Episode 72: What Top Female Podcasters Are ACTUALLY Talking About (It's Not Downloads)

May 19

What the Most Successful Female Podcasters Are Actually Talking About in 2026 (5 Takeaways from the Podcasting Moms Conference in Nashville)

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Picture this. You walk into a room in Nashville and it is filled with women who get it.

Women who know what it is like to pour their heart into a microphone week after week. Women who are building businesses, raising families, chasing big goals, and doing it all with a podcast as their main piece of long-form content.

That was me one week ago at the Podcasting Moms Conference, hosted by two incredible human beings, Cait Howard and Amanda Bennett. I spoke on a panel, and I am not going to lie, I walked in a bundle of nerves. I looked to my left and looked to my right at the other panelists and thought, what am I doing here? These women have done amazing things. But once I got into conversations with them, none of them were doing it all. They were doing what made sense, what moved the needle, and what felt good enough to give them a life that was not all just work.

In this episode of Podcast Growth Tools, I am sharing my five biggest takeaways from being in that room. These are the conversations that are actually happening among female podcasters who are building real businesses with their shows right now. And I think some of them are going to challenge you in the best way.

Here's a glance to the episode:

Why the most successful female podcasters have stopped talking about download numbers
The metric shift that matters more than total downloads for your business
Why collaboration is still the single most effective podcast growth strategy
How AI is changing the game for women podcasters and why most of us are still using it at surface level
Why audiences are craving raw, real, unpolished podcast experiences in 2026
What Holly Haynes shared about where the majority of her business growth comes from
A challenge you can take on this week to start shifting how you measure success

Timestamps:

00:00 - Walking into a room full of female podcasters in Nashville
01:15 - Speaking on the panel and the comparison trap
03:05 - Takeaway 1: Impact over vanity metrics
06:12 - Takeaway 2: Conversions over downloads
08:49 - Takeaway 3: Nothing beats collaboration
12:52 - Takeaway 4: Women need to have bigger conversations about AI
16:08 - Takeaway 5: People are craving real podcast experiences
20:16 - Recap of all five takeaways
21:04 - How to stay connected and share this episode

If You're Asking These Questions, You're in the Right Place:

What are the biggest podcasting trends for women in 2026?
How do I stop comparing my podcast numbers to other podcasters?
What matters more than downloads for a podcast-driven business?
How do I use collaboration to grow my podcast?
How should female podcasters be using AI in their business?
Do podcast episodes need to be perfectly edited to grow an audience?

Takeaway 1: Impact Over Vanity Metrics

This one set the tone for the entire conference.

When you put a room full of female podcasters together, from women who have been doing this since 2015 with millions of downloads to women who are just starting with maybe 20 downloads an episode, the one thing nobody was talking about was their download numbers.

The conversation was about the listener who sent a DM saying your episode changed how I run my business. The woman who finally launched her offer because something you said gave her the push she needed. The email that came in from someone who said I have listened to every single episode and I am signing up for your program.

That is what is happening for podcasters who are in it for the long run, who see the bigger picture, and who are committed to creating something with real legs. Especially for female entrepreneurs who are using their podcast as the cornerstone of their marketing, it is not about how big the number is. It is about how deep the impact goes.

Metrics still matter. You should still track them and understand which direction they are moving. But they are not the end all be all. If you have been feeling discouraged because your numbers are not where you want them to be, start paying attention to the messages in your inbox. Pay attention to who is showing up in your world because of what you said on your show. That is the real metric.

Takeaway 2: Conversions Over Downloads

This one builds directly on the first.

You can have a thousand downloads on an episode, but if none of those listeners are doing anything beyond pressing play, there is a problem. And that was a huge piece of the conversation at the conference. Women were asking bigger, better questions. Not just "how do I get more downloads?" but "where do my episodes actually lead? How well are my listeners converting into email subscribers? How am I leading them to my offers? What does the data actually show me?"

That is a completely different conversation. And it is a much more powerful one.

You do not need one million listeners to have a thriving business. When you start tracking conversions, you begin to see the true power of your show. Sometimes one episode with 200 downloads brings in 40 new email subscribers, while another episode with 800 downloads brings in five. That data is pure gold.

Here is the challenge. Go look at your numbers this week, but not just your download metrics. Look at your email list growth. Look at your click-through rates from your show notes. Look at how many people are actually moving from listener to subscriber to buyer. Ask the people who are buying how they found you. I am guessing a lot of them will say the podcast, probably more than you think.

Takeaway 3: Nothing Beats Collaboration

I could talk about this one for an hour because it has me so fired up. And it is not new. This is the same tried and true strategy that has worked long before COVID, long before everything. But I need you to hear it differently today.

What I experienced in Nashville was not just networking. It was not surface-level business card swapping energy. It was women genuinely pouring into each other. Sharing what is working. Being honest about what is not. Opening doors for each other without any expectation of something in return.

The women whose podcasts are growing the fastest are not doing it alone. They are the ones who are deep in community with other female entrepreneurs and podcasters. They are doing podcast swaps, going into each other's communities, doing trainings, speaking at conferences together, connecting each other with guests, sharing content, and talking about more than just business. They are talking about life.

Holly Haynes was a speaker at the conference and showed a graph of where the majority of her business growth comes from. A huge portion was speaking at conferences and collaborating with other entrepreneurs.

We were not meant to build our businesses in a silo. Just like we were never meant to raise kids completely alone, we should not be building businesses alone either. That is the hard way. It is exhausting. It is mentally and physically draining. And your numbers will suffer because of it.

If you are not currently in community with other female entrepreneurs and podcasters, whether that is a live event, an online community, a mastermind, or even just a group of five women on Zoom, find your people. Reach out to somebody whose podcast you admire. Pitch a podcast swap. Offer to do a training in their community. The growth that comes from collaborating will outpace anything you can do alone.

Takeaway 4: Women Need to Have Bigger Conversations About AI

This one hits close to my heart, and it is the reason I created the AI Edition Podcast Glow-Up Party.

Here is what I am seeing. Women are using AI, and that is great. A lot of us are using it to simplify our lives and in our businesses to draft social captions, brainstorm episode topics, and outline content. But most of us are still using it at a surface level. We are asking basic questions, copying and pasting whatever it spits out, and wondering why our content sounds a little off and why people are not converting.

Platforms like Claude allow you to train AI to write closer to your voice than ever before. You can feed it your brand documents, your past content, your tone preferences, and suddenly it is not giving you generic output. It is giving you something that actually sounds like you. Beyond writing, you can use AI to design faster, repurpose smarter, build systems that clear your plate, and set up automated tasks so you can focus on what you do best: showing up for your audience and creating incredible content.

But here is the key. We are not handing it over to the robot. We are not being lazy about it. We are being intentional. We are learning the tools, building the prompts, and staying in the driver's seat.

The podcasters who figure this out are going to have more bandwidth, create better content in less time, and have space to actually enjoy the process again instead of feeling buried in a to-do list every single week. As women, we owe it to ourselves to not just dabble in AI but to really learn it.

Takeaway 5: People Are Craving Real Podcast Experiences

This might be my favorite takeaway, and I alluded to it at the very beginning of this episode when I showed up congested and stuffed up from a sinus infection.

For years, the standard of podcasting has been perfectly polished, perfectly edited audio where every "um" is removed, every pause is cut, and every background noise is eliminated. And there is nothing wrong with a well-produced show. That is not what I am saying. But what came up over and over at this conference was that the shows building the most loyal audiences right now, especially with female listeners, are the ones that feel real.

The ones where the host's kids walk in during a recording and she handles it naturally. Where the conversation goes off on a tangent because something came up that was too good not to talk about. Where it sounds like you are sitting across the table from a best friend having coffee, not listening to a rehearsed TED Talk.

The world has gotten really noisy with perfectly curated content. Perfect Instagram feeds, perfect reels, AI-generated everything. And people are over it. They can feel the difference between somebody who is performing and somebody who is being themselves. And they are choosing real every time.

Now, I want to be clear. This is not permission to banter for an hour and not deliver value. You still need intentionality behind your episodes. You still need to deliver what you promise. But it is okay to let the real moments happen. Record the episode where your dog barks in the background. Leave in the moment where you lost your train of thought and laugh about it. Share what is actually going on in your life. That is what is connecting with audiences right now, and I do not think it is going away anytime soon.

The Recap

Impact over vanity metrics. Focus on the lives you are changing, not just the numbers.
Conversions over downloads. Start tracking where your episodes actually lead.
Nothing beats collaboration. Find your people, pour into them, and watch what happens.
Women need to have bigger conversations about AI. Stop dabbling and start using it intentionally.
People are craving real podcast experiences. Be yourself. Your audience is going to love you for it.

Your Next Steps

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Resources & Links

Connect with Kylee

Let’s Connect!

Share your favorite trend from this episode or ask questions by DMing me on Instagram at @thepodcastmarketinghub.

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Okay. So picture this, you walk into a room in Nashville and it is filled with women who get it
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and get you. Women who know what it's like to pour their heart into a microphone week after week.
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Women who are building businesses, raising families, chasing big goals, and doing it all
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with a podcast as their main piece of long-form content.
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So that was me just one week ago at the podcasting moms conference hosted by two
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incredible, incredible human beings, Kate Howard and Amanda Bennett. And I have to be honest with you, I
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Walked in.
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Not even thinking about how much I was going to learn because I was on the panel. I spoke on the panel and I was just nervous. I was just a bundle of nerves and I got up there and I literally looked to my left and I looked to my right and I thought to myself, what am I doing here? Like, I don't belong here. These women have done amazing, amazing things.
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All that to say, it ended up being such an amazing experience and
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I want you to hear this, that we are so quick to compare ourselves to
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to other women who seem to be doing it all. But once I got into conversations with them,
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they weren't doing it all.
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They were doing what made sense, what moved the needle and what felt good to them to give
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them a life that wasn't all just work.
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It was work and family and rest and friendships and things that were fulfilling.
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So anyways, the panel was amazing. It was so wonderful. And then I got to meet so many
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awesome, awesome female entrepreneurs, podcasters, moms,
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all of the things. And what I wanted to do was for those of you who couldn't make it to be there
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with us, I wanted to share my five biggest takeaways that came from being in that room.
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And I think some of these things are going to challenge you a little bit in a good way.
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Because the conversation around podcasting is definitely shifting, right?
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And I want to make sure that we are a part of that conversation.
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We are ahead of it and that there's no gatekeeping, right?
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So let's get into it.
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I'm going to share my five biggest takeaways.
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There were so many more, but these were my favorite.
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Also,
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You'll have to excuse me because I am...
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on week two of having a sinus infection, unfortunately, between. I've never had one
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before. And I...
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I think between just getting sick a couple weeks ago and then flying to Nashville and being pregnant, it's like the perfect storm.
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I'm on the mend now, but I still sound congested.
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congested,
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wow, I said that funny, but, um,
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The reason I want to tell you this is because one of these takeaways is,
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is all about infusing real life into your experience when you get on the mic.
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So here I am showing up congested, stuffed up and all.
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I don't know that my VA is going to be able to fix that.
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Hopefully you can bear with me because this is a really juicy episode.
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But let's dive in.
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All right.
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Number one.
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And honestly, this one set the tone for the entire conference.
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Are you ready?
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Impact over vanity metrics.
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So,
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Here's what I mean.
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When you get into a room full of female podcasters together, women who are doing this at a high
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level, I mean...
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We have podcasters who have been doing it since...
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you know,
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2015 to just starting with millions of downloads to maybe 20 downloads an episode. Like it all
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runs the gamut. But do you know what we're not talking about? What we're not focusing on?
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They're download numbers.
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They're not walking...
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around going, oh my gosh, I hit 10,000 downloads within one day or whatever it might be.
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That's just not the conversation anymore.
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What we are talking about is
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The listeners who sent a DM saying your episode changed how I run my business.
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The women who finally launched her offer because...
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Something you said on your podcast gave her a push that she needed.
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the email that came in from somebody who said, I've listened to every single episode. I've binged
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your show. I'm signing up for your program. That is what's happening for top podcasters right now.
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And not even top podcasters.
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That's what's happening for podcasters who are...
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in it.
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For the long run.
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for podcasters who see the bigger picture,
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And for podcasters,
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who...
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are committed to creating something,
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that really has legs, that can really move the needle.
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especially for us female entrepreneurs who are using our podcast as
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As the cornerstone of our marketing, right, you've heard me say it before, it's not about
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how big the number is, it's about how deep the impact goes, truly.
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I want to say that again.
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It's not about the...
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how big the number is for your downloads.
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It's about how deep the impact goes, right?
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And yes, we do want to track our metrics.
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We want to understand which direction they're moving in, what's working, what's not.
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Like it's data.
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It's good, juicy data.
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It is not the end all be all.
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Right?
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And I think so many of us have been conditioned to chase vanity metrics for years, right?
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The downloads, the chart ranking, the follower count.
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And listen, I am not saying those things don't matter at all.
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They do and they have a place.
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But when you are in a room with women who actually are moving the needle in their business
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through their podcast...
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The conversation is about impact, period.
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It's about how is my content actually changing lives?
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My friend.
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if you have been feeling discouraged because your numbers aren't where you want them to be.
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And listen, I think there'll always be a little piece in the back of our mind as podcasters that's like,
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Why can't I get the 10,000 downloads right now?
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right? Right now.
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Yeah.
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But I want you to hear this.
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Start paying attention.
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In this moment right now, start paying attention to the messages in your inbox.
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Start paying attention to who is showing up in your world because of what you said.
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That is the real metric and that's what matters.
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All right, number two, and this one builds on what I just said.
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is shifting from the focus on downloads to...
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Conversions.
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So yes, impact and conversions, right?
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Because here's the thing, you can have a thousand downloads on an episode.
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But none of those listeners are doing anything
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Anything beyond pressing play.
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Well, we've got a problem if that's a situation, right?
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And.
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That was a huge piece of the conversation at the conference.
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Like,
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women were asking bigger, better questions, not just,
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How do I get more downloads?
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Where do my episodes actually lead?
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How well are my listeners converting into email subscribers?
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How am I leading them to my offers?
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And...
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What does that data actually show me?
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So do you see there's a totally different conversation happening there.
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And I,
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Honestly, it's a much more powerful one, and it's one that
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is the reason I got into what I do, right? It's the reason I do what I do,
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Because...
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That is where the real impact happens.
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You do not need...
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One million listeners.
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to have a thriving business.
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You just don't.
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So when you start tracking conversions, when you look at how many listeners are
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are clicking your, whether it's your show links or going to the URL you're providing, taking your quiz,
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joining your email list, how many are actually joining from the podcast? You start to see the
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true power of your show. And sometimes that number is going to surprise you. Sometimes you'll realize
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that one episode with 200 downloads brought in 40 new email subscribers and another episode with
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800 downloads brought in five.
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So that tells us something, right?
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That data is pure gold.
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And it kind of takes the weight off, right?
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So I want to challenge you this week.
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Go look at your numbers, but not just the download metrics, right?
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Look at your email list growth.
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Look at your click-through rates from your show notes.
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Look at how many people are actually moving from listener...
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to subscriber, to buyer. Ask the people who are buying how they found out about you.
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My guest is a lot came from the podcast, probably a lot more than you think,
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because that is the story your podcast is really telling.
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Right?
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That's how they're getting to know you. That's how they're getting to trust you.
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And once you know that story and you have that trust,
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you can start making smarter, more intentional decisions about your content.
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And again, it takes off the pressure and it turns that knob in your head.
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It kind of quiets that voice that says you don't have enough downloads.
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You should give up.
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Okay.
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All right, takeaway number three.
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I could honestly talk about this one for one hour because it has me so fired up and it's
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Honestly, I'm not.
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It's.
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Nothing new.
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Because...
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We have been doing this.
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far before COVID, far before everything. This is the same tried and true strategy.
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and its collaboration.
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Nothing. And I mean...
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Nothing beats collaborating with other women in this space.
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I know that might sound obvious,
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You've probably heard people say,
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Collaborate more a million times.
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I have.
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but I need you to hear it differently today.
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Okay.
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So...
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I say this to my daughter.
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I say let's put our listening ears on.
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Which...
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She's kind of at her sassy point.
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So she's like, I don't want to.
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But it worked for a little bit, so if you
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or somewhere else, put your listening ears on, come back. Because what I experienced in
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Nashville wasn't just networking. It wasn't surface level, let's swap business cards type
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energy, which can actually be very masculine type energy.
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It was...
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Women genuinely pouring into each other, sharing what's working,
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being honest with what's not working.
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opening doors for each other without
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any expectation of something in return.
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And here's what I noticed, the women,
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whose podcasts are actually growing the fastest, they're not doing it alone.
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They're the ones who are deep in community with other female entrepreneurs and podcasters.
10:23.710 --> 10:29.090
They're the ones doing podcast swaps, going into each other's communities, doing trainings,
10:29.090 --> 10:34.370
pouring into them, speaking at conferences together, connecting with each other with
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guests.
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sharing each other's content, talking about more than just business, talking about life,
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Being authentic.
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It's this beautiful cycle of I'm going to pour into you and you pour into me and we're
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going to rise together.
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Let's get that energy going, right?
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Right.
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And I think as women, especially, we thrive in that kind of environment.
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we weren't meant to build our business in a silo. We just weren't. It's like the community that we
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think about years ago. And obviously I'm pregnant. And so there's a lot of conversation,
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my midwife and I were just talking about how
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When we were raising babies and we had toddlers running around and we were pregnant and we had tiny babies,
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We were in community.
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And we were very rarely raising our kids alone, you know, and we shouldn't be building our businesses alone.
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Cause that's the hard way.
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That's really hard. It's exhausting. It's,
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Mentally and physically,
11:27.430 --> 11:28.970
difficult and frustrating.
11:29.150 --> 11:31.490
And your numbers will suffer because of it.
11:31.780 --> 11:32.260
Right?
11:32.610 --> 11:33.850
We weren't meant to
11:34.210 --> 11:38.490
build our businesses and our podcasts alone in our closet, which let's be real.
11:39.330 --> 11:40.770
Most of us literally are
11:40.930 --> 11:42.410
are doing it because
11:42.850 --> 11:44.170
We're trying to carry so many things.
11:44.170 --> 11:47.990
So the extra lift of collaboration can sometimes feel heavy, right?
11:48.480 --> 11:49.840
So here's what I want you to do.
11:49.990 --> 11:53.250
If you're not currently in community with other female women,
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entrepreneurs, podcasters, whether it's a live event, an online community, a mastermind,
11:59.110 --> 12:00.290
Whatever it looks like,
12:00.550 --> 12:03.670
I need you to find your people. It's like that song, um,
12:04.100 --> 12:06.180
I'm not going to sing it, but you got to find your people.
12:06.180 --> 12:08.020
That one, okay, I did sing it a little bit.
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reach out to somebody whose podcast you admire.
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pitch a podcast swap, talk about life, talk about business, offer to do a training in their community.
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Get on a Zoom with five other women who host shows and just talk about what's working.
12:22.210 --> 12:24.170
Get into a room if you can, right?
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I promise you the growth that comes from collaborating will outpace anything you can do in your business.
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alone.
12:30.660 --> 12:35.680
online because even Holly, Holly Haynes was a speaker at the conference.
12:35.910 --> 12:36.490
and
12:36.640 --> 12:41.540
She showed us a graph of where majority of her business growth comes from.
12:41.790 --> 12:42.850
And a huge one
12:43.170 --> 12:44.910
was speaking at conferences.
12:45.700 --> 12:48.380
collaborating with other entrepreneurs, right?
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That's what we need to focus on.
12:50.880 --> 12:51.900
Okay, number four.
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And this one hits really close to my heart.
12:54.500 --> 12:54.980
Because
12:55.300 --> 12:56.640
I talk about this a lot.
12:57.150 --> 13:01.810
we need to be having bigger conversations around AI, specifically as women.
13:02.400 --> 13:03.680
So here's what I'm seeing.
13:04.160 --> 13:08.380
So at the time that this episode will air, I will have literally just wrapped up.
13:08.830 --> 13:09.930
Bye, four day.
13:10.370 --> 13:11.910
Glow Up AI Edition.
13:13.150 --> 13:17.190
and it was filled with amazing female entrepreneurs and podcasters
13:17.380 --> 13:18.220
who,
13:18.370 --> 13:20.650
really want to figure out how to use AI,
13:21.250 --> 13:24.350
in a smart way without having to figure it out themselves, right?
13:24.830 --> 13:29.730
And the reason I want to have this conversation is because here's what I'm seeing. Women are using AI.
13:30.180 --> 13:30.940
And that's great.
13:31.230 --> 13:36.470
A lot of us are using it to simplify our lives, right? Which is so helpful. Like,
13:37.150 --> 13:38.150
What should I make for dinner?
13:38.150 --> 13:39.350
Here's what I have in my fridge.
13:40.580 --> 13:46.240
And also where you're using it in business, right, to draft social captions, brainstorm episode topics, outline content.
13:47.360 --> 13:48.360
I'm right there with you.
13:48.360 --> 13:49.360
I love that.
13:49.360 --> 13:50.860
I use AI in my business every single day.
13:50.860 --> 13:53.220
I think all of us should be and are.
13:53.410 --> 13:55.690
But here's where I think we need to level up.
13:56.070 --> 13:58.710
Most of us are still using AI at a surface level.
13:58.710 --> 14:00.490
We're asking basic questions.
14:00.490 --> 14:02.910
We're kind of copying and pasting whatever it spits out.
14:03.200 --> 14:08.620
And then we're wondering why our content sounds a little bit off, why it doesn't sound like us, why people are like,
14:09.060 --> 14:11.180
not converting with it, you know.
14:11.180 --> 14:13.280
And what I saw at the conference was,
14:13.600 --> 14:18.340
And what I'm passionate about helping you with is using AI in a bigger, more intentional way.
14:18.950 --> 14:23.130
So platforms like Cloud allow us to actually train AI
14:23.490 --> 14:26.190
to write closer to our voice than ever before.
14:26.820 --> 14:27.620
We can feed everything.
14:27.810 --> 14:28.290
Can I do that?
14:28.480 --> 14:31.880
our brand documents, our past content, our tone preference.
14:32.800 --> 14:33.760
so much.
14:34.310 --> 14:36.690
And suddenly it's not just giving us generic output,
14:36.690 --> 14:38.910
it's giving us something that actually sounds like it.
14:38.910 --> 14:41.890
And beyond writing, we can use AI to design faster,
14:41.890 --> 14:42.990
to repurpose smarter,
14:43.300 --> 14:48.980
to build systems that clear our plates to set up automated tasks.
14:49.700 --> 14:50.540
So...
14:50.850 --> 14:53.330
that we can focus on what we do best,
14:53.330 --> 14:55.190
which is showing up for our audience
14:55.190 --> 14:56.850
and creating incredible content
14:56.850 --> 14:58.950
and pouring our hearts into our audience, right?
14:59.200 --> 15:03.800
But here's the key. We're not handing it over to the robot. We're not being lazy about it.
15:03.800 --> 15:05.120
We're being intentional.
15:05.890 --> 15:07.470
We're learning the tools.
15:07.810 --> 15:08.990
We're building the prompts.
15:09.310 --> 15:10.690
And we're staying in the driver's seat.
15:11.040 --> 15:16.640
And I think as women, we owe it to ourselves to not just dabble in AI, but to really learn
15:16.640 --> 15:17.640
it.
15:17.600 --> 15:19.580
The podcasters who are figuring this out
15:19.970 --> 15:21.690
They're going to have so much more bandwidth.
15:22.110 --> 15:26.670
they are going to be creating better content in less time because they're going to be less burnt
15:26.670 --> 15:27.230
out, right?
15:27.750 --> 15:32.230
they're going to have space to actually enjoy the process again instead of feeling
15:32.740 --> 15:35.300
buried in a to-do list every single week, which
15:35.650 --> 15:37.670
Raise your hand if you do, right?
15:38.050 --> 15:43.010
So if AI still feels intimidating, or if you're like, I'm just kind of using it surface level,
15:43.010 --> 15:45.130
like I have intentions of learning it.
15:45.630 --> 15:52.230
I want you to stay tuned because I will actually be taking the training that I did for my glow up and
15:52.390 --> 15:56.070
giving it to you guys if that's something that you want. So stay tuned.
15:56.260 --> 16:01.160
I'm going to package that up for you guys so that you can watch the trainings on your own
16:01.160 --> 16:02.920
whenever the time works.
16:03.460 --> 16:04.060
Um,
16:04.390 --> 16:05.690
That's what we need to be doing.
16:06.050 --> 16:06.270
Okay.
16:07.070 --> 16:08.970
Takeaway number five.
16:09.380 --> 16:12.380
Our final one, and honestly, this might be my favorite,
16:12.870 --> 16:13.410
Yeah.
16:13.860 --> 16:18.020
which I alluded to this one at the very beginning of this episode,
16:18.020 --> 16:21.960
is people are craving real podcast experiences.
16:23.390 --> 16:27.430
So here's what I mean. For years, the standard of podcasting has definitely been
16:27.620 --> 16:34.140
perfectly polished, perfectly edited audio where every um is removed, every pause is cut,
16:34.140 --> 16:38.500
every background noise is eliminated. And there's nothing wrong with a well-produced show.
16:38.950 --> 16:39.610
Don't get me wrong.
16:39.610 --> 16:41.370
That is not what I'm trying to say here.
16:41.370 --> 16:45.670
I'm not saying that you can have crap audio and expect your podcast to grow.
16:46.470 --> 16:49.050
But what came up over and over at this conference was...
16:49.280 --> 16:53.540
The shows that are building loyal audiences right now, especially if you have female listers,
16:53.830 --> 16:55.230
They're the ones that feel real.
16:56.000 --> 17:01.320
right? They're the ones where the host's kids walk in during a recording,
17:01.470 --> 17:04.340
And she says, what's that honey? Oh,
17:04.510 --> 17:08.860
Sure. Yeah, go ahead. That works. Okay. And then gets back to it where you can hear her laugh
17:08.860 --> 17:12.990
genuinely at something, right? Where the conversation...
17:13.380 --> 17:15.090
goes off on a tangent.
17:15.550 --> 17:18.170
Because something came up that was too good not to talk about.
17:18.400 --> 17:21.920
where it sounds like you're sitting across the table from a best friend having coffee,
17:21.920 --> 17:25.000
not listening to a rehearsed TED Talk, where...
17:25.380 --> 17:27.800
The host is like, I have a sinus infection, but...
17:28.340 --> 17:31.530
I wanted to get this content out to you, so here I am, right?
17:32.000 --> 17:36.900
And I think that's because the world has gotten really noisy with perfectly curated content, right?
17:37.830 --> 17:40.010
perfect Instagram feeds, reels,
17:40.160 --> 17:42.200
Everything. AI. Perfect.
17:42.400 --> 17:45.440
perfectly looking people, AI people, right?
17:45.790 --> 17:46.830
And we're just over it.
17:46.830 --> 17:48.310
We're like, give me the real stuff.
17:48.310 --> 17:48.990
Like...
17:49.190 --> 17:50.130
Let's talk about it.
17:50.950 --> 17:51.810
Get down to it.
17:52.420 --> 17:55.020
They can feel the difference between somebody who's
17:55.580 --> 17:59.130
performing and somebody who's just like being themselves.
17:59.710 --> 18:00.670
We can tell.
18:01.280 --> 18:02.080
More and more.
18:02.790 --> 18:03.510
So,
18:04.230 --> 18:06.050
It's this interesting battle where...
18:06.210 --> 18:08.190
this interesting like season we're in, right?
18:08.190 --> 18:10.100
Where it's like, let's use AI, right?
18:10.880 --> 18:12.040
Make it sound like us.
18:13.440 --> 18:21.200
let's use our podcast to show up so real because I know that you could have AI record your episode for you, but
18:21.570 --> 18:26.080
it can't pick up on the nuances of who you are and your day-to-day and your
18:26.080 --> 18:27.330
business and, um,
18:27.520 --> 18:28.960
things like that, right? Like,
18:29.110 --> 18:33.040
I could have AI record the script or the bullets that I put together.
18:33.440 --> 18:35.040
And, you know...
18:35.460 --> 18:36.660
not mention that
18:37.060 --> 18:42.240
maybe there's something real going on or go off on a tangent on something that pops into my head
18:42.240 --> 18:47.830
while I'm recording. And that is something that's so cool about podcasting because we get to do that.
18:48.580 --> 18:49.760
So hear me?
18:50.100 --> 18:53.710
When I say that your audience doesn't want a perfect host, they want a real one.
18:53.920 --> 18:55.980
They want to feel like
18:56.130 --> 18:56.860
They know you.
18:57.150 --> 18:59.710
They want behind the scenes, the bloopers, the real talk.
18:59.940 --> 19:02.110
They want to hear actual personality come through.
19:02.110 --> 19:06.720
The silly banter, the life interruptions, the raw and unfiltered version of you.
19:06.720 --> 19:09.110
Now, please hear me when I'm...
19:09.540 --> 19:10.590
Would I say that?
19:10.980 --> 19:11.850
Don't banter.
19:12.510 --> 19:16.600
for an hour and not give them juicy, good content.
19:16.900 --> 19:21.680
still make sure that you have the intentionality behind your episodes, behind your content,
19:21.680 --> 19:25.090
and get them what you're promising you're going to get them in that episode.
19:26.270 --> 19:28.830
But it's okay to let little things happen, right?
19:29.280 --> 19:31.400
So if you've been kind of holding yourself back
19:31.860 --> 19:34.530
because you think your episodes have to be flawless,
19:34.840 --> 19:35.770
or
19:36.260 --> 19:40.460
anything like that, let me give you permission to let it go. Record that episode where your dog
19:40.460 --> 19:41.380
might bark in the background.
19:41.990 --> 19:42.830
Leave in the moment.
19:43.300 --> 19:45.680
where you lost your train of thought and laugh about it.
19:45.680 --> 19:48.920
Like, hello, I have done that so much with pregnancy brain.
19:49.190 --> 19:53.100
Share the real stuff because that's what's connecting with the audiences right now.
19:53.760 --> 19:56.240
And again, I do not want you to think you can banter.
19:56.930 --> 19:59.990
And go off a tangent that doesn't serve your audience for an hour.
19:59.990 --> 20:01.750
That's not what we're talking about here.
20:01.890 --> 20:02.250
Okay?
20:03.390 --> 20:05.770
Allow yourself to be raw and real and unfiltered.
20:06.310 --> 20:06.510
Okay.
20:06.880 --> 20:08.440
But I don't think that's going away anytime soon.
20:08.440 --> 20:10.740
I think we're going to see more and more of that.
20:11.650 --> 20:16.080
Okay, so there you have it. There's five things that I learned in a room...
20:16.320 --> 20:19.640
full of female podcasters at the Podcasting Moms Conference in Nashville.
20:20.770 --> 20:23.270
Impact over vanity metrics, focus,
20:23.750 --> 20:26.150
on the lives you're changing, not just the numbers.
20:26.530 --> 20:28.310
Two, conversions over downloads.
20:28.310 --> 20:30.630
Start tracking where your episodes actually lead.
20:30.910 --> 20:33.010
Three, nothing beats collaboration.
20:33.010 --> 20:34.070
Find your people.
20:34.820 --> 20:35.580
pour into them.
20:36.230 --> 20:36.790
4.
20:37.060 --> 20:40.090
Let's have bigger conversations about AI as women.
20:40.290 --> 20:43.030
Stop dabbling and let's start using it intentionally.
20:43.680 --> 20:46.400
And five, people are craving real podcast experiences.
20:47.140 --> 20:51.040
and honestly real experiences across all social platforms. So be yourself,
20:51.910 --> 20:53.100
Your audience is going to love you.
20:53.760 --> 20:56.110
So if any of these hit home, I would love to hear from you.
20:56.510 --> 20:57.930
Send me a DM on Instagram.
20:57.930 --> 21:03.290
You can reply or join my newsletter, podcastmarketinghub.com forward slash subscribe.
21:04.290 --> 21:08.650
leave a comment on YouTube or whatever, Spotify, whatever feels right to you.
21:09.280 --> 21:11.590
Share this episode, follow...
21:11.910 --> 21:13.670
subscribe, all the good things.
21:13.950 --> 21:18.810
If you know another female podcaster who needs to hear this episode, please, please share it with her.
21:19.170 --> 21:23.830
I think this one was really hit home for me and I hope it really supports you in a big
21:23.830 --> 21:24.050
way.
21:24.050 --> 21:25.070
All right, friend.
21:25.070 --> 21:26.470
I'm so grateful you're here.
21:26.470 --> 21:27.030
Thank you.
21:27.030 --> 21:27.410
Thank you.
21:27.410 --> 21:28.230
Keep showing up.
21:28.640 --> 21:29.560
Keep doing your work.
21:29.560 --> 21:30.460
Keep doing your work.
21:30.660 --> 21:31.720
pouring into your podcast.
21:31.720 --> 21:33.590
Trust me, it's worth it.
21:33.760 --> 21:34.830
I will see you next week.

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Podcasting Moms Conference

Kylee Chandler