Why Daniel Priestly is telling you to start a podcast
If you're a founder still lurking behind your company logo like it's your last line of defence, I've got news for you: your business needs YOUR face, not just your fancy branding and pictures of your team or thriving office culture.
Though those things are nice, a potential customer has nothing to hold onto. We buy from people, not businesses.
That’s why you need to be building your personal brand, and I feel like podcasting is the cheat code you’ve been searching for.
Now, before you roll your eyes at this article thinking 'not another personal brand lecture,' roll those eyes back into their appropriate location and give me a few minutes of your time.
This article will show you why a podcast can solve your problems.
I recently had a vigorous head-nodding session during Daniel Priestley's chat with Steven Bartlett on Diary of a CEO as he methodically listed how to build your personal brand. As a podcast producer, I immediately understood how many of the issues Daniel mentioned could be solved by starting your own podcast.
Unlike scattered social posts or fleeting video trends, podcasting offers something different: the power to build deep, lasting connections through intimate, long-form conversations. It's this unique combination of authority and authenticity that transforms you from just another voice in the crowd to the one on stage.
So let’s go into a few of the key points Daniel raised:
The 7-11-4 Rule: Your Accelerated Path to Influence
Think of podcasting as your personal brand accelerator. When Daniel Priestley shared his 7-11-4 rule – needing seven hours of engagement, 11 interactions, and presence on four platforms to cement your place in someone's memory – it became clear why podcasting is the ultimate fast track. A single one-hour podcast episode instantly tackles a significant portion of that seven-hour engagement requirement. But here's where it gets really powerful: that same episode becomes your content multiplication machine.
One Episode, Endless Possibilities: The Content Multiplication Effect
Picture this: you record one 60-minute podcast episode. From that single recording, you can create:
- 5-10 short-form video clips for Instagram and TikTok
- A full YouTube video with captions and timestamps
- 3-4 compelling LinkedIn articles from key discussion points
- 15-20 quote graphics for social media
- A blog post summarizing main takeaways
- Multiple Twitter threads highlighting key insights
- A newsletter featuring the episode's core message
- Audiograms for social media sharing
Suddenly, you're not just creating content – you're building an influence empire from a single conversation. This is how you achieve the 11 interactions across four platforms without exhausting yourself creating separate content pieces.
And although I gave the example of “one hour episodes”, the truth is that as short as 15-minutes will still get the job done if your content is good enough and your message is clear.
The Intimacy Advantage: Why Podcasting Builds Trust Faster
Unlike other mediums, podcasting creates the "drive-time intimacy factor." When listeners tune in during their commute, workout, or daily tasks, you're literally in their ears, speaking directly to them. This creates a level of trust and familiarity that typically takes months or years to build through other platforms. It's why podcast hosts often hear, "I feel like I know you!" from listeners they've never met.
Building an Empire Through Authentic Conversations: The Steven Bartlett Story
This trust-building power of podcasting is perfectly illustrated by Steven Bartlett's journey. At 28, he was already a successful entrepreneur, but it was his podcast "Diary of a CEO" that transformed him into a global thought leader. Starting from scratch in 2017 with a microphone in his bedroom, he has gone on to build one of Europe's most successful business podcasts and landed a role as the youngest Dragon on Dragons' Den. What makes his story particularly compelling is how he used podcasting to shift from 'successful entrepreneur to 'trusted voice of a generation' in just a few years.
Through long-form conversations with guests ranging from business leaders to psychologists, Bartlett demonstrated how podcasting can rapidly accelerate personal brand building. His approach of combining vulnerable personal insights with deep business discussions created a unique format that resonates deeply with audiences. The success of his podcast helped him secure speaking engagements worldwide and establish himself as a prominent voice in business and personal development.
From Unknown to Industry Authority: The Podcast Fast Track
The path from unknown to industry authority is dramatically shortened through podcasting. Here's why:
- Long-form content allows you to demonstrate deep expertise
- Regular episodes build a consistent presence
- Guest interviews position you alongside industry leaders
- Your voice becomes instantly recognisable
- You're creating searchable, evergreen content
- Each episode adds to your body of work
Leveraging the Network Effect
Every guest you interview potentially becomes an advocate for your brand. When they share their episode with their audience, you're instantly exposed to a new, pre-qualified audience who already trusts your guest's judgment. This creates a compound effect that traditional content marketing struggles to match.
The Power of Solo Episodes
Although I am a big advocate for guest episodes, I feel that it’s even more important when you’re trying to build your personal brand to have strong solo episodes.
This is just you, talking to your listener about things that are within your zone of genius. The content should be structured around what you want your listener to learn about you, showcase your unique skills and build your authority in your niche.
So if you’re not quite at the level where you can entice big name guests to your podcast, focus on delivering valuable solo content. This will highlight your expertise and build a strong connection to your listener.
The beauty of podcasting lies in its compound effect. While others are still trying to crack the algorithm on social media, you're building deep, meaningful connections that translate into real influence.
Transcript:
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[00:00:00] If you want to build a personal brand, why are you not podcasting already? Let's answer that question. Today, we're going to take a look at the episode that Diary of a CEO did with Daniel Priestley recently. This is the second time that Daniel Priestley has been on Diary of a CEO. If you don't know what that podcast is, definitely go and look it up. Stephen Bartlett is very well known. He is on Dragon's Den in the UK.
[00:00:32] He has built incredible companies. Daniel Priestley is also an absolute boss in his industry as well. And he has a book called Key Person of Influence, as well as other titles as well. But this particular book is very interesting read. I decided I wanted to take a look at how this particular podcast episode that Daniel did with Stephen Bartlett is telling you that you should have a podcast.
[00:00:56] Every few minutes when I was listening to that episode, I was like, Oh my God. Yes, yes, yes, yes. These are things I say all the time and how they relate to building a personal brand and why podcasting is such a valuable part of that conversation. Such a valuable tool. That's why I want to break this down today.
[00:01:16] We're going to go into a few of the things that Daniel Priestly spoke about to try and inform you if you're kind of on the fence a little bit, or if you have a podcast already and you're like, I don't know whether it's worth it. You know, it's a lot of time or it's costing me money. I don't know. Maybe I don't need one.
[00:01:34] Let me just say, if you're trying to build a personal brand podcasting should be on your radar as something to do. So let's have a little look at some of the things that Daniel and Stephen spoke about. He mentioned that people have a limited number of memory slots in their brain, which I thought was really interesting.
[00:01:54] About 1, 500 total slots for people for you to remember [00:02:00] faces and names, and then only 150 of them. That you will remember well. To be successful, you need to get into people's heads and that then requires repetition and visibility in multiple contexts. Not everyone's on LinkedIn, not everyone's on XYZ, you know, so you have to spread yourself.
[00:02:21] You have to be remembered in multiple places. You have to be seen in multiple places. Then he went into something called the 7 11 4 rule. Research suggests that people need seven hours of engagement, 11 interactions on four platforms to remember someone. So, okay. Firstly, they've got a limited number of slots and then they need seven hours of engagement, 11 interactions and four platforms to remember you.
[00:02:48] For 150. People that they can remember in here, you need to hit those markers. So it highlights the importance of consistent multi platform presence for building a personal brand. And that's why podcasting is so beneficial here, because when we think about what happens with a podcast, if we do it properly, okay, the way we like to do it here at Bamby Media for our clients, if they have the budget to do so, we like to take it further than just the audio edit.
[00:03:20] We like for them to do a video version, doesn't need to be the full video if they're not comfortable with putting everything on YouTube and all that sort of thing, but there needs to be some form of video that's being recorded for each episode so that we can hit the audio platforms. We can hit the video platforms.
[00:03:38] We can take snippets from that and we can share those snippets or they can share those snippets. On the platforms that make sense for them. So LinkedIn, Instagram, Tik TOK, Facebook reels are also a thing that people use. So we've shared the video in multiple places, YouTube shorts, and then to build that, that sort of spread even further to get that 11 interactions and four [00:04:00] platforms thing, you also need to meet them somewhere else, which is in the written word.
[00:04:05] So again, having that. It's a podcast episode that you do a video for that you then also have an article written for, then you can use in your newsletter. You can have a LinkedIn article. You can put that article on Medium. See what we're doing here? So really spreading it. From that one piece, we want to get as many interactions as we can.
[00:04:27] That will hit that 7 11 4 rule. And we do that for every episode and then boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. There's the seven hours of engagement because over multiple episodes, you're going to start to hit the markers that you need to hit there. So that is a very powerful tool and something to think about.
[00:04:45] Next up, they had a little chat about parasocial relationships. So people develop this like one sided relationship with those that they frequently see in media. And in fact, I've had that even myself. I had a meeting, like a consult with someone just recently and they got on the call, like the Zoom call, and they were like, Oh my God, I feel like I'm talking to a celebrity.
[00:05:06] I've watched so much of your content already on YouTube. I feel like I know you. Like, I feel like you're famous just because I've seen you on a screen. And it made me laugh and it made me think of that, that parasocial relationship thing, because I'm just a, you know, I'm just a person, but to you, it feels like if you watch enough of me, you go, Oh, I really feel like I know that person because I've seen that person enough times for me to feel like I know them and I like them.
[00:05:33] And as a result, I trust them. That's what we're trying to build here. That's what a podcast is doing. And it's especially interesting with this like audio and video debate. You know, I, I still think that you can develop a very strong connection with someone, even if they can't see you. Some people feel like they need to be able to see the person to feel like they know them.
[00:05:54] But the audio only experience is, is so like personal and it's so [00:06:00] beautiful. And you just feel like they're right there in your ears and you're not being distracted by other things. So I feel like. Perhaps you can feel even a stronger connection to someone if it's just audio only as well. So that's how with these parasocial relationships, they're getting to know you.
[00:06:14] They're getting to like you. They're getting to trust you from seeing you all the time. Now, if we touch on where Daniel was talking about standing out, this is something I talk about. A lot. How are you going to be different from someone else? Because the brain is very good at deleting messages, things that they feel like I've seen that a hundred times, or this business coach feels very similar to this business coach.
[00:06:40] And there's nothing that connects me to them in any other way. So they just kind of forget you. So in order to stand out, you have to be either scary. strange, sexy, provide free value or be familiar. So while most businesses, you know, it's, it's not really something that everyone can be scary or strange or sexy.
[00:07:02] Um, everyone can provide free value. If you feel like you've got nothing else going for you, uh, then the quality of the free value is going to be really important there. Even something as silly or as something that represents you, like for me, for example, if we think about myself, I have a fringe, or as people talk about in the U.
[00:07:22] S., bangs. I have bangs. This is part of my thing. This is part of my, like, identity. This is part of the thing that people remember about me, where they, oh yeah, that's that girl with the, with the fringe. Same with the Bambi Media logo, with the branding, there's this, you know, this fringe, and then there's headphones on the top of them.
[00:07:41] And that's often how you see me, like this. Ready? Okay. So. This is part of my like visual branding. Part of what makes me unique is the fact that not a lot of people have the patience to have a fringe long term because they are a little bit of a pain in the ass. So again, that's just a tiny thing, but [00:08:00] it's something.
[00:08:00] And then also for me, what makes me different, I suppose, is the fact that I've got a giant Lego wall. And I talk about the fact that I love these. Things, and I love to build Lego and I'm overenthusiastic perhaps sometimes. They've got enough sort of things happening here for people to remember me. I mean, that's my hope.
[00:08:21] I hope you remember me, but you know, you've got to have some things that build up to go, okay, how am I going to stand out from someone else? That's important for you to ask yourself that question. How will I stand out? They also spoke about moving from consumer to creator and again, this is so important and so easy to do when you have a podcast because you have to lock in, in your diary, in your schedule, a time where you're going to record content, where you're going to put podcasting things together.
[00:08:54] You're going to do your social snippets, you're going to, you know, write your articles, record the video, record the audio. You have to have all those things locked in the time that you're dedicating to creating content is time that you're by default, not consuming content. And then, especially if you're outsourcing, like for a lot of our clients, you know, we do all that stuff for them.
[00:09:18] So they hit record and then we produce all this repurposed content for them. And then we also, for some of them, depending on their budget, okay. And their package, we then put all that content onto socials. For them, the one social channel that makes the most sense for them, they're in charge of the others.
[00:09:36] That's even less time that they have to be like connected to a social media platform consuming. Yeah. Getting distracted while they're supposed to be updating things and putting things on YouTube shorts. And then they're down a rabbit hole and you know, so it kind of just. Takes that away from them. They just hit record, they batch their content, and then they've created a hell of a lot more than they've consumed.[00:10:00]
[00:10:00] Prioritizing your creation of content and not being mindlessly scrolling, not allowing that, is a really big part of creating a personal brand that actually has longevity. And then one of the last pieces that I want to touch on is the fact that Daniel went in to say that long form content is where it's at right now.
[00:10:23] That is so clear to me from the, uh, you know, the, the speed at which podcasting is taking over. The fact that you're getting these giant long podcast episodes that are on YouTube and also on podcast platforms as well, that they're two hours and they're three hours long and they're. Potentially these big panel discussions where you've got lots of people in as well and they're asking questions and they're all these interviews and things.
[00:10:49] There's a lot more of that happening, albeit there's a lot of male content. I'm not seeing as many females doing the same thing. I would like to see more of that. It is something that is definitely real in this age where we've gotten so used to short videos and things being AI and, you know, these quick fixes and TikTok and all of that, people are really craving for just like longer.
[00:11:16] Unscripted content where they feel like they're really getting to know people. So if someone asks you a question and it's not a scripted question, you have to respond to that as a normal person. Like, with your thoughts and with the knowledge that you already have. You don't have time to have the perfect, like, You just have to be who you are.
[00:11:37] People are craving that so much because they see so little of it. There's so much that's fake that things that feel real are getting a lot more attention and podcasting can do that for you. It doesn't mean that every episode that you do needs to be a giant, you know, two hour conversation. Some of that really [00:12:00] feels.
[00:12:00] Like it's ego driven and depending on the podcast as well. You don't need to do that. Okay. But you do need to have stuff that's longer than a couple of minutes, 10, 15 minutes is still classified as long form. If you've not reading off a script in a teleprompter the whole time, so you feel like you're actually just having a conversation with someone that's still long form, 15, 20 minutes of you.
[00:12:24] Like I am right now, I'm re, I have, you know, a few dot points, but I'm just being me. I'm just telling you, even though you're not here with me right now, I'm telling you things that are coming straight from my brain unscripted. And that's always a good idea. Doesn't mean you're going to be very good at it to begin with.
[00:12:43] That's okay. You're going to need time to really get good at just talking. And there's courses and things that you can do on that as well, but know that when you can get to the place where long form content isn't scary, and you can sit in front of a camera like I am right now, you're on the money. You're going to go really well.
[00:13:02] Why podcasting is a good idea based on what Daniel and what Stephen have discussed in that Diary of a CEO episode. I've kind of mentioned a few things here, but the time investment would be the first one. So a podcast really simply allows you to accumulate that seven hours that's needed for familiarity.
[00:13:22] For familiarity,
[00:13:26] that's hard to say, listeners spend, viewers spend considerable time watching you. It's so easy to clock up the hours that you need there through a podcast, multiple interactions. They also need that a listener and a viewer needs that from you in order to know, like and trust you. And so each episode is an interaction with someone there, especially if you have other content.
[00:13:51] Like platforms that you're sharing things on, like I mentioned before, again, so easy to hit what you need to hit from a podcast. If you repurpose it [00:14:00] properly to build your personal brand further to that, the platform diversity is important. So the amount of interactions they have, depending on where they are and then on the different platforms as well, you can hit that with the repurposing too.
[00:14:14] Podcasting is also a very easy way to provide free value. This has to be good free value. This has to be something unique in the free value. If you're going to say something that someone else has said, which everyone has done. Everyone, let's be honest, there's, there's really not a lot of new information, probably.
[00:14:34] How are you providing that free value in a way that feels valuable? You think it's valuable. How does it feel valuable to someone else? And long form content is the king at the end. At the moment, maybe it'll change, but I don't think that people will really tire of listening to people talk about things that they're passionate about, that they're engaged with, that they feel that they can resonate with, that they can relate to.
[00:15:00] That's not ever going to go out of fashion. It's always going to be important to be able to share stories and, and, and talk at length with other people. That's always going to be interesting. So long form content in the form of podcasting is a key factor as well. The other thing we'll touch on is scalability.
[00:15:20] That's something that you don't necessarily go to straight away when you think about podcasting because it's, it's like, how do I scale my podcast? But it's, it's scalable on its own because it's a global platform. You can have. Your podcast that you've recorded in Australia, like I have right now, and then that gets spread everywhere.
[00:15:41] It's at scale. It's anywhere that it needs to get to, providing you're repurposing. You can be on YouTube, YouTube Shorts, LinkedIn. You can share LinkedIn videos. You can go on Instagram. You can go on TikTok. You can go on Blue Sky and like, there's a thousand other places. You can be on Medium. [00:16:00] You can just share it, sub stack.
[00:16:02] Like, there's so many. places that make it scalable. Because again, you've taken that one thing and you've gone, I'm going to put that at scale to go everywhere. And so if we bring this back to the whole point. Of this conversation, which is personal branding, building a personal brand. Can you see now from that conversation, even that Daniel had with Steven on diary of a CEO, how important, how integral a podcast can be for building your personal brand, there are things that you will be able to develop from a podcast that actually make your life.
[00:16:42] So much easier in the building of the personal brand because you're only needing to create the one thing and as long as that one thing is high value enough, professional enough, or maybe it's not professional, maybe your whole shtick is, you know, it's, you're supposed to be super relatable and you look like you're a bit disheveled and you know, you're like the common man, like all that doesn't have to be professional.
[00:17:08] It has to work for your niche. Transcribed And it has to be with your brand identity. intact. If you've got those things locked, then building your personal brand, becoming a key person of influence, like Daniel talks about. I mean, I feel like I'm, I feel like I'm doing an ad for Daniel here, but it's, it's honestly, it's just really good information.
[00:17:31] It makes a lot of sense for podcasters to take note and do something about it. And if you're not a podcaster already, go and start one. If you need help. You can get Bambi Media to, uh, help in some capacity. We have consults, we have services, we have all these things. But at the end of the day, if you're trying to build a personal brand, you've got to build it somehow.
[00:17:52] You've got to decide what that method of build is. And for a lot of people, podcasting [00:18:00] is a very Easy, I say easy. It's less friction than other methods to actually help you build a personal brand quickly. I hope you enjoyed this conversation that we had together where you didn't respond and I just talked at you.
[00:18:16] Ha ha ha. I really love chatting about this kind of stuff, and I just want you to win. I really want you to win. I want you to build something that you want to build on your own terms, in your own time. That's very important to me, that everyone lives the life that they ultimately want to live, that you have time in your day, in your week, in your month, in your year.
[00:18:39] To explore the parts of you, the creative parts of you that feel like they've been squashed. Podcasting, building a personal brand can help you get some of that to the surface and just be more of who you are. Have a lovely day and I will talk to you again soon.
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