The Unconventional RD Podcast

Hosted by Erica Julson

BusinessExplicit

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Episodes

155

Latest episode

Nov 2026

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About the show

Are you ready to think outside of the traditional employment box and create your own unconventional income streams?? Then you're in the right place. Each week, dietitian Erica Julson talks all things online-business, to help you start, grow, and scale your own digital empire.

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60 recent

November 2, 202629 min

What I'd Tell Any Creator About AI Right Now

Are you still mostly using AI in the chat window? Asking it a question... copying the answer... pasting it into a doc... That's how I used it for a long time, too. But AI can do real work for you now, and yes, it's still early enough to get ahead. In this episode, we cover: The early-mover window I've watched open (and close) online since 2010, and why I think AI is in one right now The mistake that kept me stuck in the AI chat window way too long Where I think our digital work is headed in the next five years (and what that means for how people find you online) What actually stands out once content becomes a commodity The two things I'd do this month if I were starting from scratch Want a heads-up when Search Savvy opens again? I'm reopening it on Monday, November 16, and it's the last time I'll offer lifetime access. Join the waitlist and I'll send you my free Get Your AI Bearings videos right away, so you can figure out whether Claude or ChatGPT fits the way you work. 👉 Join the waitlist at theaiwaitlist.com Prefer to read? Check out the blog post here. SUBSCRIBE to my podcast for more tips on getting found online, so the people who need your expertise can actually find it. ◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️ 🔥 HOW I CAN HELP YOU: 🌟 Search Savvy Program: https://www.theunconventionalrdbb.com/search-savvy/ ⭐️ Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheUnconventionalRD ⭐️ The Unconventional RD Newsletter: https://www.theunconventionalrd.com/the-candid-creator-newsletter/ 🌟 Functional Nutrition Library: https://www.functionalnutritionlibrary.com/

October 14, 202655 min

How I Built My AI Business Assistant

I'll admit, I've had a serious case of AI FOMO this past year. It seemed like all my peers were getting real work done with AI every single week... and with a one-year-old at home and way less time to work, I wasn't one of them yet. So over the last few months, I built myself an AI business assistant that runs inside Claude Code (or ChatGPT's Codex). In this episode, I'm showing you exactly how I built it, how it works, and what it does for my business every week. In this episode, we cover: What an AI business assistant actually is, and how mine works in both Claude Code and Codex How to stop re-explaining the same tasks to AI over and over How my assistant connects to tools like Kit, Google Search Console, and Stripe, and what it does inside them for me Why handing work off to AI has felt easier than delegating ever did (especially if you're a recovering people pleaser) Still trying to figure out if Claude or ChatGPT is right for you? I made a quick series of videos, called "Get Your AI Bearings" to help with exactly that. Join the waitlist and I'll send it to you for free, so you can get your head around how all of this works and pick the tool that fits the way you work. You'll also be the first to know when my Search Savvy Program opens again (this will be the last time to snag lifetime access.) 👉 theaiwaitlist.com Chapters 00:00 My AI FOMO and why I finally dug in 03:45 From chatting with AI to having it do work for you 09:00 What an AI business assistant actually is 09:40 Context windows: why your AI forgets things 14:10 How it works: the agents.md instruction file 18:30 The brain folder (and why you don't fill it out yourself) 21:00 Inbox, ongoing work, projects, and archive 24:40 Skills and scheduled tasks 28:40 Connecting your tools with MCPs 32:20 How it learns your preferences over time 34:30 One real example: writing an email start to finish 39:50 What my assistant does for my business every week 44:40 Where online teaching is headed 46:20 Why delegating to AI feels so much easier 49:20 What's next for Search Savvy + the waitlist Links mentioned Join the waitlist: theaiwaitlist.com Authority Hacker (where I first learned Claude Code): https://www.authorityhacker.com/ ChatGPT Codex: https://openai.com/codex/ Claude: https://claude.ai/ Kit: https://partners.kit.com/snzl3ssnn9nq * *This is my affiliate link. If you sign up for Kit through it, I may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.

July 23, 202627 min

AI Search, Explained: What AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and AEO Mean for Your Online Business

Have you opened a marketing newsletter lately and felt like everyone is speaking a new language ? AEO. GEO. LLMs. AI Overviews. Citations. If you've been nodding along, but secretly feeling a little lost, I want you to know you're not behind, and I'm here to catch you up. In this episode, we'll cover: What's actually happening when someone Googles a question now, and where those AI answers at the top of the page come from The growing group of people who skip Google entirely, and why reaching them is a different game than the SEO you're used to The big reason clicks are down across the board (plus the glass-half-full way to think about it) The fundamental shift in how AI decides which content gets featured and how it changes what "winning" looks like for your website The two different ways your business can show up in an AI answer, and how they're earned in completely different ways What AEO, GEO, and the rest of the acronym soup actually mean (and how much of what you already know about SEO still counts) Want to see what AI actually says about you? Right now, someone in your audience is asking ChatGPT for an expert on your exact topic. Whose name comes up? My free AI Visibility Test shows you how to find out in one afternoon... and what your results actually mean. 👉 Take the free AI Visibility Test. Prefer to read? Check out the blog post here. SUBSCRIBE to my podcast for more tips on getting found online, so the people who need your expertise can actually find it. ◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️ 🔥 HOW I CAN HELP YOU: 🌟 Search Savvy Program: https://www.theunconventionalrdbb.com/search-savvy/ ⭐️ Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheUnconventionalRD ⭐️ The Unconventional RD Newsletter: https://www.theunconventionalrd.com/the-candid-creator-newsletter/ 🌟 Functional Nutrition Library: https://www.functionalnutritionlibrary.com/

April 24, 202639 min

The Website Metrics That Used to Matter (and What Matters Now)

The digital publishing world has shifted. And if you've pivoted from monetizing with display ads to actually selling something to your audience... ... you need to make sure you've updated the metrics you're tracking as well. In this episode, we cover: Why more pageviews no longer automatically means more revenue How to look at your existing metrics differently without throwing out your whole dashboard New metrics to add to your dashboard when you're selling something directly to your audience Where to start if this all feels overwhelming Ready to build your analytics foundation? Come join me inside my Savvy Analytics course! I'll walk you through every step (literally, every single click) of setting up Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and cookie consent correctly, so that all of the tracking we talked about in this episode is actually possible. It's currently available at 40% off for a limited time. Or, get ALL of my trainings by joining the Search Savvy membership. Prefer to read? Check out the blog post here . SUBSCRIBE to my podcast for more blogging and online business tips. ◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️ 🔥 HOW I CAN HELP YOU: 🌟 Search Savvy Membership: https://www.theunconventionalrdbb.com/search-savvy/ ⭐️ Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheUnconventionalRD ⭐️ The Candid Creator Newsletter: https://www.theunconventionalrd.com/the-candid-creator-newsletter/ 🌟 Functional Nutrition Library: https://www.functionalnutritionlibrary.com/

March 3, 202618 min

Feeling frustrated? Please remember this.

If you're feeling kind of "meh" about your biz at the moment... ... you're not alone. The last few years have been tough for many of us. But in this episode, I'm hoping to put the current digital landscape into some context, empathize with the uncertainty you might be feeling, and then encourage you to shake it off and keep going. You have something important to share and the world needs your unique perspective and expertise. Don't give up! And as promised, here are the links to my latest offers: Grab my newest course, Savvy Analytics - on presale for 50% until March 14th! Or, get ALL of my trainings by joining the Search Savvy membership. PS - SUBSCRIBE to my podcast for more blogging and online business tips. ◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️ 🔥 HOW I CAN HELP YOU: 🌟 Search Savvy Membership: https://www.theunconventionalrdbb.com/search-savvy/ ⭐️ Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheUnconventionalRD ⭐️ The Candid Creator Newsletter: https://www.theunconventionalrd.com/the-candid-creator-newsletter/ 🌟 Functional Nutrition Library: https://www.functionalnutritionlibrary.com/

October 14, 202515 min

Transcending Beyond "Blogging" in 2025

If you've been a subscriber for a while, you know that every year, I release my digital marketing "trends-to-watch". This year, life has been life-ing hard , and even though I wrote 20+ pages of thoughts, I haven't shared them in-depth with you yet! These trend predictions are some of my most valuable, most shared, and most visited pieces of content every year, so I can't just let them collect dust! So here's how it'll work: For 2025, I have 5 trend predictions. Each one is incredibly meaty, so I will share them with you one at a time here on my podcast. For each trend, I provide in-depth analysis of what the trend is, why it matters, and how you can implement the ideas in your business today. I know you're going to enjoy this series, so let's dive right in. Trend #1 is... Building a digital ecosystem and strong brand Listen in to learn how to make the pivot from "blogger" to full blown business owner in 2025 and beyond. PS - SUBSCRIBE to my podcast for more blogging and online business tips. ◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️ 🔥 HOW I CAN HELP YOU: 🌟 Search Savvy Membership: https://www.theunconventionalrdbb.com/search-savvy/ ⭐️ Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheUnconventionalRD ⭐️ The Candid Creator Newsletter: https://www.theunconventionalrd.com/the-candid-creator-newsletter/ 🌟 Functional Nutrition Library: https://www.functionalnutritionlibrary.com/

October 7, 202512 min

Will people PAY for information they trust?

Welcome back to episode #6 (out of 6), where I review my 2024 digital marketing predictions. 🥳 In today's episode I'm talking about my sixth 2024 trend prediction: More people will PAY for information they trust Last year, I predicted that people would become discontent with low quality AI content and be willing to pay for information that they trust. Was I correct? Let's find out! SUBSCRIBE to my podcast for more blogging and online business tips. ◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️ 🔥 HOW I CAN HELP YOU: 🌟 Search Savvy Membership: https://www.theunconventionalrdbb.com/search-savvy/ ⭐️ Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheUnconventionalRD ⭐️ The Candid Creator Newsletter: https://www.theunconventionalrd.com/the-candid-creator-newsletter/ 🌟 Functional Nutrition Library: https://www.functionalnutritionlibrary.com/

September 23, 202525 min

Let's catch up...

Hey-o! I'm back, after a bit of a hiatus, so let's catch up! Find out what I've been up to over the last 6 months + what to expect from me (and the biz) for the rest of 2025 :) SUBSCRIBE to my podcast for more SEO and online business tips. ◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️ 🔥 HOW I CAN HELP YOU: 🌟 Search Savvy Membership: https://www.theunconventionalrdbb.com/search-savvy/ ⭐️ Free Facebook Community : https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheUnconventionalRD ⭐️ The Candid Creator Newsletter : https://www.theunconventionalrd.com/the-candid-creator-newsletter/

March 16, 202523 min

Focus on THIS to wow your readers (and Google!)

Welcome back to episode #5 (out of 6), where I review my 2024 digital marketing predictions. 🥳 In today's episode I'm talking about my fifth 2024 trend prediction: The Importance of Personalization and Good User Experience Last year, I predicted that personalized marketing and providing a good user experience will become key metrics for building a strong brand with loyal fans. Was I correct? Let's find out! SUBSCRIBE to my podcast for more blogging and online business tips. ◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️ 🔥 HOW I CAN HELP YOU: 🌟 Search Savvy Membership: https://www.theunconventionalrdbb.com/search-savvy/ ⭐️ Free Facebook Community : https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheUnconventionalRD ⭐️ The Candid Creator Newsletter : https://www.theunconventionalrd.com/the-candid-creator-newsletter/

February 11, 202513 min

Don't ignore this marketing staple in 2025!

Welcome back to episode #4 (out of 6), where I review my 2024 digital marketing predictions. 🥳 In today's episode I'm talking about my third 2024 trend prediction: Email Marketing Becomes Popular Again Last year, I predicted that creators would double-down on email and that it would become a cornerstone for more online business owners. Was I correct? Let's find out! SUBSCRIBE to my podcast for more blogging and online business tips. ◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️ 🔥 HOW I CAN HELP YOU: 🌟 Search Savvy Membership: https://www.theunconventionalrdbb.com/search-savvy/ ⭐️ Free Facebook Community : https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheUnconventionalRD ⭐️ The Candid Creator Newsletter : https://www.theunconventionalrd.com/the-candid-creator-newsletter/