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

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