Even though the podcasting landscape is getting increasingly more crowded, the amount of people listening continues to grow too, which means that podcasts are still one of the most effective ways to get your message out there. 

If you’re looking to create and launch an independent podcast of your own, or even if you’re just an animal lover, today’s episode is a must-listen! Tuning in, you’ll hear from the creator and host of The Animal Guide for Curious Humans Podcast, Maureen Armstrong, as she shares invaluable insights into what it’s like to plan, create, and launch an independent podcast show. 

Maureen is very  busy, but she still managed to fit in creation of a podcast show. A lawyer, Maureen is also York University Ombudsperson, Toronto, and Chair of the Board of Directors of world Animal Protection Canada. 

We discuss what motivated her to begin podcasting, how she approaches episode planning, and her passion for connecting with guests, as well as the value of finding technical support, tips for growing an audience, and so much more! We hope you’ll join us for this fascinating conversation with animal advocate and podcast host, Maureen Armstrong.

Key Points From This Episode:

• Insight into her inherent passion for animals and her decision to become a lawyer.
• Learn more about World Animal Protection Canada and Maureen’s role there.
• Maureen comments on animal welfare during the crisis in Ukraine.
• Why she chose podcasting as a platform to share practical information about animal welfare.
• Finding your niche; the value of researching other podcasts in the space you’re interested in.
• What you can expect from The Animal Guide for Curious Humans Podcast.
• The story behind the name of Maureen’s podcast and tips for deciding on a unique name.
• Maureen’s advice for artwork selection and deciding on the look and feel of your brand.
• More on the goals and objectives of her podcast and her vision for the future.
• The importance of viewing audience feedback as a learning experience.
• Insight into episode planning, which Maureen believes is the most difficult part of podcasting.
• Why she says that connecting with guests is the most rewarding part of podcasting.
• Advice for budding independent podcasters: find technical support and pivot as necessary.
• Some of the podcasts that Maureen loves to listen to herself.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Maureen Armstrong on LinkedIn

Maureen Armstrong on Twitter

Maureen Armstrong on Instagram

The Animal Guide for Curious Humans Podcast

World Animal Protection Canada

‘Animal welfare during the Ukraine crisis’

Freakonomics Podcasts

Animal Law Podcast

Ten Percent Happier Podcast

Communicate Influence

This week we continue our conversation with inspiring entrepreneur Mitch Callahan, CEO of the WooCommerce web development business Saucal.

Mitch shares how he and his business partner Dominik Sauter have grown Saucal in the last ten years. Both men are big proponents of remote work, because it gives people freedom. For Saucal, this means they've been able to hire from around the world and access a really large talent pool. Of course, remote teams bring their own challenges, so Mitch discusses how to manage a team when it's spread around around the world and across time zones. Mitch is a huge fan of storytelling and its power in brand building. He says that everyone launching a business today must really understand what makes them unique so that they can tell their story, carve out a niche, and work towards success.

We also explore:

• The importance of focus time and how to avoid distractions in the age of information overload. 
• How Saucal acquires client and how partnerships are really adding to the success of Saucal’s inbound marketing. 
• How to counter dark days and what to do when things feel overwhelming.

Two of the many books that have influenced Mitch's life are:1. Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! by Robert T. Kiyosaki

2. Good To Great : Why Some Companies Make The Leap and Others Don't, Jim CollinsMitch on LinkedIn.Dom on LinkedIn.Saucal on Twitter.The podcast show mentioned in the midroll: The Animal Guide for Curious Humans. 

Mitchell Callahan had a decent career in finance in Toronto, but turned away from it, heading west to Calgary to start a business. In a matter of months, he was seriously broke and working long days, without much of a glimmer of a break.

Living in a small two-bedroom apartment with his business partner Dominik Sauter, Mitch was driven more by curiosity, tenacity, and hope than ambition. Meanwhile, he heard plenty of stories from friends who all know someone who’d  launched a business and . . . well, it had failed. 

This was Mitch’s life in 2012. Today, he is CEO of one of the most successful web development agencies in the world, Saucal. Dom, meanwhile, is Saucal’s CFO. Saucal specializes in WooCommerce for WordPress. They’ve worked for Amazon, Facebook, Salesforce, and a diverse range of eCommerce businesses large and small. 

How to move beyond fear, doubt

In this episode, Mitch shares his story and gives actionable tips on how to:

• Maintain focus
• Counter doubt
• Embrace fear
• Deal with negativity
• Take advantage of the right opportunities
• Not feel overwhelmed when you have a lot going on
• Be curious!

Mitch explains how travel is essential for his personal growth and explores his pre-Saucal career years in Toronto. His diverse experience and journey through life have laid the foundations for the company Saucal is today. 

Back in 2012, Mitch was just finishing off a role in finance and about to begin law school when Dom, a close friend from university days, told Mitch he was launching a web development business. “Want to join me?” asked Dom. 

To Mitch, this was a no brainer. Mitch knew that should the opportunity arise to be in business with Dom, the answer would be an unequivocal yes. 

Mitch recalls dark periods of doubt. He was mired in debt, to the point of trying to pay for lunch one day, only for his debit card to be rejected. 

Says Mitch: “I'll never forget when I applied for a third personal credit card, and got rejected. I knew that was a good thing, but at the time I was not sure how I'd get more money.

“Looking back though, I made some of my BEST decisions here. I bought bitcoin and Ethereum when they were super cheap. In my lowest moments, I was making my smartest decisions.”

In the first year or so, Mitch and Dom had little to show for their doggedness. In year two, something shifted. And on a deeper level both men always knew a day would come when the grind would pay off and they’d make money, build a team, and have the lifestyles they wanted. 

Saucal’s team is spread around the world. As a fully remote company, they hire globally and so can - as Dom says - pick the best of the best. Mitch and his family have just moved from Toronto to Portugal, Dom is based in Calgary.

Mitch wasn’t raised in a business culture and it was only after working for the government and then in finance in Toronto that he yearned for the freedom, challenge, and responsibility that having his own business would bring. 

Mitch’s story is inspiring! If you don’t come from a business background and want to be in business, or have just launched a company and feel overwhelmed with challenges, this story will persuade you that it’s worthwhile and possible!

Find Mitch at Saucal and LinkedIn.

Here's the link to the podcast show I mentioned in the intro! The Animal Guide For Curious Humans.

How to create a podcast show from a weekly roundtable meeting was first published via Podmotion.co https://podmotion.co and proved a hit. So the team at Communicate Influence felt that listeners would appreciate hearing the episode. Here it is!The episode features Rob Finlay, commercial real estate (CRE) owner, operator, and expert. Rob is a thought leader, podcaster, and CEO of Thirty Capital, a provider of services and solutions to commercial real estate firms.

Turning a weekly meeting into a podcast

Rob’s podcast, Commercial Real Estate Capital Markets Report, launched in April after he talked to a friend about a regular weekly call he has with his team of senior traders. The friend asked Rob if he could listen in to the call, and that’s when Rob realized it might be a good idea to turn the weekly roundtable discussion into a podcast show. Each roundtable episode discusses treasury rates, short-term rates, and everything related to debt and debt optimization for commercial real estate. Each episode helps CRE professionals determine if it is time to refinance, borrow, or what kind of action they should take to optimize or leverage their debt.Before the podcast show launched, the weekly call took place and Rob and his team absorbed all the information shared during the roundtable, and shared it with callers if they thought it was relevant or important.

Encourage diverse discussion

Rob appreciates the diverse opinions that his analysts present in each episode. They are at a senior level, so of course they are opinionated. This discussion makes for a very animated conversation about how the capital markets could evolve in the coming, days, weeks, and months. Even though the meeting is now a podcast, it still has a informality about it, and listeners feel that they are right there in the meeting with Rob and his team.  They’ve been able to find the sweat spot where the informal collegial chat is absent, but it’s not super formal.

Experiment with your podcast show!

Rob encourages podcasters to learn and experiment as they go, and to not be afraid of the ever-evolving process. Feedback is crucial, as is room for growth. He says the best thing about doing the show is the feedback and suggestions they are receiving from the listener. They are getting questions as well as feedback, and aim to answer them in the show. They questions also play a role in shaping the content of upcoming shows. In this episode Rob also discusses:

• Figuring out how to slightly tweak the meeting format so it could be recorded
• Working with a consultant to launch a show
• How the new show has transformed Thirty Capital’s lead generation and marketing
• How much his team is enjoying being involved in the show
• Equipment used for the show
• Setting up measurable goals and expectations for a podcast show.

Find Rob on LinkedIn, Twitter, and at Thirty Capital. 

It's still early days in the world of voice tech, but already PR and marketing professionals are exploring what it can do for brands and audiences.

Carl Robinson, a voice tech pro based in France, explains that lots of brands are experimenting with voice technologies in different ways to determine what works, and to discover, define best practices, and share that information. 

Rumble Studio

Carl and host Sheelagh Caygill conducted their podcast interview with Carl's Rumble Studio, an asynchronous recording platform that allows users to record and publish audio content at lightening speed!

Carl explains that there are various movements, such as the Open Voice Network, which is sharing and defining standards for voice tech across many industries. 

Content discovery

In the comms and marketing world, one of the most obvious examples is content and content discovery through voice search.

"More and more content is being found through voice search as users ask their smart speakers or phones for whatever they are looking for," explains Carl.

"Companies are optimizing their web content for Google Assistant and the other smart speakers so that it's surfaced as a voice search."Content can include pages created and optimized for voice which are then synthesized by the text-to-speech engine, and then read out through a smart speaker. It can also be actual audio content that a brand creates, such as a podcast or micro-cast, which is then returned by Google. 

There are now interactive voice response systems (IDR) with natural language understanding, and also call analysis. New technology is even able to transform heavy accents so that they are more easily understandable to customers.

Smart speakers are also being used by marketers for branding campaigns. Carl cites the example of Skilled Creative in the US, which is working with Meredith Corporation to produce custom voice tech apps for branding campaigns. 

Proceed with caution

Carl says that agencies wanting to get into voice tech should do a lot of research first, because developing voice tech is not like building a website. Consider working with an agency, or if you want to train your staff, look to an organization such as the Conversation Design Institute, for which Carl has a discount link on his Voice Tech podcast website: Conversation Design Institute.

You can also use free tools like Voice Flow, but don't under-estimate the amount of work voice tech creation can take, because it's a complex and time-consuming.

Carl says that a minimum, comms and marketing pros should educate themselves about voice tech, and that means reading, listening to podcasts, and asking questions. Use the hashtag #voicefirst on Twitter for questions and conversations. Voice tech isn't a flash in the pan and it isn't going away. It's going to change the way we interact with all the devices around us. It behooves you to know what's coming up.

You can find Carl on Twitter and LinkedIn, and be sure to listen to his Voice Tech podcast!

Eli Schwartz is an SEO expert and the author of the new book, Product-Led SEO. Eli has more than a decade of experience driving successful SEO and growth programs for leading B2B and B2C companies. 

He helps clients like WordPress, Shutterstock, BlueNile, Quora, Getaround, Mixpanel, and Zendesk build and execute Global SEO strategies that dramatically increase their organic visibility at scale.

In this interview with Communicate Influence, we discuss SEO from a content writer's perspective, as well as some of the important questions around SEO.

Eli wrote his book to create a conversation around SEO for for executives and leaders on how to understand SEO, how to fund SEO, how to plan for SEO and how to strategize SEO. It's also for the SEO managers and the content managers in terms of how to think about SEO from a strategic and holistic standpoint, rather than just from a tactical standpoint.

Eli addresses of issue of high expectations with SEO and also it's lack of business visibility.

"The problem—and something I've been hoping to address with my — book, is that SEO doesn't have enough business visibility. 

"They're focused sometimes on these myopic metrics around here's my ranking or here's the traffic I've gotten, instead of this perspective of I'm here operating a channel to grow more business or to grow more revenue in total for this business."The question businesses need to answer when it comes to SEO is: What can I do to help grow business, rather than what can I do immediately to create just traffic on this page. 

"It's important to have that perspective and do your best within that environment," explains Eli, encouraging SEO professionals to be a part of the holistic view in the holistic strategy of the entire business, rather than just this is what I'm going to do that's good for SEO, and that's it.

What is product-led SEO? 

To understand product-led SEO, you really need to understand what product-led SEO is not, says Eli.

"Product-led SEO is not content-led SEO," says Eli. "The way most people are going to do SEO is they're going to look at their core business product, and core business, and go to a keyword search tool to discover what the keyword is that they should put around for their core product offering. The next step most businesses take is to write some content that will be their SEO."

However, for Eli, product-led SEO is much more holistic than content-based SEO. With product-led SEO, a business creates a product—or an asset—for the search users. And when you're creating that asset for the search user, it's not just a blog post that you intend to rank on one keyword.Eli explains that product-led SEO involves the creation of an online product or asset that a business uses to rank according to the needs of prospective clients or audience. 

"I'm now thinking of who is the user, because when you create products, you want to think about who the user is, and the roadmap to launch that product."

Examples of products include directories with content, or proprietary content. For some organizations such as consultancies, key issues that require questions and answers can serve as the product around which to build SEO. 

The next questions to ask are what resources are required to launch the product. "It's no longer just needing content because that is SEO. It's: 'Will I need a designer? An engineer to help launch that product? A content writer to write the right amount of content for that. Maybe I need some digital and visual assets'."

Full show notes at Communicateinfluence.com https://communicateinfluence.com/

Imagine giving an important presentation and suddenly hearing a strange noise coming from the back of the room. 

It takes only moments to discover that the sound is loud snoring from a man who's dozed off. Yes, someone has fallen asleep during your presentation.

Any presenter would feel badly. But only a handful would feel so affected y the experience that they'd eventually go on to write a book about storytelling, and the importance of storytelling in business.

Why storytelling in business matters

Colleen Stewart, author of The Story Compass: Navigating Through Uncertainty In Your Business, says that when we're at work we don't understand the power of story. "On a conscious level we don't talk about it that way. And so we don't always go to it automatically."

Colleen says that in almost any setting just presenting a list of features in bullet-point form isn't going to persuade, convince, or be memorable. 

"It's not captivating, it's not easily remembered, and it doesn't immediately communicate meaning."

To use the power of story we need to first of all "Talk about it, pull it out, open it up, and look at it for what it is and really understand how stories work. And then we can do it with more intention in business."

Businesses have moved away from storytelling but are recognizing that they need to get back to storytelling, and Colleen thinks it's almost become a bit of a buzzword. 

"There is a gap in our knowledge now of what a story actually is. So it's fine to say, as a business, okay, we have to tell a story, we have to make an emotional connection, we're going to communicate in a way that is relatable, we're going to communicate in a way that creates mental pictures. 

"Wonderful, but how do you do that? And that's the answer that I think is often missing, with a lot of services and, and consulting programs and efforts by marketing teams is that they don't actually know how to do it. And that's not a criticism. It's just, I think it's the reality.

Interpret what you know to give value to clients

The mistake many consultants make in a first meeting or presentation is simply sharing all the knowledge they have. 

Your audience doesn't want to know everything you know. They don't have the time or the attention span for that. What they want to hear is how you interpret what you know into something meaningful for their world. How are you going to solve the problem with them and for them with what you know?

Colleen Stewart

Four types of stories: Vision, Knowledge, Value, and Journey

When Colleen began working with clients on storytelling for their businesses, they'd say this is great, but that they didn't have any stories to tell. That was the seed that planted the idea for the book.

She has identified four story types that every business can share: Vision stories, knowledge stories, value stories, and journey stories. 

"We come back out of there and to a point where we're transformed, we know something new, maybe we have a new offering as a business that we can then share with the world. "

Find Colleen on Linkedin. Her business is Perfect Pitch, based near Toronto, Canada. Be sure to read The Story Compass: Navigating Through Uncertainty In Your Business.

Alain Hunkins is a leadership expert who sits at the intersection of the science and the art of leadership.He has a deep understanding of the psychology of leadership, and his new book, Cracking The Leadership Code, reveals the in valuable principles and practices that Alain has developed and refined during the 20+ years he's worked with leaders. In this episode, you will discover Alain's gift for translating complex concepts from psychology, neuroscience, and organizational behavior into simple, practical tools that can be applied on the job. Alain's definition of leadership is anytime any of us are trying to influence anyone to get something done. "That is leadership. And if you think about it, we're all leading ourselves every day. If the cornerstone of good leadership is connection, the first person that I need to connect with is myself."Leadership today is in pretty poor shape. In fact, says Alain, only 23 percent of leaders are effective. Problems Inherent In Hierarchy and PowerSays Alain: "If you look at the nature of hierarchical organizations, which most of us work in . . . it is a hierarchy for most of us. There's someone you report to. One of the challenges of hierarchy is that when people get into positions of power, power is an intoxicant. "So, when people are in these positions of power, they're not likely to say: 'I'm in this leadership role. What my job is to do is to unlock the potential in others. And the best way to do that is to ask the people I lead - and this is a servant leadership mindset they would be having - is to ask them, What can I be doing better to serve you?'.The key, says Alain, is that we learn to take feedback, and then we apply it. "But to take feedback, we have to be willing to be much more malleable with our egos. And for many of us, that's just that's too scary."Seek feedbackAlain sees the solution in managers learning to stop taking feedback so personally, or as an afront to their value as a human being. Alain says the keys are in leaders seeking feedback, coaching, and developing self-awareness.  One of my colleagues, Tasha Eurich, has this wonderful book called Insight. And she says only about 12 to 14% of the population has any real degree of self-awareness. So do things that will bump up your level of awareness so that you can be much more effective!"Alain has worked with tens of thousands of leaders in over 25 countries, and served clients in all industries, including 42 Fortune 100 companies. He delivers dynamic keynotes, seminars, and workshops covering a variety of leadership topics including communication, teambuilding, conflict management, peak performance, motivation, and change. Author of more than 400 articles, and been published in Fast Company, Forbes, Business Insider, Chief Executive, Chief Learning Officer, The Association for Talent Development, CEO Refresher, and the American Management Association. With his Master’s in Fine Arts in Acting from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Professional Theater Training Program, and a BA from Amherst College, Alain also serves on the faculty of Duke Corporate Education, ranked #2 worldwide in 2019 by Financial Times on its list of customized Executive Education programs. Alain has  lectured at UNC Kenan-Flagler’s business school and Columbia University. Discover Alain on LinkedIn or at AlainHunkins, where you can also read about his 30-day Leadership Challenge.

Sponsored by Podthreads.com - threads for podcast lovers! Many entrepreneurs write a book to grow their business and develop influence.

When it comes to writing and publishing, a number of options exist for ghostwriting, author coaching, publishing, or self-publishing. But none offer the unique services delivered by PublishedAuthor.com.

Josh Steimle, entrepreneur and author, founded Published Author to deliver the crucial missing components - thought leadership and influence. 

"Through my experience and talking to author-entrepreneurs, I know that a book is the best tool to help entrepreneurs educate their team on their philosophy and the culture they want to create," explains Josh. "With a book at the centre of a thought leadership system, entrepreneurs will attract attention, build authority, and grow their business.

"A book is something every entrepreneur needs because of the authority and credibility it brings."

Josh is a speaker and coach. He used his book, Chief Marketing Officers At Work, and thought leadership to generate over $10M for his digital marketing agency, MWI. He's written three books and more than 300 articles in publications like Fortune, Time, Forbes, Fast Company, and Mashable.

He says he's not just helping entrepreneurs write a book, "We're helping them to set up a thought leadership system. It might be that they also want to do public speaking, launch a course, or a membership group. Or they may want PR, or to launch their own podcast. Published Author works with entrepreneurs in different ways, depending on budget, time commitments, skill set, and interests. "With every Published Author client, the first question is: Do you want to do this yourself? Or do you want somebody to do it for you? Client's can write a book themselves, or they can hire a ghostwriter to write that book for them," says Josh. "A lot of the bestselling books out there are not written exactly by the author, but are the author's idea. The ghostwriter sits down with the author and interviews them, gathers the entrepreneur's knowledge and expertise, and turns it into a book. "Masterclass, Mastermind, or Done-For-YouFor entrepreneurs wanting to write their own book, Published Author offers a masterclass in which they get group coaching, information, the Published Author workbook, and any help and support they need.The next level is Published Author's mastermind group. "Mastermind is a smaller group of eight to 10 entrepreneurs," explains Josh. "We meet weekly, help each other out, answer each other's questions. They get one-on-one coaching,  and a lot more attention. They also get other services as part of that mastermind."The highest level is the Published Author full service, for entrepreneurs who want Published Author to managed every aspect of their book's creation. Obviously, the book contains the entrepreneur's ideas.  With the full service, Josh manages the whole process, including hiring the right ghostwriter, sourcing a publishing company, along with any other experts for the entrepreneur's needs. These could include book publicists, podcast producers, or PR and marketing pros. "At this level, we're providing many services to help them entrepreneurs get what they need to, getting them out there as a successful author with a successful book launch."Links: PublishedAuthor.com, JoshSteimle.com

Curtis Holland is a voice over artist who narrates books, podcast ads, announcements and more. He’s been working for just over a year in voice over. And when Curtis isn’t not narrating, he is a full-time drama teacher at an international baccalaureate school in Asia.This episode is a great listen for anyone who gives presentations, does a lot of public speaking, or wants to get into voice narration work.

In this episode of the Communicate Influence podcast, Curtis gives listeners tips on how to improve your presentation voice, how to warm up, and how to take care of your voice and vocal cords. Curtis got into voice over work at the start of the pandemic, and has been progressing ever since. He has his own studio at home, and is busy narrating books, ads and many other things. In this interview with Sheelagh, Curtis explores:

• What's involved in setting up your own studio at home
• The best kind of mic to use
• Warming up your voice with vocal exercises
• Taking care of your voice, mouth, and vocal cords
• Following the right diet to take care of your mouth
• Exercising for improved lung capacity, which helps with reading aloud
• Taking care of your overall well-being for a better voice.

Curtis regularly posts helpful videos on Instagram, and you can find him online at https://www.instagram.com/curtisvova/

Podthreads.com!Podthreads is happy to sponsor the Communicate Influence Podcast. Podthreads is a new clothing brand for podcast listeners and creators. Show your appreciation for podcasts and their creators by wearing one of Podthreads' exclusive designs! Find Podthreads at podthreads.com