Transformation Leadership: Changing Lives One Guest At A Time With Nicole Jansen, Host of the Leaders of Transformation 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 Feed you'd brand center of Influence. And I am really excited to bring Nicole Jansen here today. She is a leadership coach and a podcast host and she's just tipped over 300 episodes. So that means she's got lots of experience because sometimes we get some people who've done really well, but they're really new. Nicole's been doing this a while, so she's got some lessons learned under her belt. She's helped thousands of people transform their lives and achieve extraordinary results in their businesses. She has 30 plus years of experience in business leadership and human behavior. Along with overcoming adversity in her own life, she's uniquely equipped to empower greatness in others. She's interviewed over 300 difference makers on the Leaders of Transformation podcast and she's reached listeners in 130 countries and around the world. Nicole, thanks so much for coming on the show today. The Leaders of Transformation. What made you think of that name?

Well, actually I had that name slated for a mastermind many years ago and it's just timing didn't work right people, wrong time, whatever. And all of a sudden I had this divine download and I woke up on. This is like four and a half years ago now. I woke up on a Saturday morning at 4:30 in the morning and it was like, God said, you're going to do a podcast and is going to be called Leaders of Transformations. I already had the name, so it's going to be called Leaders Transformation. You know, you're going to interview difference makers and world changers. Go. And I was like, do I want to do a podcast?

Had you been a podcast listener before?

Not really. I mean, I've listened to. I've been in personal development for most of my life. So tapes. I'm old enough that back then I was listening to tapes.

We both are. Yeah.

And then CDs and all of that. But I wasn't like, I was an avid podcaster. And then I was like, oh, you know, I want to do podcasting. And actually it was funny because there's actually a show out there under my coaching company, Discover the Edge, which I had done, like, 10 episodes, and I didn't even consider that a podcast. I was in somebody's studio. We did 10 little segments, you know, audio segments and done and done. But it's still out there. And it was. Yeah, it was technically a podcast.

Well, yeah. Cause if you search her name on Google Podcasts on all of the places, there you are with two shows. So you didn't even know Discover the Edge was going to become that. I love it.

I was like, what? Okay. Somebody said, oh, I loved your show with so and so I'm thinking, what are you talking about?

Somebody syndicated me, and I didn't even know it. I love that. So you've done 300 now. Do you regret it? Do you love it? Like, have you grown to love it more? Like, how does it feel after 300?

You know, I've been through the ups and the downs with it, honestly. And there were times where I was like, I don't ever want to do the same.

I don't.

I'm done.

I can't talk to anyone any again.

I'm over it. But that's usually after I've done a whole bunch of interviews and I'm just feeling spent, and then I'm, like, tired, you know? But I love. I actually love doing it, and I love it more now, and I'm more inspired to do it now than even some of the seasons that I've had over the last couple years. I've went through a lot of. You mentioned about adversity. I've been through a lot of times where personally, I was fatigued. And so, of course, that shows up in all the areas of our life. One of the things that has been the greatest benefit has actually been the guests that I've had the opportunity to get to know and now are friends of mine. So I just. Absolutely, yeah, I love it.

I'm glad that you found that. I find that showing up for someone else, like, you know, I could have had just, like, the worst day ever, but I've got an appointment. I'm showing up. That just changes the whole dynamic of how I feel for the rest of the day. So that's helpful to me.

And I think that's actually why when that inspiration came down about doing this podcast, and I was like, when am I going to do this Now? Like, now? As in, like, now now or like, soon now? Okay. And actually, it happened at one of the lowest points in my life, and it was what was great about it. Was that it gave me the opportunity, it gave me the reason to reach out to people that were in my network. I already had a good network to reach out to them and to reconnect with people that were doing amazing things. So it changed my association and what was going like, you know how important association is. You are the five people that you hang around most with. And so it changed my association and it re inspired me. And actually, at that time, I had a lot of people. Having been in the coaching industry for a long time, coaching was evolving so fast that I had people that were saying, you know, you should be putting more content out there. You need to be more. Doing more videos. You need to be doing this and doing that. And I was just like, not into it. I was just, should be.

You get a lot of should be.

On me, you know. And so to. At that point, though, I was like, I didn't feel. Because I was dealing with some personal stuff that was going on. And so this idea of podcasting, I was like, you know what I can do that I can showcase. I may not want to create my own content and feel like I am emotionally in a place of developing my own content right now and doing courses and getting in front of the camera, but I can showcase other people because I love doing that. And that's ultimately what I've. I'm always about.

So over time, in the 300, have you done some solos? I know you did one for your 299 where you started talking about your best episodes and. And how you were changing things going forward, but have you done more solos as you've gone into?

No, actually, all of them in the near future. Could be. Could be. I have some ideas for some to revive the Discover the Edge podcast. Continue that one. But yeah, and I actually do have some ideas for solo, but it became so much more fun to have that dialogue, just like we're having here. I found that much more engaging and stimulating, inspiring to come up with things to talk about. And so we have conversations. It's not just me running through a script and asking them questions. So we have, I think, a more richer dialogue, even more now than even a few years back. So, yeah, we'll see what the future holds.

So you've interviewed a lot of people, and as I mentioned, your episode 299 talks about some of your top tens and everything, But I bet you there's some. I mean, those might have been your top 10, but there's some where you just personally learned so much. What were a couple of your Favorites.

Yeah. So those top 10 most downloaded ones, that was one thing. But some of the ones that have. And I mentioned a few in there, you know, I talk about some of the ones that were most impactful, you know, almost 300 episodes. There's so many. Right. Some of the ones that I didn't mention when I was talking about some of my additional favorites was Bill Ferguson and I can't think of the number right now, but Bill Ferguson and I did a two part on healing the painful wounds in our life, building better relationships and really, really fantastic two part episode that I did.

There must have been such a power to kind of go to two episodes so that in and of itself stood out.

Oh yes, yes. And one of the ones that was actually the top most downloaded was Tim Galloway. And that was a two part as well. And it was. I mean, you know, when you get somebody on the phone like, this was actually, I will say this was my longest episode recording in one shot. Okay, so you've done lots of these. It was almost three hours.

Oh my goodness. I don't think I've done a three hour one, but I've done a. I've done like two hours. But three is.

I was so done, I was like fascinated, enthralled and so done by the end of it, I was exhausted. But the richness of conversation, that's somebody who is a master. When you have somebody who's been, who's done what they've been doing for like so long and they have so much wisdom to share, you don't cut them off, Right? You don't cut them off. That's just. Yeah, that's the rule. You don't cut them off. So we just kept going and then I split it into two parts. That's one of the things that I really love is I love listening to people that like, for example, Udo Erasmus. It just came out yesterday as of this recording. And you know, just listening to somebody who is masterful, who has studied what they. They're just. There's so much wisdom and richness and that touches my heart because I've been around for a while and I've heard a lot of the different strategies and philosophies and so forth, but when, when you're with somebody like that, you end up going a lot deeper into the conversation and it's like. Yeah, that's where.

Yeah, you know, that's something that I think comes across really well in your show. And, and that's what. When you all are listening to it and especially if you're in the industry or you've been in and around it, that you hear when Nicole's excited, like, we know when you're, like, learning something because you can hear it in the energy that's going on in the show. And that's the best place to be. Because when you're in a place of great curiosity and learning, your audience is coming right along with you. That is what I think the bingeable factor of your show is. So we always try to analyze that here. I'm always like, what's your bingeable factor? And most people can't identify it about themselves, so I've always got a few notes in. And your bingeable factor is when you get curious, when you get excited about it, when you're learning something, you're bringing us along into that next episode and that next episode, because we're like, she learned this much here. What's she going to learn next week? I want to come along, too. So that's why we come along for the ride with you.

Nice. Thank you. Thank you. You're welcome. That's also why, at some point, I was getting a lot of guests. No disrespect, because you're in marketing and branding and so forth, but I had, like, all of these marketing and branding people at one time. I don't know what was happening, but I just had a whole bunch at the same time saying, hey, I want to be on your show. And I was having this conversation, and it's just like anything, even, you know, leadership, organizational consulting. You know, I had a lot of people at one time that were all in that genre that were reaching out to be on the show, and I needed to keep it fresh for me, because to your point, like, if I'm bored, well, my goodness, my audience is going to be.

I don't want to talk about email and all this other tactics as we were talking about methods versus principles. I want to get back to those principles again.

Yes, yes, exactly.

Yeah, yeah, no, that's right. You got to keep it fresh and exciting and learning. A learning experience and curious for you. And that's where I think that most new podcasters go wrong. They're like, I just will take anyone. Like, I just want to make sure I have guests.

And there are no shortage. There is no shortage of guests out there. I have enough guests to, like, last me the entire year.

That's wonderful to hear, right? Everyone that's out there, you don't have to just take anyone. You can take the people you really are solely interested in, you know, your audience is interested in. So, you know, when you started this, so you had no real preconceived notion that it had a specific outcome. You're like, I'm going to do this. What were some of the things. What were some of the things that happened to you following being a podcast host that you said, wow, that was a surprising and fun outcome.

Yeah. So the expansion of my network, the people that started to show up, that there's so many people. You and I are having this conversation. I didn't know you back then. Before podcasting. There are so many conversations that I've had with people that I would never have had had I not had a podcast. And so what was refreshing is I thought, okay, I'm going to have to go out and get guests and find guests, do the vetting and all that kind of stuff and researching and. Or hire somebody to do it. And very quickly, I had people referring people to me. And so I haven't had to look for guests in very long time. Maybe after, like, the first few months. And then I went through the people that I knew in my network because I did know some amazing people and different points. Actually, I think it was two years ago. You know, I was looking, I was like, you know, I haven't even had some of my mentors on the show.

You're like, I haven't invited them yet.

Wow, I haven't invited them. Right. And so I was like, wait a second. And so that's why, like, I reached out to Dr. Robert Rome and Bob Berg and some different people that I have studied or learned from over the years, read books from people that I greatly respected and mentors. And I was like, hey, I need to get them on the show. Teresa Eastler. And some people are just, like, amazing. And I refer to them all the time, and I'm telling my clients about them. I'm like, why have I not had them on the show yet?

Like, aha.

Yeah. But because I was having so many guests come to me that I was. And great guests, amazing guests. Ron Carrucci and Dori Clark and, you know, different people. That is just like, amazing people. Vishen Lakhiani, the founder of mindvalley, you know, they reached out to me and. And I'm like, oh, yeah, we're gonna make time and we'll have him on the show for sure. And because I, you know, love to hear what he's doing. So, yeah, so that was a really. That was a surprise. And I've had the opportunity sometimes I kind of look at it and go, it's just a podcast. Like, I get so many people to reach out.

I think we're devaluing it when we say it's just a podcast.

But you just think, like, I mean, I don't know, you know, you just. And you get all these people that, like, wow, that person wants to connect with me. That person wants to be on this show. It's amazing. Like, it's humbling. And so, yeah, I've just met the most extraordinary people. And other things that have come out of it is the vision, clarity. Like, that first thought of, okay, I'm going to do this podcast. But as I went along, I realized this was part of a bigger vision and a bigger plan. It's not just about a podcast. It's about building community. It's about creating transformation, Literally creating transformation in the world. And so the ideas and the vision and the strategy is now coming out of that. As I'm having all these conversations with people and I'm starting to use my strengths of maximizing and bringing things together.

Yeah, and we were talking before, just about. So the idea of shifting your show now that you've hit 300 episodes, and you're going to be shifting your show slightly and doing some new things and trying out something different to keep it fresh and exciting for you. But you were also talking on your show about shifting mindsets and other things between an I and a we culture.

Yes.

And I thought that was really timely and has been part of what I love about podcasting is how collaborative and cooperative has been in general. So, like, I mean, you can be on competing shows and it won't matter. We'll still go on each other's shows. Right. There's a different sense of collaboration and community. There is much more of a we as podcasters. How has that started to transform your thinking there?

Yes. So as I've been listening to different guests and also getting some guest requests from people, and you hear the energy behind it. So I'm always looking for guests, and we've been blessed with great guests that are coming from that place of service. They're coming from that place of collaboration and from abundance mindset. And there's levels of abundance mindset, there's levels of consciousness and levels of awareness and so forth, but they're in that place of service. And so I also get a chance to hear, like, repeating themes. And one of the things that I'm really good at is noticing and organizing themes, maximizing. And so as I'm listening And I'm listening to what people are saying, and I'm like, okay, that's great. How is that actually creating transformation? How is that improving, shifting the world, making it a better place for everyone? How is it doing that? So in the process of that, one of the things that came out for me was the fact that we are, as a society, still focused very much on. We very much focused on how do I get my message out there, how do I get more visibility to my podcast? Even in podcasting, it does happen, Right? But it's like there's that consciousness about it and saying, okay, if we were to work and focus more on a we, what would that look like? And so that's where I'm speaking more about that. Even the idea of generosity, you know, impact. Impact on several levels. There's personal impact, there's business impact, but then there's also community and global impact. And so focusing on those types of things that. And I said, that's. That I've had that privilege of having heard so many leaders and speaking that I can start to say, hey, you know, I think we're a little bit too much over in this.

This direction, or the pendulum has to switch that other way. Yeah, yeah.

And sometimes you'll get a guest on and you're just like, oh, yeah, this is what we need to be talking more about. And there's not enough people talking about this, so how can we do that?

You know, that's one of the things that I love the most about having done a lot of shows, because I've probably done a thousand podcasts across the multiples that I have, is that there's always this, like, I may not all remember their names. I definitely won't remember their podcast numbers because we just stopped numbering them because I can't do it anymore. But I will go, well, I had this guest on, and we talked about this, and this is the story. And I will remember those stories. And the transfer of knowledge in little bits and pieces over time, like, comes together in such an amazing way, and I feel like a conduit.

Yes, absolutely. Yeah. And that's true, because sometimes I'll be like, who was it on my show? And then I've. I'm like. And I'm pretty good with names, but I'm like, who was that? You know? Oh, yeah, that's who it was.

Right? Yeah. I got to remember the story and the person and the context before I say it all. By the end of the show, it'll usually have come to me, like, the name will have shown up in my head. But yeah, but that's exactly it. I love that. I love making those deep connections and then just making that sort of like synapses kind of styling between getting my brain to your brain and yours to the audience. And I love that it's such a dynamic place to be, to be creating that bigger we that you're talking about. To be creating that bigger, higher plane community.

Well, and it's funny because some guests like, they'll challenge and I love that just being open to it, right. Not having an attachment to it. So yeah, sure, I have some questions and you know, kind of an idea of what we're going to be talking about based on their topic and so forth. And I always do pre chats, but. And they're not long pre chats, but they just give me that opportunity to connect with them and to get to know them enough that we know that there's a chemistry, that we can create something amazing together. But also, you know, what is their unique take on the topic. So we can focus in on that. And you know, then I'll have a guest like Udo Erasmus, who it just came out in, you know, and here's the start of a new series on how to start a movement. And he says, well, starting a movement is not the goal. And I'm like, awesome, let's go there, right?

Let's start with a start.

Let's start with the start. Or let's start with the fact that we shouldn't be focusing on starting a podcast, you know, or a movement. And it's just being open. I think sometimes, like I've been a guest on many shows and I've noticed that some hosts like, when you kind of let it just flow, they don't know what to do with that. Right? They're like, oh, wait a second, we're off script here. What are we doing? Next question. But when you can allow it to flow, the conversation is amazing. And you can. I learn more. I get curious. But there's just so much richness in what they can bring to the table because it's better for the guest that they can flow and allow them to be really present rather than trying to perform.

I love that. And I think part of it is that so many of us are not broadcast trained so we don't feel like we have to do that. And I think in the end of the day it makes for a better listening experience too.

Leadership and transformation is a somewhat crowded market. I'm just going to say that. And it's crowded with some people who are not any good and some people who are phenomenally amazing, and it's hard to compete with them. Have you found that the podcast itself has helped put you in a really nice position to be able to build your business?

Well, first of all, I don't try competing with any of them. Good. Right? That's where that. Abundance versus scarcity. I don't. It's not about competing. A little side note, I remember being at this networking event with all these C Suite executives. It was designed for them, and there was a whole bunch of other people, service providers and whatever. And anyway, I was invited to be there, and here I am. This guy walks up to me and he says. And he kind of had that, like, arrogance thing. I don't know what was going on, but I was just like, interesting. And he said, because, you know, I didn't go into, like, the elevator pitch. And he said to me, what do you do? And I just said, I'm a business coach. That's it. That was what I felt compelled to say at that time, was just like, keep this short and keep this short.

Move on.

I was just like. And he said, business coach. Like, oh, there's tons of those. And I'm like, okay. And your point? Right? Like, I was polite, and I was just like, okay. And he's like, well, don't you worry about their competition? I'm like, no, I don't. So, you know, when you focus on the competition, if I focus on some of the amazing shows that are out there, I will make myself crazy, right? What are they doing then? I'm playing Copycat. Then I'm trying to do what they're doing, and then I'm not actually creating and being creative in what I'm called to do, if that makes sense.

No, it does. So you're. You're creating that space for the attraction to happen.

I'm just being me, right? I'm just being me. And I want to be the best me possible. I'm going to be the best podcaster possible. I'm going to be the best host possible, but I'm not going to try to compete with some of these top names out there. Even from a marketing standpoint. Yeah, you can use some of the tools and so forth, but I also don't make myself crazy with it, because if I do, then there's the frenetic energy that I will bring to it. There's a scarce energy that I will bring to everything that I do, and it's going to come across in my episodes, it's going to come across in my marketing. And so I'm just like, I'm just here to do the thing that I was called to do. Right. I literally had the instructor do this. Okay, we'll do this.

So that's the. This is what happens to a lot of people, right. They go out there and they say, okay, I'm going to start a podcast. Okay, now what do I do? Like, you know, like, I got this idea. Now what I do. And how did you do that? How did you not start with that frenetic. Oh, my gosh. I got to figure out how to do this. I got to study everybody. I got to figure out how to compete against these other people. How did you start your podcast? In a different level of energy.

Yeah. So I think it's also training and being a coach for a number of years. And that helps, right? Just that knowing how to be present, I literally thought, who do I know that literally that morning I'm laying in bed, 4:30 in the morning on Pacific Time, and I'm thinking in my mind, who do I know that knows about podcasting? So shout out for Mark Mawhinney from Natural Born Coaches. I was like, episode 17. I knew him before he was coaching, when he was still doing in podcasting, he was doing other stuff, real estate. And so I was like, mark knows about podcasting. Why don't I ask him? And so he was four hours ahead on Atlantic time. And so I called him up and said on Facebook Messenger, I'm like, hey, you got a few minutes? He's like, sure. So I said, what do I need to know about this podcasting thing? And he's like, well, you need it. I mean, I didn't know anything. Like, you need a hosting site and you need this. I'm like, okay, sure. Writing this all down. 20 minutes I'm sitting here like, okay, what do I need? I need look at. All right, let's start there. And so that's how I started it.

So you followed your method. You would do for anything new that you wanted to learn.

Keep it simple. Yes, keep it simple. Step one. Step two. It's interesting. I've been on podcasts recently and had people give me so much feedback talking about this goal setting. It was just. It came up in the conversation recently, and it wasn't planned at all. But I was just like, oftentimes people have too many goals. They have too many things. Like they've got a to do list, and they call that their goals list. No, that is not your goals list. Right. So launch a podcast. Well, that's actually kind of like the how to start a movement when he said that's not the goal. Launching a podcast is not actually the goal. It is a step along the way. To do what?

It's that method to do something.

Method. Yeah, exactly. It's the method to do what? What message do you want to share? Who do you want to share it with? Why do you want to share? Why is it important to you? Why is it important now that that message be shared? How do you want to package that in such a way that is unique and different maybe than what's out there, or that's just unique and that resonates with you? Okay. And so in order to do that, I need to hire somebody like, you know, Tracy and their team to be able to produce the podcast. All that. Okay. Those are all the to do's Particular. The outcome is really sharing a message. And it's not even actually sharing a message if you take it another step further. It's about. And this is. I'm preaching the choir here. You're in marketing, you know this, you know, but it's really. It's more than that. It's actually how do you want people to feel? And I had to get clear on that. I thought about three words and like, what? You know, people remember things in threes and so forth. So I was like, what? I want to inspire people. I want to educate them, I want to connect them.

That's such good advice, Nicole, that you just said there. Because having an intention, a tone on how you want your show to be, that's critically important. And it's something so many of us skip when we're like, what microphone do we get? What hosting. Right, you skip it in the how tos.

Yes, that's exactly. You get caught in the weeds that you miss. The tree, the forest, the purpose, the sunshine, if you will, you know, and so, yeah, so when you look at that and say, it's a beautiful day. Hello. So what are you doing down there?

Wake up. Look around, look around.

Yeah, and I've had people also. This is the other thing is that you get a lot of people that will give you opinions on what you coming back to. The should people shoulding on you is that you know that what you should be doing. And so if you don't have a grounding, if you don't know why you're doing what you're doing, and you don't know, you have these. Some of these foundational pieces you're going to be sailing along and you're going to have people like dragging you this way and that way and so forth. And you're going to be so confused after a while because of everybody with their methodology. Happens with entrepreneurs, business owners all the time. Right. Especially right now because there's so much content out there, no shortage of content. So the problem isn't how to, okay, so like I want to grow my business, it's not how do I do it? Even people say I don't know how to do it. No, there's so much information out there. They don't know what to do and what sequence to do it and what to stay focused on because they've got this long list of I should do a webinar and I should start a podcast and I should do this and I should this and this should, you know, and if you can stay focused on the outcome, the one thing, as Gary Keller, you know, say, it's like if you focus on that one thing, everything else can fall into place and you can make decisions much better. Like you're hiring somebody to do something for you. Ok. So that's what we're focused on. Can you just help us stay focused on this? Great.

Outcome driven. I like that.

Outcome driven. Yes, exactly.

Wonderful. Well, let's get to our five things because we want to make sure that we give some five lessons learned. And you've been talking about all the great guests, but what have you found? Maybe it's in the process of how you do it or how you started out doing it, but what has been some of the best ways you found to book those great guests?

So first of all, being clear what we just talked about, you need to be clear on your topic. You mentioned it. You don't want to just have any guests. And I see that where shows get so watered down, their title actually says this is what they're about. And I won't use any names because I don't want to incriminate anyone. But there's certain show, there's shows about this. But then if you actually go down the list because I've been a guest on their shows and it's like, what does this have to do with this? But they're just like, yeah, yeah, yep, sure.

Innovators of the future. And you're like, there's no innovation going on here. That's a made up show, by the way. We didn't out anyone.

Yes. So there's number one. Yeah. Being very clear on what your theme is and staying focused Focused and being willing to say no. It's hard sometimes to say no to somebody who's very passionate about their message and what they have to offer. But that is not the right show for you. And so what I do oftentimes is I. Because I know a lot of shows, I will actually recommend a different show and say, you know what? I'm not sure that this is the right fit. But I tell you what, you know what? That might be a great fit for you.

That's such a great strategy. Nicole, I'm so glad you said that. You're the first one who's ever mentioned, you know, referring them on to someone else. I love that. That's a great method. It's. First off, it's helping the rest of the community grow, and it's just really serving everyone in that process. Your listeners, you and the guests themselves.

Yeah. And rather than just saying no now, I don't do that with every single time. Some it's just like. But I do that where I can. Okay. I actually have told people and been honest with them. Not very often, but a couple of times I've actually been honest when I've actually done a pre chat and said, you know what? I think you need to go back to the drawing board. You're kind of new to what you're doing, and that's totally cool. And you need to get more clear on your message. And when you're clear, then come back to me. Right. Because you're not. So I'm honest with people. So that's another thing. How to book good guests. I was for a while there, I was using schedule once, and then I stopped using it and was manually doing this scheduling myself. I do a pre chat, so that's one another thing that I definitely Recommend People do. 15 minutes, you can get a vibe for people. Or if they get on the line and they're like totally flat, you'll know instantly. You'll know instantly. And not while you're interviewing, you know, not while you're recording. So I've not had to have shows which has happened. I know for some podcasters that they'll record a show and then not actually release it because they're like, I can't release that. I've not had that issue because I have the pre chat up front and make sure we're on the same page.

I can say that I've only been lucky. That's only happened once.

Yeah.

And it was more of a tech issue than it was the person, so thank goodness. Yeah. But you're right. It can happen. And I do have people who it happens to as well. So you're avoiding that with your pre chat, which is a great strategy too.

Yeah. And booking agents. I have booking agents. I create good relationships with booking agents and I treat them well, just like they try and treat me well. I treat them well with respect and stay in communication with them so that they want to send more guests my way. And if the guest is not the right fit, or they're sending me several that are not the right fit. Like, after a while, I was getting so many leadership consultants and I was like, I can't. I can't do this conversation anymore. Like, package it in different, unique, interesting way for me. So I need to take a break from that. I communicated that to them and said, this is what I'm looking for and so that it could give them the feedback. So when they were looking for shows to send me, I wasn't just starting to say no all the time. I was actually telling them who I was looking for.

So you're being constructive in the process. I love that.

How about some best ways to increase listeners? Have you done any methods? Have you tried anything to increase your listeners or is it just all happened organically?

Well, you know what? I think that if you build relationships with people, so there are the guests that are on the show, which many of my guests will actually continue to listen to the show. They like it, but then there are. They're in your community, whatever your business, whatever your existing platform, your friends, your community. What I've noticed is, as I have built a better relationship with my social media network, if you will, then as I do that, it is actually increased listeners because I have rapport. If you and I have rapport and I am interested in you and I. And I'm vulnerable with you and I'm open with you, and then I have a podcast. You're much more inclined to listen to my podcast. Then if all I do is just like, pop up, that you never hear from me, otherwise, put out your sound.

Bites and walk away. Right?

Yeah, yeah. It's like, so you're building. Just think about this again. It's a method. It's one thing in a whole brand experience. Right. Your podcast is just one element to that. So I build that brand experience with people and I will. Like, I did it this week. I. There was certain people that I thought, oh, they're gonna love this episode. And I'll send it to them and say, you know what? You're gonna love this. This is Great. And I'm not doing that, like, the same people with the same, like, every single episode, like, just, you know, BSing it and saying, oh, yeah, because I want more listeners.

Everybody's gonna love this one. Yeah.

I'm specifically picking them, and they're like, wow, you thought about me. Thank you. They're much more inclined to listen. And then, of course, I also, with my clients, I recommend to my clients certain ones. So I actually use it as a resource. So I'll be talking to someone and I'll say, you know, hey, we're talking about a particular subject or whatever. And I'm like, you know, I did an interview with Oscar Tromboli, and we were talking about the, you know, the power of deep listening. And so I would recommend go and check that out. Or Mae McCarthy, you know, talking about her process on creating abundance and her path to wealth. And so I will recommend certain ones to people. And that has increased listeners. And of course.

Yeah, I love that strategy. That's a great strategy. When people reach out to me and they're asking questions or they're thinking about starting a type of show, I'll be like, oh, you should go listen to this one, this one and this one. I did these interviews with them, and there's some fascinating reasons why you should consider their show a model for you, or you should learn from their show because you're going to get something about marketing or whatever it might be. I love that strategy because it does. In the end, it builds a listener to your entire show catalog, not just that one episode.

Exactly. Yeah. And one other thing that I do not do, which maybe it impacts my numbers. You're the expert in this. But what I actually noticed is that I went from three episodes a week, two episodes, one episode, two episodes. Like, I've tested this back and forth. What's interesting is that when I would blast out and put too many posts out, let's say, on social media, if I would put so many posts and all just like, post, post, post, post, post, post, different podcast episodes, people start tuning me out. I noticed this for others shows, right? All they do is just post these things. So it's just too much. It's overload, right? It is.

So we did a show that was five days a week, and as we decreased it, it actually got more traction. And it wasn't about. Of course, your numbers of listens dropped because the number of episodes you're producing in a month drops. But the engagement went up, and that's what's really important. And people Actually got to listen to the whole show. So if you're looking to someone, are your listeners actually listening all the way through? No, when you have too many shows, they just don't. And when you're posting too often, they don't. So I think that you found you've hit on that, that exact point, that you can increase listeners actually slightly by decreasing the amount of information overload you're putting on them.

Somebody pointed it out to me and I'm going to butcher this quote, but it's Winston Churchill and he said. I love what Winston Churchill said. He was doing his State of the Union or like, you know, his. During the war dress or. Yeah, his address. And he didn't do them that often, but they were so impactful. And apparently Roosevelt said to him, you need to do those more often. And he says, if I do them more often, they won't be as impactful.

I love that. That's so important. Great. Well, now you've been doing a lot of the production and obviously you started back when, you know, it was a little harder to get started started, and there wasn't as many resources. But what have you found is the critical factor to making it produced as.

Professionally as possible for you from a technical standpoint? I think the important thing is, is you got to have a good mic. I mean, we'll go to. We were talking, joking about that earlier, but it is true. You do need to have a good mic. You need to have a good audio producer. So I've had somebody who actually, he got on the phone with me and he's like, change this, buffer this, do this.

That's nice.

Put the bookshelf behind you. Because there's a reason why there's a bookshelf. Not because, just because a ton of books, but the bookshelf is there because it actually buffers sound. The reason why I'm in a room with carpet is because of this buffering sound and so forth.

Your environment's very important. You're so right.

Yeah. And I mean, I can do a sexy background. And I actually asked him, okay, I was going to get one of those screens. And he's like, don't, because then it's going to bounce off of it. And so he said, you don't want to do that. I'm like, oh, okay. So for those of you that say, hey, she's got a busy background, it's there for a reason, in a way. Because if I would have had a.

Space, you can see mine is busy too, Right? Exactly. Yeah.

But if I had those nice screens, those Japanese whatever, those divider screens. It would actually. The sound would ricochet and it wouldn't be as good quality. So, yeah, having somebody that can walk you through that, I'm sure you guys do that, right? It's like walking them through some of the finer distinctions that you don't know, that you don't know has been important to improve the quality. Another thing is, is. And this is kind of sounds counterproductive because if you want to hire somebody, you want to be efficient with your time, but I remember Joel Osteen, you know, from Lakewood church, huge church, 40, 50,000 people or whatever that, you know, that tune in. He started off editing and being behind the scenes while his father was preaching. Okay. So he did that for 17 years. And then when he went on stage, he still went back afterwards and would do some of the editing, right? Work with the tech, the editing team. And so he would listen to himself. And so my recommendation is, Even though. Because, like, if somebody else cleans it up for you and does it all nice and you never get to hear the raw, I mean, you can still hire somebody like you to do it. But then I would recommend that you listen to yourself in the raw footage so that you can hear your ums and your ahs and your wanderings and all of that. So immediately as I started doing that myself and I was listening to it, I was like, wow, I'm a lot. Or I say this a lot, or I say that a lot. And so I could improve and make it easier for my editor and better quality overall.

Well, yeah, not only improve, but it also just moves you along so you become a better speaker in general. So that's of helpful to you. I love that. That's a great lesson. You've got a community going on. You're building that already. You've got a movement going. Even if you're still really working on startnet, you've still got some edge going on there. But how have you been encouraging engagement through that?

Through my community. One of the things that I just happen to know, because I'm a podcaster, I happen to know a lot of guests, and I know a lot of hosts because I've also been on a lot of shows, and a lot of guests also have their own shows. And so one of the ways that we've maintained some engagement is actually by connecting the podcasters that I know. The hosts, the guests, just like I was saying, I recommend to a particular host, I will make some introductions there, and then I have A Facebook group where I do that, you know, so somebody comes out and says, hey, I have a new show and I'm looking for some guests, and I'm a big believer in supporting and in promoting the booking agencies, but some people are just not going to use them. Right? They want to do it themselves and. Or they want to complement it. And so by making those connections, it actually creates greater engagement and reciprocity and all that kind of stuff. And it's just easy. I can do it. Like, why wouldn't I? And just even asking people and saying, like, I'd love to hear your comments. I'd like to hear what you're up to. What are you going to hear, what you're doing to make an impact in the world. And I love hearing those stories. So, yeah, love that.

That's a great idea. So now we were talking before we all started on this call about alternative monetization and ways to make money on your show, and you expressed that you're not a lover of ads, that you think they are an interruption to the thought, which I, I think that's great. But did you ever look at your podcast as being something that you need to make money to have it be successful?

You know what? I think I've always known right from the beginning that it was a higher. There was a bigger purpose, greater purpose than just making money. And if I did the right things and I did it in the right ways, the money would come. And so whether it's through clients that have come through from listeners, guests who have become clients of mine who have referred clients to me, and also being on shows, I've been on shows just being in total service and then having the host afterwards say, we need to talk afterwards because I need to hire you, is, you know. Yeah, so there's a lot of that happening, but it's not. I don't do it for that reason. You do it because otherwise you can get so caught up again in that scarcity mindset of, what can I get out of this? And so it's just being in service and creating the best quality, and then it comes, yeah, well, last thing I.

Want to end with is that, you know, you got this as a download, wake up at 4:30 in the morning going, I'm starting a podcast. There's been a lot of people been ignoring that. They've been hearing that message, you should start a podcast. All your friends are telling you that. What's your advice to them?

I would say the obvious answer is like, well, just do it. Right? Just Go out and do it. Yes. And I would, and this may sound weird, I would pray about it or meditate on it, depending on what your methodology is, but I would sit with it and really ask yourself if this is something that would light you up. Don't do it for the money. Don't do it for the influencer title or whatever it is you think you're gonna get out of doing podcasts. Right? I'm gonna be a thought leader. There's lots of people like that, you know, that want to be a thought leader. I don't know any thought leaders, by the way, that ever set it out as a goal to be a thought leader. They just became one.

They just ended up there.

I like that they just thought differently and then people started to follow. But anyway, yeah, I would sit with it and make sure that you're doing it for the right reason and that it's going to inspire you and light you up, because you're going to get to talk about this particular. Whatever that topic is. You're going to get to talk about it a lot. So you're going to want to enjoy it and you don't want to do it because somebody else says that that's what you should do. Again, this shoulding, you know, stop letting people should all over you. Just do what you know is the right thing to do. So, yeah.

So, Nicole, what day of the week does your show come out?

Comes out on Mondays and Thursdays.

Mondays and Thursdays. So leaders of transformation. Mondays and Thursdays, everyone. Nicole Jansen, I'm going to say to you that there are so many podcast hosts that I interview all the time, and, you know, hopefully they're just going to have tuned out by now so that I'm not, you know, they don't like, oh, my gosh, that's me. But so many of them are not deep experts in what they're hosting about. And Nicole's an exception to that. She is an absolute deep expert in transformation and leadership. And when she hosts her show and she asks her questions, it's absolutely evident as she's investigating what's going on with these guests and where they're going. And you're going to see how much better an effect that has on the outcome of both the energy, the type of things that get said, and I think the results of your show overall. I think that's why it's been so successful for you. So, Nicole, I can't thank you enough for coming on center of Influence, Feed your brand and sharing with us.

Thank you. Tracy, it's been a pleasure. And even as I listen to you and the questions you ask, I'm like, oh, yeah, Makes me more aware. And so I get to learn even being on this side. So thank you.

Wonderful. Well, everyone, feed your brand. You know, we're hit or miss. We don't come out on the same day every week because sometimes we have center of influence shows, so those usually come out on Wednesdays and we have sometimes tech ones, they come out on Tuesday. So like we were always rotating what's going on. But we're here for you so you can catch us more, more leaders, more center of influences, more tech information. And we're even going to have some coming up, some more marketing episodes on how to market your show because we've been asked for some more of that. So we've got our marketing Mondays now. Those are coming out on Monday. So we do have. So everyone, thanks so much for listening. This is Tracy Hazzard on Feed you'd Brand.

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 training Tracy's column, please go to thebingefactor. Com Guest and apply.