Can Consistency Transform Your Client Base? Discovering The Impact With Erin Diehl Of Improve It!

Wish you were one of those influencers with raving fans who binge on your every word, consume all your content, buy everything you have to sell and demand even more. Then stay tuned while Authority magazine columnist and buzzfeed contributor Tracy Hazzard shares strategies, tips and tactics from top videocasters, podcasters, authors and social influencers on creating that bingeable factor. Now let's join Tracy as she explores how to rise above all the digital noise with the Binge factor.

Hey everyone, Tracy Hussard here on the Binge Factor. Improve It. Like how many times am I saying like this is a way to improve your show, right? Listening here, taking takeaways. Improve it. That's who I have the host of here. Her show is called Improve It Podcast. I love it. Aaron Deal is going to be our guest today and she has got she's super fun. I really feel like I wish I lived closer to her because I think we'd like be best friends and have coffee every day. I love it when I meet someone who's like that. She's out of Charleston, South Carolina and she has just got a really improvement focused show. But she's got some interesting things for us to share with you today about how she is launching her book that is coming out about how the book and the podcast tie in together. I am just really was just fascinated by everything that we talked about. So I know you're going to really love this episode. So let me tell you a little bit more about Aaron. Aaron, Big deal, right? Is a business improv edutainer. Improv. That's Improve it and improv. She's got to play on the words there. She's an edutainer, a fail fluencer and a professional zombie. Although a series of unrelated dares sent her into creating Improve It. She has a unique professional development company that's rooted in improv comedy and pushes leaders to and teams to laugh, learn, play and grow. She's the proud host of the Improve it podcast, a top 1% global podcast which helps develop leaders and teams through play, improv and experiential learning. She's the first time author of the Amazon bestseller and top new release I see you A leader's guide to energizing your team through radical empathy. I told you as I was her launch of this and the way she's brought it out is pretty innovative. So you're definitely gonna wanna listen into this episode just for that. But among her many accolades, Erin is most proud of successfully coercing over 35,000 professionals to chicken Dance that intro and that bio doesn't give you an idea into how much fun we're going to have on this episode. I don't know what will. So let's just go straight to it. Let's go to Aaron. Deal. Improve it podcast.

Aaron, I'm so glad to have you here. And you know what? I love the title of your show, Improve It. Was that always a title, like, kind of hit you and you're like, that's it. It's perfect.

You are so funny. I love that because.

No, it. No, it wasn't. It's not that common that it is. So I figured that was your answer, but, you know.

Yeah. So. Okay. So Improve it is actually the name of my business that I founded 11 years ago now. And when I first thought about doing a podcast, for whatever reason, I did not want to name it the title of our company. And I was trying to come up with something clever and kitschy, and I loved this idea. Failure. We use improv in our business to train people on power skills. And so one of the fundamental rules of improv is there are no gifts, only mist or there are no fails or mistakes. There's only gifts. And so I love that tie in. And I thought, let's have a show and call it Failed It. Kind of like Improve it, but failed It. And let's talk about failure. Let's interview really successful people, but not talk about their successes. Let's talk about failure. So we did that for 50 episodes, Tracy. And then we realized there was no connection to what we do as a company. Like, there. You can only talk about failure so many times. And we talked about it 50 times, and it was time to change it. So after 50 episodes, we changed it to the Improve it podcast.

So, so often my advice here, and so I want to really be. Because I have loyal binge listeners who probably have heard me say time and time again, don't name your show after your business. There are exceptions, and Aaron's is one of them. When your business is an activating name like yours is, or your business is a flattering name that makes the guest sound really good or an aspiration for your audience, you can also do that if it sounds like it's a community. But it's rare that those two things go hand in hand and you discover the one thing that really makes it is that there's just such great business to business alignment.

Totally. And the E. And Improve it, you can take or leave it. We made it teal so it could be improv it or Improve It. And that's what we use is improv comedy. And so it took us 50 episodes, which probably took, like, a year of my life, that I was not doing Improve It. I was doing the Failed it podcast. But since we changed the name, everything clicked.

I love that. And you know what, and that's my favorite part about podcasting, is how flexible it is. You can just change it and you didn't lose all your momentum.

That's right. That's right. Even though it does bother me, I'm like that type a person that when I go in Libsyn, it's still the Failed it podcast. Like, my URL is still the Failed it. And I'm like, well, you're not the Failed it, but. But you can't change it. And you're right. There was so much momentum. There was no.

You can.

If you switch hosts, you can change the URL.

Yeah. Because the URL has actually nothing to do with your feed. Libsyn's letting you know that. But that's not the case. Your feed can change at any time, and you're not gonna lose your listeners. You're not gonna do this. Hosts, kind of. Even though they might not be doing a really great job for you, they kind of keep you hostage by making you think that it's going to absolutely throw your show and blow it all. But you can change hosts anytime. Although if you change hosts to some companies, not mine personally, not Potatoes, but some other companies, you'll lose your statistics. So you may not want to do that. You have to be careful. But if you don't do it properly, URL will get all messed up. But for the most part, URL has nothing to do with people listening to the show, because where they're subscribed is in the listening app. It's not in your feed. And you can reconnect that. Redirect it. And so it's this kind of technical underbelly that no one really understands in podcasting, and it makes you think that you're stuck where you are and you're really not.

They want me to stay there forever.

That's right. They got you stuck in there.

Yes.

So. But you can change that, because if that bugs you, that's an easy change.

So.

So one of the things we don't do is we don't ever put the name in there. We actually have numbers, which is the way Apple works anyway, because it does create this dissonance for you when the name changes. And it happens very often. I can say probably about 18 to 20% of my clients change their titles at some point.

Right. That was also something I want to just touch on. I was very afraid to change the title for whatever reason was the name of my business. And because I was afraid, like, oh, I might lose listeners who loved hearing about failure, and we can still tie in failure, but it doesn't have to be this entire topic. And I'm so glad that I got over that fear and just went forward.

I'm glad you did, too.

Yeah. It changed everything. It really did. And now it's like we're going on year four of this show and year three with that title, and I can't imagine still going with the original title.

Yeah, it probably would have been. It was almost a little bit of a gimmick, and that gimmick wasn't working for your business and for the true, authentic message that you want to get out there. So you would have definitely. If you hadn't done it before now, because you're launching a book, which we're going to talk about a little later, that because you're launching a book, that tie in has to be much clearer, and you would have had a lot more difficulty. So it would have happened by now at that stage. Someone would have advised you and said, you got to do it.

So. So you're so right. I'm so grateful that. And I had an advisor at the time who was like, you need to change your name immediately. And I was like, okay, where were you a year ago when I started this?

Now, if you had been choosing to make a show, as I'm going to say, like an influencer, someone who was going to make money off of Advertisement and not make money off your business failed. It's an awesome name. It's an awesome show concept, and you could have really kept that going. But. But the show would had to be the business, right? Totally. That's what didn't work for you.

Totally. There was zero connection or tie back to what we were doing. And it was hard for a new listener to see what we were beyond just the gimmick. And I think that's absolutely right. So. Right. Your job, Tracy.

Yeah. You have a team. And that's something that I don't find as often with podcasters that I interview here on the Binge Factor. So I'm excited to talk about it because your team is the one that reached out to me to have you on my show, and I'm so grateful that they found me. That is a wonderful matchup for us here, because I believe in continuous improvement. So there's like a heavy direction for what we talk about in the show, that you can always be improving things. There's always little tweaks and things that you do. And as you do that, it has compounding results on the other side. So continuous improvement's really important. So there's a great tie to our messaging here. How does your team work to keep your podcast flowing and keep things happening for you over time? How do you use a team with your podcast?

Yeah, such a great question. And I'm so glad my team found you as well, because once I started binging your show, I said this to you earlier. I was like, I wish I found you three years ago. That would have been helpful. So this is just. I'm going to start with every individual team because I have internally at improve it just the business. I have a lean, mean team of five, and then I have a team of 22 contractors who are. We still consider our team. There are improv professionals. But on the podcasting side, I knew first and foremost when starting the show, I needed help. I couldn't do it all alone. I took a great course in how to set up a podcast from Jenna Kutcher. I love Jenna Kutcher show. And I was looking through all of the ins and outs and I said.

This is a lot of work.

I'm not going to be able to run a business and do this by myself. So I actually had an intern who was with us for about a year who I loved so much. She had graduated, she had finished her internship, and I said, rachel, I'm looking for a podcast manager, somebody to help me with all these logistics. And do you have a clone? Is there anybody like you? And she goes, actually, I would love to do this. She has a full time job, so she works part time as a podcast manager. And her main goal now is she does outreach to guests for our show. She does all of the logistics. So once a guest is booked on the show, which we use a system called calendly to book guests, which gives us like, very similar to setting up on your show. Lots of questions. We gather their bio, their headshot, and then that gets put, put into our calendar, Rachel gets added to that calendar invite. She knows, okay, now I have to send this person an email to set up all of the things, give them the link to Riverside, tell them what to have in the background, et cetera, all of those things. So Rachel is that liaison between the guest and the show. And then after the show's over, she sends them all the assets. Rachel is now also reaching out to other podcasts to, to do ad swaps. And we're starting to look into sponsorships, which I can talk about as well. So that's Rachel's main function. And then I have Nicole on my team, who was also an intern turned full time employee after graduating for two years. She was looking for a new job. And I have to say, an intern program as a small business is such a wonderful thing because it's like a six month interview process. And then literally all of my full time employees, minus a couple, have been interns at our company and I love them so much. So Nicole acts as the community manager. She does all of the research for potential guests. She also is the person that is scrubbing the show, putting together the reels, the assets for the show, putting together the quotes that she then sends to Rachel and Rachel sends to the guests. And Nicole's main function as well is also to reach out to shows like you, Tracy, and do guest podcasts spots. Because that's how we have really continued to build our audience and grow the show. So Nicole is more on the creative side, I would say, and her, myself and Rachel all function together as one secular unit. And I would say this has been a process that has been refined over time. And then of course, my job is I come in, I talk with the guests, I record, I send it to our editors. I have an editing team as well. And because I don't want to spend my time doing it.

Honestly, I'm so glad you say that, because it's not the best use of anyone's time. Right.

And I found them through another podcast host who talks about them on her show and have been working with them this entire time. So once they edit the show, then it gets kicked over to also Nicole who puts it on our website. And Rachel also does all of the transcribing. So she gets that to Nicole and they put together the show, put it on the website and. And then we go on to the next week and we use Asana as a task project managing tool, so it keeps us on track. We now have a very robust system that works for us because this took so much time to put together and to refine. And it used to just be myself and Rachel and the editing team. And we have a graphic designer sometimes who will pop in and help us with certain stuff because this is a lead magnet for our business. It's gotta work as a business. And I almost now think of it as its own separate business within a business.

I'M so glad you say that because I think too often people treat it so separately that there's not a tie in. You do topic episodes and interview episodes, so you do a little of both. Which has a more direct tie into your business, I'm sure. On the topics. Are you planning those topics based on what initiatives you're doing in your sales side of your business or things like that? Are you planning them that specifically?

Yeah, that is a great question. About two years, maybe a year ago, we decided we're going to do a theme, a monthly theme for the show and that will help us pick guests and that will help us pick topics for my solo episodes. And so with the book launch coming up, for the past six months we have pulled themes from the book as the monthly topics for the show. So when we start talking, talking about self love and selfless leadership, people aren't surprised because we've been talking about it for six months and that is really how we pull the themes for the solo episodes. I will say we started doing a content meeting myself, Nicole and Rachel every Monday before I was coming up with show topics and show titles. But in that content meeting, we batch out all of the shows that we have now. We're like about a month out, we're about three months out actually, with guests and solo shows, and we come up with titles together and make sure that these titles have keywords that they have. We are clickbaiting them as much as possible and tweaking them in. A mind of three is so much better than a mind of one. And so that has really been a wonderful improvement, if you will.

Well, and I can see that in your show. Like, I can see the changeover in the titling, and that is such a good model that you've come to. Your titles are fantastic. They're really working. You've got your experts in there, the people that you've invited on as guests, and you're kind of highlighting what their keyword is as well, which I think a lot of people skip. They, they just put somebody's name in there, but they don't like, say like what they're an expert in. And that doesn't help you with your keywords, but you do that. So that's also you guys have some best practices going on there. I love that. I think it's really working for you. Now. One of the things I did notice is that you do have a few episodes where Nicole is interviewing and you do this really wonderful throw to your team and like to her. And I love that because too often podcasters lose momentum because they can't record every episode. And having a team member there who the audience gets introduced to is a fantastic way to supplement. Yeah.

So you know what's funny? Are you talking about the one with Pamela Looking Glass?

Yeah.

Do you know who Pamela Looking Glass is?

I had not heard her before listening to your show, so, no, I didn't.

She's me.

She's you.

She's. I'm a sketch character.

So I did not realize that whole time because I didn't finish the end of the episode. Oh, my gosh. That's so funny.

Yes, actually.

That's so amazing, Tracy.

That's so amazing. So, obviously, we use improv comedy as the tool to train people, and so I was that improviser. You know how they say, like, you're a writing teacher, but you don't write? Like, I was an improvised teacher, but I wasn't improvising. And so throughout the book launch, I created sketch characters to be brand ambassadors for the book.

See, this is what happens when you work your way backwards through the catalog and why somebody should binge listen to you from the front forward. Yes, yes.

And so wait. And then I have. So I'm Pamela the entire time she's interviewing me as a character, so I have a different voice. And then I have another sketch character coming out. And we just recorded this show yesterday. Her name is Rita Buck. Rita Buck. Get it? And she is like a very Zen character, whereas Pamela's very, like, loud and boisterous. So that's very fun, selfishly, for myself to play, because I haven't improvised and played in a long time. Yeah.

Well, now I love the episode even more. Now I'm going to have to finish it, so. Because that's the one I stopped on listening this morning.

And so now you'll be like, there's her voice.

Cause I did hit some in the beginning. Cause that's kind of my process for checking out how far your show has come. And I can only do maybe three to four episodes. Like, that's all I have time for when I'm prepping here. So I listened to your most recent one, and I chose a topic one because I wanted to hear about what your interest area is. So I chose a topic one to listen all the way through. And then I went back to the beginning, listened to two, and then came back to Pamela's. And that was the one I was on when I ended. Then this morning, my prep, so funny. But I didn't get through it enough to Realize it was you. Oh, my gosh, that's so funny.

But I never tell anybody that it is me. Cause I want them to, like, go on my Instagram. And she actually has her own Instagram now and so does read a book. It's like this whole stupid thing that I'm just really enjoying doing. Also the fact you went back to the beginning of the show, that's why.

I heard some of the failed. It's. Yeah.

Oh, I wanna, like. It gives me, like, hives. Like, I'm like, I cannot listen.

No, no, no, no. It's one of my favorite. A podcaster that has a really good catalog is to understand where they started because it really shows me how far you've come. And. And I actually can see the shift in the business value that you're starting to derive because of where you started. Where I wouldn't necessarily know that otherwise. And so I can see that. One of the things that I think is really interesting to me, Aaron, is that you're still following, I'm going to say, a heavier sales and lead generation model with your show than most people do at your stage, most hosts do. And I found that to be interesting. And I want to know what's. Is it because it's working for you? Are you really getting people coming to your business from it? It's just usually people will, after a couple hundred episodes, start to lose momentum on the. Like, I'm going to say that the sales messaging at the beginning of their show. This. And I don't mean this. Negative. It's not a negative. It is something that very many podcasters do. It's just that seasoned ones who have been doing this for a while tend to stop doing it.

Yeah. You know, it's so funny. I can't tell you. It's. This is the hardest part for me about podcasting is that the ROI is so unclear when. Except when somebody's like, you were on my show and I have a team. Do you want to come do this for my team? Then it's very clear. We do always ask leads when they come to us. How did you hear about us? Sometimes it's through the podcast, sometimes it's through a referral. Our business is so high, Touch, that I know people who have hired us, they've listened to the show, but it's not because of the show that they've booked us. It's because we haven't. It just is a variety of things. We could be in the same association. It is very high touch. It's not like One of those businesses that you can just go on and purchase something online, you have to talk to someone. So I'm so interested in that piece because in the upfront of the show I always do some housekeeping. We don't have ads, we don't do any affiliates. So I always say like get the book. Or you know, we have this XYZ thing, some type of lead magnet. But the content I feel like has shifted in my thought. I feel like I got away from sales. So I'm so interested that that was the. It may be too salesy.

Well, I think if there's a something to consider about it, it's like if downloads of the sales magnet, if your lead magnet's not lighting the world on fire, chances are good you're mentioning it too early like that. That's what I can tell most people who do that, I don't think, because you may mention it early, but you also mention it later after you've delivered them something that makes a clear tie into it. So I don't think there's any problem with doing that, especially at the later time. You might want to remove it earlier and just only say in the last third. Whenever I'm going to mention my lead magnet, they're only going to be in the last third of my show.

Yeah.

And that's because there needs to be a tie in to why I need it.

Yes.

It's not about I. Those that are trying to push it at the beginning tend to have a lower cost sales model. It's a low entry and you don't. So it doesn't make as much sense. I have to understand some more about you, more about the business, more about the topic before I'm ready for the why of that lead magnet. So that's why the, the last third is usually the time for that. So that's my only recommendation to those of you out there doing consulting businesses or high ticket programs of any kind is save it for later in the show. The second part about it is, is that I chose your show for a reason. And so we find that people who are binge listening, which is what my show is all about, people who are binge listening who find you and then listen to a bunch of shows, you're taking too long to get into the content that they're not starting to pay as much attention as they should. So what we do recommend and what we find to seasoned podcasters is they start shortening their intro, shortening their intro over time. And by the time they hit 200 episodes it's like 15 seconds and it hardly mentions them at all. It's like an introduction to them and that's it. It's like they just save it for let me get to know you with my voice. And everything else is going to come and you're going to want to learn all about me and it's all on my website and it's all linked to the podcast and there's no way you can't find it because you're going to want to. And that's just say we just go in with that mindset. And so that tends to happen. It's like, I've already done this for 200 episodes. If you haven't figured out who I am yet, then you're going to have to go back to the beginning and do it like, you know what I mean? Yes.

That's such good thought. Okay. Because what I did as of probably the past, like 20 episodes, as I took that long intro out, like, it was like a whole jazzy theme, long intro in the beginning. And now it's just like a little bit Improve it podcast and it's like this whole little beat. What I was afraid of in changing that intro music or like my intro was that I was losing, like, if somebody started the show on episode 200, that they were losing who we were and who Improve it was and who I was. So I was making up for it with the intro of the show. And you're absolutely right, but for the most part.

So there are ways around that. Because you do it personally. Right? Like, I mean, that's not part of the pre recording, so. Right, right. So you're saying it personally is that you have many different aspects of your business. And I'm sure you don't just have one tagline or you don't have one mantra that you say, one message that you give. So if you hear it, improvement, we're all about pick something different each time. Yeah, pick something different for a month. It's okay if you do it for the month because you're in that theme that we're in this month of, you know, improve it with leadership with this, with whatever the model is that you're working on for that month. Reinforce it there. And then you can always do just a little bit of your reminder as to where they can find your. Where they can find you. And so just say, you know, hey, I'm jumping right in because I'm so excited to talk about this. You guys all know if you've been listening, I have a book like and we're going to talk about that today. But you don't really tell them what the book name is. You don't tell them what to do. It. You don't do that till later. But you've see that it. That's always a good thing. So that's kind of the model that I say when you're really. And I bet you if we analyze your statistics and this is something for any one of you out there, if you analyze that you're consistently getting. And I'm just making this number up because so many people only have it this low. So I don't want you to be like, I'm sure you have way more than this. But a hundred downloads an episode, consistently, you get a hundred downloads an episode. That's your subscriber base. If that happens in the first hour that you drop an episode, that's your subscriber base. Everything else comes from social media, from TikTok they saw from YouTube you put out from the guest pushing the show. All those things happen after that initial hour download because the moment that you do it, the moment that you publish, the subscribers get it. So if you always look at the time of day and the download numbers, that number, whatever it is, 100, 300, a thousand, that number is your subscriber number. That's your binge listener.

Wow.

Right?

Literally, for this fact alone, I'm so glad I'm here today.

And the second way you can identify binge listeners, it usually happens over a weekend, is that when you see that you have all of these episodes being listened to, like that you have consistent downloads throughout a day of like 10 episodes in a row, you know somebody is binge listening on your show.

Wow, this is again, I'm going to bend your show. This is the factoids that I needed in my life.

But if you have more of those people, what it says to me is that they're nurturing themselves to contact you.

Yeah, that is such good feedback. Like, I am mad because I just recorded three episodes yesterday that have longer intros. Don't worry about it.

The perfectionist has to get over that.

Yes. But I will say that it makes total sense. And I think you're right. Like, if somebody comes to the show, they can check the show notes and that show notes is gonna take them to everything they need. So that I think was my.

Because you're really thorough with your repurposing, you're really thorough with everything you do. Your team is doing a fantastic job where there are a lot of podcasts that Aren't. And the only thing they can do is say something at the beginning of the show because there's no support for whatever they do. You are the opposite of that. And that. And so use it to your advantage because it says you're someone I want to do business with because you're here for me first and foremost. Then second, the other part of it is, is that you have all these tools and all these other things for me. So when I can't remember something, they're in the show notes. Right. Like, and so you're backing me up with support for my. For it. So why wouldn't I want to do business with you if this is where I'm going? So what I'm going to say to you is that I think that you maybe need to create a deeper tie in to what you do do for people. That's what I didn't hear in your show. I would love to hear from some of your former clients. Yes.

Okay, can we talk about this? Can we?

Yes. Because you have such a business to business model that is a high ticket, high touch sales. I did consulting for 25 years. I didn't do a program that cost less than $120,000 plus royalties. So like I made millions sometimes on the other side of it. So it was really hard to sell it. It would take six to nine months to sell it.

Yeah, yeah. And that's, I mean, ours don't start in the six digits, but they start. They're definitely four to five digit numbers. And so I've had clients on the show. So. And when I think about the goal of the show for the past year, it's been growth, growth, growth, because we want to have a bigger platform as we launch the book. And I know some podcasters out there probably listening are thinking, I want to grow, grow, grow. And I do. That was the focus. So when we picked guests or when we asked guests or chose guests who asked for pod swaps or whatever, it was always looking at, okay, is this guest going to bring a great message to our audience? What's their platform like? Is this something we haven't talked about on the show yet? And I had previous clients on the show, but I've only done it a couple times. And that was like early in the beginning. And what happened was those clients, because they aren't people who regularly go on shows or have big platforms, usually because they're HR managers in corporate America, they're usually not like a podcast, they don't have their own show most of the time.

They're not podcast pros either. Yeah, I understand.

They're not influencers, they're not authors who I work with who are amazing human beings. They will promote it and it will go to their friends and family. And that is amazing because those people haven't seen that person in that format yet or in that platform stage.

But it's not as much of a growth model. And that's why. Yeah, I would never recommend this if you were at the beginning of your podcast. Yeah, journey. Because now you can afford to mix one every six and have it be a model for what? Something. And so what I usually like to do is when I'm picking a model of former clients or current clients, it can be current clients too. If they've got a long term contract with you is checking in on them as a point of success. So you maybe did a program six months later, you really want to sell them something. The next thing. So it's a great time to checkpoint with them. So you're actually using it as sales. You're just doing it at an after point. Yeah. So it's a follow up point because they will be having a new problem. They just didn't always think of you for that new problem. And so that's what you're going to address on the show is you're going to say, okay, so let's talk about all the success you had. How's your team doing? What's going on with them? How did things improve? Right, you're going to talk about the improvements and then now where are your challenges? Because you've leveled up so you have to have new challenges. Now where are those challenges? Let's talk some about that. And then you can always do it like I just did here with you, which is like, are you comfortable with a little on air coaching? Because do you want to hear the answer to it? Right.

Yes.

So. And they likely will say yes because they're not about the ego, because that's not. They're not those kinds of professionals.

Totally. This is blowing my mind because this was something. When I first changed the name of the show to improve it, we focused solely on making sure the shows were specific to our keywords and changing it. So it was very specific to the business. And I had a couple clients on at that time. I'm just keeping it real. When the growth mode mentality came on, away from that because we're like, we want people with an audience. We want people who can bring who our audience wants to hear from, who have been successful speaking in front of audiences. And it's not to say that our clients are not, because a lot of them do speak on panels and public events. That's just not their main priority. So it was like this sort of shift in mentality that I think we went away from and need to get back to.

Yeah, well, and here's the thing, and I don't mean this to be like you're all the hard work of growth. Doesn't matter. Because it does. It really does work. But the numbers don't matter. Your downloads don't matter, your plays don't matter. Because if you have 10 people listening and they're the right profile client for you, you're going to land them as a client and you've gotten a return on investment from your podcast. So, like, it really doesn't matter on the numbers. It matters on the quality of those people. And the same thing with your guests, right? If they are going to lead you to the right quality people, then it's really worth it for you. At the end of the day, it's not a numbers game. And we get too caught up in social media about our numbers game that, oh, my gosh, I got a thousand views because of that guest. I want more of them. Well, but who is those thousand people?

I love this topic. If I could just, like, go down the rabbit hole for one second with that, please. As an author, right? So, like, as an author looking to get published, platform was such a huge factor for publishing companies or even agents, and it drove me nuts. And I have a really close friend of mine who's a cookbook author who has this amazing Instagram following. And she laughs and she's written, you know, several cookbooks because she goes, erin, you have a real business, like, you make money and have employees. And she goes, I have 50,000 Instagram followers and I don't make money. And it's like the numbers that are so deceiving. And I think this is such a great reminder for myself and my team, too, to really think about that aspect, because then.

So your book is a lead generator for your business, right? It's also something that you'll use when you give speeches. You'll get a hand them out to the audience or you'll use them as part of that. You're going to give them to clients because that's a great takeaway for them. So there's all kinds of business reasons to have a book and that in the right stage for it, you're doing the right things. The reason why all of these publishers and all of these marketing companies for books have these platform numbers is because the conversion rate is so bad it needs to be higher.

Yeah.

Because people aren't readers nowadays. So it's hard to do that. But your client base are readers. I'm pretty sure they are.

They're lifelong learners. They're people lovers and people leaders. They're amazing humans. They care about the world. They really do like the people that we work with. I feel very grateful for. Because if you're coming to us, you care about your team so much. You want something outside of the box, you want something different. You want them to be engaged. And that's why we create such long lasting relationships with these people. Because they're great people. They're amazing humans. So I am shooketh right now that I have gotten away from that model and idea and I'm gonna bring it back and we're gonna.

That's what we want. I think maybe this year, seeing last year was about growth. Right. Maybe this year's about action. And that's what you want to see happen here is. And sometimes we call it conversion. But I would want to see action being taken by my audience. So if I say to my audience here, go subscribe to Aaron's show. And then Aaron reports back to me that you all did it, you all went to improve it on your podcast player right now, added it to your list of shows to listen to. And I highly recommend it. You go and do that and she sees a boost. I have an active audience. That means I have an action oriented, active audience. And that says more about what I can do as an influencer. So you want to test your own audience that way.

I love that.

Right. Test their action.

That's it. I'm looking at my numbers an hour after it posts to see who that subscriber rate is. Because that is the action is. I think we do a lot of things marketing wise, podcast wise. And I think that that is the name of the game for 2024 is action. I love that.

I think so too. Like, I think that's where I feel I'm combining intention and action. Is really what I'm personally doing is that it has to be very aligned with where I'm going. And I think that that's also something though we get a little too distracted with all of the offers that we make. They're not aligned. And the fact that you've been aligning for months now. I see you book, which I love that I see you. I love the title of your book. You're lining that with a lead magnet. That is your four step consistency planner, which all of you out there listening, consistency is the number one. How many times do I say consistent and constant? If you can tell me that, I will buy you a copy of Aaron's book because I guarantee you it's like in the hundreds by now, so it's high. So I say this practically every episode. Right. Consistency matters so much more than anything else. And when you're doing a consulting business like Aaron's, if you're not consistent, why would I hire you? So those things going hand in hand, you're creating a really great intention flow for that. So keeping everything focused on that I think is really smart.

Erin, thank you. Thank you. I really appreciate these tips like this come at a more pinnacle time for me. Like, you don't even understand the timing of this conversation.

Well, good. Well, let's talk about the book before we wrap up here because I don't want to miss that. So I see you. You've got a really long subtitle. Go ahead and tell us what it is.

Yes, it's a leader's guide to energizing your team through radical empathy.

I love empathy. I think that's so critically important. We miss that too often and AI is not going to give you that. It's simulated by empathy. It's not real. I think that's so important that you're book launch now tied into the podcast. What are the plans for the launch which should be happening about the time that this airs? Yes.

Okay. So we are using the podcast as a launch tool. As you saw, I've created these brand ambassadors, AKA sketch characters who have been dropping off advanced reader copies in character to local businesses in my hometown of Charleston, South Carolina.

I love that idea. Yeah.

And it's a scavenger hunt on social media, so people have to follow along and then people local to Charleston know where, you know, I give tips and then they have to go find the book and then we do this whole big thing with the winners. That's been really fun from a like a digital standpoint. We're doing two book launch physical parties, one in Charleston, one in Chicago, where our business was born. And then podcasting has been, I mean, I've literally started talking about this book in October on the show and every theme, monthly theme for the book was in alignment with a theme from the book. And so as we get into this month, we're talking about the third part of the book, Magnetic Cultures. Next month we're bringing it all back together. With radical empathy. And I'm really focusing on aligning the guests with those topics and making sure that our audience knows that it's happening. Also really nurtured our email list and that has been huge. We have a really great email list. So when we started a pre launch campaign in October, we hit the Amazon bestseller list and best new release in literally the week that we launched it. So that was consistency. We have a Friday Fail Forward newsletter that is literally just filled with tips and tricks. And then Wednesdays we have a podcast flyer that talks about the guests for the week. And literally we're not selling our stuff over newsletters. So I feel like when we said, hey, buy something, they were ready. So that was consistency. So we're also going to do an email campaign with our email list and then I'm going on a podcast book tour and you're going to do books.

I love it.

Yes.

So what does a podcast and book tour together look like?

It's like I'm trying to reach as many different audiences as possible by guest spotting on different shows and talking about the book. But not like not really talking about the book and it's entirely or entirety I should say, but making it relevant to that audience because it's a leadership book and it's all about self love, selfless leadership and magnetic cultures. And I don't know who could not use that message in 2024. My goal literally beyond the book is to make love a word that we use in business and not shy away from. And that's to me is the why behind it all. I was truly guided to write this book. That's a whole other story, Tracy. But I really felt like this book was like it flowed, it was not hard to write. It was meant to be written now. And I'm just here to carry that message out.

Well, it wouldn't be the binge factor if I didn't do my psychoanalysis of your show. And we're doing it right at the end here, which sometimes I'll do it in the middle and sometimes I'll do it even after the fact. But right now I want you to hear it. So what I heard from listening to your show is love. And you love podcasting. You love talking to your audience. It comes through in everything you do, which means you give generously. And unlike any other author that I have talked to or had on, you actually read parts of your book. You give your book away in its pre sales mode. You're not afraid to because it's that love exchange that it requires you to share it. And that is why someone is going to not only find you subscribe, but go back to the beginning and start listening to all those, even those failed ones, and they're still going to love it because they're still gonna learn.

Okay, well, my fake eyelashes are falling off my eyes now from crying because, truly, thank you. I receive that so much. I really, I really do. I'm tearing up. I don't literally, you're making me cry here, Tracy. But I appreciate that so much because the book is really a message to leaders to love themselves more, to love their people more. And it has to start with the internal love first. And it really is a message that I hope many people your audience subscribe to. If it's anything, subscribe to love. That's all I want you to do, is to subscribe to making the world kinder in a more loving place.

Why am I crying? Tracy, I'm so sorry. I swear I've never made anyone cry before, so I'm feeling like you're first. So.

Okay, well, thank you, truly.

This is.

Write that down.

My journal today. All of you listeners out there, Aaron, Deal. Improve it podcast. I see you book coming out probably at the time this is live. By the time this is live. Go subscribe. Bye. Check her out. Follow her. You're going to add a lot of love and value to your life. The one thing that I took away from what Aaron's saying, and there were so many fascinating little ideas and all kinds of things like her scavenger hunt for the book. I mean, love, love, love that I have mentioned it I don't know how many times since I recorded this interview with her, but the idea of being consistent being the core of what she does, you would think that someone who does improv, who's an edutainer, who's such an extra extrovert like Erin, is right. You'd think that that consistency wasn't a core value, but it is. And the fact that she really puts that in place and really emphasizes that with everyone, I think is so critically important. And the fact that it ties into the book. I mean, look, my showing up for you here week after week with somebody new interviewing, my showing up for the people that I interview for, I can tell you that that is the critical path item to getting me new clients. And it doesn't matter if I have to sell the person on the show or you and the listener. You remember that I'm here. That consistency has an iterative value over time that says this is a person who lives up to their integrity. This is a person who's going to show up for me. That's exactly what Aaron does. And in when you're working in the corporate space, which many of you have podcasts that are focused on that corporate space, this is where it gets critical. If you act flaky, it's going to come across. You cannot be inconsistent with your podcast. Business doesn't run in season, and neither should your podcast. So I love that that's a focus for Erin. And I also really love the pivot she took from failed it to improve it. Right. Spitting to the positive. Maybe that's what your show needs if it's not really working out for you. Look, she went 50 episodes in before she made that switch. That's okay. You can decide at any time that this isn't working out quite the way I wanted it to. What should I tweak? But if you need help, remember that there are pros out there ready to give you an appraisal. We're ready at Potterties. That's what we do. But there are other people out there, your coaches. But get advice from the people who you really want to sell to, who are really the core listeners of your show or the core guests that are going to become your future clients. Right? Go and get the advice from the people who matters most to what's resonating with them, not what's resonating with your friends and family. That's one of the things that I think is really important to be too heavy in sales, be too heavy in all of these other things, and not be actually taking the opinions and views of the people that matters most. It's one of those things, you know, if the laughs aren't coming, then the improv's not working. And I think that Aaron would agree with that. So the improvement podcast, there is nothing you can't improve. Having a continuous improvement model is a beautiful model in podcasting. The media itself is just conducive to it. Right? It's just so ready to make things pivot and flex and then update your feedback. Right? So go ahead and do it. Take Aaron's advice, please. Go improve it. Everything around it, in your career, in your business, in your podcast. So I'm Tracy Hazard. I'll be back next week with another great podcaster here on the Binge Factor.

You've been listening to the Binge Factor Podcast from. For more information on podcasting and videocasting success tips and tactics, please go to thebingefactor.com and be sure to listen to our other show for podcasters called Feed you'd brand. If you'd like to be interviewed on this show as well as featured in Tracy's column, please go to thebingefactor.com guest and apply.

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