Episode 32

Vic Elizabeth Turnbull gives a tip about reaching a wide audience

Tips and advice for independent podcasters.

Guest: Vic Elizabeth Turnbull

Job title: Founder

Company: MIC Media

In this episode, Vic gives a tip about reaching a wide audience.

Links

The Podcasting People website

Become a Podcasting People supporter

Sign up to the Podcasting People newsletter

This podcast is produced and edited at The Sound Boutique by Gareth Davies.

Mentioned in this episode:

The Sound Boutique

Transcript
Speaker:

Vic Elizabeth Turnbull: Hi, I'm

Vic Elizabeth Turnbull and I'm the

2

:

founder of MIC Media, a podcast

production and training agency that

3

:

helps good eggs to grab the mic.

4

:

And today I'm going to give you a

tip about reaching a wide audience.

5

:

So I run my podcast production training

agency, MIC media, and I get up to loads

6

:

here from the day to day running of the

business, like all the boring financey

7

:

admin stuff, then the exciting stuff

like planning, producing, recording

8

:

and editing podcasts and also steering

the awesome team here at MIC to create

9

:

fabulous podcasts for our clients.

10

:

So we specialise in working with

who I like to call the good eggs.

11

:

So the people that are doing good in the

world, like charities, social enterprises,

12

:

folk in education or value led businesses.

13

:

And because I'm not busy enough

at MIC Media, I also help to

14

:

run a podcasting community for

podcasters from across the world.

15

:

It's called MIC's Podcast Club

and the premise is really simple.

16

:

We help each other to

make brilliant podcasts.

17

:

So we meet every month online, and

It's a support group, come open Q

18

:

and A, come networking session for

podcasters from across the world.

19

:

And we've got almost 2000 members.

20

:

We started in 2018 and in fact, that's

where the name of my company came from.

21

:

So how did I get into podcasting?

22

:

Well, I've been obsessed with audio

since I was a little girl, from

23

:

making my own radio shows on a Fisher

Price cassette player with a plastic

24

:

microphone, to recording the charts

on a Sunday night as a teenager.

25

:

I went to college and uni and did really

hands on media production courses.

26

:

Then when I left, my career took

a bit of a squiggly path into

27

:

working with national charities.

28

:

During that time I did a whole host

of fabulous stuff including event

29

:

organisation, lots of marketing,

fundraising, TV production.

30

:

I also founded and hosted my own

live radio show for four and a

31

:

half years too in Manchester.

32

:

So I was made redundant in 2017 and I

had a year of 'what the bloody hell am

33

:

I going to do with my life?' I launched

my first podcast in:

34

:

I had a daft little idea to marry my

love of working in the third sector

35

:

with businesses and organisations.

36

:

My huge passion of creating a level

playing field for people who want to get

37

:

their voice heard or learn skills they

thought that were out of reach for them.

38

:

My absolute love of amplifying

underheard voices and stories and my

39

:

huge, huge, huge passion of making

nice things for people's ears.

40

:

And so that's how MIC Media was born.

41

:

It's set up as a social enterprise,

making it one of the only podcast

42

:

agencies working this way and with

the types of clients that we do.

43

:

Since 2019, we've made over 50

audio projects and trained over

44

:

2,000 people with podcasting skills.

45

:

We've worked with the likes of

Oxfam, the National Football

46

:

Museum, Plan UK, and The Co op.

47

:

We've also been recognised by

the British Podcast Awards and

48

:

the Audio Production Awards too.

49

:

What I bloody love about podcasting,

and especially with the people we

50

:

work with at MIC, is its power to

positively change people's lives.

51

:

You would not believe the impact

podcasting has on people that have picked

52

:

up a microphone for the first time,

learned the ropes of audio editing, or

53

:

for those that have shared their story.

54

:

One person we worked with

said, "podcasting has given

55

:

me a new lease of life.

56

:

It feels like something I can do.

57

:

It's been amazing.

58

:

As soon as I started to learn

how to podcast with MIC, it was

59

:

a light bulb moment for me, and

I'm very thankful for it all.

60

:

It's not just around the

confidence of learning a skill,

61

:

but people are telling me...

62

:

even my own children, how much I

have grown in confidence as a person.

63

:

I'm now showing other women in my group,

how to get involved in the different

64

:

roles that make up our podcast."

65

:

How amazing is that?

66

:

Another story is we worked with an

amazing group of women, an organisation

67

:

in Oldham, teaching their participants,

their community, how to start a podcast.

68

:

Um, and there was one lady there who

said that it's the cleverest she's

69

:

ever felt since she was at school.

70

:

So it's a joyful, joyful experience and

one that not many people consider when

71

:

it comes to podcasting is that positive

impact it can have on people's lives.

72

:

And that's what we're

all about with MIC Media.

73

:

A lot of the podcast industry is

centered around celebrities, sponsors,

74

:

big names, big deals, listener numbers,

and for us it's all about that genuine

75

:

difference we can make to people's lives.

76

:

Now this particular lady in

question she used to join us for

77

:

every training session every week.

78

:

She bought some massive big headphones

and she sat there and she lapped it up

79

:

and she shared her story with us and

we eventually made a podcast episode

80

:

about her passion for gardening.

81

:

So my big podcasting tip for you

is about reaching a wide audience.

82

:

Don't even try.

83

:

Look, you can't please everyone.

84

:

Just imagine trying to do this.

85

:

There's so many things to consider.

86

:

Like, what pushes someone's

buttons over another person?

87

:

How does each person prefer

to receive their information.

88

:

What motivates each person?

89

:

How do they like to be talked to?

90

:

Bloody hell, it'd be

exhausting, wouldn't it?

91

:

Then try thinking about trying to please

the people who will never be pleased.

92

:

That's going to get tiresome pretty fast.

93

:

Your podcast is exactly the same.

94

:

The wider your audience, the more

that you're diluting your content

95

:

to fit everyone's needs and wants.

96

:

So focus on a specific audience,

the one that's going to love your

97

:

content, take some value from your

content, eat it up and share it.

98

:

To be frank, most people do

not care about your podcast.

99

:

Focus on the ones that do.

100

:

Where can you have most

impact with your content?

101

:

Think narrow.

102

:

Not wide.

103

:

So thanks.

104

:

I've been Vic Elizabeth Turnbull.

105

:

I'm the founder of MIC Media, a

podcast production and training agency.

106

:

To find out more about what we

do at MIC Media, head over to

107

:

micmedia.co.uk or search MIC Media

on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

108

:

I'm also on LinkedIn too, Vic Elizabeth

Turnbull (there's a photo of me with a

109

:

microphone in my face), and you can see

all of those links in the show notes.

110

:

Thank you so much for

listening to Podcasting People.

About the Podcast

Show artwork for Podcasting People
Podcasting People
Tips & advice for independent podcasters.

About your host

Profile picture for Gareth Davies

Gareth Davies

Composer of music, producer of podcasts. Latest TV series: Toad & Friends (Warner Bros. Discovery). Current podcasts include The Music Room and Podcasting People.

Support the show and receive bonus content

Hello pod person! I hope you’re having a brilliant day 🙌 I appreciate that not everyone can afford to leave a tip. If you are able, any contributions will go towards production costs (producing, editing, hosting, marketing etc.). 🎙️
Support the show
M
Mark Asquith £4
Top work, mate - keep it up!
O
Oliver Moore £3
Keep up the brilliant work Gareth! This is exactly the kind of show the podcasting industry needs!