Private Podcasts + Premium Content: The Perfect Tools for Growing Your Business

NOTE: This podcast was transcribed by an AI tool. Please forgive any typos or errors. SUMMARY KEYWORDS podcast, audio, content, learning, private, lead magnet, feed, listen, people, video, give, newsletter, business, sign, idea, folks, creator, thinking, marketing, good SPEAKERS Lindsay Padilla, Erin Ollila Erin Ollila 00:04 Hey friends, welcome to the Top coffee Timmy podcast. Here we empower small business owners to step into the spotlight with their marketing and messaging. I’m your host, Erin Ollila. Let’s get started and talk coffee. Hello friends today I am here with Lindsey Patea. You may know her as the co founder of Hello audio. But what you don’t know about Lindsey is that she actually lived in the middle of the Ecuadorian Amazon for three weeks, two summers in a row. And she told me she even a howler monkey and in a tip here is that as a vegan. Phil doesn’t really need to know everything about this. Lindsay Padilla 00:52 I was vegan for five years. And in that time, I was also in grad school. So I went on a graduate adventure trip kind of thing, but also very, very educational and purposeful because it was through a social justice program at my school. And while we were there obviously did a bunch of things that I never have done since but also did when I was there. So yeah, I ate an owl, an owl or monkey, howler monkey, sorry. They made a soup. And I was like, I was vegan and another person there was vegetarian, but like, I’m going into this community, right? Like, I don’t need to be vegan. And it was it was pretty amazing. Erin Ollila 01:27 Yeah, one of my big like, beliefs, especially when I was younger and actually did a lot more active things was like when you go to somewhere where your culture is different from what you grew up with, or experience like, you have to just go full fledge and experience it no matter how, quote unquote weird I hate that word. I’m always trying to tell my kids like things are weird. They’re just different. But like, no matter how weird it feels to you, it’s like you have to go all in. So I admire that. I mean, I’m listening with like bulging eyeballs, and like shocked, like, but good for you. Go get them. So we’re here today to talk about private podcasts, specifically how you can use them as a lead magnet or even like a content upgrade, or upgrade to courses, things like that. But in case anyone is not really familiar with what a private podcast is, can you give us the kind of like quick and dirty on what what to know, Lindsay Padilla 02:21 I think it’s a great starting point, because it is something that most maybe people have heard of now, premium podcast is kind of another angle. But the best thing to explain is like technically what’s happening on the back. And then like, from a marketer perspective, it’s really easy to say it’s paywalled content, like content, you aren’t protected, right? On the tech side, you know, if you go into Apple podcasts or whatever podcast player you use, typically you can search for a podcast, right? So you can search top, top copy to me, and it would come up a private podcast, step one doesn’t come up, right, because you want to keep it private. So then we can get into the layers of like, you know, the other cool things we could do with it. But like, I think from a marketer perspective, we love that you can collect email addresses, because that’s how we deliver the content. So with this podcast, you can look at your downloads, but you have no idea who’s actually listening. And so if you have a private podcast, the goal is to to know who’s listening who’s engaging, you know, maybe who hasn’t paid, that you can, you know, disable their their feed and that kind of thing. So it’s really like protected audio content that you can then manage and engage with your listeners and with your audience. Erin Ollila 03:29 Yeah, I loved how you describe that, because it kind of brought up a few different things I’d love to talk about, you know, me coming from like the content strategy world, when I think of private podcast as a lead magnet, I’m like, Oh, this is great. Like, people love this, like everyone is so sick and tired of just being like, join my newsletter. Okay, that’s I have a private podcast Do you can have it as a lead magnet. And I think people are a lot more enticed to do that. So there’s that whole content strategy aspect. But what you brought up, which I think is kind of key to this conversation, too, is it’s not just about the audience, right? Like, this is a business tool, which all lead magnets or upgrades should really be right, like thinking about how it affects our business. So there’s a few things that we can do to know like, is it successful? You know, is there any changes that should be made? Like how are you presenting this the right way? All through those analytics that we’re getting where traditional, like lead magnets and downloads, don’t necessarily give you that? I mean, you might be able to find out like, are people actually signing into like a course platform? Let’s just say if you had it in that, but you’re not really finding out how they’re listening, you know, like, drop off rate, like the people who signed up, are they even signing into lists and all of those things, as you are able to do with a private podcast. So there’s really kind of layers to look at why a private podcast would be good for your business. And it’s not just the audience, but it’s also for business. Absolutely. Before we kind of jump in and start talking about things like analytics. Let’s kind of stay with like the ideating part of it for a second because you Even myself, I mean, I have I use Hello audio, I have the option to do multiple private podcast. And sometimes I like stare at my computer I’m like, and this is coming from a content strategist, FYI, there’s we all have blocks in our own business Lindsay Padilla 05:12 that we do doesn’t have a podcast, that’s all other. Erin Ollila 05:17 Sometimes I sit down and it’s the problem is either that I have too many ideas, or I feel like I have no idea. So if someone’s listening to this, and they’re like, Okay, I like the idea of this. This is, you know, something that might work in my business. Do you have any suggestions for them on how they go about even starting thinking about what they would do Lindsay Padilla 05:35 specifically for a lead magnet, or like all the different ways you can use ello audio. Erin Ollila 05:41 I mean, you can take anywhere you want to go with. So Lindsay Padilla 05:43 there’s a couple of things here, we hear this a lot. And I want to like backtrack, like a couple of thoughts ago that you had that you had said, Sure, you know, it’s innovative, and it’s different. And so it makes it typically a higher conversion rate. Because people like I’ve never seen this before. There’s also the higher perceived value of audio, I think in a world where it’s very video, very text heavy, very, where you have to look at a screen. And people are like, Oh, I know what this is like, I know what it’s like when I put in my noise cancelling headphones and focus on a piece of content. I know what that feels like. And so you’re kind of tapping into specifically people who love and enjoy podcast, I think they’re like, they totally get it. But there is this other layer of people who are like, oh, yeah, I see how you could take this on the go and not have to look at a screen, that multitasking piece. So that perceived value, higher conversion rates, people are into it. It’s also somewhat new right now. And so the idea that it’s different, that’s super exciting for not only you as the creator, but also the audience member who’s going to sign up, right. But then when we get into ideas around this, so I always like almost anything in business, and you probably as a content strategist, same, it’s like, let’s start with what you already have, like, there’s no reason to be like, I need to come up with this special new thing that has all these like bells and whistles. Let’s just look at content that you already have. One of our favorite success stories using Hello audio is Alyssa Hall, she had a course that was like collecting dust she did I think she did a live workshop at one point. Or maybe she recorded it and was planning on launching it. I mean, how many of you have been there, right? And it never did it never like saw the light of day, but she always like was like, you know, I want this to be out in the world in some capacity. And so when Hello audio kind of came across her radar, she was like, Oh, I could just throw it in a podcast, I don’t have to like overthink the like delivery of the videos and the workshop, like all the things. And it was like, boom, she launches it. And it was a topic on racism in coaching and like diversity in the industry in 2020, when lots of stuff was happening with George Floyd. And it obviously was something people want to learn about. But also a thing that historically gets brushed to the side to not make right business. And marketing is more important than like, you know, decolonizing my business, Erin Ollila 07:59 obviously, you’re doing the right thing. Yeah, what happened, what being a good business owner, Lindsay Padilla 08:03 there’s this desire that people want to learn about this, but they have limited time, right, as we all do, and so they have to fit it in. And that blew up. Like, essentially, it was super shareable people started saying, oh my gosh, this is the thing that’s gonna, you know, that will move that needle for you to take action. And so it I think her list went from like, I mean, in the low hundreds, she wasn’t actively didn’t really have an email list going per se, but well over six 700 It like exploded. And you know, there’s various reasons for that. I always say, like, you know, that can’t be the only example of a lead magnet, but I like to bring up the dusting off something that’s important content, maybe that you just wasn’t the right vehicle or, or, you know, method to share it. And then podcasting just makes it really easy, not just for you as the creator, but also the people on the other side that are consuming it. And so there’s a lot to be gained from that, you know, story, but the idea that you probably have something that you’ve already created that can just use a different medium as a form of delivery, that could reengage ignite your your folks, whether it’s you’ve been in business for six years, and there’s just some content that totally is still relevant, or it’s something that you just never launched. And maybe this is just feels lighter, which we always like to say to right, it’s it’s not as much work as getting in front of a camera. And so it’s just easy to launch. So definitely start with what you have. Erin Ollila 09:35 Yeah, I have an entire folder of things that have never been launched, but are about 97% complete, so I should probably just look in there for myself. You know, something else you were saying when you brought up that story that could be a quick win for people is if they already have a course especially like a course that something like self guided low price for people to jump in on. Maybe just sharing one of the modules gives them that like test and like taste I should say of what the course creators like how they present. And it’s not giving away everything, you know, it’s still enticing them to go by, but it gives them that little nudge to say, Hey, I’m gonna try it out, and then I might purchase. So, you know, it’s good for conversions as good for, you know, just letting people get to know you. And I think if we look at it from the lead magnet perspective, you know, the whole reason I started a podcast a couple me, I don’t even know when I started at the end of 2021, no, yeah, no 2021 beginning of 2022 was because I had done some voice of customer research with my previous and recent clients. And every single one of my clients said to me, which I did not expect, in any way, shape, or form. The reason that they decided to purchase like work with me as their service provider, compared to the other people they were looking at, is they liked me. So I got on the Discovery call, they felt connected, every single person said, They trusted me once I started talking, they trusted my expertise. And, you know, for me, prior to working in my own business, I worked for really huge brands on the content and like, I can write a million blog post with my eyes closed and my hands tied behind my back, I can do all of these things. But even though you know, I have that storytelling background, I have my MFA, all these things. It’s like, okay, they’re not reading my content and feeling like jazzed about me. They want to hear my voice. So I think when we think of lead magnets and private podcast, it’s a quick win for people who don’t necessarily want to have a podcast, but they want to develop a relationship, right? So sometimes it’s just people hearing your voice. It gives them like that. I always talk about testimonials and social proof, but it gives them that extra level of like, okay, this is a real person, they really know what they’re talking about. I can go forward with this now. Lindsay Padilla 11:47 Yeah, I there’s like so many parts of this. So there was a study put out by Edison Research, which tends to do a bunch of research in the audio space, because they do stuff on radio and, and whatnot. And they did a study on immersiveness, basically, is the language that they’re using. And audio is more immersive than video. And that’s kind of surprising, right? You think that like, Oh, you’re in my bedroom, and you can see pictures around me that like you’re getting to know me, but I think it’s actually the opposite. And it’s kind of what I alluded to, with the noise cancelling headphones is it’s immersive, because when you have to watch audio, it’s actually very distracting. Like, it’s like, oh, like, even my, I’m distracted by myself. I’m like, What’s this hair doing? Like, I’m looking at that I’m looking at you, right, like, and I’m, like, like, thoughts are coming in my head. And I’m pushing them aside and trying to like, stay present. It’s very active process. Audio is different. It’s very, like, you know, it uses probably different parts of our brain. Now this is getting into the neuroscience stuff, which I don’t really know. But I believe that like, you can make those those links to like, oh, the reason being is like, you literally sound like you’re in their head. Yeah, it’s gotta be important. Oh, they have time set aside, we like to say this from, like a habit forming perspective. A lot of people have a certain time that they put on their headphones and decide to listen to audio, we’ve had people say, like, Oh, what did they call it? Like, my special audio time, right? Like, and it’s whether it’s on a walk, or it’s doing the dishes, there’s, it’s it’s a very sacred place. I think, for many people, whether they would use the word sacred, but it’s, it’s something set aside versus video is like, it’s kind of everywhere. And it’s like the likelihood that I’m going to sit and make this go on my calendar and give it the appropriate time that it needs. It’s, it’s low, but like, the audio slot is almost always there tied to some habit. And I think that’s really powerful when you think about consumption and intimacy and connection and engagement. And of course, there are video folks that are so engaging, and people feel like they know them. I’m not saying that that’s not possible. But there is something very special about audio that podcasters again, podcasters No. And so at Hello audio, we’re really trying to tease out and be like, you don’t have to have a show show. Like, it’s about the medium. Like can we can we give like props to the medium of audio. And I think that’s the thing that we’re trying to connect with people. Erin Ollila 14:10 Yeah, I just had one of my previous podcast guests send me a message on Instagram, we were she’s one of my like, highest episodes, like listened to episodes. And we were just kind of chatting about how she’s like, just like one or two away keeping the lead all these things. And she’s like, you know, I’ve really been thinking of hosting my own podcast, but I’m worried like it’s podcasting dead. And I was like, Girl, what, this is one of the very few industries that you can jump in and make a splash, right? So I grew up in the SEO world and everyone says, you know, when’s the best time for SEO? And I’m like, 15 years ago. Doesn’t mean like, it’s not going to help you or work now. But it the it’s it’s the question of when do you plant a tree 50 years ago, right, like you’re catching up. You’re doing so much work, but that’s not actually true in podcasting. It’s one of the biggest growing industries in the past 10 years. has maybe are a little bit more than that. So I just I don’t remember the the report that I had read too, but it was saying like, you know, from now until 2028, like they expected like a ginormous jump in listenership on podcast. So the answer to that, in case anyone’s listening is you jump in have a podcast audio. Yeah. But in order to prevent the pod feed, which is happens all the time of people, like, you know, you’ve I know that I think the number is seven, right? Like after the seventh episode, even if it’s not seven, let’s say it’s 1520, right, and you have that motivation, and you just kind of fizzle out. You don’t have to do a weekly show, you don’t have to make it episodic, right. If it’s as simple as like dipping your toe in with a private podcast, that gives you the understanding of all the work that goes into it, whether it’s for you, not for you, whether it’s well received, and I think it’s really a great place to start for people who are on the fence of whether they have the bandwidth or interest for podcasting in general. Lindsay Padilla 15:58 Yeah, and I think I think there is that is something we talked about is like public podcasts, you know, yeah, it’s, it’s a show, it’s, you know, requires commitment. They say the ones that are successful are the ones that are consistent, right? I think playing around if you’ve never picked up a mic and just kind of like talked, which is very different than an interview show. But it’s, it’s also a really cool way to create content, a lot of people like to start there. And that’s what’s cool, is we’ve had folks talk about starting a weekly newsletter, which is another weekly kind of commitment. And some of them actually, like do the audio first, and then use that transcript to make the newsletter and then they allow folks to opt in to the audio version, instead of having you come to their inbox. And so there’s lots of cool ways that you can think about the lead magnet from a perspective of oh, maybe it doesn’t have to be, you know, like a five part series or anything like that. Maybe it could just be literally me reading my emails, whether you speak them first or read them after, that’s also very popular. It’s just, it allows people to kind of say, there’s a lot going on in there, but I like your content, and they’re raising their hands. So talk about hot lead, like an engaged customer, because they’re raising their hand and you know, asking for a different form. Like what they’re more likely, if they’re saying this is the form I like, right. And I think that can be super powerful from just a perspective of segmenting and just and knowing that and then with Halabja, you can do really cool stuff, like you can tag people and you can send them, you know, audios just for them, and all all based on, you know, lots of different things. And so that’s really cool, too. And so towards the end K is a good example of that she had a newsletter for a long time. And like at the bottom, she had a cute graphic, and it was like, would you rather listen to this. And if you if you check that you could totally listen to it. And then you’ve got the fun, like, I don’t know, if you love audio books or anything and the author’s reading the book, you get kind of the third wall broken down, because they kind of are commenting on their own writing. And they’re laughing and they’re, they’re saying the side information totally can happen with a newsletter. And again, oh my gosh, how much you stand out as and how much more connected to someone feel if they feel like they know, like, the reasoning behind the sentences you chose, or the topics you picked, or whatever the story or joke that you told, and they can hear you laugh as you tell it, like that’s pretty powerful. Erin Ollila 18:14 Being in the lead content game for so long. I don’t know if it’s just me being jaded, but I don’t feel like there’s so much newness anymore. So like to like click into her email and see like, let me read this to you. I was like, Okay, let’s do this, right. Like, even I was excited. Like, what is she doing? I felt it was very novel. But you know, sometimes when I have when I do copy coaching with the clients who either have the skill to write, but they need some marketing help, or they don’t have the budget to hire a full copywriter. One of the things that I say to them when they’re struggling with what to Ray is just record yourself, you know, people like this was a trick I learned from grad school mentor, when I was, you know, getting my MFA in creative nonfiction, it’s like, they we have our own blocks when we look at a blank page. So sometimes it’s so helpful like, for them my clients to like, open a zoom, and just talk either to yourself or have like a friend come in and just explain what you’re doing all of that, right. So the idea of the newsletter, I think could be interesting. If you if you’re a person and you’re listening and you struggle with writing, start with the recording, right? Like do the private podcast as the email of the week, then you can have it transcribed and put an email or just the like bullet points and put those in an email. That’s not for everyone. Some people write better, and then they can speak it. Sure. But if it is something where you’re like, I wish I had a more interesting newsletter, everyone talks about the ROI with email, which there is maybe that’s where you start is just talking your emails out and then the consistency of doing that you will develop a better start storytelling voice in the people who are listening and reading will be a little bit more engaged with your newsletter as well. Yep, absolutely. So let’s shift a slight bit and talk about using private podcasts as upgrades. Have you seen any interesting ways that people have kind of like, added the private podcast as a perk to whatever it is that they’re selling or offering their audience? Lindsay Padilla 20:10 Yeah. So we see it in a couple of ways we see it, maybe when someone’s self publishes a book, and they decide not to go kind of the audible way. And so that’s kind of seems obvious and easy, but I think people, you know, Audible has its own perks, as does, you know, publishing, you know, obviously, with the publisher or whatever. But the idea that you control that audio and can decide I want to charge for it, you know, if you’re working with a publisher, nope, that’s not how that works. And so just having that control whether like you alluded to earlier, a little slice of a course content, how about a chapter, right? Those kinds of things are can be really powerful. When you think about promotion of that type of content. So that’s a book, we’re talking things like courses, obviously, as trip wires, here’s what I’m noticing the trend is, as the provider of any of these private podcasts in our space, a lot of people are giving the podcast because of accessibility, because they’re like, it’s too powerful to hold back that consumption piece and say, like, No, you have to pay $10 To have the audio version, when really, they’re like, my content is really good. I want you to succeed. Here’s the podcast also, that’s kind of more of the trend we’re seeing to the point where people are actually expecting them in courses, they open a course they’re like, Man, I wish this was a feed right? Or like, Man, I wish this had a podcast version. It’s happening in summits, a lot of times I think summits are the thing where because the content is all free, and all of that, like people do hold back that podcast feed for the VIP ticket. But there is something really powerful about letting people consume it, because that is the goal, right? Like if you if you if you want them to have the education and your contents actually good, you want them to consume it. And so because of that most people choose not to do that. But that doesn’t mean you can’t, and I’m just pointing out a trend that we’re seeing. But what you could do too, is you could also have like an exclusive version, right? So if you’re doing a summit give the like main content as a private podcast, just from an accessibility standpoint, in a consumption standpoint. And then in the upgrade, maybe make the interviews that you have behind the scenes with some of the speakers, or an extra workshop. You know, of course, a lot of people who teach people how to do summits use Hello audio as an example, right. And they they’ll do behind the scenes of how the planning is going. It’s also really great warm up to, to the whole process. So if someone’s really interested in your process, like emails or content strategy, and you’re launching something, why not say, hey, come behind the scenes with me as I launch here, me like rent and like, get pissed off and like, be scared. And that like real vulnerable BS, I think can show up really well in an audio version. And so whether you, you know, have them sign up with a ticket, and then they pay $10 for that back, you know, back version, or behind the scenes version, in order to warm them up, or whether it’s part of the main experience. And there’s just kind of this exclusivity tied to it, I think, whenever you use language around like secret, or like exclusive kind of thing, then people actually get like the private podcast part. They’re like, oh, like you can’t like, I have to like raise my hand. So they kind of get that. And that ties into the value perception. And so they’re willing to pay for that. So those are some quick ideas that hopefully would help folks out. Erin Ollila 23:25 It’s so funny, because you’re like, Well, maybe the audio books, the easy to like, you know, guess one. And I was like, you know, I didn’t even think of literally come from the writing world. But like in my like, I think that’s why I’m so used to thinking like an audio book is done with a publisher, but like, especially for the businesses who are writing books, and I know, there are a few people in my audience who have written their own books, friends, like this is a perfect opportunity for you go read your book, like, that is a great way. And the beauty, a lot of what we’re talking about is free things right. But like, you can use private pod private podcast as a selling tool, right? So like, you can sell that audio book that you create. And you don’t have to go through all the red tape that you would go through like in traditional publishing, which is yeah, like it is a ginormous difference of the idea of like self publishing your own audiobook from your book on Hello audio than it would be in any other way. So seemed obvious to you. But again, the person in the writing world didn’t even think of that. Another thing that you said was when we talked about like just giving away the audio of a course and that is a huge, huge thing that I think is awesome and very helpful. Obviously it’s done a lot or at least maybe the the inception of it was like accessibility, right? We want to give people the option to consume the content in the way that is best consumable for them. Now, I love podcasting. I love audio, but the one way I thought I would struggle was learning through audio. So there have been courses after Take them out have offered it and I didn’t even try. Because mentally I’m like, Yeah, I’m like, I have to see it happen like so if you are saying to me, Oh, you do X, Y, and Z, and then you’ll do this I want to physically see it occur on the on the video. So I’m like, Yep, no private podcast as a course thing is not for me until I think it was earlier this year, Lizzie Goddard, who would have had many things from her, they’ve always had audio options. She had done like a get it done in a week, like tripwire training. And I was like, Yeah, okay, I’ll do this, I have a million things created in folders that I haven’t done, right, this will like, set my feet to the fire. And I just didn’t have the time or space to sit down and do it. So I remember just being like, alright, I’ll listen to the darn audio on the way to my son’s baseball game. And like, while I’m waiting, as if it’s like, you know, I’m being tortured with this. And I think that really changed things. For me, I was able to kind of be like, Oh, Aaron, you are full. There were one or two things that I like, made a mental note to myself, like, I want to go back and check that to make sure I’m understanding it. Because the video was also provided, I should kind of make that clear. It doesn’t have to be but it was in this case. But I worked through the course and like what felt like 10 seconds compared to me, like trying to make time after my kids went to bed or fitted into actual work activities to like go through it when I thought that’s how my brain process so I also think if this is something that you are not used to and it is something that’s like available to you try it out, like worst case scenario, you don’t love it as a student, let’s say like when my example but I actually found it was awesome. And since then I have been listening to more private podcast as ways to learn, especially because I think if we’re gonna all be honest with each other, we we buy things or we get things in bundles that we have zero like ability to actually do like, we might think we’re gonna work through people’s courses, but we just like the library, I like having a way we like the library, right? Like I have a quite a vast library of learning opportunities available to me that I have never taken, which is cool, it’s fine, right? But I think in this way, it’s really, let’s say you have like a bunch of podcasts you listen to all the time, and you kind of like caught up with their content, while pop someone’s you know, private course in there and just kind of like work through it. If you’re a little bored, and you’re waiting for new shows to come out. There’s no wrong way to do this. But I think you know, it’s really good to kind of point that out that it’s great for you as the course creator if you are one to offer more accessible ways for your students to learn. But then if you are the learner, like don’t count it out like Aaron did, because you thought it wouldn’t work for you. Because I found it actually worked really well. Lindsay Padilla 27:40 I’m an ex college professor, I don’t know if I like hit it like it’s not hidden publicly. But like, maybe people who are coming across me for the first time don’t know this, but I used to teach Community College, I have a master’s degree in sociology and a doctorate. And anyways, learning and education is like my thing. And teaching online was a huge part of that before I decided to leave. And there’s a whole bunch of stuff here that I can just just kind of let your audience realize from somebody who’s skilled for education, and particularly online education. So what you’re talking about is this idea of like learning, like preferences, right. So in education, it has been debunked. So ask any teacher who is up to date on any sort of learning from from K all the way up to college? Okay, so it’s the whole shebang. We like to think that learning like modalities are real, but it’s it’s truly actually what’s happening. So what what got debunked, it’s not that like we prefer, we don’t prefer different ones. But if that preference, actually in like, leads to better learning. And the reality is, is when people were tested or asked what their preference was, what their learning style, sorry, learning style, that’s the language I wanted to use from the beginning, your preference might be visual, and there are different styles. And so people think that because I prefer it, well, I must learn better. Ah, that’s where the mistake happens. In fact, people who said that they liked visual learning did not do any better when they were presented with the material visually as they did with anything else. So we lie to ourselves, right? And like, we like to say that there’s a video and so I’ll see people talk about this, like on threads. And I’m just like, I wish I could be like, yeah, and learning doesn’t happen because of the style. It actually happens to repetition that is like, hands down the like, one of the main things that we can prove in education is the more you come across the material in different facets, the more likely you are to learn. So you get where I’m going with this. If you like videos, watch the video, like if you like watch the video if you enjoy it, right, but it doesn’t mean you’re going to learn from it. Right? And so totally, I think as somebody who spent a lot of time and helping people create better courses, it was you know, you hear it all the time, make the make the content, five minutes, like, you know, blah, blah, blah, like whatever and we’re realizing that the PowerPoint slides like no matter how beautiful they are like no and we We all know the like, you know, Apple, like, you know, imagery that we got of like, show an image and talk about it. I mean, this is all stuff I used to do in my professor life. And it’s like, that’s not it. Like, it’s more than that. And so when all you have is the presentation, of course, we’re going to try to tweak it as much as possible to get more people to listen to, like, watch it and listen. But the reality is, is they’re not learning it necessarily any better. And in fact, we are so inundated with, with like things coming at us, when we’re sitting at our computer, I’m like, it’s literally the worst place, it doesn’t matter. It’s enjoyable. It’s the worst place for you. And so I like to point like, I love that you’re bringing this up, like totally unprompted. We did not plan on talking about this, but we nerd out forever. They actually say, when it’s harder for you, you might engage in a different way, like, because you’re like, Oh, I would like to learn this like, so I’m going to try this way and this way, and I’m going to read the transcript. And I’m going to listen, guess what’s happening, repetition. So first of all, when you’re a creator, or the teacher who’s like putting a private podcast in your course, the best thing to do is to pre frame how you want them to use that podcast for the course. Rather than leave it up to the learner to be like, Oh, I don’t know, that doesn’t sound like something that’s helpful for me. I would say, Hey, guys, like, you know, I made this possible for you for to take me on the go. But guess what, if you’re sitting here going, Oh, but I can’t take notes while I’m driving? No, you can’t. But you can listen to that content. And you can actually access it when you’re ready and sitting down at the computer. And so my favorite use case, for anyone, even like visual learners is actually to listen to the content first and don’t do anything. What Yeah, like, the homework, don’t take notes, just like take it in. And what you experience is, you’re gonna learn some stuff on the way hands down, will you be 100% able to execute whatever? Nope, absolutely not. But that’s not the goal. Do you now know where the where the content is going? Yes, you’ve actually already been there. And so when you choose to sit down, you’re gonna feel very different. And this is an emotional piece. This is not a test, or like quizzes. This is how do you feel as a student, you’re gonna be like, I’ve actually already completed this course. Now I’m going back in and I am becoming an expert, which is what I plan to do from the beginning. So you sit down, and you feel like you, you basically, you built scaffolding in your brain. And like there are now things like parts, you’re going to hear them say, and now you’re going to connect it visually. And instead of trying to do it all, connect the audio connect the visual all in the first sitting, you’re like, doing it a second time. That is the power of learning it is not whether it’s audio, or whether it’s video, it’s the repetition piece, it’s the emotional piece, especially as adult learners like no one, you’re not getting a degree, no one’s grading you when you sign up for this course. It’s just you and the product that you bought. And then like your business, right, so talk about emotions and stress that are tied to this already, because a lot of people buy under the pressure that this course is going to solve all my problems, right. So now when we’re looking at the emotional state of the learner, they’re kind of not very, like, they’re not expecting to finish this, like already, like you as the teacher are down like a lot. So all that to be said, the podcast feed is a very powerful tool for all learners, and especially when in conjunction with all the other opportunities that you have for them. And you’re going to create an adult learner who’s feeling accomplished, who’s feeling like they can do it, and who may not be able to score 100 on the test, but would actually just move forward. That’s the thing that like I think is really hard. And our space is like getting that step forward making those tough decisions. So let’s save that stress rather, for the like, how do I do this? And more for the like, what, which way do I go? What strategy do I use? Like how does this work in my business, that’s where the real like rubber meets the road in like the transformation process. So as far as like giving them the information, give them as many opportunities, tell them to listen over and over again. And that’s what’s easier with audio as well, because it’s on the go, you alluded to this. You’re looking at your podcasts you listen to every week and you’re like, Oh, I could go back episodes and go back in the archive. Or like maybe I could take action in my business today. And they’re looking at all the other content that’s in their podcast app. We like to say at Hulu audio, the podcast app is actually another inbox in your face with your course name and your branding is going to be right there next to Amy Porterfield and the daily or whatever they listen to right and so that’s really powerful to that like you’re giving them the choice to choose to like learn your content and or you know, do the entertainment thing and go down the rabbit hole of whatever they’re deciding to talk about that week. Erin Ollila 34:41 I want to add one thing here that you had said you talked about like you know as the course creator like I don’t remember he used the word scaffolding but like pretty much you’re prepping people in order to get pre framing. Thank you. One thing I think is like to tie in copy and content here. It’s like I always talk about all of the behind the scenes copy and content that never gets considered right We like to think of copying content as like sales pages and web and web pages. But like, you want to make a course you know how much writing you’re going to be doing. If you’re making the course, if you want to make a good course, let’s say, right, I really wish more people really took like their own education and course curriculum, because if we frame the audio how you suggested, there’s a great way to help people learn, and that is present them with either written things or something on the video that’s written later. So they absorb the whole course audio, right, but then when they go back to sit down and kind of take that second wind of it, you as the course creator can have already done a lot of the upfront work for them. You know, maybe it’s like, you know, think about Cliff Notes, right? Like when we, I don’t know if they even kids these days have Cliff Notes, maybe I’m now very old. But Cliff Notes is basically like what you need to know about what you’re reading or what you’re studying. So as the course grader makes some Cliff Notes for people that are written in written form, and maybe within the chorus platform, so you can say to them, Hey, I made this podcast so that you can like learn on the go get this understanding. But when you’re ready, I’ll have those cliff notes for you. So take that information in, and then you do the work for that’s going to really work you will a lot more towards student completion. Because we, we, as individuals are also busy, we might want to learn, but a lot of the reason that people don’t finish courses and do things is it’s hard. There’s a lot of work that goes into learning, right? So if you can make it as easy for the people to absorb the information you’re giving them and understand it, they’re going to be much more likely to actually complete and finish things. Yep. And one more. One more quick thing is, we talked about how I thought, you know, to start this conversation, I thought video would be better for me. But if I can psychoanalyze myself for a moment on the podcast, what I think I realize is that, you know, I’m a person with ADHD, and I get my dopamine from distractions. And I like to convince myself that with a brain that works 400 miles a minute and thinks about multiple things at once, it’s helpful for me to have like, let’s say a computer in front of me with tabs open, so that maybe as I’m watching a video, I can check my email really quick. But if, and I like to tell myself this story, but if anything, that’s like the opposite of how I should be treating my brain. So what I realize is like, I like to tell myself, I learned better on a video because I have access to all of those distractions at my fingertips, I can do anything. Whereas with just using the example of me working through Lizzie’s program, I was at my son’s baseball game. And you know, I love youth baseball, so not to pick on it. But like, I don’t really care about the other team getting their hits, like I want to watch and make see if my kids catching the ball during that time. But like, I’m not paying as close attention so I can listen, and I can absorb information. But I don’t have all those multiple distractions, I guess. I mean, the game is a little bit of a distraction. Sure. But it’s not like the ultimate like dopamine, dopamine, dopamine from like, checking notifications, like looking at like a social media feed. It’s literally like, I’m forced to have that. So, you know, we talked about learning styles and learning preferences. I think sometimes the question we should ask ourselves, too, is like, what is getting in the way of my learning? Not that this is the best example for everyone listening, but at least to kind of like take ownership of why I think that’s the case. For me. It’s the self stopping like, I’m hurting myself by having the video there. You know, so, yeah, Lindsay Padilla 38:26 we don’t always make the best choices. Yeah. Erin Ollila 38:29 One question I have, are there any different ways to approach a private podcast in the sense of like, can you restrict the time people have access to it or something like that. Lindsay Padilla 38:40 So we built Hello audio, basically, because of the teaching background. And that’s what I was helping people with was courses. And I was like, Oh, my gosh, this will help people finish. So we built it, it was literally the first iteration was called podcast, your course. So all we were thinking about is okay, the right people need access, it needs to be protected, and like, done and done. And then as people started using it, it’s like, oh, my gosh, we could do so much like the marketing part kicked in, and you’re like, Oh, you can tag people Oh, like, you know how long they’re listening? Oh, you can like add, you can like send them a special episode. So then went down the spiral of like, oh, we can basically do what any other learning management system does or what a CRM does, like MailChimp, or Active Campaign. And so that’s essentially what has guided us in adding our features. And so a lot of what we can do is yeah, we we expire feeds. So a lot of folks use something that has been named pop up podcast, you know, by the collective, I guess. And so there’s a pop up podcast, maybe for a launch and so it’s time sensitive. So when you think about all the all the things that we use in marketing to just encourage consumption and create that urgency, that’s not false, but that real urgency of like, hey, this podcast is going away. We can kind of duplicate that in Halo audio, we can expire entire feeds, we can drip feeds, and so this is it works really well for like kind of evergreen channel. challenges. And so usually when you run a challenge live, I would still say to us what what is a normal podcast, which is database is what we call it. But that’s like the podcast drops on a certain day at a certain time, right? Because it’s day one or day two. But when you decide to Evergreen that and you want somebody to go through that content themselves, and you know, your day one might be you know, today, and then I don’t sign up until five days from now, and that’s my day one, and then it goes, I go through, and it slowly drips as if it was a podcast releasing on certain times. And then we created the idea of an instant feed, which is all at once, because as a course creator, it’s like, here’s all the content, like, I’m gonna put it in order for you. And what we’re doing on the back end is going is like reworking stuff, because all podcast apps are obviously built for a weekly show. And so we like mess with that a little bit. And there’s some nuances to what’s happening in different apps that treat it differently. But all that to be said is like, yeah, we’ve played with a bunch of different ways of delivering RSS feeds. Another one is we have like an advanced drip feed, which is like a membership feed is is like, the best use case. So if you have a membership, and you’re in month, you know, may as the time of this recording, and I sign up in May, but you don’t want me to have access to previous content. Rather than make a new feed for everyone who signed up in May, you can literally block them from any prior content. Now, if you want them to unlock it for a price, hey, there you go. That’s another way to do it. And maybe that’s access to a different feed. But there are ways to then basically prevent people from I think sometimes there’s coaching calls, and maybe there’s access to content, like you weren’t paying last month. And so like you know, I don’t want you to have access because blah, blah, blah. So there’s there’s various reasons why people would use what we what we’ve named a membership feed. So we’re just out here doing doing our thing with the marketing and like recognizing like what we could control when we have access to an email. And we do tagging internally at Hello audio, we do something called actions at Hello audio, which is all internal. And then of course we have the power of Zapier and like web hook web hooks, so then you can take that other places but on the like basic level, I can tag you Aaron as somebody on a on a maybe a pop up podcast, like launch, and you’re a non buyer. But then when you become a buyer, maybe a new episode drips and is like oh my gosh, yeah. Like I’m so glad you signed up or maybe a new feed gets in your pop in your you know, thing. And so there’s that and then it’s also dynamic content. So in the podcasting world, you hear it as called dynamic ads. We like to call it content, of course. And so it’s not like you’re going out and getting ads from like, I don’t know, like Lacroix as I’m drinking that here. No, you’re selling your own product, right, you’re like talking about your things you’re doing. And so we do all the same things will will go back all the episodes when you release dynamic content, and it will show at the beginning or show at the end. But what’s cool is we can tag people too. So you Aaron would receive different content because you haven’t bought I don’t know my mastermind or something like that. And so maybe I create a dynamic ad that’s specifically about a current thing that I’m watching only to people who don’t own it, which is really cool. So there’s a lot of powerful, just kind of like ninja stuff, I guess that that we’re making possible. And it’s it’s because of the private feed and knowing who’s listening, and you know, when they signed up and like what else they bought in my space in my world. Erin Ollila 43:14 I love your response to that because you have answered my final question. My My final question was going to be like, How does someone if they’re using as a lead magnet as an example? How would you they still keep in mind the idea that they want to convert potential clients, right? So in the grand scheme of everything that you just said, that’s like the advanced approach, right? Like, once you get in the back end, you kind of like build out these systems and like conversion is just going to be like, not like knocking on their door because they’re there and you have all these tools setup. But for the low tech option, do you have any advice for people kind of just getting started with the private podcast as a lead magnet on how they can encourage their audience to actually become potential clients? Yeah, Lindsay Padilla 43:53 I think this is related to I mean, lots of stuff, but getting into like, knowing where you’re leading them and like what you’re selling with that, like specific private podcast, potentially, right? And so whenever you’re creating a customer journey, you want to be thinking about, you know, where they are now, what are they thinking, like, what are their concerns, you know, being the voice of your in the head of your customer, right? And then you want to say like, okay, cool, if they learn X, Y, and Z or have this, you know, big aha moment in my podcast, does it make sense that the next thing to purchase is x or y or whatever, you know, you can totally do two offers you do not have to just be like, I think a lot of times I mean, there’s ways to do it, where you can offer two things depending on what they are able to it would have to be lined up. Our my co founder Nora setup is really big on this. We actually have a small mini course I think it’s 17 bucks, and it’s called attract with audio. And it’s she takes you through the whole kind of marketing thought process of, you know, where are your customers right now? What are the things that they’re Thinking and like how to build out that lead magnet, whether you choose a, you know, a pop up podcast, whether it’s an evergreen thing, whether it’s an old challenge, just making sure that that lines up and sets and tees up whatever it is your offer is whatever folks are realizing that they need help with specifically from you. So they raised their hand to solve maybe a small problem with this lead magnet. And then they’re uncovering the idea that like, oh my gosh, I actually have more things I need to work through and like she has these other offers. So I always go to customer journey and like what they’re thinking when they’re signing up for that lead magnet and in the decision of what you create, and then like what goes in that, you know, podcasts are pretty cool. I think there’s, you know, a lot of people often ask, like, how long should it be. And it’s, it’s not really about the length. And it’s more about knowing exactly the results that they’re gonna get by listening to it. And the cool thing about audio is that perceived value that I told you the beginning of like that, they’ll actually do it, and that it’s maybe easier to consume because of the medium. And so you’re you’re checking off those boxes for them now. Now it’s time to deliver the things that’s important. And it’s like, Do you know what you’re talking about? I’m like, Are you getting them the result and the promise that you that you have for that small lead magnet. And then if you’re getting that, then like the next step totally makes sense for people that are ready and raring to go. Erin Ollila 46:22 Before you go, I should tell everyone that you actually you as an Hello, audio have your own private podcast that people can listen to which I’ll put in the show notes and the description. Basically, what’s really cool about it is its success stories, right? So it’s kind of like, okay, you’ve you’ve listened to us talk, and we’ve given you some ideas and examples, but go and listen to this now because you’ll hear way more examples. I’m a big learner on how other people do things, whether it’s something I like or dislike, and I decide, oh, I don’t want to do that. But I’ll do this instead, I think it’s really a great way to see how the tools used and you know, learn from other creators. But what I always ask my guest is if you could give a homework assignment based on our conversation, tiny nothing overwhelming this college professor, what would you give them for our conversation? Yeah, Lindsay Padilla 47:09 we’ll do it. We’ll do like a low stress homework assignment. It’s not a test. Yeah. So I think the easy one is like kind of how we started this is go through some of your old content is there some gym there that you maybe want to rerelease to the world, because I’m telling you, not only does it benefit your customer and your audience and your future listener, but it’s easier for you to whip out, I promise, and like, you’ll see, like, without fail, especially if you listen to the success stories, but even on our website, we just have a smash of all the times before, like, it’s so easy to use, it really is, especially if you have the content sitting there on your computer in a folder, you literally can drag and drop all your videos in one shot, and it will convert them to podcast for you. And you basically have a feed and now you just have to, you know, do the other marketing stuff, like promote it and like maybe connect it to a sign up. But we even somewhat recently, the end of last year released like a cart and a signup page. So you actually don’t even have to, you know, get it all fancy with like, you know, fg funnels or anything like that you could like literally just have someone sign up using Hello audio, and then they’ll get access to that feed. And so do your audience that that service, like give them that knowledge and the way that they want to consume it and let them sign up for your private podcast of something you’ve already created. So go back through your content. That’s it. I obviously I went farther and I was like, and then launch a private podcast. Go through your content and be like, is there something here that I could turn into a private podcast? Erin Ollila 48:37 Yeah, that’s a two step homework assignment. So I further Lindsay Padilla 48:41 plus folks Yeah, you want to get a good grade a gold star from your professor? Yeah, he’s the whole thing. Erin Ollila 48:45 And I am all for gold stars here. The other thing I should probably say is I just in full agreement, like Lindsey is not paying me to say this, it really is that easy. Like all you have to do is like drag something into Hello audio. And then while all like pick a date, like for me, it’s I have an episodic podcast, I just pick the day and schedule it obviously you know, which I’m Private podcast is a little bit different. And you know how we set it up, but you’re just dragging and dropping. And then you are suddenly a podcast, I forgot Lindsay Padilla 49:13 to share my favorite use case. And this is another one just so as you go to test it out, right? Any coaching call or anything you’ve paid for that you haven’t rewatched or read listen for your own personal feed. So I have a like, listen, Lindsey feed that that’s where I dropped so I get like, I get a cool like, year at a glance, tarot reading. That’s like 12 months of things. And I want to be like, You should offer this as part of this. I’ve done it for many. I think God this is like my fourth year of doing it. Every month, I go to my feed, and I like click on it. And I really listened to that month and I’m like, what was what was my advice? Like, what did the cards say? Like this month? And so I think just having that feed that’s for me that I can convert content that isn’t on a private podcast, and I can I can listen to it and make sure I’m learning In a way that feels good for me. And so that’s a great way to test it is just grab whatever video is sitting on your computer that you’ve been meaning to, like, rewatch, or listen or whatever and pop it in and boom, hit the ground running just with yourself. Erin Ollila 50:13 I’m so glad you said that, because I know that extra. And there are so many things that I think I would like to enjoy listening to. So I mean, this is a great use case too. If you are even doing like market research of your own business or like a voice of customer research based on calls like discovery calls and things like that, like pull those suckers in there and just listen on in and then you know, doesn’t you’re not sharing it with the world. This is just for you. Maybe your team if you have one to kind of get them understanding things. So thanks for sharing that. All right, we’re ending here, folks. Everyone go download the success stories private podcast. Maybe by the time this airs. I’ll have my own private podcast. All right, have a great day. And we’ll see you again next week. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Top copy to me. If you enjoyed spending your time with me today. I would be so honored if you could subscribe to the show and leave a review. Want to continue the conversation. Head on over to Instagram and follow me at Erin Ollila. Until next time friends