Podcasting As A Valuable Platform To Win Clients For Your Business With Sarah Walton Of The Game On Girlfriend 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 the digital noise with the Binge Factor.

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Binge Factor. I'm Tracy Hazzard and I've got Sarah Walton. Today. Sarah is just amazing. Game On Girlfriend podcast. She is a coach who's really making her podcast work and I am so excited to have such great guests here. And this is another one that was sent to me by a great publicist and I just love when I get these the people in here who are podcasting and really get how to make podcasting an essential part of their business. And that's what Sarah has going on in spades here. She's got this amazing business going on. Sarah Walton is a business mentor who's been featured on the Today show, speaks at women's conferences all over the world and has helped hundreds of women start and grow businesses they love. Originally from Salt Lake City, Sarah spent her 15 year corporate career in New York City navigating the male dominated world of tech, managing a P and L worth hundreds of millions of dollars and working closely with Marianne Williamson, mentoring dozens of women and balancing motherhood at the same time. She is the voice behind the Game On Girlfriend podcast and she's known for a weekly Sarah Uncut TV show on YouTube and live coffee with Coach streaming video conversations on Monday mornings. Her specialty is making sales fun as she helps women heal the relationship with money. Sarah works with a handful of one to one clients every year, runs her quarterly group sprints and is known for her powerful expansion coaching program the Sales Mastermind which runs twice a year. She has become the go to source of inspiration, no nonsense teaching and practical integration for women in business. She is also going to be your go to person for some practical advice here too. That is what I love about the show. I love having this mindshare, brain share, networking, all this top level layers and layers of value built into my podcast for myself, for you, the audience, for the guests to come on my show and Sarah Walton is the perfect example of that. So glad to have her on the show. So let's hear it from Sarah Walton. Game On Girlfriend Podcast Host.

Sarah, so glad you're here. Game on, girlfriend. Let's start our game on here. And let's talk podcasting. I loved that you did a recap 100th episode because it made my job easier when I was researching your show to go check out really great clips and really great things. And what I really love about that episode was that you had other people involved in it. So it wasn't just your favorites. It was what other people thought were their favorites as well. What did you learn from that recap?

Oh, my gosh, boy, did you just hit me. You just hit that right on there. Because doing that, first of all, was so cool. And I do have a podcast editor. I did my first 30 episodes myself because I wanted to make sure if this stuff ever hit the fan, I could do it myself and not be caught like, oh, my God, we can't produce an episode. But I love her and trust her so much. And so she was the first one I asked this question of, like, oh, my gosh, which one have been your favorites? Because she'll say to me, oh, my gosh, Sarah, I was editing this one and you made me cry or this happened or that happened, right? So she had a list. Like, she answered me so quickly when I sent that out, and I included our video editors and I included my assistant. And then we just went through and looked at the ratings. And I actually sent out an email to our list, and I was like, you guys, I know, you guys, listen. Like, what's your favorite? Because I wanted it to be real. I wanted it to be authentic. What did I learn from that? I learned I need to eat my own dog food, as I like to say. And what I realized is that there was actually in my life a 10 minute sweaty conversation I needed to have. I say that a lot. Like, that's part of the theme is like, this is not your practice life, right? That's what I think does make that podcast bingeable is people are like, oh, my God, it's not my practice life, but I don't know how to do X or I'm not following this dream or pick a thing. And one of the phrases I say all the time is, your best life is probably a 10 minute sweaty conversation away. It's a conversation you don't want to have. So I have to be so straight with you. When I listen to me, talking to me as we recapped that hundredth episode, I was like, oh, my gosh, I was talking to me when I recorded this, and I need to make sure I'm Actually listening to what I say too. And so one of the reasons I like having the podcast, because it holds you to a certain standard, right? Like, you can't say things in a podcast and do things in a podcast and then not do it yourself. So I have to be straight with you. That's what I learned personally. What I learned professionally and as a podcaster was that people really do listen more than we think they do. I mean, they really do. Like, I know that sounds goofy, like, duh, thanks, Sarah, thanks for that new slash. But they really do listen.

They do. And sometimes they'll quote you back to you, which is my favorite thing that happens. And then I'm like, oh, my gosh, that's where that realization that I'm not doing what I said I was going to do, they'll ask me, like, where's this? Like, I didn't do it, did I? I said it on the air and then I dropped the ball.

Sorry.

I, Like, I'll do it now, I promise.

It's so true.

You're using the podcast as a part of your coaching business. So it's lead generation, it's growth to coaching business. It's a great demonstration of how you coach as well. So it's right out there demoing what value you bring to the world, and I love that. But at the end of the day, when you're running a coaching business or that type of business through your podcast, it's your integrity that they're looking for. They want to see if you're going to do what you say you're going to do. And at the end of the day, that's so critically important for all of us to not just demo it on air, but demo it in real life. And so that follow through matters does.

And I got to tell you, I think being a podcaster has made me a better human. Like, I think it's absolutely made me a better coach, but I think it's made me a better human because I have to bring myself to it. I could have acid, I guess, but I don't know who that would benefit. It certainly wouldn't benefit me. It wouldn't benefit anybody that listens. And so I think it does call me to be my best self, and I really love it for that. And you caught onto something that I think a lot of people miss and that I intentionally created the podcast. Yes. As lead generation, of course. Because people are like, coaches are weird. I don't trust them. There's all the coaching coaches, there's the guru coaches, there's like the McDonald's of coaches. I mean, it's just bananas, right? I wanted people to hear, yes, how I coach, but for me there was a secondary piece because I'm all about really my expertise is about money mindset and sales. And I know that everybody listening to me hasn't dealt with their money mindset and they don't know how to sell, so they may not be able to afford to work with me. And I was like, what can I do now that my business is doing so well? What can I do? What can I produce that will help those people? One either just get out there and have fun. They might listen to it and like change and have their sweaty 10 minute conversation or do what they need to do and move on. But they may also figure out how to make enough money to come and work with me and join this community and like make things better. But I wish more people, I mean, this is what I love about podcasts so much, is that it is a free medium for so many people. But I wish inside the coaching industry more people used it that way to say, listen, this is what I do, this is how I do it. And I want you to have a sample of that. Like, no holds barred, like, I'm not trying to trick you. I think people think that about coaches. And so I'll be totally straight. It's me kind of hammering my industry too, to be like, you guys, let's step it up a little bit.

And I think that's so important. So I always analyze people's binge factors. That really in its essence is your binge factor right there. So the fact that you give so much away on your show, that is a part of the way you work and your business and you do it in a non salesy, non pushy way. You're just giving away in the sense of, here, you need this right now and if this touches you, you're going to come back to me, I know you will. And you leave it out there like that and I love that because that's really the way coaching needs to work. You're right about the industry needs to shift there.

Yeah, I totally agree with you. And it is. I know so many people are afraid of coaches and I get it. And the pressure and all the bro stuff that's been happening. And here I am saying women deserve to have money. Women should know what these tools are. I mean, I think money is the most powerful tool we have access to and we spend more time reading the owner's manual of our freaking microwave. Ovens than we do understanding how our money works. And I think that's bananas. So if I'm going to go out there and change it, once again, I got to eat my own dog food and offer it to people who may not understand how it works yet, but by listening, they can figure it out and they can go change their lives. And that's what coaching's for, in my humble opinion. Right?

Yeah, absolutely. I'm so glad you kind of talked about money here, because I wanted to ask you this question in this way is that I heard on the show that you grew up really poor. Like, I mean, like, barely had bread poor. And how does that shift happen when you say, I'm going to invest in myself? Because we see so many podcasters take it all on themselves because they don't want to spend the money on any part of it, and they're not investing in actually the success growth because now they can't concentrate on the area they need to making a great show.

Yes. Oh, my gosh, that's such a great question. Well, you just hit it really hard right there. That's the nugget of all of it. So the way that we view the support we deserve is kind of the way that we view our value in the world, which sounds really kind of cheesy. And I don't mean that to be esoteric. I'm very, very serious about this. The experience somebody has in purchasing a pair of Jimmy Choos, let's say, right? I mean, works of art, outrageously priced, unbelievably beautiful, not always comfortable, but gorgeous. Right? The experience of purchasing that for yourself and walking across the floor in a pair of Jimmy shoes, that is a completely different experience from running over to Payless to pick up some sneakers. Are they both shoes? Absolutely. Will they both work on the function that you need? Absolutely. The experience of who you are on the planet is completely different. And I think when we're trying to make money, whether it's podcasting or starting a business, whatever it is, we have to be really honest with ourselves about how we're viewing it. And listen, I'm a bootstrapper, too. Like I said, I edited my first 30 episodes myself. Part of that was financial, right? Like, I'm not making money from this yet. Let me investigate it. Let me make sure it's going to work. Let's make sure this is a medium for me. But that was also a strategic decision. And it was also so, like I said, if the stuff hit the fan, I could take care of it myself. And then I realized how time consuming it was, and I was like, aha. Hold please. Now I have to tell you, I was. I'm like a secret geek. And I loved editing. Like, I loved making guests sound better and taking out their extra ums or when they'd stutter. Like, that made me so excited. Like, I was so jazzed about that. I was like, dang, I hope other people make me sound this good. I mean, I loved that. I totally got excited about that. But that is not why I'm on the planet. It's just not why I'm here. It's fun. I love it. But my job is to transform people's relationship to money so they can share their own gifts and make a living doing that.

And that's where you need to spend your time, right?

And that's where I had to spend my time. And my editor, whom I love and adore so much, she wakes up every day going, oh, my God, I can't wait to edit. Like, it's her thing. That's what she's here to do. So what we want to understand is where we're investing the money is one. We're valuing ourselves. We're giving ourselves the Jimmy Choo experience of, like, I'm a podcaster. This is what I do. And I have a team of support around me because we're really effing good at this. Like, this is what we do. We're amazing at this. And what you want to always look for is how you bring in other people who are on this planet to do that role, because now they're fulfilling their dreams, right? They're super excited, and you're supporting that, and that support lifts up your podcast. And then you get the editor who does the beautiful graphics, right? Or somebody who does the headliner graphics, all those wonderful things that can come in there. And then an SEO expert who can make sure your show notes get found. Why would you not invest in that? Do you think it's not worthy of that? And if that's the case, why are you making it? And I'm dead serious about that. Like, what do you do? What are you, a garage? You're like, deserve the garageband version of everything, or do you deserve people who are on this planet to support other people at their geniuses by sharing their geniuses? And it just goes around and around. And I think understanding that the creation mode of podcasting, that creative effort that we have, that's part of a huge flow of creative energies. And when you're not allowing other people to play with you. You're not allowing them to express themselves either. Does that make sense?

It does, and I'm so glad you said it in that way. And that's what I was hoping how you were going to take it, because this is the thing, is that there's also this view of doing things where you're just saying, I'm a podcaster, I'm just doing this thing. But you're really not doing it. You're not all the way in it. You're not invested in it. Both in time, money, energy. Right. Like all of those things, because you're just scratching the surface. And is that worth it? Because it's still a lot of time just to scratch the surface, and you're not getting that full value from it. So for me, that's kind of like the other side of it is if I can invest in something that's going to get me a greater value for the time I'm spending and my time can be better spent, then it's a worthwhile investment, right?

Absolutely. And I always challenge any one of my clients or students. I give them a formula where they figure out what a dollar amount of an hour of their time is worth. And I really recommend everybody do that. And I'll give you the quick formula right now, because that's how I roll. But if you're listening to this and you're like, oh, my God, I totally can't afford an editor, that's crazy. Hold please. I want you to think about your financial goal over the next year. Let's just make it easy. I'm just going to pretend, let's say it's a hundred thousand dollars. Then you want to figure out how much you want to work every week, let's say as a podcaster or whatever. I don't. 20 hours, 10 hours, whatever. You figure that out. So if you want to work 10 hours a week, you multiply that by 52, because there's 52 weeks in the year. So let's say multiply it by 10. You want to work 520 hours in a year. So you divide that hundred thousand by 520, and that will tell you how much an hour of your time is worth. Because if you are the creator, you are the CEO, that's what your creative value time is actually worth. And for a lot of people, it ends up being around anywhere from 500 to $800 an hour.

And they're not charging enough. That's right.

All of a sudden they're like, wait a minute. Doing Laundry is really expensive. Wait a minute. Editing my podcast is outrageously expensive. There you go. And that's the way you want to look at it. And if you are going to run your podcast like a business, you got to put on your CEO hat and recognize where your valuable time is being spent. So not only do you now get to employ somebody where this is their zone of genius, this is what they're here to do. You're putting more revenue back into the business because your creative mind is on more creative things for the business to generate that a hundred thousand dollar goal or whatever it is. Does that make sense?

Absolutely. You said something right there. You run your podcast like a business. What are some aspects of that that make it run like a business for you?

For me, well, we've made a strategic decision, at least so far, not to run ads. And I did that because I do believe my podcast personally is an act of service. Right. But for me, where I look at it as a business move, it's like the best networking event I could ever go to ever in the history of mankind, because I literally have thousands of people every week where I'm like, hi, I'm Sarah. I'm like, I'm going to help you with your money mindset, and I'm great at teaching you how to sell. Hi, I'm Sarah. I'm going to help you figure out what your expertise is and help you package that so you can sell it. And I'm giving constant examples of how I do that. It's like when you're at Costco or wherever and they're giving out the free samples, that's a business move. That's a strategic decision by the CEO saying, listen, if I put this product in someone's hands, they're going to fall in love with it and they're going to come and buy it. That's what my podcast is for me. In addition, I'm always giving away tools and inviting people to come beyond my newsletter list in order to do that.

Right.

And then they get a whole other side of me because we have a YouTube channel where I do Sarah uncut and God knows what comes out of my mouth when I do that. But they get this great sampling of who I am and whether or not I'm real and whether or not they can trust me. So for me, that strategic business decision is about introducing our product, which is me, my coaching to as many people as I possibly can, and they can figure out whether they like it or not. And then it's also a lead magnet to directive for people to come into our world and stay connected with me and figure out if I'm the person that they want to be hanging out with when their numbers don't add up or when they're freaked out about revenue or when they don't want to feel salesy because I don't teach the salesy way to sell. So they come on in, and they get super excited, and they're like, wait, she just sold to me, and I didn't feel sold to. I get that all the time. They're like, oh, my God, I get that. And I get you clearly didn't get any Botox, which makes me like you. And I'm like, I think that's a compliment.

I love that.

Thank you. It makes me laugh every time. They're like, I knew you were for real because you didn't get Botox. I'm like, okay, that's the sampling, right? Is there, like, can I trust her? Is she for real? And so that's what it provides.

Well, now they can see you on video. So that's, like, the difference, right? When I first started my podcast, we didn't have the video. And the first time I did a live stream, one of our longtime listeners reached out and said, wow, Tracy, I thought you were taller. And I was like, yeah, you know, I think I'm taller, too.

I pretend to be tall.

Yes, I pretend to be tall. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Well, let's do our three things, because you kind of touched on them briefly, but I want to dive a little bit deeper into them. So let's talk about guests, because when you talk about networking, you're not only networking with your audience, but you're networking with those guests. How do you find great guests? And how do you decide if they're worthy of being on your show?

God, it's so tough. And I will be straight with everybody, you guys. I've made mistakes. Like, there were people I don't think I vetted hard enough. Not because they're not wonderful people. They are, and they're doing great things. But. But they were either too nervous or they felt a little bit too green or they hadn't fleshed it out enough. Right. So I spend the episode pulling it out of them. Again, not that that's bad, because that is also me saying, here's what I do as a coach is I can see your genius. I can pull it out of you and help you package it and create. So I've always turned it into something great. But I would much prefer that I'M bringing someone on who's like, oh, my God. I have this idea that I could, like, make portraits out of puppies. And I'm like, I can't believe how much money we're making. Like, that's inspiring to people. And I really want to bring on people like that. But for the most part, what we do is a lot of times, like, all me people like you, Tracy, and I'm like, oh, my gosh, you gotta come on the podcast and talk about how you got started on this, because this is crazy. This is amazing, right? And I fall in love with people. It's a thing I do. So that can happen a lot that way. And then the other thing we do is we just allow people to submit. And when that happens, my assistant has a coffee date with them for just 10 minutes. I don't like wasting people's time. And if she's like, yeah, no, you got to hear this story. This is a really cool origin story. Then they have a coffee date with me, and then we pick a date at a time.

Oh, I love that. And so it's, in a sense, a tap to the content you're developing. So you're always kind of exploring who's going to fit this, what's going to be right for the audience, what's going to be right for what I want to talk about today. So that's a really organic way to allow the guesting to happen. I think it's not really hard to get a guest. Like, I think that it's harder than it is. It's one of the things that I keep saying, why are some of my clients struggling with that? I was like, this seems like that should be the easy part. And then we sit down and we have this conversation about, like, well, brainstorm a list. And I was like, well, if you don't have the names, brainstorm the topics and go find the names, right? It should come naturally for you. So I'm so glad that that's the way that you do that. But if we didn't have listeners, we wouldn't have a podcast. So I know that the hardest thing for just about every podcaster I've interviewed is increasing their listener base. What do you do on the marketing side that helps you grow those listeners?

I think it is the harder part, honestly, because it's a loud space, right? We have to be honest about that. Anyone can start a podcast that the threshold to entry is not as high as I actually feel like it should be. I feel like I really wish Apple podcasts Was like actually listening, not just looking at how many you have in your bank when you try to apply. I've been in business for 12 years, so we have our organic newsletter list. So we absolutely do that. Our podcast guests share it. Absolutely. That helps. And I love being able to do stories and Instagram has been huge for us. And God help me, I love my people. They made me go on to TikTok, which was the last thing I ever wanted to do. I'm like, all right, you guys can put it on. I don't want to know what's going on over there. I can't get into something else. They were laughing so hard. But that has actually, we've seen an extraordinary boost. And then in full disclosure, the other thing I've done in just the last six months is I hired a podcast agent who gets me on other people's shows just because I ran out of time. Again, looking at other people's zones of genius, right? Like, she loves to connect people, she's brilliant at it. And she has this affinity for podcasts. Loves, loves, loves. So I hired her. And that we have just seen the absolute, not quite the hockey stick straight up, but we've absolutely seen a steady tick up just because we're being introduced to new audiences. And I know not everyone can run out and get a podcast agent, but. But you probably can have somebody on your team or even I love doing this with teenagers. I have them in my house, heaven help us all. But with teenagers too. Just be like, hey, can you go find podcasts you think I'd be great on? And they will and they do. And then what I shared actually on my Sarah uncut videos on YouTube, I actually just did two back to back, how to be a great guest and how to find great guests. And what I said was, you've really got to understand their audience and what they want to hear and how you can contribute to them. And if you can figure that out, you will grow your audience. You just will. You absolutely will.

Podcast swapping also is one of those great ways, right? Because they have their own audience, their own show. You do. If there's synergy, it's going to be absolutely amazing in terms of cross pollination. So I know, I love that monetization. You talked about how this is lead generation and it's networking for your business, for your coaching. How have you seen the results? What kind of return on investment in your time and energy has happened? And your money too.

Absolutely. We love money too.

Right?

Yeah, I've absolutely seen it. And I've seen it in several different ways. I'll see it when somebody books, like a discovery call with me. I have the question, how did you find me?

Right.

And my podcast or I was a guest on someone else podcast. Those are both. Because I need to be able to track this, right? I would say we are at the point. 75% of those, it's either me being a guest or they listen to the podcast, literally. So I've seen it there. And then what happens is they'll join my sprints. I do quarterly sprints, is what I call them. One goal, one quarter, you sprint towards it, right? And that is like kind of my entry level program that a lot of people love to join because how hard is it to stick to one goal over a quarter? Holy cow. Like, we all have shiny ball syndrome, right? So everybody gets excited. They come in there, and that's a massive sampling of me as a coach. And what we've seen happen is someone comes in through hearing me on a podcast or listening to our podcast, and they then tend to bring in, I can't believe this ratio. Two or three more friends in the next round. And that exponential organic growth. I always say to people, if you really think about it, and everybody has a different business. I know. But if you really think about it, you probably need to work with about 200 to 300 people a year. Most businesses, right. That's not that many. So if you can look at how many people are finding me through the podcast, it's going to be a return on investment if you're doing it well. And that is really important, I think, as a podcast host, that people have to be very clear either about what they're going to get from listening, number one, but how they can work with you outside of that. And for those of us that have bigger audiences, I mean, we do get like, hey, can we come and sponsor a podcast episode? And so far we've said no, but those will start to come in as well. And now the podcast is basically self sustaining.

Something you said just sparks a thing that I've been talking with. We've been running a certified strategist program, so teaching people how to be better podcast business people. So for people who want to offer editing services or strategic coaching services or any kind of those things, to be a podcast coach, we've been helping them formulate their business model. And one of the things that comes up again and again is the two things you've actually talked about today. One is sort of like the value of their time. Like they didn't realize their hourly rate really needed to be so much higher than they had planned. And the number of people that they're actually going to have to work with over the course of a year to make it actually sustainable for them, that it's not a business in the format that they were thinking about it. It's sort of a side hustle at that point. It's never going to turn into that unless they get to those two major things actually developed in. So I can imagine it's like that for so many other businesses that they haven't thought about this. And that's the value of working with you. I love that you've got that all dialed in, Sarah. It's just so much amazing. What we haven't talked about yet, though, is the fact that you have videocasts and podcasts. And this was a big controversy yesterday at our coaching call was which one's better, video casting or podcasting? And I was like, they're like two different animals. I don't even know how you can compare them. But, yeah, I'd love your thought on it because you did the podcast first and then added the video cast second. How did adding video, though, change the dynamic of everything? And what do you think of the two media types?

First of all, I'm totally with you. I don't think we can compare. And I know as humans we love to rank and compare. Just stop it on this one. You kind of can't, right? Because some people on video, it's frightening. Like, they should not be on video. They accidentally pick their nose. They're like picking at their eyes. They're constantly twirling their hair. Please don't do video. Not because you're a bad person, but video is not your thing. And that's like an important thing to know. And the other thing is, please forgive me today. Cause I have a horrific cold. But for people who don't have great podcast voices, right? And there are some, like, I have people I love to listen to where every once in a while I'm like, ah, dang, I wish this was on video because it gives people a little bit more to look at and a little bit more to consume. So if you don't have, like, the most gorgeous voice for podcasting, that it can really provide a new way for people to consume the incredible value you're providing, but in a way that might be softer for them. Now, as far as, like, why we made the decision, one of my best friends, I have to be totally straight. This is how this Happened. Okay. One of my best friends, her name is Michelle Wang. We've been friends for 345 years. Like, I'm kind of embarrassed. It's a really long time. And she is a fashion influencer on YouTube, and she has just exploded. She's doing incredibly well. And she's like, what the heck is wrong with you? We were literally doing a girls weekend, and we were out in Vegas, hanging out by the pool. She's like, are you freaking kidding me? She's like, video is so your thing. You've done online courses. You do coffee with coach. Like, what is wrong with you? And I was like, oh, dear. These are good points, right? And I just. So it really started that. And video is a medium I happen to be incredibly comfortable with. Like, when I met my video editor, she's like, I just tell you what to do, and you do it. I'm like, I don't. It just. It's really natural. For me, personally, I just don't have a thing about it. I sometimes get pissed off about my hair or I don't like my makeup. Like, that can happen. But, like, overall, what do I care as long as the message gets out? And so it really was that push from somebody else inside the industry who understands YouTube very well, who understands what to do and why to do it that way. And we only do it for interviews. I don't do solo episodes on video, mostly because I'm lazy, and I like to batch. And I'm not changing my shirt when I'm batching. Like, it's just not happening. I love you guys. No. So our solo episodes are still audio only, but when we decided to turn to video, I did interviews and I did a lot of research. Like, I read the YouTube formula. I tried to understand that it's a very hard place to break in. And then I hired an SEO expert who used to work at Google to write the notes inside of YouTube to make sure we were hitting that correctly so people who were looking for me could find me. And so we did it sort of in this vein of like, look, I'm totally comfortable on camera. Why shouldn't we add this? This is okay, but it is more money. Now we have video editing on top of audio editing. We have writer that's coming in and working on SEO for us. So it was a spend. But what I found is podcast viewing on YouTube has become a massive thing. And there are some people who will not listen anymore. They only watch. And There's a whole YouTube world out there of YouTube consumers that just don't leave the platform.

That's so true.

I don't care what y' all are doing. If it's not on YouTube, it doesn't exist. Right? So I was like, okay, that's not fair. Those people need support too. So I sort of viewed it that way as another entry point for people to come and find us or consume a little bit and leave. And that's cool, too, but at least they'll remember. Oh, yeah, no, I've seen her somewhere before. And so I sort of wanted that factor for our business. I hope I answered your question.

No, you totally did. You absolutely did. I think it's really interesting that you looked at. Because so few people understand the YouTube formula, the video cast formula, right, that it is an SEO play. And that's because Google owns YouTube. I mean, it's just a simple fact. So you gotta obey Google's laws, right, in order to participate over there. But it's also really, I think, probably improved your podcast at the same time, because SEO is a secret to podcasting that most people don't know, because everything's a search engine. Everything's gotta be found somehow. So it probably has had a cascading effect to your podcast.

I'm sure it has. I mean, I always tell people, like, you got to look at the whole soup that makes up your business for us, the big soup at the moment. Because the video podcast, I think we've been doing that now for, I want to say, a full year. I think it was last summer. So we've done that for a full year. I started Sarah Uncut, which where I literally turn on my phone and God knows what comes out of my mouth. And we do that once a week on YouTube, right? So we put that up on YouTube. And I did Coffee with Coach on YouTube now instead of on Facebook, because I hate Facebook. I'm so over it. I'm never going back. I love you all. Bye. Not doing it. And then upping the Instagram stories, Instagram videos, and that. The Pandemic sort of did that for us. That sort of organically happened. And then we have the SEO writer that we brought in as well, and the podcast agent. So it's been layer after layer. And what I tell my clients, I gotta eat my own dog food again. We sort of look at it all and go, okay, everything is coming up. Everything is rising, right? Website views are rising. The podcast listening's rising. The YouTube channel is the slowest part to grow, but it's also going up. And we have to look at all of that as a collective soup. I really believe that. So when people say, what's the number one thing I can do? And produce really good content, that's the number one thing you can do. And then I think the second thing is really know your descriptions, know your keywords. And the number one question you can ask. I've been teaching people this for a long time. Cause my background was in tech before I became a coach, is what would someone sit down to Google to hit your podcast? And if you look at the titles of our podcast episodes, you can tell that's what I did. It's literally like I woke up last night terrified. What do I do? Because I know somebody's going to sit down and Google that. And sure enough, they do. And when we see the sales calls come in, like I was saying, came from a podcast, the secondary one is, I googled and there you were. And so taking the care and the time to one, make sure when they hit it, they get the answer they were looking for. Don't cheat on that. And two, make sure you know what they're actually asking to get to you.

Yeah. And the Googling it part is sorely underestimated side of podcasting, because that's how people find podcasts more than actually searching within the app. Because there's two and a half million podcasts on Apple, and as you said, not discerning, but there's really only about 450,000 that are actively posting in any given month. And so that means that it's actually a smaller playing field of what's current. And Google only likes to give out what's current. So you can really rank there. I think the other part of what you said, and your titling is really fantastic, is that delivering the content. And that's what I love most about your intro. And so I always try to pick something that everybody should go check out your show for its stylistic things. And normally I'd say this in the close, but I'm going to say this on air because I want to discuss your intro. Your intro is not a typical intro. You have a preamble at the beginning where you're kind of just diving in and you're really attracting people and getting them in, which works better on video. Because if you don't capture them in the first 30 seconds in a video, forget it, they're done. You might even not even have 30 seconds. You might have 10. So you gotta jump right in. So having a intro with music and like the whole thing coming first can sometimes be a Mistake in that media type. And here you do your preamble, then you transition to your intro music and everything, which you have your wonderful daughter record, which I just love because it's very original and fun. And I love that she says, and now here's my mom. And I just love that part because you keep thinking as you're listening to it for the first time, is that her daughter? And then she says it and you're.

Like, oh, yeah, it is.

Okay, good. I was right. Just has this kind of fun, catches you off guard, and then you go back into the content again. So you're delivering content from moment one of your show, and I think it makes a real difference. And what made you decide on that structure for that introduction?

Yeah, I think you nailed it. I think it was my small foray at that point into video and also just my own experience. I hated going to a podcast. It's like, well, for the other day, and I'm like, I love you. I don't care. I'm here to figure something out. And I was like, if I'm feeling that way and it's someone I love, they're going to feel that way about me too. And I don't care how much they love me, they're going to be like, shut the hell up, Sarah. Tell me what I came here to find out. And I'm still not that good on that. On video. I have a lot of work to do with that still. And we're trying harder and we're doing more about that. But I do think it was that foray into video, actually on Instagram and on stories, that really helped me understand nobody cares. They need what they need. This is not the you show. I mean, it is.

And start there.

Yeah, but it's not. And I'll tell the editor, too. I'm like, if I ramble, take it out. I totally trust you. And I say the same thing about my interviews. I might sit with somebody for 50 minutes if you turn out a 15 minute podcast episode because of that, I trust you. And that's the other reason we bring in people we love. Right. Is they've got our backs, too. Because sometimes we're so close to it, we can't see it. And I'm like, oh, but that might have been important to the guests to say they're like. And I have to trust them to be like, this is about giving the consumer what they came here for. The listener needs something. So it sort of came out of that whole idea. My daughter, whom I don't Know where she pulled that out? That was like, the best intro ever. I think we recorded it three times. I'm like, who are you, child?

It's really good. I know.

I was like, she got the inflection. I'm like, what is happening? I swear to God. I was working on the podcast Graphic of, like, how do you make the font big enough and this stupid thing's only the size of a nickel? And how someone's going to decide if they should listen to this or not? I was in that mode and I pulled into the driveway and she went, hey, Mom. And I was like, she needs to do the intro. It was literally like that. I can't claim any brilliant other than, like, sometimes we get handed really great ideas out of the clear blue sky. And that's what that was. And I'll say to anybody listening, if you're wondering about changing things for your podcast and you've had, like, I call them, shower moments, you have the brilliant idea in the shower. Listen to those because that's what'll make you stand out. It's so sad to me, and I've done it too, but it's very sad to me how many people just copy. It's like, why would anybody listen to you if you sound like everybody else?

Yeah. I mean, especially in your marketplace, because this is it. You need to stand out as that coach and you need to demo for them what they're going to get. And so being original really matters here.

It does. I'm being real. Right. And I'm like, I have kids and they're all over my life. So get them in the podcast, too. Like, it's all good.

I absolutely love that. So, Sarah, before we go, what kind of advice do you have for the podcasters who've been doing this a little while and really need to step up their game and take a look at what's next for them? What do you recommend?

So I'm going to give you guys one of my biggest secrets. Okay. Swear to God. This is huge. It sounds so simple, but it's a big deal. Send a one question survey to anybody who's on your newsletter list or do a really short podcast episode. Say, guys, I've set up a special email account. I need you to tell me the one thing you need me to cover in 2022 or whatever it is. Right. If you do that, you will be blown away by the responses you get. And what's so beautiful about doing that is you're asking the audience, number one, what they want to hear. But it will give you more content than you could ever imagine, because you'll see trends and ideas, and you'll be like, oh, my gosh, they really want to know about dolphins and whatever, right? And you're like, I didn't know that. And that is one of my biggest. I swear to God, I do. Anybody who's on my newsletter listening once every six months, I'm like, what is the number one thing you need to hear? And I tell you, it gives me the richest, most beautiful content, because it really is what they want to know. And if you're bored or you're feeling, like, kind of stale, it's a great way to jumpstart that. The other thing I would recommend is as those answers come in, because there's no greater resource than your listeners. There's just not. There's just a wealth of information there. And they love to tell you they love it. Everybody's like, oh, but I don't want to bug them. I'm like, no, no, no. They love telling you this stuff is. See if new music or a new intro or a new idea for the podcast itself comes out of those questions that they're asking you or the things they want to talk to you about. And go refresh. I think it's really important. I didn't say throw everything out and start over. Refresh. It's okay to rerecord your intro. It's okay to change the format. It's okay to change things up a little bit based on what people need from you. And doing it that way, it's so organic, it's so fresh, and it really lightens people up because they're like, oh, my God, I asked that question. They get so excited, and now they're really involved, and then they share it around and go, I'm the one she's talking about. It's so fun. I get so excited when I do that, and I get texts.

That was me.

I'm like, yeah, you and 1500 other people. That's amazing. I'm so excited for you. They really do end up asking, like, very similar questions. So it's really fun, and it's so engaging for the audience.

This is one of the things I love most about podcasting is how fluid it actually is. I mean, it's not difficult to go change your cover art. It's not difficult to go change your intro. None of those things are hard. It's fluid in podcasting.

Yeah, it is. And have fun with it. And if you're feeling stagnant, your audience Might be too. So get excited again. Do what you need to do to get re engaged and remember why you started in the first place.

So what's next for you, Sarah?

Oh, heavens to Betsy, if I only knew. No. Do you know inside the wonderful world of podcasting, I was just a guest on Two Beautiful Women. They invited me for their hundredth episode I'd been on before, and they're like, we want you to come back for the 100th episode. And they brought one other woman with them. And the four of us had so much fun on this podcast, you guys, that we've decided to do a retreat in the Caribbean in November. What? I know, I'm so excited and a little bit terrified, but so excited because I just want to be with people again. I miss people. I mean, that's one of the great things about podcasting is we can do it whenever and not change our shirts. But I miss people and so I'm super excited. And that came out of podcasting.

This is exactly what I'm going to say off air, but I'm going to do it on air so people can see what I do and how I network and how I use my podcast. Is that so, Sarah? I just heard yesterday in one of my network calls, and I belong to a top level mastermind. And this call, they were talking about doing a intense location based travel for entrepreneurs. And they were talking about that the wife in the relationship, there's a husband and wife team that she's going to be doing these amazing local shopping trips where you can have your location, your event, whatever it is that you're going to do. But she'll be organizing this, like all the local shops that you want to know about, but you won't find on your own. I was like, that is the coolest luxury trip idea I've ever heard. I was like, I'm there, right? Because maybe I don't want to go on the golf day, but I would.

Totally love to go shopping for the day.

I love the idea of it. I might have to connect you with her and then you could find out some more about how you could do that in the Caribbean. So, yeah, these are the kinds of connections, right? This is what I love to do at the end of my show is after it's over, I'd be like, oh, I got to connect you with so and so, so and so and so, so and usually almost every time, Right? Exactly. And that pays you back in dividends when I make those connections for other people and for Sarah here. Right. It's going to come back to you. So I just love that that's a great challenge for you. Well, you know, I mean, kicking off some of your sprints that way, that makes such sense, right? You can get concentrated time to think about it and where you're away from your business, because that's important too, right?

Well, yeah. And I work exclusively with women. It's like not only away from the business, but away from life because we do so many things, we wear so many hats. You got to get out of that every once in a while and just go focus and be with other people who are focusing too. It's really cool. I'm so excited.

Well, game On Girlfriend. Fabulous podcast. Sarah Walton, just amazing show. So proud that you've gone over 100 episodes. Keep going. Hundreds more, I hope.

Thank you so much, Tracy. It's been such a joy to be here with you today.

Nuggets, lots of nuggets. Gold dropping everywhere from Sarah and that's she is demonstrating how she brings value to you and that makes you want to peel back the layers and get to know her better. And the more you get to know her, the more you start to realize she has these programs, she has these groups, she's doing sprints. I mean, this is just amazing, all the layers of things that she has developed. But this podcast, its whole point is to get you to want to learn more. And she's already discovered the power of podcasting is not enough in and of itself. It's not enough alone. You gotta add video and blog and good SEO and all of these great digital marketing strategies into the mix. And then you really are fully activating the amount of time, energy and money you are spending podcasting to making it work as a whole for your business as an attractor. That's what I love about how straightforward she was and sharing everything. You're gonna wanna go to the blog post for this episode@thebingefactor.com, link through to her website, go check out what she's doing there, go check out her YouTube channel, see what that is. And don't forget to listen to the podcast Game on Girlfriend, because you got to check out that really enticing intro. She's making me want to up my game, making me switch things around, make me rethink how I'm going to run my podcast in the future. And when someone does that, that's the power of what I'm trying to bring you here on the binge factor. When she makes me think and I've been doing this a really long time, then she's got to be making you think as well. So I'm so glad to have someone as powerful and amazing as Sarah Walton on the show today. I'm always looking for new guests, looking for you to suggest some, looking for you to decide that you are ready and you are qualified and you can't wait to be on my show. Make sure you go to the bingefactor.com and apply right there. Thanks everyone for listening. I'm Tracy Hazzard and I'll be back next time with another bingeable host.

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.

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