The Power of Client Gifting: How to Build Relationships and Keep Your Business Top of Mind

:: 00:05

How much is that new?

:: 00:20

And welcome to the Podcast Editors Mastermind, your favorite about the business of podcast editing. I am your host tonight, Carrie Caulfield. Eric. And I am joined by Jennifer Longworth of Burping Barrel Podcasting. And it's just us.

:: 00:37

Yeah, just us. Brian and Daniel are out tonight because they don't love you as much as we do.

:: 00:48

No, they do. Tonight we are talking about client gifting. Yeah. And how to show your appreciation and kind of ensuring I don't want to say loyalty. That almost sounds really terrible.

:: 01:05

Top of mind awareness is bad. That would be the marketing branding idea. So we would love to know if you give your clients gifts and if you do, when you do what you give them and how you keep it affordable because obviously you don't want to take the money they gave you and then turn around and give it back to them.

:: 01:34

But it is like a marketing expense certainly because it costs less to keep a customer than it is to get a new one. So Jennifer, you have done something kind of neat for your clients. Do you want to talk a little bit about that? Sure. It's kind of how we landed on this topic for this week and we say have done, it was in the past but it's more like am doing right now because I don't even have all of the product in yet.

:: 02:08

But I'm really excited. But I wanted to share first something I learned a while back from oh, I think he is a podcaster too, Adam Hires, he's a business coach too. He's local here in Lexington, Kentucky, and he did a talk once about not slapping your clients with your own logo because you might want to send them a bourbon barrel podcasting mug or a bourbon barrel podcasting t shirt. Because you think they would love a mug and a T shirt, but you're just smacking them with your own logo so it's not as personal. So what I'm doing this year and I have examples, I made cover art stickers for my clients from Sticker Mules stickermill.com.

:: 02:56

They have deals all the time and if you buy multiple designs, you get a discount. Sometimes you'll get an email that ten stickers for one dollars or whatever and if you spend a certain amount they'll send you hot sauce, whatever. Do they really send you hot sauce? Yes. I don't know if it's really hot or if it's just like a barbecue sauce, but it's mule sauce sauce that kicks like a mule.

:: 03:23

Okay, so I don't know but I declined it this last time. I'm like I don't need more hot sauce, I always need more hot sauce. But my stickers came today and so everyone's getting their own logo on a sticker instead of my logo on a sticker. And it's just a little pack. I didn't get them big pack because this is the first time I'm doing it and I just want to see how it goes over.

:: 03:48

But I'm also doing key chains. And this is the original version. It says, ask me about my podcast on it. And I've reformatted it a little bit, but the new ones aren't in yet. But it's got a nice neutral background.

:: 04:03

And it says, ask me about my podcast on it. And it has a traditional key ring ring and then a clip too, so they could use it to keychain or clip it on their backpack. And then it says, ask me about my podcast. And I got these from 31. I'm going to drop that link in.

:: 04:24

Well, I appreciate the clip. Like the options. It's just so much easier to clip something keyring and seems silly, but I love that Alejandro asked about that. He's like, is this for a keychain or for a backpack or what? I'm like, well, it has the clip, so you could put it wherever.

:: 04:43

So hopefully that'll be good. And I ordered some extras so that when I get a new client, maybe when they start their show, then I can send out and ask me about my podcast keychain, congratulating them on their show. That's a fabulous idea. Like a welcome a launch, welcome to podcasting. Kind of like you could do a lot of stuff with that.

:: 05:06

Actually, that isn't going to be super expensive. And these were less than $15 each. The keychains were oh, wow. And so how many did you do? I ordered 20 keychains because I have eight sets of stickers and not everyone's getting stickers.

:: 05:22

Sorry. Because I don't have good quality artwork for everyone. Just saying. We'll talk about that another time, I'm sure. But I ordered 20 keychains so that everybody, even the inactives can get one.

:: 05:38

Okay. So I'm going to ask a couple of questions. What is your reasoning for giving them to your inactive clients? Because the inactive need to come back. Some of them decided to go on a season.

:: 05:53

Okay. I hate seasons because unless you have a story arc that makes sense to break after a season, seasons are also an excuse to take a break and not come back. So I kind of want to entice the people who have taken a season break to come back. Does that make sense? Yeah.

:: 06:13

And if they do, great. If they don't find it cost me that much. Yeah. And I think that even if they don't come back right away, that's always going to be on their mind. And they'll probably because they have a podcast, they'll probably clip it onto something and it'll be there as like a constant reminder, like, oh, the podcast.

:: 06:34

And then people might actually ask them about their podcast. Well, I have one more thing to show. Okay. And show and tell real quick. I couldn't not send my logo.

:: 06:45

I'm not going to smack them with my logo product. But when they open up their mailbox, they're going to see a big padded envelope with my logo on it and then they have to open it and get their goodies. But it says Bourbon Barrel Podcasting across the back of my padded envelope, which I also got from Sticker Mule. I didn't know Sticker Mule did all that. Sticker mule does a lot.

:: 07:09

That's where I get my coasters. Oh really? Yeah, the well known Bourbon Barrel podcast and coaster that everyone wants at every conference they go to? Yes, those are from Sticker mule. Like people ask you about the coasters.

:: 07:20

Oh, wow, I didn't know that. And people don't get rid of the coaster either. I might throw a coaster in with the goodie bag too, because I have so many of them, but people don't throw them away. And when we go to network meet up and people are like, oh, I have your coaster. Oh, I have your coaster.

:: 07:37

Oh, I have your coaster. I think maybe what we didn't talk about yet is why you would give your client a gift. Well, what have you done? I want to know this first before we do that. So I have picked out personalized gifts, usually just Amazon.

:: 07:56

What I try to do for my clients is and I don't do it for the inactive clients or I haven't in the past and honestly, some of my inactive clients, I don't want them to come back. Well, I'm not going to send those people in. Basically, they're not working with me. There's a reason. But I try to think about the client, the skills they need to build or the things that they need to work on or their sound problems and I will usually order them something off of Amazon.

:: 08:31

I have done acoustic foam panels.

:: 08:37

Nice. Yeah, you have to put in a little explanation. I use the gift card option, the gift option on Amazon and they'll write a short little message that you type out to kind of explain what it's for. And usually they'll like usually they'll email and ask me like, where exactly should I put these? And then we start that conversation.

:: 09:01

They get excited about it because it's like they kind of feel like they're going to that next level because now they have acoustic foam and that's all serious and professional. So that's always a fun gift. And I try to pick a color that they like or matches their branding and if I can't find it, I'll just get them like black. But for interview podcasters who maybe struggle with asking questions or really understanding how to get people to open up, maybe they're just not great interviewers. They don't ask great follow up questions.

:: 09:44

I will get them. There's this graphic novel, I think it's called Bird on a Wire, which IRA Glass and an artist did, a graphic novelist did together. That's really phenomenal. And it's used in a lot of podcasting courses now and it's a really fun book and it's a really easy read and it's broken down in a way that kind of makes sense. So you can go to and it features like basically interviews or these really phenomenal podcasters, like giving you their techniques and their production process that's been really popular.

:: 10:25

And so I try to pick different things that they would appreciate. And I think between the acoustic foam and the book, those are my two really big go to and they really love it. So once you've done that, what do you do next? It sounds like a one time thing. Or you give them like one square of acoustic foam every year.

:: 10:53

Well, no, I don't give them one square of acoustic foam every year.

:: 10:59

It's a little bit different now simply because they don't have as many independent podcast clients, right? So for those like corporate clients who don't really get them anything, usually they get me stuff. Nice. Love getting an Amazon gift card, that's for sure. Patrick says, I'll send my clients cloud noses for their mics, just a pack of pop filters in like, again, their branding color.

:: 11:34

And this is why I love Amazon. That's a really appreciated gift. If they do lives like we do, sometimes I'll get them like a little set of lights or something or a little like something to put behind them, something cute. So I really do try to think about the podcaster, what they need, what they need to work on, what I want to make them sound better. Are you buying Samsung QTU's and send them out?

:: 12:09

Well, no, because now my clients, they've all since upgraded their microphone. So I'm pretty happy with that. Except for I do have the Star Wars podcast that I'm still like. It's my first we've done our first year together and there are four of them. So I would maybe like to send them Samsung Q, YouTube because I don't know, I don't want to say it.

:: 12:34

For the most part, I guess that there's been small improvements. But yeah, they need a little bit of love. But I don't necessarily want to buy four microphones. I did send a queue to you, to someone once, but they were not appreciative and we do not work together anymore. Yeah, but they sounded terrible.

:: 12:50

And I'm like, what are you using? And I think it was a blue snowball. So I sent them a QTU. I was like, Here you go. So what is the point of giving clients gifts?

:: 13:03

Essentially, like, what do you think that really accomplishes? I think it does a few things. One of them being building the relationship between you and the client. So usually it's just like editing money, money editing, trading money and editing. But this takes it to another, like, hey, look, I thought about you outside of the money and the editing, you know, it helps keep you at top of mind.

:: 13:35

So like I said, I'm sending some of these to clients who are in between seasons, although it's been like a year or whatever. But say, hey, I'm still thinking about you. If you decide to come back, come back to me. So that type of thing. And let them know they're appreciating that I like you.

:: 13:57

I like working with you. I appreciate it. I haven't figured out what to say on a card yet. I think I want to handwrite like, hey, it's great working with you. If I know which holiday they celebrate, include that I would probably pick something that they haven't proved on over the year or some sort of impact they've had and sometimes even some sort of impact they've had on me personally just from listening to their show, like one show.

:: 14:29

Sorry, Patrick Keller said that's Valentine's Day. Jennifer well, I mean, I'm not going to send them stuff for Valentine's Day. Sorry. I don't love them. I love them, but I don't love I like you.

:: 14:44

Yeah, but again, it's that personalization. It is really that relationship building. It's not I'm just doing the work and taking your money. Like super transactional kind of relationship. Yes, that's what I was looking for.

:: 15:03

Right. It's like I really care about the work I do for you. I care about your show and I care about you. Right. I care about your success.

:: 15:14

And I think when they get that little token, it doesn't have to be a large gesture, but it's something extra. It's like a value add. We talk about that a lot. It's going that extra mile for your client and just letting them know that you are invested like you are their partner, it really does make a difference. And the people that it resonates with that really appreciate your gift and your investment in them I think are the clients that are going to stay with you for a while.

:: 15:49

But also podcasting is hard and you don't always get feedback from people. And so just to have that little gift from somebody who knows your show intimately is really like a boost and may actually help your client keep podcasting. Right. Keep being your client, keep doing the work despite the fact that it's hard because they've gotten that little boost of like, wow, this matters so much to this person that they actually took the time to send me some sort of thoughtful gift and now I have stickers. I have to keep doing my show.

:: 16:34

Yes, exactly. It's weird like that, right. Or ask me about my podcast. Right. So now you're going to have and that actually works by the way.

:: 16:46

You ask me about your podcast. Yeah, if you have them on something and you're out in public. Another thing idea is to put it on a t shirt. Right. But I'm not going to pay to get everybody a t shirt and I don't know their sizes and that's awkward, right?

:: 17:01

Well, you can ask their size like, hey, I was going to pick you up a T shirt, whatever. And what's your size? It depends on your relationship with your client. Probably I could do that. I wouldn't have a problem asking anybody their side.

:: 17:17

Hey, are you an extra large medium? I haven't seen some of these people. I don't even know what to guess. I just know their voices. I'm like, I haven't met most of my clients.

:: 17:30

Don't you have a zoom with them or something? Sometimes, yeah. Okay, so even, like, a sticker? Whatever. I have been in the grocery store, and I have asked me about my podcast on my phone case, and then I have a T shirt, and it works.

:: 17:51

Like, you will be in public, and people will be like, oh, you have a podcast? Oh, you want me to ask you about your podcast? It actually works. Well, I have the Podcast Editor club sticker on my phone case. I'm a professional podcast editor or whatever it says from the conference.

:: 18:09

And people will go, oh, what's that? And they ask me, that just about that little sticker. So I'm sure if I'm proactively asking them to ask me about my podcast and I have a podcast now called The Podcast or Your Mastermind Show. So I can participate in that conversation again. You can?

:: 18:25

Yes. Oh, you always could. You could just be the producer. You could have been just in the producer. People like, well, what's your show?

:: 18:35

I'm like, well, my answer for a while was, I don't have my own show, but I have lots of shows that are mine. Patrick asked what I sent Stephen King to say thank you. And Patrick, we would refer to him as SK. That's what he prefers, SK. In case anybody needs to know that or want to have a conversation with him.

:: 18:57

I did not send him anything because I did not get to talk to Stephen. He had nothing to do with it. He just wrote the story was turned into a podcast. He licensed the story to be turned into a podcast, and he got final approval. So he just listened to, like, the finished product, essentially.

:: 19:19

I'm sure the production company got SK something, but I was not involved in that decision at all. And what do you get the man who probably has everything? Okay, good show, everybody. Well, I was about to pull up. I asked this question in the Podcast Editor Club a while back, and I'm trying to find what other people answered.

:: 19:41

Okay, here it is. I said, you do anything special for your clients for the holidays? I don't usually, but I'm inspired this year. And Steve said that if you're not comfortable or don't think you should give gifts or don't know what to do, leave them a recommendation on their LinkedIn page or leave a review in Apple or on Pod Chaser. Just let people know that you care about them.

:: 20:11

Yeah, it's making that gesture. There really is something nice about somebody like sitting down, taking the time to do something thoughtful for you, even though it's like a client relationship. I got a card, a Thanksgiving Day card from my travel agent, and I was like, wow, that's awesome. It was just a card. There was no keychain or stickers or anything like that, but it was a card from my travel agent, and that was just really cool.

:: 20:42

Yeah, you can do a card. Like, Christmas card is just fine. And one question that listeners may be having, or editors of listeners, what are we supposed to call everybody? One question that Patrick may be having hi, Patrick. Is like, do you ask them their address or how do you know where they live, where to send something?

:: 21:10

Because in the world of digital payments, you may not always have access to their address, especially if you're using something like cash app or Venmo to send payment. Well, that's an excellent question. I'm so glad you asked. Yeah. Thanks, Patrick.

:: 21:27

We're reading your mind. A few of mine I do have addresses I built through Wave, so they have put their address in the system. A few of them sell things on their websites and have their address on their website.

:: 21:43

A few of them I know locally, so hopefully they come to the next podcast or meet up and I will just hand it to them. Oh, that's always nice. Yes, I have a few who do that, but otherwise I'm going to use hopefully have Wave or stalk them online or ask if it comes down to it, and I can't find it any other way, I guess I'll just ask. But I'm going to try the other methods first. Well, I like it to be a surprise.

:: 22:10

I don't like, ask people their address and they'll be like, well, you need to know my address because I'm sending you something. Well, it's nice. Or you can just be like, I'd like to send you a card for the holidays. You don't have to tell them you're sending them a gift. But I have had clients tell me on the flip side that like, can I get your address because I'd like to send you a little something.

:: 22:33

Which kind of leads me into my other question. Do you have clients send you things, send you gifts at all? Only once ever. And I've been doing this for six years. Really?

:: 22:46

Okay, that's not totally true. Hold on, I forgot someone way back, six or seven years ago when I was still with the radio, I did have a radio host send me gifts, but as far as being an independent podcaster editor, only once. Oh, wait, here. Patrick says someone needs to invent a service that lets you send a gift to a person without having their address. That's like Starbucks gift cards to their email.

:: 23:14

Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of gift cards simply because I don't want people to know how much money I spent on them, because then when I get a deal point but there's nothing wrong with literally buying your client a cup of coffee. A cup of coffee at Starbucks is, what, $10 now? Depends on what you get. I feel like everything is $10 now, so it doesn't even really matter. Bananas.

:: 23:43

$10.

:: 23:46

Inflation. Patrick adds. Like they get a link, letting them know a gift is waiting, and they give the service their address to deliver it. Patrick, you should not have said that out loud, because that's a really great idea. Now somebody's going to steal it.

:: 24:08

Yeah. One of the millions of people who listen to the podcast under Mastermind, well, there are like 160 of you, so one of you can go out and steal that idea. So the idea is that you want to send someone something and all you have is their email address. Right. And you say, I want to send this awesome thing to this person whose email address is this, and then the service says, okay, and they email them and ask about the address without you having to know the address.

:: 24:40

Yeah. So look at us. Masterminding a completely different industry.

:: 24:48

That's fabulous. That's fabulous. Which is why if you want to actually come on the show and talk about a problem, this is the kind of stuff that we do. We will help you work through it and come up with your million dollar idea, even if it's in another industry.

:: 25:09

Well, the point is that you can do little things with great love to show your clients that you appreciate them, even if it's just leaving them a review or sending them stickers or whatever to let them know you're thinking of them. Which also helps you because it makes you look really good and keeps you top of mind. And especially if you give them something like this keychain and they look at it and they remember you. Plus, it helps them and it works both ways. So that's what I think.

:: 25:50

But you don't have to spend a lot of money either. No, it is like those little things, like leaving a review. Now, if you left them a review or something, or recommendation on LinkedIn. Because I'm not a big LinkedIn person, people have left me recommendations, and I don't remember paying any attention to the notification. So would you tell them you did that or no, no, I wouldn't tell them.

:: 26:15

I would just do it. Just be a little surprised. I do have one recommendation on LinkedIn, so if anyone wants to leave me more, that'd be great. Jennifer Longworth, LinkedIn. But I don't remember if I got a notification for it.

:: 26:29

But it's still social proofing me. And social proof is always fun. Yeah. And hopefully podcasters understand that they're not real good at marketing. None of us are really good at marketing in our industry, unless it's a marketing show.

:: 26:46

It's really good at marketing, I would say. I think it's something that editors struggle with. And I guess, really, this is marketing, right? This is a form of marketing because all marketing is communicating and building relationships. And so if you hate that, kind of like yellow marketing, you know what I'm talking about.

:: 27:14

That's right. Very impersonal and annoying. And you're usually smacking somebody and they're going to be upset about it. If they're like me, I get distracted. And this time it wasn't Patrick, it was Jennifer.

:: 27:34

No, we're not very good at marketing, and we feel oftentimes that marketing is disingenuous. But this little act of gift giving or taking a moment to do something thoughtful for your client really is a powerful act that not only builds your brand reputation, it builds your relationship with the client. And then, like Jennifer said, it keeps you top of mind. And then when that podcaster is talking to another podcaster, or a potential podcaster, and they're talking about the production process, and they'll let their friend know. And I have this fabulous editor who allows me to get my show done and to make it sound really good and really professional.

:: 28:31

And oftentimes the editor is the secret to a successful show because we do allow the podcasters to focus on other things. So it's really building that connection. And they will share it and not they won't share oh, but they also got me a gift. No, they'll share that recommendation that they like you. Yeah, I like you too.

:: 29:03

And Patrick said, I think a few of you have mentioned not giving special deals to your clients, but can a special deal be used in place of a gift? I would say no. Just off the top of my head, I would say no. I don't think our work should be discounted in the first place. I think it's already priced too low.

:: 29:25

I don't know what your rate is, but it's too low. And I don't think people appreciate discounts the same way they do. If it was something unexpected, like a keychain or a coffee mug, a sticker, like something that kind of takes this out of the transactional. Right. Because I think when you're giving discounts, it's still transactional.

:: 29:53

So I think what gift giving does is remove that transactional element, and it really is a demonstration of thoughtfulness and appreciation in a way that maybe in a way a discount isn't. And I would hate to set that up as a precedent, too. Expectation. Yeah, you don't want your clients to expect that every year and Patrick says, or a coupon for one free late deadline without a fine. No, because again, it's like if you did that for a kid and they keep wanting more.

:: 30:30

Right. And honestly, there's not a lot of difference. And I know, Patrick, you're in education and work with kids, so let me just say the tactics you use to keep kids well behaved or the same tactics you use to keep clients well behaved.

:: 30:55

I spent my early life as a nanny, and then I went to go get a job and working with adults in retail and waitressing, whatever. And every manager said to me, oh, well, if you've worked with children, you can handle customers. Allow. And it's true. So, yeah.

:: 31:23

Patrick, do you have any more wonderful questions? You've asked some great ones tonight. If not, that's okay. Yeah. Do you have a podcast question we can ask?

:: 31:33

I do have a pod decks question, so I'm going to do this. Tell me when to stop. Well, you can't see it, but I'm going to shuffle stop. Oh. Which talent would you most like to have?

:: 31:47

What talent would I most like to have? Yeah. That I don't already have. That you don't already have because you do have a lot of talent. I would have to top of mind answer is dancing, because I can't I say that, and it's to the point where I got cut from scenes and musicals because I couldn't do the dances.

:: 32:12

Wait, so Patrick just played out a great idea, pod decks as a gift. Yeah. Fabulous. Fabulous. Okay.

:: 32:20

I like that idea, too. Send the gift idea of pod decks. But anyway, dancing would be mine because I'd have two left feet. And what about you, Carrie? It's funny you say dancing, because I was literally thinking, or I've been flirting with the idea lately that I would like to take a dance class.

:: 32:40

Yeah. But I just can't decide what kind of dance class to take. Two left feet. Dance class. But yeah, dance.

:: 32:47

I know, right? I would really like to learn how to dance, and especially because one of the podcasts I'm working on, one of the episodes, is about the disconnection between our mind and our bodies and how dance bridges that.

:: 33:08

I can have some rhythm. I just don't move my feet.

:: 33:17

I'm a singer, but I can't rhythm in me and dancing and nah. Patrick would love the ability to work or the ability to be skinny. I suggest, Patrick, that you just love your beautiful body because it's awesome. All right, so, Jennifer, if somebody would like to be a guest on this show, what would they do? They can go to Podcast, editors, Mastermind and Flash.

:: 33:48

Be a Guest or click on Be a Guest. And that podcast editor's mastermind. There's an S in it. I forgot that the other day. I'm like, Why isn't this going anywhere?

:: 33:57

And I'm like, oh, yeah. Podcast Editors Mastermind more than one of one of us. Yeah. And if you have an idea for a show or a topic or something that you want to talk about, you can send us an email at yah. At podcast editorsmastermind.com.

:: 34:20

And that is, umyeah, at podcast editorsmastermind.com. Yeah, we don't have a banner for that. No, we don't. But you can also find us on our Facebook page, our Facebook group, whatever. Just reach out to us and let us.

:: 34:38

Know. Hope you enjoyed this one. Of course you have. And I would like to take a minute to say thank you for the lovely note from Gabrielle and I cannot say your last name. I'm so sorry for just sending me a really nice email talking about how much he enjoyed the show and how he missed me when I was not on it.

:: 35:12

That was very sweet. So, I'm Carrie Caulfield. Eric. You can find me at Yahoo. Podcasting.com for now or at carrier on Instagram.

:: 35:26

Yeah, because there's going to be some rebranding happening once I get some things settled. Oh, fun. That's exciting. We'll talk about that in the future. Nice.

:: 35:38

Well, I'm Jennifer Longworth with bourbonbarrelpodcasting.com. I'm not changing my branding anytime soon. Bourbon barrel podcasting on Instagram, on Facebook. And not appearing in today's episode is Bryan Entzminger. You can find him at Top Tier Audio.

:: 35:55

And Daniel Avondroth of Rothmedia Audio. And you can find both Brian and Daniel on social media under the handle Top Tier Audio or Roth Media. All right, thank you, everybody for joining us. Thank you, Patrick. We will see you next time, Patrick.

:: 36:15

And we will see you guys or talk to everybody later. And, yeah, I'm done failing and hosting.

:: 36:32

How much is that?