Your Audience is Trying to Tell You Something - Are You Paying Attention? | S2 Ep24

Are you TEAM TONE DOWN the cussing if your audience asked you to or TEAM HECK NO this is who I am? 

Want to grow your brand? Start by listening.👂

Even if you're just starting out, you can still connect with your people—and build content that actually solves their problems.

In this episode of Coffee Social, we’re covering how to look for customer feedback, how to get your audience to tell you what they want, and more!

When you stop guessing and start listening, everything gets easier—your content, your offers, your confidence.

Grab a cup and enjoy!

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Transcript

Coffee Social Podcast Introduction

Speaker 1 0:00

I'm working with Gary Vee . What ?

Speaker 2 0:03

It's Coffee Social , the podcast , all about social media and business . And now here are your hosts , Jonathan Howard and Mimi Langley .

Speaker 1 0:17

Hi everyone . Hi , Jonathan Howard , you were waiting for me .

Speaker 2 0:21

Hello , Mimi Langley .

Speaker 1 0:23

He was waiting for me patiently .

Speaker 2 0:27

Mimi Langley , did you notice that it's been a long time since I've used the cups from our intro episode ?

Speaker 1 0:31

Oh my gosh , I thought that that was broken . I thought you dropped it .

Speaker 2 0:35

No , no . Who makes it ?

Speaker 1 0:38

La Crusette .

Speaker 2 0:40

La Crusette .

Speaker 1 0:41

I said it .

Speaker 2 0:44

Yes , it's not Le Croissant .

Speaker 1 0:45

Oh my gosh , I need to go back and listen to that . That was a hilarious intro . I'm just saying we had some good times during season one .

Speaker 2 0:52

Good times , good times . Season two is a different story .

Speaker 1 0:56

We were fresh on the market . You guys , we were , you know . Now we're like old and haggard . I'm kidding , it's a podcast . We're like old and haggard .

Speaker 2 1:05

Speak for yourself .

Speaker 1 1:08

You guys . We wanted to come on here and tell you tell you what Jonathan the importance of what ? The importance of ?

Speaker 2 1:17

listening to your audience .

Speaker 1 1:18

You know I like to talk about that a lot you know and you would think that it's not boring like a boring topic . It's an important topic because a lot of entrepreneurs they have like this idea in their mind . They're like this is what the people need . I'm going to create this and it's going to sell like hotcakes .

Speaker 2 1:35

It's going to be unbelievable . Everything's going to be great .

Speaker 1 1:40

No , Not always . Now , sometimes that works out , not always .

Speaker 2 1:44

Not always , but yeah , there works out . Not always , not always , but yeah , there's a little bit more to it than that .

Speaker 1 1:48

Let's say yeah , well , okay . So

The Importance of Listening to Your Audience

Speaker 1 1:50

what we're going to do is we're going to jump into it .

Speaker 2 1:53

We want to give it to you guys .

Speaker 1 1:55

So the importance of listening to your audience , why you should be listening to your audience more often , okay , and I'm just going to put this line out there , and then , jonathan , you take it away .

Speaker 2 2:04

Okay .

Speaker 1 2:06

When you listen to your people , it basically takes the guesswork away .

Speaker 2 2:10

Absolutely so . I mean one of the things and you guys hear me say this all the time . You're probably tired of me saying this but where is your notebook ? You should have a notebook that has every single thing anybody's ever asked you about your business , because you need to be answering those questions . Those are the things that people want to know . So if you listen to your audience and you get that feedback , what do they want to know ? What are they asking me ? What are they calling me about ? What are they commenting on my posts about ? Put that all in one notebook . Then you will have endless content that you can create , because you don't have to just create something new all the time . You should be answering those questions and repeatedly answering those questions . So that is the first place that you're listening to your audience . What are they asking you ? And that notebook is gold .

Speaker 1 2:56

Can I , can I ? And I'm going to butt in here just a second because you guys will be answering . Well , what if I don't have an audience yet ? Jonathan ? We're going to get to that , so stick around for the entire episode , because we will be talking about that . Don't let me forget Jonathan . Okay , but another thing , like taking out the guesswork , I think for me is obviously the questions are super important , like what do they need ? What are they needing , actually needing ? Where are they stuck ?

Speaker 1 3:25

Like what , what are they needing , actually needing ? Where are they stuck ? You know they can also help guide you with . You know what kind of content do they like to to see ? Where would they like you know your Facebook or , excuse me , your community to be hosted on Like . Are they Facebook people ? Are they more into WhatsApp ? So , like you know , listen to your audience , talk to them , get their feedback .

Speaker 2 3:46

Yep , absolutely . When you've got an audience , you should be getting their feedback , you should be finding out where they want to go , what problems they have allows you to build solutions that are directed at them . If you know what problems they have and they're telling you I've got this problem , I can't , I can't figure out how to make money off of social audio , Mimi can then go in and say , well , here are five ways that you can make money off of social audio ,

Benefits of Audience Feedback

Speaker 2 4:12

and A , B , C and D I've gota product for each one of them . So whichever one you want to do , let me know . I got something for you so that allows her to build products to serve them , that allows them to feel like they're heard , seen and respected as members of your audience and they get a solution to a problem they have .

Speaker 1 4:30

I think they're all important , but I think for sure , like when you feel seen I mean think about yourself as somebody who following another coach , and they acknowledge your question and they answer it , even you do you feel heard and it kind of builds . It builds that memorable experience Like you won't forget that moment . If that makes sense , you're taking it to the next level .

Speaker 2 4:52

And so many coaches . I mean think about the people you follow . Have they made you feel seen ? Have they ? Do they get you ? Do you go ? Oh , my God , that's so me . That's what you want your audience to feel and that's what you're doing with certain coaches . So think about those things that connect and think maybe about where your favorite coach was a year ago . Could you be there , because that there's still an audience that's a year behind you .

Speaker 1 5:20

So this brings up , like when you're listening to your audience , you know they may be requesting these things from you Like maybe they want you to tell them okay . Well , has there ever been a time where you've pivoted ? Because that's where I am right now . I'm in the middle of wanting to pivot . Can you tell us a story about how you've pivoted in the past ? Like , what did you go through ?

Speaker 2 5:45

Like things that you would never even think that would be important to your audience . Slash community , whatever you want to call them Exactly . I mean , I shared a LinkedIn post today I think I think it was earlier this morning about having an idea that seems so crazy that nobody would ever think it would be normal , and I shared that in the sense that it ended up creating a content series that I used on my , on my Instagram . That did really well and people were over the over there , you know they loved it , yeah . So you just never know . I mean , he's going to guess what content series that is now .

Speaker 1 6:16

Oh my gosh , don't put me on the spot . I mean , I'm thinking about it . There's so many that you've done .

Speaker 2 6:22

Underwater mermaid weddings .

Speaker 1 6:24

Why did I just get a flash of like Zoolander ? Did you ever see Zoolander when Ben Stiller is the merman ?

Speaker 2 6:30

Yeah , I'm a merman who Come on ? You don't remember who planned underwater mermaid weddings , weddings well , I know her .

Speaker 1 6:43

No becky , I don't . Maybe we , maybe I wasn't following you then ? Yes , you were . I saw a glimpse of becky and then you kind of took becky off once she her , her .

Speaker 2 6:54

Well , her husband got eaten by a shark , so oh my gosh , I missed this whole series .

Speaker 1 6:59

Jonathan howard , he's putting me on the spot , but I'm telling you I swear you were around for that series I was around for the series when becky was in her bathrobe all the time yeah , that was , that was the series .

Speaker 2 7:11

At the end of the series she got her husband got eaten by a shark . Okay , okay , we have to focus .

Speaker 1 7:15

We're gonna go back , all right back , bringing it back . You guys , we could literally have we ever told you how hard it is for us to make a micro episode . It's impossible .

Speaker 1 7:24

Anyway back , okay , so hopefully this is encouraging you to open the doors more for communication with your people . And maybe you're wondering well , how the heck do I even do that ? Like , how do I even get people to engage in the first place ? Like , what can I do that people

Methods to Engage Your Audience

Speaker 1 7:40

would want to give me their questions and their feedback ? So , like Jonathan , I know you have some ideas .

Speaker 2 7:45

I have some ideas and we're going to save the really good one that we have for the end . So I'm going to say the first thing you can do is you can poll your audience on Instagram . There's so many ways you can ask your audience questions on Instagram . Do polls on Instagram , you know . Use your stories to connect and say , hey , do you want to see A or B , b or C , c or D ? I mean it's like going to the eye doctor in your Instagram stories , but you could still do it .

Speaker 2 8:09

So there's that there is . I mean just asking them questions in your posts , like , hey , we're going , I'm doing this , what would you prefer ? You want to learn more about this or this ? You know easy things like that , and they do actually allow you to do polls in your in your posts . Now , um , I mean going on running a quiz on linkedin you can do as well or a poll on linkedin . So all sorts of places you can ask questions . The other thing you can do is you can just ask your audience flat out if you're talking , if you have a one-on-one with somebody or a group session with people , hey , so I'm glad you came to this . What , what would you want to see next . What are you struggling with ? You know , just simple questions like that , easy to do .

Speaker 1 8:51

I personally like if I'm trying to get them to ask me their questions or like , what are they struggling with ? I love going live , whether it's on social audio or Instagram live or Facebook live wherever I feel like there's just something when you're live , whether it's on social audio or Instagram live or Facebook live wherever I feel like there's just something . When you're live , it's like people are so willing to talk back to you . Yep . Yep For sure , Definitely on social audio .

Speaker 2 9:13

but definitely on .

Speaker 1 9:14

Instagram lives yeah .

Speaker 2 9:16

On social audio , and one of the things that I do on social audio and in my memberships actually , because it helps me get content is I hold office hours . Office hours allows you to see what people are struggling with , what are they struggling with , it gives you content , ideas , and it allows you to help them with those problems in that moment .

Speaker 1 9:38

Yeah , I like that whole office hours concept Very good . Okay , so what if I don't have an

Starting Without an Audience

Speaker 1 9:41

audience ? What if I'm like brand new and I'm still like I don't know , am I even at that point where it's ?

Speaker 2 9:46

important for me to listen to an audience yes , First , you know , listen to the few people that you have , because there are people that are an audience . Almost immediately upon showing up on social media , you'll have that one person that is a super fan right away . We don't know why they found us , but they did and they love us , so that's awesome . Listen to those people . Next , go into other people's rooms and on other people's social media in your niche and look at what questions they're being asked in their comments and during the rooms and sessions . The comment section of your competitors is gold . It's gold because those are questions that are being asked of that competitor that you can answer , and it's giving you insight .

Speaker 1 10:31

Oh sorry .

Speaker 2 10:32

So go to . If I'm me , I would go to Rocky's page social with Rocky . I'd go to her page and I'd look and see what questions people are asking her in her comments and then I would create content that answers those questions , because I know somebody's asking those questions .

Speaker 1 10:53

Right , I had to write down what I was going to say before I forget , okay .

Speaker 2 10:57

Go ahead .

Speaker 1 10:57

Trying hard not to jump over each other , but we're from New York . This is just how people talk .

Speaker 2 11:01

I don't know what you're talking about .

Speaker 1 11:05

But yeah , like , if you have an idea like , oh , like their audience is my audience , like that's who I'm trying to attract , like you , you know , as a business owner , you kind of have this idea in your head . Like I'm trying to attract , you know , women 30 plus and they're kind of like doing this with their lives and they want to be doing this , like maybe it's busy moms who want to , you know , side hustle and they're in their 30s , you know , then you can go after those people that already have an audience like that , like what Jonathan's saying , like you're kind of borrowing their audience in a sense .

Speaker 2 11:38

You're borrowing them for feedback because you know there's people out there and they may not be attracted to social with Rocky , but they have the same questions as her audience does . You want to get those types of people so you can answer those questions . You're borrowing her audience to do surveying and figure out what people are looking for .

Speaker 1 11:53

Yeah and shout out to Rocky Hi Rocky , Hi Rocky . Also , it made me think of when , going back to when you're talking to your audience , like you know , it doesn't have to be a big audience . You guys , just like Jonathan said , you could have a good solid five people that are willing to give you everything you need to get going , Right . But it's funny because you might think in your head oh , I'm serving , you know , women 30 years and older . You know 30 to 40 years old , and they make this much money and all this stuff . And then you learn , just by listening to your audience , this is who they really are , Right , Do you know what I'm saying ? Like you , I don't know .

Speaker 1 12:29

There's so much .

Speaker 2 12:30

Yeah , there's so much you can do with it and you are , you know , really in their second act looking for you know a way to get seen on social media , and that's really who I help . So , women 40 to 60 years old , that wasn't my demographic originally , but it is my demographic . It's the people I help .

Speaker 1 12:59

So do you feel like you attracted those people , or do you feel like those people were always with you , but you just didn't see that they were 40

Finding Your Actual Demographic

Speaker 1 13:06

to 60 years old ?

Speaker 2 13:07

I think they were always with me . I think they always resonated with me for certain things I'm very much my age and I think it attracts people that are my age Hashtag read book .

Speaker 1 13:20

That's an inside joke . Okay , go back to you , Jonathan .

Speaker 2 13:23

But yeah , I think it attracted people that were in that age group and and I work well with them because they do . I think the other thing is the way that I teach . I keep it really basic . They don't need to know all the tech like inside and out . I can walk them through some of that stuff without them getting overwhelmed .

Speaker 1 13:40

And you noticed that by looking . Now I'm making this a longer episode , I'm sorry .

Speaker 2 13:43

You are .

Speaker 1 13:44

But you noticed that by listening , like they were the ones that stood up and would ask you the questions and you're like oh ding , like a light bulb went off .

Speaker 2 13:53

Yeah , it was like okay , and for a while I didn't want to speak just to women because I'm a male coach and that's a little bit of a mismatch , but it ended up being like that was all I was attracting anyway . So why not just speak to them so that they get a clearer message ?

Speaker 1 14:07

That's so good , okay , well , guys , we're going to wrap this up .

Speaker 2 14:11

I know that , john , we have one really good tip .

Speaker 1 14:15

Oh my gosh , there's no wrapping it up .

Speaker 2 14:16

Yes , tell us the really good tip One , really good tip . So , and actually Minnie and I learned this while we were at Podcast Movement last year .

Speaker 1 14:24

Shout out to Podcast .

Speaker 2 14:25

Movement Yep . And this was to open up one slot on your calendar each month and have an appointment with somebody in your audience , or a couple of people in your audience , but allow them to book that appointment and just talk to them about what it is they need from you , what they like from you , what they dislike from you , whatever it might be , and that way you get some insight into your audience and what they're looking for .

Speaker 1 14:50

Which I thought was really brilliant , you know because and there are people that will take the initiative , or you- can always ask them because and there are people that will take the initiative , or you can always ask them hey , I have , you know , this day available If you , if you are okay with chatting with me to talk about the podcast .

Speaker 1 15:04

Would love your feedback , you know , so you don't have to always wait for them to take the action . You could actually pursue them and ask if they have feedback . Um , but I love that , jonathan , and also , don't neglect your email list . You can still be surveying people through your email list and get some answers to your questions , and there's so many ways , guys .

Speaker 2 15:21

So many ways , but you should be talking to your audience Period . That's the key . Don't ignore them . That's the key thing .

Speaker 1 15:25

If they're telling you , hey , I don't like those red sunglasses anymore . And you're getting like 100 people a day telling you what do you think about this ? What last one , last , okay , cursing , okay . Now , this is just an example . Right , like some people are for cursings or cussing , some people are , you know anti . What if you are known like you , cuss , like you know anti ? What if you are known like you , cuss

Setting Calendar Appointments and Final Thoughts

Speaker 1 15:57

, like you know you'll say the F word or drop something . And you notice that you're getting a lot more comments nowadays saying , hey , can you just kind of back off on cursing ? What do you think about that ? Now you're listening to your audience , in a sense , because you're like , okay , I recognize you .

Speaker 2 16:13

You're listening to your audience in a sense , but you also have to do like I don't know that I would . My content wouldn't be the same if I didn't curse in it . Honestly , I curse that much . I curse a little bit .

Speaker 1 16:27

I curse a little bit .

Speaker 2 16:29

A lot , or WTF a good amount , so I I wouldn't , it wouldn't be the same . So if it's a few people saying , hey , could you turn the cursing down a little bit , I would say probably not my people . But if I had , like , if I had a younger audience , like before the 40 to 60 , like the 28 to 40 that had young kids in that were always going to be around when they're listening to my stuff , that would be a different story , because most of my audience has either gotten grown , kids or that are out of the house , or teenagers that are cursing at them anyway .

Speaker 2 17:09

So it's a little bit different right um , but definitely , you know , listen to your audience , see what works for you .

Speaker 1 17:14

I'm gonna curse , but but at least I think at the end of the day , like the point is , at least communicate with them too like you're listening , but you're also acknowledging .

Speaker 2 17:22

Hey , I see your guys's comments yes , I'm sorry that I said yeah , because I think a lot of people ignore it .

Speaker 1 17:30

If you're getting like hundreds of comments about the same thing , I wouldn't ignore it . I would acknowledge it in my opinion .

Speaker 2 17:36

Yeah , absolutely , and it also allows you to get ahead of the conversation because it could turn into a bigger thing than it is worth . So always stay ahead of your conversation . Write your own story . All right , we're done .

Speaker 1 17:47

Gosh , you guys , you guys , what we thought was just small talk , I mean , this could really . This is a big topic now that . I've opened up the door to the other angle of it .

Speaker 2 17:59

Yep , write your own stories in another episode .

Speaker 1 18:04

We should Getting ahead of the story you guys . All right , jonathanathan , tell me what they should do . They should go , they have to do , but what they ?

Speaker 2 18:13

should go over to um , wherever they listen to a podcast , and give me me five stars , five stars anytime you review it . If you're over on spotify , ask us questions , give us a rating . If you're on apple , give us a rating , write a review . Whatever you got , um , and with that , mimi , I'm going to throw it to you for where else they can find us .

Speaker 1 18:31

Well , we're on Instagram Coffee Social Podcast . We're on YouTube , if you'd rather watch us which , by the way , I don't know if you guys know this , but I've been wearing a blanket in every single episode since the intro trailer in season one .

Speaker 2 18:44

She wears a blanket .

Speaker 1 18:45

Wait , did I wear a blanket during that one ? I think .

Speaker 2 18:47

I did , yes , you did .

Speaker 1 18:51

You said it was going to be your thing and I was like your thing is going to be a blanket and it was supposed to also be holding the microphone , but here we are .

Speaker 2 18:58

Even the people that do the podcast in the bed that you said you wanted to mimic with the blanket . Have mic stands .

Speaker 1 19:05

Leave me alone with my mic stand . No , but we're on YouTube so , if you don't know , I wear a blanket all the time . Check out YouTube once in a while and watch one of the podcast episodes .

Speaker 2 19:16

See what color blanket Mimi's wearing today Not just a blanket , by the way . She wears clothes under the blanket .

Speaker 1 19:23

Yeah , oh , my gosh you guys . Yeah , thank you for being clear about that , because I don't know . I don't have an important question of the day .

Speaker 2 19:31

You don't .

Speaker 1 19:32

No , what the hell ? Okay , here's the question .

Speaker 2 19:37

Okay .

Speaker 1 19:38

Are you team ? I would stop cursing if the majority wanted me to . Or are you team ? Heck , no , I'm not going to stop cursing . This is who I am . Fuck , no , heck . No , I'm not going to stop cursing . This is who I am Fuck no . Gary V would definitely say no , that's like what he's known for Yep .

Speaker 2 19:57

Call me Gary V .

Speaker 1 19:59

Oh my gosh , I'm working with Gary V . What All right , you guys . Thank you so much for listening and watching , and we'll see you in the next episode .

Speaker 2 20:08

Bye everyone . Bye , jonathan Howard , bye , mimi Langley , gary V , that's right , bye , gary V . Call me . I can see , I can see you in those , those eyes . I can see , I can see , I can see you in those eyes .