How to Launch Your Own Podcast with Virginia Elder

In this episode, you will be able to:

1. Uncover the secrets to launching a podcast that captivates your audience and boosts your business's visibility.

2. Master the art of crafting compelling podcast show notes that keep your listeners engaged and coming back for more.

3. Unleash the power of repurposing your podcast content to skyrocket your marketing efforts and expand your reach.

4. Amplify your network by strategically leveraging guest appearances on popular podcasts.

5. Learn to create irresistible call-to-actions that drive action and engagement from your podcast audience.

Get your free show notes template here: https://podcastabundance.com/shownotestemplate/

Visit Virginia Elder's social media pages:

Website: https://reachingabundance.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/virginiaelder/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ReachingAbundance

  📍 📍 📍 yes, that is, I hope everyone stop, stop what you're doing.

What she just said is exactly it. That is the key to more downloads right there. So say it again. Yeah. Your episode should be answering the questions that people are searching for. And by searching, I literally mean what they're

  Welcome to Rocky Mountain Marketing. I'm your host, Katie Brinkley. Join us as we dive deep with the world's leading digital marketing experts every single Tuesday. It's all about giving you the strategies that are working right now, directly from those who are making an impact. With my 20 years of experience, I'm here to help you navigate the world of digital marketing.

Whether you're looking to sharpen your skills or transform your business, you're in the right place. Let's get started on today's journey to success.

  📍 📍 📍 Welcome back to this week's episode of Rocky Mountain Marketing. Today's guest is somebody that I've had the pleasure of hanging out. And honestly, we met IRL at different podcasting events. And then we, you know, like, like how it typically goes. We started connecting on social media. I was a guest on their show.

Now I was like, you need to come on mine because I love talking about podcasting. Yes. For years, truly I come from radio, but podcasting was always something that I wanted to do. I just didn't think that I. Had the right gear that it was going to be expensive that I would have to learn how to use all these new programs and softwares.

And so it was just something that was on the, it'd be nice to do list. Well, then I was given the gift of time during COVID and I started my show. And now I think. Everybody that is a business owner should have a podcast. And this is something that today's guests and I both firmly believe in today's guest is none other than   📍 Virginia Elder.

Like I said, she and I had the opportunity to met at a couple of different podcasting conferences and we really hit it off.  She is just a joy to be around and she's also the host of the podcast shoot. What's the name of your show? Virginia Elder. Reaching Abundance. Reaching Abundance. And she's also the host of the Reaching Abundance podcast.

She is the owner of Podcast Abundance and I mean, we're just talking about abundance here today, folks. And obviously podcasting is the key to abundance. Virginia, thank you so much for joining me on today's episode of Rocky Mountain Marketing.

  📍 📍 Yeah. Thank you for having me.

I appreciate it. I see. I'm used to being the host. Thank you for joining me. Oh my goodness. I love it. I love it. Well, and you know, you and I met, but did we meet at podcast movement or did we and, well, I love that you're as passionate about  podcasting as I am. And I guess like, so I come from radio, so we all know like why I love podcasting, but what was it for you that really drew you  into the world of podcasting?

Yeah. Actually, so I primarily produce financial podcasts and the reason is because gosh, you know,  10, 12 years ago, we were starting our family. So we had two kids under two plus I was supporting my mom through her divorce and there were just lots of financial things happening in my life. And it actually kind of put us in a bad position.

Partially my fault, of course. Like I wasn't really tracking all the numbers, but I turned to financial podcasts and when I say these people changed my life, I am not even kidding. Like I would drive to work, listening to them. I was in audit at the time. So I would sit there like plugged in all day doing my spreadsheets and doing my thing and learning and like taking notes on the side of, Oh, you know, I need to go  home and do this or, or um, and not just getting out of debt, but, getting organized,  learning about estate planning, learning about investing and hearing these voices and feeling like these people,  um, they do care. I felt like they cared about me and I felt like I knew them and that connection of, imagined friendship, I guess, with your favorite podcast host.

Like, it just really spoke to me. And, from there, I love that you said that. I love that you said that. I'm going to stop you because imagine you said imagined friendship, but really there's nothing that can connect you with somebody faster than audio. Really? I mean, you, you can tell like when I'm getting excited or what, you know, I just interrupted you, whatever.

You can tell how excited. Some people get, or if they're just reading a script, blah, blah, blah, blah. There's a magic that happens when you hear someone speak. And I don't, I don't think it's imagined friendship with podcasting. It really allows you into, you know, someone's car with them, you know, just the two of you and you're explaining something that you have extensive knowledge on and somebody is.

Absorbing it. It's listening. It's, it builds connection faster than any other medium. So I, I 100 percent agree with that. And I love that you talked about, you know, you specialize in the financial, industry podcasting. You just went to FinCon. And I mean, one of my, clients, he has a real estate investment podcast and man, it is so, so good.

Cool. Listening to his show. I learn so much and, and podcasting has a way of doing that. It can elevate you to  that thought leadership role and really build. I don't want to even say imagined friendships. It really does form a connection that  no other medium can yeah, absolutely and just feeling that and knowing how much it Changed my life and I was literally like binging these shows like a crazy person because I needed help And they were there to help me and it was free help by the way and of course eventually I bought their things and Like i'm that person that like if I hear an author on a show, I cannot resist buying their book So I actually had to stop listening to podcasts for a while because I  was like buying too much You stuff.

But it, yeah, there's that, just connection that forms and, knowing like my experience  in that as a consumer. And then, um, you know, there's a little bit of a journey there, but being able to transition to where now I help amplify those financial voices that helped  me so much, it's just, it's been an amazing journey.

And you can tell, like, I'm still so. Dang excited about it. So, yeah. Well, and I love that you, you know, that this is something that you're passionate about just like I am. I mean, podcasting, I think that a lot of so if you're for our listeners that maybe they're like, Oh, God, this is gonna be a podcasting episode.

I want to know, keep listening. Because podcasting is such a great marketing tool. It can allow you to get new clients. I mean, so you specialize, like I said before in the financial  space. And I think a lot of people are like, Oh, well there's already a podcast out there or there's there, you know, I, everyone's already said what I have to say.

Like, how am I going to actually get clients from this or how could I use podcasting? It seems overwhelming. So for anyone that's, that's listening and says, Oh, well there's already a podcast out there talking  about what I have to say. What would you, what would you say to them? There are podcasts about everything, but your voice is unique, your style is unique, your personality is unique, and  people are going to gravitate who, to who they want to gravitate to, right?

Like you and I were talking about this before we hit record. Yes, we both  produce podcasts, but your people are your people. My people are my people. Someone different is going to just naturally be drawn to a different. Style, personality, yeah, authority  level, you know, all the different things. And so I will say there is still room, there is still space, I don't have current numbers, but there is something like 20 million websites out there.

There are only like two to four million podcasts out there. So when you're going to think about competition or anything like that, Think about it. When you started your business, you had  no questions that you needed a podcast, a website for your business. But yeah, you're going to sit here and question this other space where you have an amazing opportunity for minimal competition.

 So it's like, There's still space and, you know, we can go into YouTube a little bit too. The podcast video space lines have been blurred and there's a lot of opportunity there. You know, you attract certain people. Naturally, anyways, and the podcasting space is no different. So don't be  intimidated by that.

One million percent agree. And I, I mean, if you're struggling with content, I mean, creating content, you need to have more content out there. You  know, I, I'm going to stand on my soapbox about showing up less on social media, but if you have a podcast. You can create so much content from it, from social media posts to YouTube videos, to blog posts, to newsletters, to show notes.

I mean, all of the things that will help you get found. So let's say somebody that's listening right now, they're like, all right, gosh, you always talk about podcasting, Katie. Maybe I'll think about it. How am I going to actually get clients from it? I mean, am I going to make money from sponsors or like, what is the goal here?

And I'm curious what you think on this, Virginia, because. I have a very different approach to my show right now, you know, there's networking. So I bring in different thought leaders like you,  you're on here to talk about something high level, for the audience. And then the second one is thought leadership.

That's where I can have the microphone and share my thoughts on it. And it's not necessarily for  100% lead gen or sponsorship. I have a very different goal. So for people that might be listening and they're like, Oh man, now I'm a little bit confused. How, what should  my goal be for having a podcast?

Yeah, absolutely. So most of my clients, unless they come to me with a very specific vision about how they're They're going to monetize or what they want  to do with that. We do talk about, okay, what's your business? What's your lead magnet? Do you have this email sequence? Like we, we talk about all the things business so that I fully understand what the picture is, and then we talk about.

Where  do you want people to go? What do you want them to do? Like, what is the number one page on your website that everybody has to visit? And that is your call to action in your podcast  episode. I do think every episode should have a call to action. Now some people get a little bit queasy, like, I don't want to be salesy, I don't want to, I don't want to.

You know, be, you know,  schemey or anything like that on my, on my podcast. Right. And I don't want you to either. That's where the call to action piece can be, massaged and,  scripted out or whatever, in a way that isn't salesy or schemey or anything like that. Like what you're doing for your business, very likely, very genuinely helps people. 

Same, same for Katie, same for me. What we do fills a gap for people's needs, for barriers that they feel. And same  thing for your business, you know, as a listener tuning in. So when we're positioning something as a help. That is how you form your call to action. And that is how you're generating leads for your business.

And that's how your podcast can easily get monetized. Yes, there's sponsors. Yes, there's lots of different ways, but I'm all about the podcast supporting  your business. As a marketing arm. Yes. Yes. Speaking my language here. I know that you have. I know. This is why we're friends. This is why we're friends. So I know that you have an entire formula around having a podcast and the whole client acquisition framework.

Do you mind just walking Everyone through that, because I think it's really important for people to, to have all these in mind before launching their show, or if they've already  launched their show, and they've kind of just been doing an episode here or an episode there and kind of saying like, Oh, well, I did a podcast because I listened to Rocky mountain marketing and all you do is talk about how great podcasting is, but I don't really know what I'm doing here, Katie, let's go through  your, your framework here.

Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you. And I will say it just like social media or just like anything else. It's so easy to Get your head down and do the thing and then you kind  of look up and you're like I feel kind of lost in here Like am I doing it? Right? Like what I don't know and I think all of us business owners experience that at some point But it's just as easy to do in podcasting.

So yes, There's an acronym I like to use. It's called CRAFT. I'm going to look at my notes so that I don't,  misspeak. I know it. I know it. C is for content. I know it. C is for content. So let's talk about C. Yes. Okay. So yeah. Content. Your messaging is absolutely key. That is what you need.

Is going to attract someone  that the language that you use about the benefits of your product, your service, you know, whatever you're offering is going to attract or repel. And that repel piece is super important. You do believe it or not want to repel some people. They are not your ideal client. They will be a pain in the butt to work with.

They'll be difficult. They won't want to pay like just, you know, the issues, right? So we do want to repel those people. You want your messaging around your brand to be clear. Um, you want it to be aligned with your values. There's a lot that can go into that content piece and that's all the.  Like not fun pre work thought work that you need to do  before you ever record an episode.

And if you're already in it, like Katie said, and you're feeling kind of lost, that's okay. Take some time, sit down, do some planning, get back to your values, get back to, what used to excite you about doing the work that you do and start to figure out right. How can I infuse that into my episodes. So that content piece is super important.  Next up.

Yes, so it spells out craft, which I love this and next up. So C is for content R is for repurpose. Man, repurposing,  that is the secret sauce to not burning out, really, it is, it's, it is, you have to be repurposing, it's all about working smarter, not harder, right? So talk about  repurposing with us. Yeah. Take everything from you know, let's tackle the easiest like low hanging fruit  and then Sprinkle it everywhere else.

So these you know, I'm not gonna say the easiest thing to do but the the best way to get the most Stuff that you can repurpose wherever you need it to go is to go ahead and record video With your podcast, you've got your audio. You've got your video so you can take these audio and visual elements and Repurpose them for your social media into a newsletter into  the blog post You can take what you said that maybe it was just an amazing thought that came to mind transcribe that and that becomes The basis for a blog post  or your show notes for the episode so that you're not going man What did I say?

How do I summarize that? Oh, i'm gonna miss some key points and it takes all this extra thought work out of it. I'm very into decide once and  think once Make your one decision do that thought work one time and then You know, let it flow to all the places from there. So that just takes all of that extra  work out of it, kind of aligned with your four post strategy.

It's like, think once. Yes, work backwards or whatever you need to do and allow it to be on all the platforms. Let it, let it work for you so you don't have to continue to hustle ,  , Virginia. You said something about show notes and I want to make sure that we talk about that real quick because in a world of AI,  you know, I trust me, you can just drop your episode The transcript into chat GPT and it'll  generate quote unquote show notes.

Can we just take a quick sidebar about how important to show notes are for, for anyone, not just for, for discover, but all the things. So just talk to us really quick about show notes before we get to the AFT.

  Let's take a quick break. I have to tell you about something that I'm super excited about. If you've been podcasting for a while and you want to start actually making money from your show, you are going to love this. I have an upcoming masterclass where I'm going to teach you exactly how to land top paying sponsors.

Even if you have a small but loyal audience, it is time to stop waiting for sponsors to knock on your door and start reaching out to the ones that really want Your audience ready to make it happen. Head to katiebrinkley. live slash R M M or head to the link in the show notes. Grab your spot today. All right, let's get back to the show.

  📍 📍 📍 📍 Yeah. Yeah. So show notes could also be called episode descriptions, show descriptions. There's several different, copywriting,  like text portions to creating a podcast.

And before you go, okay, forget it. Like I'm not a writer. I can't do this. Hold on. It simply is just describing your show, your episodes. So the important pieces though, are. Your episodes want to be answering things that people are actually searching  for. So if someone,  yes, that is, I hope everyone stop, stop what you're doing.

What she just said is exactly it. That is the key to more downloads right there. So say it again. Yeah. Your episode should be answering the questions that people are searching for. And by searching, I literally mean what they're typing into Google,  what they're typing into their podcast app, what they're typing into YouTube, what they would ask their friends, what, you know, if you would email your most trusted guide, right, like your coach, your business partner, whoever.

Those questions need to be answered in your podcast episodes. And so that goes into that SEO piece that goes into the show notes piece. Your title of your episode should be obviously Answering what that person's searching for like put those key phrases in those  titles Put those key phrases in that first, you know, couple of sentences paragraph of your description of your episode so When you  write show notes, when you describe an episode, there's like 4, 000 characters you can use.

I'm not going to say you need to write all 4, 000 characters. That's a lot. It's like full blog post over here. But what I don't want you to do is write one sentence, write two sentences. Like most podcasts, if you actually click and you see something, you're like, Oh, this is interesting. And you actually want to check it out.

You, you need to actually be able to read what the episode  might be about to see if that's really what you're searching for. That's the way users. Are treating these platforms now, so I read something one time, it's like most podcasts only use about 200 characters to describe their episodes, so like in their show notes.

So you have 200 that you're using versus 4000. And most of it's just like redirects. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. Yeah, that's perfect. Most of it is, it's like affiliate link this and buy me a coffee and all of this stuff. And that's great. But can you tell me what your episode was about so that I know if I actually want to commit my time and listen to you?

Like you said, there's how many podcasts out there? Why should someone decide to listen to yours? Why should they give you their time? Exactly. And, the one last thing I would say on that is that I'm going to call it available real  estate. Those 4, 000 characters is yours for the taking. You don't pay less or more or anything like that.

It's available to you. So use it wisely.   That's what I would say on show notes. And I know that you have an entire template for this, where can people get that template if they want to have better show notes and then we'll get back to the AFT. Thank you. It's   📍 at podcastabundance.com/shownotes. Oh, super simple, easy.

All right. And guess where? Guess where? You can find that link in the show notes.  Yeah, in the show notes. All right, so let's . Let's get back to the A FT of your framework. So we already talked about content. We already talked about repurposing. What does a stand for? The A is for ask or action. So same, same, same right there.

But that's what we talked about a little bit earlier. Actually,  it just comes up organically. Is that call to action in your episode? You need to ask for what you want people to do. Just like Katie helped me out just then. Hey, ask for people to go download your show notes. your template. So yeah, if you feel like, okay, I need to write better show notes, that formats it out for you.

So it's not, intimidating anymore, but  you need to ask what within your episode, whether it's one of your free downloads or if it's a service. And, and again, there's worksheets and things out there to help you come up with what your ask  would be so that you can say it without  feeling. We're not it totally if you're not asking people won't take action unless you tell that you know, hey, by the way I have a great new book, you know The social shift you should check it out. It's available on Amazon  But I mean if you don't tell people or don't ask for it, they're not gonna They're not going to sign up for any of your things, so you have to ask. All  right, let's move on to F, which is feature. F is feature. So this brings in the, collaborative, like, networking piece of podcasting.

 If you are doing solo shows all the time, It's only you on the mic that's valuable because it puts you as the authority and the expert in that space. But what I've seen with shows that only do solo episodes, they actually grow a little bit slower because you're missing that collaborative, like inner podcast space, networking of having guests on, whether you.

Are  yeah, just like this. Whether you are guesting on other people's shows or whether you're having guests on your show, there are no rules. You can do it whichever way you want to, but  it's important that you incorporate some sort of like.  Networking right? I'm doing the air quotes there within the podcast realm. So whether you choose to have on service providers that are offering parallel, I'm going   📍 📍 📍 📍 to call them like parallel services to yours. Like maybe I'm a CPA, but I have on a bookkeeper because I don't offer bookkeeping services, but I like what this person does. And maybe I have an estate planning attorney on and maybe I, you know, of  course I'm going into like the financial world cause that's what I know, but you could have these aligned service providers on.

And you know, educate your audience and offer value there,  even though it's not your service, but then now  you're the connector. So they will come back to think like, Oh, you know, my CPA connected me with this bookkeeper and this estate planner and this financial advisor and whoever else. And you know, You're providing more solutions than what you're actually physically able to provide them.

So you're serving your audience better.   I love that. And then also it's great for getting, like you said, like more referrals, more networking, but more  downloads because, well, Virginia, you will share this episode  out with your audience. And so now your new audience is coming into my audience.

We're having that shared audience. I think that if having people on like on your show and you're like, I don't know how to find people. There's great tools out there. I talk about pod match all the time. It's like match. com, but for podcasters, if you're interested, I do have an affiliate link, but pod match. com is great to find people to come on your show.  And, you know. A lot of it too, is I ask my guests after coming on my show, like, Hey, who do you think would be a good person to come on Rocky mountain marketing or social media? I've been scouring LinkedIn and seeing what people are posting and talking about on LinkedIn people that I like their content.

I've just been reaching out. So featuring other experts is a great way to find other guests for your show. I mean, I'm at. Almost 400 ish episodes now and I'd never in a million years thought that I'd find enough people to talk about digital marketing with   Still going strong. So you'll find them. I promise you.

All right now let as we kind of start to wrap up today's episode let's finish on a high note, let's talk about tea and How  I mean, it's not it's at the end tea is at the end, but honestly, it's most important in my opinion It is T is for track. So there are, metrics that we're all drawn to that we see all the time.

I mean, everybody knows how many social media followers  they have for the most part. And it's really, really easy to get wrapped up in, well, how many people  listen to my podcast? Let's just be very clear here. The podcast metrics are not the best. They're not the clearest. You're not actually able to see how many subscribers you have  in most platforms.

But there are other metrics that you can track. So things that I want you to think about are, how many speaking opportunities you got invited to podcast and they know you can speak and they know you're comfortable in front of an audience or how many, um, Opportunities you had to repurpose content that you recorded with your podcast and how much money and time that saved because you recorded once and then were able to filter it everywhere.

So, another piece is sometimes your team members will actually listen to your show, even  though they see you every day and, sit in meetings with you, they might actually  be tuning into your show to get a better feel for. Your thoughts, your vision, your ideas. And it's, it could actually be this team morale thing that's happening.

And that's just, a metric there that is often unmeasured and that the business owner is often unaware of. So there's these non traditional ROI metrics that I talk about that are beyond followers, listeners, downloads, all of this, that very quickly can be benefits of having a podcast. And if you're not tracking some of those non traditional metrics, I think you're missing out.

 It's so true. And even like so far for, I obviously I have a podcast and I have a client, a new client  that came on and we were going through and doing an audit of one of their social media accounts. And I noticed that they were reposting a lot of other people's content as original content. And I was like, it's  not legal.

We can't be, you can't be doing this. You can do it to stories, but you can't take the, you know, the watermark off and not give credit or just take someone else's work and publish it as your own. You can't do that. And so instead of coming down and laying the hammer down. I actually have an entire episode where I sit down with a copyright and trademark attorney and we talk all about doing that.

And so I was, instead of saying like, you can't be doing this, I said, Hey, I actually talked to a copyright attorney. I have an entire podcast episode about it. I'd love it if you listened to it, but this  is why we have to go ahead and take down all  your reels from the past year, you know, so it's content that you can share with your clients as well or potential clients. So, um, and just kind of elaborate on, Hey. I have an answer. Here's a great podcast episode on it.  It helps you quit Repeating yourself 📍 and like how many of us would love and I know you and I are moms Katie How many times do you say something, you know, pick up your shoes? Hey, your shoes are still in the middle of the living room How can't pick up your shoes pick up your shoes.

We get really tired of repeating ourselves in bed Business  as well. We get the same questions over and over. And if you can, and a lot of times I'll share, this is how we often design someone's launch  strategy. Like what are the questions that you get answered or that you get asked? all the time that you could put in a podcast episode in your first 10 episodes here.

Let's get all those questions answered so you can start sharing them with your clients or potential clients when they come to you and have all these questions.  It just helps streamline and create efficiencies in your business that you kind of  didn't know you needed. Yeah. 1 million percent.  Well, Virginia, this has been such a great conversation.

Episode. I love talking podcasting. I think that again, you don't need to. I think a lot of people get overwhelmed  like, Oh, I need to have an hour long show or I have to have guests every week or I have to do this. And really, those are just excuses that they're just excuses. It's your show. You can make it as long or as short and  have guests or not have guests, whatever.

But having a strategy when you go in to launching a show is extremely important. And with your craft strategy, I think that people will be set up for success. You do have the great show notes template. Again, if people want to go back and fix all their show notes, Hey, give your  old episodes some new life, download this template and, Virginia, I can hear that you have a little one in the background that's starting to want mom.

So where can they get that show notes template again, and where can they connect with you? Learn more about you and listen to your show. Tell us all the things. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. The template is at podcastabundance. com slash show notes. And you can find me anywhere  on, podcastabundance.

com or on social media at podcast abundance. And I've. Been really  active on LinkedIn lately. So that's just my name. Oh, thank you. That's just my name, Virginia Elder over there on LinkedIn. So thank you. Awesome. Well, yeah. Well, 📍 thanks so much for joining us on Rocky Mountain Marketing today. Great conversation.

If people are still not ready to take the leap into podcasting, I hope this  was the nudge to give you, to start your own show. Connect with Virginia follower on, on LinkedIn. Like I said, she's killing it over there. Great tips and advice. Download that show notes template because show notes are  honestly the secret sauce y'all.

So get that show notes template and Virginia, I can't thank you enough for joining us  on Rocky mountain marketing today. Thank you. It was lovely.

 Thanks so much for listening to this week's episode of Rocky Mountain Marketing. I hope you're leaving with valuable insights and the inspiration to lead your market. If you've enjoyed our time together and found today's podcast episode useful, I have a small favor to ask of you. Please hit that subscribe button to stay updated with the latest episodes.

And if you know someone who could benefit from these episodes, maybe a fellow business leader or an aspiring entrepreneur, go ahead and share this episode with them. Let's spread the knowledge and grow together. Also, I'd love to hear from you and continue the conversation beyond the podcast. Visit me at katiebrinkley.

com to connect, to find more resources, or just to share your journey. And be sure to pick up your copy of my new book, the social shift at Katie Brinkley. com slash book. Thanks again for tuning in. I'm Katie Brinkley, and I can't wait to dive into more strategies and stories with you on the next episode of Rocky mountain marketing.

Let's keep on taking your marketing to new heights.