Susan Friedmann [00:00:00]:
Welcome to Book Marketing Mentors, the weekly podcast where you learn proven strategies, tools, ideas, and tips from the masters. Every week, I introduce you to a marketing master who will share their expertise to help you market and sell more books.
Today, my special guest is Lindsay Phillips. Lindsay is the CEO of Smooth Business Podcasting. She's a recognized expert helping authors, coaches, and thought leaders leverage their voice to grow their businesses. She specializes in optimizing and repurposing podcast content to boost visibility and authority. She's the creator of the podcast leverage system and host of Leverage Your Podcast. Passionate about helping entrepreneurs stand out, she transforms podcast interviews and videos into engaging content that drives leads, clients, and collaborations.
She's been featured on MSN, NBC, The Huffington Post, and many more. Lindsay, all the way from Toronto, Canada, it's an absolute pleasure to welcome you to the show, and thank you for being this week's guest expert and mentor.
Lyndsay Phillips [00:01:21]:
Thanks for having me. I love talking to audiences, especially those that are authors or burgeoning authors because I find many of them guest on podcast, and so there's a lot of marketing synergy there. I just love when people wanna get their voice out there and share their message.
Susan Friedmann [00:01:39]:
And I love that too. Obviously, because I've had this podcast for over 8 years, and I started it as a part of my marketing strategy to sort of get known in the space. And I tell my authors the same thing. We've talked a lot on many other episodes of being a guest on the show
Lyndsay Phillips [00:02:00]:
and how
Susan Friedmann [00:02:01]:
do you get on the show, etcetera. What I want to really delve in with you is looking at, you've been on a show, how can you leverage having that episode? What can you do with that episode? Because I know that I make this mistake many times is I don't do enough with that episode. So talk to us more about how can we leverage those opportunities.
Lyndsay Phillips [00:02:28]:
You bet. And I think part of the shift that needs to take place is the approach when it comes to podcast guesting. I just feel like a lot of guests, they rely everything on the host. They show up. They rely on them to ask the best questions. And then once it goes live, it's all up to the host on how they distribute it, how they promote it, and how they showcase it and position you. What I found is is that you're missing out on so many opportunities when you give up that sense of control. But you can take that control back and leverage it and repurpose it your own way so that you can create more authority boosting content.
Lyndsay Phillips [00:03:18]:
You can position yourself in a certain way. You can use it to attract more leads and clients. And just a way to showcase your expertise and get more credibility in the marketplace by taking that ownership back on yourself and not just relying
Susan Friedmann [00:03:39]:
on the host. Thank you for that because for many episodes, I know that guests have relied on me to promote the episode. And I can see, obviously, from numbers who does take this seriously and utilizes the episode and puts it out to their audience and those who don't. I think that's really important. And now, when people get considered as a guest for the show, they fill out a form. I ask them to commit to marketing the episode as well, which really helps. So let's get into some nitty gritty about how exactly do we this is something I know that you do really well with your clients, sort of cut, dice, and slice that episode. What do you do with it?
Lyndsay Phillips [00:04:32]:
Is it okay if I talk about it in sort of 2 stages? Oh, without a doubt. Absolutely. Okay. Sure. The first stage is really thinking about how to use it as a credibility piece and an opportunity to get even more podcast bookings or speaking on stage or invited to summits. It's funny. There's so many missed opportunities. It's like when you go to someone's LinkedIn account, their profile, if you go to their website, sometimes you won't even see mention or the episodes on either of them.
Lyndsay Phillips [00:05:06]:
But when a new podcast host or a host of a summit or event, when they go to your LinkedIn profile as an example or go to your podcast. That even in the image, you can showcase that you're a guest expert in your title, in your bio, your description. You can share that you're a guest expert, that you've been featured on xyzpod cast. And then also in that, I think it's called featured article section of LinkedIn, you've got an opportunity to obviously share a lead magnet, share a blog post, but you can share an episode that you've guested on that maybe is a little bit more high profile. So that when someone's going to your LinkedIn profile, they automatically know that you guest on podcasts. They see you as a guest expert that is sought after to speak. And then the second part of that, Susan, is publishing those episodes on your website. You can showcase them on your press page to say that you've guested on, you know, the show, that show, and the other show.
Lyndsay Phillips [00:06:27]:
But by actually publishing those episodes as a blog post on your website, it really gives you that opportunity, a, to push traffic to your website for organic traffic, but then also to showcase yourself as that sought after expert. If you need me to kind of explain what that blog post would look like, I'm happy to kinda go into more details, but wasn't sure. That would be great.
Susan Friedmann [00:06:53]:
I mean, just to give us a feel for what that would look like Yeah. Because I know that I'm guilty already as charged. You know? That's something that I personally have not taken enough advantage of. Yes. Let's talk about that further.
Lyndsay Phillips [00:07:08]:
Yeah. And I'll kinda share a story, and this has happened to me where I've guested on a podcast. When I've gone to their quote unquote show notes page or blog post, the title was kinda, like, weird. It was just based on the name of my business. It was like, I don't know, how to smooth sale through content marketing. It was super vague. And then the notes that they had, it was just my bio. It didn't entice people to listen to the episode.
Lyndsay Phillips [00:07:35]:
It didn't give a taste of what was shared in the episode. People couldn't skim. They couldn't get the time stamps or there wasn't anything to engage with. I was like, oh, my gosh. How am I gonna share this? Because it it didn't position me as an expert. Right? It wasn't really enticing. So I'm like, I'm gonna take that control back. I created my own show notes.
Lyndsay Phillips [00:07:57]:
I changed the title so it spoke more about what the topic was. And then I actually even created my own image, and I put the podcast cover art on it as well to show that I was featured in that podcast. Just like a regular blog post, I had the image. I had my show notes, bullets. Now you can use AI to create an actual blog or article from the content. You can embed the audio. If they have it on YouTube, you can embed that video onto your page. Then when someone's going to your website, they see all these posts where you've guested on all of these shows and they not only get to see the type of content that you share, they see and hear you in action.
Lyndsay Phillips [00:08:44]:
But it's just that automatic credibility, so you get that trust factor right off the bat. That is, like, one of my key foundational pieces within my podcast leverage system is that creating your own content from that and publishing it on your website. Super
Susan Friedmann [00:09:00]:
important. Yes. And thank you for segue into your podcast leverage system because I was curious about that. I was like, so you've given us this one point. What else what else do we need to know about that system that would be helpful?
Lyndsay Phillips [00:09:15]:
Yeah. Thanks for asking. The part that I love the most about the podcast leverage system is the multiply part, which is the 4th part. That's where you really get to repurpose that long form piece of content so that you can create more authority boosting content and be in control about how you're positioned and what action you're asking your audience to take. And I'll I'll give some examples. When you're in an episode or when you're recording and being interviewed, you're sharing a ton of great tips. Right? So example, right here, I talked about how to set up a blog post when you guess on a podcast. I could take that video and create a real YouTube short, whatever you wanna call them, or create a square video for that matter, and pull that little piece out and just share that one nugget.
Lyndsay Phillips [00:10:11]:
It's really great micro consumable content that can go on social media that is just I always call it like a little snackable bite. Right? Some people don't always wanna read the whole article. They don't necessarily go to the whole episode, but you still wanna share that you're an expert and giving them that little nugget. And the beauty about this, Susan, is that YouTube shorts and Facebook reels and Instagram reels, they actually get you in front of an audience that isn't already following you. So it's a quick and easy way to boost your visibility and get your name and your business in front of more people.
Susan Friedmann [00:10:52]:
That is dynamite information. Now the challenges, and I know you and I've discussed it, many people like myself do audio only.
Lyndsay Phillips [00:11:02]:
Right.
Susan Friedmann [00:11:02]:
What would be your recommendation there?
Lyndsay Phillips [00:11:05]:
That's a great question because yeah. I mean, you can still do reels and shorts, but they're more called audiograms. It's almost like a static image with, like, an audio wave that goes across, and then there's the captions of the words. Because as you know, when people are scrolling through social media, sometimes they don't always hit the unmute button to listen, but they can quickly scan those words of the captions to digest that information. But you could also take that content that is in that episode and repurpose it. So repurpose it is another step in my podcast leverage system. You could actually go, okay. I know in this episode, I talked about how to create a blog post and set it up on your website when you're guesting on a podcast.
Lyndsay Phillips [00:11:57]:
I could quickly hop on Zoom and record a really short video just about that piece and then put it up on YouTube or set it up as a reel. You're just rejigging the content and creating it in a different medium to share in different platforms. Because as you know, you know, some people listen, some people like to read, some people love to watch videos on YouTube. People consume information differently, so create different pieces of media so that you can be seen and heard.
Susan Friedmann [00:12:33]:
Yes. I love that idea. It is sort of taking those tips, but just expanding them in different ways, and maybe just jumping on and doing that little video, which I know you and I have talked about. There's just something about it that just scares me a little bit. I'm not quite sure what that is, but I've gotta get over myself with that one. I know that.
Lyndsay Phillips [00:12:53]:
It can be hard. I always say, like, just think about one person that you can help. It's so hard too, but I try not to compare myself to, you know, like Marie Forleo who has, like, everything super high end production. As long as you're authentic and you're sharing a good piece of information, it's like you can't go wrong. It's never gonna be perfect.
Susan Friedmann [00:13:15]:
Yeah. Exactly. And I mean, I know just from experience having done this podcast, as I say, for 8 years now, I don't even want to listen to some of those Oh, I know. Episodes. But it's evolved over the time, and I felt much more comfortable, and I can relax more with the guests, and it's much more fun. I think it's much more conversational rather than a rigid interview, which I've been on those with set questions. Everybody answers the same question. Oh.
Susan Friedmann [00:13:45]:
I'm like, okay then. I like it to be much more organic now. Yeah. Let it flow, etcetera. Our listeners love listening to common mistakes and finding out how to avoid them. Let's dig deeper into some of those mistakes that you find that people make with being both a guest on the show, and then, as you said, not making the most of the episode when it's posted?
Lyndsay Phillips [00:14:15]:
I think one of the mistakes is being really passive in showcasing how you help your clients and giving call to actions. So a lot of guests will promote the episode that they've guested on, but they push the traffic to go listen to the episode on iTunes or to listen to it on, you know, the other person's website. When you can flip that and push the traffic to say to listen to the episode and obviously point to the blog post that you have on your website. But when you are sharing any reels or quotes or carousels from the episode, don't be afraid to segue into, you know, how you help people, and I'll kinda give an example. So if I pulled out a reel talking about how to create reels from the episodes that you guest on, I could share that on social media, and then I could share and say in the post that, hey, I do this for my clients. I take their podcasts, and I create reels and create the copy that pushes to their call to action. Put reel in the comment below if you wanna have a conversation about me doing this for you, or, hey. I've got this great resource that shows you how to do this.
Lyndsay Phillips [00:15:41]:
I'll put the information below so you can check that out. Being really clear and using that content that you're hooking them with to then get them to take an action, to DM you, to raise their hand, to download your thing, to sign up for your course. And so being a little bit more direct in how you're using that content to meet your goals.
Susan Friedmann [00:16:08]:
Which is great because I know that many authors have a hard time promoting themselves, promoting their book, promoting their services because they don't want to come off as sounding too sales y. You gave us a beautiful example of just how to naturally segue into your services.
Lyndsay Phillips [00:16:31]:
And I think, again, it's part of a mindset thing. Right? It's like, if I don't give someone the information about how I can help them, or if I don't give them a resource that will make their job easier, then I'm doing them a disservice. They're listening to the piece of content or they're reading it and they're like, okay. That's a great tip. But then now what? How do I implement that? How do I do it without killing myself or trying to figure it out on my own?
Susan Friedmann [00:17:01]:
Yeah. You took the words out of my mouth because as you were doing that, I was saying, disservice, disservice. You're doing a disservice if you're not sharing your information, how you can help people. Because you're right, people want to be helped. That's part of the reason they're listening to you because they're hoping to get some solution to a challenge, a problem that they have, or just learn more about a particular subject, how they can improve themselves. Yeah. Yes.
Lyndsay Phillips [00:17:34]:
And when you think about it this way too, you're actually leaving money on the table by not doing it. By just putting out content and then hoping that someone will be curious enough to go to your website or will ask questions, you're missing out on opportunities. It's like hoping to win the lottery but not buying a ticket.
Susan Friedmann [00:17:53]:
Yes. How many times have people thought that? Well, that's a great segue into how you could help our listeners with your services, Lindsay. Talk to us more about that.
Lyndsay Phillips [00:18:07]:
Yeah. Thanks for the opportunity. I do have a great resource that shares 3 strategies to leverage and repurpose your guest interviews. It's a guide and a checklist, so it kinda covers some of the stuff that we talked about today, but a few more pointers and, again, having a checklist is always helpful. They can go to leverage your podcast.com/guest. And, of course, I just love meeting up with podcast guests and really understanding, like, their avatar and who are they working with? What do they do? What are their solutions? What are their goals? And so how can we take their content and connect that bridge to their goals? So we create the blog post, the YouTube videos, the thumbnails, optimize it, create the reels and shorts and carousels and preschedule it for them. So, really, all they have to do is record, and then give us the live episode and proof the content, and that's it.
Susan Friedmann [00:19:03]:
You've got this magic wand. Yes. Poof. Yes. It's just gonna happen. I love it. Give us the website again that they should go to.
Lyndsay Phillips [00:19:12]:
Just to connect with me in general, it would be smooth business growth dot com. But if they wanna grab that guide, it's leverageyourpodcast.com/guest.
Susan Friedmann [00:19:22]:
I'll make a point of putting that in the, show notes. Thank you. And Lindsay, you know that we always ask our guests to leave our listeners with words of wisdom, your golden nugget. What would you like to leave our listeners with?
Lyndsay Phillips [00:19:39]:
I think that a lot of entrepreneurs are overwhelmed. I mean, I think people are overwhelmed in general, But it's a to take that extra time to create systems so that when an episode does go live, make a checklist of what it is that you need to do and how are you gonna outsource it so that you're not the bottleneck. Is it gonna be your VA? Are you gonna outsource it to an agency like myself? Are you gonna set aside 2 hours every Monday to work on it? But you need a system or it's just never gonna get done, and then it's gonna be, oh, I wish I could versus I am doing. Yes.
Susan Friedmann [00:20:16]:
So many times we think, oh, I wish I could. I wish I could.
Lyndsay Phillips [00:20:21]:
I know. Our plates are so full. You need a system, and you need to outsource something in your business to kinda give you that time back.
Susan Friedmann [00:20:29]:
Yeah. Because you can't do it all. And I've tried. I've tried to do and it doesn't work. No.
Lyndsay Phillips [00:20:35]:
You just get burnt out.
Susan Friedmann [00:20:37]:
Exactly. Or you spend time doing things that are really not cost-effective for you to be doing; somebody could be doing it a lot quicker, a lot better, for far less money than your time is worth. Those are definitely great words of wisdom. Thank you. Appreciate having you as a guest. I think what you're offering is something special that our listeners should look at more closely. So, listeners, I'll put the links in the show notes so you can find out more about what Lindsay does.
By the way, if your book isn't selling the way you wanted or expected to, let's you and I jump on a quick call to brainstorm ways to ramp up those sales because you've invested a whole lot of time, money, and energy, and it's time you got the return you were hoping for. Go to Book Marketing Mentors to schedule your free call. And in the meantime, I hope this powerful interview sparks some ideas you can use to sell more books.Â
So until next week, here's wishing you much book and author marketing success.
