15):
be numbers of people or revenue. Yeah, that's
interesting. How do you like, beme calling you a podcaster?
People react? Like, oh, yeah,yeah. I don't know what it is.
Brett Shoemaker (28:25):
Yeah, it's funny, because some people are
like, Oh, wow, you have yourown. Wow, you have your own
podcast. And it's like, I guessthat's the biggest thing I got
started in podcasting, because Iwanted to syndicate my message.
I wanted to broadcast themessage out to as many people as
possible with the largestlistening listener base as
possible. So what I have learnedis that when you have a podcast,
(28:48):
people think you're reallyimportant, which I really didn't
think about. I mean, I knew, Iguess, in the back of my mind
that that would be relevant. Butit's kind of funny, because I
really didn't do it for that Icould care less but if it builds
to my overall influence andvalue than Hey, so
Laura Fisher (29:04):
bottom line, bottom line, that's what's you
know, yeah, nothing wrong withthat. Yeah. Excellent. Exactly.
Yeah. I think it leads a littlecredibility, like because you're
doing something you're doingsomething about it. Yeah. And
you're actually indicating
Brett Shoemaker (29:17):
you're actually and you actually meet so just
podcasting. Another thing isI've met some people that have
some pretty cool passionprojects of their own and so
you're meeting meet people likeI went to that event that they
just had here in pod Houston orwhatever it was for pod fest.
Oh, and by the way, I found outthat the pod fest unlike pod
(29:38):
movement, right? Pod fest ismore focused on the podcaster
and growing your podcast andfundamentally what to do that's
the one you really wanted to goto Yeah, cuz that a positive
that was that was an industry sothat one's apparently like an
industry pod movement is like anindustry event, but this is more
about the people andrelationships are you I think
(30:00):
you're probably I'm going youare going, I'm going. Just
because like, it's in Florida.
It's just Yeah, it's in Florida.
And it's going to be in Orlandoand it's in, I don't know, just
be a good reason to go. Yeah,I'm gonna go just because I
actually kind of got sucked intothe whole, like, podcaster
networking aspect of it. Plus, Ithink like, when people know you
(30:21):
and whatever, they're gonna govisit your podcast more, you
know? Well, I
Laura Fisher (30:24):
think it'd be a great guest on a lot of people's
podcast, healthcare. Oh, and
Brett Shoemaker (30:27):
that's the other thing that they had. So
they were talking about theheavy industry. So they have
segments of industries, whetherthey're, and so you can go and
meet other people in healthcareand blah, blah, blah, blah,
Laura Fisher (30:35):
blah, making they have that pod match that you can
Yeah, I think a lot of peopletry to grow their show by being
guests. I wish I
Brett Shoemaker (30:42):
had a little more time to read. So there's a
you have a business, you'regrowing and you're doing a great
job, I just want to say you haveshe has a great business. Some
employees, like, I don't knowhow many, but I mean, she has
people that are helping her runher business. So that is hugely
important for you to be able towork on your business, not in
your business every day. So whatsucks for me is I'm like in it
(31:04):
and constantly moving all thetime. So it kind of sucks for me
right now. I'm a little add. SoI kind of like to be moving
around all the time. But Ireally would like to spend more
time just working on it. Not init so much.
Laura Fisher (31:15):
We'll get there.
We'll get there. All right,Brett, do you want to close out
the show with my line? Okay,until next time,
Brett Shoemaker (31:21):
you better be up to something right. Here you
go.
Laura Fisher (31:25):
Thanks for joining us this week on Small Business
Insights, make sure you visitour website at Fisher
podcast.com where you can followthe podcast on iTunes or your
favorite podcast platform soyou'll never miss a show. If you
enjoyed and found value intoday's episode, we'd appreciate
a rating and review on iTunes orsimply share it with a friend
(31:47):
that would help us out to makesure you tune in next week for
our next episode. Until then,you better be up to something
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