The Future Of The Podcast & What I’m Focusing On KDS: 143

Speaker A: Hey there, it's Kim Doyle and welcome to my show, where digital marketing meets real stories, experiences and strategies. You'll get a behind the scenes look at what's working and not working in my business, as well as other experts who show up and share their stories. As much as I love talking about tangible marketing principles and tactics, we'll dig a little deeper with mindset and explore what's required to create a business you love on your terms that also supports your life. I want to help you understand the why behind the how. Whether you're a seasoned marketer or just dipping your toes in. Remember, marketing is a journey and the goal is to enjoy it. My desire is to guide you on your journey and remind you that no matter what life throws at you, you've got this. Hey, what's going on, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of the Kim Doyle show. And we are going to get into it today mainly because we're going to talk about the future of the podcast and what, uh, I've been focusing on. And, uh, I really have been thinking a lot about the future of the podcast and maybe you have been too. Maybe you've been wondering, uh, what's up with the podcast? I think I just recorded two episodes in the last month. And, um, yeah, join the club if you've been wondering that, because I have too. And, you know, I've done a lot of, uh, reflecting and thinking about this, and after doing this for so long, I had started really feeling like maybe it was time that I turned the page right and put the podcast to bed, just be done with it. But the truth is, you know, the more and more I thought about that, um, the more I knew that that decision wasn't coming from the right place. And, you know, we're just getting into it today. I am going to do a couple little updates for you in just a sec, too. But, um, you know, the last thing I think people would say about me is that I'm indecisive. In fact, I probably made a lot of decisions quickly, then maybe could have used a little more processing time to weigh the pros and the cons, but that's not really how I operate. So I'm just going to sort of, um, leave that one alone. So that's a little bit of a hint as to where we're going. And I'll jump into that in a second. I am recording this, um, the very tail end of May, you guys, I don't know about you, but I cannot believe how quickly this year has gone by. Is Going by. It's not over yet. What we're only about. Sorry you guys. Have you ever had these? Bear with me. You. If you can't. You. You're obviously if you're listening to this, you can't see this, but I have these, um, Fair Life protein drinks. They're like 30 grams of protein and they're so delicious. And I, it was like, uh, it's like three o' clock in the afternoon. I'm like, oh, I haven't eaten and I had a small little snack earlier but I'm like, we need our energy for this podcast. Right. Anyways. But I kind of downed it really quickly before I was starting. Anyways, so the fact that we are wrapping up May I am now down to, I think as at the time of this recording, 71 days till getting back on a plane to go back to Costa Rica. And um, the weather is changing. It's beautiful, it's sunny, it's warm. It does make it a little hard to be inside, um, for the summer girl. But, um, yeah, it just kind of trips me out. And it really is true that the older you get, the faster time seems to go. And I won't get all, you know, nostalgic on you and Wayne for younger days or anything. Um, I actually love this stage of my life and I'm having a ton of fun, but it's a busy time of year, right. Like, and I, you know, when I look at all these posts and stuff on social from friends and people I'm connected with, it's like you've got graduations, you've got end of school activities, there's, there's just a lot happening. It's a very busy time. And then of course going into summer with vacations and all of that, it's just, um, I don't know, I, I am looking forward to that p. Lifestyle again. Um, the next two months will be pretty busy for me. Heading up to Tahoe with the family for a little bit. End of June, I think I might be going down to visit my daughter just for a weekend in July to la. Um, because I just want some one on one time with her. She's coming up for Tahoe, but I just, I want to hang out with my girl without any, you know, other family obligations and I want to meet some of her friends anyway. So, um, and then of course amidst all that, it's continuing to get ready for this move. So. Which I've been doing, so I'm in good shape anyways. All right. That was my little Little life update for you. Let's get back into the. The whole focus of the episode, which really is the future of the podcast. And, um, and what I'm focusing on right now. So, you know, the past six to eight months have been really fascinating for me when I step back and I examined what has transpired. You know, it's funny because I've got. I'm using the Riverside teleprompter. I've already written the podcast episode out. Um, and I was thinking about what I'd written was what's happened. But it's really about what's transpired and what has come from the, uh, last six to eight months and how my mindset has really shifted, which in this case means grown my mindset. I'm telling you guys, it's one of those things with mindset. And I don't know if you can know this until you know it. And I know that's not helpful. I really get that. But it's this idea of this, the small, consistent action that is applied over, hence the consistent. Right. But small action applied consistently is really what leads to behavioral change and an internal shift with who you have become. Right. And I mentioned at the end of this night, I do think a big trigger for me with this was, uh, Dr. Benjamin Hardy and be your future self. Now, about thinking about what I'm doing today is contributing to my future self that I want to become. And as a little non sequitur side note here, that doesn't mean you're not present. That doesn't mean that you have to do things at the speed of light. We all know how I feel about Hustle, um, but it means knowing that whatever it is you're doing, it's because it's who you want to become. The life that you're creating for yourself. And that doesn't mean you're not living it. Right. I know there's a little bit of a juxtaposition. I think that's probably the first time I've used that word in a podcast. Um, there's a juxtaposition between being present and working towards. I don't think they're mutually exclusive. So for me, um, I attribute this shift in mindset, besides that book to, uh, a few things. Right. And that is experience. Having been in this game, and I mean the online marketing space. Right. For a long time. I know enough that in times of uncertainty or when we're feeling that need for clarity, it's best to be patient. And I'm going to tell you that I didn't always feel this way. I was like, yeah, but what do I do? What do I do to make this change? What do I do? What do I do? I was expecting it always to come from a place of action. And it is not action alone. You really have to get in alignment. You have to be with yourself for a hot minute. Um, and I have been doing this journaling practice for a year now, and I meditate, and I have learned to trust the process. And that can be really hard when you're like, yeah, but I need this income or this is stressful or this challenge or heartache or whatever is going on in my life. Right? But the more I approach things with a. With a sense of trust and ease, the better they work out, the easier my life flows, the better I feel. Okay, so there's a lot of experience pulled into that. Um, the other thing is age. I swear, there is something so freaking delightful about getting older and learning to care a whole lot less about what other people think. Um, this is, you know, and I'm going to talk about this a little bit more, but this has been a challenge of mine. And I think. I don't know, maybe not. But I assume that people would meet me, would think that I don't care what anybody thinks. And that's not. That's not true at all. On one hand, I don't care. On the other hand, maybe I've used this as an excuse. I'm just riffing here, guys, but as an excuse to hold myself back. Either way, when we're not feeling good about ourselves, it's very easy to hold ourselves back and use that as an excuse. I don't know. I don't need to solve that. Um, because I'm good with where I'm at, and I can't unring a bell, right? So I'm not going to go back to that place again. But m. This. This does come from life experience. And, um, you know, when. When I, uh, my daughter and I talk frequently. And what was the thing that she was talking about? Oh, we were talking about overthinking, and she was saying, I'm so over overthinking, like, I'm done with this. And I'm like, girl, to get that at 27 and to be conscious of the fact that you don't want to overthink things. You are so far ahead of the game. Um, anyways, okay. Another thing that really has attributed to this are life changes. Um, sorry, you guys, I think I drank that too quickly. Um, the move back to California in February of 2023 was right for me. And here I am now heading back to Costa Rica. And so I think that the time back here was for me, obviously, it was to be here for my dad. He's. He's doing great. Um, you know, the housing market is very strange. Not strange, but it's so different up in this more remote area. Um, and he's patient. He's like, well, you know, maybe I'll be here another winter, maybe not. I mean, housing in California, down in the Bay Area is nuts. Um, but he's. Fortunately, he's not in a position that he has to sell. The house is beautiful. I mean, the property's great. He's still enjoying it, all of those things. So whatever that looks like. Um, I know that I was supposed to be here. We've gotten a few things ironed out with his health. And by we, I mean my sister and I have gone to doctor's appointments with him. Um, you know, he. The, the first six months I was back, we had three trips to the er, which was scary. And a couple of those resulted in stays at the hospital to get to the bottom of stuff. And it's nothing horrific and major, but I know I was supposed to be here. It was good. Um, it's been amazing to get to spend so much time with family and friends here. Um, you know, but when that hit me in January, this. You could go back to Costa Rica. I was like, well, duh. You know, it felt so obvious at the time because I really couldn't figure out where I wanted to be in terms of, like, I kind of approached moving back. That. Look, if I'm going to move back to the States, I may as well be where family and friends are. And I love California. I really. The weather is amazing, but there are so many people in the state. I mean, you guys, there's 39 people. 39 million. 39 people, if I wish. Right? 39 million people in this state. And when I think about the country of Costa Rica has 5 million people. Anyways, um, I really appreciate the ease of my life there. Anyways, I've talked a lot about that before, and I'll give you guys updates when I get back. Um, you know, but people have been asking me too, like, how long do I think I'm going to stay there, right? Will I stay put for a while? I hope so. I'm thinking like three plus years maybe. Um, simply in terms of. Gosh, it's crazy, you guys, when I think about this, three years will Be the longest I've been anywhere since I sold the house that I owned in Brentwood and then I downsized with my son and we were there two and a half years. Anyways, I've. Yeah. So I just, I kind of want to stay put and chill for a bit. Um, I really don't have this desire to be a digital nomad. It's the quality of life and the ease and all of that. Right? So. And who knows, maybe I will end up simply going back and forth more frequently, which is totally okay too. Um, you know, ultimately I'd like to buy in Costa Rica, but we'll see where the economy goes. I, I have no idea, you guys. I truly have no idea. Maybe at this stage of my life I just rent and I put more into retirement fund. Who knows? Like, I'm not married to it, but I wouldn't mind. I do think I want to buy in Costa Rica because. Because the area that I'm in, um, I think there's a lot of opportunity to, uh, for rental income as well. In fact, I'm going to test this year. We'll see. Um, but I think I might rent my place out when I come back for Christmas. Um, I may rent it. I could probably get four to $5,000 for a couple weeks. So, you know, we'll cross that bridge. Or even over Semana Santa. Did I say that right? Semana Santa, I think so. That's Easter week is a huge, um, week. And I'm very close to the beach, so who knows? We'll see. Right? We'll see. But I may do a little bit more coming back and forth, especially come summertime in California. Um, I love this time of year here where it's light till 8:30, quarter to 9. Um, when I was in Boise and it was still light out at quarter to 10, that's too late for me. But I do love the warm summer evenings. And so it might be nice to come back for a few weeks over the summer. So we'll see. Anyways, um, so we'll see where all of this goes. Um, but in terms of the podcast, which you probably are, like, would you get to it? Um, let's. I'm going to give you guys a little history about the podcast, depending on when you have started listening or been on this journey with me. But. So I started podcasting in 2013 when I was the WordPress chick, and the podcast was aptly named the WP Chick Podcast. And at the time there were maybe five other WordPress podcasts. So getting Some traction was pretty easy. And I alternated between solo shows and interviews, which I do think was a really smart strategy, because it truly is what I. What I, um, attribute the growth, my. My brand growth at the time, you know, was because those relationships, you guys, there's nothing better than saying, let me feature you on my platforms and give you a place to share who you are, who you serve and how you help people. It's just a give, right? Yes, I get the content out of it, but it's a give. And I developed a lot of great friendships in doing that as well. Um, but I do think that is what significantly grew my audience and then, of course, pivoted. Right. In 2018. We all know that story. But I think the biggest challenge for me with the podcast is that the years between 2019 and now. Well, I don't know if I'd. Well, yeah, let's go ahead and say now, um, because I've gotten a ton of clarity, but is that they were so hard, they were so challenging for me personally that to host interviews and to truly show up for other people felt like a lot of work. Like, it felt like more work that I just. I didn't have the energy for it. Now, keep in mind, between end of 2018 and, um, the few years following is we launched the Content Creators Planner and that kind of took off and had a life of its own. And so then I was split between the two brands. And, you know, I just. I went through some really challenging situations with my son, like mid high school, and continued for years and years. And to. I, yeah, I'm not going to go there. But then my mom passed away unexpectedly in 2019, which might turn my world upside down. You guys, I was right. I'm going to start crying. I was. This is how raw that still is for me. Sorry. Um, five years later. And it's just. She was everything to me. She was 71, was not expected, blah, blah, blah. Anyways, it just rocked my world. Um, and then, of course, we all know what happened in 2020, um, which is when I decided to move to Boise, Idaho, literally. Literally March 31st. So, like the start of the pandemic, right? And was there a year. And it's crazy as. As strange of a year as that was, it was also incredibly healing. It is the first time I ever lived alone, right. Without boyfriend, husband, parents, children, whatever. Like, I lived alone and shit, you guys. It is. I love living alone. I joke that, yes, I want a partner when I get married again, probably. Um, I don't feel the need to necessarily. Um, but I joke that that's great, but he's going to have to limit his house still. I just, I love it. I do love it. But the right person, I think all of that may change. Anyways, um, so then a year in Boise and decided why not go to Costa Rica? Boise was just too cold politically. Um, complete opposite spectrum for me. And it was, you know, it was one of those things too, that moving to Boise was, um, can I move out of California? That's what that test was. You guys. I'm sorry. You know, I did my hair today and it's gotten really long and I'm like, I feel like I've got all these, like, stringy hairs all over me. Anyways, it's bugging me. Sorry. Okay, focus, Kim. Be bugged with your hair. Deal. Um, anyway, so, you know, it was this decision to move to Costa Rica. Again, you guys have probably heard this, but I had a friend, have a friend, my mentor therapist, who's had property there for a long time. And I was like, well, I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do, where else I'd want to go. And I was like, why not go there? You know, I visited Idaho a couple times before moving there. That certainly didn't guarantee anything. So why not move out of the country to a place you've never been? And actually, it was one of the best things I've ever done. And I highly, highly recommend if you don't want to live outside of the country, spend at least a few weeks, if you can, somewhere else. There's something to be said about experiencing another culture and another way of life. That one, helps you appreciate what you do have. And two, just you realize how, how big and small the world is at the same time. Right? There's so much more to life than what we're caught up in with the day to day. And at the same time, you know, there's. There's again, billions of people on the planet, uh, that you connect with and get to know. And it's like I've got this extended family in Costa Rica now and dear friends, and I'm excited about expanding that even more when I go back. Anyway. Okay. So, needless to say, the last five years have been a lot with other things happening in the background. Right. And I won't go into all that, but I saved that for Susan. Mentor, therapist. Um, here's the thing with all of this, okay? To some people this may not seem like a lot, and to others it might seem overwhelming. I have been so incredibly hard on myself for things I've done, I've not done, I've not done enough of, or I woulda, shoulda, uh, coulda, had. I like all that bullshit, right? Like, we are literally our own worst enemies, I think. Because the truth is, you know, unless it is someone I don't know, even then, like, that's true freedom, right? Is not being attached to anyone else's thoughts or opinions about you. But, like, to let what anybody else on the Internet thinks bother you, like, who cares? You're not paying my bills. Um, but. But what I've realized, it's the judgment is what's really gotten in the way. And so, you know, when it comes to being hard on yourself about things, I realized I'm the one. I created this, right? I'm the one who held myself back or made things more difficult. Like, none of us get through this life unscathed without messing up, without disappointing people, without losing people we love and without challenges and struggles. That is life. And it. It really is how we handle what happens to us that makes all the difference. You know, at the same time, I want to point out, though, that, yes, there's always going to be someone that has it worse than you, and there's always going to be someone that has it better than you. And so that doesn't mean you can't, you know, you can't grieve, you can't mourn. You can. And I'm not talking about loss necessarily, but you can't have those down moments, right? We. We have to process. We have to allow ourselves that grace. So it's not. We can't. I don't want to say this, you guys. This is all off script, so hence the stickiness here with the challenge to define this. I'm just saying be gentle with yourself, be kind to yourself. This idea of I should have done this or had I done that by now, I'd be blah, blah, bl, whatever your version of that is. And. And I'm not interested. I call bullshit on anyone who says I don't care what anyone thinks. We all do. Right? The goal, though, is to not feed it. And so, um, you know, all of that is to say that I've been incredibly hard on myself with the inconsistency with the podcast, and in many ways, my. My lack of excitement about doing it. Okay, so I've been hard on myself. Like, why don't I want to do this? Why don't I feel excited about it? And it's because it Started to feel like a chore, as opposed to the thing that I love doing, which is why I started it, right? I wanted to be the motivational speaker. I spoke at my high school graduation. I was a speech major for a while. Like, I love doing this. And so a handful of things have changed for me, which I'm going to share. But specifically, it is my desire to fully, uh, just show up again. No more censoring myself. No more worrying about what other people think. Well, God, you guys, you know what's crazy? I'm gonna just off script this before I get into my rant about what I'm not doing anymore. Um, I need to disable Grammarly from this teleprompter, because as I scroll through the teleprompter, it's highlighting corrections and I'm like, leave me alone. Just stop it. Um, but it's really about not feeding that voice. The niggles, the judging, the censoring, the worrying. You guys, at this stage in my life, um, like, I don't ever have any intention of getting political on the podcast, but I'm also tired of the bullshit. I'm tired of. Of not saying or sharing what's on my mind. If you follow me on TikTok, I do repost a lot of stuff. I am, without a doubt, 100% a feminist, and that is for equal rights, guys. So anybody that thinks this is, you know, look up the definition of the true definition of the word, um, and I'm. I'm here for it. I'm here for my beliefs, and I'm not going to apologize for. For them anymore. Again, I'm not turning my content or my business into something political. But when things. When I feel strongly about things, I'm going to say it right, which is also a lot of what you're going to see coming with the podcast. Again, not political, but meaning there are so many people to do business with. There's so many people to connect with on the planet. I'm tired of seeing the same names over and over and over again. And the only way to change that is to give other people the opportunity, right? Is to bring other people forward and to raise other people up. I think the best thing that you can do in business oftentimes, especially when you're feeling hard on yourself or down on yourself or frustrated with where you're at, is to lift somebody else up. Anyways, um, here's what this means, okay? For the podcast specifically, is way more interview guys, Guys. Way more interview guys. Is that what I said? Way More interviews. Okay, but a little bit of a twist. So I'm currently scheduling the interviews for the Women and Money series, which I've wanted to do since the beginning of this year. And again, nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come, which I think I'm in a place to hold this. And I know exactly what I want this to look like. Now slow down, girl. Tell you. Like, I think I just get too much oxygen in me and then I feel burpee. Um, conversations. Okay, so one, we've got interviews are coming back on two, but I'm going to do it as a series. Two is conversations. There's a lot of conversations that I have with friends who have been in this space for a long time and we've seen each other grow, pivot and stick it out. And I want to share those experiences. I want to have these real and raw conversations sort of behind the scenes where we're talking about, remember when we did this or that or the other thing? And what would you tell someone else? And that kind of thing? Like, ah, uh, I love it. There's so many times I'm having these conversations like, God, we should be recording this. Right? Um, um, so. And I think I'll turn those into their own sort of segment series. Okay. Um, and then I want to do other series. And as I was writing this, the show notes out for this, um, I kind of started falling in love with the idea of focusing on a topic as a series. And so a couple series that came to mind as I was writing this is doing one on AI. And the space that I find myself in with AI. Excuse me, quick little sip of water here is not for the billion dollar valuations that are happening and understanding how LLMs language learning models are trained. Like, I don't want to go there. I want to look at how creators are using AI, whether it's simply as a tool for ideation or it's a workflow. I think there's a lot of, of opportunity for you AI enthusiasts out there to find those sweet spots of how do I streamline workflows in the creator space. Okay, that's never going to be my shtick. So if that lights you up, run with it. Um, but also doing one on Costa Rica, living there and working there and how it all integrates with a business. And then I think I'd like to talk to some SaaS founders, small SaaS founders. Right. Like, I don't need to interview the founder of Grammarly Cool, but whatever. Right. Um, but I love again, it's that lift up. How can I support someone else? And how can I use my platform M to share their message? Um, and truly, as I was doing this, I just kept getting more and more excited. I'm like, huh, huh. What if the format of the podcast was more about the series? And then I could throw in these little individual behind the scenes kind of thing. I don't know. Got excited. Um, video, you guys. For the most part, I would say 95% of the podcasts that I've recorded in the last six, seven months are on video. I just need to get them up onto YouTube M and then of course, chop them up into shorts and stuff. But it really is time to ramp up the YouTube channel again. Now, mind you, this was all WordPress chicken when I was doing a lot of stuff with the content creators group on Facebook. Um, but I've got some plans for it. I'm not taking a course. I'm not diving into best practices right now. I'm. Well, that's not true. I want to make sure I've got the basics that I'm doing. You know, an SEO description and then I start practicing the thumbnail thing. Right. I know that there is an element to creating, crafting, whatever, um, thumbnails. And it's just, it's going to get, it's going to get better as I do it more. Um, but I'm also going to pull the podcast feed into YouTube so that, you know, with Google podcasts going away or gone, is it June? I think, um, you can actually subscribe to the podcast via YouTube. Um, the other thing I'd like to do is some live streams and, and free workshops with some of the companies whose tools I use and recommend. I did this a lot when I had the content creators Facebook group. I did it as a WordPress chick. And I think it's fun. I think it's fun to get to go behind the scenes. And I feel, I feel I'm going to rephrase that. I know that I have an ability to, one, make it fun and engaging. And two, I'm coming from the everyday user perspective. I'm not coming from a dev mindset. I'm not coming from, you know, this technical conversion. I'm coming from the user's perspective. And so hopefully I can make that easier for people in my audience as well. Especially not especially, um, as well. And then in addition to that is give these tools, these resources that I love and use, maybe a boost up as well. Um, assuming they need it. But, you know, it May be the other way around. Right? Like if I had Beehive on the podcast, that would be a boost to me, pun intended, because I use boosts. Um, so, uh, where am I at? Um, yeah, so the workshops, right, that's something else for the podcast. Um, here's the other thing that I think is really fun and that is there seems to be a return to long form content. Not that it ever went away, right. But just like everything else online, things are cyclical and I am going to be doing a full post and podcast on long form content and maybe this will sell you on it. That was my single quote. My other hand was in my pocket. Um, but that was air quotes. If you're listening. Alex Hormozi, right? Big marketer, right? He's realized that he's shifting and he's got a whole explanation on it and I'll see if I can find it linked to it. But that long form content, the difference between the shorts and it's. It's the person. People who are grabbing quick shorts maybe want quick entertainment. The people who engage and stick around for long form content are much more likely to come into your world, subscribe, become a customer, stick around for the long haul. That's a paraphrasing of what he said. A little more water. Hold on. I'm m so sorry, you guys. I. The, um. As the weather's gotten warm, wind has died down, the pollen is going away. I did not take an allergy pill today. But anyways, so long form, right? Which is great because this was what the podcast has always been, right? 45 minutes to an hour. I think we'll probably hit about 45 minutes today. Um, I like listening to long form content. I like reading long form content. That doesn't mean. I don't. Don't. It's not that I don't like short form, but my content of choice tends to be long form. And here's the crazy thing, guys. This whole thing with, you know, I get it with attention, our attention is being pulled. But don't tell me that people don't want to consume that. How many people binge television, right? Like we have this ability. What did I binge last weekend? Oh, outer range. The second season on Amazon. It's trippy. It's like Yellowstone meets Stranger Things. I don't know what else to say. Kind, um, of, sort of. But we will sit and do that, right? Look at m. Um. Oh my gosh, you guys, excuse me. Marvel's right. Avengers endgame was over three hours. Oppenheimer over three hours we will consume long form content when the content is good. So food for thought on that one. Um, and here's a little off script side note too. You know how I know that I'm on the right path? Do you guys ever, do you have those little indicators in your own life when you can say, oh, I'm on the right path? As I was writing this, I, man, it just flowed. I was writing, writing and I'll check my word count usually as I'm going, and all of a sudden it was like I looked up and I was almost at a thousand words before I even had thought about where am I at? And, and so everything again, it just, it was flowing. And I tend to, um, not tend to, I do whatever platform I'm writing in, I'm writing in the editor. So when it's WordPress, I'm writing in the WordPress Editor. When it's Beehive, I'm writing directly in Beehive. Now, although my ConvertKit account is technically on pause, I don't know if I could go in and get all those emails. Although, I don't know you guys, like, I tend not to go back. I don't know, there's a lot of repurposing I can do. But you know, all the newsletters are in the, in the blog. But um, so to look up and see how effortless writing this out was made me a little giddy. Um, the other way. Here's my other indicator. I don't know if you guys know this, but when I know that I'm on the right path is that I'll get goosebumps. And this happens a lot when I'm coaching someone or I'm helping someone work through something. I get kind of lit up and I totally just my arms full on goosebumps. I'm like, uh, I know I'm on the right path with this. So anyway, so my goal is to complete the Women and Money series interviews by the end of June. If I can't get the interviews done, meaning, uh, somebody that I want to interview is unavailable, whatever, I can at least start publishing. I want to have at least half of them done. The goal is 10. Um, you know, but maybe it ends up being 7. We'll see. But either way they will be published consecutively so you can follow the series and I will do a before and a summary episode to sort of bookend the series. Which of course then I was like, I should do this with every series, right? And um, as I was writing this, I was like, let's start while you're recording the series for the first series. Right. Women and money is to start planning the second series while you're recording and getting those lined up. Um, and I think that I will focus, uh, on AI for the second series and it's, it's just exciting. So. All right, so that, that's kind of where the podcast is at. And so I'm also going to be turning up the promotion on this, so stay tuned for what that looks like in a separate episode. Um, what I'm focusing on right now, um, other than my move is growth and more specifically my email list. So the move to Beehive has been great. My open rate and my click through rate have both gone up. But for some reason last week I was like, I got six unsubscribes, which felt like a lot, but it's all part of the process. Um, and so I know that I want to be much more specific and strategic. Actually, no, specific is the right word. Strategic. With my list growth strategy, meaning I want to make sure that I'm getting in front of the right audience. And so this is going to be paid traffic because I can target my ideal customer to a certain degree. Um, along with organic. Right. I'm also in the process of lining up some email swaps to support other creators and grow my list through that exchange. Um, I'm participating in an upcoming summit and it's for a whole new audience and I'm super excited about getting in front of them, um, and creating value, of course. And my goal though is to craft this really dialed in organic and paid strategy that complements each other. Right. The paid should complement and support the organic. And uh, Gary Vee reiterated this and I talk about him in just a sec with his new book. But, um, Laurel Portier talks about this. So many of her ads she posts organically and then she pulls the organic post in. And so you know, the beauty of that is you can you get comments and stuff and you, and you get some validation maybe before you put money behind it, which I, I think is freaking brilliant. Um, and so that is my plan as well as increasing engagement on the platforms where I am posting. I, I don't know, I, I, when I, when I get to the end where I talk a little bit about some BS rules I've had in my own head about what I do and don't like, it's like, suck it up, buttercup. Do you want the life you want or not? Um, not everything has to be I love Doing this, but it's. Look, if I could. Where else you could. Let's just hold on. Hold on a minute. Okay? Hopefully you guys are as entertained as I am right now. But seriously, I'm thinking about this going, Kim, you're recording from home, standing up, talking about stuff you love. I had an easy morning. I said, I'm recording this on Memorial Day, which I don't mind working on holidays. Sometimes I feel like doing something, sometimes I don't. Um, I went out, I slept in, I went, got nice coffee. I created some content. Like, really, it's not retail management, which I was in for a long time, and my feet are much happier. But the point is, um, you know, it's not like the stuff that, I don't know, enjoy doing is backbreaking labor. Let's just go ahead and say that, right? So I'm super fired up about my new content strategy, and I really do attribute some of this enthusiasm to Gary Vee's new book, which is Day Trading Attention. Now, say what you will about Gary Vee, he knows his stuff and the book. The cool thing about this is that it's incredibly tactical and it really helped me think about content and social. It, uh, really helped me reframe it on a whole new level, which, not surprisingly, completely supports everything as content. Excuse me now, what I will say about this, because there's some stuff that Gary Vee talks about and he is the first to tell you go, do you. I don't complain about the pace that I do things. The light my life. I'm not a complainer just by default. It's not in my nature. And I know that if I want something different, I need to do something different. So, you know, maybe here's a great example, guys. So a coaching client that I worked with to help her get her substack newsletter going, um, we. We did well. We planned out the first 10 issues. We did all this work together. And she reached out to me and I think we were done, but she said, I don't remember. Did we have one more session? And I said, I think we're done, but I don't remember either. So no problem. Let's just hop on a call. And she was saying weekly was too much. I said, then do it every other week. And she said that alone. I'm like, it's okay. Just be consistent. You know, this idea of. Here's a great example. I'm a huge proponent, obviously, of email marketing and did my almost daily emails. I've been doing more broadcast emails I don't know if I'll go back to a daily ever again. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. Um, the newsletter, Obviously I'm at 184, 85 issues. Not missed a week, you guys. That impresses me. Right? What is that, three and a half years? Hello. But, um, you know, there's somebody that I've subscribed to and I'm not going to call her out and she's launching this, um, email course. It's like a two thousand dollar course, you guys. I got three emails from her by noon. I'm like, girl, I'm gonna unsubscribe. I get what she's doing and I got it won't bother some people. To me, I, I, I, that's too much for me. I'll do that. You know, when a cart's closing in the morning of like 5 o'. Clock, you've got a few hours then. Last chance. That's it. Right. But I, I mean, and I would bet you a hundred bucks that I'm going to get one or two more from, from her today. We'll see. It's too much. I, um, don't feel, I don't know, to each their own, but too much for me. Okay. Anyways, okay, let's come back to Gary Vee's book. Um, my point is, take what serves you, leave what doesn't, and literally leave it in the book if you decide you want to do this. But the point is like, and then I listened to him on, um, Lewis Howe's podcast, right? And it was, what did he say? He was talking about, you know, how many people are complaining about what a mess the United States is. And I don't know any country right now that's like, well, that's, uh, not true. There are countries that are in a much better place than the US But I was thinking uk, not a whole lot better. Canada, I see them a lot of western cultures complaining, but you know, it's just Gary's attitude is it's never been a better time in this country. And so it's all on your perspective. Right. And so I personally have to be very strict with myself about what I allow into my brain because where I was mentioning earlier, I, um, am a feminist and there's a lot of things that scare the shit out of me. Um, that's happening in this country and at the same time there's a lot of things I think we're in a period of disruption, to be honest with you. And we're going to get through this. I think if you look through history, there's a lot of stuff that we can see. Um, and there's a great person. If you're very. If you're very. If you're curious, if you're at all curious. Scott Galloway, he's all over everywhere right now. He's got some predictions for 2024. He's an NYU professor, he talks about the economy. Um, and it's, it's fascinating, right? And there's a lot of things that need correcting. But at the same time, if you're looking for what's wrong, you're going to find what's wrong. If you're looking for what's right, you're going to find what's right. So, um, hold on. Did I just. Okay, anyway, sorry, scrolling back up. Um, so when it comes back to my content and growth and everything is content, I really have spent way too much time overthinking things, which we already talked about what other people think. So, uh, I don't want to go sideways, but, uh, it's kind of that idea of like, I've got to get it right. And I'm not a perfectionist, but like, oh, is this a hook? Is this not a hook? It's like, well, post it, find out, find out if it works right? And yes, there may be crickets. This, this idea that everyone is paying attention to everything we do is ludicrous. It's ludicrous. Um, but trying to get it right is what has prevented me from simply being me and following my gut. And the irony about that is that it's through doing the work that we become clearer and we get better at our craft. Right? I mean, my writing, you guys did fine in school academically, but when it came time to write on the web, when I look back to when I started, compared to where I'm at now, night and day, but I just stuck with it. So I really have let a handful of my own rules get in the way. I hate using my phone for editing video. Um, there's plenty of workarounds. Guys like Canva. Oh, my God, like, did I talk about Canva? I don't know. But if you guys have not jumped into all the new AI updates in Canva, which that's a whole campaign in and of itself. They had their Canva create and then the next day, the first million people that logged into Canva and you had to click seven times on the. For you, it was right inside your dashboard and then it converted to the brand new dashboard and all the AI updates and everything. But man, it was going around. It was pretty fun to get that. I think I was number 234,000 or something. And then I shared and people are like, oh, I'm 469, oh, I'm 572. Like it was a whole unique fun marketing campaign. But anyway, my gosh, talk about fun. So I can. I'm going and creating shorts in Canva. Then I simply open the Canva app on my phone and download it. I just don't want to be on my phone more than I have to. And not because I'm anti phone. Repetitive strain, right? So writing all these years, the phone use, you know, I said my hairdresser who's in her late, mid, late 20s, she's like, oh, you are being funny. Oh, you are old. I'm all girl. Just wait, you guys are going to have repetitive strain from your damn phones 10 years before I did. Just saying. Um, and side note, this is a super off script thing, okay? But this is to all my Gen X people, you guys, I don't know if you've seen this on TikTok, but there's been this whole awakening of Gen X and it is. I'm here for all of it. But it's hysterical that people think Gen X doesn't know how to use this stuff. You guys. I was tech savvy before. My kids were right. And now my son, uh, was wired differently in that like he built a PC and all that kind of stuff. My daughter, I hired her to help copy and paste content into WordPress at like 15. But I'm like this idea that tech is. I'm like, who the hell do you think created all this technology anyways? But I'm here for it. Gen X and we need your voices. So time to show up. Um, anyways, back to, you know, hating using my phone. Um, feeling like social was a huge waste of time. It can be, it can be a massive time suck. Um, I don't know what to post, which has never been true. I just held myself back. I've got plenty to say, trust me. Share, show, provide, serve. Like I'm not here to make any. My goal has always been with my content that you feel better for having spent some time with me. I want you to learn something. I want you to be amused. Um, or I've touched your heart, right? We connect at that soul level. So that's okay, right? Um, organic doesn't work. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. All the BS that we tell ourselves, right? But what's been incredibly helpful for me recently is realizing that the numbers game isn't what we thought it was. Meaning you don't need massive followers, likes, or other vanity metrics to create a business you love that serves the people you want to serve and supports the lifestyle you want to live. Right? Like, it's okay to decide what's enough for you. Excuse me, I don't have. And maybe I need a, uh, what's enough for me? And there's a, uh, for anybody out there who listens to Abraham. I'm a big Abraham fan. Spiritual teaching, blah, blah, blah. And I remember Esther Hicks and her husband were talking, and he said, I want as much as I can spend. Meaning. And that includes investing and all of the things. Like, you get to decide what your enough is, right? And what your lifestyle looks like for you. Because I will tell you, you hit this. And I keep. There's. There's a post or an article in here about the matrix of midlife where you realize, oh, we've been told that we're supposed to want this, have this, do this. Like, we were all told, you need a degree to do this. Well, I don't have a degree. So who is it? Some neighbors of, uh, my dad's. We'd gone to dinner with them, and they said, well, how did you learn all this? I'm like, I said, I was determined because I could not attach something to an email. I was clueless. My husband was the one who was programming in eighth grade, not me. But I had to figure out a way to get out of retail. Right? I was in all of those things and find something I could do from home. Always had this entrepreneurial drive and bent within me. Freedom has always been my driving force. Um, but you get to decide what your life looks like, right? Whether that's to live simply or extravagantly. Here's the thing. You're no better for judging people who have stuff. Okay. Than they are for judging you for not having it. I'm just going to say that right now. The whole point is to each their own. That is the beauty of life. I will tell you that a big pull for me back in Costa Rica is that I found myself kind of getting caught back up into, okay, you know, what kind of car and where am I going to live? And now I got to decorate. And don't get me wrong, like, I will fully decorate my place in Costa Rica. And I think I told you guys I got the same place back. I'm so excited. I'll be doing video about this, um, so I'm, you know, to redo everything because I sold everything, but once it's done, it's done. I love the fact that my goal in Costa Rica is not a Kate Spade bag, right? Or which is not even, you know, it's not like I don't. Those fifteen hundred dollar purses, I just, there's nothing in me that can wrap my head around that. I don't care. But I'm not judging you. If you do, you be you, right? But all that matters to me in Costa Rica is fabric and comfort. That's it, right? Like I live in T shirts and tank top. Not even T shirts. Tank tops, shorts, sundresses, flip flops, and then my purse. There's a little shop that I go to where she makes these cute fabric bags. And I'm like, I can walk out of there with two purses for like 80 bucks. And I just, uh. Because it's lightweight and it's, it's easy and I just, I am so pulled back to not caring. And I'll have to get a car again. All that matters is that it's four wheel drive, it's comfortable and it has ac. End of story. Right? Like I don't care at all. I was thrilled with my 2007 Kia. Okay, um, where am I going? All right, so back to growing my list. So much for 45 minutes. I am wrapping up, you guys. Um, in addition to some email swaps and paid traffic, I'm also going to run my first giveaway. And I discussed this in a recent newsletter issue and just decided it's time, it's time to test this. Right? With the goal of adding at least 500 quality subscribers to my list, which will be based on engagement of the follow up series and who is still subscribed after the giveaway is over. They have to still be subscribed once the giveaway is over. And so, um, one task with my organic strategy is ensuring that all my links on all of my platforms go to the newsletter opt in page, which I'm working on a new opt in page. Um, and also editing my bio on each platform, including the hashtag for everything is content wherever I can. Um, which will be on the graphic, where relevant and in the bio. I really want to be known as the everything is content girl. Right? Like not name, but I. When people hear it, I want them to think about me at a certain point, which some of my OGs do. Right? And you guys, it really still trips me out that it is an actual searchable Hashtag. Because I'm telling you that it wasn't before I created it. Just, just saying. Right. So clearly someone needs some credit or validation. I E Me. Right? But to say, uh, uh, you guys, I am so excited. To feel as excited as I am about my business again feels amazing. And as esoteric as it might sound, I think it's because I'm choosing to trust myself. I'm going with my gut and I'm not playing small anymore. And that doesn't mean I'm just going to go ahead and clarify what being small means. And it doesn't mean that I want to be an influencer or a guru. It's just choosing to show up genuinely as myself with heart and intention and a desire to serve with zero expectation of the outcome while having my own goals and while having the intention of what I want to create in my life. Right. Um, I am crystal clear about the things I want to do, the things I don't want to do, and the things that I need to work through the discomfort of in order to create the life I want. Because this, this, oh, I, I have to wait till I feel inspired. Bullshit. You know, like, was it Vonnegut, somebody who said, yeah, I, I wait to write till I feel inspired. Fortunately, I feel inspired every day at 9 o' clock when I sit down to my desk. So anyways, you, you get the point there. And um, I do give a lot of credit to this internal shift to again, Dr. Benjamin Hardy's book Be youe Future Self now cannot recommend it enough. But most importantly, I'm giving myself credit where credit is due. I'm pretty sure that part of my DNA is that I'm tenacious. I just, I am, you know, I would rather spend the rest of my life betting on me and trying to get to where I'm going than giving up. Like it's, it's just not an option. Um, and I hope that this inspires you to do the same. So on that note, that's it. We almost hit an hour, so thanks for listening and I am going to be over the next three to four weeks, pushing. I do have a summer session for Everything Is Content coming up and I am ridiculous excited. I'm integrating AI into this, showing you the tools, uh, that you can use. But the goal is to create your own everything is content strategy with a low priced offer at the end. That's going to be the outcome. You're going to end up with your content generating sales for your low price offer. And you guys, it's going to be a super affordable course as well. We'll do a couple live Q&As, but it's not going to be like a live cohort every week. It's summertime. Um, but I'll be checking in with you. So anyways, I love you guys tons, as always. Thanks for listening. And yes, please, if you have not left a review, I'm going to start asking for them again. I think I do ask for them, but much more deliberately, I guess. All right, I will catch you next week.