Latest / The Side Hustle Career Podcast with Fexingo: Second Income, Freelancing While Employed / Marketing Coordinator Builds 12K Side Hustle in Podcast Management
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this case I came across recently—a marketing coordinator named Jenna who turned her side hustle into a cool $12,000 a month managing podcast production for small business owners. What caught my eye is she did it without any audio engineering background, just really good project management instincts. Luna: Wait—$12,000 a month? That's more than many full-time roles. How long did it take her to build that? Lucas: She started about 18 months ago, right when the remote work boom was still pushing people toward starting podcasts. She was already handling internal comms at a mid-size tech firm, so she knew how to keep a production calendar on track. Luna: So she essentially turned her scheduling skills into a service. That's smart. But there are a ton of podcast editors out there—what made her stand out? Lucas: You know, it's conversations like this that make the show worthwhile. If you find these practical side hustle breakdowns useful, the way we keep the podcast ad-free is through listener support. You can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Every contribution helps us keep digging into real stories like Jenna's. Luna: Yeah, it really does make a difference. We keep the episodes focused on actionable insights because of that. Lucas: So back to Jenna's approach—she didn't try to be the best editor; she positioned herself as the 'podcast manager' who handles everything from guest coordination to show notes. That way, she's indispensable without needing to know compression ratios. Luna: Right. So instead of competing on audio quality, she competed on reliability. That's a smart move for someone with a day job. Lucas: Exactly. She started by reaching out to small business owners who had started a podcast but were already burning out on the logistics. Her pitch was basically: 'You focus on the content, I'll handle the rest.' Luna: How did she find those first clients? LinkedIn? Cold outreach? Lucas: Actually, she went straight to her existing network. She knew a few entrepreneurs from her previous marketing roles, and she offered to manage their podcast for a trial month at a reduced rate. Two of them took her up on it, and from there it was referral-based. Luna: That makes sense—starting with people who already trust you lowers the barrier. But how did she set her pricing? $12,000 a month implies she had multiple clients. Lucas: She charged $2,000 per podcast per month for a basic package—weekly episodes, guest outreach, show notes, and scheduling. At $2,000 a pop, she needed six clients to hit $12,000. She got there in about nine months. Luna: Six clients each paying $2,000—that's a lot of coordination. Was she doing all the work herself or subcontracting? Lucas: She started solo, but by month eight she brought on a part-time assistant for the administrative stuff—like sending calendar invites and transcribing episodes. That cost her about $500 a month, so her margin stayed high. Luna: Smart. So she kept the core relationship work herself. What was the biggest challenge she faced? Lucas: Scope creep. Clients would ask for extra edits or social media graphics, and she had to learn to say 'that's outside the package' without damaging the relationship. She created a clear service agreement upfront that outlined exactly what she does and what costs extra. Luna: Did she ever run into issues with her day job? I mean, managing six podcasts while working full-time as a marketing coordinator sounds exhausting. Lucas: She was very careful to keep her side hustle separate. She used a different laptop, never worked on it during business hours, and didn't mention it to her colleagues. Her manager never found out, which is probably wise unless your employer explicitly allows side gigs. Luna: Absolutely. That's the delicate dance of freelancing while employed. So what's her endgame? Is she planning to go full-time with this? Lucas: She actually just quit her day job last month. With $12,000 recurring and a growing waitlist, she felt confident enough to make the leap. She's now aiming to add a few more clients and maybe launch a mini-course on podcast management for other coordinators. Luna: That's a great arc—turning a side hustle into a full-time business that's basically a higher-paying version of the skill she already had. It's almost like she 'upgraded' her job title. Lucas: Exactly. And the key takeaway isn't that everyone should become a podcast manager—it's that you can take a skill you already use at work and repackage it for a different audience. Jenna saw that small business owners needed her coordination skills more than her marketing skills.