The most important return on your podcast investment shows up long before anyone writes you a check.

In this voice note episode, Courtney shares why her obsession with podcast ROI may have something to do with her experience overseeing content development for the Meghan Markle and Prince Harry at Spotify and what a multimillion-dollar podcast deal taught her about the danger of expecting financial returns too soon. Because podcasting is a long game, and sometimes the early ROI is simply a signal from another human that tells you: keep going.

Seemingly negligible returns (an idea resonating with a stranger, a relationship beginning, a potential client tuning in, someone validating the thing you're building) can be what keeps you in the game long enough for the financial ROI to follow.

ABOUT THE SHOW

Talking the Talk: A Podcast About Podcasting helps entrepreneurs, founders, creators, and business owners create podcasts that work harder than they do to earn their keep.

Host Courtney Reimer explores how to build a show that creates trust, builds your business, remains sustainable, and delivers a meaningful return on what you invest into it.

ABOUT THE HOST

Courtney Reimer is the founder and principal strategist of Sounds Great Strategy and a former executive at Spotify, Audible, Yahoo!, Discovery, and MTV. She helps entrepreneurs and organizations create podcasts that become their hardest-working business assets.

HOW TO CONNECT WITH COURTNEY

Follow on Instagram: @soundsgreatcourtney

Connect on LinkedIn: Courtney Reimer

Subscribe to her weekly-ish newsletter on burnout-proof podcasting: Sounds Great on Paper

Email Courtney: courtney@soundsgreatstrategy.com

The Strategic Podcast Launch Studio begins the week of September 14th, and it's the final cohort planned for 2026. If you're thinking about starting a podcast and want to co-create it with Courtney and a small, intentionally curated group, visit SoundsGreatStrategy.com/Studio to learn more and apply.

A funny thing happened on the way to recording this week's episode: I nearly didn't.

Between work, family, travel, and life generally life-ing, I found myself on the verge of becoming exactly the kind of podfade statistic I spend so much time warning others about.

So instead of skipping a week—or forcing myself through an elaborate production—I took my own advice.

This episode is an experiment in easy mode podcasting. It's also my first attempt at something I've been talking about for months: making my podcast work even harder by repurposing…my own podcast episode into another podcast episode. (Yes, it's a little snake-eating-its-tail.)

If you've ever felt guilty for not publishing every Tuesday, wondered whether "consistency is key" is more of a threat than a helpful tip, or needed permission to build a podcast around your actual life instead of rearranging your life around your podcast, this one's for you.

Topics include:

• Why I almost skipped publishing this week—and why I didn't

• The real reason so many podcasts fade out before episode 10

• Why "always-on" publishing advice wasn't designed for most business owners

• How to make your podcast work harder by repurposing it—even within the podcast itself

• Why reliable beats relentless when it comes to sustainable podcasting

• Easy-mode formats that help you keep showing up without burning out

• What I mean by "Return on Thinking" (ROT) and why I'm trying to make it a thing

If you're building a podcast to grow your business, establish your expertise, or create a body of work that compounds over time, this episode is your permission slip to stop chasing hustle-culture podcast advice and start building something you can actually sustain.

Talking the Talk: A Podcast About Podcasting helps entrepreneurs, founders, creators, and business owners build podcasts that work harder than they do.

Host Courtney Reimer explores how to build a show that creates trust, builds your business, remains sustainable, and delivers a meaningful return on what you invest into it.

Courtney Reimer is the founder of Sounds Great Strategy and a former executive at Spotify, Audible, Yahoo!, Discovery, and MTV. She helps people and organizations create podcasts that become their hardest-working business assets.

Instagram: @soundsgreatcourtney
LinkedIn: Courtney Reimer
Weekly-ish newsletter: Sounds Great on Paper


Thinking about a podcast? Want to get Courtney's take? Book your free Podcast Clarity Call at SoundsGreatStrategy.com.

Would you believe me if I told you the most powerful style of podcast right now is less like a podcast and more like something you're probably already putting out there–no fancy equipment necessary?

The most underrated and undercelebrated type of show right now is the "voice-note podcast": a collection of short, highly specific, deeply human audio episodes that prioritize intimacy, usefulness, POV, and connection over slick production and content-factory energy.

Inspired by Build With Becky host Becky Pierson Davidson (whose minimalist, voice-note-style podcast has quickly become her #1 sales conversion tool), this episode explains how entrepreneurs, consultants, creators, and service providers may be dramatically overcomplicating podcasting…and freezing themselves out in the process.

Inside this episode:

• Why "low-lift" does not have to mean "low-value"
• The hidden power of intimacy and imperfection in audio
• How short-form, voice-note-style episodes can build enormous trust
• The real nonnegotiables of a resonant podcast (spoiler: none involve a three-camera setup)
• Why podcasting may be especially powerful for service providers and thought leaders

→ If you're stuck at the podcasting starting line, consider applying for my Podcast Launch Accelerator, a 5-week program that's small, human, interactive, and focused on getting you out of your head and into the podcast players of your ideal audience.

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Talking the Talk is a podcast about podcasting, hosted by Courtney Reimer, founder and principal strategist, Sounds Great Creative Podcast Strategy. Inside, you'll get the realest of real talk about what it takes to make a podcast that lasts, reaches + resonates with your ideal audience, and earns its keep without burning you out.

ABOUT THE PODCAST HOST

Courtney Reimer is a podcast strategy architect, creative development consultant, and founder of Sounds Great, where she helps entrepreneurs, founders, thought leaders, and brands build podcasts that are strategically sharp, creatively compelling, and sustainable enough to actually keep making.

Before founding Sounds Great, Courtney helped develop and launch award-winning podcasts for Spotify, Audible, and beyond—including Archetypes with Meghan Markle, which famously dethroned Joe Rogan from Spotify's top spot upon launch. She's also worked in radio since before many people even knew what a podcast was, interviewed celebrities in hotel junkets, and remains deeply convinced that audio is one of the most powerful relationship-building mediums on earth.

Courtney is also the creator and host of the Sounds Great Podcast Launch Accelerator, a hands-on small-group program that helps aspiring podcasters go from idea to live show without burning themselves out in the process.

Connect with Courtney:

Instagram: @soundsgreatpodcasts

Newsletter: Sounds Great on Paper

LinkedIn: Courtney Reimer on LinkedIn

⚡☕ This podcast runs on curiosity, crunch time, and caffeine. If you have enjoyed it, by all means Buy Me a Coffee! I'll return the favor by continuing to create engaging, enriching episodes for you to slurp down like I do my morning cup of ambition. ☕⚡

→ buymeacoffee.com/soundsgreatcourtney