Boost your Business with Podcast Guesting, with Margy Feldhuhn
About this episode:
Co-owner and CEO of Interview Connections, Margy Feldhuhn, join us on the She Built It™ Experience today. She shares her story of development through Interview Connections, how family loss led her to start sharing powerful stories on her own podcast show and why business owners should seriously consider podcast guesting as a growth strategy.
Topics Discussed:
What gave Margy the idea and the courage to make a leap to Interview Connections
Why entrepreneurs and leaders should leverage podcast interviews to grow their business
Margy's message to the business owners and leaders who are still considering podcasts as a growth strategy
What the main motivation was for Margy to start sharing the powerful life stories on her own podcast
How Margy turned a huge family loss into a positive outcome
Margy’s tip on how to find and live your joy
About Margy:
Margy is the co-owner and CEO of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. Margy and her business partner Jessica, lead an in-house staff of over 25 full-time employees in their (now virtual) Rhode Island office and have successfully scaled the agency to multiple 7 figures. Their team of in-house Booking Agents are the podcast powerhouses behind a rapidly growing catalog of hundreds of successful entrepreneurs and businesses including Ali Brown, Paul Ross, JJ Virgin, Aweber, and USA Financial.
Margy joined Interview Connections in 2016 as a contractor, becoming the first employee in 2017 and acquiring 50% equity in the business by 2018. By 2019, she had helped lead the business to its first 7 figure year without any direct marketing or advertising. In 2021, Margy won First Prize in the Best Podcast category at the Rhode Island International Film Festival for her podcast We Get It, Your Dad Died.
When she’s not busy recording her own shows or running the business, Margy is active in animal rescue, organizing a yearly fundraiser called Art for Animals. In 2019, she was recognized for her efforts with a "Humane Heroes" award. She is owned by her 18-year-old cat and 10-year-old toothless Yorkipoo.
Resources:
Click here to read a raw, unedited transcript of this episode:
Melanie Barr: [00:02:59] Thank you so much for joining me today, Margy. [00:03:03][4.4]
Margy Feldhuhn: [00:03:05] Thank you so much for having me, Melanie. [00:03:06][1.2]
Melanie Barr: [00:03:07] We'd love to know more about who you are and what gave you the idea and the courage to make your leap to Interview Connections. [00:03:13][6.1]
Margy Feldhuhn: [00:03:16] My business partner, Jessica, who has been a guest on the show, founded Interview Connections, so she launched the business back in 2013. And then when I came on and I think a lot of entrepreneurs can relate to this, the business has gone through many iterations. So while I didn't found the company, that was all just as amazing work, we definitely collaborated. Once I came on as a contractor in 2016 and then the first employee in 2017. And in 2017 we worked really closely to basically launch a new model of the business, which was we let go of all the contractors all around the world who had been the ones fulfilling the service and moved to in-house employees in Rhode Island in our office, which was a very steep learning curve. And we had and he at least 80 clients. So we had to make sure the service wasn't interrupted as we were basically letting an entire workforce go and then bringing in and training this totally new type of worker that we were not familiar with at all. So that was really the next iteration of Interview Connections in 2017, where we switched to the employee-only model, which was a move that we made to improve the quality. Really, we knew what we wanted. We knew we wanted to have the most high-touch service out there. And we realized that while our contractors were absolutely amazing because of labor laws. And we wanted more stability for our clients so that they would have a team member who was always available to them and have that high touch effect. So then in 2018, I became 50 percent co-owner. And we did a lot of restructuring then as while we really looked at the way that we package the service and our offerings, we used to be very month to month. And then we realized people weren't really seeing enough success because there is sort of a tipping point for how long you have to be guesting on podcast to really get the results. And we're like, OK, we're doing them a disservice by not having our program take that into consideration. So we've been through many journeys. And then of course, with COVID, we went from having everyone working in person in our office to now being a fully remote agency. [00:05:50][154.3]
Melanie Barr: [00:05:51] And I remember Jessica saying that that transition was one of the best things that you could have done for the business is bringing on full time employees and making that transition. And it's interesting when you say I think your agreements are year long, you're right. I think you have to commit to being a guest on shows to see that value. [00:06:11][19.5]
Margy Feldhuhn: [00:06:12] Yes, it really does take a year, and I think that's an important thing for all entrepreneurs to look at when they're creating, there are services in their packages. It's like, how long does it really take for someone to get the result and the transformation that you want? And we realize for being, I guess, on podcast, it's so incredible. It works magic in people's business. Our guys are incredible, but it takes time. You have to build up that momentum. It's not a quick fix strategy. [00:06:39][26.8]
Melanie Barr: [00:06:49] How should entrepreneurs and leaders leverage podcast interviews to grow their business? [00:06:52][3.7]
Margy Feldhuhn: [00:06:55] So everyone should be out there gasping on other people's podcasts. If you're an online service-based business owner, you should be out there gasping on podcast interviews 100 percent. If you're a product business owner, you probably still should. But it's really those online service-based business owners that, you would be crazy not to be. But if you work with people online, especially if you can work with people all over the country are all over the world. It is such an amazing organic lead generation strategy and especially ads are wild. We run ads and anybody who's putting a lot of money into ads right now knows that it's chaos. It's crazy and it's changing every single second. And we have no control over it. We don't own these platforms. But with guesting, we know that those interviews that we've done even years ago are still out there. They're evergreen. We have clients and leads coming to us saying, Oh, I heard you on the show, you know, I want to learn more about working with you. So it's so invaluable. And for people who have services that are multiple thousands of dollars where it's not high volume, right, you don't need to be in front of a million people to get great clients. If I go on a show with 100 listeners and they're all my ideal client, they're all service based entrepreneurs who know they need to get visible and get out there on podcast. That is an incredibly good use of my time, and just this month we had a client who signed up, heard me on a show and the same the same week that the show went live, she signed up as a client. She was like, Oh, I heard Mark on this podcast. And I was like, And that's how you do it. So it's such an incredible strategy. We're talking a lot about the audience. So for getting clients from the audience, but also relationship building, anyone can think of at least one relationship, probably more that totally transformed their business, right? You really are one relationship away from an incredible breakthrough in your company. And by guesting on podcast, not only am I getting exposure to the audience and all those potential clients, but I'm able to intentionally build relationships every single week with a new entrepreneur who's hosting the podcast this time on. And that leads to these magical collaborations and referral partnerships. And and it's just it's so powerful. And the last thing I'll say about it is it's just so deep, and that's what I really like about it. There's a lot of surface level marketing where people are just blasting stuff out everywhere, and it's kind of empty calories like it's all sizzle and no steak. There's not like real heavy content or anything really meaningful. It's just like kind of generic. You're seeing the same thing from everybody. But when it's an interview format, you have the opportunity to go so much deeper about who you are as a person and your journey and what you believe in. And people really get to know you, and it builds really high trust. And the people that you end up attracting are people who truly are in alignment with you. [00:10:08][193.1]
Melanie Barr: [00:10:08] You are so right. I recently hired someone that I listen to on a podcast, and what I liked about them is I have twins and growing a business. I don't have a lot of time, and they seemed like they were very straightforward with the information. And then listening to their story, you're right, I felt like I knew them. And so reaching out to them and becoming their client happened relatively quickly because I already felt like I knew them and I liked what they were about. And Interview Connections for She Buil It podcast, I love how detailed you are and making sure that the guest is aligned with the podcast and the podcast listeners, which I'm sure also translates into clients. And I've actually hired someone that you have sent my way also. I told Jessica this. I hired happy self-publishing. So I don't know. [00:10:59][50.9]
Margy Feldhuhn: [00:11:00] That’s amazing. Yes, Jyotsna. [00:11:01][0.8]
Melanie Barr: [00:11:02] Yes. Yes. So. So it's your you're so right when you say that, and I think working with a company like Interview Connections makes all the difference because you are going to make sure that they are on the right podcast to find the right clients. [00:11:17][14.3]
Margy Feldhuhn: [00:11:18] Yes. And I'm so, I'm so excited that you're working with Jyotsna, that we absolutely love her. Yeah, and and that's a great example, like you're saying, have been our why we you your podcast and now you're a client of hers. So even before, sometimes before the interview goes live, we have clients see an ROI because the host becomes their client. [00:11:37][18.9]
Melanie Barr: [00:11:38] What types of businesses can benefit from a guest expert strategy, and what would you say to business owners and corporate leaders who want to test out the strategy? [00:11:53][15.2]
Margy Feldhuhn: [00:11:55] Yeah. So we touched on this a little bit, but it's really service based online business owners who are the biggest no brainer for, you need to be doing this yesterday for. other types of businesses product businesses. It's still a good strategy for brand building, but it's not the best strategy for volume sales. So if you have a 10 or 20 dollar product and you want to sell it on podcast, I really wouldn't recommend that strategy necessarily. A lot of the shows we book on are like mid-range shows. So they're targeted audiences of maybe 100 to a thousand people, which if you have a high touch service and you need high trust for people to invest with you, it's so perfect and you see a really huge ROI if you need to sell the, 100000 $10 items. For this to be a win for you, then I wouldn't I wouldn't go the podcast gusting we're out. So it really depends on your goals. But if you have a product business and you're serious about building your brand, which you definitely should be, then it's a great long term investment that way. So dabbling, we get this a lot and honestly, no judgment at all because there's definitely things that I have dabbled in. I'm like, Should we be on TikTok? Should we be doing this? There's so many shiny objects, so hard. [00:13:18][83.1]
Melanie Barr: [00:13:19] It's so hard because there's so much, and you're so much new app or what's this new podcast or what's this new social platform said? So right. [00:13:27][7.7]
Margy Feldhuhn: [00:13:27] Yeah, there's so much. And for every shiny strategy there is somebody saying that it was the one thing for them that causes huge breakthrough. So then you're, all these things are giant breakthroughs. I need to do all these things, but I mean, because we've all learned from experience. If you just dabble, you don't really give something the amount of time it needs to work, and not everything is the same, right? I think it's really important when you're saying, OK, I'm going to test this, how much time am I going to give it? Is that an appropriate amount of time for this strategy where I would even be able to see if it's working or not yet? And then what does success look like? So being really intentional with those filters of testing, I think is really important. And there are certain things that you can test for a month or six months. You can do a split test, a B test and really determine, is this working or is this not working? Podcast testing is not like that. It is very much a long term strategy, and it's not to say that people don't get an hour away and get clients after just a few interviews. They do. It happens all the time, but it's not a one off thing that I'm just going to do for a month or a couple months or during my book launch. We really recommend that you're doing it all the time, so I'm doing at least four interviews a month every month forever, it's just an ongoing built in part of my strategy. And because of that, it's sort of insurance, right? Because I'm always visible. I know no matter what happens with ads and everything else, I'm consistently building new strategic relationships with other entrepreneurs and I'm getting in front of new audiences every single week. [00:15:16][109.1]
Melanie Barr: [00:15:17] Really, really good advice.
Melanie Barr: [00:16:17] You are the host of your own podcast, we get it. Your dad died. Tell us about your podcast and the motivation behind sharing the powerful stories on your show. [00:16:49][31.9]
Margy Feldhuhn: [00:16:51] Yes. So this show is very much a passion project that really was born out of podcast interviews because, yes, I get clients from podcast interviews, I get opportunities. A host you interviewed me is now interviewing me for a column in Forbes that she has. So there's all that fun, exciting, obvious ROI stuff. But I'm a messaging nerd. I love messaging. I love language. I think that the way we talk about our story and our business has power. I think the words that we use actually create the future. They don't just reflect it and. In these conversations on podcast, things have evolved so much, it's been so incredible, we see this with our clients to you, come on thinking that these are your topics, but once you get on the court and you're in live conversations with entrepreneurs, they start asking you questions in a way that maybe you've never thought about or. You find things that just start to come up again and again. And so for me, my story and my entrepreneurial journey had so much to do with losing my dad to suicide in 2015, and it really created who I am as a person who I am as a leader. It was a huge, loss. We are very close and it was awesome. But it was also this incredible catalyst for me, growing as a person and growing as a leader, and I truly don't think I would be a business owner, at least not a successful one if I hadn't been through all that and everything that happened after, like all the therapy and the personal development that as a direct result of that, I did all that work on myself, which is what allowed me to show up in the business as an employee who could ask for 50 percent equity and actually get it. So I found that being a guest on other people's shows, I was getting a lot of good responses to this story because they just kept telling it because it was people would keep asking, You know, how, how did this happen? And it was such an integral part. And then I started getting feedback. I started having people say, Thank you so much for sharing this. I went through something similar or I never hear people talk about this. And then I started getting messages from other seven and eight-figure entrepreneurs like these super high achievers who are like, it's so interesting because my mom died. And actually, that's the whole reason I started my business. And it's stuff that they never talk about, and it's literally the root of their success and why they started this business. And I was like, This is crazy. We need to get these conversations out there because I wanted people to hear the show. I wanted people to know that they weren't alone and I wanted it to be a space for healing, but also sort of a research lab right of like, what is it about these super high performers and how they deal with loss and grief that makes them successful? And so in interviewing all of these high achieving entrepreneurs, it's been so incredible to see their bravery and their candor and their willingness to share things that they've never shared publicly before. But also, there's all these similarities once you start listening to the different episodes, and once I started interviewing them, I found that there were a lot of common themes in what people were saying and specifically how high achievers frame their grief and profound loss in a way that is empowering. Instead of seeing themselves as a victim, they see it almost as a responsibility, to serve others, to take that pain and use it as a way to contribute good to the world. And it was so interesting to see how similar they all were in the way that they thought. And I believe by getting these conversations out there, it can help people to start thinking the way that high achievers do so that they can be generating the same types of results in their life. [00:21:04][252.6]
Melanie Barr: [00:21:05] It's so interesting because oftentimes beautiful things come out of loss, and when you're in it, you're not thinking about that. But as you come out, at times we think, OK, I'm at such a low, what do I have to lose, or I can give up or fight, it's so interesting. And when you think about losing parents, it's going to happen to all of us at some point, so it's interesting to start really thinking through those moments and good for you for taking, that moment and turning it into something positive and amazing. [00:21:38][33.2]
Margy Feldhuhn: [00:21:39] Oh, thank you so much. And yeah, and it does apply to people, even if you haven't had like my business partner Jessica, who's been a guest on the show. She listens to the show and it is such a great stage mom and supporter, but she hasn't had a profound loss. Knock on wood. But it's helpful even if you haven't, because there are so many losses that we truly do grieve in life. Whether it's the loss of a business or a loss of a job, the loss of a relationship really is profound. They really are true losses. And these tools and these stories can be applied no matter what's going on, because it's a universal human experience that we have those lows, we have those traumatic moments in those losses. [00:22:26][46.3]
Melanie Barr: [00:22:29] You have said you went to prove that there are ways to turn setbacks into positives in our lives. And I love that. If someone has experienced a significant loss and I understand that every situation is different, how can someone start to turn a setback into a positive? [00:22:53][24.3]
Margy Feldhuhn: [00:22:56] Great question. So the first of all, I really want to always preface this with, it's OK to feel terrible, I don't want people who are in a fresh loss to feel I was saying, put on a happy face, no, it's a mess. It's not my dad died and I was, Now I will develop as a leader, I was a hot mess. So that would be my first thing is, you just have to be present with what you're feeling and there's nothing wrong. You don't have to feel you have to grieve successfully. I would never want to put that pressure on somebody. So I think that's a big thing, especially early on. Feel whatever you're feeling. Don't feel pressure to be on any timeline or do anything besides just keep going, right? Like Finding Nemo, just keep swimming. That's really the mantra of early grief. You don't have to do anything besides that. I never want people to feel toxic positivity, I have to be happy or I have to be successful. But what I have found with losses this is, yes, it's messy. Yes, it's incredibly painful. But if you can just start to look at opportunities for growth. So I would recommend seeking professional help. For me, I got a therapist who specialized in trauma reprocessing, so all I had to do was drag my sad self to the therapist's office every week. It wasn't I was doing this incredibly powerful thing, but I did find a therapist who was good and just go to her, and I worked with her for at least a year and a half. So I think it's just seeking help is a big one and then looking for opportunities to heal loss and grief. Kick up all the stuff from your past that you haven't dealt with. I really was surprised to find that when my dad died that every issue I had flared up, and that's really tough. It makes it really tough to function and have healthy relationships and go about your day. But it's also an opportunity because all this stuff is coming to the surface and you do have the opportunity to actually work through it and clear it once and for all. And when you face that opportunity, head on, even though it's a hot mess, even though you know it sucks, it's not this great empowering thing. But if you're really willing to show up and face what's there and work through it, you just find that one day, you look up after you've been looking down and so in it and you really feel different. You really are a different person. You're really handling things differently and you'll never be perfect. You'll you'll always be human. But when you're willing to face things and put in that work and really just try to improve and try to heal these parts of you, find after a while that it compounds and you've really accomplished something amazing. [00:26:07][191.9]
Melanie Barr: [00:26:09] That's such good advice to seek help and also to keep showing up, because sometimes that is that's half the battle. And I always think of it as a marinating in my feelings. Sometimes we have to make decisions and move forward. But other times, you know, we can marinate in our feelings a little bit until we feel ready to, like you said, look up and decide to look up. [00:26:30][20.9]
Margy Feldhuhn: [00:26:31] Yes, marinating is good, and sometimes it's good to wallow, not forever, but like, if you want to take some time and watch TV all day in your sweat pants, like do whatever you have to do. [00:26:43][12.2]
Melanie Barr: [00:26:44] Good, I know, because in that those down times, that's when sometimes we get the best ideas are the best motivation because we've given ourselves the gift of a break and permission to have a break. Or you're right to not feel good because it's completely normal. I'm pretty positive person, but I have days where I don't feel great or something, terrible has happened. It's great that you're sharing those stories and that you're bringing guests on and giving them the opportunity to tell theirs. [00:27:16][32.0]
Margy Feldhuhn: [00:27:18] Thank you so much. [00:27:18][0.6]
Melanie Barr: [00:27:20] Magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy. What is one tip that you can leave with us today about how you find and live your joy? [00:27:29][8.9]
Margy Feldhuhn: [00:27:31] I love that you focus on this, that you help entrepreneurs do this because this is so important and I think what you help clients with is the number one thing that will keep you in business long enough to actually achieve success because if you don't focus on those things that you love. People burn out and they quit. So I just think the work that you do with that is so amazing and so important. It's hard to pick just one thing. I really love business. I love just how dynamic it is, how different everything is from day to day, that type of novelty and solving new problems and going for new goals. right now. What I'm really loving is. Improving as the leader of my team, so in order to do that, I've been reading a lot of leadership books and working with a coach and really taking a very humbling look at my gaps as a leader and being, OK, there's examples in this book of what a good leader does and what a bad leader does. Sometimes I've done this bad leader stuff sometimes I think I am too critical and a micromanager or whatever it is. And so I've really been focusing on. Becoming a better leader, being more collaborative, talking less and making sure that my team is able to share more of their ideas. And I've really been loving that because it's one of those things that even though it's not super tangible, a revenue goal, every time I'm really changing,I'm really growing and I love that the personal growth aspect. [00:29:18][107.6]
Melanie Barr: [00:29:20] That's great because so often we can get focused on, like you said, the business and the revenue goals and not think about those other areas of our lives where we can improve that aren't just driven by analytics. [00:29:31][11.3]
Margy Feldhuhn: [00:29:33] Yeah. And honestly, to be fully transparent, I'm very revenue and numbers and goal focus. And it was really through failing at the same goal for two years that I finally went deeper and was like, How are these other things that seemed important, but not crucial to hit this goal? Actually crucial to hit this goal, the fact that everyone on the team is collaborating and sharing ideas and feels fully self expressed. So the goal was to have our first five hundred k up and we've had months that like 300 something, you know and not bad, right? Afew years ago, it would have been mind blowing. But because we have this goal, this ideal five hundred k because we haven't hit it and we've been setting the goal, for a year or two. It has been tough, but it's been such a gift because it really has forced me to go deeper because just driving for the goal, the way that I used to drive it worked up to a certain point, and it's just not enough anymore. And I think that's kind of an amazing gift in terms of personal growth. [00:30:46][73.1]
Melanie Barr: [00:30:47] Good for you for having the confidence to turn and look inside because not everyone would have done that. It takes, like you said, humility and most importantly, confidence to say, I really want to make this happen. I'm not going to give up on the goal, but I'm going to look for other ways to try to make it happen. And accomplish it. [00:31:09][22.2]
Margy Feldhuhn: [00:31:11] Yeah, yeah, it's I think it's helpful when we don't get what we want or when we have those losses and those failures, because oftentimes if everything's just going OK and it's comfortable, you're just not motivated to go really deep and do that difficult work on yourself. And but every time you do it, it's such a gift. [00:31:30][19.4] Melanie Barr: [00:31:30] So such good advice. Thank you so much for joining me today. [00:31:34][3.2]
Margy Feldhuhn: [00:31:36] Thank you so much for having me. [00:31:37][1.3]
Melanie Barr: [00:31:37] Can you please tell our listeners how and where they can contact you and find you? [00:31:41][3.8]
Margy Feldhuhn: [00:31:42] Yes. So if you are an entrepreneur who knows they need to get visibility and get out there in front of new audiences every week and do that strategic relationship building we talked about our website is interviewconnections.com and you can go to interviewconnections.com/apply to speak with a member of our team about your goals and about what you're looking for. [00:32:14][31.6] [1698.4]