Hey friends, it's retreat week this week we are hosting mike check retreat in Chattanooga, Tennessee. And by the time you're listening to this, we are wrapping up our final day of the retreat. And I am so so excited for Well, I mean, I'm recording this in advance, but I just know how much fun this retreat is going to be. And I'm excited for you all to follow along. If you haven't already, make sure that you join us over on Instagram. You can just connect with me at Haylee Gaffin. We'll link it in the show notes. But I wanted to kind of share a little encouragement for people who are going to retreats and make us a really sweet and simple episode this week, just because it is a very busy week for those of us who are at the retreat. And we are trying to take all of our learnings and put them together. Now next week, I will be releasing a recap episode. Oh, I'm so excited. I am just I can't wait. Hey, y'all, welcome to the clocking in Podcast, the podcast for podcasters entrepreneurs and professionals making their way in the working world while building their own personal brand in the podcasting industry. I'm your host Haylee Gaffin, owner of Gaffin creative a podcast production company for creative entrepreneurs. If you're a podcaster, or even just dreaming about launching your own podcast someday, this show was built to help you merge your love of conversation, education and business, you can find resources shownotes and more for the clocking in podcast at Gaffin creative.com. Today's episode is brought to you by Mike check society, a community that was built for podcasters who are looking to take their podcast from good to great, scale your podcasts, improve your processes and connect with your listeners through our educational trainings, our private members only community and our monthly calls. If you're ready to join us, you can head over to Mic check society.com and enroll today. And you can get $10 off per month with the code podcast. Now let's clock in and get to work. So I want to highlight a few tips on how you can make the most of in person events for your podcast. So there are so many ways that you can use an in person event for your business, for networking and all the things that people tell you. But what I want to talk about is specifically for your podcast. So the first one, and one that I think needs to be taken advantage more of is building connections for potential guests. So when you go to events, especially podcasting events, people are looking to connect and get on other podcasts. One thing that you need to do is make it really, really simple for them to actually book a podcast interview with you, whether that's through giving them a card that they can QR code and scan and book through, or you are just inviting them immediately. Like you know what, let me send you a link on Instagram. When you do this, one thing I would make sure that you do is tell them like, Hey, I'm gonna send you like a little things, something that says what we chatted about. So you remember who I am, blah, blah, blah. But that way you also remember who they are specifically for those bigger events. Now, the one I'm hosting is a very small and intimate event, we are a tiny little retreat. But within that group of people, I guarantee you that podcast interviews will be had. Now the second tip I wanted to highlight is connecting with vendors for potential sponsorships. So this is also there's there's two thoughts on this one is for the rooms, and the events that have Expo halls, like all the vendors are lined up, those are ideal places for you to go and connect with people who are trying to get in front of bigger audiences. So what I would do if I were you is prior to the event starting look at the Expo Hall information, see who you want to connect with go to those booths build those connections, this doesn't mean like you're going to them to pitch what you want. You're going to them to introduce yourself. These people that are working. These events are also the people making the decisions on where money goes where their marketing budget ends up, or they're going back and saying, Hey, I met this person, they're doing this with their business, I think we should collaborate with them. So make sure that you are thinking about that with your podcast if you're wanting to monetize the other aspect of this, and this is something that I had not thought about until I was planning this retreat was inside of a sponsor swag bag that we got at an event I went to earlier this year. I actually looked through the swag and I was like, this is a good gift, like product wise, whatever. This is a good gift, you know what I'm gonna do? They sponsored this event, I wonder if they'd be interested in sponsoring mine. And I went to them and I said, Hey, I saw I found you through this event. I really loved your product, would you be interested in sponsoring my event? I didn't do it immediately. It was weeks later, but I got yeses from that. So make those connections, consider who's at these events, and connect with them. So while I asked for a sponsorship for my retreat, you could ask for a sponsorship for your podcast. The other thing I want to highlight the third of this, these tips is if it is a podcast specific event, make sure that you have an easy way for others to connect with your podcast by following or subscribing. So one thing I did for the retreat that's happening now is I made it easy for people to share their podcasts, I put it on their name tags. Now, this is very specific, because I am a small retreat. Again, it is tiny. So I made it easy for people to just scan their name tags, and it pops up. So yeah, if you have a way of like maybe you want to print off QR stickers for the future where you have if you go to an event, you can just slap it onto your nametag or one thing I've done in the past is actually have on iPhones, you can set different screens, like different lock screens. So I have one if I just hold down and swipe over, it pulls up my podcast QR code, so people can easily find and connect with me on Apple podcasts. So that's the third thing is just like find a way for people to easily subscribe or follow your podcast if they're interested in what you're talking about. Because it's so easy for someone to just, you know, hit follow and subscribe. And if they don't like it later, they can unsubscribe, it's not a big deal. But these are podcasters who are looking to connect with others. So consider that. The last thing I want to highlight and this is a bonus, it's not part of the three tips. But a bonus tip for you is if you are going to a non podcasting event, consider how your podcast could sponsor the event. So I have seen this done creatively in quite a few ways. And while at our retreat, Gaffin creative My business is putting is putting on the retreat. I also wanted to find a way to incorporate my own podcast as well. So one way we did this is if you have followed my Lifestyle podcast at all, it's called let's grab drinks, I host it with my friend Bree. And we made let's grab drinks a drink sponsor for the event. So it's kind of a cute play on words. But we have let's grab drinks swag that is at the event when you go to get your drink. So it's pretty cute. I like I love the idea of it. And then I also made clocking in a sponsor of certain things. So just like finding ways that maybe you could sponsor or something that's happening, and it may not convert, depending on how you set it up. It could convert into followers or subscribers or whatever. But what it does is it does get your name out there. So consider your budget what you have, or if you could just do a little tradesy like for mine is my event. So obviously I was already paying for things, but just a consideration. All right. I think that's all I have for you today. I know this was a really short and sweet episode. But come back next week and you will hear all about how the retreat went. I cannot wait to share it with you. And until then, I will talk to you all soon. Bye. Thank you so much for listening to clocking in with Haylee Gaffin for resources mentioned in today's episode head to Gaffin creative.com. If you're a podcast or looking for community that will help you improve your podcast. Make sure you check out Mike check society, our community for podcasters who are looking to take their podcast from good to great. Enroll today at Mic check society.com and use code podcast for $10 off per month. If you love this episode, I'd be honored if you'd leave me a review in the Apple podcast app. Until next time, I'm your host Haylee Gaffin clocking out