Something Occurred on the Way to 100

If you are keeping score, I missed an update and a few days of episodes. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to hit the 100 in 100, it just means that some days you are going to see a couple of episodes get posted to get caught up. 

Listen to the update on the BrandAPeel Podcast

What Happened?

Getting out of the everyday routine of being focused on the podcasts by going to visit family in Whistler caused some disruption to my workflow, but I can't blame the family - they were supportive and I ate better than I had in months.

The big disruption happened during a podcast interview. My guest got off the zoom call and told his VP of Operations, “I think I just hired the host.” Two days later, I was presented with a full-time contract. A week later I started. As you can imagine, it caused disruption in my schedule and priorities.

Whenever there is a change, there is disruption in our routines and our energy levels as we realign and reset our priorities. - I AM STILL COMMITTED to SUCCESS.

Podcasting is A LOT of work.

Being a BrandAPeel guest takes an hour. Being the BrandAPeel podcaster takes anywhere from 3-5 hours depending on the conversation.

I’ve made some mistakes, I forgot to hit record more than once, and luckily the guest found enough value in the conversation to talk to me again. The sound recording has come out unusable a couple of times and since I’m not a pro at using adobe audition, I can’t fix it.

I’ve learned that some guests are pros when it comes to speaking and others, take more editing time, a lot more editing time. Some understand that a podcast is a chance to have a conversation about a topic they are experts in, while others believe it’s a chance to sell their product, service, or program. Podcasting is a platform to gain credibility as an expert on a topic, not sell something. These episodes are difficult to edit and take more time to polish into something of value for a listener.

How to be a Good Podcast Guest Episode

If you want to be a podcast guest, listen to the BrandAPeel episode, “How to be a Podcast Guest Brand Story,” where Jason Cercone shared with us his experience as a podcaster, a podcast guest, and what things he looks for when booking someone onto his show. Being a good podcast guest takes more than showing up and talking if you want to be highly sought-after. This episode is perfect for anyone who wants to be a podcast guest because you will learn some real gems of ideas you can implement to be attractive as a potential guest.

Finding What Makes us the Same Podcast Episode

My conversation with Andrena Sawyer was interesting because we are alike in many ways. We are both strong women who are seen as extroverted though we are introverted. We are independent, which results in being alone and doing our own thing. And we both were deeply hurt by a man who abandoned us. This episode is for those who are struggling with picking up their lives after being abandoned and creating a life where you are strong being on your own. Finding Andrena was like finding a long-lost friend though we’d never met, came from different cultures, have different skin colour, live in different countries, and are of different generations. By sharing our stories, we connected by what made us the same beneath the surface. This is what brand storytelling is about, sharing the values and beliefs of the brand so customers who identify with the similarities will choose you. It’s about getting past the fears and being vulnerable enough to let the world know what you truly want so it can send you those who want the same thing.

How to be Fearless Podcast Episode

Ari in the episode Choosing a Design Business Brand Story did that very thing. She moved beyond her fears, the fears of her parents, and the fears of her extended family to make a choice that changed the trajectory of her life. It isn’t easy to say “No” to a full ride into a culturally accepted career for one of uncertainty, which also comes with a hefty bill to pay. Ari didn’t let fear stop her when she decided to say, “No” to a full scholarship at a tourism educational program in her home country of Indonesia to pursue an education in graphic design. She didn’t let fear get in her way when she moved to the USA and got married. She didn’t let fear get in the way from starting a business instead of looking for the security of a job. This BrandAPeel podcast episode is great for young people who are starting out in life to listen to as it will inspire them to make the tough choices and go after what they want for their lives.

Preserving the Family Stories Podcast Episode

Our Family’s limiting beliefs can get in the way of our dreams and the choices we make for our lives. Still, they are our families, and we love them. Our family stories are about where we come from, where our values germinated, and our belief systems were formed. Where we start out in life is dependent on the choices our parents, their parents, and their parents made in their own lives. Our choices will affect where our children’s lives start and the values and beliefs they hold throughout their lives. Where we end up, what we value and believe in the end is up to us and between where we start and where we end is the story of our lives which intertwines with the stories of those whom we love. In the episode Preserving the family story, I talked with Ken Wimberley about his company and the app he developed to organize family stories and preserve them for future generations, so they will know where they come from and why they started life where they did.

Finding Resiliency in Change Podcast Episode

Change can be both exciting and difficult as it disrupts our lives in the short term. As my work priorities change to meet the expectations of my new contract, my daily life experiences are changing as I figure out how to work within a team, learn new processes, and find my stride to create a brand story platform in a completely different industry, one I don’t know much about. Editing and relistening to my conversation with Dr. Gilboa about change and resiliency helped me to understand all change, good and bad, is stressful. Plus she gave me some ideas about how to manage that stress and be resilient through this period of adjusting priorities. If you know someone who is making a change, be it positive or negative, share The Resiliency in Change Brand Story podcast episode with them so they understand why they are feeling stress and how to move through it to a positive result.

How Comedy Central TV Persevered Podcast Episode

It takes perseverance to be resilient and to launch a dream into a successful channel. In the episode a Comedy Central brand story, Art Bell shares how he persevered to get the Comedy Central TV station off the ground and how hard it was to make it a success. If you are curious about what it takes to pitch an idea to someone high up in the corporation you work at, listen to this episode. Art Bell wasn’t a big TV executive when he came up with the idea of an all comedy all the time tv station, he worked in the finance department, so he was the last person the powers that be at HBO went to for an idea about programming or product launches. Still, he didn’t give up and, in the end, HBO launched Comedy Central and through perseverance it became the success it is today. If you are curious about how TV works and what it takes to do something big when you are a small cog in a huge wheel, listen to the Comedy Central Brand Story podcast episode.

Get YOUR Story in the News Podcast Episode

MarketAPeel has gone through lots of changes as I’ve pivoted and expanded the services I offer. Last year, I started getting PR for my brand and helping clients to get publicity, as I moved MarketAPeel to a media platform for brand storytelling. The more publicity I’d get for both myself and clients, the more backlinks I’d get to improve the site’s SEO and increase the number of visits I got from both google organic searches and referral traffic from the back links. The back links became valuable channels for traffic and the publicity gave me credibility as an expert in brand storytelling. Amy Delman gets clients into the news so they will gain both awareness and credibility for their brand stories. Amy was generous with her wisdom as a PR pro and shared some interesting stories about her 30 plus years in the media industry. If you want to know how you can get you brand story in the news to gain some notoriety, listen to the Public Relations Brand Story podcast episode.

A Sign of GOOD Marketing Podcast Episode

We all know there is a difference between good marketing and sleezy manipulative messaging and you want to be well situated in the first option. Marketing experts like Seth Godin and Donald Miller have changed the way we tell brand stories in the marketplace. In the episode A sign of good marketing, I talked with Dane Sanders who learned directly from Seth Godin about what good marketing looks like and works with Donald Miller teaching people how to tell a brand story. If you want to know what good marketing looks like and how to craft a good brand story on your website, listen to the BrandAPeel episode, a sign of good marketing, you will come away with insight and some good ideas about how to frame your brand story.

Guests have taught me new ideas and given me lots to think about. Each episode is packed full of good content for those who want to be thought leaders, create a brand, define their brand stories, find a job, improve their careers, or grow their businesses. This process has given me content for the UnPeeled blog and future APeeling Digital magazine issues. The work has been worth the effort for my brand, for myself, and for my listeners. I hope that it has also been worth it for my guests.

I’m excited about the future of the site – MarketAPeel.com.

Improving YOUR SEO Podcast Episode

For Marketapeel.com to be a success, I need to ensure it is search engine optimized, so talking to Jason Berkowitz in the Improving the SEO of your website brand story was interesting. SEO is one of those black boxes, complicated, and labour-intensive technical pieces of brand storytelling. It is necessary because there is little point to creating a website if no one will see it and when someone is searching for your product and service, you want the googles of the world to show them your website. Google changes the rules of SEO on a regular basis, which makes it an ever-changing discipline in the marketing world and those who play in that sandbox, are always kept on their toes. Jason shared what he’s learned in over a decade of website development and SEO marketing to help BrandAPeel listeners understand what they need to do to improve their site’s SEO and organic traffic. If you have a website and want to increase your site’s ranking, this BrandAPeel podcast episode will help you know where to start.

I’m over halfway through this 100 in 100 podcast episodes project to quickly build the podcast platform for the MarketAPeel platform and in the process, learn as much as I can about this brand storytelling tool and how brands can use it in their brand storytelling funnel.

I am still committed to BrandAPeel and completing the 100 in 100 campaign.

The Future for MarketAPeel

As MarketAPeel continues to move towards being a platform for brand story telling through the blog, podcast, video, digital magazines, and larger digital footprint, I am excited about how it will become a destination site for brands looking for solutions to their marketing and branding problems. In a digital world of noise and increasing advertising costs on smaller amounts of digital real estate, it is my goal to build something with substance and value for both brand storytellers and brands. If you would like to be a part of this next phase in MarketAPeel’s journey, please drop me a line at Shannon @shannonpeel.com

Peel Out.