Young and Profiting with Hala Taha - YAPLive: Ask Hala Anything [Part1] | Uncut Version | Marketing

Episode Date: July 31, 2020

Part 1 of Hala's LinkedIn Live session!   Follow YAP on IG: www.instagram.com/youngandprofiting Reach out to Hala directly at [e-mail] Follow Hala on Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/htaha/ Follow Hala on Instagram: www.instagram.com/yapwithhala Check out our website to meet the team, view show notes and transcripts: www.youngandprofiting.com

Hey everybody. It's Hala from Young and Profiting Podcast. I have an interview in a little bit, and I decided that I'd come on and do an Ask Hala anything session. You guys loved it so much last time I did it. So I figured, you know, I have 20, 30 minutes to hop on before my interview at 6 o'clock, and would love to take any of your questions. So there is about a two-minute delay. So I can't see your comments, but if you do have a question, I know everything that has to do with podcasting. I know a lot about LinkedIn marketing. I know a lot about social media marketing in general and growing communities, overcoming failure. And so whatever you want to ask me, feel free to ask me, looking forward to see what everybody's got to say. Okay, we've got our first question

already. This is from Fian, who is a podcast host. How did you? grow your podcast. So I would say the main way that I grew my podcast was through one-to-one connections. So when I first started, I literally would copy and paste a message and send it to all my followers and ask them to watch my show. And I would do that one by one and grew my listenership just one by one doing strategies like that. Then I got a little fancier and I started targeting Gary Vee and his podcast following. I used an automation tool, and anybody who liked or commented on his posts, I would actually go and invite them to connect, tell them a little bit about my podcast, nine out of ten times they would accept,

and then I would give them the link to my show and they would download it. Okay, lots of comments going on right here. Okay, how do you choose what topic the podcast should be about? So we have a really great podcast strategy. What we do is we look at the guests that we, want on the show first, and then we formulate our topics around that. So sometimes what I do is I just go look on the bestseller list on Amazon and I see who the top authors are right now, and then I'll invite them on my show. And then based on like the latest thing that they're talking about, sometimes they're experts in multiple areas, well, just like focus on one thing because I like to go deep. I don't like to just have like a broad, casual conversation. I actually

like to teach my listeners actionable insights that they can use in their everyday life. And so it's usually like one certain topic that we're covering and that's what we get into. So for example, I'm about to interview Brian Scudamore. He is the CEO of 1-800 Got Junk. I'm sure everybody has heard of that company. They're everywhere. And his company makes like $200 million a year. And it's all because he does franchising. So this episode's really going to be focused on franchising. And that's how I kind of get my topics. I basically find the guest and then think about what they're good at. And then there's some instances where, you know, I try to actually actively find somebody to cover a specific topic. Like, for example, like, Black Lives Matter.

But that gets hard because sometimes, like, you don't get those. Like, I tried so hard to get somebody for Black Lives Matter, like, Abraham Kennedy and, like, all these people and nobody responded to me. So that's more difficult, I think, to go to the topic group because then you're, like, stuck on the topic where I just, like, go with the flow. If I get a really great guest, they have great expertise, I think about what they're an expert on and what is the most value for my life. listeners based on their expertise. Your podcast is amazing. Thank you so much, Nadia. I really appreciate that. Malcolm, thank you for being so humble and generous. Giving strategies and information like that is very gracious. Of course, yeah, I'm happy to answer any questions you guys have about podcasting or LinkedIn. I don't do podcasting for the money. I have an amazing career at Disney streaming

services, and so it's really all about helping people. I was just interviewed on a podcast, and I actually started crying because he asked me what my why was, and I said, it's not about the money. It's It's about helping people, teaching people. I feel like I had an amazing father, and I really was given, like, every opportunity in life. He grew up so poor, and he struggled so hard. He grew up in war. He came here with nothing. He became a surgeon, and he gave me everything.

And so I feel like I have to pay everybody back for that, and then I have to give everybody everything and help anybody I can. And so that's why I do Young and Propiting Podcasts, because I feel like I was given such an opportunity and advantage in life, and I really want to give that back to everybody else. and does I mean that from the bottom of my heart. How do you niche down to a specific topic in podcasting? Okay, so you're talking about finding out what is your niche for podcasting. I would say think about who your target audience is.

And don't worry so much about like what's my niche. I would worry about like who are you trying to speak to you. Like what's your expertise. That's how you find out what you're going to talk about. For me, I decided to be broad. I wanted to do everything and anything that could help anybody profit financially or professionally, and so that's what my podcast is about. I want to go broad.

I actually don't want to have a niche because I think that's restrictive. I think that I want anybody to be able to listen to my podcast. Originally, it was supposed to be like millennials. It turns out my listeners are all ages, and so I regret calling it young and profiting podcast, because a lot of people, when they first hear that, they're like, oh, I'm not young. I can't listen to this podcast, and that's not true. It's actually, like, I'm not even that young. and the guests I interview are certainly not young.

They're all, like, mostly in their 50s, 60s. And so it's a really valuable show no matter what age you are. And so I think that putting yourself in a box is not necessarily the right thing to do. But podcasting, people do say that when you have a niche, you can sell to a community that's not that big and it's still really valuable. And you can just go really deep with those people. A lot of people say that's the right way to do it. I think go broad. Why put yourself in a box unless there's some certain expertise that you have?

So for example, if you're a real estate agent, do a podcast on real estate and like focus on that and that's your audience and that's a huge market and you're an expert at that. And so that's what you should do. For me, I'm an expert in marketing, but I didn't want to have a marketing podcast. I really just wanted to have a self-improvement podcast. So it's really what you want to do. You know, it's really up to you. But I would suggest going broad and not limiting your audience base because I regret calling it young and profiting podcast for that reason. What are your personal tactics for dealing with stress and being overwhelmed? Well, I think that I am like kind of like an energizer bunny and you would think that with everything I have on my plate that I'd be like stressed all the time. But really, it's just about knowing your why.

So for me, like I said, I really just want to help people. I want people to improve their lives. I really want everybody to know that life is limitless and you can be anything that you want to be. And so that why drives me. So like if I have to like do something really late at night, I just think about what would my fans think? what if I don't put out this episode, then I'm not consistent and I'm not, I'm letting everybody down. And so, like, I think about my why and that really keeps me going. The second thing is, like, I love to work out.

And no matter how busy I am, I make sure that, like, right after work, I do a workout. And that really de-stresses me. And it's really healthy for you to have, like, some sort of a workout routine. So if you don't have that, I would definitely do it. That's personally how I deal with stress. At Yap, we have a super unique company culture. We're all about obsessive excellence. We even call ourselves scrappy hustlers.

and I'm really picky when it comes to my employees. My team is growing every day. We're 60 people all over the world. And when it comes to hiring, I no longer feel overwhelmed by finding that perfect candidate, even though I'm so picky because when it comes to hiring, Indeed is all you need. Stop struggling to get your job post noticed. Indeed, sponsor jobs help you stand out and hire fast by boosting your post to the top relevant candidates. Sponsored jobs on Indeed get 45% more applications than non-sponsored ones according to Indeed data worldwide.

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Just go to Indeed.com slash profiting right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indie-dollar. deed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash profiting. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring, indeed, is all you need. Yeah, let me know if you guys have any questions about podcasts and marketing. How do you stay motivated and how do you manage stress and setbacks? So I stay motivated by doing something that I love to do. Podcasting, like I mentioned, it's not like paying my bills. I'll just be quite honest. You're not going to become a millionaire being a podcaster unless you're Joe Rogan. Maybe one day I'll get there. But podcasting, you know, I'm make advertising money here and there. But like that's not like paying my bills. I have other businesses.

I work at Disney. I have other things going on that really pays my bills and helps me actually invest in young and profiting so that I can put the show out and do it well. Right. So I would say like what motivates me is actually not money, nothing financial. It's literally helping other people. And if I know and when I read reviews and I hear what people like how the show has improved their lives. That's what really motivates me. And how do I stay motivated? It's by doing the thing that I love. If I was just working a corporate job, I would be really unmotivated. It pays the bills. It's great. It's a fun job. I mean, I work at Disney streaming services. You can't get much cooler, I guess, than that right now. So it's a great job. But if I wasn't following my dreams, I would be really unmotivated. So it's about finding something that you love and

figuring out how to make a living around that, whether it's as a side hustle like me and I do it on the side and maybe one day in the future, I'll take it full stream. But it's doing something that you love and that's, it's an alignment with like who you are and then you'll be motivated no matter what. So if you're feeling unmotivated, you've definitely got to make a change. You've got to figure out what's missing. What do you love to do? What do people say that you're good at? And then do it? And you'll feel motivated every single day when you find something that you're good at, people want it. It's in demand. That's how you're going to stay motivated.

How do you come up with each episode? I just mentioned that before. I actually target guests, and based on their expertise, whether it's their latest book, whether it's a certain topic that they touch on, that's usually how I decide what my shows are going to be. We book way out in advance. We're already booked till the end of September right now, and usually we're even further out. And so we have a lot of time to study the guests, think about what they're good at, and then come up with an angle.

I like to go really narrow in my episodes so that I can have like really actionable content and provide the most value as possible. What qualities should a leader have, in your opinion, to inspire them to not micromanage? So I have a growing team and when you're a leader, it is hard to micromanage, especially if you're used to being like a one-man show and you're used to doing everything. It's hard to let go. What you've got to do is be slow to hire and quick to fire. That's what I think. I think you really need to take your time when hiring people, make sure that they're the right fit. It's really about attitude. That's always what I look for when hiring somebody on my team. Do they have the right attitude? Because I can always teach people how to do it. I really like people who are willing to learn. And so for me, I would say the way to not micromanage is to trust the people that you hire and to be slow to hire. And if things are not working out, quick to fire so that your team can remain consistent and you can get the job.

done. So that's my advice. And I think that if you find that you're a micromanager, you have to work on that internally. It means that, like, you have trust issues, possibly. It means that you might be a control freak. And you might value what you do more than you should. There's definitely things that people are better at than me. Like, for example, I can audio edit, but I'm not audio editing my podcast. I have Matt, who is my amazing audio engineer. And he does that because he's better at that. And so you've got to let go sometimes and let people be the experts and trust people. I think it really boils down to trust. Michael Pedrano, how do you choose your guests?

Well, I like to have guests that are well known. One of the things that I started from the beginning was having like really high caliber guests from the start. And that's because I wanted other high caliber guests to see who I had on my show and feel comfortable to come on. And so I'm really strategic with my guests. I tend to want like CEOs, billionaires, bestselling authors, people who have a decent social media following and who are really experts on their topics. I've never done like pay for play. I don't take any opportunity. Like I said, it's not about money.

A lot of people say, how much is it cost to get on your podcast? And I'm like, nothing because you're not coming on, right? So like it's really about like their expertise. If I feel like they can provide value to my guests, then they come on the show. Not everybody has a huge following. Like, for example, I had Chase Hughes, number eight, hacking human behavior, one of my most downloaded episodes. He's not, like, a huge celebrity, but he's so smart. And he has, like, an amazing strategy in terms of body language.

And it was just, like, a really cool topic. And, like, I've interviewed a sleep scientist who has, like, absolutely no social following. But it was, like, all about sleep. And it was just a really good topic. So it really just depends. They have to have an expertise. And I don't like to just, like, kind of talk about nothing and have a regular conversation. like other podcasts, and I don't like to just talk about other people's companies and, like,

be commercial. Like, that's not the point. So I just really, like, anybody who could provide something that can help my listeners profit financially or professionally. Dima, why quick firing? I'm not saying that I would fire somebody for nothing. It just means that if you have a bad apple, that energy spreads really fast. And I think that enthusiasm is so important when I come.

to your workforce and energy is so important when it comes to your workforce. And you just want to have that positive energy. So if you have somebody on your team who has a negative attitude and who is lazy or who doesn't do what they're supposed to say, it's really easy for people to get into that mindset and for that energy to pass through the group. And so it's really important for me to have really energetic, enthusiastic people on my team. And if I feel like somebody is bringing down the energy and is not setting a good example. Like I said, I think that can spread like cancer in an organization. And so it doesn't matter how high performing they are. If they have a bad attitude, if they're not getting along, if they're making people miserable when they go to

work, if they're gossiping or something like that, I don't want to have them on my team. So that's what I mean when I say quick to fire. It's more like protecting everybody else to make sure that our company culture and our culture within our organization stays strong. Danielle, as 17 years old, how do I show my expertise and find guests since I'm quite young? Well, I think that if you're 17 years old and you don't have an expertise, then maybe you interview guests on their expertise like I do. You don't have to have an expertise to start a podcast. You can start a podcast and basically just be a fly on the wall, ask really good questions,

research about your guests, and have the opportunity to talk to amazing people every day. And so I think that you don't need to be an expert. you could be the interviewer and you can have more of a question and answer type of show where you're pulling out expertise from your guests. And then the other thing I would say is maybe wait a while before you actually start one, get some experience, and figure out what your expertise is. Whatever you want to do, maybe podcasting itself can become your expertise once you launch a podcast. You'll know how to do it and then you're an expert. So I think you could take it a million different ways. It's just whatever you want to do. All right, guys, I am going to cut this short.

Thank you so much, guys. I hope that you have a great day. I'm going to get ready for my interview. For those of you who were good sports and who asked real questions, thank you so much. I appreciate you all. I feel so lucky just in general. And I'll do this again next week. So don't worry about it if you didn't have your question. Thank you. Bye-bye. Thanks for listening to Young and Profiting Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or comment on YouTube, SoundCloud. or your favorite platform. Reviews make all the hard work worth it. They're the ultimate thank you to me and the Yap team. The other way to support us is by word of mouth.

Share this podcast with a friend or family member who may find it valuable. Follow Yap on Instagram at Young and Profiting and Check us out at young and profiting.com. You can find me on Instagram at Yap with Hala or LinkedIn. Just search for my name, Hala Taha. Until next time, this is Hala, signing off.