How to Launch a Podcast with a Purpose -

Have you been thinking about launching a podcast but you don’t know where to start?

If you answered yes, then my chat with Stacey Harris in this episode is just what you need to help you launch your podcast with a purpose!

Shannon Baker

So I am so excited to be talking to one of my online biz besties. We have never met in person. But I felt like I’ve known Stacy forever! So I’m going to be chatting with Stacy Harris, the founder and CEO of Uncommonly More, and she is a podcaster. So definitely check out her podcast after you hear today’s topic because we’re going to be talking about things you need to know if you’re thinking about starting a podcast. But before we jump in, I’m gonna let Stacey tell you a little bit about herself and her agency.

Stacey Harris

Awesome! Thank you for having me. I’m so excited. I remember when you launched the show, and I was so excited that you were gonna launch podcast. I own an agency called Uncommonly More. We handle podcast production for brand led podcasst. And that kind of means podcasts who are self sponsoring, or podcasters, who are using their podcast as a content marketing engine. You’re not looking to get third party ad space. You’re not looking to you know, sort of sell merch or sort of monetize your podcast through those avenues. You’re really using it to, well, as we call it inside of our agency, scale the nurture part of your sales cycle. Because that’s really what I think podcasts do really, really well. I’ve owned, or we’ve been running our agency for three years to two years, two years, we’re in our third year now, I should know that better. But uh, and I’ve been an entrepreneur for about 10 years now. And I’ve had my podcast for, it’ll celebrate its eighth birthday this year. And we’ve done already over 500 episodes. So I’ve been in the podcast space for a long time. And there’s just not enough information out there for podcasters who are running this as a part of their business, and a part of their marketing versus who are trying to build another business around just the podcast monetization through ads or merge or whatever it may be. So that’s me.

Shannon Baker

Awesome! And I’m glad you gave the designation of the difference between the two because I think for many people, the lines are getting blurred. But like you said, when you’re looking to use your podcast to skill or nurture relationships to grow your brand, that’s totally different than someone who has the, you know, episode interruptions where they’re throwing in a pitch of a product or a sponsor, whatever the case may be. And I get confused. When a podcast does that. It’s like, what’s going on like, what happens? It breaks my train of thought. So it kind of throws me off sometimes. But anyway, I digress. So if someone is thinking about starting a podcast, I’ve been at this, I’ve seen you transition to focus specifically on this area. And I love the information that you give to help someone get started. So where should they start before they pull the trigger and jump into the podcasting pool?

Stacey Harris

We talk a lot in questions that Uncommonly More, talk a lot about until you can answer sort of XYZ questions. Don’t worry about a podcast. And so I think the questions you need to be able to answer before you launch. And really, between you and me should be asking yourself on the regular once you have your podcast to make sure you’re staying in alignment. But who are we talking to? What do we want them to get out of the show? And what do we want to get out of the show? And those last two questions are your shows purpose? What is the point of this podcast? What purpose does it serve? In my business? What perfect purpose does it serve in their consumption? And if you can’t answer that question from both angles, stop, even if you already have a podcast stop. Because you’re going to be spending a lot of time being really frustrated at a lack of results, and a lack of inspiration and a lack of ability to get started. Because you are never going to be able to find the answers to the questions like: What should I be talking about? And how to grow my audience? If you can’t answer those purpose based questions of who do I want listening? What do I want them doing? And what do I want? You know, what do I want them to get from the show? So again, that what do I want them doing is sort of your, your way out of it. You know, in the case of my show, we’re looking to make podcasters more empowered and more confident and using their show and their voice to nurture and convert their audience. So it’s not just about entertainment, it’s not just about information. It’s about moving them down. That road that we’re all moving our clients through. From, I’m aware, really, I’m not even aware I have a problem, too, I’ve solved the problem, because I’ve purchased and somewhere in there sits buying from you. And somewhere in that journey sits finding you. And in the middle of that is probably your podcast, because that’s where they learn. Great! So this is my problem. This is the solution. And this is the person who provides me that solution so that they can purchase. And so that is all purpose driven. If you can’t figure out what that purpose is for you. You’re just signing up for a lot of wasted time, money, effort, energy, frustration, so much frustration, don’t do that. Oh, yes, I love that. Because like you say, you need a purpose. And that means that you’re, you have to have business clarity, because that’s where your purpose stems from. And the podcast is just the audio version of you being able to give that assistance. So I think one thing people tend to focus on is just all the things that they see other people say they get in their business because of having a podcast. But that’s like, the steps that you look at or the piece that you look at down the line. So now once someone has identified those pieces, what is their podcast purpose? Who are they talking to? They’ve got it all in place, they have the answers to your questions. And by the way, I always love your series of questions, because they really make you think and focus on what you need to be doing. But thank you,

Shannon Baker

You’re welcome. So when they have those answers, then what what do they do next? Because we’ve got, you know, all these posts of what you need to start a podcast, and they give you a list of all these things you need to invest in and do. What do you usually tell people to start with?

Stacey Harris

Talking? Like, genuinely start talking, I am a big believer that that gear is like the most fun thing to purchase. However, it is not wholly necessary to buy really expensive gear to get started with your show. I started my podcast with a $60 mic, and free recording and editing software. And then I paid the minimum I could pay to upload to my podcast host. So it it not at all means you need to go out and buy a mixing board and $800 worth of microphones and no no, get get a little bit of gear, get a microphone, you very likely probably have one. I mean, at this point, we’re all doing Zoom calls. We’re all we’re all sort of talking to the computer a fair amount. So you very likely already have some kind of microphone. If you don’t, pick one up on Amazon, if you need some recommendations I have a whole lunch or podcast training on my website that’s totally free that has a tech list in it. And we can give you the link to that later. But like it doesn’t have to be complicated. And then start recording some things. Start brain dumping on a sheet of paper. What do you want to talk about in your first few episodes. And just start getting a feel for what it is like to sit behind the mic and talk now. I really, really, really, really, really, really, really recommend playing with your recording setup during this process. And trying these conversations on because there’s like nothing weirder than sitting alone in your office talking to yourself. Yeah, pretending that other people might listen, it is a wholly uncomfortable situation. And so start playing with some things because I think one of the biggest hesitations a lot of podcasters early on have is like, Oh, I don’t have I can’t talk for that long. And so I want you to do one of these little practice recordings, because I want you to be really honest with yourself about the fact that you can talk that long, and you probably don’t need to.

Shannon Baker

That’s good advice.

Stacey Harris

I really want that to sink in. Because it really only needs to be as long as you need to make the point. You know, when I started my show, and I actually did something that I’ve sworn on every podcast I’ve been on in the last year I would never do. I went and listened to my first episode ever yesterday. It was horrifying. First of all, okay, it took me 15 minutes, and I couldn’t even listen to anymore. I’d still not gotten to the point. I don’t know what I was doing. It was clear. I didn’t know that either what I was doing. And so if you can get the out a little bit upfront, it’ll feel better. So listen to yourself and listen to what you like. Listen to what you don’t like. This is also really helpful if you’ve been doing something like Clubhouse, or you’ve done Facebook Lives, or you’ve done Instagram lines or Instagram stories. Listen to those things, listen to the things that you like and you don’t like and start practicing those skills, brain dump and a list of what you want to talk about in your first 12 episodes, I work in quarters. So if you’re doing a weekly show, that would be 12 episodes, and then start recording them, just start recording them. Now that recording process can look different. It could be that you script and then record. I outline, and then record. I tried to script in those early days, and it did not go well. which is surprising considering how much I rambled in that first episode. But yeah, just just give yourself permission to jump in and try it. Here’s the deal. Recording is not like going live on Facebook, no one is going to know if it sucked because you don’t have to release it. So just start playing with it. And then look at your plan to actually put this in motion.

Shannon Baker

That is awesome. And you’re right, you just have to record and see what happens. Because even you’ll have in, you know, this preconceived notion of how it’s all going to go. And your episodes are going to be perfect, you’re going to start recording, and then when you hit the record button, it’s a whole different world than what you thought it was. And it’s not until, you know, you’re at least like 10 episodes in that you start to really get comfortable with the whole process. But it does definitely help to have a plan because when I launched I wasn’t planning my topics in advance. So I struggled, like each week like oh my god, what am I going to talk about? So now having a plan definitely makes the process a lot easier. And it’s because I answer those questions that you always post on Instagram. And it helped me figure out what I needed to do. So

Stacey Harris

That’s awesome! I really liked it. Yeah, it’s part of the reason our clients work with us. It’s because we put a really big emphasis on that plan. So clients who work with us in production, we have a quarterly call, where we’re mapping out that next 12 weeks of content, our launch clients who would actually help them as through their launch process, we have a whole call when we kick off, it’s talking about launch strategy that’s talking about, you know, gear and things like that, but it’s also talking about great, what are those first 12 episodes, it doesn’t mean that you have to always record what you planned to record. Things can get moved. The plan is in pencil. I talk about that all the time. But having nothing there makes it really hard to get creative!

Shannon Baker

Yes, it does! And that’s a good point, your plan can shift because what we have to keep in mind when it comes to any type of content we’re releasing, whether it’s a podcast or social media, sometimes we need to change our plan because of what’s going on in the world if you’re keeping up with things. So that requires you to shift to address whatever it is it doesn’t have to be a social issue. But specifically if you’re watching things that your target market needs. A perfect example is when you know lockdowns first went into place during quarantine, moms had to flip from just being the work at home mom or the mom building the business to being the mom, the teacher, the everything else on top of that. So a lot of us shifted our content to address those needs. That wasn’t in the plan. But we addressed it. But you can’t do that. If you don’t have that plan as that baseline point to get started. So that is good to know. You can be flexible with it. And yes, pencil is great. I happen to put mine in Trello. So I can just drag my cards into a different order.

Stacey Harris

So yeah, mine lives in Monday. And so it gets dragged around. We have clients, well all of our clients now are in Monday because they get dashboards when we when they onboard with us. But mine used to be in a Google doc and it just gets moved around. It doesn’t, it doesn’t have to be that. We don’t have to give it the meaning that we sometimes give a plan of like being the rules being like the expectation, because I think especially for those of us who are like business owners and entrepreneurs, it’s really easy for our instinct of rebellion to come out against the plan. Like, well, that’s not what I want to talk about today, I have some very creative, interesting thoughts instead. Um, however, they only show up when I have a plan. So for me the plan, and we talk a lot about this with our clients is sort of me building the stage. And the plan is the stage I get to stand on. And sometimes that means I’m going to sing songs of the setlist and sometimes it means I’m going to sing songs the band, or that the audience requests. But either way, I have that foundation I have that plan to stand up on so that I can get requests from the crowd. And so that anyone can hear me and I actually sing something.

Shannon Baker

That’s a wonderful analogy! Very good.

Stacey Harris

Thank you! It’s been a work in progress for a long time. I feel like it’s really finally coming together.

Shannon Baker

Right. That’s what happens in podcasting world. It comes together over time, right?

Stacey Harris

It’s exactly, exactly a podcasting world work and business, and quite frankly, life. Definitely motherhood! We’re just failing forward, guys. We’re just failing forward.

Shannon Baker

Exactly! And most of the time, people I don’t even know what the failings are. But we do, but we just keep moving through.

Stacey Harris

That happened before. We’re in now time. That’s the past. We’re looking forward.

Shannon Baker

Absolutely! So now once we have this plan in place, we’re clear on what we’re doing. What are some of the benefits that you know, come from having a podcast with this clear purpose?

Stacey Harris

Well I think our relationship is a great case study for what’s possible when you have a podcast with a really clear purpose. Because you and I connected, I believe, first through the podcast, right?

Shannon Baker

Yep. But then I followed you on Facebook and from Facebook, to Instagram, and then we just kept the circle going.

Stacey Harris

So that’s what happens when you have a really good podcast purpose. What else happens is I have people who, like you, found me on the podcast connected with me on social, signed up for my email list, booked a one hour call. And then my favorite thing happens, it doesn’t really I mean, in theory, the meaningful thing is that I converted the lead and they bought, they bought the session, and I helped them and like, that’s great. But this is the part I really love is when people get on those calls with me. And then they like rapid fire, QA, like style, have questions based on listening to podcast content? They’re like, in Episode 497, you said done other than that, how do I like, so I’m gonna do this, this and this, will that like, is that right? And I go, Yeah, that’s right. It’s so much fun. Um, but really, it really is the place where I am scaling. The nurture part of the relationship, my agency sells a high end service. We don’t have a 1999 widget that we are, we’re selling to the world, right. And so for me, it’s not about getting a gazillion people to show up, put the item in the cart and check out. And so a Facebook ad alone or an Instagram ad alone or a Pinterest ad alone, or a LinkedIn post is not really enough to get somebody from, ooh, they might be the solution to my problem to purchase. Because we got to build some real trust. And so the podcast allows me to build that trust with them. So when they’re ready to launch, it’s a no brainer. And a lot of times, we have clients who listen to the podcast, launch their podcast with like the free training, and just listening to the show. And then six months a year into the podcast. And this is how most of our clients come in to work with us. They start podcast production, and they uplevel their show with us, because they’ve made their show really good by themselves. And now they want to make it great. And so they come work with us. And so that happens, thanks to me consistently nurturing our relationship showing up in their ears, showing up in their inbox showing up in front of their eyes on social on a really consistent basis. But the place where it happens the fastest is generally people who come through the podcast, because they stay connected and keep implementing what they are hearing. And and learning and consuming on the show.

Shannon Baker

Yes, that is a big benefit. Because we know what the process is for social connections, know like and trust. But it’s hard to build that if you don’t have a voice. And a podcast is a great way to do that. And one of the biggest benefits that I love about it is it’s mine, so I can do whatever I want to do with it. And no one can tell me I have to do something different.

Stacey Harris

You’re exactly right. You know, we talk a lot about this. And I think this conversation is really, really important right now. I’m somebody who was a Social Media Manager years and years ago. I’m somebody who’s taught social media for a long time. I ran a whole membership site where I taught people how to use social and market through social for four years. And I literally this morning, messaged my coach going I’m so glad that I’m not teaching social right now because this landscape is insane. As far as what we’re being surrounded by, you know, we have to think a lot about what’s around us when we show up on social channels. Um, the way people are wanting to use social is changing so much. If you read any sort of tech or business news, you know that some of the giants in the tech and and social media space are not getting along real well right now. It’s going to impact the level at which we’re able to connect with social. I’m not saying it needs to go away. But I’m saying it’s more important than ever, that we really be paying attention to those places where we own the connection. That’s our podcast. That’s our email list. That’s our website. And so for me, that’s where my focus is, as I shift into 2021, is where am i doing a really good job of using these places where I have great relationships, to bring people to a place where I can communicate with them without noise and without distraction? And again, that’s my website. That’s my email list. And that’s my podcast.

Shannon Baker

Absolutely. I mean, we’ve seen the importance of having that space that you own, like if Twitter goes down, or Instagram goes down, or Facebook goes down. Yep, people panic. And he’s like, Oh, my gosh, what am I going to do? What if you had your own platform that you owned and have control over? You don’t have to worry about the social media sites going down or going away? I mean, how many things have we seen come on the scene over the past 10 years, that have faded like MySpace? No.

Stacey Harris

And you remember Ello, remember that? That was that was, I think it’s still technically exists. But everybody was gonna use that it was gonna change the way we did social. And it’s gone. I get I got an email from them not too long ago, maybe like a year ago. So they might still kind of exist, but not really. Not really. Um, yeah, things things are changing so fast. You know, I, I, this is gonna sound really mean. So don’t judge me. Um, but I think it was last year. Last summer. Remember, like Facebook and Instagram went out like hard for, like almost a full day. I closed a huge number of sales, like dollars that day, from people who listen to the podcast, and then went and bought stuff on my website, or relationships, I was nurturing through email. Because when my pop up office, at the coffee shop, that is Instagram was closed, people knew where to find me at my primary office, people knew where to find me. At my, you know, home base, as it were, of my website, people knew where to go, because I had been teaching them that that’s where we hang out, doesn’t mean we can also have fun conversations on Instagram when I share random stuff. But if you really want to connect with me, if you really want us to talk, this is where we have those conversations. And I’ve been consistently doing that, even when the primary way I sold was via social. I was still putting them in the podcast content on my website, and my email list. Always, always, always, and this is why I also really, really encourage people when they share their podcast links to share their website shownotes. Not their Spotify link, not the Apple Podcast link. Share the link that you own with them. A, because people listen on different players, not everybody has an iPhone. Not everybody has Spotify downloaded, whatever. However, everyone can listen to it on your website. And you’re training them that when all else fails, you will be able to find this here.

Shannon Baker

Yes, and you can capture that traffic. I mean, I immediately when I launched the podcast last year, it was like I’m following kind of the setup that Stacey has for everything goes to her website. So that’s what I do. And because of that, I can use that one link, which is mine, to post it on LinkedIn. I can share it on Facebook, on my page, I can share it inside of a Facebook group. If I’m in a different group, and someone asks for help. And I have the solution, I can share that link there. So I get so much traffic to my website, you know, via SEO and everything. And in the end, they can click right there on the embedded link to listen to it. Or as you said, they can go to whatever platform they want, and listen to it on their own. But it still it all hits my website and goes out from there. So thank you for doing that because I follow that. And now I see the difference because of it.

Stacey Harris

That’s awesome. Yeah. Always, always, always, always, always. Send them to your stuff. Send them to the place you own.

Shannon Baker

Yes, that is great! So these are like juicy, juicy nuggets, which I knew it was going to be because Stacey is absolutely amazing.

Stacey Harris

So I like this, I’m going to come on this show more often!

Shannon Baker

I’d love to have you anytime we can talk about whatever you like. I like it goes to another benefit of having a podcast with a clear purpose, the relationships that you build with your guests. I mean, we already have a relationship. But even as you have people on the show, our conversation now is still even different than other ones that we’ve had and we’ve been talking to each other for years. So it helps still strengthens that connection because we’re physically having a dialogue with each other that’s verbal and not like texting each other in DMS. That’s true.

Stacey Harris

It’s true! Yeah, I love the relationships I’ve been able to build, because of the podcast, either because I was, you know, hammering to myself in my office, and then someone downloaded it and reached out, and we connected and, quite frankly, that’s a lot of my friends now. Um, which sounds so sad. Um, but that’s that that started a relationship. And that turned into, you know, a coffee date or it turned into referrals or returned into working together on something, the amount of times a listener has reached out to me and we started relationship, and then I ended up hiring them, it’s probably something I should evaluate. But it happens like if you really are, when you’re doing it, right, when you know who you’re talking to, and you know why you’re talking to them. It gets really hard for the right people to not just listen not not just not listen, but like to avoid the connection and not to not bond with you. It gets really hard for them to not bond with you because you are actually talking to them. You’re actually talking about the thing they need! You’re actually talking to them in a way that is nurturing it to them actually taking in the information. Because here’s the deal, a lot of what I’ve said somebody else has probably said somebody else on the internet has definitely said. But because I know who I’m talking to, and I know the purpose of both of us being in that conversation, we bond and they can really let in the content. And I can really connect with what they need. And again, that comes back to that point around like knowing who you’re talking to, and why you’re talking to them.

Shannon Baker

Yes, so that sums up the importance of knowing your purpose before you start a podcast! Or even if you already have a podcast, one thing I love that you say is that your podcast can evolve with you. It’s yours! So just like our businesses evolve as we grow, our podcast can do the same thing, if we started off on the right foot, which you’ve shared some great tips to help us do that. So for anyone that’s interested in starting a podcast, or even if you want to get more of Stacy’s information, I’m going to drop a link to her Launch Your Podcast training in the show notes. But if they want to connect with you online, where else can they find you as well, Stacey?

Stacey Harris

Everything is uncommonlymore.com. You can find links to social and all that good stuff. Or if you go to your favorite social platform and look for Uncommonly More, you’ll find us and there’ll be a link in the bio to my personal stuff if you want to get connect there. And then of course, come over and listen to the show. It’s Uncommonly More with Stacy Harris. It’s on absolutely every podcast platform on the planet, I think at this point. And so you can find it and listen, and then you and I can also bond which is why I love that.

Shannon Baker

Now before I let you go I have a bonus kind of hidden question for you.

Stacey Harris

I like it!

Shannon Baker

This is something that you have been working on for at least the past year and a half or so! What is a system or routine in either your life or in your business that you can’t live without?

Stacey Harris

Oh, I have to pick one. I am a systems person! My system in my personal life that I can’t live without is my husband. He runs our personal because basically I use all of my decision making ability in the company in the business. And so my best system and or resource in my personal life is outsourcing. Basically all other decisions which is absolutely a privilege! But definitely get some support making decisions. If you can add some kind of tool or system that will help eliminate or like outsource decision making. A friend of mine does this through like Hellofresh. Like that’s how she meal plans. She gets Hellofresh and it comes that way. Like find ways to outsource decision making in your regular life. It’s very helpful. And then in my business we are 100% obsessed with dashboards and having a real line of sight of what’s happening. So my favorite system is probably our production process system which all of our clients get access to their own private custom dashboards they can see where every episode is in the process at any time. Stats for how the shows are, each of the individual shows are doing all in one dashboard. What’s coming up. Store their ideas. It really gives them and my team a landing space to communicate around their show, their project and creating that has helped communications between my team and my client communications just internally with my team. And also really help set expectations of like when we need what. So it’s just made the working relationship exponentially more efficient and easy for a lack of a more elegant way to say it. And so I think that’s probably building out that dashboard. And that landing space is probably the system and tool I’m most obsessed with right now! And you know, I love all of it! I love I can geek out on systems like all day long. So have you used Monday yet?

Shannon Baker

Have I, no I have not.

Stacey Harris

It’s what we use. And I love it so much! I have an irrational love for it. I will say it’s not for everybody. Um, it is more of an investment than a lot of the other tools are in the market. So unless you’re going to really use it, it’s probably overkill. But because we have so many people on our team and so many hands in the project, and obviously, lots of clients, it’s 100% worth it for for our agency and how we work and it has allowed us to really create some cool, cool, cool assets for those clients that work with us.

Shannon Baker

And that’s good, because the key with using tools is identifying what you want to use them for and how keeping that customer focus in mind. So definitely having something absolutely you can house everything in one place for all of your clients is wonderful, because having stuff all over the place, depending on the person. I don’t know how anybody operates their business that way, but I know some people that do until they come work with me. But that is great! And I cannot wait to work with your team because you know, that is definitely on my list to uplevel my podcast as I get a little bit more experience underneath my belt.

Stacey Harris

I’m so excited!

Shannon Baker

Yes, I’m definitely looking forward to it! So, again, if you want to connect with Stacy, it’s Uncommonly More everywhere and Stacy is definitely everywhere online. I have enjoyed this conversation and I know we are going to do this again. But thank you for sharing these nuggets with us about starting a podcast and how to be successful if we do it.

Stacey Harris

Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.

To listen to my chat with Stacey, check out episode 75 of the podcast. Click below and tune in on your favorite platform. If you would like some tips to help you create a podcast workflow so you can work more efficiently, check out this blog post.