Press Kit: Josh Elledge
Josh Elledge shows founders how to let AI handle the research and prep, so every podcast conversation becomes a relationship instead of a pitch.
3,000+ episodes hosted ᐧ 300+ shows launched ᐧ $40M+ generated for clients
3,000+ appearances on TV, newspaper, and radio
Founder, PodVerified - raising the standard for the entire podcast guesting industry.
Conversations I'm ready to lead:
Using AI to Build Relationships, Not Spam
Podcast Guesting as a Revenue Strategy
Podcast Hosting as a Revenue Strategy
Fractional CRO / Revenue Growth
Relationship-Driven Business Development
Building Authority Through Media
Podcast Industry Standards and Innovation
Ad-Free Business Growth
Book Josh
For media inquiries, interview requests, and booking:
Media Page: PodVerified.com/media
Websites: PodVerified.com | UpMyInfluence.com
My podcast: The Thoughtful Entrepreneur
All inquiries are managed by Josh's executive assistant.
Expect a response within one business day.
Josh has been featured in traditional media more than 3,000 times
Josh Elledge has been featured in traditional media more than 3,000 times across television, radio, and print.
Syndicated newspaper columnist since 2009 -- publishing every week for 17 years, currently appearing in 11 newspapers
800+ local television appearances in Orlando, including regular segments on local news
National television -- WLS, WGN, ABC7 Chicago, and syndicated monthly TV segment through Gray Television, reaching 60+ stations
Syndicated radio appearances across multiple markets
Past Podcast Appearances
Josh has been a featured guest on more than 300 podcasts, including some of the most recognized business and entrepreneurship shows in the world.
Recent episodes:
🎧 Marketer of the Day with Robert Plank: Podcast Guesting Strategy for Organic Growth
🎧 Business Growth Architect Show with Beate Chelette: Your AI Pitch Is Getting You Blacklisted
🎧 Thrive LouD with Lou Diamond: Pod, Sweat & Cheers
Notable appearances include:
Entrepreneurs on Fire · Social Media Marketing Podcast · The Side Hustle Show · So Money with Farnoosh Torabi · The Stacking Benjamins Show · The $100 MBA Show · Negotiate Anything · BiggerPockets Business Podcast · The Duct Tape Marketing Podcast · Well-Oiled Operations · Smart Agency Masterclass · Onward Nation · SharkPreneur · The Kelly Roach Show · Making Bank · Speaking to Influence · The Customer Experience Podcast · Your First Thousand Clients · Franchise Euphoria · The Chris Voss Show · Travis Makes Money · The Jeremy Ryan Slate Show · The How of Business · Sales Strategy & Enablement · Streamlined Solopreneur · Beyond the Uniform · Starve the Doubts · Gift Biz Unwrapped · Success Profiles Radio · Marketer of the Day · Best Morning Routine Ever
...and 270+ more.
My Podcast:
The Thoughtful Entrepreneur
🎙️ Top 0.1% of all podcasts worldwide
📊 2,500+ interviews with founders, executives, and industry leaders
🌍 100K+ global audience across platforms
If you host a business podcast, you already know what it takes to show up consistently for years. I've done it daily. That means I know exactly how to make your job easy -- and how to deliver an episode your audience will actually remember.
Josh's bio
Mini Bio (58 words)
Josh Elledge is a Fractional Chief Revenue Officer and Fractional Chief Communications Officer, major-stage speaker, and founder of PodVerified. He has launched 300+ podcasts, hosted 3,000+ episodes, and appeared in traditional media more than 3,000 times. His clients have generated $40M+ in revenue through relationship-driven podcast strategies. He believes podcasting is the highest-ROI business development environment on the planet.
Short Bio (131 words)
Josh Elledge is a Fractional Chief Revenue Officer and Fractional Chief Communications Officer with 15+ years of experience building revenue through the podcast ecosystem. He has launched more than 300 podcasts for clients, hosted over 3,000 episodes across his shows, and made 3,000+ traditional media appearances. His clients have collectively generated more than $40 million using relationship-driven podcast guesting strategies.
Josh is the founder of PodVerified, a credentialing and placement platform raising the standard for ethical podcast guesting. He hosts The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, one of the most active interview podcasts in the business space.
His core belief: podcasting is the highest-ROI environment on the planet for building relationships with high-level leaders while serving high-level audiences. He teaches entrepreneurs and executives to treat podcast guesting as a revenue strategy, not a visibility play.
Full Bio (292 words)
Josh Elledge has spent more than 15 years proving a single thesis: that podcasting is the highest-ROI relationship-building environment in business today.
As a Fractional Chief Revenue Officer and Fractional Chief Communications Officer, Josh works with entrepreneurs and executives who want to grow revenue through trust-based relationships rather than paid advertising. He has launched more than 300 podcasts for clients, and those clients have collectively generated over $40 million using the strategies he teaches and implements. He has personally hosted more than 3,000 podcast episodes and appeared in traditional media more than 3,000 times, giving him a ground-level understanding of what makes guests memorable, bookable, and worth having back.
Josh is the founder of PodVerified, a credentialing and placement platform designed to raise the standard for ethical, high-integrity podcast guesting. PodVerified helps guests get booked on the right shows, helps hosts filter for quality guests, and is building the infrastructure the podcast guesting industry has long needed. He also hosts The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, one of the most prolific business interview podcasts in the space.
Before focusing exclusively on the podcast ecosystem, Josh built two multi-seven-figure companies and became a recognized voice in entrepreneurship, media, and revenue strategy. He has spoken on major stages and been featured across hundreds of media outlets.
What sets Josh apart is not the volume of his experience but the clarity of his philosophy. He teaches that podcast guesting is not a PR play or a vanity metric -- it is a relationship activation strategy. The guests who win are the ones who show up prepared, serve the audience generously, and deploy the resulting content with intention.
Josh is a U.S. Navy Veteran and is based in Orlando, Florida with his family, and works with clients across the globe.
For media inquiries and interview requests: [email protected]
Signature Topics
1. AI Should Buy You Time With People, Not Replace Them
ᐧ Listeners will learn how to use AI for the research, prep and follow-up that eats most guests' week, and where to spend the time it gives back.
ᐧ Why the guests winning right now use AI to go deeper with fewer hosts, while everyone else uses it to spam more of them.
Most people think AI's job in podcast guesting is to send more pitches. I think its job is to clear your calendar so you can show up like a person.
Suggested Episode Titles:
ᐧ "The AI Mistake That's Getting Guests Ignored by Every Host"
ᐧ "How I Use AI to Spend More Time With People, Not Less"
2. Podcast Guesting Is a Revenue Strategy -- Not a PR Play
ᐧ Listeners will learn why treating podcast appearances as visibility plays leaves serious money on the table
ᐧ A clear framework for turning every interview into a relationship activation asset that works long after the episode airs
Most experts will tell you to focus on reach and downloads. I'll tell you those metrics are largely irrelevant to your revenue.
Suggested Episode Titles:
ᐧ "Why Your Podcast Appearances Aren't Making You Money"
ᐧ "The Metric Every Podcast Guest Is Tracking -- and Why It's the Wrong One"
3. The Highest-ROI Sales Environment on the Planet Isn't LinkedIn or Cold Email -- It's a Podcast
ᐧ Listeners will understand why podcasting produces warmer relationships faster than any other business development channel
ᐧ A repeatable system for using podcast appearances to open doors with high-level leaders who would never take a cold call
This is a direct challenge to where most B2B operators are spending their prospecting time and budget.
Suggested Episode Titles:
ᐧ "Why I Stopped Cold Outreach and Let Podcasts Do the Work"
ᐧ "The Business Development Channel Nobody Is Taking Seriously Enough"
4. Your Warm List Is a Gold Mine -- Podcast Guesting Is How You Work It
ᐧ Listeners will learn how to use podcast appearances as third-party validation assets that restart stalled conversations without a sales pitch
ᐧ A practical approach to re-engaging existing relationships using interview content as the entry point
Most sales training ignores the warm list entirely. That's where the fastest revenue lives.
Suggested Episode Titles:
ᐧ "Stop Prospecting Cold When You Have a Warm List You're Ignoring"
ᐧ "The Easiest Revenue You're Not Closing -- and How Podcasting Unlocks It"
5. The Podcast Guesting Industry Has an Integrity Problem -- Here's How We Fix It
ᐧ Listeners will get an honest look at the spam, fake metrics, and misaligned placements polluting the podcast guesting space
ᐧ A clear picture of what ethical, host-first guesting actually looks like and why it produces better outcomes for everyone
I'm building PodVerified specifically because the status quo in this industry is broken. Not everyone in the space wants to hear that.
Suggested Episode Titles:
ᐧ "Why Most Podcast Booking Services Are Hurting Your Brand"
ᐧ "What the Podcast Guesting Industry Gets Wrong About Quality"
6. The Nerd Table Problem: Why Staying in Your Niche Is Killing Your Growth
- Listeners will understand why filtering podcast/media/speaking opportunities by topic match often produces the worst possible results -- and what filter to use instead
- A simple framework for identifying the rooms where your ideal clients actually sit, even when those rooms look nothing like your industry
The real question is never "Is this show about my topic?" It is "Could my ideal client be sitting in that audience?" A leadership coach on a trucking podcast is more memorable and more bookable than a leadership coach on a leadership podcast/conference.
Suggested Episode Titles:
- "Why Staying in Your Niche Is the Riskiest Move You Can Make"
- "The Show Selection Mistake That's Keeping You Invisible to Your Best Clients"
7. How I Built Two Multi-Seven-Figure Companies Without Paid Ads
- Listeners will see exactly how media/podcasting -- both hosting and guesting -- replaced traditional advertising as a primary revenue driver
- Concrete lessons from 15+ years of building in public through media, including what worked and what didn't
This is not a theory. It's a documented track record that runs counter to what most growth advisors recommend.
Suggested Episode Titles:
- "The Ad-Free Growth Strategy That Generated $40M for My Clients"
- "What 3,000 Media Appearances Taught Me About Building Revenue"
8. Why the Best Podcast Guests Are Givers -- and Why That's Also the Best Business Strategy
- Listeners will understand why service-first positioning outperforms self-promotional guesting every time, backed by real booking and conversion data
- A mindset and tactical shift that makes hosts want to have you back and audiences want to follow you
Generosity as a business strategy sounds soft. The revenue numbers say otherwise.
Suggested Episode Titles:
- "The Counterintuitive Reason Generous Guests Get More Business"
- "Why Trying to Sell on Podcasts Is Killing Your Conversion Rate"
9. Why Podcast Audiences Don't Buy on Cue -- and What Actually Converts
- Listeners will stop measuring podcast appearances by same-day sales and start building the long-game strategy that actually produces revenue
- A clear picture of what high-ROI guests do differently: credibility compounding, host relationship activation, and intentional clip deployment
Most guests give up on podcast guesting because they expected a rush of buyers after each episode. That almost never happens. The guests who win are playing an entirely different game.
Suggested Episode Titles:
- "The Dirty Secret About Podcast Guesting Nobody Wants to Tell You"
- "Why Your Podcast Appearances Aren't Converting -- and What to Do Instead"
Suggested interview questions:
You've said podcasting is the highest-ROI relationship-building environment on the planet. What does that actually mean in practice for a business owner who's never thought about it that way?
Most people treat podcast guesting as a visibility play. You treat it as a revenue strategy. Where does that gap come from, and what does it cost people?
Tell me about the warm list concept. Why are most business owners who are doing media sitting on their fastest revenue opportunity and not even knowing it?
You've launched over 300 podcasts and hosted 3,000+ episodes. What do the best guests do that average guests never figure out?
You founded PodVerified because you believe the podcast guesting industry has an integrity problem. What does that problem actually look like from where you sit?
What's the single biggest mistake you see executives and entrepreneurs make when they start pursuing podcast appearances?
You built two multi-seven-figure companies without paid ads. At what point did you realize podcasting was the engine -- and what shifted for you?
Generosity as a business strategy sounds counterintuitive to a lot of people. How do you make that case to a skeptic?
For someone who has been guesting on podcasts for a year or two and feels like it isn't working -- what's usually going wrong?
How do you help a client figure out which shows are actually worth pursuing? What's the filter most people are missing?
You've made 3,000+ traditional media appearances. How does traditional media experience translate into being a better podcast guest?
What does a podcast appearance look like when it's deployed correctly after it airs? Walk me through what the best guests do with their episodes.
You talk about podcast guesting as relationship activation. Can you give me a real example of how that plays out from first appearance to closed revenue?
A lot of business owners worry they don't have enough credibility yet to be on podcasts. What do you say to them?
What's the difference between a guest who gets invited back and one who doesn't? Is it the content, the personality, or something else entirely?
How does hosting your own podcast change the way you approach being a guest on someone else's show?
You've helped clients generate $40 million through podcast-based strategies. What's the common thread across the clients who got the biggest results?
You're building PodVerified as an industry standard. What does the podcast guesting world look like in five years if that standard takes hold?
What's the most common thing people get wrong about what podcast hosts actually want from a guest?
If someone is just starting out and has zero podcast appearances, zero media credentials, and a limited network -- where do they begin?
You have data showing that third-party validation yields conversion rates 270-380% higher than those from direct outreach. What does that mean practically for how a business owner should think about every podcast appearance they do?
You've described podcast appearances as permanent assets. What does it look like five years from now when someone has been consistently guesting with intention versus someone who treated it as a one-time marketing tactic?
Core Talking Points
1. Most podcast guests are optimizing for the wrong thing entirely. Downloads, listeners, reach -- these metrics have almost no relationship to revenue. The guests who win are tracking something different: how many relationships did this appearance activate?
2. 95% of podcast guests focus exclusively on converting new listeners. That is the lowest-probability path to revenue. Your fastest revenue is already in your pipeline -- stalled deals, warm prospects, past clients who went quiet. A podcast appearance gives you a reason to re-enter those relationships as a peer, not a salesperson.
3. Third-party documentation beats direct conversation every time. B2B buyers show 270-380% higher conversion rates with third-party validation than with direct outreach. A podcast interview says things about you that no sales call ever can -- and your prospects believe it in a way they never would from a pitch.
4. Most business owners are sitting at the wrong table. Staying in your niche feels safe but produces diminishing returns. You become one of many familiar voices instead of the most interesting, most unexpected voice in a room full of people who genuinely need what you know. That is where business happens.
5. The most trusted voice in any market will always outperform the loudest one. And podcasting is the only channel where your competition cannot outspend you to win.
6. Podcast audiences rarely buy on cue. They are building trust, not making transactions. The guests who understand this stop chasing same-day sales and start building the kind of credibility that compounds -- where hosts invite you back, past guests introduce you, and opportunities find you instead of the other way around.
Frameworks
The Trust Ladder In any market, the path from stranger to client has three rungs. Most businesses try to skip straight to the sale.
Rung 1: Awareness -- they know you exist
Rung 2: Credibility -- they believe you can deliver
Rung 3: Trust -- they feel safe saying yes
Podcasting compresses all three faster than any other channel because a great conversation does what no ad or cold email can: it lets people experience how you think before they ever spend a dollar.
The Relationship Activation Framework
Most business owners prospect outward when their fastest revenue is already in their network. This framework flips the sequence.
Step 1: Identify the warm relationships that have gone quiet
Step 2: Create a credible third-party moment -- an interview, a stage, a media appearance
Step 3: Send that content directly to those contacts as a genuine touchpoint
Step 4: Re-enter the relationship as a peer, not a salesperson
The Giver Advantage The most trusted voice in any market consistently outperforms the loudest one. Three things separate the leaders who build lasting influence from those who chase short-term attention:
✅ They show up to serve, not to sell
✅ They make everyone around them look good
✅ They let their work create the conversation -- and follow up with value, not a pitch
Social Proof
$40M+ in revenue generated for clients through podcast-based business development strategies
300+ podcasts launched for entrepreneurs and executives across North America
3,000+ traditional media appearances across television, radio, and print
3,000+ podcast episodes hosted across multiple shows
Host of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, one of the most active business interview podcasts in the space
Founder of PodVerified, the emerging credentialing standard for the podcast guesting industry
Two multi-seven-figure companies built inside the podcast ecosystem
Major-stage speaker on entrepreneurship, revenue growth, and media strategy
15+ years working exclusively inside the business podcast and media space
Fun trivia about Josh
Josh and his family adopted a mini Australian Shepherd puppy named Benji March 2026. This is his third herding pup. 🐶
Josh knew his soon-to-be wife for 20 days before he proposed. They have been married for 30+ years. 💍
Josh picked up the bass guitar a couple of years ago and can play over a hundred songs. Lots of 80s/90s rock and plenty of grunge.🎸
He loves a great movie or TV series. Here's what Josh is watching. 🍿
I nerd out on smart home automation, productivity, philosophy, epistemology, cults, and going down Youtube rabbit holes. 🐇
He makes darn good sourdough bread.🥖
He has an herbalicious herb garden in his backyard. 🪴
Josh moved to Orlando with his family so they could go to theme parks regularly. 🎢
Josh lost nearly 60 pounds and has run 2 marathons. He rucks wearing 30+ pounds of steel plates each morning. 🏃🏻💨
Josh was a U.S. Navy journalist and his life changed after a day of group mentoring from Adrian Cronauer who was portrayed by Robin Williams in the movie Good Morning Vietnam. 🇺🇸
🔗 Free resources
Everything here is free. Share any of it with your listeners.
Free PodVerified Score -- for guests who want to see how podcast hosts size them up, why bigger shows pass, and what to fix first. Two minutes.
PodVerified Academy -- short lessons on getting booked and turning the audience into business once you're on.
The Thoughtful Entrepreneur -- daily interviews with founders and operators, 100,000+ business leaders listening.
50+ Podcasts Seeking Guests -- shows we've launched that are looking for guests. If one stands out, tell me and I'll make the connection.
PodVerified for Podcasters -- for hosts: guest intake built into your show, so applications arrive organized instead of scattered across your inbox.
🔗 Listener call to action
Go to PodVerified.com and get your free PodVerified Score. In two minutes, you'll see how podcast hosts size you up and exactly what to fix first. It's like Credit Karma for podcast guesting.
For the host to read aloud: "Josh has a free tool for you. Go to PodVerified.com and get your PodVerified Score. In two minutes, you'll see how hosts size you up and what to fix first."
Alternates: the free PodVerified Academy, or The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Links are in Free resources above.
🎙️Technical Setup
Microphone: Professional studio microphone
Camera: Professional video camera
Lighting: Professional studio lighting
Environment: Dedicated recording studio
Internet: Hardwired, high-speed connection
Platforms: Zoom, Riverside, Squadcast, and most major recording platforms
🫱🏼🫲🏽 For podcast hosts
If you host a show, PodVerified for Podcasters is free. Guest intake is built into your show, so applications arrive organized instead of scattered across your inbox.
🌟 Professionalism signal
Josh records from a fully equipped professional studio, the same setup behind 3,000+ podcast episodes and counting. Hosts can expect clean audio, sharp video, and a guest who knows exactly how to show up.
Watch a clip of me in action
For media inquiries, interview requests, and booking:
For media inquiries, interview requests, and booking:
Media Page: PodVerified.com/media
Websites: PodVerified.com | UpMyInfluence.com
Schedule me for your podcast
Go ahead and grab a time below. This will lock in your spot and send you a Zoom link automatically. If you'd prefer to record on a different platform or use your own recording link, no problem at all. We can hop on Zoom first and then slide right over to wherever you record best.
Questions? Just reach out at [email protected]
© 2026 UpMyInfluence, Inc - All rights reserved. The UpMyInfluence and PodVerified trademark is a federally registered trademark owned by UpMyInfluence, Inc.
🔒 PodVerified is built on trust. Results depend on participation. Full terms available.
🇺🇸 U.S. Military Veteran-owned Business