Podcasting for Your eCommerce Business and a Review of Season 1

welcome to the curiosity podcast a show
about everything ecommerce and digital
business the aim is simple to help you
thrive online and now your host Matt
Edmondson welcome my fellow ecommerce
entrepreneurs my name is Matt Edmondson
and this is the curiosity podcast it is
for those of us who are curious about
e-commerce and want to know how to get
better at doing digital business and in
this episode I'm gonna wrap up season
one that's right this is the final
episode of season one I'm gonna wrap up
the show for this season I'm gonna tell
you was coming also in season two and
some of the changes that you can expect
in the podcast and why why we're making
them and what's gonna happen as a result
so we've got all that in today's show
but Before we jump into that let me give
a big shout out to today's sponsor which
of course is the fabulous and amazing
curious digital curious digital is the
e-commerce platform that I use for all
my ecommerce businesses that's right I
use one platform I have used many over
the years and with clients that I've
consulted with we've come across many
many other e-commerce platforms and out
of all of them that I've worked with my
favorite one by far is the curious
digital platform so if you are in the
market for a new e-commerce platform do
check out curious dude so that's curious
with a curiously
it is with a K and not with a C but do
you check it out
and of course I will put a link to
curious this tool on the show notes
which you can see at the website I'm at
Edmonson comm you can check those out
there there will be a link which you can
just follow follow along it's as easy as
that right it's as easy as that
okay let's get into today's show now
this like I said is the final episode of
season one and I'm ABI
fan of doing podcast seasons because it
actually gives you a natural break it
gives you a chance to stop and to
reflect to figure out what's gone well
what you need to change where's the
industry going and all that sort of
stuff you get all that you get a little
bit of thinking space so you you're
never stuck in one format you can move
along so I'm a big fan of the season
idea so we are going to wrap this up
season season is actually not that
far away season will launch in early
so make sure you do subscribe to
the podcast so that when we start again
in you get all the access that you
need right now what has been going on I
censor that question what have we
learned from the podcast we're going to
answer that question and what is going
to happen in season we are going to
get into that question as well and I'm
gonna try and help maybe explain how all
this has been working and how if you are
thinking about doing a podcast and maybe
why you should think about doing a
podcast and how it can work for an
e-commerce business okay now what's been
going on for the keen-eyed amongst you
you have noticed that actually has been
a few weeks since we last posted a
podcast and I have to apologize for that
it is entirely my fault well it's
entirely my body's fault I have not been
well for a few weeks and it caused us to
get a little bit behind with the podcast
so thankfully I am doing a lot better
now I have been to the hospital more
times than I care to remember I've been
to see the doctor I am a super super
grateful for the NHS in this marvellous
country in which I live there's not a
lot of things functioning that well in
the UK at the moment but the NHS is
definitely something that I am eternally
grateful for let me tell you the doctors
and nurses they were wonderful they took
care of me they're still taking care of
me and I'm super grateful for that
there's been a lot of stuff let me tell
you from my personal wellness point of
view that has been going on I won't bore
you with the details but I'm about
percent so
thanks for thinking of me thanks for all
the positive vibes thoughts and prayers
much appreciated let me tell you I
really do value them so but it has
caused me to be a couple of weeks behind
on the podcasts we are definitely
wanting to obviously not make sure that
that happens in the future and one of
the things that you can do this is
perhaps lesson number one from learning
podcasts one of the things I've learned
is actually you can do batch processing
other words you can record three or four
episodes at a time and have some in the
can in the can as they say so that you
always maintain your podcasting schedule
I just didn't have the last one in the
Canon it been so busy reading up to it
of course sods law dictates that
actually it just worked out that way
right but normally I'd have two or three
episodes in the can and server
pre-recorded so you know we can we can
maintain the delivery schedule but we
didn't this time so anyway that's what's
been going on let's move on so why have
we learned from doing the podcast what
have we learned from the curiosity
podcast well what episodes in and
we've done a lot of stuff we've had
guests on the show we've done coaching
calls on the show we've done it where
it's just been me talking and then after
a few weeks were like now it's just
let's not just have me talking let's get
sadaf in as well and then we started
doing the news thing the e-commerce news
in the middle to break it up a little
bit and because you know as much as I
like the sound of my own voice
I appreciate consistent Matt is not
brilliant for everybody although that's
what we're doing in this podcast but but
yes as one of the early lessons we
learned actually break in dip was good
now let's talk about why we did a
podcast obviously doing a podcast
connects you with a bigger and wider
audience and podcasting is such an
interesting idea in terms of a voice
medium and the barriers to entry are
quite low so it's definitely worth doing
you don't really need a whole lot of
tech to do it if I'm honest
you just need a microphone and a
recorder and away you go I can't show
you cuz it's all plugged in here but
down here I have the zoom hhandy
recorder which is my recorder of choice
you can record straight into your
computer you can plug your microphone
into your computer or even your phone
these days and record straight on to
those I was always taught actually with
a podcast you record to a separate
recorder just in case it all goes a bit
peaked on with your computer which it
has been known to during a recording you
don't want to lose the entire recording
and so yeah this is sort of the how I do
the podcasting I suppose and so I record
to the hhandy recorder from zoom and
the microphone that goes into that is a
rode podcaster mic with an XLR output
which is the input you need for the zoom
recorder so it's a good quality mic and
that works quite well there a few out
there that you can get but I really like
Rhodes microphones I've got a lot of
their mics and I've got the lapel mics
and all that sort of stuff but actually
the microphone that I'm using is just
the rode podcaster on a mic on in front
of me and it's as straightforward as
that and I record onto a micro SD card
and and then the end of the show we take
that audio file and I put it into the
computer and we look at it and with
Adobe's audition and the reason we use
audition is because I am a subscriber to
Adobe Creative Cloud and it's part of
that right you get Photoshop Illustrator
and all that sort of stuff but you also
get adobe audition and it's just one of
those pieces of software that things to
YouTube mainly we figured out how to use
along the way and it's a great piece of
kit maybe a little bit overkill and for
the majority of us but actually I really
like it and I've grown to use it and so
we do all the editing in Adobe Audition
the podcast is then uploaded to pod bean
and this particular podcast is uploaded
to pod bean I also have a podcast which
is on libsyn and we've tried various
other platforms I like Lipson I like
podcasts they're both pretty cool and
so do try them out there are some free
ones actually out there which we're
going to try soon so I'll let you know
how I get on with those with a different
podcast this is my third podcast I think
and so I do like podcast now I am used
to it as as I sort of a medium and it is
great right and so yeah so we use Adobe
Audition
I record through the rode podcaster mic
into the zoom handy hand we upload to
pod bean pod bean then tell Apple and
all those people that the podcast is
live which is fab we also do a blog post
usually around each podcast on the
madman's inside the madness insight is
built on KD core which is the same
platform we use for the e-commerce sites
the KD the curious digital platform but
without all of the e-commerce thrills
and spills although that has now been
added to the cater to the madness
insight because we're gonna be selling
courses very soon and there's a few
products that I like that I'm going to
put on that website which I'll tell you
more about in upcoming podcasts anyway
that is sort of the how how we do it I
genuinely generally well genuinely and
generally record in a separate recording
room in our offices which has got some
sound proofing in not mega loads you may
be still hear bits and bobs and floating
ranks I'm in a busy warehouse but it's
got a you know it's got enough in to
sort of stop the distractions hopefully
and that's it and doing a podcast like
say is really easy I've literally done
podcasts from my phone just recorded
straight into my phone pod Ben have an
app where you can record straight into
your phone you don't even need all of
the other stuff that I've talked about
and the key obviously is good audio so I
would say invest in a good microphone if
you are going to do a podcast but why
would you want to do a podcast
especially if you have an e-commerce
business well I think podcasting is one
of those mediums which has remained
popular for quite some time and it is
still growing in popularity you've
obviously got Adam
of media delivery platforms like YouTube
which are brilliant and valid but
podcasting is different given the fact
it is voice only which makes the
barriers to entry I think much lower
especially if you feel like altitude
videos I've got to go and hire someone
to do because I don't want to do it
don't want to be in front of a video
camera
or I've got to go get the latest camera
or some fancy lights and you know the
barriers to entry are much much smaller
and and it is popular if you can get it
other people do subscribe and genuine
generally keep it in those two words
makes deficit in reason generally people
do like to listen to podcasts when
they're working out or when they're
driving in a car and so we find you know
what is easy access people can listen to
us while they're doing other things
which is great so yeah all kinds of
reasons why I think podcasting is really
straightforward and the fact you do
connect to another audience I think is
is actually really really helpful and it
connects you to a bigger audience and
people feel like they can connect with
you and so obviously when you do a
podcast do it around the topic of your
website there's no point in me doing I
don't know a life enhancement podcast if
I'm selling pillowcases I mean just just
doesn't make sense right and but I could
do a podcasts on how to improve your
sleep you know and and talk to people
about how to get better sleep into a
podcast around that topic
if I'm selling bedding for example so
it's fairly straightforward to get the
topic with our Beauty website we did a
podcast and for the longest time around
beauty and what that means they
obviously don't necessarily can talk
about them a little bit but and it's
more about the industry how we're
defining Beauty and the consequences of
our thinking these days you know there's
so much good stuff out there it's almost
like you could just keep going right
so I find podcasting pretty easy to do
to sit and talk you know I have an
outline some key points I'm going to hit
and sit and talk and away we go and and
from that we then create like I say Bob
blog post we create social media content
and I find for me content
is easy when I start with podcasting if
I sit down in front of a blank computer
screen and think what am I going to
write a blog post on I don't know I just
find that a little bit harder
I suppose I could outline it the same
way as a podcast but it doesn't I'd
rather stalk them right if that makes
sense
but you can obviously get podcasts
turned into blog posts and get them
transcribed you can edit them out you
can then clip quotes and sayings and put
those on your social media which we've
been doing a little bit on Instagram
recently which has been great so um so I
think that's why you would want to do it
to aid your marketing efforts to reach
our client to give you the content that
you need to give you a voice and it's a
popular meeting and I think it's
probably the least competitive one out
there and competitive it's the least
busy and it's maybe the easiest medium
to be heard on as things currently
stands now some people may correct me on
that but that's just how I feel about it
right and so podcasting is great go out
there try and experiment now let me run
through with you some of the lessons
that I have learned from doing this
podcast the curiosity podcast the first
one is I mentioned it earlier as much as
I'd like a cell like the sound of my own
voice it is good to mix it up and have
different voices in there and we broke
it up in the middle of the show with the
e-commerce new segments which you may
remember from the previous shows and
we're sadef and I would just generally
talk about some of the latest news and
findings around all things ecommerce and
that was just a bit of fun as well as a
bit of Education but it was
light-hearted and it just broke up the
show a little bit the second thing that
I would say is when you do a podcast
give your best content right and people
want to feel like you're giving them
value so don't hold anything back just
tell people as it is what's going on
people don't want to feel like scammed
it's like they don't want to feel like
oh you're only giving me partial stuff
and then you're going to charge me money
to get the rest of it and they just want
to know what's going on and my
experience is the the more open we are
with people the more likely they are to
want to engage with what we're doing
like in
course or something like that or in our
products or in our services because
people just feel connected right it's
one of those really interesting sales
tips that I give to people just tell
people everything right at the beginning
and people will decide whether or not to
buy it from you and it's it's quite a
fascinating thing to do I when I do
consulting when I've sat down with
consulting clients and they you know
we'll be sat usually in my office I've
got a big whiteboard in the office we
spend a whole afternoon talking about
their business their e-commerce business
and we sketch things out on the board
and then at the end of the afternoon I
go well there you go there's a strategy
this is what I would do if I was you and
if you got me and this is what I would
do but you can now go ahead and do it
yourself if you want to you don't
necessarily need me to come in and do it
and most of the time so I'd say % of
the times I've done that people have
gone that's really great you've told us
exactly what you're gonna do that super
honest super transparent please come and
do it right so it's the same with
podcasts the the better the content you
give to people the more people connect
with you the more they will engage with
the products and services that you're
doing so don't hold back give your best
content
that'd be my second thing my third thing
would be have fun with it podcasting can
be a little bit serious right especially
if you're in a studio talking to a wall
which often you are when you're
recording a podcast and you've got a
picture your audience in front of you
you've got to feel like almost you're on
stage and there's a that your crowds in
front of you and you've got to go for it
you've got to bring the energy you've
got to have the fun you've got to bring
the content and you've got to engage
them you can't just act like you're
talking to a wall otherwise your voice
will get very very monotone and that's
not great so that would be my next tip
and coming back to my voice my next top
tip would be when you do a podcast try
and vary the speed in which you talk
vary the amount of pauses you have in
the conversation don't be afraid of
laughs don't be afraid to tell jokes
make it feel like you're having a
conversation
with the person listening right they
don't want to feel lectured they just
want to feel like they're having a
conversation with you that you are a
friendly and warm guy unless you are
doing a podcast on lecturing in which
case maybe just maybe people won't want
to be lectured I'm lying I'm not saying
either way okay so there are some of the
things top tips that I would give you
the bottom line is you've just got to
have a go record some podcasts and
totally understand the first half a
dozen you do are probably going to be
rubbish and that's okay because that is
where the learning is just record them
listen to them yourselves once you've
got through three or form you've made
some changes get a bunch of other people
to listen to them tell them again to
tell you what they think and then
hopefully you should have the makings of
a pretty good show and if you are going
to do a podcast let me know and let me
know your podcast link because I'd love
to gander and have a listen and see how
it's going right I'm definitely not a
podcast expert but I would definitely
love to hear about what you are doing
okay so that's great that's some of the
lessons learned what are some of the
changes that we're gonna make for season
two and why are we going to make those
changes that's maybe a little bit more
interesting what is actually coming up
so the first and foremost is the podcast
we are now going to try and get a guest
in on most episodes whereas in season
one we had a few guests and it was
mainly me talking I think we're gonna
flip that and we're gonna try and get
more guests on the show so more experts
more helpful interviews and
conversations because I find I
personally find them well really
fascinating and much much easier to do
from from my point of view in terms of
talking to people interviewing people I
find that much much easier than just
sitting here and talking by myself to
the wall pretending the audience is in
front of me right
so we're going to get more guests on the
show and we've would were approaching a
whole bunch of people right now about
get them on the show to some great
people in e-commerce that I've met over
the years or that I've heard about or
that I've seen on social media we're
just reaching out to a bunch of people
and we're getting guests on the show to
start recording which is why this
podcast will start in season two
probably early next year just to give us
that buffer to record a few interviews
now the other thing that I'm going to do
the main second thing that I'm gonna do
hopefully depending on the guest and how
it works is whenever we record the
podcast I'm gonna broadcast a recording
on Facebook live at the same time right
so what this means is as we were
recording the podcast and this will be
dependent on the guest and what their
free time is and what my free time is
but as we get the guests on the show
we're gonna stream live onto Facebook
and I'm gonna put it onto my Facebook
page so if you've not yet I connected
with me on Facebook make sure you head
on over to facebook.com forward slash
Matt Edmunds and co-ceo madman Sankoh
and you should find me or to search
madman Senor Fahmy on that and connect
with me on Facebook right because when
we when we do the podcasts we're going
to send out an invite you know one of
those Facebook events saying listen this
recording is gonna happen with this
guest at this time and this is what
we're talking about make sure you join
us on Facebook live come along join in
Facebook live and on Facebook like
you'll obviously see and you just heard
the ding in the background let me give
you another top tip when you're
recording a podcast turn the sound off
in computer because it sounds much more
professional anyway all that aside back
to the Facebook live so yeah come along
to the live broadcasts you can obviously
listen to the show bein recorder you'll
be able to see it because hopefully my
guests will have liked us you know we'll
do it on skype or or have order so you
get to see them but because of the
commenting feature you'll be also able
to give comments and ask
to the gas as the podcast is being
recorded so there's a lot more
interaction which I think will also be a
little bit more interesting so that's
the key reason why we're going to
broadcast at Facebook live is to enable
the audience to engage a lot more with
that and but also what streaming on
facebook life does it means I can also
record that I can put that up to YouTube
and and so it means the podcast then
becomes content across multiple streams
of social media which just gives me more
exposure and connects me with more
people right so thought about this a lot
more I can then take the video user man
Facebook Ads Instagram stories and so on
and so forth so recording it at the same
time and streaming it oh it's gonna be a
bit of an experiment I don't actually
know how it's gonna turn out I have to
be honest with you it could be an utter
train wreck so make sure you come along
and find out my hope is actually that it
goes quite well and we got some
engagement from people and some
questions flowing certainly as people
get used to the fact that we are
broadcasting it on Facebook live as well
so they're the two main changes coming
in a season two one
my plan is to have more guests and two
when we record the podcast we will
broadcast live on Facebook at the same
time you can join in that conversation
and and get involved with it so um so
that's what we're planning to do just to
let you know so there you go this like I
say is the end of season one I really do
appreciate you guys joining in and
listening I thank you for your comments
if you haven't done so yet please give
us a review on iTunes it really helps us
connect with new folks or whatever
platform you listen to your podcasts on
it would be great to get the feedback
and the reviews any questions ideas
you've got for season two let me know in
fact if you want to be a guest on the
show on the podcast head on over to the
website and you can apply to be a guest
on the show next year if we've not
already reached out to you it would be
great to have a conversation have a chat
we can see how
it goes so this like I say is me signing
off for season there is not going to
be any e-commerce news with sadef this
week I just wanted to do a finisher just
a closer on season just to let you
guys know what has been happening on
what's going on and why but just also to
say thanks thanks for subscribing it's
been great having you along and I will
see you well I'll see you on Facebook
live well you may hear me but on the
podcast in a month or twos time when we
release season so make sure you stay
subscribed stay connected and stay in
touch if I don't speech you before have
a very very Merry Christmas and a
brilliant new year I hope your
e-commerce business is growing and
thriving it's been it's been a heck of a
few months and we're all excited about
right so I will see you in
you've been listening to the curiosity
podcast with Matt Edmondson subscribe
and join us next time as we carry on
conversations about all things ecommerce