Dead mice and rats will not prevent us from going live
That is how this conversation started, which feels weirdly fitting because sometimes business is exactly that: you had a plan, something gross and unexpected happens, and you still have to show up and talk about money like a grown woman.
Today I went live with Jennifer Gluckow of The Money Faucet Files, and we talked about something I see all the time with smart business owners:
They are creating content.
They are building trust.
They are getting comments like, “This was so good.”
They are hearing, “I love the way you explain this.”
They are having what feel like great conversations.
But then?
The sale stalls.
The person says:
“Let me think about it.”
“I’ll get back to you.”
“This sounds amazing, but…”
And suddenly the money faucet has a very, very, very expensive leak.
That leak is not just happening on sales calls.
That leak happens in your podcast episodes.
That leak happens in your Substack posts.
That leak happens in your Lives.
Jennifer said:
A money faucet is on-demand, predictable, recurring revenue.
In other words, not waking up every single month starting from zero again.
Yes, please.
Because most of us did not start a business so we could become full-time free content machines.
We are here for impact.
We are here for service.
We are here for income.
All three matter.
In this Live, Jennifer and I walked through three places your sales conversation may be leaking money.
We covered sales calls, podcast CTAs, Substack Lives, follow-up, the “let me think about it” moment, and why your content may be earning trust without creating a clear next step.
Leak #1: You Are Pitching Before You Diagnose
Jennifer called this one exactly what it is:
“Show up and throw up.”
You know the moment.
You get nervous.
You start explaining.
You start proving.
You start listing every feature, benefit, detail, bonus, module, framework, and story you can think of.
And the person on the other side starts drifting away.
This can happen on a Zoom call.
It can also happen on your podcast.
You open the mic and start talking at your listener instead of helping him recognize himself inside the problem.
That is where the leak begins.
A better sales conversation starts with diagnosis.
Not a fake “tell me more about that” while you wait to pitch.
A real diagnosis.
The kind where you ask questions that make someone pause and say:
“No one has ever asked me that before.”
That response is gold.
Because when someone says that, they are not just complimenting you. They are seeing themselves differently because of the way you asked.
Trust deepens.
Listen, this is not about sounding impressive.
You need to practice listening well enough to ask the question underneath the question.
Your listener does not need to be firehosed.
Sweet podcaster, this matters because your episode is not supposed to be a monologue of everything you know.
Your ideal client needs the next honest thing.
Your ideal client needs to hear herself in the conversation and think:
“Oh. That’s what’s been happening.”
That is what creates movement.
Leak #2: You Skip the Cost of Staying Stuck
How many times have you delayed a decision because investing felt risky?
You did not launch the podcast.
You did not follow up.
You did not make the offer.
You did not hire the person.
You did not build the system.
You did not send the email.
You did not publish the thing.
And because no money left your bank account, it felt like nothing happened.
But something did happen.
You paid in delay.
You paid in confusion.
You paid in missed conversations.
You paid in another month of being almost ready.
You paid in another month of people not hearing you, not trusting you, and not knowing how to work with you.
That is expensive.
For the person who has been “thinking about launching a podcast” for a year, every month she waits is another month her future clients are not hearing her voice.
The fear does not shrink while she waits.
It grows.
If this is you, you’re already getting the result you are afraid of.
No clients from the podcast.
No trust being built through the podcast.
No searchable audio asset working for you.
No listener saying, “I feel like I know you already.”
So the question becomes: What if you don’t do the thing?
Not in a hypey way.
Not in a pressure-cooker way.
In an honest way.
What happens if nothing changes?
What does next week look like?
What does next month look like?
What does six months from now look like if this problem is still sitting there?
This is where your content has to stop being cute and start being the roadmap.
If your podcast episode names a problem but never helps your listener feel the cost of leaving that problem untouched, you have created awareness but not urgency.
Awareness without urgency rarely moves someone.
The Substack Podcast Studio is the “faucet” for you to learn more about profitable podcasting…and by learn, I really mean take action that grows your podcast.
Subscribe today to become a profitable podcaster.
Leak #3: You Make the Offer… Then Keep Talking
Ah yes. The nervous over-explain.
The “here’s the offer” followed by twelve minutes of talking yourself out of the sale.
I wish this one were not so relatable, but here we are.
Listen…you’ve got to make the offer.
Then stop talking.
Not forever.
Not awkwardly.
Not with weird power-play silence.
Just give the person space to think.
When you keep filling the room with words, you are not helping someone decide. You’re the mess of hair in the faucet flow, interrupting the decision they were trying to make.
Silence gives them room.
Room to process.
Room to ask a real question.
Room to say yes.
Room to reveal the hidden hesitation.
If they say, “I need to think about it,” know this is a normal response.
Here is the essence of that:
Usually when people say they want to think about it, it’s one of two things.
Either you’re not sure if it’s worth it yet or now may not be the time.
Ask, “I’m curious, what’s coming up for you right now?”
Notice what that does.
It does not trap them.
It does not pounce.
It does not say, “Which one is it?”
It opens the conversation.
When you sell with the right intention, that question is not manipulative.
That question is truly helpful.
Because sometimes “I need to think about it” means:
I do not understand the value yet.
I am afraid of the investment.
I need to talk to my spouse.
I do not know if now is the right time.
I want this, but I am scared.
I do not know how to explain this to the other decision-maker.
And this part is important:
When your potential client needs to talk to a spouse, partner, or team member, it is not their job to become your salesperson.
You are the one who knows the offer.
You are the one who knows how it helps.
Offer to have another conversation with everyone involved.
That is not pressure.
That is service.
Your Podcast Has a Money Faucet Too
If your podcast is building trust but not creating buyers, the problem may not be that people are not listening.
You may be:
Teaching too much before diagnosing the real problem
Naming the pain but skipping the cost of staying there
Ending episodes with weak, generic CTAs
Hiding the offer because you do not want to sound salesy
Talking around the transformation instead of naming it plainly
Listen, your podcast is not just “content.”
Your podcast is a trust-building asset.
Trust alone is not the same as conversion.
Your listener still needs to know what to do next.
Not ten things.
One thing.
The logical next thing.
If she just listened to twenty minutes of your voice and realized, “Oh no, this is exactly where I am stuck,” do not end by asking her to go leave a review for an algorithm.
Help her.
Invite her.
Show her the next step.
Simple Sells
Simple sells.
This is true for offers.
It is true for podcasts.
It is true for Substack names.
It is true for CTAs.
If people do not understand what you do, they cannot buy it.
I learned this the hard way with my first podcast, Blended on the Bluff.
I was a stepmom.
I lived on the Missouri River bluff.
I thought the name was clever.
You know what nobody was searching for when they needed stepmom support?
“Blended on the Bluff.”
Nobody.
A clear name will beat a clever name almost every time.
This is why I love names like The Money Faucet Files.
You hear it and immediately have a visual.
Money.
Faucet.
Files.
I know we are talking about revenue. I know we are talking about leaks. I know there is probably a system involved.
Same with The Substack Podcast Studio.
You have a pretty good idea what happens here.
We are talking Substack.
We are talking podcasts.
We are building in the studio.
Simple does not mean boring.
Simple means your person does not have to burn calories trying to understand you.
Get Jennifer’s “Let Me Think About It” Antidote
Jennifer created a free resource:
The Let Me Think About It Antidote
It walks through the three main leaks that quietly kill sales and what to say when someone still says, “Let me think about it.”
To get it:
Subscribe to Jennifer’s Substack, The Money Faucet Files
DM her the words: Mic Drop
She will send it to you personally
And yes, I am a paid subscriber because I met her, loved the way she thinks, saw the value, and said, “I’m in.”
That is what good conversation does.
Want Your Podcast to Stop Leaking Buyers?
If this Live made you realize your podcast, Substack posts, or CTAs are building trust but not moving people toward your offer, come inside The Substack Podcast Studio.
All June long, I am celebrating my birthday month with the private paid tier open for founding members.
Inside the Studio, we are working on how to:
Use Substack to support your podcast
Create episodes that connect to your offers
Build trust without relying on social media
Make your message clearer and more findable
Use Lives, posts, and podcast episodes together
Create stronger CTAs that give your listener the logical next step
Right now, the Studio is only $99 for the year.
One replay or one live training is worth that by itself.
If you are launching a podcast, moving your show to Substack, using audio on your posts, or trying to figure out why your podcast is not bringing in the right leads yet, this is the room you want to be in.
Your podcast should not be in a leaky faucet.
Let’s fix that.
Subscribe to The Substack Podcast Studio and come build with us.
Thank you Jim Chianese, Patrick LaRose, My Unapologetic Playlist, and many others for tuning into my live video with Jennifer Blake Gluckow! Join me for my next live video in the app.
