The Design Business Show 194: Building a Brand Through Podcasting with Jessica Kupferman

Jessica Kupferman is the co-host and co-founder of the She Podcasts brand, which currently supports over 21,000 female podcasters and has a digital marketing reach of over 55,000 content creators. Her sweet spot is helping podcasters set up systems for growth and training them on how to obtain sponsorship. She also is an internet “Bat Girl” with an odd amount of experience in way too many software services.

When she’s not planning the next She Podcasts LIVE, you can find her offering education to independent podcasters on marketing, growth, and sponsorship.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Why + How Jessica Started a Podcast

How Jessica and I met in 2012 when we were both in Elizabeth DiAlto’s coaching group and how I’ve been on Jessica’s podcast, Lady Business Radio
Jessica explains that she is formally trained in marketing and sales but fell into podcasting – Jessica does more of the marketing and branding, whereas Elsie, her partner, does more of the voices and audio technology
Before starting a podcast, Jessica was a social media and website designer but started a podcast because that wasn’t going as fast as she would have liked
I talk about how Lady Business Radio was a big inspiration for my show
Jessica felt that a lot of other talk shows were men interviewing men, which annoyed her – so she thought about all the fascinating women she knew and decided she’d interview them and get into more than just their rise to the top story
The reason Jessica stopped Lady Business Radio was because she got pregnant, and by then, Jessica was also doing She Podcasts Podcast; when she came back from maternity leave, the Lady Business group she had created was stagnant, but the She Podcasts group was bursting which is why she dove hard into that business
When Jessica started Lady Business Radio, she was a blogger and would write emails to her list, but never really had comments on her blog posts or emails, but when Jessica started the podcast, she shared that suddenly she had feedback, mentions, comments, etc. from an audience that she had never met
Jessica believes that having a podcast gives people an insight into you that they would not normally get, which elevates the relationship between you and your audience
People say the market is saturated with podcasts, but there’s only one person that sounds like you with your experience and knowledge
Lady Business Radio was a way for Jessica to build her business, and she used the platform to do that
I love that Jessica asked the questions everyone is wondering on her show
When Jessica was a designer and coach, she had to maintain two brands because the She Podcasts had to be a brand, and Jessica Kupferman was a separate brand
Jessica shares that she rebranded her personal brand 6 times but says now she focuses mostly on the She Podcasts brand because that’s how she makes money and because the two brands are honestly tied together in many ways

Starting a Business From a Podcast + She Podcasts LIVE

How Jessica enjoys the clientele of podcasters more and that they were asking her for things like a directory, a membership, or a conference – so they delivered by turning She Podcasts into a business and conference
Jessica has changed the look of the She Podcasts site multiple times because she believes you can change your logo colors, put your logo on top of any pattern, and it will still be recognizable
As long as you keep the font and logo the same, you can change out the design elements – Jessica says it’s like changing clothes on your brand
Elsie and Jessica have tried many ways to make money over the years, but in 2019, the conference made them the most money – due to the pandemic, they created a virtual membership because they wanted to support women podcasters but also still make money
The hotel they had booked for their conference told them they had to do their conference by the end of 2021, which didn’t really create revenue because they had to hire and pay so many people to help
This year, the conference and membership are making revenue, but Jessica says it has been tricky because of the pandemic
Right now, Jessica says they are making money through sponsorships for their conference, podcast, social media, and membership – Jessica shares the other sources of revenue they are considering
Elsie is who helped Jessica start the podcast – Elsie reached out about doing a show with Jessica, and within 3 days, they had a brand, website, and logo
How Elsie has a full-time job working as the community manager for Libsyn, a podcast hosting company
When it comes to the business, Elsie helps with the content, membership, Facebook group, answers questions; and Jessica says Elsie is the one with the podcast skills and is the people’s person
Elsie works her full-time job and helps with the business on the side – Jessica has another employee, Melissa, who is an operational manager
The She Podcasts Conference is October 11 – 14 in Washington, D.C. – find out more at shepodcastslive.com
Going forward, Jessica says she is going to focus on selling as many tickets as possible, and then after the conference is over, they will look for another hotel for their next conference and figure out their next project, which might be a directory or network of podcasts
Jessica shares that she finds the process of coaching and being coached difficult but enjoys being a content creator and marketer
By going to conferences, saying yes to interviews, and coaching people, Jessica has been able to build her reputation and relationships with big companies and other podcasters in the industry
I share that I don’t necessarily want to leave the online space, but I do want to work on more mainstream projects and campaigns
If we want to stay as experts in the digital space, Jessica says we need to figure out the Web3 and metaverse, so we can learn it for ourselves to then help others when they ask
How deciding what you want to do is hard – it’s okay to change what you do or rework it, so it supports what you want to do moving forward
Part of the reason Jessica stopped doing Lady Business Radio is that it turned into her asking people she admired to be on the show to other people asking her to be on the show, which made Jessica feel like she had to decide who was worthy of being on the show
I realized after years of saying I’m not good at branding that I am – I share that if I’m going to be interviewed on a podcast, I want to talk about building a brand that’s specific to the products and services you build because that’s what I’m obsessed with
Jessica wants you to know that your business is your design – if something is not fun anymore, you stop, but if you miss the money, you restart and do it in a way that’s easier for you or less soul-sucking
If you want to start a podcast, the best place to go is www.shepodcastslive.com – the speakers at the conference are all podcasters; it’s inspirational, educational, supportive, and fun
How being in the same room with people who are doing the same thing as you helps you feel like you’re a part of something and reassures you of what you’re building