STP 69 Should I host my podcast on Kajabi?
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[00:00:11] James Marland: Hello, this is James Meyerland host of the scaling therapy practice. This is the host. This is the show of course creation studio, where we empower mission driven leaders to launch life changing online courses. Today, we're going to be talking about Kajabi and its ability to host podcasts. I am doing a shorter. That's shorter and air quotes episode today.
[00:00:36] James Marland: I have my niece's wedding to go to on Friday and Saturday. I'm helping out with pictures and photography and some of the tech stuff. So I'm down a day and I've promised myself I'm just going to record and not do. Lots and lots of edits to the show. Because of the deadlines. So we'll see how that goes. But today we're going to talk about Kajabi and why. I love using Kajabi to host the podcast for the scaling therapy practice. Show. And I'll give you some behind the scenes.
[00:01:12] James Marland: Look at the podcasting hosting platform. Some of its great features and some of its limitations. So let's dive in. Firstly, I want to talk about my values. Why do I choose. Why do I make buying decisions? So I came up with three. Maybe you can identify with these. But I like simple. I like stuff that works.
[00:01:34] James Marland: I like something that you turn it on and it works.
[00:01:38] James Marland: And. That's one of the reasons why. I have an apple phone. I do have a PC, but I have an apple phone because you turn it on and it works. It doesn't have some of the up. Features that you. The advanced features from like Android phones and things. But. But it works. It's like it does it hardly ever breaks.
[00:02:01] James Marland: And so, I like simple and I like things that work and you don't have to think too much about it and you, it's hard to break it. My next value is I like getting. I like getting a good value. Like I'm the type of person that goes to the hardware store for a screwdriver, but I see a pack of 10 screwdrivers for $5 more.
[00:02:22] James Marland: And then I think about it for 15 minutes. Like, am I going to really. Do I need all these screwdrivers, what would I use them for? Oh, here's another pack for like three screwdrivers, but it's, you know, they're higher quality. And they're like double the price. What do I do? I think about those things and I analyze those things and I think, well, how am I going to get the most benefit out of my purchase? And I think the value for what you get in Kajabi with all the programs.
[00:02:50] James Marland: We'll talk about that. Adds up to excellent value for the price. And then finally I like integration. So Kajabi has.
[00:02:59] James Marland: There's multiple things you need for running an online course business or an online course. Coaching program or online products. And podcasting is one of those things and it includes it in the integration and all the things that you need. So, At one of the. If I was going to buy it anyways, I.
[00:03:19] James Marland: Like it, that it's all together in one, one log in one interface.
[00:03:25] James Marland: Before we talk about what I like about Kajabi and the podcasting hosting service, let's talk about some of the limitations. A walk. Kajabi is an excellent tool. It's important to know that the platform does have some limitations. For example, when it comes to ads and monetizing your podcast through ads, you have to add them manually.
[00:03:45] James Marland: There are other platforms I believe. Buzzsprout and maybe Lipson, they have injected ads or ads that automatically. You can place them at the beginning, middle or end automatically. And they, they partner with ad platforms that do that for you. You. I don't use that. So I'm not necessarily sure how it happens.
[00:04:07] James Marland: One of the, one of the shows I listen to it. Is a cat. A cast is their hosting platform, and I know they inject ads and those ads rotate and change. And so a Kajabi is, has limitations with the ads right now. So if you're, if you already have ads or you know that's going to be a major part of your platform and you don't want to do a lot of the fiddly bits yourself, Then Kajabi might not be for you now.
[00:04:33] James Marland: I know you can insert ads, but it's a file. You take the file and you'd cut your cut, your audio and you paste it in and then you have to. Put the music and it takes an extra five minutes or something to insert a file add. But it's not automatic. And it won't update automatically either like some of the other platforms.
[00:04:50] James Marland: So that's one limitation. Additionally Kajabi is still improving their analytic capabilities. It's still in beta. This means you can access the basic analytics, but the level of detail isn't as granular. And some of the other podcasting platforms that I've seen and I've worked in Buzzsprout and Lipson. And Kajabi, for example, one of the, one of the things I like, and I think this is in Libsyn is you can see your engagement. For of a podcast downloads for different time periods automatically in the first seven days, 30 days and 90 days of the podcast.
[00:05:25] James Marland: So you can really get a pulse on what is hitting. And what might be gaining momentum or what is one of the podcasts that has a longer tail that continues to build momentum? The other thing I like about a Buzzsprout is it. It sends you emails. It sends you emails when you hit milestones, which I think is really important and it builds builds. Just just engagement with you. One of the podcasts I produce the Therapy for your money podcast.
[00:05:52] James Marland: I've been doing it for about six months now. They were already successful. I didn't help them with their success. They're already successful without me, but they just hit a hundred thousand. I think it was, I got the email a hundred thousand downloads. In their two years of producing, it's like, awesome.
[00:06:08] James Marland: So those, I wish a Kajabi had some of those emails, those like gamification or like milestone. Emails. I think that would make the the experience a little better.
[00:06:21] James Marland: So, yeah the analytics and the ads is one of the big limitations Kajabi. So why Kajabi though? You. Why when. Why did I choose Kajabi? When I first decided to launch the podcast, I knew I needed a platform that was more. I needed a system that was more than just a place to host a podcast.
[00:06:43] James Marland: I needed a comprehensive tool that could not just handle podcasting, but also the website, the course material, email, communication, coaching, MCU communication, and also a community. Like I had dreams of creating an online community, like a Facebook group. And so. After examining. And remember, I'm the type of person who stares at a pack of screwdrivers for 10 minutes going, should I buy the one with two or three? So I did some research and I did charts and I found out the amount of money I was going to be paying for the all a cart options.
[00:07:18] James Marland: You know, getting an email, managing program, a website, hosting, a podcast hosting or community group. Marketing and funnels and all the, some of those other things. Ah, you, when you added that up, Kajabi was. You know, 10 or $15 more. Okay. So it was 10 or $15 more? Yes. Kajabi is an expensive program.
[00:07:37] James Marland: It's not a cheap. Solution, you know, it's not $10 a month. I think it's like $150 a month. So it's not a cheap solution, but when you added all those other things up, It was only 10 or $15, less than those items that I wanted to purchase that I needed for my online course business. So, what was I gaining?
[00:07:57] James Marland: What did I gain by getting Kajabi? And that goes back to my, my my values. Like I got simplicity. I got something that worked. I got integration.
[00:08:08] James Marland: And it has a mostly all in one solution and I didn't have to juggle multiple programs or systems multiple log-ins. Multiple ways to break things.
[00:08:21] James Marland: Cause it's, you know, If I can break it in a unique way, I'm going to do it. I'm going to find that way to, to break it. So, Kajabi was all integrated. One password, one system, they all the marketing works with the podcasting. The podcasting works with the courses. The files are shared internally.
[00:08:42] James Marland: So it's a really good. Kajabi another reason is it just made distribution very easy setting up. The podcast on Kajabi was pretty straightforward. The platform provided clear step-by-step instructions and coaching. For the major distributors like iTunes and Spotify and there's other ones you can sign up for. What I loved. What I loved about the integration and the distribution is that a. It It works with the newsletters.
[00:09:11] James Marland: I've already mentioned this, but because they're integrated. And the files are all there. You can, you could use the same picture. You can upload one picture once for your podcast and for the art and for your blog, and then use it in the newsletter. You just use the same posts and links over and over again.
[00:09:29] James Marland: So it simplified the distribution. It makes it easier. Cause man. If there's anything that's going to stop you from publishing it is. It's complexity when it's too complex to do, you're not going to do it. You're just going to do what comes easy and natural. So if newsletters or. If any of those was difficult, it wouldn't get done. So it simplifies the workflow and it allows us, it allows me to publish on a more consistent and regular basis. Another ad-on that Kajabi added in the last couple months that I really like that enhances listener engagement is the Kajabi creator program, which is pretty much a game changer for somebody who doesn't like to edit. And they just want to record and get good clips. The tool allows you to transform a single. File of audio. Let's say you record for 30 minutes and then it transforms into multiple. Pieces of content. I think this is pretty awesome, especially for people who aren't great editors or the like, how do I find good clips from my show? Is difficult. It can create blog posts, social media, show notes, Q and a questions about what you record.
[00:10:46] James Marland: And I think. The last time I checked, it was like 30 to 40 pieces of like that you can say make 30 pieces of content from this video. When I was using it, I really liked the the highlights. So you, it will auto select AI will auto select highlights. And then you can kind of select the highlights and say, yes, I like this highlight or remove it so it can edit your 30 minute video down to a five minute. Or even a one minute YouTube short or a five minute Tik TOK clip or something. So. It's it's really slick.
[00:11:21] James Marland: It's really nice. You do get one free creator content, a. A month. And then you can, if you publish more, you can buy, but you can use that one piece over and over again for multiple pieces of content, which really. It helps with listener engagement is if you have more content to put out there and it's easy for you to do, then it is a great. Tool for those of you who do it. Now I do use Descript.
[00:11:49] James Marland: That's what I'm recording on right now. And Descript I pay for and has some AI features. The script also allows me to record multiple speakers with high quality. So I have. I haven't switched from Descript. Yet to the creator program because it's, this is my flow and my process. But if I didn't have a process, I already and I needed to use the creator. Like you could use the creator. Four. Recording a lesson. And then.
[00:12:22] James Marland: Clip the lesson for a podcast like it.
[00:12:25] James Marland: It's really cool. So that's the creator program for enhancing listener engagement. Another big benefit of Kajabi is the support and community. It is. Fantastic. Like I belonged to the what is it called? The Kajabi hero. Facebook group. And there's like 40 posts. It feels like there's 40 posts a day of people trying to. Do their best and help other people and answer questions sometimes about the fiddly bits of Kajabi. And get feedback from the community on what they did.
[00:12:59] James Marland: It's really encouraging the, their kind of their community's really good.
[00:13:05] James Marland: The other thing I like about their support is there. They have. I feel like they have a webinar once a day. It's like a buffet of learning. If you wanted to spend a month learning Kajabi, you could go to all these Kajabi classes and webinars, or if you come up with a problem, like, oh, how do I podcast the best and build my audience? They have a webinar for that.
[00:13:28] James Marland: You know, how do you find your dream client? They have a webinar for that with Joey Goanna Joey. One of my favorite Kajabi heroes. They are. They're just very helpful and it's easy to find. Written support, but it's also easy to find. A customer service rep. They have a, they have an AI on their platform.
[00:13:50] James Marland: That is really good. I've asked it complex questions and about 85% of the time. It spits out the exact answer way better than old chatbots. I don't, I. We're living in a magic time, man. This is magic time. AI is just like, it's like star Trek, computer magic.
[00:14:10] James Marland: But. Their AI is really good, but if you can't get an AI, the AI to help you, their chat I've often gotten my answer in five minutes or less. Like they. They connect with you very quickly. There, they seem very knowledgeable. And I've gotten answers in my response. Now this will work for 90% of the people, 90% of the time.
[00:14:32] James Marland: There's no perfect support. And you know, people do complain about things, but. The chat features really good. The support is really good. And I haven't had any problems trying to figure out the program or learning it.
[00:14:46] James Marland: Finally, the, as I've mentioned before, The process is streamlined. One of the big things I like about Kajabi is having everything. Everything that's essential for podcast production. All in one place.
[00:15:03] James Marland: It's saved a lot of time. But also one of the big things for me is decision fatigue. I don't have to make a decision about what program am I working in? What are the features? How do I have to fiddle with all these. Dials and controls. To make it work properly. How do I integrate it? You know, if it's broken, how do I fix it? It's just all in one platform. They, the. Software you manage it.
[00:15:32] James Marland: You manage it within one platform.
[00:15:34] James Marland: There's one help. But in there's a one place to go for resources. It's it's efficiently knit together where you can, you hit your files are all in. All in the Kajabi platform. And it's just been a. I just don't have to think about what program I'm using. I just go into Kajabi. I upload my file. I make my audio and show notes and then I'm done so.
[00:16:06] James Marland: To wrap it up.
[00:16:07] James Marland: If you're thinking about starting a podcast. To go along with your community, your coaching program, your digital products, your I highly recommend Kajabi. It is a wonderful program that includes. Most of the things you're going to need for your business to start your program and support it with a podcast to January the listeners and the people who consume your content and get to know and like, and trust you. All right.
[00:16:36] James Marland: So that's my answer to why I use Kajabi as my online hosting. Platform for podcasting here in 2024. And if you enjoyed the show, give it a like, and share it with your friends. That would help me out a budge. We'll see you next time.
