Episode 72
The benefit of consistently releasing podcast episodes over a long period of time with Ellie Swift
In today's episode, we're joined by the delightful Ellie Swift, the voice behind the popular podcast, "Shine Online with Ellie Swift". Launching her podcast in August 2020, Ellie speaks candidly about the highs and lows of consistent podcasting. Beyond being a marketing strategy, she shares her authentic journey of using podcasting as a tool to connect, share, and educate her audience.
Ellie's thoughtful perspective on content evolution resonates with every creator: it's natural for content to change, reflecting one's growth and ever-evolving viewpoints. Her podcast serves as a key strategy funnelling potential clients towards her services. A testament to its success, a whopping 30-50% of Ellie's community discovered her through the podcast, emphasizing its transformative impact on her business trajectory.
However, every silver lining has its own cloud. Ellie sheds light on the demanding nature of maintaining consistency in podcasting. With weekly episodes amidst other professional commitments, it's a balancing act. Yet, the importance of podcasting's returns, especially in terms of repurposed content, is undeniable. Ellie emphasizes its role as a content goldmine that greatly benefits businesses.
Ellie's insights serve as a beacon for both budding and veteran podcasters. Podcasting isn't just about starting; it's about persisting, evolving, and connecting. Through her unwavering commitment, Ellie reminds us of the trust and bond forged between creators and their audience, cementing podcasting as an invaluable medium in today's digital age.
Links
Ellie's Sold Out Masterminds Program
Diary of a CEO - Ellie’s favourite podcast right now
EQUIPMENT WE USE TO PRODUCE THIS PODCAST (PODCAST PLATFORM VERSION)
Aputure Amaran 200d LED Video Light
Transcript
Welcome back to my face.
Speaker:Today we have a interview
Speaker:with Ellie Swift.
Speaker:She has a podcast called
Speaker:Shine Online with Ellie Swift.
Speaker:She's been a client of
Speaker:ours now since 2020 And her
Speaker:consistency is really admirable.
Speaker:bar for the few weeks that we suggest
Speaker:clients take off over Christmas, Ellie
Speaker:really hasn't missed like a week I
Speaker:know how difficult it is and it is
Speaker:definitely one of the reasons why a
Speaker:lot of people don't start shows or
Speaker:they do start them and they get like
Speaker:10 episodes in, they realize it's
Speaker:tricky and that it's so hard to be
Speaker:consistent and they just stop, whereas
Speaker:Ellie absolutely has not done that.
Speaker:I spoke to Ellie as well about how she
Speaker:quantifies The value of the show, like
Speaker:what she's actually getting out of it
Speaker:as well, uh, how she's grown, what she's
Speaker:learned, who it's for, all the things.
Speaker:I think that you're going to really learn
Speaker:in this episode, uh, just the honesty
Speaker:around how it is hard to actually be
Speaker:consistent and why it is important to
Speaker:keep going, especially in this podcasting
Speaker:space because the payoffs are big.
Speaker:They're bigger than you realize.
Speaker:And it's something that over time
Speaker:grows and it grows really naturally.
Speaker:And your audience gets used to
Speaker:hearing from you every, every week.
Speaker:And if they don't hear from you, then.
Speaker:They wonder why.
Speaker:And I think that that's a really cool
Speaker:conversation to start with today.
Speaker:Go and check Ellie out.
Speaker:She's on Instagram.
Speaker:She's a fantastic website.
Speaker:She has a great podcast.
Speaker:She has all the things.
Speaker:The point of this show is to really
Speaker:help you, the podcaster or someone
Speaker:interested in podcasting, to learn
Speaker:from someone that's been doing it
Speaker:for a long time and ascertain what.
Speaker:you can also implement in
Speaker:your own podcasting journey.
Speaker:So let's get into it.
Speaker:Ellie, we went back to the
Speaker:beginning of your show.
Speaker:You first launched it on
Speaker:August the 22nd, 2020.
Speaker:I want you to take me back to when you
Speaker:first started this show, why you recorded
Speaker:it, where you were in your business
Speaker:and Why it felt like a good idea.
Speaker:In 2019, I launched my
Speaker:first ever mastermind.
Speaker:2020 was when that mastermind
Speaker:then evolved into two masterminds.
Speaker:and I was very much in the thick of being
Speaker:in the scaled version of my business.
Speaker:My marketing efforts to that point
Speaker:had been just smaller, honestly.
Speaker:And I'd got to that point where
Speaker:I was running group programs
Speaker:in this case, masterminds.
Speaker:And I knew that I needed to really
Speaker:focus on growing my top of funnel
Speaker:audience so that I was going to be
Speaker:able to continue attracting the type
Speaker:of people that I wanted to attract.
Speaker:So that's really the, the
Speaker:strategic answer around that.
Speaker:The other side of that is that.
Speaker:I knew I wanted to have a podcast,
Speaker:being in a thought leadership
Speaker:business, being somebody who has a
Speaker:lot to share, being someone whose
Speaker:business is built entirely around,
Speaker:you know, my intellectual property.
Speaker:It made so much sense to me to
Speaker:incorporate a podcast into my suite.
Speaker:And so I started the podcast with
Speaker:the desire to keep growing my
Speaker:audience and really creating that
Speaker:opportunity to share more long form
Speaker:content that would give people the
Speaker:opportunity to get to know me more.
Speaker:Because what I find is that.
Speaker:When I work with clients, they tend
Speaker:to stick around and so that trust is
Speaker:built through people really getting
Speaker:to know and understand me and how I
Speaker:work and the advice that I offer and
Speaker:the way in which I share information
Speaker:and the way that I share strategy.
Speaker:And I knew I needed more
Speaker:of an outlet for that.
Speaker:So lots of reasons.
Speaker:Podcast was just like the thing,
Speaker:the passage of time is crazy.
Speaker:Like it feels like no time has passed,
Speaker:but also so much time has passed.
Speaker:And there's been so
Speaker:many evolutions of Ellie
Speaker:so often we can feel a bit of shame
Speaker:when we think about all the content that
Speaker:lives out there on the Internet from our
Speaker:years prior because as thought leaders
Speaker:as people with intellectual property.
Speaker:As entrepreneurs, we're moving
Speaker:at such a rapid rate, right?
Speaker:So it would be weird if you and I
Speaker:didn't cringe at the content that
Speaker:we shared online three years ago.
Speaker:Like, that would just be strange and
Speaker:probably a sign that we weren't actually
Speaker:growing at the rate of our potential.
Speaker:And so what I think is so interesting
Speaker:and important for people listening
Speaker:to know about that is that You get
Speaker:to just honor that evolution and not
Speaker:make it be a problem or mean anything.
Speaker:So I'm never gonna go back and listen
Speaker:to those old episodes because I just
Speaker:cringed so much, but they tell a story.
Speaker:It's part of my journey and it's the
Speaker:same as if I go back and listen to,
Speaker:you know, the very first episode Amy
Speaker:Porterfield did of her podcast, you
Speaker:know, I'm gonna have of course that
Speaker:human context and knowledge that she
Speaker:was a very different person then.
Speaker:And so I think there's a lot to
Speaker:be said for really embracing our
Speaker:journey in a podcast and allowing
Speaker:that transformation to occur and not
Speaker:making past versions of ourself wrong.
Speaker:It's like, you almost
Speaker:want to hug that person.
Speaker:You want to hug that version of you to
Speaker:go, man, like you were doing a good job.
Speaker:Like you had the best info
Speaker:that you could at the time.
Speaker:And you really went for it.
Speaker:you've just got to start.
Speaker:And even if you suck, like, you're not
Speaker:always going to suck, you know, you're
Speaker:going to develop into the person that
Speaker:you're supposed to be and the content
Speaker:creator that you're supposed to be.
Speaker:So I think that that's really valuable.
Speaker:I want to then go into how you
Speaker:think that your podcast Has
Speaker:helped you in your business.
Speaker:And if you have like a figure that you
Speaker:reckon maybe it's generated, you could
Speaker:certainly say that, but if you don't, if
Speaker:you haven't quantified it, that's fine.
Speaker:But how do you feel like it's served you?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I absolutely do have that data, so we're
Speaker:really specific and clear on the data
Speaker:of where our clients and our community
Speaker:come from, specifically in our funnel.
Speaker:So I know I mentioned this before,
Speaker:but, and obviously, you know, this
Speaker:breed, but our podcast very much
Speaker:is a top of funnel strategy for us.
Speaker:And so just to break that down a little
Speaker:bit, what I mean by that is that.
Speaker:It was always desired that people would
Speaker:find me through the podcast, that that
Speaker:would be an entry point, or maybe they'd
Speaker:come across me on Instagram one time,
Speaker:want to find out a bit more about me
Speaker:and would go straight to the podcast.
Speaker:Like that was the place where
Speaker:people would get to know me and
Speaker:my work and it would warm them
Speaker:up to then move into purchasing
Speaker:from me, which what I find occurs.
Speaker:Is that that absolutely takes place at
Speaker:the moment between 30 to 50 percent of
Speaker:people find me or attribute finding
Speaker:me to the podcast, which is awesome.
Speaker:And then what I find is that
Speaker:people go from there and then they
Speaker:purchase predominantly through
Speaker:Instagram and sometimes Facebook.
Speaker:so where our stats get
Speaker:a little bit skewed is.
Speaker:When, for example, if I look at like
Speaker:my last launch of the mastermind model
Speaker:program that supports you to grow
Speaker:and build a mastermind in that data,
Speaker:something that my business manager and
Speaker:even I looked at was we could see really
Speaker:clearly that people were predominantly
Speaker:purchasing or signing up to the playbook,
Speaker:the webinar from Instagram, but a lot
Speaker:of those listeners were still coming
Speaker:from From the podcast, so we don't
Speaker:necessarily get as many clicks from the
Speaker:podcast itself in mid roll and, you know
Speaker:what I share at the end, but I know that
Speaker:that's still contributing to the process.
Speaker:So that's where I know our data's
Speaker:a little bit skewed, but it's more,
Speaker:it's a lot of asking people where
Speaker:they found us and also anecdotal
Speaker:information that's really helped me.
Speaker:Discern and determine that, especially
Speaker:those ideal clients, a lot of them are
Speaker:like, Hey, I just like binge listened
Speaker:to 10 episodes of your podcast.
Speaker:I can see we have the same values.
Speaker:I can see and recognize your
Speaker:framework, the way that you teach.
Speaker:I like you.
Speaker:I want to work with you.
Speaker:Where do I sign up?
Speaker:So it fast tracks that
Speaker:process massively for us.
Speaker:Yeah, that's incredible.
Speaker:I think that's something
Speaker:for people to really take.
Speaker:away from this to go, okay, if I'm
Speaker:going to bother starting a show, if I
Speaker:haven't started one already, or if I
Speaker:have one and I haven't done this already
Speaker:is make it really simple to establish
Speaker:how they found you, because that is
Speaker:where you will be able to tell quite
Speaker:quickly if the podcast is doing its job.
Speaker:For you, and something Ellie said
Speaker:there as well around, you might not
Speaker:get a lot of links, uh, sorry, a lot of
Speaker:hits on the links that you put in your
Speaker:show notes, like, go to the link in
Speaker:my show notes and click on the thing.
Speaker:Most people won't do that.
Speaker:Because they are listening to you, not
Speaker:necessarily with their phone right there.
Speaker:And they're absorbed in
Speaker:the actual episode itself.
Speaker:And they're absorbed in the
Speaker:content at the time, but it doesn't
Speaker:mean that they're, they're not
Speaker:going to go and find out more.
Speaker:It just means they're not going to click
Speaker:on that link that takes them there.
Speaker:They're going to go other places.
Speaker:Maybe they'll go to Instagram
Speaker:first, whatever else.
Speaker:Same thing goes when we talk to
Speaker:advertisers and we talk about like ad
Speaker:spend and things, and they want their
Speaker:links in the show notes for the podcast.
Speaker:We say to them, I mean, yeah,
Speaker:that's going to be okay, but you
Speaker:gotta, like, we've got to put it
Speaker:other places for you because most
Speaker:people don't click on those links.
Speaker:So it's important to have it
Speaker:on your website and like in the
Speaker:links on your Instagram as well.
Speaker:Like if you, you got those three links
Speaker:you can choose, or if you've got like
Speaker:a link tree thing, just make sure that
Speaker:you have a way that you can quantify.
Speaker:What you're actually getting out of
Speaker:it because, you know, Ellie spends
Speaker:money on the show to get it produced.
Speaker:We produce it.
Speaker:It costs her money to do.
Speaker:She wants to prove that
Speaker:it's worth it for her.
Speaker:what do you think is your
Speaker:favorite thing about your podcast?
Speaker:I love recording the episodes
Speaker:of the podcast from day one.
Speaker:I've always.
Speaker:I've always set the visual in
Speaker:my mind that when I'm recording
Speaker:my podcast, I am sitting with
Speaker:a client or a community member.
Speaker:And I often have a different person
Speaker:in my mind at any one time, but
Speaker:I'll think of a literal client
Speaker:or someone within my community.
Speaker:And we have a glass of wine or we have a
Speaker:tea or we have a coffee and I'm sharing
Speaker:and communicating and speaking to them.
Speaker:And because of that, it allows me to.
Speaker:Feel really connected to my
Speaker:audience, to my community.
Speaker:And I often hear people
Speaker:say recording a podcast.
Speaker:It's like, you're not live.
Speaker:You're not with them.
Speaker:Take yourself into that vortex.
Speaker:Do what you need to do to make
Speaker:believe a little bit, and that's
Speaker:going to support your process so much.
Speaker:And so.
Speaker:For me, I always make the process of
Speaker:recording a podcast, something that feels
Speaker:like a beautiful experience for myself.
Speaker:I love it for that because.
Speaker:I get to have that experience.
Speaker:I get to communicate in a deeper way,
Speaker:in a conversational way, in a way where
Speaker:I'm sharing my energy and sharing my
Speaker:ethos and sharing my viewpoints and
Speaker:doing so with the desire to serve.
Speaker:So I really, really love that.
Speaker:Like the process of
Speaker:recording and sharing.
Speaker:I love it.
Speaker:okay.
Speaker:So that's the good stuff.
Speaker:What do you feel like is the bad stuff or
Speaker:maybe not bad, but what's the challenge?
Speaker:Probably the biggest challenge that you
Speaker:think a podcast puts in front of you.
Speaker:I would say that there's definitely
Speaker:seasons where I just can't be bothered.
Speaker:With the consistency of it,
Speaker:you know, like I'm recording a
Speaker:30 minute episode once a week.
Speaker:Like that's a lot of time
Speaker:and I say it's a lot of time.
Speaker:I just want to quantify
Speaker:that it's also not.
Speaker:So the only things that I do is I
Speaker:write notes and I record the thing.
Speaker:That's all I do.
Speaker:Like my team, you guys.
Speaker:Do everything else.
Speaker:And what that gives me in terms of
Speaker:content and repurposed content is huge.
Speaker:a lot of people said to me,
Speaker:podcast takes so much time.
Speaker:And I actually say the
Speaker:opposite to my clients.
Speaker:I'm always like, actually, it doesn't
Speaker:take a lot of time in terms of what it
Speaker:gives you, what it gives your business
Speaker:in terms of content opportunities.
Speaker:But.
Speaker:What I will say is that, yeah,
Speaker:there's seasons where I'm just like,
Speaker:I'm, I'm a bit tired this month, or
Speaker:I've just come off the back of a big
Speaker:launch, or I'm just feeling like a
Speaker:little less creative in this moment.
Speaker:And obviously it's something
Speaker:where for me, I definitely view
Speaker:consistency as being something
Speaker:that's really important in business.
Speaker:And I will show up for that
Speaker:podcast no matter what I think
Speaker:other than our scheduled Christmas
Speaker:weeks off, we've had like.
Speaker:In three years, we've had like two
Speaker:episodes that haven't gone live.
Speaker:Like basically nothing because
Speaker:people message me if an episode
Speaker:doesn't go up, where if we've ever
Speaker:had a tech thing where an episode
Speaker:doesn't go up, people message me
Speaker:from 6am like, where's your podcast?
Speaker:It's not coming this week.
Speaker:And so I want to be able to uphold
Speaker:that thing of, I'm creating this
Speaker:consistent thing that people get to trust
Speaker:because if they see that coming out.
Speaker:Every single Wednesday, it means
Speaker:that my people get to trust me
Speaker:and sometimes I'm a little bit slow
Speaker:about getting it through to you.
Speaker:I, I'm not a bachelor of my, my podcast.
Speaker:maybe that will change in future
Speaker:seasons, but I really enjoy that weekly
Speaker:ritual of sitting down to record.
Speaker:Yeah, I think the commitment to yourself,
Speaker:to your business, but most importantly
Speaker:to your audience is really admirable.
Speaker:And it's like, yay, give me like a
Speaker:little clap there because I know that
Speaker:even though, as you say, it doesn't
Speaker:take a lot of time, it's still a thing.
Speaker:That you kind of have to do.
Speaker:It's like a non negotiable, and
Speaker:sometimes you just can't be asked.
Speaker:You want to put it in the too hard
Speaker:basket, or you don't feel like
Speaker:you've got the energy sometimes.
Speaker:You feel like you're a bit flat,
Speaker:and you just don't, you just
Speaker:don't want to have to connect.
Speaker:But I think one of the things that
Speaker:I find, even with our own show Pump
Speaker:Up Your Pod, is like if I'm not
Speaker:into it and I make myself do it.
Speaker:I actually feel better afterwards.
Speaker:It's like going to the gym.
Speaker:I get out of my own way and I
Speaker:go, no, I've committed to this.
Speaker:Like anything else in my
Speaker:business I've committed.
Speaker:I'm gonna do it.
Speaker:And then once I'm done, I'm like,
Speaker:man, it's like, it's invigorating
Speaker:to me to have then spent that
Speaker:time delivering something.
Speaker:And because I love to teach as well.
Speaker:You're the same, Ellie, where
Speaker:that education piece is so strong.
Speaker:It's like, you really
Speaker:want people to learn.
Speaker:That you feel like you're
Speaker:delivering on that.
Speaker:So I think that's
Speaker:extremely valuable.
Speaker:great.
Speaker:The last question I have for you
Speaker:is what's your favorite podcast?
Speaker:it changes all the time, but my
Speaker:current favorite is I really love the
Speaker:diary of a CEO by Steven Bartlett.
Speaker:I mean, he is just like
Speaker:podcast goals, right?
Speaker:And if you want to, if you want to see.
Speaker:What a big budget podcast production gets
Speaker:to look like check out his podcast and
Speaker:the way that he then shares it across
Speaker:his socials, because it is just so smart.
Speaker:So considered, I mean, he's
Speaker:doing like movie trailers for
Speaker:every episode at this point.
Speaker:So Go check those out.
Speaker:Not through the lens
Speaker:of comparison because.
Speaker:You know, for the most part,
Speaker:we, we have smaller budgets.
Speaker:Like he is somebody where his
Speaker:podcast is his thing at this point.
Speaker:And he has a very, very big
Speaker:podcast budget, but you can
Speaker:learn so much from him in terms
Speaker:of the way that he interviews.
Speaker:I mean, there's just no other
Speaker:interviewer like him, the way that he
Speaker:is very strategic about using mid roll.
Speaker:The way he asks people to subscribe
Speaker:to his podcast, just, he's so good.
Speaker:And his subject matter is amazing.
Speaker:His interviews are amazing.
Speaker:The people he has on
Speaker:his show are amazing.
Speaker:Just incredible thought leaders in the
Speaker:areas of business, sport, health, wealth.
Speaker:Amazing.
Speaker:he is really good.
Speaker:I love that show as well.
Speaker:his YouTube channel, the behind
Speaker:the scenes of the podcast.
Speaker:Oh my God, Ellie,
Speaker:you're going to love it.
Speaker:Cause it's like the back end of what
Speaker:it takes to actually run his podcast.
Speaker:I want you to go and listen to
Speaker:shine online with Ellie Swift.
Speaker:And I want you to get some tips from
Speaker:the way she delivers her solo content as
Speaker:a, you know, really high level business
Speaker:owner with a really engaged audience.
Speaker:The way that Ellie uses phrasing,
Speaker:the way that she establishes
Speaker:connection and emotion with her
Speaker:audience through her solo episodes.
Speaker:If nothing else, if that content
Speaker:resonates with you, I think you'll really
Speaker:learn a lot from the way you can deliver
Speaker:solo and then with guest content as well.
Speaker:the questions that Ellie
Speaker:asks are interesting and
Speaker:she's connecting a lot with.
Speaker:People that are in her programs, but
Speaker:it doesn't feel like she's trying
Speaker:to sell you on something, you know,
Speaker:having someone on her show that
Speaker:someone in her programs, it doesn't
Speaker:feel like, Oh, look how awesome I am.
Speaker:And here's someone in my program.
Speaker:That's not the point of the conversation.
Speaker:So, take some notes, and I
Speaker:think you'll really enjoy
Speaker:Shine Online with Ellie Swift.
Speaker:Thanks, Ellie.
Speaker:thank you so much for having me.
Speaker:I've loved this conversation so much and
Speaker:thanks for all those lovely compliments.
Speaker:These are, I'm learning new things
Speaker:about the way I phrase things and it?
Speaker:being, you know, great.
Speaker:So I'm thrilled about that, delighted.
Speaker:A Yep.
Speaker:Thank you.
