Unlocking Business Success: Emma Fishlock's Insights on Authentic Podcasting and Niche Strategies

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:08

Hi, and welcome to podcasting one on one with Rachael.

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This podcast is for busy female entrepreneurs who run their own

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businesses and want to start podcasts or who may already have a podcast.

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I want to share practical information and tips on how you can get your podcast

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started and managing it along the way.

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I'll also be interviewing other female podcast hosts to give

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you real insight into what it's like having your own podcast.

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:43

Hi, and welcome to this week's episode.

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Today I have Emma Fishlock with me, who is from the Real World

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Consultancy based in Worcester.

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And we are going to talk about how it's important to find your voice and having

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your authenticity in your podcast.

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And also the importance of linking that with your target audience.

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Obviously they're the most important thing that you.

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Need to be thinking about when you're writing your content for your podcast.

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So welcome emma.

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It's lovely to have you here Do you want to tell us a little bit about

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you and about real world consultancy?

Emma Fishlock: 00:01:19

Absolutely.

Emma Fishlock: 00:01:20

It's really really lovely to be here.

Emma Fishlock: 00:01:21

So thank you for having me on so I set up real world consultancy in

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2018 which now feels like ages ago.

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So we, we, it went really quickly and then it went really

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slowly and then really quickly.

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So we've just turned well at the beginning of the year.

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We turned five.

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So we're a business coaching company.

Emma Fishlock: 00:01:38

We started so when I started the business, it was just me.

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And We went through our own journey of of finding our target audience and

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nation and sort of targeting down to where we are now, really, which is we

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focus on micro and small businesses.

Emma Fishlock: 00:01:51

So we were predominantly with I'd say 80 percent of our our

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clients are in the micro business space of one to 10 employees.

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Quite often they're people that work by themselves.

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They haven't really got a sounding board.

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They're looking to sort of punch above their weight and and stand out.

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But but don't really necessarily have the incentive to make it into the

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next Google or something massive.

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It's more around building the business that you set out to

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achieve in the first place.

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And I'm definitely one of those.

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I'm quite happy to stay in the micro small business field and sit in that area.

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So we champion all things micro and small.

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We've now got a team of there's three of us operationally says myself another

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head coach and a business growth manager.

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And then we've got a team of four associate coaches

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that work with us as well.

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So we've we've just moved our, moved ourselves out to just outside Upton

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Snodsbury, which is really nice.

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So we were in the middle of Worcester, but we're now surrounded by beautiful fields

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and sheep and horses, which is lovely.

Rachael Botfield: 00:02:44

Is that where I came to see you that time?

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Is it, or have you moved again?

Emma Fishlock: 00:02:48

We've just moved.

Emma Fishlock: 00:02:50

You've just moved again?

Emma Fishlock: 00:02:51

Oh, okay.

Emma Fishlock: 00:02:52

We moved into a we moved into a serviced office for a year.

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Just to sort of settle as a, as a team.

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Cause obviously three of us are kind of hybrid in between the office and at home.

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And then the other half all, all all work from home.

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But we found this beautiful sort of barn conversion.

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It's actually called the coach house.

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So surrounded by like.

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Field and sheep and horses and sort of nice stable doors.

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So we moved in to end of last week.

Emma Fishlock: 00:03:17

Oh,

Rachael Botfield: 00:03:18

lovely full disclosure.

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Everyone listening.

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And I live very close to where Emma is based in Worcester.

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And that is how I had some support with coaching with

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the local enterprise program.

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And that's how I came across.

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Emma and real world consultancy because I had one of their lovely

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coaches, Christina Lynch was my coach for 12 weeks and yeah, there is some

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beautiful countryside around Worcester.

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And that's great that you managed to get somewhere.

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A Snodsbury always makes me laugh.

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I know that's very natural of me.

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So yeah, five years.

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So you've managed to now really niche down into looking your ideal

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clients being micro businesses.

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And I love that.

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I love that.

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Because obviously, I think a lot of listeners here will also be the same.

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They're, they're solopreneurs or have very small teams, maybe a

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VA or somebody that helps them in that way, or their accountant.

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And I, I'm just me and I don't have aspirations to go to like, like you

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said, Google level, I don't want, that's not, I, I like myself being a

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small business and I'd like to kind of stay within that small business realm.

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And I think that a lot of listeners as well, are in the

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same, similar position with that.

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And I think adding a podcast to, to that business is a really valuable asset.

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It's what I've done for my business.

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And I know there's quite a few other people that have done it as well.

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And if you're here listening, you obviously really would like to get

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a podcast for your business as well.

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So.

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Like we, like I mentioned earlier, we were going to have a little look

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at kind of talk about like finding your voice and your authenticity for

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your podcast, because I think as with everything, with your marketing in

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your business, you want to be coming across as you, as much as possible.

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Isn't that right, Emma?

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And.

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you know, how to because I love when you look at your brand with the three

Rachael Botfield: 00:05:07

of you with it's is it Esther and Eliza?

Rachael Botfield: 00:05:09

That's

Emma Fishlock: 00:05:09

the, yeah.

Emma Fishlock: 00:05:10

Yeah.

Emma Fishlock: 00:05:11

So, so there's three of us at the core and then we've got

Emma Fishlock: 00:05:13

yeah, the four associate coaches.

Emma Fishlock: 00:05:15

Yeah.

Emma Fishlock: 00:05:15

But yeah, we're the core team.

Emma Fishlock: 00:05:18

But

Rachael Botfield: 00:05:18

I, I guess when I see your branding and I get your busy,

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you're very friendly and approachable and you always giving across.

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I don't feel like there's any in- authenticity there

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when I look at your brand.

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What, what would you recommend or to start with, with somebody say

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they're thinking about starting a podcast for their business.

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Where's the best place to start with just getting to grips with

Rachael Botfield: 00:05:40

all that side of things with themselves, especially if they're

Rachael Botfield: 00:05:43

new to that kind of business world.

Emma Fishlock: 00:05:45

Absolutely.

Emma Fishlock: 00:05:46

Firstly, thank you.

Emma Fishlock: 00:05:47

That's a real, I think that's a real compliment.

Emma Fishlock: 00:05:49

When I set up the business, I set it up as real world consultancy because one of

Emma Fishlock: 00:05:53

the things that was important to me was.

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The whole, it was being real, being authentic being real in terms of

Emma Fishlock: 00:05:59

realistic in terms of what, what expectations are and stuff like that.

Emma Fishlock: 00:06:03

And when I started the business if I would probably, I don't think I even

Emma Fishlock: 00:06:07

want to do this exercise, but if I went back now and looked at the stuff that

Emma Fishlock: 00:06:09

I was doing for maybe the first year, I would absolutely cringe because.

Emma Fishlock: 00:06:14

It, it wouldn't sound at all like we do now.

Emma Fishlock: 00:06:17

Not many people would start a business or start a podcast

Emma Fishlock: 00:06:20

as soon as they leave school.

Emma Fishlock: 00:06:21

We've all gone into different jobs.

Emma Fishlock: 00:06:22

We've all had different careers.

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We've all had something that's got us to the point where we are now.

Emma Fishlock: 00:06:27

And sometimes it's hard to shake that.

Emma Fishlock: 00:06:28

I came from a very corporate background.

Emma Fishlock: 00:06:30

And I, I absolutely just laugh my head off when I, when I think

Emma Fishlock: 00:06:33

about how I was still trying to be.

Emma Fishlock: 00:06:36

When I started the business, because you feel like you you put on this

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professional facade of this is what a business owner looks like.

Emma Fishlock: 00:06:43

This is what a very sensible senior leader looks like.

Emma Fishlock: 00:06:46

And sometimes it's very hard to shake that off and just go, actually I'm going to be

Emma Fishlock: 00:06:50

completely authentic, which means that I'm going to really resonate with some people.

Emma Fishlock: 00:06:55

But it was also being brave enough to resonate.

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with a lot of other people.

Emma Fishlock: 00:07:01

And so I think don't expect that authenticity to come overnight, unless

Emma Fishlock: 00:07:07

you're really already clear on who you are, what your personal drivers are,

Emma Fishlock: 00:07:12

what you love talking about, why you love the business or the podcast or the, or

Emma Fishlock: 00:07:16

the if you're writing a book or anything like that, why you've done that and why

Emma Fishlock: 00:07:20

you've been sort of Why your brain's gone, that's the thing that I need to do.

Emma Fishlock: 00:07:25

It takes a while to find that authentic voice, I think, and it's been brave enough

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to realize that in doing that, you will potentially not be everyone's cup of tea,

Emma Fishlock: 00:07:35

but actually, that is a brilliant thing.

Emma Fishlock: 00:07:37

And it's something that we work with people a lot on business coaching is you

Emma Fishlock: 00:07:40

don't want to be everyone's cup of tea.

Emma Fishlock: 00:07:41

No one wants to be the person that.

Emma Fishlock: 00:07:43

Does a little bit of everything.

Emma Fishlock: 00:07:44

You want to be the go to person in a set area.

Emma Fishlock: 00:07:47

But in order to establish that and find your voice in that area, you

Emma Fishlock: 00:07:50

have to fight, you have to know that that's what you want and you have to

Emma Fishlock: 00:07:54

recognize it and you have to identify what that looks like so that you can

Emma Fishlock: 00:07:58

be authentic, you can stick to it.

Emma Fishlock: 00:08:00

And also making brave decisions as well around the type of work that you

Emma Fishlock: 00:08:03

take on or the type of if you're doing podcasting and then you're asked to

Emma Fishlock: 00:08:07

talk on lots of other things, maybe the type of gigs you take on, making

Emma Fishlock: 00:08:10

sure that you're you're staying in line with that authentic voice, but

Emma Fishlock: 00:08:14

also staying in line with your personal values and everything that you've set

Emma Fishlock: 00:08:18

up around what you're trying to achieve.

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:22

I definitely, yeah, it does.

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:24

I completely agree with that.

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:25

I mean, I'm just over two years in now and.

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:30

I, to start with, I, I didn't know, I also, I didn't niche down

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into podcasting straight away.

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:35

I was a virtual assistant and so I did some different types of things there.

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:39

And even now, I, I don't, I think especially with my

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:45

podcast, things are evolving.

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:48

And they, you know, it does take time and, and it is okay for you to evolve.

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:53

Like I remember and when we, when we go on to think about the target audience,

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:57

like your ideal client, those things can change as your business and, and

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or podcast evolves and you're right.

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:04

You do.

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:05

Cause say, for example, when I first started, I never really posted on LinkedIn

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and then I was really worried about it.

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:09

I was worried what people were going to.

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Say what, if I wrote something wrong and that kind of whole

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:15

imposter syndrome thing.

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:17

I think that can be quite at odds with what you're trying

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:20

to find your authenticity.

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:22

And then as that time goes on and you just give it a try, you

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:25

then find out things you do like.

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:27

And more importantly.

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:29

what you don't like.

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:30

And also like when you talk about, you know, you will not appeal to everybody,

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:34

but you don't want to appeal to everybody because the same with marketing, isn't it?

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:37

When it's you market to everybody, you market to nobody because you

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:41

can't, it's impossible for you to have something that is for everybody.

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:45

You've got to have that, but it does, like I say, I think agree with you.

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:49

It takes time and you shouldn't beat yourself up if you feel like you

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:53

have, you're not quite there because.

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:55

As your business, like if your business grows a little bit more

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:57

as well, you'll take on new people.

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:58

It might shift slightly.

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:00

So it's just kind of making, I don't know, kind of like look back at certain things.

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:07

I try to look back a little bit and think about where I've come

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:10

and what things and like evaluate.

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:12

Just like.

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:16

every so often every couple of months and to kind of help refocus

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:20

and think about those things.

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:21

Is that something that you, that you think about as well,

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:24

kind of on an ongoing basis?

Emma Fishlock: 00:10:27

Yeah, so we always use for us and clients, we always use three

Emma Fishlock: 00:10:30

months as a planning sort of window anyway, because when you look at.

Emma Fishlock: 00:10:34

Stuff that's so far from the distance.

Emma Fishlock: 00:10:36

It's just so overwhelming because it feels like a massive mountain.

Emma Fishlock: 00:10:38

So we always chunk everything down into into sort of three month goals

Emma Fishlock: 00:10:42

and then two, two week focuses.

Emma Fishlock: 00:10:44

And every time we look at our three months, it is about what went well.

Emma Fishlock: 00:10:49

What did we do?

Emma Fishlock: 00:10:50

What's like, we've got a victory board in the office.

Emma Fishlock: 00:10:52

And that could be like tiny stuff up to massive stuff.

Emma Fishlock: 00:10:55

It doesn't have to be like.

Emma Fishlock: 00:10:57

I've won this award or I've done it.

Emma Fishlock: 00:10:59

It could be, we finally did that page on the website.

Emma Fishlock: 00:11:02

We've been trying to do for three years and it's been at

Emma Fishlock: 00:11:04

the bottom of the to do list.

Emma Fishlock: 00:11:05

It's, we look back and try and recognize as a team, what are all the

Emma Fishlock: 00:11:08

things that actually we've learned this in this three months and all

Emma Fishlock: 00:11:13

the things that you've achieved.

Emma Fishlock: 00:11:14

And quite often the stuff that's gone completely wrong or hasn't hit the mark.

Emma Fishlock: 00:11:17

And you've learned from is the stuff that you then actually are your biggest

Emma Fishlock: 00:11:21

achievements because they're what that's what helps you get to the next thing.

Emma Fishlock: 00:11:24

And if I look back at the business now five years ago.

Emma Fishlock: 00:11:27

I mean, it doesn't even slightly resemble where where we are now.

Emma Fishlock: 00:11:32

But that's, that's a real positive thing.

Emma Fishlock: 00:11:34

And, and that is for, for anyone looking back.

Emma Fishlock: 00:11:36

I, I imagine that most people that have done a podcast will look back on

Emma Fishlock: 00:11:40

their first episode and like me looking at the content that I put out will

Emma Fishlock: 00:11:43

absolutely cringe and think, oh my God, what was I doing that was terrible?

Emma Fishlock: 00:11:46

I ed there, I did this and I, but you'll do the same looking back in

Emma Fishlock: 00:11:50

five years to what you're doing right now, because it actually mm-hmm.

Emma Fishlock: 00:11:53

, that's all about.

Emma Fishlock: 00:11:54

Evolution and learning and developing and the more you identify stuff to

Emma Fishlock: 00:11:58

learn, the better and better you'll get and no one starts perfect.

Emma Fishlock: 00:12:01

No one ends perfect.

Emma Fishlock: 00:12:02

So it's just about learning as learning as you go.

Emma Fishlock: 00:12:05

Really?

Emma Fishlock: 00:12:06

And yes, we absolutely.

Emma Fishlock: 00:12:08

For us and our clients are constantly trying to look at, we don't, we

Emma Fishlock: 00:12:12

try not to recognize failure.

Emma Fishlock: 00:12:14

It's not such stuff isn't failure.

Emma Fishlock: 00:12:16

We just rephrase it as it's an iteration of success.

Emma Fishlock: 00:12:19

So it's the first iteration in, in, in something else.

Emma Fishlock: 00:12:22

If, if I wrote a book and it was.

Emma Fishlock: 00:12:25

completely flopped.

Emma Fishlock: 00:12:26

That's not a failure.

Emma Fishlock: 00:12:27

It's a learning that I can take away and look at.

Emma Fishlock: 00:12:29

Why did it flop?

Emma Fishlock: 00:12:30

Who was I writing it for?

Emma Fishlock: 00:12:31

Was I writing it for the right reasons?

Emma Fishlock: 00:12:33

Did I not market it properly?

Emma Fishlock: 00:12:35

Did I like, did I put it through the wrong channels?

Emma Fishlock: 00:12:37

It's, it's the first iteration of the next thing that might then also not be.

Emma Fishlock: 00:12:42

Exactly as I want it, but by the fifth or sixth time, I might have got to the

Emma Fishlock: 00:12:46

place I wanted to be in the first place.

Emma Fishlock: 00:12:48

Yeah,

Rachael Botfield: 00:12:49

I love that.

Rachael Botfield: 00:12:50

I do.

Rachael Botfield: 00:12:51

I very much agree with that statement about not calling it failing.

Rachael Botfield: 00:12:54

And I think that there is this kind of thing as well in, in some, some

Rachael Botfield: 00:12:59

people in the online space where you know, everybody thinks everybody else

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:03

is getting it first time, you know.

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:05

Release the podcast.

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:06

It's charted.

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:07

I've, I've done my marketing.

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:08

I've got all these new thing and it's just simply not the case.

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:12

It's, it's very vulnerable to talk about those kinds of things on, on

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:15

social media, because you feel like it might affect you or your business.

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:19

But I do really think that that you're trying and you're being, you know.

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:26

Your, you won't know if you can do it unless you have already done it.

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:29

And that applies to anything within your business, whether that's a

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:32

podcast or you're doing a new launch or, you know, like say writing a book,

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:37

unless you try, I mean, I, myself, I'm planning something and I've.

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:41

Procrastinating around it and being worrying about it.

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:44

I've never done it before.

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:45

Am I doing it right?

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:46

And I just thought you're just getting yourself caught up here.

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:47

Unless I do, I'm never going to know or that I can actually get it sorted

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:51

because I haven't tried it yet.

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:53

So I do, I do think that's a great sentiment to go forward with

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:57

your business and the projects that you've got planned for it.

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:00

So we've talked a little bit about helping to try and find your authenticity

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:04

for your podcast and for your business as well, because obviously they're all

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:07

going to everything's linking up with your, your business and your marketing.

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:11

So one thing also that's really important is like identifying your target audience.

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:16

For, for your podcast.

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:18

So I was at the podcast show a couple of months ago and I attended

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:21

a talk and they were looking at different analytics they've analyzed

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:25

in some different podcasts and kind of one of the biggest things was

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:29

relevant, is this podcast relevant?

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:32

To me and we, but before we chatted, before we hit record, we talked

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:36

about that Venn diagram, didn't we?

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:38

That sweet spot between what you actually want to do for your podcast

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:42

and what your audience actually wants and needs to hear from you.

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:48

And so it's kind of hitting that bit in the middle.

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:50

What's your kind, have you got any advice or tips around, you know,

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:53

helping identify that for your business or for your, for your podcast?

Emma Fishlock: 00:14:58

Absolutely, because I think if you look at the reasons why

Emma Fishlock: 00:15:01

people start a podcast, you've got people that start a podcast because

Emma Fishlock: 00:15:04

maybe it's a it's a hobby or something that they enjoy doing that they can then

Emma Fishlock: 00:15:09

reach out to others on the same topic.

Emma Fishlock: 00:15:11

But also you have a lot of businesses now using it as a tool to get their,

Emma Fishlock: 00:15:15

their voice and opinions heard to use it as a marketing tool.

Emma Fishlock: 00:15:19

I mean, there's, there's like a million and one coaches.

Emma Fishlock: 00:15:21

There's like a million and one business coaches that are in the same space as us.

Emma Fishlock: 00:15:25

So if I was to launch a podcast and not think about my target audience more

Emma Fishlock: 00:15:30

than it's small and micro businesses, I would be nuts because why would someone

Emma Fishlock: 00:15:35

listen to me rather than those other 1, 001 or however many I said coaches

Emma Fishlock: 00:15:39

that are out there doing the same thing.

Emma Fishlock: 00:15:41

If you have to refine it right down.

Emma Fishlock: 00:15:44

So that you understand who you're talking to, why they would listen

Emma Fishlock: 00:15:48

and why they would listen to you rather than someone else.

Emma Fishlock: 00:15:51

So it's exactly the same as when you're defining your business.

Emma Fishlock: 00:15:53

You want to know exactly what your USP is.

Emma Fishlock: 00:15:56

You want to know what makes me unique.

Emma Fishlock: 00:15:57

What, why would people pick me rather than somebody else?

Emma Fishlock: 00:16:00

And that's exactly the same when you're looking at a podcast.

Emma Fishlock: 00:16:03

It's why would someone want to listen to me rather than someone else?

Emma Fishlock: 00:16:06

And that's not in a negative way.

Emma Fishlock: 00:16:09

Digging deep to work out what, what is it about what I've got to say that

Emma Fishlock: 00:16:13

is relevant, that is engaging, that is interesting, that is informative.

Emma Fishlock: 00:16:18

What is it that you're trying to do for who?

Emma Fishlock: 00:16:21

So for, and, and think about it's not just, so we wouldn't say it's

Emma Fishlock: 00:16:25

just for micro and small businesses.

Emma Fishlock: 00:16:27

We would then be digging into is micro and small businesses that

Emma Fishlock: 00:16:30

potentially feel like they're isolated.

Emma Fishlock: 00:16:33

They feel isolated and they like to use humor.

Emma Fishlock: 00:16:35

And you might then, so have a podcast which is aimed at micro and small business

Emma Fishlock: 00:16:39

owners that are feeling lonely, but want something upbeat and uplifting.

Emma Fishlock: 00:16:43

It's not about necessarily knowledge, it's about maybe the comedic side

Emma Fishlock: 00:16:47

of of, of business ownership.

Emma Fishlock: 00:16:49

So you need to drill down even further into your audience and pick

Emma Fishlock: 00:16:54

that persona that you're talking to.

Emma Fishlock: 00:16:56

Mm-hmm.

Emma Fishlock: 00:16:56

. And for me it's that sweet spot between.

Emma Fishlock: 00:16:59

You need to work out, what could you sit and talk about all day?

Emma Fishlock: 00:17:02

What do you love talking about?

Emma Fishlock: 00:17:03

What absolutely is your like passion topic?

Emma Fishlock: 00:17:08

And then what do people want to listen to?

Emma Fishlock: 00:17:10

Cause if you've got a passion topic and you can talk about it all day and

Emma Fishlock: 00:17:13

it's really interesting, but no one wants to hear it, then it's great.

Emma Fishlock: 00:17:16

What a lovely hobby,

Rachael Botfield: 00:17:18

but it's not going to work for your business at all.

Emma Fishlock: 00:17:21

And it's, and it's still maybe a brilliant pastime and something

Emma Fishlock: 00:17:24

to do, but if you're looking at it from a.

Emma Fishlock: 00:17:26

Business delivery, a marketing tool, you need to think, right, what is something

Emma Fishlock: 00:17:31

that I'm so passionate about that I love talking about that I can talk about until

Emma Fishlock: 00:17:35

the cows come home that I want to shout from the rooftops, combine that with what

Emma Fishlock: 00:17:40

do people want to hear, put it together.

Emma Fishlock: 00:17:42

That's where that Venn diagram comes in.

Emma Fishlock: 00:17:44

There's that sweet spot in the middle of what have I got to say that people

Emma Fishlock: 00:17:47

want to hear and they want to hear it in the way that I have to say it.

Emma Fishlock: 00:17:50

And they want to hear it from me rather than other people, because And if you

Emma Fishlock: 00:17:54

can find that, that specific area, you can then focus in because otherwise

Emma Fishlock: 00:18:00

you've got no, you need to have your audience in mind when you're talking,

Emma Fishlock: 00:18:03

you need to be focusing on that.

Emma Fishlock: 00:18:05

And if you're not clear on what you're trying to achieve with it, who you're

Emma Fishlock: 00:18:07

trying to talk to, how you're trying to talk to them, how you want them to feel

Emma Fishlock: 00:18:10

when they've when, when they've signed off and why they should listen to you, your

Emma Fishlock: 00:18:15

strategy is going to be a bit disjointed and then that's just going to lead to.

Emma Fishlock: 00:18:20

a fun outlet, but not necessarily the tool that you wanted it

Emma Fishlock: 00:18:23

to be in the first place.

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:25

Yeah, it won't make it as effective as you would like it to be.

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:29

And I mean, and there's no one to say that you're going to get this right first time.

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:33

My podcast has changed over the year that I, over the.

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:38

I've started it last March, this podcasting 101, this one I did have a

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:42

previous podcast, but that was more, was to do with virtual assistants.

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:46

And then I felt I wanted to do something more in line with what I was doing.

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:49

So there I evolved that podcast and thought, right, this is what I

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:51

want to move over to do something.

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:53

And I think that as we said before, with finding your voice and authenticity, they

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:58

will kind of all flow and link together.

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:01

But if you are starting out, it does feel sometimes like.

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:05

that's not going to happen.

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:06

But you just need to kind of my biggest advice would just be

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:09

like, just to keep on trying.

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:11

And once you start, like, if even if you think you, it's, you're not ready to

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:18

publish, you find that and you can use things like you know, different statistic

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:24

tools to, to work out like which of your episodes have worked really well and

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:29

you can go from there and which ones haven't, and then you can kind of start.

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:33

In that way as well to help move you forward with, you know, trying to

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:37

drill down and to see what really works with your audience for your podcast.

Emma Fishlock: 00:19:42

I think the great thing about that as well is,

Emma Fishlock: 00:19:44

so we've, we, we have, I've, I've done a couple of podcasts.

Emma Fishlock: 00:19:46

I've been on a couple and then done a couple of joint podcasts before.

Emma Fishlock: 00:19:50

And we've pushed them out there and it, and I wouldn't say

Emma Fishlock: 00:19:53

that our audience was clear.

Emma Fishlock: 00:19:54

I wouldn't say that our marketing would be very clear.

Emma Fishlock: 00:19:56

And so no one's actually listened to them.

Emma Fishlock: 00:19:57

So what's the worst that can happen?

Emma Fishlock: 00:19:59

Yeah, exactly.

Emma Fishlock: 00:20:00

Yeah.

Emma Fishlock: 00:20:00

Yeah, a couple of years ago, we dabbled in it and then when actually, because

Emma Fishlock: 00:20:04

it takes so much time, doesn't it?

Emma Fishlock: 00:20:06

It's a big investment and it's something next year.

Emma Fishlock: 00:20:08

Sort of me talking earlier about the the different components.

Emma Fishlock: 00:20:11

That's actually where we plan to sort of eventually land.

Emma Fishlock: 00:20:14

With the podcast is in my head, I want the Bridget Jones of small business

Emma Fishlock: 00:20:20

ownership podcast, but you have to have the time to commit to it and do it

Emma Fishlock: 00:20:25

properly because it is actually like we've dabbled in it before and it is a huge.

Emma Fishlock: 00:20:29

Huge time commitment and it's like setting up a whole new arm of the business.

Emma Fishlock: 00:20:33

So it is, it's a big commitment, isn't it?

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:36

Yeah, it is.

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:37

I think because there's a lot, there's a lot in the planning as

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:39

well to ensuring that the content like we've just talked about is in,

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:43

you know, aimed at the right people.

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:46

But then, then you just record the episodes, but then you do, then you've

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:49

got all the production elements.

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:51

From that to go in, you've got to try and fit this extra piece of work

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:54

into your schedule with your, with you workload and with what you're

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:58

already doing for your clients as well.

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:59

So those type of things as well, it does need to be thought about

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:04

carefully as to whether or not you can fit it in your business.

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:07

I mean, if you're the type of person that just wants to start a podcast

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:10

for your business, you just start one, that's okay too, but they, but.

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:15

I think when you start thinking about it a little bit more strategically

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:18

and working out the benefits of that podcast specifically for your business,

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:23

then it does take a little bit more thought into making sure that these

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:26

things like relevance and, you know, production value and things like that,

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:30

you're doing them the best that you can.

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:32

Yeah.

Emma Fishlock: 00:21:33

And I think the only danger with, with the, cause one of my

Emma Fishlock: 00:21:36

biggest things is like, just, just do it.

Emma Fishlock: 00:21:38

You just do it and you see, but it's just then sometimes being realistic with.

Emma Fishlock: 00:21:42

The engagement levels and if you and the same with people start a business and

Emma Fishlock: 00:21:46

they'll check stuff out and be like, ta da, my website's live, where are my sales?

Emma Fishlock: 00:21:50

And it's being realistic with the fact that actually just because you've

Emma Fishlock: 00:21:52

done something and chucked it out there doesn't mean that people are

Emma Fishlock: 00:21:55

going to come flooding and listen to it or buy it or engage with it.

Emma Fishlock: 00:21:59

So it's being realistic about if you start something and you chuck it out there and

Emma Fishlock: 00:22:02

you get no engagement, that's not because.

Emma Fishlock: 00:22:05

You should give up and it's not the right thing to do.

Emma Fishlock: 00:22:07

It means that you probably haven't narrowed it down enough yet or you

Emma Fishlock: 00:22:10

haven't marked it in the right way or you haven't found your voice.

Emma Fishlock: 00:22:12

So that's not a reason to stop doing it.

Emma Fishlock: 00:22:15

It's just a reason to continually try and refine what you're doing

Emma Fishlock: 00:22:18

until like you say, look at the statistics and go, Interesting.

Emma Fishlock: 00:22:22

That one got more engagement.

Emma Fishlock: 00:22:23

I wonder why it did.

Emma Fishlock: 00:22:24

Oh, look, it's because I actually marked it better.

Emma Fishlock: 00:22:26

Maybe it's not.

Emma Fishlock: 00:22:27

The content, it's just how I'm talking about it.

Emma Fishlock: 00:22:29

And all that one got more engagement because I had a guest speaker.

Emma Fishlock: 00:22:31

So maybe people like having guests on there.

Emma Fishlock: 00:22:33

You can start to use that, but you can't use that data and you can't learn.

Emma Fishlock: 00:22:37

If you don't have it.

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:38

Yeah, exactly.

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:39

Yeah, that is, that's, that's a great piece of advice.

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:42

I think that's the the best thing to do is start and then you can use that data.

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:46

Going forward for your business.

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:48

Thanks so much for coming and chatting with me today.

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:50

I'd just like to leave have you got, like, a top piece of advice?

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:54

You've offered lots of advice throughout the episode.

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:56

Have you got a top piece of advice that you'd like to leave the listeners with?

Emma Fishlock: 00:23:00

I'd say, having a think about the things that we've spoken

Emma Fishlock: 00:23:03

about today, I think it's just be brave.

Emma Fishlock: 00:23:07

Don't worry about, like, stop using the word failure and think

Emma Fishlock: 00:23:11

of it as iterations of success.

Emma Fishlock: 00:23:13

And find that sweet spot.

Emma Fishlock: 00:23:15

If you can find your sweet spot of what you want to talk about and what you're

Emma Fishlock: 00:23:18

unashamedly passionate about, and the stuff that people are interested in

Emma Fishlock: 00:23:22

and you're brave about how you approach that, and you expect that it won't

Emma Fishlock: 00:23:26

just be perfect straight away, so you have realistic expectations, you

Emma Fishlock: 00:23:30

set yourself up for a really strong and like quite a strategic start to

Emma Fishlock: 00:23:36

your podcast, and then from there you can iterate and learn and use the

Emma Fishlock: 00:23:39

data and refine but just keep going.

Emma Fishlock: 00:23:42

Keep going with it.

Emma Fishlock: 00:23:44

That's

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:44

great.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:45

Do you want to let everybody know where they can find you?

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:48

And also I know that you have something exciting coming up that

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:50

you'd like to talk about as well.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:52

Yeah,

Emma Fishlock: 00:23:52

sure.

Emma Fishlock: 00:23:52

So you can find us at www.

Emma Fishlock: 00:23:55

realworldconsultancy.

Emma Fishlock: 00:23:56

org.

Emma Fishlock: 00:23:56

There's links on there to have a cuppa and a catch up, but

Emma Fishlock: 00:23:58

all about cuppa and catch ups.

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:00

It's kind of become our thing.

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:01

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:02

Love that.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:04

Oh yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:05

The cake is always very good when I've been to see

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:07

you.

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:08

So we've got so yeah, we're, we're.

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:10

We've got a few things going on at the moment.

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:12

We've we're delivering all the funded coaching again for

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:14

Worcestershire, which is very exciting.

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:15

So we're delivering funded business coaching for

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:18

Worcestershire based businesses.

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:20

We're carrying on with all of our clients, private clients.

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:22

We've got a biz fest coming up in November.

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:25

So it's like a it's a business conference, but we've combined

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:30

it with a festival theme.

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:31

So again, we're, our values are very much around like, As being

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:35

able to be passionate about what's going on as feeling that we bring

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:39

the fun that we're engaging.

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:41

So we thought, right, how do we do things a bit differently?

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:43

I know we'll we'll scrap the conference and have a festival.

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:46

So we've got BizFest coming up.

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:48

And then interestingly, next year, we're going to be launching a sister company,

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:52

which will be Real World Academy.

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:53

So where we'll be training up other business coaches.

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:55

So that's, that's very exciting.

Emma Fishlock: 00:24:57

And so I'm currently going through my whole exercise of looking at who my

Emma Fishlock: 00:25:01

target audience are making sure that

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:03

I'm, yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:04

That's brilliant.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:05

I'm really excited for BizFest as well for you guys.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:08

And thanks so much for coming onto the show.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:10

We'll pop all of your links in the show notes.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:12

So if people are interested in finding you, or if there's any

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:15

local people listening and you're interested in getting some coaching.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:18

With the enterprising, that is how I came across Emma and the company.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:22

And I would really rate it.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:24

So I would apply that and give it a try and meet all the lovely ladies

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:27

there at Real World Consultancy.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:30

So thanks Emma.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:31

And we'll catch up with you soon.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:33

Nice to talk to you, Rachel.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:34

Thanks.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:34

Bye.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:38

Thanks for listening to the show.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:39

If you'd like to connect with me or get in touch, then head on over to my website.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:43

If you liked the episode, then I'd love it if you could leave me a

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:45

review in your chosen podcast app.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:47

Your feedback is much appreciated.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:50

See you next time.

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