Why Small Podcast Conferences Create Bigger Opportunities

Hi everyone, and welcome to the Music of Life. I'm your host Karen Portnoy. Before I get into this episode, please comment, ask questions, share some of your experiences, and don't forget to subscribe. Hi everyone, how are you? Hope you're having a good week so far. I just came back from a very special podcasting conference called Empowered Podcasting Conference Three. I was not a podcaster for the first one, but I definitely was a podcaster for EPC two and three. So when I went last year, it was my first opportunity speaking on stage, and it was an amazing experience. I was so grateful for it, and and this year I became an MC, where I got to introduce some of the great speakers that we had, along with a few other people who was doing the same thing, so I love these conferences so much because you know there are many large conferences that are very overwhelming. I will say, I mean, it's an amazing experience in and of itself. I'll call out Podfest in particular because I think they have like somewhere between two and 3000 attendees each year, and they're-I think-they're the longest-running podcasting conference. But I mean, just amazing experiences. But the difference that I could point out is that while I learned so much and met so many people and connected and made so many connections at Podfest, there's an element that kind of feels a little bit like speed dating, where you know you're talking to somebody for a few minutes, and then you know you're off to the next person. So you talk for a few minutes, you swap business cards, and then you go on to meet somebody new. So you're collecting business cards, you're you know scribbling down notes so that you remember who you spoke to and what you spoke about and what the follow up should be, and then you keep going. So what I didn't realize the first time I went to Podfest was that you have to schedule in rest at some point because I was so overwhelmed the first year. It was like from morning until night, I was just going nonstop, and you know you break to get some food or water or whatever. But I needed rest, so you know, live and learn. The second time I went to Podfest, I actually scheduled in rest into my day so that I wasn't so overwhelmed. But on the flip side, empowered podcasting conference is so much smaller, with a few 100 attendees that it makes it so much more intimate, and you see the same people over and over. So you really get to deepen those connections, and then when you run into them at other conferences, you know it's like your old friends are ready. It's also a very, very supportive and caring and helpful community. And while Podfest, you know, has a huge community, EPC is much more close and intimate, like friends, like neighbors, like people in the same space that you can go to for help or advice or best tips or whatever. But I I can't imagine reaching out to any of these people and not having somebody be willing to help in some sort of way. And I feel like that with everyone there. I can't imagine someone not being helpful. Anyway, I think there were nine speakers that I was introducing this weekend, and I got to understand and learn a little bit more about them as I was preparing for this. So I reached out to find out what they would be wanting me to say about them as I introduced them. So you know, everybody sent me some feedback. I think it was maybe it was 10 people. I don't remember the exact amount, but I did hear back from everyone. I did get an idea of you know who they were, what they do, how they you know, what what matters to them, things like that. So by the time I introduced them and I got to sit down and watch their presentations, it was really helpful and informative. And I was surprised by one or two people, and not as surprised with the others. One person in particular that I was really kind of blown away by was Ben Albert. His company is Real Business Connections, and one of the things that he provided all of us with as he was presenting was

57 hyper-specific ways. To use your testimonials, so as a podcaster, you know we're we're always asking, you know, if somebody would be kind enough to leave a review or a testimonial on our website or social media or anything like that. And I realized I was really underutilizing the amazing things that people were saying about me on my website, so to go through this list was like so incredibly helpful because he added several points under each section. I'll just go over the sections and not go through each 57 specific ways, but it was like the 10 from the presentation that he highlighted as you know pretty important, and I would say eight out of 10 I'm definitely going to use, which is like amazing. How often do you get you know help from someone and you use everything that they provide you? I mean, sometimes you know time is an issue, money could be an issue. I don't know. There could be other issues, but you know, I was pretty impressed that out of 10 items, you know, eight of them are definitely going to be something that I can benefit from. So there was that. Then there was podcast growth. There were items under that that I'm definitely going to use. Then selling products and services. Then websites and conversion, then speaking and training, books, courses, and intellectual property, and then media partnerships and opportunities. And it's like I could spend so much of my time just implementing all of this stuff. I mean, it's like packed with gold, is what I, you know, what I felt when I was going down this list hugely helpful. I mean, it just pointed out how underutilized my testimonials have been. So that's something that I really want to promote because if people are taking the time and effort to say nice things about me and my podcast, I want to be able to showcase that, and you know, not just to pat myself on the back, but to to show that people are really having an impact, or you know, benefiting from listening to this podcast. And isn't that my whole mission is to help and inspire other people? So you know, it's it's amazing. Hey, I just want to take a minute and tell you about the divorce mentorship program that I created. It's called Becoming Whole Again, and I created it mostly for women who are either considering divorcing their toxic spouse, or they're in the middle of a toxic divorce, or they're on the other side of a toxic divorce. At any stage that you're dealing with the emotional fallout from a horrific, toxic divorce, you know what I mean. The texts, the triggers, the berating, the harassment, the threats, all those things. I've been there, and I know what you're going through. This isn't therapy. I promise. This is real hands-on support from somebody who has been where you are, I survived it, I thrived from it, and I've actually transformed from it. And along the way, I've gained so much wisdom from a spiritual healing journey that I am so happy to share with you and help you. It's not about fixing you. It's not about telling you what to do, it's about guiding you and guiding you back to yourself. There are so many people out there who need this. I promise you, I hear from them daily. Thank you for your support and thank you for listening. Okay, now back to the show. I also want to shout out two other people who really made an impact on me at the conference. One of them is Dr. Catrice Austin, who's known as the Queen of Smiles. She's a celebrity dentist, and she's known in the music industry, in particular, as you know, the the expert in doing porcelain veneers. So I know that Cardi B actually mentioned her in one of her songs, and Usher and DJ Khaled, and I'm sure countless others. But she's she's the one. I mean, being that I worked in the music business and and worked at various record companies for a decade, I mean I can't wait to sit down with her and just shoot the shit about it, you know. So we're gonna meet up at some point in September because I have another conference coming up then too, and thankfully it's in New York City, so I'll be able to attend that easily, but we're going to connect and and all of that. And she's an insane PR powerhouse. I mean, my whole career was in public relations before I was podcasting, but like the fact that she was so brilliant in explaining the PR machine. And how she's been able to utilize it, and her expertise, and I was just, she's the gold standard, is really what I was thinking. Because, I mean, I've been promoting musicians and artists and all of that for you know a decade back in the day, and it's it's really amazing when you can use the system to your advantage and really get yourself out there. So, I I have some other materials that she provided us that you know for sure I'll be utilizing as well. So another person that I met and introduced as a speaker was Ziz Abdur, who is a former NFL athlete, he's also an entrepreneur, and I got to meet and talk to him as well. And he's just got an amazing perspective, and attitude, and positive. And you know, I guess as a teammate, you know, you you learn so much about what it takes to elevate the whole team. It's not just about you, and that was a very inspirational presentation that he gave, and got a few minutes to talk to him as well. Very very nice man. And then I just you know there were so many powerhouse podcasters too that were just amazing speakers had so much to say, just riveting, amazing, engaging. I I was so inspired. I mean, if you've been to any conference in your field or whatever, you know what it's like. You ride that high for as long as you can, and I'm still riding it, and I'm still processing all the things and going through my notes and all of that. But you know, you're one person. Some some people have full time jobs and podcast. This is my full time gig, so you know I also speak. I also have my mentorship program, and you know I'm busy, and I'm trying to get things done, and I'm trying to do it the way I want to do it, and it takes time, and I have other things that pull my attention away as well. So you know it's the balancing act, but this is my priority: is to get myself set up in a way that you know I want to start doing video podcasting, and I want to change the setup of where I record from. I've mentioned before that I record from my master bedroom closet, and while it's great and the acoustics are great and all of that, if I'm going to do video, I have to get a better setup so that you know you guys aren't looking at all my clothes hanging around me. Anyway, I'm going to wrap it up for now. Thank you for being here. Thank you for listening, and thank you for your support. If you're so inspired to leave a testimonial on my web page, I would so appreciate it. Take care, and I'll catch you next week. Please join me every Thursday for a new episode. You can reach me on my website, which is podpage.com/themusicoflife. You can leave me a voicemail, a text message. You can leave your contact information if you want to be anonymous. No problem. I promise to honor that. And you can also find all of my social media platforms there as well, which is Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Thanks again. I'll see you next week.