In this week's episode, I talk about 5 things I wish I knew before I started podcasting!

I've been podcasting for about 18 months, and it's been a big learning curve!

1. No one cares what you sound like! [1.09]
2. You don't need expensive equipment [1.50]
3. It doesn't matter if there's already a podcast that is about the same subject as you [4.22]
4. You'll get better at talking to guests [6.48]
5. Enjoy making your podcast! [09.37]

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Welcome to podcasting one on one with me your host

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Rachel. This podcast is for female business owners and

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solopreneurs that are looking to start a podcast that add to your

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own already awesome offering. I'll give you helpful advice

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that you can take away and use in your podcasting journey. I

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hope to answer those tricky questions that just keep you

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from starting. Once a month, I'll be joined by other female

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podcasters. They'll share their journey with you and offer tips

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and advice they discovered along the way. Let's get started. Hi,

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and welcome to this week's episode. So I've been podcasting

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for about 18 months now. And I just wanted to share five things

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that I wish I knew more about. And that I didn't know when I

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started. So first one, no one cares what you sound like. Now,

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lots of people have trouble with this. And I worried a lot about

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this. When I first started, I worried that my voice didn't

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sound right, that it didn't sound the same. In my head as it

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did when I listened to the recording, Did I sound

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professional enough? I kind of had it in my head that

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everything had to be perfect. And that's always a problem,

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isn't it perfectionism. So I also felt like I needed to sound

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like a proper quote unquote, broadcaster, you know, like, BBC

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Radio and sound have that kind of quality. I mean, this kind of

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leads into my second point about not needing really expensive

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equipment to start your podcast. And I know it's really important

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for the sound quality to be good. You don't I mean, nobody

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wants to listen to a half an hour podcasts with like to with

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somebody who you can't really hear what they're saying it's a

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it's a background noises, it's a banging. You know, it makes it

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really difficult to hear what you have to say, that's not

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really good. But let's be honest, it doesn't need to be

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perfect before we start. And I've said this before, you don't

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need expensive equipment. I didn't go out and buy loads of

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stuff. I was in the privileged position that my husband is a

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sound engineer, and has been for many years. And he does have

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quite a lot of equipment. So I was lucky enough that he had

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some mics for me to use. I have kind of upgraded them since

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then. I love my Behringer big mic that I'm using now. And I

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think it sounds really good. But what I had to begin with was

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good enough. And doing this simple things like you know,

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making sure you've closed all the windows and making sure you

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know you're in a place where you aren't going to be disturbed.

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And all those kinds of things can make a lot of difference. I

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then tried to move away from what I sounded like. Or if

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you're doing a video podcast as well, what you look like whether

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you turning up full face and makeup, as you can see today,

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not for those of you that are listening on audio. But those of

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you watching on YouTube, I'm not wearing any makeup today, I've

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just got my hoodie on. And I think that it's it doesn't. What

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I'm wearing has no bearing on the knowledge that I want to

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share with everybody today. And that kind of thing can stop you

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from showing up on video in general. So I'm kind of a big

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believer of showing up as you are and as how I am most days

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and this is how I am most days. I just try to focus on how I can

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make my episodes better in terms of their content. Obviously, my

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delivery, I have got easier talking to the microphone and

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talking to the cameras since I've started doing this in the

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last 18 months. But also making sure that my content is

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relevant. And kind of going back to that point of what would my

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audience want to listen to? What problem am I solving for them to

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help them with their transformation with your

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podcast? Not there. You're you listening out there? So the

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third thing was, you know, this big, there are other people that

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have a podcast like mine. So when I first started my virtual

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assistant one I was like, How can I make a virtual assistant

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podcast, a podcast aimed at virtual assistants that's not

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like any other podcasts that I've listened to or when I

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connected with rosemary calendar, who is also a podcast

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manager and a podcast host and I really really love rosemary, and

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I love what she's doing with her podcast, and her business. And

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so when she started her tbz to podcast podcast, I was one

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worried that if I started my own podcast about podcasting that it

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would look like I'm either copying her or, you know, trying

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to do the same thing. And I was really worried I didn't want to

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be that person. But then it kind of, I then kind of got over

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myself in a way that there are plenty of other podcasts out

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there doing similar things to what I'm doing now and what

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Rosen is doing. But the one thing that makes it different is

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the fact that it's you that's doing it, you are showing up as

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you and your vibe and your authenticity appeals to a

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different audience in a specific way to other people's podcasts.

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So, you know, somebody who enjoys my podcast, they just

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might not saying they don't like other people's podcasts, but it

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just makes, you're just being you. And that is what is the

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most important thing to come across in your podcast, you're,

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I'm talking about podcasting, and the way that I would deal

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with it, and everyone else is talking about it in the way that

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they would do it. So my biggest piece of advice here is just to

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be you. I know that's easier said than done, because it is

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hard. Showing up and showing up authentically and having that

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big impostor syndrome, like I mentioned, for thinking about

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your voice, and what do I look like, and am I gonna say

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something has what I got to say important enough for people to

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listen to. But those are things that just try and get over and

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just and just start and start talking and planning and doing

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those kinds of things. And just always keeping your ideal

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listener in mind, so that you're staying on track. So number four

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is being nervous about interviewing guests. The thing I

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would tell myself or tell you is that you get better, you get

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better each time you do it. If you don't practice, you won't

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get better. If you don't start, you won't get better. It is

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nerve racking. And I was quite nervous when I first started

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interviewing guests. But I that was what I wanted to do for my

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podcasts, that is what I decided to do. So I just in the end, you

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just dive in and you just start. And that is the best thing that

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you can do is to just start, you won't get any better. If you

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don't start, there are some things that you could do. If

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you're really nervous about interviewing people, then you

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could rope in your friends, your family, business bestie, do some

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mock interviews, record them and watch them back. And kind of

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have a little bit of a learning exercise from those. I used to

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clear up half an hour before my interviews, I sorted out now,

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before I do an interview just talking getting the right kind

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of a headspace I can have a coffee have a quiet moment, you

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don't want to be rushing around doing work, why up until the

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hill and then you're not prepared, you want to be able to

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just log on a little bit earlier and whatever software you're

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using, or however you're doing it, however you're recording so

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that you can get your mic set up and you're all ready for them to

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arrive. So those kinds of things can help with your nerves. And

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yeah, I still do that kind of, you know, have that half an hour

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downtime. Now. And I think the most important thing is to just

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start because you will get better once you start. And it

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becomes less of a big thing less nervous, the more times you do

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it. I mean, I do get a little bit of a nervous anticipation.

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Sometimes if you're having just one of those days, I've got to

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psych myself up a little bit. But once I get into the swing of

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it, once I've got into talking to my guests, you kind of get

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sucked in not in a bad way into the conversation and you kind of

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forget that you were nervous or forget that you were worried

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about it. Oh, and also I would say, don't treat it like an

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interview, quote unquote. Obviously, if you can't see me

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you're not watching on YouTube, but an interview because that's

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how I kind of thought about it when actually it's more of a

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chance. Something that's a bit more laid back. You're not like

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an investigative journalist. That's, I mean, if that's your

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podcast, and yes, you would have to have those types of interview

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skills that you're, you know, that type of interviewing that

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you're doing. But I would say on a general term, like what I'm

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doing and what I'm seeing a lot of my clients and other people

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out there in the space doing is you're more having a chat with

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somebody with your peers, with someone that's got something to

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offer for your audience. It's not like a big, big interview

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kind of thing. And the last one number five is I kind of knew it

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was a big commitment. And but I possibly didn't realise how much

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until I was really in the thick of it. I mean, for me, I

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absolutely love podcasting. That's kind of what I live in

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breathe at the moment. And I once I kind of caught a bug I

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wanted to carry on podcasting. Because I just love the whole

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process. I love recording the episodes, I love interviewing

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them, I love helping my clients get their awesome podcasts out

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there and increase their business and their audience, I

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really enjoy all of that. But if you don't enjoy it, it can be it

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become, it'll become a chore like anything else that you

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don't like doing. Obviously, if you can afford to, and it's good

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for you and your business, you can outsource some of the things

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which can help with the commitment side of things and

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the time. And you know, because it's not just recording the

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episode and bang, you've got it. Because even if you don't want

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to edit, you want to keep it as warm as possible, you still got

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to upload it, you still want to make the most out of that piece

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of content you've created for your social media, your

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marketing strategy, you don't want to just leave that as one

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podcast, you've got to be able to promote it. Pull out things

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from the episode that are going to be really valuable to your

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audience to let them know, all those kinds of things so that

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there are a lot of moving pieces with the podcast. So one thing I

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think it was Janet Marie that said to me, which I haven't

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thought about before, so I learned a lot from Janet, she

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was such a great conversation. And if you haven't listened to

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the episode, I'd really recommend you go back and listen

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to Janet's episode, I'll link it in the show notes to make it

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easy. But is to do a season or series that can be as many

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episodes as you like, you could even do just a series of four

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episodes, you've got four very specific themes or topics, from

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your business from what you want to talk about. And you can

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really get to know whether you enjoy podcasting, whether you're

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doing guest or solo however you're doing your episodes,

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you'll get like the feel of all the whole process of recording,

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talking to guests, if you have a guest on uploading, the

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promotion side of things, all of that you'll get a good a really

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good idea of how long it's going to take you as well and see

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whether or not this is going to be viable for your business. Can

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I carry this on? Or if I'm going to outsource it? Can I afford to

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outsource it, what is reasonable can hire, outsource some of it,

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all those kind of things. And it will really give you a really

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great idea and into whether or not podcasting is going to be

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great for you and your business. I hope you've got some value out

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of me sharing my learns. If you're in the same position, if

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you're just starting out in your podcasts, and this is how you're

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feeling or you're in the middle of your podcasts. And you're not

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sure whether you want to carry on. I'd love to chat. I'm always

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happy to chat to anybody about their podcasts or their journey.

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And I'll leave a link in the show notes. So you can book

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straight into my calendar and we can get a chat in and just let

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me know. And also if you have any questions also let me know.

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I'd love to hear from you. Great. Well, thanks for

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listening, and I'll catch you next time. Bye. Thanks so much

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for listening. If you've enjoyed today's episode, please like

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share and subscribe. Your support means so much to me. If

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there's a question or topic you'd like covering then I'd

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love to hear from you. Find the podcast on Instagram at Reggie

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Botfield and drop me a DM till next time bye