10 Marketing Podcast Episodes Solopreneurs Need for 2026

Most solopreneurs don’t have a “marketing department” problem. They have a focus problem.

You’ve got a dozen channels you could use, a thousand tactics people swear by, and exactly one calendar. Meanwhile, the platforms are shifting again—AI search is rewriting how people discover businesses, and “just post more” is still the default advice (it’s also usually wrong).

That’s why I like using podcast episodes as a filter. A great episode gives you a clear mental model, not a random list of tips. The Duct Tape Marketing Podcast’s most-listened-to conversations from 2025 are especially useful going into 2026 because they map to the realities solo businesses are dealing with right now: zero-click search, AI-assisted content, trust-building, positioning, and owning your marketing.

Below are 10 standout episodes from 2025—plus the practical, solopreneur-friendly way to apply each lesson inside the broader “SMB Content Marketing United States” playbook: publish consistently, earn attention with clarity, and convert trust into leads.

Start with the new visibility rules (AI search + zero-click)

Answer first: If your growth plan still assumes people will click from Google to your website, you’re building on sand. In 2026, your job is to show up as the answer across multiple surfaces—search snippets, AI overviews, YouTube, LinkedIn posts, local listings, and community threads.

Two 2025 episodes tackle this head-on:

Google is an answer engine now (John Jantsch)

John Jantsch’s solo episode on staying visible in the AI search era lands on a blunt truth: ranking isn’t the goal; being cited and surfaced is. That changes how you write and structure content.

What to do this week (solo-friendly):

• Rewrite your top 5 service pages with “answer-first” blocks (2–3 sentence direct answers at the top).
• Add a short FAQ section to each page (real questions you get on calls).
• Publish one “definition + opinion” post per week (example: “What ‘fractional marketing’ actually means—and what it doesn’t”).

Snippet-worthy rule: If your page can’t answer a question in 40–60 words, AI systems won’t know what to do with it.

The zero-click internet is the default (Rand Fishkin)

Rand Fishkin’s “Zero-Click Internet” episode explains the uncomfortable math: a large share of searches end without a website visit because Google and social platforms answer right on the platform.

Solopreneur move: stop treating your site as the only conversion surface.

• Turn every blog post into three native assets: a LinkedIn post, a carousel, and a short video script.
• Put your core CTA inside the platform content (e.g., “Comment ‘checklist’ and I’ll send it”).
• Track “visibility conversions,” not just clicks: profile visits, DM starts, replies, saves.

Take a stance: If you’re only measuring website traffic, you’re undercounting your marketing results.

Positioning that actually separates you (not “better service”)

Answer first: Solopreneurs win on positioning because you can be specific faster than bigger competitors. The trick is picking a clear contrast your audience instantly understands.

Great brands have an enemy (Laura Ries)

Laura Ries argues that strong positioning often requires a “strategic enemy”—not a competitor to trash-talk, but a belief or status quo your business exists to replace.

For solopreneurs, this is pure gold because it removes the pressure to be everything to everyone.

Examples of enemies that work (and don’t sound cheesy):

• “Generic templates that sound like everyone else”
• “Vanity metrics that don’t create revenue”
• “Marketing that depends on daily posting burnout”

Action: write your one-line positioning using this format:

I help [specific audience] stop [enemy] so they can [result].

Then use that line everywhere: your homepage hero, LinkedIn headline, email signature.

Meaning, trust, and story aren’t “soft” (Ernie Ross)

Ernie Ross’s episode focuses on trust and meaning as business value. That matters in the U.S. SMB market because buyers are exhausted by hype.

Practical solopreneur twist: build a “trust stack” into your content marketing.

• Proof: mini case studies, before/after numbers, screenshots
• Process: your steps, your method, your constraints (“what I won’t do”)
• Principles: what you believe about the work

If you’re a one-person business, your story is the differentiator, but only when it’s tied to a customer outcome.

Content that persuades (behavior science + specificity)

Answer first: Content converts when it reduces uncertainty. Specificity beats cleverness.

Behavioral science makes marketing easier (MichaelAaron Flicker)

MichaelAaron Flicker explains why certain messages stick: concrete language, peak moments, and understanding how people actually decide.

Easy upgrades you can make without a redesign:

• Replace abstract claims (“high quality,” “custom,” “results-driven”) with observable specifics:
  • “Weekly 30-minute strategy call”
  • “48-hour turnaround on drafts”
  • “Two revision rounds included”
• Add one “peak moment” to your onboarding (a quick win in the first 7 days).

Copy rule I use: If a claim can’t be measured or pictured, it’s probably not persuasive.

Culture shows up in the brand (Rhea Allen)

Rhea Allen connects internal culture to external brand. If you’re solo, your “culture” is your standards, boundaries, and the experience people get working with you.

For solopreneurs, culture = operating principles.

Publish them.

• “I don’t do same-day emergencies.”
• “I won’t publish content I wouldn’t attach my name to.”
• “I optimize for qualified leads, not viral posts.”

This repels the wrong buyers and attracts the right ones—especially in service businesses.

Own your marketing system (don’t rent it)

Answer first: The safest growth strategy for a solo business is owning a simple system you can run every week—without depending on an agency, a single platform, or constant ad spend.

The anti-agency model and the rise of fractional strategy (Sara Nay)

Sara Nay’s episode hits a nerve: traditional agency models often leave small businesses dependent. Her strategy-first, AI-enabled approach points to a better path: you own the plan, the data, the voice, and the assets.

What this looks like in a solo business:

• A one-page strategy (audience, positioning, offers, channels, cadence)
• A reusable content pipeline (idea → outline → draft → publish → repurpose)
• A lightweight dashboard (leads, calls booked, email replies, not 40 KPIs)

If you ever hire help—freelancer, VA, editor—you’ll move faster because the system already exists.

SEO tools should drive action, not reporting (Manick Bhan)

Manick Bhan frames the future of SEO as execution: topical authority, high-intent content, community signals, and improving what’s already working.

Solopreneur SEO plan that doesn’t require 30 hours/week:

1. Pick 1 niche topic cluster (example: “email marketing for home service businesses”).
2. Publish 6–10 articles that answer buyer-intent questions.
3. Update the best-performing post monthly (add examples, tighten answers, new FAQs).

Opinion: Most solopreneurs don’t need more content. They need fewer topics, covered deeper.

Make AI useful without making your content generic

Answer first: AI is best used to increase throughput and clarity, not to replace your point of view.

AI + analytics + creativity still needs a human (Andy Crestodina)

Andy Crestodina’s episode argues that AI can improve performance, but differentiation still comes from original thinking: research, visuals, relationships, and strong POV.

How to use AI without sounding like everyone else:

• Use AI for outlines, rewrites, and QA (readability, missing objections).
• Keep human work for:
  • your frameworks
  • your examples
  • your opinions
  • your client stories

Quick win: add one original visual per post (a simple diagram, a process map, a screenshot with commentary). Orbit Media has long advocated for visuals because they increase comprehension and shareability—and they’re a practical moat against generic AI content.

Intentional learning compounds (Todd Sattersten)

Todd Sattersten’s reading episode seems less “marketing tactical,” but it might be the highest ROI idea on the list: the right inputs change your outputs.

For solopreneurs, learning isn’t a hobby. It’s product development.

A realistic 2026 routine:

• 20 minutes/day reading (or audio)
• one note captured per session
• one idea shipped per week (post, email, script, workshop)

That’s how knowledge becomes leads.

A simple listening-to-leads workflow (for busy solopreneurs)

Answer first: Podcast insights only matter if you turn them into assets and actions.

Here’s a workflow I’ve found actually sticks:

1. Listen with a capture rule: write down 3 timestamps—one concept, one quote, one action.
2. Turn the action into a 30-minute task (update a page, write an FAQ, change a CTA).
3. Publish one “learning post” per episode:
   • “What I changed in my content after hearing [idea]”
4. Repurpose into a lead magnet every 4 episodes (a checklist, template, or swipe file).

If you do this for 10 episodes, you don’t just “consume content.” You build a content marketing engine that feeds your pipeline.

If you want a one-line goal: Each episode should produce one business change and one piece of publishable content.

Where to start (and what to do next)

If you’re building your 2026 plan, start with the visibility episodes first (AI search + zero-click), then positioning (enemy + trust), then execution (anti-agency + actionable SEO), and finally refinement (behavior science + AI + analytics).

The broader theme across these top 2025 episodes is straightforward: attention is harder to earn, but trust is easier to keep when you’re clear. That’s especially true for SMB content marketing in the United States, where buyers have endless choices and very little patience.

Pick one episode, apply one change, publish one piece of content about what you learned. Repeat weekly for a month.

What’s the one marketing belief you’re willing to challenge in 2026 so your solo business can grow faster—with less noise and more control?