Ep 106: Podcast Relaunch

Welcome to the beyond the kitchen cable podcast, the podcast for entrepreneurs and small business owners that want to build a successful business. I'm Marie, a website, designer and strategist. And I'll be sharing simple and actionable website tips, marketing strategies, and ideas to help your business run more smoothly. So let's get started. Hello, and welcome to episode 106 of the beyond the kitchen table podcast. Now you may have noticed that there hasn't been a podcast for a few weeks, or maybe you haven't. We always assumed when we miss a podcast episode or we miss emailing our list, or we have a break from posting on social media. The people are waiting for us and notice when we're not there. That's not always the case. But in any event I'd like to thank you for coming back and for bearing with me. There were two reasons for the break in the podcast. There is the excuse and the real reason. And I'm going to come onto those shortly. I'm going to be very honest about why. Running a business is hard work and it's not always all sunshine and rainbows or whatever the right phrase is. You might have also noticed that the podcast has a new name. It's got a different introduction. And a different outro. If you listen to the end. It's also got a new cover. Yes, it has been rebranded. The rebrand is the excuse. If you like for the podcast break. I've been meaning to rebrand for some months. It was certainly something I intended to do over the summer break. And I did think episode number a hundred or 101. Really good time for a rebrand. But I just didn't get around to it. So why rebrand? Well, the podcast is now two years old. I know time flies and it felt like a good time to have a freshen up. The main reason though. Is that I fallen out of love with the name, the website coach. It doesn't really describe the podcast and it doesn't tie into my brand name. I'm not intending for the podcast to change beyond that new name and visual look. Then we'll still be solo episodes for me talking about website tips. Marketing and other things to do with running a small business. There will also still be guest interviews with others. Who've run their own small businesses. So you can learn from what they have done. And I love those guest interviews. I think they're really important to hear from other people. Let's talk about the name though. When I first decided to podcast about two and a half years ago. I knew exactly who I wanted the podcast to appeal to. And I knew the kind of things that I wanted to talk about. I had a long list of topics and I've still got a long list of topics. And I knew the kind of interviews that I wanted to do. And none of that has changed. But the name was a sticking point. I paid for some time with podcast coach. And one of the things we talked about was the name. I was keen to have the name website in the title because I wanted to get found if anybody was searching for podcasts about websites. To be honest, I'm not sure many people do. But I knew the marketing landscape was too competitive to compete on the term marketing. So the podcast is, is more about marketing than websites, but this is different to other marketing. Podcasts and that it talks about websites more than others. Do. So I brainstormed with Kate and we came up with key potential names, winning website and the website coach. And I did what lots of people do when they're faced with a dilemma between two names. I did a poll. So I did a Poland, Instagram. And. My father was an Instagram voted overwhelmingly for the website coach. I also did a poll in a small coaching group that I was in. And yes, you guessed it. They voted overwhelmingly for winning websites. Now. To be fair. When I did that poll, it was a post in the group. And some of the people who answered very early on, obviously went for winning website. And I think other people just followed that. So I'm not sure it was necessarily. Quite so objective as the poll on Instagram, which was, people didn't know what the people had voted for. Which is why I went for the website coach. Now. I'm not a coach. And I don't have any ambition to become a coach. But this podcast does educate. Or at least that's the aim. I want to share things with you, talk about things that make a good website, things which are really helpful for your marketing and things, which empower you to make the most of your website to build a successful business. And what do you call somebody who does that? The podcast name I knew was one of those decisions I could stay stuck on forever. And the podcast just wouldn't happen or it wouldn't happen for ages. Or I could make a decision and make it work. That is my new mantra in life. Make a decision and make it work. I can't remember where I first heard it, but I really like it. So I decided to go with website coach and make it work. I've had several conversations with. Other business owners and coaches about it. And I know that the name could be better. The question then is what should the name be? Well, I decided to go with my business name. Beyond the kitchen table, because just like my business, this is about building a business beyond the kitchen table. Is it perfect. No. Is it better? Well, it does tie in with my business name. I seriously considered around the kitchen table. As these episodes are intended to be conversational. Like friends chatting over a cup of tea and biscuits at a kitchen table. But I worried that that is too similar to by business name and might lead to confusion. I might be on the kitchen table or around the kitchen table. And I've just trademark my business name. I really do like it. And you can listen to episode 105. If you're interested in hearing more about the trademarking process. So I have decided to go with beyond the kitchen table and to make it work. And please tell me if you've got any other ideas for a name. Please do let me know, because I am open to rebranding again in the future. But not too soon. I promise it's not going to be a new. Name every single week. So that's my rambling excuse for the break in my podcast. And a little bit about what's going on behind the scenes. But do you want to know the real reason I had a four week break? Yep. I thought you might. Like everybody else. I am human. And I only have so many hours each week. I don't have one of those time machines, like Hamani Granger. That means that I can repeat time to fit in more. I am fortunate and I recognize I'm fortunate that my children are older. I've got one at university and the others just started six, four. And they don't need as much of my time as when they were little. My youngest now even takes the bus to school. She has to leave really early. So my husband takes a, when he goes to the office and I only have to pick her up from the bus stop in the evening. That's given me more time. I'm also fortunate to work from home. I don't have to spend time commuting. But I still have a dog that needs walking. A pile of laundry that doesn't do itself. Nor does the dishwasher fill an empty itself and all the other chores that come with being a wife, a mum, and a homeowner. And alone, my children are older. They certainly still need my time. And I still worry about them. You know, they take up mental capacity. There are only so many hours in the week and some of them are taken. And my days of working until the small hours are well and truly over. I left that behind when I left my corporate job. And working in investment banking, believe me meant more than one occasion where I had meetings through the night and into the next day. I need my sleep. Otherwise, I just can't perform. And this podcast takes a lot of time. I've also been very busy over the last month or so with building client websites, I've had lots of discovery calls and new clients booking in, which is exactly what I want. And I booked up well into January. I've launched and been creating my SEO course. SEO may simple, which has gone so well, so much. Great progress is being made by those on the course. But I'm not just recording the modules. And also live coaching every week. And that takes time. And again, it takes mental capacity. There are lots of other things I've been trying to do my business, other forms of marketing. So networking meetings, Instagram, digital PR, and my own SEO. I've also been rethinking how I work with clients. I want to make it quicker and easier for my clients, as well as making things quicker and easier for me. I'll talk about that on another episode. I mentioned I'm fully booked. I've also got a couple of clients whose websites would each be completed before the summer, but they weren't because things happened to my clients. That's life. It often happens. And that means I'm actually at. Over capacity. Uh, bespoke website bills takes a lot of hours. I can't just knock out a website. That's been delayed on a free Wednesday afternoon. And I run this business pretty much on my own. I know, I know I should add source more. But. It's hard to find the right people. People who are reliable people who will do a good job. I am very picky. I have high standards and that don't cost a fortune. I do have a VA who helps with my course. And she's amazing. I've also got a couple of developers that I can outsource things to, which are particularly tricky so that I don't have to do a lot of research into them. They do that for me. And I also work with a freelance web designer who helps me with some websites. But she's not a clone of me, so I can't just hand the website off to her. And there are parts of the process that I will always do myself. As I said, there are only so many hours in a week. I can't do everything. I'm human. Something has to give. And at the end of September. And October, I decided that had to be the podcast. In two years, I've published 105 episodes. And I've missed just one week in those two years. Publishing my podcast each week has always been a must do for me because I know that consistency is important. But a 20 minute solo episode takes me about four to six hours. I've got to outline it, record it. Edited and schedule it. That's a lot of time. And that doesn't include marketing it. Which to be honest, I'm rubbish air because by the time I've scheduled it, I've just had enough of that episode. And whilst I love doing the podcast. I'm not convinced. It gives you the best return on my time. Way back in episode 47. So that's more than a year ago. I talked about the fact that a podcast is not the client generating machine. I had been led to believe it might be. I don't know, maybe I'm not doing it right. But in two years, I've had one client tell me they found me through the podcast. Yes. Just one in two years. Now it's not quite that bad. I know many people who listened to my podcast have found me elsewhere. They've met me at an event, a friend has told them about me. They followed me on Instagram, et cetera. Then they start to listen to my podcast and it's in regularly. And this podcast deepens that relationship. Coming on every week. Keeps me top of mind. And I hear from so many of you, how much you enjoyed the podcast and how helpful it is. So this podcast really helps my marketing effort. It may not attract many new people into my world. But it definitely builds trust and keeps me visible. And I'm very grateful to everybody who listens to this podcast. But those four to six hours could be spent on other things. Kite work. We engineering my processes to make my websites better and more efficient to create making it easier and better for clients. More training. I'm always learning, going to networking events to meet some new people. Out. You'd be pleased to hear that after talking myself out of it for so long. And I've mentioned it a few times on this podcast, I finally went to a chamber of commerce event. I'll talk about that on a future episode. Posting on Instagram. And if you're on Instagram, if you follow me, you might've noticed I've been posting much more often over the past couple of weeks. And if you don't follow me, I'm beyond the KT. So please do follow me. I have, I am going to keep up my posting on Instagram. I've also managed to keep on top of my inbox for once. Anybody else, find it hard to keep on top of their inbox. It's not my favorite job in the world. I don't quite know why, because I, I like talking to people. I like corresponding with people. And just trying to keep my stress levels in check. Because I've recorded so many of these episodes last minute. I could have sugarcoated this and called it season two of the podcast now rebranded. But I think it's helpful to hear the trees. Uh, for you to understand. You can drop balls and it's fine. They can be picked up again when you have the capacity. My numbers may drop that's number of downloads might drop, but that's okay. I can accept that. And to be honest, I did consider stopping the podcast altogether. And whilst truthfully, I'm not sure the podcast has been worth the time and effort I've put in. I do enjoy it. And I've built up a loyal following. I also feel like the effort I put in is beginning to pay off. You know, I'm just about to find that diamond, if you like. But going forward. I'm not going to commit to launching a new episode every week. I will try. I'll also try and batch record episodes, but that takes even more time out of the weeks that I do that batching. I do have an interview recorded that just needs editing. I've got another episode outlined and I've got loads of ideas for episodes. So I'm not about to ghost you. But my podcast is no longer going to be a must do every week. When it comes to a Sunday. And I don't have an episode recorded. Or when I've had a week, that's been so busy with client work that I just don't have the time to outline an episode. I'm going to be kind to myself. The podcast bull will be dropped again. And please don't feel guilty if you have to drop a ball. Some wise person told me. And I'm going to credit Emma Jeffries. I think it may well have been Emma Emma's Barry wise, and this is the kind of thing she would say. She was on episode 86. You want to go and listen to more of her advice. Symbols are made of glass and will chip or break when dropped. They're very fragile. But others bounce back or can be picked up again. And whilst that businesses may be more successful, if we're consistent. We're also human. And our businesses are not glass balls. And on that note, I will see you next week. Or maybe not. And I really want to thank you for coming back and listening to me again. I am very grateful for all of my listeners. And have a great week.