Unlocking Podcast Potential with Creative Spark, with Camille Diaz

Ever wondered how a quarantine hobby could evolve into an engaging podcast with a unique twist? Meet Camille, our creative guest whose initial spark led to a thriving podcasting journey where costumes add flair and fun to serious discussions on the emotional side of money. Camille shares her inspiring story that began with a spontaneous social media post, leading to a flood of interest and a solid start with numerous episodes. This episode celebrates the beauty of creativity and spontaneity in podcasting, showcasing how Camille turned a niche topic into an accessible, entertaining experience.

Bringing a playful angle to professional settings, we debate the role of costumes in modern business environments. Whether it's during virtual networking or podcast sessions, donning a costume can set you apart in a world leaning towards casual wear over traditional suits. As an optimization coach, I reveal my own journey of using costumes to make interactions memorable and discuss how systemization can streamline podcast production. The balance between creativity and structure is a key takeaway, offering insights into maintaining enthusiasm while managing the complexities of podcasting.

Transitioning from guest-focused episodes to productive solo content is another exciting chapter in this podcasting narrative. Camille and I explore the strategic benefits of solo episodes, where personal stories and expertise shine, increasing productivity and listener engagement. With practical tips on audience understanding, podcast strategy, and realistic monetization goals, this episode is a treasure trove for both seasoned podcasters and newcomers. Join us for a candid discussion filled with humor, insights, and a touch of entrepreneurial spirit, as we navigate the world of podcasting and personal expression.

Connect with Camille:

https://go.optimized.zone/

Podcast
https://camillediaz.com/podcast-the-real-deal-with-camille/

Social Media:
LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/camillediaz/

Chapters

• 0:04 Podcaster's Journey to Costume Creativity
• 9:16 Debate on Costumes and Business Evolution
• 13:40 Streamlining Podcast Production Processes
• 22:24 Podcast Productivity and Strategic Solo Episodes
• 27:21 Podcast Strategy and Monetization Insights
• 32:21 Podcast Promotion and Growth Strategy

Transcript

Carl Richards: 0:04

Welcome to Communication Connection Community the podcaster's podcast. This podcast takes a deep dive into modern day communication strategies in the podcasting space. We chat with interesting people who make the podcasting and speaking spaces exciting and vibrant. We also dive into the podcasting community with news updates, latest trends and topics from this ever-evolving space. So strap in, it's going to be one amazing ride. Let's dive into today's episode.

Camille Diaz: 0:36

Camille, welcome to the podcast. Thank you, carl, so glad to be here.

Carl Richards: 0:39

This has been a long time coming. We talked about this. This is end of June 2024. I think we talked about this in March or April, that we were going to do this.

Camille Diaz: 0:49

Something like that, yeah.

Carl Richards: 0:50

And it's all good. Podcasters, we say that's a great idea and then it takes a couple of months actually to make it happen. So I'm glad we can chat Before we dive into what I want to cover today, because I want to talk about systematizing your podcast. This is something that you're really good at and you are a podcaster. You're an existing podcaster, as we've already found out, but how did you get into this podcasting space? What was the journey that got you here?

Camille Diaz: 1:13

Oh yeah, ok, so quarantine, bored 2020, right? I kind of say that all my creativity grew back because I was working really hard and then not really doing anything creative. But I am naturally a very creative person, love doing, you know, fun projects and stuff like that. And I wanted to promote one of my companies, which is financial services stuff, and so I had this idea that I wanted to do a podcast, but I couldn't figure out what value I was going to add in the podcast space that had not already been covered in financial stuff. Because I'm like I'm not, I just make a budget, no, no, right. Like I just couldn't find where I was going to add value. So I'm at home pretty much doing nothing and realized that I could talk about the emotional side of money. When I thought about that, I went okay, this is a topic that can go on for a really long time. I'm never going to run out of things to talk about. I'm never going to run out of stuff for people to be interested in and share on. So this is how this is the podcast that I'm going to do.

Camille Diaz: 2:11

I got on social media, made one post on one platform text only, no picture for interest, nothing. I just said, hey, I'm thinking about starting a podcast. Does anyone want to be on it with me? And it was a Friday afternoon, okay, so really just like shy, putting out like a baby but not really committing to anything like nothing, no commitment. Right In 24 hours I had 30 responses from people in my network because I have been actively networking for years that raised their hand and said, yes, I'm in, what do I do next? And then I was like, oh, oh, dang, I'm going to have to get it together. That's how.

Carl Richards: 2:56

I started Okay, so no plan, knew you were going to do it. Yes, asked randomly on Facebook on a friday afternoon. Hey, thinking about doing the show thing, who's in thinking? Because facebook, there's algorithms, no one's going to see the post right zero people and definitely they're not responding over 30 people saying, yeah, hands up here. How do I, how do I get in? Yeah, that's a good problem to have.

Camille Diaz: 3:26

It was a great problem to have. It was it was a great problem to have. And out of those 30 that said yes, I want to say probably 20 of them actually recorded. You know, some people found out what the topic was and they were like man, not really interesting, not part of my jam, I don't really want to talk about that but, yeah, a solid 15 or 20 of those people recorded.

Camille Diaz: 3:44

Then I had a crazy idea. My crazy idea was money's kind of a topic that people get nervous to talk about, and I love costuming. I have probably as many costume clothes as I have regular everyday clothes and I wanted to wear a costume in every episode. I was super nervous to do it because this is way out there, right, like I'm a business professional, can I really merge these together? Is that okay? And it turns out, when you own your own business, you can just do whatever you want. It's going to be fine because your people are going to find you.

Camille Diaz: 4:19

So I actually asked one of my early guests. She's a good friend. I said, hey, I'm thinking about wearing costumes in all the episodes. What do you think? Do you think I could do that? She gave me some great advice, which was well, just try it. You don't have an audience yet no one's paying attention, so if you hate it, you could just stop. And I was like, oh yes, I can just stop, it's fine. If I don't want to keep doing it, I'll just stop doing it. But that was the best thing ever, so I did it.

Carl Richards: 4:49

Okay, so no podcast, yeah. Facebook. Yeah. Who wants to be my guest? Yeah, not thinking you'll get much response. You get a lot of response, mm-hmm. And then you go. You know what I'm going to do? My show in costume. Yeah, because, by the way, I'd love to see your wardrobe. Just saying I would love to see your wardrobe.

Camille Diaz: 5:09

So the Instagram for this podcast was at moneyheartshow all one word and you will be able to see all the costumes, because I put pictures of everything up there. Right, that's my costume wardrobe, so you'll get to see the whole thing. The coolest thing. The coolest thing was I invited my guests to dress up with me.

Carl Richards: 5:26

Oh, my goodness.

Camille Diaz: 5:27

I told them if you want to dress up, I always give them the option. I never said they had to. I said if you want to dress up, you get to pick the costume. I assumed that they had less costuming stuff than I did, so they could pick it and then I would just find something that I had and make one that matched their theme. Occasionally I had to buy stuff, but usually like only one or two small pieces to put things together with what I already had. So they would make the idea and dress up with me, and 50% half of the people dressed up with me. It was awesome.

Carl Richards: 5:58

I am blown away by this. What did this do for your show? Because if you're listening to this, wondering, okay, camille, what are you on to even consider? Because there are people who are listening to this podcast, who are seasoned podcasters or they've been around for a few years, dedicated doing a show, and they're like I put on my regular business clothes and that's how I do my show. So what was the response from you? Know, you've got, obviously you have all these guests that have said, yes, what?

Camille Diaz: 6:29

was the response from the audience when they started tuning into the show. It was kind of great. I started to get known for wearing costumes and sometimes I would record an episode and then I would have a meeting or a networking event right after. There would not be time to change in between, I would just show up. I'd just show up to the thing in costume and people loved it At first. The very first time I would go, people would be like, well, weird, what's going on over there? And then they would get to know me and they would be like, oh yeah, camille, she shows up in costume and that was it. They just they enjoyed it. They would say, so what?

Camille Diaz: 7:05

What were you recording about today? What'd you guys talk about on your show today? Who was with you? What was the theme? It generated all kinds of conversation. I don't think it was necessarily because it was the costumes. It's because it was not a gimmick. It was genuinely me. It was things that I liked. It was stuff that I wanted to do, stuff that I was truly having fun with. So people were getting to see another part of my personality, not me dressing up in a thing to be flashy or just to get attention Like that wasn't the point.

Carl Richards: 7:39

And it was different. It was you, but who else, unless you're doing a dress-up podcast?

Camille Diaz: 7:45

is doing that?

Carl Richards: 7:45

Yeah, zero people. No one is doing a that I'm aware of. And now I have to go to my research. I don't think anyone's doing a podcast related to anything touching finance. That's doing it in costume and then saying hey, guest, you should come in costume too, if you'd like. By the way, full disclosure. I'd just like to know, even though this is an audio-only podcast, you're wearing a blue top. Is that a costume or is that a blue top?

Camille Diaz: 8:09

It's just, it's a blue work top. It's probably one of my most work-like work tops that I have Just want to make sure you didn't show up in costume.

Camille Diaz: 8:16

Yeah, so I have debated going back to costumes.

Camille Diaz: 8:19

One of the reasons I dropped it was because it's very time intensive. So as business started to pick up, the costume thing was like taking up too much of my day. I couldn't keep doing it and I'm like why am I spending, you know, 30 minutes to 60 minutes putting on a costume if I really want it to be good? I did optimize my costumes for Zoom because we were recording virtually and I wasn't in like a studio where you could see all of me. So whereas at the beginning I was dressing head to toe, hat to boots, like the full costume, and then a while later I realized like wait, people can only see me from maybe the waist up, really, from like mid chest up, possibly even more than that. So if I just make the top look good, then that works for what I'm doing on Zoom and on camera. So I kind of shifted to making my costumes more just upper body costumes and not fully costuming everything, which definitely saved me time.

Camille Diaz: 9:16

But yeah, so I have been debating going back to it. I still use the costumes on my social media, like, if you any of my stuff now, you will still see me posting pictures from that, which was a great gift that it gave me. Even though I no longer run that podcast, I still have all of the images from it and I use them all the time for the things that I'm doing, because it's still me, I still love costumes, I still love being creative and it still works. But no, what I'm wearing today is not a costume. This is kind of my regular everyday.

Camille Diaz: 9:47

But I will tell you, I have seriously debated getting back into costuming for my networking, because it's memorable and we're doing so much on Zoom now that it's harder in networking to have the personal connection where people remember you beyond when they see you on the meeting and have you come up top of mind when they're thinking of somebody to introduce for something. And so I've been kind of like do I want a costume again? Do I want to do that? It's been a debate for the last you know couple weeks for me. I'm just kind of wondering if I might like to bring that back because I think it was. It was fun and people enjoyed it.

Carl Richards: 10:23

Should I or shouldn't I? It's one of those to be or not to be. Plus, I think there's been an evolution in business this last oh, five, 10 years, maybe even longer. That business attire isn't what it used to be, right, even guys wearing jackets and ties all the time. I used to wear a jacket and tie all the time, obviously not on Zoom calls and stuff, but it was you'd be going, yeah, you all the time. Obviously not on zoom calls and stuff, but it was you'd be going out. You go to a networking event, you're always wearing a jacket and tie, always. Even if it was, it was a breakfast meeting with a regular networking group guys jacket, tie, jacket and a nice shirt, at least, if not the tie. Now it's shifted to like golf shirts. Or even I'm networking with people and they're showing up in t-shirts and I'm like I'm overdressed, wearing a wearing a polo type shirt, right, I'm like oh like, oh my goodness, I feel like I need to dress down as opposed to dress up.

Carl Richards: 11:09

But not only that, it's just. I think that this uniqueness that you're bringing to the platform is one that's crucial. I hope that every single podcaster who's listening today sits up and takes notice and says, oh my goodness, I don't necessarily need to go in costume, but I need to stand out. I need to put myself out there and do something that is beyond what the quote competition is doing.

Camille Diaz: 11:33

Yeah, it's really finding what's uniquely you, what makes you you. Is it your sense of humor? Is it the way you approach problems? Is something that you think about in a different way from other people? Is just kind of whatever that is. How can you bring that forward? You know, the costumes for me were very genuine, which is why I'm considering them, bringing them back. The only thing stopping me is time. It's just the time that it takes for me to put a good costume together and put it on. So it's, you know. It's figuring out where your unique things are and leaning into them.

Carl Richards: 12:05

Well, you've already decided to eliminate half the body, right, that's true, by not doing the waist down, just the waist, or from the you know the chest up kind of thing. Yeah, the torso up, which is very clever. It took me a while to figure that out. Even on Zoom calls I show up and again still like a golf shirt, but I put on like dress pants. I'm like nobody sees. I mean I am wearing pants, by the way, but nobody's seeing my dress pants Like who cares right.

Camille Diaz: 12:35

Yes, I have funny stories about that, because people I've had I've been on zooms with people who failed to wear pants and then did things like think they were adjusting their camera to turn it off or something and really just tipped it down and I'm like okay, I can't unsee that. Can you please just dance, always dance.

Carl Richards: 12:46

Well, something at least.

Camille Diaz: 12:48

Always, always Something.

Carl Richards: 12:50

Quite often this time of year, I am wearing shorts.

Camille Diaz: 12:54

Fine, Just because you know, but at least they're it's short pants. Yes, yes.

Carl Richards: 13:00

Yes, it's something. One of the things also that you've learned in this process is having a system or having a way to go about putting your show together, and this also goes back to some of your training, but also what you do for business owners. So talk about the systemization that you've put in place.

Camille Diaz: 13:17

Yeah, so, like you said, what I do for business owners is I'm an optimization coach and I actually help them get their systems and processes squared away so their business runs better. Help them get their systems and processes squared away so their business runs better. A lot of times when we start a project, we don't have a system because this is new and we don't know how it's going to go. And that was exactly me starting my podcast. I had an idea and I just went for it. I discovered very early on that there was actually a lot of information that I needed to track. I needed to know which episodes had been published and which ones hadn't. I needed to have the bio, the headshot, the links you know all of the things for the guests so that I could support them. I needed to be connected with them on social media or it's very hard to tag them and it's really not very fun on. You know, the day that I'm trying to put their episode out, being like they mentioned their book. I can't find the link to their book. They mentioned the free thing I can't find the link to the free thing. I want to tag them on my social media so that I can be done for the day and we're not connected and they haven't accepted my invites, so I can't tag them Like, just all of these things, right, that needed to happen in order for the rest of the process to go smoothly. I also with the costumes. I have to know what costume the guest is doing, if they're doing one and if they're not. What costume am I going to do? That kind of complements, them or the episode or whatever I think. And do I have the pieces ready for that? Have I pulled it together or have I not even found it yet?

Camille Diaz: 14:48

So there was a lot of things to manage. And then, of course, all the post-production stuff. Right, like, has it been edited and are the graphics done? Is the text written? So all of that process. So I figured out that this was not very fun to do without anything.

Camille Diaz: 15:03

I created an intake form for my guests that they had to fill out before we could schedule. If they didn't fill out the form, we're not scheduling, because I have to have all of those things, all of the bio, the links, the headshot. If we don't have that, you're not getting a calendar time. Beyond that, then I had to have some kind of tracking or spreadsheet for all of my process afterward. So did I build the graphics, have I written the post, have I edited the audio? All of that thing and a lot of that can be done by AI.

Camille Diaz: 15:34

Now, you know, when I first started this that wasn't an option, or at least not one that was anywhere near my budget, if it did exist. But a lot of that can be done through software. Now. That couldn't before, but even still, is it done? Is it not done? Did the thing get uploaded? Just keeping track of all of that was really critical for saving time and just cutting down for me spending like 10 hours on one episode to get it out to like maybe it's the recording time plus an hour or two, you know, getting the costume ready and then doing the post stuff after.

Carl Richards: 16:05

Yeah, I think it's critical for any show to have some type of a process or system in place that allows you to make sure you have all of those pieces, especially when you're launching. It's one of the things that we walk through with our prospects, our clients, our new clients all the time is okay. Well, we're going to launch your show, we're going to launch with this many episodes, which means you need to have a certain equipment in place if you don't already have it, but that we're going to be doing artwork. So we need to make sure we have your branding kit with all your colors and your logos and your fonts and your all of that stuff. And then we need to have we do original music for our clients, so we need to get some input from you about the sound or the sonic brand that you want to go for All of those things.

Carl Richards: 16:46

And it's thank goodness I have an assistant that does all of this for me, I don't have to think about it, she does it. But even still, there's a system in place and it's not to make work for ourselves. I think it's to just make it easier so that when we do hit the launch button whether it be the show, the whole show or every episode. You have everything you need. You have the transcript, if you're using it, you have the graphic. You have the recording is edited or it's tweaked or whatever. It is the way you need it to be, or the the video is uploaded wherever it needs to go. You have all of those things in place. Otherwise things fall through the cracks.

Carl Richards: 17:22

number one it takes longer if you don't have a system. And then that's where we get into this place where pod fade happens, because people do their. You know they'll do this five, six, seven, eight times and then they go. Oh man, there's so much work Not realizing. If they had a system in place, you got the work in half. You know the flow in half or more. And then this pod fade, this shows that go into podcatory, because if only there was a system or a step-by-step. Here's what we need to do every time we do an episode.

Camille Diaz: 17:56

Yes, so much. I love that you bring that up, because when I started my second podcast I realized I had kind of talked about the first topic as much as I wanted to. Not that there wasn't more to say, but I felt it was starting to circle and I covered some things more than once. Okay, we're good on that. So I shifted to my new show, the Real Deal with Camille.

Camille Diaz: 18:16

When I started that show, I did it differently. I said what's taking up? Too much time? Costumes too much time, too much energy, too much work, the whole video thing too much. Not gonna start with that this time.

Camille Diaz: 18:30

And I did plan it out from the beginning. I said, okay, because when I did the first one I didn't even remember, I didn't even know, I didn't think about it. I needed graphics and how things were going to be formatted and music. So I had to do all that. I recorded a bunch of episodes and I'm like, oh, I got to add all this stuff so I can actually put these out.

Camille Diaz: 18:48

Did it in reverse? Not the best strategy, because I didn't have a strategy at that time. So, second one I knew I wanted to start it. I found someone to do graphics for me so that they would actually look, you know, good. So had that design, you know, had lots of other things that needed to be put in place, like how long is the episode going to be and kind of how am I going to structure it, and I got music ahead of time. All of those things I did in the right order that you just described, and I wish I would have like thought to have somebody like you help with that kind of thing, because that probably would have gone even better. But it definitely went so much better. The second time, putting a system in place, knowing this is what we're going to do, I knew I needed that intake form for guests, so I didn't miss any at the beginning, started with it right away.

Carl Richards: 19:33

All of that kind of thing was really helpful. Yes, you're right, Could have helped you a lot. But it's also good that you recognize that the second time around that you go okay, well, I'm not going to do the same, make the same mistake twice and I think, having the intake form I know there are some people have mixed feelings about it. I don't use an intake form, but I also have a booking system that allows me to pre-screen, shall we say, before I just let people on the show. So I use a tool called Podmatch to find guests for the show, which almost pre-screens right away.

Carl Richards: 20:02

I have another tool, I guess you could say it's called email. So when people reach out to me through email, say I'd like to be on your show, or they're representing an agency that says you know so-and-so would be great for your show, I can pre-screen and I'm pretty good at making sure that the ideal person is coming on my show. Most of those people too. If they're coming from an agency, they already have one sheets and things like that. But if they don't, I'll ask to see a bio, I'll ask for a website, some things, where I can vet who's coming on the show. Yes, so I do know there's some value in the one sheet, the intake form, Kudos for that. As I said, I don't use them all.

Camille Diaz: 20:39

I guess I'm brave or dumb One or the other For me, so my intake wasn't really a screening.

Camille Diaz: 20:46

Typically the people that were guests on my show I don't really do a lot of guests anymore, they're more solo episodes at this point, occasional guests, but not a lot.

Camille Diaz: 20:53

The guests were people that I'd already met so I knew I wanted them on the show. I would typically be inviting them to come on the show and the intake form for me was making sure that I didn't miss a step, that we got connected on social media, that I had their bio, that I had the links of stuff they wanted to promote. It was just making sure that that was easier for me on my end, so that I could do it, or, when I was ready to hand it off to a VA, that a VA could do it, because then they don't know these people so it's like, oh, now how are they going to even know if they have the right person to send a connect request to on LinkedIn or something right, they don't know who my people are. So it was really just making sure that the back end stuff all flowed a lot more easily than when I first started and it was just chaos.

Carl Richards: 21:38

But out of chaos, yes, yes, came this wonderful show. You said something very interesting that I want to go back to. You said that your first show you didn't say it like this, but you indicated it your first show had quite a few guests and the second show that you have is mostly solo episodes. That's actually reversed to what most people do. Most people will do a few solo episodes and then they'll say God, it would be easier if I had some guests to have a conversation with, to not only elevate them as my guests but also bring out the fact that I do know what the heck I'm talking about and elevate my credibility even more. How was that process for you? Was it moving towards having solo episodes? Was it a little bit daunting at first or did you know? Okay, you know what Heck.

Camille Diaz: 22:24

So in my first show I did 121 episodes total and I think I did two or three solo episodes something like that. I would do one a year, basically, like in January I would do like a kickoff solo episode. So I think I did two that were solos and then one where I had a really good friend, who's also my book publisher, interview me. So I was the guest on my show in that episode. Other than that they were all guest episodes.

Camille Diaz: 23:06

Now I am shifting it because I realize I have specific things that I really want to share with my audience that aren't very easy to share with a guest, because when I'm with a guest we're talking about whatever the guest's expertise is they're sharing, and I have very specific stuff that I want my audience to get from the show. You know, I really want to add that value for them. So for me I'm embracing the solo episode and I don't actually find it daunting because I've been doing this optimization coaching thing for like eight or nine years now and I know what I want to talk about. So for me it's not really hard. I have, you know, clients that ask me questions and so that kind of stuff kind of gets into the show or I have experiences that I've had that I'm like you know what I feel, like I should share this. I should not keep this embarrassing thing that I did to myself. I should tell people what I screwed up and how I fixed it, and they'll probably learn from that.

Carl Richards: 24:02

So that's kind of where the solo piece is headed our co-host and I'll say honestly, it's one more moving parts you have to worry about, and one of the challenges that a lot of podcasters face is when they have guests. They'll give 95% of the stage, the podcast right, the episode, to their guests, which leaves 5% for them to say, hi, I'm so-and-so and thanks for listening. Talk to you next week, without anything that is really bringing about their expertise in the episode, and it's so unfortunate. So I like how you've done both. Clearly, you know how to interview and chat with people and now you're recognizing the value of putting your knowledge, your IP, all of the things that you've spent the last 10 plus years doing. You can now elevate your credibility by just doing it yourself.

Camille Diaz: 25:08

Yeah, it's something else really interesting the guest episode. So when I put them together myself, sometimes I have someone else do it, sometimes I do it kind of like you right, sometimes you do it, sometimes you have your people do it. When I do it myself, I spend an hour on a guest episode already recorded. This is just all the post stuff that I do because I have to listen to it again. It's been a minute since we recorded. I'm not putting them out, you know, 10 seconds after we finished, so I have to go listen to it again. I want to write something thoughtful that matches what they talked about. I'm really trying to provide a good write-up for the guests and put something quality there. You know they gave me their time. It takes an hour for me to get all of that put together, pull all their links for their free stuff or their featured stuff or whatever it is that we talked about on the show. I can do about six solo episodes in an hour if I'm doing them myself and that's a massive difference in productivity.

Carl Richards: 26:01

Yeah, that's huge.

Camille Diaz: 26:03

Yeah.

Carl Richards: 26:03

Huge difference.

Camille Diaz: 26:04

Because I know what I want to talk about and I actually kind of write the stuff first and then record it and I know what my story is and I kind of know what the intro is going to be. It's just, it's all in my head I have I've got it all right there, but it's not. All I put to do is get it out.

Carl Richards: 26:19

But for folks who are listening today and if you are listening by the way, wondering, gosh, this all sounds great, camille, and what's the first thing I should do? So I'm thinking of starting a podcast and, yes, there are some seasoned podcasters too who are probably saying, oh, that's some good ideas, I should probably implement those. But let's say, for the newbies somebody thinking of starting a show, what's the first thing? Because we don't want to give away everything what's the first thing that you think that they should do before they even record an episode or do anything? What's the first thing?

Camille Diaz: 26:46

Yeah, I get this question a lot. This is not the first time someone's asked me because they're like, you've done these podcasts. Like how do I start one? I think I want to do one, but I'm all confused and I don't know what to talk about and I don't know what to do and all that. So I say, what value is this going to bring to your listeners? Who is listening and what value are you adding for them? Like, why is this group that you want to speak to tuning in If they don't know that the podcast is never going to work out because it's going to be scattered or they're always going to be nervous or they're not going to know what to talk about. They won't know what guests to ask for. Like, the whole thing isn't going to work.

Camille Diaz: 27:21

When I started my first one, it was exploring the emotional side of money. So I am talking to people who are thinking about their money and they want to think differently about it and I know that I want to explore that area. So it makes it really clear. It's almost like if your tagline works, then you know what your show's about. My second one, the Real Deal with Camille, is true stories of life as an entrepreneur. I am speaking to entrepreneurs and I want to add support, I want to add value, I want to add optimization tips. I know that's what I'm doing on that show. So the first thing I would tell somebody is who's listening and what value are you adding for them? Once they know that the rest of it should fall in place pretty easy. But that is the hard part for them. Once they know that the rest of it should fall in place pretty easy.

Carl Richards: 28:02

but that is the hard part. Fantastic, fantastic. I think that's a great place for people to begin is, as opposed to getting all wrapped up in the technical or the do I need a mic?

Camille Diaz: 28:11

Yeah, it's like what mic am I going to buy and how do you?

Carl Richards: 28:13

edit stuff Like no, no, no figure that out later.

Carl Richards: 28:16

That's a down the line. Figure out the what's the value. What is it that I want to impart to my listeners? And then the other piece, if I can add to it, is what's the goal that I want from the show? Yeah, I want to make sure I'm imparting certain things to my listeners, but what do I want from the show? I want to make sure I'm giving great value to my listeners, but do I want them to reach out? Do I want them to follow me, be a part of my community? Do I want them as potential clients? What is it that I want them to do? Do I want to give them hope that they're not the only ones thinking this way, that there's something? So, or is it helping my passion project?

Camille Diaz: 28:50

Whatever it is, yeah, Right, and I think that is the very next question to ask is okay, who's listening and what value am I adding and why am I doing this? What is this show for? What am I getting out of the show Definitely, and why am I doing this? What is this show for? What am I getting out of the show? Definitely? Definitely Because some people think I'm going to make money on my podcast. I'm like okay, if you want to make money on your podcast, this is not a passion project. This is not talking about what you want to talk about. This is figuring out what kind of podcast sells, who the audience is. It's a whole different plan than I have a business and I'm running a supplemental podcast that's going to speak to my audience and grow my credibility in that kind of strategy.

Carl Richards: 29:24

There's also different levels of monetization. There's sponsorship, there's paid ads, there's joint ventures, there's leveraging the show itself to bring clients through a customer journey through the show. So there's many different specs of monetization. So just to say oh, you know, my show's got to make money and that's a down the line thing anyways, unless you're Oprah Winfrey.

Camille Diaz: 29:46

Unless you already have such a large following that, anything you do, at least somebody will check it out. Yeah, that's maybe not part of the initial discussion.

Carl Richards: 29:54

Yeah, so the big thought leaders, you know the Brene Browns, all of those folks, but they also started with nothing. They Browns, all of those folks, but they also started with nothing. They came from nowhere. They've built their credibility and they've now. They're now bringing that into the podcasting space. So yeah, camille, oh my goodness, this has been fantastic. What would you like to pass along to our audience? What gift or takeaway, what would you like to share with them?

Camille Diaz: 30:14

Yeah, absolutely. So I have a masterclass. It is on how to get more done and make more money without working more hours.

Carl Richards: 30:24

Ooh, I love that already.

Camille Diaz: 30:26

Thank you. Thank you, it's completely free to get registered right now. So if you want to go to CamilleDiazcom slash masterclass, sign yourself up. Watch it, get the value out of it. I talk about my optimized success formula in there how to ditch all the journals and post-it notes and all of that kind of stuff. Get way more done than you ever do with a to-do list. Jump in there, grab that, watch it for free, I think it'll be good.

Carl Richards: 30:53

That's a phenomenal offering. Thank you so much, Camille, for sharing that. We'll make sure. By the way, that's in the show notes so you can click on that directly and go to it, as well as other ways you can connect with Camille, so all of that will be there too. Camille Diaz, this has been a phenomenal conversation. I can't stress that enough. We could do this all day, but we can't or we won't.

Camille Diaz: 31:12

We won't today. There's other things on the agenda.

Carl Richards: 31:15

Before I turn you loose, though, to go either record another podcast episode or do something else business related, I'll leave you with the final thought.

Camille Diaz: 31:22

Final thought. So I work with a lot of entrepreneurs and, whether you're an entrepreneur or not, if you're starting a podcast, you probably got a little bit of that e-chromosome. I feel like so many times we tend to think, as entrepreneurs, that we have to do this by ourselves and we have to figure out all the answers and we're not allowed to ask any questions or get any help. Otherwise that means we failed. Complete lies Absolutely not true. Ask questions, don't do this alone. Find your people, get support it will make all the difference in the journey and always, always, enjoy the journey.

Carl Richards: 31:58

That's a great place to leave it. Thank you very much, Camille Diaz. I appreciate you being my guest today.

Camille Diaz: 32:03

Thank you so much, Carl. I had a blast.

Carl Richards: 32:05

And thank you for joining us today. Special thanks to our producer and production lead, Dom Carillo, our music guru, Nathan Simon, and the person who works the arms all of our arms, actually my trusty assistant, Stephanie Gafoor. If you like what you heard today, leave us a comment and a review, and be sure to share it with your friends. If you don't like what you heard, please share it with your enemies. Oh, and if you have a suggestion of someone who you think would make an amazing guest on the show, let us know about it. Drop us an email, askcarl at carlspeaksca. Don't forget to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter as well. You'll find all those links in the show notes, and if you're ready to take the plunge and join the over 3 million people who have said yes to podcasting, let's have a conversation. We'll show you the simplest way to get into the podcasting space because, after all, we're podcast solutions made simple. We'll catch you next time.