Hey there,

I came across a strategy recently that genuinely made me stop and think.

A guy named Alex runs a fintech company. But to get clients, he started a podcast called "The Agency Hour."

Not for branding. Not for content. Purely as a lead gen tool.

Here's how it works:

Step 1: Cold email the guest invite

He sends 200-400 emails a day to ad agencies. Simple invite to be a podcast guest. Subject line is clean, no links, mentions a few PR outlets as social proof.

Conversion rate: ~5% book a call.

From 4,000 emails - he booked 127 opportunities. Had to pause the campaign because it was too many.

Step 2: The intro call (this is where the magic happens)

Before the actual recording, he does a 15-minute "intro call."

Within the first 2 minutes he casually drops: "This podcast is mostly a hobby - my real business is Opal."

Then he asks completely natural questions: How much ad spend are you running? What cashback are you getting? Do you ever factor invoices?

These feel like normal B2B conversation. Nobody feels sold to.

Step 3: Pull, don't push

He never pitches hard. He just mentions it and lets them lean in if they're interested.

"Any business, you want to pull people into it. If you're constantly pushing the product, it's going to be a really hard ladder to climb."

If they're qualified and interesting → book the actual recording.

If they're unqualified or boring → "I just realized I have to jump on another call, I'll follow up by email." Then he doesn't.

Why this works:

Most cold outreach screams "I want something from you."

A podcast invite says "I want to feature you."

That's a completely different energy. Agency owners and founders who never get media attention love it. The flattery factor alone gets replies that cold emails never would.

The bonus play:

He adds everyone who doesn't book to a newsletter. 10,000+ subscribers, 40% open rates. Tracks who clicks on podcast episodes - those are his warm leads. 500 hot prospects identified just from content engagement.

Can you do this without a big podcast?

Yes. You don't need 100,000 downloads. You need a niche podcast with a professional name, a Spotify listing, and a clean email.

Most people in your niche have never been asked to be on a podcast. The bar is lower than you think.

This is probably the most underrated outreach strategy right now.

Cold email is getting noisier. Podcast invites are still a pattern interrupt.

I only open 5 call spots per week. If you want to map this out for your business, reply "CALL" and let's figure out if it makes sense.

Best,

Divij

P.S. The guy also once sent one shoe in a gift-wrapped box to a prospect with a note: "This is me getting my foot in the door." It got him a meeting with the founder of Lululemon. Some people are built different.