How to Start a Podcast in 30 Days & Get 1-5 Hight-Ticket Clients Without Growing an Audience – In Just 7 Minutes with Sheryl Plouffe

Resources/Links:

• Want more tips on how to make podcasting your superpower? Click here: www.profitablepodcastmethod.com

Summary

Is your marketing strategy low in lead generation and making connections? Do you want to find out how you can start a podcast and maximize its potential?

Be ahead of the game and use podcasting as a promising platform that guarantees to turn your guests into clients, referrals, and speaking engagements.

Sheryl Plouffe is a video strategist, entrepreneur, and international speaker, and has broadcast over 20,000 hours of live television during her professional career.

Sit back and listen in to what Sheryl has to share about the promising powers of podcasting and intent when it comes to building a powerful and guaranteed marketing strategy.

Check out these episode highlights:

• 01:33 – Sheryl’s ideal client: Our ideal clients are six-figure coaches, consultants, and online entrepreneurs, who are faced with the task of deciding how they want to organically market themselves.
• 02:56 – The problem she helps solve: I think it’s to do with lead generation, but more importantly, it’s the connections. It’s who do you have in your network? Who do you have access to who could lead you to more clients?
• 03:54 – The symptoms of the problem: And then the main thing is this idea of spinning your wheels on the hamster wheel, the incessant hamster wheel of social media, and not necessarily getting any of the results that you want. Because a lot of people are still focused on vanity metrics.
• 05:12 – Clients’ common mistakes before consulting Sheryl: It’s because people are creating content for just the sake of creating content because they see other people doing the same, but they don’t have the strategy behind why are we creating the content. What is the intent behind it?
• 06:35 – Sheryl’s Valuable Free Action (VFA): I think one of the things to do is to think really a mindset shift, and just look at what it is that you’re doing on a day-to-day basis. And ask yourself, “Are these lead-generating or income-generating activities?”
• 07:07 – Sheryl’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): Want more tips on how to make podcasting your superpower? Click here: www.profitablepodcastmethod.com
• 07:39 – Q: How long should it take me to produce my podcast? A: And my answer is an hour a week.

Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode:

“The truth is, we don't live in a world where build it and they will come. You have to have a much stronger idea of how that's going to lead to what it is that you ultimately want.” -Sheryl Plouffe Click To Tweet

Transcript
(Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)

Tom Poland 00:10
Greetings, everyone. A very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you from the Sunshine Coast in Australia, joined today by Sheryl Plouffe. Sheryl, good day from Down Under. Where are you hanging out?

Sheryl Plouffe 00:21
I’m in Southern Ontario, Canada today, Tom. Great to be with you!

Tom Poland 00:24
How’s the weather this evening?

Sheryl Plouffe 00:26
It’s fair because, in this hemisphere, we are going from summer to fall. But it’s nice!

Tom Poland 00:33
Yeah. We are down under, so we’re doing the exact opposite– going from fall into summer. Well, spring, actually, into summer. But we’ll get off climate, we won’t go there. For those of you who don’t know Sheryl, she’s got actually a really wicked smart strategy for getting you in front of ideal clients and converting them into clients, from prospects to clients. She’s a video strategist. She’s an entrepreneur in her own right. She speaks internationally. She’s broadcasted over 20,000 hours of live television during her professional career. So, you’re going to learn a thing at any moment now after 20,000 hours! The title today, and this is going to be interesting, folks, is “How to Start a Podcast in Just 30 Days and Get 1-5 High-Ticket Clients Without Even Growing an Audience”. So, everyone, I’m sure, is on the edge of their seats or the sheets depending on if they’re watching this or listening to it. Sheryl, let’s kick-off! Our time is going to start now. Who is your ideal client, that’s question number one.

Sheryl Plouffe 01:33
Our ideal clients are six-figure coaches, consultants, and online entrepreneurs, who are faced with the task of deciding how they want to organically market themselves. And there are a lot of options out there, but we feel that profitable podcasting is a great tool to use to tick off a lot of checkboxes on a list of things that we need to do as entrepreneurs.

Tom Poland 01:53
Why don’t we just unpack it a bit? Because as you know, I have a very set structure of questions. Do you want to give me a heads up on what it looks like to how you go from podcast to client? Or do you think that’ll come out in the questions?

Sheryl Plouffe 02:06
It might come up in the questions, but I’m happy to answer here. And that is that our focus isn’t necessarily on just the audience. And that’s what, traditionally, podcasts do. I think a couple of mistakes- One is to do audio only because I believe that people want to see the video and the dynamism of the interview in the process. And I think it’s a missed opportunity to not do video and then repurpose to audio. But, second to that is rather than focusing on the audience only and waiting for three years for an advertiser or sponsor to come along and throw you 100 bucks to be on your podcast, what we would prefer to say is leverage the podcast so that you can turn your guests into clients, referrals and speaking engagements. And that’s a bonus!

Tom Poland 02:46
Great overview. Thank you! So, let’s go to question two, just over five and a half minutes left. How would you define the problem that you solve? It’s to do with lead generation? How would you put it?

Sheryl Plouffe 02:56
I think it’s to do with lead generation, but more importantly, it’s the connections. It’s who do you have in your network? Who do you have access to who could lead you to more clients? And especially referrals and speaking engagements, anyone who’s been in business for any length of time, knows the value of referrals because there’s so much trust built into that. So, the problem that we solve is authority, but it’s also about building that database of who you have access to.

Tom Poland 03:20
Because I imagine if you just email someone and said, “Hey, you know, do you want to talk about becoming a client? Or do you want to talk about you referring me”, you wouldn’t get a response. But if you invite them onto your podcast, that’s a whole different relationship dynamic.

Sheryl Plouffe 03:31
It’s a different relationship dynamic right from the start because you’re not selling anything. You are giving and it’s giving reciprocity.

Tom Poland 03:40
Right. And that reciprocity is such a powerful force in human psychology and marketing. So, let’s talk about, question three, what are some of the typical symptoms that someone listening to this might be experiencing, and go, “Yeah, I need to find out more about how Sheryl does this”?

Sheryl Plouffe 03:54
And then the main thing is this idea of spinning your wheels on the hamster wheel, the incessant hamster wheel of social media, and not necessarily getting any of the results that you want. Because a lot of people are still focused on vanity metrics. In my opinion, I would rather have 1000 true fans. I would rather have a database, a solid database of people who I can rely on to grow my business rather than having, you know, 100,000 Vanity followers on Instagram, but I’ll never ever get to know personally.

Tom Poland 03:54
Yeah, that’s so true! Vanity metrics, that’s a great way of putting it. So, people are on the social media hamster wheel, another great way of putting it! And they’re just not getting the traction and the cut-through with inquiries. Folks, if that sounds like you, then you want to keep listening.

Sheryl Plouffe 04:37
Yeah, I mean, another. Quickly, Tom, I think that the other thing is that another inspirational quote is not going to lead you to more clients. You have to have a stronger strategy than that.

Tom Poland 04:48
But I was so clever with that quote. Why is the world not leading the path to my door? Disappointing to me, has frequently been. But we’re talking about, you know, coaches, consultants. We’re talking about people that are pretty smart because they’re in a position to offer other people advice. So, they’re going to be trying stuff, just over three minutes left, what would you say are the couple of the big mistakes that people make trying to solve this lead generation problem before they find your solution?

Sheryl Plouffe 05:12
It’s because people are creating content for just the sake of creating content because they see other people doing the same, but they don’t have the strategy behind why are we creating the content. What is the intent behind it? Because there’s never been enough thought put into why are we doing this content in the first place. So, I think it’s this idea of content for content’s sake. Listen, the truth is, we don’t live in a world where build it and they will come. You have to have a much stronger idea of how that’s going to lead to what it is that you ultimately want. So really, the answer is intent. We have to have intent behind any of the marketing work that we’re doing, including, in this case, profitable podcasting.

Tom Poland 05:51
Right, big mistake! No intent. No clear objective. No clear strategy on how you’re going to convert from social media or content to client. Question five-

Sheryl Plouffe 05:59
And it has to do, I think, largely it has to do with systems. What systems do you have working in the background, and in many cases, automated systems in the background to help you gather data, and information, you know, from people who you would, again, have on your podcast as guests so that you can follow up effectively? That’s a key part.

Tom Poland 06:20
Another mistake, without those systems, it’s all a bit random. So, question number five, two minutes left, a valuable free action. It’s like a top tip. It’s not going to solve the whole problem; people might need you for that. But what’s the top tip you can give them to take a step in the right direction?

Sheryl Plouffe 06:35
I think one of the things to do is to think really a mindset shift, and just look at what it is that you’re doing on a day-to-day basis. And ask yourself, “Are these lead-generating or income-generating activities?” So, for instance, for an online entrepreneur, a coach, or a consultant, it’s “calls”. How many calls are you actually on? Or are you just doing work and staying busy, but not actually making any sales? Look at how many calls you’re conducting. But I think it’s income-generating activities and having a really hard conversation with yourself about, are you doing those things?

Tom Poland 07:07
That’s probably the acid metric, isn’t it? How many gigs have I had with people that are pre-client inquiries? So, a terrific number to measure! Thank you for that. Question six is a valuable free resource. Where can people try to go to get more about this? I’m going to answer it for the sake of time. Folks, go to www.profitablepodcastmethod.com. In that, you’re going to learn why- the whole nuts and bolts of the whole system. It’s completely free, profitablepodcastmethod.com. Sheryl, last question. 35 seconds left. What’s the one question I should have asked you, but didn’t?

Sheryl Plouffe 07:39
The question you should ask me is how long should it take me to produce my podcast. And my answer is an hour a week. We pride ourselves on having created a system that allows you to generate, you know, from finding your guests, interviewing your guests, and distributing that content– everything in one hour per week!

Tom Poland 08:00
An hour a week and a client a week is a pretty good formula. Sheryl, thanks so much for your time and your insights! Folks, it’s www.profitablepodcastmethod.com. Cheers, Sheryl.

Tom Poland 08:13
Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com.