More Podcast Listeners from Pinterest & Email with Andi Smiley

Andi Smiley (00:00):
50% of listeners drop off after roughly five minutes listening to a podcast. So you want to get the content that you want people to hear in that first five minutes if at all possible.

Allea Grummert (00:23):
Hey there, welcome to Happy Subscribers, a podcast that explores how bloggers and content creators can create more purposeful relationships with your audience through email marketing. I’m Ali ert, email marketing strategist, copywriter, email platform expert and founder of the Done for You email marketing agency duet. I started as a personal finance blogger in 2016 and have since helped hundreds of bloggers and creators like you maximize your email marketing for more impact, more traffic, and a better connection with your subscribers. Be prepared for some advanced email talk as well as tactical tips to help get your valuable content into the hands of your audience faster and easier. I’m excited you’re here, so let’s do it. We can create a deeper, more meaningful connection with the community you love and serve through email.

(01:11):
If you’re curious about duet and our services and how we work with clients, go to duet.co/happy for a few different free resources. And while you’re there, you can also join my email list, which is where I share so much valuable content that you really cannot get anywhere else. Plus you can reply back at any time to any email, and it will go to my inbox as well. Go to duet.co/happy and I’ll include the link in the show notes so that you can grab more. Andy Smiley is a podcast coach who helps women grow their shows in sustainable ways without relying on social media. As a mom of three littles, she’s all about strategies that actually fit real life. When she’s not coaching or recording, she’s most likely curled up with a fantasy book. Andy believes every woman has a story worth sharing and loves helping them get their voice out into the world. I met Andy on Threads, which makes us threads. Yes, it does. Is that how I had to Google it? I was like, I know I’ve seen it, but how is it actually spelled dread? Not yet, but I love it. Well, thank you for being on the show, Andy.

Andi Smiley (02:18):
I’m so excited to be here. I feel like there are so many different ways to do so many different things, but I feel like I’ve figured out some ways to do things as a mom of three littles, so I’m excited to talk podcasting and just businessy things. As a mom. It’s a fun time, but I’ve also had to learn how to do a lot of things with not very much time. Yes.

Allea Grummert (02:42):
Well, you’ve dialed in on this process when you were like, I’m not on Instagram, I was like, hold on, pause that. Tell us about that on the podcast, please. How did you rid yourself of the Instagram?

Andi Smiley (02:56):
Well, I will say so I do still sometimes post on stories, but I don’t post posts, I guess is how you say that. I don’t post posts. Yeah, I don’t post clever posts because it was too anxiety ridden. I was so sick of trying to think of something to talk about and do and schedule it out, and because of that I was like, you know what? I’ve been dabbling in Pinterest and I’m just going to dive all in. So I went all in on Pinterest this summer. I’d been dabbling for probably six months. I finally went all in on Pinterest and was like, why am I stressing about Instagram when Pinterest is doing great things for me? So I do still chime in sometimes on stories in Instagram, but I really just don’t stress about Instagram anymore, and it has been a beautiful thing for me.

Allea Grummert (03:49):
Oh, I love that. I post something to my feed and then it’s like I have a lizard brain. I’m like, how many people liked it? Did anybody comment? I’m like, I’m 14 again, and I’m like, this is why we don’t do this. No, seriously though I don’t like this part of myself

Andi Smiley (04:09):
And I’m the same way. And so I think that was another thing. I was like, this feels like it’s not good for my mental health while Pinterest. I feel like there are metrics like that on Pinterest, but I don’t have those metrics on my phone, and I really do think that’s part of it, which is so silly. But here we are and I feel like I’m able to have a little bit more distance between me and the metrics when it comes to Pinterest.

Allea Grummert (04:34):
Good. Get some space between us of those metrics. Seriously. I’m like, but do people love me? I mean, guys, I am in therapy. We’re working through it, but I feel like there is something just like in how it’s built that makes us really want that feedback loop. Yeah, let’s blame it on big tech. It’s not. I love it. Yeah. Okay. Well share with us about the work that you do and who you serve. I’m also curious how you get your clients. I have so many questions.

Andi Smiley (05:03):
I love it. So I help women grow their podcasts in a way that’s sustainable because like I said, I’ve got three littles and I want to grow my podcast and my business, but I want to also live my life and go on trips with my kids and take them to the park without checking my phone 15 times. I’ve been able to figure out some ways on how to do that in a way that doesn’t feel stressful or overwhelming, but also I’m still growing my show and still making money.

Allea Grummert (05:32):
I love it. And what kind of services then do you provide in addition to being a podcast host?

Andi Smiley (05:38):
So my main one right now is I help women with their Pinterest setting up Pinterest. And so I have two different offers mainly right now it’s like a done for you offer where I will literally take your podcast information and make a Pinterest profile for you and make all of your pins for the first 30 days. And then I have another one that’s like a do it yourself version, so you’re like, no, Andy, I want no hands on it but my own and I’m going to do it. Those are my two main offers. Also, if you beg, I will also help you set up your podcast and launch your podcast, but that’s just, I like doing that, but only for certain people. I don’t think I will ever do that for a man again, but I will do that for a woman most likely. I like getting more women’s voices out there. Yes. Yeah.

Allea Grummert (06:24):
Yeah. Okay. Very cool. I love that you’ve dialed in so much to this really specific part of Pinterest for podcasts of women. I love a niche. It’s very nichey. Yes. Whenever I explain what I do to people, I’m like, I do email marketing for creators specifically welcome and nurture sequences. The creators are largely bloggers, most of them are food bloggers. I’m like, how niche do you want me to get with this? It’s like you different levels for if you’re at a family reunion and nobody knows anything about what you do, and then you go to a conference and they’re like, but what email service platforms do you support? Oh, sure. It’s kind of whiplash if you go from hanging out with your friends and then you go to this conference and you’re like, I’m sorry, yes,

Andi Smiley (07:05):
Turn. Oh, you want more details?

Allea Grummert (07:06):
Yeah,

Andi Smiley (07:07):
I feel like at family functions, they’re like, so you make money from podcasting? And I’m like, I do. And then I go to a podcast conference and they’re like, what are your marketing strategies and how often do you check how many downloads you get from each version? And I’m like, yeah, it is a bit of a whiplash. It is, but both are fine in their own

Allea Grummert (07:28):
Ways. You just have to be ready to dial up when the people want the deep questions. Exactly. Okay, so Pinterest, we usually hear about it being used for belonging. Who else uses Pinterest? And then how did you land on this as a resource for podcasters?

Andi Smiley (07:48):
So what I’ve learned about Pinterest as I’ve dabbled and now do in whatever, I have realized that Pinterest, there are a lot of people on there for recipes for like DIY crafts, things like that. But if you widen that lens just a little bit, you can say that Pinterest is for action takers. People go there for getting their questions answered and just for learning things and taking action. I feel like that’s a lame way to say it, but just moving forward, taking a step forward, and many, many podcasts are that education piece. It’s like one of my clients, she has a podcast that’s specifically for moms of young kids. So she has an episode about how to do allowance, how to get your kids to do chores. So moms are searching for those things on Pinterest. They find her podcast and then they listen and they fall in love with her. She is an absolute delight.

Allea Grummert (08:56):
I love that. Then, so are you listening to every episode and then creating content from that, or do you kind of take notes from your clients? So for hers,

Andi Smiley (09:06):
I’m doing a Pinterest setup for her, and so she sent me her top, I think she sent me her top seven episodes. So to those take notes and then create pins around those.

Allea Grummert (09:18):
I love it. Tell me more about how do we know that Pinterest is working? Where are we driving them to?

Andi Smiley (09:28):
Totally. Okay. So my favorite things to drive people to our two episodes on a blog have a blog post about each episode, because Pinterest really likes to have a verified website. If you’ve got a verified website, Pinterest likes you so much more. It makes sense, but it also feels a little random. Pinterest is like, oh, you own that? Cool. I’m going to send more people your way. So that’s kind of the best way to do it, in my opinion. If you don’t have a website though, you can still use it. It just doesn’t work quite as well. And now I forgot your question. You asked about, oh my gosh. Oh, performance.

Allea Grummert (10:07):
So yeah, how are you able to see what

Andi Smiley (10:10):
Works? Yes. Okay, so Pinterest has a bunch of stats that you can look at, what pins people are clicking on, which pins people are saving, and then you can, and I take that information and I go to my, for me personally, and then I go to my podcast host and I’m like, okay, so this many people saved, let’s see how many people have listened in the past 30 days to see how that coordinates or this many people clicked, how many people listened, just to kind of see, because that is my main marketing tool. So obviously people could have found it just by typing in words in Google actually had people find me that way, which is so fun and random. But here we are, SEO works, but my main marketing tool is Pinterest, and so that’s how I can do it. I can also go through my website analytics and do it the same way. It’s just a little bit more tricky, and I’m not the tech person, so that’s my easier way when I’m wanting to deep dive. I’ll go to my website analytics and dive into that. But when I’m looking just for a quick overview, I’ll just go to my podcast host and look at it that way.

Allea Grummert (11:20):
Can I ask, as the resident podcast guest hosting you, who wants to learn things? I love it. How do we make those show notes, pages really valuable for readers that make it really easy for them to listen? So

Andi Smiley (11:37):
There are so many different ways to do blog posts for your episodes. One thing I will say is, as a listener, this is as a podcast listener, I need links. Put all of the links that you talk about in your episode, please just put it on the post. Don’t just put it in your episode show notes in the app or whatever. Please put it on the post too. It’s just so much easier. Also, I will say having a description of what the episode is about, so you know what you’re getting into. Also putting topics be like, okay, if you’re interested in these five topics, this episode is for you because then it’s like, oh, okay. Actually none of those things work for me. Cool. That’s not an episode for me, and we can move on. I think those things, having those on there as well as I put the podcast episode audio player on that blog post, but I also put the YouTube on there, so I do both, just so that everyone has all the options that they want. I don’t put anything on YouTube, Andy. Okay, girl, you don’t have to, but also if you want to, we can talk about that and then everybody be able to see a

Allea Grummert (12:46):
Super festive sweater that I have on right now. I mean, it is very fun. It’s very fun. Dear listener. It is red with little white bows. It’s adorable. Yes, the bows are part of the fabric I’m not wearing. It’s not 3D. Okay.

Andi Smiley (13:00):
Oh, I wish it was. Now

Allea Grummert (13:01):
That would be really fun. I would just walk around and flop my little bow, my little bows around. Okay, so do you recommend having a transcript on the show notes page?

Andi Smiley (13:14):
I put one on my page mostly because again, as a listener, I actually really like having a transcript. I’ll go back if there’s a how to episode for that I listened to and I’m like, okay, I can’t remember what step three was or whatever. I don’t really want to go back and listen to the entire episode to find step three, so I will just go over to the transcript and command F to step three and then find it that way. And also when I went to a podcast conference earlier this year, someone was talking about setting up blog posts, and they said that that also helps with SEO. Having that transcript on there so was I was like, you know what? Two birds, one stone.

Allea Grummert (13:52):
Love it. Yes. I love how you’re framing. How are we doing what’s best for the listener as well, not just what’s easiest for us.

Andi Smiley (14:01):
It’s true. Well and truly. I use a script and you use Riverside, and both of those give you a transcript. So literally you can just copy and paste it,

Allea Grummert (14:09):
Drop it in there, drop it like it’s hot.

Andi Smiley (14:13):
Yes.

Andi Smiley (14:13):
I

Allea Grummert (14:13):
Dunno if you can tell my age when I make references like high school musical and whatever that was.

Andi Smiley (14:20):
I also can’t remember either

Allea Grummert (14:23):
With list growth, do you target lead magnets or anything like that when it comes to Pinterest as well beyond the actual content of the show to help your clients with that?

Andi Smiley (14:36):
So truly that is literally your earlier question. I didn’t finish it and the other half, so here we came full circle. Yes. So I do pins on my episodes, and then the other thing I do is my lead magnet. My main one right now is it’s called is Pinterest, right? For me checklist. So it’s a checklist of if you mark at least three of these, then yes, you should try Pinterest for your podcast. And that has been probably one of the best lead magnets I’ve had in a long time just because people are like, what? You can use Pinterest for your podcast? I should probably see if it would work for me. And it’s been a really good one for me. Yeah. How are you promoting your lead magnet? So truly my main two places are Pinterest and then Threads. I love talking about it on threads,

Allea Grummert (15:23):
And you have such a niche that it’s so every time you post, I’m like, I know exactly what’s going to be about. And Andy’s here. Andy’s here. I love it. Oh my

Andi Smiley (15:32):
Gosh, truly. This is so funny that you said that, but someone sent me a screenshot of a Reddit post that was like, do you use Pinterest for your podcast? And one of the commenters was like this Andy Smiley girl. I’ve seen that she talks about Pinterest for podcasters. I haven’t checked out her stuff yet, but she seems to know her stuff. And I was like, I’m on a Reddit post. I love it. I know. I was like, wow, apparently I have niched enough that I can make it onto a Reddit comment.

Allea Grummert (16:00):
The most niched, you’re the only person I know doing this, which is why I was like, come to the podcast, come to come

Andi Smiley (16:07):
A little weird. I feel like more people should know about this, right? Well, maybe now you can think that, but it feels so funny that I’m the only one talking about it. I feel like more people should be talking about it. Maybe eventually.

Allea Grummert (16:19):
When I launched my podcast, I shared it on social media. I gathered the troops of friends to promote it to their audience. I sent it out to my own email list. I’m thinking about SEO on Spotify and on Apple Podcasts and then posting. I do do the posts on my website for each podcast episode, but I never thought about Pinterest. I also wasn’t thinking about LinkedIn. Facebook is a no-go for me anymore, so there’s a lot I wasn’t considering. And so it just opens up my mind to a whole new world.

Andi Smiley (16:53):
Well and truly one thing that I really love about Pinterest is that it is so low key. I literally, I am almost scheduled out for the rest of December right now, and today is December 8th. So I’m pretty much done with the marketing of my podcast until 2026. And it is so nice to just be like, oh, I’m still promoting my offers, but I don’t have to think about promoting my actual podcast episodes until next year. Love

Allea Grummert (17:25):
That. It’s really nice. I love that. What other type of marketing do you do? So you mentioned being

Andi Smiley (17:29):
On

Allea Grummert (17:29):
Threads, but you have an email

Andi Smiley (17:32):
List. I do have an email list, and I love that thing. Truly, I will say my main marketing outside of being a podcast guest is Pinterest and email those two. They just love each other and I love that they love each other because Pinterest will, they’ll bring me listeners to my episodes, and then a lot of the time I’ll talk about a freebie in the episode. They’ll join my email list and then once they’re on my email list, after they’ve listened to some episodes, they’re like, oh, I really like Andy. I will pay her money to do whatever. And that has been, it’s just a match made in heaven. I love it so much.

Allea Grummert (18:13):
Well, there’s so much to be said too that when you have a podcast, I mean, you can tell me if I’m wrong, but people feel like they know you much quicker than if they were just a joiner email list, perhaps cold.

Andi Smiley (18:24):
Yes. And truly, the other way works too, in my experience, is if they do join your email list cold and then they get some emails about podcast episodes, they’re like, oh, I already know that I really like Andy because she’s really good at talking about Pinterest. She probably knows what she’s talking about when she’s talking about podcast swaps and other ways to market your podcast too. So it kind of works both ways.

Allea Grummert (18:47):
Can you tell me about how you’re promoting your lead magnet within the podcast?

Andi Smiley (18:51):
Sure. So I do my own, this is like if you were to launch another podcast slash, you could add this to yours. If you don’t do it already, I don’t know if you do, sorry, but I recommend having an ad of some sort in every single episode for your own stuff in some way. Or if you want to become an affiliate for something, do that too. But for me, I just have a quote ad in every episode where I just promote my lead magnet and some weeks I get really creative and do something new. In some weeks I just fall back on the script that I wrote at the beginning of the season, and I just talk about how much I love Pinterest and how they should try it out and see if it works for them. And usually to get really nerdy for a second in my podcast, I do a cold open where I talk about something in the episode. Then I have my intro that I say every time. Then I do almost like a second intro for the actual episode, and then I have my ad after that, because this is a sad statistic, but 50% of listeners drop off after roughly five minutes listening to a podcast.

Andi Smiley (20:01):
Yeah. Oh no.

Andi Smiley (20:03):
Depending on the episode, depending on your podcast. But that’s the generalized average. So you want to get the content that you want people to hear in that first five minutes if at all possible.

Allea Grummert (20:15):
I love that intentionality. I actually have a little Airtable bank of my different ads so that when I am sending all the details to my editor, I select the ad and I have a spot for pre-roll post-roll, like where do I want this in the episode? So I mix it up sometimes the type of ad and then where it’s placed. Love that. Me too. Okay, so we talked about that. Okay, people on your email list and they want to hire, how long after being on your list is a cold subscriber, somebody who joined your list cold reaching out to you? You have such a specific

Andi Smiley (21:01):
Well, I feel like, okay, so I feel like I don’t have hard numbers. I couldn’t tell you average averages, but so I am currently selling that done for you offer. This is my first time I’ve offered it, and I’ve been selling it for about a month, a little bit more then. But I did take a week off to go to Puerto Rico, so about a month I was just like, okay, I’m starting this offer. And then I was like, you know what, bye. And then I came back to it, it’s fine. And someone joined my email list from Threads, actually, and a couple weeks later she was like, Hey, I’m ready. I’m ready to buy this offer from you. And I was like, great. So in that instance, it was a couple of weeks. I will say most of the time it is not that quick. Well, actually no, I’ve had,

Allea Grummert (21:56):
Sorry, sorry DI did not, I give you time to prepare. I was like, I’m hitting you with questions that you were not prepared with.

Andi Smiley (22:03):
It’s all good. I’m here for it. Truly when you sign up for my, is Pinterest right for you checklist? There’s an email sequence after that, and I’ve had three people buy from that, and that has been out and about for probably three months. So there’s that also, I know those are directly from that email sequence. I’ve had other people buy from other marketing, but I know that those three have come from the sequence.

Allea Grummert (22:34):
Are you sharing your pricing? Are they hopping on a call with you?

Andi Smiley (22:38):
Are they just buying

Allea Grummert (22:39):
Outright?

Andi Smiley (22:40):
Yeah, those are just the DIY course. So they’re just buying it. It’s 79 bucks. I love that. Yeah, it cool’s so nice, because I don’t have to do anything. I already did all the work, so I just get to see the little, I have flow desk, so it’s like the little flying money in my email. It’s really so cute. The money. It’s coming. It’s coming. It’s

Allea Grummert (23:01):
Coming to me. Oh, man. So then you and I talked about this off call, but you’ve been doing, now that you have this done for you offer, and I was asking about your launch, I was like, how many emails? How long has your cart open? And you’re like, oh, no, no, none of that. You’re running like an anti launch. And I love this, and I’m reassuring you too, people do want to hear this too, that not everything looks like this. Many emails here, this, that Clark Close. Tell us what you’re doing in your casual launch

Andi Smiley (23:35):
Approach.

Allea Grummert (23:35):
Yes.

Andi Smiley (23:35):
I feel like casual launch is a good way to say it. For me, this offer, this done for you offer. I’ve never offered something like this before, but I had so many people that were like, Andy, I want to try Pinterest, but I can’t do one more thing. And so I was like, okay, I am going to create an offer that’s like a done for you. I’ll set up your Pinterest. Because truly with Pinterest, once you have it set up, all you got to do is make pins and just be consistent. That could be one pin a week, that could be seven pins a week, but that part is not nearly as hard as all of the setup, all the SEO, all of everything else that can go into it. And so I was like, okay, you know what? I’m just going to offer it.

(24:14):
And I was talking to my business coach and she was like, you should just start talking about it. And I was like, okay, dabble it in there. So I just created a checkout on flow desk again, apparently I’m promoting Flow Desk today, and then just started talking about it. That was one of the times I got on stories, talked about it there. I talked about it on threads, and then I emailed. My main thing again is my emails. I do emails a week, Tuesdays and Fridays, and I’ve been doing Tuesday and Friday emails since the first week of November, and I’ve sold three of the five spots. And truly my plan is just to keep talking about it until they’ve sold out. That’s the plan, that’s the

Allea Grummert (25:07):
Launch. Love it. I love it. And people, are they hopping on calls with you?

Andi Smiley (25:12):
That’s good.

Andi Smiley (25:14):
Actually, no. I’ve done a couple of emails back and forth to be like, Hey, I want to make sure this is a good fit for me. And I’ll tell ’em. And some of ’em be like, oh, that’s not a good fit. And then other people have been like, yep, sign me up. Where’s the link? So I haven’t had to jump on any calls for that though.

Andi Smiley (25:32):
Someone

Andi Smiley (25:32):
Actually today asked for one, which is funny, but I was like, ah, sorry, I’m really busy, but you can email me your questions. And she was like, oh, okay. She just emailed it.

Allea Grummert (25:39):
I mean, let’s revisit the fact that you have small littles and Christmas and

Andi Smiley (25:44):
All the things,

Allea Grummert (25:46):
And I love that you can lock these in without a sales call. That’s really awesome. It shows a lot about people’s trust in you and your ability to do it. Perhaps a lot of that is also because they see you doing it for yourself. And have you shared testimonials or how has that played out in those emails?

Andi Smiley (26:07):
For the emails, a lot of it is just, this is how it’s worked for me really. Well, here are my results. Here’s how little I do for my own. Here’s how it really doesn’t take very much time once it’s all set up. And then the other thing I talked about, so the offer right now is 2 97 for a Pinterest done for you, while normally a Pinterest manager costs roughly 500. And so I was like, this is a cheaper price than what you’re normally going to get. And I think that that probably helps too. They’re like, oh, I’m getting a deal from someone that’s specifically podcaster, that’s Pinterest. But I think they also know that this is my first time doing it. And so I think that helps too. They’re like, oh, okay, so this isn’t going to be like, here’s all of her testimonials that she already has

Allea Grummert (26:57):
Because

Andi Smiley (26:58):
I’m a first. So I feel like people kind of know what they’re getting into. And I’m very much an open book when I’m just like, this is how well it’s worked for me, but you will be one of the first Guinea pigs. I know it will work for you because I’ve done it for myself. And I’ve talked to plenty of Pinterest experts, none of them, again, none of them are specific for podcasters, so I have to take what they say and make it work for podcasters. But I’ve done that. And so I feel like they know what they’re getting when they get into it. And also I feel like I’m really open about, yes, this has worked for me and now I’m doing this for you to get testimonials. I’m not an expert yet, but I will be. I’m an expert for me, I’m getting to be an expert for other people now.

Allea Grummert (27:39):
Oh yeah. Oh yeah. So it’s kind of beta pricing, beta run, and consistently inviting them. I love it. I was like, I can see why they’d snap it up at 2 97 because they’re like, I mean, think of all the back links from Pinterest going to their website for that much period’s worth it, and then if it continues to work, when it continues to work, they’ll see the benefits of that

Andi Smiley (28:03):
Going forward. Well, Pinterest is one of those things that the momentum grows, and so you’re not, sadly, you’re not going to see any real traffic in the first 30 days. So it’s kind of nice that I’m doing that for them. They don’t even have to see it in the first 30 days as it’s being a baby and growing slowly. But truly, that’s another reason I like Pinterest for podcasters is because podcasts are the same way. You slowly build the momentum. It’s not like day one you’re going to have a bajillion listeners. So it’s a similar mindset shift as well for Pinterest as podcasters.

Allea Grummert (28:36):
Yeah. Do you want to form an alliance with me? So that’s what that felt like. But part of me is, I mean, I love planning email campaigns. Is it interest you at all to brainstorm how we can fill in your last two spots?

Andi Smiley (28:52):
I would love that. Can

Allea Grummert (28:53):
We do that? Sure. Merry Christmas to me. I mean, Merry Christmas to me. It just sounds so fun. And I’ve never done this, Andy. I’m just like, girl, we need to fill in those last two spots so you can just enjoy Christmas. So I mean, with your beta pricing, that’s already, I mean, are you telling your list that you only have two spots left?

Andi Smiley (29:17):
Yes.

Allea Grummert (29:17):
Start there.

Andi Smiley (29:18):
Yeah.

Allea Grummert (29:20):
Do you have any time sensitivity before the price goes up?

Andi Smiley (29:26):
Not currently. I kind of want to truly, in my perfect world, I want to have five people, clients that I can almost track for the first year. And so I want to keep it. I want to keep it where it is so that it’s an easier sell. Also, I will say podcasters are very, they want to make sure that their money, they get their money’s worth, which is a good thing. I’m all for it. I am the same way. I also am a podcaster. And so I feel like keeping it at that 2 97 makes it an easier yes for my clients, my ideal clients,

Allea Grummert (30:05):
Potential clients. What if it was a matter of that pricing is good through the end of this year. We’re booking these two spots for these two people by the end of the year, then the offer’s off the table. That’s true.

Andi Smiley (30:19):
Yeah. I feel like I could do that and be like, yeah, this offer ends no matter what,

Allea Grummert (30:26):
December 31st.

Andi Smiley (30:27):
Or

Allea Grummert (30:28):
You could say the fourth spot. Or you could say the next available spot is January this date. So if you book that spot, oh, you can book it at this price to get this spot, have, this is my start date. You either get it or you miss it.

Andi Smiley (30:47):
Okay. Just clarifying. I feel like a call, I gave you lots of ideas. Yes. Love it. So if I were to be like, Hey, so are you saying after these two spots are filled or are you saying these next two spots need to be filled by the state or the price is different?

Allea Grummert (31:06):
I see. I gave you a lot. I can see why you have questions. Okay. So one option would be I’m booking for a quarter, one start date for these next two spots. These are the only two that I’m filling for the rest of 2026, and you can get them at this price. So that’s one. You can get your spot at this price, lock it in by the end of December.

Andi Smiley (31:33):
I’m writing it down so I don’t

Allea Grummert (31:34):
Forget. So that’s one option. So then you can actually start your five clients and be operating and learning alongside of each other. That’s one option. The other option would be if you don’t want to be promoting right before Christmas, you could say, okay, it’s January. What are you going to do with your podcast? And you can say, I have a February spot and a March spot. That’s it for the 2 97 price point. Once they’re booked, they’re gone. I use start dates when I send a proposal, and it really is based off of my team’s availability. I can only start so many projects at a month. So it says in there, these, the next two available start dates, they’re first come, first serve.

Andi Smiley (32:20):
Yeah. So I like the idea of, okay, so if I were, let’s say I was writing an email today. I feel like this is probably not good for your podcast episode. I apologize.

Allea Grummert (32:31):
I think it’s great. I bet the listeners are loving it, but they can’t tell us because we’re living in a different time and space. Hi guys. Hi. Hi. Future.

Andi Smiley (32:42):
Okay, so if I were to do this, I could say, okay, January, I have one spot for January. I have one spot for February, let’s say, and I would just promote until those are full. Is that what you’re saying?

Allea Grummert (32:55):
You could, but I would tell your list. I have two spots left at 2 97. One is in January, one is in February. Don’t snooze, grab the spot. So part of it’s like, oh, she’s a spot in January. I want in, or if I don’t book it now, I don’t get to start until February.

Andi Smiley (33:17):
Right. Well, and I feel like that sets me up. I don’t have to start working on that person’s until February because

Allea Grummert (33:26):
Yeah, that’s why I started this even when it was just me, Andy, every time I would get on a sales call, I’d be like, yeah, I could start on Monday. And then I was like, oh my gosh, yours starting a lot on Mondays, person of team of one. And so I had to space it out. And so that’s what you’re doing. You’re just saying, my next available start date, and you don’t even have to give away the second start date. You could just say, I have two left of this spot. The next one is January. If you want it, let me know right now.

Andi Smiley (33:54):
Totally. Well, and I think that that also gives almost like a, what’s the word? Like a deadline, right? A deadline like, Hey, not only are there only two spots, but also if you want the January spot, you need to grab it now or else it might be gone.

Allea Grummert (34:11):
And it really depends on whether you’ve told your list that you have five spots. Maybe that’s internal information you don’t want them to know, but you could say, I’m only the next two clients I bring on are getting this special beta pricing.

Andi Smiley (34:22):
And that’s pretty much what I’ve already been saying, but I feel like I’ve been like, there’s two spots left at the 2 97 price, and I wonder if I just need to be more explicit with that and talk about it a little bit more so it’s more

Allea Grummert (34:37):
Obvious. It’s similar to when I’ve written for clients where they have a bootcamp, so we’re doing a live promo, and it’s like if you do not signed by this date, you literally will miss the Monday kickoff meeting with everybody else. Totally. It’s just that’s what it’s, and so it’s a natural actual scarcity thing versus it’s disappearing. You literally can’t start a project in January until you have a client, and you’re also choosing to not say, yeah, I can onboard five at a time. If you decide that you do want to onboard five clients in a month by yourself, and you can, or you space it out so it builds in a natural scarcity. I’ve always felt really good with that kind of, versus it doesn’t feel fake to me. It really is. We only have 15 spots for duet debuts, and we’ve sold three, so go into the next

Andi Smiley (35:35):
Year. Yeah, that feels good. I feel like, because I’ve been upfront since the beginning, there’s five spots at this 2 97 price, so that doesn’t feel like I’m bait and switching at all.

Allea Grummert (35:46):
No. Well, and what you could do, I don’t know if you’ve received onboarding from your new clients, but if you have any questions in there about what are you hoping this will do for you or Yeah, what are your goals, and just repeat that back to your list, be like, Sally was really excited about this opportunity, and not only that, but I can see an opportunity for this, this, and this for her, which I’m really excited to kick off.

Andi Smiley (36:13):
Totally. Yeah. I feel like one, because I’ve had two of the intro calls. One of ’em, she was like, I just want more clients. She has a coaching podcast.

Andi Smiley (36:23):
And

Andi Smiley (36:23):
She was like, I just want more clients. And then my other one was like, I’m in a building phase. I want more downloads. So I feel like, yeah, just talk about

Allea Grummert (36:30):
That and just feature that, right? Because I mean, I have a podcast. I get most of my clients from attending conferences or being a guest on other people’s, their podcasts or their masterminds teaching and all that. But it is really fun to see the downloads number go up. And I had 80 last spring before I did a four day email or four week email series around email marketing for food blockers. And then my downloads went to $50 two 50 a week. And I was like, that’s time. Is this what drugs was like? Because now I want more. I don’t get a runner’s side, but I’m like, this is so cool. And they’ve consistently, it went from 80 to two 50 consistently. Now I’m over 300. And so I could see that as a specific, maybe you have launched it, maybe you are getting clients, but you really just want more reach. That could be a theme for one of the emails. Totally. I love it. Love it. Another thing that I often like to do too, but you already have your podcast. We’ll be doing some sort of video of like, Hey guys, I know it’s the end of the year. If you’re looking to get this taken care of and just speak reel to reel with your list in a 92nd video, it’s hosted on Loom or you embed it in your email or, oh, yeah,

Andi Smiley (37:48):
I can just do it on YouTube.

Allea Grummert (37:50):
You do it. Yeah. And just do it like how I see you right now. Cute outfit, beautiful hair. Thank you. Clear microphone. And just say like, Hey guys, Andy here before the holidays, because here’s the other thing. I mean, poor listeners are listening to this in January, but next quarter four is that order for, okay, you want, I mean, you could save on your taxes. It’s a simple write off.

Andi Smiley (38:13):
True,

Allea Grummert (38:13):
But you also get to make sure that this is taken care of for the

Andi Smiley (38:19):
Next, right? We’re setting you up for next year.

Allea Grummert (38:21):
And then if you haven’t yet another really popular kind of launch email is an FAQ, what happens? That’s true. So the email can also answer questions. Maybe they aren’t explicitly asking, but they should be.

Andi Smiley (38:34):
Yes.

Allea Grummert (38:36):
I can come up with something like, what if I start launching a mini episode every week as well? Or do you listen to my podcast episodes? How do you know who my audience is? And you can just be like, I do a really great job of onboarding and I listen to your top five podcasts and create keywords based on the research and tools that I have. Because all they want is that reassurance that you know what you’re doing.

Andi Smiley (38:56):
Totally.

Allea Grummert (38:57):
I

Andi Smiley (38:57):
Love that.

Allea Grummert (38:58):
There you go.

Andi Smiley (38:59):
You’re really good at this. Has anyone told you that

Allea Grummert (39:00):
Before? Oh my gosh. Thank you. It’s super fun for me. I appreciate it. Thank you. Merry Christmas to us. That was so fun. There was a mini case study right there. I love it. Well, oftentimes we just aren’t thinking outside of our usual, and I do that as well. I have a business coach and she’s like, did you really need to make it that complicated deli? And I was like, yeah, Anna, I always do felt that way. I see it now. And so yeah, for me, she’s always like, you could afford to do less work actually, and to simplify things. And I was like, okay, okay. The whole thing, thing, I love it. Learning that about myself. If someone is interested in learning whether Pinterest is right for them, Andy, how do they know? I

Andi Smiley (39:53):
Have a fabulous checklist for them. It’s called is Pinterest, right? For me checklist. And there are now, I can’t remember off the top of my head. I think there’s five to 10 different things that help if Pinterest is right for you or not. If you check at least three of them, Pinterest is 99% likely going to be awesome for you.

Allea Grummert (40:14):
I love it. And then if somebody else wants to be your thread, where do we find you

Andi Smiley (40:19):
Threads? I feel like if you want to go back and forth with me, threads is probably the best. Obviously Pinterest is where I hang out, but you can’t really go back and forth with people there. That’s why I like threads. So those are my main, if you want to see stories, I did post about a milkshake that I had this weekend, and it was a peppermint milkshake. It was delicious. I posted that on stories, but I feel like if you want to talk podcasting stuff, threads is

Allea Grummert (40:47):
Where to find

Andi Smiley (40:47):
Me.

Allea Grummert (40:47):
What’s your name on Threads? Where are you? Andy’s friendly podcast guide, friendly podcast guide. I love it. And then of course, because when you sign up for her checklist, dear listener, you’ll be on Annie’s email list and you can reply back to her with questions if you would like her support with getting your podcast out into the world, growing your potential client base and your listenership. Anything else? What am I missing?

Andi Smiley (41:15):
If you want to listen to my podcast, it’s also called Friendly Podcast Guide.

Allea Grummert (41:19):
That is what I was missing, your literal podcast. Thank you, Andy. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. We’ll link all of that in the show notes and on the website, podcast episode, on the blogs. We all have it. Andy, thank you so much for bringing your excitement and your wisdom to our ears today.

Andi Smiley (41:39):
Thank you so much for having me. This has been an absolute delight. I feel like I have my own homework of things that I get to go do now.

Allea Grummert (41:45):
This is a first. Yeah, somebody

Andi Smiley (41:47):
Getting

Allea Grummert (41:47):
Homework from a podcast episode. I love it. Well, yes. Keep us posted. Keep me posted. You know how to reach me. I want to hear how it goes. Will

Andi Smiley (41:55):
Do.

Allea Grummert (41:56):
Alrighty. Talk later. See you. Thanks so much for listening to Happy Subscribers and our conversation about email marketing today. I hope you feel inspired to take action, even if it’s a small change, so you can more confidently share your valuable message with your community through email. Special thanks goes to my team who makes it possible to produce and share these episodes with you. Seriously. Thank you guys. If you want to hear more email marketing tips, strategies, and success stories to help you develop deeper, more meaningful relationships with your email subscribers, be sure to subscribe to happy subscribers so you don’t miss an episode. If you have a few seconds, I invite you to share this episode link with a friend or post it on social media so your peers and community can benefit from it as well. And if you have a few minutes, I’d appreciate if you’d leave a written review of the podcast, since that helps more people hear about it, and I believe we need more creators sending more valuable emails to their audience with more confidence. If you want to reach out to me directly, the best way to do that is to join my email list through one of my top freebies listed in the show notes. You’ll get regular emails from me that are packed with value, and if you hit reply to any of those emails, it’ll land in my inbox and I can’t wait to chat with you there. Until next time, let’s do it.