What if there was a way to increase your network while also improving your communication and sales skills?

Tori Barker from Creative Marketing joins the show to talk about her journey into podcasting. Since launching her show, she’s been able to quickly amass a wide audience and gain a lot of confidence in other aspects of her business.

Discover how Tori:

1. Got started in podcasting after being interviewed for a show

2. Prepares for interviews in a low-stress, high impact way

3. Increases the reach of her show by incorporating a wide variety of media during the promotional period

4. Builds it all into a system to take out the guesswork and empower her amazing team

Tori is an amazing entrepreneur that I’m thrilled to have gotten to know well over the last couple of months.

And she has something special happening right now!

Starting in February, Tori will be hosting the Podcast Accelerator Mastermind for podcasters that are eager to learn how to have an even greater impact with their shows.

Your humble (okay, maybe not so humble!) host has already joined and I look forward to seeing you there!

Message Tori on LinkedIn for all the details and secure your seat today! https://www.linkedin.com/in/toribarker/

And follow her show here: https://www.creativemarketingsacramento.com/podcast

Learn more at https://www.adamliette.com

Discover how to work with me: https://www.adamliette.com/work-with-me

Transcript

Adam Liette
What's up smooth operators welcome, you made it. It's Friday. Or by the time you get to this, it could be Saturday, I don't know when you listen to podcast for me, like podcasts are a morning thing. It's what I do at the gym what I do on the treadmill when I'm pumping iron or something like that, because look, a lot. I know a lot of people like to listen to music, when they when they run on the treadmill, dude, you got a podcast, it's gonna activate your creative mind to which I mean, there's something magical that happens when you're running. And you have to think versus like, you know, trudging along to music. I'm telling you, you're gonna get something out of your run versus just a workout. But anyway, that's an aside, you know how I sometimes get distracted? Imagine that. But I'm super excited for this episode. As you know, this is episode I think, this is episode 73 of the podcast. I have absolutely fallen in love with podcasting, not only the process of it, yeah, partially, it's about hearing yourself talk. I mean, there's so much to be said about that. But I love the opportunity to get to meet with amazing people and really expand my own personal and professional network. And to that extent, I'm super geeking out because I got my friend Tori Barker here and Tory, gosh, we hit it off about three months ago, like met on pod match or one on one of these service services to Connect Podcast hosts, and hit it off immediately and win now we've worked together a couple times. And so I wanted to do a podcast about podcast. Yeah, because it is a thing where we are continuously learning how to become a better podcaster. But let me tell you some more information about Tori. Tori is the head of creative marketing. So she's a marketing guru, and has a team of marketing people that help her implement strategies and tactics for companies that work for it with her. She's also the host of the creative visionaries podcast. There's been some awesome people on that show, including yours truly. But she's joining us on the show to talk about not only like the process of podcasting, and how she's really fell in love with the art as well, but how she's been able to use her podcast to cultivate and grow her marketing agency bring in new clients and increase her presence in the market. So Tori, how's it going today? It's so awesome to have you on the show.

Tori Barker
Adam, I don't know if I can follow that intro that is amazing. I'm gonna like I'm gonna take your recording and use that to like, pump me up every day because that was phenomenal.

Adam Liette
Well, you know, there's a secret, and it's good old mountain dew.

Tori Barker
Little Sugar Rush gets you going in the first of a podcast?

Adam Liette
I tell you what I mean, it does. That's what I love about this medium. And that. It's it's like an energy to it and a good podcast. You can feel it. It's like, oh, yeah, at least that's how I do. It doesn't mean every podcast like that. Obviously. For me, it's like the ultimate performance. And I geek out on it. So and that's why we're here today, right really to talk about podcasting. But before we dive into that, for those for those in the audience that haven't heard of Tori, who is Tori Barker, if you could just introduce yourself, it'd be great.

Tori Barker
Yeah. So thank you for the wonderful intro. As you introduce me, I'm Tori Barker. I'm the owner of creative marketing, and the podcast host for creative visionaries podcast, my company creative marketing, we do digital marketing, brand strategy consulting, and we are a mastermind building company for podcasting. So we'll touch on that a little bit later. But yeah, and then outside of that I'm a wife and a mom. And yeah, I just I love doing what I do. And you know, serving people with the skills and talents that I have, and just coming from a servant's heart to help people grow and succeed in their life and their business.

Adam Liette
So fantastic. I love it. And with your marketing agency, I was looking into this before we went live. Like it's you have a full team like helping you how have you, how have you been able to cultivate and really, like be able to download like some of your brain into your team members, so does help them to help you grow the grow the agency?

Tori Barker
Yeah, well, like many entrepreneurs know, you kind of start out as a solopreneur. Right? And you think you can do all things and so you work around the clock and you do all the things and you can get to a point where you can burn out but for me, I was really mindful of, you know, the time that I was going to spend in my business and then that time that I wanted to share with my family. So I didn't want to get into that burnout cycle. And so for me cultivating a team was really important. And so, you know, I look for people who I hire on core values, because I think skill sets is secondary, something that a skill that I have, I can teach other people, but if they don't have the core values to bring to the table, then it's not going to work. So for me, you know, I started small, one person at a time really cultivating that relationship and giving them full attention and time to coach them and bring them up to a level where they felt like they could contribute to the creative marketing company. And, you know, we were all working on the same front to help serve our clients. And so it's been, you know, a journey over time, I didn't hire all at once, which is a good thing, right? So hired every, I don't know, a couple years or so I met, there's three of us three outside of myself. So they're four of us total, as we sit here in this podcast, who knows where it will be in a year. But yeah, so for me, I hire on core core values, and then I teach the skills, and I just love bringing a team together.

Adam Liette
I love everything about that story. And you're right, it's, you can train someone to do anything. I mean, because it's skill, right. And we know it's a skill, but core values, I can't train someone to be like me in their core values either have them or they don't, and the fact that you're hiring that way, that just means it's sustainable. A and B, you actually like the people you work with, it's like, if we do not want to like the people you work with, we can go corporate, right then, like the people you work with. But you're gonna keep people longer too, I think, right? Because people, you have that connection. And there's some beautiful things that come out of that some real. You have those like I, I've always seen it on teams, where you have those moments where you just kind of look at each other. And it's I love How I Met Your Mother the sitcom? Oh, yeah. Where they like are speaking to each other telepathically. And it's like the funniest scenes scenes when they do it. But what I found is when you are connected on core values, and your culture is really vibe in in that way, like you don't just look at someone like I know what they're thinking right now.

Tori Barker
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Well, and my team, we're all virtual. So there's some people on my team that I have never met in person, and some that I have met only, like a handful of times in person. But when we get on Zoom, we are so connected, that we can just be having conversations and you know, I'll be like, I know what you're thinking, or no, don't go down that road, or you know what I mean? Like, well, we'll have like, these little banters, because we can totally read each other's, you know, personalities through the video screen, even though we're not in person. And so yeah, it's it's fun to get connected and grow. Because longevity is big for me, too, right? I don't want to have somebody who comes in, and then we train them, and then they leave. And it's like, no, I want to build like a family, a team, you know, I come from a background of playing sports. And I was always the captain of the team. And so this is very much like that, you know, I'm the captain of this team. And, you know, I want to build a team that's going to work together, and we support each other. And so it's, it's very natural for me, because that's kind of how I've always, you know, grown up. And that's what I like to do.

Adam Liette
I love it so much. And as the captain of that team, I, you know, you get to make your own rules. And I love that you've made that role. And you get to empower that. And just, you live it and I can see it in your face. I mean, it's, it's, it's it shouldn't be a joy to talk about your team. And when you cultivate your team the way you have it is and that's, that's beautiful. So yeah, awesome. Thanks, man. Good, good way to start the episode, and just a friendly reminder to build off culture bid off core values as well, because it just works. Yeah, for sure. Fantastic. And is the team. I know a lot of them are probably more in like the tactical application and implementation. Are they helping with the podcasts as well? Or is that kind of Yeah,

Tori Barker
yeah. So I have a couple of key players on my team who helped me with the the podcast behind the scenes stuff, right? So for me, I do the interviewing, I do the strategy and I'm very much the branding marketing person, but the implementation side, my team is like huge like, they lift a huge weight and I couldn't do it without them. So I always am like, oh my gosh, thank you so much. I appreciate you and that's been for me, you know, I like to make sure that you know, I show appreciation for the team and even people I work with you know, that's that she's huge for me to

Adam Liette
fantastic. Love it. Love it. Anything to remove us from the day to day is amazing. So I have to ask, I mean, I obviously and I'm sure you do, too, we listen to a lot of podcasts. It's just part of what we do. What made you say, You know what? I think I'm gonna get me one of those podcasts, I think I'm gonna start a show. And having just as a time of recording this, you just wrapped up season one, like three or four weeks ago. So you did that for first full season. And like, what got you into this medium?

Tori Barker
Well, so I always loved listening to podcasts. And I thought to myself, Oh, my gosh, there's no way I could do that. That's just like, oh, wow, how do you how do you put yourself out there and have these conversations, and then I sit back, and I really thought about the power of podcasting, and how it's such a unique marketing tool. And as a marketer, I was looking around at all of my people in my industry, and not many other marketers, were doing podcasts. And so I thought, well, this would really set me apart. So that's one thing that would be interesting. And then, for me, I always like to push myself to be better and grow and that sort of thing. And so talking in public speaking, that sort of stuff has always been kind of a fear of mine. And so this was a huge leap, to jump past that fear. And so I thought, I'm gonna push myself like, why not go big, right? Let's just do it. Let's start a podcast. And I had lots of friends who were, you know, really supportive. And then, you know, one of my friends Josh tap is a huge podcaster. And so, you know, I met him when I first started my business, and he had me on his podcast, and he's like, you need to do this, you're like, really good at this? And, like, No, I can't do it. And finally, right, like, it came back to him. And I'm like, Hey, I think I'm gonna start a podcast. He's like, Yes, finally. And I'm like, okay, okay, okay. Okay, let's do this. Right. So, so yeah, so I kind of just, you know, push past that fear to better myself and really, looking back at it, it gives me the opportunity to, to not only meet people and have great connections and conversations, but to share other people's stories. And that's really what I like, because, you know, these conversations that I have with people on my show, and with you, you know, other people can benefit from the conversations we have, and the things that we share with each other, help each other with and all that stuff. And so why not put that out there for other people to hear and benefit from? Because, you know, how else are they going to grow? Or house are they going to know what challenges entrepreneurs have that, you know, maybe they can get past, you know, in the next year, or whatever. And I always feel like, let's, let's put a hand out and help other people. So by sharing these stories, and just utilizing this platform for marketing has been a huge blessing in my life. And, you know, I just love that I took that, that leap and push past the fear because, you know, I've been able to find my voice and really stand out and, and grow from it. And now just continue to grow and push the push the limit where I can.

Adam Liette
I think you said something critical right there. You finding your voice. Like we were gifted with these amazing ways of communicating our voice and language and tonal inflections and volume and all these different ways that we can express ourselves. And there's something to be said about, you know, times at bat, you know, you do another sports reference, you know, how many times we up at the plate? Yep. If you're uncomfortable with sales, if you're uncomfortable with leading a team, if you're uncomfortable with public speaking, like, if we screw up here, we can edit it, we're not going to, because I don't edit things. I mean, that's just this is real. If I screw up, I screw up, oh, well, but it's like, really kind of a safe environment to find that voice to to express yourself in a better, more fluid more interesting way. If you are right.

Tori Barker
Well, and it's interesting to the more often that you do this, this act of communicating or interviewing or being interviewed, it gets easier. Yes, but your message gets smoother. And it's like, oh, wow, you listen back and you're like, that was really I fumbled through that one, right? But now you know, 10 episodes later, or whatever it is, you're like, Okay, I really got it down now. And so it helps you to craft that that message and how you speak in the way that you communicate in, you know, convey what you're thinking is a skill that you have to sharpen for sure.

Adam Liette
Yeah. So when you're preparing an episode, I think everyone has their own process. And I this is actually my third show. I like did cold starts and stops on two shows. Before that. I just I have to accept responsibility. I just didn't keep going, you know? Oh, it's 20 episodes and I not number one on Apple yet. No kidding.

Tori Barker
Pod fade right? It's another thing. Yeah.

Adam Liette
So when you're preparing to record, like, what kind of preparation do you do? Like what goes into the preparatory phase? And getting ready for that? Magical? Our button?

Tori Barker
Yeah, well, so it's interesting. When I, before I started, right, I thought, Oh, I've got to write an outline, I've got to be very diligent and spend lots of time reviewing the guest and researching and doing all this stuff. And I tend to do this overthinking, right, and so I know that about myself. So I'm like, Okay, I'm not going to do that. Because for one that's going to take way more time than it needs to. And so the structure of my, my podcast is very conversational, just like this. And so I've found that if I spend like, an hour, half hour before, obviously, I meet the person, or I connect with him beforehand, and we do, you know, scheduling and all that stuff. But really, before the episode goes live, I take that time to really look into the person and cultivate thoughts in questions that come to mind as I'm looking at previous things that they've done, or their website, or interviews or videos and that sort of thing. And then I really maybe put together like three or four questions that kind of give me a guiding reference point to at least have something to go to. But my style is very conversational. And so, you know, I'll have those questions. And I'll start asking the questions. And then I do active listening. And I listened to what they say. And as they're talking, if there's questions that come up, I'm assuming people who are listening are having those same questions. So it's my job as the host to ask those questions. And so that's really what I do, you know, just mentally, you know, prepare a couple minutes before and do a little Wonder Woman pose and, and push record.

Adam Liette
I love it. The end, like sometimes just putting yourself on the wire. It's, I I'm sorry, I'm, I'm an Army guy. Right? I view everything is training for the big game, right? You're you're constantly leveling up your skill. And, man, it's, it's a good way to do it. And it's like I said, it's a safe way. And what I do is, I got this little notepad. So if I come up with questions, I'll just like, put little notes here to remind myself, but I do very much the same thing before an interview, like 30 minutes before I'm like, okay, so that was literally like an hour ago, like, I got Tory coming on, let me quick do this. And just draft up a couple questions, but more of like guidance, in case we're like melee, for things we want to talk about. And I do that also for my solo episodes, where it's literally just bullet points. Yeah, like, Okay, I want to talk about this topic. Here's the five things. Okay, ready, go. Right. Yeah. In retrospect, I think that's why I fell off as I review things from you know, previous pod fades. I was that script guy, where I would script something out feel that had to be perfect. Yeah. And that is not only incredibly exhausting. But it didn't even feel right. It didn't feel like me, you know what I mean?

Tori Barker
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely, you have to be able to get to a point where you're comfortable. And, and, and take some of the control away, right? Like, you need to be able to let the guests have the conversation and help you, you're the one to help lead that conversation. You want to have them tell their stories, and you draw out the questions that people are thinking of. And so that's really what my focus is, and just, you know, making sure that I bring good content for people to listen to, that they're going to want to listen to. And so, you know, I'm really mindful of who I bring on and the conversations that we have, because I know, as a podcast listener, myself, I want it to be meaningful, and I want to take my time, you know, to listen to something that's going to help either meet, grow or learn or, you know, you know, educate myself, so.

Adam Liette
So part of that I imagine is like putting yourself in the shoes of your avatar. And just like taking a moment to think would sue like this or whatever you've called your avatar, we, we do this weird thing where we name our

Tori Barker
weird entrepreneurs.

Adam Liette
I will say like, I've had a persona that I named, but I also had anti personas I named Oh, yes. The ads. I'll share with that with you offline. I did a quick audio training. So I'll share that. It's pretty it's pretty neat. I love it. And your show you what was the because I know you do mostly interviews right or is it entirely interviews? Yep. It's

Tori Barker
all interviews.

Adam Liette
So what was the decision between solo interview interviews? So, you know, mash show like 10 people on it, like, what was the decision making that you went into and the type of show that you wanted to have?

Tori Barker
Well, for me, my goal was networking, meeting people and learning from others. So that really fell under the interview. Style, right. But the secret behind the story here is I have more fear that I have to break through. Because for me, having a solo cast is like, oh, my gosh, there we go. Again, I gotta push past that barrier. Because I'm thinking to myself, like, what the heck am I gonna say that people are gonna want to listen to, but it's like, I really have to get past that now that I'm really finding my voice, I think that I'm, I'm at that point where a solo cast is in my future, cuz I know that, you know, it's something that I need to do. But once again, it's like, you know, we, as entrepreneurs, we're always breaking through these barriers and breaking through these fears. And so we're not perfect. And so here I am, again, I'm up against that wall where I've like, Okay, I've got to break through this, I've got to get to the next level. And so you know, outside of networking, and connecting with amazing people through the interview style, I now have to get to the next level where a solo cast really helps me highlight the education, right, my knowledge and sharing that with people. So that's to come.

Adam Liette
I like what you said there. I mean, it's podcasting, but podcasting with a strategy. So you start with the strategy in mind, and then you reverse engineer what the podcast has to do based on that strategy. Yeah. So you're doing it for the networking and for expanding, I love that. And that's part of what I do, like, what other strategies can our listeners think? Okay, well, I don't really care about that. Like I care about this, like, what other strategies can we use podcasting for?

Tori Barker
Well, it's on the marketing side. So if you think about marketing, and specifically, the growth that you can get from that. So marketing has so many facets, right, and podcasting is one in the same. So you have different elements that you can utilize your podcast for, which is audio, video written. And all of those three things are huge, huge, huge catalysts for getting exposure for your business. So if you leverage a podcast, right, you can have that video content that you can use on your website that you can use on your YouTube channel that you can use in social media. And then the audio same platforms, right, you have podcasting platforms that the audio is gonna go on, but then you build authority with your voice and your messaging. And then you take the written out of it, right. So if you transcribe your episodes, you can utilize that for blogs, for content on your social media for quotes, SEO, there's just so many levels, that you can slice and dice the podcasting marketing aspect, to grow your business, and especially if your podcast is aligned with your business, which is ideally what you want to do, you're going to be able to promote your business through your podcast, you're gonna get people aware of your business. So you got brand awareness. You can utilize it for offers for directing traffic to your website, like there's so many just spiderwebs of directions that you can go when you take a podcast and utilize it for your marketing. So that's a strategy, you know, really fine tuning what your audience is, who your your avatar is, what's your business? And then what's the goal of your business? And then how do you utilize a podcast to, you know, grow that business and expose that business to that customer avatar that you're looking to reach?

Adam Liette
Hmm, fantastic. So I love the fact that it's like this recording is just one part of it. Right? It's, like 10 Other things that you can use this content for, repurpose it all across, you know, the golden plain, or the fruited plain as I would say, where it's not just about the one singular one and done. So when you started doing that, was it let's add one at a time. Let's try this or did you just kind of go in both feet and said, We're gonna do all the things right now?

Tori Barker
Well, as you know, I like to go big, right? So I did all the things. Which, you know, it's not necessarily not necessarily the best strategy, but for me, personally, because I have the skill set and I have the knowledge and all of those aspects of marketing. It made sense. For other people, I would, you know, clients that I work with and stuff like that or advise with for marketing. I wouldn't maybe necessarily to all What fim, right because unless you have a team to support you, you have, you know, the strategy that you know, that's where I come in to put into place, then you're gonna get burnt out faster, because you're trying to do all things. But when you look at, okay, what's the best return on your time on your investment? That's really where you want to focus in. So that might be video. So how do we leverage the podcast, obviously, we do the audio, and then let's really lean in on the video, let's create a YouTube channel, let's do some advertising, let's do some shorts like that might be the direction that a certain company needs the other one, it may be the written content. So let's do the blog, after we've done the podcast episodes, and let's really lean on the content that we get from the episode to create multiple blog articles to pull out quotes to do, you know, email marketing, whatever it might be. So it's different for everyone. But, you know, me, I got big, so I did it all.

Adam Liette
So it's matter of, I mean, really just creating a checklist. And here's what we're gonna do with each one. And you need to find three quotes, and we'll repost them this way. So I like it is is taking your marketing background and looking at things from the strategic level, and you're building out a framework. And we're working from a framework, you know, it can be overwhelming if you're doing all the tactical part of it. But I imagined for your team, given that they probably spend at least 80 to 90% of their day in tactical due mode. It's just, it's such an honor thing for them, right?

Tori Barker
Yeah. And once you put the process in place, like you outline the steps of each episode, then the next episode is just like, it's second nature, right? Because you have the steps. And it's that's really what makes it doable. It's because you put an outline in place, and you just rinse and repeat. The content is different. Yes. But the process is always the same. So you know, you got to make sure that you have those processes in place. Otherwise, you're just floundering and just going crazy. Every week you have episode, you're like, Oh,

Adam Liette
what do I do? Oh, yeah, I think we've all been there. We've all been there. Yes. At least once, maybe not in whatever we're currently doing. But everyone out there is going on? That's fine.

Tori Barker
It's not bad. It's okay. You can get past this. Right.

Adam Liette
Yeah. But I mean, there's something about spending a certain amount of your time in that uncomfortable part, to make you do the work to bring it to something that's scalable to something that's replicable. Because it's not the natural instinct for most of us to say, Okay, I'm doing something new. Let me create a process for it. Yeah, most of us just kind of take it by the seat of our pants. But I mean, honestly, if we look at the bigger thing, if if we take 2030 minutes on the front end of everything, to just think about how we're going to do something versus trying to get into action right away. You know, there's a lot to be gained from that experience, and that, that knowledge moving forward, not only with the show, but like everything else we're doing in our business, right?

Tori Barker
Yeah. Well, one, there's one important part that I think some people miss in the marketing aspect, not not only just specifically to podcasting, but is reevaluating, right. So you put this process in place and a strategy and you start, okay, let's just go right, we're 1010 episodes into our season, you know, talking about podcasting, have you really looked back at the performance, that's a big thing, too, it's like, you've got to look at the performance. Because sometimes in the marketing space, you got to make adjustments. And so it's really important. Even though you have these plans and processes in place, you want to make sure they're actually working. So take a moment to evaluate to analyze and make sure that the processes that you've put in place, are actually doing what they're supposed to the videos are getting views, the contents being shared, like you're getting engagement, like you're getting reviews on your podcast. So it's always important to to make sure that you pause and take a look at performance and measurables to especially in the marketing space.

Adam Liette
Absolutely. So I have a quick random question on one video. Yes. And let's say someone like Adam, me, yeah. Me. created about I've recorded a bunch of interviews, and I didn't when I record them, I didn't get permission to use the video. I know I shouldn't post it without getting permission. I know that part. But I know there are also other platforms where we can do like the image with the squiggly lines. So it's a video but it's a static image, thinking of wave particularly. Have you done any experiments? So with that, or has it been mostly just the actual video that you've used in your own podcast.

Tori Barker
So what I found is just video in itself is going to perform better, right? If versus a static image. So a static image is going to when people are watching it, especially on the video side, they're going to be like, Okay, I'm looking at the same image the whole time. So if you have a video of yourself, or you do some dynamic transitions, maybe you put up the logo of the person that you're interviewing, or you have the caption text going across, so it keeps people engaged on the video side, especially if it's a longer form content, you want to make sure that the video has some action and motion to it, because people are going to lose their attention. Otherwise, they would just go to the audio, right? They would just go listen to audio. But if they're on a video platform, you need to entertain them, if you will. And if you don't have permission to use the video side of things, and you have to get creative on. Okay, how can we make this work in a video platform? Without it just being words going across the string? Because you'll lose people's attention? For sure.

Adam Liette
That's good information to know, because I didn't get permission. And I think that's part of part of the bigger process of podcasting is like, you need to have that conversation with your guests on how you're going to use the material. What is it gonna be used for? That's probably a standard form from your I forget when I was on your show. When I was interviewed, if it was a stunt. I think it was a release, wasn't it? Don't you? Yeah, yeah, just least was part of what you do. Yeah. Just

Tori Barker
in the recording. Scheduling part.

Adam Liette
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's like I agree for this. Yes.

Tori Barker
Well, another thing too, like, if you think about it, this is a good opportunity to reconnect with those people. So from a marketing perspective, you know, you can say, hey, you know, the audios getting great reviews, and great, you know, listens. I'd love to utilize the video that we also recorded, and get us another boost of listeners. So that gives you an opportunity to reach back out to that person. And if that's that person is a prospective client of yours. Even better, right? Because then you get to reengage with them, you know, depending on how long the episode was recorded, like, hey, hope you're doing well like, blah, blah, blah. And then that gives you that, you know, opportunity, like I said, to reconnect with them, and ask for that permission. And then, you know, the next level to that is, once I create this content for us, can you share it too? And so it's like, you know, not only are you getting the benefit on your platforms, but then they are like, oh, yeah, this is my interview. And they're proud of the content that they put out, and they want to share it on their end. So for you gives you the opportunity to reconnect gives you multiple avenues of re introducing the episode. And then you know, the same thing with sharing for the guests to be able to share on their platform too.

Adam Liette
Fantastic. Love it. Love it. So I imagine do you keep like a Rolodex of like all the guests that you've had, or all the shows that you've been on to? It's like this growing Google seat?

Tori Barker
Yeah, I actually use air table. So I love airtable. And I keep all of my guests interviews, interviews that I've been on. And so I have details and all this information that I use, I'm very analytical and creative on one side, it's very analytical. And so I love spreadsheets and all this craziness. And so I can slice and dice it. And that's what I love about air table is like, this is like a plug for air table, go sign up for a table. It is it is pretty nice. Air table is really love because you can slice and dice it and you can like put it in different views. And like, you know, these are the season one guests, and these are the season two guests. It's like, I don't know, I geek out on that stuff.

Adam Liette
antastic. So I have to ask, I mean, podcasting. Let me be like the bearer of bad news. It's not a platform where if I just build it, they'll come is it? You won't just magically climb up the rankings? There are specific strategies right to grow your following increase your downloads, and like what are some of the things that you found to be effective? Asking for a friend asking for

Tori Barker
a friend? Yes. Well, I think there's strength in numbers. So I have found building a network of other podcasters has been huge for me. And so I'm a part of a podcasting network and we all support each other, we help refer guests to each other. We utilize the same, you know, mindset of like, this is the process that we want to do. and these are the reasons why why we have a podcast and it's for the greater good. And it's not just, you know, to hear ourselves talk all the time, sometimes that's great, but you know. But, um, but yeah, so you know, I think that there's strength in numbers and having people support you, because you want to make sure you get the right guests and good people in there. So that's one thing. The other thing is just being very mindful of how you utilize your content. And so having that marketing strategy, having the guests specific to match your target avatar, or the people that you want to connect with and utilizing that for growing your business.

Adam Liette
Mm hmm. I love it. Because you mentioned Podcast Network, because podcasts are an interesting bunch. And to circle back right to the beginning, its core values and cultural fit, that in the networks, I've been a part of, like, that's already there are the ones I the guy, the people I really jive with, like, we already have all those core values, we already can just sit in Josh about for half an hour without ever getting to the point, because we just talk to each other and have a good time. So I wonder if that's part of that magic of that network, too. It's an extension of culture and your own core values. personified. Right.

Tori Barker
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, there's so many other aspects, you know, like you said, podcasting is not for the faint of heart, it is a lot of work. And there's a lot that goes into it, you know, mentally and, you know, physically in time and all that stuff. And so there's certain ways that with a marketing strategy, if you do all of the pieces in the right fashion, it's going to work for you, right. And so a lot of what you need to do is amplify your message and amplify your show. And so through a network or through advertising, whatever that might be, that's going to grow your your podcast, because you're getting more people to listen to it. And a lot of people talk about metrics and downloads, and what's most important, and so depends on your goal, some people want to have 1000s of downloads. Some people just want to have a core group of people that listen. And so it's really different for every person. But you know, for me, like we keep going back to it's about the network, it's about the connections that you make. And, and that's how you become successful in my mind, that's a measurable for me is the number of people that you meet, the number of partnerships that you build, the number of lives that you touch with the messages that you share that you'll probably never know of. So

Adam Liette
that's how I look at it. That's awesome. I love it. I was meeting with a buddy the other day, he works for a local company. And they brought me in to do some consulting. And I looked on his desk, and he had this planner that he was using, and I was like, oh, you know about that planner. So yeah, you interviewed the creator of it. Remember on your show, like, oh, you listen to that, dude, I have no idea.

Tori Barker
Is it it's so cool. And when you you have people tell you about the episodes of your show, or for me, like the reviews are like, Oh my god, I love it when I get reviews, because there are people that you don't know, right, and they're like giving their honest feedback. And, you know, hopefully it's five stars, but you know, to hear what they say is like, oh my gosh, that really just gives you that boost to like, keep going keep doing what you're doing. Because, you know, you're you're making an impact. And people are hearing what you share and and they're taking those tools that you you know, promote or talk about, and they're using them in their daily life. And it's awesome.

Adam Liette
Absolutely, I'd have to, I have to tell on Tory here, listeners just between you and me. Tory has a strategy she uses which I think is awesome. And it's on my airtable to do list. But when you're applying to be on her show, she has social proof from previous guests. So she's using that aspect of social proof that we know works in marketing, and he's using it on her guest signup sheet and I was like, Oh my gosh, this is the coolest thing ever, like a total geek moment. But it's it's such a little thing. But it's it's, it's like one of these ways you're you're using your network and getting people to brag about you is not always the easiest thing. But you've done it and it's beautiful. I love it. It's just one of these little tricks that you use.

Tori Barker
Well, I'm very I'm very humble and very authentic. And so I think, you know, just little ways of doing that. And I like to be settled. I don't like to be in your face, but I'm glad that you noticed you know stuff like that for sure. That's working.

Adam Liette
Now I have one More, I have a silly question. And when I have one more serious question, okay, silly question. Because we are on podcast regularly, we get invited virtually into people's living rooms. So I'd like for us to take a moment to share any crazy moments that have happened in these virtual sharing environments that you can think of where you're like, oh, my gosh, this just happened and we're on video. Crazy happened

Tori Barker
to you thus far? Well, it hasn't been on a podcast, but it has been on video calls for client meetings and stuff. So there's, we were just talking about this, so I got to share it. Okay, so sometimes I have two young kids. And so I work from home. And if they come home from school, or they have a day off of school, I'll usually go over to my parents house, and I'll work from their office, because it's quiet, I get, you know, to shut the door, and I have my peace and quiet well. So I thought, well, there's just one day that I had a Zoom meeting with a client. And my dad is both my parents are retired. And so my dad is a construction guy. And he's always whittling and doing all this stuff. And so he goes, he's in the backyard, and he's outside the window of the room that I'm working in. And he's hammering and hammering and hammering. And I look out the window, and I'm like, What the heck is going on? While he's fixing the fence because the fence is broken. And so I'm like, Oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry. Like, I'm on this column, like so sorry. You know, we've got some construction going on outside of my window. Oh, no problem, blah, blah, blah. Well, then, you know, a couple minutes later, the door opens to the bedroom of the office that I'm working in. Do you want some more coffee? And I'm like, Dad, oh my gosh, like, I'm a grown woman here. And I have my dad, who is working on offense asking me if I need more coffee. And I'm just like, Oh, God loves them, right. So most of the funny moments, those are the ones Yeah. Oh, fantastic. It was a podcast, it would have been better because then I could edit it. Right. I could have cut that out. But I'm on a live meeting. And I'm like, oh, but you know, people, it's so natural nowadays. Like people are just like, you know, whatever. It's, but I'm like mortified, like,

Adam Liette
Oh my gosh. I was on one it was like a month ago. And they told me was like you're only our second guest, Mike. So I have to expect it to be a little rough. I had no idea what was coming my way, Tori. They said, Well, we're gonna record it. It's gonna go on the podcast. We're also gonna livestream it to Facebook like, okay, it's fine. I don't care. And they, we get on and they're not ready. Okay, that's natural. And then they just hit the button to go live to Facebook, and they're still not ready. They're not even in the shot. And I'm like, you know, we're, we're like, we're Hi, Facebook. We're live to Facebook. Like right now. We've been the host. We've been live for 40 seconds and the whole crowds going on. There's this bald guy looking at us. This is like, oh, yeah, I'll be fine. And three minutes go by and I'm just sitting there. I'm like, do I turn my camera off? Do I try to be very mindful about what I'm doing? Because I realize I'm on camera. And then finally they show up like, Okay, we're ready to begin. And she rolls in. It was a husband and wife duo doing the show. She had changed into like, let's just say slightly risky outfit. It's definitely attention getting Tory, oh my goodness. And he rolls in with like, a bottle of booze smoking a cigarette. And they're just like, on the show, Mike. Oh, okay. And in the interest of introduction sense, he drops three F bombs on Mike. It's one of these shows. Okay,

Tori Barker
well, wow. Sure. That's the moment where your camera accidentally drops and you lose all video and audio.

Adam Liette
And we had booked an hour and we're like an hour in after they wasted 15 minutes of me live just looking like me on Facebook, and I'm like, we booked an hour guys. I haven't. I have to go like, yeah, y'all need to you booked an hour. I mean, come on. It's just one of those little things. It's like, oh my gosh. Oh, what not to do?

Tori Barker
Yeah. Well, hopefully they will learn and over time they will get better.

Adam Liette
Maybe maybe not. I don't know. But before we jump, I have seen For enjoyed our time geeking out Tori, I always enjoy getting on calls with you, but I know you got something big coming up. And I want to hear more about it. Because I think it's gonna be just game changing for so many people.

Tori Barker
Yeah, well, so thank you for giving me the platform to talk about this though, what Adam is referring to is I am hosting a mastermind for podcast hosts. And so it's, it's gonna be, it's gonna be awesome. It's called the podcast accelerator mastermind. And it's an eight week program. And a lot of what we've been talking about, you know, my background in marketing, and my love for podcasting, and networking, building relationships is really what has come together to put this mastermind to fruition. And so that was really the goal for me is I look back at all of the skills and the stuff that I've learned and just wanted to help other people to get to a certain point in their career, in their podcasts in their life and to feel fulfilled. So this podcast mastermind is going to bring together some phenomenal minds of podcast hosts who are also business owners. And really, what we're gonna do is we're going to work through a lot of these kind of things that we talked about on this episode is like, what's the strategy in having a podcast, you know, there's certain elements that you have to look at, you have to start with a customer avatar, you have to start with your why you need to look at your branding, what are people seeing when they when they listen and hear and watch your podcast, you got to look at, you know, how you how you put that content out there and make sure it resonates with people make sure that you're make sure that you're measuring it. And then also, it's like, what is the offer, or the way that you can monetize your podcast? Because in all honesty, a lot of people you know, we do this, you know, because it's a passion of ours. But at the same time, we need to make money to fuel the business to fuel our family and to fuel our lives. And so how do we really leverage this in an authentic way to monetize our podcasts. And so bringing all of these minds together, I'm going to share some of the tactics and tools and stuff that I've learned ways that I've learned to implement it. And just really, I just want to bring this this tea, it's another team, I want to bring a team together of phenomenal people from different backgrounds who are all joined by this one thing, which is a podcast, being a podcast host, and how can we help each other to take it to the next level and get past this, you know, pod fade that everybody has, because there's so much that can be done with a podcast, personally, professionally, and just for you know, all the listeners. So it's an eight week program, we're going to take eight weeks, we're going to have one on one meetings every week. And we're going to do a little bit of I'll do a little bit of training and sharing of some experts, strategies and tools and that sort of thing. And then we're really going to just collaborate and do a lot of talking together and sharing ideas helping each other along. So yeah, I'm super excited.

Adam Liette
I am thrilled because listeners if you join us, and I said just said so I dropped my secret already. I joined Tori's podcasting mastermind podcast accelerator. Sorry, because you said that they just I don't think or let me rephrase that. This part of it not being edited. We can you know, I like it. There's so much that we know, I think if we've been marketing for a while, but it's the application and like seeing what's worked for someone else, plus just the idea of just being in a room with other like minded people. Like you've gained so much so quickly. And it just sorts circuits the learning curve, from what we trial error, trial error. Anyone else sick of that? Yep. Yo, I am, like, let's let's do stuff that works. So like I said, it's

Tori Barker
like I said it strengthen numbers, right. And so that's where the mastermind is hugely beneficial. Because you bring together a number of people who may have similar struggles, or somebody is broken through this struggle, and the other person hasn't. So we help each other. It's not just, you know, me being the one who has all the answers. I don't want to be the one with all the answers. I want to facilitate these amazing minds and these amazing people and leverage my skills and my knowledge to help all of you and I'm going to learn from it too. So that's exciting for me, because it's not like I'm going to be the only one facilitating and I'm just giving, giving, giving. I also get to learn and grow with the group that we build as well. So it's a win win for me.

Adam Liette
Fantastic. So how do will people find out more about it? Where do they go to, to see if this is the right fit for them?

Tori Barker
Yeah, so the best thing that I would say is connect with me on LinkedIn, send me a message on LinkedIn and let's hop on a call because I want to have a conversation with you. Make sure that you're a good fit for the mastermind and that, you know, you really see the value in this and, you know, just want to get to know you. I mean, I'm all about connections. So find me on LinkedIn, you can look up Tori Barker, you can connect with me send me a message I'll get right back to you. You can also visit my website creative marketing sacramento.com And you can book a discovery call on there as well.

Adam Liette
It's so much fun and just in case inquiring minds or wanting to know like let's say I just started and I'm like five episodes in Am I ready for this? Or should I maybe just stick it out on my own for a little bit longer?

Tori Barker
You know, ideally, somebody who's had at least 10 episodes so you've got a little stake in the ground right you've you've gone through some struggles you've you know, figured out things that are working things that are not working, but you know what, it goes back to you know, let's have a conversation because maybe you are ready maybe you have you know that right mindset so I always welcome you know, even if you're just getting started you know, give me a message and let's let's connect and have a conversation. Who knows I may even do a mastermind for new podcast hosts.

Adam Liette
Oh Snap

Tori Barker
so reach out to me and let's let's have a conversation.

Adam Liette
I love it. Tori. Well, all the notes. All the links tutorial will be in the show notes here as well. And yeah, reach out to Tori, she you're gonna love her. She's everything you're hearing on audio or, you know, this house where he is. And I just geek out every time we get to connect because this cool, like, energy vibe thing we got going on?

Tori Barker
I love it. You're phenomenal. Adam, thank you for having me. It's been it's been a pleasure to talk to you. You know, we always love chatting so we could talk for days. But I love that we're able to share our knowledge and message with your audience. So thank you for the opportunity to do that.