How Erin Molan Grew Her Audience from a Bedroom Studio

[00:00:00] Chris Schwager: On today's episode, Erin , a seasoned Australian journalist and broadcaster, has transitioned from traditional media digital platforms, establishing a significant presence on YouTube and Insta. Her YouTube channel at Erin Molen features everything from viral interviews with names like Bill Ackman and Dean Kane.

[00:00:16] Chris Schwager: To her fiery no holds barred commentary series, bat Beat. Crazy. Where she unpacks current political and social issues with punch and poise. But what makes Erin's story so powerful is how she's taking control. No big studios, no TV execs, just a pro setup in a bedroom where she now reaches millions of fans.

[00:00:34] Erin Molan: A lot of the interviews that I've done in this studio right here have gone viral and have millions of views. So I think for me, return on interest is my ability to do those kind of high-end interviews while she's in the other room for 20 minutes or whatever I'm in here for, and then I go out and I'm a mom again as opposed to.

[00:00:50] Erin Molan: You. If I had to go into a studio, I'd be away for four hours from her. The reason that that I'm getting the opportunities I'm getting is because,

[00:00:57] Chris Schwager: hi, I'm Chris Schwager, video coach and founder of the Complete Video Success System, and I've spent decades helping professionals create high impact videos that build trust, generate leads, and drive business success.

[00:01:08] Chris Schwager: And if you've ever felt unsure or under-prepared, or just play an awkward with video, this is for you. I'll give you the mindset and strategies to take control, build video confidence so that you show up like a pro. It's time to make your videos. Work for you. I do have a list of questions and it's, and it's related to ROI and usage and, and I think what your case is is so beautiful.

[00:01:31] Chris Schwager: Um, given that you're a TV personality, you've got such a long game, you're a professional in the industry, you know your staff. Tell me a little bit about what you told me when I was doing installation around visibility on TV versus what you're doing now.

[00:01:45] Erin Molan: Yeah, it's crazy in terms of reach. I think that's, that's what's been most staggering to me.

[00:01:52] Erin Molan: Uh, you know, I've been in mainstream media and on traditional television for 20 years, and this is my first foray into a world that doesn't include that necessarily. And, uh. It's been life changing in terms of reach and look, even when I was on mainstream television, where my clips would be most watched would be on social media, YouTube, much more so than anyone sitting at home watching on a television.

[00:02:19] Erin Molan: So when all of that ended for me last year, uh, my attitude was, well, wait a minute. Millions are watching what I say and do each week. I can recreate that myself. I don't need a network anymore. I don't need a studio in a big building to go into. Uh, all I need is, is a space that looks semi-professional or incredible, like this one does, and the ability to interview, the ability to do my monologues.

[00:02:47] Erin Molan: And then they go out into the world and, you know, the show I'm hosting now on X, which is, you know, 69 x minutes. And yes, I hate the name as well to my mother, who's probably watching now and. Thinks it's a disgrace. Yes, it is. But that is the name of the show, even though it's a very serious new show. But I do plenty of interviews right here that then go to 15 million people a week.

[00:03:09] Erin Molan: That's our average viewers per show per week. I, I interviewed Boris Johnson. I. Sitting right here last night, the former Prime Minister of the uk and the first thing he said to me, I love your YouTube channel. He said, I watch. He said, I get into rabbit hole, and then I, I go to the next one and next one and next one.

[00:03:24] Erin Molan: I'm such a big fan, and you know it, it's crazy. But this is now what you can do yourself. You, you, if, if you've got a passion and you've got, uh, the tools and the skills and the persistence and, and the want and the desire. You get a setup like this and the world's your oyster, you know, it has been for me and it's just changed my life in, I mean, my daughter, half the time we'll be sitting out there.

[00:03:48] Erin Molan: I was interviewed Dean Kane Superman, the original Hollywood actor, Superman, uh, earlier this week on this, in, in this position right here. And my daughter comes in halfway through and I'm saying, oh, this is Dean Kane. He's famous, he's Superman, and she couldn't care less. But how amazing that I, as a mother can do that while she's in the other room for 20 minutes or whatever.

[00:04:07] Erin Molan: I'm in here for. And then I go out and I'm a mom again, as opposed to if I had to go into a studio, I'd be away for four hours from her. So it's changed my life in the best possible way and very grateful.

[00:04:18] Chris Schwager: You talked about Sky, you talked about all that work that you've, all the wonderful work that you've done, so you've really experienced with, uh, yeah.

[00:04:24] Chris Schwager: Presenting yourself on camera. Now you've got it at the convenience of in the next room, right? Yeah. Um, what are the core ways you use your DIY kit? Every day.

[00:04:33] Erin Molan: So I use it to film my own segments. So I use it to film, uh, my own shows, my own monologues. Uh, I can write them and then, you know, I might do, and even from a hair and makeup perspective, because the lighting's so good, I can do a tinted moisturizer and a lip gloss and I'm good to go.

[00:04:49] Erin Molan: So that appeals to me intensely because I am so lazy when it comes to that side of things I'm so bad at, at hair, makeup, the whole thing. So the beauty of of this setup is that. [00:05:00] You look amazing, regardless which, which helps greatly. Uh, I can set up something straight away. So when I was back at Sky News, you know, I'd be trying to interact, I'd be dealing with different people.

[00:05:10] Erin Molan: We'd be trying to sort a time when the studio was free and when people in, in the, you know, if there wasn't another live show going out and we couldn't do it, they da da. I now am and messaging people and saying. Can you do 10 minute in, 10 minutes? And they'll say, yeah, great. And I jump in and it's done.

[00:05:25] Erin Molan: Whereas my previous life, you'd be looking at sometimes a week or a month ahead trying to make it work because of the schedules of the network and different things that they were doing in other shows. And so I think for me, that the beauty of that is that it's at my fingertips whenever I want it.

[00:05:39] Erin Molan: Whenever I need it, it's there and it's good to go. And I am not a technical person. Even a little bit like I am hopeless and my biggest fear with all of this would be a, if something went wrong and I've got the former UK Prime Minister or someone, you know, significant who, who is time poor on the other end and I don't know how to fix it, then I'm screwed.

[00:06:02] Erin Molan: It has not happened once. It is so easy, and I do this from hotel rooms, I do this from all over. I, I, I come in, I send an email if it's an interview. They join, I hit record and it's perfect every time. So to me, I mean, my biggest fear was that things would happen that I couldn't handle and that would be unprofessional and, and I would be embarrassed because I would say, oh gosh, I don't have a team here.

[00:06:26] Erin Molan: It's just me, blah, blah, blah. It works so seamlessly. Uh, and I think that's something that just appeals to me greatly because I don't have the skills or the proficiency to, to handle anything that does not work perfectly.

[00:06:38] Chris Schwager: What are some of the unexpected benefits or uses that you've discovered with this system?

[00:06:44] Erin Molan: Well, I think for starters, you know, the quality is incredible. Um, that's, I probably didn't expect how good it would look, um, given I've been in professional studios for 20 years. So that, to me was, was amazing. Uh, the ease at which. Other people, IE my team can access what I've done. So my editor is in New York, he can access the second I finish a recording, I send him a WhatsApp, it's in, I send him a photo of, as it's uploading, I send him a photo so we can see the file name, and within two minutes he, he's in there and he's editing it and then it goes up.

[00:07:18] Erin Molan: You know, so, so that to me, rather than having to send files and having to do all this intense stuff, this, the beauty of this system. Is that, you know, someone else can access it straight away, even in real time. Uh, that to me is amazing. Just, just the, the, the way that I can now seamlessly combine. I'm a single mom.

[00:07:38] Erin Molan: I don't wanna, I travel a lot now, so I, I travel the world. I do interviews, I speak at conferences. I think I've got nine overseas trips this year. Canada, US all over. I go, I'm on the ground for one day or two days, then I fly home. 'cause I don't wanna be away from my child. So when I'm here, I don't want to be going into a studio for a 20 minute interview.

[00:07:59] Erin Molan: I wanna, I wanna kiss my daughter or be watching, you know, bluey or something with her and say, mommy's just jumping in to do, you know, 20 minutes. I do, and sometimes she comes in and she'll hi, and it doesn't matter. It's cute. People love that it's real. And then I say, oh, I'll be out in a sex sweetheart, and then I'll continue.

[00:08:14] Erin Molan: And it's just changed my life in the ways that matter most. It means that, that, because I'm a present mother, I don't feel guilty about not being here. The quality of my work, the, the everything is just so much more significantly improved. And it's just easy, you know? It's so easy. And that to me, I think is, is the benefit that, that I never quite expected it to be as easy as this or to look as good as this, or for me to have the quality and the results that I'm getting.

[00:08:42] Erin Molan: It's, you know, it just been incredible.

[00:08:44] Chris Schwager: What examples do you have of videos that you've been producing that have directly led to a significant outcome?

[00:08:50] Erin Molan: Oh, I think. So many of them, I mean, I mean, a lot of my monologues and a lot of my pieces, you know, go viral. Millions of views already. Um, millions and millions and millions and a lot of the interviews that I've done, uh, in this studio right here have gone viral and have millions of views.

[00:09:09] Erin Molan: So I think for me, return on interest is my ability. To, to do those kind of high-end interviews, to have them included in a show that's watched by 15 million people. And to have that just go absolutely crazy. And, and, you know, that's return on, on interest obviously for me in terms of, uh, it's an investment that I made.

[00:09:30] Erin Molan: Uh, in, in and backed myself to do that is just paid off tenfold. You know, the reason that, that I'm getting, the opportunities I'm getting is because people are seeing my work. They're resonating with it. They think it's powerful and they respect what I'm doing, and, and I couldn't show them that side of myself if this didn't exist.

[00:09:49] Chris Schwager: Have you noticed an increase in engagement, uh, or retention since it's gone in?

[00:09:55] Erin Molan: Oh, absolutely. I mean, I, I should, I'm trying to think if I've got, um, [00:10:00] the YouTube numbers, but the growth is astronomical, as in, so when I started, when I got this system, my YouTube channel, I think I might have had like 700 or 70 subscribers even.

[00:10:14] Erin Molan: Now I've got 55,000 Since getting this system in and doing regular content and doing it at a high quality, it, it's crazy. It, it and that growth. And the guy I've got who's doing my YouTube, who's. An expert. He does really big name channels and I'm not even allowed to say because he's such a big deal. He approached me and said, we can build something amazing together.

[00:10:37] Erin Molan: And he says, I've never seen growth like this. So it's significant in terms of everything and anything, and same as my social media numbers, they're, they're just out of this world.

[00:10:47] Chris Schwager: How has it allowed you to attract better talent to you to help build your, your brand and build your communications?

[00:10:57] Erin Molan: Well, it gives me the ability to do them whenever suits them.

[00:11:02] Erin Molan: And I think that to me, enables me to get m many more interviews than I otherwise would be able to if I was relying on another studio or having to, to line up times and having to coordinate schedules, then it would just be too hard basket for so many people. But the beauty of the, the current situation is I can say to someone.

[00:11:19] Erin Molan: Hey, can you jump on Now, this has just happened. This has just broken. Donald Trump has just announced these massive tariffs. Can you talk about the impact of, of China on, on this? And they say, oh shit, I'm about to go to dinner, but I can do 10 minutes now. And I say that's amazing. Whereas if I was in my old life, that just would be completely impossible.

[00:11:36] Erin Molan: I'd have to organize a camera, I'd have to organize a studio. I'd have to do all of that, that that. That's one thing. The fact that it looks professional, you know, if Boris Johnson is joining me, and

[00:11:45] Chris Schwager: just quickly, if you are ready to take control over your video production, but feel stuck, check out the video Confidence Collective.

[00:11:51] Chris Schwager: It's live coaching in a supportive community that's got your back. We cover four essentials tech messaging on camera presence and implementing what you learn so you can create consistent, confident content. That truly connects links in the show notes. Now, back to the episode.

[00:12:04] Erin Molan: To be honest, I'm sure he won't mind me saying this.

[00:12:06] Erin Molan: He looked bloody, or he was low up with a weird background. He was just at home, but he's a former Prime minister. He's allowed not to have a polished studio, and he doesn't. But if he's coming on and, and he sees that I'm there, kind of in a weird selfie using a phone or holding it, he's gonna think, this is not a professional outfit.

[00:12:24] Erin Molan: Why am I giving up my time to do something like this? So, so what this does, this, this helps people who may not be that familiar with me to take me more seriously. And I think that matters greatly as well. I think, you know, if you wanna be taken seriously in this. Space, then you've gotta have a setup that reflects the kind of quality of content that you are trying to produce.

[00:12:44] Chris Schwager: Other than improving your video presence, what do you think are the core reasons behind delivering video more effectively?

[00:12:50] Erin Molan: Look, I think video ticks every box. I, I think for me, I love writing. It's always been a, a passion of mine. I loved radio. Did that for many years. But with video, I think there's no greater way to communicate and to to touch people.

[00:13:05] Erin Molan: I think you've gotta watch someone's face when they're talking to know if they are genuine, to know if they are real. And I think the feedback that I get, and one of the reasons that my videos seem to go so viral and they resonate with so many people is because when I look down the camera, I'm not looking into a camera, I'm talking to people at home.

[00:13:22] Erin Molan: I am connecting with people they can see. From my expression, they can hear from my tone of voice. They, they can look at me and, and believe. Immediately that I, I am genuine, that I'm authentic, that I believe what I'm saying. And I, that's why I think video is the most powerful thing that I use. As I said, I love writing.

[00:13:40] Erin Molan: I do podcasts. I do a million other things, but nothing gets the same engagement, the same reaction, the same level of fanfare. I. Than a video where I'm looking directly down the camera and I'm connecting with someone else who goes, I believe she's talking just to me. I know other people are watching, but it feels like she's talking directly to me and there's no other medium that you can do that in.

[00:14:01] Chris Schwager: And are you using the selfie cam version when you're doing those recordings? 'cause I've seen a lot of them. Or is it a combination of notes and teleprompter text and bits and pieces? So,

[00:14:09] Erin Molan: great question. So it's a real mix. So. Once a week I write a segment called Bat Beat Crazy, which I use a teleprompter for, and the teleprompter is amazing.

[00:14:19] Erin Molan: Um, but I'm a very off the cuff person. So even when I'm using a teleprompter, half the time I'm, I'm ad-libbing, et cetera, but, but when I'm using a teleprompter, every single word on there, I have written myself. So it's not like someone's writing a script for me. So it's still very much authentically me.

[00:14:33] Erin Molan: Probably once a week or twice a week as well. I will just speak off the cuff and you can tell in my videos. I think, mind you, I'm, I'm not robotic when I do a teleprompter, that's just when I'm talking about something that's quite delicate and I need to be very careful with the words that I use. So I will generally, or I wanna be particularly clever with a message, or I'm trying to be very powerful with the words that I use.

[00:14:55] Erin Molan: So that's when I will invest in writing a script and delivering it. Otherwise, I will [00:15:00] just go off the cuff. In terms of delivering a message and, and, and that, I mean, to be honest, they both work incredibly well in different ways. I think people love the authenticity of Off the cuff because it's not word perfect.

[00:15:13] Erin Molan: It's not always polished, but it's real. And it's passionate. And it's genuine. And then I think they also love the stuff that's powerfully scripted because, you know, there are one-liners in there and they go. God. That's how I feel, and that's amazing. And yeah, so I think it, it's a combination of the two and then you throw in interviews as well, and it just gives your audience a real mix.

[00:15:32] Chris Schwager: How has video using this system and the current situation that you're in at the moment improved your overall brand or online presence?

[00:15:39] Erin Molan: Oh, it's, I, I guess in a lot of ways created it. My, my brand, I mean, I, I had a brand for 20 years, but what I've launched now is a, a very new. Bigger version of that in terms of, I'm still the exact same person, but I was constrained before for 20 years in network television where you did not have freedom to express yourself in this way or to do your own thing, and you were controlled from an image perspective, from everything and anything.

[00:16:08] Erin Molan: This now enables me to directly communicate with the people who choose to follow me and listen to my stuff and watch my videos and absorb what I say and what I think and who care deeply about what I feel. I didn't have that mechanism in place prior, and if I was doing things on my own, then it was, uh, holding a phone or a setup that that didn't reflect the quality of content I was trying to produce.

[00:16:30] Erin Molan: So, so this, in terms of launching a brand, um. This has essentially enabled me to launch a brand

[00:16:38] Chris Schwager: out of some of your friends, journalists and and people in media. How do you think your setup. Helps you stand out and differentiate what you're offering?

[00:16:46] Erin Molan: Oh, I think it's, look, I, I'm a fairly unique person anyway.

[00:16:50] Erin Molan: I am unconventional. I think that that helps me stand out a fair bit. Uh, I think they would be insanely jealous, to be honest. Uh, they may not admit it publicly, but in terms of the freedom I now have and, and the way that I can now work and, and I might do an interview at. 2:00 AM in the morning. If someone overseas wants to, I, I'll walk my daughter to school and I'll pick her up and I'll do an interview at midday when she's at school.

[00:17:13] Erin Molan: I, I can, the freedom that I have now and the ability to do things unconventionally is second to none. And I think, you know, those of my former colleagues who are. Still go into a building and having to work towards the same time slot every night, having to go along with this formula and this and, and not being able to do things at home and having to go out to places and set up cameras and, uh, at extensive cost often as well.

[00:17:38] Erin Molan: I would look at this and. Maybe feel secretly jealous that, that this setup enables me to live a pretty incredible life. I think

[00:17:47] Chris Schwager: I'm curious to kind of tap into the pain of, of what they would be going through the burnout, if you like. What, what, what do you say to to people like that now that you have your setup and they, they're still in the grind?

[00:17:59] Erin Molan: Oh, look, I think that there's, you know, it's such a personal thing in terms of, um, where you're at and you almost, I think. Uh, maybe not so much now. Maybe it's changed. I was gonna say, you almost need to earn the right by doing, you know, all that groundwork and the hard work and the grind, et cetera, et cetera.

[00:18:16] Erin Molan: But I think the landscape is changing now so significantly that that doesn't really ring true anymore. I, I think if you are confident in your ability to connect with an audience, regardless of who that is, how big it is, what your content is, then you would be silly not to try. To do it yourself because the benefits of it are so significant and, and the shift from how people consume their content.

[00:18:43] Erin Molan: Is so steep at the moment. It, it is changing so rapidly and I, I feel like if you're not gonna jump on that now you're gonna be left behind. And, and, and I say that as someone who last year on radio interviewed Pi Morgan, a good friend of mine who'd taken his show to YouTube. Exclusively, and there was still a part of me that went, oh, he's failed in real tv.

[00:19:06] Erin Molan: Oh, he's gone to YouTube and he is trying to say that it's, you know, it's a, it's a, a choice and it's amazing. I had absolutely no idea I. That he was completely right and his numbers are through the roof, and he's so successful and he's absolutely killing it. And he saw what a lot of other people failed to do.

[00:19:26] Erin Molan: And he's not exactly a spring chicken either. You know? He, he's a, a dinosaur in the industry, essentially. I mean, he's just turned 60, he's still young. Um, but I think I would say to people. Back yourself to try it. If you are sick of doing things their way,

[00:19:41] Chris Schwager: you're awesome. The reason why this interview is so important for us is because I always saw a huge opportunity in media for this particular situation, and you are the first to come on board, and so for me to document this in this way would just give us extra leverage when we're talking to people in your situation.

[00:19:57] Chris Schwager: Thank you.

[00:19:58] Erin Molan: You're so welcome. Thanks legend. [00:20:00]

[00:20:00] Chris Schwager: Thanks for listening to the Video Confidence Collective Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, leave a five star review on Apple Podcast and Spotify and subscribe to us on YouTube so you never miss an episode. For more resources, check out the show notes and follow me at Chris Schwager or Ridge Films and see you on the next episode.