Matt Levine sits down with Gord Vickman to discuss the "Relationship Acquisition Model," showing how nurturing audience relationships builds loyalty and drives long-term business growth.

Gord shares ways to monetize podcasts without ads, leverage AI for efficiency, and create content that truly resonates. Packed with actionable insights, this conversation will change how you think about audience building and acquiring customers.

Gord Vickman is the podcast network manager for Strategic Coach, where he directs all aspects of production, post-production, and distribution for their eleven podcasts.
Gord starts by describing why he left radio and made the switch to podcasting.
According to Gord, people are so online these days that no one's sitting in their car listening to radio ads anymore. This caused radio revenue to plummet and with that, the ability for radio stations to hire competent talent.
What happened to the radio audience? For Gord, many people still listen to the radio. But people are no longer purchasing products from radio ads.
The reason radio ads no longer work is that they’ve always been spray and pray. Just push out ads and pray that one person who’s in the market for your product hears your ad and proceeds to buy using your coupon code.
Matt and Gord agree that marketers today lack patience. They have the “I want success now” mentality, yet not all marketing channels are about producing instant results.
Marketing is not just about a one-off transaction; it’s about building trust, awareness, and relationships.
Gord and Matt talk about Perplexity AI--a free AI-powered answer engine that provides accurate, trusted, and real-time answers to any question.
Gord explains what a strategic coach is and why it’s not just another business coaching program.
Gord breaks down the Relationship Acquisition Model, RAM.
For Strategic Coach, they don't sell ads on their shows and that's by design because host Dan Sullivan wants them crisp and clean.
What most people don’t understand about the podcast sales funnel is that it needs patience. You can’t put out an ad and expect people to sign up immediately; sometimes it can take years before you get a return.
The key lies in stacking as much value as you can upfront. Value builds trust, creates loyalty, and positions you as someone worth paying attention to.
Matt compares podcast advertising today versus podcast advertising in 2006.
The best compliment to a service is your people never complain. Unfortunately, the only time businesses interact with people is when they’re complaining.
Gord explains how podcasts can still make money without ads or direct monetization.
Gord breaks down the key elements of cash confidence and why it’s impossible for two entrepreneurs to work together if they don’t have cash confidence.
It's kind of misguided in terms of how people think they're going to make money from podcasts. Yes, you can make money from podcasts by selling ads, but nobody will want to talk to you unless you have 25K downloads.
How to know the average lifetime value of your customers.
Matt and Gord talk about the scary and exciting future of AI.
Gord shares his thoughts on permanence of disbelief and why you can’t believe everything you see.
Podcasting is in the entertainment business. You’re not competing against other podcasts. You’re competing against all the other things that person could be doing at that time.
Matt believes AI will continue evolving but he doesn't see an end state where AI does everything.
Gord shares how fatherhood changed his perspective on the world.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Gord Vickman on LinkedIn

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