Marketing Happy Hour - Why Every Brand Needs a Podcast, AND How to Build One | Rita Richa of Reignite Media

Episode Date: August 18, 2022

This week on the Marketing Happy Hour podcast, Cassie chats with friend and podcast expert, Rita Richa. Rita is a B2B podcast coach, show producer, founder of Reignite Media, and host of Bippity Boppity Business. In her conversation with Cassie, Rita spills the tea on why every brand should have a podcast and how to strategize for one. She shares how to use podcasting to build your brand, grow your network, and land more sales.  And it wouldn't be Marketing Happy Hour without powerful career advice. Rita sprinkles in her top insight for professionals, including why experience is king and how to get more of it.  Grab a drink and listen in to this week's Marketing Happy Hour conversation! ----- Other episodes you'll enjoy if you enjoyed Rita's episode: Building a Social Media Side Hustle While Working Full-Time | Josie Maida of Maida Media Getting Innovative: Pitching and Launching New Content Strategies | Michelle Westfall of Universal Parks & Resorts ____ Say hi! DM us on Instagram and share your favorite moments from this episode - we can't wait to hear from you!  Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. NEW: Check out our website! NEW: Join our email list! Follow Rita on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_ritaricha/ Connect with Rita on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritaricha/ Follow MHH on Instagram: https://instagram.com/marketinghappyhr Follow MHH on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/marketing-happy-hour/ Subscribe to our LinkedIn newsletter, Marketing Happy Hour Weekly: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/marketing-happy-hour-weekly-6950530577867427840/ Join our Marketing Happy Hour Insiders LinkedIn Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9238088/

Hey there, welcome to the Marketing Happy Hour podcast, where each week we're learning career-defining advice, powerful social media strategies, unique creative tips, groundbreaking influencer marketing tactics, and more from marketing experts that represent some of the world's leading brands. Let's dive in. Grab a drink and join your your hosts Cassie and Erica for this week's episode. Hey Marketing Happy Hour listeners, today you're in for a treat. Cassie is sitting down with her friend and fellow Disney fanatic, Rita Riccia, founder of Reignite Media and producer of the Bippity Boppity Business Podcast.

Rita shares her journey from getting laid off to finding her sweet spot in the world of podcasting and media. She also shares all of the actionable steps you need to know in order to start and maintain your own podcast. If you're curious about podcasting to increase your business's reach, Rita explains how the four types of content strategies for business podcasts can help you use storytelling to create a community and generate new leads. Finally, Cassie and Rita chat through my favorite social media platform. Can you guess? That's right, LinkedIn. And Rita shares just how impactful it can be for your personal brand. Wow. Okay. That was a lot. I think it's time to just dive in. So you know what to do. Grab your favorite drink and listen in to

this week's Marketing Happy Hour conversation. Hi, Rita. I am so excited to have you on the show welcome to marketing happy hour you and I have developed a friendship over the last couple of months and it's been such a joy getting to know you but I'm excited to chat with you about all things podcasting so welcome thank you so much for having me Cassie it's so cool to get to talk to you. Like we're buddies in the, in the back of the office, kind of gossiping or something. I've been really enjoying getting to know you and learning about what you do. And I'm so happy to be on the show. Yes. Yes. We're so excited to chat with you about all things, podcasting, building community, et cetera. But I do have an important question for you as we start,

because you are new to the show. We do ask this to all of our guests because it is marking happy hour, but Rita, what is in your glass? I would say tonight, but this morning, since we are recording at 10 30 in the morning, what do you have in your glass? I'm going to make this sound fancier than it really is. I have a specially blended coffee from Nordstrom cafe. They, uh, Colombian beans flown in and ported. Nah, it's just coffee. It is from Nordstrom cafe, but it is in my mirror mirror on the wall mug. Um, Cassie and I have a shared affinity for Disney's. You guys probably already know. So that's what I'm drinking today. Yes, we certainly do. I am also on brand with Disney. I have water in a Cinderella cup and then I have orange juice. So double fisting as always,

but yes, Disney is a shared love of ours. We'll definitely talk about that throughout this show, but Rita, can you tell us the story of how you created Reignite Media and why podcasting? Absolutely. So I have experience in B2B podcasting. I worked with an agency prior to for two years. And unfortunately, as many people had experienced in this year, there was a there was a mass layoff and I lost my job. And I basically had literally enough money provided to me so that I could pay for one month of rent.

And I was feeling really down. I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I knew I loved podcasting. I knew I loved relationship building. And the jobs that I was looking for at the time, they weren't hitting right with me. Nothing was open in the moment that made me excited and felt like it could relate to all the amazing experience that I had acquired in my prior role. And I don't know, I was just thinking to myself, okay, I literally have the least amount of money possible.

So if I go broker, then I already am trying to start something on my own. Then there, you know, I'm broke either way. So it's like, I'm either starting a new job or I'm starting a new business. And I really didn't want to start my own business at all. I actually was, you know, applying and I had a resume consultation with a wonderful guy. His name is Jonad. And Jonad, I always say your name wrong. So I'm sorry if you're listening to this, but his LinkedIn, I'll, we'll drop it below. He was actually really inspiring because as we were going through my resume and he was trying to pump me up

to start applying for jobs, he briefly mentioned that with all the experience I had, maybe I did want to break out on my own. And I was like, nah, man, like you're crazy. There's no way. And he's like, no. And we had put together all my experience and something very helpful was to incorporate numbers and the work that I've done. So I had been telling people possibly, oh, I produced podcast episodes, but he was like, how many though? Like how many did you actually produce? And I was like, okay, let's count over 300 podcast episodes in the B2B space in two years. And it just reminded me like, wait, I do know what I'm doing. We're so hard on ourselves as professionals. Long story short, I started letting a couple people know in my life that I, who I had worked

with that I was going to do this. And because I had spent the past two years building my personal brand on LinkedIn, I made that post and referrals just started coming in, especially one gentleman. His name is Rob, Rob Conlon. He actually even has his own podcasting agency that he started. But because of all the relationships that I built and I'm very much in the mindset of collaborating and networking and not trying to alienate and have competition around me, we all have strengths and weaknesses in our industry that might be suitable for different clients. Rob came across a few and

started sending DM introductions to me. And then I started trying to DM some people. And in a month, I went from, you know, nothing to an LLC to reignite media being the name to a logo. And like, I, this is not a lie. Like I went from $0 to a gross income or really sales rather is the correct term of around $6,000. So, I mean, that's not like three, you know, million, you know, it's not six figures, but you know, I got that. I got those sales in faster than the unemployment check that I actually never got. Oh my goodness. My, my dream was, was to go into, um, these, these companies and help them reinvigorate, reignite the podcasts that they already had,

because some of them had already been doing this for a while, but pod fade is a real thing and they didn't understand, or maybe didn't want to, because they were burnt out. Think about maybe new creative ways they could use their podcast to magnify their personal brand or just storytell. So yeah, that's the really long answer to, I had no choice. I tried it and here we are. And, and now it reignites me when I get to talk to people like you. So that's really the whole messaging is to help professionals find the wonder and storytelling and relationship behind the content that they're already creating or would like to create and bring that to life. I love that. And I am a huge fan of your show,

which we'll talk more about, but I love how you mentioned pod fade. That is a term that I have not heard, but it is so true. I, I know there's a specific statistic out there, but I believe it's around a year that most shows don't last. So people indeed do get that pod fade where they start and then they kind of lose that momentum. And you and I both know that podcasting is a lot of work. There's a lot of details and work that goes into it. I think a lot of times people just think that you pop on a recorder, record, and that's it. But there's a lot of production pre and post that goes into it. But there's so many benefits, as you mentioned,

to brands to take on a podcast. So that's something I want to talk about here for a second. So I have another statistic for you. According to influencer marketing hub, almost 60% of us consumers listen to podcasts. So that's a lot, a lot of people. Yeah. Why would you recommend that any brand personal brands, really anyone who has a business, um, launch a podcast? Is it for every type of organization or how would you kind of, um, enter into that conversation with a business, launch a podcast? Is it for every type of organization or how would you kind of

enter into that conversation with a business? Well, when entering into conversations regarding any kind of marketing or content strategy, it's important to consider the three main things that a business person would want to know. So with anything, it takes time, it takes money, and how is it going to affect my brand, right? Time, money, and brand. So a lot of us sit down and, you know, maybe at the beginning of the month, we're content planning everything that we have to do. And it takes a lot of time. And if you hire a ghostwriter, it can take a lot of money if someone else is doing that for you. But what if you didn't really have to do all that planning and you could cut that content planning time in half? With a podcast, you can invite an expert to come and speak on whatever content that you are trying to promote, either for your business or for your thought leadership,

and invite a subject matter expert that can affirm or expand on those topics for you. So as a result of that, these episodes can be one long form conversation that gets repurposed and created into many forms of content so that you don't have to think about, oh, what meme am I going to post today? Or I tried a blog and like, I don't feel like Ernest Hemingway this afternoon. Everything's really busy. There are some people that I know of that literally only have one podcast a month and they take that and they repurpose that content into many different forms. There are some people that I know that do a daily show. It really just depends on your strategy, but it's a great way to get started

because the hardest thing to do with content marketing is just getting started. Just thinking like, what am I going to make? So with a podcast, you never have to think about what you're going to make, um, in, in extreme lengths or in depth because someone else is going to essentially collaborate with you on that. And especially if you get the right type of guest, they can also help promote you too. And here's the best part. Maybe that guest isn't just to help you create your content. Maybe that guest is your ideal customer too. So if you could create content while networking and building a relationship with your ideal customer or ideal buyer at the same time, it's a win-win. So it saves time and, you know, it could save money for marketing if you're

spending an exorbitant amount on ads, not being able to reach that ideal customer, just invite them on the show. And then at the same time, you're connecting and creating that relationship, not only for the guests themselves, but for the people listening to get them to know you so that they can know, like, and trust you. We're very much as humans conditioned to love story. We need story in order to make sense of ourselves and the world around us. And if we can hear that voice and hear your, you know, your content coming from you, it's much more personable than the occasional meme or picture. Those are great, you know, but it's that next level of connection and relationship building.

So good. So good. And you kind of mentioned in a way that it's sort of a sales tactic that you can adopt. Obviously it's marketing for your business, right? But you can use it as a way to drive clientele into your business, right? Absolutely. Especially in the B2B industry, it's very difficult to have those meetings with your ideal clients because back in the day, it was like, you know, maybe I'm going to buy him a coffee or maybe I'll go to a trade show and try to catch them for dinner at the trade show, but not anymore. You could literally write down who your dream 100 clients are

and try to conduct guest outreach based on that list through a podcast and genuinely do it. Like go in, not trying to sell yourself in that conversation. That's a big mistake that people do. They hear what I'm saying and they think what I'm trying to sell yourself in that conversation. That's a big mistake that people do. They hear what I'm saying and they think what I'm trying to say is, oh, the whole thing is a sales conversation.

No, Chad, it's not. Calm down. You can have a conversation and enjoy that relationship building. And the follow-up is where the potential sales conversation could come in. So it's just another way to have a lead. Awesome. Awesome. And I'm excited to chat with you too, a little bit more about those aspirational guests and how to approach those conversations. That is something that I feel like as a podcaster, I get asked about all the time. But first I want to take a step back really quick and just talk about launching a show.

So let's say our friends are listening to this episode. They say, okay, this is for me. I'm ready to start a podcast. Where would you recommend that they start? So before you even go into wanting to start a podcast, it's, it's marketing at the end of the day. It's so crucial that you know, your brand and you know, your brand story. And this is where Cassie is really great at, um, kind of doing this with people. I've seen some of the behind the scenes of story branding with her through some of our conversations, but your content is not going to resonate if you do not know who your target audience is, or more importantly, why you want to create for that target audience. So if you know that and everyone's on the same page, great. You're one step ahead from everyone because that's going to inform your content strategy.

The next step is to determine what is your podcast content strategy. And there are a few, I'd say three to four actually types of content strategies for a business podcast. The first one is an ABM podcast, stands for account-based marketing. That's exactly what I'm talking about when I'm referring to conversations with your ideal clients. It's when you flip the funnel. It's not my idea. It's been out there.

A lot of people know about account-based marketing. And instead of having to wait for those customers to come to your website and nurturing the lead through that way, you can flip it and start with the conversation and go backwards in the marketing process that way. So if you are a B2B company, this is probably going to be your strongest avenue for podcasting and the most beneficial. The second is thought leadership. So maybe you don't really need help in getting clients. Maybe you have a bunch of clients already and you're ready to go to that next step as a CEO, as a founder, you want to establish your, um, your thought leadership in the industry. And you'd really like to get more Ted talks booked, or you'd like to get featured in Forbes

or featured in ink or wherever the podcast is the easiest way to get started on that because it can actually help with your pitch to get on those, um, you know, platforms or get those speaking engagements. You, maybe you just like want to rub shoulders with fancy people and get free swag, you know, like there are people out there that want that. And the podcast is the easiest way to do that. I mean, I was able to go to a couple of conferences, um, and not pay at all for the ticket, I was able to go to a couple of conferences and not pay at all for the ticket because I was able to come in as a media entity, as a thought leader. So use that podcast to your advantage. There's so many ways that you wouldn't even believe that you could gain access to people or events or networks just by having a podcast. The third one is a customer success

focused podcast. So when I think about my time at BMW and Tesla, I worked in the automotive industry for a long time in the service department. And there were so many times when customers would ask me how a product or a feature would work. And I have to I would have to sit there because I overcared and try to rerecord a tutorial on like, this is how this works. This is why it's important. I hope this was helpful. And then I would send it and like email it to them or text it to them or whatever

so that they could understand how that product works. What if you have a product or service? You can make a podcast about it and it helps two people. It helps your internal employee and it helps your customer. HubSpot does a really good job of educating potential customers on their product and service, but they also use it to train probably, I would assume, their employees as well. So that's another way to use a podcast. You know, maybe you are trying to increase customer retention. You want to build that relationship with them. That's a great way to do it. And then here's the best thing. If you do that kind of a podcast, you can have customer testimonials.

You can take those customer testimonials, transcribe them, throw them wherever as graphics or however you like. And then the last one that I really like, which is a super interesting tool, it's using your podcast as a recruiting tool. So your podcast can be a way to showcase your company culture, your company's diversity, the corporate responsibility efforts, whatever that is. And you can use it in order to share with potential hires exactly how your company runs. So they can get to know you before they even get to know you. And this is super valuable because what will happen is sometimes people will want to apply

just because of the relationship, the parasocial relationship that they feel that they formed with you as a result of consuming that content. And if you don't want that content out there, it can be a great internal company building or culture building tool because it can help people in a remote environment connect with each other. So if you're struggling to build your remote culture, your remote environment, you can have an internal podcast that's not publicly syndicated on platforms where people can talk, get to know each other and give them that experience of podcasting that they maybe wouldn't even have had and just use it as a way to network. So those are really the few different ways a podcast can be beneficial, depending on

your company's type, your strategy. But at the end of the day, all of this can be summarized. The easiest way to say it is you're going to be storytelling. So how will you use your storytelling to create the connection you want with the person you want in the industry you want. So great. And a lot of those aspects that you were talking about are concepts for podcasts that I've never heard about. So I'm learning a lot here and I appreciate it. And the internal podcast idea is fairly new to me as well. I think you're the second person to share that with me, but what an awesome tactic. And I've seen it also used for communities. So people who have

subscription-based communities, they can create an internal podcast as well, just to add added value to their community, create unique specific content there. And so that's something again, when you're communicating the value of working for your team or joining a community, having an internal podcast that can benefit their lives or their careers in a way is another great aspect too. So I love that part that you mentioned specifically Rita, we've talked about storytelling quite a bit already. That is a huge aspect to what you do. Obviously being lovers of Disney story is something that we just thrive on. And recently on LinkedIn, you shared a post that read storytelling can be a powerful tool in creating loyalty among your customer base. So yeah, storytelling is a huge key factor of your

show. Like you said, you incorporate a lot of awesome Disney stories in there, but also just stories about the people specifically that you have on the show. Why should podcasters include storytelling in their shows as well? The difference between having a conversation and telling a story is the level of impact that your content is going to create. It provides context and it provides inspiration. So Cassie and I can sit here and talk about how our day was, what we ate, what we're looking forward to, something cool that we did. And that's fine. That's a conversation.

But story takes that to the next level rather than me telling you okay um you know I I like podcasting and it's cool and whatever it does good things if I was able to share an example of that a story story of, you know, you know, my podcast took me to, to new links and new experiences that I would have never even imagined. And you can do it too. And here's how story conveys emotion, which connects and resonates. And the best part is it also keeps people engaged. So there's a really great podcaster. His name is Jay Akonzo. I highly recommend his show. It's called Unthinkable. And he always talks about how no great story was ever told without a sense of tension, right? You think about the underdogs of the world, how the come up story, right? Think about any Disney movie really ever. Do we watch those movies and become obsessed with them because no one ever struggled and they

had a happy ending in the beginning? No, there was a journey that we were taken through. So even if you do a normal, like basic marketing job, maybe you're a coordinator, maybe you literally like only input stuff in a data spreadsheet and you're listening to this and you're like, that's cute, Rita. I have no story to tell. No, there is. Think about the day-to-day trials that you go through. Maybe your story isn't, you know, Fantasia Mickey, but it's how you were able to take your spreadsheet

and actually automate it and the impact that that had and the way the customers have reacted as a result. It's so funny because if you think about customer service every single day, if you worked in customer service, I bet you, you have a story to tell. So how are you going to take those learned experiences and day-to-day just encounters and weave them in a way that are entertaining, educational, and inspiring. And if you can take those pieces, then you have a story. And if you throw in like some personality or humor here or there, hey, you did a great job. But there's always a place to start

and don't hear what I'm saying and think that you have to have a narrative script written tomorrow. You don't. You just have to take a couple steps to think, how will my target audience or ideal client feel when they listen to what I'm saying? And that question alone will help guide the questions you ask and how you tell the story or interview your subject matter expert. And do you have any words of advice or encouragement for someone who may say, I do have a story to tell and I want to tell it, but I'm afraid of sharing that story. I don't know how to start. I don't know how to get it out there. Or if I do share the story, I'm afraid of what people will think. Any words of encouragement for someone feeling that way? Yeah, I feel the same way too. I mean,

my podcast is Bippity Boppity Business and people are like, girl, you're Disney. Okay. You're not a marketer, but here's the thing. When you sit down and think to yourself, what it is you are so excited and passionate about and the impact that you want to create in your industry based on that passion. It becomes bigger than yourself. That's the most important thing is when people podcast, they start to think about, you know, I do it too. How do I look? How do I sound?

Whatever. But nobody actually really cares about you. I'm sorry to tell you that. They don't care about you. They care about what you have to say and what you're going to do to inspire or educate them. So if you start to feel that way, just think, okay, this sucks. This is really hard. But what am I going to talk about today that's going to help somebody today? And if you think about it from a place of service or from a place of, I just want to make somebody happy, it takes it off of yourself and makes you more likely and excited to want to do the content. And if you're still having a little bit of a hard time, I always recommend finding a content buddy.

So if you're too afraid to start talking to guests, if you're too afraid to hop on the mic alone, find someone in your industry, whether it's a colleague or someone that you work with, that you trust, that can really help you bring you out of your shell and just start creating content together. And even if it doesn't go out to the world, practice is really what helps and what it'll make it way more just bearable in the end. Yeah, that's a great tip. I would say the biggest thing for us, like when we first launched our show and I listened back to the first episode a few weeks ago, and it was interesting to hear the early days

of podcasting for me. Um, but I think the biggest thing to your point is just starting, just getting going and doing it over and over again. Like you said, having a buddy, you can talk to having a mentor, a colleague that you can share your story with or share insights with, and just get comfortable with doing so. And it's amazing, right? What you can have the confidence and build that confidence in yourself to continue and to keep going. I would say the biggest thing to keep in mind, I spoke to a gentleman, his name is Jeffrey Golden on my podcast. He writes for like video games and he's, he's, he's created comics. He's done amazing things. But when he first started,

he wrote Weird Al parodies and sold them. Like that's how he got his start. And he told me, embrace the cringe. Every person starts and you kind of suck. And it's like that TikTok saying, sucking is the first part of being sort of good at something. Just now, you got to embrace the cringe, get good enough to move on and keep doing it. So, yeah, I agree with what you said. Yeah, absolutely. No, it's, I'm pretty

sure most people who start anything aren't excellent and incredible at the beginning and that's okay. That's what's part of the journey and, you know, getting one foot forward and just going and, and you learn a lot along that journey and how to optimize and change and adapt. And so, yeah, that's a, such a great tip for just everyone and anything that you set out to do for yourself, not just podcasting really anything. And so earlier we talked about having guests on your show. So that's a, like you said, a really great tactic for expanding your network sales, a lot of different outreach opportunities there. So let's just say people listening are ready to start their show. They want to start building a guest list to bring on their podcast. Rita, you've had a lot of awesome guests on your show so far,

especially when looking at the Disney industry, um, just the community around Disney, you've had some of the greatest people on your show that kind of seem aspirational in a way, you know, you think of all these authors and all of these leaders from the company, for example, who have been on your show, you look at that and you're like, Oh my goodness, how did Rita do this? And how did she get this person on her show? Do you have any outreach tips, um, you know, encouraging someone to build the confidence, to reach out to people, to expand their network and to maybe just ask that question of, Hey, would you come on my show and share your story? Yeah. Um, I also wonder how the hell I got some of these amazing people on my show, but basically I've

always been a very, uh, like risky person by nature. I kind of, I'm going to sound so cringy. I just kind of YOLO a lot of things. Um, but there is a strategy and there's a couple of things through my experience that I've learned that works best. Really, I love LinkedIn. I'm probably addicted to it. I probably should talk to my therapist about it today, but it's really where I do a lot of my outreach because people are more likely to want to talk to you on the platform. Everyone is going to want to network. It's literally a networking platform. So if you're afraid of where to start, just remember that that's what that platform was literally made for. So you're not invading anyone's space, but you have to do it tactfully because if you literally just add

somebody and then just go right into their DMs and be like, hi, my name is Rita. I have a podcast. Would you like to be on my show? Ain't gonna work that way. Okay. And like, give them some space to breathe, try to really build a relationship. So add them, follow them for a couple of days. See if they're even like someone that posts on LinkedIn, because the worst thing you can do is invite someone that is not very active on social media. You'll have less likely of a chance that you're going to get more engagement or just any kind of just awareness on your podcast. But I like to add them, see if they are pretty active on LinkedIn. And then something that I like to do is if they are, if I'm trying to interview people from a really big company that most likely won't approve me, I type in the word former and then the

company and LinkedIn. So I type in former Disney, whatever on LinkedIn, or if you want to interview somebody from Microsoft, former Microsoft, right? Because they don't work for that company anymore. And you're just going to talk to them about their experience. So they're more likely to actually talk to you. And then what I used to do all the time is I used to, after liking and engaging with their comment a little bit,

then I would send a very, very, very short message like, hi, my name is Rita. I see lately that you've been posting about X, love your content. I have a show about this, interested question mark. And that's a really good tactic, especially if you're just starting out. But what I've learned, and I learned this from Chris Decker from Sales Cast, he's a phenomenal business podcaster and founder of a really great company. He actually enlightened me that some people may not be interested and you actually might make them feel awkward if they want to say no. So something better to ask is instead of interested question mark, who do you

know that might be interested to be on my show? He's a genius. I did not come up with this. But what happens is even if that person says no, they're more likely to be comfortable and actually give you a referral as a result. So I didn't even realize how many opportunities that I was missing out on because of that very black and white, like yes or no mindset. And then every now and then you get a guest that wants to be on your show that really didn't want to be on your show to begin with, but they felt bad and they didn't want to say no. And then it's awkward. Don't do that. Just ask, who do you know? And what might happen is they might say, well, I'm good at this.

Can I do it? So yeah, I mean, it's really just about writing out a couple of, I hate to say it, templates that relate to a couple of the themes that you want to talk about in your podcast and just kind of yellowing with and seeing what happens. And the worst they can literally say is no. So then you can just move on with your life and then try to find a way to make your outreach just that bit much bit shorter.

Cause if it's too long, then they're like, oh my gosh, she wants to sell me something. And nobody wants that. I know. And we have to be careful with that on LinkedIn because there is a little bit too much of that out there. So I love the idea of making it personal because a lot of those salesy messages that we receive on LinkedIn aren't very personal or they try to be personal and the execution is just not quite there. So that's a good tip of just kind of taking some time, getting to know the person, maybe connecting with them on another topic first, and then veering it into, um, you know, asking them to be on the show. So, and the last thing I would add is even though it was really hard for me and I know nothing about website development, having a website for my podcast

makes me just look that much more professional and more likely that a PR person might stumble across my website and send an outreach message to coordinate something on my show. It's only happened once, but that's the only way I got the VP of creative of lounge fly on my show. Girl, I don't even know. Like that was crazy. Like I had just finished my website after like crying and drinking wine over it. Cause I had no idea what I was doing. I almost didn't make it. I'm not going to lie. Um, and then a few weeks, like maybe months later, I don't exactly know the timeline. I got like a contact form submission from this like really fancy PR company in LA. And I was like, that's crazy, but it makes you look like an expert. So just do your best to look professional and the best way you can with what you have and go for it and keep practicing. You never know what

will happen. Yeah. That's a great note. And one thing you said earlier was typing in formal before the company or former before the company that you want to work with. That's a really good note and something that I haven't thought of. Cause one thing that we've ran into with people who currently work with companies is they have that layer of needing to get questions and recordings approved by their PR team, just because there's a lot more nuances with them being able to share their story versus someone who previously worked for the company, um, can kind of talk about the overall experience after their time there. Uh, so I love that tip because that's something that I haven't thought about before, but a really good way to approach it without having to kind of tiptoe around that business, um, that you're looking to talk about. Yeah. A lot of documentaries do it

too. You should start watching and see if they have former written before their title. Good. No, I'm going to try that for sure. Moving forward. So Rita, I want to talk audience growth a little bit. You know, I tell people, especially in the world of social media, I try to get clients not to worry too much about the numbers because we can get sucked in and worried too much about growing versus actually building a community, which could be the same about podcasting. But ultimately growth is good at the same time because it increases your impact. You know, it gets the word out about what you're building as a company. So anything overall you can share with audience growth tips, anything that you've tried that you've seen worked or tried for your clients as well. Yeah. Um, my experience is very

one-to-one focused. Um, I'm definitely not the person that's going to sit here and give you information about your ads or, you know, sponsorships like that's not where my strengths lie. So far, my experience, what I've done is I've really tried to post on LinkedIn and tag that person in the comments and not just in the comment, but in the post itself. And the reason why is LinkedIn's organic reach is kind of a gold mine right now. The difference is if I tagged somebody on Facebook, only my followers would probably see that post. But on LinkedIn, when you tag that individual, my followers and their followers get to see my post. So it's super important to make sure that when you write whatever it is about your show, that you're doing that tagging. And the second thing is, it's really simple. I just try to let my guests know, like, hey, I really appreciate you being on my show. Would you be open to sharing this by any chance?

And if they share it, great. If they comment, great. And if they don't, for whatever reason, I do something else. I actually ask them to leave a LinkedIn recommendation for me on my page. So there's always a way to build some kind of authority and grow in some way. So if I'm not

growing in my podcast, I can still grow my personal brand. I can still use that experience to my benefit. So if they feel like, you know, I don't really want to post or, you know, the follow-up isn't working there, getting someone to comment about the experience of being on your show or your expertise is so great because that's going to literally follow you the rest of being on your show or your expertise is so great because that's going to literally follow you the rest of your life forever, how long ever LinkedIn is going to exist. And it's going to make someone more likely to say yes to being on your show when they see those recommendations or reviews of who you are on your LinkedIn personal page. But it just takes time.

It takes time and consistency. And if you're impatient like me, you're gonna need some people to cheer you on and hype you up and tell you to keep going. It really is just hard work and one-to-one relationship building. And it just happens. You may get somebody on your show

that has a very strong LinkedIn presence and then they start, you know, commenting. I would just say, though, the the best thing to do is to not post the link of your entire podcast episode only on your LinkedIn. Really try to create content nuggets of like the best moments and share those pieces online because our attention span is just going way the hell down. Like nobody's paying attention for more than like two minutes. It feels like anymore with videos, especially on social media. So you're more likely to get that engagement and natural, um, reach or organic reach rather natural reach. Sounds like a really weird deodorant. Get your armpits weird. Okay. Um, I'm weird guys. Like I'm just letting you know, sorry. I love it. Um, because you have made that short piece of content and people are more likely going

to comment. So one-to-one relationship building, follow up with the person after you've had them on the show, try to either get them to reshare or comment on the experience with through a referral and make sure that you're repurposing the content in shorter, interesting forms and still making sure to tag them in those posts as well. Yeah. I will say I love watching your content nugget videos from your show on LinkedIn, because it does give kind of a great snapshot overall and give someone a preview of what to expect from the whole interview. So that's a really great note and you incorporate video into your show, which is awesome because that gives people that visual connection and not just that audio connection, um, to that guest. And so that's something I know we certainly want to

dive into in the future, but love that additional aspect. Have you seen video impact the show? And if so, in what way? Yeah. I mean, I can just speak to that because in the past couple of weeks I've been posting the on LinkedIn. I've been doing a text post in addition to a short video nugget. And it's just insane. It's not only just how many people view it. The impressions of the LinkedIn post are not as important as the engagement of that post. People are more likely to engage if they see a human face. And if you are too afraid to, you know, start being on camera and all of that,

it's, there are other ways to add video elements to your podcast. It can be literally just as simple as making an audiogram, but throwing in stock images of people over it. Or if you are really good at documenting what you do on a day-to-day basis, start getting people like filming you doing random work tasks throughout the day. And it's going to sound weird and creepy, but it's a B-roll hub that you can create for yourself. So you can have the conversation, whatever. And then after the fact, like maybe you've made like 20 or 30 videos that are like various, you doing various things in your industry or whatever, you can just slap those on the audiogram and now you have a video. So it's just, it's not just about

being on camera and like always being ready and having the audio. Like think about the ways that are best for you and your time and your comfort level to creatively make that content for yourself. But I do think video is not going anywhere. And Spotify even has a feature now where you can post your video episodes on there. It's so important, but it is hard to get started. So start with something, even if it's literally just your podcast cover art logo. I know it's not amazing, but just start with something and slowly build and add on to get to that point where it's, you know, a one-to-one normal person having a conversation. Absolutely. And that's the beauty of podcasting is there's so many layers to it. There's so many things that

you could do. You could just post your show and that's it. Or you could post your show and write a blog post, or you could post your show and post a social, or you could just do audio versus video. So there's so many layers, but that was a good word of encouragement. You shared is just get started and slowly build from there. I tell people the same thing with the technology side of podcasting. You know, there's a lot of free options out there. And so if that's where you want to start just to get your show going, and then you can always

migrate to a high level technology platform to host your show. So there's a lot of different ways to just get going and then kind of build and optimize from there. I'm going to be a little sassy. You can have the best microphone. You can have like the bougiest background. You could look like you're freaking Ryan Gosling, but if you have nothing interesting to say or no one interesting to talk to, it don't matter. Yep. Start with the stories, start with what you have and get there, build that foundation. And then you have a really great level of expectation to build off of because like me, I can get really

into the techie things like, Ooh, this is a cool microphone or, Oh, it's like, this is the next thing. But I really have to take a step back and be like, all right, if I buy this fancy microphone, is the story going to be even good? Or am I going to even post at all? The three months that you spend researching what is the best camera is or the best microphone is you could have had a podcast episode go out every single week. So that's my sassy sister encouraging to you. I love it. And it's so true because I think about one of my favorite shows to listen to is Jenna Kutcher's show gold digger. And it's so funny because she has a massive, massive podcast.

She's, um, you know, she's in the HubSpot podcast network. Like her show is so successful, but what I find so funny about it, and it's kind of like a reality check and a check to me to say, to say to myself, not to worry so much about a lot of those elements is for example, I will listen to her show sometimes and the audio quality sometimes doesn't sound great, or she'll literally admit that she's recording in her closet because her child is sleeping and she doesn't want to disturb her child. And that's just kind of that check to say, you know, even the most successful podcasters, they have the quality of content, what they want to say is there,

but sometimes the technology side of things, obviously you want it to be, um, good enough to where people can hear what you're saying, right? Outside of that, it's okay. If you don't have a $400 microphone or you don't pay for the highest level of lips and to host your show, you know, it's those pieces can come over time and that's totally okay. Rita, as we close up, you have been incredibly present on LinkedIn. We've talked about LinkedIn so much as just a incredible asset to personal branding, but also podcasting.

And you touch on this a little bit, but how has this platform influenced not only the growth of your show, but just your personal brand overall? If it weren't for LinkedIn, I literally wouldn't have been able to start my business. That's the beginning and end of that statement. I don't have a website for my business. I have a website for my podcast though. I don't have ads running for my business. I literally have none of that. Every marketer out there is probably screaming at me, but again, and I like we've been talking about, it's, it's my start. It's where I'm beginning. And, um, it's, it's free. It's free to post and create, and it's your own personal billboard. Every comment that you make your tagline and your profile follows you. So if you hear all of this

and you're not even ready to start your podcast, just comment on other people's posts with your expertise. That's it. That's a great place to start because 90% of people are not doing that I grow. It's the way I connect. And, um, it's the way I learned too, because I learned from other people and I like talking to everyone there. Um, it's, it's for the nerdy girls that aren't trying to pop off on Instagram and be baddies. Like if you, if you, I don't know how else to say that. Like if you genuinely, and there's nothing wrong with that, but if you've never fit with that vibe, you always wanted to create, you always wanted to be an influencer. And as a woman in the industry, you felt pressure to look or sound a certain way. LinkedIn for the most part does not have that feel for me. And it's why I felt the most comfortable starting to create and post. And at the end of

the day, it's basically a resume, whatever you make on there, somebody at some point, if you do want to work for a brand, we'll see it. So that's why I'm really passionate about it. Yeah. It's the platform for career baddies, not the visual we need to trademark that that's the next brand to create career baddies on LinkedIn. Everyone hates me right now, but I'm doing, I love that. I am a huge fan of LinkedIn. I agree. And I tell everyone, any professional, it doesn't matter what you're in. And even if you're not hiring, for example, I know that was kind of the old notion that LinkedIn was only for recruiters and for hiring. That is not true. Um, LinkedIn is incredible and it's a really good place to start, you know, increasing your influence in your field, even before you create a podcast to

your notes. So you can kind of dabble in sharing content on there. And then when you're ready for podcasting, you can increase that influence onto another platform. So love that. Yes. Rita, we love to ask this question on the show and I'm so excited to hear your answer, but what do you know now that you wish you knew early on in your career? Experienced is the only way you will learn. And you don't even have to have had that experience for yourself to learn from it. I have really bad imposter syndrome. I always tell myself, I don't know shit. Sorry. I'm really mean to myself, but had I known that something as simple as podcasting where I could talk to people and learn from their experiences would help me grow as a person. I would have done it years ago. It's, you don't even have to have a business person

purpose to do any of what we're talking about. It can be a great way to learn and get experience and get yourself out there. So it's never too late to start. It's, it's never too late to start. It's, um, it's never too late to network and meet new people. And you never know what you're capable of unless you try. Agreed. That's a great note to close out on. And Rita, we could talk for hours on podcasting, personal branding. We'll have to have you back on to continue the conversation. But until then, where can people stay in touch with you

online? LinkedIn, go to my LinkedIn, Rita Risha, R I C H a it means feather in Arabic. Don't type in Rita feather. You won't find me. We'll drop the links below and check out my podcast. I have actually two now. My first is bippity bBobbidi Business. And my second is LinkedIn Water Cooler Talk. It is a video cast Spotify exclusive. So you can only watch it on Spotify or catch it on my YouTube channel, Rita Resha. I love it. I love it. And if you just need a little dose of Disney in your life, Rita's page is where you'll

find it. Rita, thank you so much. This has been such a fun conversation and I'm so thankful for everything that you'll find it. Rita, thank you so much. This has been such a fun conversation and I'm so thankful for everything that you shared with me. I'm going to take some steps after this conversation myself to just increase the impact of my show of my personal brand online. So thank you so much for encouraging all of us today. Absolutely. I hope you all feel reignited with your media. I love it. I love it. Thank you, Rita, so much. And thank you for listening. Thank you.

Wow. What a great conversation to listen in to. I know Cassie and I both have takeaways that we can utilize in our strategy for upcoming seasons of Marketing Happy Hour. If you enjoyed this week's episode too, please remember to rate and leave a review. And as always, follow along on Instagram at Marketing Happy Hour. That's at Marketing Happy HR.