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January 11, 2026 18 mins

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We map the five lead sources that drove the most revenue last year and share the simple systems that make growth feel calm: niche communities, guest podcasting, lead waterfalls, LinkedIn nurture, and referrals done right. The aim is clarity, not hustle, so you can double down on what works for you.

• auditing closed-won deals to find true lead sources
• how to find and show up in niche communities
• a simple cadence for events and workshops as a lead waterfall
• why guest podcasting converts and how to pitch smarter
• using LinkedIn as a nurture engine, not a spray channel
• building a referral system with clear ICP and language
• using a super signature to train your market
• a repeatable, low-pressure path to being booked out

If this episode made things feel a little more doable, I'd love to help you take the next step with the booked out blueprint. It's a practical, low pressure session to clarify your offers, your marketing, and what actually moves the needle. You can book yours through the link in the show notes. You don't have to figure it out alone.


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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:36):
I'm Serena Block.
This show is made for soloconsultants who want to get
booked out without burning out.
If you've ever thought, I justwant this to feel easier, you're
not alone.
Around here, we focus on simple,sustainable growth that actually
fits into your life so growthfeels doable instead of
overwhelming.
Hello, hello.

(00:57):
Welcome to my first solo episodeof 2026.
Almost forgot what year it is.
I'm starting off strong.
Today I wanted to talk aboutwhat I'm doubling down on this
year based off of what workedreally, really well for me in
2025.

(01:19):
So let's travel back in time,two weeks.
I posted a LinkedIn post aboutthe things that I'm doubling
down on.
So if you're watching this onvideo and you're seeing my eyes
shift, it's because I have thatpost pulled up right now.
So I don't forget any of thethings that I realized really
made an impact on my revenue.

(01:40):
So shifty eyes, just ignore it,okay?
Gotcha.
Okay.
So here's what happened.
I went through my CRM and Ipersonally use Streak because it
integrates directly in my Gmail,which I love.
I don't like extra tools where Ihave to log into something else

(02:03):
if I don't have to.
And it also integrates withLinkedIn.
So if you have Streak, you canalso get this little button on
people's profiles, and you couldjust click it and it adds them
into Streak.
So it's really simple and itcuts down on a lot of that
manual labor.
Yeah, it's only probably liketwo minutes of manual labor, but

(02:25):
that can really add up if you'redoing a lot of biz dev at any
time.
So I love Streak.
Anywho, I went through Streakand I was going through my
closed one clients from 2025,and I realized that there were
five main sources for thoseleads, where they came from.

(02:49):
So I'm gonna get into it, andthen I'll give you some tips on
how you can use that too.
Now, just because so littleasterisk here, a caveat.
Um, just because these are thethings that worked for me does
not mean that these are thethings that are gonna work for
you.
This is the reason that bookedout in six is super custom.

(03:12):
We start with a custom blueprintfor you, a booked-out blueprint.
Um, we do that because we're alldifferent.
Our businesses are different, weas humans are different.
So everybody's business isdifferent.
And just because these fivethings worked for me does not
mean that these five things aregonna work for you.
So keep that in mind.

(03:33):
But these are the things thatworked for me.
Okay, one niche communities.
I know you're shocked.
I talk about these all the time,but they are the easiest way to
find clients for me.
Almost every client I have hadhas been connected to a niche
community I'm part of in someway or another.

(03:54):
Either the referral came fromthere, I met them through there,
I met them through an event thatthat niche community was putting
on, something like that.
So it's my top one.
I generally use nichecommunities as like a warm
watering hole.
This is where I meet thembecause all of my ideal clients

(04:18):
are gathering in the same place.
Why wouldn't I?
So I usually start with thatniche community and then I
connect with them all over onLinkedIn, which I'm gonna get
into because that's number fouron my list.
And that's where I nurture them.
Okay, so number one is nichecommunities.
And if you want to startleveraging niche communities,

(04:40):
one, scroll through my podcastbecause there are a ton of
episodes about that.
And two, start asking yourclients, your referral partners,
your business friends what nichecommunities they are part of.
Because that is how I found allof my best ones.
I always ask that question.

(05:02):
You can't there's not adirectory out there to just find
the perfect niche community.
I wish there was, and I amworking on building one, but it
doesn't exist yet.
Uh, so start asking.
And um that's number one.
And number two, just take sometime every single day to go in

(05:25):
there, answer questions, andbuild relationships with people.
My like the easiest way to do itwithout spending a lot of time
is to just attend like one eventa month that they are hosting,
connect with all of theattendees who are at that event
over on LinkedIn and startnurturing them.

(05:46):
See if they want to hop on aconnection call so you can get
to know them better.
Okay, so that's my little spielon how I leverage niche
communities.
It goes much more in depth thanthat.
I have an entire mission insideof Booked Out in Six on this
particular topic.
It's called Niche Networker.

(06:08):
It's mission number three.
So if you were interested inthat, the first step is to book
a booked out blueprint with meso we can figure out which
missions make sense for you.
But we dig all into that inmission three.
Okay.
The second thing that gave methe best leads was guest

(06:29):
podcasting, which I didn't evenrealize.
So I slowed down on guestpodcasting a lot in 2025.
Like in 2024, I think I did over400 guest episodes.
And I did a handful in 2025.
But I learned that about half ofmy clients that came to me where

(06:54):
I thought they were cold, theyactually discovered me on
someone else's podcast.
I had no idea.
So I'm gonna double down on thatand go back.
I'm not gonna do 400 a yearagain.
That was crazy.
But I am gonna go back to thatwell and start guest podcasting

(07:14):
more.
I was originally doing itbecause I wanted to grow my own
podcast, and typically podcastlisteners are easier to
transfer.
I don't know, that's not theright way to say it, but if they
listen to one podcast, they'lllisten to another.
So my goal for guest podcastingwas just to increase my

(07:34):
listenership for this show.
But it turned out that I wasgetting a ton of clients from
those guest podcasting spots.
So doubling down on that.
Now, previously I was using a VAwho specialized in pitching me
to other podcasts.
And that's why I did so many ofthem because she would send me a

(07:56):
ton that had agreed to have me.
Um, now I'm gonna try PodMatch.
So I have my clients usePodMatch because it's it's big
for them too.
So if you're a solo consultant,start guest podcasting, please.
I interview hundreds of soloconsultants every single year.

(08:17):
And over 50% of them get clientsfrom this specific strategy.
So I'm using PodMatch because umI can also find guests on there
too.
So I can find guests, I canbecome a guest, and I'm really
interested to see how it works.

(08:38):
I have my clients use it if theydon't have a VA to take care of
their pitching, and they haveloved it.
I got the recommendation fromanother podcaster, and she loved
it.
So I'm excited to try that one.
Okay.
Oh, also before I move on tonumber three, so guest
podcasting is something that wedo in many hat marketer, which

(09:02):
is mission number five.
So that is something that wewould get into that, along with
figuring out what is your onething that you're gonna do for
your marketing.
Okay.
Number three, a huge, huge, hugeway.
I increased my email list, Iincreased my audience, and I got

(09:28):
new clients was from the leadwaterfall, which is mission
number four.
Um, so lead waterfall is like asource generally, usually it's
some sort of event.
It doesn't have to be an event.
We figure out what makes sensefor you, but it can be an event

(09:49):
that brings in a lot of leads atone time.
So lead waterfall is for me wasum events.
I use my meetup group, which hasbeen a great source of leads and
building relationships.
And probably once a quarter I doa workshop um with Meetup.

(10:13):
And then I'll do guest workshopsin other people's communities,
and then every single month Ihave a free consultant
mastermind.
And all of these combined tobring me really warm and good

(10:34):
fit leads, and also justsurround myself with brilliant
freaking people that I wouldn'thave met otherwise.
So I'm getting that leadwaterfall, which is the goal of
lead waterfall, but I'm alsojust like meeting some really
cool people.
So that's number three.

(10:55):
Um, four is LinkedIn.
So LinkedIn has always beenprobably 90% nurture mechanism
for me rather than discover.
I do have some leads that comein cold from LinkedIn, but I
generally leverage LinkedIn as aplace to build my relationships.

(11:18):
So I discover them througheither the lead waterfall or
niche community or a guestpodcast.
And then I'll connect with themover on LinkedIn, and that's
where we start becoming friends.
I comment on their content, theycomment on mine, we talk in the
DMs, we build relationships.
So that's what I use inLinkedIn.

(11:39):
And LinkedIn is also somethingthat we learn in the uh mission
three, which is niche networker.
Why can't I remember which thingis which?
Okay.
Um, and then five, let's talkabout number five.
It is referrals.
So you might be laughing becausemy LinkedIn profile says

(12:03):
referrals are great, but asteady pipeline is better.
Now, the thing is, referrals arealways going to be great, but
they dry up.
Usually after one, one and ahalf years, referrals aren't
coming in as steadily.
It's not something you can relyon.
So building a referral system iswhat's really important.

(12:26):
Um, so that's something that wedo in mission two, fast cash,
along with four other salessystems.
But referrals are still afreaking awesome thing.
And they almost always convertbecause they're coming from the
lead is coming from a trustedsource for the other person.
Um, they might not always be agood fit on your end, but they

(12:49):
are the easiest to close.
They're like probably a 90%conversion rate on referrals,
but you need a good systemaround it.
And you need to have the rightpeople on your referral team to
be able to leverage them and getthe right fit people.
So those are my five.

(13:11):
And um, I'm just gonna reiteratethem real quick for you.
So, number one is nichecommunities.
So remember to ask around whenyou're on those networking
calls, ask what nichecommunities people are part of.
These are usually invite only,and there's no way to get that
invite without asking.

(13:32):
Number two is guest podcasting.
This year I'm gonna try Podmatchand see how that works for me
instead of a VA.
So I'm excited to try that.
Number three is the leadwaterfall.
So you need to find the rightlead waterfall for you.
I have done a ton of booked-outblueprints lately, and the lead

(13:54):
waterfall I suggest is notalways the same for people.
So it's not always an event.
Sometimes it is a specificstrategy around guest
podcasting.
Sometimes it is speaking on astage.
So not always the same, but forme, it is virtual events, and
it's a combination of things.

(14:16):
So I do paid workshops, I domonthly free masterminds, and
then I do guest speakingengagements in niche
communities, all virtual.
I have two kids.
You might have just heard thevacuum turn on.
That's one of them in the otherroom right now.
Um, I need virtual.
I don't have time to gosomeplace.

(14:38):
Four is LinkedIn.
So, I mean, a ton of people doget just their inboxes flooded
with leads.
And good for you.
That's not me.
I use LinkedIn as a nurturingmechanism.
So I find my leads or theydiscover me through those niche
communities, guest podcasting,lead waterfall, those three

(15:00):
things that I mentioned earlier.
But I build those relationships,I nurture them, I become closer
with them on LinkedIn.
And then five is referrals.
So you can't rely on referralsto just remember that you exist.
You need to build a systemaround them so they remember
you, they know exactly how totalk about you, and they know

(15:22):
who your ICP is, ideal customerprofile.
So you're not getting wrong fitleads.
That tends to be the case withreferrals, is either they dry up
after one to one and a halfyears.
And two, when you do get them,they're usually thinking of you

(15:42):
for something that's not reallya great fit, like an old offer,
the wrong ICP.
So you just need to be superclear about communicating who
you work with and how you workwith them.
And I'll just give you a littletip here since I'm talking
anyway.
But one like super subtle way todo that is to create a super

(16:07):
signature where you'reexplaining exactly who you work
with, what you do with them.
So like people literally repeatmy uh my super signature to me
and to referrals because it's soingrained in their head because
they're seeing it all the time.
So I use a super signature atthe end of all of my LinkedIn

(16:29):
posts, and I have it in my emailsignature.
So people are getting it allover the place, but it's also
just like in their brain.
So that's one way you cansystematize in order to get the
right fit.
Leads.
Okay, that's a wrap.
Thank you so much for joining meon this solo episode.

(16:53):
Let me know what you think inthe comments.
Um, we have comments on Applenow, Spotify.
This is also on YouTube.
And let me know if you have anyquestions.
And if you are interested injoining Booked Out in Sex, don't
be shy.
The link to book your booked outblueprint.

(17:15):
My husband calls it a bob, um,is in the show notes.
So you can book that there, oryou could just email me hello at
Sarah Noelblock.com and find outif it's a good fit for you.
Because maybe you're like on theon the edge, you're not sure.
All right.
Thank you for joining me, and Iwill see you next week.

(17:36):
If this episode made things feela little more doable, I'd love
to help you take the next stepwith the booked out blueprint.
It's a practical, low pressuresession to clarify your offers,
your marketing, and whatactually moves the needle.
You can book yours through thelink in the show notes.
You don't have to figure it outalone.
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