The benefit of consistently releasing podcast episodes for 3 years with Ellie Swift

Oct 16

Today, we have the delightful Ellie Swift join us to talk about how she’s stayed so consistent with her podcast, "Shine Online with Ellie Swift". It's easy to start a podcast, but the real challenge lies in continuing it over a long period of time to see the results. This is something many creators struggle with. While most buckle under the pressure within the first 6 months or less,, Ellie has stood strong.

Having started her podcast in August 2020, Ellie revealed her motivations for venturing into the podcasting arena. As her business grew, so did her marketing needs. For Ellie, podcasting wasn't just a strategy but a genuine way to connect, share, and educate. She envisioned her podcast as an avenue for people to get to know her and her work intimately.

As a thought leader, Ellie emphasizes embracing the transformation that happens with your content over time. It's natural to look back and cringe at your older content - it merely signifies growth and evolving perspectives.

Ellie's strategic approach to podcasting integrates seamlessly with her business. Serving as a top funnel strategy, her podcast draws people in, helping them get acquainted with her and her services. Interestingly, between 30 to 50 percent of her community attributes finding her to the podcast. The ripple effects of her podcast continue to play a significant role in her overall business trajectory.

Understanding your audience's behaviour is crucial. Ellie's insights stress the importance of tracking where your audience is coming from. While direct clicks from podcast show notes might be low, there are indirect avenues like Instagram where conversions take place. It’s a gentle reminder that the podcasting world is much more than direct click-through rates.

As with many pursuits, podcasting isn't without its challenges. Ellie opened up about the effort of maintaining consistency:

"There are definitely seasons where I just can't be bothered."

A 30-minute episode weekly may not sound like much, but when it's a commitment amidst other professional and personal duties, it can sometimes feel like a herculean task. That’s why it’s important to establish a team that you can outsource the repurposing to as quickly as you can afford to.

While Ellie does admit that podcasting can sometimes feel time-consuming, she's quick to highlight the immense benefits it offers.

"The content and repurposed content is huge" Ellie emphasizes.

She encourages her clients to view podcasting not as a time-sink but as a goldmine for content creation. She said, "What it gives your business in terms of content opportunities is immense."

Even with the benefits, the challenge of showing up, especially during challenging times, cannot be denied. As Ellie recounted, "I've had seasons where I'm a bit tired, or I've come off the back of a big launch, or I'm feeling a little less creative." Yet, she champions consistency, noting the importance of showing up, not just for herself, but for her audience.

"I create this consistent thing that people get to trust. If they see it coming out every Wednesday, it means my people get to trust me."

Podcasting is more than just talking into a microphone. For Ellie, it's a medium to share, grow, and connect. Whether you're a budding podcaster or a seasoned pro, Ellie's journey offers invaluable lessons. Remember, it’s not just about starting but persisting.

Transcript:

[00:00:00] Brianna: Welcome back to my face. Today we have a interview with Ellie Swift. She has a podcast called Shine Online with Ellie Swift. She's been a client of ours now since 2020 And her consistency is really admirable. bar for the few weeks that we suggest clients take off over Christmas, Ellie really hasn't missed like a week I know how difficult it is and it is definitely one of the reasons why a lot of people don't start shows or they do start them and they get like 10 episodes in, they realize it's tricky and that it's so hard to be consistent and they just stop, whereas Ellie absolutely has not done that.
[00:00:42] I spoke to Ellie as well about how she quantifies The value of the show, like what she's actually getting out of it as well, uh, how she's grown, what she's learned, who it's for, all the things. I think that you're going to really learn in this episode, uh, just the honesty around how it is hard to actually be consistent and why it is important to keep going, especially in this podcasting space because the payoffs are big.
[00:01:12] They're bigger than you realize. And it's something that over time grows and it grows really naturally. And your audience gets used to hearing from you every, every week. And if they don't hear from you, then. They wonder why. And I think that that's a really cool conversation to start with today. Go and check Ellie out.
[00:01:31] She's on Instagram. She's a fantastic website. She has a great podcast. She has all the things. The point of this show is to really help you, the podcaster or someone interested in podcasting, to learn from someone that's been doing it for a long time and ascertain what.
[00:01:48] you can also implement in your own podcasting journey. So let's get into it.
[00:01:55] Ellie, we went back to the beginning of your show. You [00:02:00] first launched it on August the 22nd, 2020. I want you to take me back to when you first started this show, why you recorded it, where you were in your business and Why it felt like a good idea.
[00:02:16] Ellie: In 2019, I launched my first ever mastermind. 2020 was when that mastermind then evolved into two masterminds.
[00:02:26] and I was very much in the thick of being in the scaled version of my business. My marketing efforts to that point had been just smaller, honestly. And I'd got to that point where I was running group programs in this case, masterminds.
[00:02:41] And I knew that I needed to really focus on growing my top of funnel audience so that I was going to be able to continue attracting the type of people that I wanted to attract. So that's really the, the strategic answer around that. The other side of that is that. I knew I wanted to have a podcast, being in a thought leadership business, being somebody who has a lot to share, being someone whose business is built entirely around, you know, my intellectual property.
[00:03:10] It made so much sense to me to incorporate a podcast into my suite. And so I started the podcast with the desire to keep growing my audience and really creating that opportunity to share more long form content that would give people the opportunity to get to know me more. Because what I find is that. When I work with clients, they tend to stick around and so that trust is built through people really getting to know and understand me and how I work and the advice that I offer and the way in which I share information and the way that I share strategy.
[00:03:47] And I knew I needed more of an outlet for that. So lots of reasons. Podcast was just like the thing,
[00:03:54] Brianna: the passage of time is crazy.
[00:03:55] Like it feels like no time has passed, but also so much [00:04:00] time has passed. And there's been so many evolutions of Ellie
[00:04:04] Ellie: so often we can feel a bit of shame when we think about all the content that lives out there on the Internet from our years prior because as thought leaders as people with intellectual property.
[00:04:16] As entrepreneurs, we're moving at such a rapid rate, right? So it would be weird if you and I didn't cringe at the content that we shared online three years ago. Like, that would just be strange and probably a sign that we weren't actually growing at the rate of our potential. And so what I think is so interesting and important for people listening to know about that is that You get to just honor that evolution and not make it be a problem or mean anything.
[00:04:44] So I'm never gonna go back and listen to those old episodes because I just cringed so much, but they tell a story. It's part of my journey and it's the same as if I go back and listen to, you know, the very first episode Amy Porterfield did of her podcast, you know, I'm gonna have of course that human context and knowledge that she was a very different person then.
[00:05:03] And so I think there's a lot to be said for really embracing our journey in a podcast and allowing that transformation to occur and not making past versions of ourself wrong.
[00:05:14] Brianna: It's like, you almost want to hug that person. You want to hug that version of you to go, man, like you were doing a good job. Like you had the best info that you could at the time. And you really went for it. you've just got to start. And even if you suck, like, you're not always going to suck, you know, you're going to develop into the person that you're supposed to be and the content creator that you're supposed to be. So I think that that's really valuable. I want to then go into how you think that your podcast Has helped you in your business.
[00:05:50] And if you have like a figure that you reckon maybe it's generated, you could certainly say that, but if you don't, if you haven't quantified it, that's fine. But how do you feel like [00:06:00] it's served you?
[00:06:01] Ellie: Yeah. I absolutely do have that data, so we're really specific and clear on the data of where our clients and our community come from, specifically in our funnel. So I know I mentioned this before, but, and obviously, you know, this breed, but our podcast very much is a top of funnel strategy for us. And so just to break that down a little bit, what I mean by that is that.
[00:06:24] It was always desired that people would find me through the podcast, that that would be an entry point, or maybe they'd come across me on Instagram one time, want to find out a bit more about me and would go straight to the podcast. Like that was the place where people would get to know me and my work and it would warm them up to then move into purchasing from me, which what I find occurs.
[00:06:49] Is that that absolutely takes place at the moment between 30 to 50 percent of people find me or attribute finding me to the podcast, which is awesome. And then what I find is that people go from there and then they purchase predominantly through Instagram and sometimes Facebook. so where our stats get a little bit skewed is. When, for example, if I look at like my last launch of the mastermind model program that supports you to grow and build a mastermind in that data, something that my business manager and even I looked at was we could see really clearly that people were predominantly purchasing or signing up to the playbook, the webinar from Instagram, but a lot of those listeners were still coming from From the podcast, so we don't necessarily get as many clicks from the podcast itself in mid roll and, you know what I share at the end, but I know that that's still contributing to the process.
[00:07:50] So that's where I know our data's a little bit skewed, but it's more, it's a lot of asking people where they found us and also anecdotal information that's really helped me. [00:08:00] Discern and determine that, especially those ideal clients, a lot of them are like, Hey, I just like binge listened to 10 episodes of your podcast.
[00:08:07] I can see we have the same values. I can see and recognize your framework, the way that you teach. I like you. I want to work with you. Where do I sign up? So it fast tracks that process massively for us.
[00:08:19] Brianna: Yeah, that's incredible. I think that's something for people to really take. away from this to go, okay, if I'm going to bother starting a show, if I haven't started one already, or if I have one and I haven't done this already is make it really simple to establish how they found you, because that is where you will be able to tell quite quickly if the podcast is doing its job.
[00:08:42] For you, and something Ellie said there as well around, you might not get a lot of links, uh, sorry, a lot of hits on the links that you put in your show notes, like, go to the link in my show notes and click on the thing. Most people won't do that. Because they are listening to you, not necessarily with their phone right there.
[00:09:02] And they're absorbed in the actual episode itself. And they're absorbed in the content at the time, but it doesn't mean that they're, they're not going to go and find out more. It just means they're not going to click on that link that takes them there. They're going to go other places. Maybe they'll go to Instagram first, whatever else.
[00:09:18] Same thing goes when we talk to advertisers and we talk about like ad spend and things, and they want their links in the show notes for the podcast. We say to them, I mean, yeah, that's going to be okay, but you gotta, like, we've got to put it other places for you because most people don't click on those links.
[00:09:36] So it's important to have it on your website and like in the links on your Instagram as well. Like if you, you got those three links you can choose, or if you've got like a link tree thing, just make sure that you have a way that you can quantify. What you're actually getting out of it because, you know, Ellie spends money on the show to get it produced.
[00:09:55] We produce it. It costs her money to do. She wants to [00:10:00] prove that it's worth it for her. what do you think is your favorite thing about your podcast?
[00:10:07] Ellie: I love recording the episodes of the podcast from day one. I've always. I've always set the visual in my mind that when I'm recording my podcast, I am sitting with a client or a community member. And I often have a different person in my mind at any one time, but I'll think of a literal client or someone within my community.
[00:10:31] And we have a glass of wine or we have a tea or we have a coffee and I'm sharing and communicating and speaking to them. And because of that, it allows me to. Feel really connected to my audience, to my community. And I often hear people say recording a podcast. It's like, you're not live. You're not with them.
[00:10:53] Take yourself into that vortex. Do what you need to do to make believe a little bit, and that's going to support your process so much. And so. For me, I always make the process of recording a podcast, something that feels like a beautiful experience for myself. I love it for that because. I get to have that experience. I get to communicate in a deeper way, in a conversational way, in a way where I'm sharing my energy and sharing my ethos and sharing my viewpoints and doing so with the desire to serve.
[00:11:25] So I really, really love that. Like the process of recording and sharing. I love it.
[00:11:31] Brianna: okay. So that's the good stuff. What do you feel like is the bad stuff or maybe not bad, but what's the challenge?
[00:11:38] Probably the biggest challenge that you think a podcast puts in front of you.
[00:11:43] Ellie: I would say that there's definitely seasons where I just can't be bothered. With the consistency of it, you know, like I'm recording a 30 minute episode once a week. Like that's a lot of time and I say it's a lot of time. I just want [00:12:00] to quantify that it's also not. So the only things that I do is I write notes and I record the thing.
[00:12:07] That's all I do. Like my team, you guys. Do everything else. And what that gives me in terms of content and repurposed content is huge. a lot of people said to me, podcast takes so much time. And I actually say the opposite to my clients. I'm always like, actually, it doesn't take a lot of time in terms of what it gives you, what it gives your business in terms of content opportunities.
[00:12:30] But. What I will say is that, yeah, there's seasons where I'm just like, I'm, I'm a bit tired this month, or I've just come off the back of a big launch, or I'm just feeling like a little less creative in this moment. And obviously it's something where for me, I definitely view consistency as being something that's really important in business.
[00:12:50] And I will show up for that podcast no matter what I think other than our scheduled Christmas weeks off, we've had like. In three years, we've had like two episodes that haven't gone live. Like basically nothing because people message me if an episode doesn't go up, where if we've ever had a tech thing where an episode doesn't go up, people message me from 6am like, where's your podcast?
[00:13:11] It's not coming this week. And so I want to be able to uphold that thing of, I'm creating this consistent thing that people get to trust because if they see that coming out. Every single Wednesday, it means that my people get to trust me
[00:13:26] and sometimes I'm a little bit slow about getting it through to you. I, I'm not a bachelor of my, my podcast. maybe that will change in future seasons, but I really enjoy that weekly ritual of sitting down to record.
[00:13:39] Brianna: Yeah, I think the commitment to yourself, to your business, but most importantly to your audience is really admirable. And it's like, yay, give me like a little clap there because I know that even though, as you say, it doesn't take a lot of time, it's still a [00:14:00] thing. That you kind of have to do. It's like a non negotiable, and sometimes you just can't be asked.
[00:14:07] You want to put it in the too hard basket, or you don't feel like you've got the energy sometimes. You feel like you're a bit flat, and you just don't, you just don't want to have to connect. But I think one of the things that I find, even with our own show Pump Up Your Pod, is like if I'm not into it and I make myself do it.
[00:14:27] I actually feel better afterwards. It's like going to the gym. I get out of my own way and I go, no, I've committed to this. Like anything else in my business I've committed. I'm gonna do it. And then once I'm done, I'm like, man, it's like, it's invigorating to me to have then spent that time delivering something.
[00:14:47] And because I love to teach as well. You're the same, Ellie, where that education piece is so strong. It's like, you really want people to learn. That you feel like you're delivering on that. So I think that's
[00:14:59] extremely valuable.
[00:15:00] Ellie: great.
[00:15:01] Brianna: The last question I have for you is what's your favorite podcast?
[00:15:07] Ellie: it changes all the time, but my current favorite is I really love the diary of a CEO by Steven Bartlett. I mean, he is just like podcast goals, right? And if you want to, if you want to see. What a big budget podcast production gets to look like check out his podcast and the way that he then shares it across his socials, because it is just so smart.
[00:15:35] So considered, I mean, he's doing like movie trailers for every episode at this point. So Go check those out. Not through the lens of comparison because. You know, for the most part, we, we have smaller budgets. Like he is somebody where his podcast is his thing at this point. And he has a very, very big podcast budget, but you can learn so much from him in terms of the way that he interviews.
[00:15:58] I mean, there's just no other [00:16:00] interviewer like him, the way that he is very strategic about using mid roll.
[00:16:05] The way he asks people to subscribe to his podcast, just, he's so good. And his subject matter is amazing. His interviews are amazing. The people he has on his show are amazing. Just incredible thought leaders in the areas of business, sport, health, wealth. Amazing.
[00:16:21] Brianna: he is really good. I love that show as well. his YouTube channel, the behind the scenes of the podcast. Oh my God, Ellie, you're going to love it. Cause it's like the back end of what it takes to actually run his podcast. I want you to go and listen to shine online with Ellie Swift.
[00:16:41] And I want you to get some tips from the way she delivers her solo content as a, you know, really high level business owner with a really engaged audience. The way that Ellie uses phrasing, the way that she establishes connection and emotion with her audience through her solo episodes. If nothing else, if that content resonates with you, I think you'll really learn a lot from the way you can deliver solo and then with guest content as well.
[00:17:10] the questions that Ellie asks are interesting and she's connecting a lot with. People that are in her programs, but it doesn't feel like she's trying to sell you on something, you know, having someone on her show that someone in her programs, it doesn't feel like, Oh, look how awesome I am. And here's someone in my program.
[00:17:29] That's not the point of the conversation. So, take some notes, and I think you'll really enjoy Shine Online with Ellie Swift. Thanks, Ellie.
[00:17:37] Ellie: thank you so much for having me. I've loved this conversation so much and thanks for all those lovely compliments. These are, I'm learning new things about the way I phrase things and it?
[00:17:45] being, you know, great. So I'm thrilled about that, delighted.
[00:17:49] Brianna: A Yep.
[00:17:51] Ellie: Thank you.
[00:17:52]