Should I start my own podcast to get clients, or guest on other shows?

Guest first, unless you have the capacity to do the follow-up. When someone suggested I start a new show to land clients for a different business, I said no, for now. But I've also hosted the Local Media HQ podcast for a while, and it's one of the best things I've done. Both answers are true. It depends on what the show is for and whether you have the time.

Why not start a show right away?

"I would have recorded them and put them online. Very few people would watch them. I'd be nice to the guest, and they'd be nice to me. Then I'd never follow up with them. I'd never cross-sell them."

That's the trap. A new show puts the work on you, the early audience is tiny, and the real value (follow-up and repurposed content) only happens if someone actually does it.

Timing matters too. When a new local newsletter operator asked me about adding a podcast, I told him to hold off. Spend the first month or two getting the newsletter running and the weekly habit down. Once that's dialed in and getting traction, add the show as step two.

I've lived this myself. I eased off promoting my own show for a stretch because I didn't have anything to sell the people I was meeting. A show with no offer behind it is a lot of nice conversations that go nowhere.

What did you do instead?

Guest on existing shows. The setup:

1. Agents find relevant shows.
2. Agents draft the pitch. I approve it.
3. Agents prep a brief before the interview.
4. I show up.

That costs me about an hour per booked show. Someone else already built the audience.

Does guesting actually bring leads?

Yes, and the bar is lower than you'd think. The host of a big home-services podcast mentioned me for about two seconds, first name only. He wasn't promoting me. Three listeners still had to Google around and search Twitter to figure out who "TJ" was, and they reached out.

Those three were two messages within days and a LinkedIn message after that. They were the kind of people I want to work with: successful business owners.

My takeaway is to get on business podcasts, not just shows in my own niche. Most business owners have never thought about running a media brand. When they hear the idea for ten seconds from a host they trust, some of them get it immediately. I offered that home-services host free help with his Facebook ads afterward. Helping the people who own audiences is worth it.

What should you ask for when you're the guest?

A newsletter signup. That's the primary call to action, every time. Once someone is on your list, they're in your world and you can sell to them whenever you want, however you want.

I gave this advice to a consultant who does a lot of guest spots. The ladder looks like this:

1. A free newsletter on your niche.
2. A low-cost community for people who want more.
3. A high-ticket offer for people who want to work with you directly.

You can still mention the paid stuff. Just ask the host to push the newsletter. It's a standard playbook for anyone in a niche people care about.

If you do start a show, what is it really for?

Relationships, not downloads. The best version of a podcast is one where the guest is the lead, not the audience. You invite the people you want as clients.

• It opens doors a cold message won't. DM a big name on Twitter and they won't answer. DM them saying you have a podcast and want them on, and now they're interested.
• It works locally. Have roofers, HVAC owners and other local businesses on to talk about what they do in the community. Later you cross-sell them into ads or agency services.
• It gives first. I lean on the Cialdini idea: when you give someone something, they want to give back. Promoting a business owner for free puts you in their corner. Maybe they buy an ad. Maybe they introduce you to the hospital's marketing director.
• It builds a network. I want to interview the mayor so the mayor knows who I am. Then when I approach a business leader, that connection helps.

View counts barely matter. A local podcast probably won't make much money directly unless you're good at ad sales. The money comes later, from the relationships. Money is only one reason to do things in local media.

The other payoff is authority. When I started looking at local newsletters, there were zero YouTube channels about the model, so I started the first show about it, interviewing other experts. About six months into my newsletter work I began creating content about it, and by month 15 people saw me as an expert in a field I'd never heard of before. Now I'm on Zoom three or four times a day because of the show, mostly from inbound. Five years ago I'd have said no way to being that public. It was worth it.

How do you get guests to say yes?

Make the ask concrete. "Want to collaborate?" is fuzzy. "I just started a local podcast that goes with my local newsletter, and I'd love to have you on for free" is an easy yes for anyone who likes that kind of thing.

Then overdeliver after the recording:

• Post each episode on the newsletter's website as an article with the YouTube link at the top, so the conversation can show up in Google, not just YouTube.
• Run the transcript through a custom GPT set up to make content, and send the guest something like four articles and 12 LinkedIn posts for their own social media. It takes five or ten minutes and can look like two days of work.
• Start on Zoom. In person feels more connected, but Zoom gets you close to the same relationship, and waiting for a perfect setup just delays everything.
• Consider a co-host so episodes still happen when one of you is sick.

What about a local podcast for a newsletter?

The hard part of any local podcast is getting an audience, and a local newsletter already has one. I think of a daily local audio feed as the audio version of Meta ads: it reaches hyper-engaged people because they live there. A local newsletter should be a real multi-channel brand, and a podcast is another arm that makes it more legitimate.

Paul Gewuerz, a guest on my show who produces daily local audio news, said local podcasts can fetch 50 to 75 CPM, versus 30 to 35 industry-wide. His number, not mine.

For a local business show, keep episodes short. Quick and fun. Twenty or thirty minutes is too much. I run a Podcast Spotlight section in my newsletter with the YouTube thumbnail, the guest's face and a short description, so readers click through. Even readers who never press play see the guest featured, and the guest gets value from that. More in the podcast section of a newsletter.