164. How Podcasting Can Bring You Clients Without Relying on Social Media (POP: The Uncommon Career)

Looking for a way to get clients without spending all your time on social media? In this episode, I chat with Patricia about how to use podcasting to bring in steady clients. Listen in and you'll learn how to confidently talk about your services on your show, how to give effective CTAs, and how to use coaching-style episodes to show the value of your work.

Listen to The Uncommon Career Podcast: www.theuncommoncareer.com/blog

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This episode was produced by me, The Podcast Teacher! Contact me at Hello@ThePodcastTeacher.com.

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Transcript

Julia Levine:

If you’re tired of pouring energy into social media only to hear crickets... you’re not alone. What if your podcast could bring in your ideal clients without relying on the 24-hour algorithm? Today’s episode is for every solopreneur who’s asking, “Is there a better way to market my business?” (Spoiler Alert: Yes, there is!)

Hey there, I’m Julia Levine, aka The Podcast Teacher, and you’re listening to Podcasting for Solopreneurs—the show that helps online business owners grow their podcast to get more listeners, leads, and sales.

This is a POP episode - I haven’t done one of these in a while, so if you’re new here, this is where I review someone’s podcast and create a custom Podcast Optimization Plan, to make their podcast POP. You can schedule your own free POP call with me at ThePodcastTeacher.com/pop. 

For now, you get to listen in as a fly on the wall for our conversation, and I guarantee that you’ll find something of value in this episode that you can apply to your current or future podcast. 

In this episode, I’m chatting with Patricia Ortega, a career coach who’s built a top 2.5% podcast—and she wants to turn more of those listeners into clients. I coach her through a plan to sell on the podcast without sounding sleazy, how to position episodes for authority and connection, and share a few simple changes that can boost results fast. 

If turning listeners into clients is something you want too, keep listening!

Julia Levine:
Hello, Patricia, and welcome to podcasting for solopreneurs. It's so great to have you here today.

Patricia Ortega:
Yeah, I'm excited to be here. Thank you for having me. I really appreciate this.

Julia Levine:
Let's kick things off by just having you tell us a little bit about your show, who your audience is, what kind of things you talk about. Just give us an idea of your podcast.

Patricia Ortega:
Yeah, absolutely. So my podcast is the Uncommon Career Podcast. I'm a career coach and I focus on helping mid career women convey their values so they can land a better offer fast, faster. So that's like the premise of it. The how is a little bit different. You'll see a lot of programs that are, you know, here's the tactics, here's the scripts, and we have the tactics, the strategies, the scripts. But really what I work on is a little bit more one on one coaching that involves like the confidence piece, actually coaching through how do you communicate all across the job search to feel confident in those types of things. So mental fitness, emotional intelligence, communication skills and the job search are like my four pillars.

Julia Levine:
That's so great. We're talking today about growing your podcast and so tell me a little bit more about what you're looking for your podcast to improve. And so I always like to ask, you know, if we were having this conversation six months down the line and things were going great, what would great look like to you?

Patricia Ortega:
Yeah, I'm a business and so I need a certain number of clients and I also am not necessarily a fan of social media and the hamster wheel of like, you post something today and it's gone by tomorrow. I feel like podcasting is such a high value way to build a real relationship as opposed to competing with the AI of social media. And that's just a personal experience. Sorry, not sorry, it's just not my wheelhouse. But producing podcast content is. I would love to have consistent clientele purely from the podcast and, or referrals. And so along with that comes selling on your podcast, selling through your content. And so that takes me to the second part of it is I can kind of put the offer out there on my podcast, but I, I know what it feels like to be sold and feel great about it.

Patricia Ortega:
You know what I mean? Like, I know what it feels like for someone to say, hey, I'm selling this thing, here's what I offer, blah, blah, and I, I, I know the difference between somebody feeling like, I really like how she's explaining this to me and helping me see the value of it and make helping Me decide if this is a good fit for me or if it's not. And I know the difference between that and someone who's just like, buy my thing. Right. And I want it to be a good experience for everyone who listens, whether or not they're interested in making a purchase or working with me. And so for me, what I'm looking for is to understand, like, how can I do that? So that it's a win win for both the listener experience and for myself.

Julia Levine:
Awesome. So thank you so much for sharing all of that. And I totally am on board with the power of podcasting. Obviously, that's what we do here. And I too, am not the biggest fan of social media struggle in that area. And so I do truly believe that podcasting is one of the best ways that you can grow your business. And so while there are layers to kind of what you are desiring here, kind of, if we boil it down to the bottom line is that you would like more clients from the podcast.

Patricia Ortega:
Yes. I am on the hunt for the most effective and efficient way, time efficient to do this. And so the biggest thing for me is, like, how to sell or, like, how to provide the content in a way that optimizes how many people come in. Right. And it doesn't need to be a big number. I don't. I don't. I can't actually take on five or six clients every month.

Patricia Ortega:
Even if that were, that'd be amazing. But okay, you know, and so we're really aiming for like two clients per month, so maybe three to four, you know, sales calls per month. I'm not looking for, like, anything huge. And I think my biggest thing is, like, how do I share content that helps people feel like, okay, this is something that I'd be interested in as opposed to what I think I'm doing right now is creating a knowledge base where people kind of come and get the help they need and then DIY the process, which sometimes for some people can work, but for a lot of people doesn't work because a lot of the work that we do is, like, so in depth. And so then the idea is, oh, I tried, you know, Patricia's way, diy, but it didn't work. And I'm like, well, it's because a lot of what we do bring the value out is in the meetings.

Julia Levine:
Yes. Okay, so that's fantastic. I have three specific strategies that I would like to share with you to accomplish this goal of kind of selling more efficiently on the podcast. And I do want to first just Start by saying that I did listen to a couple your episodes, and you are already doing a really, really great job of not only presenting helpful information, but telling a story with that information and giving client examples. So those are already really, really powerful techniques that you are incorporating. And I'll be totally honest with you that my husband is job searching right now. And, and so I listened to your podcast and I was like, oh, my gosh, you need to set up a consultation with her.

Patricia Ortega:
Well, that's. See, okay, so maybe, maybe I'm doing better than I think I am.

Julia Levine:
Yes. So I think that is the first takeaway of you totally are doing better than you may think you are. That being said, a couple specific suggestions. So the first kind of easy one is that I noticed you're usually giving the cta. Again, I only listen to a handful of episodes, but giving the CTA to book a call with you at the end of the episode. And so I would suggest moving that more to the middle of the episode. And I like to do kind of a hang the carrot type of transition where you're giving them some valuable information. And so, for example, I listened to your episode about resumes, and so you're giving, you know, tip one, Tip two, hear great things about resumes that you need to change.

Julia Levine:
And then, oh, I have one more tip for you. But before I share that, let me invite you to book a call with me. If this has been helpful, reach out to me, like, give the CTA there while they're, hey. That you've dangled the carrot of, hey, there's something else you need to know. I have one more really helpful tip for you. So they are not going to just go, oh, she's into her sales, which I'm going to click out. Like, you're giving them an incentive to stick around. And so that is probably one of the easiest things for you to change up.

Julia Levine:
And kind of along with those lines, I noticed that you're saying, book a call with me. The link is in the description.

Patricia Ortega:
Yes.

Julia Levine:
And so if there's a way for you to create a very easy URL that you can rattle off, you know, the uncommon career.com consult or something, something to that effect. Because most people listening to podcasts are multitasking. And so if they hear it, it's. Especially if it's a very easy URL, I'm not recommending anybody reads off, you know, a whole bunch of letters and numbers, gibberish, or, you know, 10, 10 words to remember, but something that's simple and easy to Remember, read that off verbally and still have it in the description for reference, but read it off verbally so that, you know, if they're driving or something, they can't look at the description right in that moment that it can kind of stick in their head and they can perhaps just remember it off. Right. And just go type that in. Or they can at least remember, oh, what was that? I think I kind of have it. Let me just double check the description type of thing.

Patricia Ortega:
Okay.

Julia Levine:
Does that make sense?

Patricia Ortega:
Yes. I had not even thought about that. Yeah. Yeah.

Julia Levine:
Okay, awesome. So that is kind of the easiest one of kind of just changing up the CTA a little bit of telling them what to do. The second thing that I would change that I would recommend for you is seeing if you can collect audio testimonials from your clients. You doing the storytelling of, you know, Terri had this result. We did this together. That's great. But it's even more powerful when you can hear it from the person themselves. We are in what the gurus are referring to as a trust recession right now, where everybody is skeptical of everything.

Julia Levine:
And so there's always that little tiny seed of doubt that creeps in of being like, is this a true story? Is Terri a real person? Or did she just make this person up to sound good on the podcast? You know?

Patricia Ortega:
Yeah.

Julia Levine:
And so I think when you're able to share it, and obviously you would still have to do some storytelling because if you captured an audio testimonial, I recommend those are typically like 60ish seconds. And so that's not going to tell the whole story. It's not going to give the whole example in that 60 seconds. But I think that, Terry, you have a clip from Terri and saying, you know, yeah, I worked with Patricia. This is what we accomplished. It was so great. Now I have my dream job, you know, whatever it is, then when you tell a story and say, you know, with Terry, we really dove into this aspect, it gives more credibility to it.

Patricia Ortega:
Okay, so up until this point, and this might be like a non issue, but up until this point, especially in the beginning, I was like, oh, you know, your information is private, blah, blah, blah. I have video testimonials, but they're not like front facing. They're not like on social media or whatever. Right. I don't put out their actual names front facing.

Julia Levine:
So I would ask kind of like why? Why you don't put out their information front facing especially, you know, I could understand that, like during the actual job search process, you know, if they are considering leaving a company, like they don't want it out there that they are considering leaving type of thing. But if you're concluding your work together and collecting a testimonial, you know, personally, as a fellow business owner, I would at least ask, you know, hey, can I use this in my marketing with your real name? And if they say yes, great, use it. If they say no, then say, okay, no problem, I won't use it. You know, can I use a pseudonym and tell your story?

Patricia Ortega:
So it sounds like it would be helpful to kind of include in my agreement with clients, hey, your first name and comments that you make. Not last. I mean, nobody needs to know last name, but like, your first name and comments that you make may be published.

Julia Levine:
Yeah, I do think it's at least worth asking your clients because if they've had a really positive experience with you most of the time, I would think they would want to be like, yes, this was awesome. You should work with her.

Patricia Ortega:
Yeah. Yeah, you're right. And I have multiple videos, testimonials. There's a few. They're not a lot. There's just a few. A few who are like, oh, there's an executive position. I don't know if I want, you know, them knowing that I had a code.

Patricia Ortega:
You know what I mean? Like, for whatever reason. But I do think you're right. I think it's probably in my head. I think more people, more. Most of my clients will be fine with it.

Julia Levine:
Yeah. And so those video testimonials that you already have, you know, even though you already assured them you wouldn't be using it, you certainly could go back to them and say, you know, hey, I got this advice that I should be airing testimonials on my podcast. I was just wondering if you'd be willing to change your mind and allow me to use this. If you're not comfortable with that, no problem. I absolutely will continue to keep it confidential. But I'd like to like to ask type of thing.

Patricia Ortega:
Yeah, okay. Okay. Thank you. That's helpful. That's definitely helpful.

Julia Levine:
Yeah, you're welcome. Uh, and then the third and final suggestion that I have for you is to incorporate some coaching style episodes into your episode content. And so a coaching style episode is basically exactly what it sounds like. You're going to bring someone onto the podcast and you are going to coach them. And so this is a way to show your listeners how you work, how you coach, instead of telling them. So telling, of course, has its time and place, but whenever you're able to show them and, like, demonstrate in real time with a real example. That's so much more powerful. And so that's exactly what I'm doing with these episodes.

Julia Levine:
I invite people to do a call for free with me. I coach them, I give them suggestions, we talk through things, and then I air it on my podcast. And someone listening can be like, oh, so that's how that works. Maybe that could be me in the hot seat. She could give me suggestions for my podcast. Yeah, and so kind of the same concept there.

Patricia Ortega:
Okay, okay.

Julia Levine:
And so you could do it like I do it here. You could just say on your podcast, hey, I'm starting a new thing. I'm offering free 20 minute career coaching calls. Here's how you sign up and give them the information. That's one option. If you have past recordings, I don't know if you have recorded stuff with clients, but again, you could go to them and say, hey, I know this was a private conversation at the time. Such a good nugget. I'm wondering if you'd be comfortable with me airing, you know, this section of our conversation on my podcast.

Julia Levine:
Again, if you're not comfortable with that, no pressure. I am absolutely fine not using it, but I just wanted to ask type of thing. Yeah. And then you can, you could also, instead of putting out a free coaching call to just podcast listeners kind of generically, because, you know, you never know what kind of questions they're going to ask, what you're going to get. It is a bit of a wild card. You wouldn't have to air them all. And so, you know, kind of win some, you lose some, but that's how it goes. But you could also, I'm assuming that your current coaching clients, like, they get a set number of sessions with you or something like that, or even a past client, you could offer them like a bonus coaching session and be like, you know, hey, I know your package includes eight sessions, but I'd be happy to give you a ninth session if we can air this on my podcast, you know, and you can explain to them like, this is going to help me and my business.

Julia Levine:
It's showing my expertise at demonstrating my coaching style. And so this is how it would help me. Most of the time I find our clients. Unless it gets into that super personal, super emotional territory. Most of the time they are like, yeah, absolutely. Once they understand why I'm asking, then they're like, sure, absolutely. That sounds great.

Patricia Ortega:
I love that. Okay, thank you. This, this is incredibly helpful.

Julia Levine:
You are very welcome. I'm so Glad to hear that. Okay, so those are kind of all of my. My tips from there. How do you feel about moving forward from here?

Patricia Ortega:
Yeah, I think one thing that has been really, really helpful is being able to, like, talk to you and understand where I am. And that's, you know, I tell my clients the same thing all the time. It's like, okay, well, you can keep going down this road, but you don't actually know when you arrived, you know? So it's incredibly helpful to be able to, like, share with you where I am here. Kind of where you're like, oh, you are at this point in the journey, like, you're doing better than you think you are, or, you know, but then also pointing me to, like, specific things. Like, this is, I think, what I found most valuable. I've got, like, four or five different things that you've mentioned here. I know you said three, but, like, I was writing nuggets, right? Because I. Part of me is like, when someone's an expert, I don't think we know that we're sharing something someone else doesn't know.

Patricia Ortega:
You know what I mean? And so as you were talking, I was like, oh, that's good too. That's good, too. So I feel like I have really specific things that are going to fit me and where I'm at as opposed to looking online and finding. Because that's what I do. I look online and find, like, a million different strategies, which is why I was like, okay, talking to a coach is going to be incredibly helpful, or talking to someone who is in this space is going to be incredibly helpful. So I can stop looking at, like, all the competing videos and be like, what do I need to do? And so that's why this. This was incredibly helpful.

Julia Levine:
Ah, that makes me so happy. Thank you for. For sharing all that specificity. That's what I aim to provide. And so it just. Just lights up my heart to hear that that's how it was received. So thank you. And as we wrap up, I would love to just give you an opportunity to.

Julia Levine:
If anyone out there is looking for a career coach, how can they connect with you?

Patricia Ortega:
Oh, yeah. So I've got a podcast that's the best way to kind of be introduced to my style, right? And how I perceive the coaching process, how I help you through it. And that is the Uncommon Career Podcast. We are top 2.5 right now on listed notes, which is really exciting. And that'll guide you pretty much anywhere you want to go. Right? You get to learn about me a little bit we get to know each other in a sense. Then you can either grab a call if you are ready for coaching or you can head over into my website to learn more about how I work.

Julia Levine:
Wonderful. Well, thanks so much for being here today, Patricia.

Patricia Ortega:
Yeah, thank you. I really appreciate it.

Julia Levine:

Alright, that’s all for today. If you’re looking to be noticed, hired, and valued, make sure to check out Patricia’s podcast, The Uncommon Career. And if you’d like to chat with me about how we can make YOUR podcast POP, you can schedule your own free call with me at ThePodcastTeacher.com/POP. 

Until next time, happy podcasting!