Q&A: Where, Why, and How Often.
Yes, absolutely. People are obsessed with YouTubers, but the audio podcast format is an incredible place to start if your main goal is to get a deep connection with your audience. Welcome to The Message Connection, a podcast dedicated to exploring all the angles that it takes to get your message to the masses. I'm your host, Azurae Phelps, and with over twenty years of experience in the world of production, I've seen behind the scenes of everything from recording studios to the Super Bowl halftime show and everything in between. Week after week, we will dig in to the medium of podcasting, as well as host conversations with entrepreneurs, business owners, coaches, artists, creatives, educators, and more to see how they got to the heart of their message and what it took to get them to the place where they were ready to share it.
Azurae:Let's get into it. Welcome back to the Message Connection. I'm Azurae. So glad you're here. Today, we're going to answer a few questions about podcasting and how to make the best show possible.
Azurae:One of the questions I get asked all the time is, do I need to have a YouTube channel or can I just have an audio podcast? First of all, let's talk about the fact that these are two different experiences for the listener and here's why. YouTube is the second largest search engine on the internet. This means people are coming to YouTube for everything from binaural beats, ambiance videos, to funny cat videos, to sermons or teachings, or how to fix their car engine. Have you seen these?
Azurae:They're like the dads who have started YouTube channels who are empty nesters and they're out here trying to give intel to these young kids who don't know how to do these things. It's the best. There's some really amazing YouTube channels out there. And YouTube started as a way for people to share videos that they found or made, and now being a YouTuber is an entire gig for a lot of people. They make content for YouTube.
Azurae:And this is not exactly the same as a podcast because often YouTube videos involve a lot of visual elements, graphics. If you're doing a conversation that's the style of a podcast, many times a YouTube podcast is often in person. It doesn't have to be. You can absolutely use a great recording software like Riverside, which I love to use, to do long distance conversations and still put those on YouTube. But the majority of YouTube content is about taking people on a journey, storytelling, mini movies, etc.
Azurae:The audio podcast format is an incredible place to start if your main goal is to get a deep connection with your audience. Yes, absolutely. People are obsessed with YouTubers, but podcasting in the audio format is such a builder of intimacy with your listener. Why is this, Azurae? So glad you asked.
Azurae:Listening is such an incredible part of our communication skillset. And when we are deeply listening to someone, we are able to retain a lot more of what they're saying. I recently saw a beautiful illustration. On one side of the image was the shape of an ear, and on the other side of the image was a drawing of a womb with a baby inside. And it struck me as just this incredible parallel that things are birthed both from the womb and through what we listen to, which, by the way, means that what we listen to, what we take in really matters.
Azurae:So I'm a huge proponent of the audio podcasting as an option for you to connect deeply with people when you have something that you are ready to share with the world. Now, if you're very comfortable on camera, you've already been making content in this format on video, then by all means, stepping into a longer form conversation, longer form interviews on YouTube would be a great opportunity for you. But if you know that you just want to be showing up consistently week after week and you don't have the time, money, energy right now in this season of your business to have a video editor, to capture high quality video, or to go to an in studio situation, then the audio podcast is an incredible opportunity. It means week after week you can connect with your audience and you're able to show up for them through conversation. I mean, again, back to listening and this skill set that we developed from the earliest of ages, back to the womb and the ear, baby was listening from the time they were in the womb.
Azurae:There's so much beautiful research about what happens for baby in the womb. Back when I was pregnant years and years ago, it was putting headphones on your belly was a way to inspire a little baby in there. They're able to hear things, they're able to take things in. So when we engage with our listeners through the format of audio, there's a deep connection that gets made. Also, people who love audio podcasts love to listen while they're doing something else, whether that's driving, grocery shopping, folding laundry, going for a walk.
Azurae:They're able to do that and also listen to you as you share what it is that you have to share with the world. So I'm a big fan of both. Much of this has to do with what your strategy is in your business in this season. And in either case, what I want you to do is to pursue the thing that you know you will show up for and that you're passionate about. One caveat regarding YouTube versus the audio podcast format is this.
Azurae:If you're recording video and you want to publish your podcast to YouTube, I love that idea. You're able to then take the audio from that video and release it into the audio formats. Now, on the flip, if you're thinking you may want to show up someday on YouTube with video, the other thing that you can do is take your audio podcast and put the podcast up on YouTube just as audio. So there are ways to participate in both lanes at the same time. I just want you to decide where you're going to show up fully so that you will do it with consistency.
Azurae:This brings me to the next question, which is, how do I get more consistent? Okay. Consistency is a bit of an interesting topic these days. Everybody has some kind of calendar or system or way that they do things for their business differently, way that they do things for their lives differently. They have a family calendar.
Azurae:They have a Jesse Itzler's Big A calendar on the wall so everyone can see everything. They have a bullet journal. They use Motion. They use Google Calendar. Everybody operates differently here.
Azurae:So I would back up even further before, how do I do the reps and ask yourself again, do I have something I want to share with the world? Do I see this as a strategic move in my business that's going to add value for me and value for the listener? Is that something that I feel compelled to do? Again, we're not always going to feel it, but consistency is about getting over the hump of mentally deciding. No, I've made a decision.
Azurae:I've made a decision. I just don't. I don't negotiate with myself. Every night before I go to bed, I brush my teeth. It's a decision I made when I was two years old.
Azurae:Someone made that decision for me, right? And I've done it almost every single night that I can possibly remember. Now, brushing your teeth is something that is a built in habit, but I understand the value of clean teeth. I understand the value of not having cavities. I understand the value of going to the dentist and not being worried about what they're going to tell me, right?
Azurae:The reps of brushing my teeth every night give me that peace of mind. There is value in it for me. So when you think about what consistency might mean for you, think about the win on the other side of the value, not just the value that you're bringing, but the value of who you become by showing up week after week in this medium. Again, this comes back to making the decision that this is something that you know you want to do. Most podcasts fail after three episodes.
Azurae:This is called pod fade. We start out strong, we have good intentions, we're going to show up, we have all these ideas, and we get a few in the bank, then we get it live, and life gets in the way. Things get busy. We're not really sure why we started in the first place. How many of you know that is a normal and real feeling?
Azurae:I've gone through that multiple times. Why am I even doing this? Well, because I believe in the value of what it is to show up in this space and to engage in these conversations. I want you to walk away from every episode with inspiration and motivation to keep putting yourself out there and share your message. So that, to me, is of greater value than negotiating with myself about why I shouldn't have to do it this week.
Azurae:As a caveat, I do love to encourage people to batch record a couple of episodes just in case life does get in the way. This happens. We live in a busy world with families and things go wrong in business sometimes. So in order to not overly put pressure on yourself, having a few episodes in the bank, whether those are just personal anecdotes, maybe a Q and A like this, or even a couple of interviews that you possibly scheduled ahead of time and got recorded. And of course, if that doesn't happen, if you don't have one in the bank and you have to miss a week, that's no problem.
Azurae:Just get back into it the next week and don't give up. Recognize that the value of what you have to share is more important than not showing up. Get really clear on that, make the decision and stick to it. Okay. This brings me to the third and final question for this week that is somewhat related, which is, how often should I be releasing shows?
Azurae:Okay. We've made the decision to show up on YouTube and or in the audio format. We've made the decision that the value that we have to share is worth showing up for. Now this third question is, well, how do I know how often to do that? How often is enough?
Azurae:Look. Not everyone needs to release a podcast every single week. What I don't want you to do is think that you've got to release a podcast every single week for the rest of your life. Let me give you the freedom to live into something I love to talk about, which is seasons. As we know, life is full of seasons and even the weather changes four times a year.
Azurae:One of the reasons I love to talk about seasons is because even in nature, we see that there is a natural change and evolution that happens over time throughout the year. This is true in our lives, this is true with our families, this is true in business. So I love to give folks the opportunity to look at their life and business in a holistic way and think about releasing episodes in the arc of a season. This could be a twelve episode season, it could be a 20 four episode season, and these would really easily line up with even the quarters of your business. I love the idea of coordinating your launches, different things that you're inviting people into with your episodes.
Azurae:Of course, this is a strategy you could totally implement. Maybe the podcast for you is about storytelling. Maybe it's about your legacy. Maybe you want to reflect on the things you've gone through and it's just a hobby and interest for you. Even that style of show would benefit from the concept of a season.
Azurae:We love to watch TV shows and nowadays, Netflix, all the different streaming services, they often drop the whole season when they release a show. If you decided that you wanted to lean in on the season strategy, you could think about doing 13 episodes. I like to call it a baker's dozen, 13 episodes and even release them every other week. Well, that's half the year. That's twenty six weeks where every other week, you have a podcast that you're releasing.
Azurae:This gives your audience something to look forward to. You can generate energy and momentum around that with your email list and folks who are in your Facebook groups or in your master classes. They have an opportunity to connect with you every other week. And how many of you know, time goes by. So having 13 episodes, twenty six weeks, two quarters worth of shows is amazing.
Azurae:And, again, remember, 13 is 10 more than three, ten more than that pod fade number. Right? The gift I wanna give you here is the freedom to think about this creatively and think about how it works and fits in to the business that you want to build, to the show that you want to create. When you get clear with yourself and look at your overall business strategy, you can decide, okay, releasing shows every other week feels really good to me. Daniel Priestley talks about the concept of seven eleven four.
Azurae:This is seven hours of watch or listening time, 11 different interactions on four different platforms. You may say, Ajirai, that sounds like a lot. But if you were able to create one season of your podcast, you would be offering them a binge worthy experience to learn about how you teach, what you talk about, what it is that you want to encourage them in. This is awesome because that means that you're checking off that seven hours having that content available. And the 11 interactions would, of course, be then all those different episodes, as well as any other additional ways that you might repurpose that content, whether it's emails that you might send to talk about these episodes or remind them that they're live or Instagram posts that you would make about them or Facebook lives.
Azurae:And now you've knocked out the four seven, 11, four on those four different platforms. If this sounds overwhelming, don't worry about all of that right now. Just know that the value you're able to provide by showing up in this way, giving the gift of your honest vulnerability and your message to the world, means that folks can take a deep dive with you really quickly and grow in their knowledge of you and how you communicate. And many times, this will be an indicator of whether or not they want to keep listening, keep working with you, come to your masterclass, engage with all of your other content, and you've now built a deeper relationship with them as a potential client, as a potential collaborator, as a potential business partner. And for those of you who plan to use the podcast in more of a storytelling format or it's just a hobby that you want to pick up, I'd still highly encourage you to do this because you will transform just by keeping your commitment to yourself to show up week after week.
Azurae:You will grow in your ability to communicate your ideas and to make connections with your audience. There's lots of ways to structure your podcast so that it facilitates what you want to communicate in your business and serves the beautiful life and business that you're trying to build. This is why you're likely an entrepreneur because you want freedom and you want creativity in your work. And so we can show up in all kinds of ways as long as we show up and we tell our audience what to expect. Now if you have additional questions, I would love to hear from you.
Azurae:Please email me at the email in the show notes below, hello@azuraephelps.com, and send in your questions. You can DM me on Instagram at azuree dot phelps. It's likely if you have a question, someone else who's listening has the same question. So send it in. Let's keep the dialogue going.
Azurae:So grateful to have you here, and we'll see you next week. Bye. Thanks so much for listening to The Message Connection with Azurae Phelps. If you found this episode valuable, I'd love to hear from you. Check out the show notes for details on how to stay in touch, and please leave a review on your favorite podcast platform.
Azurae:These reviews help us reach more people who will enjoy and benefit from the show. Don't forget to subscribe to the Message Connection wherever you get your podcasts, so you never miss an episode.
