AP 1071: Does It Make Sense For Me to Start a Podcast?

Pat Flynn: What's up, everybody? Pat Flynn here and welcome to Episode 1071 of AskPat 2.0. This is a coaching session between myself and an entrepreneur just like you. Today we're speaking with Dr. Kathleen Perry, who isn't quite sure whether or not she should start a podcast. We're going to talk about that today, but before we get into that I do want to mention that if you in any sort of way are interested in starting a podcast of your own, make sure you check out my free podcast cheat sheet which you can download at askpat.com/podcastcheatsheet. All one word, askpat.com/podcastcheatsheet. It is a multi-page resource and checklist, literally A to Z, everything you need to know to get your podcast up and running, from tagging your MP3 files to where to upload them, all that stuff. Again, askpat.com/podcastcheatsheet. You can check it out there and get started right away.

All right, here is the coaching call today with Dr. Kathleen Perry. Here she is. Hey, Dr. Kathleen, thank you so much for joining me today on AskPat. How are you doing?

Kathleen Perry: I'm doing great, and I'm honored that you chose me to be coached. And you can just call me Kathleen, that would be great.

Pat: Okay. No worries, Kathleen. Thank you for that. Why don't you share with everybody who you are and what you do?

Kathleen: Well, I help women over fifty reclaim their vitality so that they can live life to the fullest. Now I know that sounds a little bit cliché but truthfully I just really get jazzed and turned on knowing that I'm fulfilling my purpose by helping ladies connect with what they're passionate about. Most people come to see me because of a health concern. That's at least where we get started. I started out as a chiropractor over thirty years ago and now I've evolved into being more like a health coach, a mentor, a teacher. But I do specialize in women over fifty who are dealing with hormonal imbalances and health concerns. And you know, Pat, while they come to me for that initially, as we go deeper we usually find out that really they want to get back to feeling like themselves, they want to reconnect to their purpose. They want to find out what the next chapter of their life is all about, and health just becomes a vehicle to get them there. Does that make sense?

Pat: I love that. Thank you. Where can people go to learn more about this, really quick before we dive in here.

Kathleen: I created a website awhile ago. I'm not super, super convinced that it really reflects exactly who I am and what we do but it's drkathleenperry.com. I do have a Facebook page as well, and if you search for Dr. Kathleen Gross Perry, you would find me there. I'm on Facebook occasionally but I don't hang out there.

Pat: Cool. We'll link to all the places for everybody listening. I'd love to ask you, when you say you help women over fifty live their life to the fullest, how are you helping them do that?

Kathleen: We use a group curriculum, an approach that is primarily done in our office right now. Someone would come in and we have an initial consultation and we find out what their current concerns are, and what their goals are, and then we take them on a journey with a comprehensive lifestyle and wellness program. It entails things like grocery tours, nutrition classes, and we teach exercise. I practice acupuncture. But I'd say the biggest part of what I do is I act as their coach and their mentor and help them achieve their goals.

Pat: I love that. With all this going on, what's on your mind? How can I help you?

Kathleen: I think initially when I requested to be coached by you, I was . . . I've been intrigued by podcasting for a while. I love to speak, and I started the blog, my website, and I started writing articles and I find that was more challenging than actually speaking, but my question, I think, to you is am I really ready to start a podcast?

Pat: Let me ask you a question. How do you know you're ready for anything?

Kathleen: Well, I don't know if you're familiar with the Kolbe profile?

Pat: Mm-hmm, I am.

Kathleen: I'm a quick start. Quite often I have no idea if I'm ready for something.

Pat: I'm thinking about . . . so I was talking with my wife the other day about this and we were just reflecting on the kids and how old they're getting, and just what it was like when we first started a family. I remember conversations we had together about how do we know when we're ready to have children? How do we know we're ready to buy a house and all this stuff. The truth was, we didn't have a specific moment when we were just like, “You know what? I think all signs point to yes.” It was just more of a feeling that this is something we wanted, and that's how we knew we were ready. I know it's very common for . . . especially in the online space, to go, “Okay, well I need this many things,” or “I need this to happen first.” Honestly, when it comes down to it, it's just permission is what we need more than anything, from others and mostly ourselves. I'm curious to know when you say that you're wondering if you're ready for a podcast, can you define that? Is there a definition behind that in terms of why you wouldn't be ready for that?

Kathleen: I would just say that I'm kind of the . . . I think that my personality is such that a lot of things look like bright, shiny objects. Quite often I will say, “I really want to do that.” I really think that's a good idea, and then I find out that maybe I've committed to more than I can realistically follow through with.

Pat: That's a very smart way to think about it. I think instead of answering the question, “Are you ready yet?,” the question that we have to discover the answer for is, “Is this the right thing for you to do at this moment in time?”

Kathleen: Yes.

Pat: I think that draws me to what do you want? And I think if we can connect the podcast to helping serve your goals, then it might be a good fit. And if we discover that the podcast wouldn't help you, then it would be, like you said, one of those bright, shiny objects, just because everybody's doing it. I'd love to know your goals and how you imagine the podcast may help you, or maybe not help you.

Kathleen: So Pat, you're an amazing coach because that's an awesome question. Yes, okay, so my values are personal growth, love, and serving others. But growth, I don't necessarily want my business to grow larger. To me, the way I see growth is going deeper, and so if the podcast could help me reach beyond my local community . . . I mean, even though I love, love, love working with women, because I love hugs and I just . . . the whole . . . I do feel called to reach a broader audience, I guess. Also, I think the process of creating a podcast would help me organize everything that's inside of me that I want to teach and share and mentor people with, if that makes sense.

Pat: Yeah, it does. So it seems like it checks the box of sort of what it might do for your business in terms of helping to sort of share more of those stories, like you said, and organize those thoughts. So it checks off that one. It seems like, and again correct me if I'm wrong, it checks off the box of personal growth because you enjoy speaking and can imagine yourself sharing information in this medium versus something more strenuous like a blog and writing. So it checks off that one. And I know in my experience that podcasting allows me to have a number of deeper conversations with people, deeper relationships with my audience, and it seems to check off that box as well. For all those things that you had mentioned that you want to do, it seems to check the boxes off. Is there anything else that would be included in that list that you would hope to achieve from having the podcast? Do you have any aspirations to, for example, write a book or speak on stage or anything else?

Kathleen: Yes and yes.

Pat: Yes and yes.

Kathleen: I also find that I would like to get connected with colleagues, I guess. I love, love, love the clients or patients that I work with but I don't have as much opportunity to connect with colleagues. So I think that would be my own mentors. I think that I'm addicted . . . I walk my dogs in the morning, in the evening, and I just . . . I'm addicted to podcasts. I think it would . . . and I do, I do think that writing a book, possibly, but even more so, speaking on stage is something that I've done a little bit of but I could see that for myself as a way to serve and connect with the people that I'm here to help.

Pat: That's great. Well, more boxes are being checked off in my eyes. The one with connections to colleagues. I know I have a number of friends, some best friends now who I met as a result of inviting them on my show or me being invited to theirs. That's huge. It also has allowed me to connect with some of my dream mentors, like Gary Vaynerchuk and Tim Ferriss, big names who I'd never thought would even pay any attention to me, and here they are coming on my show, again because I have a podcast. This is one of the benefits that I share about having a podcast. Many people start one even if they don't get any listeners, they'd still be happy because it has that ability to have a platform for people to speak with each other on, and it's also the one that's going to help you with a lot of these other aspirations. I know, for example, that a lot of traditional publishers are looking for people who have podcasts. Why? Because they have, A, a platform, but B, can also get a sense of their personality and who they might be working with as a client. And I know also, for the same reason, many conference directors are looking for people who have a podcast, because it's much easier to get a sense of how a person might be on their stage from a podcast and a video versus something like a blog. So I think it's very obvious to all of us listening right now that a podcast would make sense for you, and my question is . . . and I think you kind of already knew that, so I'm just curious to know what's stopping you?

Kathleen: That's a great question. And I'm even more excited, Pat, because it's so cool, all those things that you shared about what has evolved and come up for you and what's emerged by you doing this. So the question is what's stopping me?

Pat: What are you scared of, maybe?

Kathleen: Yes, that's what I was going to say. I feel . . . okay, so probably a little bit of perfection, that's definitely an aspect of my personality, that I've got to figure out some things first. I have what I call ideaphoria. I don't ever feel like I'm at a loss for creative thinking, but it almost could seem pretty scattered. My practice manager says, “Oh, I would hate to be inside your brain, there's so much going on in there.” So I feel like I could . . . I've looked at your Power-Up Podcasting multiple times, and where I feel that I get stuck in terms of okay, I just can't pull the trigger is that . . . I don't know if it's like a brand. It's not really brand, niche, but the clear message. And maybe I shouldn't be afraid or worried about being embarrassed that the world can watch me grow on my podcast. Does that make sense?

Pat: It makes complete sense, and what I would recommend you do is listen to my very first episode. You're going to see how much a person can grow from their first episode to where they're at now, and it has completely changed me as a person. This is why I'm so big on helping people start their podcast. I think that . . . and this comment of yours, to finish off your last sentence, definitely relates to some sort of perfectionism, some sort of bias that you have, which I know is just me too. I grew up in a house where I had to have a hundred percent on a test and if I didn't, we'd work for four hours on all the things I'd get wrong. I'm attuned to having everything needing to be perfect. But I'll tell you, my first episode was recorded three times because I wanted it to be perfect. If I had waited until it was perfect, it would have never gone out. And obviously, you know the impact that the podcast has made you've heard it before. People need to hear you. Imagine a woman who's over fifty who needs to hear your message and she wants to hear your message and you're talking to her and she's asking you what you think, but you say, “No, I'm worried that what I'm about to say to you is not going to come out right, so I'm not going to actually help you right now.”

Kathleen: Yes. Absolutely. I don't want that.

Pat: Yeah, so I think you have to go . . . and one thing I want to offer you is since you're here as a guest on AskPat, I'm going to have Jess, my assistant, give you a free license to Power-Up Podcasting, so you have that. That's another excuse. You have no excuse now. So we're going to set you up with a free membership to that, and we'll get that set up for you right after this call, and we can get you in there and get started. Because I think that . . . especially with how . . . and we've only met just now, it's been fifteen minutes. You're very easy to connect with, with your voice. I think that's something that you should definitely have out there in the world, so I want to give that to you if that's okay.

Kathleen: Pat, that is so generous. I already know that about you, but oh my gosh, yeah I'm choked up here.

Pat: I know it'll come back to me in some way, whether it's like you sharing it or mentioning it. And even if you don't, it feels good to give to somebody who I know is going to serve others too. And I know that the universe has this way of paying people back for that. I'm happy to do that. On the branding stuff, you'll see some stuff in the course about that. However, know that, and this is the biggest thing, you can change anything at any time. Your artwork . . . the funny thing that I've noticed with my students is they get hung up on the artwork. Perhaps it's a little bit my fault, because I always say that people see your artwork before they even listen to your show, so they think the artwork has to be perfect in the very similar way that we were just talking about. But the thing is, you can change it at any time and you just have to get something up and move on to the next step, and you can always perfect as you go later on. I think the most important thing is just as you go along, imagine you're a person listening on the other end and just speak to them and utilize the network that you've built to have interesting and amazing people on your show with you.

I would recommend having both a combination of you and a guest and you by yourself to share. I like that combination. I do that on my show because number one, you get to connect with amazing people. With a guest, you get to have them share their knowledge that you don't have yourself, but when you do solo shows, which is challenging, you get to also become an authority figure. You have something to say and you get to have people build a relationship with you and only you during that time. The other challenge that I would recommend you . . . you can even start now, before you get into the course, is try to write down fifteen to twenty topics of episodes and/or guests that you could have on. Because if you can do that, I mean, you kind of see the roadmap in front of you right then and there. And if you can't, it might mean well, perhaps you're thinking too narrow about the show topics, or sometimes too broad. You can figure out your next steps after just thinking six months in advance how many . . . or even three months, how many episode ideas can I come up with? And when you see them there you get so fired up because then you just imagine having those conversations and visualizing what people are going to be thinking when they're on a walk listening to your podcast. It's so much fun. It's my absolute favorite thing to do, is podcasting for sure.

Kathleen: Yeah, yeah. I have a question for you.

Pat: Please.

Kathleen: A combo of solo episodes and guests with interviews, so I'm assuming that guests could be experts that would offer up something that would serve my females, my women, my audience. But, just like AskPat, what about coaching someone who's in one of my transformational programs? I mean, I almost think the past thirty years, if I had captured all the transformations that the women that I've held their hands through, that would be so amazing and so encouraging for someone who is listening and they'd go, “Yeah, that's me.”

Pat: So that would check off the box of serving others. That would check off the box of your own personal growth. That would check off the box of going deeper. That would check off the box of obviously inspiration and education. I think all signs point to yes, absolutely. I think that's a fantastic idea. And what I love about that is you're already . . . whether you meant to do this or not, that's also great marketing for you. Because when you have these other women come on and share their story, you being a part of that story, you as sort of the Yoda in their Luke Skywalker story, people want to now go to Yoda, go to you, and get advice too.

Kathleen: Yes. Well, it's one thing for me to say because I've been in healthcare and I try to walk the talk, believe me. I'm not perfect but oftentimes when somebody's on the fence about deciding if they're going to step into a comprehensive program with me, it can be so powerful if they talk to someone else who's done it recently, that started where they're starting.

Pat: Yeah, absolutely. I think you're on the right path. There should be no reason why you shouldn't have a podcast and I think that you're going to have a ton of fun with it. You're going to have these amazing conversations. I've already sent a message to my assistant for you while we were talking, so we're going to get you set up as soon as you can. And what I would highly recommend is you just take it one step at a time. It can be very overwhelming to get in there and go, “Okay, there's a lot of steps involved.” But what's nice about podcasting is you do these steps once and then, after that, it's kind of automatic. Then it's just about having conversations and making it happen. You're going to be met with more objections along the way, perhaps consciously or subconsciously, about starting something new. Any time we start something new we look for excuses, and I think that you have to always keep in mind these stories that you're going to tell and how they're going to help you and the women who are listening to just help you through those challenges.

Kathleen: Yes, absolutely. I know that taking it step by step, the technology is the thing that kind of always feels intimidating to me, but going step by step . . . because I'm not so much about bigger. I am about going deeper, and I'm also . . . I'm in this for the long game, so it doesn't have to come together overnight. I'm okay with that.

Pat: That's great

Kathleen: I also feel that time is probably . . . I value time more than anything. If I can see the path to having this fit into my life without feeling like it's taking hours and hours and hours of additional time from me every week, I would be okay with that. Can you give me an idea, on average, once you figure out the ins and outs . . . I know that you talk about getting a system going, and by the way, thank you so much for your episode called “Dear Podcasters.”

Pat: You're welcome.

Kathleen: I listened to that on my drive in today and it was awesome. I felt like you were speaking to me directly.

Pat: Thank you. Your audience is going to give you that same feedback too, and I'm excited for that. But in terms of work to get it up and running, it is work but I do break that step-by-step process down in that course for you, so you'll get access to that very soon. And like I said, take it in baby steps. But at start, it's going to take a little bit of time. When you record an episode, it's going to feel very weird. It's weird to talk to a microphone, to nobody in your room sometimes. It's going to take some time to learn how to edit it, and you don't have to . . . I don't teach in a way where you have to edit out every breath, every um, every mistake. I want people to keep as much of that in there as possible. But I also say you do not and should not ever try to do a podcast in one take, if you're doing solo shows in particular. I'll show you easy ways that you can edit it. And I would say that your first few episodes are probably going to take, after recording, two to four hours to figure out how to get up into the hosting platform and into a podcast. But over time, I got to a point where it would only take me thirty minutes per episode after that time. And then, of course there are people and companies that you can hire to help support you with that.

But initially, after all the setup, it's only about your episodes. The whole thing is connected. So the way that podcasting works, Kathleen, it's not like you record an MP3 episode or an episode that turns into an MP3 file and then you upload it directly to Apple, you upload it directly to Stitcher, you upload directly to all the different places, that's not how it works. You upload it to one place, which is called your hosting company for your media files, and if you've already submitted your links to those directories, as soon as you pop a new episode in your host, those directories automatically go, “Oh whoa, Kathleen came out with a new episode, let me push it out to everybody who is subscribed to the show automatically.” And that's kind of cool because then you don't have to worry about it after that point. So you'll see it all in there, and I'm just kind of letting you know that it's a little bit of work in the beginning but it starts to open up over time.

Kathleen: Okay, that puts my mind at ease a little bit more.

Pat: Yeah, and there's a community there that you'll be able to join, a Facebook group that has fifteen hundred people, students of mine, who are all there to support each other. We have alumni who took the course nearly two years ago who are still in there helping newbies, so they're all going to be there to support you, too. So anyway, I'm excited for you. I hope you're excited too, and you've got that bug of creating something that I think is going to be really fun but also an important of your brand and your overall mission.

Kathleen: I am so excited. I am so grateful. And Pat, two years from now, I'm not going to be a newbie in the group. I'm going to be one of the people there helping the newbie podcasters.

Pat: You're amazing. Thank you, Kathleen. I appreciate you. We'll get you that link soon. And one more time, where can people go and find you and everything great you have going on right now?

Kathleen: I think the best way is my website, DrKathleenPerry.com. There's a contact form there. People can call or send an email.

Pat: Perfect. Thank you so much, Kathleen. Good luck, and we'll check in with you a little bit later and see how the podcast is going and how your business is going and would love to connect in a few months and have you back on the show if that's cool.

Kathleen: Pat, again, I'm so grateful. Thank you so much.

Pat: All right. I hope you enjoyed that coaching session today with Kathleen Perry. You can find her at DrKathleenPerry.com and Kathleen, I look forward to seeing your podcast up on all the places very soon. And by the way, if you're interested in starting a podcast of your own, if you haven't done so already make sure you download my free podcast cheat sheet. You can find it at askpat.com/podcastcheatsheet. All one word, askpat.com/podcastcheatsheet. And if you want to get coached today just like Kathleen did all you have to do is go to askpat.com, find the application button right in the middle of that page and you can fill out your application. You guys are what makes this show run, because you know, if no one was asking me anything it would just be called Pat and that wouldn't be any fun. So askpat.com is where you go. Thank you again. I appreciate you. Make sure you hit subscribe if you haven't already. And please, if you have a moment, leave a review. That would be super handy. Cheers, thanks so much, and Team Flynn I'll see you in the next episode. Cheers and Team Flynn for the win.