How to monetize a small podcast without sponsorship

NOTE: This podcast was transcribed by a free AI tool called Otter. Please forgive any typos or errors. Melissa Guller 0:00 Before we meet today’s guest, I’m excited to share that on Wednesday, May 19, I’m leading a free live masterclass, called How to start a revenue generating podcast without sponsorship or a huge starting audience. If you’re even a little bit curious about starting your own show, I’m going to share three of the biggest mistakes I see online business owners making when it comes to launching their podcasts. And I’ll walk you through my step by step podcast launch system, which hundreds of Wit & Wire students have used to launch successful shows. Learn more and save your spot for free at witandwire.com/register. Melissa Guller 0:40 Welcome to the Wit & Wire Podcast, where we help podcast hosts climb the charts, turn a profit and make an impact. I’m your host, Melissa Guller. And in each episode, we share simple tips and creative strategies to help you create a binge worthy podcast that listeners love. Melissa Guller 0:55 Welcome back, podcasters. I’m Melissa, and today, I can’t wait to introduce you to Kavita Melwani, the host of The Enlightened Heart Podcast. After going through my Podcast Launch Accelerator program and releasing her podcast in late 2020, she’s now wondering, “How can I build my audience and use my podcast to sell more of my coaching services?” I love this question. And maybe you don’t have coaching services, and instead you sell online courses like I do at Wit & Wire. Or maybe you have physical products, an Etsy store, or digital templates. If you’re an online business owner or hope to run your own full-time or side hustle business someday, I know from personal experience how important it is to not only find more customers, but to consistently bring in more business to support yourself and your family long-term. I’ve seen firsthand just how powerful podcasting can be for online business owners. And even with a small starting audience and no sponsorship, podcasting is a powerful channel to generate revenue for your business if you know how to turn your show into an optimized conversion funnel for your business. Today, that’s exactly what we’re going to help Kavita do. But as one last quick reminder, if you know you really want to get into the full strategy of how to start a revenue-generating podcast without any sponsorship or a huge audience, don’t forget to sign up for the free masterclass at witandwire.com/register. Now let’s say hello and learn a little bit more about Kavita, her business, and her podcast. Kavita Melwani 2:30 I have a business that is called The Enlightened Heart. And I’m an empowerment coach and hypnotherapist who helps highly sensitive people and empaths move from just surviving to thriving in the world. And my podcast is called the enlightened heart podcast and it’s for the same people. Melissa Guller 2:51 And when you started the podcast, what were some of your big goals by having a podcast? So Kavita Melwani 2:57 I started the podcast for two main reasons. One is that I felt there was so much need out there. And so many people that were hsps are empaths. And we’re not aware of that they were and we’re not sure how to navigate the world and themselves. And so there’s only so many people, I can work on one on ones I wanted to share that message. And the other reason is that, yes, I have a business as an empowerment coach, and I wanted my clients to be able to find me. Melissa Guller 3:27 I love that you mentioned how many more people you could reach with a podcast, then one on one? I’m not sure it’s something we’ve talked about that much on our podcast here. But I think that’s such a great point that the impact you can have is so much bigger than only one on one work. Kavita Melwani 3:42 Yes, definitely. And that’s definitely if it was only like, Oh, I want clients then. I mean, I don’t think that’s enough for me, I really have to have that bigger need and want to desire right. As you know, it is a work to have a podcast, Melissa Guller 3:58 definitely you have to I think like you said want it for bigger reasons. I think if you’re just in it to grow a business quickly, you might burn out. But if you enjoy the process, if you’re talking or interviewing with people who you really enjoy, and you get to make an impact on a wider audience, I think that makes it all worthwhile. Kavita Melwani 4:15 Yes, for sure. Melissa Guller 4:17 So tell me a little bit more about how I can help you grow your show. Kavita Melwani 4:23 Yeah, so you know, as I shared, I want to get this message out there. I want to have a bigger audience. And I want to learn how to use the podcast to attract the clients that I’m meant to work with. So right now I’ve gone past the first hurdle of you know, I took your course I thank goodness and thank God for you because I would never probably never have launched the podcast. I did take your course. I had been wanting to do it for three years. So I learned how to do it. I felt confident. I put it out there now it’s like Okay, next steps now. Melissa Guller 4:57 I think that’s probably the boat. A lot of our listeners find themselves and now is even after you launch it, kind of that what now feeling like how do I really grow this audience? And so I am curious to hear about how your podcast routes people to your business currently like, can you tell us? How do people listening to your podcast end up finding out about your business? Or how do you try to guide leads to become clients currently? Kavita Melwani 5:23 Okay, yes. So, I have a website for the podcast, and I have my own website. On my current website, I have a link to the podcast website. So if you go to the menu, it’ll say podcast, and you can click there and go to the podcast I’m offering, I do have a free gift, the five keys to overcoming overwhelm as an HSP an empath, and people can receive that free gift and be part of my newsletter community. So I have that link in the show notes. And I mentioned it, not on every podcast on every outro. But I do mention that sometimes. Melissa Guller 6:02 And have you noticed Since launching the podcast that more people are taking you up on that? Or is it new since the podcast launched? Kavita Melwani 6:09 I did have it before the podcast and I have noticed that when I release an episode, I do get some subscribers the solo episodes more so than the interviews because the interviews, I think that people are interested in who I’m interviewing. Melissa Guller 6:26 Yeah, I actually think that’s a really great point. Because for anybody who is hoping to drive listeners to become clients, or customers or students, exactly, as you said, having a solo episode is really when you’ll get to show off your own expertise and knowledge. And I found that for my own podcast, do that. Those are the episodes that helped me build my leads help me find more students. But when you interview a guest, it’s amazing content fair listener, but it may not necessarily be the one that gets you a client unless at the end, there’s some kind of natural tie in that maybe came up from conversation. But I think that’s a really great distinction between the two. Kavita Melwani 7:02 Yes. Melissa Guller 7:03 So when you think about maybe your business overall, aside from the podcast, in general, how do most clients find you and end up working with you? Kavita Melwani 7:15 So I have actually have a YouTube channel, I have blogs that I write and social media, I get most of my clients from referrals from others. So I love referrals, right? Those are the people that come in, as referrals are already kind of have some connection to you. And I do have people that find me online, you know, people will search for life coach for highly sensitive people or a life coach for sensitive people, or am I too sensitive or things like that, right? And then some people will find me that way. Melissa Guller 7:48 And when somebody finds you, let’s say they hit your website for the very first time, are they invited to contact you? Or do you do some kind of free discovery call? I know, that’s another common strategy. But usually what’s the very first way that they get in touch? Kavita Melwani 8:02 Well, they have the opportunity to get the free gift. And so I do have people doing that. I do have a free clarity call. And there’s a link there that they can go to they can click on that link, there’s a short questionnaire, and then they can actually schedule the call. Melissa Guller 8:20 And are you talking about that at all from your podcast? Kavita Melwani 8:24 I don’t think I’ve mentioned it in the podcast that they I think I’ve mentioned it in one. Melissa Guller 8:30 That can be something to continue trying or to try a little bit more, especially after somebody has listened to you for 1520 3060 however many minutes your podcast is, they probably have enjoyed your expertise and maybe would be curious to talk to you one on one. So I do think you could try either at the beginning or the end of the episode, saying that you do offer clarity calls. And maybe in particular, there’s something going on this week, maybe a reason to get in touch. The reason I mentioned the beginning of the call is because I know that having an outro with a clear call to action is important. And I talk about it all the time in my courses. But the reality is not everyone makes it all the way to the end of an episode. So something that I’ve noticed some of my students are testing out now is at the beginning of the episode, you have your intro, and then maybe for a solo episode, you could say you know, today we’re going to talk about x topic here. I’m excited to dive into all these different subjects. But if this is something you know, is really important to you. I do also offer free clarity calls if you’re interested in the possibility of working together. Here’s the URL. It’s also in the show notes. But today, let’s see what we can cover and then you kind of go right into your episode and putting it at the beginning kind of Prime’s people to already know that. If they’re loving this they could reach out to you and start working together. Kavita Melwani 9:53 Oh, okay, great. Yes, I have definitely not done that. So I’d love to try that. Melissa Guller 9:58 Yeah, the outro I still Think you can mention it, like, if you put it near the beginning, there’s absolutely no harm to putting it in the outro. It’s not too much, because we all have very short attention spans, especially when we’re listening to podcasts and maybe even multitasking. So it doesn’t hurt to throw the URL again at the end of the episode. But yeah, especially for a solo episode. For anybody who is a coach or wants to book clients, I wouldn’t hesitate to mention that you offer services, because it’s a service to your listeners to know that they can work with you more closely. Kavita Melwani 10:30 Mm hmm. Okay, good. Yeah. It’s like you gave me permission, right? Because there’s always exams like, should I say that? I don’t know if I can say that on the podcast. I know. Melissa Guller 10:38 And I think there’s this interesting dynamic where, yes, it’s your podcast. Yes, it’s your listeners. But for some reason, I think a lot of us often hesitate to sell our own courses and to sell our own products and services, even though they are exactly aligned with what listeners are already tuning in to listen to us about I think there’s just this feeling of, I don’t know if I want to put myself out there. Or I don’t know if I should say this, or is it two sales a year, all of these typical reasons that hold us back from selling, and I do think that selling is hard. I have a hard time selling myself as well. And you kind of just have to remind yourself that what you offer is good. Like you’re getting so many referrals, obviously people enjoy working with you. And so if you can help more people, then it is worth it for them to spend the money to work with you. Kavita Melwani 11:29 Yeah, yes, thank you. So I’ve definitely an add that to the solo episodes, Melissa Guller 11:36 I think that’s a great place to start. And for the interviews, like you said, they’ll still probably check out the person that you’re interviewing and learn more about them. You also can still in the show notes, include links to your own free resource and your own socials. So I don’t want you to take those out entirely. Okay. But I think you’re right to say that, you know, maybe the, the stronger, the more direct mention of your services, or the mention of what you do, or even the free gift. Do pair nicely with solo episodes. I want to ask about the free gift that you offer, remind me what it is. Kavita Melwani 12:12 Yeah. So it’s called five keys to overcoming overwhelm as a highly sensitive person and empath. Melissa Guller 12:19 And how did you choose the topic for that? Kavita Melwani 12:23 I chose the topic, because that is what I heard from people that would book the free clarity call with me. I went back and said, what were people putting as their biggest struggle and sick, I’m feeling overwhelmed. So that’s why I chose that. Melissa Guller 12:40 That’s perfect. I think that’s really great advice for anybody else who’s maybe looking to develop a free gift or a free guide, listening to what anybody is telling you on a clarity call listening to what people are asking you, I think those are really great places to find content. So I think it sounds like you’ve nailed it, it seems to me like you have great services that people adore, and are endorsing that you have a freebie in place and have a process where people are getting in touch with you. So probably the missing piece is just bringing in more people to your world to find all of these things. So then it becomes a question, not of fixing the funnel. But having what marketers call more leads in the pipeline, it sounds very gross. But the funnel is just the process of somebody finding out about you. And then you funneling them through becoming maybe an email subscriber or a listener and eventually, hopefully, a prospect or a client. And you’ve got a lot of great foundational work there. So now we’re going to talk about how you could bring in more leads more listeners and more people into your, your whole world. So have you tried any kind of outward marketing so far? Tell me a little bit more about you what you’ve done to date. Kavita Melwani 13:55 Yeah, so the marketing that I have done is I post on Facebook and Instagram, I post an audio Graham, I have a graphic with the podcast, and also I transcribe the podcast. So I will put a piece of what was said in there and, you know, send that out. I also send it out to my newsletter list, but I don’t think that’s growing necessarily the my audience. Melissa Guller 14:22 So all of those are what we call owned media channels. They’re places that you have a profile, like any social media platform, email website, maybe you don’t own Instagram, of course, but you do control the content in that space. Those are great places to foster relationships with people who know about you. And I think where you and I can help you find growth opportunities are putting you in front of other audiences. You have such great expertise. Have you considered going on other podcasts as a guest? Kavita Melwani 14:56 Yes. So I have been on a couple Have podcasts. I’m just not sure how to go about finding, you know where I’m approaching that whole process. When I think about it, I go into overwhelm. Yeah, Melissa Guller 15:13 don’t we all overwhelm, I think is manifests in a lot of parts of our businesses. But it is tricky, I think to find the right people to partner with especially because in podcasting, success is kind of invisible. And what I mean by that is on a YouTube channel, you can see subscribers, you can see how many people have viewed a video, social media, you can see how many followers there are. And it’s something I take with a grain of salt, because some people are very good at getting followers using growth hacking strategies, but it doesn’t really mean that real humans are engaging with them. But with podcasting, you can’t see downloads, you can’t see any of those listener stats. And I think it’s actually a blessing because it means smaller podcasters have a chance to grow and get our names out there. But when it comes to evaluating other potential podcasts to be on, I think it can become a bit tricky. But there are different ways that you can look for podcasts to be on. And it’ll depend, I think a lot on your topic. The first place is just kind of scrolling through Apple podcasts, or Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts, and going into the category where your podcast is most likely, like what category are you in, in Apple podcasts? Kavita Melwani 16:27 I’m in the wellness category, Melissa Guller 16:30 wellness, that makes sense. So you can look under health and wellness. And maybe for yours, maybe under there’s like a subcategory called self improvement. Okay, so maybe I would start by looking in some of those podcasts and scrolling around, or even an apple maybe searching for the phrase and path or the phrase HSP. Apple is a search engine. And so if you go into the podcast app, and you do a search, you could find one of two things. First, you might find podcasts that talk about exactly what you’re looking for. But what could also be useful is you might find episodes, where somebody else has talked about your topic. And so that’s often even more useful, because you can see if a podcast host has already interviewed somebody about the topic, maybe they would be interested to talk about it again, from a different perspective, because you’re probably going to look for broader than just podcasters talking exactly about the same thing as you. I am very sure there are other hosts doing kind of the similar topic as you with their own perspective. Yes, I think those would be good opportunities to see if they wanted a guest that makes perfect sense. I’m guessing they could be similar to the guests that you’re having on your podcast, would that probably be a good guest? Yes. So any of those are good places to start. But also, I think broader topics like anybody talking about growth, or self awareness, or even just kind of the vein of understanding yourself or your personality. I think any of those podcasts could be looking for a broad array of people to interview. Or maybe you can help me brainstorm since Of course, you’re the subject matter expert. But can you think of any kind of similar topics that could benefit from having an expert on hsps? Kavita Melwani 18:18 Yes, sure. I mean, I’ve done a couple searches on Apple podcasts, but not really used it as in the way that you described. I do think that there’s entrepreneurs, you know, even business owners and the sensitivity and how that impacts that parents, and parenting and how sensitivity impacts your role as a parent, and even sensitive children. Those are just some things that come to me. I just interviewed someone on creativity, and using creativity to help with sensitivity and how sensitivity also helps you be more creative and can help you be more creative. Melissa Guller 18:57 I love that. And those are great topics, I think kind of the framework of my topic for blank, or how my topic impacts blank, which is how you were describing parents and business owners. I think that’s a really great place to start. You also thinking of search engines can try googling. I know this sounds silly, but if you google like best parenting podcasts, best social media podcasts, a lot of content will come up. And over time, what I’ve started doing is whenever I see a podcast that I think either I could be a good guest for or they could be a good guest on my show. I just start bookmarking them. And so over time, as I’m reading maybe a blog post that I’m really enjoying, I’m getting a lot of value out of it. Maybe I found it from a friend, maybe I found it on Pinterest. I always just check in See, does this person have a podcast and usually that’s how I find my best partnership opportunities is just by noticing the people that I’m already reading Already listening to and seeing who I could do something with, because even though we’re talking about maybe you being a guest on other podcasts, which I think is amazing. You also could see if people are interested in partnering in a different way. Like maybe you provide expertise into a blog post, if you’re interested in writing, if you’re not you skip it, or if they do a YouTube channel, and they might interview you on a YouTube interview, unless you hate that. There’s lots of different types of content that could work for some people and not for others. But I think mostly what I’m getting at is, you might be surprised by the blogs or the podcasts that you’re already listening to, that could present an opportunity. What I will say is probably my best tip is that whenever I have people on my podcast, I always look to see what other podcasts they’ve been on. Like, I’ll go to their website, I’ll look at their about page or their features page. And often there are some people who are using podcast interview opportunities as a pretty major way that they’re growing their business. And a lot of them will talk about the podcasts that they’ve been on. And the chances are good that if they’ve been on your podcast, that you could be a good fit for some of the other shows that they’ve been on. So what I’ve done sometimes, and this is more as a host, I’ll find another podcast where one of my guests was interviewed. And then I’ll just look through all the episodes and figure out if I want to reach out to anybody else who was interviewed on that podcast. Hmm, Kavita Melwani 21:27 okay. And so then you just go and you do these searches. And then you go to the, I guess most podcasts have some kind of website or contact and then do you just contact them? Melissa Guller 21:38 Yeah, you’d be surprised by how well cold outreach can work, I’ll find either a contact form on their site, or an email address. If all else fails, maybe I would send them an Instagram dm, but I usually try to try to find the email address since I’ve had a better return. Mm hmm. And then I’ll just make a pitch, I’ll reach out, I’ll briefly introduce myself and say that I’m looking for opportunities to talk about podcasting or online courses. Those are my areas of expertise. And I usually offer a couple of specific topics that I think could be a good fit for their audience, like I make it clear that I’ve done my homework, I also like to make sure that I would actually be a fit. So what I do is I kind of look through some recent episodes, and maybe it’s a podcast about online business, and they’ve never talked about podcasting, that could be an opportunity for me. Maybe on the other hand, I can see that they’ve had a guest, who was kind of similar to what I might want to talk about, but I have a slightly different perspective. And regardless, I would reference some other episodes in my outreach, like, I would make it clear that I have actually tuned into their podcast, I’ve really done my research. And I would say that I appreciate you know, everything that they’re doing lead with like a kind compliment, a sincere remark about something I actually learned from their show, and then go into pitching myself, but as a host yourself now, wouldn’t it be amazing if somebody came and gave you this really thoughtful pitch, and they happens to be a perfect fit for your show? Kavita Melwani 23:04 Oh, yeah, that would be great. Alright, Melissa Guller 23:06 it’s a huge relief. So now that you can have that perspective as being a host who would love to be pitched? Maybe you could consider how would you like to be pitched, and then share that kind of pitch, just kind of cold with other people who you find who you feel like you have things in common with? Kavita Melwani 23:23 You know, when you put it that way, it feels so much more comfortable than just like, Oh, I’m contacting I’m bothering this person, right. But you know, they’re probably busy. And instead saying, Well, actually, if I’m a good fit, it actually so helps them to, Melissa Guller 23:37 yeah, it saves me so much time. And I do get pitched fairly often by what feels like the same email that has been sent to 100 people. And those rarely get a good response. But when I do get a good email from somebody who clearly knows exactly what my business is about, with a topic that would be perfectly suited, it is just such a relief. Like immediately I reply, I’m like, Oh, my god, yes, please, book time with me immediately. Kavita Melwani 24:04 Okay, yes. Melissa Guller 24:06 And it’s interesting, and probably not a coincidence, we’ve talked about kind of two opportunities to pitch yourself in different ways. One is pitching yourself within the context of your solo episodes to pitch your services to people. The other is in the context of pitching yourself as a guest to be on other podcasts. These are very uncomfortable things, things that even after years of me trying to get better at them, I still feel a little discomfort about doing even if it’s more faint, but I think a lot of us tend to maybe not think about doing them as much as we think about our Instagram and our social even though those are important too. It’s only I think through doing kind of the uncomfortable pitching that we’ll really start to see the meaningful growth that we want for our podcasts. Kavita Melwani 24:49 Okay. Yes. I love the encouragement. Thank you for encouraging me to do that. And I love the ideas of you know, reaching out to Other podcasters and in a meaningful way, right? That sounds really important and feels really important to not just write an email and then just blast it to a bunch of people. Melissa Guller 25:09 Exactly, I think it feels a lot better, it feels more authentic to send and then more genuine to receive. And truly cold emails have brought so many really great relationships into my life. I think I mentioned this one fairly often. But my booksmart co host M. I originally met her because I found her website. And I was just so impressed with her that I sent her a cold outreach, email inviting her to be on my podcast. And a few years later, she and I regularly have zoom, Skype, wind dates, just because we really enjoy each other’s company, and we’ve become really close. So I think that’s one of the really beautiful things about podcasting is that a lot of the opportunities we have to connect with other people are really genuine and can build real relationships, especially in an era where we often feel very, I think, far apart from other people. Kavita Melwani 25:59 Mm hmm. Yeah, I love that, that connection. so important. Melissa Guller 26:04 So I think as we start to wrap up here, what are some of the immediate next steps that you think you might take back and try to implement for your podcasts. Kavita Melwani 26:14 So first, the going in to my next episodes that I’m recording solo, and adding in the house, someone could find me and work with me. So I want to definitely do that. And also set aside time every week to look for other podcasts that I would like to be on and start reading reaching out to them. Melissa Guller 26:36 Great, great. I can’t wait to see how both of those go for you. Where can listeners find more about you and keep in touch. Kavita Melwani 26:44 My website is the enlightened heart dot Pro, and bi free gift is there. I’m also on social media. But the best place would be that way. On my website too. You get my newsletter, you’ll know everything that’s going on. And also my podcast the enlightened hard podcast. Melissa Guller 27:05 I do sincerely hope that you’ll check out coffee test podcasts and website, especially if you identify as being a highly sensitive person or an empath, or even if those terms are new to you, but you’re just curious to learn more. Before we go, I wanted to recap the three main takeaways we covered in today’s coaching episode. Number one: when it’s done right, your podcast should act as a conversion funnel to build relationships with your listeners, and to one day convert some of those listeners into buyers. Think about each new episode as a chance to provide value and to further your relationships with people. But don’t be afraid to mention what your business offers. There’s a big difference between a full episode infomercial which I don’t recommend. And just clearly stating what you offer here and there throughout all episodes, which I definitely do recommend. It is not pushy to say you have coaching services. It’s not too demanding to mention that you have an incredible online course that has helped students get results. So if you take nothing else away from this episode, I am here to give you permission to talk about your products and services on your podcast. You can do that as ads or mentioned casually in conversation. But hiding them from your listeners isn’t just doing you a disservice. It’s hiding an opportunity from your listeners to and I bet that a lot of them really need the exact thing that you offer. So I hope this helps you reframe your mindset around talking about your business. It’s not selfish. It’s a win win for everyone. Takeaway number two: sharing a free opt in or resource for your podcast listeners is a great way to build your relationships. Not only do they get something truly valuable from you, which builds trust, but you get their email address and exchange so you can now continue communicating with them. And when the time comes, you can share details on your products or services or your upcoming podcast episodes. And don’t forget Kavita’s great tip about choosing your freebie topic, which is that she noticed her prospects kept asking her the same questions. So she turned it into a freebie, which is brilliant. And finally, takeaway number three: podcast directories are search engines. So if you’re looking for opportunities to be a podcast guest, try searching for shows or episodes that might fit your expertise by doing keyword searches in Apple podcasts, or whichever app you use to listen to podcasts. These strategies just skate the surface on the in depth strategies and systems I cover in our Wit & Wire programs, including the Podcast Launch Accelerator, which is what can be enrolled in. So if you’re interested in learning more about my methods, or some of my core philosophies around starting a podcast that truly builds your authority and connects with listeners in a meaningful way. I do hope you’ll check out the new free masterclass at witandwire.com/register. It’s called How to Start a Revenue-Generating Podcast without Sponsorship or a Huge Starting Audience. And this training is for online business owners who want to start a podcast Consistently attracts new listeners so you can reliably sell more courses or client packages and position yourself as the go-to authority in your space. Again that URL to learn more and save your free spot is witandwire.com/register. Melissa Guller Thank you so much for joining us this week. At Wit & Wire, we help online business owners start podcasting so they can build their authority and expand their audience and their opportunities. So if you haven’t already, you can check out our programs and services anytime at witandwire.com. You can also come hang out with me on Instagram @witandwire and make sure you hit the Follow button in this app in case you haven’t already subscribed to the show. Thank you again for joining me, Melissa Guller, In this episode of the Wit & Wire podcast. I’ll see you next time!