362-SYB-Danielle-Hayden.mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.
Carol Cox:
If you’re using speaking for lead generation, listen in to how to integrate thought leadership into your presentations for even better results in this episode of the Speaking Your Brand podcast. More and more women are making an impact by starting businesses, running for office and speaking up for what matters. With my background as a TV political analyst, entrepreneur and speaker, I interview and coach purpose driven women to shape their brands, grow their companies, and become recognized as influencers in their field. This is speaking your brand, your place to learn how to persuasively communicate your message to your audience. Hi there and welcome to the Speaking Your Brand podcast. I’m your host, Carol Cox. I know that a lot of you use speaking for lead generation. So to attract leads and clients in your business, and it really is such a fantastic way to do so, because when you’re standing in front of a group or there’s a group of 20 or 50 people or 100 or 500 people, you automatically have a built in credibility and authority. However, an opportunity I see speakers miss is that they forgo thought leadership when they’re delivering presentations on behalf of their business to attract leads and clients. They believe that they have to provide lots of information, tips and facts in order to provide value to the audience and by extension, get the people in the audience interested in purchasing their product or service.
Carol Cox:
But what I found to be a better approach in the presentations that I’ve delivered over the years, and the ones that we help our clients with, is to help the audience see where they are truly getting stuck, and show them how to think about things differently, which of course, is the essence of thought leadership. After all, we’re all drowning in tons of information. Well, your audience needs is to recognize the transformation that’s possible and how you can help them. Well, this is exactly what I did with one of my recent clients, Danielle Hayden, who’s the founder and CEO of Kickstart Accounting, Inc. She has built an incredible business and team over the past ten years that worked with women entrepreneurs to truly understand their numbers so they can make better business decisions. Danielle is an experienced speaker who presents often in front of groups, both in person and virtually, primarily to attract new clients. And when she reached out to me in October because she wanted to create a new signature talk for lead generation, and she wanted someone else’s eyes and expertise on it, I was excited to work with her in this episode. This is like a client case study where Danielle and I talk about why she wanted to create a new lead generation signature talk in the first place, and then during our VIP together, how I recognized her thought leadership angle.
Carol Cox:
As she was explaining something to me, I was like, oh, that is it. We also talked about the benefit of focusing on your ideal client and what they need to hear. So those those ideal clients in your audience not trying to appeal to everyone in the audience. We talk about the process we went through to develop her new talk, including how she felt about my recommendation to include more stories, and then she shares a result she got the very first time she presented her new talk, including signing on a record number of new clients. And then we finish up by talking about other lead generation strategies that Danielle uses, including podcast guesting and hosting her own podcast. If you would like your own VIP day to create your signature talk, to get clarity around your message and to create your talk from beginning to end. We do this process in our Thought Leader Academy. You can get all the details of speaking your brand.com/academy again, that’s speaking your brand.com/academy. Now let’s get on with the show. Welcome to the Speaking Your Brand podcast Danielle.
Danielle Hayden:
Thank you so much for having me here.
Carol Cox:
I’m excited to dig back in with you, because it has been three years since you were last on the podcast I went and looked at was episode 204 also in December, but December of 2020. And boy did the world look a lot different.
Danielle Hayden:
Good lord. Yeah, than.
Carol Cox:
It does now. But you know, back then we talked about helping the listeners kind of set themselves up for the new year, thinking about how to make better decisions for their business and also, of course, for their speaking opportunities since, you know, here speaking your brand, we talk a lot about public speaking and thought leadership. And I invited you back on today because we recently worked together in a VIP day to create a new lead generation signature talk for you so that when you’re going out and delivering your talks, whether they’re in person or virtually, that you can really attract the kind of clients that are going to be the best fit for the work that you and your team do. So let’s start there. Danielle, tell us about Kickstarter County and your business and how you are different than a traditional bookkeeper or CPA or tax accountant.
Danielle Hayden:
Yeah. So here at Kickstarter County, Inc., we use bookkeeping as a vehicle to help business owners really understand their numbers so that they can better manage their business, make better business decisions. What I found when I started the business nine years ago was that a lot of people, a lot of entrepreneurs, and this is different from my corporate days. Entrepreneurs tend to run their. As for taxes, they tend to look at their numbers for tax purposes. And I said, oh my gosh, guys, there’s this huge opportunity. Um, as entrepreneurs, like we’re missing out on what CEOs really can do with their numbers. And so we work with our clients to help them be able to own their role as a CEO. We work with a lot of accidental entrepreneurs who, as they are starting to, um, embrace their role as a speaker and as a thought leader, to really be able to look at their numbers and make better business decisions that support their goals and where they want to go in their business so that they can really thrive.
Carol Cox:
And when we were where we’re sitting down to do your signature talk, of course, you know, there’s and I knew that you wanted to use it specifically for lead generation. So again, to attract the kinds of clients, entrepreneurs are going to be a great fit for what you all do. But also, I knew that we needed to embed thought leadership into the presentations that you were doing because you’re an experienced speaker. Danielle, you also do a lot of podcast guesting, which we’re going to talk about towards the end of our conversation today about some of the other lead gen strategies that you use. So you I know you’ve given a lot of presentations over the years, so why did you decide now was the time to come and work with us to develop a new talk?
Danielle Hayden:
You know, I think that as I have learned over the years, um, and I’ve continued to grow as a speaker and as a business owner, one of my goals for the next year is to level up. So if I’m going to continue to speak, if I’m going to continue to be a podcast host, and I’m going to continue to be a podcast guest, how can I take that to the next level? So that was really a big piece for me, was just really embracing, uh, becoming a better speaker, having better content and really feeling confident. Um, the other piece is that I want to overdeliver, like it is just so my natural tendency to say, you know, if somebody comes in to ask me to speak about a financial topic, I’m like, well, let me give you literally everything I know, every worksheet I have. And then I’m like, well, why don’t you guys, why aren’t you guys all calling me, right? Like, I gave you everything. Why aren’t you all knocking down the doors for for help? And they’re looking at me like deer in headlights. And so I knew that I needed to work with somebody who was an expert to help me, um, nail down what I was doing when I was doing it and how I was doing it, so that we could really capitalize on every engagement that we have. I could ask to speak a lot at client, at group masterminds, um, in person, and I want to make sure that I am actually delivering value in that completely overwhelming people. Yeah.
Carol Cox:
Yes. And I remember when we were working on your talk, you’re like, I really want to make sure that we provide a lot of tangible takeaways for the audience. And, you know, and yes, I’m like, yes, I understand that we’re going to give them exactly what they need. Because again, keeping in mind what you said earlier, they’re CEOs, they’re entrepreneurs, they’re small business owners. They have a certain role in the business, and they don’t necessarily need to know all the nitty gritty about bookkeeping and financials. Of course, they need to have some understanding to help guide their decisions, but they don’t need to know the depth that you that you know and that your team knows.
Danielle Hayden:
Yeah. It was um, it was a really I want to use the word fun and, and and I don’t want anyone to laugh at me as I use the word fun here, but it really was fun to work with you and watch you pull out those pieces from what we were talking about because, um. You know, I wanted to give. Like, how can I serve everyone, right? So if somebody is doing DIY bookkeeping, how do I help them? If somebody is struggling with money mindset, how do I help them if somebody is is uh, has, you know, they’re struggling, they want to, um, you know, they’re not getting what they deserve from their money team, from their their CPA, from their bookkeeper. How do I help them? And in working together, I loved how you narrowed that down to very specifically, who are we talking to? Why are we talking to them? And what does that person what does that woman what does that person need to leave with?
Carol Cox:
Yes. And then and as we were, I was asked, as I was asking you question and getting to know a little bit more about your methodology and the process that you use internally and who are your best clients. And then you mentioned to me about this idea of the spending gap and how so many entrepreneurs actually don’t spend enough, or at least spend enough in the right places in their business. And when you said that I had this like little ding ding ding light bulb go on because this is what I’m listening for as I, as I’m working with, with clients like you is like, what is that thing that I think most people haven’t heard much about yet? It feels counterintuitive, like it feels unusual to hear that. And I feel like that’s what gets the audience to then pay attention. So, Danielle, for the benefit of our listeners, can you explain what is the spending gap?
Danielle Hayden:
Yeah, this was incredible. And I’m so glad that you picked this up, because I feel like I have been talking around this concept for so long, but never actually understood what I was even talking about. So thank you for pulling that out of me. Um, the spending gap. What happens is, especially as women business owners, we are falling into a trap when we are on social media, uh, watching television, watching movies. We’re being served this narrative that we are overspenders now, my Instagram. Here’s me talking about this all the time. So it serves me up these reels nonstop. Um, about, you know, my husband put me on a budget and now I’m going to Target and Starbucks and I’m spending all of the money. So we’re getting these narratives where I am bad with money, I can’t control my spending. I need a man to put me on. I need my husband. I need somebody to put me on a budget and I need to be spending less money. So come off a social media platform where you just watched a real. My favorite one is Trey Kennedy and him and his his. It’s him and him. But yeah, it’s it’s him and his wife arguing about finances and talking about her overspending. And they’re throwing harsh comments back to, to to one another. And at the end they say, he says, um, I can’t wait to have this, this financial argument again next month.
Danielle Hayden:
So now we’ve just programmed I don’t want to talk about money. When I do talk about money, it’s going to be negative. It’s going to make me feel bad because it’s rude. It’s mean. Comments I’m an over spender. I can’t control myself. Okay, so now we come off of social media, the movies, TV, and as women we come into our offices and we come to work. What’s the narrative that you’re telling yourself in your story, in your head? Right. You are telling yourself, I’m not big enough. I’m not enough. I need to control my spending. Who am I to invest in that right? Who am I to get help in my business? I should be able to do it all myself. And what happens is that then as business owners, we’re not growing our business because we’re not spending money. I can’t tell you how many clients have come onto onto calls with us. And they’ll say, all right, Danielle, where should I cut back? Give it to me. And I’m like, no where. You should spend some money because I know you, girlfriend. You have goals and you are not going to hit those goals until we can start spending in the right places and align your business spending with your goals.
Carol Cox:
Yes. And again, like that is so. And as a fellow entrepreneur like I, I hear that and I and I start to think for myself, yeah, Danielle’s right. You know, where should I be investing in my business in order to reach the goals that I have? So and so. I love that that is your approach. So then as we you know, we were kind of thinking about how to frame up this talk. I know, of course, you already had a framework that you had, you came in with. And you know how much we love framework. So you and I know you do too, I do. Right. And, uh, so you had a framework. And so then we kind of adapted that framework so that we could get, again, give your audiences very tangible takeaways, things that they can they, they can look at and they can hold on to. And then the other thing is that I really encourage you to share more stories in your talk, specifically stories about you, not just about clients. Clients stories are really important because of course there’s such credibility markers. Plus then the people in the audience see themselves in those clients. But I also encourage you to share some stories about you. How did you feel about that?
Danielle Hayden:
Well, when I first, um, did my dry run, I had recorded a dry run for you and I had sent it over and I my comments and my email literally was, I don’t know, Carol. These, these these stories feel off. I don’t think that I’m making the point that I should be making here. I think that that story doesn’t feel right. And you had commented back, you know, you’re probably just not used to telling this much story in a, in, in, in a speech. And when I gave that talk the first time in person, it’s those stories that really connected, um, not just connected me with to the audience, but they were the moments of almost relief. Yeah. Remember, like, money is a hard topic to talk about and it’s a hard topic for people to sit through. So having those stories and giving the audience a moment to laugh or connect or to really see themselves in that situation, um, like I just walked away from such a deeper connection with with the audience. Now, it’s not easy for me to be vulnerable. So I really struggled with this because, you know, some of the stories that we had picked out, their vulnerable stories. They’re talking about my childhood, where my money mindset came, came from. It’s, you know, how that that money mindset. You know, maybe held me back when starting my business and making those decisions. So I’m not going to say it’s easy to always tell those stories, but, um, overcoming that, gosh, that beautiful connection with audience.
Carol Cox:
And just even just you saying that it’s a story from your childhood and growing up and how that shaped your money mindset. And it feels very vulnerable, even though the listeners right now don’t even know the details of that story like you told it in your talk. But all of a sudden, I’m sure they just felt a sense of relief like, oh, Danielle’s not perfect. She doesn’t always had everything perfect with her finances and with her money mindset, even though this is what she does in her business and she has for a decade plus. And it doesn’t mean that you’re not an expert in what you do or your team’s on an expert in what they do, but for me, it’s like, oh, Danielle’s going to get it. If I come to her and I’m a little bit embarrassed, or I’m a little bit unskilled or a little bit uncertain about what my finances look like.
Danielle Hayden:
Yeah, we’re all really having a human experience together, you know? And I think that, um, you know, we’re all trying to make this perfect, especially as experts, you know, when we’re speakers and we’re thought leaders, sometimes we want to come, you know, polished and put together and, and and be able to speak from that place of, you know, I know better. And really, my story is I knew better and I still I still ended up in those shoes. And so it’s okay. Right? It’s okay. How do we all grow together?
Carol Cox:
Danielle, tell us about Joe.
Danielle Hayden:
Yeah. All right. So Joe was my parents family tax accountant, and I always say, if Joe hears one of these podcasts or something, I want to apologize, Joe. But you did. Really? Did you? You need to work on your empathy guy. Um, so he had done my parents family, my my parents taxes for years. And so my first year in business, even though I’m a CPA, even though I know how to do the bookkeeping, I decided that I wanted some checks and balance in the business. And so I decided that I was going to have Joe do our our taxes. Now, I had filed an extension that year because I didn’t have my bookkeeping done for my first year in business until, you know, after the tax deadline.
Carol Cox:
I’m so relatable. Danielle.
Danielle Hayden:
Yes, it’s my first year in business. I was not using my numbers to make business decisions. I had to file an extension. So I’m on my way to Joe’s office and I’ll never forget it. It’s hot sticky. I have naturally curly hair, so I just, I have like an afro in my hair. Um, I was a single mom of two young kids at the time, and so Camryn loved lollipops. That’s how I got him in the in the car. So the car is sticky. I walk into Joe’s office. I feel a mess. I feel a mess. And in his office, he still has the, you know, the old paneling on the on the on the walls. He has this paneling on the wall. Still has not changed like Joe. Update your office office. It is still the same office from when I was a kid and, um, old school style. You sit there with him in person while he does the tax return and he is shaking his head no at me. And at one point he even said, you really need to pay yourself more from your little business. You really need to do things differently this year. And I walked out of that office, I Carol, I was so upset, I, I already felt a mess. And then to have this man shake his head no at me and tell me my little business, right? Like, did I need that any further that I am not enough? So I walked out of that office and I said, I will never feel this way again, and I will make sure that no other woman ever has to feel that way either. And I did have to go to file my taxes one more time, and I dressed the part like I knew I had my stuff together. It was before the deadline. I wore high heels, straightened my my hair. I mean, I went in there and I was like, bam, file this.
Carol Cox:
Oh, good for you. And notice how Danielle told the told the story, right? She described the scene she had, how she was feeling, what everything looked like, how what the dialogue was, how she felt. Great job on the storytelling. Thank you. Thank you. All right. So you mentioned about that. You know, one of the benefits of having a great bookkeeping team like you have, like what you offer is helping business owners make better decisions for their business. And I know we had a few client examples in your presentation that we included. So can you share with us one of them, because I think it will help the listeners to kind of, uh, tangibly understand what does it look like to to use your finances to make better decisions?
Danielle Hayden:
Oh yeah. We have so many of the, the stories. I think the best one is, um, I had a client who we we had been working together, so she had had her financial statements for a few months at this point, and she had decided that she was going to bring on a new revenue stream in the new year. And so we had put the bookkeeping in place so that we could keep track of the new revenue, um, to her traditional revenue model and then the expenses as well. And what we found is we went through the year. Now, she was a monthly client, so she got financial statements at the end of each month. So she was looking at her numbers on a regular basis. What we saw is the debt on the balance sheet was increasing, and she was bringing in a ton of revenue. Right. Like this new revenue stream, which if you are only looking at gross revenue for the year, you would think I am killing it, right? Like, this is awesome. Except for that, we also saw in the balance sheet that the debt kept on rising. So after quarter one we said, all right, let’s keep a really close eye on this. What’s going on? And what we found was that she needed to hire several contractors to help her deliver this service. And so she was billing clients at half at the front of the project and then half at the end of the project.
Danielle Hayden:
Well, the contractors were paid throughout the project, and even the cash flow didn’t matter because the contractors were hitting issues and billing her for the issues. And she didn’t, you know, she there was no way for her to control that. Again, thank God she was looking at this month over month because in August she sent me an email and she said, this is killing me to do this, but I have to shut this down. She needed to financially support her family and she knew that. And she needed to shut down the the new stream of revenue before her family ended up in a serious debt problem and maybe even on the verge of of of bankruptcy. And it did take her about eight months after that. I know, like, wow, it could have been so much worse, right? It took her eight months to make up and pay off that debt, but it could have been so much worse if she had not looked at her financials. And she waited until tax time and then saw it. And who knows if she was just working with a CPA who was filing her taxes, that tax accountant would have said, you’re really profitable. Um, and here’s your here’s your tax bill for $20,000. See you again next year. Right. Because they wouldn’t have even looked at the debt, right.
Carol Cox:
Because like you said, the revenue, you know, coming in that that looked like it was going well.
Danielle Hayden:
Yeah.
Carol Cox:
Wow. That’s an excellent example. And also in credit to your to you and your team for kind of noticing what was going on and then encouraging her to keep an eye on it as well.
Danielle Hayden:
You know, as business owners, we we all have a responsibility to care for our business. We all have the responsibility to be looking at our numbers, taking the time to ask ourselves some clarity questions, what’s working, what’s not working. So credit goes to her for being the CEO of her business and taking the time to actually look at the numbers. Um, but she has a money team that was sending her accurate on time financial statements throughout the year, highlighting what she needed to know so that she could stay at a high level as a CEO. And be able to look at those numbers. A lot of times when I hear from business owners, they’ll say, well, yeah, my bookkeeping is current. You know, I go in there and I update QuickBooks. Here’s the problem is that what’s on your to do list is processing the transactions in QuickBooks, not reviewing your numbers. Right. Like when you process anything in QuickBooks, your job as the business owner, it hasn’t even started like you were never supposed to be doing that. And then it’s probably not even right. So so your job as the business owner is to be able to come back and say, does this make sense? What’s working, what’s not working? And so, yes, thank God she had the numbers, but thank God she was the type of business owner to say I am responsible. I’m going to look at this information and I’m going to take action.
Carol Cox:
And that and the reason why I like you, including those types of examples, whether you’re doing presentations or podcast interviews like this or on your own podcast, is now, then you’re attracting the kind of clients to you that are going to have that mindset and that approach as well to their business, because that’s going to ultimately be a better match for what you do.
Danielle Hayden:
That is such a good point, Carol and I, and I think that, you know, it sounds so fundamental, but us nailing that down in the first 15, 20 minutes of, of our VIP day together, that was fundamental, because as you asked me about the stories, it made it easy for those stories to come alive and for me to pinpoint those stories. Just keeping that in mind of who am I talking to and why.
Carol Cox:
Yes. All right. So then let’s I want more things I want to talk to you about, including lead gen strategies, you know, your podcast, podcast guests and how you get the speaking engagements that you do. Before we go there, though, let me ask you a little bit more about the process of the VIP day for you. And I have. So I have your board here. So for those of you who want to see the video, you can go to the show notes page for this episode. And you can see me holding up Danielle’s board with all the colorful post-it notes on here. What would this what was this process like for you? How did it feel to sit there for three hours and basically answer my questions as I was writing on the post-it notes?
Danielle Hayden:
I’m going to use the word easy. So for me, it’s really easy to talk. And I have a very hard time when when people ask me to fill out a questionnaire, I think actually you sent me a questionnaire and I sent you a loom video back. And I was like, here, this will take me all day if I have to write these answers back. And I appreciate you accepting my video so graciously. It was.
Carol Cox:
Totally fine. And I listened to it and I just did a transcript of it. So I had everything that I needed.
Danielle Hayden:
Perfect, perfect. Um, so for me, you know, the process felt easy because I was having a conversation with you and as speakers, right, as speakers and podcast hosts. That’s what we’re good at as asking, you know, asking questions and being here and telling stories and, and speaking. And so I really appreciated, um, that I could really just show up and, and embrace that, that, that role of it. Um, and I am like, I’ve got post-it notes, like, literally everywhere. So as soon as I saw you with all the post-it note colors and stuff, I’m like, she is speaking my jam.
Carol Cox:
All right. So then I know that we had a pretty quick turnaround because you then had a speaking engagement coming up, which is why we did the VIP day, when we then tell us about what that speaking engagement was like with this new material, with this new presentation and how it went.
Danielle Hayden:
You know, I’m glad that I had just enough time to practice it, um, a few times on my own before I got there. So that gave me a little bit of the, the, the confidence. Um, I did this particular speaking engagement in person and. I want it was it ended up being a smaller conference than I thought it would be. But as I mentioned, the engagement in the room was off the charts. I mean, I feel like I had everyone’s attention, and there was a few other speakers there who really delivered more like a tangible content, you know what I mean? More like handwritten worksheets. But people weren’t as engaged with their, their, their talk. And so when I was watched, when I was looking around the room and watching their eyes and nobody, I didn’t lose anybody to the laptops. I didn’t lose anybody to their their phones. They were there in the room with me, which felt so good. Um, and then that was record number of people who have converted to clients. I mean, I came I actually stayed at the conference for, for two days. So I spoke a day one, um, and I did a second talk on day two, and then I stayed for the morning after, um, just to answer any questions. And by being present and around, um, with the community we signed, I wish I had this specific percentage of attendees that actually signed, but I was, uh, texting with my operations manager on my way home. I’m like, give me my stat. Um, did I close with this? Because it was just amazing to watch people come up afterwards and ask to sign up for our services.
Carol Cox:
Oh well, congratulations, Danielle, I am so happy to hear that. And it’s a testament not only to the content, you know, again, this is all this is all your content, right? We just we just put it in a flow that we feel like will work for you and your audience. But also it’s a testament to your delivery and your ability to connect with your audience. Well, I appreciate that.
Danielle Hayden:
And I and I like send the compliment back the other direction. It’s a testament of you laying that out of what the format and the flow was, and helping me embrace the stories I used to tell. Maybe one story, but you embracing that, um, that story format or helping me embrace the story format and really the PowerPoint too, you know, I had I had stock images in my I hated my PowerPoint. I mean, I didn’t want to use it. And the way that you helped us with the PowerPoint as well, I mean, the whole thing was incredible. So I give the compliment right back.
Carol Cox:
Oh, well, thank you. It was fun. Yeah, I enjoyed working on the slides with you too. I’m like, let’s add some video, some, some fun video clips and some, some images. And I opened up Canva and we did it. So yeah, that was a lot of that was great. All right. So then let’s talk about some of the other lead generation strategies that you use for your business. Now you mentioned that you get a lot of your speaking opportunities from mastermind groups so that either they could be clients of yours who are in mastermind groups, or maybe just other mastermind groups that you come across conferences and things like that. So how how has that happened? And I know you’ve been in business for a while, so you’ve definitely been around been on the circuit. So what would you say? Let’s talk about what works well for you now. But then also let’s rewind to what worked well for you when you were just getting started doing this.
Danielle Hayden:
Yeah, I think what’s working now is really tapping into my, uh, referral partners and clients and the people we have in our community today. And I don’t think I spend enough time or energy there. Um, I was able to get quite a bit off of my plate in 2023. And so I’ve been able to embrace my, my role and how I show up in the, in the company. So I have a little bit more time and space to be able to connect with our referral partners, with people who I have on my podcast or people who I’m on their podcast. So a little bit more intentionality. Um, and clients. Right. So if my team hears of a client who has a group or a mastermind or a podcast really connecting with them to say, hey, how can we be a resource for for one another? So today it’s just really being part of the community.
Carol Cox:
Okay. And then what did what were you doing that worked well back in the beginning.
Danielle Hayden:
So in 2018, 19, um, I had did a VIP day with, um, somebody who was a sales coach. And I always say the number one thing that came out of that VIP day, and I want to just touch on the fact that I’ve done, I like on this podcast, I’ve told you about two VIP days that I’ve signed up for. Right. And like, ladies and gentlemen, that’s because we have to spend money in our business to be able to grow our business and thrive. Okay. So being willing to invest in my business, but the number one thing that came back from that, working with that, that sales coach was, she said, have you considered being a podcast guest? And so I had hired my first agent to pitch for us to go on to podcast. Now I’ve heard people say, yeah, I tried that. It didn’t work for me. Well, it didn’t work for me at first either. I had to spend some time figuring out what my voice was and what questions hosts had, how to answer those questions, um, how to how to lead with some intentionality. And so, um, it is a strategy that. We still use today, and we’ve been using since 2019. And being a guest on your show. Right. Like being here in this chair right now is literally actually my favorite thing to do in my business. Because if there’s one person who listens today and you get one thing from the podcast, it was worth my time and energy. And when you go and speak, you know, especially live events, um, it’s a lot of time. It’s a lot of energy. It’s a lot of travel. I have two young, they’re not young, I have two kids. And, um, and it’s a lot for me. But being able to come here and be on a, on a podcast, um, is a way for me to really be able to amplify and, um, and it being it a little bit more of a time efficient way for me.
Carol Cox:
Yes, that is so true. And obviously, podcast episodes live on for a long time, forever in theory. And they’re not one and done. So yes, I completely agree that podcast guesting is a great way to get your message out, to get in front of more people and also to practice like practice different content, different messages, different approaches that you want you want to try out that you could eventually use for speaking engagements.
Danielle Hayden:
I needed to find my voice. I mean, it took me. And so somebody listening to this could be like, I already found my voice. I’m a speaker, but I needed to figure out what worked and what didn’t work and what converted and what connected. And so to me, this was a low risk way of practicing before I started to get onto stages. Right. That felt like a higher risk. And and this was a way for me to be able to practice.
Carol Cox:
Absolutely. Now, Danielle, you also have your own podcast, the Entrepreneur Money Stories podcast. And I’ve been on that. Yes. Yeah, that was it this year or last year.
Danielle Hayden:
It was just the summer.
Carol Cox:
Okay, I don’t even I’m still back in 2020. No.
Danielle Hayden:
Well I’m with you on that right now.
Carol Cox:
I did make it past 2020, but I still feel like it’s 20 early 2022 right now. All right. So then you have your own podcast. And you we were chatting before we hit record that this episode right now that you’re on is episode 362 of this of Speaking Your Brand podcast. And you’re at about episode 150 or so, which congratulations, because that’s, you know, that’s over three years. And I and we were mentioning that it’s like it’s a long haul. Like if you’re going to do a podcast, either do seasons where you know, you have stop and, you know, start and stop points and you know that going forward, probably like I just go every single week and I have now for almost seven years because I feel like if I stop, I’m it’s going to be harder for me to start back up again. And so, Danielle, what is your approach to being a podcast host? What have you found effective for you and how does episode 150 compared to episode 15?
Danielle Hayden:
So it took me about 75 to even figure out what I wanted to talk about. You know, I was practicing and and that’s what I said when we started. I said, look, I do not believe in perfectionism paralysis. I believe that a b a b plus a b minus really a C is better than not getting started. So we just started we started putting content in the world so that I could see what resonated, what worked, what didn’t work, what were people listening to? What questions do they have? And it’s morphed. Um, at first I said, I’m not going to do any how to episodes. I just want to do guest episodes. I want to talk about money mindset. I want to talk about money stories. Well, it took about five episodes before I completely changed that. And I said, nope. Uh, we’re using this podcast as a resource so my team, uh, can use the podcast as a way of answering client questions. And everybody else gets to hear our answers to, you know, uh, so it’s our way of being able to serve both the team, our clients and, and the audience. So I just believe in getting started and learning along along the way. And I could never have seasons. I’m with you. I will stop and never get started. But I love podcasting. So for me, like, I’m like, are you kidding me? You’re gonna like, I this is my job. I get to write content and talk. I mean, it’s a dream come true, so I agree.
Carol Cox:
So the first thing is that I don’t think I did a solo episode on my podcast until about episode 25, which is about six months into the podcast, because and it sounds so ridiculous to me right now, but back then I was like, I don’t know what to talk about on a solo episode, so I’m just gonna interview my clients and different guests who I find interesting. And of course, now I think of a gazillion things that I can do for solo episodes. But like you, I consider it a resource. And because like, and being a speaker, like, I always think of new things I want to present on. And so obviously I’m not going to go do a brand new big, you know, slide deck presentation for every idea that I have. But guess what? A podcast you can just kind of like do your outline, go talk for 15, 20 minutes. And there’s your new kind of quote unquote presentation.
Danielle Hayden:
I love it. Yeah I have ideas all the time. I mean, as a visionary, that is, you know, I. Just busting at the seams with ideas and a podcast is the best way that I can, you know? I like to even think of it as a creative outlet. Um, and I get to be here and have this beautiful conversation.
Carol Cox:
Maybe podcasting is a creative outlet, especially the kind of podcasting that we do. Danielle for the the left brain, logical, analytical people, because that’s how I feel like like it is for me.
Danielle Hayden:
Yeah, yeah.
Carol Cox:
All right. Danielle, where does the best way for listeners to connect with you if they want to find out more about you and Kickstarter counting?
Danielle Hayden:
Um, if you go to Kickstarter counting Inc.com slash gifts, we have some awesome downloads. Uh, you can connect with the podcast Entrepreneur Money Stories on there. So Kickstarter counting Inc.com slash gift is the best place. You can also connect with us on on Instagram at Kickstarter. Counting.
Carol Cox:
Okay, fantastic, and I’ll make sure to include links to all of that in the show notes, as well as to your podcast and the gift page that you mentioned. I have seen it because we were I was, you know, looking at as we were working together and it’s really nice, like you have a lot of excellent resources on there. So listeners definitely go check that out. Danielle, it’s been such a pleasure to work with you to get to know more about your, your approach and your methodology and your thought leadership with your business. So thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Oh no.
Danielle Hayden:
Carol, thank you for everything that you do. I’ve been a long time listener. I’m so happy to have been a client of yours, and I appreciate the way you show up every week. So thank you.
Carol Cox:
Oh thank you. Thanks again to Danielle for coming on the podcast. If you’re in the need for a bookkeeper and accounting service, definitely check out Danielle’s company. Make sure to go to the link where her free gift is at. Again, that link is in the show notes. And don’t forget, if you want your own VIP day to create your signature talk, to clarify your thought leadership message and to learn the business of speaking. We do all of those things together in our Thought Leader Academy. You can get all the details, including pricing and speaking your brand.com/academy again, that’s speaking your brand.com/academy. Until next time. Thanks for listening.
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