What time is it? What
time is it?
It's time
for
Poduty and the
News.
Poduty and
the News, the only live news podcast
about podcasting from the
state.
The only live news podcast about podcasting from the stage.
Wes, with those hot stock tips on tomorrow's stock market,
welcome to the show. Ah, pleasure to be here. It's, uh,
obviously I'm in Australia, so that's right, the time zone, it's, it's my
my morning and, and, uh, yeah, kicking off the day strongly.
It is my favorite thing to say you're calling from the future because it's March
25th where you're at. We're only at March 24th and, uh, you're
already day ahead. You're starting your day right now. You're having— probably going to breakfast
right after this. Yeah, that's right, that's right. And what a, what a
wild, uh, time in, in history we're living in right now.
So, uh, it would be, it would be nice to know the future, wouldn't it,
right now? There's so much going on. Yeah, if you could please
calm me down a little bit. I'm on the edge of my seat every day
anymore. Yeah, I know.
Well, Wes, I've been looking about Uplift 360. Why don't you tell us a little
about your agency and what you're doing, what you're building over there in
Down Under, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Digital agency. So we do
websites, we do search engine optimization, and we do it mostly for the
trades construction industry. So anything trade and
construction related. So a lot of building materials websites we work on
and the optimization of that. So a lot of steel companies
actually, global steel companies for various reasons have come
on board. So anything, anyone in that sort of field, we work
to global audience as well. So being online, that's the beauty of it.
So, and with that fuel the way it is, I can't drive anywhere, I can
work anywhere and still get the job done.
Where's the furthest away you've ever worked from? Ah,
yeah, right now we're serving a
client in the UK. Um, that's probably
distance-wise for us the furthest, I'd imagine. Probably on the opposite
side of the globe, pretty, pretty close to. So yeah, you
can't get further than that. Yeah, yeah, it's pretty mad. I mean, it's incredible what
the internet has done and the way you're able to to scale your agency the
way you're able to serve a global market. It's a, you know,
congratulations on building something spectacular. Yeah, well,
you've got to have a point of distinction to be able to do that. So
you've got to be known and recognized in the industry in which you serve.
So, and because we're niched, that's kind of how it works. The other
way of going about business is to not niche to a particular
client but to niche to a location. So you'll be the local
you know, the local web designer, that's another way of going about it,
but we've chosen to be specific in the
industries we serve. Just different ways in which you can
build a company. Obviously, if you're a local trade, if you're a plumber, you
need to focus on a local region, but for us, it's all online, so
we can work anywhere. Yeah, I've niched down all the way to the only
live news podcast about live podcasting recorded live on Tuesday
nights. I'm very specific, very niched down. And
Uplift 360, what's the, what's the best way to find you, contact you, Wes,
anybody wants to reach out? Yeah,
uplift360.com.au. Don't forget the AU
because we're here in Australia. But as I said, we serve anyone
around the globe and you can book a strategy call with me straight on
the, on the homepage. There's a big button there to, to do that.
So, um, that might mean if you're on the other side of the planet, might
mean you're getting up earlier, I'm getting up early or late. And that will make
it work for us. Sounds good. Are you
ready to get into our stories? Yeah, looking forward to it.
Our first story tonight, we're going out to a bicycle convention, talking about
niching down, niching down. At the Adventure Travel Show
in the UK, a niche cycling expo drew thousands of
highly engaged attendees, but one key detail stands out:
live podcast recordings are happening right on the show
floor. This is an example of how podcasts can plug
into existing events, tap into aligned audiences,
and create meaningful content on-site for creators
and local businesses. This model shows how to leverage built-in
crowds instead of starting from scratch. And one of the things we
talk about all the time is, you know, go where your audience is. If, if
you're in the bicycle community, the construction community, and there's
conventions, events based around that topic, that's where
you should be showing up. Whether you're just an attendee or whether you're part of
the entertainment, there's an audience that's already interested in what you
do. I don't think there's a faster way to scale your business than to just
start attending these industry events, industry conferences.
Yeah, 100%. I mean, go where the fish are. If
you're a fisherman, no good fishing in a river where there's no fish. You best
get to that river where the fish are flowing and the type of fish you
want to you want to hook on. So, and
same with business. So ideally we want to build out our own
lists and audience and so on, but that takes time and effort. It's
far easier to leverage an existing audience who are already
primed, so you know, you can serve them really well.
So they're already there in existence, so it's a matter of casting the
net out where they already are and engaging in that way.
Yeah, in this example, if you're a bicycle manufacturer
and there's a conference full of bicycle enthusiasts,
that's your core demographic. That's the people that you want to meet and connect with
anyway. That's where you should be, whether you have a booth or
whether you reach out to be part of the entertainment. It's a win-win for
everybody. The consumer gets more knowledge and then you get to meet more
consumers. 100%. It's just so powerful to
connect in that way and the engagement factor as well to to have a room
full of people is still pretty exciting in this digital age we live in.
That interactivity of a human connection
is powerful. Yeah, nothing beats face-to-face, nothing beats
in real life. You can have downloads on your podcast, you can
have likes and comments on social media, but until you
shake someone's hand, have a conversation, or sometimes
there's mixers at these events, have a beer or a drink with somebody
afterwards, you don't really get to know the person or make a connection
until you're face to face. And this just is a 200 times
multiplier from getting somebody to just download your podcast
to be able to sit down and talk with them about what they're passionate about.
Yeah. Yeah. So good. I've been to lots of different events
and one probably 12 months ago
now, maybe 18 months ago, it was super small but super niche.
So it was a room full of trades, construction people,
businesses. And I had a little booth there and I got more
inquiries out of that little event than some of the massive events
I've been, you know, had booths at different things over the years. So
the more targeted, the better in my view.
Yeah, and with our next story, knowing where people are starting to spend their
time, I had mentioned social media a little bit, you know,
podcasting is starting to replace social media. 40% of
people are saying it's replacing social media time.
34% of people are saying it's replacing streaming music.
They're exceeding these social media platforms now in daily
time spent. So keep that in mind when you hear this next story. Podcasting is
bigger than you think. And if, if that's where your audience is, or you can
find an audience who likes to listen to audio about what you're doing,
this could be a great growth opportunity for your business, for
your for your interest, for somebody you want to entertain. Because podcast isn't
just growing, it's replacing other media habits.
Listening is up nearly 4 times over the past decade, and
that time is coming directly from social media and streaming music.
People are choosing podcasts because they offer deeper engagement,
trusted voices, and intentional listening. For creators and
brands, this shift signals a
major opportunity. The audience is not just bigger, it's more
focused and more likely to take action.
Yeah, the beauty of it is you can listen to what you want to listen
to when you want to listen to it. So I mean, if you're
watching just the general television programs, you're kind
of limited in what you can see and it's more mainstream, it's not really
specific. I mean, I was just listening to a series of
podcasts around Airbnbs just simply because
That's my need right now, setting one up, never done it before. So
listening to various experts in the field. So you can
really drill down to exactly what you want to listen to when you want to
listen to it. You know, I listen a lot in the car, so drive
time seems to me that everywhere I drive is about 30
minutes. So, you know, that's a good— a lot of
episodes are about 30 minutes, so you can kind of chuck that down or there
and back and you if it's a longer form as well. So
it's great. And that's a great example. You're getting
interested in Airbnbs, you're setting one up, you're getting ready to publish
one or make one live to the market. And
where did you go to consume information? You went to podcasts to hear
from experts. And just like your industry with construction, there's
probably people who want to hear all the things you want to talk about.
It's just this this great environment, this great way to share
information, to position yourself as an expert. Like the podcast
you chose, to you, that host is now an
Airbnb expert to you forever. You're always going to
remember what they did for you, how they helped you, how they got
pointed you in the right direction. And that's a great lesson
to take away for businesses thinking about, well, what would I talk about?
Talk about the things that you do. Yeah, your own expertise.
And the curious thing too, so I listened to a couple of different ones, but
one of them in particular, the ideas and advice were
really, really powerful and really helpful, but the presentation
wasn't that great. But I didn't care. I wasn't looking for a
polished presentation, you know, a professional speaker. I was
looking for an expert in the field. So that's the beauty of it. I think
a lot of us dismiss the potential to do a
podcast simply because we don't feel that we're a good enough speaker.
But if you've got the content, and we all do, we're all experts in something,
if that's worth sharing to one person, it's worth sharing to
many. So that's the way I look at it. Yeah, and if
you're in a business and you've answered a question for a customer,
chances are somewhere out in the world there's 100 more people with
that same question. So if somebody needed help with it and you're providing that
answer, you know, maybe a podcast, maybe a video, maybe
there's a way that you can scale your information and reach more and more
people. Yeah, 100%.
So I, for every show, I always like to find some stories that are
related. And it's, you know, construction conferences and events, they
come and go, they're hard to find, but there are a lot of
construction events out there that do live podcasting. So the best I could
do for you today, Wes, was go to Australia. I don't know if you know
where Rottnest Island is, but this was a world's first,
happened in Australia. So I could get close to you, but I couldn't really get
into your— I couldn't get into your industry. But I thought this was just so
great. It's almost close, probably somewhere close to where you're at.
This— a marine biologist hosted what is believed to be the world's first
live underwater podcast off Rottnest Island
using advanced tech to stream from the ocean floor. The
goal wasn't just novelty, it was education, engagement, and
inspiring the next generation through a truly immersive
experience. Despite major technical and logistical
challenges, the event proved that podcasting can happen
anywhere and that unique formats can dive deeper
audience connection and This is a story that I just loved.
There was a live Q&A from the bottom of the ocean floor. They
were reaching out to schools and live streaming the schools.
Just a really great way to expand what you think a
podcast can be, but even expand where a
classroom can be and, and show people and teach kids
about what's going on in the ocean and what's happening. I
loved everything about this story. Yeah, it is so cool.
It's so quirky. And, but the important
part is it's really, you know, suited to what
they're sharing. You know, you could, I could put my podcast at the
bottom of the ocean, but that would be irrelevant because we're doing, we speak
about construction. But if there's, I suppose, a quirky
way in which you can present your material and make it more real
for the people, That's, that's a great creative
thinking to make it happen. And also, I'm sure the technical
challenges— it took a bit of work to get that done, no doubt. So
I think even, even if there were a few little glitches, I think people could
look past that and realize, hey, this is something pretty special. I know a
few divers— my partner's actually a diver as well— I
think she'd be really engaged in doing, you know, viewing something
like this and being involved in the Q&A, I think
it would have been really powerful. I think back as
a kid watching all those PBS shows with Jacques Cousteau and, you
know, taking the boat out into the ocean and diving down, and now
they're doing that as a podcast in real time. You're not, you're not
waiting for the show to be edited. You're getting dialogue and
you're getting a live stream from the bottom of the ocean floor. Just brought
back all those fun childhood memories of of watching
PBS with the family and getting this education or seeing what's
happening in the world. Yeah, as far as I've got to that is
Finding Nemo. That's about all I know about the ocean.
Well, let's keep it moving right along. We
got another story about the CISO podcast.
This is about, I think, technology and being
secure in your data systems. This was called
B-Side San Francisco. The CISO Series
podcast took to the stage inside of a movie theater,
blending live podcasting with networking, games, and audience
interaction. This wasn't just a recording, it was a full event
experience built around content, community, and sponsors. With
structured segments, sponsor integration, and interactive
elements, this model shows how podcasts can become anchor
attractions at conferences and drive both engagement
and revenue. Yeah, pretty powerful, isn't it? So
it's a hybrid of your typical conference with lots of
activations, people might call it, to engage people,
but also to discuss the net even further
and to have it broadcast through podcasting platforms.
It's a really cool idea. And again, it probably took
a tremendous amount of effort to get the tech working and to get it
all cohesive, but I'm sure it's paid
dividends. Did you say it was run by some
security-related people? Yeah, the CISO
Series. They do like internet security, and
they've been doing a lot of live streams at conferences.
This is a good model to look at if whatever industry you're in, they've
carved out a niche in that security industry around
computers and technology and networks. And they're doing live shows.
This one was, you know, positioned as a key attraction. So the larger
conference was promoting this B-Side series with the CISO
series, and, you know, they were using them as the entertainment for
the event, and they had multiple sponsors.
So this is another path towards monetization. A lot of
podcasters think, I got to build an audience, then I can read ads
for mattresses or MeUndies or something like that. But they're
doing a live show and they're getting paid to perform. They're getting
paid to show up. They're getting sponsors and they're making
money in different ways than just trying to build an audience and read
ads. So you think outside the box. How can you become profitable?
How can you make a couple extra bucks? Or how do you even just
network with the right people to find new clients? That can also
be a form of monetization. That's pretty cool, isn't it? For some
an industry, um, security to, um,
internet security to, to, um, you, you might think that's sort of boring
and bland, but to have such a creative way in which they can
engage, it's, uh, really well done. Um, good luck
to them with, with their future successes.
I love finding podcasts in industries where I never would expect to
see podcasts, and I think I've done a couple stories on CISO
You just don't expect like, okay, a securities industry
isn't going to be that exciting, but they have a big following. They're
touring conferences all over the country and they're doing shows in
Boston. I'm not sure where this one was, but they are— I think that was
San Francisco. They're doing all kinds of stops and
they're getting paid to travel. Their accommodations are most likely being
taken care of and they're doing what they love. They're talking with people who
love what they talk about. Yeah, yeah, I really hope some of
these ideas are getting the creative juices flowing for the audience
as well. So thinking, thinking through how they might
apply some of these ideas to their own,
to their own position. Yeah, I mean, just like we
start on the first story, go where your audience is. That's— I think that's the
best lesson to take from this so far, is if your
audience is gathering somewhere that's where you need to gather.
Go to the audience but also take your audience to the place
in which they want to go, which is the bottom of the ocean. So you
got those two different ways of looking at it. So it's a way in which,
yeah, just engaging people in different ways, bringing them to your world or going to
their world. Both is about connecting with
your audience. And both position you as an expert. So
whether you're taking your audience to this new conference and giving them a new
experience or you're meeting new people as the expert,
as the podcast host, you're— you are just really
engaging yourself as the expert in that industry. You're
showcasing yourself and your talents. Yeah, it's
brilliant. Well, let's keep it going. We got another story
coming your way. A live podcast featuring David Carpenter and
Jeremy Minor highlights how podcasting is being used as a tool
for leadership influence and business growth. The
conversation focused on skill building, mentorship, and personal
branding. But the bigger takeaway is this: podcasts
are becoming platforms for trust building and conversion.
This wasn't— this wasn't just content for listeners. It was
a stage to demonstrate authority, build relationships, and
drive real business outcomes. I'd say if you're in the
sales industry, if you're in leadership, Here you're getting
direct lessons kind of from two people who have done this in the
industry, who have had success, and you're going to get that firsthand knowledge
directly from them as they sit down, have a casual conversation, and
talk about like, hey, what are you doing? What works for you? How are you
building teams? You get that almost like it's a free
education. Well, it's always interesting listening to
people who are experts in sales and/or marketing the way
in which they present, because there's two levels of
information we can learn from. So we can learn from what they're saying, what they're
teaching, which is obviously powerful— they're experts in their
field— but also observation of what they're doing, because
they're experts in the field in which they're delivering. You know, you can
learn by observing how they go about things. And so I think
there's two levels in this instance, and, and you They're quite
right. The building of authority is so important
these days and that's the biggest power of
podcasting. I think you're building authority in the space in which you play
in because you're constantly sharing and building a
base of knowledge and understanding and getting the information out far and
wide. So I think, yeah, that building that
authority and trust, it feels to me trust is being eroded
The more and more we look at online, we spoke about
social media before, we don't necessarily believe what we see
or read. We don't necessarily trust videos because we know that can
be faked these days. But when there's an
engagement factor and then there's that authenticity
in the way in which you're presenting and building the trust, I think that's where
true value is these days, particularly in a marketing world.
Yeah, one of my favorites. All the links for all these stories are in the
sources, they're all in the show notes. So if you've watched this video, my favorite
part is the, the first like 30 seconds. They don't even know that they're live
and they're just, just carrying on being normal people and, you know,
asking questions, some tech questions. And they're like, oh wait, we're live? Oh yeah,
they get caught off guard. It's a, it's just a real like honest moment
about the things that can happen. It's never perfect, it's never
it doesn't go 100% the way you want, but in this case, they didn't know
they were live at first and then they did the show. They still did it
and it turned out great. There was a funny— I was on a
podcast last year and they started
recording before it was ready to publish, but they were just
talking away. They ended up publishing that whole conversation
on the podcast as well because I felt it was useful, but it was just
us. Having it, having a chat. So, um, that's— that is
interesting. I didn't know they were going to do that. They probably
didn't know, but when it was published, I saw, hey, this is all the pre-show
stuff, and, uh, they chose to publish it, which is, uh, pretty interesting.
Yeah, sometimes it works out that way. Sometimes you, you get some, some good
nuggets early on, uh, when you— the guards are down and you're
just having casual conversation. But I, I think you should— they should probably
disclose that, hey, this isn't the podcast This is the podcast or this isn't the
podcast. Yes, true.
And Wes, it goes by so fast, we're on our last story
already. The BBC opens the doors. The
BBC is launching Castfest, a live podcast event
at MetaVale Studios where audiences can watch
major news podcasts recorded in real time, participate in
Q&A sessions, and even create their own content.
This marks a major shift from traditional broadcasting to
audience-inclusive experiences. It signals that even the
legacy media sees podcasting not just as content,
but as a way to build deeper connection, transparency, and
community. Yeah, it'd be really cool to look over people's
shoulders and see how they go about doing things, the
observing what they're up to. I mean, I've launched my own podcast this
year Built, Trusted, Chosen. And, and so I
could only go by what I observed being a guest on other people's shows, but
you can only see what you can see on, on your end. You don't know
how they've set up, you know, other things behind the scenes. So,
um, you know, we learn, uh, by observation
again. So I think that's pretty cool. I've got a, uh,
my backdrop actually is running late, so I've got a backdrop coming from
podcasting studio here and, uh I've got a temporary one at the moment there,
you can see. But yeah, we just keep improving. But
it's cool to see how other people go about things.
And you're seeing so much traditional legacy media.
You're seeing newspapers sponsor live events
in small communities. You're seeing radio stations
that used to do remotes, now they're doing remote podcasts.
They're taking their morning show doing it at
nighttime in a bar as a special event. You're seeing TV
stations do the same thing, and the TV stations are even
producing their own podcast content that they're releasing outside of
the TV network. And it's just such a testament to how strong and
powerful podcasting can be and the type of connections you can
make with this new medium. It's not new, it's 20-some years old,
but it's just a way to to connect in a way that you
can't get with legacy and traditional media, the doors
are wide open, the opportunities are wide open. And if traditional
media is seeing it, maybe it's something you need to consider for your business.
Yeah, for sure. And so there's a guy here in Australia, Karl
Stefanovic, who has been on television morning shows and so on
for quite some time, but he's just launched his own podcast, I
think Um, might have been earlier this year, not, not long,
but it's giving him the freedom to share some of his own views and
opinions as well. So I, I'm sure— now I don't know
because I haven't read this, but I'm sure he would have felt a little bit
limited in what he could share through other, other people's platform,
large media. But now it looks as though he's having a whole
lot of fun doing what he's doing and just being open and sharing his
own views. He's got some distinct views, uh, we all do.
But it is good to hear them from him.
You know, like I say, nobody has your perspective. Sometimes people
get limited in their beliefs, like, oh, well, somebody already did this
concept, or I have heard people talk about that. You have, you
may have, but you have— the world has not heard you talk about it
and what your perspective and what all your experiences through life
have brought you to how you see the world. And how you see
things. And if you're nervous because you think it's already been done,
it hasn't been done your way. So keep that in mind. You have your own
voice. You have your own style. Nobody can replace that.
Nobody can copy that. And in the time of AI, what better way
to show the world you than to just be you and not be a
cloned AI bot? Yeah, I know.
I know it's somewhat worrying,
the fake videos we can create of an AI version of ourselves. Who
never ums and ahs and says the right thing all the time. But is it
really us? No. Is it really our
message? Not really because we're complete
human flaws and all. I think it's always more engaging
that way. Well, Wes, this has been so much fun
talking to you from the future today at Pedootie in the News.
This is the time of the show where I give you back the floor. I
turn it over all to you. You can plug, promote, talk about
anything you'd like. Wes, the floor is yours.
Yeah, cool. Well, since we're obviously talking about podcasting, I'll
speak to my experience of setting up Built, Trusted, Chosen. So
it's a podcast for trades and construction people
and had a bunch of guests on and it's been
a wild journey of just learning as well. So
it's always good to have guests on and to, to listen
to their heart and what they're doing in the construction industry.
So, so we're a digital agency, we do websites and
search engine optimization and all that stuff for these trades construction businesses, but
it's good to understand them at a deeper level because each guest who's in the
field has something new to share. And also you
see, start to see patterns, um, of
what they're, what they're speaking about. So You know, when I see
a common thread of something that they're all sharing, a lot of them are sharing,
then I realize, hey, that's a real need for the industry, um,
right now. So it's, it's great from that perspective to continue learning.
And I just like love people, so I like to talk to them, um, and
find out more. So it's been a great journey. I think the first few episodes
maybe came— were a little bit rough, but you kind of learn on the, on
the journey and, and get a little bit better at it. And so It's
been wild. It's been a great way to market the business
and what we do. We have people reaching out as a consequence of listening
to the podcast or even listening, watching reels. So we chop
up all the episodes into reels and so on to go on social
media. Some of the reels take off massively, so
some bomb and that's fine, and some go really
powerfully. So one piece of content can be repurposed and
remassaged into so many platforms. And so, it's
really helping us to get a brand out there and
awareness and so on. So, really enjoying it. It's been
a great journey so far. I'm looking forward to stepping it up with, as I
said, the new backdrop coming in, which is meant to have been here. So,
just some curtains and so on and lighting and so on. So,
yeah, thanks, Jeff. It's been awesome. Well,
thank you, Wes. I'll have all your links in the show notes. Uplift 360.
Wes, do you remember what time it was? Uh,
it's, uh, time for the news. What
time is it?
Podcast about podcasting from the stage.
Poduty and the News.
Poduty and the
News.
The only live news podcast
about podcasting from
the stage.