One Podcast Host Compels Million Dollar Companies To Fulfill The Desire To Live And Give More - Meet Paul Higgins Of The Build Live Give Podcast

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 Tracie Hazzard and I've got Paul Higgins today from Build Live Give. And I love the story of how Paul and I have met here, which is ironic because he's actually already my client. But I didn't know it. So what happened was, is that I was on Pat Flynn's show. I was on Smart Passive Income, and I did my usual thing and gave my talk about things and various people have reached out to me and Paul was one of them. And he reached out to me LinkedIn and said, I heard you on the show, I really appreciated what you said. And this was, you know, a takeaway for me. And he just sent a nice little share and connected up with me, which he, you know, I hadn't been connected with him before, so that was really great. And we were able to connect up and when I check out his show, so we had a little exchange. I asked him what the name of his show was. He shared it with me. And when I looked it up and saw he'd done like 225 plus episodes, I was like, you need to be on my show. And so I invited him on my show to come. And as I was this morning doing my research to interview him, I discovered that, well, I went to his blog and I thought, this looks really familiar. Like the logo's looking familiar, the blog formats looking familiar. It looks just like what my teen normally does. So I called up Tom Hazard, my partner and husband, and I said, hey, Tom, is Paul Higgins one of our clients? And he goes, he is. So this whole time Paul didn't tell me that he was a client. And I didn't realize it because I have so many clients, it's sometimes hard to realize that there's not an overlap in them. And so anyway, he is a client and Build Live Give is his show and it's a great show and I really enjoyed getting to know him and I loved that he reached out to me via LinkedIn and we met in just totally that sort of random, fortuitous way. That just happens as you go through, you know, everything you do in the podcasting world. I just love that that's exactly what happened with us here. So let me tell you a little bit more about Paul because you're going to really be fascinated by what he's done by his story. I mean, his show is just amazingly filled with a lot of trials and tribulations and things that he's had to overcome and push through just to do what he wanted to do. Paul Higgins is a business mentor, podcaster, and a published author who helps coaches and consultants to build online businesses to fund their lifestyles. Love that. That's the live part. He has 26 years of experience in sales and marketing, finishing up an 18 year gig at the Coca Cola company, leading the marketing strategy for a $70 million, $700 million business unit. I just said that wrong. I skipped a zero. In 2011, he left to manage his inherited kidney condition. He has founded and sold two businesses and had a successful transplant from his best mate in Febr. With his newfound energy, he loves to mentor, spend time with his teenage children, and play golf. He has a book called Build live give and 100% of the proceeds go to the Purple House. So I'm excited to invite you to listen to Paul and get. You're gonna really quickly tap into his binge factor because you're gonna hear how wonderful he is at giving and doing all the things. But we don't get to the binge factor all the way till the end. But I'm gonna do a few things different in this episode and so I don't want you to miss out on it. Stay all the way tuned through the end. I thank you for listening. And check out Paul Higgins, Build Live.

Give.

Paul, thanks so much for joining me. Excited to talk to you.

Yeah, the same, same. I'm very, very excited for this.

Build Live Give. Great name. It wasn't your first name though, if I'm not wrong about the way I heard that. On your. You have a 0.5 episode. Right. So I want everyone to be aware of that. We're gonna talk about that in a minute. But in your 0.5 episode, which is like your pre, you talk about the fact that you've shifted the show a few times and the name is a shift. So what name did you start with?

Yes, I started with Corporate Escapees.

Right. That seems interesting and exciting. And how long ago was that?

So I think I changed. So I launched it three years ago and then I think in, let's say I Think it was late 2018, I changed it and corporate Escapees. So it sort of followed my journey. I was a corporate executive, then went and built my own businesses and I couldn't really find any podcasts that were ideal for me. So the classic, you know, went and solved, solve my own itch, scratch my own itch. So, you know, I launched that and then, you know, I was really thought about, well, I'm up to year eight and you know, I'm no longer a corporate escapee. I'm actually a business owner in my own right now. So that's when. And I heard once on a podcast someone talk about Build, Live, Give. And then I thought, hang on, that that's exactly, that's me.

You know, so this is what want it to be.

And so I quickly, you know, googled it. You know, the domain was there. I'm like done. And now my book, my podcast, my product based company, everything's now Building Give. So that's how I came about.

I love that. So it really came out of doing it and shifting into what was right at the time. And that's one thing I think I want everyone to hear as a lesson from you, is that it's okay to make the shift. The audience is right there with you, whether you, you know, whether you think they are or not. That most likely that you didn't lose anyone in that process. I'm pretty sure.

Yeah, no, no, if anything, I gained. So, yeah, definitely for the better.

Absolutely. So you've done well over 250 episodes, but you have shifted it along the way and you have done this 0.5 episode. What's the point of it? Tell people why you did the 0.5.

I went into someone's podcast, you know, because I'm a prolific listener. So about an hour to two hours a day, two and a half times speed. So that's how I collect so many brilliant experts. Like, that's how I found yourself and Tom. So, you know, I'm constantly finding people and I listened to a few and I just thought, you know, it's no longer relevant. So what they were doing at the start of the show is no longer relevant. And I'm someone that will listen to every episode. I'm not saying, you know, everyone will do that, but I love to go through and, and learn the journey as I go. And I thought, well, if you come into my podcast, if you've listened to episode now, 250 or 247, I think is live, and you go to episode one, it just seems so disconnected. So I thought, well, why don't you guide people? So it's just a simple episode where I just go through. This is how I started. This is me now. These are my favorite episodes. This is what the whole premise of the show is. So just give someone a nice warm welcome. No different to your LinkedIn profile where you're about section. Should be a lovely warm welcome. I'm like, well, my first episode wasn't a lovely warm welcome. It was someone very nervous and didn't know what the hell they were doing.

You're a podcast binge listener in and of yourself, Right. I mean that, that you are the definition of a binge listener who pod fasts. And pod fast doesn't mean starving. It means you consume it at a high speed. And so you're the consummate of the ultimate binge listener. And that's what we're always looking for here on the show. How do we reach them? And you realize very early on that you probably have a pattern for how you listen too. So many binge listener. This is a pattern that I hear again and again. As they go to your very beginning, they'll read your description and they'll go to the first episode because they don't normally have a 0.5 somewhere along the way or anything else. So they'll go to your first episode and they'll take a listen. Now itunes or Apple podcasts has a teaser, has a new feature where you can highlight at one, thank goodness. So you can put your 0.5 up there and have that be there. And so. But not everyone has the iPhone. I don't. So not every one of us gets the benefit of that.

Right.

But having that is a great benefit. So I guarantee you the binge listeners and podcasters on itunes or Apple Podcasts will do that. And so they get to go there and then they usually go to your most recent because they know and understand that a lot probably changed.

Yes.

Is that the way you do it as well, when you listen?

Yeah. Yeah. And often, you know, you'll. Let's say someone's got 200 podcasts. You think, well, which are the ones that they consider the podcasts that are gonna benefit you, their audience, the best. So, you know, that's the other reason I did it, so that you can actually help people get that journey. And then people can bounce around however they like. But I. That's also important because we're all so busy. It's not as if they're going to listen in sequence from 1 to 200.

Well, some people do, but not everybody.

Right.

We jump around to what's worth it for us.

Right.

And that's sometimes hard to judge when you have names of people you never heard before.

Sputtle.

Yeah. So you've turned this into now not just a podcast, not just exploring corporate escapism and you've turned it into a business. It's a coaching business. Tell everyone about the business model and how it works and when in that process did your book come?

Yeah. Yes. So you know, my key business is, I call it mentoring, coaching. It's a similar thing, but for me it's for low seven figure business, service based business owners that want to get to high seven. But predominantly they've got two key things that are stopping them. One is they're doing most of the sales and the second is they're doing most of the delivery. And I'm sure you've all listening now, you've all heard that, right?

And you, everyone's going, nodding, going, yep, been there.

That sounds familiar. Right. So I've got a simple 12 week program with 29 components that, that solves that. And so that's my one on one. And then I've got a group that goes through the same thing, but we've got online that supports the group. And then at the start I've got, we call it the sales machine, which is really Getting clients on LinkedIn, which for B2B service based businesses is fantastic. Think of it as the new virtual coffee. So it used to happen in networking groups, obviously, Covid's fast tracks. Now everyone's doing this, it's on zoom and it's sped it up. So they're the key products that I have. And in 2018, I was on dialysis, I had kidney failure, I was on dialysis and I thought, well, how can I best use this time? How can I give back, which is the give section. And that's when I thought, well, why don't I just write a book of all the things that I've learned from leaving being a corporate director, one of the largest companies in the world, to building my own businesses, exiting one and continuing to work while I was in a hospital bed, why don't I write a book to do that? So it was killed time, but most importantly gave back to others.

I love that. So your book is your gift?

Yes.

Did you sell a lot?

No.

And you're not alone. I laugh because every one of us is going, yeah, we all have one of those on the back shelf.

Right.

And so, yeah, you know what is it about that? That's like, you know, everyone out there who I talk to, it's like their book doesn't sell. And you know what's so interesting? So I was looking at the statistics, and vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris did $350,000 in book sales in 2018, I think, if I remember the numbers right. And so I thought about that, and I was like, she was a senator. She was running, prepping to run for office, and she could only generate $350,000 worth of book sales. Like, that seems awful sad. So I thought, if someone at that level can't do it, why are we, as entrepreneurs expecting that we can do that? That doesn't mean our book doesn't have value. It just means our expectations of its return maybe are a little off.

Yeah. Correct. Yeah. And look, for me, the book was always, if I couldn't help someone in my mentoring, but I'd already gone through and solved the challenges they were facing, Now I could give them the book. And often I'll be in a call and say, look, my best advice to you is just go and read my book, because it's got the best advice I can give you. And you can listen to the audiobook. You can read it at your spe. So that's what I do. Now. I'd love to sell more, only for the fact that 100% of the proceeds go to a charity that. That I support.

So you wanted that to have more value. I totally understand that.

So I'd like to help them. They're the Purple House. I'd like to help them more. But it was, to be honest, you know, with all my health challenges, even to get a book out took everything I had and then to market it on top of. And it was a little bit about timing because, you know, I nearly passed away in 2018 when I had a nephrectomy. And that, you know, scared me enough to think, when I go through this transplant, you know, what's life going to be like? I sort of lived. I lived for four years not knowing what my life was really going to be. And I thought, well, if I go and put all this money behind a book, et cetera, and then I can't actually do anything because, you know, I've got complications with my kidney or whatever happens. So, look, it may be a bit of an excuse, Tracy and everyone listening, I'll declare that. But it was.

I think it's a really valid one out there. Everybody's going, we're giving you a pass. Paul, don't worry about that. But, you know, this is the thing, though. In some cases, the book in and of itself is just another form of service, just like our podcast might be at times. Right. So, you know, so give yourself a pass on that.

And.

And you don't know. You don't know what it will afford you in the future. This is what I was thinking about, as I was thinking about is that maybe the new model of speaking is I come and I do a virtual event for you, and you buy my book and send it to all your members.

Yes.

Who knows? That's the speaking fee of the future. And so that book may have high commerce value. We don't know. Right.

But I must admit, I know this sounds a bit obvious, but if I had the choice between doing a podcast or a book, I'd take a podcast every day.

Well, that was going to be my question, so I'm so glad you said that already and just preempted that. Great. A lot of the reasons why the books have not left, I have three of them, have not left my credenza to get to publishing because I know I don't have the time to market them. So I know that that's not there for me. But it is that timeliness of the podcast that always feels like by the time I'm about ready to publish the book, it's already out of date. And that part of it, as a podcast host, is hard to reconcile.

Now, for me, the book, you know, I found it difficult to constantly refer to the book. Right. Whereas a podcast, you're shining the light on the guest. And I also do individual podcasts as well, but there's two a week. And with LinkedIn, I can get, you know, for some of my guests, I get 200,000 views to their posts on LinkedIn, you know, so to me, that's giving enormous value. Whereas the book, you know, it. It is about me. So it's. It's harder, I think, to do that. So that's the other reason why I love podcasting, because, like you said, the topics are relevant. It's a lot easier to put out, but it's also a lot easier to promote, I believe, especially through LinkedIn. The modern book is.

Yes, absolutely. I agree with that. Are you. So you're heavy into LinkedIn. I've heard that. Because you have that message on all your shows. Are you using the content differently on LinkedIn? So how are you using your podcast content on LinkedIn? I think there's a lot of people out there curious to know that.

Yeah. So the two shows a week. So I post three times a week, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and on the Tuesday it's my interview and on the Thursday it's my solo and I'll just write a post specific to the podcast and then I'll have the link to the podcast below. And, you know, that's working incredibly well. My, you know, a bad post for me might be 5,000 views and like I said, a really good post for me is a couple of hundred thousand. Now you know my website, I won't. I'm too embarrassed to say how many views it gets a year, but you know, 200,000 views to a podcast post that took you 15 minutes to write takes a fair while.

Now your SEO and taking the.

My results are definitely improved since I've been using your service to get the better SEO value out of the show notes and I think that's been incredibly beneficial. But still, 15 minute post on LinkedIn is.

Yeah, it's got a lot of views on there for you. So that's working really well. Now, are there any keys to how you post it, to how you frame up what you're talking about?

Yeah. So the fundamentals of a post is have an intriguing statement, right? So no different to journalists, you think about a newsfeed. So a view technically is just someone flicking through your newsfeed. So what you want to do is stop them and get them to open it. No different to an email, no different to copy anywhere else. So make sure that above the see more that it's a very intriguing statement to get them to open more. So that's number one. The second is tell a story, make it enjoyable. Right? But make sure there's plenty of white space and I'm maximum two lines in a sentence. That's it. Right. So give it plenty of space, give them value. So what will they get out of. So I say this is the value you'll get from listening to this podcast. So it's very clear why they'd invest their time. Then I always have a question. Right. So the algorithm with LinkedIn is comments are worth double what a like is.

Many comments are worth more.

Spot on. So, so what's the best way to get comments? Ask a question. So you ask a question and then have a, you know, I always say call to action, which is, you know, thumbs up. So you know, if you like the post, give a thumbs up. If you like to connect, please do so it's guiding people where to go next. And the last thing is the hashtags and the hashtags. Now, your LinkedIn posts are actually searchable by Google, so you'll get SEO value now out of posting on LinkedIn. And three hashtags is what Google use. So I say three hashtags, one of your own, four. That's it at the bottom. And the hashtags, if anyone ever wants to know what a hashtag, how many followers it's got, you just go into your search in LinkedIn, you type hashtag podcasting. And it'll tell you that there's, you know, 7 million people that follow podcasting. So you can pick your different hashtags based on the theme of the post, but also based on you want some large followings, but you also want some smaller ones that are more specific to.

The content and there's a big following, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, sometimes you want to be a small fish in a big pond, sometimes you want to be the big fish.

I love that. Thank you so much for that advice. That was really thorough. And I can see why your posts are doing so well in that process. And, you know, it's not always translating, though, into people leaving the platform and coming to listen. And that's something we were talking about. So how is the process of going from great circulation in LinkedIn to people reaching out and listening more and then asking for coaching? What does that flow for you?

Yeah, yeah, great question. So when someone approaches me on LinkedIn, I get my team. They basically look at who's approached and they always ask, you know, was it through one of the blogs, you know, thanks for wanting to connect. Was it, did you find me through one of my blogs or through one of my podcast episodes? And it's amazing how often someone will say, through my podcast. Through your podcast, you know, that's the first way to do it. Then the other thing is to the people that like and comment on the post, then you reach out to them. So you specifically put the link into the post and you say, you know, great that you liked and commented on X post. What was the value that you gained? So once again, you're starting that conversation.

You're creating that engagement already, which we love to talk about as a sign of a community building going on.

Correct. And it's the like, no. 1 trust. Right. And you're just validating that they've already made the choice to do that. And then for some. So when you do the outreach, if you've got someone comes back with a specific focus that they're doing and you've got a podcast interview, that you think really answers that question. Always say, would you be open to listening to a podcast where my guest has given specific advice on that, and if they say yes, then you can send them the podcast. So there's three ways there that you can link your podcast and LinkedIn together.

And you don't know how many other people are watching that engagement going if you're doing it live within your comments and your post anyway. So that's really a great way to go about doing that. That's wonderful. Flow through now. Are you really getting good coaching clients, though, out of the podcast? How is that working for you?

Yeah, look really good. So I basically look at four types of guests. So one is an icon. So someone that is. So for an example, from an Australian example, Nathan Chan. So he's the founder of. Well, he's the CEO of Founder without the E, the R. And you know, he's got a million. A million people on Linked Instagram that follow him. He's got a very large audience. So getting him on a. I get some access to his community and his community's aligned to mine. But also it helps me get other guests on my podcast that is similar. So that's the icon, the brand builder is where they've got an audience that you would love to be in front of. So that's a great one. That's the second. The third is what I call a bank builder. Now, that may seem a bit harsh, but it's basically people you really think you could help and you're declaring to them that you're on the podcast, but you have got an ulterior motive. So it's not smoke and mirrors, but you're saying, look, I'd love to have you on, but prior to that, you know, these are some things that I've seen on your website, et cetera, and I'd love to talk to you about that.

So they're the potential client that you're bringing on.

Potential clients, correct. And roughly, if you can get 25% of your guests to be a prospect, and I think that helps. But also, they may know people. If it's not right for them, they may know people. So there's still that referral. And then the last one is an expert where I just bring on someone that is giving exact value to my target market that they would find it hard to get anywhere else, they need this help. Right? Yeah.

This is something I'm asking for, so why not? The audience may want it too. So that's always helpful too, is when you're Doing that that way.

Tracy, just quickly, I have a question. So when someone asks, you know, in the podcast, it's always got Paulhigansmentoring.com questions where you can ask me any questions, I reply. But there I also ask for topics. So, you know, when someone answers, gives me a topic that I really want covered, one of my listeners, then I'll find that expert and get them on.

So, everyone, we're already tipping into our five tips here. So the first one is get grace guests. And I love that Paul just broke that down for you into the way that he looks at his guests differently. Because when you look at them differently, then it's easy to see the value in each one of them and really find the right ones that are gonna be a right fit for you. And the right fit for what? The answers your audience is looking for as well. Just Paul just pointed out. So let's go to the second part of our tips, which is how do you increase listeners?

So this is one I must admit that I'm struggling with the most, Tracy. And you know, my. I'm roughly about a thousand downloads a week now. Downloads and listeners. I'm not, you know, 100% sure on the split, but let's say it's close to one to one, and my shows is about 100, some more than that, but that's sort of the average. So for me, definitely LinkedIn is helping with those numbers. That is fantastic. We're also doing some work on Instagram to promote it. We're also doing some work on Facebook, But I must admit to triple my listeners over the next three months. I don't have a plan for that.

You're not alone, Paul. This is the one. Every time I ask someone if you've been listening to the show, this is the one, they go like, I wish I was doing better here. You are not alone in that process. We're all looking for the secret formula. Unfortunately, it's different for every person. Right. It's not a one size fits all, which is what you're finding. So you're working towards the areas at which you have the best audience already and the most influence, and then you go try a new area. So let's see if I can take what I'm doing on LinkedIn and expand it to Instagram and see if it works. So the one thing that I do here, and I'm curious because I want to tie this to what you. The tip you just gave back in it that you have these people who are brand builders, and this was the number one initial strategy that John Lee Dumas, Pat Flynn, all those people out there were talking about, which was to get those brand, the people you calling the brand builders as your guests, the ones who are going to share you with their audience and their audience is a right match to you. So therefore you'll get new listeners under that process. Are you finding that in decline, that that's not working as well as it used to work?

The short answer, yes, yes, I think it, it is. And you know, I think, you know, the icons, everyone thinks I'll get an icon on and I'll share the episode. And look, if they've already got brilliant content, they're not going to put your content before theirs. Okay. Unless the interview is that you've asked questions and I've had a couple of cases like that, but that's not going to give you the boost. But I think the brand builder part, yeah, it's not as effective as what it was when I started three years ago, I must admit. And you know, maybe it's the way that I'm doing it, I haven't changed it enough, I don't know. But it's not. I'm finding that, look, I've certainly found that a lot of the social media is saturated now. So more important, I think is their list sometimes and what their social media following is. And what we do now is track. So we track all the assets that everyone's put out, each of the guests. So we're actually doing better now and actually seeing, well, exactly where was it shared and how was it shared. So that's a way.

There you go. You're the first one that, and I was going to have to admit the first one of my clients who actually do what we recommend, which is to follow up and see if your guest actually posted it, see if they actually shared it. So you are doing that. That's a great way to sort of say, look, we put all the investment and time and energy into this guest. Now if we don't just take a few minutes to follow up and double check and see if they actually shared it, put it on their website and just send them a quick email reminding them that they were supposed to, then, you know, you didn't capitalize on that opportunity.

Good for you. Yep, Correct.

So our third thing is to produce like a pro. Now, please. Everyone knows you're my client, which I didn't know, as I mentioned earlier, I didn't know before I started. When you first reached out to me, I had no idea when I accepted you for the show. But what do you personally do in this process that makes your show a much more professional production?

Yeah, so we have a really thorough onboarding process. So, you know, I'll normally meet with the guests first to understand exactly the value that they want to get out of the show. And then, you know, how they can link it to the audience that I know well and, you know, can we do that? So that's one thing. But then we send the questions and we say, which ones? I always ask which ones are optional. We also say that it's conversational, so they get a really good understanding for that. We remind people getting closer on exactly how the process is going to go and what's going to happen. And then on the. And there's, you know, a website link that we've got all of this for them. And then on the show beforehand, I go through my standard questions that everyone always asks me. So I cover those off like FAQs, so they are 100% comfortable before we go live. So I find and always ask, well, and improve after every podcast. You know, what did we do? Well, what could we improve? You from the guests. And, you know, some, sometimes it's quite embarrassing because they say, look, there's not really anything that I'd recommend. I've been on so many podcasts. Yours one of the most professional shows I've been on. But anything that they do give, then we put back into the process.

So we talked about engagement, and you talked about the ways that. Which you encourage engagement through the commenting. But, you know, a lot of people have found that they'll ask for topics and they'll do these things and they don't get answers. How do you keep that going on? Do you give them some kind of recognition? Like, what do you do to get them to continue to suggest you topics and ideas?

Yeah. Yeah, great. So my solo shows where people have actually asked the question and they've asked for that specific topic, always call it out. So I say, you know, thanks to so and so for, you know, providing the great question and the topic. So that's one way of rewarding them. The other one is when people come in through LinkedIn and they approach me through the podcast, then I ask them some questions there to get better now, you know, what do you like? What could we improve? So trying to get more engagement there. And also my guests. If my guests love the interview, I say, well, if you love it, you know, would you mind giving me a LinkedIn recommendation to share that love with others so that's another way that I'm getting the engagement there. So there's some of the key ways that I do it. But I'm sure you've heard this before, but it is lonely. You know, I bumped into someone the other day that's been listening to my podcast for three years, and, you know, I'm like, you're the one, you know, and it's funny that, you know, you have thousands of people that listen, but very few actually contact you. So I always go out of my way. So I heard you on Pat Flynn's podcast, but I went out of my way to thank you for what you did and also what I learned out of it and what I applied so well.

And see, this is. This is the story, right? This is the story. So he reaches out to thank me. I check out a show and say, this is a great show, and go, why don't you come on my show?

Right.

So you didn't ask for that, but I offered it because you reached out to me, and I wanted to reward that because it doesn't happen often enough. So, yeah, that. That rewarding engagement makes a big difference. And I think that's where you're hitting on something that's working for you.

Yeah. And just a little quick, little LinkedIn tip there. If, like, say, Pat, you know, Pat puts out some fantastic episodes. If I've generally learned, what I'll do is actually reference Pat in the. The link. But what I'll do is say, this is exactly what I learned, so you can learn the same thing. And this is what I applied, and this was the result. So I'll do a little post on that. That's also bringing Pat audience, also to.

Ensure that you're tagging him. He's going to see it, too.

Yeah. Yeah. So that's something you can do for any podcast that you've listened to. And sometimes people do that of mine. And as a podcaster, it's a great thing to get back when someone's showing you what they've taken and learned and the result they've got out of your podcast.

Wonderful. Look at all these great LinkedIn tips we've all gotten here today. You know, and you mentioned one that I really love, LinkedIn recommendations. I'm a big fan of. I write recommendations, recommendations to people all the time because they don't always ask for them and they really should. And. But, you know, giving you a recommendation for being a great host, that's a really nice thing to do for someone that you just had a great time with. And who gave to you some publicity and you know, you're giving them just a little shout out that says this was a great, they asked great questions or whatever it is that you want to say about them. Great way to go about doing that. And why not? Why not? If you need to build that up in your LinkedIn profile, go and ask for. Yeah, good plan. Wonderful. The last one of our tips is what's the best way to monetize your show? And you know, this is a struggle for a lot of people, but what have you found to be that sort of path to the coaching client monetization? What does it look like?

Yeah, yeah. So like I said, I always declare that, you know, I would love to talk to you if they tell me what their key focus is and always ask them if you've got anyone helping you with that and they say, no, I'm really at a dead end and say, look, I exactly help people like you with that. So let's do the podcast interview. But I'd separately like, like to talk to you about that. So I find that, you know, so it's all nice and transparent and then that really works well to then go through my, you know, the discovery call, investment call, et cetera.

So you set up the expectation then that's with the type of guest you refer to as your bank builder. Right, the ones where their expectation is this. Yes, of course I'm going to give to you on the show, but I'm also looking to have a good conversation with you because I think we're well matched here.

Correct, Correct. So in this exploratory, if I can, if I know I can genuinely help them, then I'll, I'll say that the, and that's the, you know, the pre meeting for the, for the podcast. The other thing is that I have a fantastic assessment. So you know, it's PaulHiggins Mentoring.com assessment, which is 15 questions, three minutes and it works out if you're going to have a high or a low seven figure business in 2021. I always talk about that in my podcast. So that's self promoting, which is, you.

Know, but they're self assessing at the same time and that works out as well. So they benefit too.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that there's that. And then I've also got a sponsor as well. So I use D, which is a fantastic sales and marketing video platform and I use that for all my LinkedIn. So I always give a specific example. So it's a live ad, but it's really me talking about specifically how I've used that platform each time. So that's the other way. I'm on.

Let's do a little bit here because I'm not familiar with Dubbin and so I'd love to know a little bit more about it. And what we'll do is we're going to put your affiliate link in the post at the binge factor for Dubb so that they know that they heard you, not me.

Right.

So. Because that's not important for me. So tell us a little bit how it works and how you use it.

Yeah, so the overall thing is that everyone gets bombarded on LinkedIn with text messages and you don't know anything about them. Right. And we all get them. And I always say to people, if you don't like them, guess what? The people that you're sending the exact same message doesn't like it. So let's change the game. Right. So what I always do is I send a connection request saying, you know, I love connecting with high performing business owners. I can see your 1. Would you be open to connecting? P.S. i will send you a personal video based on you connecting. Right. So as soon as they do connect, then I send them a video and the video is about a minute long and I basically say, you know, great to connect, this is the reason why I've reached out, et cetera, et cetera. So it's always just building a relationship and then I say at the end, if you'd like to have a chat, there's a 30 minute booking link below. Also I've looked at your profile, looked at some of your posts, et cetera. And you know, I think these tips would help you a bit, but it's completely optional. But if you go, there's some videos below, always watch them at two times speed because I talk too slow and you know, they're there for you. So that's in Dubb. And then when they viewed it. So I can track all the analytics as how many times they viewed it, how long they viewed it for. So my team keep track of all.

Of that and that's working within LinkedIn messaging, by the way. So that's what you're talking about as you're sending that video through the messaging, the app?

Actually, no. Oh, so what I'm doing, it's a really good point. Thanks for mentioning. What I'm doing is using the contact information email I've got and I'm sending it to that.

Oh, so you're sending it directly via email. Got it.

Yeah, correct. Because I always say that and show my age. I suppose that, you know, finding a LinkedIn message is a little bit like finding a golden wrapper in a, you know, Willy Wonka bar. Like, you know, there's so many of them, it's so hard. The platform's not fantastic. Get them on email. Then the other thing on email, you can track through your sales session when they've opened it, how many times they've opened it, et cetera. So you've got all that data then to go and have what I call hot potato conversations. So that's why Dubb is brilliant. And Dubb has got a little Chrome extension. It's on your email. So all you do is just launch your email, put in their email address, you just hit the little extension, it will bring up all the videos that you've got. You select the one that you want to put in and it'll automatically cut the video in to be automatically played by.

I love it. That's great. Well, there you go. New tool and new tips out here on the binge factor. So wonderful. I'm so glad you said that.

And it's Dubb D U, double B. Okay, good.

I was gonna ask you that next because I was like, I hope I'm spelling it right here.

Well, wonderful.

Well, we'll have the links to it in the blog post for this episode, so you'll easily be able to find that and connect through Paul's link and help him out a little bit with that monetization side with his sponsor. So why not increase traffic from all over the place? So you started doing solo shows. You weren't doing them always in the beginning, but you started doing more of them. Did that come from your audience?

Look, it came from my members in my community, but it also came from someone who we were in, I think, you know, do you know Tina Dietz?

Tina Dietz, yeah.

Yeah. So she also said, paul, look, you're bringing it. Shining the spotlight on your interviewee. But, you know, what about you? Like, you don't talk a lot about you. And I'm like, okay, so I'll bring a little bit bit more of that into the interview, is more of a conversation. So I get that. But then I thought, okay, what I'll do is just a five or ten minute show that is specific to a topic that I can help people with. It's normally what I've helped my mentorees with. I then do that and, you know, it's really enjoyable. The thing that I must say, Tracy, I was Spending too much time doing it. So I was actually typing the. I was basically typing it out. Oh, no. And it was just way too much time. So now it's just a couple of bullet points. I just talk to Those more conversational 10 minutes max, around five minutes, and that's it. I love that.

That's much better.

Yay.

You know, but I think that the interesting thing is when I. When I went through your show catalog and I spot check, and this is how I research every new podcaster who comes across here on the binge factors, that I listened to your first episode, or in your case, you're 0.5, and I listen to your most recent one, and then I'll spot pick in the middle. Anyone I happen to maybe know, or that way I don't have to listen as much to them and I can listen to you. That's why I do that. So, like, I know you interviewed Nathan Hirsch, and Nathan's a friend of mine, and I know a lot about him and his business, so I could kind of skip through what he was saying and skip to your. The types of questions you were asking and learn more about how you operate your show. So that's. That's my process, and that's how I do it. And I definitely listen to everybody on Double Speed, Son.

You know, that.

Just because I don't have enough time to get through all the podcasts, I need to get to through in time. So in doing that, though, what I really found was that for in your particular case, I think that the solo shows really are honing in on a better audience for you in a way that maybe because of your guesting strategy, of them being a little bit, you know, spread out in their purpose, they're not as focused on the audience as much in a couple of the cases, and so the clear thread through them is not there. So by kind of tight getting this tied in and doing them through throughout your month, you're really pulling it back into how you help people the most. So I'm curious to see, how long have you been doing the solo episodes now?

I'd have to say probably maybe eight months, maybe.

So most of the year. I'd be curious for you to start taking a look at the episode differences, because you might be starting to see that they're trending up on those particular episodes, and that means that your regular listeners, the ones who've been with you the longest, aren't skipping them. They're making sure they don't miss, because some of us get really behind on Our podcasts. I'm sure you do as well. Like, you know, you're like, I really would love to listen to all of Pat Flynn's show, but you know, I don't have enough time. So you, when you spot and you start to skip, but you're now not skipping the ones with your particular content and topic, that's really powerful there because that says that you're really serving a membership community and a growth factor for what you're doing and that's a good sign of, of future monetization growing.

Brilliant.

Yeah. So what's been the biggest challenge when you started it and what do you think is your biggest challenge now?

I think when I started it and I suppose that went into my health journey was just being consistent, you know, like I never knew when I was going to go into hospital, I never knew when the next test was going to come, et cetera. So I really got good at batching and making sure that I always had 20 shows at least, least in the can at any particular time. So no matter what happened with my health. So one thing I'm really proud of was, you know, I've never missed a week, no matter what's happened, I've never missed a week of releasing the podcast. And I gotta thank my team for that as well. My team have been absolutely outstanding in helping that make that happen. And I think also the pressure of the show notes, that was a huge weight off my shoulder of, you know, here I've gotta go write the show notes after because I love the interview part but the show note part was just a killer for me. So. So that, that's definitely made a big difference. I think the biggest thing now is just, yeah, how can I get more people to listen for the point that I want them to learn from the things that I'm constantly iterating on. So whether it's LinkedIn, whether it's sales or building high performing teams, whether there's experts that can definitely help them solve a problem, it's just, yeah, the biggest struggle for me at the moment is sort of hit a hit of ceiling of let's say 4 to 5,000 views, listens a month or downloads a month. You know, how do I get that to 10? How do I get to 30?

Well, you know, this is the thing, I'm going to do something a little bit different here, but right before I do, I'm going to hit on your binge factor, but I'm going to do my close with you on air with me. And I don't Normally do that. And the reason is because you are a client. So, like, it's like coaching at the same time. And I want you to hear it now. So I'm going to do that. But let's hit that last thing. Your binge factor. So you're a big binge listener. You know what binge listeners are. So what do you think is your binge factor factor?

I think my binge factor is it's my authenticity and practical advice. You know, like, for me, if, when you listen to my solo episode, I want you to be able to take three steps that are going to make a difference to your business. I think that's for my solo shows. That's the key thing that I really want to have that is different for the interviews. It is. Once again, it's that authenticity of people that have been where you might want to be, right? So they're not that far in front of you that you can't relate to them, but you can actually listen to something and say, okay, now I can actually go and do something with it. So the way that I always look at it is how many things are people going to put down or write down from my podcasts, and that's what I want them to take away versus being. I suppose I listen a lot of podcasts and I think that's great, but the story is great. But what I'm going to do with that.

You know, this is the thing. You're the first one in a really, really long time who's gotten their binge factor pretty close to right on. Exactly what I was going to say. So. And that's a sign, because you are a listener first. And so few podcasters that I talk to are listeners. There's a clear distinction between those that listen and those that don't. And because you listen, you more quickly identified it. And so it is your ability to do takeaways, to give something action. And even right here on the show, I always have a little side section of my notepad. And so for. It's really messy, guys, for those of you who see this, but I always put the guest name at the top and their podcast name just in case I, you know, just brain just dies right there and I can't remember what it is. But beyond that, there's nothing on the paper when I start unless I know specifically I want to have a question. And so the only thing I put on this piece of paper with you was 0.5 ep, so that I would know to talk to you about the 0.5 right. That was it. The rest of it I leave to make little notes and some of it is my closing notes of what I'm going to say at the end. And some of it is the next question I want to ask when you're done. And then sometimes I put a big asterisk and that's what's in the middle of the page, is that there's an asterisk that says, in this case it says Tracy's faves. Because it was a great idea that you gave, you gave me a takeaway right here on the show, something that I could do, which means that you gave that to my audience as well. So you're giving takeaways at all points and you're making sure that whether it's your solo show, your interview show, or you being interviewed by somebody else, you're constantly giving actionable takeaways. And that's not enough. Shows are like that. And so for it's a right match to your audience. That's why you're bingeable. But it may also be, and this is sort of a little bit on what I'm going to say to you in closing, Paul, is that it may also be why you're not a right fit for a very large audience. And that's going to be okay.

Yeah.

Because if you're attracting action takers, then you're going to have a higher percentage of your audience. Audience or your guests who take action, who take you up on your offer for coaching, on your offer for mentorship, on your opportunities. So we don't need a giant audience. We just need a good percentage of that, of that action taking audience. And so that's something that we've been looking at here is identifying how do we get straight to the prospects and skip the leads. Yes, that sounds weird to a lot of people out there, but it is getting straight into attracting in and nurturing ring the characteristics of our ideal prospect. And you're actually doing that with your show. So now how do we make sure that more of those people find you? Because you got to have leads somewhere. Right? So because you don't know that they're all out there looking for you.

Yes, so true.

Yeah, so true. Well, Paul, your show, great build, live give. So I'm going to give back to you right now, Paul, and my give back to you is a little bit of mentorship on what I think that others should take away from the show, from what you've said and what you could build on. So two things besides the one that I just gave you, which was the idea of saying, where's that prospect? And how can I just do more that's perfect for that prospect is to switch up our mindset on a no like and trust model and instead look at it as a trust. Like, no, they're finding you. They're already listening to you, so they actually do already trust me.

You.

And we have a higher trust in podcast hosting. Why? Because you can't push and force me to subscribe. I've chosen to subscribe, so there's already a higher trust factor. If I hit that subscribe button because I know you can't get my email, you can't find me that way. Apple doesn't let you, so. Or whoever you're using. Right. They don't let you. So I have a higher degree of opportunity to trust you. Because there's. The benevolence part is already taken care of. You're obviously out there giving. Giving me a show. So I already naturally want to start to reward that. Now. If they stick around and are binge listening, they like you. They wouldn't skip you if they didn't like you. I mean, they just skip it. They'd move on. They'd unsubscribe and they'd move on to somebody else. They're not skipping you, so they like you already. So we're moving through that process. So now it says, how do I get them to want to know me and reach out to me instead of me pushing to get to know them? So how do we do that in that other. In that opposite model? And let's take a look at that piece tightly and what can you do there? If you flip that thinking around now you only have one thing you have to actually concentrate on and work on. What does that look like for yourself? And I think that that's the key for your future growth. Because that way, if you tie those two things, the action takers that you want, business builders, they're already in the right world or they wouldn't have found you. And then tying that to. All I have to do is nurture that no section and get them to do the outcome reach. That's great. And then the last idea I have for you and I have for the audience is that there's so much power going on on LinkedIn right now that people are trying and doing badly.

Yeah.

I get asked for virtual coffee every five minutes. And I'm telling you right now, I've got probably got 25 in my inbox that I just skipped over and didn't Read. Why? Because I have a business that I'm building and I'm very, very busy building it. To have five minutes for virtual coffee is not possible. So how. Instead find other ways to do that. And your LinkedIn posts are an excellent way to do that because that's my learning process. That's actually kind of my. It's my newsfeed in the morning.

Yes.

So I'm flipping through that. I'm reading people's posts, I'm checking people out. The people that I, that I appreciate what they post all the time. I actually go and check them out because sometimes they don't always show up in your feed. Go see the last article you posted. Go see what it was. There's a handful of those people that I go back to and check again and, and again. What about LinkedIn Live? Your solo shows would make great LinkedIn lives. And nowadays I hear it's a little bit easier to get in the process, especially if you've already been posting videos for a while that you. All you have to do is apply. Now, they don't always accept everybody and it is a curated system through LinkedIn. But if you're regularly posting videos and if your regular posts are getting the circulation like yours are, it shouldn't be as difficult for you to get a LinkedIn Live opportunity.

Opportunity.

I think that might be the fastest path for you to grow because it's growing in an area of which you already do well and you don't have to go out and learn a whole new, a whole new platform, a whole new channel. Right?

Yeah. Yeah, that's a brilliant idea. And I have requested a request for it.

Yeah, good, good.

Yeah, that's great.

Revisit it again because I've had to, I had to apply and then you didn't hear for a really long time and someone told me just go and apply again. And so, so keep applying. And then what I also heard from someone is if you post consistently videos under, you know, like your, your short ones, I mean they're five minutes. Do like a.5 under 10 minutes for sure, but do a three to five minute videos and if you post them consistently for a month, they look at that favorably when your application gets. Goes up for review. So you may want to start doing it and then apply.

Yes. Yeah, yeah, excellent. And just one thing that you said about, you know, those virtual coffee meetings at the end of all of my personalized videos or I say, if not the right time for you, no problem at all. Completely understand. Just let me know.

Yeah, so you Always letting them off the hook. And that's good. Yeah. But, you know, it is the people who are sometimes the busiest that are busy for the wrong reasons. So those are the people you do want to meet. But the approach might be to find them where they're at, where they're looking, where they're already using their time and just be inserted in that process. That's why I'm suggesting that the LinkedIn for you in the video side of that, because it does is working for you over here. Like, maybe I'll start to feel like you're just talking to me straight in my feed. And then the coffee seems like I already know you. I'm just, you know, I already like you. I'm already ready and now I just want to get to know you. I'm happy to take you up on your coffee opportunity. So. So, Paul, thank you so much for coming on the show. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I hope this audience got actionable items on how to build live and give just like Paul Higgins. Thank you so much for being on the show and thank you for giving to our audience.

Yeah, no, my pleasure. And yeah, if anyone's got any questions, anything I can help with on the build from the show, please reach out.

And of course, you'll be able to find Paul at the blog post for this episode atthe binge factor.com. thanks everyone for listening. I'm Tracie Hazzard and we'll be back next time with another Binge Factor fabulous podcast host.

You've been listening to the Binge Factor Podcast. For more information on podcasting and video casting 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.

Sam.