Jan. 20, 2020

#BestOf2019: Why & How to Do Solo Episodes for Your Podcast w/ Jen Spencer

In this episode we hear from , Host of  and VP of Sales and Marketing at . No. 8 in our countdown of the Top 20 episodes of 2019. Jen shares... Why she chose to focus her podcast on doing solo episodes instead of interviews. ...

In this episode we hear from Jen Spencer, Host of SmartBug on Tap and VP of Sales and Marketing at SmartBug Media.

No. 8 in our countdown of the Top 20 episodes of 2019.

Jen shares...

  1. Why she chose to focus her podcast on doing solo episodes instead of interviews.

  2. Two specific ways she develops topics for each episode.

  3. The amount of time it takes her to prep each episode and what that prep looks like.

  4. How she thinks about the length of each episode.

  5. The super simple setup she uses to record her episodes.


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Transcript
WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:08.470 Hey there, this is James Carberry, founder of sweet fish media and one 2 00:00:08.470 --> 00:00:11.349 of the cohosts of this show. For the last year and a half I've 3 00:00:11.349 --> 00:00:15.150 been working on my very first book. In the book I share the three 4 00:00:15.189 --> 00:00:19.629 part framework we've used as the foundation for our growth here at sweetfish. Now 5 00:00:19.670 --> 00:00:22.780 there are lots of companies that ever raised a bunch of money and have grown 6 00:00:22.820 --> 00:00:25.739 insanely fast, and we featured a lot of them here on the show. 7 00:00:26.500 --> 00:00:30.739 We've decided to bootstrap our business, which usually equates to pretty slow growth, 8 00:00:31.260 --> 00:00:34.859 but using the strategy outlined in the book, we are on pace to be 9 00:00:35.020 --> 00:00:38.770 one of inks fastest growing companies in two thousand and twenty. The book is 10 00:00:38.890 --> 00:00:42.890 called content based networking, how to instantly connect with anyone you want to know. 11 00:00:43.450 --> 00:00:45.490 If you're a fan of audio books like me, you can find the 12 00:00:45.530 --> 00:00:48.609 book on audible or if you like physical books, you can also find it 13 00:00:48.729 --> 00:00:54.520 on Amazon. Just search content based networking or James carberry CR be a ary 14 00:00:54.920 --> 00:00:58.920 in audible or Amazon and it should pop right up. All right, let's 15 00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:03.560 get into the show. Hey, everybody, Logan with sweet fish here, 16 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:07.469 as we've been doing all month long. Throughout January, we continue our countdown 17 00:01:07.549 --> 00:01:11.469 of the top twenty episodes of two thousand and nineteen here in our Hashtag best 18 00:01:11.510 --> 00:01:15.870 of two thousand and nineteen series. Today's episode coming in and Number Eight is 19 00:01:15.909 --> 00:01:19.260 a conversation James had with Jen Spencer over at Smart Bug media, who is 20 00:01:19.340 --> 00:01:23.739 also the host of smart bug on tap. They talk about the power of 21 00:01:23.819 --> 00:01:27.939 Solo episodes for your pod cast and specifically how to do them effectively to get 22 00:01:29.060 --> 00:01:32.340 more episodes coming up. And then countdown. Make sure you're subscribed to the 23 00:01:32.379 --> 00:01:36.650 show in apple podcast or wherever you do you're listening. You can also check 24 00:01:36.689 --> 00:01:41.930 out the full list at Sweet Fish Mediacom blog. Just look for the Hashtag 25 00:01:42.010 --> 00:01:45.450 Best of two thousand and nineteen in the categories on the right hand side of 26 00:01:45.530 --> 00:01:49.640 that page. Welcome back to the BB growth show. My name is James 27 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:53.480 Carberry. I'm the founder of Sweet Fish Media and I'm joined today by the 28 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:59.120 VP of sales and marketing at Smart Bug media, Jin Spencer. Jin, 29 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:01.790 how you doing today? I'm doing great. Thanks for having me. I 30 00:02:01.950 --> 00:02:05.469 am really excited to chat with you today. Joe. We actually got to 31 00:02:05.469 --> 00:02:08.110 meet up while I was in Phoenix last week and so I love I love 32 00:02:08.310 --> 00:02:12.389 getting the opportunity to meet up with different friends. We actually known each other 33 00:02:12.430 --> 00:02:15.139 for a while because you've been on BB growth, I think, multiple times 34 00:02:15.259 --> 00:02:21.580 in the past, and we are we have started helping smart bug produce a 35 00:02:21.699 --> 00:02:24.539 new show that you guys are doing called smart bug on tap, and you 36 00:02:24.620 --> 00:02:30.650 guys are doing it a little bit differently than other folks that we're helping with 37 00:02:30.770 --> 00:02:35.729 their show, because you guys are solely doing solo episodes with that show, 38 00:02:35.810 --> 00:02:38.770 and so I wanted to dive into that a little bit in this episode. 39 00:02:38.770 --> 00:02:40.129 But before I get into that, can you kind of give a high level 40 00:02:40.169 --> 00:02:44.319 picture of what is Smart Bug media? What do you guys do? And 41 00:02:44.360 --> 00:02:47.000 then from there we're going to go into your philosophy on the approach you decided 42 00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:50.199 to go with your show. Sure, right now, I'd be happy to. 43 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:53.639 And it's been so great working with sweetfish, and people who know me 44 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:58.789 know when I meet awesome people I like to keep them close. So always 45 00:02:58.870 --> 00:03:01.949 great, glad, glad to be partnering with you guys. So Smart Bug 46 00:03:01.990 --> 00:03:07.349 media, we are an intelligent inbound marketing agency focused on driving revenue growth for 47 00:03:07.469 --> 00:03:12.710 our clients. So what does that mean? That means we look at how 48 00:03:12.750 --> 00:03:17.300 do we take smart, Data Oriented Strategies and deliverables and really combine in bowl 49 00:03:17.379 --> 00:03:23.699 marketing, web design, public relations, sales enablement and creative to help our 50 00:03:23.780 --> 00:03:28.689 clients grow revenue and for their marketing Roi. So we would love all things 51 00:03:28.810 --> 00:03:32.610 marketing and sales enablement and really serve as an extension of our clients, typically 52 00:03:32.689 --> 00:03:37.650 of their demand. Jet Team well, and you guys are growing like crazy. 53 00:03:37.689 --> 00:03:39.610 It seems like every other day I'm scrolling through Linkedin and I'm seeing that 54 00:03:39.689 --> 00:03:45.680 you guys, you have just hired a key leadership roll or is so clearly 55 00:03:45.719 --> 00:03:49.599 you're doing something right to be growing at the the rate that you're growing. 56 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:52.319 So, jet, I want to I want to go ahead and dive into 57 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:55.870 what we're going to be talking about today, which is solo episodes. I've 58 00:03:55.990 --> 00:04:04.789 said for a really long time that solo episodes are absolutely untapped way to do 59 00:04:04.990 --> 00:04:10.659 podcasting. I noticed that when I started doing solo episodes on PB growth download 60 00:04:10.740 --> 00:04:15.540 numbers for those types of episodes were far greater than the interviews that I was 61 00:04:15.620 --> 00:04:17.699 doing, and I thought it was interesting, so I started doing more of 62 00:04:17.740 --> 00:04:20.980 them and it ended up playing out over the long haul. People would rather 63 00:04:21.019 --> 00:04:26.529 or seemingly would rather hear me talk in a solo episode, and I've got 64 00:04:26.529 --> 00:04:29.889 a lot of ideas as to why I think that's the case. I think 65 00:04:29.970 --> 00:04:34.170 there's a level of wanting to have intimacy with the host of the show and 66 00:04:34.290 --> 00:04:38.959 wanting to hear kind of how they're thinking and how they're learning and growing, 67 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:43.399 and the more they can be vulnerable and share that process, people are are 68 00:04:43.480 --> 00:04:46.879 wanting to hear that content. But then I also think that there's something about 69 00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:50.920 like the tightness of the content and being able to cover like a very specific 70 00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:58.589 topic without the variable of a guest kind of rambling on on somewhere or taking 71 00:04:58.629 --> 00:05:01.550 the conversation a different direction. It's much more controllable. So there's a lot 72 00:05:01.589 --> 00:05:05.110 of reasons why I think solo episodes perform well. But you have actually decided 73 00:05:05.110 --> 00:05:09.899 to go all in on solo episodes with your show, smart Bugun tap, 74 00:05:10.180 --> 00:05:14.060 and so I wanted to get your from your perspective first. Why did you 75 00:05:14.259 --> 00:05:18.579 decide to experiment with a show that only did solo episodes? So, first 76 00:05:18.620 --> 00:05:23.529 of all, I'm the kind of person who I want to always be on 77 00:05:23.649 --> 00:05:28.250 the forefront of whatever it is that we're doing, especially in marketing and when 78 00:05:28.250 --> 00:05:31.810 I look at the landscape, I see there are a lot of conversational, 79 00:05:32.129 --> 00:05:36.639 interrestyle podcasts out there. Not that there's anything wrong with those right they're great, 80 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:43.399 but why would someone want to listen to this podcast? What's going to 81 00:05:43.480 --> 00:05:47.560 make this one different from anything else, from anyone else's? So that's one 82 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:53.550 piece. The other pieces what we have a culture of experimentation here at spart 83 00:05:53.629 --> 00:05:57.990 bug and one of our goals is to spirit. We want an experiment on 84 00:05:58.069 --> 00:06:02.509 ourselves and track the effectiveness and then, depending on what the results are, 85 00:06:02.670 --> 00:06:05.699 then those are some of the concepts that we roll out to our clients and 86 00:06:06.060 --> 00:06:09.620 it's a really fun job that I get to that I get to do, 87 00:06:10.100 --> 00:06:15.100 and so it's was really intriguing like with US actually try try this out and 88 00:06:15.259 --> 00:06:18.930 the you know, also we are in the process of launching another podcast and 89 00:06:19.089 --> 00:06:25.810 that will be more of a having a guest on interview style format that will 90 00:06:25.810 --> 00:06:30.209 be hosted by our founder and CEO, Ryan Malone. So I wanted to 91 00:06:30.329 --> 00:06:33.240 have something that was going to be complimentary, that could was going to play 92 00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:39.920 off of both our strengths as a brand but also my strength as a marketing 93 00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:44.279 and sales leader. And and also just be something different and have fun and 94 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:46.350 take a little bit of a chance. I love it. I am subscribed 95 00:06:46.350 --> 00:06:48.910 to the show and have been since we hope you guys get it launched and 96 00:06:49.310 --> 00:06:55.949 the content every single episode I find myself wanting to hit play. It's so 97 00:06:56.149 --> 00:07:00.430 obviously you guys have gotten really good at honing in on specific topics. How 98 00:07:00.500 --> 00:07:06.060 how do you Jin come up with the topics that end up shaping kind of 99 00:07:06.100 --> 00:07:11.100 the content calendar for that Solo Episode Show? The way I come up with 100 00:07:11.300 --> 00:07:14.420 the the topics is very similar to the way that I come up with any 101 00:07:14.500 --> 00:07:17.889 topic that I maybe want to blog about or, guess, blog about or 102 00:07:18.050 --> 00:07:23.689 speak about out a conference. It's I'm in my role as a sales leader. 103 00:07:23.970 --> 00:07:29.810 I'm both having sales conversations and I'm listening to call recordings all the time 104 00:07:30.600 --> 00:07:33.879 of my team, you know, taking sales calls, and so I like 105 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:41.199 paying attention to the questions that my buyer personas are asking us in the sales 106 00:07:41.240 --> 00:07:46.949 process. That has been this like just treasure trove of content. So that's 107 00:07:47.029 --> 00:07:53.589 really the kind of the goto place for anything that I'm creating and for kicking 108 00:07:53.629 --> 00:07:57.829 off this solo podcast. The first place I went because it we wanted to 109 00:07:58.149 --> 00:08:00.980 kind of create a little bit of a backlog of content. Yep. So 110 00:08:01.180 --> 00:08:03.459 one of the first places I went is I looked at okay, where have 111 00:08:03.579 --> 00:08:07.660 I guess blogged and or what if I talked about on stage at a conference 112 00:08:09.180 --> 00:08:15.970 that hasn't been packaged in another format and how? And I love, I 113 00:08:16.170 --> 00:08:22.129 love the idea of doing something once and then picking it apart and repurposing it 114 00:08:22.370 --> 00:08:26.569 in ten other ways. I feel like a very successful human being what I'm 115 00:08:26.569 --> 00:08:28.560 able to do that. So that's where I went first, just to really 116 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:33.120 get started and make sure where I had those first kind of four or five 117 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:37.159 episodes, you know, right there in the queue. I love that because 118 00:08:37.559 --> 00:08:41.509 so, going back to your first point, I think it's absolutely brilliant. 119 00:08:41.950 --> 00:08:46.350 The fact that you're consistently listening to recorded sales calls is so smart and I 120 00:08:46.389 --> 00:08:50.149 don't hear enough people talking about, you know, doing that. So the 121 00:08:50.190 --> 00:08:54.710 fact that you're doing it and then you're leveraging the time that you're investing because 122 00:08:54.710 --> 00:08:56.179 you're I'm sure you're you know, you're coaching your wraps, you're doing a 123 00:08:56.340 --> 00:09:00.860 lot, but not just coming up with topics for you know, for other 124 00:09:00.980 --> 00:09:03.980 forms of content, but that's useful time spit in other areas of the business 125 00:09:05.019 --> 00:09:09.259 as well. So the fact that you're gleaning wisdom from those calls and hearing 126 00:09:09.299 --> 00:09:13.450 directly from your future customers what they want to learn, I think that's brilliant. 127 00:09:13.490 --> 00:09:16.809 And then to your next point. So efficient because you do speak it 128 00:09:16.850 --> 00:09:20.289 a lot of conferences, you've you've written all over the Internet on a bunch 129 00:09:20.330 --> 00:09:24.720 of different sites. So capitalizing on the thoughts that you've already put on paper 130 00:09:26.200 --> 00:09:30.799 and already spoken at different conferences and just repurposing those in a different format. 131 00:09:30.840 --> 00:09:33.720 Often Times a you know, a thirty forty minute talk that you maybe gave 132 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:37.990 it a salescacer conference or flip my phonnel or a variety of other conferences could 133 00:09:37.990 --> 00:09:43.470 be sliced and dice into probably, you know, three or four different podcast 134 00:09:43.470 --> 00:09:46.070 episode. So I think that's a super smart and efficient way to do it. 135 00:09:46.629 --> 00:09:50.429 So when you're repurposing content, I would imagine the prep time is not 136 00:09:50.629 --> 00:09:56.019 very much. When you're looking at maybe a new idea, though, and 137 00:09:56.220 --> 00:10:00.779 it's a question that you hear from from a call recording, how much time 138 00:10:00.820 --> 00:10:05.340 on average are you spending to prep these solo episodes that you're doing. It's 139 00:10:05.379 --> 00:10:11.049 a good question. I think probably about an hour and I haven't actually like 140 00:10:11.289 --> 00:10:16.009 clocked it yet, but I did get a lot of written out when I 141 00:10:16.049 --> 00:10:20.799 was on a flight from Phoenix to Boston recently. So it's really it's very 142 00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:26.879 similar to the process of writing a blog, although it's less intensive because I'm 143 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:31.919 not as much focused on, okay, making sure this is going to be 144 00:10:31.960 --> 00:10:35.830 optimized for search, making sure I have the right keywords, making sure I've 145 00:10:35.830 --> 00:10:37.710 got the right formatting, grammatical structure, you know, just all of those 146 00:10:37.710 --> 00:10:43.029 things when you're putting something into into print format. So it takes a little 147 00:10:43.029 --> 00:10:46.429 bit less ten but I'm I tend to start a very stream of consciousness and 148 00:10:46.750 --> 00:10:50.580 really, you know, the whole idea of this podcast of smart bug on 149 00:10:50.740 --> 00:10:56.179 tap came from the fact that somebody said to me, I wish I could 150 00:10:56.179 --> 00:11:00.340 just tap into your brain, you know, at various times throughout my week 151 00:11:00.740 --> 00:11:05.009 to get questions answered about marketing, and I had laughed and thought, okay, 152 00:11:05.049 --> 00:11:07.970 well, my brains sometimes a mess, but the Smart Bug Rain, 153 00:11:09.529 --> 00:11:13.210 Smart Bug rain, is amazing. So let's talk about how do we tap 154 00:11:13.289 --> 00:11:16.049 into the smart bug brain. You know, this collective brain that we have. 155 00:11:16.769 --> 00:11:18.600 So that's really where that came from. So I just think about, 156 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:22.080 all right, if someone asked me a question or someone wanted advice, what 157 00:11:22.200 --> 00:11:26.759 but I recommend. So it's sort of feels like journaling in a way, 158 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:35.629 more than it feels like crafting a piece of content. Today's gross story revolves 159 00:11:35.669 --> 00:11:39.789 around search engine marketing. Delphis, a big data platform, had hired an 160 00:11:39.830 --> 00:11:43.590 agency to manage their Google adds a few years ago, but they weren't seeing 161 00:11:43.590 --> 00:11:48.860 the results they wanted to see. Being such a technical be tob solution, 162 00:11:48.980 --> 00:11:52.659 they set out to find a team that could take on their challenge. After 163 00:11:52.860 --> 00:11:58.139 countless proposals, they found the perfect fit directive consulting, the B Tob Search 164 00:11:58.220 --> 00:12:03.330 Marketing Agency. And just one week after launching directives campaigns, Delphi saw their 165 00:12:03.409 --> 00:12:09.649 lead volume double and their costper lead drop by sixty percent. I have a 166 00:12:09.730 --> 00:12:13.009 haunch that directive can get these kind of results for you too, so head 167 00:12:13.049 --> 00:12:20.480 over to directive consultingcom and request a totally free custom proposal. That's directive consultingcom. 168 00:12:22.120 --> 00:12:26.240 All right, let's get back to this interview. I think a lot 169 00:12:26.279 --> 00:12:30.909 of people that start to get into solo episodes, they can get crippled by 170 00:12:30.950 --> 00:12:33.309 the idea of wanting it to be perfect and they want to spend three hours 171 00:12:33.429 --> 00:12:37.909 scripting it. So do you more it's stream of consciousness? Are you kind 172 00:12:37.909 --> 00:12:43.309 of more using that stream of consciousness to develop an outline and then when you 173 00:12:43.470 --> 00:12:46.059 go to record it, you just kind of piece you know, text in 174 00:12:46.100 --> 00:12:50.179 your outline triggers a thought and it's more grant it that way. Or is 175 00:12:50.259 --> 00:12:54.019 it isn't more structured than that? I like it to be a bit structured. 176 00:12:54.220 --> 00:13:00.009 I'll do an outline and then I might do I might actually script some 177 00:13:00.169 --> 00:13:07.129 very specific words and phrases and hopefully no one thinks that. Let me listen 178 00:13:07.210 --> 00:13:09.169 to it and I would I would not think that it was scripted in listen. 179 00:13:09.289 --> 00:13:13.039 Okay, every episode so far, so I will. I will think 180 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:18.039 my theater background for that. So, because that's what you don't want, 181 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:22.919 I would give it my advice as making sure you don't overly script something and 182 00:13:22.039 --> 00:13:26.000 then you come across like you're reading. No one wants to hear somebody read 183 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:31.309 or not nobody, but they're less likely to. We actually have an audio 184 00:13:31.509 --> 00:13:33.830 we have audio blogs on some of our blog posts where it very much is 185 00:13:35.429 --> 00:13:41.110 the blog author reading and that's another format that we're, you know, dabbling 186 00:13:41.230 --> 00:13:45.059 in right now. But I think people much prefer to feel like it's conversational, 187 00:13:45.299 --> 00:13:48.580 like someone is right there talking with them, talking to them, sharing 188 00:13:48.580 --> 00:13:52.580 information. so that's the feeling. So I do rely on some very modest 189 00:13:52.779 --> 00:13:56.529 theater training that I that I've had to try to ensure that it doesn't feel 190 00:13:56.690 --> 00:14:01.809 very scripted. I do like to have bit of a format in place for 191 00:14:01.889 --> 00:14:07.409 myself because I have a tendency to go off on tangents and so what I 192 00:14:07.929 --> 00:14:11.159 you know, one of the things you mentioned that that you like about the 193 00:14:11.240 --> 00:14:13.320 show is how tight it is. Yeah, and in order to keep it 194 00:14:13.480 --> 00:14:18.080 tight like that, I do have to make sure I install some guard rails 195 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:22.240 for myself the stay on track. That makes sense. And one thing, 196 00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:24.309 going back to what something you said a little bit earlier Jan that I've noticed 197 00:14:24.710 --> 00:14:30.029 whenever I write scripts for some of the episodes that we do, maybe it's 198 00:14:30.029 --> 00:14:33.509 an intro for a new type of episode that we've been doing or something like 199 00:14:33.549 --> 00:14:37.830 that, I found that writing a script knowing that I'm going to read it 200 00:14:37.909 --> 00:14:41.500 actually helps me become a better writer, because I'm writing like I talk. 201 00:14:41.740 --> 00:14:46.659 I'm more intentionally writing like I talked and I found that as a reader of 202 00:14:46.820 --> 00:14:52.419 content, I resonate with content that that seems like I'm reading the way the 203 00:14:52.539 --> 00:14:56.289 author would talk to me across the table, and so I don't know if 204 00:14:56.330 --> 00:15:00.450 that's the same with you, but I I think that clearly you are able 205 00:15:00.490 --> 00:15:03.730 to write like you talked because I can't tell that you're episodes are scripted and 206 00:15:03.330 --> 00:15:07.559 I've listened to all of them so far. So Kudos to you for that. 207 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:11.519 My next question, Jed, how do you think about the length of 208 00:15:11.240 --> 00:15:16.919 the solo episodes? When I think about someone listening to me talk at them, 209 00:15:18.279 --> 00:15:20.120 I think, all right, this is got to be pretty short, 210 00:15:20.470 --> 00:15:26.230 because otherwise this is going to get to be obnoxious. Yeah, so I 211 00:15:26.509 --> 00:15:30.710 think about I actually didn't think necessarily about all right, making sure it fits 212 00:15:30.750 --> 00:15:33.470 within a certain time frame. And if you listen to the episodes, you'll 213 00:15:33.509 --> 00:15:37.259 notice some might be seven minutes, that might be nine, summer ten minutes 214 00:15:37.419 --> 00:15:39.419 long. I don't think there's any that are longer than ten. When you 215 00:15:39.460 --> 00:15:43.500 get to the core of it, right, that are without like the bumpers 216 00:15:43.620 --> 00:15:46.419 you know in the beginning. And I but it really it's I just share. 217 00:15:48.019 --> 00:15:52.450 I'm sharing a solution to a problem and it's however long it takes to 218 00:15:52.970 --> 00:15:56.889 share that solution. Keeping in mind I like to be able to be with 219 00:15:56.009 --> 00:16:03.049 someone on their drive from their home to the grocery store, right something now 220 00:16:03.129 --> 00:16:06.799 we're not talking about you're sitting in an hour long commute, but we're busy 221 00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:10.600 people. Time is our currency. How do I make sure that I'm able 222 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:15.120 to provide value very, very efficiently for the listener? Yep. Have there 223 00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:18.830 been any? Because this is something that I've noticed that I like to keep 224 00:16:18.830 --> 00:16:22.830 a similar in a time range with our solo episodes, and I've noticed, 225 00:16:22.990 --> 00:16:26.870 at least my own psychology, when I'm looking through and I'm I'm listening to 226 00:16:27.029 --> 00:16:32.269 a show, I am more likely to tap on the episode that is shorter 227 00:16:32.830 --> 00:16:34.740 because it's like achievable in a sense, and so I'm like, Oh, 228 00:16:34.779 --> 00:16:38.340 I can, I can get out three of these episodes because they're only five 229 00:16:38.340 --> 00:16:41.299 minutes a piece, as opposed to me only a company. You know, 230 00:16:41.340 --> 00:16:44.860 I don't know if it's, you know, the Anagram three in me or 231 00:16:45.059 --> 00:16:47.370 I don't know what it is, but I can need to listen to one 232 00:16:47.409 --> 00:16:51.210 episode that's fifteen minutes long or twenty minutes long, or I can go and 233 00:16:51.289 --> 00:16:53.570 listen to this other podcast because they've got three episodes or five minutes long. 234 00:16:53.769 --> 00:17:00.169 So there's something there that I absolutely think the shorter episodes work, and so 235 00:17:00.370 --> 00:17:03.799 that has it informed. When I'm thinking through a topic that I want to 236 00:17:03.799 --> 00:17:07.559 do a solo episode on, if I notice that I'm going a little bit 237 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:11.400 longer, I'll think, man, could this actually be two different episodes of 238 00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:14.720 my talking about ideas that are different enough? or I could split that up 239 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:17.710 in the two different episodes? Hays, that happened to you yet or you 240 00:17:17.789 --> 00:17:22.630 know, is that something you've considered or thought about? Definitely so. Actually, 241 00:17:22.630 --> 00:17:26.630 the podcast that just went live today, on the day that we're recording 242 00:17:26.670 --> 00:17:30.380 this, was about trade shows and I actually explicitly say like I could talk 243 00:17:30.460 --> 00:17:33.700 for hours about trade show marketing. So, but I want to talk about 244 00:17:33.700 --> 00:17:37.099 vers. I was something very, very specific, and that also goes back 245 00:17:37.220 --> 00:17:41.539 to I used to teach, chased to be a high school English and Theater 246 00:17:41.579 --> 00:17:48.130 Arts Teacher, and you cannot you can't even give students directions all at once. 247 00:17:48.210 --> 00:17:51.250 You can't say all right, I want you to move to this side 248 00:17:51.289 --> 00:17:53.089 of the room, take out your book, take out a piece of paper, 249 00:17:53.289 --> 00:17:57.130 write your name in the paper. They get overwhelmed and they start doing 250 00:17:57.210 --> 00:18:00.119 things. You know. So you have to go all right, move to 251 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:02.359 the other side of the room, get everyone's there. All right, now, 252 00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:06.319 take out your book and it sounds ridiculous, but it's just the way 253 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:08.480 we're just wired as humans. I don't know. Yeah, so I just 254 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:11.759 think, all right, am I running the risk of overwhelming the lessoner and 255 00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:17.390 making them feel like I can't this is this is not for me. Yeah, 256 00:18:17.430 --> 00:18:21.190 so if the goal is to provide helpful, tactical advice that they can 257 00:18:21.230 --> 00:18:26.109 implement immediately, then I'm also thinking about that as I'm laying out the content 258 00:18:26.150 --> 00:18:30.660 as part of my quote lesson. Am Yeah, it's something I say all 259 00:18:30.700 --> 00:18:33.859 the time, especially as we're adding more and more cohost on to be to 260 00:18:33.900 --> 00:18:37.460 be growth. Like I'm saying, I find myself saying this multiple times a 261 00:18:37.579 --> 00:18:41.730 week, is the more granular and the more focus the content, the better 262 00:18:41.809 --> 00:18:44.450 it's actually going to be. For the exact point you just made, it's 263 00:18:44.490 --> 00:18:47.769 going to be more practical and more helpful the more focused it is. So 264 00:18:48.210 --> 00:18:51.730 I love that story and that there was a recent example that you could share 265 00:18:51.769 --> 00:18:55.289 there. The last part of my last question for you, Jim, is 266 00:18:55.329 --> 00:19:00.519 around kind of just really super tactical. How do you actually record the solo 267 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:04.440 episodes? Because you're not obviously you're not interviewing someone else, so you're not 268 00:19:04.519 --> 00:19:07.240 doing it on zoom or Uber Conference or something like that. So how are 269 00:19:07.240 --> 00:19:11.589 you actually recording the content? It's so awesome because I could just do it 270 00:19:11.710 --> 00:19:15.230 like I'd like, just pound out like five of them on a Saturday afternoon. 271 00:19:15.269 --> 00:19:19.150 I love it. But I use garage band on my back and I've 272 00:19:19.190 --> 00:19:25.380 a USB MIC and garage band has a narration vocal setting that I like to 273 00:19:25.420 --> 00:19:29.380 use because I feel like it gives it just a clean, like full sound, 274 00:19:30.059 --> 00:19:37.740 and that's it. I record it with the MIC and then it's really 275 00:19:37.900 --> 00:19:44.089 somewhat no. It's yeah, just just turn off any notifications and close the 276 00:19:44.170 --> 00:19:48.210 door and hope it dog doesn't Park. But if it happens, guess what, 277 00:19:48.369 --> 00:19:51.450 it's only a ten minute episode. I can just YEP. I mean 278 00:19:51.849 --> 00:19:55.119 that's how I do the majority of our solo episodes. As well as exactly 279 00:19:55.240 --> 00:20:00.279 that, I'm using garage band. I've even used voice memos on my phone 280 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:03.519 when there's an idea and I'm maybe I'm traveling and I know I'm not going 281 00:20:03.559 --> 00:20:07.039 to be behind my laptop or behind my computer for a bit. I really 282 00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:11.269 want to get the idea out there. I've found that the audio quality just 283 00:20:11.430 --> 00:20:15.029 recording into your iphone and voice memo is actually very, very helpful. So 284 00:20:15.190 --> 00:20:18.549 it's obviously not going to be as quite as polished from an audio standpoint as 285 00:20:18.589 --> 00:20:22.859 if you're using a USB mic, using garage band, but that's another option 286 00:20:23.339 --> 00:20:27.420 for those that maybe don't have garage band or looking for, you know, 287 00:20:27.500 --> 00:20:30.579 an alternative way to do it. Jim, this has been fantastic. Is 288 00:20:30.579 --> 00:20:34.849 there any anything else that you'd like to share before we wind down the episode 289 00:20:34.849 --> 00:20:40.049 today? You know, the only thing is is I just encourage, encourage 290 00:20:40.049 --> 00:20:45.490 everyone out there just take risks, and that's the beauty of digital marketing and 291 00:20:45.730 --> 00:20:51.160 the Internet and you can test things at a really low cost, low investment, 292 00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:55.680 and you may have, you know, amazing, amazing results, but 293 00:20:55.759 --> 00:20:59.079 you kind of never know, and so you can sit there and overthink it 294 00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:02.079 to death, but just kind of go for it and try it out. 295 00:21:02.119 --> 00:21:03.829 And I was nervous. I was nervous to do this. It felt like 296 00:21:03.910 --> 00:21:07.910 a very, very vulnerable like just being out there all on your own, 297 00:21:07.509 --> 00:21:12.589 but it's so far the feedback has been phenomenal. So I'm glad, glad 298 00:21:12.670 --> 00:21:15.950 we went this route. I love it. I love it, Jin. 299 00:21:15.150 --> 00:21:18.099 If someone wants to stay connected with you, that when learn more about smart 300 00:21:18.099 --> 00:21:21.339 bug, what's the best way for them to go about doing both of those 301 00:21:21.380 --> 00:21:25.660 things? So smart bug media, Sept it's just a smart bug Mediacom. 302 00:21:26.059 --> 00:21:29.180 I'm super active on social media, so you can hit me up on twitter 303 00:21:29.220 --> 00:21:33.089 at Gen Spencer, or find me on Linkedin. Just look for Jen Spencer 304 00:21:33.130 --> 00:21:36.089 at Smart Bug media. If you do connect with me on Linkedin, let 305 00:21:36.130 --> 00:21:38.130 me know you heard me on this show, just so I have some contexts 306 00:21:38.250 --> 00:21:42.250 for how you came to know who I am. Love it and if you 307 00:21:42.769 --> 00:21:48.920 get value from BEDB growth, you will absolutely get value from gin show. 308 00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:52.039 Smart bug on tap. So just whatever podcast player, using apple, podcast, 309 00:21:52.039 --> 00:21:56.640 spotify, whatever. Just search smart bug, one word on TAP, 310 00:21:56.200 --> 00:22:00.720 two different words, and you'll find jen show. Subscribe. You're going to 311 00:22:00.839 --> 00:22:03.509 love it for all the reasons that we talked about earlier in this episode. 312 00:22:03.509 --> 00:22:07.589 They're short, it's super helpful contents. Make sure to do that. Jen. 313 00:22:07.710 --> 00:22:08.990 Thank you so much for your time today. This has been phenomenal. 314 00:22:08.990 --> 00:22:15.660 I really appreciate it. My pleasure. Thank you. We totally get it. 315 00:22:17.059 --> 00:22:19.380 We publish a ton of content on this podcast and it can be a 316 00:22:19.579 --> 00:22:23.259 lot to keep up with. That's why we've started the B tob growth big 317 00:22:23.380 --> 00:22:27.779 three, a no fluff email that boils down our three biggest takeaways from an 318 00:22:27.859 --> 00:22:33.410 entire week of episodes. Sign up today at Sweet Phish Mediacom Big Three. 319 00:22:33.730 --> 00:22:37.089 That sweet PHISH MEDIACOM Big Three