Episode 81
Bamby Media's Year That Was
As we approach the end of the year, I want to take a moment to reflect on the incredible year we've had at Bamby Media. I don’t usually go into the details of our particular business here, but I thought you may get a kick out of sneaking behind the curtain of Australia’s largest independent podcast production agency. It still blows my mind that I can even say that about our business if I’m honest.
It's been a year of excitement, challenges, growth, failure, loss and learning. I’ve had the pleasure of doing some very fun new things this year, and here’s a snapshot of not only what we’ve achieved, but more importantly what we’ve seen our clients achieve.
BAMBY MEDIA LINKS:
Transcript
A lot of things have happened this
Speaker:year for us here at bamy media.
Speaker:And it's been really exciting and
Speaker:it's also been one of the, probably
Speaker:the hardest years in business.
Speaker:if I reflect back on kind of where we
Speaker:started back in January I decided to
Speaker:completely revolutionize The production
Speaker:process that our audio editors were
Speaker:using to actually edit every single show.
Speaker:And even though I knew that it was going
Speaker:to be something that was just going to
Speaker:work so well, there was a whole lot of
Speaker:work involved with me actually achieving
Speaker:that and getting everything ready,
Speaker:getting all the tutorials recorded.
Speaker:Uh, explaining to the staff
Speaker:why this was happening.
Speaker:Anytime there's a massive
Speaker:change in the business, it can
Speaker:be scary for everyone else.
Speaker:It's challenging.
Speaker:Uh, and so part of my job was to
Speaker:hold everyone's hand through it
Speaker:and make sure that we came out
Speaker:the other side stronger and more
Speaker:efficient than we had in the past.
Speaker:We've never had as many
Speaker:clients as we have now.
Speaker:And so starting the year
Speaker:strong It was a struggle.
Speaker:I definitely.
Speaker:Has phases of just being extremely
Speaker:tired and I definitely was sick more
Speaker:last year than I normally would be.
Speaker:So it absolutely took toll.
Speaker:But when I reflect back on that, I
Speaker:really Understand how important that was.
Speaker:I'm so glad I did it.
Speaker:And the collaboration that we now
Speaker:can do as a team is unparalleled.
Speaker:I'm recording this on the
Speaker:29th of December I am well
Speaker:and truly into good break.
Speaker:I think it's been about 10 days
Speaker:now since I started outbreak.
Speaker:And in that time we have gone on our
Speaker:annual Bammy media, Christmas party.
Speaker:getaway with the staff where we
Speaker:take them somewhere to a hotel and
Speaker:they get a fancy room to themselves.
Speaker:They get buffet breakfast
Speaker:the next morning.
Speaker:We have dinner together.
Speaker:We play board games or just chat
Speaker:or whatever people want to do.
Speaker:Uh, we had drinks by the pool and
Speaker:it was just absolutely beautiful.
Speaker:And I think that that's really
Speaker:important too, as a remote team that.
Speaker:I do that because we don't
Speaker:have massive costs, right.
Speaker:With big offices and
Speaker:all that sort of thing.
Speaker:Everyone works remotely.
Speaker:There's a lot of things
Speaker:that aren't required.
Speaker:If you don't have an
Speaker:office, which is great.
Speaker:but it does mean that
Speaker:keeping everyone engaged.
Speaker:Is harder because you're not seeing
Speaker:everyone every day and getting
Speaker:those little touch points with.
Speaker:Everyone and feeling
Speaker:connected physically.
Speaker:So you have to make sure that you
Speaker:can still have that connection.
Speaker:Mentally, I suppose, and feel
Speaker:like you're part of a team, even
Speaker:though you are completely remote.
Speaker:And so we do that throughout the
Speaker:year with things like our, our
Speaker:slack channel and we do do some
Speaker:other catch-ups throughout the year.
Speaker:But this big one at the end of
Speaker:the year is like the main time
Speaker:where we can just a, have no
Speaker:work to do because it's finished.
Speaker:So we're not even thinking
Speaker:about that or discussing it.
Speaker:And we're really just there
Speaker:to have a good time together.
Speaker:And it, it's my way of showing
Speaker:appreciation for all the
Speaker:hard work that everyone does.
Speaker:It made me feel nice about the team
Speaker:that we have here at bamy media.
Speaker:We've actually lost a couple this
Speaker:year because they were only casuals.
Speaker:we lost Elliot this year.
Speaker:She's gone on to do her own business that
Speaker:she's been working on for many years now.
Speaker:her business and it's called future wild.
Speaker:And it's all about, establishing
Speaker:culinary gardens for mostly hotels.
Speaker:So I'm so glad that she Took the
Speaker:training wheels off and dove into that.
Speaker:And I was expecting that to
Speaker:happen at some point this year.
Speaker:And I was just so excited when
Speaker:it did, so that was all good.
Speaker:And then we had another staff
Speaker:member, Gina who left us because
Speaker:she'd finished her decree.
Speaker:And she is now.
Speaker:Working in social work, which is
Speaker:what she has been working on in
Speaker:her degree for many, many years.
Speaker:And so it was cool to be able
Speaker:to support her through that
Speaker:as much as we could as well.
Speaker:Because I knew these things were coming.
Speaker:I also had made sure that I
Speaker:had a staffed appropriately.
Speaker:So that when they left it wasn't
Speaker:like I was going, oh my God, what?
Speaker:We don't have enough people.
Speaker:You know, I had staffed it up so that
Speaker:there was hours available for the others.
Speaker:because we didn't have
Speaker:everyone maxed out.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That was really cool to be able
Speaker:to achieve this year as well.
Speaker:And we've also just had some really
Speaker:good wins as far as what we've been able
Speaker:to achieve with our clients this year.
Speaker:And it's not something that I really
Speaker:talk about too much here on pump
Speaker:up your pod, because it's more
Speaker:about giving you podcasting tips,
Speaker:I sent an email out to our clients.
Speaker:Uh, just wishing them a happy Christmas.
Speaker:And then in that.
Speaker:Email, I actually went through and
Speaker:kind of thought about all the things
Speaker:that we were able to achieve with
Speaker:our clients or help support them.
Speaker:To achieve this year, because at the
Speaker:end of the day, you know, mostly for our
Speaker:clients, we are their production partner.
Speaker:So we help them produce the best
Speaker:quality podcast that they can.
Speaker:But depending on their budget,
Speaker:depending on the gear that they
Speaker:have, we help them produce.
Speaker:What they are able to produce, you know,
Speaker:Uh, not everyone's budget is the same.
Speaker:And so what they can achieve is different
Speaker:and also what they are willing to do.
Speaker:Is different.
Speaker:And it's that old saying, you know what?
Speaker:You get out.
Speaker:Is what you put in.
Speaker:And I've seen a lot of our
Speaker:clients this year have really
Speaker:stepped up into what they put in.
Speaker:So, whether that's upgrading their gear.
Speaker:Whether that's actually booking in more.
Speaker:Strategy sessions with me.
Speaker:actually really important to do that.
Speaker:And not enough clients I
Speaker:think actually do that.
Speaker:They just get on the hamster wheel of
Speaker:producing content every week, but they're
Speaker:not reflecting on how they're actually
Speaker:going that's not just our clients.
Speaker:That's broad.
Speaker:You know, that's anyone that has a
Speaker:podcast or people that have social media
Speaker:channels, that they don't really track
Speaker:the insights or anything that you should
Speaker:be measuring and you're not measuring it.
Speaker:How do you expect to get better?
Speaker:And so we've definitely had a lot more
Speaker:clients actually book in for consults
Speaker:this year so that we can go through.
Speaker:What their content plan
Speaker:should really look like.
Speaker:Whether they're contents
Speaker:actually landing who there.
Speaker:Target market is, are
Speaker:they reaching that target?
Speaker:And what else can they be doing?
Speaker:Like how they're repurposing is going?
Speaker:Are they actually repurposing properly?
Speaker:are they wanting to
Speaker:step into monetization?
Speaker:What does that look like?
Speaker:Like there's a bunch of
Speaker:different things that.
Speaker:If you don't talk about it.
Speaker:And strategize it, then your kind of
Speaker:leaving it up to chance a lot more.
Speaker:But what I'm going to run through
Speaker:now is some of the really cool
Speaker:things that our clients have
Speaker:been able to achieve this year.
Speaker:Securing guests that
Speaker:went on their wishlist.
Speaker:So there were a few
Speaker:really big ones this year.
Speaker:namely, I suppose one of them
Speaker:would be, uh, Erica Kramer,
Speaker:the queen of confidence.
Speaker:She has a podcast called the confidence
Speaker:Chronicles and she was able to secure.
Speaker:Gary V, when I first started working
Speaker:with Erica quite a few years ago now.
Speaker:she was like, I want to get Gary V on.
Speaker:And we were both like,
Speaker:what's going to happen.
Speaker:It's going to happen.
Speaker:It's one of those things it's like
Speaker:on that vision board, you know, and
Speaker:when the time is right, when the
Speaker:audience is right, when you feel like.
Speaker:You've achieved what you need to achieve.
Speaker:And you're at the level where
Speaker:you can reach out to someone
Speaker:like that and get a response.
Speaker:It will happen, you know, but be patient.
Speaker:And that's the learning with anything
Speaker:when you're chasing good guests, even
Speaker:though you may want this particular
Speaker:guest on your show, you may not be in
Speaker:a position for it to actually land.
Speaker:There's going to be a time in
Speaker:your podcasting journey where you
Speaker:can get someone on that's big.
Speaker:That's your target?
Speaker:But you need to do the work
Speaker:to make that actually happen.
Speaker:So really big props to Erica
Speaker:for actually achieving that.
Speaker:So it was just really cool to witness
Speaker:that happen and then be able to edit
Speaker:that, produce that episode for her.
Speaker:Selling out courses and programs
Speaker:from the relationships that have
Speaker:been built through the listeners.
Speaker:Uh, is one of the big ones that we see
Speaker:for a lot of clients with podcasts.
Speaker:the podcast being the main arm for
Speaker:marketing courses, programs, masterminds.
Speaker:We've seen it just do so well
Speaker:in actually converting people.
Speaker:We've seen clients launch new
Speaker:businesses and let go of old ones.
Speaker:And that's been probably one of the
Speaker:tricky ones this year, because there has
Speaker:been actually quite a lot of flux in.
Speaker:The small business world this year.
Speaker:I know that it's been really
Speaker:hard for a lot of people.
Speaker:We've lost clients because they
Speaker:could no longer maintain the budget
Speaker:for it, they felt like they needed
Speaker:to cut something and the podcast
Speaker:was the thing that they cut.
Speaker:And so it's been tricky to see and
Speaker:navigate that for people as well.
Speaker:but yeah.
Speaker:Also help them through it.
Speaker:So sometimes they just felt like
Speaker:they needed to let a business go.
Speaker:And then start something else
Speaker:that felt more aligned to
Speaker:what they actually want to do.
Speaker:And that may mean launching a new
Speaker:podcast for that new show as well.
Speaker:I've seen quite a few clients
Speaker:write and launch new books.
Speaker:So shout out to worklife ByDesign Mel
Speaker:Maasdam released a fantastic book, and
Speaker:then we also had ladies finance club.
Speaker:Clients have gone on to, as
Speaker:in whether that be road shows,
Speaker:book launches, book tours.
Speaker:there's been a lot of movement
Speaker:in that space as well.
Speaker:So that was fun to witness and
Speaker:also promote on the podcast.
Speaker:We've been able to help clients
Speaker:secure, aligned sponsors.
Speaker:That's been pretty big.
Speaker:So there's been a few clients
Speaker:where we've been able to achieve
Speaker:some great sponsorship deals.
Speaker:Now that particularly is very hard work
Speaker:and it is hard to achieve good outcome
Speaker:because the space is still quite young.
Speaker:and people, uh, especially brands are
Speaker:a little bit kind of like, ah, I don't
Speaker:know where the podcast sponsorship is
Speaker:worth it yet because there's not enough.
Speaker:I guess proof, although that's definitely
Speaker:changing quite rapidly and getting
Speaker:the sponsors to be the ones that you
Speaker:actually want to work with can be hard.
Speaker:So we've been able to achieve
Speaker:some great things, especially
Speaker:for AMA, from broke generation.
Speaker:We've been able to get some great
Speaker:sponsorship deals going for her.
Speaker:Uh, this year and we're looking to do
Speaker:many more fantastic things in that space.
Speaker:into 20, 24 as well.
Speaker:We also have a monetizing
Speaker:your podcast masterclass.
Speaker:If it's something that you want
Speaker:to be training to do yourself.
Speaker:Then there's a masterclass
Speaker:you can watch and supporting
Speaker:material resources, templates.
Speaker:That sort of thing that goes with that.
Speaker:If you're interested in
Speaker:learning more about that.
Speaker:We've seen clients build stronger
Speaker:connections and expand their networks.
Speaker:A lot of that's to do with, you
Speaker:know, getting different kinds of
Speaker:people on this show that then have
Speaker:actually expanded their networks.
Speaker:Above what they really thought they
Speaker:were going to be able to achieve.
Speaker:So that's been really cool.
Speaker:Uh, there's been a lot more
Speaker:vulnerability this year in podcasting,
Speaker:which has meant that there's this
Speaker:new level of trust, which has helped
Speaker:clients then also sell whatever it
Speaker:is that they're selling, because.
Speaker:They've built a higher level
Speaker:of trust with their audience.
Speaker:And then that has actually
Speaker:converted into dollars.
Speaker:Beauty business and beyond
Speaker:brought to you by Kelly.
Speaker:she actually launched a physical
Speaker:store this year called the facial
Speaker:bar, which I thought was just
Speaker:the coolest thing to witness.
Speaker:And I know that that is.
Speaker:Huge struggle to be able to achieve that.
Speaker:She's just done an incredible job.
Speaker:So that's been something that
Speaker:we've seen and also been able
Speaker:to promote through the podcast.
Speaker:And it's been really great to see
Speaker:that get out there in the world
Speaker:and actually happen really quickly.
Speaker:So.
Speaker:That was kind of cool.
Speaker:We've helped clients start their YouTube
Speaker:channels this year and grow to thousands
Speaker:of views per month in, you know, what
Speaker:is relatively a short amount of time.
Speaker:Reaching over a thousand subscribers.
Speaker:And have seen just a incredible
Speaker:community start to develop on YouTube.
Speaker:And in fact, I'm seeing that myself.
Speaker:For the Bambi media brand.
Speaker:We started a YouTube channel
Speaker:this year, actually I'm in
Speaker:the a couple of months ago.
Speaker:And wow.
Speaker:It's one of these things that I
Speaker:knew that it was going to be good.
Speaker:But I didn't realize it
Speaker:was going to be that good.
Speaker:The ability to have people comment on
Speaker:things and have really good dialogue back
Speaker:and forth with people has been actually
Speaker:amazing to witness, uh, on our channel
Speaker:and also on our client's channel as well.
Speaker:Where that you feel like you
Speaker:really building a community.
Speaker:Because you're getting feedback.
Speaker:And so that's why I think
Speaker:podcasting on YouTube is, is
Speaker:actually a really cool thing.
Speaker:Because as of now, you can't do that.
Speaker:With podcasting, you can't get
Speaker:that immediate feedback where
Speaker:someone asks you a question.
Speaker:In relation to a podcast episode and
Speaker:you can answer it and then there's
Speaker:a dialogue, and then they thank you.
Speaker:And it, it feels like you're
Speaker:really helping them and creating
Speaker:a good value kind of loop.
Speaker:So it's been really cool to see that.
Speaker:And it be achieved for the clients
Speaker:that are going hard on YouTube.
Speaker:We can see an exponential
Speaker:growth curve happening there.
Speaker:So it's fun to help them out with that.
Speaker:And we're really behind them on that.
Speaker:So that's been really fun.
Speaker:We've seen increases in
Speaker:email, this size being.
Speaker:Invited to speak on stages that
Speaker:have been on their wishlist.
Speaker:One of our clients was shortlisted
Speaker:for the Australian podcasting awards.
Speaker:Shout out to the wholesome
Speaker:show for that one.
Speaker:That was awesome.
Speaker:And I was a judge this year.
Speaker:No, I didn't judge their category.
Speaker:There was no conflict of interest.
Speaker:Uh, but it was just so much fun to
Speaker:be able to go to the awards this year
Speaker:and have a client be shortlisted.
Speaker:So something that I definitely
Speaker:recommend you enter next year.
Speaker:If you are interested in.
Speaker:Meeting other podcasters, because
Speaker:I definitely met quite a few,
Speaker:during that process as well.
Speaker:We've seen video snippets of our
Speaker:podcasts clients going viral on socials.
Speaker:One particular client.
Speaker:their content was insanely hard
Speaker:hitting and we have had, uh,
Speaker:quite a few of their reels.
Speaker:One in particular got over a
Speaker:million views extremely quickly.
Speaker:And that was something that we
Speaker:picked out because we were like,
Speaker:this is going to hit really hard.
Speaker:And it's, it's really rough,
Speaker:but it needs to be said, like
Speaker:it needs to be common knowledge.
Speaker:And so we put that together and then
Speaker:they put it out there and it was just.
Speaker:Like it blew up.
Speaker:It exploded.
Speaker:At that podcast went crazy good as well.
Speaker:And it, yeah, I was just, wow.
Speaker:It was one of the first times
Speaker:that we were able to see that.
Speaker:Be achieved for a client who had a,
Speaker:quite a large following to begin with.
Speaker:And then we came in and
Speaker:produced a podcast for them.
Speaker:That then.
Speaker:Because they already
Speaker:had this crazy momentum.
Speaker:and the production of the podcast
Speaker:was really, really high quality.
Speaker:It just made it easier.
Speaker:For us to then be able to pick the
Speaker:things that we want to pick out.
Speaker:Uh, for us to create something that
Speaker:is extremely high quality and then
Speaker:have this really, really professional
Speaker:result that you would expect from
Speaker:a brand That is as big as that.
Speaker:I've seen people hit revenue
Speaker:targets, knowing that the podcast
Speaker:has been a massive lead gen for that.
Speaker:creating good sponsorship ads for
Speaker:themselves, as in talking about
Speaker:their own products and services, and
Speaker:then quantifying what the actual.
Speaker:A result of that kind of mid roll and
Speaker:the ads have been for their own services.
Speaker:yeah, it's all well and good to.
Speaker:Talk about this thing that you're
Speaker:offering in your podcast, but
Speaker:how are you attributing it?
Speaker:Like, how are you tracking?
Speaker:If they've listened to it and then
Speaker:you've converted them based on that.
Speaker:And there are ways to do it.
Speaker:taking a break when they needed to some
Speaker:clients needed to take a break this year
Speaker:and then come back better than before.
Speaker:And it's been definitely
Speaker:something that I've seen this
Speaker:year more than any other year.
Speaker:Where clients have sent me an email
Speaker:being like, Hey, I need to take
Speaker:a month off or I need to take.
Speaker:A couple of weeks off.
Speaker:And instead of just being
Speaker:like, I'm out, I'm done.
Speaker:It's like, no, just take
Speaker:a break, take a break.
Speaker:Do some reflection.
Speaker:And then the clients that then they
Speaker:come back and they go, oh my God.
Speaker:That was so good.
Speaker:Because it helped me realign with
Speaker:what I actually wanted to talk about.
Speaker:And a lot of the times they did a
Speaker:consult, like a high level strategy
Speaker:consult before they went on break.
Speaker:So that then I would sit
Speaker:with them and go, okay, cool.
Speaker:This is the content that you
Speaker:need to be kind of hitting, or
Speaker:at least giving them some ideas.
Speaker:And then over the break,
Speaker:they would think about that.
Speaker:And they would record some stuff
Speaker:just because they felt like it.
Speaker:And it wasn't like such a big.
Speaker:Deal.
Speaker:And then they came back and you
Speaker:just saw their numbers go rip.
Speaker:Which was awesome to see as well, because
Speaker:this reigniting the passion of doing it.
Speaker:And that's why I always like to
Speaker:take a break in December and get
Speaker:our clients to force a break as well
Speaker:because they batch their content.
Speaker:So they're not necessarily
Speaker:taking a full break.
Speaker:They've batched stuff up, but
Speaker:it means they've taken a break
Speaker:from actually recording anything.
Speaker:And thinking about the podcast
Speaker:and like having a deadline
Speaker:that they have to achieve.
Speaker:And then the last one I'll
Speaker:mention is obviously download
Speaker:numbers increasing year on year.
Speaker:There has been a lot of fluctuation
Speaker:in the download numbers this year.
Speaker:I've seen it probably more
Speaker:so than any other year.
Speaker:I've seen a growth on pretty much
Speaker:every show, but it hasn't been, as.
Speaker:big as kind of jumps from previous
Speaker:years, perhaps, but the reason why.
Speaker:A lot of that, certainly
Speaker:towards the end of the year,
Speaker:is that apple stopped counting.
Speaker:Downloads for the same podcast
Speaker:episode on like apple watch
Speaker:and like on all your devices.
Speaker:So if you start listening to a podcast
Speaker:episode on your computer, let's say,
Speaker:and then you go for a walk and you
Speaker:take that podcast episode to your
Speaker:phone or to your watch, and then your
Speaker:listening to it there, it's like it's
Speaker:counting all those things or used to
Speaker:count them as individual downloads.
Speaker:But in fact, that's not the case.
Speaker:They're not real.
Speaker:Like that's not actually
Speaker:three it's only one.
Speaker:One.
Speaker:So they've been getting more
Speaker:sophisticated with the actual download
Speaker:numbers, meaning that yes they've shrunk,
Speaker:but in fact, they haven't really, you
Speaker:know, it's just that it was being.
Speaker:Analyzed incorrectly.
Speaker:Uh, for the first half of the year.
Speaker:And I know that the podcasting
Speaker:industry is, going crazy good.
Speaker:It's still like when I look at the stats
Speaker:and I did a stats podcast episode quite
Speaker:a few months ago now as to the state of.
Speaker:The podcasting industry and, you
Speaker:know, we're beating the U S which has
Speaker:always been the one that we're chasing
Speaker:as far as people actually listening,
Speaker:acknowledging, knowing what a podcast
Speaker:is, the amount of Actual hours.
Speaker:People listening to podcasts
Speaker:has improved, has increased.
Speaker:the awareness of podcasting kits
Speaker:really grown as an industry.
Speaker:and so I guess the last
Speaker:thing I'll say is that.
Speaker:I put download numbers at
Speaker:the very bottom of the list.
Speaker:It's because I don't actually
Speaker:feel that that is as important.
Speaker:As all these other things,
Speaker:I've just told you.
Speaker:If you think about all the things.
Speaker:That you can achieve or that you've
Speaker:achieved through your podcast this year.
Speaker:Download numbers increasing
Speaker:is such a small part of it.
Speaker:When I'm witnessing more this year
Speaker:than any other is the absolute
Speaker:value of knowing your niche.
Speaker:you're targeting people
Speaker:for a particular reason.
Speaker:And are you delivering on that promise?
Speaker:Are you actually talking to that niche?
Speaker:And is your content good?
Speaker:Really.
Speaker:Is it good?
Speaker:So that's my wrap-up for this
Speaker:year and I hope you've enjoyed it.
Speaker:I know it's longer than usual.
Speaker:Thanks for staying with me.
Speaker:If you have all the way to the
Speaker:end, this won't be on YouTube.
Speaker:This is just an audio only.
Speaker:Uh, podcast episode this week.
Speaker:And I feel like I've learnt a
Speaker:lot of valuable things this year.
Speaker:It's been the hardest one yet, as far
Speaker:as just the, uh, the sheer amount of
Speaker:workload, it's been more tumultuous,
Speaker:there's been more people or more
Speaker:clients that have needed to take breaks
Speaker:or, uh, try and do it themselves.
Speaker:In-house and then
Speaker:realize it's really hard.
Speaker:And then come back and trying to fit
Speaker:people back in to a roster that's
Speaker:already quite full losing staff.
Speaker:Uh, upscaling, you know, all the things.
Speaker:So it's been big and.
Speaker:I just want to thank you for being here.
Speaker:I've had a lovely time.
Speaker:Reminiscing with you.
Speaker:And if you're interested in working
Speaker:with us and you don't already then
Speaker:go to bamboo media.com/contact.
Speaker:Send us an email.
Speaker:Thanks for listening and I
Speaker:will chat to you again soon.
