254 Lessons learned after 5 years of podcasting (& how I book my Dream Guests!) | Kelsey Reidl
Lessons I've learned from five years of podcasting.
It's been 5 years since I started my journey as a podcast host, and looking back now on all the highs and lows of that journey - both in terms of personal growth and business achievements - it's been one wild ride.
Being a Podcast Host is SO REWARDING but it isn't always an easy task. However, there is nothing quite like it when you succeed in booking your Dream Guests onto your show. In this episode, I share the lessons I've learned from five years of podcasting and how I manage to consistently book A-list guests each month for my show.
My hope is that by hearing how I've been able to stay consistent and access awesome guests, that you will be empowered to think bigger (and bolder!) with your own podcast or creative project. Let's dive in!
In this episode, we chat about:
Why I started a podcast
Visionary Life Top Downloaded Episodes
Booking your dream guests
Let’s connect (if we haven’t already):
Instagram: @kelseyreidl
p.s.
Want to learn about The Business & Mindset Program that will change the way you do business and life in 2023 (& beyond!)
Kelsey is a marketing expert who has helped 100’s of businesses to implement a foolproof marketing plan that actually works to attract their dream clients.
Emily is a mindset coach who specializes in helping people to overcome their limitations and find results, confidence and cash in their untapped potential.
Together, Emily & Kelsey have the knowledge and experience to help you achieve success in both your personal and professional life - and for the first time ever, they are combining their programs to help you achieve Your 2023 Leap.
Your 2023 Leap is for 20 individuals who want access to the tools and techniques they need to reach their 2023 goals. We will all be meeting on Zoom 1x weekly for 90 minutes for 12 consecutive weeks to make big leaps, together.
Learn more at https://www.kelseyreidl.com/2023
Access the transcript for this episode:
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Before we start this week's episode, I want to know if you are a business owner in your first zero to three years, and you're ready to take your income and growth to the next level, look no further your 2023 Leap starts very very soon and we'd love to see you inside.
Our unique marketing and mindset coaching program is here to help you achieve your goals and reach new heights in your business heights that you never saw possible.
Your 2023 leap is a collaborative program between myself a marketing expert and Emily Eliot, a mindset expert. And this program offers a variety of services to help you get clear on your business vision. Define your value so that clients say yes to your services. Without hesitation, we're going to help you sell more. And we're also going to help you to price your offer to know how to communicate through your marketing campaigns, and to break down limiting money beliefs that might be holding you back from making the sale.
One of the most exciting outcomes of our program is the ability to write a foolproof marketing plan that's going to get you through the entire year. That is simple, not complex, that doesn't require complicated Facebook ads or expensive funnels. And that's gonna help you feel so clear on where to spend your precious time. So don't miss out on this opportunity to take your business to the next level.
Let's leap together, sign up for your 2023 leap the marketing and mindset coaching program that is going to change the way you do business in 2023. early bird pricing is on until January 17. So head to Kelseyreidl.com/2023. And you can access that pricing right away. All right, onwards to the episode.
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Welcome back visionaries.
This is a very special episode because not only am I kicking off season 11 What I thought double digits is crazy. But now we're beyond that we're beyond season 10 We're at season 11 of the visionary life podcast and celebrating our five year anniversary and 11 seasons feels very surreal for me right now. And the fact that you are here listening and tuning into the show and downloading the episodes that interest you is just the truest testament to creating from a place of joy and passion and zest, which is what I do as your host. And knowing that if I'm having fun doing it, and I feel like I'm giving all the value I possibly can that the people on the other side are also enjoying it and hopefully reaping all that value as well. So I wanted to record this little mini episode just to number one. Say thank you. Thank you for supporting the show. Thank you to all of my guests who have ever said yes to being on the show. Thank you to everybody who has downloaded an episode or listened to an episode or tuned into the show over the years. Thank you
Everybody who has ever shared an episode with a friend, when you hit that share button, maybe you text the show to a friend, maybe you share it on Instagram stories or LinkedIn, wherever you share it. That means the world and thank you to anyone who has left a review or rating.
My gosh, you guys, you have no idea how much those little actions mean to a content creator. So thank you, thank you, thank you, as you know, the show is free. And we intend to keep it that way. And the way we do that is by making sure we're constantly having our listeners help us grow the community. You know, I started this show because I had a desire to create create something in support of my business.
And I knew that if I really wanted to make it as a business and marketing coach, and really have people understand that I had expertise and that I wanted to help them and that I was so passionate about the work that I can do with a small business. I knew I needed to start sharing perspectives. And at the time, I didn't know that I just wanted to solely share my own perspective. And so I thought about this idea of starting a podcast.
And the coolest thing about starting a show is you can actually choose to interview people, which positions them as the expert, which allows you to be networking every single week of your life, whether you want to or not because you produce a weekly episode. So I started with interviews. But what I was able to do in those early years was start to weave in my own perspective. So even though the interview is always about the guest, it's naturally a conversation.
So I like to keep all of my interviews more conversational than me drilling questions at them, which allows me to share my own perspective. So if the guest is talking about marketing strategies that work and ones that don't work, and then they kind of finish their thought, I'm able to jump in and maybe add my two cents, which allows the listener to get to know me, and to really get a feel for who I am, what my values are as a coach, and what I can offer them. So I would say that this is actually one of my number one tips for anybody starting an online business in 2023.
Or maybe you started one, and this is your year to rev it up. Make sure you have an area where you're able to produce weekly content. Is that a podcast? Is that a blog? Is it a newsletter? Is it a YouTube channel? Is it long form Instagram posts? What are you committing to because if you don't commit to anything, chances are you're not adequately sharing your perspective. And you are going to fall to a lot of excuses when you go months and months at a time without actually publishing any content. So I thought it might be interesting to actually share some of the top downloaded episodes with you just as we celebrate season 11 and look back over five years of podcasting. It always surprises me why some of these episodes are in the top and they're ones that I never would have expected.
But our top downloaded episode of All Times is actually our episode with the founder of the just the just as a female focus sports media outlet. And I believe it's because they have grown a lot since I first interviewed them. And they've actually started to speak on a lot of notable podcasts. So my guess is that as they were featured on bigger shows, people started searching for them. And maybe because I always use keywords in my show notes, and in my episode titles, I think their episode just naturally would have come up.
One of our other top downloaded episodes is actually with one of our visionary method community members and it is the topic of psychedelics and micro dosing for entrepreneurs. This is a very clear indication to me that this is a topic that requires more exploring that we could maybe do another episode on and that I would like to crack open even further for you. The next set of episodes that are really popular are all how to so we have how to start a bread company how to launch a successful membership community, how to build a socially responsible business how to take a one month sabbatical from your business, how to grow a massive big business with road signs, dog food and bike seats, how to publish your work and put yourself out there how to start an iconic Canadian food brand and how to launch a beer company.
So it's so funny that these how to titles are the catalyst to more downloads. And these are all from amazing guests. So I have no doubt that the guest really brought it in those episodes. But people just love a how to episode. They also love a transformation story. So one of our episodes is titled from foster care to founder. And that's one of our most successful. And then there's a few episodes that are personal or solo episodes that I shared that have actually racked up a ton of downloads. So one of them is random, funny stories from behind the scenes of 200 episodes.
That's where I recount like all the silly things that have happened to me and embarrassing things that have happened to me as a podcaster. I have an episode called five things I learned from running a successful online business. I have another episode called the truths all entrepreneurs must hear if they're starting a business this year.
So there's definitely some trends, I now know what to focus episodes around if I'm going for downloads, but honestly, sometimes I just create from the heart like this episode, and I just want to really connect with you and touch base. And I do that with whatever is on my mind, or things that I'm feeling really passionate about. So I actually put out a Instagram story on the weekend, just kind of asking you guys what you would want to know about the behind the scenes of podcasting.
And one of the things that you shared was that you were curious how I am booking my dream guests. Because lately I've had a few people say yes to the show. And I literally have these pinch me moments of like, Why the hell would they give me their time, like they're busy, they're running seven and eight and nine figure businesses, they, you know, have a lot going on.
And visionary life is not the biggest show in the world. So they're not going to get the most downloads or the most amount of listens. By appearing on visionary life. Yes, we do really, really well. But we don't get the how I built this downloads, we don't get the same downloads as business wars, or, you know, some of those more popular business and marketing podcasts.
So anyways, I thought it might be interesting to share how I booked my dream guests in case you have a project and you want to reach out to people or you're kind of currently in that stage where you're like, I have some big goals, but I am not sure how to knock them off.
So let's dive into that together. As with any goal that seems nearly impossible to you, you have to get it out of your head and write it down first. So when I get these ideas that I want to interview, an NHL hockey player or a nine figure entrepreneur, I immediately pull up my visionary life podcast, Google document, and I add their name to a list. So I have a dream guest list. I've done this for five years now. And I'm constantly adding names to it. Now, that's not to say that all of these names that I write down are eventually going to become guests. But this is just kind of like the brain dump that happens. So the first thing to accomplish any goal is to get it out of your head and actually write it down. The second thing is to make it a practice to actually update it. So before it's natural for you to just pop open the doc add in names, you actually might want to schedule in, like dreaming time, or brainstorm time to your calendar.
So maybe every Monday from 9am till 9:10am, you have a podcast brain dump. And you basically just have a clean slate. You can write down anything that comes to mind and you just maybe start with a prompt like how could the visionary life podcasts become the best show in the world. And from there, you're just gonna write people's names, processes, anything that comes to mind when you think of how you could make the show better. And it's really cool when you actually put constraints and say, Okay, I'm going to write down for 10 minutes. Even if I just sit there with a blank paper, like we'll just see what comes to mind. And when you give yourself that constraint, you're actually going to put pen to paper and make something happen. It is my best guess that you're not just going to sit there and doze off for 10 minutes. Okay? So put that constraint but that calendar reminder in and actually write these things down, write the people down if you want to book your dream guests.
The next thing that you need to do is find your point
I have connection. So this looks different for everybody. And I'll share some stories with you. But for some, I have a referral. Like, I know that my business mentor hosted this person at a conference.
So that's the point of connection, they could introduce me via email, or I know that I've DM to this person on Instagram before, so I have direct access to them. So I'm going to send them an Instagram DM, or I know that I have a platform that could actually serve these people that I'm looking to book on the show. So I always ask myself that question of, well, what's in it for them? So let me actually go through a few stories. You might think I'm crazy or psychotic for some of these. But, you know, this will give you some behind the scenes on how I actually do book my dream guests. So let's take Connor Carrick, for example. He was an NHL player at the time. And I really wanted to speak with him because he has his own podcast. He is super into personal development. And I had kind of developed like, internet relationship with him because we were part of the same mastermind.
So we had messaged back and forth, but there really wasn't a solid connection there. So what I did was essentially, I sent him this email that recap some of the things that I had learned from listening to his podcast, and I named dropped the person that we shared in common. And I basically said, like, here's why I think my audience would really resonate. And I'd love to invite you on the show. I emailed him because I had his email address. And I also sent him a DM on Instagram saying just shot you an email with an opportunity. So I don't know if Garner's is really, really nice. But he said yes, to me, it took a while to make it happen. But it was that easy. It was writing an email.
You know, there's another person Todd Herman, he is one of the most sought after high performance coaches in the world. And I had some stories that I wanted to share about how his work had impacted me. I had a name that we had in common, have a mutual friend. And so I sent him an Instagram video message, multiple video messages, it was very vulnerable, I turned the camera on myself. And I sent them off and crickets never heard back, followed up with a DM again, never heard back. So I didn't book my dream guests. So that one was a bit of a failure. Someone like Joe McCarthy and Megan Keltner. They are two very successful nutritionists. And they have huge followings huge platforms. And, you know, part of me was like, they're really busy. They can't just be doing media all the time. But I asked myself that question of well, what's in it for them? Right? Like, why would they say yes, to my podcast, versus the hundreds of other requests that they get. But I knew I had a leg up because as many of you know, I teach business and marketing at the Canadian School of Natural nutrition. So many of my students actually listen to my podcast, and joy and Megan have programs that are perfect for holistic nutritionists and graduates of this school. So in my email, I basically said, you know, here's how much of my audience are nutritionists or csnn grads. And for that reason, I'd love to have you on the show, and you could promote your program. And I know that it would resonate, right, this is perfect for you to get your stuff in front of the audience of people that you're looking to get in front of. So there was definitely product market fit there. And I use that to my advantage.
Another situation. So recently, I got on Brian Scudamore. He's the founder of one 800 got junk. And that was like a total dream guest for me because Brian is a very busy guy. He runs, you know, multiple, highly successful franchises. If you've ever seen a one 800 got junk, you know that they're everywhere.
That actually happened through a mutual connection. So I had a friend that had actually already interviewed Brian on their podcast, and I said, Would you mind introducing me? So Brandon showed it to Brandon Fogg. He sent an E intro to myself and Brian Scudamore and said, If you liked being on my podcast, Brian, you're gonna love being on Kelsey, his podcast? And he said, Yes. So there's nothing crazy to this. Like when you think about how you book a dream guest it's really just about a point of connection. It's about making it all about them. It's about asking what value does your show To offer to them, right?
Because if there's nothing, then they're not going to be inclined to come on. But it all starts with a conversation. And I've had so many more people not respond or ghost me. But I actually would think I have more than a 50% success rate of people who say yes and who are willing to give their time and share their story on the show. So it can be scary to ask and to send these blind DMS, but you don't get what you don't ask for. Right? So there's no secrets to booking your dream guests. It's really just about crafting a message that is compelling, and hoping that you get a quick response. So there you have it. That's how I booked my dream, I guess. I hope that was helpful. And I thought to round out today's show, I don't want to keep it too long. But I just want to share a few tips for you if you are thinking of growing a podcast. So number one, make sure whatever you choose, it brings you joy, you're going to spend a lot of time creating and promoting your show. So if it doesn't bring you joy, chances are you're going to quit on it early. So make sure you love what you do. And make sure you learned the basics of adding keywords into your podcast title. So I used to try and get really clever with the titles. But what I've realized is that podcasting simply acts as another search engine. So the same way that people go to Google, and they type in somebody's name.
This happens with podcasting as well. People open up their Spotify, and they search a topic like email list building, or they search a person like Brian Scudamore, and the best results pop up. So make sure you are strategically titling your episodes if you're not sure how to do that use artificial intelligence copywriting, so AI copywriting, I use Jasper, but you can use open.ai. And it'll write some really epic titles for you. A couple other marketing tips, if you're starting a podcast, make a top 10 list of shows in your niche. So if you're a Marketing Show, top 10 Marketing podcast to listen to, if you are a pregnancy show, top 10 pregnancy podcast to listen to, and include yours in the list. So that blog is going to start to bring a lot of traction. And because yours is one of the 10 You're gonna, you know, position yourself as very established and one of the best in your niche.
Finally, be interested rather than interesting. So I think with podcasting, it's tempting to think that you have to be a really good speaker or that you have to be funny or a good storyteller. But if you are just interested in other people, which is exactly the quality that I have, that's all you need. Like I can ask really good questions, because I'm truly interested in people stories. That's my superpower. It's not that I have the best radio voice that I have the best cover art or that I have the most specific show. It's that I ask good questions. I'm passionate about the conversation that I'm having. And my hope is that that is translating because podcasting you can't see me talk, you're listening to me. And my hope is that you feel that energy, that joy. And that translates into brand equity. That translates into people coming further along my funnel.
And some people eventually choose to hire me because they feel connected and they feel they feel confident in my teaching style and then in the knowledge that I have. So there you have it. This was kind of a random episode about podcasting. It's a thank you for five years a celebration, a remembrance of why I started the show how I booked dream guests, and some tips for those of you who are thinking about starting a podcast. If you do have any questions about the world of podcasting about how to start a show, or if you want to bounce episode titles or podcast names or cover art off of me. I love hearing about what you are all working on what your current projects are. It lights me up to get into conversation and help support you guys in bringing your projects to life. So definitely reach out I'm active on Instagram at Kelsey Reidl.
My website Kelseyreidl.com. Lots of freebies, lots of content there. And again, if you are interested in joining our mindset and marketing coaching program, the only of its kind, this is going to change the way you do business in 2023 and
I'm going to be a student with you a student of the mindset work the student of possibility and manifesting exactly what I want this year and, gosh, ever since embarking on this journey just three weeks ago, I swear I have already manifested a lot of what I want. So starting to do this work with Emily paired with the tactical strategies from myself. We are meeting every Wednesday for 90 minutes starting February 1. You guys you need to be in this program. Find that money find that cash and let us know if you have any questions. Kelsey rydell.com/ 2023 We will see you inside and until next week. You guys have a visionary day
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Mentioned in our Episode:
Episode 047: Meghan Telpner Founder of The Academy of Culinary Nutrition + Building an Online School
Episode 095: How they Launched a Female-Focused Sports Media Company called The Gist
Episode 151: NHL Defenseman Connor Carrick is Committed to the Long-Game
Episode 196: Uncle Chuck’s BBQ Sauce: New Food Brand from Award Winning Chef, Cheryl Torrance
Episode 201: Psychedelics and Microdosing for Entrepreneurs: How to Successfully Use Psychedelics to Level Up Your Career
Episode 235: Joy McCarthy shares how it’s all an experiment when you run a business | Founder of Joyous Health
Your 2023 Leap: The Business & Mindset Program that will change the way you do business and life in 2023 (& beyond!). This is for 20 individuals who want access to the tools and techniques they need to reach their 2023 goals. We will all be meeting on Zoom 1x weekly for 90 minutes for 12 consecutive weeks to make big leaps, together. Learn more at https://www.kelseyreidl.com/2023
If you're feeling lost, confused or overwhelmed when it comes to starting an online business, reach out and book a free re-vision call with me. I'll offer you customized recommendations on how to get unstuck so you can live a life filled with joy, happiness and fulfillment