013: Tapping into a Network of Experts Through Your Podcast with Senda Ben Abdallah

Carli van Heerden
December 17, 2023

Discovering your next guest sometimes feels like an insurmountable puzzle, but today’s conversation underlines the value and simplicity of leveraging your network to effortlessly secure your next interviewee. Joining us is Senda Ben Abdallah, a University College London graduate and product marketing manager at a tech startup in London. Senda also hosts the Too Long; Don’t Listen Podcast, dedicated to aiding students and young professionals in navigating their career paths through the sharing of inspiring stories.

Senda brings authentic and inspiring insights to the podcasting world, and in this episode, she shares her motivation for starting the TL;DL Podcast, why she chose podcasts as her platform, the technical and emotional challenges it brings, and how it allows for conversations to occur that otherwise wouldn’t have happened. We also cover much more in the interview, so be sure to tune in to hear about Senda’s podcasting journey and her healthy obsession with it! Enjoy!

Takeaways From This Episode:

Senda highlights her educational and professional journey and delves into her journey with podcasting. She talks about the why behind starting her podcast, Too Long; Don’t Listen, including how she dreams of providing support and empowerment to students and young professionals.

Podcasting was the platform that helped Senda achieve her goals. She emphasizes the way in which information is easily consumed and accessed through podcasting and underlines the role of podcasting as a marketing, exposure, and powerful tool to inspire people at scale.

The technical and emotional challenges of podcasting: finding the right tools and learning the terminology and technology were some of Senda’s biggest challenges in starting her podcast! She also underlines the importance of making a financial investment and seeking out resources and communities, which are essential to your podcasting success.

Thinking of starting a podcast? Be warned, you might become obsessed! Senda recounts her own obsession with podcasting and the joy she felt from getting to know her guests. She also shares her experience of attending the Podcast Show in London and what she wished she knew before starting her podcast.

As a natural networker, Senda believes that her podcast has opened doors to people and conversations that she might not have otherwise had. This is one of the true benefits of podcasting.

Gain insight into Senda’s process for tailoring guest selection and the subsequent interviews to her initial podcast goal. The inspiring way she draws on the expertise of her guests reminds us to always value the early adopters of your podcast. It’s also important to leverage your network when you’re looking for your next guest!

We talk preferred metrics, marketing strategies, and why Senda hasn’t looked into sponsorships and monetization. You’ll also find out what’s next for her and the TL;DL Podcast and we end with her answers to our quick-fire questions.

Quotes:

“My brand is all about helping others grow and supporting them in that growth. That’s why I started a podcast called Too Long; Don’t Listen, which aims to help support and empower students and young professionals to navigate their career decisions.” — @senda_ba [0:03:52]

“The reason I picked podcasts [as my platform of choice] was essentially how easy it is to consume the content that’s available to you — You can listen to podcasts anywhere, anytime.” — @senda_ba [0:04:51]

“Not only [are podcasts] easy to consume, but [they’re] also becoming more and more accessible and famous. We’re seeing it become more of a trend. I work in marketing and I see lots of brands using podcasting as a way to grow their audience or promote services and products.” — @senda_ba [0:05:19]

“Being able to record those conversations and have them available to anyone, anytime is a great way to inspire people at scale.” — @senda_ba [0:05:40]

“Always leverage your network [to find guests]. That’s the number one rule.” — @senda_ba [0:14:46]

“From a marketing perspective, [I’m] focusing on building [quality relationships] versus thinking of the number of listeners and the quantity of followers when they’re not really engaging. It loses its impact on your podcast and on your content.” — @senda_ba [0:17:32]