November 30, 2025 • 29 mins
This week on the Soul Podcasting Podcast, I’m joined by Carl Richards — TEDx speaker, bestselling author, and long-time radio broadcaster — to talk about the new era of marketing and why podcasting is the most powerful authority-building tool for solopreneurs today.We break down:
- why visibility is still the #1 struggle for entrepreneurs
- the new rules of marketing (and why the old playbook is dead)
- how podcasting builds true community and belonging
- the 5 myths holding most solopreneurs back
- what it really means to be strategic with your voice
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Hi, everyone, Welcome to the Soul Podcasting podcast. I have
with me an awesome guest today. His name is Carl
Richards and he is a Free Times best selling author,
a TEDx speaker, and an EMC, which I think is
really cool. We have to hear about that. He's a
podcast host and the founder and CEO of Carl Speaks
and podcast Solutions Made Simple. He helps coaches, consultants, and
(00:36):
other subject matter experts become the go to authority by
launching world class podcasts. So that is all super awesome.
We're gonna hear all about it. Thank you for being here, Carl.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
To be true, it's an honor to be here. Thank
you so much. And yeah, you're right. Being a TEDx
speaker is very different from being a tex MC, but
both were amazing opportunities. Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Okay, I love to hear about that. But first I
just want to know what makes Carl happy. What makes
you happy in life?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Waking up every morning, breathing air, That's that's knowing. I'm
in a part of the world where, you know what,
I'm free. There's a lot of freedom where I am,
and I really appreciate that. But certainly what makes me happy.
What really puts a smile on my face is seeing
people succeed in what it is that they're doing and
(01:28):
how they're impacting people in the world around them. That
really makes me happy and definitely puts a smile on
my face. For sure.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
I love that. And it also definitely helps to have
a good quality life. And I see here in your
bio that you love camping, that you love voting, you
live in Canada. It's just it just sounds like a
peaceful and a fine life to have.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
It definitely is. It's a great place. Come and visit anytime.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Yeah, you're happy to come, Happy to have you here, Yes,
I would love to. Okay, So we're going to be
talking about podcasting today, but also some things that you
do as an entrepreneur in helping business small businesses as well.
A lot of solopreneurs struggle with visibility. We talk a
lot about podcasting here on the show, but again, you know, solopreneurs,
(02:16):
we're handling a lot of different things in our business,
podcasts being one of them. So sometimes we struggle with
being visible and maybe we're experts, but don't always feel
that we are seeing or even heard. So how can
podcasting shift that dynamic and help us to step into
that go to authority status.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
How much time do we have. I can't give you
every single secret in twenty five to thirty minutes, but
you're absolutely right. I mean as entrepreneurs, even small business owners,
and that term small business owner is sort of a misnomer.
Small businesses can range even up to twenty million dollars,
believe it or not, but there's still small business owners
(02:58):
even smaller than that. That that struggle, as you say,
with that visibility piece, because we're focused on doing so
many things we need to get clients where spinning plates.
Maybe we don't have a team yet, or we just
have a small team, so we're doing a lot of
the sales and marketing, and that keeps us really busy.
But certainly, you know, a podcast is a great way
(03:20):
to elevate your brand and your business and your credibility
for a couple of reasons. Number one, the typical way
that we would have done at say, thirty years ago,
is to try as hard as we can to get
on conventional media platforms, radio, television, featured in print. Some
of that is still relevant today. But certainly, you know,
(03:41):
if you can have your own podcast or even be
featured on podcasts, which, by the way, is what I'm
doing today, Dimitrio. Thank you very much for this platform.
I greatly appreciate it. Then that's going to put you
above your competition that maybe even hasn't figured out what
this whole podcasting thing is. So that's number one. It's
going to elevate your brand, your business, and your credibility.
(04:02):
It's going to give you an opportunity to have your
voice or your messaging be put out there front and center.
And when you strategically do it. We talk a lot
about strategy at podcast Solutions Made Simple. When you do
it strategically and not just throwing spaghetti at the wall
to see what sticks, and you really understand how to
make that connection with your audience, that's where the magic happens.
(04:26):
And it's unfortunately a spot that some entrepreneurs or business
owners miss because they just have this well done is
better than nun Not really. I would rather my surgeon,
if they're doing open heart surgery on me, be done completely,
or you know, schedule the surgery another day if they're
only going to do half of it. You know what
(04:46):
I mean? As opposed to just doing it for the
sake of saying, well, I've done it. No, I think
it needs to be strategic, purposeful, and obviously with not
only your own goals in mind, but you always be
thinking of your audience. What does your audience want? So
if you're listening to this is what is it that
I can share with you today or what is it
that Dimitri and I can share with you today that's
(05:08):
going to help you excel and make you a better
business owner, entrepreneur, even person in your own community.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Absolutely, I love that and just I'm thinking all of
this kind of brings together podcasting, marketing, and like you said,
a small business can range from you know, from the
smallest number two like the higher numbers of what it
takes to have to be considered a small business, and
(05:36):
so that's a wide range. But in all of this,
we are looking at how to market, how to effectively
share what we do. And so you talk a lot
about the new era of marketing, so I want to
hear a bit about what that means your perspective on
how podcasting fits into that evolution, especially for those of
(05:57):
us who don't want to chase trends or burn out
on social media. So how does that work.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
We're living it right now, New era marketing. As of
the recording of this, which is October twenty fourth, twenty
twenty five, we are in the new era of marketing
right now. We've actually probably been in it for quite
a while. But what we used to do is shifting.
So I'll give you a really good example of that.
And some of this is still true today. But if
(06:24):
you think back, I can think back thirty years ago.
I don't know if you can, but I can certainly
think back thirty years ago. And if you, for example,
had written a book, you would then take that book
on a speaking tour, and you would go to conferences
and events, and you would sell copies of your book.
You would book people into group programs, some of them were,
well all of them back thirty years ago, would have
(06:46):
been in person. You would do that kind of marketing
and promotion. You were probably still doing a lot of
conventional advertising on radio and television and print. As I've
already indicated, that is shifting. We now spend so much
time in the digital space on these devices, but also
(07:08):
you know, even on our laptops or tablets, scrolling for
information and here's the thing, there's no no shortage of
information out there. Here's the rub though. The rub is
really figuring out what's the right information you can go to,
you know, doctor Google to find out what's wrong with
you for example, Uh, not necessarily the best way to
(07:30):
get medical advice. So you want to make sure if
you are leveraging platforms, even social media, now, that you're
making sure that your your sources are are very clear
and concise, and you know before you buy something or
tap into a service, number one that you need it
and number two that it's going to help excel you
or move you forward in your business. So what does
(07:52):
that mean to you as the business owner? Well, if
you're doing the same old sable that you did before radio, television,
in newspapers, even just trying to throw stuff out on
social media, I guess what it's changed. The algorithms are
changing all the time. On LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Instagram seems
to have become this great place for ad placement. You
(08:16):
don't see everything that your friends and colleagues are doing anymore.
It'll depend on what your goal is, what you really
want to do. But this new era of marketing is
putting yourself and being seen and heard through all of
that noise and all of that clutter, and how do
you do that well. Number one I'm going to say
this is with a podcast, of course, but not just
(08:37):
any podcast, One that people want to listen to every week,
one that people will come back to, one that people
can use as a resource, One that people can feel
that after a period of time, if not right from
the beginning, they're part of a community. That's what I
mean by the new era of marketing. People want to
know that they belong to a community. And if you
have those pieces and the podcast and your of service
(09:00):
to them, that's going to make a huge difference, not
only to them, but to you as well.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Oh that's perfect, Carl. I just love that you really
brought out the idea of community belonging, and that is
I think kind of the the center of the wheel,
and everything else kind of spokes from that, because without
that community and that core of feeling that belongingness, people
just kind of drift to the next thing. But they
(09:25):
want to feel connected, and I think that's one of
the best things about podcasting is that we can create
that community and it happens through that that just personableness
in our podcast, and there's so many things we can
do with our shows to make that happen. But community
is huge, So yeah, I love I love that you're
talking about a new era of marketing. It's not what
(09:48):
it used to be. Things have changed, it's speeding up,
algorithms are changing and it's definitely hard to keep up
with all this stuff.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
And even now, I mean, I mean, dare we mention
AI because that's piece of the equation, right, so piece
so you know, Dimitria. Community, You're right is huge. And
I don't mean just now it all has to be online.
I mean some of it does mean still meeting in person.
But community. If this was again forty fifty years ago,
community would be being a part of a community group
(10:17):
or going being a part of your local church community,
whatever it is. Well, that is a lot of it
is shifting to being a part of a community where
you feel like you belong. Especially if you're a business owner,
you want to make sure you're in the right community.
And if you're tapped into somebody's podcast already and they
resonate with you, why wouldn't you want to be a
(10:38):
part of that community and learn and grow and build,
and it is a huge component. I'm so glad that
you're I'm so glad we're speaking the same language when
it comes to community and being being a part.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Being a part. I know, I listened to a couple
of podcasts where just hearing the content, it's it's so
much more than the content, it's the person behind them
like and it's there sort of plea or invitation to
join her and join their community that makes me want
to stop what I'm doing and find that link and
go join because of what I've heard on the podcast.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
That's by design, by the way, And that's what I say.
That's that's intentional. That's not going back to what I
mentioned earlier. That's not about just saying, hey, I have
a podcast episode record Mike on Talkie Talkie Talkie and
oh my goodness, I don't know what I just said,
but I hope you like it. No, that's intentional. And
that's what I mean about making sure that you're intentional
with everything you're doing related to podcasting and your marketing
(11:34):
we'll say marketing plan, because if you're building community, it
needs to be with intention because your community members want
to know that you have their best interest in mind,
and it's not just about you, but it's it's by
design that those shows that you're listening to they do
that exactly. And it's intentional, it really is.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
It really is. It's part of the packaging and how
we relate to those that we haven't yet met but
will because they're going to become part of our journey.
And so yes, it's very much intentional. And I know
there are people out there right now who are listening
and thinking, I want to do this, but I don't
know how to get started, and so some people are thinking, like, Okay,
(12:15):
how do I do this? What are some of the
biggest mindset myths or fears that you have seen with
particularly amongst entrepreneurs, that stop them from launching a show
or just claiming their space behind the mic.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
To me, sure, I'm glad you asked that question. I
have five of them actually that I'll run through fairly quickly.
That tends to hold a lot of people back from
stepping into the podcasting space. Number one is the is
the money myth it's too expensive or I don't know
how much is this going to cost? Or am I
going to get my ROI back? Whether it be time,
(12:54):
whether it be the money that you're putting out. Here's
the thing. I always look at it and say, what
is the end? What is the risk of not hosting
or being on podcasts? In other words, if your clients
are already engaging in podcasts or they're listening to podcasts
just like yours, and a client has a certain dollar
(13:14):
value attached to it, what is the risk or what
is the lack of ROI and not doing that? So
I always like to say that to people because it's
crucial to understand that if I don't do a podcast, Okay, fine,
but how many clients are how much potential income am
I leaving on the table by not engaging my audience?
It's number one. Number two is the content myth? What
(13:37):
am I ever going to talk about it? I have
so much information? Where do I begin? Where do I start? Well,
it's not about content creation, it's about content curation because
we have so much content. I've been in business for
well over ten years, firstly as a speaker trainer, now
as a podcast strategist. Prior to that, I have twenty
five years in radio broadcasting. I have a lot of
(13:59):
things to say. How can I curate that information, So
I don't fire hose my listener every episode with too
much information? Right, So how do I curate that content
so it's digestible and bite sized pieces every episode that
leaves the audience wanting more, So the content myth, just
break it down simple, bite sized pieces. The third myth
(14:20):
is the competition myth. There's too many podcasts out there? Now,
who's ever going to listen to me? Well, if you
compare that, for example, there's about four to five million podcasts.
The number keeps going up and down depending on what
month and what hour it is, so right now there's
about four four point five million podcasts worldwide. How many
websites are worldwide? How many websites are out there? But
(14:45):
that doesn't stop us as business owners from you know,
having a website that is tied to SEO and now
it's my searchable can I be found using AI tools?
So we think nothing about that, but we go, oh,
podcast too many? Well, it's not about so it's not
about how many. It's about again the impact that you're
(15:08):
going to have that's going to have you be seen,
and as far as the competition myth and who's going
to listen to you? If you look at how many
podcasts are started by famous people, it's a very small number.
It's probably less than half of a half of a percent.
Most of them are solopreneurs, entrepreneurs, small business owners like Demetria.
You and if you're listening to this, like you, who
(15:29):
are going, oh my goodness, I need to be heard now.
So think of it as oh, yeah, I have something
to say and it needs to be put out there.
The fourth myth is the tech myth, confusing two technical
How am I ever going to figure out how to
do this? Well, it's the same reason why I don't
know about you, Dmitria, but I'm assuming you don't do
your own dental work on yourself. You probably go to
(15:51):
a professional. You know, you don't try it do the drilling,
or pull a tooth or do a film. Same reason
why I don't fix my own car. That and the
fact that it's it's a Tesla, doesn't need much fixing.
It's all. It's pretty much self fixes itself almost. But
it's the same reason why when you need anything done,
you go to the expert. You don't try and figure
(16:11):
it all on your own. So it's not about how
am I going to figure it out how to do this.
It's who do I need to get in contact with
that has some knowledge or information to share a shameless promotion.
I can help you in that area so that you
don't have to try and figure it out the self feasm.
You try and figure it out yourself, guess what. Just
like figuring out through doctor Google what's wrong with you,
(16:33):
you might come up with the wrong diagnosis. And I'll
tell you it is a costly mistake to launch a
podcast the wrong way and try and fix it later
than to launch it the right way, because at the
end of the day, it's a reflection of your brand,
your business, and your credibility, and you want to make
that upfront clear. Here's who I am. The fifth myth,
(16:55):
and I'll wrap this up very quickly, is the time myth.
I don't have time. It's the reason why people don't
go to the gym. It's the reason why people don't
eat right. We're grabbing fast food or quickly prepared food
because we don't have time. Well, a lot of people
don't understand that the time that time is semantic, right.
(17:17):
I always ask this question, how long is a podcast episode?
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Right?
Speaker 2 (17:22):
And I get multiple different answers. I get, well, it
should be two hours. It should be Joe Rogan show
is that long, so should mine be. I get thirty minutes,
I get an hour, I get fifty minutes, I get
forty five. But you know there are podcasts out there,
Demetri that are two minutes long, and they're podcasts out
there that are two hours long. The question is how
long can your audience engage with you? It's number one.
(17:45):
Number two. If you are doing this yourself, you know
you're not quite ready to have somebody help you on
the back end. How much time do you really have,
Like can you find that hour in the week to
you record your show and package it together? And if
the answer is yes, absolutely, Because we know there are
a lot of time wasters out there. I don't mean people,
(18:09):
I mean people sometimes, but they're also like social media
can be a huge time waster. On my phone all
the time, checking email all the time. How much time
are you wasting and how much time can you really
invest in elevating that brand, business and credibility so that
you are being seen as the expert. And that is
time well spent.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Time well spent. I love all of these answers, because
like going back to competition, sometimes that is one of
the biggest things that I hear is I'm not ready
to start because I'm not sure if my voice will
even be heard among the sea of other voices talking
about the same thing that I want to share, or
the tech seems to be one of the other drawbacks
(18:51):
is what do I need? And thing I'm always telling
them that you don't need to worry so much about tech.
Tech is abundant. You can always find an easy startup plan.
There's always packages on Amazon that you can purchase and
just get started until you work your way into something
that may be a little bit better for your setup.
(19:12):
But there's all kinds of reasons why we can stop
ourselves from moving forward. But I love everything you've just said.
I love the time myth, the content myth.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
All of that.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
So these are things that we should consider and remember
that when we're getting started, it's really about our passion
and what we want to share with our audience, finding
that audience that we connect with, and then making those
moves to share content that they want to hear. And
like you said, it could be anywhere from two minutes
(19:44):
to two hours, but it depends on what our audience
needs and what we're capable of doing as well.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
And the sweet spot, by the way, just for the record,
is thirty minutes, twenty five to thirty minutes, which is
the average length of I think your show is twenty
five to thirty minutes, so very very similar. So if
you're thinking in no those terms, all of a sudden,
it's not that daunting. And if it's all about what
you what your intellectual property is, or what you're going
to be talking about, even if you have a guest
on your show, all of a sudden, it's not as
(20:14):
time consuming as we think it is.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yes, well, let's let's kind of circle back to the community.
I want to sort of just kind of land this
on this idea of community, because for entrepreneurs like myself,
like many others listening today that are building brands solo
or with the small team, what do you think is
the smartest way to design a podcast that builds community
(20:38):
and creates that connection, genuine connection with our audience. How
do we go about doing that the best? What's the
best way?
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Yeah, I'm a firm believer and everything starts with starts
with strategy, you know, Simon Sinek says, you know what,
what's your why? Or start with why? So, why are you?
Why do you want this podcast? What's the purpose of it,
what's the goal, and what's the long term plan. If
we're talking about building community, this isn't okay in six
months I'm going to have this massive community. Doesn't happen
(21:08):
that way unless you already have a fairly large following, right,
It does take some time to build it. But start
with the question of why am I doing this show?
Then start to break down what's the show about. From
there you can figure out is this going to be
a solo show? Am I going to be co hosting
with somebody else? Am I doing a round table discussion
(21:29):
every week? There's a there's a lot of shifting now
from just solo shows. Solo's great, by the way, if
you're quite comfortable doing a show by yourself, that's fine too.
But there's a lot of collaborating with other people in
your in your industry or in adjacent industries. I know
folks who are co hosting real estate podcasts where there's
an investor and a legal person and a lender and
(21:52):
a property manager, all combining their their resources. So think
about that and at the end then figure out, Okay,
well when do I want to start? That's the big thing.
Hitting the go button is the big one I want
to start. Let's say you want to launch in January.
A lot of people like to start fresh in January.
That means you need to start planning and preparing in October.
(22:14):
And I know what you're thinking that far back. Really
to start a podcast, well, for a couple of reasons.
Number one, you don't just launch with one episode. You
launch with eight or ten episodes, so you have some
in the bank or in the can, so to speak,
so you're not stressed and trying to figure out what's
the next episode going to be. Plus, it also shows
that you're not a flash in the pan, that you
(22:34):
do have content there. So you're launching with all ten episodes.
That allows you to then promote and market to your community,
whether that be your social media community, your email list,
your networking groups. You can start to connect with those
people and let them know that you have a podcast.
Part of that setup strategy is also understanding the organic
(22:56):
marketing approach. By the way, not a lot of time
to go into a lot of detail here, but think
about the things that organically you already do. If you're
already speaking on stages, while that should be part of
your bio that you are Dimitria mentioned it off the top.
I'm the host of podcasts and I'm on this one,
so it's already mentioned there. It should be in your
speaker bio, should be on your website, all those things
(23:17):
that should be happening so that the organic reach happens
without any or minimal effort. And then making sure that
you are connecting with that audience as often as you
can and letting them know that, by the way, brand
new episode here it is, and start to invite them in.
You also invite them in, going back to the content
(23:39):
myth or the reason why people are scared to do that.
You invite them in through your content. You position in
such a way that you say, hey, you know, if
you like what you've heard today, send me your comments
or that resource I shared with you, it's in the
show notes, whatever it is. You need to be engaging
the audience so they're coming back for more. And by
(23:59):
the way, it's never a bad idea to say. And
by the way, if you like what you've heard today,
share it. With your friends and invite them to the
next episode. So that's sort of the foundation of building
is really starting with the why, start to map it out,
move into production, and then start to promote the show.
And you cannot cannot, with a brand new show, promote
(24:23):
it too much. You can't promote it too much. There's
no such a thing. You need to be out there
saying time and time and time again, I'm a podcast host,
this is my show. Check it out.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Yes, yes, don't be afraid to share your show, toot
your own horn. We got to do that, exactly, you
got to do it. So it's an entire ecosystem that
you've just mentioned, and there's a lot that goes into it,
and that's what you help people do. But first of all,
I before we end, I want to ask you about
your experience as you've been on Page you Get on
(24:56):
radio podcast for over two decades and so I would
love to know one lesson that you could share with
us that you've learned about communicating or storytelling that you
think every solo podcaster should take to heart.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Actually, I'm going to be generous and give you two.
The first one is something I learned when I was
overcoming stuttering. Believe or not, I used to stutter when
I was younger, and it's something that I've taken with
me ever since. And it's the only person who's in
control of your speaking or in control of your speech
is you.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
The only person who's in control of your speech or
you're speaking is you, And that's powerful. So if you
do have imposter syndrome, or if you again like me,
thinking back several years, used to stutter, or you're anxious
on camera, understand that you control it so deep breasts.
You can't give a ton of examples of that today,
but really get in the mind space of I'm the
(25:50):
person in control, okay. And if you need some professional
help with that, or you need some assistance with that,
there are enough coaches out there that can certainly help
you do that. The second nugget that I learned in
when I was a fairly new broadcaster was the audience
doesn't know what you don't tell them. The audience doesn't
(26:11):
know what you don't tell them, which means you don't
have to tell them every single thing every single episode.
Give them what they need to know, give them the
pieces they need to know, make sure they have a
clear trail if they need more information aka going to
your show notes, which by the way, should all link
(26:31):
to your website or wherever they that's the best way
to connect with you. So if you put those two
things together, the only person who's in control of your
speaking is you, and the audience doesn't know what you
don't tell them. It gives you so much power as
a speaker, as a podcaster, as a business owner to
really connect deeply and intently with your audience every single
(26:56):
time you're in front of them.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Wow. Wow, love that. Well, that's awesome. Thank you, Carl.
This has been so helpful, so encouraging, and you've given
us a lot of food for thought, things to really
meditate on when we start, either beginning to launch our
shows or even as we are growing our shows, things
(27:18):
that we can always go back to and remember and
keep in mind. So this has been awesome. You have
a lot to offer our audience, so I would love
for you to share what you do, what you offer,
and how you can help our listeners with their podcasts.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Yeah. Absolutely. We work a lot with coaches, consultants, entrepreneurs,
subject matter experts who don't have the time or the
technical skills to either be on podcasts or launch their
own podcasts. We do all that for you. On the
back end, we help you either launch or we do
all the bookings and take care of all that for you,
so you get to focus on your business, which should
(27:54):
be the most important thing. Will we focus on where
we're focusing on the back end, helping you be seen
as the go to expert, putting yourself in that category
of one blasting through all that noise and all of
that clutter. We do it with strategy. We do it
with audio branding, which is a very specific thing. I
WoT one of the details of that today, But we
(28:15):
do it with strategy, and then of course we make
sure that the production is one hundred percent high quality
so that at the end of the day, you are
confident that your voice is being heard, you're being seen
as the expert, and you're really in the benefits of that.
Podcast Solutions made Simple dot Com I'll say that again,
podcast Solutions Made Simple dot Com is the best place
(28:38):
to find us. And I always like to have conversations
with people who are either curious or go podcasting or
are ready to get started. Let's have a conversation.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
Yeah, I love that, Carl, thank you so much for
being here today. Remember podcast Solutions Made Simple dot com
That will be in the show notes. I love that
there are many of us out here doing the same
things but in different ways, and so love that you're
offering this to our listeners as well, and so we'll
definitely link to that in the show notes. Thank you
for being here today. Thank you
Hi, everyone, Welcome to the Soul Podcasting podcast. I have
with me an awesome guest today. His name is Carl
Richards and he is a Free Times best selling author,
a TEDx speaker, and an EMC, which I think is
really cool. We have to hear about that. He's a
podcast host and the founder and CEO of Carl Speaks
and podcast Solutions Made Simple. He helps coaches, consultants, and
(00:36):
other subject matter experts become the go to authority by
launching world class podcasts. So that is all super awesome.
We're gonna hear all about it. Thank you for being here, Carl.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
To be true, it's an honor to be here. Thank
you so much. And yeah, you're right. Being a TEDx
speaker is very different from being a tex MC, but
both were amazing opportunities. Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Okay, I love to hear about that. But first I
just want to know what makes Carl happy. What makes
you happy in life?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Waking up every morning, breathing air, That's that's knowing. I'm
in a part of the world where, you know what,
I'm free. There's a lot of freedom where I am,
and I really appreciate that. But certainly what makes me happy.
What really puts a smile on my face is seeing
people succeed in what it is that they're doing and
(01:28):
how they're impacting people in the world around them. That
really makes me happy and definitely puts a smile on
my face. For sure.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
I love that. And it also definitely helps to have
a good quality life. And I see here in your
bio that you love camping, that you love voting, you
live in Canada. It's just it just sounds like a
peaceful and a fine life to have.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
It definitely is. It's a great place. Come and visit anytime.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Yeah, you're happy to come, Happy to have you here, Yes,
I would love to. Okay, So we're going to be
talking about podcasting today, but also some things that you
do as an entrepreneur in helping business small businesses as well.
A lot of solopreneurs struggle with visibility. We talk a
lot about podcasting here on the show, but again, you know, solopreneurs,
(02:16):
we're handling a lot of different things in our business,
podcasts being one of them. So sometimes we struggle with
being visible and maybe we're experts, but don't always feel
that we are seeing or even heard. So how can
podcasting shift that dynamic and help us to step into
that go to authority status.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
How much time do we have. I can't give you
every single secret in twenty five to thirty minutes, but
you're absolutely right. I mean as entrepreneurs, even small business owners,
and that term small business owner is sort of a misnomer.
Small businesses can range even up to twenty million dollars,
believe it or not, but there's still small business owners
(02:58):
even smaller than that. That that struggle, as you say,
with that visibility piece, because we're focused on doing so
many things we need to get clients where spinning plates.
Maybe we don't have a team yet, or we just
have a small team, so we're doing a lot of
the sales and marketing, and that keeps us really busy.
But certainly, you know, a podcast is a great way
(03:20):
to elevate your brand and your business and your credibility
for a couple of reasons. Number one, the typical way
that we would have done at say, thirty years ago,
is to try as hard as we can to get
on conventional media platforms, radio, television, featured in print. Some
of that is still relevant today. But certainly, you know,
(03:41):
if you can have your own podcast or even be
featured on podcasts, which, by the way, is what I'm
doing today, Dimitrio. Thank you very much for this platform.
I greatly appreciate it. Then that's going to put you
above your competition that maybe even hasn't figured out what
this whole podcasting thing is. So that's number one. It's
going to elevate your brand, your business, and your credibility.
(04:02):
It's going to give you an opportunity to have your
voice or your messaging be put out there front and center.
And when you strategically do it. We talk a lot
about strategy at podcast Solutions Made Simple. When you do
it strategically and not just throwing spaghetti at the wall
to see what sticks, and you really understand how to
make that connection with your audience, that's where the magic happens.
(04:26):
And it's unfortunately a spot that some entrepreneurs or business
owners miss because they just have this well done is
better than nun Not really. I would rather my surgeon,
if they're doing open heart surgery on me, be done completely,
or you know, schedule the surgery another day if they're
only going to do half of it. You know what
(04:46):
I mean? As opposed to just doing it for the
sake of saying, well, I've done it. No, I think
it needs to be strategic, purposeful, and obviously with not
only your own goals in mind, but you always be
thinking of your audience. What does your audience want? So
if you're listening to this is what is it that
I can share with you today or what is it
that Dimitri and I can share with you today that's
(05:08):
going to help you excel and make you a better
business owner, entrepreneur, even person in your own community.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Absolutely, I love that and just I'm thinking all of
this kind of brings together podcasting, marketing, and like you said,
a small business can range from you know, from the
smallest number two like the higher numbers of what it
takes to have to be considered a small business, and
(05:36):
so that's a wide range. But in all of this,
we are looking at how to market, how to effectively
share what we do. And so you talk a lot
about the new era of marketing, so I want to
hear a bit about what that means your perspective on
how podcasting fits into that evolution, especially for those of
(05:57):
us who don't want to chase trends or burn out
on social media. So how does that work.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
We're living it right now, New era marketing. As of
the recording of this, which is October twenty fourth, twenty
twenty five, we are in the new era of marketing
right now. We've actually probably been in it for quite
a while. But what we used to do is shifting.
So I'll give you a really good example of that.
And some of this is still true today. But if
(06:24):
you think back, I can think back thirty years ago.
I don't know if you can, but I can certainly
think back thirty years ago. And if you, for example,
had written a book, you would then take that book
on a speaking tour, and you would go to conferences
and events, and you would sell copies of your book.
You would book people into group programs, some of them were,
well all of them back thirty years ago, would have
(06:46):
been in person. You would do that kind of marketing
and promotion. You were probably still doing a lot of
conventional advertising on radio and television and print. As I've
already indicated, that is shifting. We now spend so much
time in the digital space on these devices, but also
(07:08):
you know, even on our laptops or tablets, scrolling for
information and here's the thing, there's no no shortage of
information out there. Here's the rub though. The rub is
really figuring out what's the right information you can go to,
you know, doctor Google to find out what's wrong with
you for example, Uh, not necessarily the best way to
(07:30):
get medical advice. So you want to make sure if
you are leveraging platforms, even social media, now, that you're
making sure that your your sources are are very clear
and concise, and you know before you buy something or
tap into a service, number one that you need it
and number two that it's going to help excel you
or move you forward in your business. So what does
(07:52):
that mean to you as the business owner? Well, if
you're doing the same old sable that you did before radio, television,
in newspapers, even just trying to throw stuff out on
social media, I guess what it's changed. The algorithms are
changing all the time. On LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Instagram seems
to have become this great place for ad placement. You
(08:16):
don't see everything that your friends and colleagues are doing anymore.
It'll depend on what your goal is, what you really
want to do. But this new era of marketing is
putting yourself and being seen and heard through all of
that noise and all of that clutter, and how do
you do that well. Number one I'm going to say
this is with a podcast, of course, but not just
(08:37):
any podcast, One that people want to listen to every week,
one that people will come back to, one that people
can use as a resource, One that people can feel
that after a period of time, if not right from
the beginning, they're part of a community. That's what I
mean by the new era of marketing. People want to
know that they belong to a community. And if you
have those pieces and the podcast and your of service
(09:00):
to them, that's going to make a huge difference, not
only to them, but to you as well.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Oh that's perfect, Carl. I just love that you really
brought out the idea of community belonging, and that is
I think kind of the the center of the wheel,
and everything else kind of spokes from that, because without
that community and that core of feeling that belongingness, people
just kind of drift to the next thing. But they
(09:25):
want to feel connected, and I think that's one of
the best things about podcasting is that we can create
that community and it happens through that that just personableness
in our podcast, and there's so many things we can
do with our shows to make that happen. But community
is huge, So yeah, I love I love that you're
talking about a new era of marketing. It's not what
(09:48):
it used to be. Things have changed, it's speeding up,
algorithms are changing and it's definitely hard to keep up
with all this stuff.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
And even now, I mean, I mean, dare we mention
AI because that's piece of the equation, right, so piece
so you know, Dimitria. Community, You're right is huge. And
I don't mean just now it all has to be online.
I mean some of it does mean still meeting in person.
But community. If this was again forty fifty years ago,
community would be being a part of a community group
(10:17):
or going being a part of your local church community,
whatever it is. Well, that is a lot of it
is shifting to being a part of a community where
you feel like you belong. Especially if you're a business owner,
you want to make sure you're in the right community.
And if you're tapped into somebody's podcast already and they
resonate with you, why wouldn't you want to be a
(10:38):
part of that community and learn and grow and build,
and it is a huge component. I'm so glad that
you're I'm so glad we're speaking the same language when
it comes to community and being being a part.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Being a part. I know, I listened to a couple
of podcasts where just hearing the content, it's it's so
much more than the content, it's the person behind them
like and it's there sort of plea or invitation to
join her and join their community that makes me want
to stop what I'm doing and find that link and
go join because of what I've heard on the podcast.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
That's by design, by the way, And that's what I say.
That's that's intentional. That's not going back to what I
mentioned earlier. That's not about just saying, hey, I have
a podcast episode record Mike on Talkie Talkie Talkie and
oh my goodness, I don't know what I just said,
but I hope you like it. No, that's intentional. And
that's what I mean about making sure that you're intentional
with everything you're doing related to podcasting and your marketing
(11:34):
we'll say marketing plan, because if you're building community, it
needs to be with intention because your community members want
to know that you have their best interest in mind,
and it's not just about you, but it's it's by
design that those shows that you're listening to they do
that exactly. And it's intentional, it really is.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
It really is. It's part of the packaging and how
we relate to those that we haven't yet met but
will because they're going to become part of our journey.
And so yes, it's very much intentional. And I know
there are people out there right now who are listening
and thinking, I want to do this, but I don't
know how to get started, and so some people are thinking, like, Okay,
(12:15):
how do I do this? What are some of the
biggest mindset myths or fears that you have seen with
particularly amongst entrepreneurs, that stop them from launching a show
or just claiming their space behind the mic.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
To me, sure, I'm glad you asked that question. I
have five of them actually that I'll run through fairly quickly.
That tends to hold a lot of people back from
stepping into the podcasting space. Number one is the is
the money myth it's too expensive or I don't know
how much is this going to cost? Or am I
going to get my ROI back? Whether it be time,
(12:54):
whether it be the money that you're putting out. Here's
the thing. I always look at it and say, what
is the end? What is the risk of not hosting
or being on podcasts? In other words, if your clients
are already engaging in podcasts or they're listening to podcasts
just like yours, and a client has a certain dollar
(13:14):
value attached to it, what is the risk or what
is the lack of ROI and not doing that? So
I always like to say that to people because it's
crucial to understand that if I don't do a podcast, Okay, fine,
but how many clients are how much potential income am
I leaving on the table by not engaging my audience?
It's number one. Number two is the content myth? What
(13:37):
am I ever going to talk about it? I have
so much information? Where do I begin? Where do I start? Well,
it's not about content creation, it's about content curation because
we have so much content. I've been in business for
well over ten years, firstly as a speaker trainer, now
as a podcast strategist. Prior to that, I have twenty
five years in radio broadcasting. I have a lot of
(13:59):
things to say. How can I curate that information, So
I don't fire hose my listener every episode with too
much information? Right, So how do I curate that content
so it's digestible and bite sized pieces every episode that
leaves the audience wanting more, So the content myth, just
break it down simple, bite sized pieces. The third myth
(14:20):
is the competition myth. There's too many podcasts out there? Now,
who's ever going to listen to me? Well, if you
compare that, for example, there's about four to five million podcasts.
The number keeps going up and down depending on what
month and what hour it is, so right now there's
about four four point five million podcasts worldwide. How many
websites are worldwide? How many websites are out there? But
(14:45):
that doesn't stop us as business owners from you know,
having a website that is tied to SEO and now
it's my searchable can I be found using AI tools?
So we think nothing about that, but we go, oh,
podcast too many? Well, it's not about so it's not
about how many. It's about again the impact that you're
(15:08):
going to have that's going to have you be seen,
and as far as the competition myth and who's going
to listen to you? If you look at how many
podcasts are started by famous people, it's a very small number.
It's probably less than half of a half of a percent.
Most of them are solopreneurs, entrepreneurs, small business owners like Demetria.
You and if you're listening to this, like you, who
(15:29):
are going, oh my goodness, I need to be heard now.
So think of it as oh, yeah, I have something
to say and it needs to be put out there.
The fourth myth is the tech myth, confusing two technical
How am I ever going to figure out how to
do this? Well, it's the same reason why I don't
know about you, Dmitria, but I'm assuming you don't do
your own dental work on yourself. You probably go to
(15:51):
a professional. You know, you don't try it do the drilling,
or pull a tooth or do a film. Same reason
why I don't fix my own car. That and the
fact that it's it's a Tesla, doesn't need much fixing.
It's all. It's pretty much self fixes itself almost. But
it's the same reason why when you need anything done,
you go to the expert. You don't try and figure
(16:11):
it all on your own. So it's not about how
am I going to figure it out how to do this.
It's who do I need to get in contact with
that has some knowledge or information to share a shameless promotion.
I can help you in that area so that you
don't have to try and figure it out the self feasm.
You try and figure it out yourself, guess what. Just
like figuring out through doctor Google what's wrong with you,
(16:33):
you might come up with the wrong diagnosis. And I'll
tell you it is a costly mistake to launch a
podcast the wrong way and try and fix it later
than to launch it the right way, because at the
end of the day, it's a reflection of your brand,
your business, and your credibility, and you want to make
that upfront clear. Here's who I am. The fifth myth,
(16:55):
and I'll wrap this up very quickly, is the time myth.
I don't have time. It's the reason why people don't
go to the gym. It's the reason why people don't
eat right. We're grabbing fast food or quickly prepared food
because we don't have time. Well, a lot of people
don't understand that the time that time is semantic, right.
(17:17):
I always ask this question, how long is a podcast episode?
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Right?
Speaker 2 (17:22):
And I get multiple different answers. I get, well, it
should be two hours. It should be Joe Rogan show
is that long, so should mine be. I get thirty minutes,
I get an hour, I get fifty minutes, I get
forty five. But you know there are podcasts out there,
Demetri that are two minutes long, and they're podcasts out
there that are two hours long. The question is how
long can your audience engage with you? It's number one.
(17:45):
Number two. If you are doing this yourself, you know
you're not quite ready to have somebody help you on
the back end. How much time do you really have,
Like can you find that hour in the week to
you record your show and package it together? And if
the answer is yes, absolutely, Because we know there are
a lot of time wasters out there. I don't mean people,
(18:09):
I mean people sometimes, but they're also like social media
can be a huge time waster. On my phone all
the time, checking email all the time. How much time
are you wasting and how much time can you really
invest in elevating that brand, business and credibility so that
you are being seen as the expert. And that is
time well spent.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Time well spent. I love all of these answers, because
like going back to competition, sometimes that is one of
the biggest things that I hear is I'm not ready
to start because I'm not sure if my voice will
even be heard among the sea of other voices talking
about the same thing that I want to share, or
the tech seems to be one of the other drawbacks
(18:51):
is what do I need? And thing I'm always telling
them that you don't need to worry so much about tech.
Tech is abundant. You can always find an easy startup plan.
There's always packages on Amazon that you can purchase and
just get started until you work your way into something
that may be a little bit better for your setup.
(19:12):
But there's all kinds of reasons why we can stop
ourselves from moving forward. But I love everything you've just said.
I love the time myth, the content myth.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
All of that.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
So these are things that we should consider and remember
that when we're getting started, it's really about our passion
and what we want to share with our audience, finding
that audience that we connect with, and then making those
moves to share content that they want to hear. And
like you said, it could be anywhere from two minutes
(19:44):
to two hours, but it depends on what our audience
needs and what we're capable of doing as well.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
And the sweet spot, by the way, just for the record,
is thirty minutes, twenty five to thirty minutes, which is
the average length of I think your show is twenty
five to thirty minutes, so very very similar. So if
you're thinking in no those terms, all of a sudden,
it's not that daunting. And if it's all about what
you what your intellectual property is, or what you're going
to be talking about, even if you have a guest
on your show, all of a sudden, it's not as
(20:14):
time consuming as we think it is.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yes, well, let's let's kind of circle back to the community.
I want to sort of just kind of land this
on this idea of community, because for entrepreneurs like myself,
like many others listening today that are building brands solo
or with the small team, what do you think is
the smartest way to design a podcast that builds community
(20:38):
and creates that connection, genuine connection with our audience. How
do we go about doing that the best? What's the
best way?
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Yeah, I'm a firm believer and everything starts with starts
with strategy, you know, Simon Sinek says, you know what,
what's your why? Or start with why? So, why are you?
Why do you want this podcast? What's the purpose of it,
what's the goal, and what's the long term plan. If
we're talking about building community, this isn't okay in six
months I'm going to have this massive community. Doesn't happen
(21:08):
that way unless you already have a fairly large following, right,
It does take some time to build it. But start
with the question of why am I doing this show?
Then start to break down what's the show about. From
there you can figure out is this going to be
a solo show? Am I going to be co hosting
with somebody else? Am I doing a round table discussion
(21:29):
every week? There's a there's a lot of shifting now
from just solo shows. Solo's great, by the way, if
you're quite comfortable doing a show by yourself, that's fine too.
But there's a lot of collaborating with other people in
your in your industry or in adjacent industries. I know
folks who are co hosting real estate podcasts where there's
an investor and a legal person and a lender and
(21:52):
a property manager, all combining their their resources. So think
about that and at the end then figure out, Okay,
well when do I want to start? That's the big thing.
Hitting the go button is the big one I want
to start. Let's say you want to launch in January.
A lot of people like to start fresh in January.
That means you need to start planning and preparing in October.
(22:14):
And I know what you're thinking that far back. Really
to start a podcast, well, for a couple of reasons.
Number one, you don't just launch with one episode. You
launch with eight or ten episodes, so you have some
in the bank or in the can, so to speak,
so you're not stressed and trying to figure out what's
the next episode going to be. Plus, it also shows
that you're not a flash in the pan, that you
(22:34):
do have content there. So you're launching with all ten episodes.
That allows you to then promote and market to your community,
whether that be your social media community, your email list,
your networking groups. You can start to connect with those
people and let them know that you have a podcast.
Part of that setup strategy is also understanding the organic
(22:56):
marketing approach. By the way, not a lot of time
to go into a lot of detail here, but think
about the things that organically you already do. If you're
already speaking on stages, while that should be part of
your bio that you are Dimitria mentioned it off the top.
I'm the host of podcasts and I'm on this one,
so it's already mentioned there. It should be in your
speaker bio, should be on your website, all those things
(23:17):
that should be happening so that the organic reach happens
without any or minimal effort. And then making sure that
you are connecting with that audience as often as you
can and letting them know that, by the way, brand
new episode here it is, and start to invite them in.
You also invite them in, going back to the content
(23:39):
myth or the reason why people are scared to do that.
You invite them in through your content. You position in
such a way that you say, hey, you know, if
you like what you've heard today, send me your comments
or that resource I shared with you, it's in the
show notes, whatever it is. You need to be engaging
the audience so they're coming back for more. And by
(23:59):
the way, it's never a bad idea to say. And
by the way, if you like what you've heard today,
share it. With your friends and invite them to the
next episode. So that's sort of the foundation of building
is really starting with the why, start to map it out,
move into production, and then start to promote the show.
And you cannot cannot, with a brand new show, promote
(24:23):
it too much. You can't promote it too much. There's
no such a thing. You need to be out there
saying time and time and time again, I'm a podcast host,
this is my show. Check it out.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Yes, yes, don't be afraid to share your show, toot
your own horn. We got to do that, exactly, you
got to do it. So it's an entire ecosystem that
you've just mentioned, and there's a lot that goes into it,
and that's what you help people do. But first of all,
I before we end, I want to ask you about
your experience as you've been on Page you Get on
(24:56):
radio podcast for over two decades and so I would
love to know one lesson that you could share with
us that you've learned about communicating or storytelling that you
think every solo podcaster should take to heart.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Actually, I'm going to be generous and give you two.
The first one is something I learned when I was
overcoming stuttering. Believe or not, I used to stutter when
I was younger, and it's something that I've taken with
me ever since. And it's the only person who's in
control of your speaking or in control of your speech
is you.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
The only person who's in control of your speech or
you're speaking is you, And that's powerful. So if you
do have imposter syndrome, or if you again like me,
thinking back several years, used to stutter, or you're anxious
on camera, understand that you control it so deep breasts.
You can't give a ton of examples of that today,
but really get in the mind space of I'm the
(25:50):
person in control, okay. And if you need some professional
help with that, or you need some assistance with that,
there are enough coaches out there that can certainly help
you do that. The second nugget that I learned in
when I was a fairly new broadcaster was the audience
doesn't know what you don't tell them. The audience doesn't
(26:11):
know what you don't tell them, which means you don't
have to tell them every single thing every single episode.
Give them what they need to know, give them the
pieces they need to know, make sure they have a
clear trail if they need more information aka going to
your show notes, which by the way, should all link
(26:31):
to your website or wherever they that's the best way
to connect with you. So if you put those two
things together, the only person who's in control of your
speaking is you, and the audience doesn't know what you
don't tell them. It gives you so much power as
a speaker, as a podcaster, as a business owner to
really connect deeply and intently with your audience every single
(26:56):
time you're in front of them.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Wow. Wow, love that. Well, that's awesome. Thank you, Carl.
This has been so helpful, so encouraging, and you've given
us a lot of food for thought, things to really
meditate on when we start, either beginning to launch our
shows or even as we are growing our shows, things
(27:18):
that we can always go back to and remember and
keep in mind. So this has been awesome. You have
a lot to offer our audience, so I would love
for you to share what you do, what you offer,
and how you can help our listeners with their podcasts.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Yeah. Absolutely. We work a lot with coaches, consultants, entrepreneurs,
subject matter experts who don't have the time or the
technical skills to either be on podcasts or launch their
own podcasts. We do all that for you. On the
back end, we help you either launch or we do
all the bookings and take care of all that for you,
so you get to focus on your business, which should
(27:54):
be the most important thing. Will we focus on where
we're focusing on the back end, helping you be seen
as the go to expert, putting yourself in that category
of one blasting through all that noise and all of
that clutter. We do it with strategy. We do it
with audio branding, which is a very specific thing. I
WoT one of the details of that today, But we
(28:15):
do it with strategy, and then of course we make
sure that the production is one hundred percent high quality
so that at the end of the day, you are
confident that your voice is being heard, you're being seen
as the expert, and you're really in the benefits of that.
Podcast Solutions made Simple dot Com I'll say that again,
podcast Solutions Made Simple dot Com is the best place
(28:38):
to find us. And I always like to have conversations
with people who are either curious or go podcasting or
are ready to get started. Let's have a conversation.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
Yeah, I love that, Carl, thank you so much for
being here today. Remember podcast Solutions Made Simple dot com
That will be in the show notes. I love that
there are many of us out here doing the same
things but in different ways, and so love that you're
offering this to our listeners as well, and so we'll
definitely link to that in the show notes. Thank you
for being here today. Thank you
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