Monday Manufacturing Motivation – with Nicole Donnelly and Julie Basello

Damon Pistulka  00:00

I know you’re in this

Nicole Donnelly  00:02

all right here and we’re live. Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I am in like Curt Anderson shoes. I feel so unworthy to be here without him. Welcome to Manufacturing ecommerce success. Monday. Manufacturing motivation. Did I get it? No,

Damon Pistulka  00:21

you got it right. You got Robert good.

Nicole Donnelly  00:23

Okay, awesome. It’s so exciting

Damon Pistulka  00:26

all downhill from here.

Nicole Donnelly  00:30

It is all downhill from here. It’s so exciting to be here. I’m I got to tell you that I’m missing Kurt. It’s never the same without him. Kurt, wherever you are. We miss you. We wish you could be here with us. We’re gonna have all the fun without you.

Damon Pistulka  00:42

I don’t know. If he’s still in Florida. I don’t like you know. Heck with him. We’re even talking about him today because he’s a nice weather. Everybody else living with winter.

Nicole Donnelly  00:54

Right. I know. He got to miss that crazy cold spell this weekend. And what told me that it was like 85 or 87 in Miami? Yeah, yeah. That’s bad.

Julie Basello  01:04

You’re right. Lucky person. Lucky. Yes.

Nicole Donnelly  01:08

Well, I’m so excited to be here with Damon, co founder of exit out runway, co founder, your way. And my amazing friend Julie pacella, with bestseller productions. So excited to be here today with us today to talk all about podcasting best practices, and how she got into podcasting and why podcasting is such a great, great, great way for businesses to build their brands and their build their audience and build their community. So we’re going to be talking all about that. Super exciting. But before we start talking about that, there’s a really, really big game coming up this Sunday. Yeah, there is there is. This is a big, big, big, big, especially Julie, because you’re from your facility, right? Well, I’m

Julie Basello  01:55

originally from New York, as you know. But I live in Philly country. So I live in Eagles country. So yes, big game this weekend. Everybody’s excited. Go Phil Go Eagles go Phil’s Listen to me baseball. Yeah, Go Eagles.

Nicole Donnelly  02:11

precaution. I gotta say, so I’m in DC area, and we hate the Eagles fans, like you guys are so mean.

Julie Basello  02:18

So I’m not actually I have to say okay, this is my rule. Since I don’t live where I’m from. I’ve not lived where I’m from since I was in my early 20s. I always root for New York teams whenever they are in the big games. That’s my rule. Right? If there’s a New York team in I have to root for the New York team. However, there is no New York teams in this one. And I literally live 15 minutes across the bridge from Philadelphia. So I mean, I’d have to be, I’d have to be really like mean to not want Philadelphia to win. But I’m really not like I wouldn’t consider myself an Eagles fan or any football fan for that matter. Just you know, sometimes you got to do what you got to do.

Nicole Donnelly  03:00

Yeah, and I bet like what’s, what are the fans up to right now?

Julie Basello  03:03

What’s going on? They’re probably crazy.

Damon Pistulka  03:06

It’s an incredible experience when you win the Superbowl. It really is. And we’ve only done it once in Seattle. But when we did that, that this the the excitement afterwards. Yeah, the Energen the whole next season, the attention that your team has is is completely different from and I’m not just talking in the stadium and from the the announcers and all that kind of stuff, because there’s more of that that goes on. But even going to the games on the outside, there’s more vendors set up. There’s more excitement. It’s just crazy what it does to your team for the those those couple of years. So it’s

Julie Basello  03:40

not really Philadelphia. Yeah, Philadelphia won in 2018. Right. So yeah, they feel like they’re due again, which, you know, hey, I wish them luck. Yeah, it will be the best team win. best team win. Well, Damon, who are

Nicole Donnelly  03:53

you rooting for?

Damon Pistulka  03:54

Well, I, you know, I, I like Philadelphia. I really don’t I really don’t care who wins. So I would just want the best Fein win. But the Kansas City Chiefs hold a special place for me because that’s the first place they ever saw an NFL football game with my family. years ago. There’s like 12 or 13. When we went I still see it. I still see the big red and all this stuff. And I sit in there with all my brothers and sisters and my mom and dad and it was just it was a ball.

Nicole Donnelly  04:22

Wow. What do you remember from that first game? What were you most surprised by?

Damon Pistulka  04:26

How many people? I mean, I grew up in I grew up in a town of like 250 people. Oh, wow. We’re in a stadium of what? 50,000 people or whatever. Oh, no arrowhead was at that time. And it’s a different experience for us. For sure.

Julie Basello  04:41

250 people I grew up in Queens, New York. Imagine growing up where there’s 250 people. Yeah, I think I had 250 People in my high school. Yeah. Oh,

Nicole Donnelly  04:50

my God. Yeah, I grew up in Southern California and my class my graduating class was I think 700 people so yeah, I can’t even imagine. Wow. Oh, sneaky little pond Damon big fish little pond. And now with me Yeah.

Julie Basello  05:04

Big fish big pond.

Nicole Donnelly  05:07

Yeah, just me. Yeah. Well, maybe that’s awesome,

Damon Pistulka  05:11

though, because we’re going to talk about podcasting today because I know Julie is a master at this. I don’t know about that. Your world? Oh, yeah. too modest,

Julie Basello  05:24

something I’m very passionate about. And it’s something that I think is a lot of fun. And it can be a lot of fun for anybody who decides to get into it. As long as you kind of know some of the parameters, you can navigate the podcasting world pretty well, I would think.

Nicole Donnelly  05:38

Yeah, I mean, I will say that. So Julie is producing my podcast, which just started last month. And it has been such a like, she’s made the whole process of starting this new completely new medium for me that I’m not familiar with at all, just completely navigating it. And she’s made that whole process just very, like seamless and low stress. And I will say even she’s even, not only has she been an amazing producer, and provide a really great feedback on how to, you know, increase the production value and make sure all that’s in line, but she’s been like a therapist. He’s been an amazing therapist, you know, because whenever you’re navigating something new, like Putin, for companies out there who are thinking about podcasting and can feel, you know, some of my clients have navigated into the podcasting world for the first time, and it can feel a little overwhelming, you know, doing something new like that when you’re used to it. And so she’s, I think that’s a huge part of it is like a lot of times getting people to take that first leap of doing this new thing where you’re, you know, on camera on audio, and that and she’s just been a really, really great therapist, so who knew who knows your therapist, slash Podcast Producer extraordinaire. So when you

Julie Basello  06:53

when you create content, and you have to work with humans to do so you have to navigate the human experience of whatever it is you’re doing. So I’m a videographer, a photographer, I’ve been a photographer for many, many years and a videographer for almost a decade. And then in the podcasting realm, all those things involve a human that has to do something either on camera or on a microphone or something like that. So my thought is make the humans comfortable, so they perform their best. And that’s where I think the what you call therapy comes in, it’s really just seeing what somebody is navigating in the struggles they’re having and trying to make it easier for them. That’s what it is. Because once it’s easier for you, and you feel better about it, you’re going to sound better. And that’s the whole idea. sound better, look better, feel better, like we did your headshots Nicole, if I was very awkward and didn’t like, you know, kind of focus on some things about you that we talked about. It would have the pictures would have felt awkward. And that’s the idea. Same thing with podcasting. You just have people need to be comfortable with whatever it is that they’re using of themselves, and feel like they can put whatever it is about themselves that’s authentic into what they’re doing.

Nicole Donnelly  08:08

Yeah, you’re right. So as a Podcast Producer, slash videographer slash, you know, photographer, you really do have to provide a place where they can feel comfortable and safe and all of that, that that totally shows. Very cool. So how did you get into podcasting? What was it that made you decide that? You know, it sounds like you had already been doing videography and photography. So what made you want to take the leap into podcasting? Specifically, what was the catalyst?

Julie Basello  08:35

You know, it’s funny, I had wanted to do it for a while at my day job, because I’m a content manager, as you know, and I wanted to, I feel that, you know, for manufacturers, it’s a great way to impact a few things. Seo, because you have show notes that are immediately going to have an impact if you link them to your website back and forth. And also just, you know, it’s a cool thing. It’s a cool factor. It’s something that not everyone has. So you’re providing value by giving people information that they’re getting directly from your business. Now, it could be information directly about your business. It might be information that’s just relevant to an industry, but you become an expert for those people when you have a voice. So I started exploring that and kind of doing some research and and did some testing and figured, okay, well I’ve done voiceovers for a while for videos. How hard could this be? So I started playing around and at the same time, I was researching and doing it for my day job. I was researching it and doing it for myself and my own my own business. So started playing around and discovered that when I spoke, people liked my voice and I was like, that’s interesting. didn’t really think about it. I’ve had the same voice since I was you know, a teenager and never really thought about I used to get made fun of for my voice. I sounded like a man. When I was a kid kids would say sounded like a man. Well, if you heard this voice coming out of a 10 year old What would you say?

Nicole Donnelly  10:01

Yeah, it is such an extraordinary memorable voice. Well, thank you.

Julie Basello  10:05

But it’s also a deeper voice than most kids have. And it just, it was different. So I kind of just didn’t think of my voice as anything. And then at the same point that I was discovering that I could use my physical voice. I was also discovering the more ambiguous voice that we talked about finding your voice, finding what it is that you need to say, and what you need to convey to the world with what it is that you do, and what’s important to you. So at the same time, I found both my physical voice and my other voice too.

Nicole Donnelly  10:37

Well, that is so cool. I remember you were on a meeting with with my team was it must have been like a couple months ago, we were talking about the podcast. And I remember one of the gals on the team. She like, messaged me, right? It was the first time I met you. And she had, it was a video call. So she couldn’t see you. She could only hear your voice, right? You’re on this call. And she messages me on Slack right away. She’s like, Oh, my gosh, does Julie have a podcast because your voice? Amazing.

Julie Basello  11:01

It’s so flattering. really flattering to hear that. And I mean, I don’t I don’t take compliments like that for granted ever. Because it’s such a new thing for me. And it took so long to get to this point that I’m just blown away by how many people are so positive. I think it’s wonderful. I appreciate it.

Nicole Donnelly  11:18

Yeah. Well, I love what you said too, about like podcasting being really cool. I think more than that, like especially I know, everybody’s been talking about AI lately and chatting up and the future of, you know, artificial intelligence and what that’s going to mean and I just feel like these these mediums like live streaming and podcasting, it is really like, AI cannot replicate anything that you create in a podcast conversation that you’re having, like we’re having right now. This is like real time thought leadership that no bot, you know, nothing can replicate that. And that’s like, the magic that comes from these conversations is what we learned together when we’re communicating, you know, and I like for brands to really understand that, like, you know, that and like community building, like, you know, the future of marketing home, this community led growth. And the way that you build a community is by building an audience. Well, how do you this audience, you have to have fans? Well, how do you do that? Well, you’ve got to be doing things like Damon has been doing for years now, you know, right, doing these events, and podcasting. So

Julie Basello  12:19

it’s true. And you notice, this

Nicole Donnelly  12:21

is the key here.

Julie Basello  12:22

He has, he has nailed it in terms of what I think in terms of you know, being able to do that you’ve nailed it. No, an AI and AI bots not going to replicate your your presence ever. Maybe the thing that I say about content creation in general, when it comes to marketing, or just any content creation, there’s a few things that go into it. There’s talent, their skill. And then there’s this little magic, I call it pixie dust when I talk about it, but there’s this magic judge that you put into things that I think a robot could mimic the the skill, maybe even a little bit of the talent by emulating people who do have talent and absorbing what it is they project to the world in terms of their creations. But I don’t know if AI is ever going to get the judge down ever gonna get the pixie dust down. I mean, I could be wrong. Maybe I’ll eat my words, 20 years from now, or 30 years from now. But I think you know, there’s a little bit of magic and a little bit of something that a robot may not be able to replicate, and you nailed it to about the community. And just the human factor. We want to talk to humans. Could you imagine three robots talking to each other right now? I mean, it might be interesting. Who knows, but it wouldn’t be as funny and engaged.

Nicole Donnelly  13:33

Well, yeah, because it would feel derivative and almost like too perfect. You know, Damon up there getting really close to the camera.

Damon Pistulka  13:42

How’d you like that on Friday? Night?

Nicole Donnelly  13:50

gasps You know, this

Damon Pistulka  13:51

is a part of it is part of it. I mean, I think you’re exactly right. Julie is at the AI. And we’ve we’ve played with a lot in our company in both in technical and tech space stuff and a lot of other things. And, yes, if you want to do basic research, Oh, very nice for something like that. If you’re trying to figure out some coding formula that you can’t figure out and if you can explain it, it’ll figure it out pretty close. Get You There, those kinds of things. But the human factor, we’re a long ways off from that. Yeah. And I think like, like you were saying to Nicole, community building is where manufacturers can really leverage what no one else can do for them. And if you are talking with your community, if you’re giving them good information, helping to highlight them when they’re doing great things or they’ve got great ideas that they should share. There’s there’s nothing that really helps you do that more than a podcast or a live stream or something like that. Even if only three people see if it’s three four people saw it then yesterday

Julie Basello  14:59

up like it, you’re talking to people, you know, like, I don’t I’ve never met you in person. Daymond. But I know you like it. Right? I mean, when you think about it, it’s that’s how you connect, Nicole and I never would have connected if not for networking and community building. And what a loss that would have been in my life. Yeah, I

Nicole Donnelly  15:15

feel the same way. Yeah. And it all started with this show on a Monday. Oh my gosh, right. It did. Like that is coming full circle. And you know what, guys? It was like, exactly a year ago. Wow, really?

Julie Basello  15:28

That’s crazy. Not crazy. And then there’s Mr. Dan bigger, of course, who connects the whole world to everyone who connects the world love Dan. So he’s good for a connection or two. And he actually gets it. Like he tries to understand your world. He doesn’t just like say Hi, um, I’m Dan, nice to meet you. It’s he wants to know what it is you do and how he can help. And love people like that. So yeah, yeah.

Nicole Donnelly  15:51

Well, we love podcasting. It’s the best, let’s be honest. Like I do love. It’s super fun. So Julie, tell us like if there’s a manufacturer out there who’s like really wanting like they’ve, you know, they’ve, they’ve been doing a lot of other content creation. They’ve been doing video blogging, and you know, they’re ready to try to take the next step. What would you like? What are some best practices for anyone who’s just navigating podcasting for the first time? Because I think there’s a great, I just, I just heard on I listened this really great podcast called Marketing over coffee. Really great. And is that the number of new podcasts has actually declined since COVID? And that, I think it’s like dropped from like, a million to like, 200,000. Because there’s like this. I think you’ve coined the term pod fade right made? Yes. And I think so the consistency is a big deal. But I also think that that presents an opportunity, right, like, a lot of opportunity now for brands to step up and to create their own podcasts. There’s an there’s certainly an audience for it in their even just in their customers. Yes, their audience, you know. So, anyway, I feel like I’m digressing. But what would you say to someone who’s just starting out? Julie, just wanting to get started with podcasting? What are like maybe like your top five things you’d recommend for someone a brand? Who wants to just get started a manufacturer specifically?

Julie Basello  17:15

I think I would say before you do anything, what is it you want to say? So do you have something to say, I don’t think a podcast should be one giant marketing campaign for your company. I don’t think you should be selling, you know, direct products all the time on a podcast, I don’t think that’s what the medium is for. I think it’s a way to tie what you do to the real world or to real world stories that can support the why of what buyers find in your company. So you know, everybody has a why of why they do what they do for from a business standpoint. If a company’s why connects to their the stories they can tell in a podcast, and they can then connect potential customers to their why indirectly that way. I think that’s valuable. I don’t think doing one long sales pitch is necessarily a valuable exercise for a podcast. And if that’s the plan, I would discourage someone from starting a podcast in that scenario. If you have a great way though, to connect information or you have a great idea of types of information that you want to convey, that is related to your business or industry, but not directly about your business or industry, then I would say one of the first things you should do is figure out who’s going to be the person or people who’s going to put their voice on it every week or who you know, who’s going to be doing the talking. Next, I would say if you’re going to get someone to do the talking you need to make sure they sound fabulous. Get a good mic, and it doesn’t have to be an expensive mic to be a good mic. I think people have so many great things and ideas to say and then they package them in the worst microphone ever and I struggle listening to that sometimes. Maybe I’m an audio I’m getting I’m getting to be an audio snob now How dare I But how’s

Nicole Donnelly  19:06

my mic? Julie? Is it okay is my quality Okay Do I need Hey Good. Okay, good.

Julie Basello  19:12

ASMR Yes, it’s fabulous. But you know, there’s a lot of people who you know, don’t have a lot of money I understand that you don’t have to start you don’t have to make a big financial investment to start this. The microphone I started the first podcast I did with was $99 cheap set of headphones. These aren’t cheap, but the ones that I started with were inexpensive. And just the computer I had and a free trial on software that helped me record people in multiple locations. And that was it. And that’s really all you need and then you build from there. If you want people in the same room you learn how to use a soundboard and multiple computers and set up a studio but you don’t have to do that. It can be a quiet room with you know, a sound blankets draped over the front of your desk while you’re speaking to absorb some of that external noise and a cardioid. Mic, that’s it.

Nicole Donnelly  20:03

Yeah, that’s simple, really not that complicated. And I’ve experienced like, from my own experience, it really isn’t. Literally, you just turn on the Zoom, plug your mic in. And you’re good to go.

Julie Basello  20:15

Right? You need a good editor, which of course you have.

Nicole Donnelly  20:19

Thank goodness, I have that. I also think it’s important what you said in the beginning about, it’s not a secret. It shouldn’t if you want to go into podcasting, it’s not for, for sales, it’s not for direct sales. You have to look at podcasting and events as a long term. I love the term that Damon used in my podcasting, marketing is farming, yes. All about building that long term, brand affinity. And you have to go into it saying like, this is a long game. I’m doing this to build my brand to build relationships to network. And like farming, it’s gonna take time.

Julie Basello  20:50

Absolutely, absolutely. And I think the other thing with podcasting that people tend to, to, well, with marketing in general, you know, we feel like we have to meet this quota of how many things we’re selling, and what we’re doing. And I don’t think podcasting is appropriate for ever, ever for selling. But also, you have to have something to say, you can’t just get on the mic and just riff every week, like or, you know, once a month, or whatever. I mean, you can’t partially but there has to be some sort of purpose to it. If like my own personal podcast that I am experiencing pod fade with right now, I am embarrassed to say, but the reason I’m experiencing pod pod fade with my own podcast is because I’m helping other people with theirs. And you know how it goes right? The shoe maker has holes in their shoe kind of that’s, that’s me right now. But I have been that there. We’ve all been there. My, my aim was to tell reinvention story. So I’ve reinvented myself in business. So many times, just things came up and I had to come up with a new plan life got in the way had to come up with a new plan. So I wanted to talk about stories that related to business and reinvention and to help people reinvent themselves on this what I call reinvention, adventure of life, you know, that’s what it is, we’re always reinventing ourselves. So tell me your story. And I’ll tell you mine kind of podcast is what I did. Because I think listening to other people’s reinvention stories helps you believe that you can reinvent yourself, that you can start over that it’s not the end of the world and things like that. So that’s my, my aim is to share those stories. Your aim, Nicole is to share things in the business world, particularly in marketing, right, that are all about mishaps and things that go wrong and mistakes that people made and how they navigated through that. And, you know, came out on the other side successful. So I mean, everybody has to have a story. And I don’t think starting a podcast without that story is a wise choice.

Nicole Donnelly  22:49

And I think too, you got to like, like the way Damon and Kurt do it. And the way you do it is bringing in guests, right? Like, that’s a really great way because then you’re telling their stories. Yes. And so I think as a manufacturer starting out, it’s a great opportunity for you to like, interview your customers, you know, Burton Damon, you’re so great at that with the relationships you’ve built with the MEPs and bringing them on the show. And I think that’s just a really natural way for you to love on your customers to get them involved to hear their stories. And then it’s like, it helps you refine your product, because you’re bringing them on you’re learning about what their pains and challenges are. And so then you can figure out okay, well what can I do to help serve you know, so it’s, it’s like market research, you know, so it is actually

Julie Basello  23:30

really is

Damon Pistulka  23:32

Yeah, and then you can even with suppliers, other people in your industry and just to really to be to be a shining light in your industry, I mean, because you can be it could be in manufacturing, I could be doing machine tool manufacturing companies that are making the equipment that makes the stuff we do, I can be worked with material suppliers and other supply chain people talk to them, how do you really work with you there’s just so many things that you can do to help your industry and your customers learn more about what they’re doing that just being that source of information, I think, you know, with with me in the face is a business I really don’t we i I’ll be honest, we don’t talk about what we do very much at all. I talk about the other people on the on there because it’s so important, I think for to be able to be a resource for for business professionals to go to someplace and be able to go okay, I’m looking for marketing or what how to do a podcast or I’m thinking about this stuff. Let’s let’s listen to some buddy talk about doing it. And maybe I’m gonna learn something from it. If you’re I think for manufacturer, if you’re say you’re doing precision sheet metal fabrication, or you’re doing carbon fiber fabrication. You could talk with suppliers about the different things that you’re doing with carbon fiber and you know, show a few examples. Just think how much customers wouldn’t learn from that. Yeah. It’s so much fun. on so much fun stuff.

Julie Basello  25:03

And you’re exposing people to things. And you’re what you’re doing at the heart of all of it is you’re giving those people on your podcast a voice, not to bring it back around full circle, but that’s what it’s about. You’re using your voice and you’re creating a voice for other people or a forum for other people to use their voice, because they aren’t getting to promote their, their business or their product or what they do, too.

Nicole Donnelly  25:25

Yeah, so true. It’s like being the Go Giver, giver. And it really is like a great source of innovation for companies. Like, I think like, there’s a really great book I just read, I recommend it to everyone called belonging to the brand just came out from Mark Schaefer, such a great book, and he talks specifically about how like the traditional marketing metrics that companies usually rely on to measure success are going to be completely shifting. And like the future of marketing is all about, like, how are your customers helping you innovate, right? So like, through these conversations, it really can fuel this like innovation and how you can help serve them better find better products for them. And ultimately, that is such a much more important metric than you know how many leads you got in the door last year? You know, so by the way, you guys, Curt Anderson is chiming in. I got it. Yeah. Oh, my gosh,

Damon Pistulka  26:21

he’s in the air. Yep. Anyway, so you mentioned a couple things, Julie, that that would get people going, right. You want to get a microphone, you want to do that? What are some of the other things that if I’m thinking about podcasting, that I may not consider, unless I talk to someone like you?

Julie Basello  26:44

The money factor? So podcasting, I think there’s a perception in people who’ve never done it and don’t have a lot of exposure to it, that they’re going to be able to monetize it immediately. And in some instances, they might be, listen, if you have I know, right, you’re laughing, I’m trying not to keep a straight face for this one. But, but if you have a huge booming business, okay, you might be able to gain sponsors for your brand new podcast, and people might support that as part of their marketing effort to support your marketing effort. And you know, my community we talked about, it might be part of that. But you don’t do podcasting. To make money any more than you would make an ad or a flyer to make money like your ad will go out, you may make money from some sort of advertising, you may not, but it still needs to be out there. Podcasting is in my mind the same way. You know not to expect that quick, you’re not going to get a quick return. But you are going to get a return. And like you said back to farming, it’s a long term thing. And it will support and enhance your marketing strategy for your business in the long term, by establishing yourself as an expert at what you’re doing, whatever that is, whatever your premises.

Damon Pistulka  27:56

Yeah, it is, it is just the community that you build from it. I mean, like, as random as it might sound, this weekend, I got I got a text Friday night late. Someone got an old client got hacked by ransomware. That’s awful. I was in freaking out and rightly so. And through my live stream in podcasting, and in those I was able to connect them with I feel one of the best people in the world to work on this amazing talk to him on Saturday got him in touch to the right people on on Sunday. And I mean, what kind of relationships? Can you build other ways that can help you help others do things like that? It’s just It’s just if you’re in an industry, and you really want to support the industry, and the people around it, and you know, even your competitors, because you know, if we all rise together? This is why I think manufacturers you really have an opportunity because we can help each other build so much more by doing this.

Julie Basello  28:55

I agree. I agree. I definitely think there’s a golden opportunity there. Like I said, it’s not for everyone. And it is a lot of work. It’s you know, Nikola, you’ve dedicated a lot of time and yours is a new endeavor. And you’ve already seen I’m sure how much time it takes. And

Nicole Donnelly  29:11

it’s a machine it is a machine, because it’s not just it’s not just it’s that’s something else to think about. It’s not just producing the podcast, it’s the distribution, right? How are you going to promote it? And that right, that is like more than half the battle.

Julie Basello  29:25

It is and your team is great. But not everyone has a big team behind them that can support it. And you know, so there’s that to factor in. But I definitely think when you can create content that provides value for your customers of any type via written visual or audio, I think you should take the time to to create that content and provide that value. It’s not just about selling in today’s marketplace. It’s about connecting with brands. People want to feel connected to the brands that they work with. And the only way To connect to a brand a brand isn’t personified. The brand is consists of people. So you need to connect people to your brand with other people from your brand. And like you said, Damon community buildings, the only way to do it is to put yourself out there. And authenticity is always my my mantra when it comes to any kind of content. And what better way to be authentic than a podcast, minimal editing, you know, just kind of making sure things are together and pieced together and tweaked. And you’re not going to chop up a podcast and make it look like Hollywood. It is what it is, you know? Yeah. So

Nicole Donnelly  30:36

yeah. And I would be curious to hear to like, what is your take on like doing an audio only podcast versus a video podcast? Like, how would you recommend one or the other to someone? What are your thoughts on that? Because I know the conversation about that.

Julie Basello  30:49

Technically, there is no video podcast, technically, because the podcast is an audio format. So when you create video, along with a podcast, what you’re doing is basically creating another way to promote your audio file. Because when you upload to your server for your whoever promotes your podcast and hosts your podcast, it’s all audio. They’re not taking your video and putting it up there. This is what I try to remind people so the focus needs to be first and foremost on the audio quality because it’s an audio medium. Once you up we lost him and once you see no he

Nicole Donnelly  31:30

was he was like um, John

Julie Basello  31:34

if he was just if he was just we were just doing an audio live right now he could have done that we would not have known. Yeah. So you know you have no no like the video tells on you it rats you out. Yeah. But anyway, it’s good to have the video because promoting, you want to see the people that are speaking in many instances, sometimes you may not want to after you see them.

Damon Pistulka  31:56

You can see some things but

Julie Basello  31:58

I’m just thinking of recording my podcasts like in my PJs in the corner of my room in my house, you know my own department, but oh yeah,

Nicole Donnelly  32:04

I’ve got a party up top.

Julie Basello  32:11

But, you know, I think that having the audio quality be there and then the video is is a nice to have in my mind when you’re starting a podcast, it’s not a need to have. Now, Nicole, you happen to be someone who has a team that works with you a successful business you’ve got, you’ve got layers behind you. You’re not you know, one person in a marketing department in a small manufacturer trying to create more content and thinking, you know, really, I can do this. But now I’ve got to edit videos and scramble to get clips made up. And there’s a whole bunch of things like you said that go into the back end, when you just deal with audio, you can perfect the audio and get it to the point where it is top notch quality, in terms of content and in terms of sound quality. And then once you get there, then you tackle video.

Nicole Donnelly  32:57

Yeah, and I think that’s great advice. That’s, that’s what you’re doing for one of our clients, they have no just a straight podcast. And it’s a great, great for them because they are really busy. And we are, you know, their subject matter experts are the ones on the show, we have an engineer on the show that we interview and some of them were a lot of hats. And so for them, it was the natural light. And you know, it’s a new medium for them. So it was a really natural step for them to just, let’s just try audio, let’s just try podcasting. And then as they get more comfortable with the medium, you know, then maybe they can get on camera, you know, so it’s a it’s a great option like for these this team in particular, they’re they’re a little bit on the more introverted side. So it’s like an easier barrier. To overcome. From that perspective,

Julie Basello  33:38

it is much easier. And when you’re just putting your voice out there and you know that you’re going to, you’re going to edit your voice Listen to me, I’m editing myself as I’m speaking. If you know you’re going to edit your voice, then it’s much a little bit easier. You don’t feel as intimidated. I personally hate being on video, which is funny, given what I do. But I just I’m not comfortable. I’m more comfortable behind the camera. So putting my voice out there. Once I got over that barrier was fairly easy for me putting me on video out there. I don’t know if I could do that every single episode. I think that would that would bug me. But maybe I wouldn’t maybe I would get better at and I wouldn’t bother me as much.

Nicole Donnelly  34:15

I think you’re great on camera. Thank you, you get used to it.

Julie Basello  34:19

You do get used to it, I think but but the audio part for me is the fun part. I love you know creating that that kind of tone where you can listen and learn something and you feel like you creating a voice that’s in someone’s head. That’s how I feel.

Nicole Donnelly  34:34

Very cool. Well, what do you think is like when you look ahead to podcasting in the future, you know, where do you see this kind of medium? How do you see it evolving over time? Like what what would you say is on the horizon for podcasts? What are like some

Julie Basello  34:53

question I you know, I don’t really I don’t really know the answer to that, but my speculation would be and it hasn’t really changed. that much since its inception. Yeah, the audio piece now being able to have tools that record video and things like that is more driven by social media than the actual podcast medium. If you’re sticking solely to podcasts, you don’t want video. You’re just a podcast person. You’re listening and you’re multitasking. I can’t multitask if I’m watching a video and listening. Yeah, right. Right. So podcasting is a multitasking medium, and it hasn’t changed all that much since its inception. So I’m thinking, maybe the tools will change. Maybe there’ll be more tools that make it easier to navigate the podcasting world. That’s, that would be my my guess my semi educated guess on the topic? Hmm.

Nicole Donnelly  35:39

What do you think of when speaking about tools? What tools do you recommend?

Julie Basello  35:42

I definitely recommend Zen caster for recording multi tracks in multiple locations. That has been a game changer for us. Because I’m not I don’t have access to a What am I the soundboard? Yeah, I forgot the word soundboard. I don’t have access to one of those. So and I don’t have a ton of experience with that. It’s something I’m learning. I’m teaching myself, but I’m not there yet. So Zen caster is my soundboard, which it allows you to do a lot with very little and their customer service has been excellent. They’ve been great. Another app I highly recommend is headliner headliner dot HPP. They and I’m not sponsored by any of these people, but any of these companies, by the way, but headliner is a great way to make quick audio grams for your podcast. And then the last thing I would say, and it’s a tool that I just came across that I love, it’s called otter AI for transcripts. That’s amazing. And transcripts, especially if you have a YouTube channel like you take your podcast with video and put it up on YouTube. Having that transcript there is going to help your SEO enormously.

Nicole Donnelly  36:50

Yeah. We love otter AI, we use that for all of our clients. When we do our SME interviews. It’s magic, right?

Julie Basello  36:57

It is magic. And they’re very accurate. I was shocked by

Damon Pistulka  37:03

it for a few years. And it’s even even we use it now in corporate meetings. It takes notes for corporate meetings.

Nicole Donnelly  37:10

Better than that. Dave is recommending Riverside, which Yeah, that’s amazing. I’ve heard it recommended Riverside too, in terms of like having like being able to do really good quality video on a, you know, like a Zoom meeting, for example. That’s great. So thanks, Dave. You’re the best we can always count on Dave. He’s such great insights process guy. Yes, it’s so true. And I’ve since using Zen caster, I will second that it is just an awesome platform, it’s really easy to use for someone who isn’t like new when I was trying to figure out how to use it. I was like, Oh, this is a no brainer. This is and I love how the files are all like separate. You can download the you know, video, audio, everything else separately. That’s really

Julie Basello  37:53

very helpful. From an editing standpoint, you have to have separate tracks. So

Nicole Donnelly  37:57

especially since our first episode that we did the video file of Kurt got corrupted. It happened to it happens, you know, there was something so well, very cool. Well, Damon Kay, what else? Do we got anything? You know, what we’re, where should we go from here? My friend?

Damon Pistulka  38:15

You know, I just I just think that there are some basic things that people need to understand about podcasting. Like you said, Juliet’s, you know, get a good mic, understand what you’re going to talk about on your show. And then be patient.

Julie Basello  38:33

The big one, that’s a big one.

Nicole Donnelly  38:35

That’s good. Why do you say Be patient? Tell me more? Damon, tell me more tell me it’s

Damon Pistulka  38:39

just because the chances of you coming out of the gate and having something with you’re gonna get 1000s of downloads? I mean, okay, first of all, set your goals, right? If I’m if I’m gonna find this precision sheet, metal fabrication company, and in wherever you just pick up town, and I want to be part for my community, how many downloads? Do you really need a week? Yeah. Do you need five? Or Does 5000 really even make sense for you? Are you really even serving your community if you get 5000 downloads grow? true, very true. People, people think that I, I’m just going to give you an example, on LinkedIn. When I post the content that I really know that my, my target audience likes, I get about this many views. But I look at who’s viewing. And I go, that’s exactly who I want to be doing. That’s what I think if you look at your podcast that way, and you understand who’s listening to your podcast, if you can get that level in this right people, you’re doing the right thing, and don’t worry about 400,000 downloads, because you said Go ahead,

Julie Basello  39:56

you know that’s a good top the good point actually because podcast analytics I think one of the things you mentioned earlier what I saw as something in the future, or you know, something in the podcast industry that might be better or change, analytics needs to get better. Right now you don’t have access to the who you have access to the where, where are the people that are listening, you don’t have access to who they are. And that’s something that when I’ve produced podcasts for people, for newer, smaller manufacturing professionals, they’ve always questioned Well, can I get people’s email addresses? I’m like, No, you can’t even see those people, you can see where those people are. If you want to target people in New York City, you can see where they’re listening from, but you can’t tell who they are. So that’s, I think, to me a little bit of a flaw from a marketing standpoint, if you’re just doing a podcast, you don’t care about that. You just want as big of an audience as you can. But if you’re doing a podcast strategically for your business, you’re right. You need to be speaking to the right people, it could be 10 of the right people instead of 500. Of who cares, you know, and you can’t tell what that is. Yeah.

Nicole Donnelly  41:03

I like that. And I love the whole, it’s all about quality over quantity. So true.

Julie Basello  41:09

It is always Yeah, well, you know, it’s always in marketing, about quality over quantity. For not throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks, you’re strategically picking out what you’re going to pick up and throw and who you’re going to throw it at their riches are in the niches. That’s a good one. Very true. It’s

Damon Pistulka  41:29

not ice cream you’re selling No.

Nicole Donnelly  41:34

Originally in manufacturing, how many are there in manufacturing? You knew there was that? You know,

Julie Basello  41:40

who knew? 8 million?

Nicole Donnelly  41:43

No, well, man, this has been such an awesome conversation, I have loved it. I just have to say, Julie, you’re doing incredible work. I’m just so proud of the work you’re doing on Thank you, my podcast and the clients that have been doing that you’ve produced podcasts for the quality is just so top notch, and I’m just super excited to see where you’re going to take this and excited to be on that journey with you and support you, however, that I possibly can. Because I truly think, you know, as a marketer, you know, for my clients, investing in live events, or podcasting really is where they need to be in order for them to really build an engaging audience and build that community. So I’m just super excited for you. I think it’s great what you’re doing and I’m I’m so pleased to be able to, to be here. This was all by the way. This was all Kurt’s idea. Okay.

Julie Basello  42:33

Kurt’s amazing. We know this. Him and Damon are like the dynamic duo.

Nicole Donnelly  42:38

I mean, ever not think about other people. I swear he was like, Nicole, I think you should come on and you should have Julie come on the show. And I’m like, Kurt, you’re just he’s just so great. So anyway, thank you, Kurt. Yeah, thanks. Good. And I gotta say, I have not been doing a good job of showing everyone’s comments. So I’m going to do that. Now. Dan says something about Oh, does patients exist? Not really, it’s all about instant gratification. Yeah. Here’s a great one. Julie buzz. cielo is a jam I can sell. And she sure is open. There’s a Anderson. Thank you. And oh, this is so sweet. Sweet from Valerie Webber thing. Better, Valerie. No. What are we so lucky to be part of this amazing community? Definitely. Yeah, definitely. It’s just so cool. So anyway, I think it’s awesome. So Julie, you’re just doing such you’re doing you’re awesome. So so pleased to be your friend and compadres and thank you for being my therapist and doing all that you do and awesome. I don’t know. Damon, how are we going to close this out? I need some help.

Damon Pistulka  43:48

I mean, I think it’s it’s, it’s been a great conversation. Nicole. You did wonderfully. Julie, thanks so much for what you shared today because it really is going to help people get out and maybe consider podcasting. I think it is a good a good way.

Julie Basello  44:03

Thanks for having me.

Damon Pistulka  44:04

Yeah, so yeah, take it away. Let’s let’s let’s close this thing down. Let’s

Nicole Donnelly  44:09

say Go Eagles go cheap. You know, podcasting is the way and it’s all about community everyone and thank you guys for all coming. We love so much everyone.

Damon Pistulka  44:20

You guys.

Nicole Donnelly  44:21

You guys are just the best. Again. Oh,

Damon Pistulka  44:24

such a great group. Thank

Nicole Donnelly  44:24

you. All right, cool. You guys have a good rest of the day. That’s it for Monday do actually motivation. All right. Bye. All right.