How To Add Value To Your Offers With Audio Assets With Kim Tradewell

TRANSCRIPT AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED [00:00:00] Diane: Hey, Hey, today's guest Kim Tradewell is a podcast strategist at Mae and James coach. She believes it's to get people to consume all that content you're working so hard to create. You need to make it unique and accessible. And so began her love affair with audio assets. As you're listening to a podcast, you're clearly a lover of audio. So why don't we just make this work? Hey, Kim, welcome to the show. [00:00:20] Kim: Thanks for having. [00:00:22] Diane: So let's kick things off with a bit of an intro to you and your business. [00:00:25] Kim: Absolutely. So I'm a podcast strategist and I've really dug deep into audio because I really do believe in the area of, of storytelling, no matter how big your audience is and the ability to really kind of share your personality. Who you are, which are all abode to build that, like know and trust factor that we call relationship building with your audience through creating an audio asset that works for you. So it doesn't have to be a traditional podcast. And I think some people really, you know, kind of take a step back from podcasting because they think, oh my God, it's so much work because it can be, if you set it up so that it makes sense in your world, it doesn't have to be, [00:01:02] Diane: I guess as people are listening to a podcast that I'm hosting, I'm obviously a fan of audio, but I like it as a content producer. And it's my preferred method of content concerned. I find video distracting. I find I can listen and absorb faster than I can read. So before we get into all the ways that I'm super excited to discover that I can add more. Let's just take a step back and say, as a content, medium, what are the strengths of audio all the other things people are potentially thinking about doing whether that's creating eBooks, YouTube channels, writing a blog, vlogging on YouTube, all the things. [00:01:38] Kim: Yeah. Well, there's three major content creation platforms and you kind of touched on them. You can do a YouTube, you can do a podcast or you can be. So you have to kind of find find which one of those that you're really excited to come back to. If you're not excited to get all dolled up for video, then maybe YouTube channel isn't for you. If you're not really excited about writing them, Potentially isn't for you. But if you love the conversation of being able to talk and express the excitement and the joy that you have what you do and how you do it, then audio might be the best platform for you to start off with. But the beauty of audio that I love is that you can kind of test out what works and what doesn't work, like a lot of things. And in business, that's kind of what it's all about. It's trial and error. So. When we start talking to clients, we've figured out like what they actually are trying to promote, how they're working. Like, are they working mainly with one-on-one clients, like, you know, like high touch coaching programs and how can we add audio into that mix so that it really relates and adds value because at the end of the day, we want you to be consistent. We want you to add value those are kinda my big things is like, I love audio because I don't have to get all dolled up for video. I can really talk and, and really express my interest and my excitement for something that I'm working on. And I can test it out really well because I can actually look back at my metrics and just kind of see which, which were downloaded more. And then I'm going to like dig deeper into those because. The other thing is that I think a lot of people get hung up on the data piece too. And with audio, it's like a lot of things. I always suggest talking to your clients, you know, having those conversations in the DMS, like what are people like really talking and resonating with you on and they, are they really enjoying what you're putting out? So no matter what platform you choose, is mine, but whatever platform you choose make sure that it's really. Reaching those, I guess kind of targets that you want it to reach. [00:03:39] Diane: I think audio for me, texts a couple of boxes, one that you touched on the really kind of like low barrier to entry. I mean, we're obviously both talking on lovely. Mike's but honestly, with audio, you could record a voice note on your phone. Right. It's really easy to get started, but also a video don't have to do, as you said, have I got all the lighting on the marks? All right. do I know what I'm saying? Is it punchy? Is it some format? I feel like it's the intimacy of video with the almost lengthiness of blogging, you could do a blog about the same length as a podcast, but you can never do that as a YouTube video. Like you'd have lost everybody in the first five. [00:04:18] Kim: Yeah, the other thing I didn't really dive into was the fact. I mean, even if you, okay, so let's say we choose podcasting and it, and we use it in whatever form works for you and your business. There's so much more that you can take from that. so not only is it meeting your clients and your potential ideal listeners where they're at, because it's way more accessible. So I'm constantly listening to either an audio book or a podcast when I'm doing all this. But the other piece that I love about podcasting is that you can pull from that. So you can use it as the anchor for all of your content creation, because honestly, like, I don't know about you, but I do not like doing content creation for myself. I like helping others do it, but for myself, It's not, I'm not a huge fan of it, but if I could do it in a way that it's the anchor and I pull from that and I'm able to do short blog posts, the, you know, social media posts that go from there, or I could even potentially actually working with a client right now pulling her, her audio and video, like a highlight reel, like maybe a five to 10 minute section and putting it on her YouTube channel. So it's not necessarily meaning. The top piece that we're working on, but there's so many ways that we can dive into the podcast repurpose it that I don't think a lot of people are aware of or it's kind of, it can be a little overwhelming, but having a plan is the biggest piece. Having a strategy in place to work from. [00:05:44] Diane: I guess the audio asset that people are most used to is the podcast and by the podcast, I mean the public podcasts, like this one that shows up on your. I choose [00:05:54] Kim: Right. [00:05:54] Diane: or whatever it's called these days, apple podcast [00:05:57] Kim: Yeah. [00:05:58] Diane: and you listen to it on a fairly regular basis. And I know we keep referring to audio assets as podcasts, and I [00:06:05] Kim: Yes. [00:06:06] Diane: that's the delivery mechanism, but can we clarify. Where the audio asset is just another word for podcast or are there other things can create audio assets for I just delivered in a podcast form as a mechanism? [00:06:22] Kim: Yes. Yeah. So, there's the difference between a public and a private podcast, like you just tend to touched on the public is searchable and the private isn't. So that's the main difference right there. So having a private audio asset or a private podcast, whatever you want to call it allows you to have a specific RSS feed that gets delivered to whoever you deliver it to. So maybe. Your one-on-one clients, because showing up for one-on-one coaching is exhausting, but you could deliver that in a way that you can do it on your terms. So like on your time and then deliver it out. But they're still getting that high touch high value. The coaching component. So that's one little piece. You can use it, you can use it for your marketing. You can use it. You know, like there's just so many ways you could use it. And, and the other thing is that it's kind of a nice entry point into podcasting. Like a traditional podcast can be anywhere from 10 minutes in length to over to. And a private podcast or an audio fee can be however long you need it to be. So maybe you know, it's meditation, a daily meditation to your, to your paid membership clients. So it's however long that needs to be. If it's used as a private or a lead magnet, it could be you know, short trailer that's maybe five minutes long. Okay. Four or five mini capsule pieces in there that could be anywhere from five minutes to 10 minutes in length. It's short. Bite-sized. Digestible pieces of information that people can take then leave. They can like listen to the trailer and be like, oh, this is what this little private feeds about. It. It's a way you can deliver a masterclass in a way that allows you to not have to show up live meets your clients and your potential clients where they're at. So there's a lot of people that are like, you know what? I will sign up for a course, as long as there's an audio component, because I don't know how many people have invested good money. But it's just, how do you finish it all? When you're doing all the things in your world, we all want to learn. We all want to grow, but we have to do it on our time. [00:08:24] Diane: So you mentioned a few things, but like let's get specific on some examples, because I think until you dive into this world, I think it's really hard to imagine what you could do, So you touched on, it could be a lead magnet where you're teaching something and instead of teaching it in an ebook, you're just teaching it in little bite-size. Episodes, could be meditation. So it's a bonus to your paying clients where you're giving them something extra. What else [00:08:52] Kim: Yeah. Well, I kind of look at it as income categories. So when I'm talking to clients, we talk about it from a marketing standpoint. Okay. Do you want to use it in place of a webinar? Do you want to use it as a launch content or order bumps? Do you want to use it in place of a masterclass? it is your message. Right. Like, it's just kind of thinking a little bit differently with the marketing piece. Another piece is educational. So how do you deliver your course in a way that makes sense and is accessible? Only through audio where, you know, video is always going to be? a piece, cause there's always a video component, but offering another way for people to consume only makes sense. My favorite platform is hello audio, to be able to do private podcasts on. And I mean the whole premise of them developing that platform was to be able to increase the completion rates of. So, I mean, what a great opportunity to, I mean, that's what we all want. We want our clients to be successful in whatever offer, program, membership, whatever we're offering, we want them to be successful. So this allows you to be able to provide that educational component that. Educational content in a way that makes sense. And then there's also event recording. So you can think of this as Q and a calls. One-on-one calls that I kind of touched on summits or even presentations. I'm hearing a lot of summits going just audio now, which is really unique. And I think amazing because I don't need to see it to be able to learn from it. And then, you know, you can even use it as a teams and operation. Depending on how big your businesses, but if you're starting to build a team, don't know about you, but I've had to sit through and read an operation manual before. And I didn't. So if there's, know, you could look at it even as like a monthly touchpoint or a weekly touchpoint with your employees and be like, this is our, know, our week meeting, just going to touch on a few of the highlighted things that we need to review and look at. You can use it as a newsletter. Like there's just so many different ways. If you kind of look at it as a marketing approach, educational event teams, and then even being niche specific. So, and that's that meditation piece or, or what about cooking instructions? Like if you were a chef for, you know, tech walkthroughs, like kind of cool. How many different ways you could use audio in your business to enhance and elevate. [00:11:17] Diane: I think where it's super interesting at the moment is in the launch space A few years back, like product launch formula was everything. [00:11:24] Kim: Yeah, [00:11:24] Diane: go anywhere without seeing a Jeff Walker style launch your emails. There was at least [00:11:30] Kim: right, [00:11:31] Diane: single time and they weren't short videos. [00:11:33] Kim: right. [00:11:34] Diane: like short and punchy or whatever. And so you were just expected and half the time you couldn't fast forward through them or anything. I'm seeing a few people almost transitioned that more of a private podcast feed. That's dripping [00:11:45] Kim: Yeah. [00:11:46] Diane: way ahead of the big event, which is other [00:11:50] Kim: Oh, so many courses. [00:11:51] Diane: to the podcast and stared as the replay. So I'm definitely seeing it cropping up a lot more in that space. And I know this is an area for you that. Super passionate about [00:12:00] Kim: Yes. Yeah. It was so many cool lays and we didn't even talk about the dripping or the instant, like, I mean, that's so cool. I mean, you can create, you know, once you've created a few different okay. So let's use the example of a lead magnet. Cause I don't know if a lot of people are still aware. The amazing, cool opportunities you can do with that. If you were using it as a launch magnet, I have tried and tested out three different versions . I wanted to try it, obviously, because if I'm working with clients and helping them, I wanted to make sure that it was doable for me. So, being able to like, actually. You know, kind of outline what the episodes were going to look like and what I was going to talk about and record it in an afternoon and send it off. And it was published was amazing. I think we tend to overthink things, so being able to have something that I could test out and see if it. Was attracting clients. I mean, obviously there's a marketing component too. So just like any other launch, you have to have your email sequence set up. You have to do you have to talk about it. So people are aware, you can't just build it and they'll come it's you have [00:13:01] Diane: Um, [00:13:01] Kim: those things. But the cool thing is now that I've done three I've looked back and went, okay, well, this one is performing way better. I'm going to maybe set that up as evergreen now, because it's an opportunity for someone it's not perfect, it gives somebody a little chance to see. Who Kim is what I'm all about and how you can work with me in a different way. think we're all tired of the webinars that are like, Oh, okay. If you stay to the end, they'll give you all these bonuses. And you do this well, like we're tired of all the fluff. We just want the information. We want to know if it's going to make sense for us. So. This allows you to the opportunity to test things out, to try without all the overwhelm there's. There doesn't even have to be a ton of editing because I know there's been a few people that are like, eh, you know, the editing's what gets me, but if you actually just start recording, that's the biggest hurdle. I think a lot of clients have is just actually pressing record. You know, you can do it and you can, you can get used to your voice. You can get used to the inflections. I mean, I think people honestly just want genuine conversations too. They don't, if I say I'm a lot, which I know I do, that's okay. That's, that's who I am. And I'll get better with time. But if you want to know what I'm all about and how to work with me, this is what you need to listen to. And I'm not going to have a lot of fluff because it is literally, maybe max five minutes. It's not a 30 minute web. [00:14:20] Diane: Yeah. And I like what you said about like, it can happen in an afternoon. I think people freak out about the editing cause they don't like to listen to. [00:14:27] Kim: Yes, that's [00:14:28] Diane: editing my first few podcast episodes and being, this is horrific now I don't even notice it. I'm like, it's just, it's just another voice that I'm editing. So that will go away. Like you said, once you push it, but that ability to have an idea and take action on it while you're still in that excitement of it and get it out all in that short period of time. Makes it so powerful. You're not having to think like, am I having a good hair day? Am I like wearing something suitable? Is the room behind me sort of tidy, you know, which even just throwing on an Instagram live or a Facebook live, you still have to kind of think about those things. Right. Whereas audio is just, it's kind of a, free-for-all you have no idea what I'm wearing right now. I could be in my pajamas, in my bed full, you know, listening to me. Um, Not [00:15:12] Kim: Absolutely. [00:15:12] Diane: but I totally could be. [00:15:14] Kim: Yeah, yeah, Yeah. It's getting comfortable. Yeah. Actually just the equipment that you have and being able to hit record and listening to your voice. And once you've done it, a couple of times, you know, like it, it gets better, it gets more comfortable. But I think we overthink all of the things. Not only our voice, not only like what equipment do we need, like, honestly, like I listened to someone that lists records her whole private feed, lead magnet on her phone, in her closet all the time. Right. Fine. It's not perfect, but I'm not listening to her because it's perfect. I'm listening to her because she brings value and she's fun to listen to. So you need [00:15:49] Diane: Yeah. [00:15:49] Kim: of figure that out. [00:15:50] Diane: Yeah. I've listened to an episode on a podcast where somebody had the iPhone headphones, the ones with the cord. And they were talking and then I think they were just very into it. And so they were moving a lot their microphone was scratching against their shirt [00:16:04] Kim: Yeah. [00:16:05] Diane: good 45 minute episode. But I wanted to know the information from that episode so bad that I listened to the whole thing. And I think that's you get in your head about like, I need to sound like, I don't know, [00:16:17] Kim: Perfect. Right. I mean, come on. We are not going to sound like them to begin with. I mean, even the Jenna Kutcher's, the world started out in their closet or in their vehicle or whatever recording. And so, I mean, don't get me wrong. Sound quality is important. And we definitely walk through some strategies to make it as clear as possible for you. And with as little editing as possible to be able to have a product at the end of the day, instead of sitting into dwell. For too many weeks. Cause I think we do that idea that human. We do it. So [00:16:47] Diane: So let's chat a bit about the accessibility side of things. So I think it's safe to say the both of us are complete fans of audio from the experience perspective, but it is also really important from an accessibility perspective. [00:17:01] Kim: Yes. even working with clients before on creating this launch, we talked about that and there's different tiers in the platform. Hello, audio, that you can you know, bump up to, to be able to have the transcript available. And if you don't want that top tier there's other options available to be able to have the transcript available, I have used Otter before and that's a nice resource to be able to have the content. You know, in the written format as well, because I think we want to be as accessible as possible. So being able to not only have the audio, the written, and then be able to pull out, pull out some, you know, marketing pieces from that is something that. Every, you know, like when you work on a strategy of what this is going to look like, just like you would a traditional lead magnet, those are all the phases and steps that you need to and think about when doing them. But again, if there is something that you would, you've already done a webinar, you've always already tried something different and you're looking for a unique way and unique spin to make you stand out in the crowd. Definitely creating an audio asset in your business in some way, shape or form. Is that. [00:18:04] Diane: and if you already have that webinar asset stripping the audio from that, simply allowing your people have a different way to access it. And for me there is, I'm not just not going to absorb anything. If I have to sit and stare at a talking head for an hour, but if you put [00:18:20] Kim: Right. [00:18:21] Diane: I'm happy to listen to it for 30 minutes. It's not a [00:18:23] Kim: Yes. Yes. [00:18:25] Diane: think what people we've touched on, like having the audio component of courses or courses themselves just being audio related, people learn in different. [00:18:34] Kim: Yes, we do. [00:18:35] Diane: slides to keep them Some people prefer to read, so you want to have your transcript. And some people are super busy like me find slides incredibly distracting. [00:18:45] Kim: Yes. Yes. [00:18:46] Diane: almost pay less attention. So if you put it on audio, I'm more likely to listen. [00:18:52] Kim: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, audio is just that ability. And I know you've talked about this to your listeners before, but it's just the really intimate experience of, of having just you and them in your ears and being able to kind of, even though you're multitasking, cause I'm only task all the time. still, if there's something that I'm catching, I'll hit pause. And be like, this is sad to me to rewind that and I can capture it again. So if it's going to capture your attention, you could do it in a way that really just meets people where they're at. [00:19:20] Diane: So we've talked about all the good things that you can do. Do you have any, don't do this kind of rules. I have some, some pet peeves, but I would love to hear yours. [00:19:31] Kim: yeah, so if you have a webinar already built out, you can absolutely use strip the audio from it and it's done. Boom, but it's going to sound different because they're two different platforms. So I, when I'm working with a client that already has a webinar already developed, we really work through creating its own unique track to make sense for that. If I'm just listening to a visual Webner through headphones, it's going to come off differently. Again, going back to that point where webinars are filled with some extra stuff in there and an audio version is. It's you're literally getting to the nuts and bolts, like right away, because I mean, how do you fill your time? You got to fill it with tough stuff that makes sense and brings value. So we really just kind of worked through that piece. It's creating something that makes sense in a way for that platform. So that's probably one of my biggest things is that people that are just slapping it up because whatever, and oh, it didn't work. There's a reason why it didn't. [00:20:31] Diane: yeah, I'll say what my pet peeve is, [00:20:34] Kim: Yeah, [00:20:34] Diane: and that is people who create audio assets, make a big deal of creating audio assets, and then expect me to just push play on my. Like, [00:20:46] Kim: right. [00:20:47] Diane: creating, because I know that you've created it because there's a podcast player there. can see the audio player. And for me, if you're creating an audio asset, the whole point of it is for it to be portable for me to listen to it on the go. If I have to log into a website to sit and push play and watch the light. Wave go up and down on a very boring looking player. That is my absolute pet peeve with summits, with launches, with courses, anything like that. And then my other pet peeve is obviously courses that don't have audio. [00:21:19] Kim: Oh, yeah, yeah, [00:21:20] Diane: will. I'm the first person to email the person and go like, can we have this on audio, please? [00:21:24] Kim: Yes, I am too. Like, I mean, there's a lot of good courses out there that just. Are sitting back because it works, it had has worked and it's fine the way it is. But honestly, if you really want to elevate you to the next level, like your business and bring value to your clients and potential new clients and new leads, we, we have to think a little differently. I think consumers are getting smarter with their choices and we need to you know, change things up and try, try, try something new. [00:21:54] Diane: Yeah, I think it's a balance between this makes it so much easier for us, but at the same time, we want to think, is this elevating it for. [00:22:02] Kim: Yeah. I mean, yeah, [00:22:04] Diane: to their experience? If it's not just don't bother So. I know that when I started experimenting with this, I mean, I already had the public podcost, but I just couldn't wrap my head around, what is this private podcost? How does this work? How's it going to show up in my podcast player? Like an old just felt very like strange to me. Do you have an audio asset where people can actually go and experience this as a consumer that might spark some ideas for them as a. [00:22:32] Kim: Absolutely. So if you just check out my Instagram at me and James go, you, there's actually a link that says private podcast you can check it out. And it's just about how to set up your podcast for success. It's a short, four mini clip version of all the different things and strategies that I work with with my clients and things to think about. Kind of like what we talked about today, [00:22:53] Diane: yeah, and I think it's really important to just go and experience that as the consumer. And I think as soon as you experience it as the consumer, it'll just be a million times easier for you to understand where it could fit into your business. [00:23:08] Kim: Yes. [00:23:10] Diane: Okay. Sorry to finish up. I always ask my guests two questions the first question is what is your number one lifestyle boundary for your business? [00:23:17] Kim: So I think because I'm so still kind of new in the game, it's been a challenge for me, but the reason why I've gone online and started and created this business for myself is to be able to set my own hours. that's one thing, but definitely the other thing is working on my. Of why I'm running, you know, what, what I'm all about and why somebody would want to work with me and making sure that I stay true to those values. So for example, I'm not going to just work with a client because of the retail. I just for the money. So, you know, when I first started this business, I started working as service-based where it was just mainly you know, retainer clients. And I quickly realized how exhausting that was, you know, it wasn't I wasn't able to work like everybody says, but I truly wasn't, weren't able to work on my business? I was constantly working in it. So trying to be able to find that shift and I mean, that's where, why I've evolved into intensives. You know, if somebody wants to work with me, Either through a one day, two day or a 90 minute intensive. I definitely still have one retainer client. I have space for two, but that is absolutely my max because I know how I want to show up for them. And I know how exhausting that is for me. So that's probably the biggest thing is staying true to my values. Not just saying yes, because I mean, they're amazing, but yeah, saying St. John. [00:24:36] Diane: And so I just want to mention, because we haven't touched on this massively, I actually use a private podcast to create at the one year mark. I haven't done a second one yet, but at the one-year mark, I created a private podcast feed of all of the answers that my guests have given to this. So that if somebody is struggling with boundaries, they can go through and listen and get inspired. And that was really easy for me to do because I was just clipping parts of my, I mean, we've been chatting for half an hour once a day, and that's a couple of minutes of our episodes. So I think from a repurposing perspective, [00:25:11] Kim: So-called [00:25:12] Diane: is also incredibly powerful, [00:25:13] Kim: That's why I love like the potential, like ability to reach out to clients in a different way, because it does make you not feel so alone. [00:25:22] Diane: Awesome. Okay. Finally, what is the worst piece of career you've been given this. [00:25:27] Kim: My gosh, the worst piece, I should be prepared for this. you know what, I think there's just so many mixed messages, right? I think there's, oh, do it this way and oh, do it that way. And then you're, you're constantly getting dragged back and forth. And then I think sometimes you just need to sit back and be like, What, what actually makes sense and works for you? What kind of business model do you actually want to set up? So at the end of the day, you can set those boundaries and they actually work. I know I've been pulled in a couple of different directions and I think everybody has, because you're like, oh, well they said this, you should do it that way. And, but no, it makes more sense to, so I think it's just been a learning experience for me, for sure. Is you know, instead of saying yes too quickly sitting back and being okay, like. You know, it's easy to follow somebody because you like their personality, but at the end of the day, if you want to learn from someone you really need to learn and figure out like, what kind of framework and structures do they actually have in place that will actually get me results. And I. I need to step back and be aware of that before I just agree and sign up or follow their advice because yeah, it leaves me kind of sitting back at the end of the day, going, Ugh. That was like two months of my time and it didn't pay off. [00:26:40] Diane: I would say to people, unless you want to be. That exact person living their exact life. And you come from the exact same Do it my way. Doesn't guarantee anything. [00:26:52] Kim: No. It really doesn't. [00:26:53] Diane: has been so good. I've been sitting here and as we've been talking, I've been like, Ooh, I can add that. Oh, I could add that. Obviously it's [00:27:00] Kim: good. [00:27:00] Diane: content, so I'm always going to be enthusiastic. I'm sure people listening are going to be like, oh, I don't know if I have any ideas of what I could do. What would this work? And I probably going to want to ask you loads of questions. the best place on social for them to carry on this company? [00:27:15] Kim: Yeah, so definitely on Instagram at me. Send me a message if you're interested. Cause I'm just like some people in podcasting, they offer podcasts audits. I definitely can offer a conversation to talk about potentially what a private audio feed or an audio asset looks like outside of a traditional podcast with you. So we can kind of take a look at your marketing at your offer suite and. How does this align and how could you potentially elevate your offers, adding audio? So I definitely am up for that. It's a good place to start. [00:27:45] Diane: Awesome. Thank you so much. [00:27:48] Kim: Thanks for having me.