Importance Of Podcasters Taking A Break And How To Enter A New Podcasting Niche With Lucy Liu Of The Lucy Liu Show

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, welcome back to the Binge Factor. I'm Tracy Hazzard and I have Lucy.

Liu on the show.

Not that Lucy Liu, but Lucy Liu who deserves to reclaim her name and reclaim her show. She has the Lucy Liu show and it's a fueling station for mind, business and life. I love that subtitle. I think it's really great. Too often people use subtitles and they're.

Just all to cram in keywords, but.

That really crams in a message and I think that's quite special. But so is Lucy and I really enjoyed our conversation. She's a global business strategist and certified life coach, helping high achieving women in transition, unstuck, kiss overwhelm goodbye, cultivate rockstar confidence, seek clarity, reach dream goals, and live a joyful, fulfilling life.

She is an unshakable optimist, wife, mother, easygoing entrepreneur, certified hashtag, I am remarkable.

Woman, empowerment workshop facilitator and international motivated speaker. She's the author of two international bestselling.

Books and also inspires as the host.

Of a weekly podcast, the Lucy Liu show, which is the fueling station for.

Your mind, business and life.

And she's been featured on Medium, Voyage, la, Elephant Journal, Thrive Global, Fox, cbs, NBC, and dozens of other media outlets. She has over 150 episodes at the.

Time that we recorded this and she.

Is just a powerhouse and we were talking internationally so we had a little bit of fun with that. So let's take a listen to Lucy Liu.

Lucy, thanks so much for joining me and I am excited that we're gonna talk about the Lucy Liu show and.

The fact that you're taking a break.

Right now as we're recording this, I think that's really brave. What made you decide you really needed it right now? You hit 150 episodes and you needed a break.

Thank you Tracy for having me. First of all, I'm so excited to be here because I binge listened to your podcast and it's amazing. So it's such an honor to be here and yes, I'm having so Much fun. I'm taking a break because when I started my podcast, I gave myself a goal. When I hit 100 episodes, I'm going to celebrate and take a break. And once I hit 100, I'm like, no, that's not enough. I'm going to go for 200 before I take a break. And you know what, I always tell my clients this, enough is a decision, it's not an amount. So I wanted to take that into my own life. And When I hit 150, I just decided, hey, you know what, It's a decision. I want to have a fun summer. I'm going to take an entire summer off of work and just enjoy a vacation free from social media, free from my podcast journey. And it's been a blast. So it's coming to an end after two month break. Yeah.

You're working here with me.

This is the first interview I'm doing after my break. Having so much fun.

Yeah. And she'll be back by the time this airs. So she'll be back on the air, I hope. Has it given you any perspective on something that you realized I don't love this about my podcast. I'd like to change this or I really love this and I'd like to double down. Has it given you any perspective, that sort of breathing room?

It has in some ways. First, it also validated my own preach, like my own beliefs. I'm a big believer for going for things when I'm not ready. Like, I felt I wasn't ready when I started podcasting. I had no idea what podcasting was. My business coach at the time put me on my first guesting opportunity and boy, I was nervous. But once got on the air and I was just like blown away by how fun this experience is and just I decided right there that I'm going to have my own show and I had no idea what I was doing. But if I'm going to talk the talk, I need to walk the walk and do it before I'm ready. So I immediately decided that I'm going to start my podcast and I did put the show out in probably around 45 days. So I wasn't ready. And I feel like it has been the best decision. And I think life is full of decisions and we make daily decisions that we want to thank ourselves for in the future. And that's also what I preach. So I want to validate my own idea and prove that it is true what I teach and I really do have fun and it feels my life. I want My podcast to be the fueling station for your mind, business, and life. But also by speaking to my amazing guests, I am fueled. My brain juice is flowing. It's just amazing. And taking this break has given me more clarity on niching down because I think a lot of people have trouble niching, and I did as well. And I've had amazing guests on my podcast where people talk about. They don't niche down either, because it's about having fun. So it's a struggle sometimes. Do you niche down or do you have more fun?

So you decided that you're gonna niche.

Down a little bit more. I'm all about confidence, so I think I'm going to niche down. I did general life coaching, and so now I'm going to niche down to confidence. And I think confidence is something we all can use throughout our lives and businesses.

I think I get a lot of podcasters who come onto my platform, who come into our world, start a podcast, and then they second guess themselves because the confidence really isn't there. And as they start to do it, that imposter syndrome and all of those pieces start to bubble to the top as they're recording.

Absolutely. And no matter how confident you are, I believe I'm a very confident person. But our life journey, there's gonna be curveballs thrown at you. Right. And that's the beauty of life. And we're thrown at by these little rocks. Do you see it as a bump? Right. Do you see these rocks as boulders that's standing in your way? Or do you see these rocks as the exact little pebbles you need to pave your road to success and happiness? But that decision is also yours.

I love that perspective. Something else that you said on your show that I just. I really want to point out, and you kind of hit it direct on. So when you were doing your 150th episode where you were talking about taking a break, you.

You really went and defined what you believe in.

And you said, I believe in this, and that's why I'm doing this. And I believe in that, and that's why I'm doing this. And I think that's really so overlooked that someone says, I'm taking a break. That isn't just an aside. You could have very easily not recorded a separate episode. You could have just as an aside off the end of the last one gone. Okay, I'm taking a summer break. I'll see you in a couple of months. And lots of podcasters do that. But instead, you decided to take a stand and make a whole episode about it and make it a learning opportunity as well. And I think that is really important.

Important. Thank you. I agree. And I'm learning as well. We're all learning. We're all incessant learners here. And that's the beauty of life. And there's nothing more important than taking your own education and personal development. It doesn't matter how much money you make. This is the beauty of life.

I think it makes you better coach.

And I'm going to say this from this perspective, and I, because this is your binge factor as well, so I'm going to hit this right off the bat. Is that the binge factor to the Lucy Liu show is the fact that she walks the walk and talks the talk. And so she's really taking her own advice here. She outs herself when it's not. When she's not following the advice and she'll talk about those things. And I really think we are more likely to sign up with a coach who's real than we are with someone who is just talking that high level and really not following their own advice. And it's super obvious.

Thank you, Tracy. That's beautiful.

Yeah. I think it makes a big difference.

In how your podcast is converting for you. So when you started it, did you have an idea of what the success.

Metric was going to be for you.

And what was going to be, oh, this was a successful venture. This is worth my time.

Oh, no. Like I said, it was very spontaneous decision, but it was a decision I'm glad for. I had no expectations. It was. My goal was to put out my free content into the world. We all have our ways of putting out free content as a coach. And I decided this was my format, my modality, and even if I help the life of one listener, I feel like I've made a better contribution to this better world so that it will keep me going because I'm doing good for society, for the world. It's what I believe in and it fuels my life as well. So that's one of the biggest factors that helped me put the show out. So I had no expectations. It was also for myself. As you know, my name is Lucy Liu.

I'm so glad you're addressing this.

And living in la. We both didn't live in la. We're so close to Hollywood. I even took acting lessons when I was in middle school and I failed every single audition. Guess what? The casting director would run out of their offices and be like, oh, dear Lucy Lucille, they are so excited and Then when they see me, they're like, oh, not the Lucy Liu. Not the Lucy Luke. And they make this really disappointed face. So guess what? I'm stuck with this name. And it used to be my biggest obstacle in life, biggest hindrance, whatever you call it. And I believe we all have that hindrance or obstacle in life. For you, it might be something else. If you're listening, it could be your name is too hard to pronounce. Your name is too easy, it's too common. It's too long, it's too hard to speak. Bell you name it, it could be anything. Or it could just be the fact that you always feel less than someone else or you're compared to you're disappointing someone. That's how I felt. I believe every person on earth can relate to that in some form. And. But I believe starting the show is also for me that I. Like you said, if I'm a coach, I need to shatter the limiting beliefs of my clients. I need to constantly check in on myself. What can I do to improve own mindset? And I know that's one of my biggest limiting belief is having the same name as a celebrity. And I can't even hate her because I love her. Like, she's so talented. But in the meanwhile, I don't want to sabotage myself as well. So this is where I keep on coming back to remind myself that I am Lucy Liu. I own that name, and I need to love that. I need to love myself. So it's also a reminder for me to always shatter my own limiting beliefs and just really own it.

Well, I think that's so powerful. But I also think here's the thing. So if you Google Lucy Liu podcast, you show up more than she does because you have 150 episodes. So you are actually equalizing things there in that way. I'm going to recognize as I'm listening to you, that you're not the actress. And so that I might type in a qualifying word like podcast and make sure that I found the right person. And so I think your listeners are not only smart enough, but I think the whole searching side of things is serving you.

Yeah. But of course, in the beginning, there are business coaches that be like, oh, that's gonna suck for your SEO, Right? Because if you type in Lucy Liu.

Okay, so they're wrong. I'm gonna give you this tip here because I want the audience to hear this as well. So they're wrong. So there is a Tracy Hazard who's a musician, and they told me the same thing. Now, my show's not named after me, mind you, that, which is a little bit different. But as the author of the show or the host of my name is the same as hers. She's a musician, so she already had ranking on itunes. And back when we started podcasting, podcasts were still in the itunes and not in the Apple podcast, not in its own thing. So the same thing would occur if you were to look at Spotify. She should outrank me on Spotify because she's a musician. She's actually been a musician for a very long time, but I outrank her on Google again and again and again. And the trick to it is not just having a podcast, but taking your podcast and blogging it on your website and then taking that and embedding a YouTube video and making sure you have a video that comes out of your podcast. So when you do that, your content will outrank anyone and you can outrank any celebrity that way because they only get featured in publications on occasion. So while their publication will probably get featured, they're not going to dominate the first page of Google anymore. They're going to get mixed in with new relevant content that you're putting out every single week. But it has to be reduced to the written word and to a YouTube video in order for Google to rank you that way. So like you have to play that SEO game, not just the podcast one.

Thank you for your wisdom.

I think we could do it, Lucy. I think we should try it and see if we can make it work. How fun though. You've got competition for your name, but the reality is it's not for your topic. She's not out there giving advice on this. You are giving advice on confidence, you are giving advice on this. And those two things tied together make a big difference. And at least your name's remarkable. It's. I'm going to remember it and I'm not going to forget that. So I think that's valuable at the end of the day. But. So let's talk about that. Like how did you grow your show? How did you grow listener base? What do you do on a weekly basis to get people to listen to your episodes?

Obviously, like you talked about, I do post it as a blog post to my website and like I said, it's a resource. So when someone needs help, I sent them a specific episode to solve their problem. If I know someone is stressed, I have an episode on one of my client did a breath work session. It's a mini 10 minute breath work session that I guarantee you will feel relaxed. So I send them him like, hey, go to episode 32, it's 10 minutes and you're going to feel relaxed after. And you know what? I even listen to that. It works. So I'm very confident in knowing that. Even if it's free content, I'm absolutely confident that if you binge while listen to my show, your life will be better. So that's what I do and I send it as resource to my clients and to people I know. So basically it's very organic. And like you talked about, I do podcast guesting on other shows as well. And I think it's been an amazing journey.

So you're getting them to share you. Right? You're getting the guest opportunities, an opportunity for me or other people's shows you're on to share you. When you're sharing so willingly with your audience, they're then sharing that out and making sure that they give you a shout out because you gave them something for free. There's a reciprocal requirement in the universe for that and they know it. That's a wonderful thing. So I think that's really great that you're doing all of that on the increasing listener side, but you also have some really great guests and you're really.

I think, vetting them well to make.

Sure that they are going to add value in a short period of time because your shows are not long. They're somewhere between 7 and 20 minutes on average. And they're giving value in a really quick timeframe and you know that they can do that. So how are you getting those great guests?

I think we met on Pod Match and it's been a game changer, obviously in the recent year. But before then, of course, I don't do pretty interviews, but I do check them out.

I don't have time for it either. So you're not alone.

They have a podcast. I will definitely tune in. If they have a book, I'll read at least a few chapters in, if not the whole book. And if they're on YouTube, I watch their content or watch their usually TED talks. Yeah. So I do my own homework because in the process I learn as well. I'm feeling my mind as well. So I don't see it as work, but it's part of my life.

We underestimate how much we learn from our show. Right. So I learn a ton. And you're right, it becomes a resource and a constant resource that I can just pop into and say, oh, we did an episode on that. And I know there's an expert over here, and I need to refresh my memory, listen to it again, and share it with somebody else.

And it's also networking for me. We talked a little bit about this earlier. I moved abroad in my 20s, and I've been abroad for a while now. I travel back to my hometown, Los Angeles, and Asia a lot. And because I've been away for so long, I feel like I needed a bigger network of women who are doing amazing things as well. So the networking part was very big for me as well. And I really enjoy connecting people. For example, I've actually referred my podcast guest to my clients, like, oh, you need accountant, talk to her. You need a lawyer, Talk to this lady. So I think it's really been a journey where it's not just on air. It's really about making the real connection, like a deeper connection that we really need in society. Especially since COVID we're not able to go out, but Zoom saved our lives, and it's beautiful. And we have to just enjoy this new norm and still continue the networking.

Yeah, absolutely. So what kind of return on investment have you gotten over the time of doing 150 episodes? What surprised you about things that you received from your podcast that you weren't expecting?

I would say personal growth. I think that is bigger than anything else. Any other return. My own personal development journey, because I'm speaking with authors, other podcasters, speakers. They're all amazing. And I feel I really learned so much through it. Made me a better coach, for sure.

That's amazing. You're the first person to have said that on this show. And I've done quite a bit. I've done more than 150 episodes here. And I love that, though, because you.

So true that there is a lot of personal growth here.

There is a lot of business growth that comes from podcasting and from tips and ideas and new books that you're exposed to, new shows that you're exposed to. So I love that you just said that straight out as an important return on investment for you.

Yeah, absolutely. When you work with these speakers and coaches and bestsellers, they're very expensive to work with. If you were to work with them privately, as a listener, even if the podcast is free, really take the information like gold because their coaching is worth tons of money. So if you're listening to any podcast, if take the information as gold because it's valuable and you're getting it for free. And this is the beauty of podcasting and listening to podcasts. So I really appreciate all the Podcasters. I love podcasters.

So do I.

I think this is so really life changing in terms of you come into podcasting and you get new skills and you get new exposure and you come to things. Is there anything that you were able to take from your podcast and really start to change the way you coached because you had the podcast as part of your repertoire?

Oh, absolutely. People have self doubts about their own liabilities. Should I charge more or am I good at this? But because of my PODC experience, like you talked about over 150 beautiful women with incredible knowledge. That makes me a better coach and that makes myself more confident that when my client asks me a question that I can answer it because so many other coaches have validated what I preach. Because usually on a podcast I'm like nodding my head like the whole time because what they say is something that I usually say and it just gives me that extra boost of confidence that I am doing the right work and that I am able to help my clients. And I'm so confident that by working with me, my clients deserve a better life or confident and live an epic life that they all deserve.

And I love that you're sharing out your show with your clients because I use this tactic all the time and I'll be saying like, look, I think that this is an important aspect of podcasting, but don't listen to me, listen to X, Y and Z person who's been on my show and they say the same thing. So this is consensus. It is some a piece of advice you should take. And I love that I can do that when it needs to happen with reinforcement. So this isn't just one take. What I say with a grain of salt isn't something that you want your clients to do. You want them to take it seriously and apply it. And if they're hearing that from other people and not just you, that can be helpful.

Absolutely.

So you're niching down into a little more of the confidence world. So I have to ask, what can an aspiring or existing podcaster do to be more confident behind the mic?

Just do it. Set yourself a timer. You're going to launch. Set a deadline first. Right? Your launch date. When are you going to launch? And just stick to that deadline and put it out into the world.

Post it on social. So you're committed to the date.

Yeah, that's what I did. And then you find a way to get there. And I took three courses. I'm a course junkie. So if I'm going to do something, I'm Going to take a course. And I took three when I started podcasting. And I think the best advice I got was to make two lists. One is the list of guests who you know will be on your show. People you already know, like your friends, colleagues, or people you have worked with, you already have interaction with. And then another list of your dream clients, like big names in your industry that you never even come across, but you admire them and you know their big names. So reach out to both and then see the miracles happen.

Oh, I love that. I think that too often people don't ask. That's a confidence thing right there. They're not asking enough.

Yep.

Now that you're about to restart your show, are you gonna approach anything else different? Are you going to approach the amount of time you podcast, the number of episodes, the types of guests? Is there any other approaches that you're going to take differently in this sort of niche down model?

Yes. The number one difference is I'm going to do video. So I've been doing audio only for the first hundred and fifty. So the episodes now will also be video. And it's going on. I'm starting my YouTube channel and it's going on YouTube. So wonderful.

I'm so glad to hear that. And your shorter ones, your seven minutes or those kind of ones you could.

Put into YouTube shorts.

I'm not sure what the limit is. I think it might be 10 minutes, but I could be wrong on that. So I'm not an expert over in YouTube, but check out and make sure you categorize the YouTube shorts, if you can, for any clips that you do.

Because they get a little more circulation.

We're finding.

Yeah, there's always the first episode or the first YouTube. My YouTube channel, it's got 20 subscribers, but that's where we all start. Start. I remember the day I had. I was stuck on 500 followers on Instagram for the longest time, and now you look back, it's like, okay, 5,000 followers. It's just a journey. Just have fun. And this is what I always tell my clients. If you're not doing it, think of how more fun that you can make it so that you're having fun along the way. Because we always scare ourselves. Like, we see this big monster that's so daunting. Like writing a book or starting a podcast. Whatever it is that you're trying to go for, think of how more fun you can have. Like, it's all about having fun. You're not doing the thing, you're just having fun.

Are you thinking about changing your tagline, your cover art, anything graphic as you move to video?

I did change my cover art when I hit a hundred episodes, so maybe I'll do it by 200. But it's really just a photo of me. And like, I talk about, it's the biggest limiting belief that always comes up is, am I using her name? Blah, blah, blah. And if I did that all my life, like, I wouldn't be able to live like, I live in Los Angeles, right? They'll tell you a story. I used to be scared to say my name. Like, I used to book restaurants in my mom's name because I didn't want to say Lucy Liu. I'm in la, right? And they would be like, are you the Lucy Lou? Are you coming to our restaurant? I think it's really just owning what you already have and truly believing in yourself that you are worthy. Because we all are, and we're all unique in our own way. So are you, right?

Yeah.

Have fun.

I need to introduce you to Katherine Bell because just this weekend, I really never really thought about it because I've known this wonderful woman, Kathryn Bell. I never thought about the Katherine Bell before, but one of the speakers at the event was telling the story about how excited he was to get to meet the Katherine Bell who was showing up to this event. And he could see her. And it turned out to be a very different Kathryn Bell, but she owns it. She actually does go and put her name into restaurants, and when they say, are you? And she says, yes, I'm the Katherine Bell, because she is.

That's what I do now. It's so different, but it's so fun.

So let's own it. I love it. Well, is there anything else that you'd like to share about your show? I love the subtitle. I just want to say it's the fueling station for mind business and life. I think that really does destroy. Describe your show really well. And I love that you've added that to the COVID art and to your show in general.

Thank you. So my solo episodes are like you talked about, generally five to seven minutes. They're just super short doses of inspiration. If you listen to the solos, it's just like, ah, I want you to feel inspired to move on with whatever your next goal is. And the interviews are very dating, fast paced. My guests usually answer those questions on other podcasts in an hour. I do them in 15 to 20.

So you get right to the point. And I think that it's really valuable that you do that. You're saving your clients and yourself a lot of time, but you're asking the important questions. We're going into that, and I think that's critical. But I love your solo shows. I hope you don't change that, because I think that is really. I think at the end of the day, if there are people who are on the fence about working with you and they hear those solo shows, they're signing up. It's just a really good example of how you work and the advice you give.

Yeah. Thank you. I am a big believer of coaching, so I hope it's me. If it's not, get yourself a coach, and you deserve to live an epic life.

Thank you so much, Lucy. I'm so glad you came on.

Thank you for having me again. And to the beautiful listeners, if you're tuning in, blessings are coming your way.

One of the things that I really love to hear, and I always get.

Really worried when I find out a.

Podcaster is on a break. And when I met Lucy, she was.

On a break, and so I was like, do I want to interview her?

Because she's at such high risk for pod fading? But she completely impressed me with what she was going to reflect on during her break, that I had to make sure we were going to hear what the outcome was.

So that's why I'm so glad we're catching her right as she's getting restarted.

Again and moving her podcast back in with a new niche and a new.

Focus on that confidence area for her.

So getting that chance to reflect sometimes can really work for us. But I really want you to follow Lucy's model. Take a listen to that episode on where she talks about taking her break. Because when you involve your audience in that idea of I need a reflection.

Period, I need to think about this, and then I'm going to come back.

And tell you what I thought about. You're really holding yourself accountable to make sure you show back up.

And even if you're going to quit your show at that point, you could show back up and tell them why.

That'S going to make your audience feel like they gave you the space, they allowed you the time to make that decision. That's a really great way to end your show if that's what you're going to do, or in Lucy's case, refocus your show. And now they feel like they gave.

You the time to do that.

They were involved in that process, so they're more excited to come along and see how the show changes for them. As well. So this is a great way to.

Manage that whole process and I really want you to hear that from her.

Plus, you got to check out the Lucy Liu show because she's really fabulous. Thank you.

She's got a great on air Persona.

And that's really her and that's just wonderful. She's owning who she is and I really like the model of being authentic with your audience, being honest about where you are, talking about your failings, talking about your struggles, and then also talking about tactics and motivations. In a way, I think this is a really great way to coach from within and I think that's why it works for Lucy. It's why she's going to keep going on her show. It's why it's leading to clients. And I want you to hear that as well. So go check out the blog post for this episode@thebingefactor.com check out the Lucy Liu show and see all the amazing things she does. Come back. Listen to the next episode also, where I bring you another successful and interesting podcaster you can learn from.

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.

SA.