How I Built My Small Business

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► Tell us about you and your podcast

In my show 'How I Built My Small Business,' I interview entrepreneurs who typically make a net profit of between $1m-$20m. I love all of the other business shows and high caliber, super successful CEOs that have fascinating knowledge to share, but I feel like focusing only on the $100m+ businesses leaves a big gap.

What about the family-owned businesses that are bringing in $10m/ year with a 25% net profit? Or, the person who started a relatively low-skill business concept that operated for 6 months a year, made multiple millions, and they hung out with their family for the other 6 months? How about a self-taught skill that turns into a $2m business that allows you to work part-time and give up your full-time job? Next week's episode is with a young woman who started a boba franchise business in her early 20s, without any prior knowledge of how to franchise, and that has grown to 45 locations within 5 years. How cool are these stories! These people are just as incredible as the unicorns, and their advice and insight may be more relatable to my listener.

My goal is to highlight some of the smaller, more 'Main Street' entrepreneurs and to make my guests feel comfortable enough to be vulnerable and authentic while offering invaluable insight to inspire and pave the way for the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders. 

My primary target audience is precocious teenagers to around mid-35 with a secondary audience of 2nd/3rd career folks and/or parents ages 36-55. These are the listeners that I feel will benefit the most from the guests and stories, and who I have in mind when I am asking the questions.
 

► Why & how did you start this podcast? 

I started recording episodes in early December, and I released my first three episodes the week of January 25, 2024 in honor of my dad who passed away that day years ago. His big philosophy in life was "never stop learning" and I really looked up to him.

So, that is part of the reason. There are so many other reasons why I started this podcast. I go over most of the reasons in my 22nd episode, my host introduction, which has not yet been released, but will go out on May 14th. I speak from my heart and if you are curious, I hope that you will follow the show and give that episode a listen to get to know me better as the host.
 

► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?

My podcast is a creative outlet and a way to challenge myself. At 39, my passive income exceeded my family of five living expenses and I owe much of that to entrepreneurship (in combination with investing strategies).

I spend $24/ month to host, produce, edit, and upload my show. I am doing it all myself which was another learning curve as I had to teach myself how to use Adobe Audition, but I love the Adobe Suite of products as I minored in photography and was already familiar with Photoshop. It's interesting because Audition and Photoshop aren't all that different - one is just for sound waves while the other is for images. It's been fun to learn a new program!

My absolute favorite part by far is the actual interview.

Each episode takes about a day to produce from beginning to end, including hosting the interview, editing, and uploading

I am debating whether I should ever turn this into more of a business and invest in it with marketing dollars and a marketing campaign or if I should just keep on going as a creative outlet that requires minimal time and money.

I had an investment banker dad contact me and let me know that he has been enjoying the episodes so much and that he has found so much insight from them (as someone whose clients are often entrepreneurs) that he is paying his 19 and 17 year old children $20 per episode to listen and write a short summary paragraph of what they learned. That is one of the biggest compliments that I have received.
 

► What do you gain from podcasting?        

I have not currently approached any sponsors, though I would consider the opportunity if the brand and company is one that I have an affinity for and that would provide real value for my listeners.

I try not to look at the numbers or charts but once a month. Last time I checked, the show was getting ~15-16k downloads per month with the number of episodes currently out (so I assume that naturally also goes up as more episodes are released).

I'm enjoying the creative process and speaking with entrepreneurs about their stories. I love stories! And, I love learning about other peoples' perspectives. I've learned something from every single interview I've hosted and the process continues to push me outside of my comfort zone, which is challenging but also very thought-provoking and stimulating!

Researching a guest, having a conversation with them, and then listening to the episode in the editing process and in the final cut is like studying. So, I'm learning so much and THAT is fun.
 

► How does your podcasting process look like? 

I'm very organized and I have a spreadsheet of all of my upcoming guests and I color block each item as it is done so I can easily keep track of which episode needs to be done next and can see if there are any missing steps. Organization is kind of key.

Some weeks, I have no interviews, and other weeks, I have three or even four. I love my free time and especially love summer, so I'm working pretty far ahead at this point and it's possible I'll have my whole year's worth of episodes fully produced by the middle of the year.

I use Zencastr for when I'm recording remotely. I use Samsung microphones (I have two of them) for myself and for my guests when I'm recording in person. If I'm recording in person, then I have a sound mixer that I use with my Macbook and I record straight into Audition, which I have found produces the best sound. I don't fuss too much about my guest's sound if I'm recording remotely because it's beyond my control and I don't want my guest to stress out about their room or equipment because they are there to share their knowledge.

In preparation for the episode, I think about what I would ask the person if they were sitting at my dining room table. I love the topic of business, and I love to talk with people and to hear their stories. People are fascinating! I also love when someone else knows about a niche or industry that I don't have as much knowledge about and I am at the edge of my seat with curiosity wanting to know more.
 

► How do you market your show?

I use Buzzsprout to distribute my show. From there, I have connected to every directory possible through that platform.

Beyond that, I have a limited social media presence. I have a private account that is just for family and friends, and a public account on Instagram @howibuiltmysmallbusiness where I post soundbytes of upcoming episodes. It's more of a way for me to keep a visual record and diary of sorts for my guests and the work that I've put into curating the line-up.

It's kind of a Catch-22 because I do want to reach more listeners' ears in my target audience, but I also have so much resistance to social media. I agree with Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation, about how phone and social media overuse can lead to "attention fragmentation, opportunity cost, behavioral addiction, and sleep deprivation." In general, I just don't like to spend much time on social media as a lifestyle choice.

I've always grown my businesses through IRL (in real life) connection, but social media is probably where many of my would-be listeners are hanging out. So, how do you have one without the other?

The only place where I post relatively regularly is on LinkedIn because for some reason, I don't feel the same level of resistance to that platform. Luckily, it seems that LinkedIn has worked in helping me reach listeners' ears thanks to my guests creating posts, and also others reposting. Just yesterday, Jason Calacanis, who has around 635k followers, reposted my episode with Brian Dutt of BeeRoll.io so that kind of word-of-mouth spread has been helpful in helping me reach my target audience.

This is my page if anyone wants to connect :)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/annemcginty/

Listeners and potential guests have been reaching out to me through my LinkedIn page and also through my website https://www.annemcginty.com/
 

► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?

Gosh, I've only been recording since December, and my podcast's first three episodes were only launched at the end of January. So, I'm not sure if I'm the best one to give advice to other podcasters just yet.

In speaking from my own experience, the most rewarding part of this process is trying to deliver free knowledge to listeners that I truly believe will benefit them, and to try and create the best end 'product' (the final edit) that you can without taking away from your own well-being in any way. If you don't enjoy the process, then I imagine you'll burn out as it sounds like most do. So, make sure that this creative outlet is fun and enjoyable, and don't put too much pressure on yourself.

If it ever becomes a 'chore' or isn't bringing you joy, then it's also okay to say, "hey, I tried it, and it wasn't the right fit." No stress!
 

► Where can we learn more about you & your podcasts?

https://www.annemcginty.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/annemcginty/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-my-small-business/id1723848765
https://open.spotify.com/show/7zlounJpYRomhwdET9V6xB?si=6ed35724315f47e1