PodJunction: Unscripted Beginnings and Professional Growth for Business Podcasters | Daniela Woerner

Welcome to Pod Junction where Business Meets podcasting, whether you're on a morning jog, driving to work, whipping up a meal or just taking a moment for yourself. Our weekly bite sized episodes promise fresh insights from successful podcasters who have cracked the code of using podcasts to grow their business. So whether you're a podcasting newbie or seasoned podcaster, grab your notebooks and get ready. Well, hello and welcome to Pod Junction. My name is Matt Monson.

Next to me is the beautiful talented Sadaf Bay on. It's great to be here. It's great to be with you on this, our inaugural episode, our very first episode. It sure is excited very much. Yeah. Yeah. Just come on professional.

Move that mic so you can the microphone like that. Uh So welcome to the show. It's great that you're here with us. So, what we're gonna do in this very first episode is explain to you how to use a microphone. Um And we're gonna talk about the show, what it's about why we're doing it, what we're gonna do, what you're gonna get out of it. Um And then we're gonna dive into uh our first guest in this show? Yes, we are. So um we are gonna do all of that, aren't we? Yeah. Yeah. OK. Sure. Is this working now, as you can see, we're slightly professional and it is utterly scripted. Um If you're not watching on youtube and you're listening to the audio version, so I've basically had a microphone under a chin uh when we started. So I have to move it. Um So pod Junction uh let, let me explain to you about pod junction and what it is and what we're gonna do.

So, in essence, Pod Junction is a podcast aimed at those of you who like us use podcasting to grow your business in whatever format that means. So whether you're using it as a business to get, you know, you get sponsorship and people pay you to, to, to, to do the podcast and that's cool. Uh Maybe like us, you use what we call the high value client strategy, which is where we use podcasts to connect with high value clients um as a way to create meaning meaningful connections, whether you're using it to build a tribe um and create or whether you're using it for your content, marketing, whatever you're, there's thousands of them right? There are thousands of them and we are gonna get into all of those uh in the coming episodes and we get an expert in, we interview them about what they've learned uh in using podcasting to grow their business so we call them experts. I don't know whether they call themselves experts actually don't impostor syndrome's a thing. It's a real thing in podcasting. Um And so, yeah, we, we get these, uh, folks on, we're gonna ask them all kinds of questions and then we're gonna play you, uh, snippets segments clips uh in the podcast and then we uh set and I were gonna chat about them and figure out what we can learn from that in our business.

You get to drop in, you get to listen in. Um And so yeah, hopefully, hopefully it's all gonna make sense as we unravel. Have I missed anything? No, I think we're good. You covered everything. OK. Good sweat from my breath. So why are we doing this?

Let's probably explain that answer that question. You, you go ahead, I've talked, why are we doing this? So our, our aim is to help pod season podcasters or those who are starting out in podcasting, who are using the, the tool of podcasting to grow their business. And so the whole aim of this episode and the ones that follow with this um podcast are to bring you actionable advice and tips and tricks and all the different kinds of tools and strategies that you can then take away and apply to your podcast and um help it grow. Absolutely. That's what, that's what we're here to do.

So, yeah, it's gonna be fun. Enjoy the ride. So let's explain, let's talk about how the show format is gonna work just so you know what's gonna happen and what's coming up in each episode. So we're gonna try and record all the episodes here in our studio. Uh So we have this podcast studio here in our warehouse. Um Sometimes we do it where we do it remotely because I have a studio. Why would you not have a studio at your house? Because you know, that's what I do. Do you have a studio at your house?

It's getting there also known as the cubby hole. Um So I've got a microphone. You've got a microphone. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And so, uh we're gonna record the episodes here.

They're gonna be what, anywhere between 20 to 30 minutes long, somewhere around there. So short of sort of bite size, easy to consume podcast where we focus just on one idea, hope maybe two, but usually try and focus in on one idea per podcast and we'll chat around that. Right. That's right. That's the point. So format, let's explain the why don't you explain the format of the show?

I'm going to play around with the sound settings. OK. So we are gonna watch a clip from the episode as Matt explained and um and then we will, then Matt and I will kind of break it down a little bit, talk about a little bit of the nitty gritty of, of the, of the expert advice that we've been given and how we can apply it. And, um I think in essence, that's it, that is, that, in essence, is going to be it. Yes. And so today's guest, we thought we'd just jump, jump straight in, just go straight into this, uh Today's guest, Daniella Warner, um who is just a lovely person. Uh I really like Daniella.

Let me tell you how I met Daniella Daniella, uh has a podcast called Spa Marketing Made Easy. And it is actually a really good marketing podcast. It is actually quite high in the marketing podcast rankings. Uh Even though it's aimed at people who maybe own Spar, it's as a general marketing podcast, it's really good. You should definitely check it out. Um And so I got to chat with Danielle about how she has used her podcast to generate income for herself to um get the consulting gigs and all that sort of stuff.

So, we've got that coming up. Uh the first today though, we're gonna talk, I'm talking with Daniel about how she started. That's right, isn't it about um how and why she started the podcast? Um because, you know, it's the start of this podcast, we thought we'd talk about why we'd start a podcast. So that's what we're gonna do. Uh Why would you on earth want to start if you've not started a podcast? Why would you want to do? Why would you want to put yourself through this uh that's the question that we're gonna hopefully look at today.

So, yeah, Daniella is just an absolute legend. I was a guest on her show. That's how I first met Daniella. Um And some amazing things came out of this one recording that I did on her show. She introduced me to a guy called Jared Mitchell. Uh Jared Mitchell is like my brother from another mother. Uh He lives in California.

I live in the UK. Uh We are now very good friends. Um And lots of things, you'll hear me talk about this as we go along, but lots of things came out of that meet up with Daniella who introduced me to Jared, who's introduced me to a whole bunch of people, all of whom have been on one of my podcasts. Not gonna lie. Uh So, um yeah, without further ado, let's listen to a clip, uh a segment.

We like to segment segment. We're gonna listen to the segment with uh Daniella, then Sala and I will be right back after this. Ok. So you're uh sort of, you're coaching the spa owners and you're, you're consulting with them. Um And at some point in this journey, you kind of go, I know what I'll do. I it's really going to help my marketing efforts.

I'm going to start a podcast. Uh It was that actually what happened or was there a bit more of a nuance to that story? So, I mean, the reality is I am a speak to think type of person. And writing is just like I was doing blogging before as far as content creation and it was like pulling teeth and I hated it. I hated every second of it. It was just way too much. And I found that speaking, I was so much easier and more natural for me. And so when I learned about podcasting, this was, we started our podcast in April 2018.

We have not missed an episode since that date. We're over 300 episodes now. Um And it just was so easy. It was so, you know, and I will say that I learned in part of my personal development growth to let go of perfection a long time ago. And so I, I started the podcast, you know, I see people that are spending, you know, all this time in preparation of what is the name and what is it going to be about? Do I have the entire editorial calendar done? And I just started, I just said spa marketing made easy.

That's what everybody's searching for. They're searching for spa marketing anytime that you ask them what they need. So I just said, you know, there's all those like uh starting a business for dummies or starting for, you know, like all those books that you find in the library. Um So I was like, all right, spa marketing made easy done. And then we just started I had five or six episodes.

I had no idea. Um You know, I knew I wanted to talk about, I knew I wanted to talk about marketing. I knew I wanted to help our clients get to know me and my business and my values and the way that I worked better, we just went for it and it's grown and evolved and changed for the better as I have grown and evolved and changed for the better. Um But I think it's, you know, there's really no magical story besides I hated blogging. I love speaking and I just went for it. I love that because that plays to strengths, right?

That's, that's you going, this is what I, I know I need to do this. I need to do some kind of content. What I'm not good at is this but what I am great at is this. And so I'm just going to go down this road uh back in April 20. I love that. And so the, the first podcast episodes that you did looking back on them, are they similar to the format that you have now? Because you have guests on your show? Right? Or were they, they quite different, quite different? Yeah. Yes. But I leave them there just like I left, you know, I have always done video. So that's been, you know, I knew from the beginning that I always, I said if I'm filming these over Zoom and we're having the video, why not create that? Because I want to have as many um assets as possible to, you know, have on youtube or have on linkedin or Facebook or wherever we're promoting the podcast. Um So I've always done video, but I, I do believe that kind of understanding what works for me. Um I've learned that over the years and I've also, you know, found that interviewing also is a skill and so understanding how to ask interesting questions or how to lead your guest. Um In the right way, we've, we've never done really scripted, you know, sometimes podcasts they'll send you like these are the questions that I'm gonna ask.

I've never done that. Um And the feedback that we've gotten from our listeners, which is not the same for everybody, but they say that they love that. Sometimes we go on tangents and they love that. It's, they feel like a fly on the wall of just listening to someone's conversation. If you're intrigued and want to dive deeper into this conversation, check out pod junction cohort where you can listen to the complete interview and much more simply visit the pod junction dot com for more information about how to join. So, welcome back. Yes. Welcome back. What a great clip from uh Dan Yeller that was and I, I totally enjoyed that. Um And just reminded me of the whole interview again. And if you're watching on video there, you got to see my home studio because that's where I was recording that uh conversation from um and had a slightly less length in my beer, which is quite fascinating.

So, just to emphasize uh after the, what we, what we've done, we've taken segments from the guest interviews, we're gonna talk about them in the podcast, different bits. But you can, if you want to listen to the interview in its entirety, you can do that. Um We're putting that in something called pod junction cohort, aren't we? Um And so if you just go to the pod junction dot com, you'll see how you can sign up to that. Um And how you can listen to the full interview.

There's more information about that there. So do check that out if you want to dive deeper, highly recommend listening to the entire interview with Daniella because she's an absolute legend. We have got more clips, by the way, more segments, haven't we? With Daniella coming up? So, in the next episode, I think we're going to carry on our conversation with Daniella.

So, uh which because there was just so much good stuff uh in what she had to say. So let's jump in what stood out to you from uh from what Daniella was talking about. Um For me, I, I really liked what she said about just letting go of perfection that resonates with me. Yeah, I think you can over overthink something and just never get going because you're too occupied with making sure that it, you know, ticks all the right boxes and, yeah, which to be. I mean, ironically, if we listen back to the start of this show, I moved, I think I moved your microphone. We didn't hit the stop button and start again because I think we could do, you know, you could try and get everything to be perfect. But that I'm, I'm a bit like Daniella, I'm like, I'm not convinced that's a good thing to do, you know.

And, um, it's, I like the fact that it's a bit more chilled out. I like the fact that podcasting can be a bit more laid back and people are a lot more forgiving. And actually, when we do silly things like that, people just, you feel like, oh, these are my people, you know, I don't have to be perfect. It's a bit more authentic, isn't it? For sure? Well, let's hope it is.

Anyway, let's hope so. Yeah. So let go of perfection. Because fundamentally that when we talk to people about starting podcasts seems to be one of the big barriers. Uh is this desire to have a level of perfection before starting? Right. And we see this a lot in, in agency, you know, when it comes to any client, you take any project, like a website, it's like we can't release until everything's perfect. Um And by the time everything is perfect, the website is out of date because it just is the way it is. Uh whereas this is exactly the same with podcasting and so you try and get everything to be perfect and you start and then you, you record the first episode like 20 times. Um uh because you're chasing this ideal of perfection. But one of the things that Daniella said was that her podcast has evolved. Um And so I think the phrase we used was, it's quite different, it's quite different and it will be interesting to see actually what pod junction looks like um in 20 episodes time, right? Because we, as it goes along, it evolves, we figure stuff out, we understand what we're doing and what we're not doing. Um And yeah, it will be interesting to see where it goes to next, you know, so that whole evolution. So yeah, don't, don't let the strive for perfection stop you from just giving it a go, which was great advice for us right at the start. What's next on your list? Uh Something you said actually in there that we should um be playing to our strengths.

I think sometimes we can try and emulate somebody else that um again, we get caught up in trying to make it, you know, just perfect how it should be in our heads. But actually, if you play to your strengths, um the whole endeavor is actually going to work out so much better because you're able to grasp it and run with it in a way that no one else can. Yeah, that's totally true, actually. So, a big part of starting a podcast is understanding what you're good at and what your strengths are. So, when we first started the e-commerce podcast, um and again, like Daniella, the first episodes are there, right?

You can go listen, we, we, I mean, I say deliberately, but I've never felt the need to take them down if I'm honest with you. Uh But when we first started that podcast, which is one of our own podcasts, it was literally me talking into a microphone about ecommerce for like 20 episodes. And even I got bored of the sound of my own voice, right? So we, we, we kind of did one or two interview. Do you remember when we started out, we just kind of just did one or two interviews. It wasn't planned, we just did one or two interviews along the way. And um after like, I can't remember what the number was like 15, 20 or something like that.

We were like, we should just do interviews all the time because it's so much easier. And that was definitely playing to our strengths. That was, it was a lot easier, I think even for you as a host, it was a lot easier, wasn't it? It is. And again, like with Daniella, if you're looking to use podcasting as a form of content marketing. So with Daniella, she hated blogging and I, I'm with you.

I, I hate blogging. I hate writing. I'm so grateful for chat GP t uh uh, much to the dismay of my wife. Um But it's, it's one of those where if you're using podcasting for content marketing, actually the interview style podcast or the panel style podcast or the co-host style podcast where you can bounce off other people so much easier. But if you've got that personality type, um And yeah, we, we quickly discovered, whereas before, if I was just going to sit down and record the podcast, I'd have to plan it out. I'd have to write a script, you know, stuff that I wanted to cover in that podcast.

Let's talk about email marketing and go through the whole thing and it was hours of work. Whereas now we just, we just talk to somebody who's an expert in email marketing. I'll just turn up to, I just rock up to the interview, um again over the next few episodes of Well, Pod Junction, we'll talk about our process a little bit more, but in effect, I rock up to the interview, chat, someone for about 45 minutes and we've got an hour's worth of content for very little effort on our part, for want of a better expression. I say very little effort because there's a lot of effort involved. And, you know, if you in podcasting, there's actually a silly statement to make but all that said, play these strengths. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. Um, what do you think about starting with video? Which was something else?

Daniella said, I think, I personally think it's great because you get more exposure, you're on youtube and you're also on the audio only platforms. When we first started Ecommerce Podcast. It was called The Curiosity.

Oh, yeah, that was, that's right. Yeah. It had a different name at the beginning. I think we were audio only. Yeah. Um But yeah, I think, I think we did, we started doing so much better when we got on to video. Would you say? Yeah, like you, like you say, I mean, if I look at the stats for our podcast, um small percentage of video, the majority is audio download. Um But you do get that exposure and I think the other thing about recording video is especially if you get used to it. Um You can then use that video on social media, right? And so that's what we end up doing a lot, isn't it?

We, we take the video, we'll cut it up into segments and we'll throw the segments out on social media for promotion and things like that. So, um yeah, it's, I think if you can do video, you should definitely start with doing video. But I if you, if you're unsure um and you just want to start audio only. Don't let the video thing trip you up would be my advice to start and if it's, if you just start audio, only, start audio only, but if you can do video, do video, um, would be sort of our advice. Really. That's something that we've learned.

The first ever podcast we did. Jersey. This was pre you, this is before your time. Um, the first ever podcast we did was called Jersey FM. Uh In fact, I don't even know if I still own the domain name, Jersey dot FM. Uh But this was for a beauty company called Jersey Beauty company that we ran at the time I subsequently sold that company. Um But uh we ran that podcast and that was audio only and we had a room like this uh where we just literally put three microphones out like this. And we had an old, you know, I've still got this, I should put it up as like a, a thing in here just, you know, like a backdrop. Uh But we had like a, a Mackie sound desk because we did and this was back in 2012.

This is, you know, 10 years ago, we didn't have the technology we have. Now, ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you it was a little bit more complicated. Um And so we had the sound desk going into a digital recorder, you had to record to you. Now, you can just plug a microphone into your computer and away you go. So, uh yeah, that was that was also audio only, but it would have been a riot actually, if we'd have recorded the video for it as well.

Yeah, it would have been uh because there was three of us again. We started off just the panel conversation. There was three of us. Uh Me Jan and uh Beth um well, me Jan Rach and then Rach moved on and Beth joined and was he the way around? I just cannot remember so long ago, I think. But anyway, um that was just hysterical.

That was, I love doing that. That was such great fun. Um And so, yeah, that was, uh that was that podcast. So all of that said, I think the big takeaways just start right when it comes to a start on a podcast, don't ever think it just start if you can do video great. But there's one other thing that Daniella said in there that I think it probably be worth drawing out, you know, I think I do, I might be wrong. But I think what she said about interviewing being a skill. Yeah. And um like being able to guide the guest in, in when, you know, when they're talking to write, ask the right questions at the right time.

I think that um that comes across as a very powerful conversation that people can then take stuff away from. Yeah. No, totally. We're going to get into the whole interview thing. I think we're going to get into that with Daniel was a little bit from memory. But, um, yeah, we're going to get into the whole interviewing thing and how you do that.

Well, we've got a bunch of guests that we've interviewed for this podcast where we've talked about interviewing. So, but yes, no, the thing that I was thinking of wasn't the interview thing. But that was a very good point. The thing that I was thinking of was she started with five or six episodes. Oh, yeah, she did. Yeah. And that I thought was genius. So when you start a podcast, it's tempting just to go right, record an episode and put it out.

The general consensus is, or the general advice is, um, for reasons which I partially understand, I think, uh, you launch with about four or five episodes. So Daniella did that. She had like five or six episodes and then she launched, um, the main reason being that when you launch a podcast, so when we launch this one, we'll probably have two or three episodes in the can, you'll listen to this one, you'll listen to the next one and hopefully you get drawn in a little bit. Um, and we launched with those three, we'll have probably got, I don't know, six or seven pre-recorded already. Um And so then every now and again, we're going to battery record. These aren't we? Um So we're always ahead of ourselves. But yeah, if you can start start with about four or five podcasts. Um So you upload your four or five podcasts to the platform, launch with four or five podcasts going rather than just the one and then move on from that.

So, um yeah, that's the advice I was always given seems to have worked well for us so far. So I guess we'll keep doing it for sure. Absolutely. So, Danielle, I've got my notes here. Uh uh Absolutely hated blogging. Amen sister. Uh Let go of perfection.

Just start, start with about five or six episodes. Oh, the other thing, she said, sorry, the reason why she started the podcast, uh she talks about content marketing. Um So that was her sole reason for starting a podcast. And then she made this comment, um which when I was interviewing her, I didn't pick up on uh because we're always learning, but she made this really interesting comment about she did it so that so that people could get to know her and her values and her business. And I thought that was a really interesting reason to start the podcast, right? So that yes, she wanted to talk about marketing, but she wanted to do it in a way that people would connect with her values to connect with her as a person. Um And uh later in the interview, Daniella talks about how that worked for her. Um And so this again comes back to when you start, we don't need perfection and you don't need to be something other than you're not. Do you know what I mean?

It's, it's all about getting to know you, your voice. Uh, you being authentic. I don't know. Have you got any thoughts on this? No, I think you've summed it up really nicely. Thank you. That was a short conversation.

That was a, it's interesting actually, dear listener and viewer, if you're watching Sadaf is normally the producer of all our podcasts. So she's behind the scenes, making sure that all the magic happens on, on the podcast that we do because we've got a fair few. We do. Um And then we were like, well, let's why not, let's do another one because why not, why not? And so we wanted to try this cohos in one. So it's quite, it's quite unusual you being on this side of the microphone. It is, but I'm quite liking it. It's easy. It is a lot easier than the other job.

It's a lot easier than the whole prediction. I want to change the job. Mhm You get to interview everybody. Uh But now it's uh it's, it's great doing the show with South. So hopefully you've enjoyed it. Hopefully you've got some value out of this. We're gonna crack on doing these, aren't we? That's the plan. Uh So we'll see you in the next episode. Uh Do get in touch with us if you want to get in touch with us. We would love to hear from you. But for now, I'm looking on my little thing here, we're gonna play this uh Outro clip and then Sarah and I will be back uh next time. So that's it from us. Bye for now. And that brings us to the end of today's episode at Pod Junction where Business Meets podcasting. If you enjoyed the insights from today and wish to hear the full conversation with today's special guest. Don't forget to visit the pod junction dot com where you'll find more information about how you can join today, whether you listen while on the go or in a quiet moment. Thank you for letting us be a part of your day. Remember every episode is a chance to gain insights and to transform your business with podcasting. So keep tuning in, keep learning and until next time, happy podcasting.