Ep 171: Five Lead Sources That Filled My Consulting Pipeline

We map the five lead sources that drove the most revenue last year and share the simple systems that make growth feel calm: niche communities, guest podcasting, lead waterfalls, LinkedIn nurture, and referrals done right. The aim is clarity, not hustle, so you can double down on what works for you.

• auditing closed-won deals to find true lead sources
• how to find and show up in niche communities
• a simple cadence for events and workshops as a lead waterfall
• why guest podcasting converts and how to pitch smarter
• using LinkedIn as a nurture engine, not a spray channel
• building a referral system with clear ICP and language
• using a super signature to train your market
• a repeatable, low-pressure path to being booked out

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Chapters

• 1:23 Welcome And Episode Setup
• 2:37 CRM Review And Five Lead Sources
• 4:22 Niche Communities Strategy
• 10:30 Guest Podcasting That Converts
• 15:48 Lead Waterfall And Events

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:36

I'm Serena Block. This show is made for solo consultants who want to get booked out without burning out. If you've ever thought, I just want this to feel easier, you're not alone. Around here, we focus on simple, sustainable growth that actually fits into your life so growth feels doable instead of overwhelming. Hello, hello. Welcome to my first solo episode of 2026. Almost forgot what year it is. I'm starting off strong. Today I wanted to talk about what I'm doubling down on this year based off of what worked really, really well for me in 2025. So let's travel back in time, two weeks. I posted a LinkedIn post about the things that I'm doubling down on. So if you're watching this on video and you're seeing my eyes shift, it's because I have that post pulled up right now. So I don't forget any of the things that I realized really made an impact on my revenue. So shifty eyes, just ignore it, okay? Gotcha. Okay. So here's what happened. I went through my CRM and I personally use Streak because it integrates directly in my Gmail, which I love. I don't like extra tools where I have to log into something else if I don't have to. And it also integrates with LinkedIn. So if you have Streak, you can also get this little button on people's profiles, and you could just click it and it adds them into Streak. So it's really simple and it cuts down on a lot of that manual labor. Yeah, it's only probably like two minutes of manual labor, but that can really add up if you're doing a lot of biz dev at any time. So I love Streak. Anywho, I went through Streak and I was going through my closed one clients from 2025, and I realized that there were five main sources for those leads, where they came from. So I'm gonna get into it, and then I'll give you some tips on how you can use that too. Now, just because so little asterisk here, a caveat. Um, just because these are the things that worked for me does not mean that these are the things that are gonna work for you. This is the reason that booked out in six is super custom. We start with a custom blueprint for you, a booked-out blueprint. Um, we do that because we're all different. Our businesses are different, we as humans are different. So everybody's business is different. And just because these five things worked for me does not mean that these five things are gonna work for you. So keep that in mind. But these are the things that worked for me. Okay, one niche communities. I know you're shocked. I talk about these all the time, but they are the easiest way to find clients for me. Almost every client I have had has been connected to a niche community I'm part of in some way or another. Either the referral came from there, I met them through there, I met them through an event that that niche community was putting on, something like that. So it's my top one. I generally use niche communities as like a warm watering hole. This is where I meet them because all of my ideal clients are gathering in the same place. Why wouldn't I? So I usually start with that niche community and then I connect with them all over on LinkedIn, which I'm gonna get into because that's number four on my list. And that's where I nurture them. Okay, so number one is niche communities. And if you want to start leveraging niche communities, one, scroll through my podcast because there are a ton of episodes about that. And two, start asking your clients, your referral partners, your business friends what niche communities they are part of. Because that is how I found all of my best ones. I always ask that question. You can't there's not a directory out there to just find the perfect niche community. I wish there was, and I am working on building one, but it doesn't exist yet. Uh, so start asking. And um that's number one. And number two, just take some time every single day to go in there, answer questions, and build relationships with people. My like the easiest way to do it without spending a lot of time is to just attend like one event a month that they are hosting, connect with all of the attendees who are at that event over on LinkedIn and start nurturing them. See if they want to hop on a connection call so you can get to know them better. Okay, so that's my little spiel on how I leverage niche communities. It goes much more in depth than that. I have an entire mission inside of Booked Out in Six on this particular topic. It's called Niche Networker. It's mission number three. So if you were interested in that, the first step is to book a booked out blueprint with me so we can figure out which missions make sense for you. But we dig all into that in mission three. Okay. The second thing that gave me the best leads was guest podcasting, which I didn't even realize. So I slowed down on guest podcasting a lot in 2025. Like in 2024, I think I did over 400 guest episodes. And I did a handful in 2025. But I learned that about half of my clients that came to me where I thought they were cold, they actually discovered me on someone else's podcast. I had no idea. So I'm gonna double down on that and go back. I'm not gonna do 400 a year again. That was crazy. But I am gonna go back to that well and start guest podcasting more. I was originally doing it because I wanted to grow my own podcast, and typically podcast listeners are easier to transfer. I don't know, that's not the right way to say it, but if they listen to one podcast, they'll listen to another. So my goal for guest podcasting was just to increase my listenership for this show. But it turned out that I was getting a ton of clients from those guest podcasting spots. So doubling down on that. Now, previously I was using a VA who specialized in pitching me to other podcasts. And that's why I did so many of them because she would send me a ton that had agreed to have me. Um, now I'm gonna try PodMatch. So I have my clients use PodMatch because it's it's big for them too. So if you're a solo consultant, start guest podcasting, please. I interview hundreds of solo consultants every single year. And over 50% of them get clients from this specific strategy. So I'm using PodMatch because um I can also find guests on there too. So I can find guests, I can become a guest, and I'm really interested to see how it works. I have my clients use it if they don't have a VA to take care of their pitching, and they have loved it. I got the recommendation from another podcaster, and she loved it. So I'm excited to try that one. Okay. Oh, also before I move on to number three, so guest podcasting is something that we do in many hat marketer, which is mission number five. So that is something that we would get into that, along with figuring out what is your one thing that you're gonna do for your marketing. Okay. Number three, a huge, huge, huge way. I increased my email list, I increased my audience, and I got new clients was from the lead waterfall, which is mission number four. Um, so lead waterfall is like a source generally, usually it's some sort of event. It doesn't have to be an event. We figure out what makes sense for you, but it can be an event that brings in a lot of leads at one time. So lead waterfall is for me was um events. I use my meetup group, which has been a great source of leads and building relationships. And probably once a quarter I do a workshop um with Meetup. And then I'll do guest workshops in other people's communities, and then every single month I have a free consultant mastermind. And all of these combined to bring me really warm and good fit leads, and also just surround myself with brilliant freaking people that I wouldn't have met otherwise. So I'm getting that lead waterfall, which is the goal of lead waterfall, but I'm also just like meeting some really cool people. So that's number three. Um, four is LinkedIn. So LinkedIn has always been probably 90% nurture mechanism for me rather than discover. I do have some leads that come in cold from LinkedIn, but I generally leverage LinkedIn as a place to build my relationships. So I discover them through either the lead waterfall or niche community or a guest podcast. And then I'll connect with them over on LinkedIn, and that's where we start becoming friends. I comment on their content, they comment on mine, we talk in the DMs, we build relationships. So that's what I use in LinkedIn. And LinkedIn is also something that we learn in the uh mission three, which is niche networker. Why can't I remember which thing is which? Okay. Um, and then five, let's talk about number five. It is referrals. So you might be laughing because my LinkedIn profile says referrals are great, but a steady pipeline is better. Now, the thing is, referrals are always going to be great, but they dry up. Usually after one, one and a half years, referrals aren't coming in as steadily. It's not something you can rely on. So building a referral system is what's really important. Um, so that's something that we do in mission two, fast cash, along with four other sales systems. But referrals are still a freaking awesome thing. And they almost always convert because they're coming from the lead is coming from a trusted source for the other person. Um, they might not always be a good fit on your end, but they are the easiest to close. They're like probably a 90% conversion rate on referrals, but you need a good system around it. And you need to have the right people on your referral team to be able to leverage them and get the right fit people. So those are my five. And um, I'm just gonna reiterate them real quick for you. So, number one is niche communities. So remember to ask around when you're on those networking calls, ask what niche communities people are part of. These are usually invite only, and there's no way to get that invite without asking. Number two is guest podcasting. This year I'm gonna try Podmatch and see how that works for me instead of a VA. So I'm excited to try that. Number three is the lead waterfall. So you need to find the right lead waterfall for you. I have done a ton of booked-out blueprints lately, and the lead waterfall I suggest is not always the same for people. So it's not always an event. Sometimes it is a specific strategy around guest podcasting. Sometimes it is speaking on a stage. So not always the same, but for me, it is virtual events, and it's a combination of things. So I do paid workshops, I do monthly free masterminds, and then I do guest speaking engagements in niche communities, all virtual. I have two kids. You might have just heard the vacuum turn on. That's one of them in the other room right now. Um, I need virtual. I don't have time to go someplace. Four is LinkedIn. So, I mean, a ton of people do get just their inboxes flooded with leads. And good for you. That's not me. I use LinkedIn as a nurturing mechanism. So I find my leads or they discover me through those niche communities, guest podcasting, lead waterfall, those three things that I mentioned earlier. But I build those relationships, I nurture them, I become closer with them on LinkedIn. And then five is referrals. So you can't rely on referrals to just remember that you exist. You need to build a system around them so they remember you, they know exactly how to talk about you, and they know who your ICP is, ideal customer profile. So you're not getting wrong fit leads. That tends to be the case with referrals, is either they dry up after one to one and a half years. And two, when you do get them, they're usually thinking of you for something that's not really a great fit, like an old offer, the wrong ICP. So you just need to be super clear about communicating who you work with and how you work with them. And I'll just give you a little tip here since I'm talking anyway. But one like super subtle way to do that is to create a super signature where you're explaining exactly who you work with, what you do with them. So like people literally repeat my uh my super signature to me and to referrals because it's so ingrained in their head because they're seeing it all the time. So I use a super signature at the end of all of my LinkedIn posts, and I have it in my email signature. So people are getting it all over the place, but it's also just like in their brain. So that's one way you can systematize in order to get the right fit. Leads. Okay, that's a wrap. Thank you so much for joining me on this solo episode. Let me know what you think in the comments. Um, we have comments on Apple now, Spotify. This is also on YouTube. And let me know if you have any questions. And if you are interested in joining Booked Out in Sex, don't be shy. The link to book your booked out blueprint. My husband calls it a bob, um, is in the show notes. So you can book that there, or you could just email me hello at Sarah Noelblock.com and find out if it's a good fit for you. Because maybe you're like on the on the edge, you're not sure. All right. Thank you for joining me, and I will see you next week. If this episode made things feel a little more doable, I'd love to help you take the next step with the booked out blueprint. It's a practical, low pressure session to clarify your offers, your marketing, and what actually moves the needle. You can book yours through the link in the show notes. You don't have to figure it out alone.