A Year in Podcasting - 2023
Welcome to the final episode of Season 2!
This is a round-up of my year in podcasting and business.
I had some awesome guests talk to me, topics that we chatted about were interview techniques, ways to make your podcast more discoverable, mindset and tips to get started to name a few!
I touch on reviews and how I think it's not easy or clear how to leave them in the podcast apps, but Spotify has upped their game this year!
I will be back for Season 3 in March!
I would love your input!
I want to know your burning questions about podcasting for your business. I really want to make sure you're getting the most out of my podcast by giving you all the information you need to move forward successfully.
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I am not collecting email addresses, this information will be used to create podcast episodes and social media posts to answer your questions.
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Transcript
Hi everyone and welcome to the final episode of season two.
Rachael Botfield:I wanted this episode to come out at the end of 2023 but stuff happened.
Rachael Botfield:illness, busyness with my business kids, life generally.
Rachael Botfield:So I didn't get around to recording it.
Rachael Botfield:So I'm recording it now because I wanted to have a little look back
Rachael Botfield:in my year of podcasting and look back through 2023 and kind of do a
Rachael Botfield:little bit of a roundup of the year and, and the season and season two.
Rachael Botfield:So I've been really pleased with season two.
Rachael Botfield:It's been really great.
Rachael Botfield:I've talked to some brilliant guests who have shared some fantastic
Rachael Botfield:knowledge about podcasting, which I hope has helped you move forward with
Rachael Botfield:your podcast or your podcast plans.
Rachael Botfield:You know, the aim of this podcast is to help you with your podcast, give
Rachael Botfield:you tips, advice, insights, arming you with knowledge and insights so that you
Rachael Botfield:can go ahead and, you know, put that and implement it into your podcast.
Rachael Botfield:sO first I want to take like just a little bit of a roundup
Rachael Botfield:of all my guests from season two.
Rachael Botfield:So in no particular order Sarah McDowell came on, well, she came on twice.
Rachael Botfield:Sarah is my podcast partner in crime.
Rachael Botfield:We run the West Midlands podcast community together, which I'll talk
Rachael Botfield:about a little bit later but she's been on twice one time to share her SEO
Rachael Botfield:knowledge as she is the SEO manager at Captivate, which is a podcast host, one
Rachael Botfield:that I use and 100 percent recommend.
Rachael Botfield:She talked about some tips to make your podcast more discoverable,
Rachael Botfield:really practical, actionable tips.
Rachael Botfield:So if that is what you're looking for I would.
Rachael Botfield:Recommend you take a little look back at that episode.
Rachael Botfield:She also came on with Tazmin Suleman and because they co host
Rachael Botfield:the podcast SEO mindset podcast which is aimed at SEO professionals.
Rachael Botfield:But they talk about You know, more mindset things about what can happen
Rachael Botfield:and it applies to, you know, it's very interesting for everyone in
Rachael Botfield:different different professions as I've listened to as well.
Rachael Botfield:And it's giving advice about.
Rachael Botfield:Wins and burnout and stress and mindset and things.
Rachael Botfield:So it's really, really valuable podcast there, but they gave us a lot
Rachael Botfield:of insight into what it's like when you start a podcast and both of them
Rachael Botfield:have Tazmin and Sarah have a job.
Rachael Botfield:So that's the podcast is not part of the business.
Rachael Botfield:Like my podcast is part of my own business, but they do it as like.
Rachael Botfield:They both just love podcasting and they do it on, on the side, if
Rachael Botfield:you will, as a, as a side hustle.
Rachael Botfield:So, you know, that itself brings different challenges and nuances to it.
Rachael Botfield:You know, that's interesting to hear how they manage that and how they
Rachael Botfield:manage their time and things like that.
Rachael Botfield:Kendall Brightman came on and she is the community manager at riverside.
Rachael Botfield:fm.
Rachael Botfield:Riverside.
Rachael Botfield:fm, for those of you that don't know, is a podcast recording software studio.
Rachael Botfield:I'm using it right now to record this episode.
Rachael Botfield:But she handles the community side of things where, so she connects
Rachael Botfield:with lots of different creatives.
Rachael Botfield:For the platform.
Rachael Botfield:So she gave us some great tips on interviewing and how to talk to your
Rachael Botfield:guests and make them feel more at ease.
Rachael Botfield:Those are great tips there.
Rachael Botfield:Ashley Frater, who is a coach.
Rachael Botfield:She came on and talked to us about, well, she kind of gave us double for her.
Rachael Botfield:So she, she actually had a podcast herself about burnout.
Rachael Botfield:So she talked to us a little bit about how, she managed that podcast and, you
Rachael Botfield:know, a great observation of Ashley's is that she, because the type of podcast
Rachael Botfield:that it is and the sensitive subject that you're talking about, that it
Rachael Botfield:actually took quite a lot out of her, so that when she was recording and
Rachael Botfield:planning it in, that she, you know, as an observation for if she recorded
Rachael Botfield:another season of the podcast, is that she would allow herself more time to record
Rachael Botfield:these things and recover afterwards.
Rachael Botfield:And this is something that, you know, should be taken.
Rachael Botfield:into consideration, depending on the subjects of your podcast.
Rachael Botfield:If it's something that you know, that could drain you, it's, you
Rachael Botfield:know, you're offering advice and they're talking about, often about
Rachael Botfield:difficult things, it can drain you.
Rachael Botfield:So those are the types of things to think about when you're starting your podcast
Rachael Botfield:so that you allow yourself the time.
Rachael Botfield:In your planning to be able to, to get those recorded and recover as
Rachael Botfield:well, as well as doing the rest of everything else that you're doing your
Rachael Botfield:life, work, kids, family, whatever.
Rachael Botfield:She also gave us some great tips about productivity and how we can
Rachael Botfield:view our own productivity and what makes us feel productive and some
Rachael Botfield:little tips there to help us when we are feeling like we haven't achieved
Rachael Botfield:very much about what we wanted to do.
Rachael Botfield:Edda came on the podcast to talk about procrastination tips.
Rachael Botfield:She her business is a.
Rachael Botfield:anti procrastination playground and she runs courses and things to help people
Rachael Botfield:overcome that procrastination that you, that you feel when you have big
Rachael Botfield:projects coming up and things like that.
Rachael Botfield:So she gave us some great tips and advice to help overcome those things.
Rachael Botfield:Emma Fishlock from Real World Consultancy.
Rachael Botfield:Emma came on to talk about authenticity in your podcast and creating your and the
Rachael Botfield:importance of creating your content in your podcast towards your target audience.
Rachael Botfield:So that, I mean, that is so important is to make your content,
Rachael Botfield:you know, as relevant as possible to you, to you, the listener.
Rachael Botfield:You know, one of the kind of biggest stats that came out of a talk that
Rachael Botfield:I looked, that I went to see at the podcast show in 2023 was that.
Rachael Botfield:You know, one thing that helps, you know, drives people to listen again to podcasts
Rachael Botfield:is that the fact that they are relevant and that you are talking to them so that.
Rachael Botfield:You know, and which is obviously hopefully what I'm achieving here is
Rachael Botfield:that, you know, when you're listening to my podcast that you're feeling that
Rachael Botfield:this information, the tips and advice and the guests that I'm sharing with
Rachael Botfield:you are relevant to your problem, the thing that you need to get solved.
Rachael Botfield:And we had Hillary Salzman come on talking about storytelling and the
Rachael Botfield:importance of that within your podcast.
Rachael Botfield:And we hear about storytelling all the time within our marketing, you
Rachael Botfield:know, creating that brand story, using storytelling to let everybody know who we
Rachael Botfield:are and what we do and what we stand for.
Rachael Botfield:And she has a great podcast that is a daily podcast.
Rachael Botfield:It's about five minutes long.
Rachael Botfield:It's the Everyday Storyteller.
Rachael Botfield:And I love Hillary's aim here was, you listen to this her
Rachael Botfield:five minute podcast when you're making a cup of tea in the morning.
Rachael Botfield:It's every, every week day.
Rachael Botfield:And she, you know, is giving you a different tip or advice to think about
Rachael Botfield:in relation to storytelling podcast.
Rachael Botfield:So definitely, if you've not had to listen to well, any of these really so far, then,
Rachael Botfield:you know, hop back and have a listen.
Rachael Botfield:I also last but not least talk to Helen Calvert.
Rachael Botfield:As I've said many times before, I absolutely love Helen's podcast, the
Rachael Botfield:no bullshit guide to a happier life.
Rachael Botfield:I've listened to all of her episodes so far.
Rachael Botfield:She's just started to release episodes for season four which
Rachael Botfield:I haven't checked out yet, but I will most certainly be doing so.
Rachael Botfield:I talked to her back in season one and You know, her podcast has moved
Rachael Botfield:forward another year since then.
Rachael Botfield:So we kind of discussed how, you know, things have developed over the three
Rachael Botfield:seasons, how the podcast supports her business because she also runs a coaching
Rachael Botfield:business and how you know, how her clients and listeners help support the
Rachael Botfield:podcast in the way that what, you know, the themes and things that she's seeing
Rachael Botfield:in her clients, you know, realizing that those things are going to be coming up
Rachael Botfield:for her podcast listeners too, and then listening to, you know, feedback from
Rachael Botfield:people that are listening and, you know, really using that to create the episodes
Rachael Botfield:that she knows that people wants to hear.
Rachael Botfield:And that again, like we were talking about target audience, that's so important.
Rachael Botfield:So.
Rachael Botfield:You know, that's been really beneficial for Helen and her podcast, for
Rachael Botfield:Helen and for myself, you know, the podcast is part of your business.
Rachael Botfield:It's not a separate entity.
Rachael Botfield:It's, you know, all feeds into one.
Rachael Botfield:So I think that's really great that, you know, taking that time to listen to
Rachael Botfield:your audience and to your clients and.
Rachael Botfield:you know, incorporate those ideas and things into your podcast.
Rachael Botfield:We also had a little chat about reviews and how hard it
Rachael Botfield:actually is to, leave a review.
Rachael Botfield:So, I mean, I'm not an Apple user but I know that I think on Apple,
Rachael Botfield:it's fairly easy to leave a review.
Rachael Botfield:You can, you know, you go through the app and you can click on
Rachael Botfield:leave a review and you can leave a five star you know, rating.
Rachael Botfield:But For the other apps, it's not so easy.
Rachael Botfield:There's Podbean app, actually you can leave a comment on the episode there,
Rachael Botfield:but I feel like, I'm not sure, I mean I have used the app a few times, I
Rachael Botfield:find it quite busy to be honest and a bit hard to use, but that is just me,
Rachael Botfield:but that is one way you can leave you know, a comment or review on an episode.
Rachael Botfield:One great thing I think that Spotify has done recently is they have,
Rachael Botfield:again, like same as Podbean is leave a, you can leave a comment on the
Rachael Botfield:episode, which is really great.
Rachael Botfield:Feature because previously you could not leave.
Rachael Botfield:I could not figure out.
Rachael Botfield:I mean, if someone else did, I would absolutely love to know where
Rachael Botfield:you have to review on Spotify.
Rachael Botfield:I know you could follow.
Rachael Botfield:I know you could leave a star rating once you listen to some episodes,
Rachael Botfield:so great, but if Spotify's a main at where your listeners are.
Rachael Botfield:You know, if it's not making it very easy for them to get in touch with
Rachael Botfield:you, to engage with you, you know, this added feature of like, you can ask a
Rachael Botfield:question, you can, it's like a generic one, or you can ask specific questions.
Rachael Botfield:You can create polls, people can leave voice notes for you, which
Rachael Botfield:I think is absolutely brilliant.
Rachael Botfield:So that is so just a little tip there is to, to leave to
Rachael Botfield:make it as easy as possible.
Rachael Botfield:You know, let your listeners know kind of like I am now, you know, this is
Rachael Botfield:where you can get in touch with me or, you know, leave a comment, let
Rachael Botfield:me know your thoughts on the episode.
Rachael Botfield:Have you got any follow up questions, anything like that?
Rachael Botfield:So I think that that's a really great addition to Spotify.
Rachael Botfield:I also use the website Podchaser as review to encourage people to leave me a review.
Rachael Botfield:You can go on there and claim your podcast and then you get kind of a profile
Rachael Botfield:there and then you can share that link.
Rachael Botfield:That is the link that I usually share in my show notes is, is to Podchaser.
Rachael Botfield:So I've had a couple of reviews through there.
Rachael Botfield:And people can rate it.
Rachael Botfield:So you can obviously do that for any other podcast.
Rachael Botfield:So you just go in there and claim your podcast.
Rachael Botfield:And then you can share that link there.
Rachael Botfield:So that's quite a nice one.
Rachael Botfield:You know, an easy way to leave a link to say, just click
Rachael Botfield:here to, to leave a review.
Rachael Botfield:So I really hope that the guests that I had on in season two have.
Rachael Botfield:you know, helped you with your podcast, their advice and tips.
Rachael Botfield:I would really love to know you know, how they've helped you if they have
Rachael Botfield:and how you've been able to implement that in your planning or, or in
Rachael Botfield:your, in your current podcast You can email me or hit me up on LinkedIn.
Rachael Botfield:I would just love to know, you know, love to get some feedback from you guys.
Rachael Botfield:So what else happened for me in 2023?
Rachael Botfield:So I, as I mentioned earlier, I started a community with Sarah McDowell.
Rachael Botfield:It's called the West Midlands podcast group.
Rachael Botfield:We started it because, well, we met.
Rachael Botfield:At an event in the end of December, 2022 and we just kind of nerded
Rachael Botfield:out about podcasts and thought it would be really nice to kind
Rachael Botfield:of have a local podcast group.
Rachael Botfield:So originally Sarah lives in Worcester, I live in Bromsgrove, so we don't
Rachael Botfield:live very far from each other at all.
Rachael Botfield:So originally the idea was nice to have something local of people where you
Rachael Botfield:could go and meet face to face as well.
Rachael Botfield:But I think that we also making it easier.
Rachael Botfield:It is easy to meet up virtually.
Rachael Botfield:We can't always meet up face to face.
Rachael Botfield:. So every four weeks, every second Thursday of the month we meet virtually.
Rachael Botfield:So you don't have to be in the West Midlands to join the club.
Rachael Botfield:You can be from anywhere in the world.
Rachael Botfield:If you like, we have people from Canada and we have people from all over the UK.
Rachael Botfield:So, you know, people can join virtually but we also do local events.
Rachael Botfield:We've, we've held two so far.
Rachael Botfield:We did.
Rachael Botfield:a meetup in Worcester at the Dice Box, which was a game
Rachael Botfield:cafe, which was really fun.
Rachael Botfield:Played some, some new games.
Rachael Botfield:The guys there at the cafe are really good at recommending stuff for you, for
Rachael Botfield:your group, what kind of things you like.
Rachael Botfield:And one of the games, I think it's called Sounds Fishy is one that
Rachael Botfield:I actually bought myself and I've played with my kids and my family
Rachael Botfield:over Christmas and it was so much fun.
Rachael Botfield:So it was really nice.
Rachael Botfield:Just getting out there and meeting.
Rachael Botfield:You know, local podcasters.
Rachael Botfield:And although there was so many different.
Rachael Botfield:Podcasts that people are hosting.
Rachael Botfield:So we have Miriam Cunliffe who hosts MIMS moments where she goes out into her
Rachael Botfield:community and talks to lots of different people about what they're doing, their
Rachael Botfield:business, their, you know, there's, she talks to a guy around Christmas
Rachael Botfield:about his Christmas tree business and they're just really lovely local stories.
Rachael Botfield:And there's another member called Andrew Martin.
Rachael Botfield:He runs the, hosts the Family Histories podcast, which is in,
Rachael Botfield:I think it's just finished its sixth season which is all about You
Rachael Botfield:know, tracing your family history.
Rachael Botfield:So his guests come on and they talk about their love for genealogy and searching at
Rachael Botfield:family histories and how they got into it.
Rachael Botfield:And they talk about their own family tree.
Rachael Botfield:They talk about maybe a particular person in their tree.
Rachael Botfield:And they also talk about a kind of brick wall they've come up against.
Rachael Botfield:And I really, this podcast is so interesting.
Rachael Botfield:If you like history, then I would definitely check out Andrew's podcast.
Rachael Botfield:It's very entertaining at the end.
Rachael Botfield:There's like a time machine thing, which is really, really good.
Rachael Botfield:So also there is a lady called D who is the host of the diary of a kidney
Rachael Botfield:warrior podcast, and she has kidney disease and she has, well, she's
Rachael Botfield:done over a hundred episodes now.
Rachael Botfield:She recorded a live episode for her a hundred episode,
Rachael Botfield:which was really, really cool.
Rachael Botfield:And she talks about all different things related to kidney disease, talks to.
Rachael Botfield:Other kidney warriors that have been through the, been through different
Rachael Botfield:parts of dialysis, different parts of the dealing with a disease and things
Rachael Botfield:like that is so very interesting.
Rachael Botfield:Dee's story is so fascinating as well.
Rachael Botfield:And she, it is really I'm trying to think of the word.
Rachael Botfield:She's just so brave.
Rachael Botfield:All the people that she speaks to are just, you know, have so much to deal with,
Rachael Botfield:but their outlook is so fantastic as well.
Rachael Botfield:But I'm trying to say like all these different podcasts, you know, I may
Rachael Botfield:not have come across these because there are, there are a lot of, as
Rachael Botfield:we all know, there are a lot of podcasts out there and I'm not sure
Rachael Botfield:about you, but I always feel like.
Rachael Botfield:I find it very difficult to search for podcasts within the different apps.
Rachael Botfield:I feel like discoverability is an issue and trying to find certain
Rachael Botfield:podcasts is quite difficult.
Rachael Botfield:But And, you know, I wouldn't possibly necessarily go, you know, go and
Rachael Botfield:search for some of these topics, but they're just, it's so great to
Rachael Botfield:meet so many different podcasters.
Rachael Botfield:We all come together over our love of podcasting and what we're trying to do,
Rachael Botfield:who, you know, people that we're trying to reach and being able to come together
Rachael Botfield:as a community, share tips and advice.
Rachael Botfield:We, we've had some great sessions and we also feature guests guest
Rachael Botfield:speakers for our virtual sessions.
Rachael Botfield:So we've had Nic Redman, who is a voiceover artist and coach, also a
Rachael Botfield:podcast host, but she came in and gave us some like warmup exercises to how
Rachael Botfield:to warm your voice up to feel more confident in going forward and speaking.
Rachael Botfield:We've had Hannah McCormick, my friend, collaborator, client, who's come on
Rachael Botfield:sharing her awesome marketing tips.
Rachael Botfield:She's also featured, been on two or three, three times, I think, on the,
Rachael Botfield:on this podcast as well, sharing her marketing tips, sharing her story about
Rachael Botfield:podcasting, showing up solo podcast, helping solopreneurs with their marketing.
Rachael Botfield:We've had who else?
Rachael Botfield:Oh, Jack Chambers Ward came on and how to be a better podcast host.
Rachael Botfield:That was really interesting.
Rachael Botfield:I took a lot away from that talk.
Rachael Botfield:So if you are looking for a community you know, we would, it's a free community.
Rachael Botfield:We would love you to come along and.
Rachael Botfield:You know, come and meet us.
Rachael Botfield:Even if you're not started your podcast, you started your
Rachael Botfield:podcast, everybody at different stages of podcasting are welcome.
Rachael Botfield:And, you know, come along and meet everybody.
Rachael Botfield:We chat in between the meetups on our Slack channel.
Rachael Botfield:So we can get advice there.
Rachael Botfield:We share tips and advice and different tools and things like that.
Rachael Botfield:So yeah, if you, if you fancy joining or you think you might want to join
Rachael Botfield:in on the fun, then I'll pop a link.
Rachael Botfield:There'll be a link in the show notes where you can join and, and find out all the
Rachael Botfield:details that as I said earlier, you know, this podcast is, is linked to my business.
Rachael Botfield:I'm a podcast manager.
Rachael Botfield:I help support.
Rachael Botfield:Women in business, mainly coaches with their podcasts.
Rachael Botfield:I help them get them started.
Rachael Botfield:I edit them, write show notes, create digital marketing materials
Rachael Botfield:like audiograms, video clips, emails, social media posts.
Rachael Botfield:All those kinds of things.
Rachael Botfield:I help people plan out their podcasts, keep accountable, offer advice around
Rachael Botfield:getting your intro and outro recorded and a trailer for your podcast, promotional
Rachael Botfield:strategies, those kinds of things.
Rachael Botfield:So.
Rachael Botfield:When I created this podcast, I wanted it to support my business and also
Rachael Botfield:offer that tips and advice to other women in business, just like me, who
Rachael Botfield:I know, you know, not everyone can afford to outsource your podcast.
Rachael Botfield:I, you know, I don't outsource my podcast.
Rachael Botfield:I do all of this podcast myself.
Rachael Botfield:I plan it, I record it, I edit it.
Rachael Botfield:I do all the things.
Rachael Botfield:And I wanted to be able to give.
Rachael Botfield:You know, a resource out to people, to women in business that can
Rachael Botfield:help them for free to move on with their podcasts if they wanted.
Rachael Botfield:So, you know, my podcast helps support my business in the way that when I speak to
Rachael Botfield:different women, when I go out networking.
Rachael Botfield:When I, when people get in touch with me about podcasting, I know there's always
Rachael Botfield:something that I can offer them that can help, that can help that doesn't, you
Rachael Botfield:know, that doesn't cost them anything.
Rachael Botfield:So that is you know, one of my biggest aims with this podcast
Rachael Botfield:is just to help basically.
Rachael Botfield:I have had growth with my podcast this year, which I'm really, really proud of.
Rachael Botfield:I.
Rachael Botfield:Originally I mean, I know not a lot of people talk about numbers and that's
Rachael Botfield:one thing that is always, I'm always curious about with different people's
Rachael Botfield:podcasts is, you know, how, you know, just how many listens do you have?
Rachael Botfield:How many downloads can you have?
Rachael Botfield:I mean, you know, I've read lots of different articles about.
Rachael Botfield:What downloads are good?
Rachael Botfield:I've done an episode about, , what does success look like for you?
Rachael Botfield:And, , it is hard not to get caught up in the numbers because, you know,
Rachael Botfield:when, when you're thinking, Oh, only, only two people have listened or
Rachael Botfield:only this many people have listened.
Rachael Botfield:You know, it can be a little bit disheartening and I have felt that too,
Rachael Botfield:but I feel like for me, I mean, obviously it would be totally awesome for my
Rachael Botfield:podcast to go charting and be number one and, and, you know, and have all those
Rachael Botfield:wonderful stats to, to shout about, but for me, if one person tells me that
Rachael Botfield:my podcast has helped me, for me, that makes my day and that for me is success.
Rachael Botfield:I've managed to succeed in helping you.
Rachael Botfield:That is what the aim of my podcast is.
Rachael Botfield:But I definitely have seen growth in my listens.
Rachael Botfield:I, you know, at the end of 2022 with my business, I kind of decided that I really
Rachael Botfield:needed to do more networking, build a community, build, you know, a group.
Rachael Botfield:of people that I speak to and chat with and because I was kind of posting and
Rachael Botfield:ghosting, hiding behind social media in terms of my business and wondering
Rachael Botfield:why, why is no one talking to me because I'm not talking to them, you know?
Rachael Botfield:So I made a real effort and did lots of networking and you know, I'll be
Rachael Botfield:honest, networking is quite tiring.
Rachael Botfield:It is quite tiring being, you know, being sociable all the time, but I
Rachael Botfield:really, really enjoyed myself this last year meeting lots of awesome women who
Rachael Botfield:have all different kinds of businesses, have all different kinds of stories.
Rachael Botfield:And it's just been such an eye opener.
Rachael Botfield:And I think that, well, I did anyway, when I started my business, it was like, Oh,
Rachael Botfield:networking, you have to go and, you know.
Rachael Botfield:speak quote unquote professionally, you have to portray yourself in a
Rachael Botfield:certain way that isn't necessarily you.
Rachael Botfield:And I think that a lot, anyway, a lot of the business owners I've spoken to, you
Rachael Botfield:know, all felt that way about networking.
Rachael Botfield:It's like, Oh, it's super salesy.
Rachael Botfield:It's really icky and all of that.
Rachael Botfield:But I definitely, it's not like that.
Rachael Botfield:And it has changed.
Rachael Botfield:I mean, maybe it's like that in some circles for some professions,
Rachael Botfield:but definitely in the online space and the networking groups I'm
Rachael Botfield:part of, I'm part of the WIBN.
Rachael Botfield:which is awesome.
Rachael Botfield:I've been to some and what's great there is that you're part of a national group.
Rachael Botfield:So you can kind of passport into other groups, which is really, really cool.
Rachael Botfield:I'm also part of the socially shared network.
Rachael Botfield:The Andrea Rainsford introduced me to Karen Heap is.
Rachael Botfield:I think that's her network.
Rachael Botfield:So she she runs the Tamworth group now.
Rachael Botfield:I think that that I've been going to cause that's kind of like
Rachael Botfield:one of the closest ones for me.
Rachael Botfield:And , because I've been going out and speaking to people and people, you know,
Rachael Botfield:now know that I'm a podcast manager, that I'm, I do podcasting and I also have my
Rachael Botfield:own podcast that has definitely helped.
Rachael Botfield:More people listen to my podcast because that is the one thing that I know I
Rachael Botfield:can't direct people to is that, you know, I'd love to start a podcast.
Rachael Botfield:I really would love to start a podcast.
Rachael Botfield:I've got some episodes on that.
Rachael Botfield:Listen to this, this will help you.
Rachael Botfield:So in terms of networking that has directly, you know, impacted
Rachael Botfield:upon the growth of my podcast.
Rachael Botfield:So for example at the point of recording on the 10th of January,
Rachael Botfield:so I have had in the last 28 days, I've had 88 listens, which is up 47%.
Rachael Botfield:This is what my stats are telling me.
Rachael Botfield:In the last 90 days, I've had 320 listens, which is up 181%.
Rachael Botfield:And in the last seven days, I've had 76 listens and that is up 2, 433%.
Rachael Botfield:If that can even be a thing.
Rachael Botfield:And you know, these, these, I was not getting these kinds of stats.
Rachael Botfield:The other year, if you're just looking at just looking at the numbers, especially
Rachael Botfield:since a new episode hasn't been released since the 12th of December, because
Rachael Botfield:I definitely used to notice a drop.
Rachael Botfield:So when I didn't release a new episode, because since I started the podcast,
Rachael Botfield:I've had breaks I've had you know, I've stopped because of, you know,
Rachael Botfield:things going on in my personal life.
Rachael Botfield:And I'm very much for, you know, if you need to take a break, take a break.
Rachael Botfield:Doesn't matter whether you know, quote unquote, mid season or anything like that.
Rachael Botfield:You have to make your podcast work for you and for your business.
Rachael Botfield:Same goes for the rest of your marketing.
Rachael Botfield:You know, we all know that when we are maybe super busy, we have something
Rachael Botfield:going on, in our personal lives.
Rachael Botfield:We don't post as much on social media.
Rachael Botfield:You just physically can't give any more.
Rachael Botfield:And the same goes for your podcast.
Rachael Botfield:I think as long as you know, you just let your audience know whether you've got
Rachael Botfield:them on an email list or, you know, you.
Rachael Botfield:post on social media, you know, I'm taking a little break.
Rachael Botfield:I need this.
Rachael Botfield:It's absolutely fine.
Rachael Botfield:It's, you can just repurpose episodes that you've had out before, which is fine.
Rachael Botfield:And I really feel like those are kind of working for me now for my podcast.
Rachael Botfield:It's so important to repurpose them because you think I have
Rachael Botfield:like 50 odd episodes and.
Rachael Botfield:you know, once it's not once they're out, that's it.
Rachael Botfield:You know, you don't talk about them ever again.
Rachael Botfield:This, all that information is still relevant to your listeners and everything.
Rachael Botfield:So, you know, really repurpose and use the content that you have already created.
Rachael Botfield:That is gold dust for your business.
Rachael Botfield:And that is what I do every other week because my podcast episodes
Rachael Botfield:come out every other week.
Rachael Botfield:And I.
Rachael Botfield:You know, bring up an episode that's relevant for the audience, you know,
Rachael Botfield:for you guys, for people that are in my, my world and, and share that.
Rachael Botfield:So that kind of strategy has been working for me as well.
Rachael Botfield:So one, I guess, piece of advice, if you'd like to take it is, you know, get
Rachael Botfield:out there in your community, find your tribe, as everybody says, and You know,
Rachael Botfield:tell people about your podcast, tell them, tell everybody about your podcast
Rachael Botfield:and how it can help them, how it can help transform them and their business.
Rachael Botfield:So, looking to 2024 I've started planning for season three of this podcast.
Rachael Botfield:It will not be out until March.
Rachael Botfield:I'm planning a eight episode series and part of that will be, well, two episodes
Rachael Botfield:I'm dedicating to your questions.
Rachael Botfield:One of my clients, Hannah McCormick, she did a Q& A episode for her
Rachael Botfield:podcast and it worked really well.
Rachael Botfield:And having that kind of engagement and feedback from you, the listener
Rachael Botfield:is really, really important.
Rachael Botfield:And as I said before, I want to make this podcast as relevant as possible
Rachael Botfield:to you, as helpful as possible to you.
Rachael Botfield:So I would love to hear your burning podcast questions, the challenges
Rachael Botfield:that you're coming up against.
Rachael Botfield:They can be specific.
Rachael Botfield:Totally specific to you.
Rachael Botfield:That is absolutely fine.
Rachael Botfield:I'm going to pop a little link in the show notes in the description.
Rachael Botfield:So you will find it's just a little form and it's just
Rachael Botfield:got Three questions on there.
Rachael Botfield:So it's like, what are your biggest challenges?
Rachael Botfield:Have you got any of the questions and have you started your podcast?
Rachael Botfield:It can be anonymous.
Rachael Botfield:It's not for marketing for me to market to you about it is literally just
Rachael Botfield:for me to get this market research, you know, into, so I can make.
Rachael Botfield:You know, two episodes answering your questions.
Rachael Botfield:You can pop your name on there if you like, and I will give you a shout out.
Rachael Botfield:If I'm using your question in the episode or you can leave that
Rachael Botfield:blank, that's totally up to you.
Rachael Botfield:But I really, really, really would love your feedback on this and I appreciate
Rachael Botfield:everybody's feedback that they will send.
Rachael Botfield:And I appreciate you listening to this podcast.
Rachael Botfield:I, as you know, or what I hope you know, that I'm very passionate about podcasting
Rachael Botfield:and I am passionate about helping other women in business get their podcast
Rachael Botfield:started and managing it along the way, helping them move forward and, you
Rachael Botfield:know, just making it the best it can be.
Rachael Botfield:So with that, I'm going to end the episode there.
Rachael Botfield:so much for listening.
Rachael Botfield:I wish you all the best for 2024.
Rachael Botfield:If you are stuck with your podcast there are a few other ways in which I can help.
Rachael Botfield:You can click on the link to join the West Midlands podcast community,
Rachael Botfield:a free community where you can come and join, speak to other
Rachael Botfield:podcasters, get tips and advice there.
Rachael Botfield:You can book in a 30 minute free podcast consultation where I can give you
Rachael Botfield:personalized advice for your podcast.
Rachael Botfield:So if you have, you know, you want me to answer a specific question or a challenge
Rachael Botfield:or something like that, then please feel free to book in 30 minutes with me.
Rachael Botfield:And as I said earlier, I am a podcast manager and I do have clients where I help
Rachael Botfield:with their podcast editing, uploading.
Rachael Botfield:all the production elements to get your podcast out there.
Rachael Botfield:So if you are interested in outsourcing your podcast or wanting
Rachael Botfield:some support in starting your podcast, then please get in touch.
Rachael Botfield:You can book a call there and we can have a chat about how I can best support you.
Rachael Botfield:Thanks so much for listening.
Rachael Botfield:Take care.
Rachael Botfield:Bye.