300 - Creating a Signature Style for Your Podcast

0:03 Good morning podcasting morning chat. Today is Thursday, May 8th, 2025, and today we're talking about what each of us do differently in our podcast. We'll also be answering a question from one of our viewers and discussing your podcast having a signature style. So if you're listening live on Clubhouse, hit the share button in the bottom left hand side of your screen and share it. However, Clubhouse allows you to. And if you're listening via podcast, please share with a fellow podcaster. Now give us 30 seconds to get things rolling. Good morning, everybody.

1:25 How's everybody doing this morning? My name is Jonathan Howard and I'm filling in for Mark because he's out gallivanting in Spain this week, so hopefully he's having a good time. And on stage with me is producer Ashley Feller. Dan, I know I'm not going to say your last name correctly, so I'm not going to try DDR. Faye, Sid Meadows and Nick Nalbeck. Thank you guys for being here this morning. So this morning we're going to talk a little bit about Signature Silent, what we each have differently, what we each do differently on our podcast. But I want to have actually Mark kick it off. And since he's not here, we're going to do that with a clip. So Dan, if you have that clip. That's something I know when I started my business, when I started Ironic Media, you know, the the logo was such a thing in my head, right?

2:14 And Fast forward now, almost five years into it, and I couldn't tell you how it, if any people that follow me really would identify with my logo these days, right? Because because social media these these days, it's more about your face. It's about the person behind. The logo right yeah. Do you agree with the human? I absolutely agree with that. I think that people want and IA whole other thing. But I mean, I run a virtual mini con every year called humanize your brand because it is it's about the human connection. If there's one thing social media has done really well, which is, you know, the importance of the human side of connecting with people via their face. Haven't talked to them all that.

2:56 And so when we come, when we talk about like your brand, the things that really make up your brand are what are your values as a human being? Really just that, what are your values as a human? Yeah, absolutely. I, I love that clip because it does talk a lot about the human and how important the human is in our brand. And when we, when we're focusing on our signature style and what we do differently, it's all about who we are and how we show up. Because if we show up like everybody else, and I always say this, then you're going to look like everybody else and you're not going to get seen. But Dr. you got something you want to add? Yeah. I just want to add very quickly that that clip was of Mark actually interviewing Chris.

3:42 I'm going to mess up the last name Baglio I think, and that is from an interview that will be out in long form very soon. Thank you, Dr. Yep, awesome. Before we get too far into signature style, I want to talk a little bit more about what each of us do differently in our podcast because that's going to be some of the basis of your signature style. And I see that Amanda Sharp has joined us on stage, as well as Alex Baelish. So great timing for the icebreaker question, which is what do you do on your podcast that you think is unique or even crazy?

4:22 So what's something that you do on your podcast that you think is unique or even crazy? And Ashley's got her hand up, so I'm going to throw it over to Ashley. Start us off. Thanks Jonathan. I don't know if this is crazy, maybe it is, but I record my interviews outside in the hot Florida weather in May. It's like 90°. OK, that's crazy. That is absolutely, certifiably crazy. I'm going to agree with that. It's crazy, but it obviously is a key element of your podcast and something that people would probably recognize right away. So, and that's a good thing. Amanda's throwing her hand up in the air. Good morning, everyone, and thanks, Jonathan, for leaving this room. I don't know that it's crazy, but it's a little different. We go live every Monday, and that live aspect is not something that everyone's willing to do, capable of doing or wants, like just wants to do it all. So I feel like that's a little unique, not necessarily crazy, but just a little special.

5:24 Yes, I think that's crazy. I'm talking a little bit crazy and it definitely comes with challenges, I'll admit that, but it is a lot of fun. Yeah. Have you there ever been any, I don't know, screw ups, any kind of mess ups for online, like not hitting the go live button? Absolutely, Dr. I. Was going to say, I think that's a rhetorical question because Amanda's involved. Amen, Amen. If it can. That's why Chris is in charge of the controls every single day. And the one day that I was and and Mark incidentally was a guest just him and I, I did not hit the go live and boy did we have an amazing 15 minutes that only each other heard.

6:12 But it was amazing. I remember that episode. Those are also the things that make our podcasts unique in and of themselves, so I love that. I saw Nick was throwing his hand up I think. Hey, good morning everybody. So with the 95 podcast, I after a certain point, I can't remember what episode I started doing it, but I had gotten those pod deck questions that Travis Brown created the pod deck brand. And I started a segment at the beginning of my show is kind of like a little ice breaker to the show where I do some rapid fire questions with the guests at the beginning of the show to kind of like help calm the nerves. And it that was always a fun little segment because the cards were chosen at random. The questions could be very mild to slightly absurd. So it was kind of a a fun way to break the ice with the guests and start having fun right out of the gate before I actually get into some of the interview stuff. So that was I always enjoyed it and I know the guests seem to enjoy it for the most part, unless we had a really awkward question that came through, but it was a fun way to kind of kick off the show.

7:19 Of that that definitely free flowing and get it'll get the nerves out. Absolutely. All right, Dan or Sid or Dr. and Dr., you're not getting out of this. So Alex had his hand. Alex had his hand up first. He had his hand up. Yeah. All right, Alex, go ahead and throw it to Sid. All right, so we did 2 back-to-back episodes live and we were on the air for like 4 hours. It was a season finale. And what we had was we had a couple of guests before the the episode dropped and then we had a wrap up and yeah, that that wasn't crazy. It was just stupid. It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed doing it. It didn't even seem like it was that long, but it was yeah, I was done after that. I slept well that night and it was at it. We started at like 8:00 at night and then we ended at whatever that four hours was, so.

8:15 Holy midnight hour. Wow, that is definitely. I'm. I'm sure you were glad it was live so it didn't need to be edited. Yeah, because man. Yeah, we don't edit now I say I, I, I learned that unless something major happens when I put it on the audio podcast, yeah, it's so much better going live because anything goes. Anything goes, just roll with it. All right, Sid. So some of you will think this a good morning everybody. By the way, some of you may think this is crazy. It's not necessarily like in the show that I do it, but I do not with rare exceptions, I mean like really rare exceptions. I do not give the guest a list of questions that I'm going to ask them because I want I want it to be a true conversation.

9:02 And when you're meeting somebody for coffee, you don't give them questions beforehand that you're going to ask them to have coffee. So I don't hand out questions beforehand because I just want us to have a real conversation. And I know some podcasters will think that's absolutely crazy. I don't do it either though, Sid, I actually prefer it that way. It makes it more natural and a little bit more fun for me at the very least. I think it's crazy. I know you think it's crazy. I'll tell you right now, Sid. That is, that's the best thing because I had to do something where I had to give the questions and it you don't know where the conversation is going to go and you know what the follow-ups are going to be. I've only done it once and the only reason we had to do it was because it was a kid actor and the parents were being create me actually twice. It was almost unreasonable.

9:49 That's the only way to do it. Well, to me it doesn't feel natural, right? It just doesn't feel natural. Like the conversation can't just blow. And the one time that I did do it and give the guest is in plural the questions, the very first question, one of the guests sitting next to me couldn't answer it. And I mean, sitting next to me on this stage couldn't answer the question. He got all stumbled up right, Nick? OK. That was a tough question to start the show. I was not perfect to that. Maybe you need to vet. Your guests a little bit. Better. Yes, that's on you it. Was a tough question, Nick. I mean, the question was what is AI and Nick like totally dropped the ball so. That's like saying what is the cloud? No one really has a legit answer for it, it's just there. Got to love that, Nick.

10:42 I didn't stumble on the first questions you'd asked me, so I don't know what your problem is. Dr. What? What is it going to be? What is it going to be? It's not weird. Well, it might be a little bit. My episodes will open with an old fashioned telephone ring and then the sound of me picking up the telephone and like an old fashioned message machine where you get, you know, all the gnarly kind of EQ sound that goes with it. And it's someone asking a question about their podcast. So that's what it will open with.

11:22 Wait, wait, is that what the podcast is? Yeah, Oh, oh, Ashley, you're going to have fun editing the show today. Wait, VRVRI, have a question? What? Is that your podcast? It will. Be oh, it will be. Oh, OK, I thought. Oh, OK. I just want to make sure. It's going to happen. Ashley Cut, cut, cut. Snip, snip, snip. OK. Ashley, make sure you cut all that out. Keep Dr. safe from Alex. No, thank you guys all for answering that. I will say that for me in my new one, you'll have to wait and see. I'm not going to give that out. But in our current podcast, myself and Mimi have a little banter at the beginning where we kind of go over different things. And it's always it, we always, you know, cheers our coffee and any guests cheers their coffee.

12:13 But and we just talk a little bit about whatever's going on. And it's a little bit it's modeled after morning talk show really, and we have a little bit of fun with it. So that's what we do a little bit differently than others and enjoy doing. So what why I wanted to ask this question today was because when you're creating a podcast, you want to have certain things that you're going to do differently that are going to make you stand out and that you can really use in your podcast to market your podcast as something different from everybody else. Because if you're just following what everybody else is doing, you're going to blend in. And I don't want any of you blending in because you've got too much really useful information to get out into the world. So I'm going to talk in a little bit about the five components of your signature style.

13:00 But I first want to go because I believe, yes, she is in the in the building. Kate had asked a question on Monday, I believe, and we made her wait all the way till Thursday to answer it. We thought we were going to answer it the next day. Our mistake. But you can clarify that, Jonathan, and say this kid thought that you were going to answer the next day, but I didn't look at the schedule appropriately to realize that you were five days later. And I agreed at that time, I'm like, sure, I'm doing a Tuesday, whatever. So I want to answer Kate's question and she had a question about and everybody can kind of pitch in on this one. Do you have have to have a separate Instagram and YouTube account for your podcast? So the answer I center was it depends. I'll go last because I have strong feelings on this one way or the other.

13:52 But Sid, go ahead. So I have a separate YouTube account for my podcast. Now I need to be very clear that I do not give it any love. I don't pay any attention to it. It gets about 20 downloads a week. I'm not out there trying to promote YouTube listening and I know that can be a whole another conversation. Maybe I'm missing the boat, who knows right? But it's not my preferred platform. So. But I do have a separate one. I do not have a separate Instagram account for my podcasts. However. I wish I did and right now I just don't have the bandwidth to actually start it and keep up with it. But I wish I did have a separate Instagram for my podcast all.

14:34 Right, Nick, go ahead. I agree with you, Jonathan, on the IT depends side of things because I could see if your podcast is kind of wrapped up in a personal brand and it is your personal brand that's getting put out there. It's on the podcast, it's part of your Instagram, it's part of all of your socials. Like you are living your brand. I think that you wouldn't need a separate Instagram account. Now if it was something where it's a totally different brand that you had created that's not necessarily in the same space as your personal brand. As I'm thinking about that, I'm struggling to see how it would totally make sense.

15:19 But basically if your, if your brand is separate from your personal brand and your podcast is kind of more in that brand, I think having a new Instagram account that's not connected would make sense to me because you can still cross promote. But at the same time, your personal brand is going to be for your personal brand and stuff. And your business brand, I'll call it, is going to be more business oriented. I don't know if that's a really clear answer, but that's the answer I got. All right. And Sid, Sid wants to go out and talk on say something else as well. Go ahead, Sid. So I have a question not necessarily common. I have a question, Is there really a true separation slash delineation between your brand and your podcasts? If I did, and the part of the reason why I don't have anything separated is because it's all me, right? And I think it blends personal and professional, but I also like I don't have a separate website for my podcast. It's at my personal website, sothatsidmeadows.com/podcast. So I think if I were going to go and have the podcast be all separate, it would need its own website, its own IG, its own LinkedIn, right?

16:30 It does have its own YouTube. But so but, but, but my question about what Nick said was more about, I think, I think the lines blur between your brand and your podcast. So I wonder if it's really, is it really need to be separate? I guess kind of a random question I think. As you were saying that, something kind of came to me like I feel like the difference between a personal brand and we'll just call it like a a general brand. To me, the personal brand is going to be something that is probably going to be hard to sell down the road because people that are buying into the personal brand, they're buying into it because of the person. A more general business or a more general brand might be something that you have an exit strategy or there is the potential that it's not necessarily tied to Sid Meadows, but it is a brand that exists out there that you own, that down the road someone might buy that brand and they don't have to worry about, Oh well, Sid's face and name and everything is tied to this brand.

17:32 It's like looking at any other big brand. Look at Nike, you don't associate Nike with the CEO of Nike, but if Nike came out with a podcast, they're going to put it under the Nike umbrella. Now, the CEO of Nike could have his own personal brand, he could have his own things that he's doing on the side, and maybe he has his own podcast where he talks about starting the brand and all this kind of stuff. But to me, there they are two separate things. People are either paying attention to who the person is or they're paying attention to who the brand is. I think that's where the difference lies. Nick, have you ever looked up who the owner of Nike, CEO of Nike is and see who if he has more followers than his brand?

18:13 I have not. That was a brand I just kind of pulled out of the top of my head. So that's where it gets a little tricky though, because in most cases the person has a lot more followers than the brand. So do you want to do a separate podcast that isn't directly connected to the person? Because the personal might get you more reach. So that's why I play around with it and it depends. So what I would say, unless anybody else wants to go good, OK. So what I would say to Kate is it honestly depends on if she can pair the content that she's talking about in with her regular post. So if her business and her podcast both talk about creativity, then she would be able to find at least one pillar that she can dedicated to what she's doing on her podcast. So that every whatever the rotation is, maybe three to four days or five to seven days, whatever she wants to do. One of the pillars is her podcast and she talks about her podcast once a week or so.

19:15 And that will she'd mix that in with a regular content and that would work. Now our podcast coffee social, because it's the two of us has its own separate page. That's OK, except for the fact that it's a lot of work. It's a whole other Instagram to manage. It's a whole other YouTube to manage. So if you can pair it in with your personal brand in a way that flows smoothly, I think it makes sense to do that. Personal brand is always going to get more than a brand brand or a, you know, product in and of itself. So it's people like and connect with people. So that's an option for for you. Kate, Hopefully that gives you some insight. And I see Dr. has her hand up.

19:57 So let's go over to DRI. Have a question for you, Jonathan? So my business name is Matthew Broad Media. As a producer, as a podcast consultant, my podcast name will be I have two, I have two episodes out. So is podcast help desk. I had planned to put a tab on mouthy broad media.com. Sorry, it sounds like I'm plugging everything. I don't need to do that. As for a podcast tab, because, you know, one of the reasons why I'm doing my podcast is to get clients. So are you saying that perhaps I should have a separate web page for my podcast or a website for my podcast? Sid, you're throwing your hand up on that one, and so is Nick. I'm going to say yes, DRI know you didn't ask me the question. Yes, Jonathan, he may have a different opinion, but I'm going to say yes.

20:55 Yet your podcast help desk needs everything about it to be separate and the reason be and you can say a production of mouth abroad media or brought to you by mouth abroad Media, right. But people when they're searching about podcasting, they're not searching mouth Abroad media. They're searching how do I start a podcast? How can I get help for my podcast right? And if you do what if you do it the right way, then your website, your podcast will start to come up in SEO searches and you're going to start to get discovered for your podcast and providing help. And then it's inside your podcast, you say something about mouthy broad media. And what we do is help podcasters while you, you, you advertise on your own show, then you'll be able to, I think drive customers to your business.

21:48 So I think it should be separate just for the SEO aspect. So, Nick. I am going to agree and disagree with Sid. I think from the SEO side point, he's 100% right. Like you want to show up as the podcast, you want to be showing up as the podcast help desk. But that can still happen within mouthy broad media. One of the things I did excited a very similar thing VR is I bought the domain for 95 podcast. The brand itself that it was under was 95 freedom, So it it was in alignment, but still it was it was different. And what I did with every single one of my episodes one because 95 to freedom is a very lengthy domain to spit out on a show.

22:34 I redirected 95 podcasts to 95 to Freedom for every single one of my episodes. I had an episode to redirect for every single one. So when I ended the show, I could say, do you want to check out show notes? Go to 95podcast.com/episode 3, whatever. It's a lot less mouthful. Now where you kind of have an advantage SEO wise is you can control what is showing up in the search engines. So you might think, OK, if it's on mouthy broad media and someone's going to land on podcast help desk episode #3 you can change the title of what shows up in Google search to where it says podcast help desk forward slash episode 3 or whatever the episode title is.

23:18 So you still have control over that. And you can still rank for keywords and get relevant search results or show up in relevant search results with it under that brand. I feel like it's a you'd be a lot to manage unless you did like a pod page thing. But I, I don't know I I feel like the podpage.com/whatever can hurt you a little bit SEO wise compared to just having it as a stand alone URL. But I I think you can do it either way. You might get a little bit more SEO boost knowing the routes it went just because it is straight across the board podcast help desk, but you can still pull it off and you can still make it effective for people searching.

24:03 Thank you and I saw that. Alex and Alex and Dan both had their hands up, so we'll go Alex and Dan. Yeah, I'm in next camp in terms of buy the domain and just redirect it and then kind of hybrid have a page within your site that's your podcast just to make it easier to manage. I'm just thinking of the managing part of it. I just think that's the easiest way to go. But if you want to do a whole separate website and everything, that's the perfect way to go. It's just a lot more work. Like Nick said, the bottom line is how bulky do you want to have your endings or how to get in touch with you, you know? So that's what really comes down to.

24:44 And Dan, pretty you? Hey, yes, thank you. Hopefully you can hear me OK driving to school. I, I love this conversation and I want to draw some parallels really quickly. We started with talking about the CEO of Nike. And no, I haven't looked him up to clarify upfront, but my guess is not only is he the CEO of Nike, but he probably is a board member to several other things. He probably has some other things going on in his life as well aside from Nike. And, you know, he's drawing a line to the things that he's involved in through his own account. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. If you look at Cliff Ravens Craft as another example, if you go look up most of the work that he's done, it will draw you back to cliffravenscraft.com.

25:32 He's the face of all of the things that he's doing. He does not have. He might have some separate websites that have been built over time, but most of those lead back to Chris Ravens Craft, Cliff Ravens craft.com. And in fact, you've just this conversation has just led me to, I have a separate Instagram page and I have no idea why. It's way more than I want to deal with. And I'm going to bring those back full circle to these are the things that I'm working on. I'm a board member for the Cocoa Beach Main Street. I'm a partner in a surf company and I have this podcast and these are the things that I'm doing. And by the way, to your point earlier, Jonathan, thank you. It is in alignment with me.

26:18 My mission that I'm on is the the podcast that I'm, you know, producing and it aligns with all the other things that I'm doing. So I love that. And Dr. for you, I think the simple advice would be draw it all back to you. You are the face of those brands and you can separate them at any point. It might be difficult if it grows to a point where somebody wants to purchase one of those brands from you, but you are the face of it. I appreciate that. I'll tell you what one of my clients does. She has her great big old splashy website and it's gorgeous, but she has a banner on top on the very top that has her podcast that you can just click on and hear her podcast right from her website.

27:06 But also that's on her website right in front of you is do you want to work with me? I have a, you know, a launch lab coming up. I have a community. So all of these things that she has, you know, work wise that bring in a paycheck for her are all right there and then this banner right up on top that's playing her podcast as well. So Dr. Now that everybody else gave you their advice, I'm going to give you mine, which would be to do your website separate, but to do your social media as on one profile and do it under your name because you're in the face of the brand. So Dr. Not mouthy, Broad not. I would, yeah.

27:49 I would go under Dr. And that's another problem. Let's talk about that problem for a second. Because Facebook does not allow initials, I have tried for years to try to get them to change my name from Diane Rommel, which I established many, many, many years before I came up with Mouthy Broad or, you know, they just wouldn't give me any kind of Dr. You know, that's what I've been going for the for the past 50 years, for God's sake. So I don't when people see Diane Rommel, they're not going to know. Have to do it as a personal page, you should do it as a business page and you can use initials there because I know I did JRH Graphics when I was operating under my graphics business. God, I I hardly my business Facebook pages, so I have to blow the desktop of it.

28:47 It's just a placeholder, so I don't know, yeah. So I would, but I would do, I really honestly think that under your name is and you can talk about it being, you know, mouthy broad as your brand, you can do, but you're the face of it. So I would do it as you and and that's kind of the same advice I would give to Kate if she can make it happen, because then you can not have to have three different pages. And that's all because three different pages is a lot of work, like a lot of work. Think about how much you do for one, say Instagram page a week if you've got three.

29:27 Yeah, it's a lot so, but that's what I that's kind of what I would say to both you and Kate is if you can get it under the brand, personal brand, I would do that. OK. Thank you. I have a question to that. I'm going to challenge it a little bit, but more of a question. So when Dr. was talking about her client, I really liked the idea that if her clients are on her website listening to the podcast, they don't have to click or go anywhere else to say, I want to work with Dr. Where if they if you had a link pointing to a new page that says mouthy broad media and someone lands on it, they might be like, wait a minute, what? How am I here now? Right. And that's why she did it. And she's getting, I mean, I can't, but I at first I was like, you know, no one sees that. I don't understand why it's this little strip up there, but analytics are telling us that people are playing her podcast on her website.

30:22 To me, seeing that the brand is so like you're using the podcast as a means to promote the brand, it makes even more sense to me that it would be one play just because you're not having to take anybody anywhere else. They're already where you get them to be. Exactly, that's that was my I was leaning towards putting the the banner up just like my client does, but make making it a bigger banner. It's hers is kind of thin, but that's what I was going to do. This may be a question for somebody who does web design, but wouldn't she be able to have it actually have its own sub domain underneath her domain and have it be an individual stand alone under on that sub domain that just clicks writing?

31:09 Yeah. OK. That might be a little, yeah. That's a little aside for me, so I don't know what that means. We are going to ChatGPT and ask yeah how do I set up a sub domain? OK, thank. You it'll help you out with can. I can I chime in really quickly before I run in to take this final? Absolutely, and good luck on your final. Well, thanks. I just wanted to say that Dr. For your personal Facebook, couldn't you just add parentheses, Dr. in there, as a lot of people do, their married, married and or whatever you call it, maiden names? Oh, I'll try that.

31:50 I will try that. Yeah. Thank you all. Right. Well, Kate is still down there. She's listening to this, all of this. So Kate, did we answer your question? Hopefully we did. Feel free to come up or give us a thumbs up if you're listening. I'll look for that. All right, so I want to talk since I said I was going to talk about signature style. And these are the things that you do differently than everybody else. It's the stuff that makes you you. It gives your podcast the vibe that it has, and it's more than just, you know, the fancy cover auditor, the fun theme music, although they help, it's more than just that. It's the whole package.

32:30 It's everything that you do in your podcast, what people feel when they listen to your podcast. That's what signature Style is and it contains a bunch of components and I can get all technical with you and you'll get bored. So I'm not going to do that, but I want to talk a little bit about, you know, what they are, so you understand them and then a couple different aspects of each. So first one is your content. Your content obviously sets your signature style because it's what you talk about, how you talk about it and how you're showing up with that particular content. It's pretty easy. Next one, and yes, this even matters for audio podcasts only are your visuals because your visuals say a lot about you and what you're doing.

33:16 So if it's just your podcast art or your episode art or your covers on YouTube, if you're doing YouTube, those all matter. Those will inform people what your podcast is about and whether it's going to be an upbeat podcast or a serious and somewhat boring podcast or whatever it is you want to do. Your personality needs to be in all of these pieces because the personality is the overarching thing in in your signature style, the most important. So you should see your podcast cover art and go, Oh, that's, that's totally me. And people should see your podcast cover art and go, Oh my God, that's Dr. Oh my God, I totally want to listen to that.

33:57 That's Sid. It's got his yellow. I know it's Sid. We're good. So those little things matter and they seem tiny and not important. But what I want to say is your personality. So what is it? What's the most important part of your personality that you want people to see? How can you make that visually there as well as obviously in your podcast, you're going to do things, say things that you only do. So those are going to be part of your personality in that. I think I said visuals, content, visuals. I said personality stories. The stories you tell, they really wrap into that personality, but the thing with that is you need your stories that you tell your personality.

34:41 That also encompasses your values. Your values are really important. How you show up is based on those values. And then finally, the strategies that you use to get your podcast out to engage your audience, all of that is part of your signature style. You could do something completely off the wall to engage your audience, and that's part of your signature style and part of who you are and how you're showing up. So that's really an important aspect. But what is it that's going to make people remember you no matter what? What is the unmistakable you thing? That's part of your podcast. And when you figure that out, that gives your your podcast a whole vibe, a whole feeling.

35:22 So for Ashley, it's that Ashley records those outside in the heat of Florida. She's recording her podcast outside with her guest. She's interviewing people probably in a semi crowded public space, so there's probably going to be some of the noise in the background that the ambient noise that people are going to find interesting and engaging and wondering what's going on. Go ahead, Ashley. I was just going to say that it is somewhat crowded, but a lot of the background noise is actually people playing music. A lot of the times I interview folks in my campsite and right next door there'll be some people playing music acoustically next door. So when you listen to my show, you can hear real live music behind us. Which is awesome because that's not something that everybody hears on their on a podcast.

36:07 So, and it also creates another layer of interest, which is really something that's important when you're wanting to keep people listening for a long time. We know we do short form video, We all do short form video. And we know we got to do like we got every 4 seconds. We got to do something quick. We got to do something that engages people. The live music and background actually is doing the job for Ashley. It keeps people listening longer. I can almost 100% guarantee that because it's something else to listen to, just like in our backgrounds, in our podcast studios, if we're doing visual podcast, we should have some interesting things for them to look at in our background, some things that are going to draw their attention because that's the stuff that keeps them watching longer.

36:51 And we want them to watch as long as possible. So it shouldn't be distracting, but it should be representative of who you are and there should be some interesting things for them to see. So again, it's all about becoming instantly recognizable. So people are like, Oh my God, I love that. That's that's Ashley and she's amazing as soon as they hear the start of a podcast. So I'm going to throw it out there. What are some things I know I asked you, what are some things you are currently doing differently, but maybe what is something that you think you could adapt in your podcast to make it even more of a signature element? Is there anybody have anything Nick has to run?

37:32 All right. That's not something you can do in your podcast though, but I'll see you later, Ashley. So I'm thinking of adding this other element. You know, I play music myself and almost everyone that I interview on my podcast, I already have a report with them playing music or just being friends in the Florida folk scene. We tried this recently where we recorded a separate video of me and the guests performing one of her original songs together right there on the Swanee River. And I'm thinking about trying that again, but instead this time because I'm trying to float more to a video style podcast in addition to audio, instead of making that song that I performed with them separate actually like making it a segment of the podcast. I was thinking about doing that.

38:20 I love that idea. I think that's a great idea. Could be very a very unique aspect that you you do anybody else Sid or Alex. So I've been thinking about this as you're talking something and I'm struggling to figure out that one component I can add to it. I do an ending that, you know, I've seen the most people know, which is very similar to Marks. And my ending is go out there and make today great and we'll see you again in a couple of weeks. That's my ending, right? I say that every episode, but from a, you know, a beginning aspect. Yeah, I don't know yet. I'm it's something I got to ponder. I love music in the background of shows.

39:03 If it's soft enough where it's not distracting, right? That might be something that to be kind of cool and if different and unique, right, for my show. But it's something I certainly need to ponder more about. Yeah, absolutely. And it doesn't have to be a specific, you know, it can be an audio element, it can be a visual element, it can be any element that you want to include in it. Just something that is like, oh, that's it something that you can use in your social media as well. Would you be even more awesome? So if you've got that thing that you can crossover between your social media and your, you know, my blue hat is honestly one of the thing that connects all of my brands because I always have it on when I'm, you know, public facing. So it's a quick, easy thing that identifies me. I just want to talk quickly about podcasting morning chat. So one thing that Mark does an incredible job of is the beginning of the show and of course his sign off. And those are two signature elements of the show. Like I did my best this morning to make sure I did it right. So because it's it keeps consistency, which builds trust and loyalty.

40:11 And those are two important things when you're podcasting. So really kind of diving in and. Understanding how you can do some of those things. And let me invite Kate up. She's going to tell us. We didn't answer a question. Hello, Kate, how are you? Thank you. Yeah, you guys did well. You answered the question, but I still was like, OK, so it still feels like it depends, but I so I don't really know which way I want to go, but I'm I'm I'm going to figure it out. So thank you for everyone's insights. You talk of your podcast is about creating and one of the things that you do a lot of in your coaching is kind of focus on the process of creating, right? Yeah, the podcast is all about the creative process and everyone's different creative process, whether it's podcasting, writing, music, videography, whatever. Yeah.

41:09 So I would say, I mean, obviously do what's going to feel right for you, but I would say I would start with just making your podcast a pillar in your content and seeing how that goes because it easily connects with what you're doing in your business, does it not? No, my pocket is just what I do for fun. It's not the business that I run. They're different. Yeah. But yeah, technically, yeah. But my, but my quote UN quote brand is like very personal. Like the company I run is a coaching company. So it's very personal development driven. So I feel like, I feel like all my stuff goes together. I mean, I was on your Instagram. It does go together. I was on your. Instagram Well, you're the expert, yeah. So it does go together.

41:49 So I would honestly, that's what I would do is make your podcast a pillar in your on your pay, on your Instagram and just you do that regularly. That's where I would start. If it grows and you know one or the other starts growing and and it kind of overpowers that, then maybe you do a second page. But I would stick, I would stick on your current, your current page. OK, I don't even do as much as I should on there, but I'm kind of re not revamping. Well, I guess kind of revamping like I'm tightening up the podcast and like figuring out it's different, like different segments. So it's interesting how we're talking about like the sign offs and different visuals. And, and so I, I'm definitely excited about kind of tightening everything up and like really making it more clearly defined on like who this podcast is for. And then regarding the visuals that everyone's talking about, like, I don't know, like to meet for mine. I talk a lot about creativity and I talk a lot about books and I share some of my episodes are like quotes from different books.

42:50 So I have my pot, I have my bookshelf behind me. And I do get quite a few people that will reach out and be like, I'm trying to read the books that are behind you. What are they and have you read them all and which ones are your favorite? So it does spark conversations. And then I end all of my podcasts with go create something. I say until next time, go create something. There you go. I love that. And the bookshelf in the back is perfect for you because you are creating, you do reference books a ton, so people are going to be interested in what books you have back there. So that that to me makes a lot of sense. Does anybody else want to give Kate any advice on her Instagram or otherwise?

43:32 OK, you and Dr. might want to have a conversation. Just figure out what you guys want to do and then do it. I'm sorry, what? I was just saying, Dr. and Kate, because you're both kind of in that same place with what do you do with your create whether you have Yeah, that's that was. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kate, you and I will get together. We love it. We'll figure it out. We will figure it out. Dr. Figure it out and let me know I'm doing my new podcast is just going to be part of my social media. Because here's the thing, I don't want to have to create three separate podcast post a week to post on my podcast Instagram page, plus my joint podcast Instagram page and then my own Instagram page. Like that doesn't sound fun to me. So mine is staying right in with my my content. I'm just doing one page.

44:20 So we'll see how it goes. All right, so why? And this will be the kind of last thing I'm going to talk about today. Why does podcasting signature style even matter? And there's a few reasons. 1, you want your listeners to recognize you before you even say welcome to the podcast. You want them to know that it's you and you want them to even in their podcast because believe it or not, lots of people have lots of podcasts in their podcast apps. You want them to know and see your new episode when it comes out and go, oh good, they have a new episode out. So you know it's keeping everything consistent across the board, making sure that your tone is consistent. How you're showing up is consistent because consistency is how you stick to people's brains. We want people to remember us.

45:08 Having a signature style also builds trust because having predictable style is that, you know, the, I know that it's theirs. I can trust them. They're going to give me value. They're going to help me out with my problems. So building that trust is helped out by that signature style and of course, loyalty. People aren't subscribing to your topics, they're subscribing to you. So how are you showing up? They don't care about your logo or your podcast artwork. They care about you. So you know, having that cohesive brand that's built around you and shows up in a way that feels like you, that whole vibe is super important. So making sure that you've got those things kind of figured out and remember, there's no right or wrong.

45:52 There's you. It's how you show up, not what the specifics are. And I will tell you this on social media, I'll tell you wherever there's no right or wrong, there's making sure that you're helping your audience, delivering value, and doing what works for you because there's nine million ways to do something and you're going to just go with what works for you. And of course, don't forget about your video podcasting. It should also represent in the same way and your backgrounds. And all of that is important as well. Sid Meadows, yes. So I have a question because I'm thinking about my show and one of the things that I think it might be signature style of my show is that I interview people that are doing things differently, not following the the standard norms or what the unwritten rules are. They're bucking the system and they're just being creative in the ways they grow their business. Is that part of my signature style that that's what I'm doing?

46:53 It is part of your signature style if you call it out. So if it's just happening and people aren't really aware of it, then it's not. But if you call it out and you say, you know, whatever line you want to use or if you want to do it a part of the segment that where they talk about what they do differently, then it's part of your signature style. But if it's just kind of floating there and nobody knows about it, then it's not. And that's why it's important to identify what the things are that we do differently, that we show up differently doing. Because when you identify those things, you can pull them forward and it makes them much more obvious to your audience and they'll stop when they see those things. So I'm going to use quickly the when it's on, when on social media, I talked to people about having a visual element, which is 1 item that you always have in your post in some way or another.

47:45 And it doesn't have to be in every post, but a majority of your posts. And it's an item that will get them to stop the scroll. So I had a client and she had all the stuff in her background. It was something that was normally there, but she hadn't pulled a single item forward to get them to stop the scroll. So I trained, I walked, worked with her. We decided on an item, we pulled it forward and within a month people were stopping and recognizing that and saying, Oh my God, I saw this because of your lake reset. It was she's makes bread and she has lake reset pot that was front and forward in all of her content. We're building the habits with our audience that get them to stop on our content.

48:26 So building something out Sid that talks about that one specific, you know, signature style element of your brand will help people see it and stop more often and listen that answer your question. Did that make sense? It does make sense, but now I'm scratching my head like, what the heck, Sid, what do you need to do here? It's kind of bringing up more questions, but that's OK. I mean, that's the purpose of this call, right? I just room is to have this discussion to think about how do you distinguish, you know what it is. There's one, there is one. I don't use it all the time. There is one branding element in my print stuffer in a lot of it's kind of a hexagon, a light blue hexagon pattern that is in the background of a lot of things that I do.

49:11 It's on my website, it's in the header of my website. It's on the show cards that are on the website. It's on the player cards that we just started doing this year. So that is one element, little hexagons that are kind of light blue. But I need to think more about like the Lakers say that you talked about, like what is it that I could bring forward that would get people to stop and remember? So definitely some work I need to do here. And think, you know, because you can just maybe ask a signature question about, you know, how they do things differently that will help you stand out. You could have a segment about that that will help you stand out and it gives you something different. It also gives you something different for your content to really focus in on those things because you then you don't have 9 million different topics in your content.

50:00 You focus on specific things that you talk about with every guest, just their version of what you're talking about. Well, this, this all this conversation is really appropriate because I am, you know, in the midst of thinking about season 7. What is even says season 7 going to be like what I want to do differently. And part of my research to that is I'm interviewing my listeners have a form that my listeners can fill out this link to my website. I talked about it in the episode and I've been having some one-on-one calls. I have three one-on-one calls today with listeners and have a list of five questions. And one of the questions is what element of the OR what component of the show or segment of the show do you like the best? So I'm getting some really good feedback from that. And then I'm also asking them what's the biggest challenge you have right now?

50:49 And that is a content question to inform the type of content that I want to do in Season 7. So and if it's going to change or stay the same, right? So this is appropriate as I'm thinking about What does 2026 look like for my show? Yeah, it's awesome, Sid. I love that you sit down and do that again, have your whole, your audience you're talking to. Awesome. Alex, I saw you were waving your hand. Sid, you know, one of the things that you may want to consider and you know, listening to what you're saying, you have you you want to do those like 10 minute little mini episodes that we talked about.

51:32 But what I would love you, you have a lot of wisdom and I don't know how you can do this, but at the end of the podcast, you know, if you had like 5 minutes or whatever thoughts either about the the episode or whatever else. I mean, this sounds like off the wall, but like how Jerry Springer used to have the, you know, the talk when you're looking at the camera kind of thing. I think there's a lot of value to what you have to bring and you know, you have a great perspective. I mean, that could be a good signature moment for you, whether it's in the beginning or probably at the end. That would be, I think, a lot of value to your listeners if that's something that you want to do or have considered.

52:19 I do like that Alex, and I don't know if Sid likes it, but I'd like it. You know, I think it's great. It's a great thought. I'll add it to my list of things to consider for now. I'm not going to change anything now because I've got I'm done really well in getting things pre recorded for the rest of the season. So I'm not doing anything with this season, but it's definitely things to think about for next year. Awesome, awesome. All right, well, we are reaching the top of the hour. Does anybody else have any questions or anything they want to go over before we close out today? Yeah. One other thing, I mean, I don't know if it's really a signature moment, but one of the things that we try to do and we don't, I don't do a great job of it being, you know, when you do an interview with somebody, I like to have them do like a almost like a commercial you're listening to in the beginning.

53:12 And the people that we have do it are the stars of the show. But I think it might be, it might be interesting if you do have some of your guests, whether they're famous or not. I think that might be something that might be unique to your podcast. And also they might get a kick out of it as well. I don't know. I like that idea. And Alex, again, another good idea that if you know, however you want to work that into your own podcast and do it in in a unique way that's special for you, you can absolutely do that. And before I forget, because there was one thing I was going to tell both Kate and Dr. remember that inside your podcast, you can promote your business and vice versa. So that you can do that as you're kind of working them together if you want to, so you don't have to worry about them being 2 separate.

54:05 All right, with all of that said, thank you everybody for being here. Thank you Ashley and Dr. and Sid and Alex, Amanda and Kate for coming up. I appreciate everybody being here. I hope you learned a little bit of something and until next time, make it a great day.