How My Podcast Signed Clients While I Was Healing: Why Downloads Don’t Pay Your Bills (Decisions Do)

When I started my podcast, I was in recovery from a surgery related to my chronic illness, trying to connect with other businesses and searching for a way to keep growing my business without sacrificing my healing or well-being. Podcasting became my most aligned marketing tool. It let me show up consistently without showing up constantly. That's why I created the Start Your Podcast Planner, a digital guide to help you launch a purpose-driven podcast that feels like you. Whether you're starting from scratch or finally ready to get your voice and your story out there, or looking for a sustainable way to grow your business through marketing that converts, this planner gives you everything I wish I had. It's got step-by-step strategies that won't overwhelm you, confidence and building prompts that help you fall in love with your voice and share it with the world, and tools and templates you can use again and again without overworrying or being concerned about the tech. Most importantly, it helps you turn your story into sales or income that actually feels aligned. If you're ready to grow your audience, attract clients, and share your message in a way that works with your capacity, this is where you start. Tap the link in the show notes to grab your Start Your Podcast Planner or visit thrivewithnikita.com/podcast-planner.

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Let's get your voice and your story out in the world and build a profitable, sustainable marketing system through podcasting.

Welcome to Business with Chronic Illness, the globally ranked podcast for women living with chronic illness who want to start and grow a business online. I'm your host Nikita Williams, and I went from living a normal life to all of a sudden being in constant pain with no answers to being diagnosed with multiple chronic illnesses and trying to make a livable income. I faced the challenge of adapting traditional business advice to fit my unique circumstances with chronic illness, feeling frustrated and more burned out than I already was while managing my chronic illness, to becoming an award-winning coach with a flexible, sustainable online coaching business. I found the surprisingly simple steps to starting and growing a profitable business without compromising my health or my peace. Since then, I've helped dozens of women just like you learn how to do the same. If you're ready to create a thriving business that aligns with your lifestyle and well-being, you're in the right place. Together We're shifting the narrative of what's possible for women with chronic illness and how we make a living. This is Business with Chronic Illness. Hey everybody, welcome to this episode of Business with Chronic Illness. Today I want to talk about the biggest myths in business and podcasting, which is that you need a big audience to make sales. Here is the reality and the truth, and my personal truth, and what I've seen with my clients. My podcast has never had hundreds of thousands of downloads per episode. I feel like this is reserved for people who have been in business for a long time, who have some kind of outside, like, in-person kind of network that they've built community that they built, or your Beyoncé or Taylor Swift or Amy Porterfield or Jasmine Star, where you've grown this community collectively over years, right? And so though these people all have some type of long-form content or podcasting, I have consistently brought in clients without the hundreds and thousands of downloads. And I think so many people start in podcasting with this idea that that's what they need in order to make money. I've made money with my podcast even in seasons when I was healing from chronic illness or healing from something related to a new diagnosis, surgery, or something, and I couldn't show up like everybody else. So in this episode, I'm going to share with you how I signed clients while I was literally in bed recovering from a hysterectomy that I just had because of living with endometriosis. Downloads. And I'm going to take this even further onto like social media platforms and things like that. Likes and follows don't really matter all that much, as much as decisions do. So this conversation is part of the Business Safety Net with a Podcast series that I'm doing right now, where I'm breaking down how podcasting can become the system that holds your business steady when you can't show up or be on, when you take a break, when you need rest, when you have flare-ups, when whatever is happening. And if you missed part 1 of this series, I want you to go back and look for the episode, and it's where I shared my 30-minute-a-day connection strategy that helped me build momentum in the time where I didn't have a lot of capacity to show up and be on creating new content. But for today, we're diving into how a small but mighty audience can actually be more profitable than chasing the downloads and the numbers, and how you can use my proven framework called Connect, Give, Serve to help listeners make decisions that lead to sales. Okay, so when I first launched my podcast, I didn't have a big audience. No brainer. I didn't even know what a podcast was, so it didn't make sense to believe or have an idea that I'm going to have all these people know who I am, right? And I was currently serving my clients as a digital marketer. And so most of my early listeners were past clients, people I had worked with in person, locally creatives that I connected with when I was doing my trunk show and my business, One of a Kind, where I connected and helped small creative entrepreneurs and artists start growing their business online from when they were doing in-person events. And yet, even though I didn't have a huge audience, within my first 10 episodes I had signed 4 clients. And I say this, you might not realize this, but I say this because I didn't know what I was actually like doing intentionally, except for the fact I needed to connect. And I needed to serve my people. And over the years I've developed this framework that I'm going to share with you first. But I didn't have thousands of downloads within that first podcast, the first 10 episodes. I didn't have hundreds of people signing up for my email list or things like that. I don't even know if I had an email list signed up. I had a link for people to book a call with me to submit interest, right? That's it. And I knew I needed to create content because this was in the time where content was becoming more important, more popular, especially for online businesses. But I also knew I needed content that would help people make the decision to get on a call with me, right? So I did this in a couple of different ways, but some of those decisions that people need to make when they're listening to your podcast is to book a sales call. Or to join your email list. Also, you need to think about this from the context. If you're going to have guests also, those people need to make a decision too. So the conversation in the podcast and the conversation you have before and after also should be intentional with the thought of how do we make them make a decision of whether or not I'm their person. So let's talk a little bit about my clients. Some of them were people that had on my show. That became clients. Some of them were people who were listening to my show that became my client. And while they were listening or while they connected with me, they were like, she's the coach for me, right? And this is really crucial because I think a lot of people feel like you need to know what type of coach you are, know everything before you, one, start a podcast and two, can start making money from your podcast. And I literally started my coaching business using my podcast and being brand new in the space of coaching, and I was able to sign clients. So this is really the wild part about this. On top of all of the mechanism of this happening, I was healing from a surgery that I was having because of my endometriosis, and I knew I couldn't just show up the traditional way that I had been showing up, which had been social media, which happened in in person and doing events and things like that. So I knew I needed a way to help people feel what they felt with me in person and on social media. So when I say I sign clients from my podcast, I don't mean it just happened, like, I don't mean— if you've ever watched that movie Big Hero 6, you'll know, you— when I first signed my clients, it wasn't, it wasn't quote unquote magic, it was very intentional, and over the years I have really honed on what that is. So every episode was designed to move someone closer to a decision. I get this so much so now in, in, in my sales calls when people come to me, they already have a decision to work with me. They just have logistics to figure out sometimes for their own life and circumstances. So the difference between worrying about downloads is to switch your mind to start thinking about how do I help people make decisions? Downloads don't build a safety net for your business. Decisions do. Decisions do. And the way I created those decisions or help my audience create those decisions was through my framework CGS, which is Connect, Give, Serve. So Connect is where I speak to the listeners like we're one person. Like, I love to create content where I'm thinking about a client or sales call I had, and I'm thinking, yo, I want to talk to her in this episode. I want to talk to the person who's listening to this that feels like the one download that I have is not enough, right? Or I had 100 downloads and it's not enough. I had 20 downloads and I feel like it's not enough. I want to talk to the person who's— I just need more downloads. And I want them to think about what if I already have enough downloads? What if I already have that? So when I'm thinking about creating content and the way I help my clients when I'm working with them as a podcast editor and strategist, what I'm trying to help them to see is how can you create content for one person? Now, a lot of objections I get about this is if I do this, that means that I'm singling out one person. I'm not really going to connect to a lot of people, but we don't realize how common the one issue that one person is having looks just different ways, but we can all relate to. So the first thing you want to do is create content that connects. Don't try to sound bigger than you are. Don't try to sound super fancy. Sound like yourself having a conversation one-on-one with someone and make people feel seen and heard and safe. That's what we all want to feel when we're listening to anything. I cannot tell you how many times someone like some of you have reached out to me or even guests who have had on the show, like, girl, that episode, you said what you said, or the conversation you had with so-and-so just hit me. It felt— I felt so seen, right? That's what you want people to feel. Give. This is the next step of CGS. I want you to give. I want you to offer value that speaks directly to the questions they are already asking of themselves. So think of the questions, the objections that this one person you know is going to be popping off thinking about while they're listening to your content. This creates micro yeses or overcomes objections that people are having, and it also helps people feel like I'm getting wins while I'm listening to this content. She understands me again. She gets my problem again. She can help me. Right. And the last step of this is what we call serve, which is also, I like to say serve over sell, because when you serve, you do sell. And service to me is just simply showing people how they take the next step. Sometimes what happens is we forget to tell people what to do after they listen to a show or what to do throughout the show. Of the episode of what that looks like, right? And so it's really important to think about this like being at a restaurant. I like to say this is if you're at a restaurant and you get the best hostess and she is amazing, you guys talk, you feel like she's going to put you in the right spot in that restaurant and you guys are going to have the best time, but she never walks you to where this spot is. How is that going to help you? How is that going to help you? You're like, yo, where do I go to this place that you have described? That's perfect. Perfect for me, right? And so in our content, and this is very different from long, like short-form content, oftentimes we feel like we have to wait to talk about it. We have to say it so quickly on how like people can go to the link in our bio or comment a word, or how many posts, 80% of this post and 20% of this post needs to be sales and the other part needs to be just value, value, value. In every episode, there needs to be this congruency of showing people how to get to the, to the seat of where you're talking about. Because you've been the greatest hostess, you've given them, you've connected to them, you've given them like practical things that will help them enjoy the meal, and now they need to sit down and eat. That's how you serve them even more. So you want people to feel, I know what to do next. So sometimes that is, I want to serve them up with resource. So for some of you listening now, that might be, hey, I have an idea, I already have an idea for a podcast, but I really need to know the technical steps. I'm going to tell you to go into my show notes and go to the link to grab my podcast planner. Simple Podcast Planner will help you do everything, you know, all the checklists, all of the tools that I think is best for you so you don't be overwhelmed with all of the advice online. It's all in one spot just for you. I've used the majority of everything that's in there so that you you don't have to figure it out by failing, right? So that's a resource. Or it's like, jump on a call with me. I'd love to do a free clarity call with you if that's something you're interested in. Offer one thing specifically to serve them. Sometimes it's joining your email list, sometimes it's booking a call. Serving isn't pushy, especially in podcast content, especially in episodes. Here's the thing: if someone finds that you connect and give them what they need, Don't you want them to take the next step? Especially if they find your piece of content that you recorded back in 2023 and they're getting what they need in 2025 and they want to work with you. You want them to be able to know where to go, right? So serving isn't pushy, it's clarity in action. It's giving someone an open door when they're ready to walk through it. That's what makes podcasting really a vehicle for marketing and sales safety. It means at any given time someone comes to your content, they will get connected, they will get their problem solved, and they will know how to implement this by asking to work with you in some additional way. All of that needs to be in your content. For some people, there's a lot of tweaking that happens with this within the strategy that needs to happen to make sure it is aligned with your business goals and your podcast goals. And this is something that I help my clients do, especially if we're helping them with their podcast editing and their management overall. We're helping them through this because we want them to make sure they create the results that they want. So not only are you getting editing, but you're also going to get strategy as well. So that's why I say it doesn't matter if you have 50 downloads or 5,000 or 500,000. What matters is whether your content is creating decisions, meaning did they click on the link? Did they DM you? Did they download the thing? Did they send you a message? Did they email you? Right? That's the real metrics. And I can say this for certain, that I've had those metrics in my business, which I'll talk about in my next episode. But here's what you need to keep in mind. A small but mighty audience can convert faster and deeper when you use the strategy that I just shared with you. When you focus on decisions, how do I help people make decisions over downloads, right? When you implement that structure of connecting, giving, and serving so you can guide people towards those decisions, your podcast becomes your safety net because it keeps creating those decisions. Even when you can't show up, it keeps helping them make those decisions when you've recorded it once and they show up 2 months, 3 months, or a week from now, right? It helps that. So in the next part of the Business Safety Net series with podcasting, I'm tackling one of the biggest fears I hear from my clients, and I have had some qualms about it myself at times. What happens when I need to take a break from my podcast? What happens when I need to take a break from my long-form content? Like, what's gonna happen? We'll talk about how to take breaks without losing momentum and why the longevity of a podcast makes it one of the most sustainable tools you can have for your sales and marketing. All right, see you in the next episode. That's a wrap for this episode of Business with Chronic Illness. If you would like start and grow an online coaching business with me, head to the show notes to click a link to book a sales call and learn how to make money with chronic illness. You can also check out our website at www.craftedtothrive.com for this episode's show notes and join our email list to get exclusive content where I coach you on how to chronically grow a profitable business while living with chronic illness. Until next time, remember, yes, you are crafted to thrive.

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