Whether you're thinking of starting a podcast or already have one, it's really motivating to hear about other podcasters' experiences. Today, I have Nicole Sanders on the show to talk about what led her to start a podcast for teachers and to support her business.

Nicole, a student in my online course community, Podcasting for Educators Prep School, shares her journey from classroom teacher to online course creator and podcaster. We also talk about the importance of talking about your offers inside of your episodes and how beneficial this is to your listeners.

⭐️ Resources Mentioned:

• Follow me on Instagram @podcastingforeducators 

🔗 Connect with Nicole: 

• Check out her website
• Sign up for her professional development courses
• Listen to her podcast, Let's Chat Teaching, on Apple and Spotify
• Follow her on Instagram @appletreeresources

🎤 Recommended Podcasting Resources:

• Hosting: Captivate.fm (Get a free 7-day trial!)
• Transcription: Otter.ai
• Project Management: ClickUp
• Private Podcasting: Hello Audio
• Podcast Playlist Toolkit
• Launch Your Podcast: Free Podcast Launch Guide & Podcasting for Educators Prep School
• Level Up Your Podcast: Podcast Like You Mean It
• Leverage Podcast Guesting: Guesting for Educators Mini-Course

Show Notes: https://podcastingforeducators.com/episode144

Some links mentioned are affiliate links. This helps to support this podcast at no additional cost to you. 

Topics in this episode: tips for podcasters, educational strategies, marketing tips for TPT sellers, online educator tips

Sara Whittaker 0:00

Hey, and welcome back to podcasting for educators. One of my favorite types of episodes to record are the conversations I get to have with fellow podcasters. And listeners of this show. Whether you're thinking of starting a podcast or you already have one, I think it's really motivating to hear about other podcasters experiences. We can all learn from each other. And it's interesting to hear how every podcaster story is unique. Today, I have Nicole Sanders on the show to talk about why she started her podcast let's chat teaching, and how it's fitting into her business Apple Tree Resources. Nikolas, a student in my online course community, the podcasting for educators prep school, so it was really fun to talk to her and hear how things have been going since starting her show back in October. During this conversation, we also ended up talking a lot about the importance of talking about your offers inside of your episodes. And when you hear it, I hope it's an encouragement to you to think about how you could do this in your own show, and how doing so is actually really beneficial for your listeners, Nikolas, from British Columbia, Canada and taught in public education for 10 years before leaving the classroom and creating online professional development courses for teachers in the grades five to eight classrooms. Let's go talk to Nicole. Your Podcast is a powerful tool that serves your audience and your business. But how do you manage it all bring in new listeners and convert those listeners into customers. That's what this show is all about. Welcome to podcasting for educators. I'm Sara Whitaker, classroom teacher turn podcast manager. And I'm here to help you get the most out of your show, all while making an impact on other educators. Hey, Nicole, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so so much for being here.

Nicole Sanders 1:45

Thanks for having me.

Sara Whittaker 1:47

Absolutely. So we're gonna be talking all about your experience with podcasting, which I'm really excited to hear about. But before we jump into the topic of podcasting, tell us a little bit about how you went from a classroom teacher to an online course creator?

Nicole Sanders 2:04

Sara Whittaker 4:15

love it. I love it. I am I'm always amazed at teachers who like really go all in on TPT and they're still in the classroom like it's so much to manage. It's amazing to me, I don't know how people do it for like long periods of time, do both. So I love that you were able to lean into really growing your business and be able to kind of take a step back from being in the classroom. So what kind of course did you start with? Was it like a big course on lots of different topics? Or was it kind of focused on a central topic? It's

Nicole Sanders 4:55

a very focused so for appletree resources the target audiences teachers in the grade five, take classroom. So all the courses are going to be specific for that. And so the first course is called short story writing made easy. And it's the process of having students be able to write their own short stories. And so if when you take the course you're able to, once you take the course and it's complete, you get over 100 resources to make it happen, like on Monday kind of thing. And so that's what I wanted. As a teacher, I wanted to be able to like, let's start on Monday, you know, and so I just wanted to make sure that I was hitting those needs that I felt like I had, yes,

Sara Whittaker 5:33

oh, my gosh, I can relate so much about professional development as a teacher like sitting there and being like, I don't even this is not what I need right now, in this moment, which is, what's so great about courses is it solves a problem immediately, which is so nice. And I love that you say your five to nine, grade five to eight, which I feel like is a really cool niche to be in, because I just don't think there's as many as many resources out there for that grade range.

Nicole Sanders 6:03

Yeah, I agree. And it's interesting, because it's like, on the one hand, it's like there's this gap, but it's also like, there's nothing there. And so it's like, really hard sometimes for teachers to be like, is there anything there? You know, it's my job, to get it in front of teachers and be like, Hey, there, there is something here to help you out. There is something here because if you don't know it exists, because it hasn't existed. I mean, my job right now, helping teachers with resources and online courses did not exist when I became a teacher. So I find that very exciting. But it's also really, really interesting, because teachers in the classroom don't always think to look outside for those people willing to stand in the gap for them and provide them with stuff that's so specific. So it's really exciting. But there's a challenge there as well.

Sara Whittaker 6:46

Yeah, for sure, especially for you as a content creator, because it's like, okay, how do I figure out how to reach the people more aware of these resources? Yeah, the same. I mean, when I was a teacher, I had no idea that like, online courses, or a thing, I didn't know what to look for them. A TPT was a place I would always go I always bought TPT resources. But I didn't know that there was anything beyond that. So is that kind of what led you into starting a podcast? Tell us how you decided to take that next step into starting your own show?

Nicole Sanders 7:22

oh, that's so awesome. I'm so glad that you had a good experience with the prep school. And I remember you posting in the Facebook group, like you were definitely somebody who was taking action right away, which is great to see. And I totally agree with you. I mean, there are so many things in our business that we can outsource. But there's something really powerful in equipping yourself with the knowledge and the skills of how to do these things. And you can always outsource it later. So that you know, is this person doing a good job, and this is how I want things to be done. So you can have that set before you ever hire somebody. And even if you do hire somebody, you never know when you might need to take over again, or, or anything like that, like you want to know what's going on behind the scenes. So I'm 100% with you there. And I love to hear that this isn't something that a lot of people mentioned. So it's really cool to hear you talk about like, the audio quality you wanted from the beginning, you really knew that audio quality was important to you. And it was a reflection on the professionalism of your business. And I couldn't agree more. So when you started learning about like editing and stuff, did it end up being easier than you thought it was going to be? Or was it a tough skill to learn?

It was so much easier than I thought it would be. I had built up how to do podcasting, how to edit podcasting in my head to be this incredibly scary thing. And honestly, when you go and look at some of the other courses that are out there, or if you are listening to people who want to edit your podcast for you, sometimes I think it's built up to be this big scary thing so that you hire it out. And so I really did just think it was going to be this crazy expensive. Honestly, even even doing the podcasting myself, I thought okay, this is going to be not as expensive as hiring it out. But it'll probably still cost me and actually with the with the things that you recommend and the different editing software that you recommend. It's basically free. Other than obviously, you have to buy a professional microphone and you know, that's about it. But like, honestly, like the cost of entry into podcasting is so incredibly low to get a high quality podcast that that really astonished me actually, that was shocking.

Yes. Oh my gosh, yeah. So many people think there's like so much tech behind it so much equipment that you have to buy. And you said it perfectly. It really is low entry. Like you need a mic, you need headphones, you need a computer. And the editing software that I recommend in the prep school is free. So I mean, it's really not very costly to get started. So I'm glad that you've been able to see that and have had a good experience with that. So tell us how how are things going now that you're about four months in you started in October, I started my podcast in the month of October as well. My favorite month of the year. So love it. How are things going so far? Yeah,

I couldn't really well. There's an email that you sent out actually with podcast stats. That was incredibly helpful. Actually, I just printed it out. I'm not gonna lie. Because you know, when you start a podcast, you have no idea like, Yay, I got 100 views like, is that good? Is that terrible? Like and it's like, I know you're not supposed to compare yourself to other people I get that. But it's also a lonely world when you're an entrepreneur in the closet recording podcast and so it's really nice to have so I've also looked at other stats and things like that just to see like getting to podcast number 10 is a big deal in podcasting and that was really encouraging for me because there's nobody there to be like hey your podcasts amazing like no like that's not how it works really are talking in closet Jaret? So I found that really encouraging and And it's going really well, like I batch my podcast episodes. So I record them and edit them. And then I scheduled them out in my podcast platform. I guess it's not who is it? But yeah, so I scheduled them out, I use Kajabi. So in Kajabi, I just scheduled them out as long as I have them. And I do six to eight at a time. And then I have a virtual assistant who does the shownotes for me, and actually, she creates a blog post for it as well. And so, yeah, it that's a really nice kind of system we've built. And so I think I have until end of March scheduled out. So that's how I'm able to do this. And also, I'm learning to do Facebook ads right now. And other things in the business, I just launched into their course. And that's where I have time to create that other course and to launch things and do other things in the business. Because I'm batching these and it's just so possible to do that. With the content calendar, you just just go for it. And your Course tells you how to do that. Very helpful. Yeah.

Yeah. Good. That's awesome. And I love your system that you've got set up, and that you have some help, too, because having having some help, especially with show notes, I find that shownotes are definitely like, people's favorite thing to first hire out when it comes to the podcast, because then you can just kind of be in charge of creating the content recording it, then you can kind of pass it off. So will you do like six to eight recordings in one sitting?

No, I do it in a two week period, I will do six to eight recordings. And then so I'll record, edit, and then schedule and then I write the email that goes with that. And then I do another one and and I send it immediately to my VA. And so by the end of the two weeks, I have eight recorded and scheduled out including the emails, and then my VA is just kind of finishing up the back end of it. And then it's done for the next two months. So then I have like a six week period, five week six week period, where I can focus on other things in the business. Yeah,

like your course creation. So that's a great system. And you i I've I've listened to some of your episodes. They sound amazing. Your sound quality is great. And you keep your episodes like very manageable and not, you know, not super long. So do you feel like that has helped you to do a lot of this batching? By Yeah, keeping the episodes a little bit shorter? Yeah,

I just don't, I think like being precise in what we're saying is being respectful to the audience. And so when I come up with a topic, I just, I don't want filler, I don't want it to be, yeah, I'm just going to filler type person. And so I don't have a lot of anecdotal things. And I and I like listening to episodes of things that are very precise. And so I come up with an idea for an episode, something that resonates with me that I think would resonate with other people. And then I write very brief ideas. And then I just go and I record it as if I'm talking to a teacher colleague, a teacher down down the street, or used to say, but down the hall. And I just keep it that way and not to drag it out if I can help it. And then whatever the timelines, the timelines, so I don't have like a timer going or anything like that. It's just want to feel done. If done. Yes,

I love it. I love it. And so how has how now that you've, you know, you've got a few months under your belt here, how is this podcast fitting into your business.

So right from the beginning was part of the business plan to have that long form content. And so it fits into the business because it's kind of like a funnel. And it's at the top of the funnel, where people, it's the broadest audience that can be reached, and that where people can find appletree resources, which is me, essentially. And there's a lot of really good content and teaching in the podcast itself. And so people, there's just a lot of value there. And so they really wanted to connect with teachers on all the different levels, like on a free level. And then they might enter in on something from my teacher pay teacher's store, which might be like two or $3, American or something like that. And then when they're ready, they might buy an online course. And that's kind of how it works when you have like learning and trusting the people that you're working with. And that's part of my job as an online creator is creating that trust for people to know that there's actual value in in buying these things. Because we were earning these dollars like that counts. That's time that we're putting in. That's not a renewable resource. And so I take that very seriously. And so I understand that people need that free content or long from content of podcasts in order to know if it's a really good fit. On the podcast itself. I do offer freebies or lead magnets depending on what you want to say. And so people are able to get free resources, even though they're already listening to a free resource, but they get another free resource if they want it but that enters them into my email list. And then there are times actually that I have an advertisement. I don't always do this but I actually have a corded many advertisements for the short story course, but also for my interactive notebooks course. And I put them inside or like in the middle of an episode. Not always. But also if it's relevant, I'll talk about it within the episode itself. But it's not like pushing those things. It's just like, this is here. I'm offering this because if you don't know what's there, you don't know it can help. And so yeah, the podcasts works on all of those levels for my business. Yeah,

I love it. And I'm we I agree about the when you do any kind of people call it different things ad commercial, some people say, but yeah, when you put those things into your episodes, I think it's important that we do that, because it's building awareness around the things that you offer as a business owner. And

people need these, like people need your course. Yeah, I didn't know unless you told me you had that course. Right. And it was like, Oh, thank God, she has this course I can go and buy this. And so if I ever get nervous, I think, you know what, no, I needed you to say, hey, I have this course I'm offering. And here it is, if it if it's something that fits for you. And that's all I'm doing too, right? Because it's like, actually, I really need the courses that I create, I really needed it honestly, as a teacher, and it wasn't there. And the job is hard enough. And so they are not teachers do not have energy, just like online course creators do not have energy to go and find these things. It's up to us as business owners to be like, hey, it's here for you if this is a good fit, and if it's not, people won't buy it. And that's okay. But if they don't know it's there, they can't buy it. Oh,

my gosh, so well said it's such a good perspective. Like, why are we putting so much time and effort and money into creating these great resources, if we're not going to share about them, and make people aware of them. And just like you said, like, no harm, no foul, like, if somebody doesn't want to buy it, if it's not a good fit for them, then that's fine. They can just keep listening to your free podcasts that you're putting out, or opting into your freebies that you're creating. And that's fine, like, not everybody's gonna buy from you. But you created these things to help people and to give them a solution to a problem that they have. So you got to talk about it.

That's really hard, though, when you come from, like, when your bosses, the government, and they pay you every every, you know, two weeks, yeah, like, that's a very hard hurdle to get over. But I just think of the things that I've bought, and it's like, I really need this in this course, and this and that, and like, Thank God, someone's talking about it. So it's like, I really try to go through that way of, of sales, because sales can feel so icky, just the name of it. And it's like, actually, it's offers its offers. And the only thing I'm creating are things that I needed or have used. And so we're actually helping ascending in the gap by doing that, but the only way I can do that is if I actually make some money in it so that I don't have to go back and get another job. Right. And so there is this kind of reciprocity in it. And the reality of it too, right?

Yes, definitely. I told this story on a recent podcast episode that I think had already aired. But like when I first started my online business, I had no I just like all of us had no idea what I was doing. And I bought the very first course I ever bought was one that I heard on a podcast because they were talking about it on their podcast, and they had students on who had shared their success with it. And I was so grateful for that. Like, I probably would not be where I am in business today, if I never bought that course. And if I never heard about it on the podcast, so yeah, so important. I think it's something that a lot of podcasters tell me is like, I know, I need to be talking about my offers more on my podcast, but it's something that I really struggle with. And I do think that creating those ads or commercials is a really good way to dip your toes in it, because it's something that you can pre record. And you can kind of insert it into your episodes. And it feels a little bit separate from your episode, and that that might feel a little bit easier for people. But I love what you said you're doing, which is you're creating those but then you're also organically talking about these things in your episode content as well, which I think is super effective. Yeah,

I agree. There's a really big Teachers Pay Teachers podcast that actually shut down, because she said that she wasn't very good at doing the advertising. And she wasn't making enough money on that the business side of teacherspayteachers. So she has a store so she actually shut it down so she could focus on her store more. And she did say because she is uncomfortable with the selling of the courses that she had. And I had listened to her podcast for a year and a half. And I had no idea she had courses. And it was like, Oh, that was a good wake up call for me. Oh my goodness, she couldn't because it's so much like yes, you can batch podcasting, but the reality is, it's also time, right? And so that time needs to count in the business and it does for that know like and trust factor and for that educational piece. And I love that part of it. But we just need to get over that and actually I agree with you completely. I have that separate Add and I put it in and when I'm editing it and I added in, I don't feel I feel nothing about it because it's just a piece of podcast that goes

like it's already done already. I don't have to think about it. Exactly, exactly.

And so that is actually how I started. Now I talk about it more freely, because I'm more comfortable with it. But that's absolutely how I started, I did a separate piece I put in there. And that really helps do like incremental things at a time. But yeah, it was very helpful.

Yeah, definitely. And, you know, if you're listening, and you're like, I don't know, if I'm, if I'm talking about my things enough, send a few episodes to a friend and have them listen to it and get their perspective and their feedback on like, am I talking about my offers? Do you know like, what, what kinds of things are available to you to buy? It's really interesting to get that perspective, like even for myself, I, I just had an episode go live. And I had one of my clients reach out to me and she was like, I couldn't believe that you didn't talk about this thing that you have in that episode, because it was the perfect fit. And I was like, Oh my gosh, you're so right. Like I it just had escaped my mind. I wasn't thinking about it in that way. So it's nice to get other people's perspective and feedback on the actual content of your episodes.

I never want to feel salesy, right, like, it always feels so icky. But it's like, you know what, that's not where the heart is like, I am not a salesy person. And so to fear being salesy is actually kind of false, because it's just not who I am. And that's not what I'm, I don't want to sell products to people who don't want them. Like that's No thanks. So I just, I just You just need to get over that on my own mind hurdle on that. So that's a big one, though. That's a big one for sure. Yeah,

well, it sounds like you're doing a great job with that. And, and even just being aware of it, like when you're planning out your episode content, I think that's a huge piece too. And something that people struggle with is like, when you're planning your episodes, be thinking about, Okay, what resources do I have that this connects with? What courses do I have that this content connects with, so that you can really align your content with the things that you have available for people so that it feels a little bit more seamless, and it feels a little bit more organic when you talk about it, and it doesn't feel like selling. And the

rally as a teacher is like they can create their own resources, right? Like, we've been doing that in Word. When I first started teaching, I use word and it was friggin hard. And, you know, and so sometimes when I talk, I don't very often talk about my apple tree resources on Teachers Pay teacher's resources. But when I do, it's like, sometimes it's like, hey, just go check out the resource to see how it has been created. Because you can create it on your own. We, as teachers know, creating something like that is like 3040 hours, right? Like, if you're gonna create something, or it could just buy it for $3 Like, and it is a choice, like you are like teachers are welcome to spend that time creating their resources, but it's not worth their dollar honestly, like, but if that's the choose to do that, that's sort of spectable choice. And so sometimes it's even just looking at the outline of what it is to see how they want to create it themselves. And that's fine, too. I'm totally fine with teachers doing that. But if they want to save time, then they can buy it, too. There are just so many options within the paid structure, that people can take advantage of it for whatever works for them. And that that feels good on my end, too. Yeah,

I love that. Yeah. You're you're just giving your audience options. And they can they can make that decision for themselves. Don't make that decision for them by not sharing about your things. Let them choose for themselves. Yeah, exactly. Yes. Awesome. Nicole, this has been amazing. I've loved hearing about your journey so far. I mean, I know you're for, you know, about four months in, but I felt like you're already doing so much. And just congratulations on like getting started and having things going so well so far for you. Well, thank

you so much. It was a huge mental hurdle was probably the biggest part actually. And so it's like, I just celebrate, getting those professional photos done. Celebrate starting a podcast is huge. I actually took myself out for a drink. Congratulations, Nicole, is your champagne. It was a big hurdle. And now Now it's like so comfortable to go in and record a podcast and edit it and put it on the scheduler like it's just as part of what I love to do. And it just it becomes comfortable way faster than I thought it would. And that's great because I needed it to and it really did. Yes,

I hear this so much. And like everybody sits on the idea for a year, two years, three years. And then I mean, the only way like it's new, it's a new skill. It's something that's going to feel uncomfortable at first, but the only way it's going to feel more comfortable is to just get started and try it out and it's going to get easier day by day by day by day. No and it's fun. It sounds like you're having fun doing it. I know for me, it's like such a fun piece of my business.

Definitely yes. Especially for teachers because we public speak for a living

Yeah, exactly. We're this is what we do. We can get behind a mic and talk. That's right. Well tell us, Nicole, where people can find your podcasts online where they can find you online if they want to connect after listening today.

So the podcast is called Let's chat teaching. And you can get that anywhere you listen. And otherwise, you can go to apple tree resources.com And the podcasts, their courses are there. All the stuff is there.

Awesome. We will put all of that in the show notes. And Nicole, thank you so much for being here today.

Thanks for having me.

Thanks again to Nicole for joining us in this episode. If you want to start your podcast by this summer, or already have a show but need to tighten up your systems come join us in the podcasting for educators prep school. It's on sale this week through April 7 with code APR 50. You can learn more about everything that's included and join the prep school by clicking the link in the show notes for today's episode. I'll see you here next week. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. To keep this conversation going connect with me on Instagram at podcasting for educators. I'm always looking for an excuse to talk about podcasting. If you're looking for support and launching, managing or growing your podcast, check out my online course the podcasting for educators prep school at podcasting for educators.com/prep school. I'll see you here next time.