This is not the episode I planned to record this week. Normally I am a month ahead. This one I recorded the week before it goes out, and if you know me at all, that probably tells you something.

I have been sitting with something for a long time, and I finally said it out loud.

Thank you for being here for all of it!

Allison 💛

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Instagram - @allisonnitsch

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Captivate - podcast hosting, 7-day free trial

Descript - recording and editing

Showit - website platform

Flodesk - email marketing

*Some links are affiliate links - I earn a small commission at no cost to you.

Ash McDonald has had a podcast since 2021. She is a therapist for business owners, a mom of three, and someone who made the decision a year ago to leave social media entirely. She loved social media, but she read the research and could not unsee it.

In this conversation, Ash and I talk about what happened when she left social media. The revenue dip she did not expect, what she would do differently to build a runway first, and how her podcast became the primary way people find her, trust her, and decide to hire her. She has clients who binged her episodes for two days and then hired her, and she has been working with some of them ever since.

We also get into something I did not plan on loving as much as I did…her self-coaching loop for the moments when your brain is telling you something is too scary or too risky. Regulate, reflect, rewire. It is three steps and it is so useful, whether you are thinking about leaving social media or just navigating any big decision in your business.

Ash's podcast is Shamelessly Ambitious. Go find her there, as well as her Soundcheck which is three podcast playlists pulled from her 200 episodes, organized by what you are currently going through.

If you want to talk through what your own audio strategy could look like, let’s chat!

Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

Soundcheck: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com/soundcheck

Podcast: Shamelessly Ambitious

I Quit Social Media for Eight Months, Here's What Changed in My Business

Books Ash Mentioned:

The Anxious Generation

I Wish I Had a Bigger Kitchen

Unf*ck Yourself

📲 CONNECT

Website - allisonnitsch.com

Instagram - @allisonnitsch

Threads - follow here

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Captivate - podcast hosting, 7-day free trial

Descript - recording and editing

Showit - website platform

Flodesk - email marketing

*Some links are affiliate links - I earn a small commission at no cost to you.

For four years I told service providers to start a podcast. Same format, same advice, every time. And I am done doing that.

In this episode, the third in a series I have been building over the last few weeks, I am walking through the two primary audio formats I now work with. One is an ongoing commitment. The other is a defined, bingeable experience of 8 to 12 episodes designed to take someone from finding you all the way to deciding to work with you.

Neither is better than the other. They just serve different goals, different businesses, and different seasons. And I am walking through exactly how to know which one fits yours, including the difference between a public and private limited series and when podcast guesting might actually be your best first step.

I am not starting with the format anymore. I am starting with the goal. And that has changed everything about how I help service providers think about audio.

If you have not listened to episodes 58 and 59 yet, start there first. Then come back here.

58. Not Every Service Provider Needs a Weekly Podcast

59. Why Audio Sells Service Providers Faster Than Any Other Content

53. Three Types of Podcasting That Can Replace Your Social Media Strategy

Episode Blog Post

Launch Your Podcast in 6 Weeks - There’s more to launching a podcast than the tech, we want to make sure it’s built to bring in the clients

📲 CONNECT

Website - allisonnitsch.com

Instagram - @allisonnitsch

Threads - follow here

🛠️ PODCAST/MARKETING TOOLS I USE

Captivate - podcast hosting, 7-day free trial

Descript - recording and editing

Showit - website platform

Flodesk - email marketing

*Some links are affiliate links - I earn a small commission at no cost to you.

Last week I said something I never expected to say, which is that not every service provider needs a weekly podcast. If you missed that one, go back and listen to episode 58 first because this episode builds directly on it.

Today I want to answer the question that naturally follows. If not all service providers need a weekly podcast, then what do they need? And why do I still believe that every service provider needs some form of audio experience in their business?

It comes down to the buyer journey. People rarely go from a stranger to a client overnight, especially when they are hiring a service provider. They discover you, they follow you, they watch how you think, and somewhere along the way something clicks. Audio compresses that entire process in a way that social media posts, emails, and websites simply cannot.

Someone can spend three hours with you in a single afternoon by listening to four episodes. To give someone that same three hours through social media, you would need months of content. That is the difference.

In this episode I am walking through why hearing your voice changes everything about how quickly someone decides to trust you, and why this matters especially if you are a service provider who only needs a handful of the right clients, not thousands of followers.

If you are already thinking about what this could look like for you and want to talk it through, I would love to chat. Click here to book a call with me or there is also a link to ask questions and I will personally respond.

Episode Blog Post

Launch Your Podcast in 6 Weeks - There’s more to launching a podcast than the tech, we want to make sure it’s built to bring in the clients

📲 CONNECT

Website - allisonnitsch.com

Instagram - @allisonnitsch

Threads - follow here

🛠️ PODCAST/MARKETING TOOLS I USE

Captivate - podcast hosting, 7-day free trial

Descript - recording and editing

Showit - website platform

Flodesk - email marketing

*Some links are affiliate links - I earn a small commission at no cost to you.

This one is a little different. I have been sitting on this for a while, and I was honestly nervous to say it out loud.

For four years, I have been telling service providers they need a weekly podcast. And I still believe in podcasting deeply. But I no longer think that a weekly show is the right answer for every business owner, and I think I have been asking the wrong question this whole time.

The question was never really "should you start a podcast?" The real question is what role should audio play in your business? I know you really want warmer leads, shorter sales calls, people who already trust you before they ever reach out, and those are business goals. The podcast is just one vehicle that can get you there. And it may not always be the right one.

In this episode, I am sharing what shifted for me, why I am no longer trying to fit every service provider into the same weekly podcast mold, and what I am starting to think about instead. This is part one of a few episodes where I am going to be laying out a different way of thinking about audio, trust, and how clients decide to hire you.

If you have been putting off starting a podcast because a weekly show feels like too much, or if you have a show that feels like it is not quite working, I would love to have a conversation about what might actually fit your business.

Episode Blog Post

Launch Your Podcast in 6 Weeks - There’s more to launching a podcast than the tech, we want to make sure it’s built to bring in the clients

📲 CONNECT

Website - allisonnitsch.com

Instagram - @allisonnitsch

Threads - follow here

🛠️ PODCAST/MARKETING TOOLS I USE

Captivate - podcast hosting, 7-day free trial

Descript - recording and editing

Showit - website platform

Flodesk - email marketing

*Some links are affiliate links - I earn a small commission at no cost to you.

What if potential clients could hear how you think, understand your process, and trust your approach before they ever booked a call with you?

Podcasting for Service Providers is the show for service-based business owners who want to use podcasting to help the right people understand them, trust them, and choose them without having to publish a new episode every single week forever.

I'm Allison Nitsch, podcast strategist and producer. I have launched more than a dozen podcasts and produced over 1,000 episodes, and after years of working behind the scenes of service providers' shows, I have started questioning one of the biggest assumptions in podcasting.

Here, we explore traditional podcasting, private podcasts, and bingeable limited series and how to choose the format that actually fits your business and your goals.

Follow the show and find a more strategic, sustainable way to use your voice to grow your service-based business.

Launch Your Podcast in 6 Weeks - There’s more to launching a podcast than the tech, we want to make sure it’s built to bring in the clients

📲 CONNECT

Website - allisonnitsch.com

Instagram - @allisonnitsch

Threads - follow here

🛠️ PODCAST/MARKETING TOOLS I USE

Captivate - podcast hosting, 7-day free trial

Descript - recording and editing

Showit - website platform

Flodesk - email marketing

*Some links are affiliate links - I earn a small commission at no cost to you.

Quick announcement before we head into next week's episode.

After a year as Podcast-First Marketing, this show will have a new name: Podcasting for Service Providers. If you already follow the show, you do not need to do anything. Same feed, same host, same Wednesday episodes.

In this bonus episode, I'm sharing why the name is changing, where the show is headed, and what you can expect going forward. The short version is, I still believe deeply in podcasting, but I have been rethinking the assumption that every service provider needs a weekly show. The new name gives me more room to explore the different ways podcasting can work in a service-based business, whether that is a traditional weekly show, a private podcast, or a limited series.

A new trailer drops Monday. Regular episodes continue Wednesday. So glad you're here for what comes next.

Launch Your Podcast in 6 Weeks - There’s more to launching a podcast than the tech, we want to make sure it’s built to bring in the clients

📲 CONNECT

Website - allisonnitsch.com

Instagram - @allisonnitsch

Threads - follow here

🛠️ PODCAST/MARKETING TOOLS I USE

Captivate - podcast hosting, 7-day free trial

Descript - recording and editing

Showit - website platform

Flodesk - email marketing

*Some links are affiliate links - I earn a small commission at no cost to you.

If you have been wondering how to market your podcast without feeling like you have to live on Instagram, today's episode is going to feel like a relief.

I am joined by my friend Andi Smiley, who helps podcasters market their show using Pinterest. We talk about why Pinterest works so differently than social media. A pin you create today could bring new listeners to your podcast months or even a year from now, which is the exact kind of long-term content I am always talking about.

Andi walks us through what to pin as a podcaster, where to link those pins, how Pinterest SEO works and why it is different from podcast SEO, and how to fit this into your workflow without adding a dozen extra tasks to your week. She started with just one pin a week and built from there, and that is exactly the approach she recommends if you are getting started or feeling unsure where to begin.

Episode Blog Post

CONNECT WITH ANDI:

- Pinterest VIP Setup (Done for you version)

- Pinterest Magic for Podcasters (DIY version)

- Freebie: "Is Pinterest Right for Your Podcast?" Checklist

Podcast: The Friendly Podcast Guide

🎙️ WORK WITH ALLISON

Launch Your Podcast in 6 Weeks - There’s more to launching a podcast than the tech, we want to make sure it’s built to bring in the clients

Monthly Podcast Support - production + strategy support

📲 CONNECT

Website - allisonnitsch.com

Instagram - @allisonnitsch

Threads - follow here

🛠️ PODCAST/MARKETING TOOLS I USE

Captivate - podcast hosting, 7-day free trial

Descript - recording and editing

Showit - website platform

Flodesk - email marketing

*Some links are affiliate links - I earn a small commission at no cost to you.

I was on a call with a client who stopped releasing episodes two years ago. We pulled up her stats just to move her show to a new host, and her jaw dropped. People were still listening. Twelve plays last month alone, two years after her last recording.

This is not the first time I have seen this happen. Another client of mine took a 13-month break and came back to 2,400 downloads she had no idea she was getting.

In this episode, I'm talking about what it really means for your podcast to keep working for you even when you are not actively recording, and why I don't think downloads are the metric that matters most anyway. I also get into a tangent on the five places you want keywords sitting in your show so people can actually find you while you are away, recording, or anywhere in between.

If you have been wondering whether taking a break will undo everything you built, or if you are just getting started and want to know your show will keep working long after you hit publish, this episode is for you.

Episode Blog Post

17. Seven Podcast Metrics That Actually Drive Growth (It’s Not Just Downloads)

🎙️ WORK WITH ALLISON

Launch Your Podcast in 6 Weeks - There’s more to launching a podcast than the tech, we want to make sure it’s built to bring in the clients

Monthly Podcast Support - production + strategy support

📲 CONNECT

Website - allisonnitsch.com

Instagram - @allisonnitsch

Threads - follow here

🛠️ PODCAST/MARKETING TOOLS I USE

Captivate - podcast hosting, 7-day free trial

Descript - recording and editing

Showit - website platform

Flodesk - email marketing

*Some links are affiliate links - I earn a small commission at no cost to you.

Every coach I have ever hired was because of their podcast. Not Instagram, not Threads. Even when I discovered someone through social media first, I always ended up at their show before I ever reached out.

That is not a coincidence. Social media is full of content that could have come from anywhere, written by anyone, polished by a tool. But when you hear someone talking, working through a real thought, stumbling on a word and catching it, that is something AI cannot replicate, and your brain knows the difference even when you cannot explain why.

A podcast is not a sales tool in the traditional sense, but something far more powerful because it shortens the distance between someone finding you and someone trusting you enough to invest in you.

If you have been putting off starting a podcast because you are not sure enough people will listen, I want you to hear this episode first. You do not need thousands of listeners. You need a few of the right ones.

Episode Blog Post

📲 CONNECT

Website - allisonnitsch.com

Instagram - @allisonnitsch

Threads - follow here

🛠️ PODCAST/MARKETING TOOLS I USE

Captivate - podcast hosting, 7-day free trial

Descript - recording and editing

Showit - website platform

Flodesk - email marketing

*Some links are affiliate links - I earn a small commission at no cost to you.