Mastering Solo Episodes: The Podcaster's Secret Weapon

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Ever wondered why your podcast isn't building the audience connection or business results you expected? The answer might lie not in who you're interviewing, but in how little airtime you're giving yourself.

In this perspective-shifting conversation with award-winning podcast strategist Isabella Sanchez Castaneda, we uncover why solo episodes are the secret weapon most business podcasters overlook. Isabella shares her journey from journalism student to podcast powerhouse, explaining how the obsession with guest interviews often undermines your authority-building efforts.

"They want to fall in love with YOU, not your guests," Isabella emphasizes, pinpointing why so many podcasters struggle to convert listeners to clients. When you consistently prioritize guest voices, you surrender 95% of your airtime, leaving precious little opportunity to develop that crucial "know, like, and trust" factor with your audience.

Fear holds many back from speaking alone – fear of judgment, fear of taking up space, fear of having opinions. But as Isabella explains, that very discomfort signals the transformative potential of solo episodes. When listeners hear you confidently sharing expertise without a guest's safety net, they subconsciously elevate your authority. We explore practical approaches to structure solo content, from the simple five-paragraph essay format to strategic content planning that naturally leads to your offers.

Whether you're podcast-curious or hundreds of episodes deep in a guest-focused show, this conversation provides the mindset shift and tactical approach to make your voice the centrepiece of your podcasting strategy. Ready to step from the shadows of your guests into the spotlight of thought leadership? This episode is your roadmap.

Connect with Isabella:

Website
https://www.isamediainc.com/

Podcast:
https://www.isamediainc.com/visible-with-isa-media-inc

Socials:
LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabella-sanchez-casta%C3%B1eda-818b38120/
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/isamediainc/
YouTube
https:/

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This podcast takes a deep diveinto modern day communication
strategies in the podcastingspace.
We chat with interesting peoplewho make the podcasting and
speaking spaces exciting andvibrant.
We also dive into thepodcasting community with news

(00:24):
updates, latest trends andtopics from this ever-evolving
space.
So strap in, it's going to beone amazing ride.
Let's dive into today's episode,and my guest today is Isabella
Sanchez Castaneda.
She's an award-winning podcaststrategist and producer for

(00:45):
Expert Personal Brands.
Isabella is the CEO and founderof ESA Media Inc.
A digital marketing agencyfocused on helping you grow your
visibility and revenue throughpodcasting A person after my own
heart, as a matter of fact,because we do very similar
things.
So, combining her background injournalism, dedication to
marketing and years inpodcasting, isabella is here to

(01:07):
help you know exactly what tosay in your next podcast episode
, and we're going to do a divetoday on.
We're going to do a deep diveinto hosting your own show,
hosting solo episodes, butbefore we do that, let's find
out more about Isabella.
Isabella, welcome to thepodcast.

Isabella Sanchez Castaned (01:25):
Thank you so much for having me.
I know this is going to go deepand nerdy about podcasting.

Carl Richards (01:31):
Do you think I hope you put two podcast
strategists in the same room atthe same time?
What could possibly happen?

Isabella Sanchez Cast (01:40):
Beautiful ideas.

Carl Richards (01:41):
Pretty much everything.
How did you find yourself inthis space?
What led you to podcasting?

Isabella Sanchez Castaneda (01:46):
Yeah , so the first show I ever
produced was completely random.
I had studied journalism incollege and part of our
requirements was to also doproduction work.
So audio media, video,everything.
And so I had taken an audioproduction with a group of other
students and one of thosestudents, a few years later

(02:08):
after we both graduated, wasoffered a podcast opportunity.
It was freelance, it was justlike hey, a couple hundred
dollars to come record edit.
She happened to be moving toLondon and so she, without even
running it by me, was like Ihave someone else that can do it
, she's going to do it, it'sfine, I get the text message.
I set up a call with thatpodcast and I'm still producing

(02:29):
them about four years later now.
They're incredible.
And I still didn't go fully intopodcasting.
I just had something on theside, because at the time I was
working as a digital editor, Iwas leaning more into social
media, leaning into websitebuilding, everything.
That's what got my businessstarted.
But podcasting kept pulling meback.

(02:52):
I started my own, I made a lotof mistakes on my own and more
people started to ask for hey,can you help me start mine, can
you help me start mine?
And pivot after pivot afterpivot, have found myself here in
podcast strategy.

Carl Richards (03:06):
It's a great place to be.
My journey into media was a fewyears before digital even
existed.
It was analog.
We were editing on reel to reeltape, so it's a couple of years
before, but same kind ofjourney where it?
You know, I spent 25 years inradio broadcasting.
I've mentioned that severaltimes on the show and it just
led to many opportunities towork with people.

(03:28):
I also spent some time as aspeaker trainer, which also led
to some great opportunities.
And then, when COVID hit, thendid the pivot.
And here we are, and it's agreat place to be.
There's still so manyopportunities in the podcasting
space, not only for people likeyou and I, who help others get
into the space and manage andmaintain their shows, but also

(03:49):
for people who are looking toget in and do more of the things
that we do.
But I'll tell you, there are somany people when they look at
this space, they think, oh, mygoodness, I want a podcast, and
it's going to be very similar to, let's say, joe Rogan.
He's the top podcaster in theworld, right?
I want my show to be just likehis.
It typically doesn't work outthat way for the average

(04:11):
podcaster, though.

Isabella Sanchez Cas (04:12):
Absolutely .
I have to lovingly tell myclients I think you're
incredible, I think you haveamazing expertise.
You will be famous one day, butyou are not Joe Rogan and you
have not built a brand foryourself via other things yet.
And so calling your show theSusie Smith show is not going to

(04:36):
pan out the way you think it is, and I again have to do it in a
very loving way because it'snot for the listener, it's not
for us to offend you, it's tomake sure that you can build
that brand to eventually beamong the Joe Rogans of the
podcasting world.

Carl Richards (04:52):
And I think too, the other challenge is that we
draw from examples of what wealready know.
So we draw examples from, forexample, radio, where there are
several successful radio people,some of whom have gone on to do
great things.
Ryan Seacrest, for example, isnot just a radio guy, he's the
host of several differentprograms.
But again to the example of,he's not the average person,

(05:17):
right, he's not the averageindividual that's getting into
broadcasting.
He's not the average persondoing things with journalism as
it is today.
He's hit that pinnacle.
And when we look at podcasting,we have to look at it from the
perspective of what is mymessage, what do I want to share
and why is it that peopleshould listen to my message?

(05:39):
Not only that, but what is it Iwant to get out of this show?
What is the purpose of it?
Because it's still the WildWest when it comes to podcasting
.
There's still so many, as Isaid, great opportunities, and
when we embrace them the rightway, I think that we'll all do
just fine in it.
Right, we'll all do great in it, but we need to know that
there's a place for each of usand not to try and get into a

(06:00):
place that we're not evenremotely ready to embark on.

Isabella Sanchez Castaneda (06:04):
Yeah , and I think a lot of people
underestimate the amount ofeffort, time and resource it
takes to produce a good show,and not even a great show, but
just a good show, because somany people, myself included,
started their show with justplugging in a microphone and
talking without a title showwith just plugging in a

(06:25):
microphone and talking without atitle, without an intro,
without anything.
And then you realize, oh,distribution costs money, oh,
having a good editor costs money.
Oh, I want to add video now.
Well, I need to have a bettercamera and just little things
that start to add up.
And that's why people get sodiscouraged, because I think we
want that quick win.
There's folks who want thatease and just I want to be

(06:48):
famous right away.
And I become famous just bystarting the podcast, instead of
what we were kind of sayingbefore we started recording,
instead of really thinking aboutwhat does it mean to serve an
audience rather than serveyourself through your podcast?

Carl Richards (07:02):
Yeah, 100%.
And this is a good transition,I think, to dive into the meat
of what we want to cover today,and that's there are so many
great podcasters out there, andI know you've met several of
them as of I, and you work withthem, as do I, and how many
times has somebody said, yeah, Iwant to do a podcast and I'm
going to get guests and I onlywant guests, and it's all about

(07:24):
the guest, guest, guest, guest,guest.
That's not necessarily the bestway for most individuals let's
say, most business owners,coaches, consultants, real
estate experts to look at thisspace.

Isabella Sanchez Castaneda (07:37):
I completely agree.
I think it's a really commonmisconception, because we see
celebrity podcasts be guesting,we see the big names that got
the big Spotify deals haveguests, and so people again are
emulating that, but they're notthinking about what is the end
goal, what's the end result thatyou desire.

(07:58):
And so, for example, right now,I hope that your listeners are
falling in love with me andgetting to know me.
Example right now, I hope thatyour listeners are falling in
love with me and getting to knowme.
But if you're not intentional,carl, about doing it as well,
about putting yourself out there, they're never going to know
anything about you.

(08:18):
You're simply the kind ofconduit, the middleman between
them meeting their favoritepeople instead of you becoming
their favorite person.
And so, for the person who'sabout to start, how can you
create a podcast where youbecome their favorite person?
Maybe you sprinkle in a coupleother people that are really,
really aligned with you as aguest, but mainly doing solo,
and getting them to say, wow, Ilove the way that you think, I

(08:40):
love the way that you presentthat idea.
If it's real estate, I love theway you sell a house, or I love
the way you explainneighborhood development
anything.
They want to fall in love withyou, not your guests, and you
want them to fall in love withyou and not only your guests.

Carl Richards (08:56):
Well, you have to develop that know, like and
trust factor, and if you don'tallow for that to happen, if you
give your guest 95% of therunway for your show and you
leave yourself with 5%, which isI know that sounds maybe a
little bit far-fetched, butthat's probably the average
individual who's hosting guestson a consistent basis will give

(09:17):
themselves the intro, saywelcome to the podcast today.
My guest is, and then at the endthey'll say thank you for being
my guest today, we'll see younext week.
What's that about 5% of thewhole conversation?
So it really needs to be aboutdeveloping that know, like and
trust factor, and it's harder todo when you have guests.
You also need to be able toshare your, your IP, you know

(09:38):
your intellectual property, yourideas, your thought processes,
your beliefs, and if yourpodcast, for example, is for
your passion project, you needto be able to share that, so it
has to come from you.
So what is one of the keyingredients, then that you would
say is flour to a cake, forexample, for having a solo

(09:58):
episode?

Isabella Sanchez Castaneda (09:59):
It first starts with where are you
leading them to?
So, because I work with coachesand consultants primarily, it's
usually to some sort of leadmagnet or email list.
So if I know that there's aprogram that they want to fill,
I was recently speaking to abudgeting coach and so if she
wants to sell her budgetingspreadsheet or that's her

(10:21):
budgeting freebie, she wants tosend them there and that
eventually leads to her largercourse about budgeting for a
family.
Then we want to make sure thatthe episode is about something
around budgeting, aroundfeelings, around budgeting
definitions that they need toknow, around budgeting, so that
when you pitch them, hey,natural invitation, you can go

(10:42):
get this lead magnet.
It's going to make this episodethat much more powerful.
Go for it.
It feels like it's naturalversus.
I think a lot of people hearsolo episodes and they go the
extreme and they go okay, I'mgoing to treat this as my diary.
I'm just going to go ahead andtalk about me going to the park
with kids and then at the endsay, by the way, I have this

(11:04):
freebie, I have this budgetspreadsheet thing.
Thanks for listening to me talkabout going to the park with my
kids and you're like I didn'tlearn anything.
So it's always starting withthe end in mind, starting with
where we're leading them, andthen that informs you of the
topics, of what do your idealclients, ideal customers, need
to know, believe and feel beforethey can confidently invest in

(11:27):
you.
And those are where we sourcethe topics from.

Carl Richards (11:31):
I like that.
I like that it's verysystematic.
I know when I've sat down andcreated content for my show and
I've shared this with prospects,or when I taught a course, I've
said, okay, here's what we'regoing to do.
We're going to do a brain dump.
You're going to write down allthe topics you possibly think of
that you've talked on, and ifyou get to 20, great, stop there
and then let's take anothercouple minutes, see if you can

(11:53):
get to 25, and then just keepdoing that.
Keep doing that as a foundationto firstly get the brain moving
and thinking about topics andthen, like you say, reverse
engineer them, think aboutwhat's the end result and then
from there, if you are havingguests, you can then say, oh
okay, I know somebody who wouldbe perfect to support my opinion
or my take on this, and it'sIsabella.

(12:14):
I'm going to get Isabella on myshow because I know she
supports this 100%, which is whyshe's here today, because she
supports solo episodes, whichI've talked about many times.

Isabella Sanchez Castaneda (12:23):
But, again.

Carl Richards (12:24):
Having that structure, having that idea and
not just thinking, oh, I need apodcast, oh I need guests, oh I
don't have a guest this week andthink that you can't do it by
yourself and that's why you'rehere, is to help people figure
out.
How do we systematically put anepisode together and also
realize that your solo episodesdon't have to be 60 minutes.

(12:49):
They don't have to be 30minutes.
I've seen podcast episodes thatare two and three minutes long
with more value than some of thelonger episodes.

Isabella Sanchez Castaneda (12:58):
You can change someone's life in two
minutes, five minutes, 10minutes.
You don't have to forceyourself to make it to 60
minutes just because that's whatyou've seen other people do.
And then people say well, howdo I know if what I've said is
enough?
How do I know if I've explainedthe topic or gotten to the
point well enough?
And so I take them back to highschool and I say do you

(13:21):
remember writing a fiveparagraph essay in English class
or in history class, where youhave your intro, your thesis,
your three body paragraphs andyour conclusion?
If you can do that fiveparagraph essay and hopefully
most of us have gone and passedhigh school or figured it out

(13:41):
another way If you can do thatand you've made it here, to
whatever age you are, you canput together an introduction, a
thesis statement, three bodyparagraphs and a conclusion.
It takes you two minutes toread through that outline.
It takes you two minutes andthat's a good episode.
If it takes you 30 minutesbecause you included a lot of
detail and a lot of explanations, then it takes you that long

(14:04):
and that's perfect.
But it goes back to theintention of knowing what you're
saying and how you're saying it.

Carl Richards (14:10):
And, by the way, this doesn't happen by magic.
It also doesn't happen in yourfirst five to 10 episodes.
That might seem very clunky, orthey might seem very clunky at
first, but the more you do thisit's like anything else, it's
muscle memory.
You get comfortable with it.
I remember and again this isgoing back a couple of years,

(14:30):
starting out in radiobroadcasting, where I could not
open my mouth and speak unless Ihad everything written out word
for word, including the callletters, the song title, the
artist, the time, thetemperature, my name, which I
already know and then what I'mgoing to talk about in that
particular break.
And I did that religiously,probably for the first two to

(14:53):
three years in my career, andnow I'm not in that business
anymore.
But now it's afforded me theopportunity to do something like
what we're doing and that'shave an organic conversation,
very little prep, very littledetail of where we're going,
because now I can organicallyhave this conversation, because
I've hit that comfort zone.
But it didn't happen overnight.

(15:14):
And, by the way, I will admit,when I started my podcast in
2019, it was almost like I wentback to 1997, starting in radio,
where I didn't have to write itout word for word, but I still
had to have notes in front of mewith 0.1, 0.2, 0.3.
What's the problem I'm solving,what's the conclusion or what's
the call to action I want atthe end?
Now I can do that almost ad lib, almost Not all the time.

(15:38):
Sometimes I still need to makenotes, but that's after 25 years
of doing it professionally inone capacity or another.
So if you're hearing this rightnow and you're wondering, oh,
that sounds pretty easy and youjust try and do it and you fall
flat, it's not that you failed,it's just that it's going to
take some time to get it outthere.
And don't let that be thedetermining factor of whether or
not a solo episode is right foryou, because honestly, as we've

(16:02):
already said, it's probablywhere the right for you.

Isabella Sanchez Castan (16:05):
Because , honestly, as we've already
said, it's probably where the toturn a phrase it's probably
where the money's at 100%, and Ialso think you're never too
good for a well-prepared outline, and so there are also people
who are listening who.
You are the expert of experts.
You have been givingconferences, you have been
giving talks, you've beenlecturing in universities and

(16:25):
for your podcast you're stillgoing to want an outline,
because when you're just staringat yourself and your little
webcam or your nice DSLR, themind goes blank.
The tangents get wild.
You are never too good for anoutline and John Maxwell is a
leadership and speaking coachand one of the best, and he has

(16:45):
his 16 laws of communication andit sticks with me so much.
I believe it's the first orsecond one.
He says to prepare is torespect your audience.
So to prepare for your podcastis to know that your listeners
are valuable, the people who aretuning into the two of us right
now.
We care so much that you walkaway from this and say I just

(17:07):
learned something aboutpodcasting today and we prepared
, and preparation might lookdifferent for us now with a bit
of experience, but we're nevertoo good for that extra
preparation 100%.

Carl Richards (17:18):
I could not agree more, even though I just
admitted that every now andagain, I'm comfortable opening
the microphone, and with verylittle that's not to say I don't
prepare is with very littlepreparation being able to do it.
But again, that's noteveryone's comfort zone, and it
comes from years of experience,so you're absolutely right there
.
Let me ask you this question,though, because obviously you
figured out that the niche is tohelp coaches, consultants, not

(17:42):
just do podcasts, not just getthem in that space, but help
them carve out solo episodes.
What's some of the pushbackthat you get from clients or
from prospects?

Isabella Sanchez Castaneda (17:52):
So many of them are thinking that
it's selfish.
They're like oh, but theyalready hear so much from me on
Instagram, they already hear somuch from me on my email and I'm
like they don't.
They're scrolling and seeingsomething for 10 seconds, 20
seconds.
They're not absorbing yourthought leadership the way that
they are in a podcast, so Iusually push back on that.

(18:12):
I think there's a lot of peoplewho are afraid to say I have an
opinion, I have something worthlistening to, because when you
have a guest in front of you,you're just saying look at my
cool friend, and so if your coolfriend has a bad opinion, oh
well, that was their opinion.
That wasn't my opinion.
I was on the show but like Ihad nothing to do with it.
But if you are doing a soloepisode, there's a fear that

(18:36):
comes from years of being toldnot to speak up, being told to
fit in with the crowd, beingtold to be a little quieter,
that someone's going to thinkbad about your opinion.
They're going to say I didn'tlike that opinion and you're
going to have to say I standbehind my opinion anyway, or
maybe learn from it, and so Isee those two as the biggest

(18:56):
thing.
Either people just don't wantto take up space or they're
afraid of other folks' judgment.

Carl Richards (19:01):
Wow it's funny that you mentioned that, because
I think that that hits the nailon the head, too of again years
of being told nobody caresabout your opinion or just go
along with what everyone else isdoing and be a follower, not a
leader, even though we're toldthe opposite we actually do.
We do follow more than we lead,right?
So taking leadership of yourown show and being the expert,

(19:24):
being the person who is puttingyour credibility on the line,
that speaks volumes to howyou're going to build out your
show, who's going to follow you,how you're going to continue to
bring people into your camp andhave people agree or disagree
with you.
Either way, it's a win.

Isabella Sanchez Castaneda (19:43):
And that's exactly the power of solo
episodes.
It's the scary part of soloepisodes, but it's also the
power, because when peoplelisten to a solo episode, they
are subconsciously saying, well,that person must be important.
If they just put their opinionout on such a large platform,
they must have something worthlistening to.
Even if I disagree with it, itmust have some weight.

(20:05):
And you're creating thissubconscious.
We go back to the know, likeand trust that we mentioned
earlier.
They're saying, well, I nowneed to know them, I now need to
explore whether I can trustthem.
And it's just you saying, hey,I'm actually the expert in this,
I'm building my authority inthis, and other people follow
suit and if you are putting outgood information, valuable

(20:27):
information, they go and takethat step further with you.
But it's just on the other sideof that fear.

Carl Richards (20:34):
What would you say to somebody who is up to
this point?
They have been in podcasting,maybe even semi-successful at it
.
Let's be respectful.
There are a lot of successfulpodcasters out there who have
guests on their shows.
What would you say to somebody,though, who has had a lot of
guests on their show and maybeit's time for a pivot?
What would you say to them?
What would be the first thingor something to consider, as

(20:59):
they're considering doing soloepisodes?
If not for the first time,maybe for the first time in a
long time, what would you say tothat individual?

Isabella Sanchez Castaneda (21:05):
I think there's a way to dip your
toe in the water.
And so I had this conversationwith someone who was very
successful.
He had over 400 guest episodesand had never once done a solo
episode.
And I said, if you're stillafraid to put your own authority
and credibility on the line,let's start by borrowing the

(21:26):
guest credibility again.
And I want you to go back to anepisode you did two months ago
and say, hey, I'm still thinkingabout His show is a lot about
personal development and mindset.
So maybe he's saying, hey, I'mstill thinking about what Susan
said about discipline.
This is how, since recordingthat episode, I have practiced

(21:46):
the principles of disciplinethat Susan shared.
And so you're kind ofpracticing your authority, but
you're still leaning on Susan.
And so if you are someone whohas done all of those and he can
do a bunch of those soloepisodes and he's driving
traffic back to that otherepisode, so it's also a
secondary strategy, but thenhe's just putting it into

(22:07):
practice of I'm going to startsharing my stories.
So if you do have the fortune ofhaving all those guests
episodes, try something likethat, and then there could also
be a world where you do a soloepisode that you don't publish
yet, but you just try it acouple of times.
I'm sure if you've beensuccessful with multiple guests,
you have a pipeline of guestsand you have a little bit of

(22:29):
runway.
Let's practice.
What is one episode that youcan do, what is one lesson that
you can share?
And just get your foot wet, alittle toe in the water and it
gets easier over time.

Carl Richards (22:41):
I love it.
We could talk about this for aneternity.
We can't because we haveclients to serve and probably
our own podcasts to look afteras well.
What's one thing you'd like topass along to the audience?
Do you have a resource orsomething you'd like to share
with them?

Isabella Sanchez Castaneda (22:54):
So my podcast is called Visible
with ESA Media Inc.
And the sole focus of that showis solo episodes for coaches
and consultants.
Please feel free to check thatout, and from there you'll be
led to all the other places.

Carl Richards (23:11):
Awesome.
We'll make sure all of thoselinks are in the show notes, of
course, so you can clickdirectly if you, regardless of
what podcast application you'reusing, just click on it and
start listening.
Once you're finished listeningto this episode though don't do
it now, Just wait until you'refinished listening to this one.
My guest today has beenIsabella Sanchez Castaneda.

(23:32):
Before I turn you loose to dosomething great in the
podcasting space, I'll give youthe final thought.

Isabella Sanchez Castaneda (23:42):
I think the most amazing part of
what we get to do and thispodcasting space is that
everyone does get a time toshine if they're willing to take
it.
So listen back to this episode,get the courage to do your
first solo episode and buildthat authority for yourself.

Carl Richards (23:54):
I love it.
Isabella, that's a great placeto leave it.
Thank you so much for being myguest today.

Isabella Sanchez Castaned (23:59):
Thank you so much for having me.

Carl Richards (24:01):
And thank you for joining us today.
Special thanks to our producerand production lead, Dom
Carrillo, our music guru, NathanSimon, and the person who works
the arms all of our arms,actually my trusty assistant,
Stephanie Gafoor.
If you like what you heardtoday, leave us a comment and a
review, and be sure to share itwith your friends.
If you don't like what youheard, please share it with your

(24:21):
enemies.
Oh, and if you have asuggestion of someone who you
think would make an amazingguest on the show, let us know
about it.
Drop us an email, askcarl atcarlspeaksca.
Don't forget to follow us onLinkedIn and Twitter as well.
You'll find all those links inthe show notes, and if you're
ready to take the plunge andjoin the over 3 million people
who have said yes to podcasting,let's have a conversation.

(24:44):
We'll show you the simplest wayto get into the podcasting
space, because, after all, we'rePodcast Solutions Made Simple.
We'll catch you next time.