Ep 90: Lessons learned from 5 years of podcasting
Welcome back to The Built Environment Marketing Show.
Welcome to the Built Environment Marketing Show hosted by me, marketer Ayo Abbas from Abbas Marketing.
This episode celebrates 5 years of me setting up this show so I reflect all of that.
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The Built Environment Marketing Show is hosted by marketing consultant and content creator Ayo Abbas from Abbas Marketing. It is a show that is unashamedly about marketing for architects and engineers, as well as bringing forward voices that we don't always get to hear.
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Transcript
Ayo, hello and welcome to the latest episode of The Built Environment Marketing Show hosted by me Ayo Abbas from Abbas marketing today is actually a very special episode. It is July the third 2025, and that makes it our fifth birthday. I realized last night when I was chatting to someone who happened to be the second guest of my podcast ever. I was chatting to her last night at an event, and she kind of said, How long has your podcast been going? I went, Oh, it's coming up to five years. And actually, it turns out today, July the third, when I'm recording this episode, is the actual day that I launched my episode, one of the built environment marketing show that's five years over 88 episodes, nearly 18,000 downloads over the years. And yeah, so I wanted to kind of use this episode as a quick, short episode to share what I've learned from being a podcaster along the way, and just as a kind of bit of reflection, if that's something you're thinking of doing. So let's start with lesson one. First lesson for me is about knowing your why I always say to my clients when they say, Oh, should I start a podcast? I always say podcasts are a lot of work, and actually, my tip is to go on them first before you start doing your own it takes planning, it takes recording, it takes editing, it takes marketing. I'm a solo producer, so I do most of that myself. The only part I don't do is the editing, and I have a really amazing editor who does that. So apart from that, I do everything else. So what keeps me going? That's what I have to think about. You know, you really, if you want to do a podcast, think about what's your Why mine was, I guess, I started this show in 2020 so July, 2020 it was called Marketing times of crisis at that time. And really the reason I set out was because I wanted to help practices who may have been facing a tough time, especially when, you know, face to face marketing disappeared overnight. So I just really wanted to show best practice and that and that there is another way online. So yeah, and then my first interview was with stride, which was Rob Sargent and Rachel Bell. So yeah, they really took a chance on me, which was great, and that's how I started out, and yeah, that was it. I did lots of training in terms of online training, in terms of understanding how to set up a podcast. So I learned a lot. And then, yeah, I bought my equipment, and off I started. So, yeah, that was my first lesson. Know your why? Lesson number two, I think you've got to always think about your audience. So always think about your listener. Listener first, as in all communications. It's not just about you, it's also about them. What do they need? What do they want? You know? And I think for me, it's lovely when I speak to other marketers, when I'm out and about, and they say, Oh, I like to use your episodes as a knowledge base, as a go to so if I've got a problem, I go back and I search and I look and go, Oh, she's got an episode on that. I'll listen to that, and it helps me to solve things. So for me as a marketer, that is like music to my ears. And I guess in some ways the best demonstration of that was the practical snacks mini series that I did last year, which is about, you know, short, snappy, practical tips that you can kind of implement now in your business. And yeah, so that had, like, what, 500 downloads across the five episodes, and I had loads and loads of kind of traction. I did it in a campaign based marketing way. So it's really nice to do that. So yeah, in terms of, think about your listener first, what do they need to get out of this lesson number three, which actually is another kind of follow on from that, is that structure is everything. And I think the thing is, it can be so easy for podcasts just to ramble on, and people just think, Oh, well, I'll just use it as a kind of brain dump. I mean, you're now hearing podcasts which are, like, two or three hours long, which, to me, it's just self indulgent. It's not really serving your audience, which is the previous point. So I think it's about thinking about your audience having some kind of structure so they know what they're listening to, what's coming next, because you want them to kind of build a familiarity with your podcast so they kind of listen when they're listening each week, or whatever, they kind of know what to expect, which is always nice as the listener. Think about them. Think about how you make it structured but also interesting for them, lesson number four has to be around. For me, it's about amplification of different voices. It's so easy just to get the usual suspects onto a podcast. And for me, when I started out, I really, really wanted to showcase some of the amazing women that I know who are behind a lot of the marketing and communications of these major practices, and they don't always get the recognition they deserve. So for me, I was actively, actually going out and seeking people out, and sometimes they would say no and take some convincing, because they've not spoken on the show before. So thanks for those people who actually took the chance and opportunity to do that, because I really do think it's about bringing more voices out and talking about the amazing. Thing work that's going on. My next lesson is it's okay to take breaks. I mean, at the start of this year, I took two months off. Was it three months? It's quite a while. Anyway, I just fell out of love with podcasting. I needed a break. You keep doing it all the time. It does get quite relentless. And I think people don't always realize that. So for me, it's, you know, I know some people are like, you've got to keep going. You've got to keep going. You've got to keep you know, get out every week. But actually, if the hustle means that you fall out of love with podcasting, what's the point? So for me, coming back in seasons doing it when I can do it, that makes sense. And my final lesson, I think, is around audio quality matters. It really does. For me, I'm a complete Stickler, and I think, you know, people forgive many things, but you know, if they're going to take the time to listen to you, poor audio, for me is a no go. So get a decent microphone, be in a quiet space, use an editor so you can get some brilliant sound. Your content is brilliant, at least, make it shine as best you can. So for me, that's what you've got to do, and especially if I listen to a podcast and the sound is bad, I switch off, and you don't want that. So anyway, those are some quick lessons that I've learned being a podcaster for five years. So hopefully, if you like the show, leave us a review on Apple, helps more people to hear about us. So we go into year six with a kind of tons of reviews. I just wanted to say thank you to every person who's been a guest on the show. Thank you to everyone who's been a supporter and all those people who listen regularly. So yeah, you've helped to make the show what it is. And I'd love to hear more on what you think of it. Feel free to email me, ayo@abbasmarketing.com Take care. Bye. Thanks so much for listening to the built environment marketing show. Don't forget to check out the show notes, which will have useful links and resources connected to this episode. You can find that on www.abbasmarketing.com and of course, if you like the show, please do share it with others on social as it helps more people to find us see you soon you.
