Bamby Media’s 2023 Year In Review
As we approach the end of the year, I want to take a moment to reflect on the incredible year we've had at Bamby Media. I don’t usually go into the details of our business here, but I thought you may get a kick out of sneaking behind the curtain of Australia’s largest independent podcast production agency. It still blows my mind that I can even say that about our business if I’m honest.
It's been a year of excitement, challenges, growth, failure, loss and learning. I’ve had the pleasure of doing some very fun new things this year, and here’s a snapshot of not only what we’ve achieved, but more importantly what we’ve seen our clients achieve.
Revolutionising our Production Process
At the beginning of the year, I made a bold decision to change our production process completely and move to a new editing software. It was a massive undertaking that required a lot of hard work and dedication. Our team of audio editors put in countless hours to learn the new system, I recorded hundreds of hours of tutorials, and the team adapted to the changes. Change can be scary, but I knew it was necessary for us to grow and become more efficient. As a team, we conquered the challenges, I survived the late nights and we emerged as as more efficient team.
The Ebbs and Flows of Remote Work
From the beginning, Bamby Media has been a completely distributed workforce. That’s a fancy way of saying we don’t have an office. All the staff work from wherever they like, and it suits us all well. There have been many occasions where I’ve asked the team if they would like an office, and no one wants that. It’s nice that everyone feels supported to work on their own, but I do work hard to make sure that the company values remains intact. We achieve this through slack channel communication with different levels of “professionalism”, and a few company outings throughout the year. I’ve been encouraging the staff to remember to take more regular breaks, go for walks, leave their desks after they finish for the day. All the little things add up, and I worked hard this year to make sure the staff felt supported.
Empowering Our Clients
At Bamby Media, our focus has always been on helping our clients achieve their podcasting goals. We've celebrated numerous victories and milestones alongside them. From securing dream guests to selling out courses and programs, our clients have shown incredible growth and resilience. We've witnessed them launch new businesses, write and publish books, and establish strong connections within their communities. The level of vulnerability and trust they've cultivated with their audience has translated into tangible results.
Navigating Challenges and Embracing Change
This year hasn't been without hurdles. Many businesses faced uncertain times, and we supported our clients through it all. We helped them weather the inevitable storms, pivot their strategies, and launch new podcasts and YouTube channels. It's through these challenges that we've witnessed the true strength and determination of our clients to achieve bigger goals for their own businesses.
Beyond Numbers: The Value of Niche and Community
While download numbers often take the spotlight, we believe there's more to podcasting success. Understanding your niche, delivering valuable content, and fostering meaningful connections with your audience hold immense significance. We've seen clients thrive by staying true to their niche and authentically engaging with their listeners. It's always better to have quality over quantity.
Looking to the Future
As we wrap up this incredible year, we're excited to continue pushing the boundaries of podcasting. Our clients' success stories inspire me on a daily basis. Witnessing the growth that they’ve achieved through their podcasts has made it clear to me that podcasting isn’t going anywhere. It’s now a more trusted medium than social media is (though that’s not a big surprise I suppose), and I can see the audience connection deepening in 2024 and beyond.
Before I sign off, I want to express my gratitude to every one of you who has been part of our journey so far. Whether you're a client, a listener, or someone who stumbled upon this post, your support means the world to myself and the entire Bamby Media team.
If you're interested in exploring the world of podcasting and working with us, feel free to reach out via our website at bambymedia.com/contact. We'd be thrilled to connect with you and help you embark on your podcasting adventure.
Wishing you all a wonderful year filled with growth, opportunities, and great podcasts!
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Transcript:
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[00:00:00] Brianna: A lot of things have happened this year for us here at bamy media. And it's been really exciting and it's also been one of the, probably the hardest years in business. if I reflect back on kind of where we started back in January I decided to completely revolutionize The production process that our audio editors were using to actually edit every single show. And even though I knew that it was going to be something that was just going to work so well, there was a whole lot of work involved with me actually achieving that and getting everything ready, getting all the tutorials recorded. Uh, explaining to the staff why this was happening. Anytime there's a massive change in the business, it can be scary for everyone else.
[00:00:51] It's challenging. Uh, and so part of my job was to hold everyone's hand through it and make sure that we came out the other side stronger and more efficient than we had in the past. We've never had as many clients as we have now. And so starting the year strong It was a struggle. I definitely. Has phases of just being extremely tired and I definitely was sick more last year than I normally would be. So it absolutely took toll. But when I reflect back on that, I really Understand how important that was. I'm so glad I did it. And the collaboration that we now can do as a team is unparalleled.
[00:01:30] I'm recording this on the 29th of December I am well and truly into good break.
[00:01:37] I think it's been about 10 days now since I started outbreak. And in that time we have gone on our annual Bammy media, Christmas party. getaway with the staff where we take them somewhere to a hotel and they get a fancy room to themselves. They get buffet breakfast the next morning. We have dinner together.
[00:01:57] We play board games or just [00:02:00] chat or whatever people want to do. Uh, we had drinks by the pool and it was just absolutely beautiful. And I think that that's really important too, as a remote team that. I do that because we don't have massive costs, right. With big offices and all that sort of thing. Everyone works remotely. There's a lot of things that aren't required. If you don't have an office, which is great. but it does mean that keeping everyone engaged. Is harder because you're not seeing everyone every day and getting those little touch points with. Everyone and feeling connected physically. So you have to make sure that you can still have that connection. Mentally, I suppose, and feel like you're part of a team, even though you are completely remote.
[00:02:45] And so we do that throughout the year with things like our, our slack channel and we do do some other catch-ups throughout the year. But this big one at the end of the year is like the main time where we can just a, have no work to do because it's finished. So we're not even thinking about that or discussing it.
[00:03:04] And we're really just there to have a good time together. And it, it's my way of showing appreciation for all the hard work that everyone does. It made me feel nice about the team that we have here at bamy media.
[00:03:15] We've actually lost a couple this year because they were only casuals. we lost Elliot this year. She's gone on to do her own business that she's been working on for many years now. her business and it's called future wild. And it's all about, establishing culinary gardens for mostly hotels.
[00:03:34] So I'm so glad that she Took the training wheels off and dove into that. And I was expecting that to happen at some point this year. And I was just so excited when it did, so that was all good. And then we had another staff member, Gina who left us because she'd finished her decree. And she is now. Working in social work, which is what she has been working on in her degree for many, many years.
[00:03:58] And so it was cool [00:04:00] to be able to support her through that as much as we could as well. Because I knew these things were coming. I also had made sure that I had a staffed appropriately. So that when they left it wasn't like I was going, oh my God, what?
[00:04:13] We don't have enough people. You know, I had staffed it up so that there was hours available for the others. because we didn't have everyone maxed out. Yeah. That was really cool to be able to achieve this year as well. And we've also just had some really good wins as far as what we've been able to achieve with our clients this year.
[00:04:34] And it's not something that I really talk about too much here on pump up your pod, because it's more about giving you podcasting tips, I sent an email out to our clients. Uh, just wishing them a happy Christmas. And then in that. Email, I actually went through and kind of thought about all the things that we were able to achieve with our clients or help support them. To achieve this year, because at the end of the day, you know, mostly for our clients, we are their production partner.
[00:05:01] So we help them produce the best quality podcast that they can. But depending on their budget, depending on the gear that they have, we help them produce. What they are able to produce, you know, Uh, not everyone's budget is the same. And so what they can achieve is different and also what they are willing to do. Is different. And it's that old saying, you know what?
[00:05:27] You get out. Is what you put in. And I've seen a lot of our clients this year have really stepped up into what they put in. So, whether that's upgrading their gear. Whether that's actually booking in more. Strategy sessions with me. actually really important to do that. And not enough clients I think actually do that.
[00:05:46] They just get on the hamster wheel of producing content every week, but they're not reflecting on how they're actually going that's not just our clients. That's broad. You know, that's anyone that has a podcast or people [00:06:00] that have social media channels, that they don't really track the insights or anything that you should be measuring and you're not measuring it.
[00:06:07] How do you expect to get better? And so we've definitely had a lot more clients actually book in for consults this year so that we can go through. What their content plan should really look like. Whether they're contents actually landing who there. Target market is, are they reaching that target?
[00:06:26] And what else can they be doing? Like how they're repurposing is going? Are they actually repurposing properly?
[00:06:31] are they wanting to step into monetization? What does that look like? Like there's a bunch of different things that. If you don't talk about it. And strategize it, then your kind of leaving it up to chance a lot more. But what I'm going to run through now is some of the really cool things that our clients have been able to achieve this year.
[00:06:50] Securing guests that went on their wishlist. So there were a few really big ones this year. namely, I suppose one of them would be, uh, Erica Kramer, the queen of confidence. She has a podcast called the confidence Chronicles and she was able to secure. Gary V, when I first started working with Erica quite a few years ago now. she was like, I want to get Gary V on. And we were both like, what's going to happen. It's going to happen. It's one of those things it's like on that vision board, you know, and when the time is right, when the audience is right, when you feel like. You've achieved what you need to achieve.
[00:07:27] And you're at the level where you can reach out to someone like that and get a response. It will happen, you know, but be patient. And that's the learning with anything when you're chasing good guests, even though you may want this particular guest on your show, you may not be in a position for it to actually land. There's going to be a time in your podcasting journey where you can get someone on that's big.
[00:07:49] That's your target? But you need to do the work to make that actually happen. So really big props to Erica for actually achieving that. So it was just really cool to [00:08:00] witness that happen and then be able to edit that, produce that episode for her. Selling out courses and programs from the relationships that have been built through the listeners. Uh, is one of the big ones that we see for a lot of clients with podcasts.
[00:08:14] the podcast being the main arm for marketing courses, programs, masterminds. We've seen it just do so well in actually converting people. We've seen clients launch new businesses and let go of old ones.
[00:08:29] And that's been probably one of the tricky ones this year, because there has been actually quite a lot of flux in. The small business world this year. I know that it's been really hard for a lot of people. We've lost clients because they could no longer maintain the budget for it, they felt like they needed to cut something and the podcast was the thing that they cut.
[00:08:51] And so it's been tricky to see and navigate that for people as well. but yeah. Also help them through it. So sometimes they just felt like they needed to let a business go. And then start something else that felt more aligned to what they actually want to do. And that may mean launching a new podcast for that new show as well. I've seen quite a few clients write and launch new books. So shout out to worklife ByDesign Mel Maasdam released a fantastic book, and then we also had ladies finance club. Clients have gone on to, as in whether that be road shows, book launches, book tours. there's been a lot of movement in that space as well. So that was fun to witness and also promote on the podcast. We've been able to help clients secure, aligned sponsors. That's been pretty big. So there's been a few clients where we've been able to achieve some great sponsorship deals.
[00:09:43] Now that particularly is very hard work and it is hard to achieve good outcome because the space is still quite young.
[00:09:50] and people, uh, especially brands are a little bit kind of like, ah, I don't know where the podcast sponsorship is worth it yet because there's not enough. I guess [00:10:00] proof, although that's definitely changing quite rapidly and getting the sponsors to be the ones that you actually want to work with can be hard.
[00:10:08] So we've been able to achieve some great things, especially for AMA, from broke generation. We've been able to get some great sponsorship deals going for her. Uh, this year and we're looking to do many more fantastic things in that space. into 20, 24 as well. We also have a monetizing your podcast masterclass.
[00:10:26] If it's something that you want to be training to do
[00:10:28] Brianna: yourself. Then there's a masterclass you can watch and supporting material resources, templates. That sort of thing that goes with that. If you're interested in learning more about that.
[00:10:37] We've seen clients build stronger connections and expand their networks.
[00:10:41] A lot of that's to do with, you know, getting different kinds of people on this show that then have actually expanded their networks. Above what they really thought they were going to be able to achieve. So that's been really cool. Uh, there's been a lot more vulnerability this year in podcasting, which has meant that there's this new level of trust, which has helped clients then also sell whatever it is that they're selling, because. They've built a higher level of trust with their audience.
[00:11:09] And then that has actually converted into dollars.
[00:11:13] Beauty business and beyond brought to you by Kelly. she actually launched a physical store this year called the facial bar, which I thought was just the coolest thing to witness. And I know that that is. Huge struggle to be able to achieve that. She's just done an incredible job. So that's been something that we've seen and also been able to promote through the podcast.
[00:11:34] And it's been really great to see that get out there in the world and actually happen really quickly. So. That was kind of cool. We've helped clients start their YouTube channels this year and grow to thousands of views per month in, you know, what is relatively a short amount of time. Reaching over a thousand subscribers. And have seen just a incredible community start to develop on YouTube. And in fact, I'm seeing that myself. For the [00:12:00] Bambi media brand.
[00:12:01] We started a YouTube channel this year, actually I'm in the a couple of months ago. And wow. It's one of these things that I knew that it was going to be good. But I didn't realize it was going to be that good. The ability to have people comment on things and have really good dialogue back and forth with people has been actually amazing to witness, uh, on our channel and also on our client's channel as well.
[00:12:26] Where that you feel like you really building a community. Because you're getting feedback. And so that's why I think podcasting on YouTube is, is actually a really cool thing. Because as of now, you can't do that. With podcasting, you can't get that immediate feedback where someone asks you a question. In relation to a podcast episode and you can answer it and then there's a dialogue, and then they thank you.
[00:12:50] And it, it feels like you're really helping them and creating a good value kind of loop. So it's been really cool to see that. And it be achieved for the clients that are going hard on YouTube. We can see an exponential growth curve happening there. So it's fun to help them out with that. And we're really behind them on that.
[00:13:09] So that's been really fun. We've seen increases in email, this size being. Invited to speak on stages that have been on their wishlist. One of our clients was shortlisted for the Australian podcasting awards. Shout out to the wholesome show for that one. That was awesome. And I was a judge this year. No, I didn't judge their category. There was no conflict of interest. Uh, but it was just so much fun to be able to go to the awards this year and have a client be shortlisted.
[00:13:37] So something that I definitely recommend you enter next year. If you are interested in. Meeting other podcasters, because I definitely met quite a few, during that process as well. We've seen video snippets of our podcasts clients going viral on socials. One particular client. their content was insanely hard hitting and we have had, uh, quite a few of their [00:14:00] reels.
[00:14:00] One in particular got over a million views extremely quickly. And that was something that we picked out because we were like, this is going to hit really hard. And it's, it's really rough, but it needs to be said, like it needs to be common knowledge. And so we put that together and then they put it out there and it was just. Like it blew up.
[00:14:21] It exploded. At that podcast went crazy good as well. And it, yeah, I was just, wow. It was one of the first times that we were able to see that.
[00:14:31] Be achieved for a client who had a, quite a large following to begin with. And then we came in and produced a podcast for them. That then. Because they already had this crazy momentum. and the production of the podcast was really, really high quality. It just made it easier. For us to then be able to pick the things that we want to pick out. Uh, for us to create something that is extremely high quality and then have this really, really professional result that you would expect from a brand That is as big as that. I've seen people hit revenue targets, knowing that the podcast has been a massive lead gen for that. creating good sponsorship ads for themselves, as in talking about their own products and services, and then quantifying what the actual. A result of that kind of mid roll and the ads have been for
[00:15:24] Brianna: their own services.
[00:15:25] yeah, it's all well and good to. Talk about this thing that you're offering in your podcast, but how are you attributing it? Like, how are you tracking? If they've listened to it and then you've converted them based on that.
[00:15:38] And there are ways to do it.
[00:15:39] taking a break when they needed to some clients needed to take a break this year and then come back better than before. And it's been definitely something that I've seen this year more than any other year. Where clients have sent me an email being like, Hey, I need to take a month off or I need to take. A couple of weeks off. And instead of just being like, I'm out, I'm done. It's [00:16:00] like, no, just take a break, take a break. Do some reflection. And then the clients that then they come back and they go, oh my God. That was so good. Because it helped me realign with what I actually wanted to talk about. And a lot of the times they did a consult, like a high level strategy consult before they went on break.
[00:16:19] So that then I would sit with them and go, okay, cool. This is the content that you need to be kind of hitting, or at least giving them some ideas. And then over the break, they would think about that. And they would record some stuff just because they felt like it. And it wasn't like such a big. Deal.
[00:16:35] And then they came back and you just saw their numbers go rip. Which was awesome to see as well, because this reigniting the passion of doing it. And that's why I always like to take a break in December and get our clients to force a break as well because they batch their content. So they're not necessarily taking a full break. They've batched stuff up, but it means they've taken a break from actually recording anything. And thinking about the podcast and like having a deadline that they have to achieve. And then the last one I'll mention is obviously download numbers increasing year on year. There has been a lot of fluctuation in the download numbers this year. I've seen it probably more so than any other year. I've seen a growth on pretty much every show, but it hasn't been, as. big as kind of jumps from previous years, perhaps, but the reason why. A lot of that, certainly towards the end of the year, is that apple stopped counting. Downloads for the same podcast episode on like apple watch and like on all your devices.
[00:17:39] So if you start listening to a podcast episode on your computer, let's say, and then you go for a walk and you take that podcast episode to your phone or to your watch, and then your listening to it there, it's like it's counting all those things or used to count them as individual downloads. But in fact, that's not the case.
[00:17:59] They're not [00:18:00] real. Like that's not actually three it's only one. One. So they've been getting more sophisticated with the actual download numbers, meaning that yes they've shrunk, but in fact, they haven't really, you know, it's just that it was being. Analyzed incorrectly. Uh, for the first half of the year.
[00:18:19] And I know that the podcasting industry is, going crazy good.
[00:18:23] It's still like when I look at the stats and I did a stats podcast episode quite a few months ago now as to the state of. The podcasting industry and, you know, we're beating the U S which has always been the one that we're chasing as far as people actually listening, acknowledging, knowing what a podcast is, the amount of Actual hours.
[00:18:42] People listening to podcasts has improved, has increased. the awareness of podcasting kits really grown as an industry. and so I guess the last thing I'll say is that. I put download numbers at the very bottom of the list. It's because I don't actually feel that that is as important. As all these other things, I've just told you. If you think about all the things. That you can achieve or that you've achieved through your podcast this year. Download numbers increasing is such a small part of it.
[00:19:15] When I'm witnessing more this year than any other is the absolute value of knowing your niche. you're targeting people for a particular reason. And are you delivering on that promise? Are you actually talking to that niche? And is your content good? Really. Is it good? So that's my wrap-up for this year and I hope you've enjoyed it.
[00:19:40] I know it's longer than usual. Thanks for staying with me. If you have all the way to the end, this won't be on YouTube. This is just an audio only. Uh, podcast episode this week. And I feel like I've learnt a lot of valuable things this year. It's been the hardest one yet, as far as just the, uh, the sheer amount of workload, it's been more [00:20:00] tumultuous, there's been more people or more clients that have needed to take breaks or, uh, try and do it themselves.
[00:20:05] In-house and then realize it's really hard. And then come back and trying to fit people back in to a roster that's already quite full losing staff. Uh, upscaling, you know, all the things. So it's been big and. I just want to thank you for being here. I've had a lovely time. Reminiscing with you. And if you're interested in working with us and you don't already then go to bamboo media.com/contact. Send us an email. Thanks for listening and I will chat to you again soon.
