The Art Of Clarity: The Importance Of Having A Clear Podcast Message And Systems With Dolores Hirschmann Of Masters In Clarity Podcast (Podfaded)

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

Hey everyone. Welcome to the Binge Factor. I'm Tracy Hazzard and I have Dolores Hirschman Masters in Clarity for you today. Dolores is a partner of ours. We have many clients who have difficulties with, I'm going to call it the back office, right? With the tactical things of getting things set up, like their calendars and getting their guesting set up, and some of the logistical things of running their business. They're so busy setting up their business, getting started, doing these things and getting their podcast going and recording it and doing all of those things that they don't have time for all of those assistant level and systems and integrations. And Dolores and her team are amazing at that. But in addition to that, she is absolutely amazing at getting you clarity, at getting you clear on where you need to go, where you need to spend your time, and on your message in general. So I invited her to come on and talk about her podcast, Masters and Clarity. Dolores Hirschman is an internationally recognized strategist, coach, speaker, and founder of Masters and Clarity, a strategy and coaching company that helps clients clarify their message and implement virtual business growth systems. Dolores has been a remote employee and virtual business owner for over 20 years. As a former TEDX organizer, Dolores understands how to help experts, authors, coaches, consultants, doctors, and other service business owners position themselves as thought leaders in their field and scale their business. So let's talk about Masters in Clarity with Delores Hirschman.

Dolores, so excited to talk to someone who thinks Clarity in everything that she does and really excited to talk Masters and Clarity. As I mentioned in my open, your title of your show is also matched to your business, which is a rarity that I say go for it. But how's it going for you? How is that title? Is it still feeling really good or is it starting to get confusing between your business and your podcast name? Or, or are you being able to be really clear about which one you're talking about?

So you guided us in that process of picking the name of the show and you mentioned that it was rare that the show would have this name of the business. But in our case, it serves as well, because the essence of Masters in Clarity is getting to the clarity in order to take action. And that is true when I'm interviewing a guest or even some of my episodes are solo episodes. Is that what is the clarity that we can bring to the surface in this interview with a guest or in a solo episode that we allow our listeners to take action? A lot of the conversations that I've had with my guests, which are business owners in different stages of growth, is what was your clarity journey? Because one of the misconceptions out there for people starting or growing a business, they think that anybody that they see out in the market knows all the answers, has all the clarity, and therefore they're doing so well. But the truth is, it's having the clarity that you have, whatever that might be, little or a lot, and taking action anyway.

You know what I really love, and this is I'm going to go right into your binge factor, which I rarely do on the show. I'm going to go straight into it because I wanted it to be such the focus of our conversation today. And that is you're really demonstrating. You're almost your masters in clarity is mastering the demo process. So you're showing the clients how you can do this with them in practice, how you get to that clarity, and you're even doing it with people who you're bringing on, who are masters already, you're defining and clarifying what they're saying. So you say things like, what I'm hearing is, let's clarify that further and let's get to the core of what you're mentioning here, and you're actually helping them be clear in how they're delivering their stories and messaging, even though they're already experts in it. And I love that you do that because it demonstrates that at every level of the process, we're not always clear in our thoughts about how something happened or what we're doing next, either.

Here's the thing, Tracy, like, when we would say from where we said, you and I, we look at a big company and we make so many assumptions of how they feel and how they think and how they do. And have you ever been either hired by a company or become a consultant to a company, and they kind of remove the curtain and you go and look at the kitchen and you see, like, oh, my God, like, there's no process or this is a dysfunctional mess. But on the outside, they are the most looking, organized, efficient company. And so the truth is that one there's that situation and then there's the other situation when it might be a great, solid, process driven company, but usually the people running it, or at least the founder, will always have a little bit of a self doubt of. I'm not clear. I think clarity is one of those things that we fail to claim to have. Here's what I mean. It's like happiness. How many times do we dare to say to ourselves, I am so happy right now, like, dare to sing this song, like, because I happy. Right. We don't claim it as an arrival point. We want to be happy, we strive to be happy, we do things to be happier. But living in the happy place is not like you can't hold it. It's evasive. There is a truth. You're either walking towards happiness or walking away from it. Clarity is kind of the same way is that, oh, you get a little bit of clarity for a second and then the idea comes through and the path comes through and hopefully you'll take action because if you don't, you'll forget it.

What you point out so well here and in the show as well, is that it's not always an arrival point, as you're saying, but it is an aha moment. The moment that clarity hits you is the moment you decide to take action. It's a decision point.

Exactly. And that's why the importance of the clarity and action combo, because some people will have that aha moment and they will wrap it with self doubt or will wrap with self doubt the action that they think they're supposed to take. Or they ask 50 different people about, do you think I should do this? And so when that clarity and that aha moment is not followed by action in kind of in an assertive, courageous and timely way, that whole aha goes to waste.

That's so critically important here. Well, you know, I love how quickly you and your team took action to start a podcast. It's been one of the things that I've been so fascinated by you and. And I love that we partnered up to kind of get some of our clients moving when they're unable to take action. Because what I found, and I think what you provide, is this moment where when we're mired in doubt or we're stuck in procrastination, it's usually that we just have no idea what the path is. We don't. There's an obstacle in the way that we just don't even know how to address it. And for a lot of people, it's operations and it's the technical detail. Things like how do I get this calendar thing set up and get these things going. What did you find when you were looking at starting your show? Was that biggest obstacle that you were like, we're putting my team on it and I'm getting them moving. Because you know how to remove those obstacles.

Well. And if you're a podcast host and you're listening to this, you're not going to like my answer. What is the biggest obstacle is me. I'm the biggest obstacle. So I'm a coach, right? Like, I'm a strategist, but I have the training of a coach. And one of the things that I, when I was full time a coach, but I'm not so much right now, but one of the things I would always work with my clients is understanding what is their unique brilliance. If we were to have a magic wand and create the perfect environment, workspace and work kind of set up for you, what would you spend 80% of your time doing? And so with that clarity, and that is my clarity, like I can be 80% of my time interviewing guests for my podcast. Let's say it's one of my tasks and I'll do really well, but if you let me lose in all of the other tasks to get to that moment of recording, then I'll never get to 80% of my brilliance because I'll procrastinate, because I will invite the guests and then forget to send them the reminder or forget to upload the photo. I don't know, whatever many tiny million zillion steps we need to take to make sure we have a successful podcast. So I was very clear from the moment I signed up with you guys to produce my podcast that everything had to be set up so that I wouldn't get in the way of my own success.

You would just show up and you'd record and that was it. Exactly. Right. You figured out where your role needed to be. I love that, that you really identified that early on. And. And what I really love about the way you work with removing obstacles for other people is that it's not the same thing for every single person. Right. You know, I'm in my own way, but it might not be procrastination. It might be obsessiveness about something that I need to remove. Right. So who knows what it might be?

It might be triple interviewing a guest before we accept them, or it might be making sure that the guest rehearses the questions we're going to ask. And because they need to Stay on a script, which is a whole conversation in itself. Right.

Because should we do that? Is the question.

Right. Because the goal of an interview is to interview.

Right, Exactly.

To read a script. So there's a lot of ways, and that's kind of what, when we help someone get out of their own way to, let's say, produce a great podcast is. We do get clear on what is the blockage for. Not as the host, but if they come with a team. If they don't come with a team, then we know what the block is. But if they come with a team, even when they come with a team, there's blockage of maybe not the best role for the best team member or not. Clear. SOP standard operating procedures to make sure that everything goes smooth.

And for some podcasters out there, even the word SOP Standard operating procedure gives them lives. Right?

Allergic reaction.

Yeah, exactly. I know, it's such a funny thing. So that's not you, then there's a whole nother process. You need to approach and maybe a team and external productions the whole way in order for you to achieve your goals. So what I want to know is, when you set out podcasting, you probably had this preconceived ideas of what it was going to be like. Did you find anything surprising that you really loved about it, or did you find anything surprising that you really just like, wow, I didn't like that as much as I thought I would.

So a couple of things. First, I find it that it is in my unique brilliance or the place I want to dance, because I'm a people person. So for me, whether I'm interviewed at your podcast or I'm interviewing you for mine, it's just a joy, because it's a joyful experience to have a conversation and connect with people. I also recognize that. I don't know, maybe I don't know why I was thinking this, but I got a lot more yeses from big guests that I. I was surprised and I had. Actually, I had a big yes from a guest that I interviewed yesterday. She's like, number one influencer, LinkedIn. She has literally hundreds of thousands of followers and probably one of the number one podcasts out there, a young, unprofitable podcast. And she interviewed me for her podcast, like two years ago. And so I interviewed her yesterday, and I was just so grateful for. For her spending time with me and feeding into my audience and somehow surprised, delightfully surprised that some huge names are wanting to come join me. And what she said to me, she's like, I hear your name out there, and I love what I hear about you. So when we interview this guest, it's a point of connection, especially in our industry, and we get to see how people are seeing us, even though we might not even think they are. Right.

You don't realize how you're being perceived out there. So it's a feedback loop. I love that.

A feedback loop.

Yeah.

That's a really great. Aha. To realize that you thought it was going to be great and it was even better than you thought in that aspect of it. What do you think the biggest challenge area has been for you and your team?

Well, you know, as. As. And you were just pointing this out. You know, we are in February and of a new year, and it's just still starting of the year vacation. So podcast recording is the first thing to get dumped from my calendar when everything is so busy, when I have no time during the day, okay, I'll push that to the next week or push that to the next week. So I think it's part of it is committing to it and saying, I am going to do this and why are you doing it? And so for me is the legacy and sustainability of my brand. And so you just reminded me that if that is important to you, then consistent podcast recording is important to me, too.

Absolutely. So what Dolores is referring to is that I was saying, hey, you're early on. Don't forget to stay consistent and constant. It's kind of my coaching hat that I wear to say, don't forget about this, that you have to stay on schedule because it has residual value over time, which you don't. You know, the technical residual values is as important as your perception in the marketplace that you're showing up for the people that are listening to you as well. So we want it for both things. So I'm so glad you took that to heart. And it is the biggest challenge time commitment and making time for it is the biggest challenge all around. Let's talk about some of the things that you guys do really well, and you may have already found some paths and simplicity that you'd like to share with the audience about it. So as you were talking about, you just got a great guest that you didn't expect. Was going to say yes, it said yes. But what's your process for getting great guests and how do you do that so that you're sure that they're going to match the theme of your show?

First of all, you know, and this might not be true for everybody listening, but I have Been committed to podcasts and podcasting for probably over three years now or four years. Not as a host, but as a guest. I knew early on that I wanted to get into this world, but I was hesitant of getting into this world as a host first. So I spent a lot of time interviewing for hundreds of podcasts. So my process is first look at who has interviewed me that I know. We got great connection, great report, and is aligned with what I want my podcast to be. So that's like the low hanging fruit. We invited those that had invited me. Simple, reciprocal hosting. And we're already based on our relationship that we've built. Then we go through a list of people I admire and whether I have a connection to them or I find a shared connection for an introduction. Also courting that relationship to invite them to have a conversation with me. And then we also sometimes bring our clients because our clients are doing the great work they're becoming and masters in clarity. Our goal is to have our clients become masters of their clarity. I mean, I have clients that have been with me for five, six consecutive years, never once stopped being enrolled in one of our programs. I mean, it's. I love it. We actually have an. We have the five year gift, like what is it? The paper wedding. And so we have five year gifts and ten year gifts. We're not ten years yet, but. And so those are guests that I will bring into my podcast because obviously they are aligned with what we do. They have become masters of the clarity. They have a redundantly clear clarity journey. And so we want them to share that with our listeners.

I love that. That's really great that you're keeping your. Both your mix of guests, but you're also making sure that you're getting some that, you know are going to be a little bit easier outreach just to make sure you're still filling up your calendar. Right. So you're making sure all of that's happening in there. Now. What about getting listeners? This is the hardest part, I think, for every. Getting listeners to, you know, subscribe to the show, get engaged with you growing the listener base. You're still a little early on in the podcast. So, you know, this is a challenge for you for all startup ones, but it's actually a challenge for those that are hundreds of episodes in.

So, yeah, so for us is one of our strategies for content development. So we distribute in every one of our social media platforms, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. I gave up on Twitter a long time ago. Maybe I shouldn't, but I just, yeah, Me too.

And of course on our website and our newsletter. And we use it also as ways of introducing myself for new opportunities or speaking opportunities. So we try to kind of make it part of our any outreach communication strategy that we have.

I love that. So you're just making sure you're reusing it everywhere you can, you know, and then you'll see and evaluate. Like how often do you look back and say, was that working for us? What do we do next? Do you have a periodic review time?

Where do you do one of those in the next couple weeks? Because the truth is that we didn't really get going with it until Q3, Q4 of 2021. So like we delayed the release of the episodes because I did some batch recording. So it's really now the time to look back and say, okay, which channel is working, what kind of post is working, what kind of is it working in the blogs or not, et cetera.

So kind of a three to six month review time for you. Yes. And that's a good plan. I always like to say, at least give yourself the first 20, 25 episodes anyway because it's a building block. And then really look at it from.

Yeah, you don't want to do it too prematurely when you're still getting established in there. So otherwise you make some choices based on bad data.

Yes, exactly.

Right. Wonderful. Well, monetization and you know, I don't think that your show is planned to be one of these ones where we're going to have ads on your show and other things like that, but you have core business skills, services, programs, courses, things that you offer all the time. Are you starting to see that trending towards closing client faster, getting more people in programs? Are you starting to see that monetization start coming into play? And which one are you looking forward to? You know, trying a little deeper?

Yeah. So I have seen the value of podcasts the whole last four years I've gotten. I have at least five or six clients, I can name them, that listen to a podcast that I was a guest off. And this is a plugin. If you've been asked to be a guest in a podcast, say yes. That I was a guest of. And they literally turned around, booked a call and invested in our, one of our biggest $15,000 a year programs. Like, you know, you usually think so.

Your one hour of time was really well spent.

30 minute of podcast with led to a 30 minute consultation that went into 15,000. And all of those clients that I'm thinking about, they've been with us for two or three years. So really it's like $45,000. So as a guest, I've seen the monetization. Here's what's the funny thing. As a host, as a host, I sometimes get to have the guest become my client. It happens all the time. I can't measure and maybe I should go look at my data. The truth is, I haven't done it to see if the listeners are enrolling, but I've enrolled guests into our higher level programs. It becomes a consultation because in the conversation of clarity, as you said at the beginning of this podcast, that I would say something like, this is what I'm hearing or clarifying question. And in that interview, with those kind of framework questions that I bring in, they are gaining more clarity as they're being interviewed.

I think this is so important that you're pointing this out, Dolores, because when we have high value clients, right, Clients that are very successful, that are our focus, and we invite them to come on our show, it's under the interview subject matter. Otherwise it requires my sitting in a place of vulnerability saying, I think I have a clarity problem. I'm going to book an appointment with Dolores. Right? That's probably not where they're sitting, but as it's going through and I'm gaining something being your guest and I'm hearing to myself, I'm like, wow, she's getting me to clarify these things. And I've really needed somebody to talk to and somebody to bounce these off. I didn't know I had it right. And that's happening in that call. It invites without that vulnerability requirement, which is harder to do.

Exactly. And so, because I'm so adamant about getting the clear essence of anything that we are talking about, that it's happened so many times that they talk about, oh, this is what I do. And then I said, oh, this is what I heard and I will kind of mirror it or reframe it. And it's like, oh, you said it even better than I did. And so that helps them to really gain that extra level of clarity. And it's what I do. Like, I can't help it. It's like it's all you do. And so that's a great way, you know, if you're ever thinking of a podcast as a business development tool, it is a great business development tool.

It really is. And I think that's just a really good model for you. One of the things that you mentioned there, and that's really what I kind of want to end on with Us, here is your. You know, normally I'll say, well, what's your advice for starting a podcast? Or anything like that? But in this particular case, your experience coaching and sort of like pulling those layers of the onion back to get to the core clarity. That's an interview technique. Would you share some of those tactics and techniques that you use when you're asking good questions to get to the deep core of something that you've discovered over the many, many years of coaching that you've done here? Because I think they'd be really useful for us skilling up on our interview.

Yeah. So one of the questions I ask is, what is the core essence of your work? And I'm referring to what we call the core idea. I mean, I've done a lot of coaching for speakers, especially TEDx speakers. And so sometimes when I see that the guest might be struggling, obviously it's part of what we do with clients as well. I would ask something like, what is that thing that kept you up at night that then triggered the build of your business? It could also be said as the question worth asking. Let me give you an example. For me, since I was very young, I would wonder, why is it that great ideas or. Or people with great skill sets sometimes don't get to build a great company or have the impact they're bound to have? The answer to that question is because they don't have the clarity to take action consistently. And so Masters in Clarity is a response to that conundrum question that I had for many years.

Why don't great ideas turn into something? Is really that. Yeah, I love that.

Why don't great ideas change the world? It really is what it is because the people holding the ideas are stuck. They are lacking clarity, they're lacking courage. They become lacking a lot of things. I focus on clarity. The one thing that my clients lack or need more of is clarity and consistent implementation. Those are the two things that we solve for. I don't solve for courage necessarily, although courage comes with implementation. So there's other experts that will solve for something else, but it is really about helping the guest formulate in a clear way. I exist or my business exists because one day, many years ago, I had this question and I couldn't find an answer in the market, so I built it.

I love that because you know what it is, is when we get people telling stories and there's so much around the whole podcasting strategy of like getting your guests to tell stories and it being all about story. But if you're not Telling the right story, the story that really gets at the essence of what the audience wants to know, then we're not at that core level. We're at these surface stories that I tell because people laugh when I tell them the stories, things like that. And we know that then they're superficial. And we're really not at that deep level of core intimacy. We really want to hear, how did you really do this? Because I want to understand that.

Exactly. And when I invite the guests to really pose a question me, my objective when I have a guest in my podcast is to have that guest walk away feeling like I serve them powerfully, that I spend whatever minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, shining a light on them and showing them to my world. That is my intention. And so when I get them to post that question that they answer for what they're really posing is a pain point of their ideal client. And so anybody who's listening will say, well, I have that problem. Let me call that person. I want my guests to get calls.

I love that you want them to get what you got from podcasting originally.

Exactly.

Dolores, I think that's a fabulous reason for you to have your show to begin with. Was that it sense? It's a total give back, which is giving back to you as well. It's reciprocal. And I love that you've mentioned that multiple times through this, whether you're swapping guest interviews with people you were on before. I just love that you've built this all into your show. Masters and Clarity. Such a wonderful show. Just getting started, but has so much potential. Because I can't wait to see who you're going to bring on next and what we're going to find out about them. So keep it up, Dolores. Can't wait to hear the next episode.

Thank you, Tracy, for having me.

You know, as I was listening to what Dolores was saying and thinking about all of these and that tie in between clarity and action and how the two things need to go together. You know, this is something that I just take for granted because I'm usually very, very clear in my vision and my path and everything. So the actions just are there and you have to take them right? You have to have accountability, and you need to take those actions. And that's one of the things that I believe in, so. But I really didn't realize, like, I look out at the world sometimes and I look at them and think, wow, why didn't they just do something? Why didn't you just go try that? Why didn't they go start their podcast. Why didn't they go do that? And a lot of times it's what you don't see, right? It's that clarity of vision, that clarity of where I'm going, that path that I'm on, that confidence that it brings you that you're missing. And I love that. That's what Dolores brings to her podcast every single week. When you're listening to her talk about it and interviewing others and you see her pulling clarity out of people who think they're already clear. Right? And that's what she just did, but in reverse here, right? I've gotten clarity on why that's not the case, why I can't just go out there and tell you to just do it. You don't have that clarity and confidence yet. So go listen to Masters in Clarity for your own self. Not just to check out how a wonderful podcaster does a really great show, but go listen to Dolores Hirschman and learn from her expertise on how you can master your own clarity through that. Listen to Masters and Clarity. And as always, just like Dolores, I want to bring you more great podcasters every single week. I search within my network of people and I also solicit and take from outside resources. So if you think you're a podcaster who should be on my show, don't forget to go to the bingefactor.com and check that out. And if you are one of those people who needs help with your back office with the technical things, and you need someone like Dolores, don't forget to go to the blog post for this episode and you can get in touch with Dolores directly through there. And the Masters in Clarity team, thanks everyone for listening. I'll be back next week with another Binge factor.

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 the bingefact factor.com guest and apply.