If we run a digital agency or freelance practice, we don’t have a traffic problem as much as we have a trust problem. People can’t hire us if they don’t know us, and most prospects won’t read a 2,000-word service page before they decide if we’re worth a call.

That’s why podcast guesting keeps showing up as one of the simplest ways to build credibility, fast, without needing a huge ad budget. In this episode of Manana No Mas, Kurt von Ahnen talks with Noemi Beres about what makes podcast guesting work, why so many people waste the opportunity, and how to do it in a way that feels human.

Meet Noemi Beres (Podcast Connections, Cyprus, and a lot of curiosity)

Noemi Beres runs a podcast booking agency called Podcast Connections. She helps entrepreneurs, business owners, coaches, and authors get booked on quality shows, and she does it as a done-for-you service.

“I run a podcast booking agency called Podcast Connections where I help entrepreneurs, business owners, coaches, authors, you name it to get on quality podcast shows.”

A few details that help explain why she’s good at this work:

• She’s lived on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus for the past 14 years.
• She’s been an entrepreneur since 2007.
• She has a master’s degree in Scandinavian Studies (not marketing, not sales, but it fits her love of language and learning).
• She’s also an artist who creates mixed media collages.

Noemi also has projects that show her personality and values beyond business:

• An ASMR-style solo podcast where she reads friends’ books to help people relax and sleep.
• “Silent Thinking Sessions,” where she creates a calm, non-judgmental space for people to reconnect with their thoughts.

If we want to connect with her directly, we can find her on Noemi Beres’s LinkedIn profile or through Podcast Connections.

The pandemic pivot (from travel business to podcast booking)

Before 2020, Noemi ran an online travel-related business. She was doing the classic entrepreneur “wear too many hats” routine: social media marketing, online marketing, content creation, travel writing, blogging, and more.

Then the travel industry collapsed during the pandemic, and the business fell apart. She had to pivot.

Noemi shared something that matters for agency owners: she didn’t enter podcast booking as a lifelong “podcast person.” In 2020, she had almost no connection to podcasting. She learned because she had to, and she built the agency from there.

She also mentioned an important reality check. Many people joined a mentor’s training on starting a podcast booking agency, but only a small number stayed in it long-term. The work sounds easy until we do it:

• time zones
• odd hours
• constant outreach
• follow-ups
• matching guests to the right shows, not just any show

For Noemi, the pivot also changed her role. In her previous business, she worked more behind the scenes. With Podcast Connections, she became the face of the company, doing interviews and building relationships publicly, and it turned out she loved it.

That’s a solid reminder for agency founders: sometimes the pivot isn’t only the offer, it’s the position we take in the market.

Travel and languages (and why it changes how we communicate)

Kurt and Noemi spent time on something that seems unrelated to podcasting, but it ties in: travel, language, and learning how to connect across cultures.

Noemi was born and raised in Hungary. Her point was simple: Hungarian isn’t widely understood globally, so learning other languages isn’t optional. It’s survival.

She started learning English young, even by mimicking songs on the radio. She described recording mixtapes and learning pronunciation and rhythm from artists like Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder.

Her love of travel started early too. In Europe, it’s normal to drive to another country. She traveled with her parents to places like Bulgaria and countries from the former Yugoslavia, and one of her biggest early trips was to Venice with her grandparents. Later, at 16, she became an exchange student in Denmark, studied Danish, lived with a Danish family, and eventually studied Scandinavian topics at university.

Across her education and life, she learned multiple languages, including (at different stages) English, German, French, Latin, Spanish, and more recently Greek and Irish.

Kurt shared his side of this. He grew up watching travel shows and assumed international travel might never happen for him. Later, after writing a book and connecting with Ducati, he was sent to Italy. He fell in love with European travel and noticed the same thing many Americans notice: many European business people are fluent in several languages.

What we took from this, as agency builders, is that communication is a skill we can train. Noemi’s language story is the same skill we need in sales and podcast interviews:

• listen closely
• mirror tone and vocabulary
• respect the other person’s context
• practice until it becomes natural

LinkedIn as the “quiet engine” behind podcast connections

Noemi and Kurt both gave LinkedIn a loud endorsement, and not in the usual spammy way.

They described LinkedIn as a place where real relationships can start, if we act like real people. They also pointed out a common mistake: many users collect connections and never do anything with them.

Kurt’s approach has been to treat a connection like an invitation to talk. He reaches out, suggests a call, and builds an actual relationship. Noemi does the same.

Noemi also pushed back on the idea that “LinkedIn doesn’t work.” Her experience has been the opposite, but with one condition: we have to do the work, show up consistently, and personalize outreach.

Here’s the approach they described, in plain terms:

1. Research first, so the message fits the person.
2. Reach out like a human, even if it’s a cold message.
3. Move toward conversation, not endless commenting.
4. Keep the relationship alive, not just the first hello.

They also agreed on something that matters as AI becomes more common: AI can help with tasks, but it can’t replace human connection. A podcast interview still works because it’s real people talking.

Why podcast guesting works (even when the numbers look small)

A big theme in the episode was that podcasting can feel hard to measure.

Noemi explained that it’s difficult to know exactly who’s listening. People ask about downloads and ROI, but podcasting isn’t like an Instagram ad where we can track every click. She mentioned using Listen Notes as one place people can check show rankings and social signals, but even then, it doesn’t tell the full story.

Kurt’s stories nailed the real impact.

He once considered canceling his podcast because he thought nobody was listening. Then, during a sales visit at a dealership in Texas, the dealership owner recognized him as “the Manana No Mas guy” and told his team to say yes and “write the check” because he’d been listening for years.

Later, at his first WordCamp in San Diego, two women recognized him and called out his name in public. Again, he was confused because online he wasn’t seeing the normal signals (comments, likes, shares). But in real life, the audience was there.

That’s the podcast truth: many listeners stay silent, but they remember us.

If we run an agency, that’s what we want. We want the prospect to feel like they already know how we think before the first call.

The repurposing problem (and why guests waste great interviews)

Kurt talked about how much he distributes each episode: reposting, spreading it across channels, keeping it alive instead of posting once and moving on.

Noemi said she tries to teach clients the same thing, and many still don’t do it.

Her view is straightforward: podcast guesting creates evergreen content. We can reuse it for a long time, across many platforms, because people don’t remember what we posted a week ago, and not everyone sees every post anyway.

They also touched on a practical point many guests miss: some guests think they can’t clip video because they don’t “own” the link. Noemi’s expectation is that guests should talk to hosts, build a relationship, and ask. A good host usually wants more reach, not less.

A simple post-interview habit they recommended is a short follow-up call between host and guest (10 to 20 minutes). That’s where we can:

• thank the host
• ask about clip use
• talk about cross-promotion
• explore future ways to work together

That follow-up is networking, not admin.

Podcast etiquette that keeps doors open

They also talked about basic etiquette, and it matters more than most people think.

Many hosts put a lot of time, effort, and money into each episode. A guest who shows up late, unprepared, or ungrateful stands out in the worst way.

A few norms they called out:

• Be on time. It’s simple, but it sets the tone.
• Support the show. Subscribing and leaving a review is a small act that helps the host.
• Don’t treat the interview like an ad. The audience didn’t press play for a commercial.

Noemi mentioned hearing horror stories where a host asks a question and the guest responds with something like “it’s in my book on page 22.” That’s not how trust is built. We earn attention by giving real value during the conversation, then we invite people to take the next step.

Why so many guests aren’t ready to promote (and how we fix it)

Kurt raised a sharp question: guests often want to promote something, but many show up not ready to promote it.

Noemi’s answer was that many people don’t know their offer well enough. They aren’t focused, and they try to wing it.

Her fix is practice and preparation:

• Know what topics we want to speak on.
• Know what we sell and how to explain it.
• Know our call to action (and keep it simple).
• Listen to the show before we go on, so we match the vibe.

She also pointed out that the first interview probably won’t be our best. That’s normal. The point is to get reps, improve, and keep going.

Picking “easier” podcasts (and why smaller shows can be a smart start)

Noemi suggested starting with smaller or mid-sized podcasts instead of only chasing the biggest names.

She said we can look at visible signals like:

• number of episodes (a show with 20 to 50 episodes can be a good early target)
• Apple Podcasts reviews
• YouTube subscribers

But she also stressed something more important: alignment. We should listen to the show and make sure the message fits us and we fit the show.

She also made a practical point: a smaller niche podcast can still be the right podcast. Even with fewer listeners, the audience may be exactly the buyers we want.

How to pitch a podcast host (even without an agency)

Kurt explained how Noemi approaches him with guest suggestions: she sends background, links, and enough context to judge fit quickly.

Noemi then laid out what a good pitch should include:

• A short bio (not a novel).
• A clear topic list.
• A simple explanation of how those topics help the audience.
• Links to social profiles and website.
• If we’ve done interviews before, a short clip so the host can preview our style.

For agency owners, we can think of this like a portfolio. A host doesn’t need our whole life story. They need evidence we can hold a good conversation and help their audience.

A practical note for agency owners who sell training (where podcasting and platforms meet)

Many of us don’t only sell services. We also sell training, templates, retainers, memberships, or community access.

If we use WordPress to deliver that, it helps to know there are established tools built for it. For example, the free core LifterLMS plugin is known for being powerful on its own, and it supports common agency use cases like courses, memberships, quizzes, and student engagement. It also has a broad set of add-ons and documentation areas (Getting Started, Tutorials, Theme Compatibility, and Troubleshooting), which matters when we’re building for clients.

On the payments side, LifterLMS supports one-time and recurring payments through options like Stripe, PayPal, WooCommerce, and Authorize.Net (useful when our podcast call to action is “join the membership” instead of “book a call”). For CRM connections, the best-known approach mentioned for Infusionsoft is connecting through WP Fusion.

We don’t need a complicated funnel to start. We need one clear next step that matches what we sell.

Tech setup for podcast guesting (no excuses, start simple)

They also removed the fear around equipment.

Kurt said he’s interviewed people on phones and tablets. He also described recording content with a lawn mower running next door, then cleaning the noise with modern audio software.

Noemi’s guidance was practical:

• A decent mic helps, and it doesn’t need to be expensive (she mentioned a range like $20 to $50).
• Most laptop cameras are good enough.
• Light matters. Daylight can work well, and a ring light is a simple add.
• Earbuds can help prevent echo.

The bigger point: we can improve the setup over time. We shouldn’t wait for the perfect background, perfect gear, or perfect confidence.

Where to connect with Noemi and Manana No Mas

If we want to reach Noemi Beres, these are the places she recommended:

• Podcast Connections website
• Noemi Beres’s LinkedIn profile
• Noemi Beres on Instagram

And for more episodes from Kurt von Ahnen, we can follow along at the Manana No Mas website.

Conclusion

Podcast guesting works because it builds trust in a way ads can’t. We don’t need perfect tracking, perfect gear, or a perfect pitch, we need consistency and real conversations. If we show up prepared, share useful ideas, and repurpose the interview like it matters, the content can keep working long after recording day. The goal isn’t to chase vanity numbers, it’s to build recognition with the right people.