Ever wondered how some podcasters seem to have the Midas touch, turning their shows into goldmines? It's no magic – it's strategy.

In this episode of Podjunction, we're peeling back the curtain to reveal the success strategies used by top podcasters like Denis Gianoutsos. Learn how to leverage your podcast for maximum business impact with insights on winning trust and credibility, forging genuine connections with your listeners and creating authentic content.

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For complete show notes, transcript, link to our guest and to join Podjunction Cohort, check out our website: www.podjunction.com.

Welcome to Podjunction, where business meets podcasting.

Whether you're on a morning jog, driving to work, whipping up a meal, or just

taking a moment for yourself, our weekly bite sized episodes promise fresh

insights from successful podcasters who have cracked the code of using

podcasts to grow their business.

So whether you're a podcasting newbie or seasoned podcaster,

grab your notebooks and get ready.

Wow, hello, welcome to Podjunction.

My name is Matt Edmundson and beside me is That's the wonderful, the

amazing, the debonair, the fashion statement, which is Sadaf Beynon.

How are we doing?

We're good.

We're really good.

Thank you, Matt.

In the, uh, in the, in the one that we did pre this,

where we, we kind of messed up.

So we just recorded it again.

We might have said that Sadaf was bossy.

Slightly bossy.

Let me add.

I approved of slightly bossy, not bossy.

Yeah.

Okay.

Not bossy.

Yeah.

There we go, ladies and gentlemen, uh, you heard it here first, uh, and

I think you've just proven my point, um, which is a beautiful thing.

So yeah, welcome to the show.

We talk about how to use podcasting to grow your business.

We're just interested in that as an idea, as a concept, as a strategy.

And so that's what we talk about on the show, as well as

how bossy Sadaf actually is.

Yes, we do.

How are we doing?

We're

good.

Are you sure?

Yes.

Very good.

Thank you.

It's very good.

Uh, yes.

No, it is good here.

Actually, uh, at the time of recording, we are set for a heat wave this weekend.

Did you know this?

Yes,

I, I do know this in theory.

Do you believe it?

No.

Why is that?

Um, I think it'll get, I think it'll stay dry.

I think the sun might come out.

Yeah.

But I don't think it's going to get hot.

Okay.

We'll find out.

It's Liverpool.

It is.

It's England.

It's England.

It's the UK.

Yeah.

Also known as the cold wetlands.

Yes.

Um, so yes, no, it's, uh, it'll be good if we did get that hot weather.

So, uh, wherever you are, hopefully you're going to have

some good weather this weekend.

Uh, what are you going to be doing if the weather is good?

Just out of curiosity.

Um.

That much?

Yeah.

Wow.

Yeah, I'm going to be replacing a roof, so I'm really hoping for good

weather, uh, which would be nice, but um, yes, anyway, we digress.

Shall we get into it?

So we have Dennis Giannoutsis, uh, on the show today.

A man from the land down under, a legend, Dennis, the

Leadership is Changing Podcast.

What are we talking about with Dennis?

We are

talking about the benefits of podcasting.

The benefits

of won't say more than that.

No, no, let Dennis do it.

So the way it's going to work, we are going to play a clip from

Dennis, from our conversation with Dennis, a clip from the interview.

Uh, and then Sadaf and I will be back after this to chat

about it and what it all means.

Uh, so grab your notebooks, grab your pens.

It is Dennis.

What I am curious about is how you've bridged the, um, bridge between

your podcast and your business.

How does your podcast then tie into your business?

What was the thinking behind starting that?

Um, yeah, so I think there was more, I was thinking

about a title and I was thinking about what was going on in the world.

And this is pre pandemic, and so what we were starting to see is that things were

getting faster and faster, and they have been over several years, but leadership is

starting to change in a certain way, and so that topic came up, and the reason I

wanted to interview people and start the podcast was to really get out there, uh,

an understanding for people to help them understand that they might be struggling

in what they do on a daily basis, but you know what, there are other people

as well, but this is what they've done.

To get around it and resolve it.

And so, that was one thing.

The second thing is, I see the podcast really as a really strong way for

me to, A, raise the credibility, B, would be exposure, and then C, would

be helping people understand Dennis.

Get to know, like, and trust him.

Right?

And understand who he is.

And so it's more around the branding side.

I've been up against others for pieces of work and I've won that

work because of the podcast.

Um, so the people have said to me, we, you know, we listen to your

podcast, we understand what you can do.

We love what you're saying and we're sharing, um, you

know, we want to go with you.

So that's, that's really helped as well.

So I think the big thing for me is that it's actually built the

credibility, but also bought business in for me as a result of the podcast.

Yeah, that's really, it's really interesting.

I mean, you talk about, um, credibility, uh, and we've had a few guests talk

about that, um, on the show, you know, you, you write a book or, uh, the

easy thing, the easy, I'd say easy.

Um, to me it was easier to start a podcast and to try and write

a book, if that makes sense.

And so, um, I, I get the credibility aspect, um, of it there.

I love what you say about, it's a great way for people to get

to know Dennis because they.

They do hear your voice a lot, don't they, the listeners, they, and they get

used to your mannerisms and how you talk.

And one of the things that's always intrigued me, and I don't know if

you get messages like this, Dennis, but one of the things that's always

intrigued me from the listeners to the podcast that I'm on is that when

they contact you, it's like they, they know you, they, there's something

about the way they're talking to you.

Like you've met them, you know them, and it's, it's really, really fascinating.

Do you find that?

Yeah, I

do.

I do.

And it's a really good point because I think what we see is that a lot of people

say to me when they meet me, they go, Oh, it's as if I'm listening to your podcast.

Um, and that's when I'm meeting them live, right?

If I'm somewhere.

I did an event prior to Christmas and it was with an organization to help

They, they, that was called a wellness day, but it was more about them going

and having a whole lot of fun for the day as a team, you know, two or three

years in lockdowns and things like that.

But now we're going to go and do this and celebrate the year.

But they got me to come in and talk about the importance of actually

taking a break over the Christmas, New Year period, because over this part

of the world, of course, it's summer holidays and things like that, but

too many of them are still plugged in.

And so when I did, that was great.

But then this guy came up to me.

And he said to me, Dennis, yeah, I I, I thought it was you.

And I'm like, and he introduced himself and he said to me, oh,

I subscribed to your podcast.

I'm a I'm a, I, I follow you.

I'm a, I'm a fan, and, but it's just great to meet you in person.

I was like, wow.

He said, I wasn't sure if it was you.

So I had to go back to the podcast just to check the photo again, and

yeah, , and he says, but it is you.

So I thought it was really quite cool.

And I, and, and the other thing too, Matt, is I get a lot of, uh,

messages from people around the world.

I'm not, not sure if you do too, whereby there are.

I'm out going for a walk right now in Spain, I'm listening to

this episode, loving it, and this is what I'm getting from it.

And it's really great to get those messages, and very encouraging as well.

And Matt, you know, when people send me messages like that, or they say

things to me, and I really enjoy the podcast, I want to ask this other

question, which I do, which is, Great.

What are you enjoying about it or what are you getting out of it?

The reason being is I want to know whether I'm hitting the mark or what

else are they looking for or, you know, what, what, what does it mean for them?

Because I think for me, that's the biggest thing.

If I hearing from people who've come back to me saying, Hey, I heard this episode.

Um, and on the, on the freestyle version I've got, it's called Ask

Dennis, even though it's part of the Leadership is Changing Podcast.

You, you shared this, and this is what I went and did, and

this is what it meant for me.

Um, or I heard you, um, ask that one question with that, that person you

interviewed, and that really helped me understand what I needed to do.

And, um, and this is what I've gone and done with it.

I think if you, if you can understand that kind of stuff from people about

what, what they're actually doing.

doing with what you're, you're sharing or, you know, the interviews they're

having, because everyone has different types of Uh, podcast formats, right,

and what they do, um, I think it's really powerful to understand that.

Yeah, it is.

But there is this, this unknown, unknown is not the right word, this, uh, sort of

extra, extra benefit of doing the podcast.

And that is actually your podcast, if it's good, and your content is

good, will genuinely help people.

Uh, and that's why people get in touch and say, thank you.

And great content helps people, which is obviously what your podcast is doing.

Yeah, and

I think that's whether you write a book, blog, podcast,

whatever it is, and if you're out there that is of quality, that's adding

value to others, that's important.

I think too many people become self conscious rather than being

audience conscious, and I think if they think about the audience and

what they need and help them, that's going to be a lot of value, right?

That's going to actually help a lot.

So I think that's really important.

That's something that's really quite key to think about, um, and I think

that's where a lot of people sort of get tripped up at times as well, and

what they're doing is because they're really thinking about them and what

they want to say, which is important.

Then on the other side, though, is what is the audience actually

wanting or needing as well.

Yeah, that's going to help them.

If you're intrigued and want to dive deeper into this

conversation, check out Plot Junction Cohort where you can listen to the

complete interview and much more.

Simply visit theplotjunction.

com for more information about how to join.

Welcome back.

I'll just bring my microphone up so you can hear me.

That's professionalism right there.

Uh, and you just smacked your microphone.

Wow.

We're a proper professional and you're now coughing down the microphone.

Ladies and gentlemen, I can only apologize.

Uh, apparently we know what we're doing.

Um, ironically, I mean, before we start talking about Dennis, you're

going to listen to this podcast and go, why did you not cut that bit out?

Do you mean that as in, you know, you not being near the microphone, you

smacking the microphone and coughing?

We could do, right, and I appreciate this is not what, like

I say, what Dennis talked about.

We will get to Dennis, but I think this is a good learning point.

We tend to leave it in.

Why do we leave it in?

So that you can get to know us and like us for

our crazy, for our crazy selves.

We're not perfect.

We're not refined.

We're definitely not refined.

That's for sure.

I think you're right.

It's, it's an authenticity thing, isn't it?

And you actually get to see everything.

So we record these podcasts in one take, so when you're watching Dennis Talk,

we're watching Dennis Talk, we're making notes, and we try and record them in one

take, one to keep the amount of editing down, we like to minimise the amount of

editing going on, which is not always that straightforward, but you know, we try and

do that, but two, I think it just adds a lot, and, um, yeah, we've never really

done the very highly polished podcast where we cut out all the errs and the ums

and we do all of that sort of stuff, we, well I say we've never done that, we did.

But then we realized actually, it's probably better not to do that.

So side point there, ladies and gentlemen, that's why we do that.

Oh, yes.

So let's talk about Dennis.

Okay.

Uh, is a, is a great guy, Dennis, isn't he?

And, um, you can, like, uh, Sadaf said, check out his full interview

on the Podjunction Cohort.

Um, just head to thepodjunction.

com and listen to his whole, uh, episode.

Really great interview.

Um.

What did you get out of that, crossing your notes?

I see you've got lots.

Quite a few things.

Yeah.

Um, okay.

Where should I start?

I think, um, what I really liked about it was that, you know, we talk

about the benefits of podcasting.

That's what we do.

Yeah.

Right.

And I think what I really liked about his story that he told about people coming

up to him and the different business opportunities was that he, he pointed out,

he drew out the really tangible returns.

Yeah.

Of having, um, you know, being credible and the brand exposure,

the brand exposure and all that.

Um, I just thought that was, that was a really good point that he, that he

made.

Yeah.

I've wrote down the same thing actually, that, um, he started it to help

people to increase his credibility, um, obviously exposure was one thing

that he said, and then the no like and trust factor of Dennis, wasn't it?

Mm hmm.

Um, and yeah, the.

This idea, I think it was Zig Ziglar that said it, you know, people buy from people

they know, like, and trust, which is one of the great benefits of a podcast is

that people do get to know you, right?

And so, uh, just like you've learned today that Sadaf likes to hit

microphones and is a little bit bossy.

Um, so next time you, you know, if you ever meet her, just

don't have a microphone and just be careful what you say.

So, but you learn that because we're on a podcast chatting, right?

And it's interesting how intimate that is.

Uh, really interesting.

And so I love Dennis, Dennis's story, you know, when he's at the event, it's like,

Oh, you're the Dennis from the podcast.

Um, I've only, I've had it happen to me a few times, uh, Oh, you're

the guy on the podcast thing.

I've only ever had it happen to me once where I was walking down the street and

someone went, you're that guy on YouTube.

I was like, yeah, That was a little bit weird.

Uh, not gonna lie, but if that was you that did that, thank you.

It fed my ego, no end, just like, still

reeling from it.

Yeah.

I'm famous.

Woohoo.

Um, yeah, no, not at all.

One person on the whole planet.

Um, but it, it, it, that exposure obviously increases, but it is that

no like and trust factor, isn't it?

Do you get that when you listen to podcasts?

Do you feel like you know people?

Yes.

Yes, I do.

Cause I think, well, the reason I, I, um, hesitated was because it's

not like that for all of them.

It's the ones that I go back to consistently.

And I think that's probably why, cause I feel like I know

them and I like them and I

trust them.

Yeah.

No, I'm with you.

Uh, you, the, the more you're connected in with it, the

more you get to know somebody.

Like you'll pick up little tidbits just listening to this show about what we

like and don't like, you know, like.

I've got to redo a roof.

I mentioned that at this and it's just little bits like that where you

kind of go, okay, that's interesting.

Um, at least I do in my head.

So yeah, the no like and trust factor I thought was very, very good.

But I thought, um, one of the things that, uh, Dennis talked about,

um, was when he talked about, you know, getting messages from people.

And this I thought was a really important point.

People do reach out, they do get in touch, they do connect with you, don't

they, when you do a podcast, um, and they let you know what they think, they

let you know, um, if they're getting any value out of it, they, um, they let

you know if it's rubbish, but you do get people from around the world, right?

And what he said I thought was really interesting when he

talked about, um, uh, Asking them what they enjoy about the show.

Uh, do we do that?

You know, when people reach out to us on EP?

I don't

know if we do.

I don't think, no, we don't.

Unless, um, unless you're in a conversation with them.

Yeah.

But not so much if it's an email or just,

yeah.

Yeah, I think that's a good learning point from, from Dan.

I think we should start doing that.

I know a lot of people connect with me on LinkedIn and social media just going,

Oh, I'm really enjoying the podcast.

Um, but actually just going back to them.

I just normally go back and say, Oh, I really appreciate it.

Keep listening.

Um, but I think actually I liked his point there of asking them what

they, you know, what they're getting out of it, because it's a sense

check to see whether you're hitting the mark, what you're doing, what's

resonating, because you don't always

know that information.

But question, how, like what are some best practices then to be able to understand

what your listeners like or don't like, what resonates or doesn't resonate?

How do you, how, how do you gather, gather that information?

Like, so for example, we talked about our EP, we're not going out looking

for that information, but what would be some best practices around that?

Do you think?

That's a, that's a, that's an entire episode to there.

We should start asking people that question.

I think for, for me.

Um, people do write in, um, and they, whilst I don't necessarily say

to them, what do you get out of it?

When they write in, they'll say, I really enjoyed this, or that was a, I

thought that was a really great point.

Um, I'm always intrigued out of the guests we have on the show, what

guests write in to tell me that they've connected with that guest.

Yeah.

Does that make sense?

Yep.

So if someone's listening to the show, they're like the person that's

been interviewed and they think, Oh, I'm going to reach out to them.

The listener will message me and say, really enjoyed the show, um, I'm going

to reach out to Dennis or whoever, I was a really interesting guy.

And so, um, that's also an interesting thing because you find

out which guests are engaging.

Yeah.

Um, you can obviously look at your download stats, which,

uh, which is interesting.

I was reading, um, a message from Steve, uh, Canal earlier, I think that's his

name, Steve Canal, the YouTube guy.

Mm hmm.

And he was talking about how, um, when he launches a YouTube video, he watches

the stats for the first few hours and he tracks how many people are viewing the

video versus how many people should be viewing that, what an average is, right?

And if it's below, then they'll change something.

And he was given as an example, he was, and he said, one of the things he changed

for this particular video, which talks about affiliate marketing for YouTube.

He changed on it the title because he thought maybe people just don't enter

this idea of affiliate marketing because it's performing slightly below par.

So he changed the title and then the stats went up.

So there's obviously a lot of information you can get from the data, like what words

in the titles are resonating the most.

So if you look at your most viewed episodes, are there things in those

titles, which make a bit more sense, you know, you can, uh, you can

look at the downloads and then on platforms like YouTube and stuff,

you can see where people drop off.

And where people are engaged and it gives you a little growth.

So they found that interesting that they didn't find interesting.

So there's all those tidbits really.

Um, and I think the, the most obvious one is if your listenership is not growing.

Yes, yes.

That's probably a sign that people are just really bored

now and they've had enough.

So, um, yeah, that would be my obvious ones.

Does that answer your question?

It does.

It's a good question.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

So the last thing that I wanted to come back to, um, This idea

of self consciousness versus audience consciousness, which I

thought was a great phrase, Dennis.

I really enjoyed that.

The reason why I thought it was a great phrase, I was actually talking to a

company this morning about whether they should set up a podcast and a great bunch

of guys and that we were on a zoom call.

That was maybe I want to say 10 people on the call, um, something like that,

10, 11, 12, somewhere around there.

And we're talking about a podcast and you know, whether or not they should

start a podcast for their business.

They've got, you know, there's some questions they need to ask.

But one of the things I asked them, I said, show of hands, 12

people on the call, show of hands, who wants to host the podcast?

And bless um, there was one lady on the call, I won't mention her

name because it's just not fair.

But she was, she was sort of sat like this and I said, hands

up, who wants to do a podcast?

And I've got my hands raised if you're listening to the audio version,

uh, sort of underneath her chin.

And I said, who wants to do the podcast, show of hands, and her

hand slapped the table like that.

That's a definite no.

She said, that was her going, I'm out.

That's it.

I'm out.

And I thought it was really funny.

And out of that room, only one person went, yeah, I'd host it.

And she was really excited about the idea of hosting a podcast.

So we, I said, right, those, Who didn't put their hand up.

In fact, the lady that slammed their hands down, I'm like, why did you do that?

Mm-Hmm, . Um, and what was really fascinating was everybody who said

that they couldn't host the podcast.

Why?

I asked them, when I asked them why it came down to not being

good enough, not understanding it.

Mm-Hmm.

via, um, not being an expert enough.

All of which are very understandable reasons not to start a podcast,

I think, um, but none of them are worthwhile reasons, if that makes sense.

Um, so we, and that's what we talked about, this idea of being,

so they were very self conscious.

It's like, I can't do this.

I'm not, I, I, how do I know?

I'm not an expert.

I don't know the topics well enough.

Um, versus audience conscious and I'm like, if you're doing an interview

style podcast like we do or this co host style podcast with an interview

in it, cause why would we not?

Um, then it's not like we need to know all the answers.

We just need to know how to ask good questions.

Right.

Um, and to do that, we need to be audience conscious as opposed to self conscious.

And I thought this was a really great phrase from Dennis, very apt for a

conversation I had earlier on today.

So, um, yeah, don't let your self conscious self.

Stop you from doing the podcast.

Don't let that be the reason.

Um, if there's, if there are good reasons not to do it, then fine,

don't let that be the reason.

Um, and be very, very audience conscious.

I think that's what makes a good podcast is like always thinking

about who's listening to the show and will this help them?

Yes or no.

Uh, and I think as long as you're delivering that, you should be okay.

Anything else from you?

I think I would just add to that, that the quality of the, the

content or the quality of the, um, the conversation cannot be underestimated.

Yeah.

So when it comes to when you, especially when you're thinking

about the audience, as you're saying it's, it's really important.

Yeah, it is.

And actually who you have on a guest as a guest becomes really important, isn't it?

Yeah.

And, um, choosing guests that will resonate.

Well, with your audience, being very audience conscious when choosing your

guests, um, they have, I have, if I'm totally honest, it's been a few times when

I've chosen guests just because I want to talk to them just because I think, you're

right, uh, just, yeah, there's, we've chosen guests just because I really want

to talk to them and I think that, and the Ben, nine 10, those people have offered

really great value to our audience.

I don't always do that, it's just every now and again, most of the time

we have guests on the show and we think, right, are they going to add

value to our audience, yes or no?

Yeah.

Um, are they audience conscious?

In fact, I mean, we've talked about this on the prequel, you, you basically

tell people no if you don't think they're very audience conscious

and they're very sales conscious.

For

sure.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I like to see that they're able to teach quote unquote.

What they're, what they're talking about, um, rather than just be able to know it.

Yeah.

I, you know what, Sadaf, I often wonder, and I don't know what

the answer would be, like, would I make it onto your, one of your podcast shows?

Do you know what I mean?

If you were like, if we weren't working together and you were

like, can I come on to your show?

And you'd be like, right, we're going to do a prequel.

I don't know if I'd ever make it through.

Yeah, you would for

sure.

Oh, brilliant.

Yeah.

Well, yeah, that's it from Dennis.

What have we got next time?

Next, we've got Adam Pearce and he is going to be talking

about how to use podcasts strategically.

Struggling with the English language though.

Yes.

And establish relationships

with businesses.

Yes.

Adam's a legend.

It is that we do like Adam and so you'll enjoy this one with Adam.

Uh, what's the name of his podcast?

Is it Across The Pond?

Shopify Across The Pond.

Yeah, so I know Adam from the eCommerce world, uh, and he's got a

great podcast and a great accent too.

I really like his little Brummie accent that he's got going on.

Uh, so yes, do check in for our conversation with Adam.

Do make sure you like and subscribe to the show.

To get a hold of that, uh, cause it's going to be a great conversation.

Anything else from you in closing?

Uh, no, I'm good.

Are you sure?

Yeah.

Awesome.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, so much for joining us.

Have a fantastic week wherever you are in the world.

We'll see you next time.

Bye for now.

And that brings us to the end of today's episode at Podjunction,

where business meets podcasting.

If you enjoyed the insights from today and wish to hear the full

conversation with today's special guest, don't forget to visit podjunction.

com.

Visit thepodjunction.

com where you'll find more information about how you can join today.

Whether you listen while on the go or in a quiet moment, thank you for

letting us be a part of your day.

Remember, every episode is a chance to gain insights and to transform

your business with podcasting.

So keep tuning in, keep learning, and until next time.

Happy podcasting.