Podcasting for Good: How to Build a Podcast - Jonathan McCoy, CFRE, Becky Endicott, CFRE, and Julie Confer

5:15PM Mar 11, 2022

Speakers:

Julie Confer

Becky Endicott

Jonathan McCoy

Keywords:

podcast

create

julie

people

mission

guests

pro tip

conversation

interview

content

podcasting

batching

rabid fans

episode

questions

friends

nonprofit

build

easy

audio

Hey, I'm John. And I'm Becky.

And this is the we are for good podcast.

Nonprofits are faced with more challenges to accomplish their missions and the growing pressure to do more work, raise more and be more for the causes that improve our world.

We're here to learn with you from some of the best in the industry, bringing the most innovative ideas, inspirational stories, all to create an impact uprising.

So welcome to the good community. We're nonprofit professionals, philanthropist, world changers and rabid fans who are striving to bring a little more goodness into the world.

So let's get started. Hey, guys, Happy Friday.

Happy Friday, John and Julie, how are ya?

We're good. And I'm excited to dive back into this new series. We've gotten so much great feedback this last week, because we've kicked off the podcasting for good series. And so today we want to go kind of to the next step, I hope we've already convinced you that your organization should really look at this as a medium that really you can plug into whether it's to launch your own podcast, or just prioritize trying to go guest on podcast because it's such a hot topic right now. So if you missed the first episode, scroll back a few episodes and click play there. But today, we're gonna dive into how to build the thing. Are y'all excited or what

I'm totally excited. And I just think that the thing that I want people to know is that the podcast is not just a podcast, we don't want this to be the best kept secret anymore, because the podcast is an engagement tool. It's a way to build global community. It's a way to impart thought leadership to build rabid fans into storytel. There is so much you can do with the content curated here. And if you're already on board, you've already said okay, I think we're ready to take the leap. Even if it's just one episode, then we're going to help you break down how to build it today. So we have something really cool that we have added to the podcast in the last week, and we are really geeked out about it. And it's this concept of inserting your voices. We wanted the voices of the community to come into the podcast, we didn't want to have one way conversation. So we've added a voicemail, and now you can start leaving us questions. All you have to do is go to speak pipe comm backslash we're for good. And ask your question. We got an awesome one this week from Christie Kirkman, with finding balance and let's hear what she has to say. Hey, it's Christy Kirkman, from finding balance. I was wondering if y'all could provide us with some ideas or recommendations for podcast editors, and also some necessary equipment. That's affordable, and great quality.

Christie, this is like the coolest. Oh my gosh, like we had Collin show. Oh,

my Oh,

how big were smiling right now. It's so cool. Thank you for dropping that question. So relevant. Thank you, Christy. I hope this episode is going to answer all of your questions and more. Thanks for tuning in and for listening.

Okay, so I think, you know, we start a lot of our conversations here. But definitely with this one, we got to start with goals, because our first question to you would be is what is your goal if you're going to come into the world of podcasting, what's kind of driving it in terms of your strategy. And I do think there's some really good goals that you could set around this. I mean, we've heard from you this week, I mean, some of you want to grow your reach, like it's about growing awareness for your mission. And that's a great place to start, you know, I think you would want to design a podcast that's, you know, is easy to consume, they could connect the dots and make it easy for somebody to engage with your mission. That'd be perfect for an interview style show, if that's your opportunity. If you're looking for, you know, a way to enrich the donor experience, we're going to talk about this too, because there's a way that you can build exclusive podcast, private podcast, that could speak directly to your supporter base and speak candidly about what's happening, what's going on on the front lines, this would be a great way to kind of raise the bar and create a new premium experience for those closest to your mission. But some of you just also want to just join or create a bigger conversation, like maybe your mission plugs into something that you want to start a movement. And we would say the podcasting platform is probably the most rife for this. I mean, think of how podcasts have changed the national conversation. I mean, they've opened up cases that have been closed, they have, you know, enraged people about certain topics or laid bare lots of different kinds of injustices as we unlaid the case for that or build up the case for it. So if you really want to start a movement, I want you to, I would challenge you to go back and find Eric wrestlers episode. He's the founder of cosmic, which is an incredible agency. That's honestly helping us a ton right now to clarify how you show up in the world and really the impact that you want to make. Because if you dream big, and we love to dream big around here, we'd love to attract missions that dream big. The podcast could help you literally start a conversation that's huge about this. Think about what we talked about with Thought Leadership this season. This is your playground for how you can really unpack these incredible storylines and the incredible injustices maybe that you're seeing that could be lifted at an international level. And this is a place to do that. Just don't forget to lay in the calls to action if that's case.

And once you land on your main goal, probably your next two questions are going to be how long is this going to take to make this happen? And how much is it going to cost me. And we've created a entire landing page with all of our favorite tech tools, our microphones, links to all the things that we've learned along the way, we podcast for good.com. So we won't go through that entire list. But there are some key core elements that you have to invest in, to have a podcast. And so we always say there's a shoestring version and a Cadillac version. So my first pro tip just in regards to budget is that you are going to get what you pay for. So you can find a microphone on Amazon for $30. Or you can invest in a little bit nicer of one and have clear audio. So at least in our case, anything that we've paid a little bit extra on, we have not regretted. But just some core elements. Before we get into the meat of all of this that you need to think about having as you're gonna obviously need a microphone, headphones. We love our audio mixer, Google that I had to look up what that was John found ours. But this is a way if you're recording remotely, that the audio can sound crystal clear. So we're all recording in separate places right now. But we're each using an audio mixer, instead of just plugging the microphone straight into our computers. And then obviously, you need a computer with a webcam and some sort of recording platform. And you can use something as easy as zoom. And then obviously, you'll have to edit your podcast. And so there's something free called GarageBand. Or you can invest in Adobe Audition. So with each of those things I listed, there's a free version, a paid version, and maybe a Cadillac version. So just figure out what budget you have for your team and decide what you want to invest in. But we're here to tell you to invest, and you'll see a reward at the end of it.

And you know, we're updating our page of resources at WWE podcast for good calm with the latest like tips and tools that we're using. And so these will change. And we've updated it a couple times. And we're going to be the exact product name. So we get questions like such specific things. And we don't want to take the time today to do that. But go there and you can get it all in one place. So

I remember the day Julie told me that we could like potentially set up a podcast for like 150 or $200. And I was floored to get all of the things to get hosting to get the tech to get the software, it is not a massive lift. When I think about $200 in a fundraising shop, no matter if you're a very large organization or small. That doesn't feel untenable. So but I do want to kind of underscore what Julie said is you want your listeners to come and have an incredible experience, we understand experience, we build that with our donors every single day. And if you're don't have really crystal clear audio, he may lose somebody. So I will say don't get chancy on the things that could be a long term investment. But I think all of those suggestions that Julie put out are really, really spot on. But I think one of the things I want to transition into is talking about what type of show do you want to have. And this is really about framing, what you want to say and how you want to say it, really try to challenge yourself to think as long term as possible. You know, when you're buying your equipment and creating your setup, and think about how it's going to scale for you like for us, we decided that we wanted to have two co hosts both live and in person with the ability to do some remote and bring in a guest you may decide that you just want to be a solo podcaster, you may decide you want to do just a Miniseries or something like that. So think about the framework of your show and adapt around that this will go back to your goal setting again, what are you trying to achieve? frame that out? i We really love having a producer and I will tell you right now that I don't believe John and I could pull up we're for good at all, if we have Julie percent. And so because and I'll tell you why. And this is just my opinion. And John, you're welcome to get in here. But when we talk to people, my mind is in a different space. When I am visiting with someone. I'm not thinking about the tech, I am not thinking about the audio, I'm not thinking about how to intro I have putting 100% of my focus on the subject on the person we're talking to, and it helps me get in flow. If you're doing too many things all at once and you're trying to wear the all hats, your content is probably going to reflect a little of that and just as your resident Mama Bear, I would say you're probably putting too much on yourself and give yourself a break and think about maybe you could offload some of this to a producer and I would say a producer doesn't have to be somebody who has that in their title. These are learned skills and I think about Julie we talked about this in the last episode like she literally got on Google got on YouTube and learn how to be a podcast editor you know, in a couple of weeks through a class and Julie I don't even know how long how long was that class? Was it like it was not even that expensive? I don't feel

like no, I can link it in our show notes. It was pretty short. I found Did on Udemy. But it was one of 1000s of courses that are out there. And it was just module based. So it's probably 10 modules. I worked through it in a couple weeks on my own time. But yeah, it's super easy. And I, I would just add to what Becky is saying that this doesn't have to be an outsourced paid producer, I think the thing that works well with our team is that each of us are leaning into what we're really good at. And I love prepping the guest, I love creating the content beforehand, so that John and Becky can run and do what their gift is, which is interviewing. So I think this can be if you're in a nonprofit shop, this can be your communications director or someone else on your team. Just make sure you're giving the tasks you're divvying everything up so that people can focus on different areas of the show to make it great.

And I'll say like, as a former manager, too, I mean, there is so many different skill sets that you're going to have on your team that this could be a huge area of growth that introduces a new passion area for somebody and it's not going to take like up all of their time. But just a way a new outlet for somebody to grow. And giving people growth opportunity is going to endear them more to getting to plug into the mission in a way that connects to their passion. So we're huge believers in training people and so lean into that.

The other thing I want to talk to you about is just the power. In an interview style show. It allows you to bring in remote guests from around the globe, it leans in on the expertise that you have all around your issue. And honestly, it gives some cognitive diversity to the show as you bring in people who have different expertise and lived experiences. So that's something that we would completely put a plug in for. And I just want to encourage you try to create the highest quality possible show for all platforms, reach for it, create a turnkey setup, something that would minimize all of your post production work. And I can give you an example of what we do when we have all of our interview questions ready before we ever even hit the go button. But it's really about the quality of the content. And so while we're recording, Julie is literally writing our show notes. And that's just an easy hack, because it's so fresh as she's listening to it. And we can knock that out at the same time.

Okay, so my pro tip for this section is to just be really realistic, we're three dreamers on our team. So we come up with a lot of ideas. But this is the moment to pause. And just think realistically, we were sent a post on LinkedIn recently that shared that 90% of podcasts don't get past episode three. So with over 2 million podcasts out there, that's 1.8 million people gone. So if you're going to invest this money, if you're going to invest this time to plan for this show, make sure you're setting it up in a way that it's something that you and your team can upkeep or if it's just a limited series, it's a project that actually can be completed.

Okay, now that we've talked about structure, we really want to get into some of the hacks that can make podcasting really easy for you. And the first one may be a little bit of a no brainer, that research your guests, go on to their LinkedIn, go into their social channels, definitely ask them for a bio because you'd love to give them a really generous introduction, but get to know your guests. So you're not coming in cold, we get this already we research our donors before we ever go out and meet with them, spend the time it will show in your interview.

Another one is just using video. I mean, if you're interviewing somebody on Zoom, you can easily just toggle to record the video because then you've got the option to do audio and video or just audio or just video. Like speaking to the syndication idea, it gives you so many more options. So just click on the video and tell everybody in advance is another little hack. Because not everybody is video ready all the time. This is

one of my favorite that I think, John, This was your idea, we grab a screenshot or if we're all in the studio, all three of us gather around the TV and take a picture with our guests. So once you have your show notes page all created, this is a fun way to really humanize your show notes page with a picture of you and your guest and I'll add a part two to this hack. You can use tailwind to create Pinterest pins. So you could create different pins from all the graphics and those photos and leverage your content in that way too.

And for anyone that's saying Why would I care about Pinterest with my content? Y'all Pinterest is a search engine. That is all it is. And it creates just a really beautiful way for you to curate graphics and we have a really big Pinterest page where we put everything and tailwind just makes it happen. The other thing that I would say is the screenshot does it allows you to warm up here audience that this conversation is happening. You can preemptively put that on your social channels and say coming soon, we're excited to talk to this person gives a little whimsy, but it also allows someone to kind of keep an eye on what's coming down the pipe in terms of your schedule because they want to make sure they don't miss them.

Can we say also it's like we get to talk to our heroes and so we get to get a little picture. Right? It's totally selfish at the same Absolutely.

So something that saves my life at least with having to coordinate so How many interviews a week is utilized Google Forms and Calendly, I'll still remember where I was sitting in a coffee shop, when I finally found out that Calendly existed, these are both things that you just set up once. So a Calendly, you can create your interview times we pick a certain day, and any guests can sign up for that time slot that works best for them. And it's just one link on our end. So that scheduling wise creates a lot of freedom. And then Google forums, this is a place where we collect all the information on our guests before our interview. So we'll gather their bio, their headshot, make sure their titles correct to talk through their topics. So just create a Google form. It's almost like your intake form, before you get on with your guests so that you have all the right information. And again, it all just populates for you makes your life a whole lot easier.

And I mean, you've heard us talk about this, but Behold the power of batching seriously shape when you batch. And we have a Friday episode dedicated just to this idea, back in our early days of starting the podcast, but it's just the idea of trying to do similar like tasks at the same time. So if we're going to sit down and get in the posture, kind of what Becky described, we really tried to get in the zone for interviewing. And Julie helps us do that by being so prepped of the interview, and the tech pieces that you want to be able to stay in that zone. I mean, you get in the flow. And it allows you to really create a lot of great content in one setting. And then you can work on the editing steps in batching, too. And the result is you can really get ahead and really start to thread things together. I think that's probably the most important part is you can see the bigger picture when you're working on multiple things. And those are kind of when magic moments happen. You're like, oh my gosh, these people are all saying the same thing, even though they don't even know each other. And those things come about when you're doing batch work. And I just think it's magical. Hey, friends, we've got to pause the podcast for a minute, we have some really exciting news to share.

Yeah, we're partnering up with our friends at virtuous to co host this year's free responsive nonprofit summit on April 20, and 21st. And we want to see you there.

So come and join 1000s of like minded forward thinking nonprofit leaders for two days at fresh insights, helpful workshops, and genuine conversations as we gather virtually from wherever you find yourself in the world.

We're curating some amazing panels to help you build better systems and strategies to help you grow your impact. You may even recognize some of our past podcast guests and favorite thought leaders to

Okay, so can we count you in to join us at the responsive nonprofit Summit, visit virtuous.org/good and registered for free? Hey, friends, after meeting some of the most visionary leaders and world changers in the nonprofit sector today, we realized they all have one thing in common. They invest in themselves and their teams so they can stay relevant to what's working now to succeed and scale their missions. You know us we believe education for all. And that's when we created we're for good pro Pro is reimagining nonprofit professional development, giving you access to incredible live coaching events with some of the best thought leaders like kushana Palmer and Lynn Wester and more. Imagine being able to work through your challenges in real time. That's the power pro. Every week, we host a new workshop giving you the playbook and tools to take immediate action, build your confidence and grow your impact. Be the Pro and get started today with a 14 day free trial head over to we're for good pro.com/free. Okay, let's get back to this amazing conversation.

So the next tip is think about every single interview as a way to expand your network for free. Truly, when you think about each person who is coming into your house, I'm using the air quotes to have a conversation with you. They're bringing their network along, if they have social channels, if they have a LinkedIn account, wherever they are, make sure you're tagging them, bring them into the conversation that allows their people to talk into the conversation as well whatever that topic is, and your listenership grows and grows. And I just think about it, like tossing a pebble into the water. We are living proof of the fact that we have tossed over 200 pebbles into the water on our podcast in the amount of eyeballs and ears and people who have come into our world by virtue of us. Tagging a friend or someone who's connected to them has honestly been such a godsend to us because they see the content. They think they'll react and say yeah, those are my people and some people, you may not be their cup of tea and that is okay. Because what your podcast is really doing when you're setting up your goal is trying to find the right person who wants to activate on your mission and on your topic. Make sure you flex that network, bring your guest along and every single conversation that you drop.

And I think we've talked about this before on podcast, but I think that consistency is a superpower and it's something that really has paid off for our team with podcasting but I think whatever you do, however you show up as you figure out the cadence that works for your team, which is why it's so important to have do what Julie just said is like, figure out what's doable and then translate that into a consistent schedule, you can stick to, people start to rely on it and start to, you know, expect that from you. Even if it's only once a month or every other month, at least there's a plan and a cadence. So I saw a stat the other day, that really stalked me in my tracks, too. And this was this idea that we need to really spend 20% of our time creating content, and then 80% of our time sharing that content or marketing that content. And I think that is so shocking, because this is from a really influential entrepreneur in the space that is always kind of teaching through social media, he has his own podcast, and he just really believes in the value of what you're creating, whatever podcast style that you're launching has so much value in it, that you're probably not putting as much effort into sharing that conversation in a lot of different ways. And we did actually a whole episode on this, but we want to break it down for you, because this is one of our favorite hacks, is not just the the power of batching content, but also syndicating that content is this idea that you whatever you create, how do you turn it into many touchpoints? You know, it's not just a podcast, it is there's unbelievable amount of really powerful quotes that could stand alone, there's audio clips, there's video clips, there could be standalone graphics, there could be a picture of the person that's talking or whatever it could be. And if you think about that, over the course of maybe a 30 minute interview, there could be 50 moments, you know, that could be extrapolated. And so if you're only getting one play out of the podcast, on your media fees, or on your marketing plan, then you're missing out on the richness of the content you're creating. And so while we love podcasting, and we're guilty of this too, and call us out on this, if you go so fast, you don't even have the opportunity to show all the great things that are happening, that so we're trying to challenge you, as you kind of lean into this, think of just how rich of media you're creating. And think about the ways that you can really get the most benefit out of it, you know, in the same way you can syndicate in your report, or you can syndicate anything that you're producing. If you break it up into small bite sized pieces that could really point people back to your mission all the time, or whatever the call to action is.

I just think about syndication as being one of the most low hanging fruit opportunities that exist within podcasting. And I think about it in the sense of a small shop. Think about if you're a small shop, and you do, let's just say like a five part series on an upcoming campaign or something specific that you're fundraising for, think about the richness of that content, you could play a clip at your Gala, you could pull that clip into socials, you could pull it into your email newsletter, you could take the content, and I'm talking about the text of the transcript and pull that into talking points, there is so much there that can be gleaned in this as one of those working smarter, not harder hacks that we have. And we really want to encourage you to just make your life easier. When you turn that microphone on, you're getting so much content, use it people that are connected to your mission, they want to know what you have to say they want to know where your guest is pointing and how they can be activated. Yes, it's going to ban build brand awareness, but it's going to do so much more. And that is the power that we are finding in podcasting. And I can tell you right now, what you're hearing and seeing from we're for Good is just an nth of what we think we could create. But at the end of the day, we're only three people, we're three bodies, we're trying to flex it as much as we can, but just get smart with the way that you can work around these hacks and implement them and feed them to your donors, your rabid fans, your believers, because that is going to endear them to your mission. And that's going to bring them along on this journey more.

So if you want to dive into the whole idea of syndication, we put together a workshop and that's all going to be at the WWE podcast for good.com website and you can take it it's about a 45 minute class with worksheets so you're going to get you know some good jumpstart if you want to take into that. Okay, as we start to round out today's conversation, I want to lift one of our favorite people, Virginia, almond Erez, she's in the we're for good community and really encouraging there, she asked, What's the best platform to podcast on? And does it need to be produced? Like edited music, the whole shebang? And does each episode need a call to action to donate such good questions? What do you think?

Oh, my gosh, Virginia is in podcasting mode. Hello, my friend. Thank you for this question.

Hi, Virginia. So two platforms that we use Buzzsprout is for our plan about $36 a month and that hosts all of the audio files. So it's pretty wonderful. Once the audio is edited, I upload it to Buzzsprout and then it posts it to Apple to Spotify to Audible all the things for me. So you have to have a podcast hosting site as part of your podcast. So we love using Buzzsprout for that. And then our recording platform we love is Riverside FM records, audio video, you can create social media video clips, all from the same studio. So those To go to platforms that we absolutely love.

And so then the question about producing I mean, this is up to you, it kind of depends on what your goal is. I mean, the, the platform works well as raw, you know, conversations. But of course, editing out just some oohs and ahhs, and this is if you ever meet us in real life compared to how we sound on the podcasts, you'll realize that we do say, a lot more. Julie kicks that, Julie, which is really nice. But I mean, I think it's up to you. I mean, the structure of our show necessitated having music, we like to play it behind the ads or to create a mood at some point. And I think those, you know, raise the bar, but I don't think it's a necessary thing comes back to what's your goal, and what do you have the bandwidth to do? If you are using music, I would recommend audio. And that's spelt with two eyes, audio, and they have royalty free music. So you pay once and you can use it. And you don't have to worry about getting sued, which I always think is a strong proponent to do so. They had some really nice, beautiful kind of underlying music that is easy to use.

This is the dancer in me, but I love adding music to add adding music to our intro, I just think it takes your production value up a whole level. And it really is super easy to add a song in using audio.

And again, you're creating an experience. And when you give your podcast a vibe, I mean it not only does it up the experience, but it just adds layers to your story. And that's what we're really trying to do is to get into those details, humanize and make sure that people understand that this is a place where you can come to get inspired, get information. You know, have fun, we want you to have fun with podcasting because we have a blast doing it. But in terms of your last question, Does each episode need a call to action to donate? I wouldn't say that donate is the call to action that you need to employ every single time because if all your listeners is hearing his donate, then it just makes it really hard to connect every single time because people may not be able to donate every single time. But I would say a call to action is great pointing to your website, you know, have them sign up as a volunteer, have them go to your social channels for more information. If you're trying to fundraise. Yeah, definitely let them know about a ways to give. But I think there are other ways that they can do other things like share the episode and their network. They can go and leave you a podcast rating and review that will help other people find you. So lots of opportunities on your CTA, I would say yes, you can definitely ask them to donate but cast your vision just a little bit bigger, so everyone can get involved in sort of the democratic process of trying to elevate that conversation.

Okay, so we've obviously given you a lot, and I think I've dropped this URL a couple different times. But I don't want you to miss going to WWE podcast for good, calm. It's where all the resources are round it up. But let's tease one more thing. We want to create a boot camp for you. And we are in the planning and kind of you know, fleshing out some of the topics right now. So this is why it's so important for you to share your voice and your questions, because we want to help equip you and go to the next step. So by joining the mailing list on our site that just dropped, you'll be the first to know whenever this boot camp goes live, and we want to build this in lockstep with you. Because you don't, we don't want you to feel alone and is a really fun journey that has so many positive impacts not only for your mission, but for you personally, I mean, it's been like one of the best professional development activities for all three of us. And so I think inviting you on that journey is something that you don't want to miss. So stick around for the boot camp to come. We're really excited to launch this to our community soon.

Oh, this makes me feel so dreamy that there could be so many missions in wonderful causes that are going to explode into this medium right now. I'm just think the world is waiting to hear about what your mission is doing to change whether it's your community to change a person to change, you know, a negative outcome. People are looking for your mission. There's such an opportunity here. If you can be courageous enough to try something new. We're going to tell you it is one of the most incredible things we have ever done. We have made incredible friends around the world we have diversified our thinking. We have grown our hearts and our heads. It is incredible. Just opportunity. Please dive in. And Julie, give us one last pro tip to just like round us out here.

Yeah, so my one for this episode. And it's something that I constantly think about even 250 episodes later is I always think about how intimidating interviews can be. And so I always just remind myself in the prep work, and even to encourage you as you're building your podcast and setting all these goals and implementing all these plans. Just remember that as much information as you can provide your guests that are joining you. And the more comfortable that you make them feel the better end product you're going to have. So just be human. The whole point of podcasting is to be human to have really organic conversations. So just be as comfortable, prepared and respectful as you can be. And a lot of that comes with this prep work that we're talking about. So that's my pro tip. Just remember how intimidating and vulnerable interviews can be. And just take that fear away from anyone who's involved with your podcast.

That was like such a big pro tip.

Yeah, well So you have your structure. You know how to build your podcast Tune in next week, because we're going to teach you how to launch it. And I will tell you, we fail forward. As we were learning how to launch we're going to share our launch journey. But we're really humbled to reach number one in the nonprofit podcasting category when we launched and we want to share all of those pro tips with you because we want your mission to take off in the exact same thing

yet this friends for written for you. Thanks for joining us. Today's episode was brought to you by our good friends at auth zero. Without zero your nonprofit can do more with a login box. Greet prospects and rabid fans of your mission with authenticity simply make it easier for your team to manage data. There's so much at Oxy real login experience can do. Is it off zero.org For more info

if you enjoyed this episode, we know you'll love being part of the we're for good community. It's like our own social network where you can find like minded friends, ask questions, share resources and find inspiration anytime. Sign up today at we are for good.com backslash hello

thanks friends