Ep. 219 INTERVIEW – Isaac Smith

How to Get Started Podcasting – INTERVIEW with podcast producer, Isaac Smith, host of the Business RPG podcast. Isaac  helps entrepreneurs and business owners expand their brand and get their message in front of their target audience through the medium of podcasting.

Voice over:

Get ready for an unfair advantage over your competition. This is The Sales Edge podcast. Where globally recognized sales expert and trainer Joe Pici helps you sharpen your skills for booking more appointments and closing more deals. And now here’s your host Joe Pici.

Joe Pici (JP):

This is Joe Pici of The Sales Edge, this is podcast number 219. And as promised we always want to bring you the best of the best and you know, we’re on a podcast. So what better than to bring in a guest that absolutely knows about podcasting. We’re going to get him in a second but first the sales edge podcast is sponsored by Pici and Pici, which is a speaking coaching training consulting Firm helping our clients, recapture lost Revenue, clients and their cultures, and our membership platform sell more virtually.com, where every Thursday night I’m out there live training or coaching, we have e-courses and a big Series of e course is coming soon. Downloads interviews, tremendous information. So pennies For pennies a day, you get me four times a month, live for over an hour. But today, once again, podcast number 219, the sales Edge, but we’re going to get right to it. I’m going to tell you about Isaac Smith. I’ll tell you what. Isaac is a podcast producer. He’s help coaches and entrepreneurs grow their brands via podcasting when he was in college. He worked at a radio station FM, 91.5 The Lion while he was there. Became the production director and trainer for new staff members. Shortly after leaving, he discovered podcasting and realized this medium is going to become huge and the people who would benefit most from standing starting a podcast have no idea where to start. So he decided to take his skills and help as many people as he could. Welcome Isaac.

Isaac Smith (IS):

Hi Joe. Thanks for the invite about less than, two years ago. I started listening to your podcast. If you told me then I would be a guest on the sales. Edged. I would not believe you. Here I am. This is, this is a delight.

(JP):

Well, I’ll tell you, you definitely got that, radio voice and, and, and it’s just good to we’re going to get right to it. I’m going to ask you some questions. I just want you to open up and take your time. It just share. Tell us something about your uniqueness who your target market is, and how you serve them.

(IS):

Whenever I approach podcasting. I know there are a lot of people who don’t know much about it and I was there. And I learned a really big thing in radio is that there’s always more than one way to do something that was that was my Mantra. And what I learned was that was true for equipment that was true for software. It was true for show styles and I realized that is something that people don’t understand. They think there’s only one way to go about a podcast. I think there’s only one way to do an audio show. And so what I try and do Is put myself back where they were or where I was starting where they are now and just walk them through those steps to get to a product that is going to work for them. You know. I’m not going to try and make them the next member the EIB Network or whatever out there, but I’m going to make what they need and that’s what I’m here for.

(JP):

So tell me this, you know, who is more of a target market for you. Who would you like to work with?

(IS):

I would love to work with coaches and entrepreneurs. Those are some of my favorite people and I also like working with them because the messaging side of things, they usually have they’re there. They’re all I’m doing is providing them. More people to hear that message and when when I can take a really great message and putting it in front of a target audience, that’s where I feel fulfilled. So, if I can make a living, you know, connecting the dots. Those are the people, I’d like to serve the most.

(JP):

Well, I have a question here for you. You know, we talked about sales edge being a podcast that really features a lot of how people find clients. Look at yours. You sent me the word messaging. I’d like you to take a deep dive on what you mean about client acquisition through messaging.

(IS):

Whenever I try and talk to people about messaging. I’m a firm believer in story brand. I think that the best way in order to make a sale or an order to make a connection or build a relationship. A lot of it comes down to the story that’s behind the pitch and the connection that you’re making. And what I realize is people have amazing stories. They have amazing things to offer that a lot of times, they might not even realize, but that’s that’s what connects them to their customer. There is a medium to get that story out there. And people are not taking advantage of it. I’m not hearing from the mentors that I need to hear from as an entrepreneur that I need to hear from because they simply have made a podcast yet for me to find them and I need that message. So a lot of it comes down to a point of what I wish I had. When I started, this is getting those tools in front of other people. Hope that answers your question.

(JP):

It does. And so give me some motivators or reasons why people would want to make the commitment to start a podcast.

(IS):

Number one podcasting, I think is still in its early. Adolescence maybe, maybe still kind of its child as far as its term of life. I’ve said this before to you, podcasting is a household term. We’re finally at that point, but it’s not a household tool. Podcasting, is a household term but it’s not a household tool. I was I was reading an article today from podcast, hosting.com, and you’re going to like this joke. Turns out in April 2021, we hit two million podcasts. Now a year ago, there were only 1 million before. That there was I forget I think it was it was over 500,000 but podcasting is on this exponential slope going upwards and we’re going to go vertical very, very soon and there’s a lot of people that still don’t know what a podcast is or aren’t regularly listening to them as someone observing the market that’s an indicator that thing. Really big really soon. And if you want to get in on this the time is now. So that’s that’s my first major point, I try and drive home, but after that I tried to tell people that podcasting is an investment. It’s a tool that you invest in to and just like any other social media tool that you’re going to use, there are a number of things that you’re going to be able to use it for. But there’s also some things that only podcasting can get you Instagram will not get you in a person’s car while they’re driving for an hour or a podcast will, right? LinkedIn Facebook. All these places don’t have the messaging to offer the podcasting does. Again, this is a really growing field and if you have that clear message, or if you can somehow convey it, then all you need to do is to start giving in front of people, which is, which is where I come in. I provide that service and helping you get in front of the target audience.

(JP):

I’m going to take on, we’ll throw you a slider here, you just join sell more virtually which is great and you threw out some statistics about many start few finished, you might sharing statistical data on the whole podcast thing.

(IS):

So as I said earlier, and I’ll preface this by saying the ratios of stats from 2019 to 2020 stayed the same and I’m going to assume for the sake of this because I haven’t seen we get those towards the end of the year that they’re going to say the same for 2021. So, we have now, two million podcasts less than half of those have had a episode published in the past year. about 10% of those have actually had an episode published in the last month and that’s considered a regular upload schedule. If you post once a month that for the sake of everyone doing the measurements, they think that’s a regular schedule. Personally I don’t but your competition is 10% of the market. Take your Niche, take, whatever it is that you think your podcast to be drowned by all these other categories and niches, and I’m not going to be heard, you’re not competing with two billion people, you’re competing with 10% of the People actually in your Niche. So so less than 200,000, I tell people if you really have niche down five digits at the most

(JP):

Wow, I think that’s encouraging to the person who’s looking to do that. So, again, another curve, you’re sitting down with a person who says, you know, Isaac, you know, you’re the guy I want to want to do podcast. What are you sharing with that person? About what commitment They need to make not. We’re going to get into the equipment Later, but I’m talking about their personal time, investment.

(IS):

Personal Time Investments. So you’re going to be looking at some time up front to get started and I have people post once a week, that is my goal, that’s what I think. It takes to stay relevant in the stay consistent, but if you want to get through this, it’s going to be like anything that you’re trying to do business wise, you have to have a long-term goal. Otherwise personally, I don’t want to work with you because then you’re going to become a statistic. You’re going to be like 90% of the other people out there and you’re wasting your time.

But if you have that long-term, You have that long-term goal especially and I want to stress this especially if you already have an audience going into this, then the dividends while you’re not going to see as many up front, it’s going to grow as you go. We’ve talked a little bit about guesting on other podcasts, what happens? Is you put up an episode or your guest on an episode and it never goes away. They’re people who are going to hear that episode 1, 2 3 10 years from now, as long as you’re still around, you’ve left a sales funnel. Going from the time you press record all the The way to wherever you are now, what is that worth to your business? If you had an AM radio station, specifically designed for what it is that you do? What would that do for your business? Especially when you don’t have to worry about being live? You polish this before you press the send button, it does take some time and effort up front but so do a lot of things that have dividends at the end.

(JP):

I know for us, we put out to a week and then there’s times that I’ll be putting down a podcast and I do on my own, it’s four o’clock in the morning and I’m not trying to scare anybody But the one thing I remember, my son said to us, what if you’re going to do this, commit to it and he recommended 2 a week and I’m looking at you are 219 and but he’s been right. He he he was right about there is a commitment because, you know, you’ve got to put them down and they’ve got to be quality and, you know, and that’s such a big thing. So what do you think is the biggest challenge for the new person getting started?

(IS):

I think a lot of it has been in, Intimidated. I think a lot of it is excuses that people make. I went ahead and recorded episode for another podcast I’m working on and what I did was so people ask the question. Do I need to have a podcast? You can answer that question and justify your answer very quickly. If you want to podcast, you going to say, yes. If you don’t want one, you’re going to say no. We’re going to skip that step and assume you need one. There’s a number of excuses people make. I’m not engaging. I have very dry content. I’ve been giving that one a lot lately. I don’t know what I talked about. I’m not an expert. I have a number of answers to each one but a lot of it is sitting down and doing it. I think, once you get involved and get started, you spend the time and understand something. I could say the same thing about QuickBooks. That’s what I used to say about quitting is too complicated. I’m not big enough to justify using QuickBooks and there are a number of people listening who are going to roll their eyes at me saying something like that. Well, I roll my eyes right back at you for saying this about a podcast. Yeah, it comes down to what you said something interesting on one of your other interviews. By pressing into the difficulty. That’s what one of your Works, guests. Talk about that really resonates with me. That’s what it takes to start everything.

(JP):

Absolutely, I will shift gears. Now, tell me about our audience about the commitment, they need to make and maybe some suggestions on the type of equipment.

(IS):

So when it comes to equipment, I tell people up front. If you’re going to do this on your own, you need three things. Assuming that you have a computer already, you’re going to number one, you’re going to need a microphone that is something everyone kind of assumes, but listen to what I just said you’re going to need a microphone. I’m not talking about a built-in hole that’s in your laptop. I’m not talking about something that’s tangling off of a set of earbuds. You need a microphone. I was talking to someone in some were virtually during one of our sessions and they were asking what does it take to be a good quality guest on my podcast? What kind of mic do I need is what they were asking and I told them odds are you’re the first person out of a hundred episodes of that person has had on that wants to have a good microphone? You’re going to stand It out a lot. So again, going back to the whole ratios of how many people are, what not. If you have the good equipment up front, you’re going to sound better. And again, be ranked. Next thing you’re going to need a set of headphones. Something. If you’re watching the video part, I have on headphones right now that are covering my entire ear, those are used in the number of ways partly with editing and getting the feedback out of the room. Also, with just hearing how you sound, you need a good set of quality headphones, they’re not expensive, you can get the Sony brand for about 20 bucks.

Good quality microphone, you can have to do some research. I spend, I just spent $40 on one that I think is going to work fine. The one I use right now is worth, 250 bucks. It comes down to your budget. There, there’s options for everyone, but you need a microphone and a set of headphones. Number three need a pop filter. I have one over my microphone. It is a circle diaphragm. And then some people will have is they’ll have these little foam balls that are over the mic. And those, those can work too. I personally suggest maybe using both actually but it Makes a huge difference in audio quality on your voice and those things add up. So those are the main equipment things. You’re going to need. There’s a fourth thing that you’ll need and that is a host. A host is something that you may have not thought of. But when I say host, what I mean is a service that will store all of the content that you put and they’ll take care of the publishing. They keep up with getting your podcast to Spotify to Apple podcasts to Google and pod. Be those are the main things that you terms and equipment and software that you need to get it aquainted with and that’s the bare minimum that you need to get started.

(JP):

When we got started, we had a great recorder, a mixer mix, pre 3. We had a really good mic and we had a walk-in closet with a lot of clothes because we were just getting started. We didn’t know what we didn’t know, but my son’s in production. So he says, look sound is the most important thing and people would tell you, oh my goodness, you got great sound was coming from a walk-in closet now now We’re moving on and we’re in my office, but starting Monday were going into a complete studio in another room so it evolves you evolve. Okay. And so now it’s a challenge to keep people out there because we’re going to get into more and more information. If you could just give a couple statements of should I, am I ready? And how do I start?

(IS):

Should I? Am I ready? And how do I start? Number one. Yes. It’s a tool that you use like any other social media content platform, Etc. Do I need to be on Instagram? Yes, because that’s where I actually find a lot of guests for my podcast. Do I need a podcast? Yes, because that’s how I get in touch with customers. That’s how I grow a brand. That’s how you’re going to do this.

(JP):

What I want to do here, I’d like you to tell these folks and I know Dawn will include show notes later but if you could just tell them how to have a conversation with you, How to contact you you know the you might be the answer to people that are looking for that person could get them set up and go to market with this thing. So share how to get to you.

(IS):

Best two ways are going to be one is LinkedIn. Isaac Smith on LinkedIn. I think I’m the only person on LinkedIn with that name that stress like a cast member from Fiddler on the Roof, have a hat, a vest, a big beard. And also my email, my personal email is “sir.issac.Smith I just get a hold of these start a conversation. Tell me that you heard about me in this episode. And also I just launched a podcast that I’m using to get some of this information out there called the asset of podcasting. It’s just a five-minute show where I walk you through how to invest in a podcast that will help build your business. Help build your business?

(JP):

That is great. Why Isaac We’re going to move you over to sell more virtually, but before we do that team, take out your phone and put in the message for texting sales edge. send that to five, five, six, seven, eight. Now, that’s going to Take you to a Pici and Pici link which will take you to a splash page. Yes, there’s, five free e-courses on recapture lost revenue and virtual selling there’s ebook downloads on LinkedIn and sales. There’s links to our podcast. But today what I’d like to do is really check out sell more virtually.com. It’s incredible. It’s absolutely the best bang for the buck as it’s minimally priced. But there is life coaching and training and folks if this is an asset to you, can you like it? Can you share it? Can you give us a great comment, but why don’t we just move over to sell more virtual.

Voice over:

Thanks for listening. New episodes will air each Tuesday and Thursday. So make sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and give us a five star review. The Sales Edge is sponsored by Pici and Pici Incorporated. A firm which provides training, consulting, and keynote presentations. Empowering corporations and individuals to attract and retain quality clients, for higher revenues and growth. Make more money in sales, speak with Joe in person by calling 407 947 2590 or visit www.piciandpici.com