Olivia Atkin – The Journey of Achieving Success in Podcasting

Transcript

Hi and welcome to the You World Order

Showcase podcast.

Today we're speaking with Olivia Atkin.

Olivia is the host of Achieving Success Podcast and she has a website by that name wherein she offers coaching.

I'm really excited to chat with her.

About all the stuff podcasting, how she got started, why she's doing what she's doing and all that stuff.

So welcome, Olivia, tell.

Us all about you.

Well, thank you for having me on the show.

I'm super excited to be.

On and be talking to you.

And you told me at that point that I was really gonna be doing a podcast.

I would be like.

Yeah, OK, sure.

And that was actually a conversation that I did have about a year ago.

I started down my journey really because I was working full time.

I was also a professor and I was volunteering with a lot of different non for profits.

I've run a few professional organizations and one thing I've always tried to help different professions.

Do was grow in their realm, whether that's through getting involved in professional organizations, continuous education, or just understanding what a department or an industry was really all about and how they can leverage their own experiences to transition into.

All, all the different certification and background I have in different industries and they asked me if I would write a book on career development.

That was actually what I was teaching at my alma mater, Quebec University.

At the time.

And I was like, sure, let's do this if we're going to do it, I want to make sure it's done the way that I think.

And could really use it, but also that individual who might not be able to afford to go to college and go right into the working world or has been out of college for 15 years and been with the same company and now is looking for a change, could book it, pick it up at a bookstore, be affordable, be an easy read.

Luckily, Kendall Hunt Publishing, who was my publisher, totally agreed.

I got back from a family vacation and I was like, I'm gonna be so busy this summer.

Let me start writing.

And within 30 weeks, the whole book was written and we started.

And a conversation my projects manager had.

With me was.

You've so many different experiences, so many backgrounds of roles you've done, people you've LED.

And all this different stuff.

You're so easy to talk to him through.

Whether it's just your own experiences or being able to connect with others, you should do a podcast.

I was like I'm super busy.

I don't have time to do a podcast, but not wanting to turn down.

A opportunity, I said.

Well, do you have a podcast division?

I can speak to thinking in my head.

They bring me on.

I host the show, they pay me and that would be it.

She was like, no, we don't.

And I was like, well then I don't know what to do with this and but it kept coming up in my mind and Fast forward to.

And I had a conversation with one of my good friends who was did play professional football and that I'd worked with.

And when I worked in professional sports and I said, what is it really like, do you think this concept would like do well?

And the idea was bringing a conversation around what success means and looks like to you and your journey of getting there.

And really that came up.

Out for me in having a lot of discussions with different professionals, whether they were in their career six months or 20 years of what success really was like and their journey and debunking that myth that it's a really a straight line for a lot of younger professionals as well and that.

Hey I can't switch industries.

Ohh once I go to college and get my degree in this I have to stay in.

It so for me the show was going to give back to a community of individuals to say you're not alone.

We all have our experiences, there's things we battle in our personal life or professional life.

And sometimes at the same time, but also this is what it's really like in certain industries, and it really ended up taking off.

That is amazing.

Is it funny how you just one day have an epiphany?

Like ohh I.

Can't do this podcast thing because I.

Know that's how it happened.

For me it.

Was just like I.

Could I could start a podcast?

I have no idea anything involved in podcasting.

It started out with my microphone and my headset or my head.

You know the earbud things and.

I've evolved a.

Little bit you know, you learn you do a few and they're.

Like, really bad, but.

You know you do it with your friends and you don't really care.

And then it kind.

Of evolves into.

Alright, I've got a mission and then the mission gets sharper and clearer as you do more.

And you talk.

To more people that are.

Just doing such amazing things out there, it's so inspiring to me that the world is changing and in such a positive way.

But I think it's so important and I think it's important when I decide to take to dive into the option of doing a podcast myself, I'm really that individual.

But if I put my mind to something, we're going like 120 really fast and my friends joke about it.

Because whether it's in my personal relationships or something I'm doing professionally, you give me a task, and once I say yes to it, we are diving very quickly and we're gonna get the most out of it, provide the most for it and see what it leads to.

I think for me when I decided to really look at this further and then I had the conversation and that friend of mine was like ohh no, this is needed.

Like this is gonna be unbelievable.

You know, you think in the moment.

OK.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you for the insight of just telling me what it's like.

We'll see if it really does that.

I did pitch it to like two or three other individuals in different industries.

Just be like is this something you would listen to and they all had the same reaction?

And then I was like.

OK, let me see.

And I spent the time between September 14th and November 1st.

Well, really the 30th diving into, OK, what do you really need?

For a podcast.

Right.

Like you said, it's the mic, the earphones, the camera.

But you don't need to spend thousands of dollars.

I think it's such a myth and I try to debunk this with my clients who I build podcasts with or coach them on podcasting or getting them guests or getting them on shows of.

Like you need.

All this equipment.

You really don't.

So it was really diving into.

OK, there's all these articles out there, but what is really the ideal situation?

What do you really need to give a good show without breaking the bank?

And is there a difference between buying the 300 camera dollar camera and that $20 camera on Amazon?

Well, the answer is no. So we don't need to spend the $300.00 on. So I spent a lot of time figuring that out, figuring out the mission, figuring out the types of guests I was going to get.

The platform we were going to run the show off of.

I really dove into that and then once the show launched within 30 days, we were in multiple countries. We this past week, we dropped Episode 38 today actually and we are in 17 countries now on every platform and we're the top 10% must listen to.

Showing the world and when I get.

Ask part of why I think that is.

I think it's the preparation from start to finish and that's why I help other podcasters do that.

But also, you know, even the preparation for a show or having those conversations and making it connected to anyone who's listening.

Yeah, I think that's really.

Important being able to connect with your listeners and understanding who is coming to listen to your podcast.

And being able to provide real value for them and when you first started, you started back in November, I I've only.

But a lot.

Of them.

So and we're getting ready to relaunch August 1st.

Right now we're doing biweekly episodes.

When I first got started, it was just like as I was doing them, I would post them and it was kind of random.

But having a, I think a system and having a pattern for when you're posting is really.

Important and you mentioned that you talked to some people in other industries.

You wanna share a little bit more about that the research that you did before you started your podcast?

So I talked to who's now my the owner of a production team.

I now work with.

I talked to Marcus Ogden, who has a top podcast in the world as well the good authentic with Marcus Ogden Show, who worked in the NFL, played if he recognized his name.

It might be because you watched him play.

Or his brothers in the hall of.

Same but then I called upon some people who worked in, you know, the medical industry, the students.

I had a student who I was working with at the time and coaching and I said.

This is what I'm thinking.

Is that something you would listen to and they had had me as a professor?

And they were like, it's basically taking part of your class and putting it into a show like, yeah, we love hearing about your stories and different things you bring to the table in the essence of really opening our eyes on what different industries are and what we can get.

Out of them.

And then I really took those.

3 individuals and they said OK, we're looking at different ages.

We're looking at different demographics of their industries and I talked to one other person who worked out in Chicago.

So one thing that was important to me as well was making sure that no matter the location, it was something that people could connect to.

Well, and he works with a lot of inner city professionals.

So I wanted to make sure topics I was bringing up.

Up they could connect with as well, and I wasn't isolating anyone from the conversation just based on the potential guests we could get.

So that was what I did in research of just being like, hey, do you think this would be a good fit and you would listen to it and it ended up paying?

Counting dividends because people were listening right away like I remember.

It was within 30 days we'd over 300 streams and hit three countries and I had a podcast to reach out to me who has a show.

They still have it and it's been live for three years and they didn't even know if they were in any other country besides the US and their guests are international guests.

Part of their podcast is.

A overseas element, so it should be pretty easy to get overseas listeners because that's.

Right.

Like so.

That was also a moment when I realized that it wasn't the norm working in professional sports for many years.

Even my producer before we started was like, listen, you're used to, you know, name recognition I've never seen.

Anyone knows my name?

But they're like, you know, you're seeing some of your colleagues, you know, have fast growth in their podcast and some of that might be to them.

But some of that might also be due to the fact they have name recognition.

So, like be prepared that if you get 5 listens your first week, that's really good and then when we got, you know, but I think it within 24 hours we had 15 listens. It was like, no, we have something here and it's leveraging.

What you have but also understanding as time goes on.

Mine, like you mentioned, your kid, your rhythm.

I have so many conversations with podcasters.

Well, I'm like, what's your rhythm?

What day are you dropping?

And kind of like you said, Jill, it's the ohh.

Well, like as I record, I'm gonna drop.

And if one week it's a Tuesday and then we don't drop anything.

For two weeks and then it's a Wednesday or they get super excited and they're like, we're revamping the show.

Like I have a client right now, we're revamping the show and I have 8 episodes ready to go.

I'm gonna drop 3 this week, 2 next week and I jumped in.

I was like.

No, we're.

And I'm like, why and like.

Because think about it like if you were going to target right, we all know on a certain day targets going to restock those shelves.

So without thinking if I know I want the freshest item on the shelf, I go to and they restock on a Tuesday, I should be going every Wednesday.

If target all of a sudden start restocking their shelves on a Sunday and then on a Thursday one week and then the following week, it's, you know, Monday and you go in and the stocks aren't.

The shelves aren't restocked and every week it's changing.

You sure?

On the Walmart.

Because, you know, Walmart's gonna be reliable. You know, you don't have to think. You're gonna be able to walk in and get what you need without having an issue.

The same concept applies to podcasting.

Your listeners get used to what you're providing, so if you rush out the gate and do three episodes a week, you better be able to.

Sustained 3 episodes a week.

And on those days too.

So it's very much important to become reliable and I think for my show that has been, it's something I've very strategically thought of and my guest knows 5:00 AM on a Tuesday that EST time.

So they know.

What to expect when to expect it so that even if it's not saved as an episode where they get an alert about it, they know they can go on the podcast now on a Tuesday?

OK.

And know it's gonna be a new episode.

And it kind of goes back to the old radio talk show talk shows.

We used to listen to.

I listen to art bell.

Because they always came on really late at night and I was either driving a truck or delivering newspapers.

I had a newspaper route.

When my middle son was born.

But I knew when to expect him.

It was, you know, an appointed time.

Rush Limbaugh is another one, and Doctor Ruth was another one.

And then there was this other gal who was a therapist.

She wrote the 10 rules or the rules were dating or something.

It was way.

Back in the.

Day before your.

Time, but they were big things, but people knew. This is when we're gonna TuneIn and.

The new podcasts have kind of replaced that as radio is kind of waning in popularity where, you know, we're binge culture.

We want to go on Spotify and we want to listen to what we want to listen to.

Or Apple or whoever you your thing is.

But you know it's.

You don't even have to have CD's anymore.

But when it comes to letting your audience know.

OK, this is when you can.

Expect the next episode it just.

It makes it more consistent.

You look more professional and it's more sustainable.

And if you're gonna do something like my intention is to do daily podcasts.

But I've stacked up a bunch of podcasts, so I'm rolling 2 weeks.

I have enough so that I'm posting 3 weeks out.

The day that I'm starting to do.

The Daily Podcast you have to think about it strategically.

And then then there's the monetizing aspect because.

Podcasting is not free.

For anyone so.

What do you do for monetizing your podcast?

So there's a.

Few different things I do and that I've looked into and it really depends on the individual and what you wanna do with the show and how might you want it to change and adapt and what I also really like to say is and I.

Like to pre like.

Say this in the beginning, before I say anything about how I monetize, just because I'm monetizing this way today does not mean a month or two months from now that does not need to change.

And I look at monetization and just the world of podcasting and coaching and just.

Any real business and entrepreneur as?

Just because everyone else is doing it one way does not mean that you have to do it that way.

So remember and keep in the back of your mind that some people are gonna tell you how they think your show should be monetized.

They're gonna tell you whether they.

Think it's niche enough?

Whatever it might be, but you don't have.

I recommend.

Sticking with your gut, because I've been told that, and ironically enough, and then I'll get to the monetization side.

I was on the call.

It was actually, I think week 17 podcast episode had dropped and we had already seen going into.

Episodes in different countries and the viewership was there and people were really diving into it and I got on a networking call and multiple people.

I was in a room of like 5 people. I thought it was gonna be a one-on-one thing. It ended up being like group setting and they all kind of told me it's business owners.

I was not niche enough that I need to become a lot more niche with my podcast and what I offered with coaching and really narrow it down.

And I have a business degree or certification in every business area I worked in.

Almost all of those fields and at one time I joked I.

Was I worked in corporate.

I wrote a book so I was an author and I was a professor, so no one needs to tell you how niche.

You need to be.

But they said I wasn't going to be able to grow if I didn't become more narrow, focused on even what I was talking about on the show.

And I said, well, the beauty of the show is that anyone could pick up.

And listen to it.

And that was really important to me that no matter the guests I brought on, no matter the background you came from, the experiences you had there was something, whether it was personally or professionally.

You can tie yourself to and relate to.

And I got off that call and I was like.

I know how business works.

I get the niche aspects, but that's not me and I'm like if my business folds because of it.

If people don't listen to the podcast, they don't listen.

But I have to say true to myself, and that was a Tuesday night and Friday morning I woke up to the e-mail that the podcast is.

It the top 10% must listen to podcasts in the world, and I was like.

OK.

You know, here we are and I was very careful on monetization.

I'm still very careful on monetization.

We do run ads through.

In the beginning of the episode, and so I collect the money straight from the company that you know, our platform hosts off of.

Oh, if you get 100 downloads and we're able to run 100.

Like one app per person, we'll give you X amount of money. I did that when we hit 10%.

I didn't want.

To falsify, you know, data or expectations on anyone’s end, so I really held off until I was very sure there was even going to be more growth than the 10%.

Before I looked into thinking about getting sponsors for my podcast, I looked at it.

I tried to make it very affordable.

And then we were going to record it and the show was going to pivot to people coming on and really selling what they're doing instead of having that.

Organic, authentic conversation and conversation that potentially we're just talking about the business side and what you can provide is gonna get mixed.

So I had offers to do it and then I backed out of all the did.

Four episodes, you're talking 14 grand a month.

If you're maximizing that and.

And I could have made that, but I was like, I don't want the show to change.

So I started then utilizing my show to leverage other offerings.

I can get people were tuning into the show then they knew what I was doing too, and the kind of quality I was working with on guests.

And different individual.

Rules and one thing with my show and the growth we've had in everything was people kept asking me, like, what my secret was, what was the secret sauce?

How can I help them either get on shows like mine so my guest could have a similar experience on other podcasts, or get them guests like the guest.

I kind of have.

Or help them build their podcast up, or even build a podcast.

And I was.

Everyone else is having their sponsors based.

Basically, you know the two-minute ad whatever doesn't mean that's how my sponsorships really need to work. So instead of leveraging the show where I'm bringing in money that way, I'm bringing in money with that.

I'm bringing in some money through that, but now I'm going now.

I can really help you because I've expertise in this area.

And I'm showing with the show you want to know.

So instead of just getting you to be a guest on the show, let me help you build something that's growth able retainable that you can be doing, and you're passionate about.

And now that's gonna pay dividends for you as well, because whether that's you monetizing in, you know the episodes or getting sponsors.

Like I've done it, I can help you do it, but also I'm showing that the systems I put in place the way I'm doing it, the way to look at it is working because you see that in my show.

Yeah, it's.

There's so many.

Ways to monetize the podcast, and there you I like to say I fell into someone's funnel and I'll make $1,000,000 next year.

The system that they're using, it was one that resonated with me and it was just like this just fits so perfectly in the path that I want.

To help people.

Along and.

And it just kind of all fell into place and it sounds.

Kind of like.

That's the sort of journey that you went on to that suddenly it was like.

Well, that's not.

Going to work.

For me, but this this is where the gap in information is that I can fill and that's really very special.

So what's the one thing that you want the audience to take away from our conversation today, Olivia?

I think the overarching thing is whether that's just with yourself or the people you interact with.

Authenticity and genuineness is going to get you a lot farther in the podcasting world, growing a podcast and really getting started with it.

It's staying consistent but also staying authentic.

To who you are.

Especially in the podcast world, people are going to sniff out whether your show is going to make it or whether it's not something that fits for them.

So being authentic with what you're trying to provide and where you're trying to grow people, attach to that a lot faster as well.

I agree a.

100% so how did they get in?

Touch with you. How?

They watched your podcast.

Let's start there.

So my podcast streams on every platform, including YouTube, so you can just search in whether it's iTunes, Spotify front, sprout speaker like, whatever you use Amazon Audible.

If you type in achieving success with Olivia Akin, my pretty face.

Will pop up.

In my logo.

So you'll see it pretty start and you can listen to.

The show you can if you want to reach out to me to talk more about whether that's coaching, podcasting, whatever it might be.

You can e-mail me at Olivia dot Akin Atkin at achieving dash success.

Dot com my website isachieving-success.com as well. You can reach out through there or just go and check out the website and what we offer, but you can also find me on LinkedIn.

And with, if you search Olivia Akin, or if you search achieving success, we're on every platform as well. Whether that's TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, we're there.

So if you search the business, we will populate it as well and I do personally answer every e-mail that comes through.

Every Instagram message, every LinkedIn message so it.

Might take like.

Two days, but I personally do reach.

Out back out.

That's awesome.

Thank you so much for joining me.

It's been great getting to chat all things podcast with you.

Thank you for having me.