How A Multi-Show Coach Builds Consistent, Resilient Podcasters with Roy Coughlan

What keeps a podcast alive when the honeymoon fades? We invited coach and multi-show host Roy Coughlan to pull back the curtain on what actually drives growth, why impact beats downloads, and how to stay consistent when the comment section goes sideways. Roy shares the arc from losing everything to building several top-ranked shows, revealing the mindset shifts and systems that turned fear into a repeatable practice. You’ll hear how he split his ideas into distinct podcasts, protected audience trust, and focused on interviews as the core engine rather than flashy promotion.

We dig into the surge of podcast coaches and how to separate real operators from playbook sellers. Roy lays out a pragmatic approach to coaching: adapt to the creator, build a format that fits their energy, and pick platform strategies that suit the audience. He explains why hosts should personally engage in comments, how to filter abusive noise while embracing constructive critique, and why a single listener note can spark meaningful improvements. We also talk metrics that matter—counting video plays where full episodes live, tracking what guests actually share, and treating twenty loyal listeners like a weekly stage.

Consistency becomes the quiet superpower. Roy shows how to take breaks without losing momentum, repurpose your archive with intention, and run lean with simple tools that elevate rough audio. We look ahead at where podcasting is heading as audiences seek trusted voices and open conversation over polished spin. If you’ve ever wondered whether a small show can make a big dent, this conversation will recalibrate your compass and your calendar.


Connect with Roy:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roycoughlan/
Website:  https://roycoughlan.com/
https://bio.link/podcaster

Chapters

• 0:00 Meet Roy Collin, Multi-Show Coach
• 2:16 From Failure To Speaking And Podcasting
• 6:30 Launching Multiple Niche Podcasts
• 12:20 Aha Moments And Critical Thinking
• 18:30 Handling Trolls And Using Feedback
• 25:45 Why Hosts Must Own Community Engagement
• 31:20 The Podcast Coach Boom: Buyer Beware
• 39:00 Interviews First, Then Smart Marketing

Transcript

Meet Roy Collin, Multi-Show Coach

Carl 0:04

Welcome to Communications Connection Community, the Podcasters Podcast. This podcast takes a deep dive into modern-day communication strategies in the podcasting space. We chat with interesting people to make the podcasting and speaking spaces exciting and vibrant. We also dive into the podcasting community with news, updates, latest trends and topics from this ever-evolving space. Let's dive into today's episode. One of the things that's happening in the podcasting space as of late is there are a lot of people coming in and they're coming in not only as hosts, they're coming in as podcast coaches. And they're just like any other coach, there's good coaches and there's not so good coaches. We're talking to an amazing podcast coach today. Roy Coughlan is a podcast coach with six podcasts: Speaking Podcast, Awakening Podcast, Meditation Podcast, Learning Polish Podcast. All four, by the way, have are in the top five percentile in the podcasting space. The Crypto Podcast, which is in the top 1.5%, and Podfather, which is in the top 5%. He's helped people create podcasts and get them into the top 10%, which is a great place to be. He's helping clients on a regular basis get on the top-rated podcast as well to promote their businesses or their books or their passion projects. He also provides virtual assistance at affordable rates in various sectors as well. He himself has produced and edited over 1,400 episodes, including over 100 live and top guests in the world. And we are so thrilled we're chatting with him today. He is a sought after podcast guest, a seasoned podcast host. Please welcome Roy Coughlan. Roy, welcome to the podcast.

Roy 1:56

Looking forward to the conversation. And I know you've been on my show and we had a fantastic call.

Carl 2:00

So I have to tell you, if there was a show in 2024, I would not regret being on. It's yours, that's for sure. I much enjoyed our time together. And I'm sure we're going to have some fun together too. So podcasting, you've been at it for is it seven years now?

From Failure To Speaking And Podcasting

Roy 2:15

Yeah, it's gone into seven years now. Yeah.

Carl 2:17

And what is it, Roy, of all things you could do in your life? What led you to the podcasting space?

Roy 2:26

It's kind of a long story. It was never kind of planned. So I kind of went through where I lost everything and to the real estate market. And with that, saw a lot of corruption. Went to an event. The event was what's your quest? And I said, I'm gonna expose this. I said, I do not like all the corruption that's going on. Because I saw with bailiffs and everything, there was a load of bad things going on, judges, you know, banks. And I saw brilliant speakers there. I hated public speaking, so I said, I need to be a good public speaker. I was always using that as a crutch. I just don't do that. That's not me. And you know, I was running big jobs for a mechanical contractor in Ireland, but when it came to the meeting, I was like Mr. Bean. My voice just went. And I was like, I came back and I said, All right, I'm gonna go to a Toastmasters meeting. Being the strong, confident guy, had to bring two guys with me to hold my hand basically. And they said, Yeah, it's good. I was like, this is brilliant. They said, We don't have time to join this, we don't want to join us. And then I wouldn't go back. I was so shy. That's that's the way I was. But a new club a few months later opened, and I said, All right, there's gonna be all new people, I'm going in. They said, Will you sign up? Yeah, will you do a speech? Yeah. And from that moment, I just kind of kept saying yes, entering all competitions and went from being terrified to getting into the final five countries, doing an open mic TEDx, doing open comedy, and getting into a lot of competitions and doing very well from that. So when I was at another event, there was a guy that was a podcaster, even he wasn't long at it but was doing well, and he'd done a workshop. So I said, All right, I'll go to this now. Oh, I can do this. And originally I was like, but this is perfect for my exposing the corruption, but I want to learn my trade first. And I said, speaking is the first one. So the speaking podcast was my very first podcast, and because I had met so many people in Toastmasters, I pent the guests, and that was before PodMatch or before I knew it existed. I was early into PodMatch. Podmatch is fantastic, it's made my life as you know yourself. Life is a million times easier with that system, it just simplifies everything. And yeah, I kind of went from there. Then the next one was like the meditation because when I lost everything, meditation helped me. And what happened is I was listening to different meditations, one was guided, and the guided kind of one disappeared, or and then another one started charging, and I was after losing everything. I was watching every penny. So I was like, I'm gonna create a meditation podcast that's free, always will be free, just to help people. So that was that. Then I didn't learn Polish podcast, eventually done the awakening, that's the one exposing fraud, corruption, but with solutions. Then the crypto, I saw there's a lot of fraud in crypto, and what I didn't want to do was incorporate the crypto into the awakening, because not everyone's into blockchain technology, and if I done that, I'd hurt my listeners. So I created the crypto podcast, and then the last one is the Podfather because I love podcasting, obviously, and it was like I want to keep people in the game because I saw so many people drop out to do three shows, they're gone, and it's like, are they just showing? And I said, I don't want it to stop, I just make it easy for them and just share some tips that they can actually improve their show or get started.

Launching Multiple Niche Podcasts

Carl 5:32

Gosh, what an amazing story and an amazing journey. That's certainly the reason why we had this podcast is as you just said, to help people not stop podcasting to actually keep them going and let them know that it's a long game, not a short game. But what a journey! And I too have a very similar experience in Toastmasters where I didn't go to that first meeting and run away afraid, but I certainly went to that first meeting terrified. Terrified. And I worked in radio, so it should not have been a terrifying thing, but there I am in that meeting, seeing all these people in the club. And by the way, it was a brand new club, it hadn't even formed as a club yet. They weren't at charter status, and there I am, the broadcaster, intimidated by all these people who seem to be years ahead of me in the speaking space, but good for you for sticking with it. And the journey into podcasting, I think is for a lot of people very similar. There's something that that drives them to it. And for you, for each podcast, and I'm glad how you explained that, there was something that led you to, okay, I gotta do this, okay, I gotta talk about this, and I gotta talk about this. Is there anything that along that journey as you were starting those podcasts that were aha moments? You know, when you started the first one, you're okay, I gotta do this, master my craft. But as you started to get into it, was there anything where you went, ah, there's a light bulb? Ah, there's another idea. Anything? Definitely.

Roy 6:56

And just going back before I answer that, when I went into clubhouse, so I was at that stage confident speaking on stage. I went on clubhouse, which would have been the opposite to what you did. And my voice crumbled. I was like, what's going on here? It was just a different medium that I wasn't used to. And I just kept, I didn't walk away from it this time. I just kept at it till I got confident. But sometimes, you know, you think I can speak in public, and then you go on the radio or whatever. And if you're not used to it, the same with TV, like because it's different. So I think just uh to be with that. Going back to your question, you have one.

Carl 7:31

I was just gonna say, I remember speaking of being intimidated after I you know built a lot of confidence, and I'll say this because you mentioned that you had done some competitions as well. I remember the first time competing, also being terrified and having to do the mindset stuff, the I have value, I'm a great speaker. I'm the otherwise I would have crumbled on the stage. I'm like, I know what I'm doing. I can do so. So, anyways, yes, um, aha moments in podcasting.

Roy 7:58

I think one was the feeling of knowing I'm helping people and just listening to others' journey as well. That like you think that there's not many would go kind of through what I've done, but I had a lot of kind of famous speakers, and they're telling me about their kind of journey, you know, because sometimes, yeah, you get the odd person, you know, at five, they knew they wanted to be, they were put into theater, and it's just never been affair for them. But there's a load that were really terrified. So that was kind of one of the things. And I think with all of the ones, the main thing is like that you're helping someone that you know you're making a difference. Not everyone will reach back and let you know, but it doesn't matter, and you don't know like that the ripple effect of that. The other thing is when you get guests on, I mean, especially for the awakening, I would say, like people will come on and they start talking about a certain subject. And I would then go, that's interesting, different to my thought beliefs. And then I go in and get books and I start researching. I go, they're right. And I think from the podcasting, health-wise, different things that I'm doing, and just how I look at the world, not being hoodwinked, not believing things, but not also being biased in how I think. Like if you have a different belief system than me, I've got friends that totally believe totally different things, they joke about what I believe in, but we can joke and laugh about it. Whereas I think society now is them and us. You believe this, I believe that. And as long as you can kind of try to look at it from both sides, I think it helps. So that was one of the things I think whether you call it critical thinking, thought process, and just kind of going back to, hey, when I was younger, how was I, I don't know, what way I was it? Why was I actually the way I was with the public shy? You know, I I was able to kind of trace it back and kind of understand it. You know, like the teachers getting you to stand up in school reading, my brain would freeze like five people away, and I just hated it. And then I started stuttering, and I was stuttering for a while. And then another time, I was 13 and the teacher, like I'd done a history teacher, but he was an aggressive, abusive kind of teacher. And he basically said, in front of 30, I'd be 30 in our class. He said, My grandmother would do better. She's been dead 10 years. You know, like I can laugh at it now. But like if somebody done that to my son, I'd knock him out. You know, like you, you know, we just but then I got a different teacher later on, and I was getting 100%. And that made me think as well, like sometimes we think we're bad at something, and it can be the teacher or the coach or the instructor that actually makes us like that. So sometimes people go in to get some, do some, whatever it is, and they go, Oh, this isn't for me, whether it's singing or whatever, and sometimes it's just the wrong teacher.

Aha Moments And Critical Thinking

Carl 10:39

It's amazing how that can have an impact on us, though, in life, in business, certainly in podcasting. You know, somebody says something and automatically, and I think this is part of the reason for, I wasn't going to go down this road, but seeing as you mentioned it, that part of the reason for pod fade is yes, okay, you get those folks who do two or three episodes and they don't realize how much work it is, or they just do it for fun. But then you get those people who are along on the journey and something happens to them. It could be a mentor, it could be a coach, it could be a guest, you know, the wrong guest just rub them the wrong way, and then all of a sudden they're giving up, they're quitting, as opposed to realizing that that's only one person's opinion. And that one person doesn't necessarily reflect, firstly, doesn't it shouldn't impact you as a person. I would say consider the source. But if Roy Coughlan says that I'm an idiot, okay, you know what? That's probably not true. But people give the power, like exactly, exactly. But if Roy Coughlan said the earth is flat, I think there's enough, you know, evidence or research that we could have an intellectual conversation about around that without, you know, losing a friendship or bad mouthing or the things that we're hearing today, and I don't want to go down a political spectrum, but because I know some of the stuff you've done, you've uncovered a lot of corrupt things in the world in general. But man, oh man, it's amazing how those things can impact us, can impact us to be silent instead of being vocal. And it's not about being vocal to be offensive, it's about being vocal to make a point or to put things out there. And that's one of the beauties I find, anyways, about podcasting is we can have a difference of opinion about things. You know what that makes for? I know you know what it makes for, Roy. It makes for great content, is what it makes for.

Roy 12:27

I even say that at the end of my shows. I'd say, look, give me your comments on what we discussed. And as long as it's not abusive, it stays up. And it's actually a very important point because I know a lot of people they've thrown in the toe because they could get a hundred nice comments, and they get one person that just abused and they do not think of the hundred people that said beautiful things about their show. They think about that one person, and then if they start fueling it, in other words, engaging, you will never win with that. So, what I say, you either just ignore it or you delete it or you report it, and you cannot let it because you'll see it. I mean, I find even on the Polish one, I see some some horrible comments, and I'm like, but you just you can even just by going into someone's profile, they don't have their pictures up, or are you dealing with bots or are you dealing with somebody that's just mentally there's something wrong? But you're only hurting yourself by engaging in that because you think you can change their mind. It's like it's like changing somebody from being a Trump supporter to be uh a Harris supporter. Like it's not gonna happen, you know. It's that's just the way it is. So when you're engaging with that, so don't put your energy into that. Put your energy into the nice things and even save, save the beautiful comments. I mean, you get reviews, so sometimes you just go in and look at the reviews, sometimes you just see a review and you go, Wow, you know, the way people say how it touched them or what they just reach at the moment that they needed to hear it, and that's I think there's a high percentage of people, unfortunately, they've thrown the toe because of that one.

Carl 13:56

Podcast Coaching 101. Look at the comments, embrace the positive ones, dismiss the ones that are absolute garbage. But I'll throw something in there too. I like to look at the I'll say negative reviews, but I'll look at the ones that are critical. Negative is the wrong word. The ones that are critical, because that could be a learning opportunity for me to improve my show. If it's downright nasty and vile, okay, yes, those are the ones we don't want to focus on or engage. But the ones that say something like, you know, I love your podcast conversations that you have, but they're too long, or uh get better guests, or or something that at least gives me the opportunity to improve as a host. Would you agree with that as a podcast coach?

Roy 14:38

That there's a absolutely and I have one for you because with my Polish one, there was a young guy, he was 16 in Toastmasters, and he had to join under his father because you have to be 18. I was so impressed with how he was kind of just you know pushing himself in life, and so I got him on the show, kind of like a 16 year old. And and that's the other thing as well. It's like sometimes people think you get the massive stars and your numbers go through the roof. He's got the most downloads because he shared it and he was so happy that I done it, telling his friends and everything. So it's still number one that interview. So, because he was doing beatboxing, so he actually done a beatbox for my Polish one. I don't know, was it going on at the same time I think it was, it was already gone. But I put like that and I left it in for a couple hundred episodes. As you said, the review, it was like love the thing, it really helped me learn. But the the beatboxing is cringeworthy, and then someone else had commented on so I eventually took it out, and the amount of people that thanked me for taking it out, nobody had said it before that. Like you would think people said, Hey, because then you'd listen, but most people just say nothing, and it was like when I took it out, I got so many comments thanking me for taking it out, so yeah, it's listen, and another important thing, and I know a lot of people are kind of guilty, is that they outsource like you can get someone that's posting your shorts and videos and things like that, but with the comments, they get people to do that as well. They will never be in your head, they don't know what you're doing, they don't know about the interview, they're not listening, they're not the same level as you, you know, they they have a different skill set, and if they're commenting, they could miss potential client or valuable information that will improve your show. So, what I say is yeah, just set aside time. You don't want to be just constantly on social media, but even if you say, All right, I'm doing 10 minutes a day, going in. I mean, that's what I normally do on the Facebook. You just hit the button every maybe once a day, you know, every two days. You can see the comments on the stuff. And then when you do that, that's perfect for you then.

Carl 16:33

I have a coaching colleague, and he's actually a coach who coaches coaches to be better coaches. I think I can't work the word coach into that sentence anymore. I could try though. You just did. He has, I believe it's two, maybe three virtual assistants that help him on the back end of his business. So they will help create certain social posts, they'll help create uh some of his content, they'll help structure emails and blogs and stuff. And they know his writing style and he still approves it all. But the one thing that he does religiously without a fault is he does exactly what you're saying. And he has a massive community, he has 30 or 40,000 people in his Facebook community, and plus I don't even know how many people on his email list, but he's the one who's engaging in those comments in social media because he's the only one who has his finger on the pulse who can engage that way and knows the people in his community intimately enough to know how to respond. So I'll give you an example. He's a white wine drinker. I'm a red wine drinker. And every now and again he'll post something, and it might be something about something he did on the weekend, and I'll do a jab, something about, yeah, but at least we had red wine, and he'll go, ha ha ha, the white was better here. So, but his assistant might not know that, might not know that little gem of information that we have exchanged, you know, privately, not privately, but after an event that we both spoke at 10 years ago, they wouldn't know that. So it's interesting that you draw the people to that that take that time to comment. Let's talk about podcast coaching because I'm seeing more podcast coaches bubble to the surface. How long have you been in the podcast coaching role?

Handling Trolls And Using Feedback

Roy 18:19

I think it's about three years, but I've been helping people from after I was a penny year or so in podcasting, because I was doing a load of speeches about it in Toastmasters. Then I was you know invited to kind of like workshops and stuff like that when they were having the sessions, you know, when you have about four clubs or even more division level that I'd be like doing a workshop. So there was loads of people making noise, then they'd come to you. And it was a case of then there was people that you might have met at an event, going, Hey, I'm uh I'm starting a podcast. I know you're the pod guy, and uh listen. It was like at once is very happy helping a lot of people, you know, knowing that I'm getting a load of people to start. They weren't getting a sausage for it, like you know, they weren't buying you a drink or taking you for a meal or whatever. And then I just said, I'm not getting appreciated for the time because it is very time consuming to do it right. And then I just said, okay, so first I created like a course, and then when people asked, I said, look, I've got a video I've like a 30-minute video, because I just want to help people as well, because I'm kind of conscious of what it's like when you run out of money as well. So I don't want people not to be able to do it if they have nothing, so you can do that, but it's also I've given them the different options. Hey, you have a course or you can do one-on-one coaching, and you know, they just took it then with the first guy, like he said, yeah, no problem, you know, whereas he would have probably just expected it for nothing if I didn't do that. And that's how it kind of started.

Carl 19:43

What have you noticed in the last, as I said, I've noticed in the last two to three, maybe even four years, let's say since 2020, an uptick in the number of podcasting coaches out there. What are some of the things you've noticed in that space as far as the quality of the coaching, the value that coaches are bringing, good or bad? I'll let you speak to both sides to put a little bit of controversy in there if you want. But what are you noticing in the podcast coaching space?

Roy 20:13

There was I'm beat a test a lot of things because like I've been number one in a lot of charts, and you know, as we mentioned before, they got to the top half percent. And so there was one guy reached out to me and he was writing books and interviewed me and said, Hey, and and I didn't even get a copy of the book. But he was writing about he had about four or five books written on, I'm not gonna mention him, like but his name, but basically he had about four or five books on podcasts, and then eventually started one, and it wasn't that successful, like yeah, done all right. But like, and I just see kind of the marketing that they do. There's a lot, like I go in and I see some of them charting really expensive stuff, and you know, you go in and listen. I mean, I go in and listen to your show, like, and I engage and I I like the style and everything, but you go into some and it's like, and then you have a person that's I mean, they can't, they're really not, they don't have the skill set, and then they're teaching somebody, so it's like that's not great at public speaking, that's just kind of going, This is exactly what you do, and everything. It's like you need somebody who's been there and who's kind of done it, understands it. You get way more tips and stuff like that. So there's a lot of them out like that, and just from listening to people like this. Some people have it's my way or the highway, they have a system. Whereas when I'm dealing with people, I know because through my business journeys and everything, life journey, I know everyone is different. Some people are A, let's go. Logo, name, boom, boom, boom, boom, and they're just want to run. That's okay. They'll spend a week trying to fine-tune everything, but I don't beat them up for that. I let them go on their own journey because if you push them at your pace, so it's okay. And then, like sometimes something happens or people reach out to you, and you're helping them on that as well. And it's like I mean, everyone's trying to look for the secret sauce. What's the secret sauce? for being you know good and I think it says don't to the interviews the most important thing because like you can have a fantastic marketing team but if you haven't got a great it can only go so far. The problem is with a lot of people they have great podcasts, great interviews, but they do zero marketing. And unfortunately you have to do both. And then you have to spend a bit of time in actually doing it and making sure you get into the group. So I help people as well. I kind of skill set is as well and what their social media is and try to tap into that. Because like everyone has got their favorite social media and it's like trying to find out what's the one for you and is it relevant to the podcast that you're doing and just kind of watching these things and it all adds up and you're just I mean you've got their back basically you're not looking for a customer for the dot because you know at the end of the day when you know that somebody's creating something and like there's people that are creating beautiful podcasts that if they're changing one person's life that's worth it in itself. Like that kind of goes back to the numbers as well because sometimes people they throw in the toll as well because we know we're saying that there's a lot that give up and it's like if they're having 20 downloads because they're looking at these guys with massive downloads they're looking at Rogan Mr Beast and all that but if you had a Toastmasters meeting and there was 20 people coming in for a speech you'd be delighted next week another 20 people want to hear you talk but yes people think they're a failure. So it's like these are people that are coming back to listen to your show and once you keep doing it and just kind of look at a few different tricks start playing around with a different marketing and as you say like when you engage with people like the comment that you just mentioned with the wine what happens is the algorithms kind of go, ooh, this is good. There's a bit of conversation going here. So then it shows it to more people either your friends his friends or maybe both of them and then before you know it you're going oh this one has took off a bit I mean I have a kind of a sheet I send to people when I'm finished some people don't even respond to that. Others they will do everything to promote it. And I presume it's like the same for yourself. When someone does that I go he gets it he's commenting thanks for having me on the show whatever and you do the same and it's it's genuine like you do you're happy you appreciate I mean just you get pitched a couple of hundred times and no it's just everyone is trying to because there's so many out there now as well lots of agencies they're just blasting you pretending they have listened to your show and all that there's a few things there I want to unbundle that certainly is is a good one about you know the agencies and are they really listening to the show.

Why Hosts Must Own Community Engagement

Carl 24:34

The other piece too that you mentioned there was I got to go back through the memory banks now because I didn't I I didn't make a note of it. I usually do make a note of it when I'm in conversation with people. So I don't forget in case they do what you did and you you know you expand on something but the piece that really has been getting under my skin and it goes back to the coaching piece is the individuals some of them are business coaches. Some of them are small business center you know directors or whatever who are labeling themselves shall we say as experts in podcasting and their expertise as podcasting in is they have a podcast they set one up they do everything through their phone and all of a sudden they're the expert to me that doesn't make them the expert that makes them a podcaster I'll go so far as to say that not even necessarily the best one because I know as with all the technology that you have with a phone I know Roy you're sitting in front of a microphone right now as am I and I know you have a backdrop that is professional looking as do I. So a little bit of experience doesn't make you the expert. You could be actually sharing the wrong information and I've heard people share the wrong information from a getting started perspective in podcasting that has derailed people from continuing a show because they were fed a bunch of I don't want to say lies but they're fed a bunch of information that was just not correct.

Roy 26:01

One thing that a lot of people use the word expert I don't class myself as an expert. I class myself as an expert if I have nothing to learn I'm constantly learning. I'm constantly even getting courses and I'm trying to pick up on different things I'm looking at a load of you know I go into webinars and different things. If I pick up on one thing that's another tool for me and also for my clients that I can share with and then I'll share with people that are you know part that have been with me. It's not a case of oh it's only for the new people it's like I like to go because the thing is I'm very generous with new stuff but what I found is there's two different types of people there's the person that's going hey what's the latest thing what's the latest thing they're trying to find out they will give you nothing and there's others as soon as they find something you're the first on their list right I've just come across this here you go look see what you think of this and you're ahead of the curve because of that. So I find I am very generous but when I know somebody is a leech I cut it off or I burn it off whatever you get rid of the leeches.

Carl 26:59

I think you use salt or you can burn it off but uh burning it off can be dangerous. You don't set yourself on fire. But salt works too but anyways uh going along those lines I think that that you're right there. I think that and I'm in the same headspace I'm in the same headspace that you are I consider myself to constantly be learning and I'm always wanting to and ready to improve to be a better person, a better spouse, a better podcaster, a better business owner. Again, I think there are folks that hit a point where all of a sudden they feel like they have all they need to know to be able to influence folks to move in a certain direction shall we say I would take your expertise say over an individual who is just employed in a small business center because you have the the experience you have the the numbers to prove it you have tools you've created these things and you have a history and you can say I tried that it didn't work for me. It might work for you but just be aware that or the other thing that you have is you got your finger on the pulse with what's going on in the industry. That's one of the things I find when some folks are coming into the podcasting space they start and they just keep going that they keep going down that line doing the same thing not realizing that or not understanding that like anything there's an evolution in podcasting things that we did seven, eight years ago even four years ago there's been some changes and we've had AI tools now all these things that are making it a different industry than it was even just a few years ago.

Roy 28:39

As you say evolving ourselves as well because I don't know about you but I know if I go back and listen to the earlier ones with it I cringe how bad they were in the lighting everything. It was like you just constantly evolve and then like now I'm using uh like Adobe for enhancing the audio and it it is so good and I do lives as well and we had about six people on one call and one guy it looked like he was using his laptop thing and it was so bad and I was thinking oh because I always wear the earphones and when I put it through this it was like it was perfect and I was like it was another it was a guest that actually told me about that. He came on my show and he said this is a very good tool I think you should look at it. And it's like 10 bucks a month so like if we pay attention and we're just constantly kind of looking at the things all we're doing is getting better and by doing that like when people come in they're kind of safe you're not just winging it you you kind of know exactly and if they have certain kind of questions or whatever you've done it. Like for example a lot of times people be asking uh you know did how many shows and all that so but just because I won then I said maybe if I double I might double my audience and I actually tripled it so I was like this is good. Then I don't know what year was it the second year or third so they kind of take the Christmas off and it turned out to be like a month or more or whatever. And I expected I'll come back and they'll be all waiting for me. I never told them what I was doing and it just dropped. So I had to build it up again. So it's like make sure if you're taking a summer off or whatever let your listeners know because they think you're gone. You know and yeah it's an important thing to be doing.

The Podcast Coach Boom: Buyer Beware

Carl 30:13

That consistency and I have shared that with many many clients and fellow podcasters too when we're engaging in discussion and some people will say that they'll say yeah I take the summer off all the time that's two months of not engaging in your audience that you don't have to take the summer off. You can repurpose content that you've put out there before because guaranteed if you're sharing it through your social channels not everyone guaranteed not everyone has heard that episode so why wouldn't you take that opportunity to repurpose it but to your point you're right that's where you'll notice a dip. And I've shared this with clients who are on again, off again they'll take the summer off and then they really won't get back into the swing until October and then they take off Christmas and then it's not January when they're back. It's more like February and the inconsistency is like a roller coaster and you get the dips in the valleys and you'll get that anyways but the dips are more dippy if you're taking time off. And as you said not letting your listeners know not letting them know I did want to comment on something else though that you mentioned earlier and it's about the size of the audience. And I've actually used this as a marketing tool for a speaker association that I'm a member of here in Canada. And one of the presentations I gave I said would you if I gave you the opportunity to get on 52 stages I'll give you 52 speaking opportunities this year in front of your ideal audience there's a good chance a percentage of them will buy and I didn't say the number as to how many people could be in the room but let's just for the sake of our argument say it's between 20 and 50 people every week would you turn down that speaking opportunity everyone of course says no I wouldn't turn that down but the argument is then well then why would you not want to either be on a podcast as a guest or why wouldn't you want to host a podcast where you are guaranteed to be in front of your audience your ideal audience all the time your thoughts on that well I mean I totally agree with you because I'm helping people doing that getting on shows but the thing is with podcasters there's a very unprofessional level as well so one, there's sometimes people saying I got 4,000 listeners and when we start looking at it or the client asks which has happened oh I get about 20 or 30 weeks.

Roy 32:39

Yet they had on the platform that they were at 4,000 which is kind of embarrassing because you take them for what they say. So then the software but to be honest with you it's not accurate because I look at my own ones and sometimes it's saying X and mine could be a lot more because I'm taking into account because I I track everything. I'm taking my rumble and my YouTube my pitch because their numbers if someone is watching the video that's a listen to my episode. So I've got the combined and the averages of everything. And then I get the case of sometimes people come along and they go watch your numbers I don't want them on my show because I want someone coming on my show for the message. So if it's a match it's like it doesn't matter the numbers are there and depending on how we do it it will be okay. But there's people and they expect like I had one guy in he wanted like a million I have to be at least a million per episode and I just started laughing like it was like they don't understand like how there's very few and that the numbers and even ones that are at a certain level like some of them are charging 20 grand. I mean like Entrepreneur on fire I think he's charging like two and a half grand but he's whacking them out every day. So it's like people think but I've worked with those like 66000 and I've seen some people coming back so it obviously works there's something like that that works but when somebody kind of it's the most important thing for them I think stay away and if your message like you have to tweak it like what I was doing with clients is I'm going don't say this I'm listening to the episode and I'm saying this was brilliant because sometimes they do cringe wordy stuff or high pitch like you know ramming down their throat to try to sell a kind of form of desperation. You don't want that. What you want is you want that they're listening to you and they're actually getting value and they go this guy knows what he's talking about and then they'll decide if they are going to get whatever business that he's doing they're on the top of their tongue or they might make note of it or they might reach out straight away rather than so like they should do that themselves as well. Like they should be looking on the shows that you've been on and just kind of make note because sometimes you think oh this went bad and it's like I mean it's the same in Toastmaster speech sometimes you think something wasn't as good and then you listen back and I beat myself up I actually thought it was a lot worse than it was it was actually okay it was goodly so same thing on the shows you have to put in the the effort for that we're always our own worst critics for sure and you're absolutely right with the stages I know folks who are looking for those large shows and I scratch my head and I say okay let's put it in in a different perspective would you only be looking to get on on stages where your physical audience is 2000 30 4000 deep or would you speak on a stage in front of 150 or 200 people you know the average convention or or conference size right would you stand on a stage like that?

Carl 35:33

Oh yeah no problem. Podcasting is very much the same I think we need to get that out of our heads that size matters you know because the size doesn't the value and you hit on this the value in the messaging is what's critical. I'm gonna hold you for a couple more minutes while I have you I do want to ask you a couple more things though um podcasting's been around just over 20 years 22 years or something like that. Where in your estimation do you think podcasting is heading say for the next two years?

Roy 36:06

Like if we look at the statistics and everything like people are stopped listening to the media. So even if you're going for your news people aren't listening to CNN and BBC and things like that. I follow uh Patrick Beth Davis I know what's going on in the states just from listening to that because they cover so many different topics. So you like I mean I listen to maybe 10 different podcasts but I enjoy them not all like that. You know some are enjoyable like the Blind Boy podcast and things like that. So more and more are it's increasing. And I think people are finding shows that are giving true information as well. And it's like there's times I mean I I get people like in short the starter said so many pain and then it was like and sometimes it's four years later if you can say it's and then it'll just me but there's a lot of people out there as well they're not paid by people to give the information it's not paid science or whatever. And when you see people there's a lot of people are doing this from they're not making money and they're going out there and they're actually spreading a message or they have a skill set that they're doing and that's different to the person that's in the studio that's getting a you know a salary.

Carl 37:12

Yeah yeah 100% and I also I also think with the podcasting space too is we're going to see a huge shift in those podcasts that were around were started 10 15 years ago I think we're gonna see them eventually fade away and as the new generation of podcasters evolve some of those older shows that are just sitting in archives will start to fade away I'm actually seeing it now.

Roy 37:38

I think there'll be an uptick in I think we'll see an increase in individuals wanting to learn more about what happens after the show you know the green room conversations or the communities or the meetups or those kinds of things there is some podcasters especially famous people there's a lot of guys that were out there and I don't like say J Shitty or whatever there's a lot of different people some of them have 20 people that are in their team but an interesting one was Joe Rogan was talking recently and he said he's got Jamie in the studio and he said he's got someone else that does the editing and that's kind of his team like so a guy that's number one in the world like in a lot of countries is basically saying hey and the thing is I don't listen to all the shows because he's got comedians on that never make me laugh you know and he's got MMA at one stage yeah you'd be interested but then you get sick of just listening to MMA but he's got like say great Hancock or somebody talking about wolves he's got very good guests but when you see him saying hey you don't need 50 people that kind of should give you confidence that hey I can do this.

Interviews First, Then Smart Marketing

Carl 38:40

Wow Roy this has been an amazing conversation I'd love to keep you all day but we are in two different continents and maybe that's not the best thing but seriously Roy it's been an amazing conversation we'll probably have to have you back in the future before I let you go though two quick things what's the best way for folks to get a hold of you where do you want them to connect with you and find out more?

Roy 39:04

Basically uh roycoughlan.com is where you find all my podcasts and everything and I've got the VA.world as well basically if you were looking for a virtual assistant we do that as well and I we're not just for podcasters but for any business and that's where they'll find me.

Carl 39:18

And we'll make sure all those connection points including if you want to follow Roy on social media and check out some of his interviews we'll put the links to his podcast all of that will be in the show notes. Roy it's been an absolute pleasure I'll give you the final thought my friend if you have a skill set and you can help even one person but you know you can help thousands if not millions don't deny the people hearing that message and it's not difficult.

Roy 39:43

I'm not a technical person. It is very easy there's plenty of videos out there you can actually start software as easy you can just go away and start doing it. And if you do it you get better and better but you know that you're making the world a better place and that will give you the fuel to enjoy life.

Carl 40:01

I love it. Roy that's a great place to leave it. Roy Coughlan thank you so much for being my guest today.

Roy 40:06

Thank you very much for having me here.

Carl 40:08

And hey thank you for being a part of the show today. So glad you can join us. Believe it or not I can't work this magic by myself. So thanks to my amazing team our audio engineer Dom Carillo our topic writing genius Kenton Dobrowolski and the person who works the arms all of our arms actually our project manager and my trusty assistant Julovell Tiongco known to appear simply as July. If you like what you heard today let us know if you can leave us a comment or review or at least give us a voice note. And if you really liked it we hope you'll share with your friends and your colleagues. If you don't like what you heard today well please feel free to share with your enemies and if you know of someone who would make a great guest on the show let us know about it. You can get in touch with us by going to our show notes where all of our connecting points are there including the links to our website LinkedIn and Facebook as well. And if you're ready to be a guest on podcast or even start your own show let's have a conversation we'll show you the simplest way to get into the podcasting space and rock it. Because after all we're Podcast Solutions Made Simple catch a game next time