Bill Nowicki has a unique side hustle. He has a podcast show called MariettaStories named after Marietta GA, a suburb of Atlanta with a population of about 60,000.
Having a podcast show isn’t unique but producing a show that’s focused on a local community is something a little different – and something you might consider doing for your local community after hearing Bill’s story.
Bill is a former Navy submariner, still a nuclear engineer by day, and had different side hustle aspirations at first – he wanted to make videos for local businesses but was finding it hard to land clients.
After meeting a charismatic 78-year-old woman at his local church he had the idea to start a podcast about people in his local community, for his local community.
He thought this would be a great way to generate videography leads. But as his show has grown and become a profit-center of its own, Bill realized that not only in his time better spent on his show but the medium of audio is more enjoyable and profitable for him than video.
Tune in to hear how Bill started his podcast show, how he marketed his show and became known in his local community, how he’s monetized the show to turn it into a revenue generating side hustle and some of the exciting things he has planned for the future.
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Learn:
- Why Bill decided to start a podcast for his local community.
- How he finds guests for his show.
- Why traveling to his guests suits his show better than the traditional interview style.
- Why he set a seasonal schedule for his show.
- Why he says it’s been easy to secure sponsors from local businesses.
- His most effective marketing tactics to grow listenership.
- Bill’s #1 tip for Side Hustle Nation.
Links:
- MariettaStories.com
- Local Podcast Network
Start a Podcast that Gets Results
My buddy Pete from DoYouEvenBlog.com has put together a fantastic free training on how to start a podcast that grows your business.
Check it out to learn:
- Why now is the best time get started in podcasting
- The 3 critical tools to make editing a breeze
- The exact steps to creating a show people want to listen to.
- How to get sponsors (even if you haven't launched yet)
Download the Free PDF "Highlight Reel" from this Episode
With all of my guest's top tips and resources included.
Enter your email to access it now:
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So true what Bill said at the end, start now. I had a similar idea for my local community in Nashville about 2.5 yrs ago. I’m an insurance agent and the idea was to feature interviews of local businesses on a podcast “sponsored” by my insurance agency. Win win for both me and the local businesses since we would both gain exposure.
There’s still time!
I’m going to do this. I have two podcasts that I started the relate to my upbringing in a cult where I told my story and help others to do the same as part of a project to help people heal. I’ve always loved marketing and wanted to get involved and this is a great FID (foot in door) opportunity, just like Bill said. Due to my upbringing where college was discouraged I passed over scholarships and many other opportunities and my wife and I have cleaned houses for 18 years together. We like what we do but physically it will have a point of diminishing returns and I long to get involved in the local business scene in other ways. I can’t even market my own business because we’ve got such a full schedule and no desire to deal with employees.
So I want to thank Bill for putting this out there and confirming that an idea I had a long time ago was worth pursuing as the time is right. In fact I just went to a gathering of people that left the same cult yesterday and mustered up the courage to walk around and just do impromptu interviews like I would if I was at a public event and it went very well. So I know that I can do that part of it. We’ll see how it goes.
Thank you Nick for doing this show. To be honest, it’s something I would have done myself had I gotten a start earlier in life. I love business, love business ideas, love hustle, love stories, and you’ve got all of that here. Thanks man!
This is a great episode. Man, I really see the potential of this! If you’re in a solid community, this would be a great way to get to know local business owners that could then lead to a number of different possibilities.
Bill sounds like a great guy as well. Wishing him the best of luck!
Thanks Sean!
Any information about his course? I tried contacting him through both sites, but no response. Sounds like a good idea for bigger locations. How would it work in smaller towns?