Chill & Prosper with Denise Duffield-Thomas

How to launch and grow a podcast. Lessons from 100 episodes…

I'm celebrating! My Chill & Prosper podcast hit two incredible milestones this week - 100 episodes and over 1 million downloads! 

I was so surprised and happy to hear the download number - wow (thank you!)

So to mark the milestones, in today's episode, I'm taking you behind the scenes of Chill & Prosper to share my process for creating and promoting the podcast and the challenges I've had along the way. 

So many entrepreneurs have told me they're intimated by the demands of launching a podcast:

1. Not being able to keep up with the constant need to create content
2. Unsure of the tech and how to keep it simple and low-cost
3. Overwhelmed by content creation and staying organized with content
4. Doubtful of whether a podcast is right for their business 

And so many people have beliefs about imposter syndrome and not being smart enough, ready enough, or cool sounding enough to do podcasts. 

If you've been feeling this, my latest episode is for you.

You'll learn the following:

1. How to create consistent content for podcasts: Learn the behind-the-scenes tactics I use to create and batch my podcast episodes.
2. What makes a good podcast interview: My tips and tricks for getting the most out of podcast interviews.
3. Benefits of being a guest on other people's podcasts: How I leverage appearances on other podcasts to market my business.

The pros and cons of being the breadwinner in your family

get something out of today's podcast episode.

 

I'm talking about the pros and cons of being the breadwinner of your family, and you know I'm going, to be honest about how this works in my own family.

 

I share about the pressure, the power, and the mistakes I've made along the way and provide a glimpse into how Mark and I navigated the expectations and pressures that come with providing for our family. 

 

From speaking to thousands of people about this, I know there's a lot of energy and fear around this idea of being the primary income earner.

 

The fears we have about being a breadwinner are often similar to those of growing or making more money or doing something different and going past our perceived limitations. 

 

It is important to acknowledge these fears to start moving past them, so let's dive in. 

Ask Me Anything: Kids, Money and Business Upgrades

You know I’m an oversharer – but I just LOVE answering your questions about my work and money. 

 

In this episode, I answer listener questions about everything!

Why I’m selling my beach house and how I’m manifesting what’s next

You’ve probably heard me talk about my beach house. 

It was a long-held dream, and manifesting it was a big deal for Mark and I. 

 

It’s a stunning house, but we’ve decided to sell it.

 

I recently shared some photos and videos on social media and got lots of questions about “Why are you selling?” and “What’s next?”.

 

So last week, I recorded a podcast episode to share more about why I’m selling, what was once my dream house, and the steps I’m taking to manifest the next one. 

How to get clients to commit

Getting ghosting sucks. 

 

Whether it’s the person you’ve been enjoying getting to know romantically, or a huge lead for your business, a sudden stop in communication is a punch in the gut. 

 

But to be honest, in your business people are going to ghost you. They will flake on you, change their mind, and sometimes be pretty rude about it. 

 

But you can’t take it personally!

 

Today on the Chill and Prosper podcast, I cover how to get yourself into a mindset of abundance to close the deal (and the steps to take when you don’t).

How long it really takes to get to 7-figures+

People ask me all the time, “Denise, how long does it really take to make a million dollars?”

 

For me, the magic number was five years. 

 

Five years from starting my business to pushing over the threshold of $1 million in annual revenue. 

 

But that’s not the whole story.

 

Because truthfully, I was waiting in the wings for years before starting my business. Listening and learning – gathering all the information I needed to be successful.

 

I didn’t wake up one day and think, “I’m going to make a million dollars!” and then five years to the day later had a huge check in my hands.

 

But maybe that could be your journey. 

 

Today on the Chill and Prosper podcast, I share the struggles I faced when scaling my business, from my first try at nine years old to everything I have today.

Copycats, jealousy and being original

Small words of wisdom for this week:

 

Just because someone is succeeding in addition to you, doesn’t mean they are succeeding instead of you.

 

There’s nothing new under the sun, right? It can be nerve wracking to put your ideas out there because what if it looks like you’re trying to copy someone else. 

 

Or even worse, what if someone ends up copying you and making even more money. 

 

How can we be original when the world around us is moving a mile a minute? 

Let me tell you a story … 

A few years back, I published a blog post about spotting money leaks in your business.

 

I had batched the content months before, but it just so happened that the week I picked to publish that post, a peer of mine published the exact same post!!

 

Was it just a coincidence? 

 

Today on the Chill and Prosper podcast, I’m talking about copycats, making your own path, and being original in your business (plus what happened with that blog post). 

Ask Me Anything: How To Protect Yourself From Negativity

I am doing another episode of Ask Me Anything. 

 

It keeps me on my toes because I’m answering a question every couple of minutes!

How decluttering helps you attract more money

Let’s be real: the physical space around you can really impact your mindset. 

 

Clutter can clog you up. It impacts your ability to focus and nags at you when you have a million other things to do.  Kind of like having 50 tabs open on your computer and you can’t figure out which one the music is coming from … 

 

It’s simply overwhelming.

 

When you have a lot of stuff, it's really hard to appreciate what you actually have in your life.

 

I’m a big fan of Marie Kondo’s KonMari Method. Marie’s instructions are that if it doesn’t spark joy, it has to go. 

 

Because a build up of junk in your workspace can actually spark a lot of negative outcomes instead … 

 

… stress because you can never find what you need under the mountain of mess on your desk.

 

… procrastination because you’ve been meaning to clean out your refrigerator for a while now and just got a whiff of death while getting a snack, so now you have to drop everything. 

 

… frustration because you are working all day every day … but nothing in your business or home ever seems to get done. 

 

It doesn’t have to be like that. 

 

Today on the Chill and Prosper podcast, I share how decluttering your space and mindset once and for all, can help you make more money.

How to avoid scheduling burnout in 2023

Can you believe we’re already in the third week of the New Year?

 

Have you flown into January and already have multiple new projects up and running? Or are you just getting round to opening your emails and working on your plan for the year? Either way is totally fine. 

 

The perfect time to plan out your year is whenever you actually do it! 

 

Mark and I like to start planning things out in December to give ourselves space for the year ahead, but if that’s not your vibe, don’t force it. 

 

You can make your plan any time. Sometimes, we don’t really get to it until February, which is Lunar New Year … so it totally still works. 

 

At its core, our planning process is very simple. 

 

Listen to this episode, where I share how to avoid scheduling burnout without compromising my goals.