3 Podcast Hosting Tips with AdeOla Fadumiye
Branding with Friends | Episode 14
Featuring Expert Guest: AdeOla Fadumiye, Crys & Tiana
Watch or listen to the video interview below or scroll down to read the transcription.
Meet AdeOla Fadumiye from Crys & Tiana
Annie: Today I am really excited to introduce you to one of my new friends in the business world. If you're thinking of launching a podcast for your practice you are going to love what we're talking about today.
My guest today is the dynamic AdeOla Fadumiye. She is the owner of Crys and Tiana. A podcast management support company. She's an online business manager with a special emphasis on podcast management. She has more than a decade of project management experience working with non-profits, small businesses, and entrepreneurs. She's solution-oriented, forward-thinking, and strategic and she believes in creating simplified and streamlined business systems and processes. She moonlights as a writer and editor. She writes at the intersection of faith, feminism, and entrepreneurship and edits multicultural and Christian fiction. You've got a lot going on. Your work has appeared in Radiant Health, Big Cartel, and Matter Me. She is a 2017 starting block fellow and the 2017 alumni of Thread at Yale University, their storytelling and modern media program. She currently lives in the Washington DC metro area. AdeOla, I'm so glad you're here! Thanks for joining us.
You are a multi-passionate but many people who watch or listen to Branding with Friends are also multi-passionate. Get all those passions out there. I'm so glad you're here to talk to us about podcast hosting. We have an episode of Branding with Friends that is all about podcast guesting. This one is all about should you have a podcast and all of those pieces. How did you get into this world of helping clients produce podcasts?
AdeOla: Oh my goodness this journey started a decade ago. I have a love for podcasts. I listen to podcasts when I'm running, when I'm cooking, when I'm lying on my bed, even when I'm reading I'm listening to a podcast. So, I've always loved podcasts but my background is in public relations and marketing and that's why I started out as a writer, storyteller. Over the years it has evolved into project management and that led me down the path to producing a podcast. I want to be a producer. I want to strategize around getting stories out there. At the end of the day, I'm a storyteller and podcasting is a storytelling platform. I just figured out how to merge my project management skills and my storytelling skills and podcasting was where I landed.
Annie: I think that's great, we're all storytellers in different ways. You know I do brand storytelling, you do storytelling through helping people with podcasts. AdeOla is going to share three big tips if you were thinking about creating a podcast, things you want to keep in mind. We're going to share those first two tips in our discussion today, then AdeOla has a special gift for all of you.
Let's think about what is the first thing, if you're a coach or consultant or a service business owner, what should you be considering before you start a podcast?
#1 Action TIP
Have a clear direction - Know your what, who and why and commit to being consistent to help you gain and grow an engaged and faithful audience.
AdeOla: The first thing I would say to consider would be having a clear direction. Knowing your what, your who, and your why. Why are you doing this? Is this a marketing strategy to grow your business? Is it a marketing strategy to pull in clients? Is this a hobby? Is it a passion? Having a clear direction of what you're doing, why are you doing it, and what you're speaking to is important because you have to have intentionality around creating a podcast. Podcasting is a long-term game. It's not something you start today and see the gains. I always say before you step into podcasting whether you're a coach or a service provider think about your why and also think about who you're speaking to. When you have a why that aligns with the who you're talking to, you end up growing an engaged following that sticks with you and is loyal to you.
Annie: I think that's a really good point. I think there are a lot of people who come to the table and say well I need to market myself so I need to create a podcast. But maybe they haven't articulated their story yet or they don't have a logo, fonts, or colors. How much branding does a coach or consultant need before they embark on creating a podcast?
AdeOla: I would say enough to get people attracted to you because there's a lot of podcasts out there and the first thing people see when they search the Apple or Spotify is the image. It's not the copy, it's really the image. If you have an attractive image that draws people in, people are really more into you. I would say it's a good thing to know your colors, to know your font, to know your branding aesthetics and ethos because you need that to make a logo. You have to make the main podcast cover. You need that. If you're doing it for your business the point is to align with your business. I'm not going to have the Crys and Tiana podcast have different colors from my business. I would say you need to have your colors and your branding together.
Annie: I think that's a really good way to put it and it's something that you should be picking up on when you watch Branding with Friends or listen to it is that it's the consistency and the memorability. If you want to tie a podcast back to you, a great way to do that is to have defined branding like AdeOla is saying. The colors and the fonts so that people recognize it because if you put all this effort into creating a podcast but then don't have a way for people to even visually remember it's connected to your business that comes back to the why.
When would it be the right time or a good reason to create a podcast for a coach for example?
AdeOla: Let me go back again to the issue of consistency because when you have a why, that why keeps you consistent and committed. I know I said podcasting is a long-term journey. If you don't know your why and you’re not committed to your why, you end up finding that it's a lot of work and you're burnt out. Knowing your why is important. A good why for many business owners that I've worked with is having a message. You have a message that you want to get across whether it's practical tips, or a mindset issue you're trying to deal with your audience, you have a message. That message is clear to you and you also know the audience that needs that message. It's really aligning the message. Your why is the message you have. You know you have a message and you want to share that message and you know people need the message. Yeah and the people gravitating towards the message. It's easy –– you can have a why that no one really cares about. But if it's a why that plays across to the audience that makes sense. I want to listen because you're speaking to something I want to hear that people are asking for. When you do, when you do produce a podcast I always say you need to stay consistent to your why and your direction. But it has room to evolve so you're listening to your audience. What are they asking for? You might start out one way and realize your audience down the line in a year is asking for something different that you can offer. Then you shift and you move and you evolve.
Annie: I think that's a really excellent point and something to consider too. When I do branding I don't just do the visuals, I also do the messaging and having a message I think is a critical part before I would advise any of my clients to start a podcast. You need to know what are you trying to say. I don't want to confuse a purpose with a message. Right like there's –– you clearly have a purpose but if you haven't articulated that in a clear way that your ideal clients can receive then that might be premature to get that story. I love your point here which is you know podcasting is not podcasting into a vacuum. It's not a form of marketing like most good marketing it's system will benefit you and I know you're going to talk about that. But also it's about listening. It's as much about talking about what you do as it is about listening to the response and engaging. Starting a podcast that's flexible enough to respond to what people are interested in.
I think that's a great point. If somebody's created a podcast or is thinking about doing it, what should they be considering about launching that podcast? What's the second thing we need to keep in mind?
#2 ACTION TIP
Have a launch week promotion strategy
AdeOla: This I talk about a lot and it's something that I do with my clients a lot. It's this idea that no one knows who you are, you're not Brene Brown, you're not Beyonce. We don't have a billion, million followers. So, you can't expect to produce a podcast and put it out there and not talk about it. Be proud to launch it. I always tell my clients and people that ask me about podcasting is, make sure you have a launch strategy and a promotional strategy for the plunge and everything after. If you want to do ongoing podcasting, you need to continue to market and promote. I always say it's important to have a promotion strategy. How do you promote? How do you gather your friends, families, and business besties that have audiences that you're speaking to? How do you work with them to promote your launch?
I cannot emphasize that enough. Don't drop a podcast and expect people to come because in the podcast world, it's still relatively new. But there's a lot out there and people get lost in the sauce. If you're not talking about it and talking about it often.
Annie: I love that phrase, lost in the sauce. You want to talk about what you do. You're in branding, people have to hear it over and over again for it to stick. Create a launch strategy and keep promoting and marketing your podcast.
I think one of the things that I run into a lot is people think that if they said it once or twice, they've said it way too much. Donald Miller has said it takes eight times, someone hearing something eight times for them to remember it. Most of us were too busy to have seen your one post on social media about it. You've got to keep reminding us, you’ve got to show up. Most people I think have that problem versus they over share. I try to encourage, do it a little bit more share it a little bit more. There's a balance too, it's all about sharing the story and making sure you don't get lost to the sauce. I love that phrase.
AdeOla: I think that's why when people, when sales people call you all the time, they can be annoying but they know they need to come to you two, three, four, five, times for you to buy. It's the same principle.
Annie: Yeah and, and this isn't really part of the tips but I think I'm going to get this question. I know that you can answer it. In terms of technology a lot of my clients and people I work with tend to struggle with technology. They are older, struggle with being tech savvy. What are your favorite kind of apps and tools that help you create a podcast? I know there's things like Anchor and Buzz Sprout and some of these other tools that have come out now that allow you to launch a podcast more easily. Is there any anything like that you actually recommend people use?
AdeOla: That is a question that I get a lot. I always say there's only three things you need to launch your podcast. You need a laptop, you need headphones, and you need a mic. A mic because you want good sound. Headphones because you don't want your sound to be echoing and bouncing off everything. You need a laptop because, Zoom is where we're recording stuff right now. I would say if you have those three you can launch a podcast.
When it comes to editing, I always recommend Audacity and that's good if you want to edit yourself. But for me I always recommend if you can afford it, to outsource your editing because it saves you a lot of time. You can walk in your zone of genius and have someone do all of the sound engineering. If you want to do editing yourself then I say having good quality sound starts before you record. Microphone, headphones, making sure you're recording in a small room or even in your closet if you're recording at home. Make sure you're getting good sound before you get editing and you have to figure out how to make things look better. If you can prevent that out from the onset. Many podcasts have started with that and many have been successful probably with just those three things.
Annie: I think that's a great way to get going if you're going to do it. Ask experts to help you if you're not tech savvy. I think that is a great idea. I know you can help people through your business which is wonderful. AdeOla still has some great advice to share with us. She's going to save her last tip for the end but before we do that I know you have something really special for Branding with Friends. What would you like to share with all of us?
Don’t miss this special opportunity for “Branding with Friends” fans…
AdeOla’s sharing her 12 step guide to launching your dream podcast: crysandtiana.com/stepbystepguidetodreampodcast
AdeOla: I'm sharing with you a 12-step guide to launching your podcast and in this guide, I hold nothing back. It walks you through everything you need from the beginning. Starting with how to clarify your why, all the way to down to the day you launch and a promotion strategy. If you’re thinking about launching, aspiring, or you're working on a launch plan it's something I think would be amazing for you. I didn’t hold anything back. Everything is in there for you to launch and produce your podcast.
Annie: That sounds awesome I feel like anybody who's thinking about a podcast might want to check that out and if you're not at that point where you're ready to launch maybe you save it for later. Thank you so much for sharing that and if this episode has gotten you thinking about branding feeling like maybe you don't have consistent logos, fonts, and colors or you don't have your message nailed down, you can always set private time to talk with me. You can grab a free consultation with me at greateststorycreative.com. Just look for the big red button at the top.
Thank you so much for being here AdeOla. We've got two great tips already. You've talked to us about how important it is to have a really clear direction, a strategy. It's something that I think I always called sexiest "s." Thank you for the reinforcement.
Many of us say we need to start with a really clear goal in mind and not all the things. Make sure we know why we're doing what we're doing and then you've had this other great tip about really being intentional about your launch and not just assuming that people are going to know that you launched a podcast right. Building some energy around that and you've got this great tool for us to learn more. So what were those last few tips? I know you had a third tip and then a bonus tip so tell us the third tip and the bonus tip to encourage all of us if we're on this journey to podcasting.
#3 Action Tip
Create a project plan or simple checklist with timeline to move you through the steps without overwhelm.
AdeOla: The last tip is really the project manager in me, also because I know that podcasting can be a lot of work. People suffer from podcasts overwhelm so I always say create a project plan or have a checklist. The sweet spot with podcasting is, for every episode, everything is replicable. You can duplicate what you do for one for the most part for the others. If you're doing a solo interview you can duplicate. I always say create a project plan. Get out of your head and put everything you need to do step by step on paper. So that when one is done you know I'm doing the same thing for the next one. You're not in your own way trying to think about what am I supposed to be doing next. It's all laid out for you and you can just check, check, check, until you're done.
#Bonus Tip
Commit to batch recording from the get-go.
Part of having a project plan is the bonus. I recommend batch recording. If you take nothing out of this conversation and you want to be a podcaster or you're trying to launch a podcast –– lean into batch recording from the very beginning. That's how you record four episodes for the next month, a month before. It would save you a lot of headache. It will save a lot of time so you can focus on editing and doing other little things that you need to do to upload, schedule, release and promote your podcast.
Annie: I think that's actually incredible advice that I'm going to pass on to you guys as ways to simplify your marketing. This is something I'm doing more and more for clients and through mentoring is talking to you guys about how to simplify what you're doing so that you actually do it. You know marketing it can get so overwhelming and I love to have you come on and talk about, if you're going to do a podcast be smart about it. Have a system. You're going to set yourself up for success if you can have a repeatable process and guess what if you have a repeatable process you can delegate it to your virtual assistant –– outsource that.
For example, Branding with Friends is currently a video series. It is hopefully in the future going to be a podcast but I didn't have the time to learn how to podcast. I just wanted to get started so I did. I created an entire process for my email marketing so you're watching this episode but I'm happy to tell you that all I had to do was record this great episode and meet AdeOla and then my virtual assistant is going to take care of everything else because she's amazing. She joyfully organizes me with Joyfully Organized.
There are ways to build marketing systems so that you can really do the things you like to do like say record podcasts but then maybe you outsource, you get some help from AdeOla's team. Maybe you get a sound engineer, maybe get some folks to help you do it. That way you can play to your zone of genius and things get done consistently and you don't become yet another podcast in the graveyard. Where you record the first two episodes and never do any others again. That's the story of many people that I have encountered in life is just doing one, two, three. This is a lot of work. Planning saves lives. Systems save lives. Batch recording saves lives. I say that a lot. I think there's a quote that's like luck is when preparation meets opportunity and I have found it to be true in my career that the more effort I put into the planning of something, the better it goes, significantly. Even down to college. If I had an outline, I was pretty much guaranteed to get a B. At least a B. Let's all shoot for at least a B. Let's put in some planning time. Trust us on this.
If you look at the people that you admire that are doing really well that are six-figure and seven-figure entrepreneurs, they have systems and they delegate and if you don't know how to do those things we can connect you. Just let us know. Don't forget to check out her amazing 12 step process for launching your dream podcast. AdeOla thank you so much for being here!
Annie: I hope you guys will check her out and thank you guys again for joining us for Branding with Friends. That's another episode in the books. I hope you will tune in next time when we're going to tackle yet another topic where branding meets business. Until then I'm Annie Franceschi with Greatest Story Creative. You can find all our episodes, branding resources, and even hop on my calendar at our website greateststorycreative.com. Stay awesome!
“Branding with Friends” Episode 14
Show Notes + Resources
Here are 3 key tips on podcast hosting to grow your service business:
Have a clear direction - Know your what, who and why and commit to being consistent to help you gain and grow an engaged and faithful audience.
Have a launch week(s) promotions strategy.
Create a project plan or simple checklist with timeline to move you through the steps without overwhelm.
BONUS: Commit to Batch recording from the get go
Dive deeper into branding and growing your greatest business with Annie Franceschi:
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To learn more about podcast hosting or to seek AdeOla’s help:
• • Visit AdeOla at crysandtiana.com
• Grab her free 12 step guide to launching your dream podcast: crysandtiana.com/stepbystepguidetodreampodcast
• Follow AdeOla on Instagram @crysandtiana
