We’ve been kicking ass with the Podcast and London Bloggers Meet Up‘s online and in London over the last few months.
I’ve been on Meetup.com since 2008 and I love our podcast meet up and bloggers meet up, but we do need to think of another title!
These days, we’re helping people find their online voice and to ‘demystify websites’ for them!
We’ve had sessions from my European StoryBrand Guide friends, Kenda from Automation Ninja‘s, Lena from FTSQ, Martin and Lyndsay from Jammy Digital!
We went for small online meetups where people can connect, and the results have been great.
In the last session, there was a flood of confidence from people at all stages of their website journey who said they’ve things like:
I realised my website was all about me, not the people I wanted to reach.
Sangeeta
And
I did not know SEO was about blogging; I thought it was all technical wizardry.
Andy
Questions I get asked a lot at these Meetups.
Many questions come up all the time, and these Meet Ups have always been about connecting and helping people find their voice.
Then my mate Mervin from the podcast meetup sent me a list for a podcast we’re doing this week.
So in the spirit of they ask you to answer, here is what I think, well for this week anyway!
What is the value of networking?
I’m not too fond of networking.
For five years solid, I ran two paid networking groups in London, and as soon as we stopped calling them networking groups, it all worked.
The main reason I love Meet Up so much when you gather a group of people around a topic of interest, there is more connection and soul.
Everything I’ve got now is from meeting people, and most of it is from twelve years of Twitter and Meetup.com.
I watched who was doing what with who; I’ve met people like Seth Godin and Simon Sinek in person.
And over a decade ago, I discovered coworking, remote working and podcasting.
What is the value of coworking spaces, and how do you create a community?
As I was getting out of networking back in 2010, I discovered coworking, the first real coworking space I set foot in was Cental Working in 2009.
Back then, I met Cental Working co-founder Steve, and these days we work on things in the London Coworking Assembly together.
Coworking gave me what I was looking for in networking, people working together.
There are freelancers, micro and small businesses driving towards different goals, and their combined energy creates magic.
How do you create a community?
People need to create it themselves; people like someone to lead, but they don’t like being told what to do.
So getting everyone around a table to meet is good, then leave it up to them.
Also, people only have the headspace and energy for about an hours worth of ‘community’ stuff a week.
How do you balance working in digital marketing, podcasting and marketing coworking spaces?
I am part of a team of freelancers who all met via coworking and networking.
We’re like the Suicide Squad or Guardians of the Galaxy.
I’m in London, and Peri is in Bristol; the rest are in South Africa, the Philippines, Serbia and the Netherlands.
When I started to connect with other people to work with them, life took off; I am crap at editing and WordPress.
Željko is a machine when it comes to audio, video and webinar production.
Venice builds and runs all our WordPress websites, so I don’t waste time breaking them.
When we built this team, we became more confident about working because we could deliver on more complicated projects.
How do you get famous people on your podcast?
I ask them.
I stalk them and then ask them, I look for something other than they are famous.
Everything is about relationships, and when you are interested in people, rather than star-struck, it is way more exciting.
How do you promote your podcast on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube? What do you think is the right strategy?
We post everywhere, and when we are outstanding, we make an audiogram.
There are so many small and easy wins for connecting with people via social media.
It depends on your audience; most of our connection is via email newsletters rather than social media.
But years ago, everyone was on Twitter, and when you went to a conference, more happened on Twitter than at the event.
How do you get the remote recording of the podcast done correctly?
I use both Zencastr and Zoom and then send it to Željko.
That is a lot of Z’s!
When I began podcasting in 2010, I quickly found out I could not edit.
So I started a never-ending journey of getting good at interviewing to avoid the need to edit.
I am always watching courses like Alex Blumbergs one on Creative Live.
You can learn from movies like Frost/Nixon by Brian Grazier. he also wrote a great book on questions and curiosity.
How do you check the progress of your podcast?
Unless it is for a client, I don’t check.
As I write this, we will get more serious about our Coworking Values Podcast; we’re nearly at episode one hundred, making us one of the longest-running coworking podcasts.
People are approaching us offering sponsorship and asking us about data and listeners, so Željko and Zara are sorting it out.
How do you avoid pod fade?
You have to pick something you care about and can do for a long time.
Before you record anything, write down twenty topics, people, or stories you can make into an episode.
Then ask yourself, honestly, can you keep this up for five years?
I’ll be podcasting about something to do with coworking in five years, and I never get tired of stuff on communications.
I constantly daydream about something to do with these subjects, but ask me about podcast equipment or WordPress themes; I dry up.
What is your process for building a podcast idea?
I love this question!
As I said, find something you are crazy about and see if you can commit to it.
As you are researching or looking around, do you get excited and enchanted?
Or do you get bored and distracted?
Know that the first few episodes will be horrific; we all try way too hard in those first ones.
Also, it would be best if you worked out what your style is; this may take a few goes.
I’m great at a conversation with one to three people, but I sound like a weirdo on my own.
Most of all, connect with other people in groups like our podcast meet up.
