International speaker, podcast producer and host Michelle Abraham was Voted #16 the last two years on Podcast Magazine’s list of the Top 50 Moms in Podcasting, she was also awarded Entrepreneur of the Year by Business from the Heart and Nominated for People’s Choice Award and RBC Women of Influence. Michelle is the founder of Amplifyou, described by Shark Tank alumni Kevin Harrington as North America’s top podcast management company.
Amplifyou specializes in done-for-you services, helping visionary entrepreneurs with a powerful message to market and monetize their podcasts while making a lasting impact. Michelle and her team have launched more than 300 podcasts in the last three years and publish over 1000 episodes a month.
FWM: What led you to podcasting and launching Amplifyou?
I first started Amplifyou as a new mom. I had a little boy, and I love being a new mom. Prior to having a baby, I had some great businesses. I had a business in the co working space, and I had a business in the fitness industry. I was busy and my brain was very entrepreneurial. I loved being a new mom and it really forced me to slow down to play googoo gaga on the floor and I realized my business brain had gone to mush, looking back now I was probably suffering from mild post-partum depression.
One day, I found myself really looking for something to motivate me inspire me. I looked on our Apple TV, and I found this little purple app. On the iTunes app, I clicked on a show called Eventual Millionaire and I fell in love with the modality of podcasting. Every day, I would listen to these interviews on Eventual Millionaire podcasts where she was interviewing people who had an idea, and they turn them into million-dollar businesses. It totally inspired me and motivated me, and it really helped me get back into the groove of things. I would put my earbuds in every week and I pushed my son in the stroller and I listened to these episodes. Soon enough, I realized the episodes were on my phone. They were also on my car in my car, I could listen to them on Apple TV at home. Yet every time I asked my my mom friends, what podcasts do you guys listen to you? They would all respond with the question, what is a podcast? So, I thought to myself, this must be a little bit ahead of its time. I became an avid listener, absolutely loved listening. And I noticed the impact it had on my own life of getting me my inspiration and motivation back to getting back into my business brain. And I thought, well, if it has this impact on me, you can imagine the impact it’s going to have on people all over the world with all kinds of messages. I really wanted to help people get their message out there in the world.
Soon enough, I learned everything I could learn about podcasting from hosting a meetup group in my co working space. I found a few experts in the podcasting world back then in 2012 that was hard but they would kindly come in and share their knowledge with us. And soon enough, I was being asked to help people launch their podcasts. Meanwhile, I didn’t know what to have when I wanted to call my own podcasts. But I loved helping other people launch their show.
In my consulting business I was helping them with their funnels and online courses and doing all things for people to help them get their business online and make more money. But I had this podcasting thing kept coming up, I kept being asked to help people with their podcasts. In 2015, I decided to drop everything else we were doing in the podcasting space or in our digital marketing space, and just focus on podcasting. So that’s when Amplifyou is born the agency and soon after the podcast came along too.
Amplifyou is helping visionary entrepreneurs with a powerful message to market and monetize their podcasts. Tell us about Amplifyou.
My business Amplifyou is helping visionary entrepreneurs with a powerful message to create, market, manage and monetize their podcasts. We have a vision to be like the Hay House of podcasting, where we have attracted amazing experts, authors, coaches, celebrities, athletes and everyday heroes, all people who have a positive impact message to share with the world. Our job at Amplifyou is to help them get their message out there into the world and through a powerful way and using the vehicle of podcasting. We help our clients launch their show and go from idea to iTunes. We help them then once their Podcast is launched stay in their zone of genius, which is the content creation. We do something called podcast management, which helps them manage their show week after week after week, all we need then to do is record and we do the rest. We also then help them get booked on other shows as guest experts which helps us to grow and monetize their show.
FWM: What are some of the mistakes made by entrepreneurs when starting out?
Some of the mistakes made by entrepreneurs when starting out is they don’t seek help and advice they just want to do it themselves. Which is great. I admire them for that. But by hiring a coach or mentor could save them so much time and headaches, it’s the same for Podcasters too the statistics are for entrepreneurs. More than 75% of shows that start don’t make it past episode 20 And I really believe because they haven’t done the work at the beginning of a podcast to have some strategy behind it know the end game, connect your podcasts your business and have that help and support to keep you in your in your zone of genius which is the content creator so many businesses like Podcasts fade out quit.
That’s same mistakes that I see when people are starting out, they just go to press record without giving it much thought. And soon enough, they’re burnt out in there, or they run out of ideas for the topic. And they just quit in altogether, which is called pod fading. We don’t let our podcasters do that. And we hope that people will find us, get our support and let us help them take you through the strategy, all the way to launching of their show and continuing on.
FWM: You and your team have launched more than 300 podcasts in the last three years and publish over 1000 episodes a month. What do you offer to your clients?
We’ve launched over 300 podcasts in the last three years and publish over 1000 episodes a month, we offer our clients a concierge, done for you service. We offer them the flexibility of having a team, a whole team behind them without having to hire many different people. They hire us and we come with a team, with designers, an editor and a podcast manager who manages everything for you. We really offer this white glove done for you service so that our clients can focus on what they do best, that’s the income producing activities in their business and in creating the content. We help them launch their show, and then help them manage it on a weekly basis. The only thing they’re responsible for is recording the episode and sending us the file. We take care of the rest, we edit it, we publish it, and we syndicate it out, we give them some marketing pieces to promote it on social media.
FWM: You were voted #16 in the last two years on Podcast Magazine’s list of the Top 50 Moms in Podcasting. What does it take to have a successful podcast?
To have a successful podcast It takes consistency. It keeps publishing week after week after week with good value and great content. It takes having support of a team to help you stay consistent, I couldn’t do it so well without our Amplifyou Podcast Managers managing it all for me, just like our clients.
On Amplifyou Podcast we’ve got two different kinds of podcast interviews that we do. One of them is behind the microphone where we get to showcase the podcasters we work with and other podcasters.
The other type of interview we do is called Ask the Expert. We were bringing in someone who could potentially be a collaborative partner for us. And we’re interviewing them all about things that could help podcasters grow their show. We also do Ask the Expert Interviews where we interview people with the same audience as us but have a expertise to support podcasters like a voice coach or mindset coach. To use our podcast as a tool for connection and collaboration has made our podcast a huge success and connected it to our business for huge business growth too.
FWM: You have grown a multiple six-figure business. What have you learned along the way?
I have learned that small steps in consistent action beats being perfect anytime. Just get started and get going. You can always build a beautiful website later or you can always have more time to get that perfect branding later, just getting going and get started. Getting some clients has really been the best thing for us to get going.
The other thing I’ve learned along the way is that you want to be in the room, surround yourself with people who are like minded have a mindset of growth mindset.
And they’re out there doing amazing things in the world. That’s going to inspire you to grow as well. And it’s going to keep you always in that growth mode growth mindset when you’re surrounded by other amazing people. So, get in those rooms, join those masterminds get into those high-ticket coaching programs, because that’s where you’re finding also some great friends and some amazing clients still.
FWM: What do you enjoy the most about podcasting?
What I enjoy most about podcasting is the ability to connect with anybody I want because I have a podcast. It’s the coolest thing ever. I can invite anyone on my show and most likely 99% of them are going to say yes, they would love to come on my show. And that really is an awesome way to open doors to conversations with people that you would love to have. Whether it’s a celebrity or someone you idolize, whether it’s someone in sports or someone who, who you love, they’re booking, they’re an author, bring them on your show. It’s so cool. The people that podcasting connects you with and then the podcasting industry in itself is so collaborative in a really opening, welcoming environment.
You are a well-known International Speaker. Where can we find you next?
My next speaking is going to be in heart at Harvard, actually, July 27, I will be speaking in Boston and the Harvard stage for something called Blu talks. And obviously thinking about podcasting and how podcasting can change your life by using your voice. And I’m really excited about that. So, lots of exciting things coming up.
FWM: Share your vision for the future of Amplifyou.
Podcasting is absolutely amazing, and my vision for Amplifyou in the future is that we’re going to help a million voices get heard by having podcasts. And we’re well on our way there to helping a million voices get heard by our launching their show, but also the podcasts and the voices that our clients are also the client our clients are also interviewing on their show so million voices being heard through our podcasts that amplify you.
