How to See Past Your Podcast Tech Fear to Move Listeners from Crisis to Opportunity with Amy Schmidt, Host of Fearlessly Facing Fifty (Podfaded)

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 noise with the Binge Factor.

Hey everyone. Welcome to the Binge Factor. I'm Tracy Hazard and I have a podcaster who has really caught my attention. For those of you who don't realize it, and I'm going to be really blatantly honest about it. I turned 50 late last year in December and hearing the title fearlessly facing 50, I'm not facing it anymore. But the title of her podcast of Amy Schmidt's podcast, Fearlessly Facing 50, really caught my eye. It came across my Authority magazine articles and I looked at that and I thought, she's given some great tips here. But I got to find out more about this podcast. I have to listen to it because it just seems so relevant to the moment of myself turning 50. And the story goes that I told my dad when I had my birthday, when he called me up to wish me happy birthday, I said, you know dad, if it's the pandemic and I don't have a birthday celebration to celebrate being 50 and I don't blow out any candles on a cake, can I have another year to turn 50? And my dad goes, I don't see why not. I brought you in this world, we could do this. So anyway, so I've been a little, I don't know, apprehensive about this year of 50. Maybe because it comes amid all the stress of this year. Maybe it's because everyone keeps saying you're not 50, which I truly appreciate the good genetics that are going on here, but it is really a really interesting topic to have chosen for a podcast and that's why I was so excited to get a chance to talk to Amy. So let me tell you a little bit about her before we talk a little bit about what we're going to talk about today. So Amy Schmidt is an award winning podcaster. She's a best selling author, a public speaker, a TEDx speaker, one a blogger and a founder of the brand fearlessly facing 50. She launched her business brand six months before turning 50. Her mission is to encourage women over 40 to push fear aside and find that hidden treasure of confidence that may have been pushed aside for a while and not let this time of life allow them to lose their identity. Amy is committed to challenging the narrative at midlife from crisis to opportunity. Her weekly podcast has an audience that continues to grow at record speeds, reaching thousands every week. Her interviews arm you with the insight and value leaving an imprint on your heart and inspire you to take action. She is the real deal. Amy has a trusted following and built a community around inspiring others. Her work has been published in Grown and Flown, Scary Mommy, Today's Parents, and many others. She's a regular contributor on numerous syndicated talk shows and loves sharing her story to inspire others. And she's here today to inspire you to be fearless about podcasting. So, you know, this is the thing. This is such a great topic and niche audience area, and so many of you go for that general show, that show that just says, oh, I want to reach. You know, in this case, you could say, I want to reach everyone. Women everywhere. I get that one a lot. I want to reach women everywhere because they all have this need. But when you dial it in a little bit deeper when you get to, I want to get to women facing 50 and turning 50 and who are 50, and I want to get them to be fearless. That's what I'm looking at helping them do. That's so clear cut both in the title of your show, in the focus of how you are able to focus your interviews, and that's what Amy has brought today. So let's give a listen to the insights from Amy Schmidt, from fearlessly facing 50.

Amy, welcome to the show. We're going to talk fearlessly facing 50. And I'm not facing it anymore. I am it. I love you know, and I know you are, too, because your birthday happened during your show. How did you address that? Tell people, like, when you set a show up where its title is facing something, and then it happens. How do you address that on a show?

Man, that's a great question. Yeah. Fearlessly facing 50. Actually, you know what I did on my 50th, too, it's the COVID of my book, I jumped off a cliff in Negril.

I admire you for that one.

Yes. And so, you know, I think for me, that's my whole branding thing is really, there's so many women, and first of all, I just have to say happy birthday and you look amazing. 50, 1970. We've been on this earth for five decades.

I know. That just astounds me some days.

I know, I know.

But anyway, it's so fast.

The best is yet to come. I'm telling you, it's an invigorating time of life. But I remember sitting with my kids, all grown, still have one at home, a high schooler. But it was like I had a piece of me that wanted to do more, that wanted to serve more, that wanted to give more, and most importantly, wanted to learn more. But I needed to be fearless about that. I needed to put the fear aside and stop getting stopped in my tracks and reflect on what I had done in my past and use that to push me forward. So I really feel like that was a big part of launching the whole fearlessly facing 50. It's true. To me, it is my story.

You know, you mentioned this a few times in your show that you were sort of a little fearful of podcasting, right? The technology tripped you up a few times. What was it about podcasting that had you apprehensive?

Well, because you start to feel a little outdated. I mean, you know, you've got social media changing all the time. Shout out to Clubhouse now. I'm on Clubhouse, which is the newest. Me too.

I have my first clubhouse this Friday. I'll tell you how it is.

I just hosted a room. Now we do midlife matters. You know, podcasting was scary a little bit because I hadn't listened to podcasts either. I mean, I had not really engage with that technology, that part of it. But audio is such a big way to learn and it's such a way of connecting that I knew that that's what I wanted to do. And just like I said earlier, I wanted to learn more. So when I started this podcast, I put an ad in the Facebook page of a local group, you know, community group that are thousands of people are on, and I get a response, and it's like, yes, I'm coming over. I'm going to set you all up on this podcasting thing. I had no idea. And this guy came over, and I've said it before, I could be his mom. And he did call me Mrs. Schmidt. And I was like, okay, we're so not doing that. Like, call me Amy. And he said, okay, this is what you need and I'll do it all for you. And I said, no, no, no, no, no. I don't want you to do it for me. You can put it in my cart and sign me up as an Amazon affiliate, because you did do that in the meantime. But that aside, I said, I want to do this like soup to nuts. I want to learn how to do it hands on. And There was some apprehension about it because it's not just a button. You know this from producing podcasts. It is a lot between getting guests and doing the research for the guests and producing and editing and putting them out there, writing the episode notes. It's a big process, and you don't just learn it overnight. So I was nervous about the technology part, but trips to the Genius bar to figure out my Mac, YouTube videos, the power of Google, and using my resources, you know, we're that old that we've got people out there that can help us and we can't be afraid to ask for the help.

That's so true. We cannot be afraid of that. So I always look at podcasting. I sometimes describe it to my clients as an onion, right? There's different layers. You start at the core and in a sense of instead of removing the onion layers, which you remove them as you get competent at them, but you're essentially adding layers, though, to the quality of your show, to the different things you're bringing to your audience, to the different things. But you gotta just get started. And so that's what you did. You really dove in, just like you did on your 50th. You really dove in and just said, I'm gonna do well.

I shared it on the TED stage when I did my TEDx talk, and I said I was so ready because I had researched everything. I was ready to go from the podcast world. You want to have at least three episodes ready to go under your belt, confident. I had a little picture of my kids and my husband sitting here in my office cheering me on. And I go. And I'm off and running with this first episode of fearlessly facing 50. And I get done and I'm like, oh, yeah, I just rock that. That's going to be like Emmy winning. I think this is awesome. And I go back to find the audio file, and it' not there.

I know it's happened to all of us.

And so you're sitting there going, what am I thinking? Like, how am I possibly going to do this? I'm 50 years old. I just forgot to push record. Half the time I can't see. If I don't have my glasses on my head, I forget where my phone is. How am I going to do this? But you can. And that's the beauty of podcasting, too. And that's the beauty of going back and listening to episode one and going, did I really say that? Did it sound that horrible? You know, and you learn and you learn.

So you did something that a lot of people have been sort of hearing about and thinking about. You actually did sort of a new episode one. So after a while you hit that and you said, here's what the show's about. Here's where we're going forward. You have your new. I like to call it your episode zero. Really, Even though they're all numbered when you get in the system. But it's like that base where in our case, binge listeners are going to come and they're going to find that episode and they're going to go for that one and. And binge listeners are really smart. They know it's not always going to be your number one. If you've got more than 50 episodes, they'll check up through it and they'll say, oh, that's the one where they talk about shifting their show or they're talking about what the new Year's going to be like. They'll listen to that one.

Yes, exactly. It was funny because I always ask the question at the end of. If you're sitting on the couch and you look over and there's 30 year old. I asked this to Joan London. What advice would you give yourself? And that's something I put all together at the end of the year. A lot of editing, but all of those, a culmination of all of that advice that women give each other. You know, it was amazing. And that's the type of stuff. And people will look for that particular episode. You're right. And say, oh, I really wanna listen to that.

Yeah, I wanna find out what's changed. So let's talk about that. So when you started your show, you sort of had this idea of what it was gonna be like and then over time you sort of molded it. What's shifted over time for you?

Wow. Well, my confidence for sure. And my confidence for the big ask to say, hey, what do I have to lose? I'm gonna shoot for the May Musk, I'm gonna shoot for the Joan Londons. I don't just need to do. And I have friends that are won and they have so much value and they add it and they add value to the show. But I'm gonna set my standards out there and say, you know what? Why not? Why don't they want to be on my show and why not ask? And so that took some time, but, you know, I created the proper letter and that type of thing to reach out. And you go through the layers. Just like the Onion. There's layers of getting to these people, these high Profile people, but once you do, and I think what I've learned on that journey is once they trust you, and I think that's so much a host responsibility is building that trust, then the guests come. And now it's like I open up my email and it's like, hey, such and such is doing this wants to be on your show. It's amazing. And that's been a process.

And tapping into your community, you've done that really well here. So for Amy and I are Connecticut girls and you've tapped in. I mean, you got an interview with the Connecticut ground zero patient, which I have to say was just like fascinating to get to hear. So tapping into something that's of local interest as well as international interest, because we all know our podcast will be listening all over the world, but not forgetting that localness can really help you.

And that was an amazing episode. And I think that's what as a podcaster too. One thing I've learned is that I grow from every episode. I learn something. My heart is so full when I'm done hearing these stories. It gives me goosebumps just talking about it. And that's really why I keep doing what I'm doing. And it is. It's those community stories blended with national draw stories and that type of thing. But the community ones are wonderful. And those personal stories, really, podcasting is storytelling and it truly is, especially women. I have men on my show as well. But when women are brave enough to share their story, their voice, and then after the show, from the episode notes or from the links that are posted there, people get follow up and they're like, wow, this resonated with so and so and wow, they had the same situation. That's the power of your voice and podcasting.

Yes, it so is. Well, for everyone out there. I already have an article about Amy. Normally we do these interviews and then an article comes out. There's already an article about Amy and about her advice to you. So we're going to skip our five things for this week, but I'm going to recap them really quickly. So Amy suggested that in order to book great guests, you pitch enough people. I think that's great advice. In order to keep increased listeners, you just keep swimming. And that is so true because I hear that from podcasters who've done 500 episodes. So very true there. Produce like a pro. You gotta learn some new tech. And I appreciate that. And we talked about that a little already. To encourage engagement, focus on good audio, we're gonna touch on that in just a minute. And monetizing your show. Offer classes, workshops, or books. That's where we're gonna dive in. Right after. I asked you a quick that. Why do you think audio is so key to good engagement?

It's so key. And if you listen to a few of my early episodes, I mean, I really had to learn. I really had to learn that because they're going to turn it off. It's just like a radio station. If it's static, they're going to turn it off. They're not going to listen. So audio is key. I mean, it really is everything about audio. And getting really sharp, crisp audio is really the way to go. Otherwise, they're not going to listen.

It gives you that foundation. I love that. Well, let's talk about the business building of what's gone on. And, you know, did you really think that you would end up with not just a podcast, but sort of a business model of all these things that followed a brand?

Yeah, it's like a pinch me moment. I was hoping, because that really was part of my business plan. I really launched this saying the podcast will be growing my community and from there, my platform and such. And I since have written a book and I do workshops and all of that type of thing. So it's fascinating and it really is ever changing. And, you know, to put together kind of a sponsor sheet to say, hey, listen, you know, I'm adding value. I'm getting these reviews back. I'm getting this feedback. I have credibility in this area. Think about sponsoring me. And that was another thing about going for those big guests. You go for the sponsors. Why not ask? If you don't ask, they're not going to know. And what do you have to lose? All they can say is no. Or they can say, oh, I'll think about it. Well, that's okay. You circle back later.

You know, this is a kind of common podcasting misconception. They think that you start a show and the sponsors are just going to, like, throw money at you.

Oh, yeah.

Well, it totally doesn't work like that. Right.

Not work that way.

And you know what? It's really unfortunate because it works like that less for women than men, which is really unfortunate. But I find that the women who are out there and the business builders, men and women alike, going out there and asking for sponsorship, are really surprised at how easy that is. That if you show your value, they want to be a part of that. They want to experiment. At least they'll get that. And when they do start to See, oh, you really do have listeners. You really got engagement, you get return. Then they come back again because they see that value. So you're demonstrating that. But every show we talk about the binge factor. What is your binge factor? What do you think it is, Amy? Because right now is the right point for me to tell you what I think it is.

Why? What do you think it is? I want to know.

Well, so it's your deep passion in this niche. So when you're deep in a subject or a sort of stage of life, which in this case you are.

Right.

Of pain, longing, opportunity, aspiration, whatever that might be, there are people out there searching. So you're right in the right place at the right moment. And the thing about it is, audio is the right place for you because this is so personal, Right. I'm not likely to watch as many videos about being 50 as I am, like, putting my earbuds in and just listen privately to it, because I don't necessarily want the people around me to know that I might be a little anxious about this 50 thing. Right. So when it's something so deeply personal, podcasting does really well, and that's what you've really touched on, and that leads to them asking for more. Right? And that's why your business is building.

That's why, I mean, they stay for the host, you know, and they build that trust, and you have that. You build that community, and people do. When you binge listen to, like, fearlessly facing 50, I know women that have called me and said, hey, I'm putting on my headphones and I'm listening. Oh, I'm gonna, you know, and that's what I want. And at the end of it, I want them to be inspired to action, you know? And like you said, they're not gonna wanna watch I have a live show as well, which I do, which I just started, which is really great. And I do that fairly often. But the podcast part of it is really inspiring somebody to take action in their life, and that's what's so important. And, you know, you hear it, and you hear these stories of other people sharing their vulnerabilities and these experts sharing their advice. And all of a sudden a woman says, oh, yeah, that did happen to me. Wow, I'm going through that. Or, my parents are getting older. Wow, those are some great questions. I need to open up the dialogue about this. Those are the things that make people come back and listen to this particular niche, which is women 40, 50, and beyond. And women at 60 are listening to podcasts, they are.

This is the thing. The misconception as well, is that it's just young people listening to podcasts. So not the case. I found that out seven years ago with our first show that it wasn't. We thought it would be all geeky teenagers in their garages doing 3D printing. And in the end, for us, it was like retirees and teachers in the Midwest. So learning that about the audience is really interesting as well.

And they want to learn. I mean, people want to learn and challenge themselves in different ways. And maybe hearing that will be like, oh, it's going to spark their interest in something. Maybe they'll end up going to that yoga class that they keep pulling in the parking lot and turning away because they're too scared to go in. Maybe something in that messaging that they heard from myself or a guest or whatever is encouraging them to do that. Then, once again, my heart is full, and I feel grateful that people listen.

Well, as you can all hear, Amy has this unique ability to face crisis, look at it as an opportunity, and do this in a way that models what we all want, which is why she's such a great host for this show.

Thank you.

You know, I'm enjoying the way that you make everything so personal, too. There are a lot of hosts out there who just, like, are spewing their own stuff all the time. You hear it a lot. You work yours in. In a relatable way. You know, it's the right time to talk about that you lost a parent or, you know, that it's the right time that you'd want to talk about that your kid's home with because of COVID Right. You know, and it's a lot. Right. So when you get real with those moments, that is the way you build a tremendous rapport with your audience.

Yeah. It's being authentic. And I think that's one of the best compliments I've gotten from the podcast is I love the reviews, and they're fantastic. But when somebody leaves a review or texts me or emails me and says, you are authentic, like, I can relate to you. That's what I want. You know, I'm not swinging from polls like jlo is at 50. I'm not. Maybe I'll try, who knows, you know? But if there's a guest down and wants to teach me. But I think that being authentic and being real and building that trust with your community, people come and they stay for the host. I really think that's true in podcasting.

They come for the learning Opportunity, and then they stay because you deliver that and more.

Exactly. Thank you.

Well, you know, you talked a little bit about having this Facebook Live, and this is a really trendy thing I'm going to say right now, and I hate to call it trendy, because it's been going on actually a lot longer than most people realize. But doing live video, doing more video, has been going on a lot. And we peaked, I think, last year with about close to 50% of our clients doing video. It's actually down a bit. And we're closer to 40% of our clients who are doing video right now. But you're doing something interesting. You're not having the same guests on your Facebook Live that you're having on your podcast. That has to be a purposeful choice. Why?

It is, because really, when I build my content calendar and when I really look at what I'm doing, these lives are actually almost like large events where I want women to come and then they'll be introduced to the podcast. Some of them had never listened to the podcast. And recently, for example, I just had one about relaunching, which was perfect for women over 50. I had on three phenomenal guests that are credible, insightful, wise, and really, it was amazing the amount of engagement. I think the reason I do it, too, is because of the engagement factor. I have people on with me live. I have a woman that produces it for me now, and she can actually take the questions as people are putting them in real time. And I think that's adding a lot of value. And for me, it's creating more work for me because I'm not just dropping that into a podcast episode, but I'm really fulfilling what my community wants. And when I survey them and when I run polls and all those things that you do before you start a show, you market research. When you're running a show, you want to make sure you're continuing to add value where your listeners want value. And that's why I'm doing what I'm doing. So it is creating a little bit more work for me, for sure. But the value for the community is I just think the upside is there and they're really enjoying it. I've got a woman coming on from chair whimsy who's going to be designing a chair. She's got an amazing following. She started her business later in life, and it's challenging your creative side. And many women had reached out and said, listen, what about the creative side? I really want to start a pottery class or I really want to do this. So that's really my reason for incorporating some live in.

Well, I have to check out a woman who's designing chairs because I actually am a woman who designed chairs for 20 years. So. Yeah. Which is very rare. And people would say I've never heard of anyone who designs chairs. And so I now have to meet her. Because you said that. That's amazing. So do you tease the Facebook Live? Have you done a kind of crossover event, I like to call them? Have you done any of that to interest your podcast listeners?

Yes. Oh, definitely. Definitely. I mean, I really am using the power of social media. Between that, I'm using my Facebook Live ability to go and tease those things. I do a lot of social media graphics around it. So. Yeah. And I am feeling like from analytics wise, I'm looking at a lot of my podcast listeners are tuning in live now.

They really enjoy that they're tuning in. They're doing both. That's great. When we can start to cross platforms, then we'll really realize we're building. Not just. We're not just building a podcast, we're building a business overall.

We're building a business. Yeah.

So what are your goals? Where are you going to take the podcast next?

Oh, wow. I mean, I look at the next 10 years of my life, I'm going to be 61. I'm almost 51. 61. And when I look back at where my mom was at 50, and I remember it because I was about 13 and putting pearls on because she was going to, you know, we were having a party for her. She seemed older than I do now, and my mom was always very youthful. But I think for me, I'm just going to continue to challenge myself and grow this. I'm having new opportunities come up all the time. I'm now moderating a group on Clubhouse, which is really exciting. Midlife really matters. This time of life really matters. And so I see myself, I'm writing a workbook as we speak that goes along with my book, so that'll be launching this spring. I'm going to continue to do the live along with the podcast and just see what happens. But I'm not giving in and not giving up and just going to continue moving forward. And who knows, you know, opportunities come. I get to do segments on new shows pretty often, and my confidence has really gotten better since, you know, behind the mic and everything. I never really had a fear about it, but I can just tell how I articulate and how I talk is all I'm learning, you know, Work in progress.

I love that you continual learning at any age.

At any age. Yeah.

Yeah, that's right. Well, what advice do you have for podcasters out there on how to be a little more fearless?

I love that. Two words, just start. You know, I mean, there's so many people. How many people do you talk to? And especially in your business, I mean, you talk to them and they talk about they have this great idea and they really want to do it, but then something stops them in their tracks. Whether it's perfectionism, saying it's not going to be right, I can't launch yet, or procrastination. I'll do it next year. You know, just like my whole cannonball book, I'll jump off next year when I'm 10 pounds lighter. That's not going to happen, you know, and it's not going to happen by luck. It has to be intentional, and you just have to start. And you know what, if you forget to record your first one like I did, you can continue to go. And all of that builds your confidence, and it's just part of it. So my advice to anybody, and I'm speaking at PodFest in a couple of weeks at the Global Summit, is just start. Just start. You can always recalibrate.

Oh, Amy, thank you for being fearless. Thank you for being voice for women over a certain age out there in the podcasting sphere. So we appreciate you and everyone you really need to tune into fearlessly facing 50 with Amy Schmidt.

Thank you.

So wasn't that amazing? Amy has got so much insight to share and so much energy. Right. She's so excited about her show still to this day. And I love that when you get past 80 episodes like she is, I think she's 85 plus at the time that we're recording this, to still have the same energy as when you started it to begin with, without the little bit of, you know, hesitation. But to get past that tech challenge, to get past the recording nerves, to get past your first interviews and then hit the ground running and then just keep going all the way fearlessly, like Amy's doing, that's just amazing. Now, it wouldn't be episode of the binge factor if I didn't have a couple of things that I wanted to point out about their shows, the shows that are on here that we're focusing on to point out. And I especially want to point out one because you probably heard me say this again and again and again over time. Whether you've been listening to our show feed, you'd brand with all of our tips and tactics for launching a podcast or you've been listening to the binge factor, this one comes up quite frequently. And typically I recommend an introduction for your show that has a voice of authority. Amy's is not that way. She's the great exception to the rule, and I wanted to point it out to you, so you definitely go and take a listen to her show. So it's a more personalized invitation style. It's a little bit longer than most shows typically have it nowadays because people like it to be 30 seconds, especially if you're a binge listener. Right. But it's that invitation, that warm invitation that she gives as the introduction to her show, the bumper, if you want to call it that, where she's inviting you in and she's telling you why she's here for you, that is really of great service to this style of show. So if you've got this style of show where you're really hoping from crisis to opportunity, as she likes to call it, when you're helping from that place, this might be the right style for you. My recommendation is when you do something like this, try it, start to get some feedback on it and see if it resonates with people, and shorten it as you go on, as your show gets longer and longer so that you're not repeating yourself all the time, that it's not so repetitive for the binge listeners over time. However, the style of what Amy's got is perfect for this style of show. For a style that needs an invitation, that needs to be very personal because the subject matter is so personal, I might recommend this style for shows that are about recovery, whether it's alcohol, drug recovery, sex addiction recovery. We have shows like that on our platform already. This is a great style for those types of shows as well. For anyone who needs to help you move you through a crisis, this might be a great way because it builds a great rapport. If you're trying to build, though, and maybe you're a doctor who's got a talk show and aspirations for one, you need a voice of authority. This is not the case with Amy. Her business is intimate. It's personal. The way everything runs is. It's around creating that intimacy level with her audience and creating that personableness and that authenticity that she talked about. So this is why this works really, really well for her. I just love talking with Amy because, you know, well, we're Connecticut girls, as I mentioned. But, you know, it just really has a sense of understanding of how you can really grow your show to a place where you feel really great about where it's going, how it is right now, without having these unruly and overwhelming expectations of what it should be. She's letting it happen. She's letting it evolve. She's pushing it and nudging it and making it hers, but she's letting it happen. And that's such a great way to look at having a show. It's such a great way to look at how to use the show to build that platform to grow a business. So I really applaud Amy Amy schmidt, fearlessly facing 50. And remember, if you want to connect with Amy and you want to find out more about her, you can go to the blog post for this episode@thebingefactor.com where we have all of that.

And hey, give a shout out to.

Amy on social media as well. Go check out her Facebook group and her Facebook lives. So thanks everyone for listening today. I'm Tracy hazzard, embracing being 50 today. Thanks to Amy. Appreciate her coming on the show and I'll be back next week with another episode of the Binge Factor.

You've been listening to the Binge Factor Podcast. 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.