(I Haven’t Made It Yet) Making Real-Life Connections Through Podcasting - Ep 7

When you put yourself out there online in the ways I do, it's a funny side effect when somebody knows you before you know them. It's a little bit "celebrity" to be recognised because someone who has seen or heard you online... but I LOVE meeting those people. 

And in this episode I'll share why those in-person, real-life connections, that come as a result of putting yourself out there and getting more people bring me joy and excitement. 

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Music by Kadien: Instagram | Spotify | SoundCloud

Transcript

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Connecting With Online Followers in Person

Chantelle Dyson 0:01

One of the funniest things about building a personal brand and doing so online in some fashion is when somebody knows you but you don't know them . This has only happened in a handful of times to me ever since I put myself online , but it's always quite funny when it happens and it's a really interesting experience . And I am not a celebrity , I'm not an influencer , but you kind of have this experience where you're like this must be what it's like . This is what it must feel like in a very small way in my experience , but this must be what it's like over and over again for a celebrity . And this comes about because of Laura , who I'm hoping is listening to this episode , just so that she gets a little shout out . Now it would have been good of me to know exactly what Laura's Instagram account is . Hang on , hold cooler .

Chantelle Dyson 0:47

My attempt to find Laura's Instagram account whilst I'm sat in the car waiting to do the school run , where there is no single single signal , has not worked . So what I'll do is I'll make sure so that she's got a little link in the description . But Laura came up to me at the hook , which is another fantastic little shout out for Charlie , lucy and Barbara , who run the hook , monthly networking , as I spoke about in a previous I haven't made it yet episode , and that happens monthly in Colchester and Laura came up to me right at the end of just literally walking out the door and she said hello , you don't know me , I follow you on Instagram . And I was like , oh , okay , she's like . And I listened to your podcast and I was like , oh , you know what . That is magical , because we don't get loads of downloads on the podcast right now . It's pretty standard for starting out a podcast , building it up .

Chantelle Dyson 1:32

It's lovely to meet someone that actually listens to . You're like oh my god , wow , welcome . It's not just me listening to my own podcast , nor any of my reduction team , it's just an actual , genuine listen . She went yeah , I can't remember what it was that recommended it to her , but someone said I should listen to it . And now I listen and you know what ? I've listened to it . I'm shifting in business as well and , guess what ? I also teach kids maths and that's the beautiful thing . Unfortunate beautiful thing about online marketing is that you never know who is listening and Lauren is not necessarily ever going to be a client . She's learning from my podcast in some way . Maybe she will have a podcast one day , who knows , maybe she'll do that all on her own and she won't need my help .

Chantelle Dyson 2:14

The point is is that it's lovely to connect with people that , yes , they know you online in some fashion by following on Instagram and then listening to the podcast , and they know a lot more about your life than you know about theirs . But they've made those links themselves and then when they come to meet you in person , it's just a whole ball of positive energy because they're only going to speak to you if they kind of like what you do or agree with what you say or interested in what there is that you're putting out there . And the best thing I can do at that point is try to get as up to speed as possible on this person who has gone out of their way in some fashion to say , hey , I listen to your podcast , I sports your content bloody love it , whatever it might be . And then it's my job to get up to speed with that person to go what's going on and where I do a lot of networking and follow people back on Instagram . You know I care about each business . I love the idea of business life and I think anyone that goes into building their own business freelance or a big business it is a brave move . It's courageous and it's looming scary and you don't know if it's going to work and you take a lot of risks when you do it and everyone's trying to escape the corporate life etc . So it's hard to keep up with everyone's journeys . But I'm fascinated , and if someone obviously goes out of their way to have a chat with me , then I want to know more .

Chantelle Dyson 3:30

Now this was a little bit different when I did the single girls guide to life and I still , funnily enough , did have people that like fanned me . It was they would either knew me from online . So I walked into a restaurant once and the server said to me I follow your videos online . I was that , oh great , and it's a bit different because I still care about that person . But I was like in the middle of trying to get settled for dinner . It didn't bother me at all , though I like I just didn't have as much opportunity as I did with Lorna , say , to actually ask questions and find out a little bit about that person .

Chantelle Dyson 4:05

But other times I used to run the single girls club events , essentially networking , but in a single girl format and it was interesting because I provided those events for people to talk to one another and meet one another . Yet people wanted to speak to me , whether that was because they felt like they knew me from all of the stuff I'd shared online . You know , I was telling people about my previous relationship and how I'd move from being in a marriage to being single , when I did that knowingly and I did that openly in the way that I felt comfortable sharing that information . But it's interesting how people respond to you in that fashion and feel like they know you . But these people are human beings . It's lovely to feel that experience from people and I think it's really nice if people can have that conversation with you in person , if they ever get a chance to meet you , if you happen to be at the same event .

Chantelle Dyson 4:59

And it is this new experience that I hadn't had before I mean actually had I had it before . I'm a teacher . So I remember once I was finished for the year or close to finishing for the school year , and I think I'd just got some sort of job promotion and we'd walked over from where we lived over to Lakeside , the boardwalk , and I'd gone to Las Aquinas , my blooming favourite two for one cocktails mango collins , please and I was sat out on the deck , the boardwalk section itself . It was quite a sunny day and my boyfriend at the time possibly if you aren't say who knows said to me I think those people are looking at you and I was like , oh , what's that ? Turned out , it was a little crew of pupils that were , oh , miss Dyson , miss Dyson . So it is this experience that I think only a few kind of roles offer you is a little bit different in terms of Miss Dyson and teacher .

Chantelle Dyson 5:53

Because then when I turn around , I go , oh , hey , blah , blah , how are you doing what's up , whether that's an ex people or current people , when it comes to this world of putting yourself out there online ? It's a weird experience , but it's great because you just don't know who's listening . And comes back to one of the full episodes I did on podcasting that the number of downloads doesn't matter in your business . I was talking about Paul Brunson , who is a certified life coach specialised in dating and was discovered essentially by Oprah Winfrey at one point , who elevated his status and he used to get double digit downloads on his videos and he describes it as 11 , 12 or 13 , not anything more significant than that , and you just never know who's listening and you don't know what impact you're having on somebody else and giving them something to relate to , giving them somebody , that's just one step ahead , because I know there's that feeling of even when I talk on this .

Chantelle Dyson 6:53

Sometimes I think like well , who is listening to me ? I get it Like why would they listen to me ? There are so many bigger people out there doing bigger things that have had so much more success financially and in business . I also realise that even I feel it sometimes . I'm like that's cool , I know you're turning over seven figures . I'm down . I'm not even at four . When I first started , I'm not even at four . How do I even get four ? And then you suddenly keep reducing your price to try and get anything through the door , when in actual fact , there's lots of other strategies to make sure that you hit four quite quickly If you really want to go for it and you've got the mindset for it , which is something that I've worked on and I've made mistakes with at the start .

Chantelle Dyson 7:30

And people do want to hear that . They want to hear I'm not an underdog , but I'm not finished yet and that's the whole point of this series . All right , I haven't made it yet . You're with me , and it's cool that Lorna's there at the start , because she's also at the start of her transition of being a I think it was a wedding planner specifically . Now she's going into something slightly different in terms of support in other wedding planners .

Starting Out With a Big Vision

Chantelle Dyson 7:55

So we see that transition and that change and the different aspects . You've got to have the different perspective , the different approach , how you see the customer journey , how you see your ideal clients . It's a lovely experience to have and you can imagine the relatability in that when I'm saying , well , I've pivoted from life coaching to podcasting and I'm I'm all the things I got wrong before I'm bringing with me to this one . So this learning experience is not half as difficult at this stage . I'm sure it will get difficult in about a year's time or something mad , but you can imagine that that's much nicer to experience when you're first starting a podcast sorry or even starting a business , compared to someone that's already vetted commerce , made it or has made it on a different level of success at that point . So if you're ever doubting the content you're putting out there , yes , I do believe that your content should still link to what you do , and you could argue that this is a little bit adjacent .

Chantelle Dyson 8:45

I get that , but part of me wanted to share this because I think stories are powerful and it's cool to be at the start like who documents this bit properly enough , the struggle , the stress , the difficulty for someone to listen to in two or three years time , when they're in the same position , thinking what am I going to do ? Because now that I'm seeing Shantel on my and she's got thousands of followers and thousands of downloads and got business running , and I'm just starting out with one course , one idea , one thing . And how do I do it ? And this is hard and I've not had a sale for ages , and what do I do ?

Chantelle Dyson 9:20

Well , this series within a whole podcast of big vision business is what this is for , is for the underdogs that are starting out , as it were , that haven't made it yet , that we get to share the story with them . You just never know who's listening and at what stage . That you're never going to know what's going to resonate with them . And it is also lovely to have had some feedback , some positive feedback , for somebody that's listened , that's enjoying it , and you can go . Well , that's not feeding your business , so it might not , it might , who knows . The end of the day , I'm still impacting lives , and those people that have podcasts quite often have a desire to change the world , to impact the world in a positive way and to make a difference in people's lives , so that's what I'm going to keep doing . I can talk forever , and I might as well use it to good advantage .