Everything I Ever Learned about Podcasts, I DIDN’T Learn in Kindergarten: Q&A with Beth Brodovsky, Iris Creative and Podcaster Extraordinaire

Thanks to the explosion in popularity of the “Serial” podcast (treat yourself!), the world of podcasts has enthralled many, and I was no exception. I recorded my very first podcast with friend and colleague, Beth Brodovsky of Iris Creative. She’s had a podcast for years, focused on marketing for non-profit organizations. If you want to hear us laugh and interrupt one another, listen to our 10-minute episode here, but if you want to just read all about it, read on… 

Debbie Albert:  You started out as a graphic designer and quickly recognized many of your clients didn’t know how to market themselves. Helping them with strategy, you’ve morphed into an agency that handles marketing and creative for non-profits. Your podcast, Driving Participation, focuses on how to increase participation via marketing efforts for non-profit organizations. What made you decide to do a podcast?

Beth Brodovky:  Anybody who knows me, knows that I like to talk more than I like to write, and this was during the time everyone was blogging like crazy, and I was trying to be a blogger, but I was terrible at it! We were doing marketing for everyone else, but couldn’t crack the code on doing it for ourselves. I knew I had to something that was consistent, but writing wasn’t working. 

I had been a podcast listener for years, but it never occurred to me to start one until I just reached the point where I knew I had to do some marketing for my own company. I was a failed blogger, but thought that if I did a podcast, perhaps someone out there would listen.  

And it worked! Having a regular schedule and deadline forced me to be consistent. We recorded weekly for three years, and when you do something that frequently over a long period of time, it turns into a habit.

DA: I never thought that the benefit of having a podcast would be to hold your feet to the fire, but I had the same issue with blogging. If I come up with an idea, I can get one written in ten minutes, but I can’t seem to write on demand! With our podcast, we schedule the sessions with the guest and it keeps us accountable.  

BB: I also have a team working in it; an audio editor and a text editor, and I need to stay consistent for them. For me, it’s Irish Catholic guilt. I promise them the work, and I have to deliver. It motivates me.   

DA:  How has the podcast helped you drive participation for your non-profit clients?

BB:  I started the podcast for three reasons. First, I needed to be a consistent marketer for my firm. Second, it gave me an excuse to contact people with big titles. Contacting potential guests helped me get over that phobia of reaching out to people I didn’t know. And third, I love learning new things.  

As you said, I started out as a graphic designer, but actually, I was an illustrator. I have no marketing education, but have learned along the way through experience, courses and classes, but I know that if I talked to people, I’d learn even more. It was a win-win-win – for me, the guest, and the listeners.  

You can listen to a podcast while you’re exercising, or in a car, and I thought that if it could help me learn new things and grow my knowledge, it would also grow my network, and grow my ability to do something consistent.

I’ve been doing my podcast for four years now, and there are instances where I can point to direct sales as a result of this effort.

DA: Great points, and I will echo several myself. If someone was considering starting a podcast, what’s the most important thing they should consider?

BB: It’s exactly the same as when you tackle any other tactic. Think about the “why,” and of course, who the audience will be. As you now know, a podcast is a boatload of work, even when you’ve got it rolling. We now have a team of five people that work on it, so it’s important to have a really clear idea of why you’re doing it and understanding what you want to get out of the effort.

DA: I agree it’s really important to remember that a podcast is just one tactic in a toolbox of many marketing tactics. It’s not for everyone, but it is for people like us who like to talk. Since my journalism career began in radio, it’s very natural for me to talk into a microphone. I like it, but it’s not for everyone. For people who are more prolific and want to write blogs, and know they’re going to do it all the time, that’s another tool.

Sending out marketing emails is another tool, and amplifying your social posts is another. You have to know why you want to do it, and to remember that doing a podcast is an investment in marketing your company, because it’s not just the equipment; it’s the people doing post production, the person who transcribes it, the website programmer, and the social media posts to accompany each episode. It goes on and on.

Can you prove for us how the podcast changed your business or provided a level of success for you or one of your clients?

BB: A very large non-profit found me because they were doing a search on “participation.” Although they were focused on the organization’s volunteers, I explained I wasn’t a volunteer expert. They knew that, but contacted me because I used the word “participation” and they appreciated that. It had a positive financial impact on my business. 

The other interesting thing that has helped my business is that I have picked a specific question and I’ve asked almost every single one of my guests that same question. It’s along the lines of how you ask people to “prove” their point. During the course of your episodes, you’re both learning from the guests and it builds up a piece of data in and of itself. Now  I have learned what the word “participation” really means, and how to really move that needle. 

So, while I was marketing my business, I actually created a whole new asset beyond just the podcast.  We’re taking the lessons that I’m distilling down from everything I’ve learned over the years, and I’m turning it into keynote talks and a book. It’s also influencing how I’m consulting and crafting my business. It’s been a new source of information and education for me that I can now repackage and put back out into the world in a different way.

Now that you’ve read a little about podcasts from someone I admire and who’s turned them into a marketing machine, be sure to listen to Episode 108 with Toby Lyles, our audio engineer who talks with me about the technical aspects of podcasting and all the related pieces that are part of a podcasting endeavor.