If you’ve ever struggled with promoting yourself or your offerings, I get it—it can feel awkward, even "salesy." But what if you thought of it as a nudge to value instead of just another call to action? In this episode, I dive into why it’s so important to let your audience know about the valuable products and services you provide. I share some personal stories about the mental barriers that often make self-promotion feel uncomfortable and how shifting your mindset can help you better connect with your audience.

As podcasters, understanding self-promotion is key to monetization. And here’s the truth: the most profitable strategy isn’t running ads—it’s selling your own products or services. I share a story about a fellow podcaster who hesitated to promote her speaking engagements, fearing she’d come off as pushy. That hesitation is something I see all the time, especially among creatives who undervalue their own work. That’s why I encourage you to reframe self-promotion—not as selling, but as sharing value. When you make that shift, it becomes easier to talk about what you offer in a way that feels natural and beneficial to your audience.

I also dig into the psychology behind why so many of us avoid self-promotion. No one wants to be seen as aggressive or overly pushy—but here’s the thing: promoting yourself is simply a way of guiding your audience toward something that could help them. I talk about how you can subtly weave your experiences and expertise into your content, creating a natural and relatable narrative that informs your listeners without feeling like an ad.

As I wrap up, I emphasize the importance of having a clear call to action—what I like to call a “nudge to value.” I break down practical ways to integrate this into your episodes, from personal stories to simple shifts in language, so that promoting yourself feels more authentic.

The goal? To help you build trust, foster a stronger community, and ultimately grow your podcast in a way that aligns with your values. If self-promotion has ever felt like a struggle, this episode will give you the confidence and tools to make it work for you—without the sleazy sales tactics.

Takeaways:

• Promoting your own products or services is often the most profitable monetization strategy for podcasters.
• Many podcasters hesitate to self-promote due to fear of sounding salesy or pushy.
• Instead of viewing it as a call to action, consider it a nudge towards value for your audience.
• Self-promotion can be subtle; share stories that naturally illustrate your services without being overt.
• Understanding your audience's needs allows you to create products that genuinely help them.
• Communicating the value you offer to your listeners without feeling uncomfortable is crucial.

Links referenced in this episode:

• schoolofpodcasting.com

Mentioned in this episode:

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Dave Jackson: 00:00:00

If you want your audience to buy a product, you have to let them know it exists.

Podcast Consultant: 00:00:07

Welcome to youo Podcast Consultant.

Podcast Consultant: 00:00:10

Small Lessons with Big Value.

Podcast Consultant: 00:00:14

With more than a decade of experience and millions of downloads, this hall of fame podcaster is a featured speaker, author, and mentor to thousands.

Podcast Consultant: 00:00:25

Now he wants to work with you.

Podcast Consultant: 00:00:27

He's your podcast consultant, Dave Jackson.

Dave Jackson: 00:00:33

You have to let people know what you have to offer.

Dave Jackson: 00:00:38

So today we're talking about monetization and the number one way, the most profitable way to monetize.

Dave Jackson: 00:00:45

You want to guess?

Dave Jackson: 00:00:47

Go ahead.

Dave Jackson: 00:00:48

Nope, it's not ads.

Dave Jackson: 00:00:50

So many people think, oh, I'm going to start a podcast and get ads.

Dave Jackson: 00:00:53

The most profitable way is selling your own stuff.

Dave Jackson: 00:00:57

And maybe we'll talk about that in a future episode.

Dave Jackson: 00:01:00

But I was doing a episode of the podcast review show.

Dave Jackson: 00:01:06

That's a show I do with my buddy Eric K.

Dave Jackson: 00:01:08

Johnson, who's got probably 30 years in radio.

Dave Jackson: 00:01:11

And we were talking and I said, oh yeah, I talk about that in my book.

Dave Jackson: 00:01:16

And he said, you have a book?

Dave Jackson: 00:01:19

And I go, yeah, profit from your podcast.

Dave Jackson: 00:01:22

Proven strategies to Turn Listeners into a livelihood.

Dave Jackson: 00:01:25

And he said, I've never heard you mention it.

Dave Jackson: 00:01:28

And I go, really?

Dave Jackson: 00:01:29

And he goes, yeah.

Dave Jackson: 00:01:30

And I go, that's weird, because I tell that to my clients all the time.

Dave Jackson: 00:01:34

And he's like, well, physician, heal thyself.

Dave Jackson: 00:01:38

And so we often feel if we could put up like air quotes here, salesy when we promote ourselves.

Dave Jackson: 00:01:46

And so I thought I would share another story.

Dave Jackson: 00:01:48

I had a friend of mine I'd known for about six months.

Dave Jackson: 00:01:51

I helped her launch her podcast.

Dave Jackson: 00:01:54

I saw her and I was like, hey, how's the podcast going?

Dave Jackson: 00:01:58

She's like, it's going great.

Dave Jackson: 00:01:59

Numbers are going up, like excellent.

Dave Jackson: 00:02:02

I said, it's great to hear.

Dave Jackson: 00:02:04

And she goes, yeah, but I'm not getting any speaking gigs.

Dave Jackson: 00:02:08

And I go, what?

Dave Jackson: 00:02:10

And she goes, yeah, I'm not getting any speaking gigs.

Dave Jackson: 00:02:12

And I go, yeah, I got that part of my.

Dave Jackson: 00:02:14

But you do you speak.

Dave Jackson: 00:02:16

You're a public speaker.

Dave Jackson: 00:02:17

And she goes, yeah, I just spoke to a bunch of high school kids in the Bronx and I was like, I've known you for six years and I've listened to every episode of your show.

Dave Jackson: 00:02:28

I've never heard you mention this.

Dave Jackson: 00:02:30

And she said, I kind of feel a little salesy when, you know, I self promote.

Dave Jackson: 00:02:36

And I said, ah, like a used car salesman.

Dave Jackson: 00:02:40

And she was like, exactly.

Dave Jackson: 00:02:41

And I like, from the 70s.

Dave Jackson: 00:02:43

And she's like, yep.

Dave Jackson: 00:02:45

And I go, and those guys are just selling a bucket of Bolts.

Dave Jackson: 00:02:49

And she's like, yep.

Dave Jackson: 00:02:51

And I said, so you're saying your podcast is a bucket of bolts?

Dave Jackson: 00:02:56

She was like, absolutely not.

Dave Jackson: 00:02:58

I worked about 10 hours on the last episode, and I'm like, oh, so.

Dave Jackson: 00:03:02

And it helps people, right?

Dave Jackson: 00:03:04

And she's like, yeah.

Dave Jackson: 00:03:06

And I go, then why are you stopping yourself from helping your audience?

Dave Jackson: 00:03:11

And she looked at me and said, ah, you're good.

Dave Jackson: 00:03:15

And it is.

Dave Jackson: 00:03:16

It's a mental thing.

Dave Jackson: 00:03:17

And so today, I don't know about you, I get a lot of great ideas in the shower.

Dave Jackson: 00:03:22

And the reason for that is we don't have to worry about anything besides drowning, really.

Dave Jackson: 00:03:28

If you think about it, that's it.

Dave Jackson: 00:03:29

And it frees up our mind to think.

Dave Jackson: 00:03:33

And I always tell people, you need a call to action.

Dave Jackson: 00:03:37

You need a call to action.

Dave Jackson: 00:03:39

I thought, you know what, the phrase call to action might be the problem, because when you think about the word call, if we go back again to the 70s, don't know why we're doing a 70s themed show today, but, you know, we used to hear about cat calls.

Dave Jackson: 00:03:53

You know, the guys on the street, hey, honey, what's going.

Dave Jackson: 00:03:56

You know, that whole nine yards?

Dave Jackson: 00:03:57

Cat calls are not good.

Dave Jackson: 00:03:58

Don't do that, guys.

Dave Jackson: 00:03:58

Don't be creepy.

Dave Jackson: 00:04:00

But a call, you know, or just call, like, hey, hey, right?

Dave Jackson: 00:04:04

You're calling at somebody.

Dave Jackson: 00:04:06

All right?

Dave Jackson: 00:04:06

Kind of like a carnival barker.

Dave Jackson: 00:04:08

You ever seen those?

Dave Jackson: 00:04:09

I remember once I was in Las Vegas, fancy hotel for a podcast event, and one of the shops on the first floor.

Dave Jackson: 00:04:16

Every time I walk by, hey, well, we don't want to do that.

Dave Jackson: 00:04:21

And then there's action.

Dave Jackson: 00:04:22

You know, call to action.

Dave Jackson: 00:04:24

Sounds almost military.

Dave Jackson: 00:04:26

We're telling people what to do.

Dave Jackson: 00:04:29

And I get that.

Dave Jackson: 00:04:30

So let's change that phrase a little bit.

Dave Jackson: 00:04:33

Don't think of it as a call to action.

Dave Jackson: 00:04:37

Think of it as a nudge to value, not a call to action.

Dave Jackson: 00:04:43

You're nudging them.

Dave Jackson: 00:04:44

You're helping them to something that has value, because you know your audience, you know what they want, and you've made a product or service that's gonna fit them like a glove.

Dave Jackson: 00:04:55

It's not a call to action.

Dave Jackson: 00:04:57

It's a nudge to value.

Dave Jackson: 00:05:00

And don't be afraid to do that.

Dave Jackson: 00:05:02

So my buddy that had been speaking in the Bronx, I said, you know, we.

Dave Jackson: 00:05:09

We don't want to feel salesy.

Dave Jackson: 00:05:10

We all think we have to do something like this Sunday, Sunday, Sunday.

Dave Jackson: 00:05:14

No, I said, here's how you let your audience know that you're a public speaker.

Dave Jackson: 00:05:20

Start off your next episode.

Dave Jackson: 00:05:22

And go, I was speaking to a bunch of high school kids in the Bronx, and this young man came up to me and asked me a question.

Dave Jackson: 00:05:28

I go, there you go.

Dave Jackson: 00:05:30

Your audience now knows you speak to high school kids.

Dave Jackson: 00:05:33

It doesn't have to be super blatant.

Dave Jackson: 00:05:36

You'll often hear me on this show say I was working with a client.

Dave Jackson: 00:05:40

Well, guess what?

Dave Jackson: 00:05:41

You just figured out that I do consulting.

Dave Jackson: 00:05:44

Most of that is done through the school of podcasting.

Dave Jackson: 00:05:46

But if you want to hire me as a consultant, you can.

Dave Jackson: 00:05:49

But that's just a very mild, gentle way of letting people know about your service so that they can hire you.

Dave Jackson: 00:05:57

Because it's much more profitable to sell your own product and service than it is to run ads on your show.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:05

And if you need help with that, of course I can help you with that.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:08

That's what I do.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:09

I help podcasters.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:10

If you go out to schoolofpodcasting.com, use the coupon code listener.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:17

When you click on the join now button, you get step by step tutorial.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:21

Sure.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:22

You get an amazing community.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:25

Sure.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:26

And you also get one on one consulting.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:29

Okay, but how much?

Dave Jackson: 00:06:30

You ready?

Dave Jackson: 00:06:31

Unlimited.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:33

Unlimited consulting.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:34

I was just at podfest this last week.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:36

That's why my voice is all jacked up today.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:38

Notice how I didn't apologize for that.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:40

You can understand me, right?

Dave Jackson: 00:06:41

Yeah.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:41

Don't overdo that.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:42

Some people.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:43

Oh, I'm sorry.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:43

I have the sniffles.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:45

Well, sometimes you have the sniffles.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:46

I can still understand you.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:48

And I was having conversations with people all week.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:51

I have.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:51

We could always do the zoom call, but when I can't because, you know, I'm inducting people into the podcast hall of fame.

Dave Jackson: 00:06:57

We can do conversations on a special app I use.

Dave Jackson: 00:07:00

And I was having conversations all week with members of the school of podcasting.

Dave Jackson: 00:07:05

It is unlimited one on one consulting.

Dave Jackson: 00:07:07

So if you ever like, oh, man, I can never do this alone.

Dave Jackson: 00:07:11

You're not doing it alone.

Dave Jackson: 00:07:12

I am right there in your pocket.

Dave Jackson: 00:07:14

So go out to schoolofpodcasting.com, click on the join now button, and let's get your podcast going in the right direction.

Dave Jackson: 00:07:22

I'm Dave Jackson.

Dave Jackson: 00:07:24

I help podcasters.

Dave Jackson: 00:07:25

It's what I do.

Dave Jackson: 00:07:27

And I can't wait to see what we're going to do together, because I want to be your podcast.