You Don't Need a Podcast to Think Like a Podcaster
- May 6
- 3 min read
By Jeffrey Frese
I don't have a podcast. But the best lesson I've learned about growing a brand came from studying people who do.
I'm Jeff Frese, founder of Eat My Face — a grass-fed tallow skincare company built on a simple idea: if you wouldn't eat it, don't put it on your skin. We make moisturizers, soaps, and sunscreen from ingredients you could literally have for dinner. It's a weird pitch. It works because people trust it.
And trust is where podcasting and brand-building share the same DNA.
The Parasocial Advantage
The best podcasters don't feel like media personalities. They feel like a friend who happens to know a lot about something you care about. That's the relationship I set out to build on TikTok and Instagram — not polished brand content, but real conversations about what's actually in your skincare and why it matters.
When you show up consistently and talk to people like humans instead of "target demographics," something shifts. They stop scrolling. They start paying attention. And eventually, they start buying — not because you sold them, but because they trust you.
That's the parasocial advantage. Podcasters have understood it for years. Most brands still haven't figured it out.
Stop Optimizing for Vanity Metrics
Here's the trap I see creators and brands fall into constantly: chasing downloads, followers, and views as if those numbers are the business. They're not. They're a trailing indicator of something more important — whether or not you're reaching people who actually care about the problem you solve.
I'd rather have 1,000 followers who are genuinely frustrated with what's in their skincare than 100,000 who double-tapped because of a trending sound. The first group buys. The second group forgets you exist by tomorrow.
For podcasters thinking about monetization, this is the unlock. You don't need a massive audience. You need the right audience with a real problem, and a genuine solution you can offer them. Sponsorships are fine, but the real money is in building something your listeners actually want to buy.
Monetize Trust, Not Attention
We grew our brand substantially year over year, and almost none of that growth came from traditional advertising or sponsorships. It came from building an audience that trusts us, then offering products that solve the exact problems we talk about in our content.
Every TikTok where I explain why conventional sunscreens are loaded with ingredients you can't pronounce isn't just content — it's the beginning of a customer relationship. By the time someone visits our site, they already know who we are, what we believe, and why our products are different. The sale is almost an afterthought.
Podcasters have an even bigger advantage here. Audio is intimate. Your listeners spend 30, 60, 90 minutes with your voice in their ears. That's an insane amount of trust being built every single episode.
The question isn't whether you can monetize — it's whether you're offering something worthy of the trust you've earned.
The Principle That Ties It All Together
Growth strategies that treat attention as a commodity will always fail. Monetization strategies that treat your audience as partners in solving a problem will always succeed.
Whether you're behind a microphone or a camera, the game is the same: show up like a real person, talk about real problems, and build something people actually want. The audience — and the revenue — follows.
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