368: YouTube vs Podcast vs Substack - Which is Best for Your Business?

Welcome And Quick Announcements

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Well, hello, this is Kimberly. It's episode 360, and I'm so glad you're here today. I know many of you are trying to figure out the best way to build your authority online and get known and build a relationship with people who have just found you or maybe even current customers too. And you're trying to figure out should I do YouTube? Should I do videos, you know, for YouTube every week? Should I do a podcast and maybe do audio and video? Should I be on Substack now? I don't know if many of you are into Substack, but that is becoming very popular as well. I know this is a big decision. It's hard to figure out. Today we're going to talk about the pros and cons of each so that you can make the best decision for you and the people that you want to serve. If you are new here, welcome. I'm so glad that you found this podcast. I have no doubt it's going to help you along your business journey, whether you're in the idea stage, starting or growing, this is for you. Whether you have an online business or a local business, a mobile business, whatever it is, this is for you too. This is pretty much a self-improvement podcast for business owners. That's what it's come down to after all these years, right? And I'm just so happy that you're here and that you're a part of it. Make sure you hit subscribe right now. If you're an Apple Podcaster Spotify, hit the follow or subscribe so you don't miss out on any future episodes that I know are going to help you along your journey. And if you've been listening well, thank you so much to all my loyal listeners. I know some of you have been asking about the new 52 Truth display cards for your desk. Y'all, they're gorgeous. The reviews have started to come in, and I'm just so excited for you to get your hands on a deck of these. You can display one each week. Make sure, make sure y'all check those out at she's just getting started.com. I do have those super cute coffee mugs. Oh my goodness, such great guests for yourself and people that you know that are starting a new chapter, a new business, whatever it is in life, and they're adorable. So you can find it all at she's just getting started.com. Okay, that's it. On to the episode.

The Real Question Behind Platform Choice

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Well, hello, friends. How are you? How is everything going with your business? I hope amazing and awesome. Today we're talking about how you can start showing up and building authority in your niche and how you can start connecting with people that you want to serve or that you already serve. I know there's a lot to choose from these days, and it's kind of hard to decide. Many of you are doing local things like local events, maybe you're public speaking, maybe you're just networking at women's groups, maybe you're meeting people, maybe you're sponsoring events, maybe you're posting your business around town. I mean, there's so many things you can be doing. You can be posting in Facebook groups, but a lot of you are trying to figure out how do you build your authority online, like real connection. And I see three kind of main ways that you can build connection right now. And that is YouTube. Okay, you can create videos. You can have a podcast like this, which is just audio or audio and video. Or you could also be on Substack now. If you're a writer, that is a great way. I don't know if you've looked into Substack or not. Some of you haven't heard of it. A lot of you have. You can check that out at Substack.com. I have the links down below. But I think it's a hard decision because you're like, whatever I'm gonna do, it's gonna take a lot of time. I'm gonna have to be consistent, and I'm gonna have to pick one that really brings me joy. Because if you don't pick something that brings you joy, you're going to dread it. It's kind of like when you start a new workout regimen. Have you done this where people are like, well, you're gonna have to, you know, ride your bike a hundred miles a week so you can get ready. And you're like, but I hate riding a bike. And then you're like, well, what are you doing then? You need to do a difference work, right? That's kind of how it is with our businesses. Okay. And and to set the stage here for you when you're trying to figure this out is that you have to make sure that number one, the way that you show up regularly needs to be something that you're actually good at. Like you like it and you're good at it. Okay. It it will have to be. Because if you are not good at it, well, you can take time to get good at it, but you may not like it. So it would be better if right off the bat you went with your gut feeling. Like, do I like to be on video? Do I like to write? Do I like to speak through audio and maybe have video as well? Y'all, this shouldn't be that hard of a decision when you look within yourself and you really think, what am I good at? What do I like to do? What if I had to pick one way? What would I do? Would I would I write? I mean, I know plenty of people that are amazing writers and Substack is the one for them. I know people who are really good on video or are doing something that is perfect for video. Maybe you're demonstrating cooking or you're doing some kind of fitness routines and you want to show that on video. Perfect. Or if you just love audio, like me, I have always love audio. I have a special place in my heart for simply audio and I love it. And y'all know I don't do video versions of these podcasts yet. It's something that I have seriously considered. But every time I start trying to organize my life to add video in, things get complicated and feel heavy and stressful to me at this point in my life. And I'm like, you know what? Let's just keep doing audio. It works. I'm sure I could get more listeners doing video. And it is something I'm considering. I'm about to be an empty nester soon. I'm gonna have a lot more time next year. But you know what? That's what we have to do. We have to look at the seasons of our life. We also have to look at our gifts and what we what brings us joy, right? And what makes us happy. So that is to set the stage right off the bat. What

Match Your Strengths With Audience Habits

SPEAKER_00 6:10

do you like doing? What do you enjoy doing? What are you good at? The second thing off the bat that y'all need to consider is what do your people consume? Are your people at work all day, maybe driving to work, coming home from work, or busy moms where they just like to listen to audio? Okay. Or are your people readers? Are they avid readers? Do they like to read newsletters, email newsletters, and really fun things that they like to delve into by reading, right? Or do your people love video though? Do they watch YouTube videos a lot? Are they on YouTube? Are they searching for your topic? Or are they loving your videos? You have to think about the people that you're about to serve that you want to serve or that you currently are serving. What are their habits? And you need to marry that. You need to marry who your customer is with what your best skills are and you love. And this will help you big time to figure out. I think it will be pretty obvious for you, okay? When you start this journey, whether you've had a business for a long time and now you're like, I really want to get online and really start building my authority and connecting with people. You could be brand new or you could be a veteran business owner. So it doesn't matter. It's just picking the right entry point. You can always expand later. You can also, you know, use your content and, you know, reuse it for other platforms, repurpose it, use clips. Also, I haven't mentioned Instagram and Facebook. I think they are great. I think uh Instagram now is has just decided. I don't know if y'all saw my Instagram video the other day. If not, make sure you go to She's Just Getting Started and follow me on Instagram because I posted a video about how Instagram is now going into long form video. Wouldn't you know it? After years of going to short form, they are now allowing up to 90 minutes of video. So they're trying to keep people on their platform. So Instagram may come into this full on. And maybe some of you will find that Instagram is a great way to connect with your audience if you're already good at Instagram. That could be the fourth way we could be talking about today. But I don't think that that is quite there yet for true connection. I think podcasting, Substack, and YouTube are really probably the best ways for what I would say are probably long-form content, whether it be reading, whether it be watching, whether it be listening, where they can really get to know you and they intentionally follow you. You know, Instagram is an interrupt, right? It's interrupting people's day and you have to get their attention. I think more people, when they're going to YouTube or Substack or listening to podcasts, it's intentional. They're they're going there to learn. Um, things are on our TV now with all the TV apps. And I know Instagram was getting into the TV app as well because they're trying to, again, keep people on there instead of just showing reels in short clips and then sending people off to YouTube or podcasts or whatever. So I think they're smart, but I'm not going to really include that today. And I might have to, you know, re-record this in six months and see what's going on with Instagram. But for today, for what is working for a lot of business owners is actually YouTube podcasting and now SubSec. And so today, let's talk about the pros and cons of each. So you can make a decision if you're trying to figure out which one to go all in on. Another caveat, you need to go all in on one right now. And then you can expand. Okay. And you can also repurpose, but I would have one main one that you're really focusing on. So for me, for example, let's say I was ready for video, right? For my podcast. Well, I was just ready for video. Let's just say I'm ready to do video regularly. I would continue on with the podcast, of course, the she's just getting started podcasts, which is what you're listening to. And I would simply add video so that people on YouTube can now watch it, right? Mine automatically uploads to YouTube. I don't get very many listens at all on YouTube. But I think if I had video, that would change. And if I want to focus on that, I think all I would do is make sure I have video for this podcast. Meaning I wouldn't just start creating a whole bunch of new kind of content videos because I'm already creating content every week. I'm not going to create more work for myself. I would just record this video of me talking and I would put it on YouTube. So it may be something again that I start soon, maybe at the new year. I keep trying to get myself to do it and I just haven't. Stuff is coming up with what in life. I'm trying to get help my daughter get into the college that she wants and get into the business school that she wants and help her with essays and help her with all of her school stuff and our volunteering and everything that's going on in life, y'all. I think we we should not have shame in that. And I don't feel shame at that. I want to free those of you that are making a conscious decision to not feel bad about the decisions that you make for this time in your life. Like you should never. You get to run your business your way. I get to run mine my way. I get to choose how I want to do this. So I think that's what's beautiful about it. I'm not being told by someone else what I have to be doing, right? Okay. So let's go back to the pros and cons. So you can make the best decision for you. Now, you probably already have an inkling of which one is good for you. Okay. You probably do, but let's just kind of go through this so you understand. So

Podcasting Pros Cons And Practical Setup

SPEAKER_00 12:11

podcasting. Podcasting is traditionally audio, but now it has moved into the video space, right? And I am finding that people appreciate just basic talking, podcasting. You don't have to make it all fancy. You don't have to do all that and add B-roll and all this stuff for video. It can just be the recording of you talking. So it's easy and it's cheap. Y'all podcasting to me is the best bang for your buck if you want to do audio. It's it's just it's just awesome. It's cheap to do. You can upload it to all the platforms. Um, I use AllaToo, which is on my software spreadsheet. Like if you have access to that, I use Alla to, which is great. Um, and I think they give you a discount when you when you click through my link. So make sure you check that out below to get over to all the software and everything that I recommend. But Allah 2 is awesome. I record straight into Allah 2. It does an automatic editing. I may cut out stuff that I, you know, if I had to restart the episode or something like that. Um, it's super easy, it's fast. And I just upload it to Buzz Sprout, which is my host, and it goes out to Apple and Spotify and all the players and even to YouTube. And it's awesome. So, anyways, it's very cheap. I think Allah too, I got the deal for a year, which was like $200 and something dollars maybe for the whole year of me recording as many episodes as I want. And then Buzz Sprout's like $12 a month, something like that. So, y'all, podcasting is cheap. You do have to buy the equipment, uh, but you could honestly record it on your phone already. You could just record it on your phone and you would be good to go, my friend. It is cheap, it is easy, it's awesome. Um, the negatives of podcasting, it's harder for people to find you, right? Because you've got to be found in the podcast apps, okay. Um, also, too, you don't get paid for podcasting. There's no payment by Apple Podcasts to me or to Spotify for podcasting. I am promoting my products, my programs. You've, if you've been listening a long time, you know I was promoting all my different programs over the years. And now I have my she's just getting started online boutique with the coffee mugs and the new cards, and then the journals are gonna be coming in, I hope, in November here. And those are gonna be amazing, right? I'm so excited for those. But that's what I'm promoting now. So that's how you get paid. You don't get paid by just podcasting. I wish I did. I wish I got paid a salary for this. I would love it. I'd podcast every day. Um, I don't. I don't. So, you know, that's the way it is. So that's a negative, right? And then you get limited data on your listeners. You don't get a ton like from Apple Podcasts. I don't, I don't really get a lot of data. I may get some demographics. I do know, for example, that of all my listeners, like 70-something percent are on Apple Podcasts. So that makes sense kind of more for the demographic that um that follow me, right? Spotify has a different group of listeners. And so I'm not as popular on Spotify. I do better on Apple Podcasts. So that has what is what has worked for me. But podcasting, again, it's harder for people to find you. You don't get paid, you do get limited data on your listeners. So it's imperative that you send them over to your website. Maybe you get them on an email list, maybe you have a Facebook group, maybe you have, you know, a really good Instagram page or something. You at least need to get them captured somehow, right? So that's podcasting. Podcasting is cheap, it's awesome, it builds authority, it's super fun. People can listen anytime. But, you know, the cons are you don't get paid. It may be harder for people to find you. It may grow kind of slow. It might, unless you already have a big audience and you get limited data. But I think audio podcasting is amazing. I know video is what a lot of people believe in. I will tell you, audio has worked for me. I've stayed in the top 1%. What could happen if I, you know, ventured into video? I'm not sure, but maybe we'll find out here soon.

YouTube Discovery Trust And Time Costs

SPEAKER_00 16:22

Okay, YouTube. Should you be on YouTube as just like a YouTuber? Okay. So realize that if you have a podcast, you can upload it to YouTube. And if you do a video version of your podcast, you can put it on YouTube as well. But there's also just YouTubers, people who make videos every week. So I'm gonna kind of talk about it like that, as if you are someone who's gonna create, you're creating video first, right? Maybe you're stripping the audio and uploading it as a podcast. That's another option. But let's just say you're a traditional YouTuber, maybe you're on site somewhere, maybe you're in your office, maybe you're out, you're a landscaper and you're showing landscaping, or you're a chef, or you're a home cook, or you're a fitness trainer and you're doing videos, right? Okay, YouTube is the biggest place to get discovered. YouTube loves to show new creators on their platform. It's basically a search engine. YouTube is a fantastic search engine. Um, people see your face, it builds trust really fast. And videos can keep showing up in search for years and years. They can just keep showing up. I've heard people, you know, they did a video five years ago and it's just now like getting popular. So it's so funny how that can happen. But YouTube has this fancy algorithm and they really want you to get found, right? The negatives are that filming and editing takes a lot of time. Okay. You don't want your video to be horrible. I'm I'm never saying that your video has to be the best ever, but it literally can't be the worst either, because if it's not good, people are not gonna watch it. Now, I will say audio is more important than video on your videos. If if your mic is fuzzy, if it sounds like you're in an elevator or you're like in a bathroom, it's not gonna sound good and people are not gonna like the audio. So your audio is numero uno, even on YouTube, but people don't want to watch something that looks totally horrible. Okay. So you want to make sure they're decent and they're good. And if you can get it better quality and you're able to get a good camera and it looks nice, I mean, you can use your phone, y'all. You can video yourself on the phones, they are amazing. So you can do that. And um, but know that it does take time. It takes time to learn how to be on video. If you're not used to talking on video, it takes time to make sure your set behind you looks good. You got your audio set up, and then it's edited right. It looks good. Um, all those things. That those the the hardest part of YouTube is actually getting the video done and then edited right. It doesn't have to be edited in the most fancy way, but you may have an outtake, you need to get out of there, and you need to may need to enhance your audio a little bit, right? Also, too, YouTube can change their algorithm anytime. Anytime they can change it. And so that's kind of the scary thing. I mean, I'm sure Apple Podcasts has its own algorithm, but it's not as uh dependent. I mean, I felt like mine has not has not fluctuated. Like I have loyal listeners, and then it's always bringing me a great amount of new listeners, old listeners. So, you know, I don't know. I just feel like YouTube has so much more of a stronghold and is in way more control of what people are seeing, of what you're doing, right? And so the algorithm can change. Also, too, they have been paying people. We know this that people make money on YouTube, but you had to have like 4,000 hours of listening time. And they had certain parameters, now they've just doubled it to 8,000 hours of listening time. So there are new parameters now before you can get monetized on YouTube. They have raised the limit so this can happen. They have control and you have to watch out for that. Also, too, you need to get them onto your email list. Again, you need to have some way to capture them from YouTube. YouTube does have memberships on there, so you can make different videos for other listeners who want to pay. So that is fantastic. But you just have to know what you're getting with YouTube. You're getting a very sophisticated search engine where you can be found, but at the same time, they can change things, and then you cannot be found very easily. So that's the pros and cons. But I think people will connect with you. If you're on video, no doubt. I think seeing the person that you've been listening to or watching them is great and it creates connection. So that's the good things about YouTube and then even doing a video podcast. So the

Substack Paid Newsletters And Consistency

SPEAKER_00 21:10

third one I want to talk about is Substack. And if you don't know Substack, go look at it today. It's basically a newsletter platform. It is written out, you know, a whole paragraphs and letters and notes. It's everything that writers love. You can read what other authors, coaches, regular humans are writing about life, about business, about anything, right? And you can create a following by people wanting to follow your newsletter. So you will want to be consistent, just like with podcasting with YouTube. Let's say you do it once a week or twice a week, whatever it is. And it when they follow you on Substack, they get an email each week with your email newsletter that you created. So it's pretty cool. Um, you can earn paid. Subscriptions right away. Like immediately, people can pay for your for your subscription. So I think that's awesome. I think the golden rule is until you have maybe a thousand followers or subscribers, then that is when you should try to monetize it. So you want to get a good base and prove that you have something people want to read. And again, it's just fantastic for writers, but it is harder to get discovered. Subset does take 10% of what you earn from paid subscriptions. And you do need to write consistently. So you need to be someone who gets excited about writing so that your people have something enjoyable to read with their coffee in the mornings, in the afternoons, in the evenings, whatever it is you have to think about your people. Now, Substack has added live videos. So it's kind of like uh almost like a membership hub, sort of, but it's like email newsletters, but you can have paid subscribers. So it's an interesting mix. It's proof that emails and newsletters are still popular. I know I think you know, many people for years, like after COVID and stuff, thought, oh, email's going away, it's all going to be video, and it's not. People like written form content. Okay. Especially writers, people that are in your niche, if they love to read, then this is the platform for you. It's growing and growing, and now it's got the video, as I said. So I think it's interesting. You should go subscribe to some people. I actually got on there and created an account last January when I had the flu. I was like laid up for like four or five days on my couch. It was terrible. And I was it the flu or was it COVID? I think I did have the flu. Now I'm drawing a blank. I think I had the flu. Um, it's been a long year. But, anyways, and I was like discovered Substack and I created a Substack account and I wrote a couple things while I was not feeling great, but I was laid up on the couch and um it was fun. It was a fun new adventure. But honestly, I keep going back to audio. I love podcasting. I could do this all day long, every day. And this is really, if you said, you know, Kimberly, what is the one thing that you're probably best at? Because this is what you have to do to yourself. I'm only telling you this because this is what you have to do for yourself is say, you know, if I could only do one thing, what would it be? And I'm like, I would talk on a microphone. That's just what I would do. And I would listen to people on a microphone. That's my favorite thing to do over watching videos and over reading newsletters. That's just me. And I think, you know, I've got a mix of clients and people who follow. But I think the people, the most loyal people who have followed my podcast, they do find enjoyment listening to podcasts. They probably like Substack too. They probably like YouTube, but they keep coming back to this podcast for whatever reason. Thank you to everyone who does. And it's okay that it's just audio and I love it and it's easy for me and it fits my life right now, right? So it's the good choice for me. But that's what you have to do for you.

Final Decision Filter And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 25:13

What are you good at? What sounds fun to you to do consistently? And where are your people? What do they love to do? Do they love to watch videos? Like if you hand make something, it's probably best you're on video to show people because people who like crafts and handmade things are going to love to watch you do it too, right? Maybe if you're doing some kind of coaching, self-improvement, anything like that. Like with this podcast, I think video and audio are good, either one. I think you just have to choose. So I hope this helps you. I know it's hard picking what to do, and I know things are a changing as usual. And in 2027, I may be coming right back on here going, okay, y'all, Instagram is the thing, or you know, whatever. I may be changing tune, but right now, I think these are the three main ways to really build your authority, besides like public speaking and doing other things locally. But I think online, these are the three main ways. I think you go in on one, and I think you can repurpose your content on the other platforms, which is awesome. But you're really focusing on one, one that brings you joy, and that's the one that you do every week. I hope this helps. Y'all are amazing. Make sure you check out she's just getting started.com. Get your I'm just getting started mug. You will smile every day, drinking your coffee or tea out of it. And remind yourself how amazing and courageous you are for pursuing your dream or whatever's next for you. I'm just so excited. Okay, that's it. Until next time, bye now. Now, this episode may be over, but our relationship does not have to end here. Head on over to Kimberlybrock.com, and yes, you can get more valuable information for your journey. And you know what? You don't need to go through this alone. I would love to help. Thank you so much and have a great day. Bye.