Well, Hey everybody. Welcome to episode seven of the digital hustle social show - crew version. And today we are covering content marketing specifically with podcasting. And if you haven't got a chance to check out our article, we cover a bunch of different kinds of content marketing. This is one of them. And one that has worked out really well for us is honestly like fairly easy. You can certainly, we do video podcasting but you can certainly just do audio, but this has been a great tool for us. And so we want to run through basically how we leverage it, how we came across wanting to do it to begin with. And I think it'll be really helpful for all small business owners out there listening to this. Cause it's just a killer tool to be able to reach out and meet people.

So yeah, so I guess we just jumped right into it. So like for you guys you know, we've been doing podcasting really since we started meeting. What were some of the things that we kind of like, I mean we can go this way. So like at first we started like interviewing just like anyone, right? They weren't like bad people. They were still very relevant people in the sense that they were like great resources for small business owners, which is the whole point. Yeah. But we kind of like honed in a little bit. So kind of walk us through the journey, whoever wants to go, of like how we kind of like started how we kind of honed in, who we interview and what we use it for as we went.

So I think generally speaking, from what I've seen and what we have kind of discussed is at first we were kind of trying to get basically whoever we could just to kind of build a little bit more of a portfolio for ourselves to get the ball rolling. So yeah. So once we started getting the ball rolling, we kind of decided like, what is our wheelhouse? Like where, where are we, who are we trying to target? So, and then we started figuring out what, what kind of styles are we good at shooting which is kind of edgy. So we decided that we're going to go for basically anyone kind of in that wheelhouse. So like, you know, coffee shops, wood shops, car shops, any kind of, anything like that is kind of our more of our wheel house. So that's kind of where we decided to start taking the direction and that's why we're choosing the people that we're choosing for the podcasts now.

Yeah. It just kind of made sense to pick people who were in the industries that we wanted to work in. Exactly. Cause they were small business for sure. Right. And then on top of that, they were in the industries we wanted to hit up. So yeah. What about you Rylynn what do you, what were your takes on some of our explorations as far as that goes?

Uh, well I know when we first started, the first edit I ever did was I think Ebb and flow coffee, that coffee shop. So that one was super, that was super fun and super interesting. We went to their, or you went to their actual coffee place, like you got all that. And then from there I think we did an insurance company and then we did a couple other random ones, not random, but other companies that weren't necessarily our, I don't know, vibe or like what we were exactly going towards. But it definitely did build, like Sam was saying, like our portfolio, like it definitely made us, it built our credentials in that sense. And I think yeah, just going from in building up basically.

And they were all really great people and they're all really great connections, certainly. Um, so there was like maybe not as much for us out of those first couple of people, but certainly plenty for the people that we were trying to reach. You know, we didn't necessarily want to work with insurance people, but it was certainly wasn't a bad thing because those insurance people had business experience. It was like super great for like our audience and that's really like the point is that I guess number 1 is that the podcast has to be super helpful for the people you're trying to reach your audience and all those people were great for that. They were like for sure bringing tons of knowledge which was super helpful for everyone and even ebb and flow is super great cause it happened to be in kind of the wheelhouse of people that we were trying to reach.

But then it was also like they had done different marketing things that I thought a lot of brick and mortar is we're going to be happy to hear about and learn about. And that was super cool to bring that to the table. Jacob. Like as far as like, you know, dive in a little bit about like some of the networking because like obviously that was like kind of an unintentional great part about that. I know you've kind of newer to the scene as far as what we've been doing, but walk us through a little bit of that.

Working with podcasting. Hmm. I think the coolest part about podcasting is that like we're a little bit different in here since we're doing like the video setup or a video podcast, but with a normal podcast, you know something I like that Joe Rogan does and stuff is it's very comfortable. You know, you can get somebody to come in on scene, they don't have to worry about how pretty they look and all this other stuff. They can come in and just speak their mind, which is a whole different scenario. Whereas other almost every other scenario, you need to be presentable in your own way and all that stuff and obviously that doesn't really change, but at the same time it's just a different, a different atmosphere. But if you're able to get somebody to agree to just come talk for 30 minutes, that's a whole lot different than saying like, Hey, would you love, would you be okay with coming to do this full video shoot?

It's basically a whole production you're going to have like lights, action, makeup, blah, blah, blah. Remember these if you can, but if you can help them in all this right way, it's just a lot, right? It becomes a lot. And so there's a cool, cool part about podcasting is just being able to get people onto it and you can go to wherever they are or if you can, if they can just record clear audio, they don't have to go anywhere. And so that opens up the books for you a lot as well because if you can go into someone's home without having to be there, then that helps a lot. Um, but that, that networking side right there, like if you, like you guys started with the getting the ball rolling with just people you don't know and you started to learn really quickly who you are looking for though because you are, you do want to portray a great message towards your audience and that you got that regardless.

But now you're trying to fine tune your yourself and your audience as well because not everyone in our audience is going to love the edgy side of things, but that's why they're going to find the podcast that fits them. And we are not, we may not be that or we might turn into exactly what they're hoping. Uh, but yeah. I think that's cool though. Cause like you can just see the development of everything and how, uh, you're just going to slowly fine tune your business to be able to meet the people that you need to meet and find more creative ways to get in there. So if you can do a podcast that helps a lot. If you can't do podcasts, but maybe they're down for a video that helps. Like even if you had to record a phone call that's bad, that's practically a podcast, but it's gonna let you get into the mind of a CEO who's been around for 45 years and there's in the shoes that you're trying to get to. And that's more the important part. You're trying to just open a uh, open a door, open a window for other people to see what it was like to get to that kind of position because we're all looking at the people that are where we want to be and we're trying to figure out our own path along those weights.

I do like, I do like the raw aspect of podcasts, like just the way they feel. They're just so, you know, real because, cause like what you said and I like what you said, like people can, are free to speak their mind and I just think that's kind of cool. Like it, it makes people see like the real side of you. Like how, how, how do you actually act as opposed to like how are you in like a YouTube video or something like that. And like there's so there's a reason he's so big. Joe Rogan does an amazing job. Like he makes sure everything's recording before they get in the building and he's got the mix were all on him and he's got the cameras going and he doesn't need to worry about setting some send them up or anything. Like he, somebody can just come in, sit down and whatever's on their minds they just get going.

And that, that just leads to a really wholesome conversation. Whereas if you like you have to restart and reset and then it's like, okay now the cameras are rolling. It just interrupts the whole train of thought and the whole, the whole inner vibe, you know. But that's just one, one of the last things I love about Joe.

One thing I thought was funny about his podcast, cause I've, I've only listened to and watched a couple, but like his desk where he meets people is actually like really messy cause like usually as a videographer you should always try to like remove distractions and always try to make things like cleaner and more like it's distracting and like he literally has like 10,000 things on the desk that the people he's interviewing. So it's like, you're like looking at like, why is there like an action figure over there like that? I don't even know. You know what I mean? It's like, why is that even there? And it's somehow it just works. It's, I guess it's part of the experience, right?

There's a Joe Rogan experience. It goes to show that everything has to be exactly how you picture it, but it could still work, you know?

Well, and just to like clear up a little bit, like when we say podcasts, we always kind of think of things from like a video first perspective. Um, so like we are kind of, you know, looking vaguely presentable for at least, I can only speak for myself. I'm attempting to get my hair, you know, stand down for half an hour. But, uh, you know what I mean? So we always think of video first and then audio second, you know, because like for us it's like with video, like you can always pull out images. You can always pull up audio, but you, you know, if you just shoot audio, that's all you got. Um, so for us it's the most flexible medium in which we can put our content everywhere. But certainly you can just use a phone or zoom or whatever else and be able to um, put together any of you that sounds great and be able to use that to connect and promote your message everywhere.

Um, you don't have to do video cause obviously there's all those other things that go into like Rylynn and like cuts every single one of our videos. Like if you don't have someone who's awesome, like her cutting all your videos and you just got to sit down and figure it out yourself and that's sometimes a bit more than the small business owner is willing to put in the time to do. To be honest. It is. Time is the biggest thing, man. It's, it just takes so much time. Well it'd be the audio version certainly takes far less time and as soon as you have the option to do that, if it's like nothing or that for sure you have the audio option. A lot of small business owners, like some of them were walking into it with a lot of industry experience and sometimes it's just like a passion that ends up taking on the form of the business.

And so, um, you know, we have a passion and knowledge in our craft but not necessarily in the industries that we're wanting to work in. And we wanted to be able to change that and be able to be educated on what they're doing. And the podcast was actually really huge in that because we, as we started to get to know different people, we got to learn like what their likes, dislikes were like, get from there. It was like the struggles that their business had and things that they do really well are things that they don't do very well. And I think we could probably learn a lot just from doing the interviews about their industry, which helped us do a better job for them. So yes. What are some of the things that you guys have like picked up on that we've learned that we didn't know before? Just from doing the podcast

since day one? When I was talking with y'all, you guys were putting together the pieces on what was overlapping and in areas that we wanted to work with. You know, so there's a lot of things that we may or may not like by themselves, but they like a similar interest in that we are interested in, like you were saying with the motorcycles, they also like coffee in the coffee shops also like cameras and it goes from there. But if you start putting together those rings and finding where things connect, that's where you're able to just open the door to different ideas of options that you're, you're always trying to leverage your business best. You know, you're always trying to find what can you do to protect your, for yourself forward. And so if that means like one place is down to do a video and one place is down to do a podcast. Like you get what you can and you do it where you need with like we're really just discovering who we really want to talk to and who we want to work with. And it's not that we don't want to talk with other people, it's just there's a certain direction that we're trying to go and we're just wildly narrowing that down as we go,

which is really a journey every small business owner goes through is like, who's like my most right person? Like, well someone else come in and buy a soy candle that like, isn't like, uh, you know, like a hipster hippie person. Of course someone else will come in and buy a soy candle, but maybe like the people who are like the hippie hipsters are going to be like 80% of their customer base. Well, they're going to want to make sure that they hit that base, but at the same time until they know that is their base, they don't know. And they discovered along the way. What are some things that you guys learned as we

interviewed people? I think I learned, um, from a specific guy, I think the three one, two, no, three, two, one studios or something like that.

No, the one was brand labs and now it's like, Oh yeah, they changed the name. But definitely I think I picked up a lot of things from him cause he was kind of explaining like the process of

growing in small business and kind of grit and, and kind of escalating in, in, um, growing it into something that's bigger than just a small business. So like into a corporation. He was kind of like giving us sort of like the guidelines and the steps to like to get there and where we want to go. And I thought that was really cool cause that's, you know, that's where we're going and that's where we're headed. So I think that was really helpful for, you know, um, moving forward with, within our company. And so I thought that was really cool. Lot of really good, good advice. I wish I would have wrote more stuff down or, but we have the video. That's true. We do have in fact the videos on Google drive. Okay. So you can go watch it whenever you want

Ben knowledge drop. I believe that's perfect. Very, uh, specific and yet goofy. So thank you, Ben if you're watching. Right. It was super good. What about you? Rylynn?

Well I think that, well, my first one was, I felt like I already said, but from that one I learned that they like started somewhere completely different. Like I think she studied like psychology and like she was like a chemist. I don't remember what she was, but she studied something totally random and then she ended up starting just like coffee shop, but somehow that like still incorporated into what she was doing. And then with Madelyn, she like, um, was super broke and she just didn't know where to start. So she went to like a super nice neighborhood and just started knocking on people's doors asking, how did you get here? What did you do? And then like, um, there was another one that I can't remember.

Hmm. How one takes some cohones yeah, yeah.

Why, why do you live here and how did you get here? She's a baller dude. She sounds awesome. That sounds awesome. Right? Well all of the things that we learned like helped us out for sure. Which was super nice. And I think that's like, that's like one of the hidden, there's so many advantages. I guess the point we're trying to make is there's just so many advantages for everyone in doing a podcast because like for us it was like, okay, like we produce content that they can use to promote themselves, but we're also making content that we can use to promote ourselves. We can cross promote, um, we can network, we can, uh, build great relationships with people. Um, uh, we can learn about our industry, their industry, um, just be inspired by their stories. Like it's crazy the amount of like benefit for everybody. And I think in general, like it's so nice.

There's, there has been a couple of people I've talked to where like, you know, small business owner has been so like in the trenches just building their business. They haven't even had a second to like talk about and reflect on how they got there. And I think it's exciting for them to like share their journey too because it's like they work their butt off and like now they get to like brag a little bit, which is super fun. You know what I mean? Like people do should be proud of what they accomplished. And they built a business, they've hired employees, they've scaled like that's something worth sharing because there are plenty of people who have like trimmed that. Yeah. And they don't even know how to get there. And then now this person's like saying, okay like I did this, this and this, and it's like, Oh gosh, like I can do that. It's not like none of the people we talked to were like superheroes. They were just normal people who like worked hard enough and figured that out.

So you like how, how much consistency really helps. Like it's not that you have to work that hard or even that smart, you just gotta be consistent if you're just, if you're constantly improving, it really does add up and it's like investing in your twenties versus in your fifties like the numbers there, you're still investing, but you could have a way better outcome. And so if you just stay consistent through those years, you're going to be getting somewhere. And it's, it is cool to see some people that like they've already put in the years and it's now they get to take that second and really just be like this year suck this year sucked. It was amazing. This one was pretty great too. Right, like and then explaining why. That's just cool to hear for sure.

Well hopefully it would appreciate a time that the years that are awesome start.

Yeah, it's more like does, it's I, it doesn't have to be a whole year that psyched but it's where like you run into some situations that maybe it takes some time to sort out, but at the same time like that's where a lot of people would have quit and that's why they don't get to go as far, but they'd stuck through those tough waves. It's true. Those tough waves are the ones that people don't normally like to talk about, but at the same time, those are the ones that stop us from doing things. So you might as well talk about uncomfortableness and stuff like that where we can all help learn how to get those mindsets to just keep going and improve. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. It's, it's, it's sad to go on Instagram and see like pictures of everyone having like the best time ever building their business. And it's like, I don't know, like I've woken up before and like, not wanting to do anything and being super miserable and tired and grumpy and yet I had to get things done. And like those are the th there's no cute pictures of that online. Like they're always like laughing and having a great time. They're not like, there's no pictures of people crying, building their business. So let's do this. So less so if we haven't sold you on doing a podcast yet, I don't know what will. So it's amazing and you should definitely do it. So let's get into like some like practical stuff as far as like actually putting it together and doing it. Um, so like we have a couple cameras that we run. Certainly don't have to do that. Um, certainly do zoom or use your phone or whatever else. Um, as far as audio, what would you guys suggest for the person who has maybe a little bit of budget and wants it to speak quality but like isn't going to spend like $500.

I'm going to give you three ranges. Free range. That's where you just have your phones on the voice memos and then like each person has their phone right next to them hidden in their pocket, sticking up or whatever it is. But you can combine all those waste memos and that's a podcast number two would be get an inexpensive lav mic or lavelier or however you say the full name, but that just clips under your shirt has a little recorder that's like the little fuzzy ones you'd see on a report or something like 50 bucks. You can buy one, you can get one for like 15 bucks on Amazon. It'll be better than your phone cause it's going to be close to your mouth where your phone might be on a table or something. Uh, but yeah, you run that. If you have a camera, you can run it to a camera.

If you wanted to get a smaller version of this for like 20 bucks, just a recorder, you know, then you can do that as well. But you only need two things. You need audio, you really need audio. And then something to mix it on. You know, that's it. So whether you use an online free software or you're able to use, I do Adobe audition or something, like whatever you need, but just get the sound recorded. And then third option is into a better version of these guys is a zoom. Right? So if you look into a zoom, these guys are worth the penny. I mean he was, he was talking about earlier that they're worth, it sounds more or it sounds like it's worth more than what he paid, which is the best thing you could ask for from a mic. Uh, but yeah I think the best part about podcast is if you don't do a podcast is because you're choosing not to. It's not because you don't have access to something. It's true. Cause there's so many different mix. Your Alexa has a mic like tell her to record the next 45 minutes of you cause she already is. So,

and that was actually kind of nice if you think about it. Cause those are like pretty subtle. They're just a little little hockey puck.

Yeah. It doesn't have to be as big as this but this makes us feel legit. You know, so do whatever you do and it sounds legit. So it does sound like it's more than feeling. I haven't tried, I haven't tried to record from the Alexa before. I don't know if she can do it like that but that'd be kind of funny. Just upload it to my drive when you're done. That would be amazing actually.

So I know a couple of people that use the zoom H6 for podcasting, especially in a group setting because if they've, if they spend money then they'll have individual mics in front of each person. I mean that's, that's like a, you know, there's, I think usually the mix like the crap version, not crap versions, but like low enough versions that are going to be like 50, 50 to a hundred dollars. Each nice versions are like 300 each of each microphone. But you can control, you can control the volume of each one independently and then mix it later which we found this to be, uh, with the single mic to be the most efficient use of our time while also being of quality. Jacob, you're totally right. Like if you, if you want to do an audio podcast, certainly you have to look no further than the phone in your pocket to make it happen. Will it be crispy, clear? No, but at the same time, you're right, you can use a lav to be recorded,

which is super handy. There's a difference between trying to get it recorded and try and be the best recording. You know, you don't have to be both. That's true. But you do have to get things recorded. Yeah. By the way. Yeah.

In which case maybe the zoom is the best option to be able to just, you know, have video and photo and have the audio already synced up and the whole nine yards it's just, at that point you're taking a little bit of a risk because you're relying on your internet connection for the quality of the video or audio the whole way through which we've done one. So I don't know if you want to speak to that a little bit.

I think it was pretty good and I think we'll, you have really good internet. So it was super, it wasn't a clearest audio, but it was audio and then, yeah, the connection obviously like there was a slight delay between the two of you, so it would take a second to respond. So you have to cut out all those weird just silent moments where you're both just staring at each other

in a completely normal way. I don't know. The Zoomis super good. Yeah, he is. Yeah. I mean it worked. It was certainly better than nothing. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Especially right now when you can't really see people face to face. Yeah, totally. Yeah. As we're recording this now, there's kind of on the tail end of the covid, uh, crisis and uh, people were still, for the most part, not meeting in person unless they have to. So zoom is kind of the most efficient, most PR friendly version to do. Um, okay. Any other suggestions that you would have for a small business owner who's looking to, um, maybe, maybe how they get them to get the guests? Any suggestions? Instagram, find, find the guests,

find who you want to talk to. First, make your list of like 10, 15 people and then have like, just make a little a check boxes next to them, but have email, uh, like all the social connects of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, hit them on all of them. Just send it if either it's the same message or not, but just send something to all of them. And then if you can call them, call them like whatever point of contact you can find. Use it. Because I mean, I, I'm not, I'm not that important or famous or anything, but I don't see my Instagram messages. Like, it's like I may be busy on something else or I just don't have the notifications on or whatever it is. So it's, it may not be personal why they're not responding to you, but if you give them more opportunities to be able to at least see your name and then if they see your name twice, right? Oh, this guy's really trying to talk to me. Uh, but you're going to be able to stand out by actually hitting up and using all the resources you have, whereas other people are only trying one or two outlets and then stop in there and wonder why they're not getting very far.

Long story short, Instagram live is a great resource for your business and you should really looked into what you need for your business, especially all sorts of podcasts and video and just really dive into every little tune that you think is going to be able to excell you and be able to grow you and to be able to just make sure that the rest of your path and careers exactly what you're hoping to get through. True.

That was amazing. So someone had to get through it. There's like a million hours of bloopers on this podcast, so thank you for that. That is a hundred percent true and there is nothing needed to add to that. So if you guys are looking to make some great content, if you guys are looking to network, build your knowledge of your industry, connect with other people, um, potentially become familiar with people who can be potential clients for your business. Podcasting is 100% the way to go. Like I said, our version is video that we turn into audio that we can shoot a couple of pictures and turn into that as well, doing the quote images. But certainly if you want to get the ball rolling and you want to bring the value, just pull out your phone, set it up, start recording and just go out there and start meeting people or doing screen life. So hopefully this has been super helpful for you guys and um, we will catch you next week as we cover in another subject to help out small business owners. Thank you for watching.