Together Digital Power Lounge, Women in Digital with Power to Share
Digital is a demanding and competitive field. And women are still grossly underpaid & underrepresented. But we are not powerless; we have each other. Together Digital Power Lounge is your place to hear authentic conversations from women in digital who have power to share. Listen and learn from our amazing guests along with host Amy Vaughan, Owner and Chief Empowerment Officer of Together Digital. Together Digital is a diverse and collaborative community of women who work in digital who choose to share their knowledge, power, and connections. To learn more, visit www.togetherindigital.com.
Together Digital Power Lounge, Women in Digital with Power to Share
Podcasting For Business: Network Your Way To New Opportunities And Clients
In this episode, host Amy Vaughn talks about "Podcasting For Business" with guest Rita from "Bippity Boppity Business." Rita discusses switching from the car industry to excelling in remote marketing and podcasting. They chat about storytelling, being genuine, and facing fears as a new podcaster. Learn about making engaging content, building relationships, and captivating listeners. Rita shares tips on podcast management and getting sponsorships, supporting podcasters at every level. Tune in for helpful tips and motivating stories to enhance your podcasting experience.
Connect with Rita: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritaricha/
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/_ritaricha?igsh=M3oyc3RqejB2Ymx1
Website: https://bippityboppitybiz.com/
Episode Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
06:08 - BMW Genius Training Impact
13:51 - Podcasting for Growth and Learning
16:00 - Personalized Video Messages for Cars
22:46 - Hesitation in Business Profile
26:43 - Crafting Emotionally Impactful Content
33:04 - Listener Feedback Validates Podcast
38:35 - Customer Experience Stand Out
43:09 - Networking Leads to International Opportunities
51:58 - Efficient Editing and Project Management
55:39 - Sound Quality and Inquiry Techniques
58:55 - Embrace Your Dream and Pursue It
01:01:01 - Outro
Quote of the Episode:
"Podcasting can turn guests into long-term connections, evolving from participants to potential relationships."— Rita Richa
"Discovering that balance between the hero's journey, emotion, and education ensures an enjoyable experience for both you and your audience” — Rita Richa
Hello everyone and welcome to our weekly Power Lounge. This is your place to hear authentic conversations from those who have power to share. My name is Amy Vaughn and I am the owner and chief empowerment officer of Together Digital, a diverse and collaborative community of women who work in digital and choose to share their knowledge, power and connections. You can join the movement at togetherindigitalcom. All right, friends, I hope you're ready for some magic to be added to your business strategy, because today I am absolutely thrilled to welcome a true innovator of business podcasting to our show, and I'm extra excited because I recently had the honor and privilege of being a guest on her fantastic podcast.
Speaker 1:Joining us today is Rita, the enchanting host of Bippity Boppity Business, a podcast that sprinkles a little pixie dust on the world of corporate strategy, with a background that sounds like a dream career mashup from supporting luxury car owners like a Tesla and BMW to producing over 300 episodes across 13 B2B marketing podcasts.
Speaker 1:Rita knows how to turn business insights into pretty captivating stories. She is here to help and share with us how she weaves a little bit of Disney magic into hard hitting business advice and, trust me, you all are in for a treat Again, like I said, having been on her podcast, been in a number of them, but there's just something about this creative angle and approach and way that you look at things, rita, that just really brings a new perspective and makes you think about things differently. And so, having experienced this firsthand as a guest on her show, I really can't wait for all of you to feel that same sense of enchantment and just feeling a little bit alive and more different about the way that we look at our business, our strategy and podcasting. So, whether you are a podcast enthusiast, a Disney fan or a savvy businesswoman looking for fresh inspiration, rita's got something special for you today. So, everyone, grab your mouse ears, grab your notepads. Let's give a warm welcome to the one and only Rita. Welcome to the show, hi everyone.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much, Amy. Wow, that intro has me like blushing. I'm so happy.
Speaker 1:Good, me too, no. Thank you so much, amy. Wow, that that intro has me like blushing. I'm so happy.
Speaker 2:No, I, I thank you so much. It's an honor to be here. I can't wait to get into all of the, the Disney content, business magic, this interesting niche of all of the things that I love and who I am as a person yeah, and I love that you just own it and you own it so well.
Speaker 1:It was such a delight. I felt like, once I got off of your show, like my face hurt from smiling and I just felt so good. And I think that you know, I think oftentimes we, you know, as marketers, are afraid to sort of lean into those unique and individual passions and I just I love it. I love it that you own it, you own it wholeheartedly, you lean into it, and for me it was just a joy and a pleasure. So I'm thrilled to have you here so that more of our Together Digital community and listeners can experience it even more.
Speaker 2:Yes, I wore my pink blazer because I knew this would be a safe space to do that I love it.
Speaker 1:I love it. Well, let's get to have the listeners here and learn a little bit more about you and your background. Your journey from kind of a luxury automotive customer service to Disney-inspired business podcasting host. It's pretty fascinating. Could you talk us through some of those key moments that led you to create Fibbity Boppity Business?
Speaker 2:Yes, I'll try to keep it concise, to tell a long story short, but if you look at me, you probably don't think that girl worked in the automotive car industry at any point. So, as you can imagine, the journey wasn't very linear from when I worked at automobile brands to now having my own business. What happened actually is, you know my family. I come from a family of entrepreneurs and when I turned around 18 or 19, unfortunately, my family went through a change where my dad lost his business. So I was very young and I had to kind of grow up very quickly, try to figure out how to help everybody.
Speaker 2:I'm first generation American. So my family, both my parents, are from Lebanon, so they're they immigrated here back in the day, but anyways. So when that happened, initially I was going to school for music. I wanted to work for Disney. I'm a musical theater kid through and through. I had a full ride music scholarship, so I was going and pursuing that dream. But then life does life things. Sometimes life happens. So I decided I needed to do the right thing and I needed to do what my parents wanted me to do to support them. And I needed to find a job that made money and a respectable industry. So on Craigslist, I was literally 18. And I went on Craigslist because I didn't even know how to search for jobs at the time. When I got the news that they needed my help, I'm like I don't know who I am. I went on Craigslist and I found a job that looked very bougie. It was like Director of First Impressions was the title. It was for BMW and I'm like, okay, queen, I'm 18. I'm going to be a director, it's my first job. Like, let's pop off, let's go Quickly.
Speaker 2:Learned that titles don't mean a lot sometimes and that was a fancy way of saying cute girl door greeter that's what that was, but I had my own office with my name on it, so I was taking pictures and putting it on my Facebook and saying I'm a director of first impressions at BMW. I'm very important, but long story short. From my time there and from my time at Tesla, I learned a lot about customer experience. I learned a lot about treating luxury clients and I also got to meet a lot of people and I found that I loved meeting people. That was one of my favorite things to do in that role was just meet new people and hear their stories. So that was just something on the side, but genuinely, one of the number one things that made an impact on me at BMW is I got to go through this training because I got a new fancy title called BMW Genius. I was really rocking these like random, these ego titles for someone, not even 21 yet was like really doing something to my brain.
Speaker 2:So, anyways, the BMW Geniuses, they have a program and they all go to like North Carolina and they get to learn about the business practices and they get to see how the cars are made and how to sell and what the technology is in the cars.
Speaker 2:So we were supposed to be like the Apple geniuses of the cars like only teach people about the technology in the cars and kind of be brand ambassadors for the next wave of high tech cars that were coming in. And the one thing that the trainer said is he asked us how much do you think you can make off of one sale, like off of one customer, for example, if you, if somebody, sells one car, and people were like, oh you know, you can sell, you can sell the most expensive car that we have is like $150,000. So maybe you'll make X amount of commission from it and you can make this much money. And he's like incorrect. He's like you're not thinking about the long term. What happens if that customer has a child? Or what happens if that customer refers their friend or their relative? He's like you need to consider the lifetime value of your customer. What is the lifetime value cost? And he said on average, our people who work for this location, for example, their lifetime customer value is $1 million.
Speaker 2:And I looked at that number and I'm literally broke as like I got two crackers to like, like you know, to my name, basically, and I'm looking at this number that says $1 million on this screen. I'm like this guy is off his rocker. I have. I don't believe him, there's no way. But what happened is it's true.
Speaker 2:I started seeing it and the thing you can say what you want about car dealerships and I definitely was the weird Disney princess singing around the dealership that didn't belong there. But the thing that I really admired is how these sales representatives valued relationship and the touch points that they took to make sure that they were memorable relationships that on a birthday that maybe somebody that they sold four years ago they're calling them on their birthday and they're telling them happy birthday. Or if their kid played a sport, like they're sending a gift card for Dick's Sporting Goods, for example, and congratulating them on their first winning game. Like they were so detailed and so committed to relationship building that I understood that lifetime value and I didn't know it then.
Speaker 2:But with podcasting, those are the moments that will turn your guests into just from a guest to someone that hopefully you'll build a relationship with, if that's what you want. But basically, I had the moment where I realized I didn't want to work in automotive and I moved back home, had a mini melt, early twenties crisis, like who am I? What am I doing with my life? And so I decided that I wanted to? Um, I wanted to either work for Disney cause I hadn't yet I wanted to work for Disney or I wanted to, like, travel the world, uh, and I decided to travel the world in January of 2020, which is a really hilarious time to do that.
Speaker 2:So I applied for Disney, got into the Disney College internship program and then at simultaneously I applied for some remote job for another agency that was doing like marketing and podcasting for people. I told my mom that I really wanted to obviously work for Disney. My whole life I've always said that and my mom, lebanese, dead in the eyes, looks at me. She's like I don't think you should do it. And I was like, excuse me, you don't think I should work for Disney. What's wrong with you? She's like I have a feeling. I cannot tell you. I have a feeling. I'm like all right, you have a feeling. So I listened to my mom and, yeah, I wouldn't be here today with my own podcast, my own business, had I not started the journey of working for that agency.
Speaker 2:While I was working there, I started my own show and I started it because I was working with people in high ranking positions and B2B and I felt like they were talking to me in alphabet soup, sometimes like UX, ui, I mean, and journey, whatever. All these words were being thrown at me and I didn't know what they're talking about. So, to better learn about business and to better be the producer that I was at that time at that agency. I decided, heck, I'm going to start my own show for fun. Yeah, and that's how Bippity Boppity Business was born. I was like I understand two things in life and two things really well. I know that people need relationships long term in order to have a successful business and career. Yeah, and I only I have a special interest. I know everything about Disney. So I'm going to try to better understand business from the lens of these metaphors and analogies of someone who was a longtime fan and has gone to the parks.
Speaker 2:So, in conversations. It naturally started happening with the clients I was working with. They would ask me like well, what's you know are, are's focused on a, you know, detailed guest journey, guest experience from beginning to end. So I'd be like, okay, are you kind of talking about? Is it similar to if I buy a ticket online to Disney and I go there and then, from the moment I get there, from the minute I leave, like it's supposed to be this like cohesive thing, and they'd be like, oh yeah, pretty much. And I'm like, okay, now I understand what you're saying.
Speaker 1:Translate it for me Disney speak.
Speaker 2:And Disney speak right. Like yes, I went to business school, but like they didn't really update the language to match the world that we work in today. Like, yeah, so that was basically it. I decided that I'm going to try to better learn and go on that journey myself. And here we are Bippity, boppity business I love it.
Speaker 1:I love it so much. Okay, so it's funny we haven't for the several times we've spoken. Now this hasn't. I don't think this has come to light yet. My dad's Egyptian, so I can completely relate to, like the whole middle Eastern daughter, pressure of hey responsibility. Do the responsible thing Don't go work for Disney. That feels risky. There's a lot of competition, so let's be the doctor-lawyer. First-generation kid pressure is real folks.
Speaker 2:And I wasn't smart enough to be the doctor or the lawyer, so they were like bougie cars.
Speaker 1:We all like BMWsws, all work for bmw it's so true, guys.
Speaker 2:I'm not making fun of it.
Speaker 1:I mean, my parents had bmws forever, but like oh, yeah, you go around to like a middle eastern like kind of neighborhood and they got their b mirrors. That's all it is a-rap money like that's all it is. Even when we go back to Egypt, it's like all there is is BMWs even if they're like 20 years old. That's still all they are, it's still a BMW, though it's still a BMW.
Speaker 1:I love it, oh my goodness. And I love what you said about lifetime value. We're going to come back to that, I think too. But I just really want to touch on for those who are kind of sitting in a space of saying you know, should I start a podcast? Shouldn't I start a podcast?
Speaker 1:And you know, I love what you said in that moment of you really started it not because you were already a subject matter expert, it was because you wanted to learn more and you took these kind of two passion points in this interest for learning and just brought them together and then leverage the podcast for, you know, client growth and opportunity, but also for educating yourself.
Speaker 1:Because I will tell you, I a hundred percent agree. After you know a hundred and a hundred plus episodes on Together Digital's Power Lounge podcast, I just, you do you feel like now you've just got like such a sense of wisdom from all of your guests, because that's all you're doing as a guest is facilitating brilliance and giving other people the opportunity to shine, and you just get to be the sponge. Um, it's wonderful, and so I'm kind of curious too. You kind of started to answer this, but you know, were there some other ways in which the working with these luxury brands, you know kind of considering that lifetime like more longer, less, just maybe I would say transactional situation of luxury car dealerships and working in those spaces. How did that translate into you know, your business and podcasting?
Speaker 2:Well, something that, specifically, I really admired, at least at the dealership that I worked at, is they valued communication and when it comes to the moment that a car enters the shop to the moment that it leaves, they have certain touch points and systems that they've put in place in order to make sure that every customer has a similar experience but also receives the important communication touch points that they need to make sure that their very expensive car is doing what it needs to be doing behind the scenes right.
Speaker 2:So, for me, I'm still working on this and I think it's okay to admit that we're all, every day, evolving our systems and processes. But anytime when I think about the podcast experience for the guest, or when I think about my clients who are, you know, starting podcasts from scratch, I'm always kind of remembering those moments Like what are the touch points that are the absolute most important touch points that we have to hit, no matter what? And how do we continually innovate what the experience of receiving those communication touch points looks like? So one small example is at the dealership, for example, instead of just getting like a text message or an email saying that your car is ready, the team started getting the technicians to send personalized video messages to the to the guests, customers, and sending them a video rundown of what's going on with the car and showing them the car.
Speaker 2:And it was so innovative and cool, but it was a small glimpse into the power of video, the power of communication, more than just a justpersonalized message.
Speaker 2:So, really, personalization, if anything, is something that's huge in the luxury brands, luxury industries that I am often trying to consider, because personalization is the catalyst for relationship. If you do not feel that the person is authentically connecting to you or they are talking to you as a person, they're not going to want to talk to you. Agree, right? So in our process for delivery of the episode to our guests, for our clients, I decided we needed to find a more personalized way to deliver those assets. So what we started doing is creating custom Notion pages that have all of the Google Drive assets within the page, but it says their name in the message has their photos. We put quotes in there that are not just the graphics, like the pre-made graphic quotes. We put quotes in there that are not just the graphics, like the pre-made graphic quotes. We put quotes in there without the brand colors of the show, in case they want to repurpose them in their own brand colors.
Speaker 2:So very small tweaks, but really, to answer your question, what you can learn from luxury businesses and apply into your own business today is communication touch points, developing a system for that, but still making it personalized in a way that's sustainable and pleasant for the guest to experience. If you're not smiling at any of the messages that you've received from the individual that you're working with, then you need to reconsider maybe what your communication process looks like.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I love that. That's such great advice. I love that so much and I think that there's so many more tools nowadays that are at your fingertips even for small business owners as well to make personalization an automized thing so that you think, oh, personalization it's such a daunting thing. But when you're talking about even if it's like a weekly or biweekly or monthly podcast, it's not a heavy lift between the process, building in a process or finding automation tools to help you do that. It's yeah, it's worth it, it's absolutely worth it in the longterm. You're going to see the return and I'm so glad you brought that up.
Speaker 1:I'm going to plug for just a second our national conference, which is like a month away and it's a big topic. Our keynote speaker actually is talking about how personalization is the key to customer loyalty and she just published a book on data-driven personalization. We've got a lot in the way of just talking about how personalization is such a big, big key factor and I realize when we're kind of always swimming in data, it's kind of hard. But the tension between like customers wanting to feel seen and heard, and then also we have a panel on purpose driven marketing as well, the feeling like they're aligned with the brands that they've purchased from. There's just so much to unpack there. Rita, you again. You're such a smart cookie. I'm kind of a podcaster.
Speaker 2:You know I can't stop talking. I had to monetize it some way.
Speaker 1:You're smart, you know and I always love to joke about that too it's like one of those things where it's like for all of us girls in class who couldn't shut up and the teachers kept saying you talk too much, or the adults that told us that we talk too much. I was like, hey, guess what? Now we get paid for talking.
Speaker 2:Well, I have a quick story about that, just really quickly. So first day of school, freshman year, my English teacher asks everyone what do you all want to be when you grow up? Typical? And I stand up because we're supposed to stand up and say it, and I stood up full with my whole chest and I said I want to be Oprah when I grow up. Oh, I love it. That's what I said. And everyone looked at me and said girl, you're tripping. What are you, Oprah, this little awkward Lebanese girl with a unibrow? What do you mean? You'll be Oprah. What's wrong?
Speaker 1:with you. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:And I was like you don't understand, she's an entrepreneur, she has her own talk show. You will see, you will see. So I didn't end up on TV, but I did make my own show. Isn't that funny. You did, you sure did. You showed up. So we're talkers.
Speaker 1:I love it, and that's okay. That's okay. We've got something to say and share with the world, so I think, use your voice, ladies. I love it. Oh my gosh, this is why we get along so well. We have even more in common than I knew before. All right, I would love for you to share a little bit about a surprising lesson, because you've done a lot of B2B podcasts, like 13 plus. What was the most surprising lesson that you've learned about business through podcasting?
Speaker 2:Business owners are afraid to show up authentically online, and for me this was surprising because, again, I'm the former theater kid and I am used to kind of being on stage, used to just showing up in the way that I need to be to tell the story. So for me, it's not about myself, it's about the story that needs to be told and the audience that needs to receive it. That's my mentality. But a lot of business owners are afraid, especially in B2B, when they're more traditional, conservative industries.
Speaker 2:Yeah, to have conversations like this, just like this, where we're talking to each other, we're sharing education, but we're also sharing personal stories too, and I think that surprised me, because isn't that what podcast podcasting is all about? It's about the authentic stories that we share that by proxy, hopefully, those if you're listening to us right now, you feel like you're in the room with us, and if you hear us talking right now and we're sounding like we're reading off of Webster's dictionary or yellow pages, girl, you're not going to listen, okay. So, um, that's what surprised me is that it's a constant reinforcement and coaching opportunity for the leaders that I work with to remind them that it's okay to be yourself in your content and maybe in other mediums of what you do that may not be appropriate, but podcasting is a medium where that is welcomed and, if anything, required in order to be successful.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it. We just had a question about this that just kind of brought me back to in our Together Digital member Slack I've added you to the channel too, by the way, rita, because I know you're in there. One of our members, missy, was asking about putting herself in her like profile pictures for her business, for certain channels and things like that, and I think it does kind of lean into that fact of like. Yeah, it's hard for us, I think sometimes as business owners. You know, and I get it, I was definitely in that. It took a lot of time for me to kind of get into that space and comfortable with putting myself out there at the front Because also, like, I feel like I represent the, I'm here for the community, like our members are the highlight, they are what's amazing about what we are Amy Vaughn for president.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but it's really about like them, right. So I want to champion them, I want to feature them, but then at the same time, like there still needs to be somebody that's relatable, that can represent at the forefront, right, and so that is hard. So it's like kind of no matter what your business is, people still want to relate, to, connect with and do business with people, right. So it is. I can totally understand and I was when you were saying that.
Speaker 1:I was like Missy, I'm pretty sure you registered and you're listening today. So if Rita doesn't go back into Slack and reiterate this, I know you're listening today. So take that to heart as well. As you're kind of considering all of these things, because I know the question was positioned as strategic, but I also know behind it is that fear of putting yourself out there in an authentic way as your business. So I love that advice, rita, and I think also that is what makes you stand out in what you do and it definitely, I think also, I think it probably does something to bring the right kinds of business to you, right.
Speaker 2:Yes, wouldn't you say? I would agree. And I also want to provide another perspective on if you are not yet in the mindset of being comfortable of putting your whole self on camera. What I did with Bippity Boppity Business is it's not called the Rita Show because I didn't feel no one knows me, I'm not yet Oprah, right, yeah? So I decided, okay. Well, walt Disney himself he wasn't initially the face of his brand, it was a mouse.
Speaker 2:So whether you turn yourself into a mascot or you are the face of your brand. There is creative opportunities to have something be the face of your brand. So if we think about a brand like Duolingo, for example, they are a software, they are technically like a language learning software and their mascot is an owl. So the owl is what's personified throughout their content. So if you are not yet able to be just you and you're not comfortable, you know saying that, okay, I'm not successful enough to be the Tim Ferriss show or the Oprah show or whatever, find a way to find a happy medium for that and for me. That's why my podcast cover art it's like I've got polka dots and it says, like the name of the brand, cause, at the end of the day. I'm just trying to brand the stories so. So just think about it like that, if, if you have that um mental block, like you know what's the, what's the mascot of your brand, like get fun with it, get creative with it?
Speaker 1:I don't know. I love it. I love it, I love it. That's a great advice. All right, let's, let's, let's, let's stick into the Disney side of things a little bit more.
Speaker 2:Get ready, I know right, you're like?
Speaker 1:finally, could you share some specific examples of how the Disney approach to your storytelling has helped one of your podcast clients better connect with their audience?
Speaker 2:Yes. So in my journey of doing podcast development and in my journey of being a Disney enthusiast, I decided that I needed to understand what it was about Disney movies that made them so memorable, Like what is it about the fact that I watched Ariel like when I was a baby?
Speaker 2:and now years later, it still means something to me and I still remember it and I thought to myself, like if we made content that was that impactful, that was that memorable, to where somebody watched it once or twice and then they talk about it to other people and they remember it years and years later like wouldn't that be amazing? So, at its core, what it is is Disney combines story structure and emotion. So if I can give you one piece of advice that I give to all of the clients that I work with is I want you to listen back to your episodes and if you do not feel any type of emotion whether it's excitement, inspiration, you know, maybe FOMO, whatever it is they could be positive or negative If you are not feeling any type of emotion after you've recorded your content, it's not ready. It needs some more work, because you are competing in an online world where everyone's competing for the stage right now. It takes me back to my theater days of auditioning. There are many people that look and act and sound like you, but only you can tell the story from your perspective and provide the emotional elements that we need as an audience to actually feel something. And what happens is when you feel something, you will act. It's only when you feel something that you will act on that emotion. And isn't that what marketing and business is? It's not about the software, it's not about your consulting service, it's not about the fact that you do marketing for manufacturers. It's the fact that somebody heard what you had to say and felt something and, as a result, wanted to make their life either better or more easy or whatever it is, and then do something.
Speaker 2:And that story structure, it's the hero's journey, right. So a lot of the movies that we watch, hercules is a really great example of a character who went on a hero's journey to find themselves. And then, guess what, when he went on that journey publicly, other people were cheering Hercules on eventually. In the beginning they were kind of like whoa, we don't believe in what you're doing. But over time, that kind of learning and sharing in public, that journey of getting to who Hercules really was, um, that's a relatable story, right. That was easy also for us to listen to. That's the other thing. We are busy, especially as women. We have so many things in our lives, whether you're a mom, or you're in a committed relationship, or you're the eldest daughter of a family who is always calling you and asking you what's up. You don't have time to just be listening to very heavy stuff, right? So if you can find the secret sauce of making your content educational, entertaining and inspiring, you are going to create super fans of your content and, in turn, super fans of your brand.
Speaker 2:Because something else that people forget about when we hear about Disney now is that when Walt Disney had to promote this idea of building the first theme park, everybody thought he was crazy. Nobody thought he could do it. So what did he do? While they were building the theme parks, they created a TV show that took everyone behind the scenes of what was going on at the parks. Never before had a brand during that time you're thinking about the 40s, 50s, whatever where a brand was never that transparent before on taking you on that journey, right? So your own journey today. Maybe you're not building a theme park or a castle If you are, hit me up because that's really cool but maybe you're not doing that.
Speaker 2:But we are all inherently curious and seeing that hero's journey happening firsthand, because we all want somebody that we can celebrate. Everyone loves the individual who's just like us, who came from nothing, built themselves from the ground up and made it, and if you've experienced difficult things in your life, just tell yourself. This is part of my story. This is going to make my hero's journey even better one day. And be resilient and own it. Find the balance between what you're comfortable with sharing and also making sure that you are learning something too at the end of the episode. I think that's a big problem that we have is often in podcasts we talk a lot about the idea of something. Often in podcasts we talk a lot about the idea of something, but we don't often dive into the tactical elements of how to actually do that thing. So if you find that sweet spot somewhere in between of hero's journey, emotion and also teaching people something, you're going to have a really great time, first of all, because you're going to enjoy the conversation, but also your audience will probably appreciate it.
Speaker 1:I love it. That's a great framework and a great series of takeaways. I love it. Yeah, it's so cool and I know you mentioned this to me before and it's it's. It's one of those things that it's like OK, whatever. Sometimes I can just be like forget everybody else, because you know we don't have to be for everyone, correct? Um? But I am kind of curious how you try to strike if you do strike the balance between, like, the magic and wonder of disney and what feels like I don't know. Here's the other thing too. I just never try to take myself too seriously, but I think sometimes, in like corporate and business we do, we have a tendency to right it is the nature of of the thing. So it's like, how do you balance the magic and wonder of Disney and then often that serious nature of business and the topics that you might be dealing with on your podcast? I know you said you've gotten pushback on that too at times.
Speaker 2:Yes, I have, and it's something that I will always be advocating for for myself, and if you're listening, you will always have to do that too. Yeah, we still have businesses who don't believe in what I'm saying, who believe that you need to be professional, you need to keep work at home, you need to, you know, be this like news anchor lady voice type person that's like really serious, that talks like this on the camera. Lady voice type person that's like really serious, that talks like this on the camera. And for a long time, amy, I felt like I had to be that way and I didn't feel good enough to make content. I didn't feel like, you know, I felt like what I was doing was silly. I felt like what I was doing really didn't mean anything, and it wasn't until I had people listeners reach out to me in the world, like at conventions and stuff that I'd never met before. Who would say Rita, thank you so much for making this podcast Like this is the only thing I can listen to at the end of the day.
Speaker 2:I'm a lawyer, I deal with stressful cases all day and your podcast is the only business podcast I listen to, because I get to learn something and then I get to turn my brain off Right. So it's like, like you said, what you do may not be for everyone, but if you are in tune with who your audience is and what your goal is for your business, that's better. I'd rather you not be for everyone, I'd rather you be for one person. And once I got out of my own head and my ego a little bit and started thinking about the person listening to the podcast, the one person who's my, my voice are in their ears right now.
Speaker 2:That's crazy. Someone I've never been before. I'm like right there in their ear and, no matter what part of the day that they've had, like I get to be that one little voice that says it's OK to be different. Like you're, you're OK, like you're more than OK, you're wonderful. And that's really what Disney magic and wonder is. It's not necessarily putting on a tutu and twirling. It's reminding us of the core values that we believe in and hopefully helping you in your journey of what those core values are for yourself, like figuring them out and starting from there.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Because the beauty of business and the beauty of entrepreneurship is if, especially if you're an entrepreneur, you get to decide what you, what you will stand for and what you will fall for. And if you are still operating in the ways of corporate America, how they've conditioned us and taught us to be, where we're all a cog in the wheel, I mean we won't ever get to have that beautiful journey. And it's a difficult one, it requires growth, it requires the confidence to say, like, I'm going to just be myself, because, amy, what it is, it's not really about balancing the both, it's about me being comfortable being myself. And and you know, there are some episodes where I look back and cringe a little bit, and and I and that's the beauty of it you can always iterate.
Speaker 1:You can always improve, and that's how we learn.
Speaker 2:But I really think what it is. It's me allowing the guests to shine. That is my biggest focus on any episodes. So I like to say I'm the Disney, and often the guest is the business, so I will bring out their magic and I will be like the sparkle and the seasoning on the top. Now if it were the other way around and I was just sitting here zippity-doo-dah, singing the entire episode and the guest gets like two words in yeah, that wouldn't be a great show. So I mean I would encourage everyone listening right now. So I mean I would encourage everyone listening right now.
Speaker 2:If you have a hobby anyone. If you have a hobby or a special interest whether it's sports, crocheting, legos, I don't mind, whatever, it is tea time, maybe you're really into teas? Okay, to make content specifically a podcast. Think about your hobby first, then add this is the formula, plus that with the business topic, and now you have a sustainable show because you get to talk about the thing that you love. That's very easy branding and theming. I mean, if I were really into teas like Bridgerton, for example, imagine a Bridgerton business show Like come on.
Speaker 1:Somebody's starting that right after this. You know that now. Steal my idea, go for it, chat it up.
Speaker 2:Okay, because guess what that's? What branding is? It's combining the thing that you do with the aura of what you are, what you love, and when you go to events, you'll be able to lead with who you are rather than what you do, which for sales is very, very effective. When I go to event I don't tell everyone I have a podcast production agency and you know that's not like the first thing I say that. They asked me what I do, I say I'm a podcaster. My show's called Bippity Boppity Business. I love Disney.
Speaker 2:I love Disney. Right, I start with Disney. We're starting at a level playing field here, not I'm you and you're here and we're all better than each other or whatever. So, and you'd be surprised how many genuine friends you get to meet when you decide to say, like I'm going to find a hobby or an interest and brand my show around it because people at networking events are going to be more easily able to talk to you.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, oh my gosh. Okay, a couple of things, because so much I know Disney, like I don't even care if you're not a Disney fan, if you have any understanding of, just in general, what business looks like. And good business I mean a company that's been it's over a century now, right, I mean Mickey's, technically almost like Steamboat Willie's, like almost out of what's the word.
Speaker 2:It's like the trademark yeah, out of trademark, because it's like a hundred years.
Speaker 1:Right, he's old, he's old. And you look at them from like a business success standpoint their internal structures for teams and Imagineers, their internship programs, their innovation, their internal structures for teams and imagineers, their internship programs, their innovation, their customer experience within their parks, Like it's just undeniable. So it's like I don't even care if you're not a fan of, like the movies, where it's so much more than that, which is, I think, why what you do is really smart. I love, love, love your podcast formula.
Speaker 1:I think that's so great because I also think it just it stops people, because I'm again, I'm like, okay, we are all human and we do, we love to talk and we're passionate about our businesses, but we're also human and it's like you kind of start to scroll through and you see how are you meant to choose when every single podcast, like art square, looks exactly the same and they're all blue and their fonts are the same? It's like all these sans serif and it's like how am I supposed to pick in a sea of sameness? Choose to stand out, choose to stand out. And I really love what you said there and I'm just going to make it a little audio footnote for our, for our production team to just quote Rita that idea of lead with who you are, not with what you do, Because we are so much more than with what we do and people remember who we are, not just what we do. And I think that just goes beautifully into our next question, because that is a ton of advice.
Speaker 1:That's one of the first pieces of advice I give in networking, because obviously together, digital are all about networking and the strength of our network, because it's such an essential part of growing our career and just ourselves, not just professionally but personally. I'm kind of curious how podcasting has opened up networking opportunities for you, even your clients, Girl it has opened up a whole new world.
Speaker 1:I love it had to do it.
Speaker 2:Reason being I live in Jacksonville, florida. Yes, it's in Florida, but it's not a city that, when you think of media, that is one of those top cities that comes to your mind. Okay, so the fact that in my tiny little studio apartment I've been able to talk to people all over the world Like that is amazing to me, and the reason why is I do have a strategy for it. So a lot of people ask me how do you get great guests? How are you going to these events? What are you doing? And it's very similar to a lot of what you preach, amy, which is a combination of being active online and seeking out similar communities, seeking out the right people, right, but it's also going to events too. So, for example, I do a little hack.
Speaker 2:Okay, I'm going to give some secrets here. If there is a podcast guest that you really really want to interview, or, alternatively, a person that you really really want to meet that you wouldn't normally be able to meet, I, for example, will look at events that that individual is speaking at. Okay. So, for this example, there was an individual who his name is Saul Blankoff. He's a Disney animator and director, and I saw that he would be speaking at Podfest and the second that I saw that I was like I'm going to that talk. Everyone, just hold your horses, drop everything. I'm going there, right, because what happens at events is oftentimes you will be able to maybe at least for a minute, get to say thank you to the speaker, right? That's your pitch, that's your one minute pitch, right there.
Speaker 2:And if your show name is as effective as Bippity Boppity Business, you have one second, to be like oh, what's that show If your show name is not easily explainable, like if you have to pull out a scroll and dust off the scroll to explain what your show is about. You've lost your opportunity already. So I walked up over the show. Granted, I was fangirling, I was crying, it was not okay.
Speaker 2:I was so moved by this man's speech that I was sobbing, but I was like my show is bippity boppity Business and I would love for an opportunity for you to be on my podcast. It was a mess, but I did it. That's. The thing you need to know is that you could do it scared. Do it anyway. What happened is that one connection led to another connection and it becomes this web of one moment. I'm crying in an Orlando convention room to this poor random director. The next time I'm in one moment I'm crying in an Orlando convention room to this poor random director the next time in LA, and I'm interviewing the guy in LA of all places.
Speaker 2:So the strategy is write down your dream 100 people that you would literally lose your mind and sob, just like I did if you got to meet and, whether it's on LinkedIn, you try to reach out to them and ask them to be on your show, or you go to an event where they are there, shoot your shot and make your brand ready to be pitchable. Right and yeah, that's that's kind of. The thing that has blown my mind is the people that I've been able to meet. I mean, I now have an international client from China. I would have never worked with, and they are an amazing foundation as well, too. But, like, yeah, I didn't fly to China to meet that individual and their amazing business. I did a LinkedIn live stream where one person was watching, so that's the other thing, too, for all of you who are doing this. You're doing the work, but you are looking at your numbers and going what's the as you have the right people listening. That's what matters.
Speaker 2:I would rather you have 10 super fans that love what you do than a million people who could care less. 100% Preachy hands.
Speaker 1:Yes, I agree, I agree, I agree. Go back and watch Kenya Kelly. She's a TikToker who has made millions of dollars for herself and her clients off of her TikToks and she even will tell you. She will tout those numbers and those dollar signs and those views. But even she knows, like it doesn't matter, Like don't come to me and say you want a viral TikTok, I will. I will, even if I get you like a thousand views. All of what matters is if you got like 26 phone calls that implanted you 10 new clients. That's what matters. Like pay attention to the right metrics. I a hundred percent agree, Rita. That's, that's a very good call.
Speaker 2:Well, in B2B that's a very controversial topic because businesses of that nature want to know what the ROI is on the amount of downloads and the growth. So that's something that I have to remind everyone. Yeah, it is.
Speaker 1:It's a it's a constant drum we're beating, isn't it? Yeah, we love the data we do. We can't help it. We love our numbers. It's the shiny object. We have the shiny object syndrome and I love that you also accost speakers. I'm glad this isn't just me, and that's how I've gotten some of my most favorite guests as well, and kind of more of those top tier guests, because it's like I know they're there, I, because it's like I know they're there, I know they're speaking, and when you can kind of get in front of them, it kind of makes a more memorable opportunity and experience. They get to see that passion and then you know you've got your pitch, you're not going to get buried into their inbox. I usually try to carry something with me to kind of give to them to. You know, be remembered as well, and then I typically follow up with an email. But yeah, I'm glad it's not just me.
Speaker 2:I made little Disney pins for my brand. So I made like you know how pins are a big thing in Disney culture in general. I did that for my logo, but something that I do in general is I will take my phone and I will record a moment from their segment that I thought was really impactful and I'll post it on LinkedIn the next day, like I'll turn it into a little thing and tag them on it. So even if I don't have a physical object, there's also a digital object that you could give to them.
Speaker 1:Love it. Clever, clever, clever. I love this so much. This is so fun. All right, and I like the dream guest list. I try to make one of those every year, for myself as well. I think that's great advice. Speaking of more advice, let's talk about mistakes. What's one of the most common mistakes? That you see folks who are kind of starting a podcast make they make it about themselves.
Speaker 2:The other mistake is they are too long. Some of them are too long, and what I mean by too long is it's fine if there's a flow to the conversation, but if there is, I guess what I need to rephrase, that it's length without intent and purpose is not effective. So the mistake is really not viewing your podcast as a collective, not viewing it as an entire library, a full collection of episodes. So often we are hyper focused on the individual episode itself. But I would encourage you every now and then, to take a look back and see, like what does your full library look like? Because if somebody has not yet followed you, the first thing they're going to do is judge the entire collection. Is it cohesive? Is it cohesive, is it consistent or is it repetitive? That's the other thing. It's okay to be repetitive if you're doing it in a strategic way to ensure that your brand message or your mission statement is being kind of taught or shared, but if it's repetitive and guests like the similar types of guests Also.
Speaker 2:Another mistake I would say is most people think that they have to start with a video podcast. Now, this is going to be very controversial. Back in the day, podcasting used to just be audio.
Speaker 1:Video podcasting yep Remember audio.
Speaker 2:Now, video is important and I think video is great, especially for the clips. But I see someone in the chat. Her name's Katrina.
Speaker 2:She's asking about podcasting and all that, but yeah, I'm going to touch on it briefly and what I'm trying to say is podcasting can be an affordable way to do content. If you start audio, I would rather you start audio only than not do it at all. And that's the big mistake is many people just don't start because they think it's too expensive or too difficult or they don't have anything to say. If you do an audio only, podcast, you can help that kind of fear of being on camera. A lot of us have a fear of being on camera or looking a certain way. Especially as a lady, I feel like I have to look a certain way on camera. So I started my show audio only because it was that like step stepping point into content and media. So instead of thinking about what you should do, I want you to think about what you could do.
Speaker 1:That's all I ask. I love it. I love it, yeah. And to kind of build on that, let's get to Katrina's specific question so we can kind of touch on it a little bit more, cause I know it is a common kind of concern. The she says I, um, I know what I'd like to do for a show. Tech for Women how to stay safe from hackers Sounds very needed, but as I'm just starting my business, I have no budget. How much should I expect to spend to hire a podcast editor? I'm not techie. And how do you recommend finding a producer slash editor? My show would be a combination of solo and interviews.
Speaker 2:Very good question of solo and interviews. Very good question. First thing I would say is make the decision to determine. Before you even hire an editor or consider your budget, you need to understand the medium in which you are recording. So video and audio, or audio only? If you decide to do audio only, the cost will significantly go down in the beginning, because there's a lot of tools out there where you can actually learn how to edit your own audio, especially with AI. I recommend using a tool called Descript and it's a tool that I use to help me with editing my show. It's great. We'll get into that later, but that's the first thing. Figure out audio or only. Secondly, if you have a strong brand presence online where you've already been building your personal brand, reach out to potential sponsors. I had a show that I worked on where they didn't even have one episode and we made a sponsorship deal in order to help that show exist. So what I mean by that is find an industry adjacent to yours. Usually, software or tools companies are more open to sponsorships.
Speaker 1:Yeah that want more women customers, exactly. That want to keep them safe from hackers. Exactly.
Speaker 2:And pitch and say, hey, my current brand, I have X many followers. I have this level of engagement already. We're about to launch a show. Um, I would like to request uh, uh, X amount of dollars a month and start small for your first sponsor, Even if it's like 50 or a hundred dollars a month to start with.
Speaker 2:having one sponsor logo will create this like kind of effect, and then somebody else yeah, somebody else will want to hop on it too, right, so you know, if you don't have the funds right off the bat, before you stress too much about the budget, see what's out there, who's willing to work with you, and in that package, say like, hey, you are going to be my preferred vendor If I work with you and you are the sponsor of my show. Anytime somebody asks me about X tool, resource or software, you will be the primary one. I will not recommend anyone else. Exclusive, exclusive, right, I like that word. Exclusive, they like that word. I was looking for that one. I don't know where it went and, yeah, and see, see where you can go. Realistically, though, if you want a video podcast and you want clips, I would say, if you, if you work with a producer and editor and somebody who is, I would I need to pause, actually, and describe the difference between a producer and an editor, because I think this is a very big misconception. Working with an editor is going to be cheaper, because working with an editor will. The editor will take exactly what you say, they will take that work and they will edit it exactly how you tell them whether it's right or whether it's wrong, especially on platforms like Fiverr and whatever. Those are very affordable places to go when you start and I recommend starting there.
Speaker 2:But as you figure out your topic, you're going to start to grow and you're going to need a creative partner to help with the growth of your show, the outreach and the branding of your show, and that's what a producer does. A producer is going to tell you no, sometimes. They're not going to say yes, all the time. I'm a producer. I'm going to work with you, for example and any producer will to help bring out the story of the show. We're going to coach you to be the talent. We're going to be looking for opportunities where you can be highlighted on other shows shows maybe, for example. So working with an editor is very important in the beginning and it's going to be affordable, especially on places like Fiverr.
Speaker 2:But as you grow, if you want to work with a producer, that's where the price is going to change, because you're going to be leveling up to having a creative partner and someone who understands a little bit about marketing as well too, with the show. But yeah, so on the low end, I'd say around maybe $150 per episode if you're going really low and you're doing some of it yourself, but on the high end it could be anywhere from $300 to $1,000 an episode if you're working with a producer, and also it depends on the type of podcast that you're doing as well. If you have an interview-based podcast, those are more affordable to produce. If your podcast is narrative, where it sounds more like an audio book or we're telling those like Disney-esque sound, you know sound effects stories and the zhuzh and all of that yeah, those are just going to be a little bit more obviously. But I would recommend start audio, only start small.
Speaker 2:Find an editor on Fiverr, go on YouTube, look up Descript's, youtube video tutorials and I you know I'm always on LinkedIn. If you have a question, I'm happy to answer it for you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I agree, yeah, and you can always reach out to me too. Happy to share some other like process advice.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're always here.
Speaker 1:Again, we share our knowledge and our power. We don't hold back on any of it.
Speaker 1:I think process is an important part when you're just getting started to kind of having a well-defined process for bringing in your guests, just to make things easier on yourself if you're running a business plus hosting a podcast, because you just you don't have the resources maybe to hire people to facilitate all that. So put process in place where there's maybe instead of people, if you can. Um, I also used for a little while before we ended up with our production team, that our amazing production team that we have. Now um shout out to the amazing HeartCast media team so you can look them up if you want to. Yeah, check them out. But Opus Clip was also really cool for kind of pulling and extracting video clips.
Speaker 1:But I mean, I would say too, like if you're going to invest in anything to start with, I would say actually just make sure you have like a good mic and a good headset to start with, oh for sure, picking up like your initial quality for sound to start with, and making sure that you have a good recording space, like, and there's so much good info, like free info on creating a good podcast out there that everybody has kind of like shared. Start there, really, too. And then I do Descript is a great great tool and it's pretty low cost too as far as like getting your transcripts, getting you know soundbites and also kind of editing as well. So great great advice, you know.
Speaker 1:If anybody else has any other questions, don't be shy about asking. We love, love, love the questions as we, why we have our live listeners with us. I'm going to go ahead and skip to our power round because we're coming close to the end, rita, so, and I know we've got some fun ones in here, yes, so, all right, we're going to put you on the spot with some of these. I know it's like choosing your children but favorite Disney character in the business lesson that they teach.
Speaker 2:Belle, she was different, she owned it. People made fun of her at first, but then she lied all of them. So bam, I love it.
Speaker 1:That makes me so happy. She's like my not my daughter's favorite right now. She's like all about Belle Most unexpected place that you have found inspiration for a podcast episode.
Speaker 2:A guy who owns an automotive shop who also happened to be a Disney fan. That was like my two worlds full circle coming together.
Speaker 1:I love that.
Speaker 2:That's fantastic.
Speaker 1:I love it, I love it, I love it.
Speaker 2:Check his episode out, frank Scandura. It's a really good one.
Speaker 1:Oh, I definitely will. That sounds adorable. It sounds delightful. One tool that you can't live without for podcast productions. Another little good tip for Katrina here, yes, google Forms, yes, underrated. Right Underrated. I use them every day.
Speaker 2:Really great for getting guest information and going automatically into a spreadsheet, because if you're not a numbers girl like I am, that's so great that it does that for you Absolutely Holler for forms and automation.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, fantastic, all right. Biggest challenge in B2B podcasting and your quick solution.
Speaker 2:Biggest challenge is looking like everyone else's show. There's a lot of podcasts out there right now. Quick solution yeah, try to be different and use some of the formulas that we talked about today, and um and and see. See what it does for you.
Speaker 1:I love it. No, those. You gave us some really good takeaways. All right, we have got just enough time for this last one. So, um, I know you said you had your dream list and you've gotten some of those folks interviewed, but is there any remaining? If you could interview any business leader and they let's say they could be alive or dead, this might be making it too easy if I say on your podcast. Who would it be and why?
Speaker 2:it's walt disney, I was gonna say. And once I read the question I'm like wait, no, of course I know who it'll be he was someone that decided that he would change an industry entirely, animation would not have been what it is today without walt disney, yeah, period. So, um, if, if I could leave some inspiration with that. Like we look at him and we think he was successful and everything was easy. He was somebody that continuously had to overcome challenges.
Speaker 2:He at one point lost all of his employees. He almost went bankrupt. He had to take loans out that his wife was like not happy about. His brother almost like was like his right-hand man for business and finances. His brother almost like was like we're not doing the theme park right. And he had one dream he started. It all started with a mouse right.
Speaker 2:So for you, if you are listening, you have an idea that only you believe in and you deserve to see it through, to be the visionary that at all costs, continuously pursues that dream and find the magic in that. You are the magic at the end of the day Don't let anyone else tell you differently and those are the people that maybe 10, 20, 30 years from now will be just like you. Might be that person where somebody says I wish I could have interviewed this person. Being yourself and continuously believing in your vision and your dream is the only thing you can do as an entrepreneur when the going gets tough. But just know that it's worth it and you're worth it. So your show should be a celebration of that and I can't wait to see that journey for you, no matter what it is.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much, Rita. What a great way to wrap things up. So excited to keep watching you and all that you're doing. Thank you for inspiring us all. I know you're all ready. It's Friday. You got the weekend to keep brainstorming and planning. You've got members. You've got both me and Rita on Slack, so if you need us and you want to brainstorm, just slide on into our DMs. Reach out if you need us. Again, everyone, thank you so much for joining us today. We appreciate all of you, our listeners, for being here. Rita, thank you so much for showing up and sharing your power and your passion. We really do appreciate it and enjoy it. It's a pleasure.
Speaker 2:It's been a magical podcast episode. Thank you, amy. Never doubted that it wouldn't be with you. All right everyone.
Speaker 1:have a great rest of your day and until then, we'll see you next week. Keep asking, keep giving and keep growing. Bye la.
Speaker 2:Produced by Heartcast Media.
